Guns & Hunting

Deer hunting season here in Wisconsin has begun.   Some people do not like deer hunting.  I am not much of a hunter myself, although I used to enjoy bird hunting.  I understand that hunting is an essential part of deer conservation in order to control the deer population so they do not die of starvation and disease.  Hunting also stimulates tourism and the economy.

This post is more about guns and gun owners than it is about deer hunting.  The Second Amendment to the Constitution reads:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

        The founding fathers knew the vulnerability of an unarmed public.  They had studied history and in many cases experienced the problem first hand.  They knew any dictator or totalitarian government must first register and then confiscate privately owned guns.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking it can’t happen here.  People throughout history have made that mistake. 

        Isoroku Yamamoto was the Commander-In-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he is reported to have said;  “You cannot invade the mainland United States.  There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.”

        Abraham Lincoln said; “America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

        Nikita Khrushchev knew the armed citizens of the United States could never be conquered with guns so he proposed another strategy.  He said:

“You Americans are so gullible.  No, you won’t accept Communism outright; but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you finally wake up and find that you already have Communism.  We won’t have to fight you; we’ll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands.”

        Why are foreign powers so afraid of our armed citizens?  Let’s take a look at the numbers.  There are over 600,000 hunters in Wisconsin alone.   That number would be the eighth largest army in the world.  If we combine Wisconsin with 750,000 hunters in Pennsylvania, 700,000 in Michigan, and 250,000 in West Virginia, we have 2.4 million armed hunters.  That is equal to the largest army in the world. 

True these hunters are not trained military, but they may well be better marksmen.  When I was a kid on the farm doing chores, I would kill a rat with a single-shot 22 almost every night.  I only got one shot.  I actually could hit what I shot at.  Military personnel with that that ability are classified as expert marksmen.  When I was in basic training, I observed that guys raised around guns were always the best marksmen. 

I have only been talking about hunters.  Now think about the millions of gun owners that are not hunters, but are proficient with firearms.  No foreign power would consider invading with an army of two million when they might be facing 40 or 50 million armed citizens.  Gun ownership in this country is an important part of how we won and have kept our freedom, and is our greatest security.  If we lose our freedom, it will not be from invasion by a foreign power.  It will be from within as both Lincoln and Khrushchev predicted.

Are We Stupid?

Jonathan Gruber is one of the individuals responsible for writing the Affordable Care Act. He has stated that a lack of transparency and a stupid public was part of the reason the act was passed.  He justified these actions by saying the American people don’t know what is good for them.  Progressives always think the political elite should tell us how to live our lives.

“If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it, Period.”   If you like you doctor, you can keep him, period.”  These were two of the most famous lies.  Anyone that read the bill knew that would not happen.  Oops, I forgot, no one read the bill before passing it.  As dingbat Pelosi said, “We have to pass it to find out what’s in it.”

We were told Obama Care was not a tax, but later it was called a tax to make it legal under the Constitution.  We were told premiums would go down when they had to go up.  We were told it would not raise taxes, government spending, or the deficit, when the reverse has proven to be true. We were told it would not affect Medicare, when they knew money would be taken out of Medicare.  The list goes on and on.  We were lied to. The public may be a little gullible, but I don’t think the public is stupid. 

I think the responsibility lies with our Congress and the media to learn the facts and act responsibly in the best interests of the country.  Our form of government is a republic.  That means we elect representatives to act in our best interests so we don’t have to dig out all the facts ourselves.  Our representatives failed us.  They did not read the bill, or get the facts. Some politicians voted a party line on this issue even when they knew it was wrong. 

The media is also responsible for reporting the facts.  With the exception of some cable networks, that never happened.  Most of us agree that politicians lie.  That does not make it acceptable.  Every political lie should be front-page news if we are ever going to have a transparent government. 

Most of us do not have time to research every piece of legislation and every regulation.  We must demand a better job from our elected officials and the media.

Governor Walker

 

         Last week Scott Walker was reelected governor of Wisconsin.  He won easily in spite of the lame stream media predictions that it was a dead heat and might end in a recount.

        Walker is a Republican, but this blog is not about Republican vs. Democrat.  It is about elected officials doing a job in the best interests of the people they represent, and the negative impact of partisan politics.  It is about helping the working middle class and not just giving this issue lip service with no action.  It is about giving our children the best education possible.  It is about not always voting with one political party.  It is about politicians working for the people and not just campaign donors.  It is about controlling government spending.  It is about improving the economy and creating private sector jobs.

