Local Idiocy = Federal Idiocy

In case you couldn’t tell, I am growing more and more fed up w/ government “leaders” at all levels. If you watch the news or listen to any talk radio outside of NPR (or its network and cable equivalents) then you know pretty much what the Fed is doing, and trying to do, these days. It is pretty sickening. Sadly, though, the BS doesn’t stop in DC.

Our local city council in their infinite wisdom, prudence and logical forethought relied on a $3M grant from the Fed to fund city police and fire services in an effort to close the $20M budget deficit. (There is also a $40M deficit projected for next year. How much do you want to bet it turns out to be bigger?) Guess what? Shocker of all shockers, the grant didn’t come through. This is the same city council that tried to close last year’s deficit in part by installing red light cameras to catch local taxpayers running red lights, then mail tickets to the car’s registered owner (maybe not the driver), to raise funds (hidden tax) instead of cutting costs. Great idea folks.

This little ploy to threaten to lay off cops and firefighters is very similar to the California legislators “worrying” that great state may have to lay off teachers and cops and open up the prison doors in order to cut costs. They still haven’t done it months later.

But back to The ‘Nati… I understand that in bad times all departments need to make sacrifices, but that is only after all unnecessary programs have been slashed and/or killed. This is definitely not the case. They found it necessary to put in $3M for a new environmental department for a 4th layer of EPA-type oversight (isn’t $3M what the supposed grant was for?), they want to give section 8 housing in a new riverfront commercial / condo development downtown, etc. and they are pursuing a trollycar / streetcar on a fixed track route. This would cost at least $100M, all for a downtown area near a part of town recently ranked #1 on deadliest neighborhoods list in the nation?! WTF?? Talk about an Epic Fail if that goes through. How many tourist and suburbanites are gonna be mugged or killed on the streetcar if they build it? We’re already claiming we can’t afford the cops and extra jail space. (The voters did turn down a wopping tax increase to build a new jail, but if they could have come up with a plan for a jail at a reasonable price, it would have gotten the votes.)

There is still a little problem of a $7M deficit that they haven’t addressed – and have gone into a summer recess. I had this very short exchange on Twitter with a member of city council. The first 3 were posted before I logged in to check the updates.

Council Member: Sigh. Another suburbanite telling Enq street car is wasteful and analysis needed. Well, we did anlysis, which is why we want to build it.
Council Member: Maybe city residents should start complaining more about the billions we spend on sprawl highways to subsidize your suburban lifestyle?
Council Member: Well, we want an urban lifestyle here--based in transit, not 3-car garages.
Me (ajh1836): @Council Member: urban life=hi pop density. you have 2 clamp dwn on crime b4 any1 agrees 2 live dwntwn & use streetcar sys. can't RiF cops.
Council Member:(By Direct message) Well, 64 percent of our budget goes to public safety--$103 mill to CPD. Obviously this Council prioritizes safety.
Me (ajh1836): (By Direct Message) Yet Council threatens 2 layoff cops & firefighters because foolishly relied on gov grant? Politcal tactic? other cuts (enviro dept) better.

And then the conversation was ended. Why didn’t he (or likely his aide) respond? Notice how “they” responded by direct message, out of the public timeline? Easier to be snarky and make misleading assertions where the public won’t see. Pathetic,but not unexpected.

So, is it any wonder people across the country are fed up with their government at all levels? When you hear threats of layoffs for cops and opening of prison doors, is it any wonder gun sales are up across the country?

Here is an article from a senior law enforcement professional in Columbus, OH. Sobering stuff. It isn’t just crazy, end of the world, folks buying up guns and ammo. Cops, grannies, working stiffs... all worried about a breakdown of government services, mainly cops and jails, riots due to loss of jobs/income, etc., general disenfranchisement and distrust of government - buying firearms and getting their concealed carry permits, if Nanny allows it. Do you see what is going on in France? Could it be coming here? Throughout history, the best way to control a people is to disarm them. A majority of the population are already mindless sheeple waiting for their feed at the Public trough. Maybe it won't be too hard for the gov to take that next step. They tried it in New Orleans after Katrina...
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Every move the Congress and President have made over the last year (obviously longer, but we’ll stick to recent events) has been about control. Not the welfare of the people or the future of the country. As the Fed amasses more power and takes oversight of, stock in, and partnerships with, private business we’re further down the fascist road. How many “leaders” move in and out of government and private sector jobs in big corporations? Goldman Sachs, Fannie/ Freddie, SEIU, AFL-CIO, ACORN, etc, etc. And the state / local level politicians, and Congressional Reps grovel for scraps of bailout and stimulus money, “sweeteners” (aka bribes), selling their states and constituents out in hopes of getting enough dollars for the next campaign and enough uninformed voters to keep them in power.

“I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take the power from them, but to inform them by education.” – Thomas Jefferson

Assault on Firearms, America, Veterans

Anyone who is at all interested in firearms, hunting, self defense, government, politics, political activism, the evening news, newspapers, etc. etc. knows that there has been a sharp increase in firearms purchases of all kinds (and ammunition) in the last few years, with the largest spike coming since early 2008.


