Americans for Prosperity Director Peggy Venable
encourages Texas state legislators to enact spending limits when they meet
in session on Jan. 13.
Venable spoke to representatives about the importance
of spending limits at a Spending Subcommittee of the House Appropriations
hearing on Wednesday at the Capitol. She said that with the national economy
in turmoil, and state and local governmental entities facing budget
shortfalls, AFP recommends spending limits.
Limits require lawmakers to set spending priorities,
just like families do, and also provides for voter approval to spend more.
“We will work with legislators to allow taxpayers the
opportunity to determine how much government they want and are willing to
pay for, at every level of government,” said Venable.
“We have good news in Texas, thanks to legislators’
hard work. We have a budget surplus and have enjoyed several years of a
good economy. Should taxpayers bemoan a good economy? Certainly not,”
Venable said. “Nor should taxpayers fuel government growth during good
economic times, only to be faced with tax increases or threatened with cuts
in services during economic downturns.”
“Texans deserve to have the opportunity to determine
just how much government they want and are willing to pay for. Texans need
meaningful tax and expenditure reforms,” she said. “Without taxpayer
protections, good economic times simply fuel government growth.”
The testimony is available online at:
www.afptx.org.
In
Government We Trust? Part 3 (September 22, 2008)
Texas Straight Talk by Rep.
Ron Paul
I’ve discussed just a few benefits of sound money in
the last two weeks, and contrasted them to the perils of fiat currency.
Sound money keeps government spending in check, keeps trade fair and honest,
which reduces the temptations, and many underlying causes, for governments
to wage wars. It also gives you the peace of mind of knowing that your
savings will be able to sustain you in your retirement.
So if sound money is such a good thing, what is
stopping people from simply trading with each other in gold and silver? Why
are you still being paid in fiat dollars, and why can’t you pay for gas in
gold? The answer is that the government has enacted policies that provide
considerable stumbling blocks to such transactions.
One of the main stumbling blocks is Federal legal
tender laws, which state that government-controlled fiat currency MUST be
accepted for many kinds of monetary transactions. In light of this,
Gresham’s Law takes effect. Gresham’s Law states that bad money drives out
good money. Meaning, if someone is forced to accept your bad money, it is
to your advantage to pass it off, like a hot potato, in exchange for
something of value. Any good money you have, you will hoard. Eventually,
real money is driven out of circulation and under people’s mattresses, so to
speak. In the absence of legal tender laws, people are free to accept the
medium of exchange of their choice, and are likely to insist on payment in
something of real value.
Related to legal tender laws, contracts in gold are not
enforced. Meaning if two parties agree to exchange goods or services for
gold, and end up in a dispute, the courts will simply settle the dispute in
Federal Reserve notes.* Governments should do very little, in my
estimation, but it should enforce contracts and property rights through the
courts. But in this instance it shirks this basic duty, when it comes to
gold, as one way to keep control of our economy and the medium of exchange.
One is also expected to pay sales tax on the purchase of gold. This is as
ludicrous as if you paid sales tax at the bank when you converted dollars
into quarters! The IRS also expects you to pay capital gains tax on gold,
which is so backwards, since gains on gold really represent decline in the
value of the dollar!
Legal tender laws should be repealed at the Federal
level. Congress has the Constitutional duty to protect the integrity of our
money. However, since it has passed this duty off, and the Federal Reserve
has only debased our currency, Congress should no longer force Americans to
do business in dollars if they would prefer to transact in gold, or silver,
or cigarettes or seashells, for that matter. Free people should be free to
associate and do business in ways that benefit them. Instead they are
forced to use the unstable dollar to their own detriment, and the benefit
the government.
