Another Article V Convention of States Myth Busted

Louisiana’s General Assembly has passed a Commissioners Selection Resolution for an Article V convention of states. This resolution provides rules and guidelines for delegate selection and participation. Here is an excerpt from the Convention of States Project:

The COS Louisiana team helped write and support the resolution, which establishes rules that will apply to any convention of states called to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution under Article V.

The resolution provides for the selection and authority of commissioners representing the state when a convention is called to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution under Article V.


This resolution says Louisiana will send five commissioners (aka delegates) to the convention, all selected by the state legislature. Three alternates will also be selected in the same way. Citizen representation will be included, because at least two delegates may not be members of the state legislature.


The commissioners from Louisiana cannot be federal government representatives, because no person will be eligible who is a member of Congress, an employee of the United States, or an employee or other representative of a contractor with the United Sates. Additionally, any Louisiana elected official holding a statewide elected office is not eligible to be a commissioner.


The resolution also provides for legislative control over the commissioners. The resolution specifically establishes “the duty to abide by instructions established by concurrent resolution of the legislature for participation in the convention.”


Publius Huldah, a convention of states opponent, claimed that States had to apply to Congress for a convention and that only Congress can pick delegates, set the rules, and approve amendments. Louisiana just proved her wrong. How can the federal government be involved when this resolution forbade its participation? 

Another myth busted.


Source:

https://conventionofstates.com/news/louisiana-passes-commissioner-selection-resolution?utm_source=Convention+of+States+Project&utm_campaign=b862324ad4-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_45196125c1-b862324ad4-216301385


http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1071629

Starbucks New Progressive Outreach Program

H/T:  Maggie's Farm

Convention of States Detractors Point to Articles of Confederation

In order to take care of a problem, one must first recognize that you have a problem. The Convention of States Project has brought to fore Washington D.C.’s nullification of our Constitution. Citizens are up in arms as to what to do about it. The most obvious is to have a national discussion about this usurpation and rectify it in an Article V convention of states. Our detractors would rather do nothing for fear of a runaway convention.


I engaged a couple of dissenters so as to get a better understanding. They seem to hang their hat on the 1787 convention and the fate of the Articles of Confederation. Mind you, this is the same convention that produced our Constitution; yet, this is their example.


First of all, the Articles of Confederation was more of an alliance than a governing body. Its strictures made laws impossible to enforce. To give you an idea on the impotent nature of the Confederation here is an excerpt from The Genius of the People by Charles L. Mee Jr.:

Congress, meanwhile, was sometimes unable to get a quorum to conduct business. When it could get a quorum, it found it could not always enforce the laws it passed. When it tried to improve its situation by amending Articles, a single state could block an amendment. Some states failed to pay taxes; some states failed to live up to the treaty of 1783 that ended the war with Britain; states that had international ports taxed the exports of states that did not. Whereas the British could coordinate a trade policy to punish Americans commercial interests, the Americans could not coordinate a retaliatory policy to force the British to reverse their practices. In sum, the United States government could not reliably levy taxes, could not ensure that it would honor its treaty obligations. It was not clear, in fact, that it could be called a government at all, and some feared that the Revolution, for which so many had fought so hard, could still be lost in the turbulence of this postwar disorder.


What a hot mess! Keep in mind, Rhode Island didn’t send one delegate to the Philadelphia convention effectively rendering, under the Articles of Confederation, that meeting moot. And this is what the detractors of a Convention of States are hanging their hats on.


Publius Huldah is an articulate critic of the Convention of States Project. She frequently quotes the Federalist Papers, primarily Madison and Hamilton, in her presentation. I find that ironic since it was these two “conspirators” who helped usurp the Articles of Confederation and installed our Constitution. It was these two who vehemently advocated for a new constitution through what later became known as the Federalist Papers! Isn’t that delicious?


The Articles of Confederation was discredited; it was a well-recognized failure. No one can say that about the Constitution. The American people will not a allow a cabal to throw our beloved governing document on the trash heap of history. Yet, that's what Washington D.C. has done. That’s why we’re fighting for a Convention of States. That’s why we are trying to right a wrong.

Paul Weston - The Orwellian Jailing of Tommy Robinson

You know left-wing, American judges are smacking their lips over the prospect of having that kind of power over us.

UNC Proposes Segregated College for Conservatives

Conservatives maybe the majority population in this country, but we are definitely a minority when it comes to the culture. We are well aware of the biases that face us on social media. Snowflake outlets employ tactics such as blacklisting, demonetization and shadow-banning. Popular sites are losing revenue because they refuse to conform to their Orwellian dystopia.

