Brandon Staggs .Com » congress

NRA members should join GOA

Brandon — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:01:38 +0000

NRA members should join Gun Owners of America.

Why? Because the NRA is okay with negotiating away free speech.

I am a member of both organizations, but I will be thinking long and hard before renewing my NRA membership when it is due.

Hopefully, before then, the NRA will realize that it represents its members, not the organization itself. If the NRA is willing to make deals with an anti-First Amendment Congress in order to maintain itself as an institution, who is to say they won’t do the same for the Second Amendment?

Unlike the NRA, GOA is pro-Constitution, not merely pro-gun. So, if you are a member of the NRA, consider joining GOA as well, and perhaps letting your NRA membership lapse if they don’t clean up their act.

Feingold proves Washington gridlock is good, but tedious

Brandon — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:01:46 +0000

I’m a firm believer that usually, it’s good when politicians in Washington are so divided that they can’t pass new legislation. When they’re gridlocked they can’t raise our taxes, pass ridiculous political speech laws like the Campaign Finance Reform, and the like. There are exceptions, of course: we need swift consensus votes on important matters like lowering our tax burden and prosecuting important military campaigns.

But while gridlock is good, it can also be tedious. Take, for example, today’s news that Senator Russ Feingold wants Congress too “censure” President Bush for his management of the Iraq war. In fact, Feingold has a whole litany of political spankings he would like to see handed out, which he listed on Meet the Press today.

Gridlock is Good

Feingold proves gridlock is good, because without it, this guy might actually be able to cause some serious damage to the country. The only reason this won’t get traction is because Senate Majority Leader Reid knows that it wouldn’t get passed in the current very divided Congress.

Gridlock is Tedious

Feingold also proves that gridlock is tedious, because here we have a US Senator proposing that Congress pass utterly meaningless “censures,” which would do absolutely nothing except waste time and more tax money. Even if Feingold could corral up enough of his peers to pass these censures, they mean nothing. Bush would still be the Commander in Cheif, Gonzales would still be Attorney General, and Halliburton would still be the only company capable of coordinating civil logistics in occupied territories of the Middle East.

Feingold can’t actually think he will get anywhere with these absurd censure votes, and most certainly knows that they would accomplish absolutely nothing. Bush has proved on many occasions that his policies aren’t poll-based, and a “poll” of Congress’ opinion of Bush is just as irrelevant to him.

Feingold is just trying to score points with his liberal base at home. With gridlock, that’s really all he can accomplish. And that’s a good thing.

Amnesty Insanity: Proof that DC gridlock is good

Brandon — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:39:00 +0000

Some people think we need our politicians in DC to “work together” more often.

More often than not, though, gridlock is the preferred state of affairs in DC. A great example of how utterly devastating “bipartisan cooperation” can be for the country is the new amnesty bill thrown together behind closed doors. Any time you can get Ted Kennedy and John McCain to agree on something, you know we’re in for a real hard ride.

Here’s a reasonably good article: No Amnesty for McCain

Of course, nobody wants to do what has to be done first, before any of this legal stuff has a chance of securing our borders: actually secure the border. Build the fence. Then come and talk to me about what to do about everyone already here illegally.

Race; Apartheid; and Knucklehead Politicians in Hawaii

Brandon — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:51:00 +0000

Apartheid in Hawaii:

“The Senate is poised to sanction the creation of a racially exclusive government by and for Native Hawaiians who satisfy a blood test. The new race-based sovereign that would be summoned into being by the so-called Akaka Bill would operate outside the U.S. Constitution and the nation’s most cherished civil rights statutes. Indeed, the champions of the proposed legislation boast that the new Native Hawaiian entity could secede from the Union like the Confederacy, but without the necessity of shelling Fort Sumter.”

I am no expert on Hawaii, but I did live there for ten years.

This “new government” stuff is just stupid. For one thing, the vast majority of the Hawaiian people voted for Hawaii to become a state! It’s true that there were some abuses by large corporations in the past, but that doesn’t change the fact that there was an overwhelming consensus among Hawaiians that becoming a state of the Union would be a good thing. Further, there are hardly any “pure” Hawaiians left! Most people who qualify as Hawaiian for race-based government handouts couldn’t beat an Elvis impersonater in a “how Hawaiian are you” contest.