*Clarification: Some astute readers took
issue with this sentence. Because of space limitations for the weekly
column, I was not able to elaborate on this further. While gold clauses
have been legally enforceable since the late 1970's the fact remains that
disputes over gold clauses might well be resolved in court with a dollar
figure calculated in terms of Federal Reserve Notes. In the recently
decided case of 216 Jamaica Ave v. S&R Playhouse, which reversed a district
court decision, the court upheld the enforceability of a gold clause, but
sent the case back to the district court to decide what obligations the gold
clause imposed on the defendant. It is not inconceivable that this will
result in a decision that the value of the "gold coin" referred to could be
valued by the court in terms of Federal Reserve Notes, not in terms of
ounces of gold. Furthermore, given the federal government's actions against
Robert Kahre (the Nevada businessman who paid his employees at the legal
tender face value of gold bullion coins) it is obvious that the government
is still waging a war on gold. Whether either of these cases establishes a
precedent remains to be seen. Additionally, because 31 USC 5103 establishes
Federal Reserve Notes as legal tender, it would likely take a court
challenge to determine whether a gold clause or legal tender law takes
precedence.
Texas Straight Talk by Rep.
Ron Paul
Last week I discussed how sound
money contributes to peaceful relationships around the world. It is not
gold, in and of itself that excites me, but the many benefits of sound
money. Another benefit is financial security.
Can sound money give you
financial security? There is something very comforting in knowing that what
you earn today will retain its purchasing power in the years to come.
Indeed, the same silver dime that bought a loaf of bread in the 1960's can
still buy a loaf of bread with its precious metal content – which is worth
about $1.00 today. An ounce of gold has always been about evenly
exchangeable for a finely tailored men's suit, which these days is roughly
$800. And in these days of fluctuating gas prices, when priced in gold, oil
has been stable. Meanwhile, since the creation of the Federal Reserve, the
fiat dollar has lost 94 percent of its purchasing power.
The erosion of purchasing power
rapidly accelerated when it was completely uncoupled from gold in 1971.
This sort of fluctuation in the medium of exchange creates a lot of
uncertainty in the marketplace and necessitates that you either take
extraordinary defensive maneuvers, or face financial ruin. Trusting in
government for financial security in retirement is not a safe option.
Indeed, a recent study by the Consumer Bankruptcy Project shows that
bankruptcies among those 75 and older has more than quadrupled since 1991.
This represents wealth and
savings that have been eroded by inflation, and trust in entitlement
promises that were more fantasy than reality. Even with the pittance that
social security pays to seniors, it is bankrupt and bringing the economy to
its knees. It is no wonder that many in the younger generations want no
part of it, and they should not be forced into a failed system.
On the other hand, holding
physical gold can defend against aggressive government monetary policies
that threaten to inflate away the value of your life savings. During the
hyperinflation in post WWI Germany, what used to be a comfortable nest egg
was suddenly the value of a postage stamp. If one held just a portion of
their savings in precious metals, the crisis was greatly softened. Gold
will never be worth nothing, even if the exact price fluctuates. There is a
famous photograph, however, of a German woman during this time period
burning piles of tightly bound banknotes to keep warm.
Imagine if the money you earned
had honest, stable value, or even appreciated like an investment! No such
special measures, like converting dollars to gold, would be required to
ensure that your savings would sustain you in your golden years. That is
the way it could be and is supposed to be. However, the government's thirst
for power will not be easily, or cheaply, quenched. Fiat currency is one
tool governments have to extract wealth quietly from the working class. It
is time for the people to wake up to this ruse and look to the Constitution
to restore sound currency.
Texas Straight Talk by Rep.
Ron Paul
Many who agree with me on a lot
of other issues, do not understand my enthusiasm for gold and sound money or
why I spend so much time studying and talking about monetary policy. It's
true that I talk about money differently than most, but the fact is sound
money offers many benefits. For example – peace.
Can sound money really bring
about peace? Actually, it plays a big part in peaceful international
relationships. Money based on commodities, rather than paper, is not
subject to government manipulation, and is a key component to free and
honest trade. History shows that if countries engage in trade with each
other, their governments tend to find ways to get along for the same reason
you do not kill your customers at your place of business, even if they
occasionally annoy you. If someone outright cheats you, however, you may
engage in “war” by taking them to court, for example, and the relationship
will sour.
Governments and central banks
with unfettered power to manipulate currency also have the ability to cheat
their creditors. One way they do this is to simply create enough currency
to pay off debts. This devalues the currency and “cheats” the recipient out
of what they are owed. It would not be fair if you watered down your
product the way our government waters down its currency, so it is not hard
to understand, in these simplified terms, why loose monetary policy
contributes so much to ill will and war around the world.
