E-Newsletter No. 103               July 2022

Our Liberties are under attack and in danger of being toppled.  In previous months, we have talked about the Left’s attacks on the First and Second Amendments.  This month, we were planning to discuss the Fourth Amendment.  However, that discussion is being delayed one month due to the need to revisit the Second Amendment in light of the Uvalde, Texas and Highland Park, Illinois tragedies. 

The first question to be addressed is – Are these two tragedies (which are horrendous tragedies) more or less tragic than the 797 murders in Chicago during 2021? (Set aside the other murders that also happened in New York, Detroit, etc).

The next question is – Were those deaths more or less tragic than the 50 murders in Chicago during 2021 that did not involve a firearm? (Stabbings, blunt force trauma, arson, strangulation, child abuse, vehicular). 

The next question is – Has anyone on the Left researched the fact that over 80% of the victims who died during a “mass shooting” (an incident with more than 6 victims) were murdered by handguns?

The next question is – Does anyone seriously believe that “just one more law” will ever be able to stop evil in a person’s heart?  (Cain killed Abel before guns were ever invented). 

The final question is – What is the real reason for the Left’s desire to violate the US Constitution by violating the actual words in the Second Amendment that read “…shall not be infringed”?  Is the Left’s true agenda a desire to eliminate the Second Amendment and ban all firearms?  (Conservatives have a serious issue with that agenda).

One other final question – Why do some on the Left condone the practice of allowing a baby to be “aborted” after birth?  (aka infanticide).  Isn’t such an occurrence also just as tragic, if not even more so?

Our Editorial Board absolutely understands the horror of the Uvalde, Texas and Highland Park, Illinois tragedies (along with Columbine and Sandy Hook, etc.).  But might we also ask another question – Are there other motives behind the resistance to having a safer environment in our schools, by having a trained, armed safety officer on site (similar to banks, airports, and in schools in Israel)?  It is well documented by the media that the police can never get there in time once a tragedy starts.  Is the elimination of the Second Amendment more important than enhancing school safety? 

We also recognize that the Leftist media focuses on these horrors and generally avoids covering the daily tragedies that occur in our country’s largest cities that are run by Democrats.  So, might we also ask yet another question – Do Black Lives really matter to the Left, and even to BLM itself, given BLM’s calls to defund the police?  Our Editorial Board unequivocally believes that All Lives Matter.  And we also believe that once our society starts to focus on the root cause of these tragedies, we will realize that we need to shift the focus away from AR-15s and back to the root cause of these tragedies.

Two final thoughts….   Benjamin Franklin once said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”  We would go further and say that giving up Liberty to purchase “no real valid assurance of any kind of Safety” is a fool’s choice.

Lastly…  We recently ran across an article that discussed a key difference between the concepts of Freedom and Liberty.  Many people think that Freedom and Liberty are the same thing.  We agree that many of the aspects are similar, and they are both vital to the human condition.  However, there is an important distinction.  Freedom is a personal thing – an individual is free to think and act to pursue their own individual preferences in life.  Does that sometimes lead to bad choices and/or evil?  Unfortunately, yes.  On the other hand, Liberty is a “societal” concept.  Unfortunately, Liberties can be toppled by a government that is intent on tyranny.

US Debt Clock – – June 1^st – $91,550 per citizen / July 1st – $91,700

E-Newsletter No. 102               June 2022          

Our Liberties are in danger of being toppled.  Last month, we talked about the First Amendment.  This month, the Second Amendment –

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

During a Democrat presidential debate, Beto O’Rourke reiterated his support for a mandatory gun buyback program, stating “hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

Lauren Boebert later confronted O’Rourke during a subsequent event in Aurora, Colorado – “I am here to say, hell, no, you’re not…  I have four children.  I am 5-foot-0, 100 pounds, and cannot really defend myself with a fist…  I want to know how you’re going to legislate that because a criminal, by definition, breaks the law, so all you’re going to do is restrict law-abiding citizens like myself.” Boebert has gone on to oppose gun restrictions, arguing that no legislation can ever stop evil in a person’s heart. 

Let’s focus on the phrase “shall not be infringed.”  Beto O’Rourke and other “progressives” (including RINOs) do not acknowledge and adhere to what is written in the US Constitution.  A case can be made that these elected officials have violated their oath to support and defend the Constitution. 

