On Liberty Pt. 4 (What is a Right)

We are hearing a lot these days about rights. But what exactly is a right? In order to enjoy freedoms and liberties afforded by the Constitution of the United States one first needs to learn a little bit about the rights protected by the document. Moreover, one also needs to understand what exactly a right in and of itself is.

A right is very simply something "God given", "endowed at birth", "self evident", etc... However this has been mirked up for several generations now until the common layperson has no idea what a right is. If they did we would not have a multitude talking about the right to health care, the right to affordable housing, etc...

In simpler terms a right is something each and every human being is endowed with, upon being born, that does not require anything from anyone else. Namely the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness so long as I do not infringe on anyone else's right to seek and/or do the same.

In order to understand this better, ask yourself, "Can my belief in this "right" and my attaining it be done in such a manner so as not one other single person on earth has to give up something in order for me to gain said right?" If your answer is yes, I can gain this without any single person having to lose something then what you are seeking is a right. Anything else is something gained by force and/or coercion on some level or another.

Quote for the Day

"And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms...The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." — Thomas Jefferson

Quote for the Day

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." -- Thomas Jefferson

What We Get for 700+ Billion Dollars

"How much are politicians straining to convince people that the government is stimulating the economy? In Oregon, where lawmakers are spending $176 million to supplement the federal stimulus, Democrats are taking credit for a remarkable feat: creating 3,236 new jobs in the program's first three months.

But those jobs lasted on average only 35 hours..." [link]

Money well spent don't you think?

Hope and change, I hope everyone wants some change now.

The Bill of No Rights

While perusing the internet after a rather sleepless night I ran across this gem and thought I would share it with my readers. It could probably also be titled "Rational Thinking and Common Sense."

"We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden delusional and other liberal, commie, pinko bedwetters.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that a whole lot of people were confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights.

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the World is full of idiots, and probably always will be." [link]

You can follow the link for the rest.

New York Patriot Refuses to Surrender His Rifle

"This is the last legal gun that you can have without registration in New York," Littlejohn said. "And yet Mayor Bloomberg is driven crazy by my flintlock gun - the one that won the American Revolution.

A police source says the war could end peacefully if Littlejohn applied for a permit with the NYPD handgun license division.

Littlejohn would rather fight. The Brooklynite says he's willing to sue for his rifle rights." [link]

I can't figure out if it is hilarious that these crackpots in New York are going after this man and his rifle, and that he could end it peacefully by registering with the "NYPD handgun licensing division". Or so outright infuriating that these people are so terrified of individual rights that they act this irrationally.

Quote for the Day

"Governments derive... their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, (absolute power or influence of any kind) it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." -- US Declaration of Independence

Out of Touch With Reality

"I thought this was like a frequent-flier program," Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said of the special benefits. "I thought nothing of it." [link]

Let us just assume for a moment that Congressman Conrad speaks the truth. These words would have been spoken right in the middle of the housing bubble burst. How often does he think people go out an buy new homes. Quite a bit evidently if he makes comments like that above. And he is supposed to represent the people of his state with a warped sense of reality like that?

Now lets assume that he lied. He knew he was getting the good deal because of his clout as a senator and there was a little quid-pro-quo going on. Then he either acted illegally and/or unethically and does not deserve to represent the good people of North Dakota.

Quote for the Day

"A government can be compared to our lungs. Our lungs are best when we don't realize they are helping us breathe. It is when we are constantly aware of our lungs that we know they have come down with an illness." -- Lao-Tzu

Health Care Reform and Freedoms Lost

Pretty straight forward loss of personal choices and decisions. I will just mention the 5 you can go to the link to read more in detail.

"1. Freedom to choose what's in your plan.
2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs.
3. Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage.
4. Freedom to keep your existing plan.
5. Freedom to choose your doctors."

Read in more detail here.

Now what you can do about it is put pressure on your congressman to not vote for this plan. Or any plan even remotely like it.

Back From Vacation

Just wanted to update that we are back. Minus some minor car trouble everything went well. Will start posting again tomorrow or later tonight possibly.

Vacation

Well, I will be going on a family vacation for just a shade over a week. I will continue with this blog when I return.

Option, What Option?