Sound money, on the other hand,
simply is what it is. Removing governmental power to manipulate money,
removes the temptation for government to spend, print and cheat. Sound
money ensures that our government’s spending priorities would be brought
into sharp focus and reduced to only what we can afford.
Sound money also limits the
ability to wage wars of aggression. Imagine how much more careful
Washington would have to be about starting a war if they did not have this
financial sleight of hand at their disposal! Fiat currency allows
government do expensive things they should not be doing while paying the
bills with cheap money. The Federal Reserve has lately been auctioning off
large amounts of treasury bills as a way to finance the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and our crushing entitlement burden. The resulting devaluation
of the dollar is quickly eroding our image as a good trading partner in the
world. As a consequence, there is therefore more talk of economic isolation
and war.
This vicious cycle of spending,
fighting and inflating is not what Americans want. It is what the
government wants, and it has had to deceive the citizens into allowing and
supporting it. Sound money curbs the government’s ability to engage in
these shenanigans and reduces the wars we fight to only truly defensive
ones, for which Americans are more than willing to stand and fight. So in
these ways, sound money is very conducive to peace.
T. Boone Pickens in Bed
with Nancy Pelosi? (Posted September 1, 2008)
My recent article re T. Boone Pickens’ attempt to monopolize wind power
in Texas seems to have the backing of House of Representatives Speaker Nancy
Pelosi. See, “Wind Power Just a Lot of Hot Air?” August 4, 2008. It explains
why Pelosi has refused to allow a floor discussion and vote on drilling
offshore and in ANWR, closed down the House of Representatives and took off
on a five-week vacation in her personal 747 Jumbo Jet Airliner paid for by
taxpayers. Apparently she’s not bound to conserve energy like the rest of us
peons.
According to an article by William R. Collier, Jr. of The American
Freedomist
http://blog.freedomist.info/, the T. Boone Pickens plan involves the
private control of water, which Pickens wants to be able to sell to big
cities via giant water pipelines which will be built on land seized under
eminent domain.
How did he do this? He did this by pushing through a “water district”
which consists of only 8 acres of land and then applying eminent domain to
expand that district and seize land from local ranchers which, in the end,
puts vital water resources under his private control.
The Sierra Club, which you might think has an opinion that means
something to Nancy Pelosi who just wants to “save the world”, had this to
say, “We have real concerns about private control of water,” said Ken
Kramer, director of the Texas Sierra Club. “Water is a resource, yet in some
respects it is a commodity. It’s as essential to human life as air. That
puts water in a different class.”
Pickens plans to sell 200,000 acre-feet from parched West Texas Staked
Plains annually. His plan is opposed by water policy planners as
economically infeasible. This extensive extraction will affect natural
spring flows and the rural Texas Panhandle communities that depend on that
water. It will also adversely affect family farming and sustainable
development from Texas to South Dakota, according to opponents.
Pickens needs money and he has not been able to find investors to pay for
a $110 Billion Bond he wants his new “water authority” to issue, therefore
he is piggy-backing the windmill plan on to the water infrastructure
development plan to use the money obtained for the wind farms in order to
pay for the water infrastructure, which was his original goal.
While these plans were in the works as of November 2007, with the
creation of this “water district”, the energy company, CLNE, was offered for
public investment in an IPO in May of 2007, an IPO that was not advertised,
but which resulted in Nancy Pelosi quickly jumping on board. Nancy Pelosi
Purchased between $50,000-$100,000 in CLNE stock on May 25, 2007 apparently
on its initial public offering.
It is hard to tell if the water scheme is the device being used to seize
the land or if the wind turbine scheme is the means by which he will fund
the water scheme, but no matter what the case may be, Nancy Pelosi will
personally profit from whatever he does as an investor.
Nancy Pelosi is one of the richest members of Congress with a net worth
of over US$25 million, which comes primarily from investments a large
portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, and, now, of
course, stocks in CLNE.
While the stock was initially offered at $14 and is now valued below that
amount, the low of $10 in early July of this year is bouncing back,
especially in light of ads by Pickens and growing consensus that the Pickens
plan will gain support, especially if Pelosi is firmly behind it.
