Bailout Alternative
I usually don't stray from topics involving guns, but if things on this whole bailout mess continue as they've been going, I'm afraid guns will be involved sooner or later.
Everyone is upset about the Bailout plan, but I've heard few alternatives suggested – the most common being send everyone to jail and let Wall Street melt down and the one where the government should give us all a million dollars so our dollar would really be worthless…
Here is an alternative I got from my old friend Dave Ramsey (www.DaveRamsey.com) that actually makes sense and doesn't cost 700 Billion dollars. I don't know if this is Dave's idea or one he picked up from someone else, but it's a good plan and needs to be read by every elected representative in the country. Remember that little politicians and party activists often have unlisted numbers for the big politicians so don't be shy about spreading this around.
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The Common Sense Fix
Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic
nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the
answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support
any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I
submit the following three-step, Common Sense Plan.
I. INSURANCE
a. Insure the sub-prime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type
insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant
market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.
b. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance,
they must do two things:
1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent
to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into
the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a
chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or
the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of
foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any
deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage
companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again
limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.
2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and
executive team members as long as the company holds these
government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming
executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.
c. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of
the current proposal.
II. MARK TO MARKET
a. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only
subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being
forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the
underlying mortgages and real estate.
b. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate
stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer
nothing.
III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX
a. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the
real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating
tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the
taxpayer nothing.
b. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many
will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but
it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all
Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up
instead of down.
This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time
for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.
Criminals for Gun Control, Part 2
Another installment from Criminals for Gun Control.
Click on the picture to watch the video.
Click the Read More link to watch
Criminals for Gun Control, Part 1
I don't know who these guys are, but I think they're great.
Click on the picture to watch the video.
You Must Vote!
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
You Must Vote!
By Jeff Knox
(September 16, 2008) Your vote absolutely matters and if you fail to vote, your rights and liberties could be in greater jeopardy. Not voting is a vote for your least favored candidate, as is voting for someone who can not possibly win. The time to send a message was during the primaries when there was still a chance of getting a solid, pro-gun candidate at the top of the ticket or of at least moving the eventual winner toward a more favorable pro-gun position. In the general election for President, unless the two major party candidates are both simply abhorrent, it is best to cast your vote for the candidate who will best work with the congressional candidates you support. This also raises the question of voting for congressional and state candidates. Voters who choose to stay home or go hunting on Election Day because they don’t like Obama or McCain, are throwing away their votes for lower-ticket candidates as well. Since lower-ticket candidates have smaller voting districts and fewer eligible voters, the lower on the ticket a candidate is, the greater impact your individual vote has on their race. There are currently slim pro-gun majorities in both houses of congress, but that could easily change in the coming election if GunVoters don’t bother showing up or don’t take the time to do a little research before heading out to the polls.
When it comes to the president, the “lesser of two evils” is not always the less dangerous threat and, while voting for the “lesser of two evils” simply because he is “less evil” would be Continue reading You Must Vote!
Courts Misusing Heller
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
Courts Misusing Heller
By Jeff Knox
(September 10, 2008) “A person does not have the right under the Second Amendment, or under any other provision of the Constitution, to possess a machinegun. A person does not have a right, under the Second Amendment, or under any other provision of the Constitution, to possess a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches that the person has not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.” (Instructions to the jury in U.S. v. Gilbert)
In the months since the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, there have been over a dozen rulings by judges referencing the case and virtually all of them used Heller to support limitations on firearms rights. The degree to which they used the opinion ranged from simply rebutting an appellant’s erroneous claim that Heller nullifies the law under which they were convicted, to actually using the language in the Heller opinion to support restrictions as constitutional. In U.S. v. Gilbert, the Federal Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit did both.
On appeal, the 9th Circuit rejected Gilbert’s claim Continue reading Courts Misusing Heller
GunVoter.org Needs You!
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
GunVoter.org Needs You!
By Jeff Knox
(August 26, 2008) What if there was a single web site where you could go to learn about the gun rights position of every candidate in every race in every state and federal election in the US? A site where you could find voting records, editorials, and discussion groups of knowledgeable, committed, gun rights activists? A site where local grassroots organizations from all over the country come together to share information and ideas for legislative and electoral success? That web site doesn’t exist, but it could exist. It could be GunVoter.org. We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it. We have the structure in place. The software is operating smoothly. The technical bugs have been worked out and our user base is growing, but we need your help to turn GunVoter.org into the valuable resource that it has the potential to be.
This year everyone knows who’s running for President, but few people know who’s running for Senate and fewer still know who’s running to represent them in the House, much less who’s running for seats in the state legislature.
Continue reading GunVoter.org Needs You!
The Nine Principles of Policing
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
The Nine Principles of Policing
By Jeff Knox
(August 12, 2008) Sir Robert Peel, the architect of Nineteenth Century English police process (and from whom English “bobbies” get their name), established the following nine principles as a guide to reorganizing and refocusing the London Metropolitan Police:
Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing:
1. The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.
2. The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.
3. Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.
4. The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.
5. Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.
6. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.
7. Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
8. Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.
9. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.
Take particular notice of principle number 7: Continue reading The Nine Principles of Policing
Action Alert from NSSF
This just in from the National Shooting Sports Foundation:
Contact Your Legislators | Legislative Action Center | NSSF.org
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VITAL INDUSTRY LEGISLATION
U.S. House and Senate MUST VOTE on CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY |
Legislation to rectify a longstanding inequity in the collection of the firearms and ammunition excise tax (FAET) – a major source of wildlife conservation funding – needs to be heard before the end of the current legislative session in both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 6310) and the U.S. Senate (S. 3331). If we are going to ensure hunting and conservation efforts throughout the United States, passage of this legislation is essential.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) — the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry — has been leading a broad coalition of sportsmen and conservation groups, including the National Rifle Association and Ducks Unlimited, in an effort to reform the federal excise tax.
While this legislation (H.R. 6310 and S. 3331) will not reduce the amount of the tax collected, it will allow the firearms and ammunition industry to pay the FAET on a quarterly basis, the same payment schedule as every other industry that supports conservation. Currently firearms and ammunition manufacturers must pay the FAET bi-weekly. This payment schedule forces many manufacturers to borrow money to ensure on-time payment, and industry members spend thousands of man-hours administering the necessary paperwork to successfully complete the bi-weekly payments — monies that are due long before manufacturers are paid by their customers.
The NSSF estimates that shifting to a quarterly payment schedule will free up approximately $22 million dollars annually for manufacturers to invest in new equipment and product designs, in turn leading to greater participation in hunting and the shooting sports.
Clearly a financially strong and growing firearms and ammunition industry will not only generate greater excise tax revenues, monies that will be used to fund conservation throughout the United States, but will also help ensure America's manufacturers remain competitive in an increasingly global economy.
NSSF is asking all hunters, sportsmen, gun-owners and conservationists to CALL your congressman and senators immediately, urging them to co-sponsor this commonsense legislation.
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Job Well Done?
I have long been a critic of the movement to militarize police. I believe that it is important for police to have the skills and equipment necessary to deal with extraordinary situations, but the trend has been toward using these tactics and equipment in very un-extraordinary duties. Combine aggressive tactics with an unacceptably low standard for acquiring "No-Knock" and "Announce and Enter" warrants and you have a recipe for catastrophes.
What should be simple arrests or a startled resident grabs a gun and either shoots a cop by mistake or gets shot themselves unnecessarily. Continue reading Job Well Done?