What can conservatives do about these thuggish attempts to curb free speech? Well, the obvious is to create search engines and other platforms that cater to our needs. A whole genre of conservative blogs and news outlets came into existence because of our frustration about a corrupt media that acted more as propaganda machine for the Democratic Party than as an honest purveyor of truth. Now look who’s complaining.


Conservatives are also sick and tired of paying tax dollars and tuition fees to an institution that indoctrinates their children to hate their country, culture and creed. Western civilization has been a boon to mankind and modernity, but that’s not what these Marxist professors spew on college campuses. Socialism is all the rage in academia while life, liberty and property are considered engines of greed and corruption. Something has to give and I believe it’s finally happening.


The News and Observer published an op-ed by a member of the UNC board of directors. Mr. Joe Knott has come to the conclusion that defenders of Western civilization need a separate college of their own. Here is an excerpt:


My proposal is that we establish at our flagship university an Honors College with the stated purpose of bringing to North Carolina the best, most respected and accomplished scholars in the world who love and defend Western civilization.


Once established in their own College, free from bureaucratic interference and control by the existing faculty, these scholars can articulately and respectfully begin the debate that has been missing. These scholars, without fear of having their classes disallowed, changed to include “approved” texts or forced to submit to majority norms, can teach and defend the glories and roots of Western civilization and culture as they see fit.


The existing faculty will continue to be free to criticize and teach the shortcomings and failures of our culture and will continue to propose what they consider to be better alternatives. The only difference is that no view on either side would go unchallenged.


The Honors College would be able to hire and fire, grant or deny tenure, accept or reject students according to the college’s own standards and judgments without any input, veto, or bureaucratic delay or control from the existing faculty. The new Honors College would have its own dean who would answer only to the provost.

Welcome to a new era of segregation. Today’s Left won’t allow a difference of opinion on their campus, so, we have to create our own. Even then, don’t expect these militant ideologues to leave conservatives alone. They cannot allow free thinkers to exist. What they demand is homogeneous thought whether we like it or not.


Source:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article211870854.html

Look to the North for Reparations; The South Already Paid

A couple of months ago, I read an article about a woman in North Carolina who was still collecting a pension for her father’s service in the War of Northern Aggression. Obviously, he was a Union soldier.


I was absolutely floored. That war ended over 150 years ago and there’s still a pensioner. This is a testament to the endurance of a federal government program. At what point and time do we put a stop to this nonsense?


Well, if Democrats get their way, Americans will end up paying reparations for an institution that died with the Confederacy. These grievance mongers are trying to shackle their ancestors to our pocketbooks. It’s not enough that over 630,000 soldiers lost their lives; no, their bloodlust extends to a perpetual welfare program.


I’ll make the argument the South already paid reparations in the form of Union pensions, protective tariffs, government bonds, carpetbagger theft, and northern monopolies. The 14th Amendment precluded, as a condition of readmission to the union, southern states interference to pay off the federal government’s debt in suppressing the late “rebellion.”


Civil War pensions became an astronomic expense of which the South didn’t benefit. To give you an idea on this transfer of wealth program, here is an excerpt from Southern Reconstruction:


Meanwhile, Republicans increasingly favored reducing the budget surplus by liberalizing Union veterans’ pensions. They succeeded with the 1890 Dependent Pensions Act. It enlarged the number of people who could qualify for assistance. Any soldier who served a mere ninety days and wives who married veterans anytime prior to 1890 became eligible. Any soldier injured during the war who later became unable to perform manual labor was covered. Within four years, pension disbursements doubled from $80 million to $165 million. The budget surplus vanished. Republicans dropped the Blair proposal, thereby demonstrating that protective tariffs and veterans’ pensions were higher priorities than the education of youthful African Americans.


In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt released an executive order that made all veterans over age sixty-two eligible for pensions. The disability platform was essentially augmented to also become an old age assistance program. From 1862 to 1942, accumulated Union veterans’ pensions totaled almost $8 billion. About $7 billion of that went to the North, and the remaining $1 billion was divided between the South and West.


For more than fifty years after the war, pension policy was linked to protective tariffs. Like interest payments on Civil War federal debt and the retirement of such debts, Union veterans’ pensions represented a distributive income policy that transferred income from the impoverished South to the prosperous North.


So, for all those teat squawkers who’re looking for a handout, I suggest you look to the North for reparations; the South already paid.