On Saturday, June 25^th, a piece of legislation that had been passed by the Senate and House was signed into law.  The bill was touted as being a “gun safety bill.”  But there was nothing in the bill that changed the nature of guns or made them more safe.  Luckily (and to the consternation of those on the Left) the bill fell well short of the more robust restrictions they have sought to achieve for years, such as reinstating the ban on “assault-type” weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

On our website, we have a conversation piece entitled “Don’t Tread on Me / There Ought to be a Law (Or Not).”  The passage of this bill did help satisfy the needs of these legislators to “Do Something.”  However, the primary focus was on guns, and did little to address the true root cause of the Buffalo, New York or Uvalde, Texas tragedies.  No legislation can ever stop evil in a person’s heart, and criminals do not care what laws are on the books. 

The city of Chicago has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation.  There were 797 homicides committed with a gun in Chicago during 2021, the highest number in 25 years.  The vast majority of these homicide victims were black.  Unfortunately, the media focuses on sensational / emotional incidents like the Uvalde, Texas tragedy.  Do black lives in Chicago really matter?  Is BLM actually accomplishing anything? Fortunately, the calls to defund the police seem to have diminished over the past couple of years.   

The legislation mentioned above did include the appropriation of money to be sent to the states to help them improve school safety, which is a good thing.  However, this new law is yet another instance where the Left continues to chip away at the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.  It is a slow and steady and unrelenting process.  Yes, our Liberties are in constant danger of being toppled.

US Debt Clock – – May 1^st – $91,375 per citizen / June 1st – $91,550

E-Newsletter No. 101               May 2022          

Our Liberties are in danger of being toppled.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Religious Liberty

Does the First Amendment call for a wall of separation between church and state?  Does the First Amendment call for the establishment of a secular society?  Or are these simply the perceptions and / or goals of the Progressive Left?  The First Amendment simply states that the government will not establish (mandate) a specific religion.  Our citizens continue to have the freedom to exercise their own personal religious beliefs as they see fit.

The intent of the First Amendment is to ensure that the government has no role to play in an individual’s religious beliefs. In 2012, a lawsuit was filed against Jack Philips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado for his refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.  In 2018 in a 7-2 decision in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd v Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the US Supreme Court upheld Jack Philips’ right to decline participation in that wedding.  In 2021, he was again fined $500 for refusing to bake a cake for a gender transition celebration.  The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is appealing this fine.

Free Speech

Twitter and Facebook have a long history of banning and suspending accounts of individuals and organizations on their platforms for alleged violations of their community standards.  The most prominent example is Twitter’s permanent ban on President Trump.  Similar instances include YouTube removing an interview between podcaster Joe Rogan and vaccine scientist Dr. Robert Malone.  In October 2020, Twitter and Facebook blocked the reporting of the Hunter Biden laptop story by The New York Post.  In February 2021 Amazon deleted a documentary on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas without explanation.  Other individuals who have been suspended or have had their content suppressed include Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul, Representative Jim Banks, Governor Ron DeSantis, etc.  PragerU videos are being censored.  The Babylon Bee has also been locked out of its Twitter account.

In October 2020, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced his intent to move forward with rulemaking to interpret Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934.  Under current interpretations, social media websites have immunity from lawsuits over user-generated content.  The social media websites are also private enterprises that own and manage their business operations.  One of the key issues being discussed is whether the companies are merely hosting services that have immunity from lawsuits over user-generated content, or, if based on their actions, have become involved in the publishing of the content on their sites.  Section 230 contains ambiguous terms: What constitutes an action “voluntarily taken in good faith” to restrict access to material? Previous floor debates in Congress indicated that “We do not wish to have a Federal Computer Commission with an army of bureaucrats regulating the Internet.”  However, can appropriate lawsuits be brought against Big Tech companies, similar to actions that apply to newspapers, broadcasters and other publishers?

The Right to Peaceably Assemble to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances

Rioting, arson, and looting are crimes that occurred during the summer of 2020.  The media oftentimes reported that these were “mostly” peaceful protests. In a number of cases, subsequent fundraisers were held to provide funds for some of the individuals who were arrested during the riots.

On January 6, 2021, there was a “mostly” peaceful protest in Washington DC.  It should also be noted that the small number of people who trespassed into the US Capitol that day were violating the law.  Members of both political parties have condemned the actions of those individuals.

US Debt Clock – – April 1^st – $91,225 per citizen / May 1st – $91,375

E-Newsletter No. 100                April 2022          

This month, the Biden administration released its 2023 budget.  The following set of numbers (in billions) gives you a sense of what the federal government is doing with our tax dollars (and to our country).  Simply put, the government continues to spend money that it doesn’t have, and it has no intention of fixing the problem. 