On June 19, 2007, the Company issued a press release announcing that the
underwriters of the Company’s initial public offering have elected to
exercise in full their option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 shares of
the Company’s common stock to cover over-allotments.
This means that Pelosi could have purchased around 20,000 shares at
$3.86, or $50,000 to $100,000 worth, which are now worth 300% more than
their original value.
Nancy Pelosi says that she is trying to save the planet and prevent
global warming, but the reality is that, according to disclosure statements,
in May 2007 she invested in T. Boone Picken’s clean energy fuels corp., CLNE,
which is the sole sponsor of a proposal in California to funnel $5 billion
in state funds and $5 billion in Federal funs to this corporation which will
indirectly help them create a giant wind farm in the Texas panhandle.
Under pressure from federal lawmakers concerned about high energy prices,
the U.S. Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule prohibiting
petroleum-market manipulation, giving the agency authority to levy fines of
up to $1 million per violation a day.
Pelosi, who owns stock in CLNE, a company founded by T Boon Pickens and
LIBERAL activist WR Hambrecht, stands to make MILLIONS on an $50,000 to
$100,000 investment which may include anywhere from 3,000 to 22,000 shares,
depending on the price she paid.
During the INITIAL offering, before the stock was offered in public, the
stock was sold to a select group of investors for $3.86 per share, and this
amounted to around 125,000 shares. Pelosi made her purchase on the day the
stock was offered, which makes one suspicious that she was able to get the
stock at the lower price. Her close ties to Hambrecht, a liberal activist
who gives $80,000 per year to liberal causes, make one suspect that she had
to have been in on the offering but we cannot prove this.
Here is what is irrefutable. The company is valued at $632 MILL but if it
succeed in its Proposition 10 proposal for California, it would increase its
value at least tenfold and if the Pickens Plan, which calls for hundreds of
BILLIONS of dollars, goes through its value could be increased a
hundredfold! No matter how you slice it, Pelosi would WANT Proposition 10
AND the Pickens plan to succeed seeing as how she stands to gain $1 million
to $10 million from the deal and for a woman who is “only” worth $25 million
this is nothing to sneeze at.
Pelosi’s manipulation of the market is of a most decisive kind, she is
using the excuse of “saving the planet” to refuse to allow the market, and
not a central panning committee or government, to determine what kind of
energy is produced where. Pelosi is using the power of the Speaker’s chair,
using the rhetoric of a green warrior, but by all appearances she is acting
as the handmaiden of the Pickens Plan for her own gain.
And remember Klee’s Law: “If you took all the fraud out
of politics, there might not be a lot left.” (Thomas Sowell)
Americans for Prosperity Ranks House
Lawmakers from Texas on "Freedom from Foreign Oil" Scorecard
Group Designates
Four U.S. Reps. from Texas as
AUSTIN – The grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP)
today released its "Freedom from Foreign Oil" Texas scorecard, which
ranks U.S. Representatives from Texas based on their support for –
or opposition to – policies that would lower gas and energy prices
by increasing American supplies and making domestic production less
expensive. The 270,000-strong citizen group also distributed "Friend
of Foreign Oil" t-shirts bearing the OPEC flag to the House
leadership and to the four poor-performing House lawmakers from
Texas who scored zero. The complete scorecard, which includes a
summary of all votes and co-sponsorships used, is available online
at
www.AmericansforProsperity.org. The Texas-specific scorecard is
attached.
"Advancing policies that limit U.S. energy production and supplies
puts our national security in jeopardy and costs American families
and businesses dearly," said AFP-TX Director Peggy Venable.
"Expanding American oil and natural gas production is essential to
alleviating pain at the pump. Our Freedom from Foreign Oil scorecard
will educate citizens on whether their Member of Congress has
supported or opposed legislation that will reduce our costly and
dangerous dependence on foreign oil."
The "Freedom from Foreign Oil" scorecard ranks lawmakers based on a
composite score of eight roll call votes and co-sponsorship of three
initiatives that would positively or negatively impact gas and
energy prices. Co-sponsorships of bills that would allow off-shore
and ANWR drilling were scored positively, while co-sponsorship of a
cap-and-trade regulatory regime was scored negatively. Lawmakers
received positive marks for votes against punitive tax hikes on
domestic oil and energy, and negative marks for a vote to oppose
opening the outer continental shelf to natural gas exploration.