Source:

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-08/civil-war-vets-pension-still-remains-on-governments-payroll-151-years-after-last-shot-fired


http://freebeacon.com/politics/revealed-dream-democrat-agenda-includes-reparations/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=47f55f78b8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-47f55f78b8-45647961

A Tale of Two Decoration Days

There seems to be a dispute over the first Decoration Day. Some historians claim ex-slaves in Charleston, SC started this tradition on May 1, 1865 after they reinterred the Union dead at a prison camp that once served as a race track. Here is an excerpt from Post and Courier:


On a Monday morning that spring, nearly 10,000 former slaves marched onto the grounds of the old Washington Race Course, where wealthy Charleston planters and socialites had gathered in old times. During the final year of the war, the track had been turned into a prison camp. Hundreds of Union soldiers died there.


For two weeks in April, former slaves had worked to bury the soldiers. Now they would give them a proper funeral.

The procession began at 9 a.m. as 2,800 black school children marched by their graves, softly singing "John Brown's Body."

Soon, their voices would give way to the sermons of preachers, then prayer and — later — picnics. It was May 1, 1865, but they called it Decoration Day.




Here is another version published by the Abbeville Institute:


The women who held the first “Decoration Day” in Columbus, Georgia in 1866 did so to honor the dozens of Confederate soldiers buried in Linwood Cemetery. This was soon replicated across the South. The Grand Army of the Republic copied the event in 1868, causing another Southern innovation to be coopted by Yankee do-gooders.

American soon honored Confederate dead as part of “Memorial Day” events, including those like President William McKinley who wore the blue.

Southerners eventually decided to hold separate “memorial day” remembrances in April as part of “Confederate Memorial Day.” They wanted as a people to reflect on the cost of war. Their newly gained poverty was a daily reminder, but these wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, aunts, uncles, sons, and daughters of fallen heroes still burned with the flame of defiance. They put down their swords but did not concede that their men were “traitors.”


Whatever its origin, Decoration Day was the product of a horrible civil war that robbed the South of its youth and impoverished generations yet to come. Yes, we should remember our honored dead, but we should also remember what an all-powerful central government can do to a people who believe in self-government.


Source:

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-confederate-origins-of-memorial-day/?mc_cid=e7ce50d75f&mc_eid=daea235a8f


https://www.postandcourier.com/news/the-first-memorial-day/article_ba50dcb3-d261-5306-b771-1fce87a27f26.html

Alabama Sues Census Bureau Over illegal Aliens

Even though Republicans control all three branches of government, Americans must keep in mind the bureaucracies are infested with progressives who’re doing their damnedest to plug up the swamp. The Census Bureau has an incredible amount of influence on apportionment. Their count determines which state gains or loses a congressional seat. And millions upon millions of illegal aliens have distorted our electoral system.


Alabama has taken a decisive step in making sure only Americans are counted. Here is an excerpt from the Washington Examiner:


Alabama’s attorney general and one of its Republican congressman are suing the federal government over a practice that allows illegal immigrants to be counted in the census.


The lawsuit filed Tuesday by state Attorney General Steve Marshall and Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., challenges the Census Bureau rule and argues the measure will cause Alabama to lose a congressional seat and an electoral vote after the 2020 Census to a “state with a larger illegal alien population.”


“Congressional seats should be apportioned based on the population of American citizens, not illegal aliens,” Brooks said in a statement. “After all, this is America, not the United Nations.”


Brooks warned that the loss of one Alabama congressional seat could be a “huge loss in Alabama’s political influence” and diminish both the state’s influence in Congress, as well as “its importance in presidential elections.”


This is also a national security issue. When we count invaders in the census, they get representation. That’s how traitors like Luis Gutierrez are able to roam the halls of Congress. In order to save the country, we must first save the Census Bureau.


Source:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/alabama-sues-federal-government-for-counting-illegal-immigrants-in-census?utm_source=keywee&utm_medium=facebook&kwp_0=819904&kwp_4=2809992&kwp_1=1192432

Convention of States Detractors Adopt Conspiracy Theories

Earlier this month, I posted a couple of articles about a conservative schism on the proposition of an Article V convention of States. A retired trial lawyer, pseudonymously known as Publius Huldah, is an articulate dissenter. She believes, as we all do, that the Constitution has been ignored, usurped and outright spat upon. We even agree that the States, to a certain extent, are willing accomplices. However, we disagree on the means to set our ship aright. Publius believes in education and nullification. I do too, however, we’re witnessing nullification of our immigration laws in California; immigration and naturalization is an enumerated power given to Congress under Article One, Section Eight. So much for nullification.