                           2021             2022                2023                   2032

                         Actual     Curr Yr Est       Budget            Projection

Revenues       $ 4,047          $ 4,437            $ 4,638             $ 7,083

Spending          6,822             5,852               5,792                8,867

Deficit              (2,775)          (1,415)             (1,154)            (1,784)

Keep in mind that the spending in 2021 and 2022 includes massive amounts of pandemic spending.  The debate continues regarding the efficacy of that spending.  Unfortunately, the Democrat party continues to ask for more pandemic spending.

The other interesting piece of data relates to spending on the Socialist programs referred to as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

                             2021              2022                  2023                2032

Spending         $ 2,339          $ 2,529              $ 2,695            $ 4,675

% of Total

    Spending        n.m.              43.2%               46.5%                52.7%

This is not an encouraging outlook for our children and grandchildren.  Margaret Thatcher once observed that “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”  The federal government ran out of money a long time ago and continues to reach into the kids’ piggy banks.

In our May 2021 newsletter, we included a link to a conversation piece entitled

“How do you create a Socialist country?  (But why would you ever want to?)”

How-to-create-a-socialist-country.pdf (f2ppr.org)

One of the key steps is Number 5 – Debt – Increase the debt to an unsustainable level.  The government will be able to increase taxes, which will produce more poverty.

Our Editorial Board believes that there are two goals of the Socialists.  One is to increase the level of dependency on the federal government.  The other is to increase the level of inflation, which has a disproportionate effect on people of lesser means (who are having a harder time filling up their gas tank and buying groceries).

US Debt Clock – – March 1^st – $91,050 per citizen / April 1st – $91,225

E-Newsletter No. 99                 March 2022          

Last month, we ended the newsletter with a bad news warning that the authoritarian Left will never stop in their continued attempts to fundamentally transform our country.  The Biden Administration had proposed its “Build Back Better” legislative agenda, which had zero support from any member of the Republican party, along with some very valid concerns expressed by a few members of the Democrat party, which prevented BBB from being passed.  Instead, Congress decided last month to pass a Continuing Resolution to prevent a shutdown of the government and punted the problem to March 11^th.

We posed a question as to whether it would be possible to get through the remainder of the year with a string of Continuing Resolutions and no additional new spending.  Unfortunately, on March 9^th the House and on March 10^th the Senate passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill, which included several new spending programs. 

The worst part of the legislation is that it resurrected and included spending on “earmarks”.  The 2,741-page bill that was drafted by the Democrats was released to members of the House at 2:00 am on March 9^th before being voted on later that day.  367 pages of the bill were written to list over 4,000 items, which totaled approximately $10 billion of “congressionally directed spending.”  That is a polite term for “incumbent re-election funds”.  In years past, this practice was called “bringing home the bacon.”  The spending includes funds for New York subway tunnels, biking trails in Vermont, Presidio Park in San Francisco, and for the Palo Alto History Museum.  If a citizen doesn’t use the subway tunnels in New York or biking trails in Vermont, or travel to California, you have to wonder how this spending supports the General Welfare of the country as a whole.

The good news is that there will be an election on November 8, 2022.  Elections do have consequences.  Unfortunately, the consequences of the last election have not been very good.  A partial list of these consequences includes the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, an open border and 2 million illegal immigrants this past year with no end in sight, rising crime rates, record high gasoline prices, and an increasing level of inflation that has not been seen since the late 1970s. 

Just a side note – contrary to what you may have heard, the high gasoline prices are not due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  Those increases were put into place when Democrats decided to curtail domestic oil production.  The administration is now looking to replace that domestic production with purchases from Iran, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

US Debt Clock – – February 1^st – $89,950 per citizen / March 1^st – $91,050                     

E-Newsletter No. 98                 February 2022          

The good news is that even though there continues to be daily reports that the Left wants to move forward on various schemes to transform our country, nothing overly bad was passed by Congress this past month.  Having said that…. On February 18^th, our dysfunctional Congress did the right thing and approved an additional Continuing Resolution and kicked the can down the road again to March 11^th.  Stay tuned.  Please keep in mind that these ongoing circus acts during 2022 should never have even happened if Congress had followed their own rules and had passed all of these tax and spending bills prior to September 30, 2021, before the new fiscal year even began.  The good news is that maybe (just maybe) none of these “transformative” changes the Left wants to impose will get passed this year, and we will simply get through the remainder of the year with additional Continuing Resolutions.

The bad news is the authoritarian Left will never stop in their continued attempts to fundamentally transform our country.  The other bad news is that shortly after February 1st, our federal government’s (on book) debt passed the $30 trillion mark, and each citizen’s share of this debt is now officially in excess of $90,000 each.  In addition, inflation – the prices we pay for goods and services – continues to rise, with no end in sight to that problem, either.

