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I Weigh In on the Caucus System

By Brandon Backlin on April 17, 2012 in , , , ,

So, as the residue begins to settle on what actually occurred on at all the county-level caucuses within Missouri, I had time to think, reflect, and form opinions on just how the system was laid out and how it will progress. I am only documenting them this late because I got caught up in a lot of other things since then. There were some major brew-ups (like St. Charles county, that’s postponed for another couple of weeks), and some minor brew-ups (like Christian County, whose caucus lasted longer than it should have because there were deadlocks and workarounds), and a few county caucuses went really smoothly. Ours was one of those. Virtual hats-off to Mr. Peter Kershaw for keeping the events at a steady pace and also for employing extremely fair decision-making tactics. He also exercised an extreme degree of patience as he allowed everyone to voice their ideas and opinions. I would say that his sense of patience was greater than most of the caucus-goers, and most certainly greater than my own. Most of the time I was doing this during the caucus:

I almost must say that the Parliamentarian was very fair, the conflicts were kept at a verbal level, and the rules committee came up with easy-to-understand rules (well, for most of us).

Great job and smooth process all-around.

So, if you’re bouncing back between the paragraphs and the title of the post, you may be confused right now. That’s fine; I did that on purpose! :P There are a few things about the caucus process that have me scratching my head. I’ll detail them below.

Why does this process still exist? This is my biggest question. Doing a little research, the caucus process was designed for a totally different time; a time in which news and opinions were not spread far and wide within hours, unlike today. Articles in newspapers take time to write; the paper itself takes time to print, and the printed papers take time to get delivered. Now, at the push of a button, news can appear all over the world within seconds, it’s just a matter of how long it takes before people pay attention to it. As a result of the news spreading slowly back in the day, people would elect delegates, then these delegates would be filled in on what each candidate would stand for and take that into consideration; as well as the voices of their constituency. Each vote would be counted. What each “bracket” in the caucus process amounts to is a minified version of the Electoral College, another rather-old concept that was formed with the same issues in mind as the caucus process. It worked well back then; but it’s an old concept now. Applying old methods to modern conditions is asking for trouble. It’s the same for society.

It’s rife for gamesmanship. Seriously; it is. Just look at the process. I don’t know if the exact number of people who voted for the winning slate was published or not, but I feel confident in the ability to say that a very, very, very small minority spoke for the entirety of Taney County. It’s almost laughably small for the sheer number of people that live here (roughly 65,000). Something else that enters into it; the process could be extended for very long amounts of time, and the extra time is spent arguing over some of the absolute tiniest things. These tiny things sometimes end up having huge potential outcomes, something that makes me lose further hope in the process.

This doesn’t even fix the root issue. Evidently the Missouri GOP was facing an issue where it would lose half of its representation if they followed the same proceedings as last election cycle. As for the exact reason why; the 9th paragraph in this article explains the reason why. To sum that up; because the national GOP passed a measure that discouraged most states from holding “binding” primaries before “Super Tuesday”, which was March 6th. They were concerned with a “top-heavy calender”, an explanation as stupid as the process itself. Since Gov. Nixon vetoed a bill that would nullify the primaries; the state had to go ahead and have them, but they were made “non-binding” by the GOP, meaning the results did not really mean anything.

So, where do we go from here? Now that you read my complaint-filed thoughts on the ages-old caucus process; what can we do to move forward and rectify some of the issues? Here are some ideas:

Instead of discouraging primaries, let’s discourage the caucus system. Yep; you read right. To streamline the process a bit more, parties can switch to a primaries-based system that just sends the results directly to the GOP. Someone from the national level collects the ballots from each county and the results are counted at the national level. It’s either that or results can be reported on the county level to be sure everyone holds their local counters accountable. These results would then be forwarded to the national level. What does this do? It takes the state’s influence out of the equation and breaks down representation to the most practical lowest level. This is also the best form of representation as there is no “purification” process, or branches in which a majority or two minorities can shut everyone else out and stifle progress. It also lets everyone speak directly to the party for their preferred candidate.