Publius Huldah also raised an important point about certain aspects of Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments: once you limit the powers of these bureaucracies in an amendment, they are formally recognized as constitutional. That is an important consideration. As of now, these bureaucracies are operating outside the scope of the Constitution. Their existence is an affront to our federalist system.

I will say she goes off the rails when conflating a constitutional convention with a convention of States by using the Federalist Papers. Yes, Madison and Hamilton warned about a second constitutional convention, but that was because the Anti-Federalist were raising hell about a Bill of Rights. The Anti-Federalists wanted protection from an abusive central government. They had concerns about the presidency, elastic clauses and an “independent judiciary.” The proposed constitution was yet to be ratified. Madison and Hamilton didn’t want to go back to the drawing board. As far as I’m concerned, Publius Huldah lost points on that argument.

She also referenced the Congressional Research Service’s interpretation of an Article V convention of States. This so-called “non-partisan” think tank suggest that the States can only apply for a convention to Congress and that Congress will determine the delegates and rules within a proposed convention. Mind you, this is a D.C. centric organization whose sole customer is the U.S. Congress. Did you expect them to come to any other conclusion?


Let’s take a look at the wording of Article V. as written in The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Conventions Debates. The reason I’m citing this version is because of the rampant capitalization in other text. That kind of bastardization would have a very different meaning as the one intended by the Framers. :


The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two- thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the congress; Provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year 1808, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth Section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.


The capitalization of Congress and the Senate denotes formal bodies which distinguishes itself from all others. Look further and you’ll notice the word congress in lower case. That word has a whole different meaning when used in this manner.


Congress: a national legislative body, especially that of the US. The US Congress, which meets at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.


As opposed to congress: a formal meeting or series of meetings for discussion between delegates, especially those from a political party or labor union or from within a particular discipline.


Almost every website abused capitalization which misconstrued original intent. How about the word application? Remember, the Congressional Research Services stated that the States have to apply to Congress for a convention. Here is the definition of application:

Application: a formal request to an authority for something

Or

Application: the action of putting something into operation


Again, the Congressional Research Services is an arm of Congress. They are not an arbiter for a convention of States. I’m sure Publius Huldah means well and raises important points, but let’s not venture into conspiracy theories. God knows there are enough of them out there.

Source:

http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/

Confederate Dead

Here's a Decoration Day poem that should trigger all those SJW's who hate our history.

SpyGate 2016

H/T:  Muskegon Pundit

 

Progressive Pathology has Infected our Youth

I’m sure every generation looks upon the succeeding with suspicion, apprehension and at times loathingly; yet, each generation is a product of the latter. Americans are looking in the mirror and don’t like what they see. Hey, I don’t remember that wrinkle. Where did that wart come from? How did that mole get there?


This transition from responsible, hard-working citizens to lazy, thumb suckers who can’t stand our country has gobsmacked many of us. I don’t remember this kind of vitriol and self-loathing when I was growing up. Maybe this attitude had been there the whole time and I just don’t recall. Sure, I remember Vietnam protesters and people burning flags, but we are way beyond that. This is a whole new realm of hatred.

 

I was a kid during the Spirit of ‘76. Our Bicentennial was celebrated throughout the country. Rock bands produced songs and published posters. I had KISS plastered on my wall. It was a time when one took pride in his country. Now look at the state we’re in. What a pathetic spectacle we’ve become.

As a student of history, I can confidently say there has always been factions: Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist; Puritan vs. Cavalier; Pietist vs. Liturgical and Conservative vs. Liberal. But none, until recently, have repudiated our founding. Sure, there were a few, such as Woodrow Wilson, who promoted a living and breathing constitution, however, he didn’t demonize our Framers to validate his point of view.


Today’s liberals are ashamed of our history. They see no value in the past; no lessons from which to learn and no one to revere except our “victims.” Hence, they must tear down any and all remembrances. The former mayor of New Orleans received an award for tearing down Confederate statues. Was this an act of courage? Courage is standing up against an irrational zeitgeist; Mayor Landrieu embraced it. Courage, indeed.


In order to cure a disease, one must determine its pathology. Radicals desire nothing more than to takeover the body politic. These pathogens don’t want to kill the host; they just want to control him and the least path of resistance is to attack his children.