In total, 21 of our U.S. Representatives from Texas were designated
"Friends of the American Motorist" for achieving scores
of 70 percent or higher, and 17 of our House lawmakers received
perfect scores. The four Representatives from Texas with scores of
17 percent or lower were named "Friends of Foreign Oil." Those
labeled "Friends of Foreign Oil" were Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Al
Green, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, and Rep. E.B. Johnson.
The "Freedom from Foreign Oil" scorecard is part of AFP's ongoing
nationwide effort to expose the unaffordable costs of global warming
alarmism, especially with regard to domestic energy policies. The
campaign includes a "No Climate Tax Hike Pledge" for candidates and
elected officials, and a nationwide hot air balloon tour to rally
grassroots opposition to unaffordable energy tax hikes being
advanced under the guise of fighting global warming.
Wind Power Just a Lot of Hot Air? (Posted August 4, 2008)
It
appears the greatest benefactor of wind power is T. Boone Pickens. He has
the most to gain at taxpayers expense should the government go whole hog in
favor of such a questionable source of energy. Much of the Texas project
will be paid for by government subsidies i.e. taxpayer money. Pickens may be
able to pocket the proceeds of energy deals he’s able to negotiate here in
Texas but the cost to taxpayers, however, is likely to exceed $7 billion.
“Free wind power” isn’t free.
First of all, wind power is
reliable only when the wind is blowing and then, only at certain speeds. I
remember passing a huge windmill farm in Southern California south of Palm
Springs where the wind mills were not turning but sitting there motionless
like outcrops in the desert. What a waste, I thought. When they are actually
producing power, there’s the problem of how much is actually being produced,
where and how to store it and for how long. The power, once created, has to
be stored and battery capacity is limited and expensive.
Because of their
unreliability as power sources, backup power plants are needed that are
“nonrenewable” sources of energy. It’s been reported despite decades of
heavy subsidies, solar and wind power provide only about 0.5 percent of
current United States electricity and almost none of our transport energy.
And there’s a reason for
that. It’s expensive, costing four to ten times as much as fossil and
nuclear energy sources. It would also require us to convert hundreds of
millions of forest and wild lands into windmill farms and solar panel
collections.
Let’s take wind power:
Anyone traveling past a windmill farm has seen these huge structures that
would bring a tear to the eye of Don Quixote. They only work when the wind
is blowing and even then, within certain speed ranges. It would take nearly
2,000 of those 750-kilowatt wind turbines operating at the normal 28 percent
capacity factor to produce the equivalent electricity as one 500-megawatt
gas-fired combined cycle base-load generating plant.
Even should the wind blow
fairly forcefully and steadily, windmills don’t produce enough electricity
to justify the cost of building new transmission lines to connect them to
electrical grids. The cost is so prohibitive that massive subsidies are
necessary for their construction. Not only do they take up a lot of land but
they’re unsightly.
Emissions from fossil-fueled
electric generating plants such as coal will not be diminished to any
significant degree simply because back-up generating plants need to be
immediately available when wind speed drops off or disappears. A recent
report suggests that actual statistics from wind-turbine farms indicates
generating electricity by wind turbines uses more hydrocarbon fuel than is
saved.
So why are they being
promoted? First, they provide very attractive tax shelters (enter T. Boone
Pickens). Next, some states, like Texas, mandate them. Thirdly, electric
utilities see a public relations advantage in promoting them. There’s also
the desire to appease environmentalists. And of course there’s a buck to be
made in the construction, sale and installation of the wind turbines, land
leases, transmission system contracts, etc.
T. Boone Pickens isn’t a
billionaire four times over for nothing. He has invested $2 billion to build
the largest wind farm in Pampa, Texas in the panhandle and plans to pay for
the transmission lines to carry the electricity generated into the
infrastructure of the Dallas electricity grid. Aside from the tax shelter
for such an undertaking, one wonders as to how much of his project will be
subsidized by taxpayers’ dollars and the financial gain he will realize by
having his own energy source routed directly into the Dallas area. With that
kind of investment he’ll be the only game in town and will have a practical
monopoly on wind generated power going into Dallas.