Some claim this is all in response to the election of Barack Obama, the appointment of Eric Holder as AG and the real possibility of a reinstatement of the Clinton "assault weapons ban" (AWB) or something much stricter.

From the graph to the right(credit to B.Weeks @ "You Get What You Pay For"), showing the avg monthly NCIS backgrond checks, you see that the trend really started to increase in 2003-2004 and hit the gas around 2005. The rise of Obama in 2008 was the icing on the cake, every firearm dealers dream (sort of). Heck, The Outdoor Wire made President Obama its “Gun Salesman of the Year.”

I would have argued a few weeks/ months ago that the cause(s) for the rise in firearms and ammunition sales was more complex than "he's gonna take them all away" or "the world is gonna end" or even "WWIII is coming!" But lately, my opinion has been evolving. I believe there is a general uneasiness across the country that "something just isn't right" and "I don't like the direction things are heading." From Islamic terrorism to the worsening local economies across the country and the resulting increase of unemployment, dispair and in some circumstances the release of criminals from jail / prison. I wouldn't give much credit to terrorism as a cause in the recent sales spike, but personal / household defense against local criminals seems very rational. If criminals are being released and there are no jobs for them when they get out, they revert to what they no best, even if some manner of rehabilitation held any influence over them for a time. And of course you have the weak who, out of fear, dispair, or some form hatred of any group or society as a whole, seeks to wreak some kind of havoc (Binghamton, Oakland, Pittsburgh).

But let's look at three recent statements by Officials in the current Administration. One: Secretary of State Clinton pressing the myth, easily debunked, that 90% of the weapons confiscated in the Mexican drug wars have been linked to the U.S. Wrong. The actual number is closer to 17%. The weapons are mostly coming from China, Russia, S. America etc. It's easier and cheaper. But facts don't matter to Clinton and the other anti's at DHS and ATF, Sen. Feinstein, et al. Even the Mexican Ambassador to the US and Mexican President Calderon have drank the Kool-Aid. But doesn't it benefit them to cast blame on the US? We need to control our guns. We need to control our drug market. We're to blame. Nevermind the corruption at all levels in the Mexican government. They have lost control and are sprialing into a 3rd world state. The US military ranked them as the #2 security threat to our country, with Pakistan being #1. Mexican gangs are the "biggest organized crime threat to the United States” according to the US Justice Dept. But I digress.....

Two: Speaker Pelosi on Good Morning America saying that she and her ilk "don’t want to take their guns away. We want them registered.” Rep. Rush of Illinois has introduced HR45 as a big proposed step in 2nd Amendment infringement. Guess what comes next folks....confiscation. Maybe not this year or next, it's a process, but look at what has happened in Canada, Australia and The UK. First you register the guns, as a backlash to some event, so you know where they are - at least the one's owned by law abiding citizens. Do they really think criminals are going to register their weapons? Then another event and you make them all illegal. Do you really think the criminals are you going to turn theirs in? Now you've effectively nuetered the populace. Guns supposedly come off the street and, surprise! the crime rate actually increases. Logic and facts have never stood in the way of ideologs. Look back thru history. What did Mao, Castro, Hitler, Pol Pot etc. do? The outlawed private ownership of firearms so they could run roughshod across the country and the people. The old axiom is true (that's why it's an axiom) - when you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns.

Now to #3, and perhaps the most disturbing of all. The Dept. of Homeland Security issued a report warning of a rise in "rightwing extremist activity." It cites the economic recession, the election of our first black president and the repatriation of disgruntled war veterans that could join "white-power militias." The report also identifies and warns against those groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority. So, if you believe in the Constitution, you are an extremist who must be watched over by the government. I guess Jefferson, Franklin and Washington were extremists. Are they serious with this sh**?? Yes, I am afraid they are. Secretary Napolitano gave it her blessing. The politicization of this issue, making it into a Left v Right thing is unfortunate enough, but not surprising. But the accusasion and disrespect of Veterans is dispicable. Does anyone wonder why Napolitano is the DHS Secretary? She was Gov. of Arizona which has a huge issue with crime - Phoenix is #2 in kidnappings in the world - and a huge issue with illegal immigration. And yes, the two are directly related. She couldn't protect her own state, who the hell thinks she can, or wants to, protect the country. Illegal immigration will be another post in the coming weeks. Remind me.

It is interesting to me that this Administration has abandoned the phrase "global war on terror" in favor of "Overseas Contingency Operation" and terrorist attacks are now "human-caused" disasters. It seems as though the government is getting soft on the real dangers, but coming down pretty hard on it's own citizens. We're going to talk to Iran (while they enrich uranium) and we're gonna write strongly worded letters to N. Korea (while they launch admittedly crappy rockets) only to have them start up their nuke reactors after Bush-43's Administration paid them off to stop. That doesn't look like it worked, does it?

So, where is this going? I don't know for sure, but something stinks. And there are alot of people out there who feel the same way. Stock prices are down, bonds are down, housing is down. Gold is up and down. Ammo is definitely up.