Our public schools and universities are the cesspools in which ideologies breed. This isn’t a revelation in itself, however the times and agenda are. A century ago, radicals of a different kind controlled the educational system. Here is an excerpt from Murray Rothbard’s The Progressive Era:




The tensions between the Republicans and their pietist constituents was also growing to the bursting point because, while the Republicans were becoming more moderate, the prohibitionists were becoming increasingly fanatical. Originally, the prohibitionists had habitually referred to themselves as temperate, as men of temperance. By the 1880’s and 1890’s however, this was no longer true: the prohibitionists now spoke of themselves as “radicals.” It was no longer enough to attack hard liquor; denunciations of beer were now stepped up. The saloon came in for increasing vilification, violent raids were conducted on them, and Law and Order Legions in large cities acted to stamp out illegal sales of liquor. By 1885, there were 500 such local leagues throughout the country, with 60,000 members.


Not only that: the youth were becoming more pietistic and more militant prohibitionists than their elders. The pietist youth exuded a deep hatred for the saloons, expressed through Young People’s Christian Societies and interdenominational Sunday school programs. The W.C.T.U., partly through its highly successful mandatory temperance hygiene classes in the public schools, were able to enlist 200,000 youngsters in their youth affiliate, the Loyal Temperance Legion.


The success in radicalizing middle-class pietist youth is shown by the fact that ⅔ of all college students in the Midwest were enrolled in pietist denominations, and that most of them joined the highly moralistic Young Men’s Christian Association. The faculty and students at Iowa State University endorsed prohibition. Particularly remarkable was a presidential preference poll of undergraduates at the University of Chicago in 1892. The eventual winner, Democrat Grover Cleveland, obtained 52 votes, while incumbent Republican President Benjamin Harrison received 151 votes, and the Populist James B Weaver obtained 3. But the astounding fact is that the winner of the poll was the Prohibitionist Party candidate, John Bidwell, who received 164 votes.


I’m sure today’s youth would be surprised to find out Christian organizations were allowed in public schools. They might have had a tempering influence on today’s radicals. That’s probably the reason why liberals wanted them banned in the first place.


Nobody knows what will happen in the next 100 years. Maybe the pendulum will swing back to a state of normalcy. That’s if we still have a United States of America.


Source:

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/mitch-landrieu-jfk-award

Netflix Larded Up with Libtards and Libtard Films

I subscribed to Netflix over a year ago and at the time was satisfied with their original productions. However, I began to notice a paucity of quality documentaries. A search for ancient civilizations will garner a handful that’s worthy of viewing. But if you’re a progressive, Netflix is for you. This company is larded up with libtards and libtard films.  The Obama’s signed a multi-year deal preceded by Susan Rice who serves on the board of directors.  That should give you an idea of what this company is about.


After a couple of months, I began to notice recommendations on documentaries and docuseries that were completely contrary to my politics and viewing habits. For instance, why in the hell would I watch a film about Rachel Dolezal? Netflix, for some reason, thinks I’m interested in a white woman who wants to be black. No thank you.

I will say there are some that are interesting such as American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. This woman was a true Marxist. She and her husband moved to Detroit when it was prosperous because “that’s where the workers are.” They had dreams to turn the Motor City into a progressive utopia and that’s exactly what happened.


It was fascinating to watch Ms. Boggs reminisce about the good ole days of activism and powwows with fellow travelers. These people were going to change the world, or at least Detroit, and they sure did. There was a segment that was particularly apropo. Ms. Boggs stood in front of a dilapidated building in a rundown neighborhood that once served as her propaganda ministry. What happened?  Where did all the workers go?   


During the course of this documentary, Ms. Boggs related a Marxist truism: True believers are in a constant state of evolution, therefore, activist must constantly agitate to bring about the changes they deem necessary for a sustainable society. Whatever that means. If a sustainable society is poverty and despair, then Ms. Boggs and her cohorts obtained that objective in Detroit, Michigan.





We can expect more documentaries and docuseries of this kind from Netflix especially after their recent hires. The problem is do I want to finance this crap by paying their subscription fees.


Source:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/21/barack-and-michelle-obama-sign-multi-year-deal-with-netflix.html


http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/28/media/susan-rice-netflix/index.html


http://americanrevolutionaryfilm.com/

Peanuts Gang Singing "2112" by: Rush

I had to post this.  This is too damn good.

North Carolina Teachers Paid Twice as Much as Their Fellow Citizens

It’s that time of year in North Carolina, when teachers take a paid day off; flood our state’s capital; shout down our elected representatives while their in session; all the while demanding more money and respect from besieged taxpayers.


I would love a day’s wage for protesting in front of my boss's house. Oh, and for good measure, bust inside one of his meetings and scream what an ungrateful bastard he is for not paying me the national average. How long do you think I would have a job after pulling a stunt like that?