The bulk of the power
generated through the use of wind turbines will be sent to Dallas/Fort.
Worth, Austin/San Antonio and Houston, however, all users of electricity
throughout the state will pay for the added cost even though they will not
directly benefit from state mandated wind energy.
Solar energy, like wind
energy, is another extremely expensive and unreliable power source. It
requires a back-up system when the solar panels fail to produce enough
needed energy and it has limited application. The electricity generated has
the same storage problems as wind generated energy – batteries are expensive
and have their limitations as well. The only thing that’s keeping the solar
power industry going is government subsidies. As with both wind and solar
power, the savings realized is insufficient to pay for its cost making it
impossible to amortize the investment in wind and solar power.
A report released in 1992 by
the National Academy of Sciences (Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming:
Mitigation, Adaptation and the Science Base) stated that replacing all of
the U.S. current fossil fuel use with solar energy would require about
50,000 square miles of panels, presumably heavily skewed to the places where
sunlight is abundant.
Wind and solar power is not
the answer to America’s energy problems. It’s as hard to justify as ethanol
for transport fuel.
And remember Klee’s Law: “A
clear conscious is usually a sign of a bad memory.” (Steven Wright)
©2008 Harvey
H. Klee
Defending the American Dream Summit a Huge Success
(Posted July 28, 2008)
The Defending the American Dream Summit sponsored by
Americans for Prosperity and RightOnline.com held at the Renaissance Hotel
in Austin, Texas July 18-19, 2008 was a huge success with over 500
registrants in attendance. I enjoyed meeting other conservative bloggers
and activists who came out to learn how to better mobilize and communicate
using new media technologies by hearing from the foremost experts in the
field. Inspired as I was, you can look forward to seeing several changes on
the Klee’s Kaleidoscope web site in the near future.
It’s important that we here in Llano know that such
organizations exist and are actively engaged in the new media to counter the
prevalence of liberal left–wing political propaganda spreading across the
blogosphere not only state-wide and nationally but locally here in Llano as
well. Klee’s Kaleidoscope is the only blog serving as a government watchdog
in Llano County and will continue to report and comment on unreported,
underreported and misreported news within the greater community of Llano
County.
Here’s a list of the Summit’s featured speakers:
Michelle Malkin – Renowned national syndicated
columnist, blogger, author and political commentator.
Robert Novak – Political commentator and journalist.
Hon. Barry Goldwater, Jr. - President of B2 Solutions,
a Public Affairs enterprise and former U.S. Congressman.
John Carter – U.S. Congressman, 31st
District of Texas
Erick Erickson – Managing editor of RedState.com
John Fund – Editorial writer for the Wall Street
Journal
Elizabeth Ames Jones – Texas Railroad Commissioner
Hon. Steve Lonegan – New Jersey State Director,
Americans for Prosperity Foundation
Stephen Moore – Economist and political analyst for the
Wall Street Journal
Grover Norquist – President of Americans for Tax Reform
Tim Philips – President of Americans for Prosperity
Merrie Spaeth – Founder and President of Spaeth
Communications, Swift Boat Veterans for truth
Hon. Michael Steel – Chairman of GOPAC and Former
Governor of Maryland
Michael Williams – Chairman of the Texas Railroad
Commission
Peggy Venable – Texas State Director, Americans for
Prosperity Foundation
Bob Barr – Presidential candidate for the Libertarian
Party
Several training sessions were conducted throughout the
two-day Summit put on by the Heritage Foundation, the Sam Adams Alliance,
the Leadership Institute, the Media Research Center and Americans for
Prosperity. They covered a multitude of topics dealing with the Old Media v
the New Media and effective ways of using blogs to further conservative
ideas.
Special sessions discussed “How to Protest Your
Property Taxes,” “Education Reform,” “Treats to Freedom and Your
Pocketbook,” “Global Warming: The Cost of Climate Change Hysteria,” “Putting
Taxpayers in Control,” etc.