Have a Leadership that Leads Yup; it looks like the leaders from all political parties are pretty spineless, which gives me a grim outlook for the future of the nation. The 80s ideology of not being accountable for anybody else but yourself has reared its ugly head all over the place and has brought down a once mighty nation. From the campaign trail where candidates preach on what money they can bring in to the constituents (which the promises wind up failing most of the time) to the leadership that only want to refrain from doing things when it would jeopardize their positions. Just keep in mind that political ideologies go past your pathetic little “position”, even past your life. With that in mind; doing what you can to further these ideologies for the future of the nation will look better than worrying about a position when people do the inevitable research into your political life. In conclusion; LEAD!

Abandon the Party System Altogether You think I’m joking? A very smart man; John Adams, said:

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.

Yup! Some of the founders of this great nation decried the multiple party system; because they serve to break up the nation. How do they do this? By slapping labels on ideologies. If you’re a conservative; your supposed to adhere to a small government. If you’re a liberal, your supposed to adhere to a huge and ever-growing government. However; the labels are changing. Now the conservatives want to use the government to protect corporate welfare and jump into war. Liberals want to use the government to protect public welfare. This moving target creates complexity and divisions within parties; further adding layers of complexity and disenfranchisement in the environment. Instead; we could have each candidate just put out their views and ideologies and let people decide in only one election (the general election); party-free. Granted, there would be a lot of research to be done, but this would greatly simplify things.

Stay tuned for more.

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Damage Done at Greene and Taney County

By Brandon Backlin on April 17, 2012 in , , , , , ,

That’s right folks! Step right up and read the email, sent to us from multiple anonymous sources about how the conservative community was “damaged” at the county level in Greene and Taney counties. Straight from the HTML:

Missouri 7th District Missouri Republican Assembly

All,

Aprils 7th Dist. MRA meeting is this Saturday (4-7-2012) at the Library Center South, 0930-1200 hrs.

Although I have reservations of a meeting on Holy Saturday, we will have a “laid back” meeting this Sat. Justin Hill will be present to discuss the Greene County caucus. We will discuss all 7th Dist Caucus’s as well as the upcoming 7th Dist Caucus. Included in this discussion will be how damaged was the conservative community by the Greene and Tanny results

Please attempt to attend

I am pleased to announce that The 7th Missouri Republican Assembly has been selected as a winner of the 2012 Best of Springfield Award in the Political Organizations category by the US Commerce Association.

WAY TO GO 7th MRA!!

I have an issue with this: how do you know the counties’ conservative movements were indeed “damaged”? All delegates elected at the county level are non-binding; which means they are free to represent whoever they want at the congressional district-level and state-level, even if they were elected as a slate (which is a bunch of delegates elected at once). The numbers were published at Greene County and the majority of delegates were supporters of a non-preferential candidate, however; do we know that the majority of delegates in Taney County are supporters of the same candidate? I would suggest that these people are jumping to conclusions way too early. Sure; you can research their names online, and find out about what they consider to be important issues; and where they stand on them, but attempting to attach a candidate’s name to them is a pre-emptive attack on them at this point; and saying they “damaged” the conservative movement makes it feel more like an attack, a poignant one at that. The big tent is full of good ol’ boys is what I’m trying to say here. If you fulfill the good ol’ boy mantra; you’ll be welcomed in. Anyone else gets shut out. It’s really pretty simple.

Here’s Bungalow Bill’s approach on why we were “damaged”.

There was the Republican alternative to Hillarycare with it’s federal mandate which was written by the likes of Newt Gingrich and the Heritage Foundation. This of course became Romneycare in Massachusetts pushed by Mitt Romney which eventually inspired Obamacare. To this day, Romney doesn’t apologize for the liberty killing mandate that was adopted by Obama and the Democrats.