North Carolina teachers demand respect without reciprocation.  I admit they work hard and have to put up with a lot of crap, but so do we. What I don’t appreciate is the obfuscations and outright lies that fills their rhetoric. This is what a teacher makes according to the News and Observer:

The average salary for a North Carolina teacher has increased to more than $50,000 a year for the first time.


Recently released figures from the state Department of Public Instruction put the average salary for a North Carolina public school teacher at $51,214 this school year. That’s $1,245 more than the previous school year.


The $50,000 benchmark has been a major symbolic milestone, with Republican candidates having campaigned in 2016 about how that figure had already been reached. Democrats argued that the $50,000 mark hadn’t been reached yet and that Republicans hadn’t done enough, especially for highly experienced teachers.


The average teacher salary has risen 12 percent over the past five years, from $45,737 a year. Since taking control of the state legislature in 2011, Republicans raised the starting base salary for new teachers to $35,000 and gave raises to other teachers.


I have written numerous blog post about this national average nonsense. If we are to get a true measure of what teachers make in the state of North Carolina then let’s compare median household income, median family income and per capita income. We’ve already established North Carolina teachers are paid $50,000 a year not including pensions or healthcare. Now let’s take a look at what the rest of us make compared to the national average:


Household income is an aggregate of all incomes combined in one residence whether it’s one person, or twenty illegal aliens in a one bedroom, one bath house.

Show dollars as: Nominal Real

Real Median Household Income in North Carolina

	2016	1 Year Change	3 Year Change
US	$57,617	+2.01%	+7.02%
North Carolina	$50,584	+4.44%	+6.94%

Wow, it looks like North Carolina teachers are doing rather well. Now let’s take a look at median family income which primarily consist of a married couples.

Show dollars as: Nominal Real

Real Median Family Income in North Carolina

	2016	1 Year Change	3 Year Change
US	$71,062	+2.81%	+7.71%
North Carolina	$62,289	+2.39%	+7.73%

Now for the truth teller: median per capita income:

Show dollars as: Nominal Real

Real Per Capita Income in North Carolina

	2016	1 Year Change	3 Year Change
US	$31,128	+2.54%	+7.19%
North Carolina	$28,156	+3.74%	+7.68%

WOW! North Carolina teachers make almost twice as much as their fellow Tar Heels and almost $20,000 more than the average American. Unbelievable. Yet, were supposed to shed tears for people who have better healthcare and retirement plans than we.


I can say without hesitation we just busted another liberal myth. But you can bet your ass, they’ll be back for as long as Republicans control the General Assembly.


Source:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article211172024.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article203186954.html

https://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/north-carolina/


https://bizfluent.com/info-8301472-difference-median-income-per-capita.html

http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2014/04/08/median-income-family-vs-household/


https://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2014/08/north-carolina-teachers-have-it-better.html

President Trump Slashes NASA's Carbon Monitoring Budget

The grifters in the climate sciences are shaking in their boots. President Trump has fulfilled another campaign promise by yanking another government teat from their squawking mouths. Here is an excerpt from the Daily Mail:

A $10million per year NASA program to track key global warming contributors carbon and methane has been canceled.

The program called the Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) was cut due to 'budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget, a spokesperson for the space agency said Thursday.


A report from the journal Science called the shut down the latest move in a 'broad attack on climate science' by the White House.


Had these climate scientist acted more like scientist instead of community organizers, they might have funding. Next on the agenda is Obama’s NASA mission. Does anyone remember this:


“When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things,” NASA head Charles Bolden told al-Jazeera. “One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”


President Trump has a lot of work to do.


Source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5721109/Trump-administration-quietly-cancels-10m-NASA-program-tracks-key-greenhouse-gases.html#ixzz5FQQkeIeP

https://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2010/07/nasas-new-mission.html

Mark Levin responds to Hillary Clinton's comments on Convention of States

Conservative Faction Align with Progressives Against Convention of States

There seems to be a schism within conservative ranks over whether or not States should invoke Article V of the U.S. Constitution. We all recognize there is a problem with the federal government. We also recognize something has to be done about it. Some are willing to address these issues by shoring up the Constitution through the amendment process; others fear a runaway convention.


I personally don’t understand these fears. A runaway convention is not practical under the provisions therein. Each State’s General Assembly must provide their delegates with detailed instructions to which they cannot deviate. If these provisions pass the convention, each state must vote on each individual amendment. This is a very difficult process. Here is Article V:


The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.


There is a disinformation campaign on both the right and left as to the motives of the Convention of States Project. I am not a spokesperson, but I recognize the difficulty in this process and the necessity for reigning in a rogue judiciary, a negligent Congress, and a runaway administrative state. Hell, we are still dealing with the aftermath of the Obama regime. This country cannot afford another president with a callous disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law. What more of an incentive do we need?