There is a common myth amongst Hawaiian victimists and race-pimps that missionaries “gave Hawaiians the Bible and stole the land.” If this were true, it would still have been a good deal for the Hawaiians. But the reality is that while the missionaries gave Hawaiians an alphabet, they couldn’t teach them how to make decent candy (yuck). and instead of “stealing land”, they brought Hawaiians a new way of life — maybe what Akaka wants is a return to a more pure Hawaiian culture, like ritual human sacrifices under a military dictatorship, instead of the current system of one vote for every person. (Actually, in Hawaii, they can’t even get that right.)

Don’t get me wrong, Hawaii is a beautiful place. Kauai is the most beautiful environment I have ever lived in. But the current climate of racist, entitlement-driven politics makes me glad I don’t live there right now.

Mickey Mouse writes antipiracy law while wearing an Orrin Hatch costume

Brandon — Sat, 19 Jun 2004 06:46:00 +0000

Antipiracy bill targets technology

“Litman said that under the Induce Act, products like ReplayTV, peer-to-peer networks and even the humble VCR could be outlawed because they can potentially be used to infringe copyrights.”

This is very bad. This is Disney being allowed to shape copyright law. Orrin Hatch should be ashamed of himself for promoting such nonsense.

Saying that devices or software that can be used for copyright infringement should be outlawed is just like saying that firearms should be banned because some people use them to commit crimes. It’s bad thinking.

Drunken GOP Sailors

Brandon — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 21:29:00 +0000

OpinionJournal – Drunken GOP Sailors : Great article on how the Republicans are spending cash like there is no tomorrow. The title isn’t exactly fair to drunken sailors, though. It is truly an era of “big government conservatism.”

Bush sticks it to Senate Democrats, finally

Brandon — Fri, 16 Jan 2004 23:49:00 +0000

It’s about time Bush did something proactive about the Senate not doing their constitutional duty: Bush Installs Pickering on Appeals Court

Congress: Spam is bad, unless it comes from us.

Brandon — Sun, 28 Dec 2003 20:44:00 +0000

Congress likes free speech, except when they are running for re-election. That much was made clear when they passed the McCain-Feingold bill, otherwise known as the Incumbent Protection Act, that limits political speech during the late stages of an election. Now Congress is saying they hate spam. Except, of course, if that spam comes from them. [Article] What’s interesting about this is that it isn’t just another example of congressional hypocrisy, it shows how abusive Congress is of the power of incumbency, and how willing they are to make law making it harder for someone to challenge their positions of power.

Supreme Court agrees with Congress: No Free Speech for You

Brandon — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 22:50:00 +0000

The US Supreme Court today upheld restrictions on political speech, such as restrictions on advertisements before an election. It’s a natural progression, of course, since true freedom of religious speech and association was done away with a few decades ago. Well, the first amendment was getting old anyway. [Article] Freedom of political speech isn’t important these days, I suppose — but we can hang on to the first amendment for perverts and vulgar pop stars or the f-word on broadcast television, since they were the ones the first amendment was meant to protect anyway.

Miguel Estrada fed up with obstructing Democrats and wimpy Republicans

Brandon — Fri, 05 Sep 2003 09:58:00 +0000

Miguel Estrada got tired of the garbage going on in the Senate over his nomination. He’s out. This is a political victory for liberals because the last thing they want is a successful, influential Latino in a prominent position in the federal government who isn’t a liberal – who is a conservative. Their “minorities can’t make it without us” race warfare rhetoric loses strength when such a thing happens. When accused of blocking nominations of President Bush (which, of course, they are doing), they gladly point out that over 100 of Bush’s nominations have gone through. This admission actually proves the point that Estrada is being blocked because he is a Latino. Bush is, for the most part, a conservative. His nominations are, for the most part, conservatives. Is Estrada any more conservative than the other 100+ nominees who have gone through for a vote? No. The difference is that Estrada breaks the liberal notion that minorities need to be liberal.

However, this is not just Senate Democrats obstructing — this is Senate Republicans showing what gutless country club wimps they can be. The Democrats have successfully filibustered a court nomination without actually having to say up 24-7 doing the work. The Constitution mandates a simple majority for a court nomination — the Republicans have surrendered to the Democrats and ultimately allowed them to thwart the Constitution and demand that court nominations get a supermajority rather than a majority. The Constitution specifies what items require a supermajority vote in the Senate — court nomination is not among them. Senate Republicans have failed in their sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution. There are several solutions to the Democratic obstructionism that is going on; the most obvious of which would be to actually force the Democrats to go through weeks of non-stop floor debate. But they did nothing.

I can’t blame Estrada for calling it quits. Senate Democrats can’t feel shame for doing the kinds of things they always do. But Senate Republicans ought to feel very ashamed tonight for letting them get away with it.