However (as we mentioned last month) what is even more troubling is the ongoing assault on our citizens’ Liberty and Freedom.  More on that next month.  BTW – We stand in support of the Canadian truckers.   

US Debt Clock – – January 1^st – $88,710 per citizen / February 1st – $89,950                     

E-Newsletter No. 97                 January 2022          

Last month the Democrats’ Build Back Better bill died the ignoble death that it deserved in the US Senate.  Let’s recap some simple math.  Keep in mind that our “starting point” is that a family of four is currently on the hook for over $350,000 for their share of the federal government’s “on book” debt.  (Set aside and ignore the unfunded liabilities for other socialist “benefits” that have been promised by our federal government).

The first incarnation of the BBB called for new spending of about $3.5 trillion.  It was subsequently “repackaged-for-resale” as being only $1.8 trillion.  But upon further analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office, it was learned that the real price tag of the Democrats’ proposed spending was closer to $5 trillion.  The simple math is that the Democrat party wanted to spend on behalf of that family of four an additional $60,000.  Many Conservatives have concluded that each person in the country could spend their $15,000 much more wisely and efficiently than the federal government.

Are we out of the woods yet?  Hardly.  It has already been announced that the BBB will be repackaged yet again as individual “smaller bite” wish lists.  Time will tell whether our representatives (both Leftists and RINOs) will be able to resist their natural tendency to buy votes with our kids’ and grandkids’ money.

Set aside for a moment the dire financial situation and rising inflation.  Even more troubling is the ongoing assault on our citizens’ Liberty and Freedom.  The other stated objective of the Left include federalizing our elections, eliminating the Electoral College, expanding and then packing the Supreme Court, additional attempts to eliminate the Senate filibuster, Washington DC and/or Puerto Rico statehood, gun control, etc. 

Yes, the Left wants to “fundamentally transform” our country.  Conservatives need to continue to resist those attacks and fight to preserve our country’s founding principles.

US Debt Clock – – December 1^st – $87,070 per citizen / January 1st – $88,710                     

E-Newsletter No. 96               December 2021          

Last month’s newsletter was about Tyranny.  This month’s letter is about Coercion.  The sole power that any type of government possesses comes from its ability to coerce.  In a Republic, the government is granted its powers, which include the power to tax, through the legislative process, from laws passed by elected representatives. 

In the wee morning hours of Wednesday, December 15^th, Congress voted to increase the federal government’s debt limit by $2.5 trillion, because our government has run out of cash (once again).  Last month, we noted that the mantra “Taxation is Theft” is a little bit extreme, because we recognize there is a role for (limited) government, which must be funded via taxes.  There is also another mantra “Government debt is simply future taxation” – – taxes that must be paid by our children and grandchildren.  This is the unpleasant conversation that the citizens of our country need to have.  Unfortunately, there are a number of people (most notably career politicians, Paul Krugman, etc.) who sidestep this “immorality” issue by saying that the government’s debt doesn’t ever need to be repaid.  How did that line of thinking ever come about? It’s interesting to note how things have changed over the centuries.

“Avoid likewise the accumulation of debt…  (the) throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.” – George Washington

“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country.  One is by the sword.  The other is by debt.” – John Adams

“Think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another the power over your liberty.” — Benjamin Franklin

“I, however, place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Herbert Hoover

“We don’t have a [multi-] trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough.  We have a [multi-] trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.” – Ronald Reagan

This latest increase to the federal government’s debt limit was approved on a purely partisan basis.  Earlier in the evening, every Democrat Senator approved the increase, and every Republican Senator voted No.   In the House, every Democrat Representative approved the increase, and every Republican Representative (except for one GOP RINO) voted No.  It is interesting to note that this vote was probably the “proper” (expedient) thing to do – – otherwise (with having no cash) the federal government would have begun to default on some of its payments.  And obviously (to say the least) such an unprecedented event would have sent shock waves around the world, which has relied upon the “full faith and credit” of the US government.

There is no doubt that the Democrats needed to pass this increase to the debt ceiling, because there is no other way they could push forward with their “Build Back Better” bill.  The cost of the original BBB bill was portrayed by the Democrats as being $3.5 trillion.  With some changes, this amount was subsequently re-packaged as being “only” $1.75 trillion.  But this was accomplished by using a number of budgeting gimmicks, the worst of which was to say that some of the programs would be for only a limited number of years.  Upon further analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office, it was learned that if these socialist programs were to become permanent (which is what the Democrats really want to have happen) the cost of the BBB bill increases by an additional $3 trillion.  Where is all of this money going to come from? 