There are strong forces that want to keep the status quo. Take a look at this cartoon. What does this imply? It implies that advocates for a convention of States are in league with George Soros. This cartoon is an absurdity. George Soros is trying to stop this movement. He is funding a redistricting campaign headed by Eric Holder. One of their goals is to wrest control from conservatives in states legislatures by using the courts. Does this sound like he’s in league with Mark Meckler and Senator Tom Coburn? Of course not.


Here is the Wicked Witch of Washington D.C. on the Convention of States Project:




All of those conservatives who are against the Convention of States Project need to recognize who they are aligned with on this issue. We almost lost our country to Washington D.C.; the status quo isn’t working.


Source:

https://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2018/03/progressives-reconstruct-our-republican.html

Convention of States Project Meeting June 7 in Gastonia, NC

The Convention of States Project has scheduled a meeting in Gastonia, North Carolina. I believe every concerned American has a duty to educate himself about Article V. More importantly, he should attend these meetings and get a better understanding of what our fellow citizens are trying to accomplish. Here is one of their missives:


Governing authority originally vested in the individual states by the Constitution has been taken by the federal government, and the separation of powers built into the Constitution is rapidly disappearing.


Fortunately, our nation's Founders gave us a process that empowers the states to rein in the federal government. Enshrined in Article V of our beloved Constitution, this peaceful approach operates quite apart from the control of Washington, D.C.


Millions of concerned citizens across America are focused upon this constitutional provision through Convention of States.


Here in North Carolina, legislators in both the NC Senate and House support our nationwide effort, including many from the western part of North Carolina.


In an effort to further educate and activate our local supporters, we are hosting a conference Thursday evening, June 7.


Here are the details.


Gaston County Public Library, Main Branch Auditorium (1555 East Garrison Blvd, Gastonia, NC)


Doors open at 6:00pm; program 6:30pm - 8:00pm


Come and learn more about why this is a timely antidote for what ails our great nation, and how you can get involved.


We ask you to confirm your reservation by visiting this link, and invite a friend and/or spouse to join you.


I look forward to meeting with you,

Mike Faulkenberry

State Director

Convention of States North Carolina

mike.faulkenberry@COSAction.com

Top Two Issues Facing the European Union

I wonder why?

Democratic Nominee, Dan McCready: Patriot or Political Grifter?

Libtards from all over the country are targeting North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and crony capitalist, pledged $1 million to flip this patriotic bastion into Nancy Pelosi’s back pocket. 

He’s not alone. Local businessmen are also plotting to turn the 9th into a progressive fiefdom. Scion, Tim Belk; venture capitalist, Ric Elias; big banker, Hugh McColl Jr. and political grifter, Erskine Bowles have found a viable stalking horse for the Democratic Party: a 34 year old no one has ever heard of before. A young man named Dan McCready.


Who is Dan McCready? Where did he come from? And how in the hell did he get this kind of financial backing from the aforementioned luminaries?


What we do know is this Democratic nominee served in the Marine Corps and graduated from Harvard. He also co-owns a solar panel company called Double Time; but the finances are nebulous if not outright questionable. Here is an excerpt from Business North Carolina that should raise some red flags:


With Harvard and big-company backgrounds, McCready and Barcott knew people whose substantial incomes made solar investments attractive. Rogers, who left Duke in mid-2013, helped the duo make connections and became an adviser. Still, raising money was no snap. It took about 1,000 meetings with investors to raise their first fund of $8 million.


“Many of our investors were initially skeptical because they had heard of industry failures such as [California-based solar-panel maker Solyndra],” McCready says. “Everyone said that you can’t build an investment firm without investing experience. But we didn’t know any better.”

Once word spread, the money chase got easier. Double Time eventually collected about $80 million that has been invested in 36 projects across North Carolina, much of it in slow-growth rural areas. While several institutions including Prudential Financial Inc. put money into the company, most investors are individuals, McCready says.



McCready won’t share financial details, but Double Time’s initial funds have met their projections, according to two sources familiar with the company who asked to remain anonymous.