Then there was all that big government spending that grew government that men like Rick Santorum had no problem voting for. There was his five votes to raise the debt ceiling, the vote to increase federal control of your child’s education with the No Child Left Behind, even though the Constitution leaves education up to the states. Who can forget the Republican effort to grow that socialist medicine program called Medicare with Medicare Part D–a new $16 trillion unfunded liability.

Or what about Mitt Romney who pushed for more gun control–that’s a Marxist idea. Or Romney’s involvement in what Rush Limbaugh calls the new communism–which is radical environmentalism designed to destroy the free markets. Romney produced green energy initiatives that failed as governor of Massachusetts just like Obama has done as President.

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Tera Sukman’s Branson Tea Party Patriot HQ Begs Taney County Not to Vote for Ron Paul

By Brandon Backlin on March 19, 2012 in , ,

Originally written by Bungalow Bill:

I thought the Branson Tea Party Patriot HQ had a policy not to endorse candidates, but rather educate about candidates who support the Constitution. Well, Tera Sukman, the head of the Branson Tea Party Patriot HQ has been outed, hypocritical of her Tea Party’s policy on candidate endorsements. Ironically, Sukman isn’t voting for the presidential candidate who inspired the founding of the Tea Party, and is the only candidate who understands and follows the Constitution.

Sukman posted on her Facebook page:

If you want your Candidate for President to be Santorum, Newt or Romney be at Caucus Saturday March 17 at Forsyth high school GYM. A local 501c4 non Profit will be there Supporting Ron Paul. I AM NOT FOR RON PAUL. Your Vote has Consequences as well as not participating. Please be there.

If you want to know just how full of crap Tera Sukman is when it comes to following and supporting the Constitution, it is in this Facebook posting from last night. While she clearly doesn’t support and endorse a candidate, she definitely isn’t supporting the only Constitutional candidate in the Republican field.

She is encouraging Mitt Romney supporters to come out and support Mitt Romney. Why would someone who claims to love the Constitution so much, that she’s willing to put on lots of make up and a tight costume and go onstage promoting her love of the Constitution encourage anyone to vote for Mitt Romney?

After all Romney’s record doesn’t support the Second Amendment. Romney supported numerous gun control acts including the Brady Bill and an semi-automatic weapons ban. As well, Romney loves the mandate forcing people to purchase healthcare, and he has been a tax and spend liberal posing as a Republican in Massachusetts. I thought the meaning of TEA meant Taxed Enough Already. Guess you haven’t looked at the truth behind Romney’s record. Romney grew government in Massachusetts and raised all sorts of fees.

Then there is Newt, who was part of the Heritage Foundation’s 1994 drafting of the alternative to Hillarycare that soon became Romneycare which soon become Obamacare. Yes, it was Newt and the Republicans who drafted the idea of the federal mandate which ignores the Constitution and forces Americans to engage in commerce. Tera loves her freedom so much that she’s willing to encourage people to vote for Newt and his belief in the federal mandate that takes away your liberty.

Then there is big government Rick Santorum. Now I probably should remind you that Tera’s husband takes in lots of money from those socialist healthcare programs like Medicaid and Medicare at his Taney County health clinic. Well Santorum was the poster boy for the unconstitutional expansion of the socialist healthcare program known as Medicare–a program the Sukman family benefits from. Estimates show this added $16 trillion to the unfunded liabilities of the United States and will lead to higher taxes.

Here’s Ron Paul, the one man that even Mitt Romney looked to during a debate for Constitutional wisdom, and what are Sukman’s words? “I AM NOT FOR RON PAUL.”

Like I said, I thought the purpose of the Tea Party Patriot HQ in Branson was to promote Constitutional candidates–not work against them. Tera’s not for limited government. She like most Americans support big government that benefits her and her family.

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Ron Paul Going to Springfield, MO

By Brandon Backlin on March 7, 2012 in , , , , , , ,

Confirmed through the Greene County MO for Ron Paul official Meetup:

YES!!!!!!! Promote the heck out of this!!!! Call your radio stations and let them know! Email the news and tell them to get this event publicized!