It is interesting to note how the media has thrown its support behind the BBB bill and this unprecedented increase in government spending and debt.  In one Associated Press article it was noted – One reason for Democrats’ urgency is that unless the measure (BBB) is approved by December 28^th, the IRS won’t have time to prepare the January 15^th checks to millions of families that receive the child tax credit. 

Our Editorial Board continues to search the US Constitution for references to the child tax credit, or for any other indication as to why this is an appropriate role for the federal government, or why future generations are being called upon to pay for these January 15^th child tax credit payments.

US Debt Clock – – November 1^st – $86,915 per citizen / December 1st – $87,070

E-Newsletter No. 95               November 2021          

Tyranny:  Cruel and oppressive rule by the government

Coercion:  The practice of “persuading” someone by using force or threats

Mandate:  An official order to do something (or else)  

Similar words.  Similar evils.

Last month we stated the undeniable fact that tyranny has happened in many places around the world and throughout human history.  The birth of our country came about in 1776 because our Founders decided they could no longer tolerate the tyranny of King George. 

As we revisited those complaints against King George, we realized that nearly all of those “trespasses” have re-arisen within our country once again.  Granted, there are a few complaints from 1776 that aren’t applicable today.  We are not being forced to quarter large bodies of armed troops, and King George isn’t plundering our seas or ravaging our coasts.  However, it is a fact that BLM and Antifa are burning some of our cities and destroying the lives of those residents.

Conservatives tend to agree with Thomas Paine, and we recognize that the only legitimate role of government is to protect our lives and protect our rights.  (Everything else should be handled by civil society).  The definition of tyranny is when we are subjected to cruel and oppressive rule, including those instances when our unalienable rights are being attacked and/or constrained by the government.  “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”

But, c’mon man, are things today truly that bad?  Conservatives would answer that question with a resounding “YES.”  Let’s start with the complaint about the Immoral Left.  But first, let’s discuss the definitions of Morality and Altruism.  Morality addresses values and principles of conduct and the distinction between right and wrong.  So, is Morality a subjective term?  We would answer “yes and no.”  There is no doubt that an atheist can be a moral individual, even though he / she might not share all of the values and principles of a religious person.  So, what is right and what is wrong?  Again, it comes down to values and principles.

The definition of Altruism is “Feelings and behaviors that show a desire to help others.”  Interestingly, one of the definitions in the Merriam Webster dictionary is “Behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself, but that benefits another of its species.”

One of the goals of the Immoral Left is to attack Conservatives’ Freedom of Religion in their attempts to institute a secular society.  John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  The religion of the Left is Big and Bigger Government.  This is why the Radical Left opposes “In God We Trust” and would like to strike the phrase “One nation, under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance.

The ”Build Back Better” legislation that has recently passed the US House of Representatives contains many immoral provisions.  There is no doubt that most of this spending is directed towards counter-productive objectives that are not beneficial and may be harmful to the country as a whole.  It represents a laundry list of special interest spending, with the primary goal of buying people’s votes with other people’s money. $1.75 trillion represents approximately $5,300 of spending for every man, woman and child in our country.  Many of us believe that we could spend that amount of money much more efficiently than the federal government.      

A well-known Libertarian mantra is “Taxation is Theft.”  (Please refer to the Eighth Commandment).  We don’t go quite that far, because we do believe that (limited) government has a proper role in society, and it must be funded.  However, the Immoral Left has perfected the theft of funds from future generations (our children and grandchildren) who do not yet have the right to vote. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that even with all of the proposed tax increases in this bill, it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal government’s debt, which continues to head in the wrong direction, even without this new spending. 

Which brings us to the upcoming key date of December 3^rd, which is the date to which Congress kicked the can to deal with the “debt limit problem.”  We are now facing our annual “debt crisis” and possible federal government shut down.  Unfortunately, if our country didn’t have so many people totally dependent on the government, a permanent total shut down of the government (except for the military and the judiciary) might be the best answer.

US Debt Clock – – October 1^st – $86,640 per citizen / November 1st – $86,915

Who knows what this amount will be at the end of December??

E-Newsletter No. 94               October 2021          

Numerous occurrences of Tyranny have happened throughout human history.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to fundamentally alter the political bands which connect them with their federal government….

http://www.f2ppr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/The-2021-Declaration-of-Independence.pdf

“These are the times that try men’s souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.  Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered…” – Thomas Paine, from The American Crisis, published in 1776

US Debt Clock – – September 1^st – $86,150 per citizen / October 1st – $86,640