          Governor Walker was elected the first time four years ago.  He made some very ambitious campaign promises.  The state was in terrible shape.  The state’s economy was in the tank.  There was widespread unemployment.  There was a large government deficit, and taxes had been increasing.  Schools were in trouble and looking at cutting teachers and programs. 

          Governor Walker immediately went to work and and in doing so created a lot of controversy.  There were heated demonstrations at the state capital.   With today’s partisan politics, it is impossible to get anything done and keep everyone happy.  Democratic state senators literally left the state of Wisconsin to block legislative action.  State legislators that supported Governor Walker’s reforms received death threats requiring them to have armed guards and decoy vehicles.

          The Wisconsin Education Association Council or WEAC is the public sector union for teachers.  With a lot of help from national unions, WEAC led a movement to recall Governor Walker.  The lame stream media predicted Walker would be handed his walking papers, but he won the recall by a larger margin than when he’d been elected. 

          In spite of these obstacles, Walker did get most of his reforms in place.  If anyone had told me he could achieve what he has achieved in the last four years, I would have said they were crazy.  The state budget is balanced and there is a even surplus.  The economy is up and unemployment is down.  Taxes are down, and schools are in better shape than they have been for years.  Walker’s reforms were pretty simple.  They did not involve expensive government programs.  He just got government out of the way of private enterprise, local government, and local school districts. 

          I mentioned Walker’s campaign promises were ambitious, but in four years, he achieved them all except one.  He promised 250,000 new jobs.  He was only able to show a little over 100,000.  In most areas of the state, anyone who wants to work can now find a good paying job.  In our area, we have a huge shortage of skilled and unskilled labor.  Did Walker helped to create more jobs than we have workers?  Welfare is just too comfortable for many people, and they would rather not have to bother going to work.

          The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the unions did everything possible to defeat walker this year.  Walker was outspent, and ads got pretty negative towards the end when it looked like he might win.  Ads attempting to show him as sexist, and even implying he was corrupt were not effective.  People voted for a qualified individual that had implemented reforms to help the middle working class.

I was happy to see Governor Walker was reelcted with a comfortable margin last week.  I hope it will show the rest of the country that a politician can and should represent the working middle class and achieve good things for the state and country.   Walker’s reforms in Wisconsin are a sharp contrast to the political jokes and failed policies in Washington DC. 

Walker’s reforms were not expensive and actually worked.  I am sick and tired of the Progressive idea that the government has to be spending money or they are not doing anything.  We need to take a lesson from Walker and President Calvin Coolidge (also known as Silent Cal) and get government out of the way.

There will be a change in the control of Congress.  I hope it is used productively instead of just continuing the partisan gridlock.  I can see why Governor Walker is in the top ten as a Republican Presidential candidate in two years.  Personally, I would hate to lose him as Governor, but I hope one political party can put forward a candidate like him.  I am sick of the usual candidates representing the political elite and buying votes with welfare.  We need elected representatives working for middle class.

Election Day

 

     The elction is today.  What are you voting for?  I hope you have done your research before voting.

·        Are you voting for the Constitution, or administrative law through executive orders?

·        Are you voting for religious freedom as defined in the First Amendment, or suppression of religion?

·        Are you voting for the Tenth Amendment and state’s rights, for or for a large federal government?

·        Are you voting for personal freedom, or are you voting for having the federal government controlling every aspect of your life?

·        Are you voting for the Second amendment, or having the government take away are guns? 

·        Are you voting for a strong economy and jobs, or a welfare state?

·        Are you voting for the working middle class, or the political elite?

·        Are you voting for a capitalistic economy or a government controlled economy?

·        Are you voting for tax reform like the Fair Tax, or continuing with the current system that favors the rich?

·        Are you voting for tax reform to keep our corporations and corporate profits in the country, or driving them away?

·        Are you voting for a fiscally responsible government, or catastrophic debt?

·        Are you in favor of letting banks and corporations fail, or having the federal government bail them out with tax payer money because the government considers them “Too Big to Fail.”

·        Are you voting for lower cost health care, or higher cost due to insurance and government intervention?

·        Are you voting for returning our education system the high standards held before the federal government got involved?

·        Are you voting for change to save our urban areas, or let them continue to decay into welfare communities?

·        Are you voting for a secure border, or open boarders?

·        Are you voting for lower cost health care, or more cost due to insurance and government intervention?

·        Are you voting for Social Security and Medicare & Medicaid reform to provide fair value and security for our citizens?

·        Are you voting for honesty and transparency in government and quick justice for corruption, or continued cover-ups?

·        Are you Voting for honesty in campaign advertising, continuing with the “It’s just politics” approach?

We can make a difference.