Please invite ALL of your Facebook friends to this event, even if they are not yet a supporter. Join the event on Facebook and click the ‘Invite Friends’ link above the left sidebar. Also, please post a link to the Facebook event as your Facebook status.

Facebook Event Page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/287333298006…

This shows you how to invite people without having to individually click all the names. Remember, even if they are not a supporter they probably know someone who is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-9C8Rv6xKw

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Deficit Spending is Hidden Profit for the Fed

By Olde Reb on February 23, 2012 in ,

Much has been written of the New World Order, the CFR, the Illuminati, the Trilateralists, the Bilderbergs, etc. If such organized bodies exist for a specific objective, as Carroll Quigley would have us believe, a profuse amount of money, such as via a printing press, would definitely be a useful tool to promote their agenda. Does such access to easy money exist, perhaps even hidden right in front of us ?? Let us reflect on the Federal Reserve and analyze their operation.

When the government wishes to spend money it does not have, it utilizes deficit spending. That means they “borrow” from the Federal Reserve. In practice, a Treasury security is given the Fed and the Fed makes a book entry on an account of the government in the amount of the security. Voila !!! The legislators spend the book entry money and builds roads and bridges, buys military products and funds military projects in their home state, returns a few pennies on the dollar for social programs, and all their constituents applaud when their congress critters occasionally go home to press the flesh.

But wait a minute. We left the Fed holding on to that security. That is an asset. The Fed will not give it away. It has value. What will the Fed do with it? Of course, the Fed will either hold it to maturity or it will sell it. Whichever course of action it takes, the result is the same.

If the Fed holds the security to maturity, it will present it to the government and demand it be redeemed. Shucks. The government spent all of that money and does not have any more. So the government gives the Fed a replacement security; i.e., it rolls the security over. What does the Fed do with the new security? That is obvious; it sells it.

Whether by the initial security or the replacement, the Fed sells the security in the Treasury auctions. All accounting records of the auctions are handled by the Federal Reserve bank of New York. No audit of these accounts is known to exist.

The auctions sell approximately $9 trillion securities annually. Deficit spending accounts for $1.5 trillion so $7.5 trillion is roll over securities for prior years. Once a security is issued, it is rolled over into perpetuity unless the national debt is reduced. The national debt is reduced if the government runs a surplus.

If the receipts from the auctions go to the government, such as the roll over securities used to redeem maturing debt, there is no increase in the national debt nor is there an inflationary surge in the economy. If the money from the auctions go to the profit of the Fed, the National Debt increases and the currency in circulation is increased (inflation via book entry money).

To say it in an imaginary way, the government pays its (deficit spending) bills literally with money off of the printing press. That money is then in circulation and, after moving through the financial structure, eventually becomes the funds that will be used to purchase the security sold at auction. The trillion dollars created by deficit spending last year was an unreported profit of the Fed.

By FRBNY merging the two different groups of auction funds, the funds involving redeemed securities (involving payments to Primary Dealers) can be combined with receipts of securities owned by the Fed with the profit paid to the (unknown) private owners of the Board of Governors (the Primary Dealers ??). And it is all out of sight.

 

Criminal law provides that all profit of the Fed belongs to the government. The profit from the auctions is not included in the ANNUAL REPORT by the Fed to Congress. What does it take for Congress to investigate ????

[Excerpt from RIP OFF BY FEDERAL RESERVE posted at

www.scribd.com/doc/49040689 .]

Olde Reb

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Congressman Long Takes Clear Stance on Cybersecurity

By Brandon Backlin on February 3, 2012 in , , , ,

Let me begin by posting the first paragraph of a press release:

WASHINGTON, DC-Today, U.S. Congressman Billy Long continued his fight against foreign threats as he submitted three amendments to the cybersecurity bill in the Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. Long’s amendments, which passed the Subcommittee unopposed, altered the creation of the National Information Sharing Organization (NISO) which would establish a public-private organization to act as a national cybersecurity information exchange as part of H.R. 3674, “Promoting and Enhancing Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Effectiveness Act of 2011” or PrECISE Act.

