Police State?

It was sometime in 2005 that the police chief asked the city council in Waseca to look into getting cameras installed in Maplewood park. For those of you not familiar with the park it is one of the remnants of Minnesota's "Big Woods" and is located on the eastern edge of clear lake. It has a park with an old boyscout building at the top of a rather large mound of earth. It is also somewhat secluded and had been the target of vandalism in the past, hence the chiefs request and solution to the vandalism problem. The council seemed to be open to the idea and willing to go along with it, except for me. I was sitting on the council at the time and there was something that really bothered me about trading privacy for a sense of security that the cameras were supposed to provide. I explained to the chief and the rest of the council that it was too expensive and that I was quite frankly uncomfortable with the idea of the government putting cameras anywhere in public regardless of the intended purpose. I must have made a decent argument because I convinced enough of the council to vote against the idea with me.

Anyone that has ever read Orwell's novel 1984 knows full well the warning and peril that comes from sacrificing freedom for "security." We see signs of this everywhere in our daily lives and hardly notice the camera's eye anymore. At work or the local market, in a mall parking lot or on top of a pole overlooking the freeway. Companies are working on face recognition software that can recognize people and warn law enforcement of "potential threats." I enjoy safety and security as much as the next person, but not at the cost of my liberty and freedom. Some will argue that if you aren't doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to worry about. To a certain degree this is true, but what if the laws change? At some point in the future, will a government that has grown too big and powerful, decide that free speech is a crime, or the right to assemble against the law, or can I potentially be arrested for trying to buy food rations for my family after the collapse of the dollar? I know that these seem like far fetched scenarios, but they could realistically be right around the corner. And if these things ever come to pass, why give our government the power to easily keep track of our wherabouts.

We the people, still have the opportunity to speak out against this type of surveillance activity. Let your representatives at all levels of government know that you do not approve of surveillance of the average citizen.

Right Running from Ron?

Something frightening is happening to the so-called right wing media. They are all afraid to talk, seriously, about Rep. Ron Paul. The mainstream media outlets, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and the Networks are also afraid to mention anything about the good doctor as well. On the 5th of November supporters for Ron Paul raised roughly $5 million dollars for the Presidential candidate. Then on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party he raised over $6 million dollars. He is the only candidate, Republican or Democrat, to increase his funding every quarter. Yet almost every major media outlet, outside of the Internet, has refused to cover these events with any significance.

I called the Laura Ingraham show on 12/18/07 after she had made some rather curious remarks about the Congressman. She chastised a caller for being a "Ronpaululan", her term for trying to equate Ron Paul with the Romulans from Star Trek and therefore equating him with being "out there." And then she plays the theme from Star Trek to try and marginalize Ron Paul by making him seem silly. When the call screener answered, he said "What would you like to discuss with Laura today?" in a very pleasant and welcoming voice. I said "I'd like to have an honest discussion with Laura about Ron Paul." His demeanor changed instantly and very abruptly he said"Laura's not discussing that right now!" and he hung up on me! Neo-cons and RHINO's are scared stiff of Ron Paul, because he is getting support from the core group of Conservatives that any Republican candidate for President will need in order to win the general election.

Another right-wing attacker of Rep. Paul has been Glenn Beck. Glenn hosts a talk show on CNN and pretends to be outraged by anything liberal. Mr. Beck has made fun of Rep. Paul on many occasions and even equated Ron Paul supporters with terrorists when discussing the 5th of November fund raiser where Ron Paul supporters raised over $5 million dollars. In all fairness to his viewers, Glenn Beck did issue an open invitation to Ron Paul and said that he would have him on for an entire show. Rep. Paul accepted this invitation and appeared on the show. Much to my dismay, rather than discuss real issues, Glenn Beck asked questions that were unprofessional and quite insulting to a candidate who is making a serious run for the Presidency of the United States. He asked Rep. Paul about a wacko that has threatened Glenn and his family in Paul's name and then proceeded to ask a series of questions about whether the congressman believes that our own government had a hand in 9/11! Rep. Paul was gracious, but was visibly disturbed at the direction Glenn's show decided to take.

When you compare the candidates on key issues such as immigration, foreign policy, the economy and our role in the world, we begin to see stark differences between the front runners and Rep. Paul. Ron Paul's vision for America is a non-interventionist foreign policy, border protection and removal of government barriers to allow business to flourish. I personally don't see anything wrong with his philosophy. And as the primary season begins to kick off, and people focus in on the candidates, I hope they take a strong look at Rep. Paul and consider voting their values rather than what the media tells them about electability.