A multiple of “Defender of the American Dream” awards
were handed out to individuals for their outstanding community involvement
on behalf of taxpayers:
The Hon. Paul Bettencourt – Taxpayer Advocate of the
Year
The Hon. Cheryl E. Johnson – Taxpayer Advocate of the
Year
Carol Jones – Lifetime Award
Katy Watchdogs – Watchdog Group of the year
Tracy Lodes – New Citizen Watchdog Award
Will Lutz – The Lone Star Report, Media Award
Donald May – Blogger Award
Dianna Pharr – Watchdog Website Award
Nanci Wilson – KEYE News Austin, Media Award
I would like to network with any other bloggers from
this area who attended the Summit this year. Please e-mail me and mention
your blog site. Together we can make a difference for freedom and liberty.
One closing thought. If you know of a high school or
Jr. High school student interested in writing a regular weekly column for
this web site, please let me know. The youth of our community deserve to be
heard concerning those matters affecting their future.
And remember Klee’s Law: “A fight is not won by one
punch or kick. Either learn to endure or get a bodyguard.” (Bruce Lee)
©2008 Harvey
H. Klee
Klee
Receives President’s Volunteer Service Award (Posted
July 7, 2008)
At
the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary, Department of
Texas, Annual Convention held in Corpus Christi June 25 through June
29, 2008 at the Omni Tower Hotel, Harvey H. Klee received The
President’s Volunteer Service Award, “In recognition and
appreciation of your commitment to strengthening our Nation and for
making a difference through volunteer service.”
Mr. Klee is a resident of Llano County. He
recently concluded his term as Texas State Chaplain for the American
Legion but continues to serve as its 4th Division and 21st
District Chaplain. He also serves as the Chaplain for the Highland
Lakes Honor Guard and is the Texas Assistant Chaplain for the Chapel
of Four Chaplains which is home based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jean Case, Chair, and Michael W. Smith, Vice
Chair of the President’s Council on Service & Civic Participation
presented the Award to Mr. Klee with congratulations. It reads in
part:
“This Award recognizes your dedication to
volunteer service and signifies that you have served your community
and your country with distinction. Through your volunteer efforts,
you are demonstrating values that make our nation strong and you are
helping to build a culture of citizenship, service and
responsibility in America.
“By volunteering, you have joined a remarkable
team that includes millions of Americans whose everyday acts of
kindness and decency make our country a better place. Please help
that team grow stronger by encouraging your friends and family
members to serve. Americans of all ages can get involved and make a
difference in their communities.”
Accompanying the Award was personal
congratulations from President George W. Bush which reads in part:
“Congratulations on receiving the President’s
Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service and
Civic Participation. Through service to others, you demonstrate the
outstanding character of America and help strengthen our country.
“In January 2002, I called on all Americans to
dedicate at least two years, or 4,000 hours, over the course of
their lives to serve others at homer or abroad. I congratulate you
and all Americans who have answered this call and have earned a
bronze Award from the President’s Council…
“May God bless you, and may God continue to
bless America.”
Also on the dais with Mr. Klee was Governor
Rick Perry who thanked veterans for answering the call of duty to
protect America’s freedom and called for continued assistance of
veterans’ rehabilitation programs. He praised the efforts of the
Legion and Auxiliary for their efforts in assisting veterans
returning from active duty, and commended their work promoting the
armed forces and recruiting volunteers.
“Throughout our nation’s history, each
generation has stepped forward to accept the torch of freedom from
those who preceded them and advance the cause of liberty to even
greater heights. America is proud of the men and women in uniform
who answer the call and uphold the sacred oath to defend freedom no
matter the cost.
“I thank you for your ongoing support of our
veterans, and I hope you will continue to recruit volunteers from
your ranks, neighborhoods, churches and workplaces. The freedoms we
enjoy in each of those places were won for us by veterans, and
although we can never match their sacrifice, we must continue to
give back to them in every way possible.”
The American Legion, Department of Texas is one
of 55 organizations that comprise the national organization of the
American Legion, the largest wartime veteran’s organization in the
world. The American Legion promotes understanding of the principles
of democracy, instills appreciation of the benefits of American
citizenship and serves the needs of veterans and their families.