"Congress: It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal." [link]

Yep, that's right, its go with the government or not much of anything. Guess Obama will try to "Rahm" this thru as well.

Quote for the Day

"Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns have." --Seen on a bumper sticker

Thoughts on Health Care

"President Obama and his political team -- starring David Axelrod, Rahm Emmanuel, and Robert Gibbs -- will begin a full court press with the American public today to sell their $1 trillion dollar plan..." [link]

Can we just WHOA UP! just a bit right here. $1 trillion dollars? And remember this is just an estimate. Just like Obama and teams estimate that the porkulus would keep unemployment at 8.5% or below. The government itself is broke, people are losing their jobs at an alarming rate, prices on goods are going up, where do they think they will get this money?

Oh right tax the rich. I will say I am far from rich, and I do not want to take from others. I opt out of insurance at my job because of the cost. However I am covered due to my wife's insurance plan, I wonder if I am one of the "estimated" 46 million Americans without health insurance?

If Obama and team can show me a health care package that reduces price, does not tax the people, does not diminish the care one can receive, and still allows for being able to see a doctor in a timely manner (unlike other nations with socialized medicine where you take a number and wait several months to see a doctor) then I might think differently about this sweeping overhaul. Until then I will not be for "socialized medicine."

Nationlized Healthcare in a Nutshell

Could Someone Explain This?

The House Democrats Health Plan. I can't make heads or tails of it, and I have a college degree.

Quote for the Day

"They have rights who dare maintain them." – James Russell Lowell

A Czar Quits

"The peculiar timing of Steven Rattner's departure as White House car czar has raised questions about the course of an investigation that has scrutinized his possible dealings with the New York state pension fund." [link]

The outright lunacy of these czar posts sort of tickle me anyway. Well except for the fact that they are one of the largest powergrabs in the history of the world and the vast majority of people are standing by and watching it happen. Some "true journalists" not the authorized journalists, need to start digging into the past of all of Obama's appointed czars and see what they can come up with.

Quote for the Day

"…so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men." -- Voltarine de Cleyre

Here a Czar, There a Czar, Everywhere You Look a Czar!

As the number of so-called "czars" keeps piling up, it's raising serious questions about how powerful these White House insiders are..."It underscores the inefficiency of government that you keep ... having people, hoping that maybe they will get something done that the massive government bureaucracy cannot," he said...Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., likens these officials to part of a parallel government, "one that is outside of the Constitution and the authority of Congress." [link]

I would like to bring these czar's to everyone's attention. America needs to keep a close eye on these czars. Especially since they do cross over cabinet boundaries, have sweeping influence and power, and do not have to be vetted, or approved by Congress.

Gun Show Problem

Yep it happened again. Went to a local gun show with some goodies to try and sell. Did not sell one single thing, but did end up a gun lighter traded two for one. Anytime I go with the intention of trying to sell or get rid of it never seems to work out that way. Maybe I should go with the mindset that I gonna buy the crap out of everything, then again if I went with that mindset I might end up broke and bankrupt.

Ah well, it seems to "work" for Congress.

Quote for the Day

"The mere wealth of America is not what engenders love of country. In fact, the least affluent areas are probably the most patriotic." – Mona Charen


Sort of makes you wonder who or what areas Justice Ginsburg was talking about again doesn't it?

A Supreme Court Judge Said What?!

"Q: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?
JUSTICE GINSBURG: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae — in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of..." [link]

Yes, I had to read that several times to make sure that I was in fact reading it correctly. We just had a sitting supreme court judge say that there was concern about population growth and in particular in certain populations! Wonder what populations she was referring to?

It is exactly this type of lunatic thinking that the 2nd amendment was intended to protect all citizens of the United States against.

Here is a link to the official 1970 census report. You may extrapolate your own data and draw your own conclusions.

Going Down the Drain

In one of the ultimate leftist states we now have this news: "Of course, it is not clear how attractive a piece of California’s debt would be to investors. On Monday, Fitch Ratings downgraded California’s long-term bond rating to BBB from A-, only two notches from junk-bond status, citing the state’s continuing budget drama." [link]

Seems like the ultra-liberal state of California is getting a dose of reality and liberal programs can do in the long run.