The Conservative Savior Emerges

As the Primaries draw near it is becoming apparent that the candidates are starting to flesh out and show us who they truly are. Actors can act for a living, politicians can only act for so long before they reveal their true nature. It is not in ones nature to pretend to be something that he or she is not, and we are seeing evidence of this fact in the likes of Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, Thompson and Edwards. This long campaign season has given us a glimpse into the true nature of these candidates. And the more I see of them, the more one fact becomes certain, that Rep. Ron Paul must win the Republican nomination for the good of our country. He has emerged as the consistent conservative, and makes sense out of almost every challenge that we Americans will face in the coming decade. The press abhors him, the neo-cons try to marginalize him and the special interests pretend he doesn't exist. But he seems to be gaining traction, especially among Republicans who regard him as the only true Conservative candidate among the group.

Rep. Paul's campaign has quietly been raising funds to make a legitimate run for the White house, and all without the major aid from the big time contributors. Behind the scenes, many pundits have been buzzing that he could be the surprise candidate in the New Hampshire and Iowa primaries. If Rep. Paul makes a 3rd or 4th place finish in either of those primaries it will change the face of this race. Rep. Paul has already made an impact by forcing the other candidates back to the right. Romney and Giuliani have both been trying to shore up their conservative credentials to try and sway some of Rep. Paul's supporters to their cause.

Every generation, a candidate emerges that can alter the course of the nation. Sometimes they win, as with Ronald Reagan. Sometimes they lose, as with Patrick Buchanan. But the consequences for loss are great. When Buchanan lost to a lame duck incumbent, George H. Bush, it brought about 8 years of the Clinton administration. The senior Bush was no match intellectually or charismatically for Bill Clinton. That coupled with the fact that Perot siphoned votes from conservatives, helped give Bill the White house on a platter. The same case could be true for this upcoming election. If Giuliani or Romney win the nomination, will they be able to overcome the Clinton campaign machine? And I believe that the reason so many right-wing pundits fear Ron Paul and try to discredit him, is because they fear the idea that if he doesn't receive the nomination, he could decide to run as an Independent.

The fact that Ron Paul is even in the race is already changing the Republican party by forcing the Republican candidates to address the issues that concern Conservatives. It seems that the corporations and the media are trying to push the candidates upon us that they would like to see win. That is their right and I can not fault them for it, however, in this electronic age where information can pass freely from person to person we have the ability to see the facts for ourselves. We can do our own research, watch the video we choose and get access to the candidates views with an ease that has never been available to voters before. Try as the media may, by trying to distract us with stories about celebrities and non-news items, we can still get the pertinent information we need to make an educated decision regarding the candidates. I just hope that the general public doesn't get distracted as easily as I believe they can from time to time.

Union. What is it good for?

I have a problem with Labor unions. To be quite honest, I abhor them. They are the antiquated dinosaurs leftover from an earlier time, and they are as out of place in our time as Tyrannosaurus Rex would be. Now to give credit where credit is due, unions have done many positive things for workers. Early union demands centered around improvements to the immediate work environment, like better wages, hours and working conditions. But the demands of unions have become a yoke around the neck of American industry. The auto industry has been severely hampered by the high wages, health care packages, and pension plans demanded by the Auto Workers Union. The Wall Street journal reports "In the past two years, GM has put almost $30 billion into its pension funds and a trust to cover its OPEB obligations. Yet these accounts are still a combined $54 billion underwater." These fiscal handcuffs make a level playing field impossible to attain and is a contributing factor in the decline of the US automotive empire.

In recent years unions have seen a decline in numbers, except for the service and government sector where they still thrive. As a former City Councilman, I was shocked to learn that our City Administrator had to negotiate with 7 different unions every contract year. Imagine having to negotiate a wage increase, benefit and health care package acceptable to 7 different organizations with 7 varying opinions on what is acceptable. Also take into consideration the vast amount of time wasted by having to meet with all of these different organizations.

And what about rewarding hard work and individual effort? When the union negotiates a pay increase, it gets spread out equally across the board to all workers. This means that the best worker gets the same percentage increase as the worst worker. Where, in this type of system, is the incentive to do better? In France, Germany and other European countries, socialist parties and anarchists played a prominent role in forming and building up trade unions, especially from the 1870's onwards. Unions had their beginnings in socialism, which is in direct contrast to our form of democratic government.

Unions have become a powerful political tool in our society. Take a look at the Teachers Union the NEA. It is one of the most powerful lobby groups in Washington (behind AIPAC of course). I challenge you to find a Senator or Representative willing to take on the NEA concerning fiscal responsibility, benefits packages or tenure. Ask a school administrator how easy it is to fire a bad teacher, it is damn near impossible thanks to the NEA. We don't approve of businesses that have a monopoly in America, so why do we tolerate unions which have a monopoly on the commodity of labor? The government has strict rules and regulations regarding labor standards for corporations to follow. Workers have become a valuable commodity, so employers are already treating them to health care packages, and other benefits such as 401k plans and stock options. The era of needing a union to represent you has long past, unless of course you don't mind standing in line for handouts.