CPS
is on the march – Where are your children? (Posted
June 9, 2008)
Now that cooler heads are in control, we know
what happened in El Dorado,
Schleicher County
to the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)
to be a prime example of government, the media and the general
public officiously intermeddling in the private lives of American
citizens. Jumping to conclusions as they have, without objective
facts to support their bigotry, has caused more irreconcilable
heartbreak then anyone can imagine.
It all started when a purported 16-year-old
member of the FLDS in El Dorado anonymously phoned an abuse hotline
in San Antonio several times making up a story of sexual and
physical abuse at the FLDS. She said her name was Sarah, a mother of
an eight-month old baby and pregnant for the second time. She
further claimed she had been sexually and physically abused by her
husband of one year, a man purported to have been about
50-years-old.
Without confirming the veracity of the “facts”
alleged in the unwritten, un-sworn to complaint, the identity of the
caller or her reliability, and without corroborating evidence of any
kind, the local police and Texas Department of Family Protective
Services aka Child Protective Services raided the religious
community’s home and separated about 416 children from their parents
by placing them in foster homes scattered across the country.
It now appears that the caller was Rozita
Swinton, a 33-year-old woman who works for a Denver, Colorado
insurance company and who has a history of making false reports to
the police. She had been
previously arrested after she posed as the teen mother of a newborn
baby and told an adoption agency and police she was considering
suicide and leaving the baby at a fire station. Shortly thereafter,
Swinton made another false report concerning a girl purportedly
locked in a basement.
She was serving a one-year
deferred sentence in that case when the anonymous phone call was
made concerning the FLDS.
The
authorities and most of the population fell for the hoax hook, line
and sinker. It would have made great laughs except for the damage it
has done to the lives of innocent people, not the least of which are
the children who were taken away from their parents and a secure home
environment. And they call themselves “Family Protective Service”
It’s amazing what bureaucrats will do to justify their existence and
increase their budgets.
On
May 29, 2008 the Texas Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling and
held that the seizures were illegal: “On the record before us, the
removal of the children was not warranted.” The lower court’s order
returning the children from foster care to their parents was upheld.
Pending the Supreme Court’s decision, the number of children seized
increased to roughly 440 due to the additional births, numerous
reclassifications and temporary agreements between the parties.
While the ruling only directly affects 124 children and 38 mothers
(those on whose behalf the suit was filed), its ramifications should
affect all those who had their children taken away from them.
Under
Texas law, children can be taken from their parents if there’s a
danger to their physical safety, an urgent need for protection and
if officials made a reasonable effort to keep the children in their
homes. The justices said child welfare officials can take numerous
actions short of separating them from their parents and placing them
in foster homes. The CPS’ over exuberance in removing the children
fell far short of the standards applied in such cases.
Although at some point the authorities may uncover evidence of
sexual abuse of some children at the compound, to punish an entire
community for the crimes of a few is monstrous. Punish the guilty
but not the innocent. Sometimes we forget all are innocent until
found guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The
irony is that while the lawbreaking abuser will ultimately suffer
the consequences of his or her acts, government agency personnel who
break the law will not. As we learned from the Ron Moore case, they
are immune from prosecution regardless of whether their conduct is
negligent or illegal as long as it seems they are acting in good
faith within their discretionary authority. Apparently what’s good
for the goose isn’t good for the gander.
Perhaps the apathy and indifference a community has for the trials
and tribulations of others may change when, and only when, it
affects them directly i.e. when their own children are taken away
from them and placed in foster homes. By then it will be too late.
And
remember Klee’s Law: “Over the years, slowly but surely, we have
painted ourselves into a corner on a whole range of issue, where we
can no longer say or do what makes the most sense to us, but only
what is considered to be politically correct.” (Thomas Sowell)
©2008 Harvey H. Klee
Scam E-Mails Seek Donations to Help Chinese Earthquake Victims
(Posted June 2, 2008)
The FBI is asking people to beware of e-mails
claiming to be raising money to help victims of the recent
earthquake in China. Tragic incidents such as 9/11, Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, the Minnesota Bridge collapse, and the Virginia
Tech shootings have all prompted individuals with criminal intent to
solicit contributions for a charitable organization and/or a good
cause. Some of the Chinese earthquake scam messages claim to be
offering free vacation trips to the largest donors and even use fake
logos of legitimate online pay services to fool people.
Everyone should consider the following: