Secessionists show support for Iran?

Larry Kilgore (R), the seccessionist movement’s candidate for Texas Governor seems to be of the mind that The Republic of Texas, once it secedes from the United States of America, will abandon any support for Israel and lend it’s support to Iran. On his facebook page, Mr. Kilgore touts an Iranian interview of Kirkpatrick Sale Talks To the Iranians About the Death of Empires. The interview with The Middlebury Instituteappeared in the Kayhan International newspaper of Tehran, Iran on July 21, 2009.

Sale compares the secessionist movement with the breakup of the Soviet Union. He states “I believe the American empire is succumbing to these same pressures. It has grown too large and distended to maintain its political and military hold over the world, or even to control its own economy.”

For what is an undeniably Republican movement, although it’s proponents deny it, it is strange that much of Sale’s thoughts on the dissolution of the Untied States have resulted in the Republican priorities of the Bush administration. Mr Kirkpatrick writes “It is unable to wage war anywhere, despite piling on huge resources and tons of money, and as it does so it creates enmity in most of the world and unpopularity at home. It is corrupted by corporate interests to the core, and is inept and inefficient, unable to solve the myriad problems its oversize and overstretch have created, including its enormous debt, its out-of-control health system, its failing public school system, its unregulated financial sector, its dependency on foreign oil and other resources, and its significant contribution to global warming.”

The interview then moves to the discussion of Israel. The interviewer bemoans that the US Media lies day and night about Iran. Iran is peaceful and only looking for peaceful nuclear energy yet the US is continuously agressive to Iran. Sale states that the foreign policy of the United Stares was hi-jacked by Israel and the Jewish lobby in 1948. Surprisingly he add much blame to the Bush Administration and says “especially since the rise of the neoconservatives in the Bush years. The Israelis figured out how to get us to invade Iraq, a thorn in its side, and now they are trying to get us to do the same to you.”

Mr. Kilgore wholeheartedly endorses Sale’s views with this statement on his Facebook page “We are beginning to to heal relationships with foreign countries now. My friend, Kirkpatrick Sale, has done a great job bringing secessionist together from differing political spectrum’s in North America. Glad to see he’s reaching out to the global community.”

I guess we don’t know who are friends are. I seem to remember that it was the Iranians not the Israelis who held our Embassy Staff hostage for over a year. The secessionist movement thinks Iran is our friend? Wooooooo…

Has Govenor Perry lost his mind

As we all know back in March Perry rejected $555 million in federal stimulus funds which would have helped struggling unemployed Texans by expanding unemployment benefits. Perry’s argument was that accepting the money would burden Texans with “higher taxes and expanded obligations” In April, at the Republican/FoxNews fronted Tea Parties Perry even boasted that Texas may have to leave the Union. See our earlier post. Now we hear that Perry was forced to ask the federal government a loan of $170 million because Texas doesn’t have the funds to cover unemployment insurance. Furthermore, Perry is expected to have to request a total of around $650 million, around $100 million more than Perry originally rejected. Now the important part of this is the stimulus was a grant. Grant = don’t repay. Perry is doing exactly what he so vehemently cried against at the Tea Party. Texas needs to secede because the federal government is saddling us with Taxes we can’t afford. So Texas now has to borrow, take out a loan of over half a billion dollars. Texans who supported and those that don’t will be saddled with unnecessary Taxes to repay his political grandstanding.

Now Perry is saying the same thing about the Health Care Reform issue. “It really is a state issue, and if there was ever an argument for the 10th Amendment and for letting the states find a solution to their problems, this may be at the top of the class, Perry said. ‘A government-run health care system is financially unstable. It’s not the solution.” Perry then went on to opine “I can’t imagine that anyone from Texas who cares about this state would vote for Obama Care. I don’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican. Then to warn Texans in Congress “This may sound a little bit harsh, but they might ought to consider representing some other state because they’re sure not representing Texas.”

