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By Jeff, on April 17th, 2009%
Note on the following: All views expressed are my own unless explicitly stated otherwise.
I follow Ox on both Twitter and Facebook, and recently the guy has been talking about Liberty quite a bit. Honestly, I literally feel sick every time I see it, and I hope by the end of this post you understand why.
You see, quite honestly John Oxendine is a theocratic Statist of the worst sort. While this comes into play somewhat in his current position as Insurance Commissioner, it will be one of the greatest tragedies this state has ever experienced if he somehow lays claim to the Governor’s Mansion.
The remainder of this post will be dedicated to commentary on each of the Ox’s position’s, as found on his campaign website.
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By Tom, on April 17th, 2009%
Last night, WALB reported Rep. Sanford Bishop’s take on the Tea Party phenomenon that occured all over the country. WALB’s report can be seen here. What I was particularly tickled by was this comment in particular from the story:
Congressman Bishop also said April 15th is a tough day for everyone. But it’s the price we must pay for services.
He asks taxpayers to trust that leaders will be fiscally responsible.
So, we should “trust” that our elected officials will be fiscally responsible? Why, Mr. Bishop, should we trust you and your cohorts to do that which you’ve never done before? [Continue]
By Publius, on April 17th, 2009%
The following was sent to us. Feel free to email us anytime at swgapolitics@gmail.com!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2009
CONTACT: Mike Sabot
msa651@msn.com
Guest speaker Senator Johnny Isakson at the 2nd GOP District Presidential Dinner to be held tonight, beginning at 6 pm, at Thronateeska Heritage Museum & Wetherbee Planetarium in Albany Ga., will be the recipient of the April 15th Leesburg Tax Day Tea Party proceeds.
More than 1500 tea bags were paid as admission price to the event attended by between 500 and 700 individuals from places as far away as Florida and Oklahoma. Attendance sheets signed by more than 480 attenees will also be presented. Many individuals declined to sign due to fear of Government retrobution.
Senator Isakson will be ask to return the proceeds to congress, with a demand that they begin to listen to the wishes of the people.
Note: Due to Government regulations and fears of WMD, only the Tea tags will be use.
By Tom, on April 17th, 2009%
My name is Tom Knighton. I’m not that different from you all. I’m married to a wonderful woman. I have an amazing son who I’m so proud of I can’t begin to describe. I have a home, two cars, a cat, and a dog. Really, I’m as close to the quintessential American as any of you are. And I’ve always wondered how it is that a man who robs you at gun point is a thief, unless he works for the IRS? After all, then it’s taxes! The problem is, we’re all victims of theft.
That’s right, we are all victims. Victims to a government who takes our wages before we even have an opportunity to even see them. They take our money by force, making us work for months with essentially no wage.
We’ve all done this for years I suspect. We’ve been silent in our victim hood, because we believed Washington when they told us it was for our own good. We were told that taxes were the price we paid to live in a civilized society. We were told that our taxes were going to make the world a better place. And we foolishly believed them.
Guess what folks? Apparently, to make the world a better place, we have to pay for incompetence. We have to pay for ineptitude. We have to pay for arrogance. And we have to pay for fraudulence.
All over the country, we have been told how we have to bail out Wall Street. We have to Bail out Detroit. We have to bail out those who bought houses they couldn’t afford. My question to Washington is “why?” Why do I have to bail out those who lied? Why do I have to bail out those who didn’t think? Why do I have to bail out anyone?
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By Jeff, on April 17th, 2009%
Let me make one thing clear:
One issue, above all others, forced the American Civil War to happen. This issue was a legitimate cause of concern for the national government then, and this same issue is a legitimate cause of concern for the national government now.
That issue is nullification. The right of States to ‘nullify’ certain acts of Congress they disagree with, and to seceed from the Union if Congress continues in its ways.
And the Georgia Senate SUPPORTS this issue by a 43/1/7/5 vote. The lone nay vote was Senator Ronald Ramsey (D-Lithonia), those not voting were Senators Balfour (R-Snellville), Brown (D-Macon), Fort (D-Atlanta), Grant (R-), Henson (R-), Rogers (R-Woodstock), and Williams (R-), and those excused were Senators Buckner (D-), Hooks (D-Americus), Murphy (R-), Steve Thompson (D-Marietta), and Tolleson (R-Perry). Of those who did not vote, Rogers and Williams are both listed as primary co-sponsors of the bill.
Important to note here is that both Rogers and Williams are members of Senate leadership, with Rogers being the Majority Leader and Williams being the President Pro Tempore.
The bill itself is SR 632, and much of it is spot on. Indeed, my primary objection is simply to the nullification clauses, though there could be others. But those nullification clauses are an EXTREMELY bad thing, as such sentiments lead to WAR.
I’m actually in the process of emailing Senator Pearson right now to ask him about this bill, and I’ll post his response if he a) answers me and b) doesn’t mind me so posting.
Since I don’t mind posting the email I sent to Senator Pearson, check below for it:
[My email to Senator Chip Pearson
By Jeff, on April 17th, 2009%
On December 16, 1773, a group of colonists in Boston staged a protest against the British crown. The colonists wanted Boston to return three ships of taxed tea to the king. The colonists, dressed as Indians, boarded the ships and tossed the tea into the Boston Harbor. It is in that spirit that we gather here today!
If you have ever seen the movie “National Treasure” you know that the characters in the movie examine the Constitution for clues to a treasure. While I do not know if such a treasure exists, I do know that there is a clue hidden in the Constitution. The founding fathers put it there for occasions such as this. They didn’t really make a big effort to hide it either. Instead, they made the letters far bigger than the rest of the text of the document. WE THE PEOPLE…
You see, the government gets its power from us, not the other way around, and when we have allowed the government to get so big that our representatives do not represent us, it is time that we take it back.
It has long been said that the majority of people in America live conservative values. We go about our lives in an independent fashion and we are slow to complain or speak out. But the silent majority will be silent no more!
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By Jeff, on April 17th, 2009%
The Libertarian Party of Georgia’s annual State Convention is this Saturday, and I’m going to be there! I may be tweeting live, we’ll see how that goes. If you aren’t following me yet and would like an inside look at a State Convention from the eyes of someone who has never been to one, follow me at @swgalibertarian!
In addition to going to this event for the first time, I will also be a candidate in an election for the first time in six years, and my first time ever outside of college. I plan on seeking the District 1 Representative spot on the LP-Ga Executive Committee, and I think I’m in a great position to do a solid job with it, particularly as we prepare for the 2010 midterm elections.
In my brief time as a full-fledged Libertarian I have taken a nine county area that had precisely three members – counting myself – and have already nearly tripled our strength, with three more people set to join very soon from what they have told me.
Nor do I shirk from challenges. Not counting the daunting task of working to organize an affiliate with only two other members anywhere near me when I started, I have also started a libertarian-oriented blog focusing on the SWGA area, and I even wrote commentary on nearly every bill authored by a member of the Georgia Senate. Through this blog and my efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and PeachPundit, I have gained the attention – and I’d like to think at least some small modicrum of respect – from some of the biggest names in GA Political blogging, including Erick Erickson, Bill Simon, and ‘Icarus’.
I have also gained the respect of respected members of the GA Libertarian community, including both former Chairman and current At-Large Representative Jason Pye and current Chairman Daniel Adams.
I also have experience in exactly this type of position. While in college, I worked with an organization called the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, where I rose to what was then known as the Region 3 Representative on its National Leadership Council – essentially the student-led version of its Executive Committee, where the President and Vice President of the NLC were actual voting members on the controlling board of the entire organization. My duties then were to represent my region to the best of my ability to the rest of the NLC, as well as chapter development. Indeed, I actually managed to visit 10 of my 35 chapters that year, which was daunting even of itself considering that Region 3 then was the traditional ‘Southeast’, minus Virgina.
I know I’m a recent convert to Libertarianism, but I’ve actually been on the path for several years – approximately a decade, in fact. Early on, it was more of a religious conversion from the Southern Baptist legalism I had been raised under to the full realization of a ‘Different Kind of Free’, as contemporary Christian band ZOEgirl puts it. Just before my final decision to become a Libertarian, books that impacted my religious beliefs included William Young’s The Shack and Ted Dekker’s The Circle Trilogy, which both confirmed and expanded my views of Freedom. During that time, I was also impacted by works such as Shaunti Feldhahn’s – a local Atlanta author – Veritas Conflict as well as Dale Brown’s character of President Thomas Nathaniel Thorn and his Jeffersonian Republican party, which is similar to the LP’s beliefs on foreign affairs and the Constitution.
Finally, for me it came down to two men: Dr. Ron Paul and Bob Barr. I began to follow Dr. Paul early in the primary season for the 2008 Presidential Elections. I saw him as the only hope for the Republican Party, and the Republican Party rejected him. I began looking into the Libertarian Party with some seriousness at that point. I had also been following Mr. Barr’s columns in the AJC called The Barr Code, and knew him to be solid in privacy rights and other issues. When he stopped his column to pursue the Presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, the LP had my full attention. I began telling everyone I could about Bob Barr and his Liberty for America platform, and everyone around me knew exactly where I stood.
The day President Barack Obama was elected, the LP-Ga officially gained a new member, and I joined LP-National less than two weeks later. Around that same time, I also began my efforts to organize an LP presence in my area in Lee and Dougherty Counties, and I stand ready to submit the paperwork to the Executive Committee within two weeks to allow them to decide whether to make SWGALP the newest LP-Ga affiliate. I have also already been talking to some people in Valdosta about the possibility of establishing an affiliate there, even as nothing more than the organizer of an affiliate in a nearby area.
I would like to continue my work at both the local and the State level, and I ask for your support in electing me District 1 Representative on the Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of Georgia.
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