“Cyber criminals work together to attack American corporations and government agencies and its time for us to work together to fight back,” said Long. “Critical information between the public and private sectors must be shared if we are going to stem the tide in the rise of cyber crime.”

Op-Ed Time: If you’re into the hot new language of “Bureaucratical English” like I am, you would have seen a few buzzwords. The thing that stood out at me the most was the “public-private organization”. America has plenty of them! Some of our finest include Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. There are some various ways to shuffle paper to determine true ownership of the organization; and this was not determined in Long’s press release. The way I would assume something like this is created is under a federal government chartered and owned corporation. These are separated legally from the federal government but may receive funding, depending on the language of the bill in which they are created under. For a list of these, click here. These are essentially created to perform a specific function outlined by the government, and usually do a pretty mediocre job at it. The mediocre job is a result of not having to streamline operations; because there’s really no need to budget since all the money comes from the government, and the appeal for more money usually goes through without a hitch.

But as I read the release further, a new reality sank in the back of my mind. Congressman Long lumps American corporations into the protection as well as government agencies. Why? I would argue the government’s agencies cyber-protection is its own responsibility, much like corporations. Why would the government need to get involved with corporations’ cyber-protection? Sharing info is well and good, but we all know these organizations like to take control. The Commodity Credit Corporation buys, sells, and lends for commodities; most often with farms. They have the luxury of having up to $30 billion from the Treasury and has losses made up by appropriations from Congress. The Legal Services Corporation provides legal aid, and is funded by Congress appropriations. However, most people around here prefer private legal aid. Geographical mileage may vary. One of the first of its kind, the Tennessee Valley Authority, has been wrapped up in controversy and bloated in size until the 1990s; and only reacted due to the deregulation of generation in that area. After that, they had no problem operating in their appropriated budget. But, what was it I said about inefficiency?

Anyway, what I’m leading to here is; this new cyber-security organization will begin to take control of cyber-security, after appropriating billions for research. What will this research comprise of? Bringing in experts and companies; then carbon-copying their tactics and making them mandatory; instead of letting the market pick the best tactics and the government using them.

Bungalow Bill adds this:

According to Long’s Web site the new division of Government will be called NISO. NISO will work with the Department of Homeland Security, a division of government that continues to infringe upon civil liberties–like feeling grandma up at the airport with their TSA division.

But don’t you worry, Long claims, “An annual report is the first step to proper Congressional oversight and ensures that privacy and civil liberties of our nation’s citizens are being respected while at the same time we are giving owners and operators the information they need to protect themselves,” said Long.

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Nothing Really Has Changed

By Brandon Backlin on February 3, 2012 in , , , ,

We’re going through a more tough version of the late 90s. I say “more tough”, because the unemployment rate is a lot higher, property values; despite crashing in 2007, are still a bit inflated (as in, priced out of “Generation Y’s league”, and the 40-70 crowd (the “Me Generation” of the 80s and the disenfranchised “Gen X” of the early 90s) are hogging all the opportunities to themselves and are automating most basic positions out of relevance. If you are in this age group, and are fighting to regain our manufacturing prowess and gusto of the 50s back; that generalization does not apply to you. Like the exemplary people of the 1950s, I’m sure you people are concerned with the nation’s future.

Why am I concerned for this nation’s future? Peep this article, and come back. You notice something? Yeah, the biggest monthly gain since Jan. of 1997. Okay, so what? I’ve said before that the DOW index is not the greatest indicator of the national economy and stand by that. But; what are the biggest differences between now and Jan. of 1997? For one, more people had jobs back then. Two? Houses were cheaper. The average price was $171,900, ~$232,000 in 2012 dollars. Keep in mind this is the case; even after a housing bubble pop!!! Why is this important? Well, things around the DOW are crumbling or being inflated past a generation’s league; that’s a classic indicator of a bubble. This has been the trend for the dot-com, credit, and housing bubbles, all occurred within my life-time of 23 years. I only remember mentions of the dot-com bubble and did not really know what it meant until I researched on it, then the rest of the bubbles fell right in line and played out the same.

What does this all mean anyway? The most prominent thing that will occur out of all these sequences of events is our kids having a tougher time entering the job market and getting a better life than we have. If you own a small business, I’m sure you had a look at the insane amount of regulation you have to wage through. I would argue some of those being good regulations, like cleanliness guidelines for food manufacturers, and most safety regulations are well thought out and not over-reaching. The thing I’m worried about though, is our ability to compete with other job markets. In essence, we have to compete with “almost free” labor; and so far, we’re not doing a very good job. Since the article I linked to in the last sentence was written, we have killed the “individual mandate” aspect of the healthcare bill; so no longer do people have to have healthcare insurance. However, the article still makes a very good point; “entitlement programs” kill the appeal of the job market in question. Local business owners have stated that there’s at least another 50% of your income that is paid into various entitlement programs that the government runs, such as Social Security (employers have to match employee’s forced contributions), medicare, so on and so forth. How are these working out for the people? Exactly. Compare this with the opposite extreme; China. The reason behind the exuberant Chinese export market is simple, they work cheap! Most people there dream of working in the electronics sweat-shops because that’s where most of the money is made! And still, they’re considered by most of the international community to be some of the worst places of labor in the world. Though the Chinese government is involved in regulating business as well (quite heavily); they have NO entitlement programs (at least, that I know of; feel free to correct in the comments). This means no forced extra contributions into entitlement programs. Even if there was; the fact that there’s no minimum wage, or the minimum wage is really low over there, the contributions themselves would be lower. This means that the number that signifies pay to an employee overseas is lower than the number to pay an employee domestically. That’s the end. That’s the conclusion. That’s why we are losing. We still have some good minds in America; but having little manufacturing jobs means we don’t make products, which means our exports market is small, which on a macro-economic scale is bad news. Having the headquarters of multi-national corporations in your nation can only get you so far. Our service industry is quite good too, but that has a small scale impact on the world; mainly vacationers benefit. However, the service industry serves as a marginal motivator. Every teen behind a counter wishes they could get out and make something of themselves. While my following interpretation is a little “twisted”, I’ll tell you from personal experience, making something is a great motivator! While what my family makes occupies a “base level” product in the economy, but contributing to your community in a tangible way just gives you a better feeling than standing behind a counter, giving somebody something that somebody else made.

…and, if you are lost after that long-winded paragraph, just look at this blog post. It was posted in 2008 and it’s something I could easily see happening again.

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The Fifth Ron Paul Meeting: Feb. 1st at 6:30 PM

By Brandon Backlin on January 31, 2012 in

Same place (different room), same time. Leadership will be early. Thanks for looking, and thanks for attending!

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Our Fourth Ron Paul Meeting: Jan 25th at 6:45 PM

By Brandon Backlin on January 24, 2012 in , ,

Kind of short-notice for those that have been following our blog; but our next Ron Paul-centric meeting will be tomorrow; Jan 25th at 6:45 PM at McFarlain’s restaurant, and will probably last until roughly 9:00 PM. We have a room reserved for us; and everyone is encouraged to eat something as a way of supporting the local business, as well as maintain a revenue stream in exchange for getting this room (it was given to us for free!). The Meetup page indicates that 22 people are going, and I know of a few people who are going who are NOT on Meetup (which we invite you to become a member; it’s completely free!). We also invite you to bring friends! Here’s a map:
View Larger Map

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…We’re Back!

By Brandon Backlin on January 19, 2012 in

Fresh from the blackout, we are back; and in full force in dispensing info to the crowd of Branson, MO. We also gave the site a little bit of love during the blackout; including adding a “Taney County 4 Ron Paul” meetup widget down at the bottom-right corner of our home page as well as restructuring and updating the mobile page.

Additionally, we plan on blacking out again on Jan. 24th, as a way to raise awareness that the bill is going to be voted on that day.

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