Texas’ middle class and working poor were run into the ground in the Bush Govenorship. Now under Perry they have been ground into it by the corporate lobbyist money loving Republican elite. The Govenor loves to put it as not a Democrat or Republican issue but all you have to do is take a quick glance and see how far the State has been set back under the Republican leaderships tenure of currying favor to business.

Texas ranks in the near the bottom of all social statistics thanks to the past two Republican Administrations. The national rate of uninsured Americans is about 15.5%. In Texas is 25%. Teachers pay ranks 45th or 46th worse in the nation. We have to borrow and repay what we could have got for free. And these are the people who are going to save us from the federalists by seceding.

We Texans need to open ours eyes, quit being sheep and take the lead and pull Texas up by it’s bootstaps to the Prominence we once enjoyed. If not we will continue to be the laughing stock of the nation.

House passes HRC50 – House Concurrent Resolution 50

The 10th Amendment Center has published on their Texas Secession pages that the Texas House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 50 (HCR50) on May 30, 2009. See http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/05/30/texas-house-feds-back-off/

As usual the proponents of the secession movement are either unwilling, unable to do a little research or just plain don’t care and just wish to throw some red meat at the pitch fork crowd. The article the 10th Amendment Center posted was the bill sent from Committee to the House.  They report with glee that “Texas House to Feds: Back Off” yet they fail to inform the readers that in order to get the bill passed it was amended to watered down to a state that makes it not worth the paper being used to distribute it.  The members of the House of Representatives used common sense to ensure the document was not and could not be used as propganda in the Texas Secession movement.

HCR 50
(by Creighton, Hughes, Berman, Gattis, Guillen, et al.)

HCR 50, Affirming that the State of Texas claims sovereignty under the
Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not
otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the U.S.
Constitution, serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain
mandates, and providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed.

Amendment No. 1
Representative Coleman offered the following amendment to HCRi50:
Amend HCR 50 as follows:
On page 2, line 19, after “legislation”, insert “not necessary to ensure rights
guaranteed the people under the constitution of the United States”.

Amendment No. 1 was adopted.Amendment No. 2
Representative Dunnam offered the following amendment to HCRi50:
Amend HCR 50 as follows:

(1) On page 1, before line 1, insert:
WHEREAS, Each Member of the Legislature feels great pride in being
citizens of the United States of America, which includes the rights of citizens to
petition their government for redress of grievances; and,

WHEREAS, All Texans have benefited from this State’s participation in the
unique experience in democracy that first began on a field in Lexington,
Massachusetts, and called The United States of America; and

WHEREAS, Countless Texans have served in the Armed Forces of the
United States with the brave sons and daughters of all our sister States to protect
our State, our Nation, our Union, and many of them gave the last full measure of
devotion by offering their lives to preserve that Union; and

WHEREAS, Each Member of the Legislature has sworn a solemn oath to
defend our National Union; and

WHEREAS, Each day, millions of Texans assemble in churches,
synagogues, schools, arenas, fields, and homes to pledge allegiance to the Flag of
the United States of America and the one nation, indivisible, for which that Flag
stands; and

Amendment 2 is very important as it takes all thought of secession out of the equation.  The Representatives endorse being part of the National Union.   How much more clear then WHEREAS, Each Member of the Legislature has sworn a solemn oath to defend our National Union;do you have to get.

6004 81st LEGISLATURE — REGULAR SESSION

(2) On page 2, lines 3, strike “congress” and substitute “the Congress of the
United States”.

The Representatives removed the slight from the partisan committee and used the proper name as well they should.

(3) On page 2, between lines 9 and 10, insert:
RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, That
the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas reaffirms the pride of all Texans in both
our one and indivisible National Union and in our one and indivisible State and
the common heritage of both; and, be it further

the State of Texas reaffirms the pride of all Texans in both our one and indivisible National Union and in our one and indivisible State and the common heritage of both     pretty much sums up that secession is not the issue they are speaking of.

