House Resolution 1207 - Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 is a bill that calls for an open and transparent audit of the Federal Reserve. This is a bipartisan resolution with currently over 200 co-sponsors.
I would be extremely surprised if Representative Rick Larsen has not been receiving significant constituent feedback requesting his support for this bill and he can expect to hear more feedback at the public hearing he is holding in Ferndale on June 13th, 3pm at the WECU Ferndale Education Center.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Political grandstanding and interventionism
Today mark's the 20th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre. So of course the US House of Representatives has time to pass a resolution admonishing China for an event that took place 20 years ago and to dictate to them actions that they should take today. I find it interesting that in the 20 years since "the incident" China has emerged as a manufactoring and economic powerhouse and we are heading down the path to becoming a poor indebted nation.
My guess is that this resolution will pass with only Ron Paul opposing it as he refuses to play the same political games as other elected representatives.
Update: This Resolution DID pass 396 to 1 on June 2nd.
Everyone in America should be concerned when our House of Representatives is willing to debate and most likely pass a resolution of which the official text of said resolution is not even available to review! Good grief.
From: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/tx14_paul/China.shtml
Statement of Congressman Ron Paul
United States House of Representatives
Statement on H Res 489 Regarding Tiananmen Square
June 3, 2009
I rise to oppose this unnecessary and counter-productive resolution regarding the 20th anniversary of the incident in China’s Tiananmen Square. In addition to my concerns over the content of this legislation, I strongly object to the manner in which it was brought to the floor for a vote. While the resolution was being debated on the House floor, I instructed my staff to obtain a copy so that I could read it before the vote. My staff was told by no less than four relevant bodies within the House of Representatives that the text was not available for review and would not be available for another 24 hours. It is unacceptable for Members of the House of Representatives to be asked to vote on legislation that is not available for them to read!
As to the substance of the resolution, I find it disturbing that the House is going out of its way to meddle in China’s domestic politics, which is none of our business, while ignoring the many pressing issues in our own country that definitely are our business.
This resolution “calls on the People’s Republic of China to invite full and independent investigations into the Tiananmen Square crackdown, assisted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross…” Where do we get the authority for such a demand? I wonder how the US government would respond if China demanded that the United Nations conduct a full and independent investigation into the treatment of detainees at the US-operated Guantanamo facility?
The resolution “calls on the legal authorities of People’s Republic of China to review immediately the cases of those still imprisoned for participating in the 1989 protests for compliance with internationally recognized standards of fairness and due process in judicial proceedings.” In light of US government’s extraordinary renditions of possibly hundreds of individuals into numerous secret prisons abroad where they are held indefinitely without charge or trial, one wonders what the rest of the world makes of such US demands. It is hard to exercise credible moral authority in the world when our motto toward foreign governments seems to be “do as we say, not as we do.”
While we certainly do not condone government suppression of individual rights and liberties wherever they may occur, why are we not investigating these abuses closer to home and within our jurisdiction? It seems the House is not interested in investigating allegations that US government officials and employees approved and practiced torture against detainees. Where is the Congressional investigation of the US-operated “secret prisons” overseas? What about the administration’s assertion of the right to detain individuals indefinitely without trial? It may be easier to point out the abuses and shortcomings of governments overseas than to address government abuses here at home, but we have the constitutional obligation to exercise our oversight authority in such matters. I strongly believe that addressing these current issues would be a better use of our time than once again condemning China for an event that took place some 20 years ago.
Update: This Resolution DID pass 396 to 1 on June 2nd.
Everyone in America should be concerned when our House of Representatives is willing to debate and most likely pass a resolution of which the official text of said resolution is not even available to review! Good grief.
From: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/tx14_paul/China.shtml
Statement of Congressman Ron Paul
United States House of Representatives
Statement on H Res 489 Regarding Tiananmen Square
June 3, 2009
I rise to oppose this unnecessary and counter-productive resolution regarding the 20th anniversary of the incident in China’s Tiananmen Square. In addition to my concerns over the content of this legislation, I strongly object to the manner in which it was brought to the floor for a vote. While the resolution was being debated on the House floor, I instructed my staff to obtain a copy so that I could read it before the vote. My staff was told by no less than four relevant bodies within the House of Representatives that the text was not available for review and would not be available for another 24 hours. It is unacceptable for Members of the House of Representatives to be asked to vote on legislation that is not available for them to read!
As to the substance of the resolution, I find it disturbing that the House is going out of its way to meddle in China’s domestic politics, which is none of our business, while ignoring the many pressing issues in our own country that definitely are our business.
This resolution “calls on the People’s Republic of China to invite full and independent investigations into the Tiananmen Square crackdown, assisted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross…” Where do we get the authority for such a demand? I wonder how the US government would respond if China demanded that the United Nations conduct a full and independent investigation into the treatment of detainees at the US-operated Guantanamo facility?
The resolution “calls on the legal authorities of People’s Republic of China to review immediately the cases of those still imprisoned for participating in the 1989 protests for compliance with internationally recognized standards of fairness and due process in judicial proceedings.” In light of US government’s extraordinary renditions of possibly hundreds of individuals into numerous secret prisons abroad where they are held indefinitely without charge or trial, one wonders what the rest of the world makes of such US demands. It is hard to exercise credible moral authority in the world when our motto toward foreign governments seems to be “do as we say, not as we do.”
