Thomas Jefferson, primary writer of the Declaration Of Independence, explains why the American Colonies viewed separation from England was inevitable:

Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Thomas Jefferson argued that:

Parliament was a foreign legislature that was unconstitutionally trying to extend its sovereignty into the colonies.

With American public dissatisfaction and revulsion for Congress at all time highs, would Thomas Jefferson view today’s imperially elite rulers in Washington to be the modern day equivalents of King George?

The Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,^[71] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such disolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

July 4, 1776

List of signers

Fifty-six delegates eventually signed the Declaration:

Happy Fourth of July, 2010!

Leaders Out Of Touch With Economic Reality

Politico reports that almost half the members of Congress are millionaires compared to just 1% of the subject population that they rule.   Could this be one of the reasons why the Washington elite is so out of touch with the concerns of the average American?

The economy and pocket book issues are the main concerns of the electorate, regardless of whether they are currently employed or not.   The unemployed see their ship sinking rapidly and those still employed are seeing their standard of living decaying at an alarming rate.   While the average down on his luck American is worried about basic daily issues, the elite rulers of Washington are busily engaged on planetary quests to reduce carbon emissions and tell other nations how to conduct their affairs.    The recent election results prove that voters believe that their basic concerns are not even on the “to do” list of the Washington elite.

Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.

CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million.

All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center’s 2008 figures.

“Many Americans probably have a sense that members of Congress aren’t hurting, even if their government salary alone is in the six figures, much more than most Americans make,” said CRP spokesman Dave Levinthal.

Do The Obese Have The “Right” To Become More Obese?

In an attempt to help those who cannot help themselves from becoming obese, the government has implemented new legislative fiats requiring restaurants to post the calorie count of each item on their menus.   Unfortunately, the heavy hand of government dictate is producing counter productive results.  Consider the following study showing that forcing restaurants to post calorie information has actually had no beneficial impact but instead, has perversely resulted in consumers consuming more empty calories, not less.

After Calorie Warnings, Diners Order More Calories

Before food czars get any more punch-happy on their own Kool-Aid, they need to be purged of the illusion that their laws are actually working. Last month, New York University and Yale medical professors published a ground-breaking study, which shows that New York City’s law requiring fast food chains to post calories on their menus doesn’t reduce their customers’ caloric intake.

Sixteen municipalities including California, Seattle, and Portland have passed laws similar to NYC’s, and the Menu Education and Labeling Act, which would impose labeling regulations nationwide, is pending in Congress.

But the researchers’ most striking finding was that customers actually ordered more caloric items after the law went into effect than before, despite the fact that nine out of ten customers who reported using the information said they made healthier choices as a result of the law.

But the problem may also be more complex. It’s possible that people who are less educated may actually think they are eating more healthily than they are notwithstanding the calorie numbers staring them in the face.information and that 15% said they used it. But these figures demonstrate the law’s failure—not success. Despite the fact that people were readily presented with

The Department is boasting that 56% of customers saw the caloric the nutritional information, 85% of them ignored it.

The lawmakers who enacted the calorie posting regulations succumbed to the fallacy that everyone thinks like them. They probably reasoned that because they would make healthier choices if presented with nutritional information, everyone else would as well. But maybe what consumers actually want is a delicious meal at a low price.

So what’s the next step for an imperial government gone mad with regulations and micro control over the lives of their disconnected citizens??  You can see the next step coming.  For those of us unable to think properly, based on bureaucratic notions of proper eating habits, the only option left is to impose more draconian rules.  If fat people can’t stop themselves from gorging on food, the next logical legislative fiat would necessarily involve requiring restaurants to forcible eject or refuse to serve those individuals that the government “deems to be obese”.

I wonder how that will work out?

With apparently little of consequence to do for the people she allegedly works for, the Secretary of State has spent considerable time and a large amount of taxpayer money planning a “Plaque Monument” to her greatness.   FYI Madame Secretary - usually monuments are erected after a popular consensus has been reached that someone deserves to recognized.

The Washington Post reports on the Secretary of State’s outrageous efforts to immortalize herself.  The story starts when a Clinton shrine (including the notorious 800 pound plaque) erected by the US Agency for International Development was later removed by the Bush Administration and put into storage.    Soon after the election, Madame Clinton with plenty of free time on her hands, went right to work on - you guessed it - restoring her monument.

I was quite honored upon leaving the White House to have a plaque put up in the lobby recognizing my work,” she said. “And if anybody knows where that plaque is — [laughter and applause] — you know,” Clinton playfully smiled, looking at someone just off the stage to her right, and shrugged, “I’d just love to see it again.”

So, for an estimated $40,000, the agency was preparing to schlep the holy plaque back and put it up next week on another wall in the lobby. The photos of her travels won’t be returning, but who needs them? After all, a large photo of the secretary sits at the agency entrance, alongside President Obama’s and Vice President Biden’s.

Then Thursday afternoon, hours after we made inquiries, we got word from a State Department official traveling with Clinton in Pakistan that, no, the plaque’s not going up. “The secretary prefers that public funds not be used for this purpose,” we were told, “and if USAID wants to restore the wall, it should pursue private funding.”

How’s this for an idea?  If the multi-millionaire Secretary really feels she needs a monument, why doesn’t she pay for it herself?   An even better idea would be to dedicate herself to serving the country in a more meaningful manner.

Rulers Out Of Touch With Reality

While millions suffer economically, the Speaker of the House sees fits to commute in a private Boeing 757 at a weekly cost of $120,000.  Brings to mind the old saying “watch what they do, not what they say”.

The ruling elite in Washington is out of touch and out of control,  interested primarily in furthering their financial well being and imperial life style.   This one example of outrageous conduct by an elected official was exposed by The Burning Platform (follow link for full read).

The hypocrisy of the ruling elite in Washington DC is breathtaking. Why can’t Pelosi fly coach to California? What makes her better than you and me? The attitudes and practices of our rulers are disgusting. 20% of the U.S. population is unemployed and this woman has the gall to spend $120,000 per week to jet back and forth across the country. This is utterly putrid.

Since she only works 3 days a week, this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and she flies home to California , cost to the  taxpayers of about $60,000, one way! As Joe put it, ‘Unfortunately we have to pay to bring her back on Monday night.’ Cost to us another $60,000.

Folks, that is $480,000 per month and that is an annual cost to the taxpayers of  $5,760,000.