(5) Strike the last resolving clause and substitute:
RESOLVED, that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is
directed to send a copy of this Resolution to the Senators and Representatives of
Texas in Congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the
Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of
America; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is
directed to send a copy of this Resolution to the President of the United States of
America, the Vice President of the United States of America, the Speaker of the
House of Representatives of the United States of America, and to the governor of
each sister State as an expression of the affection of the people of Texas for our
one National and Indivisible Union.
Amendment No. 2 was adopted.

Amendment No. 3
Representative Veasey offered the following amendment to HCRi50:
Amend HCR 50 on page 2, line 27, between “United States Congress,” and
“and to all the members”, by inserting “to the minority leader of the house of
representatives and the minority leader of the senate,”.
Amendment No. 3 was adopted.

HCR 50, as amended, was adopted by (Record 1544): 99 Yeas, 36 Nays, 4
Present, not voting.
Yeas” Anderson; Aycock; Berman; Bohac; Bonnen; Branch; Brown, B.;
Brown, F.; Button; Callegari; Chisum; Christian; Cohen; Cook; Crabb; Craddick;
Creighton; Crownover; Darby; Davis, J.; Dunnam; Edwards; Eissler; Elkins;
Fletcher; Flynn; Frost; Gallego; Gattis; Geren; Guillen; Gutierrez; Hamilton;
Hancock; Hardcastle; Harless; Harper-Brown; Hartnett; Hilderbran; Homer;
Saturday, May 30, 2009 HOUSE JOURNAL — 84th Day 6005
Hopson; Howard, C.; Hughes; Hunter; Isett; Jackson; Jones; Keffer(C); King, P.;
King, S.; King, T.; Kleinschmidt; Kolkhorst; Laubenberg; Legler; Lewis; Lucio;
Madden; Maldonado; Martinez; McCall; McReynolds; Merritt; Miklos; Miller,
D.; Miller, S.; Moody; Morrison; Oliveira; Orr; Ortiz; Otto; Parker; Patrick;
Paxton; Pen˜ a; Phillips; Pickett; Pitts; Quintanilla; Riddle; Rios Ybarra; Ritter;
Rose; Sheffield; Shelton; Smith, T.; Smith, W.; Smithee; Solomons; Swinford;
Taylor; Thibaut; Truitt; Turner, C.; Vaught; Weber; Woolley; Zerwas.
Nays — Allen; Alonzo; Anchia; Burnam; Castro; Chavez; Coleman; Davis,
Y.; Deshotel; Dukes; Dutton; Eiland; Farias; Farrar; Flores; Gonzales; Gonzalez
Toureilles; Hernandez; Herrero; Hodge; Leibowitz; Mallory Caraway; Marquez;
Martinez Fischer; McClendon; Menendez; Naishtat; Olivo; Raymond;
Rodriguez; Thompson; Turner, S.; Veasey; Villarreal; Vo; Walle.
Present, not voting—Mr. Speaker; Bolton; Howard, D.; Strama.
Absent, Excused—Alvarado; Driver; Farabee; Giddings; Kent; Kuempel.
Absent, Excused, Committee Meeting—Corte.


It will be interesting to see if those in the Texas Secession movement  report that the bill does not give them the victory they have been hailing.  It gives the impression that due to the political climate in Texas and more specifically the Republican Party, you must toe the party line or else.  At least there are reasonable thinkers who were able amend the bill to ensure that it is basically meaningless, that is just more of a “Yeah we passed
an Amendment ” come election time.