While we certainly do not condone government suppression of individual rights and liberties wherever they may occur, why are we not investigating these abuses closer to home and within our jurisdiction? It seems the House is not interested in investigating allegations that US government officials and employees approved and practiced torture against detainees. Where is the Congressional investigation of the US-operated “secret prisons” overseas? What about the administration’s assertion of the right to detain individuals indefinitely without trial? It may be easier to point out the abuses and shortcomings of governments overseas than to address government abuses here at home, but we have the constitutional obligation to exercise our oversight authority in such matters. I strongly believe that addressing these current issues would be a better use of our time than once again condemning China for an event that took place some 20 years ago.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
C4L Regional Conference from Seattle - Thanks TVW
Sadly I missed out on the free portions of the Campaign for Liberty Regional conference that went on last weekend in Seattle, WA. Luckily TVW was there to capture them on video!
Here's the video from the "Freedom Celebration" that occured on Friday, May 22nd.
TVW Link
MP3
Here's another video from the conference in which State House of Representatives Matt Shea (R-4) and Carry Condatta (R-12) talk about our style of government and how bills become law.
TVW Link
And finally, if you want to check out photos taken at this event they can be found on Flickr.
Update: The first TVW video covering last Friday's "Freedom Celebration" is not currently available. If you follow the TVW link it says that this video will be rebroadcast today (May 29th) at 3pm so be sure to set your DVRs!
Here's the video from the "Freedom Celebration" that occured on Friday, May 22nd.
TVW Link
MP3
Here's another video from the conference in which State House of Representatives Matt Shea (R-4) and Carry Condatta (R-12) talk about our style of government and how bills become law.
TVW Link
And finally, if you want to check out photos taken at this event they can be found on Flickr.
Update: The first TVW video covering last Friday's "Freedom Celebration" is not currently available. If you follow the TVW link it says that this video will be rebroadcast today (May 29th) at 3pm so be sure to set your DVRs!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
TOTUS Emergency
Apparently there was an accident with one of the TOTUSes today. For those of you not aware TOTUS stands for Teleprompter Of The United States - aka the REAL commander in chief. Anyways, I guess VP Biden even had the audacity to joke about this tragedy. Video is available on Real Clear Politics here. So far I haven't been able to listen to the joke live as it appears the RCP is getting slammed with requests. Biden was quoted as joking:
When I heard the news I immediately checked out the TOTUS blog to make sure the telepromper was alright. It posted the following update.
"what am I going to tell the President when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?"
When I heard the news I immediately checked out the TOTUS blog to make sure the telepromper was alright. It posted the following update.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
See Ron Paul in Seattle for free
This weekend everyone in the northwest has the chance to see the man who predicted the housing meltdown back in 2003 as well as learn a little more about state politics. Campaign For Liberty is having a regional conference in Seattle and Congressman Ron Paul as well as many elected State officials (and Tim Eyman) will all be speaking there. There will be some free events as well as some fund raiser events. If anyone local to Whatcom county wants to carpool down to the "freedom celebration" on Friday or regional training on Sunday, both free events, just add a comment to this entry and I'll send you an email and attempt to coordinate things.
More information about the conference can be found on the Campaign For liberty conference page or in this Campaign For Liberty blog post.
Just to recap:
Freedom Celebration: Friday, 8pm at the Double Tree Hotel in Seattle, Washington. I'll be leaving Bellingham at approx 4:30pm if anyone is interested in carpooling.
Regional Training: Sunday, noon to 4pm at the DoubleTree in Seattle. Speakers and training to help Campaign for Liberty in our Region work with the tools that were given. Speakers will include Tim Eyman the initiative king, State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders and several other speakers who will be training us on the ins and outs of Washington State politics.
More information about the conference can be found on the Campaign For liberty conference page or in this Campaign For Liberty blog post.
Just to recap:
Freedom Celebration: Friday, 8pm at the Double Tree Hotel in Seattle, Washington. I'll be leaving Bellingham at approx 4:30pm if anyone is interested in carpooling.
Regional Training: Sunday, noon to 4pm at the DoubleTree in Seattle. Speakers and training to help Campaign for Liberty in our Region work with the tools that were given. Speakers will include Tim Eyman the initiative king, State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders and several other speakers who will be training us on the ins and outs of Washington State politics.
Friday, May 15, 2009
I biked to work today!
It was a beautiful morning to bike in to work and the ride was made all the better by having Celebration Stations sponsored by the 12th annual Whatcom County Bike to Work day. I visited five celebration stations on my route in to work this morning including:
Thanks to all the volunteers who staffed the stations this morning!
- Barkley Village Haggen
- Sunnyland (James St)
- Shuksan (Northwest Rd) - This one was a surprise! Not on the map.
- Bakerview & Northwest
- Cordata at Westerly Road
Thanks to all the volunteers who staffed the stations this morning!
Monday, February 2, 2009
On Capitalism and Greed
A friend sent me this short video which I think is another great example why a free market system is best. Republicans/Conservatives/Libertartians/all those who love freedom and personal liberty need to be able to debate using points like those contained in this video.
At the very end of the video Milton Friedman asks the following question:
"Tell me where in the world you are going to find these angels who are going to organize society for us?" I guess those angels are Obama/Pelosi/Reid.
At the very end of the video Milton Friedman asks the following question:
"Tell me where in the world you are going to find these angels who are going to organize society for us?" I guess those angels are Obama/Pelosi/Reid.
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