Secession Realities – Licenses to practice a trade or profession

After having to visit the doctor yesterday for what was diagnosed as food poisoning, I started thinking about a part of the proposed Texas Constitution regarding the doing away with any requirement of licensing to practice any profession one chooses. I always wanted to be a doctor and once Texas secedes I will be able to hang my shingle and start my practice.  Never mind that I have BA in History it’s the thought of the framers that education is meaningless any way and according to:
Article 2. Limits of Government
Section 7. Government shall never issue charters, licenses, certificates of competency, nor any form of recognition or registration for any organization or individual.According to the framers this means that you will be able to work without permission from government. You will not be issued nor required to have a government-furnished ID number, ie., Social Security Number. You will not need a need a license to practice your trade or profession.

Sounds pretty good until you really consider the possible ramifications this would most undoutbably lead to.

Consider my predicament from this weekend.  I was traveling on a couple of hour jaunt and decided to stop in a small town and get something to eat.  By the time I got home I was feeling kind of icky and by midnight downright sick.  Now according to the framers if I want to be a health inspector all I have to do is twitch my nose and kazam, I’m a Health Inspector.  I wonder if that was what lead me to my predicament but that’s another issue.  I don’t find the Health Inspection business to my liking so I decide I’m going to be an Orthopedic Surgeon.  All I have to do is find office space and some doctoring tools and then convince the uneducated populace that I can perform a double level spinal fusion.

One of the benefits of the new system is that since I don’t have to prove any competency to be a doctor, you can’t sue me if I accidentally paralyze your from the waist down.  I’m allowed to carry any type of weapon I deem fit so believe me I’ll be protected in case you come after me that way.  But say you do want to sue me and can find a lawyer, alot of politicians are out of work so I’m sure they will be hawking their services.  But for a better deal you can hire my brother who used to work in a wrecking yard and was an actor at a local theater.  He always wanted to be a lawyer but could not afford to go to college and was not smart enough to get any scholarships.  But he does have the gift of gab and that’s all a good lawyer needs, right?

But, in all seriousness, consider some real ramifications.  The Republic as we discussed earlier will have no public education and let’s say your community puts together a community school.  Joe Blow comes and interviews and seems very knowledgable and sincere in his desire to teach your children.  how are you to know tah hs is a convicted child molester who sees this as a golden opportunity. There is no way for you to check if he is an educator let alone a child molester.   The scenarios go on and on and get scarier and scarier.

And lastly be careful where you stop and get fried chicken.  It’s really was an unpleasant experience.

Secession Realities, Public to Private Ownership of Services – Education

The issue of the transfer and ownership of previously governmental managed entities to private holdings in the new Republic of Texas is quite interesting. As the proposed Constitution does away with all public entities such as Education, any and all Medical Service, Fire Protection, etc., many new opportunities are available for entrepreneurs. In our first article in this area let us look at Education.

The proposed Constitution of the New Republic of Texas provides that:

Article 5 – Transfer of Government Real Property
Section 2. Education Facilities
a. Any public property currently used as an education facility may be awarded to a voluntary organization of individuals interested in providing education services to Texans provided that at least fifty percent of the members of the organization were, within five years prior to Texas Freedom Day, themselves students or had children who were students of the education facility being awarded or were teachers in that facility. This property may be awarded for no fee provided that the owner or manager of the organization submits an affidavit that the organization has agreed to maintain the education facilities and use them as education facilities to provide education services to Texans at cost for at least ten years.
b. Any education facility for which no organization meeting the requirements of paragraph a is willing to accept responsibility shall be auctioned the same as any other property.

The idea as the framers point out is that “You will be able to control what your children learn. There will be no more government-run public schools which means there will no longer be any need for forced taxation to pay for them. And, since there will no longer be any government rules about what can and can’t be taught, you and your school can decide that. You can even decide to have daily prayers and Koran readings. Or not. You and your school decide. You can home school. If you want. You can form a teaching cooperative. If you want. You can send your children to private school. If you want. You will be in control.”

Ok, so now we have a government that is not allowed to issue currency and a population that has to pursue all transactions with gold. The owners, shall according to the same Article, Section 4. Part C. “be a sole proprietorships shall reorganize to a sole proprietorship or an organization based entirely on contract.” Therefore we will have a non-profit? entity providing this service. As the entity can only provide the service at cost for the first ten years, we must ask what is “at cost”? Does “at cost” provide for salaries of the owners, administrators, principals, maintenance crews, public relations officials, bus drivers, coaches, staff and oh yeah, teachers? Does it also include repayment of the cost of purchasing the school and all associated properties? The list as you can see goes on and on.

Now, how are the citizens who want their children educated afford to have their children educated. With no currency, most folks will be working the fields, fishing, ranching and guarding their property. Most will not have the time or experience to even begin to know how to educate their children.

The New Republic of Texas will quickly fall into the abyss of having an uneducated populace and thus a populace that is unable to compete on the world stage. But maybe just maybe this is what the framers true intent is. With an uneducated populace, the educated within it will be able to assert great control. They will be the rulers of the society. They will be the ones in position to exert their control over the uneducated masses.

The function of public education is to provide the means for the population to be educated with the tools necessary to benefit the society. Other than the safety and security of the citizenry, education is one of the most vital functions a government can provide. It is our opinion the so framers of the Constitution for the New Republic of Texas in their zeal to do away with all taxation, have failed to see the ramifications of this policy and would lead Texas to becoming the next Somalia.

Secession Realities – Education

Under the proposed Constitution for the new Republic of Texas the issue of education is interesting. The Constitution provides that you will be able to control what your children learn.

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention decided that “You will be able to control what your children learn. There will be no more government-run public schools which means there will no longer be any need for forced taxation to pay for them. And, since there will no longer be any government rules about what can and can’t be taught, you and your school can decide that. You can even decide to have daily prayers and Koran readings. Or not. You and your school decide. You can home school. If you want. You can form a teaching cooperative. If you want. You can send your children to private school. If you want. You will be in control.”

“Article 2. Section 11. Government shall never operate, own, control, nor fund any means of education not specifically related to performing the functions of government authorized by this constitution.”

It seems that with each article of this proposed constitution we review, the closer we see Texas becoming the next Somalia. Fortunately the constitution forbids the new government from issuing charters. At least they will not be allowed to issue Letters of Marque to Privateers.

It becomes clearer and clearer as we review this utopian dream the writers came up with as an instrument that any logical thinker will find a dangerous demise into the mid 19th Century. How is Texas going to educate the next generation of Doctors, Nurses, Engineers, etc. Not everyone has the ability and with no money most folks will be extremely busy just trying to meet the basic needs for survival.

It may be that the framers of the constitution have no fear of an uneducated populace and don’t think they will ever need a Doctor of Lawyer for the added “Section 7. Government shall never issue charters, licenses, certificates of competency, nor any form of recognition or registration for any organization or individual.”, which says you do not need a “certificate of competency”, i.e. Medical Degree, Law License, etc., to practice these professions. I have a bad feeling that Bubba who failed the ninth grade but has the gift of gab, will be the one telling someone they need their gall bladder removed and all they need to do is give him 10 ounces of gold.

Once again we feel taxation is not the problem and going to extremes and using secession as a tool to get out of paying taxes has consequences that will be hell to pay.

Seccession Realities – Taxation

All of the talk regarding the secession of Texas from the United States of America, with the exception of some out there zealots, assumes that the United States will wave a gracious goodbye and everything will be hunky dory. Yeah Right!

A Fundamental question that must be answered is what the United States of America’s reaction will truly be. There are scenarios upon scenarios that can be delved into. But for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the United States of America gets up and leaves. We would have to assume also that they would take with them all the national assets that are movable. Texas would not try and stop them because as we stated this is a peaceful secession. Texas will most likely resemble Mogadishu in a very short time once the Army of the United States leaves, again assuming they do so. We must look at how we maintain some semblance of law and order as the reason we hear over and over is that the national government has overstepped its bounds and leaving our children’s children burdened with debt that will have to be paid through higher and higher taxation.

The proponents of secession seek to do away with all forms of taxation, or so they lead you to believe. One suggested Constitution the so called “Texas Constitution of 2000” spells out that “You will be able to decide for yourself how to spend your money. All funding of government under Texas Constitution 2000 is voluntary. No more IRS. No more Form 1040. No more sales tax. No more property tax. ” and that “The new government is prohibited from issuing currency or causing currency to be issued. The new government is required to pay its obligations in gold. ” Now call me simple minded but with no currency there can be no government. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have more than a week or so worth of gold to provide sustenance for my family. It is a nice thought that the government will pay me any obligation it owes me in gold, but where does it get all this gold? According to the proposed Texas Constitution, “County Administrative Councils may raise funds by any method that is advertised as, and is in fact, strictly voluntary for all parties”. If I do not want to pay the tax levied on me now why would I volunteer to fund a new government? Since democracy started in the time of the ancient Greeks, there has been some type of taxation. Taxation is not the problem. The problem is the politicians who are entrusted with he wise expenditures of this tax for the safety and benefit of the people of the nation. With no taxation and no true source of income how will the new nation provide for the safety of the citizens of Texas? The Volunteer National Defense Force will guard the border and keep all them Okies from sneaking across the Red River for free? Oh and what about 10 or 12 million Mexicans who now have no I.C.E. to worry about? I’m sure the politicians of the new Republic will no doubt be much better and wiser than the ones we have presently elected and serving for free will look out for our best interests and not theirs.

Spontaneous Tea Party hmmmm

Think Progress has a good article regarding the New and Improved Tea Party 2.o. Today, Politico reports that Republican Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina are leading the latest development of the anti-tax, anti-Obama tea party protest movement. Dubbed the “Tea Party 2.0”, the Republican Governors Association will host a telephone conference call on Thursday with thousands of right-wing activists to discuss how “our states’ rights are being trampled upon.”

More.

Treasonous or just plain unhealthy talk?

At most any other time in our nation’s history talk like what Gov. Perry espoused at the Tea Party could possibly be labeled as treasonous. How can you love your country, ie. the United States of America and imply that secession is a good idea.

In the clip Gov. Perry states that Texas is a unique place, when we came into the Union in 1845 one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. Nowhere in the terms of Texas’ annexation an I find any such provision stating this. Although the provisions of the Texas Annexation document did call for the allowance of creation of four additional states which is a popular argument being bandied about. However Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution already spelled out the issue of forming new states through the junction or division of existing states and reads:
“New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.”

Much of the oration we hear these days conveniently leaves out out the last six words of the Article. To me they seem to make a huge difference.

In this clip Gov. Perry starts out saying that it is great to see all these people with purity in their hearts and independence on their mind and how he loved to see this many Patriots standing outside city hall. Not withstanding that, from what I read and heard, the Tea Parties were to be about Taxation and the Administration’s wanton disregard for the people’s money. Was there a real intent that I was unaware of then I attended my local Tea Party? As a veteran I was proud to see all the patriotic displays and feeling the people had of doing something. But when the talk started veering to secession and how the only way to fix the problem was to leave the Union, well there were a couple of wackos with signs advocating what I would call lynching the President, my heart sank. When I entered the United States Army, I took an oath to preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. Like it or not was not an issue.

I have voted in ten presidential elections and have not agreed with the outcome of each and every one. Do we as a society that has prospered and been the awe of the world for over two hundred years throw it all away because we are unhappy with the last election. The problem I see is that our politicians for the greatest part have never worn a United States military uniform and known the discipline and respect for the country one gains from doing so. Instead we have draft dodgers, college deferments and “I was too busy serving in other ways”. These are the type people who do not always do what is best for our great country and know how to propagandize an issue to their benefit. Be wary you do not fall into the trap they are springing for you. Don’t fall for electioneering propaganda, treason or just plain unhealthy talk.