Can’t share financial details? Sources who asked to remain anonymous? What the hell is this? I can say without hesitation the whole green energy industry couldn’t exist without tax credits and government subsidies. The simple fact that McCready and his partner moved on to new ventures after North Carolina disbanded its solar energy policies should also raise red flags despite their assertions to the contrary. Here is another tell from Business North Carolina:


Double Time still manages its existing investments, which include some nonsolar businesses such as Raleigh-based WasteZero, which advises municipalities on reducing trash, and Lyft, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company. But McCready and Barcott have moved on to new challenges, a decision unrelated to the end of state tax credits. Barcott formed With Honor, a nonprofit that encourages military veterans to run for political office as centrist candidates. McCready, 34, is heeding that call, running this year as a Democrat for the U.S. Congress in a district held by Republicans for more than 60 years.


These two know where the real money is at and that’s politics.


So, who is Dan McCready? Is he a patriot or a political grifter? I’m banking on the latter.


Source:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article209097664.html


http://businessnc.com/solar-investing-war-experience-spur-mccreadys-political-career/

Mueller and Rosenstein Indict Proverbial Ham Sandwich

Wow, this whole Mueller special counsel nonsense has descended into an unlaughable joke. This man’s team, along with Rod Rosenstein’s Justice Department, indicted the proverbial ham sandwich. Here is an excerpt from the Daily Wire:


U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey asked Eric Dubelier, one of two lawyers representing the accused Russian company, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, if he was representing a third company listed in Mueller's indictment.


"What about Concord Catering?" Harvey asked Dubelier. "The government makes an allegation that there's some association. I don't mean for you to – do you represent them, or not, today? And are we arraigning them as well?"


"We're not," Dubelier responded. "And the reason for that, Your Honor, is I think we're dealing with a situation of the government having indicted the proverbial ham sandwich."


"That company didn't exist as a legal entity during the time period alleged by the government," Dubelier continued. "If at some later time they show me that it did exist, we would probably represent them. But for purposes of today, no, we do not."


Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein are making a mockery out of our judicial system. This special counsel should be disbanded and Rosenstein should resign or be fired.


Source:


https://www.dailywire.com/news/30556/disaster-mueller-indicted-russian-company-didnt-ryan-saavedra?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=062316-news&utm_campaign=benshapiro

Obama's Stasi Operation Slowly Being Exposed

The American people are getting a glimpse at how close we came to losing our republic. The Obama administration basically turned our Justice Department and intelligence agencies into a regular Stasi.

Drip by drip, leaks are coming out about the nefarious activities of Obama’s officials and embeds. The latest revelation is an FBI mole infiltrated the Trump campaign.  Here is an excerpt from ZeroHedge:

After a battle between House Intel Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over the release of classified information that was so top-secret that the DOJ refused to show Nunes on the grounds that it "could risk lives by potentially exposing the source, a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI" - the agency finally relented on Wednesday, allowing Nunes and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) to receive a classified briefing.


This U.S. citizen, according the WSJ report, is a spy that the FBI embedded in the Trump campaign - and Strassel says she knows who it is but won't say.

For those who have to be reminded of East Germany’s Stasi, here is an excerpt from Encyclopedia Britannica:


Under Erich Mielke, its director from 1957 to 1989, the Stasi became a highly effective secret police organization. Within East Germany it sought to infiltrate every institution of society and every aspect of daily life, including even intimate personal and familial relationships. It accomplished this goal both through its official apparatus and through a vast network of informants and unofficial collaborators (inoffizielle Mitarbeiter), who spied on and denounced colleagues, friends, neighbours, and even family members. By 1989 the Stasi relied on 500,000 to 2,000,000 collaborators as well as 100,000 regular employees, and it maintained files on approximately 6,000,000 East German citizens—more than one-third of the population.


We dodged a bullet. There is no way we would’ve found out about this had Hillary won the presidency. As a matter of fact, she would’ve expanded this spying operation and the media would’ve helped her.


Source:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-11/brennan-strzok-and-kerry-allegedly-set-espionage-traps-trump-team-hunt-fbi-mole


https://www.britannica.com/topic/Stasi

President Trump Dismantles Obama's Quasi-Dictatorship Legacy

I rarely refer to Barack Obama as president of the United States, because he didn’t act like one. This man treated the office as though it were a quasi-dictatorship. His greatest achievement was shoving executive orders down our throats, or using his legion of bureaucrats to pass mountains of rules and regulations. His administration laughed at the Constitution. Now we’re having the last laugh.


President Trump is making an historical correction by getting rid of Obama’s “agreements” and mandates that don’t have the force of law. Paris Climate Agreement, gone! Iranian Nuclear Agreement, gone! Cuban policy, gone! EPA rules and regulations, gone! DACA, gone! The only thing remaining is Obamacare and that was gutted.


If you want an example on how Obama ruled this country just take a look at Obamacare. Here is an excerpt from an article published in the National Review:


Even when implementing laws Congress had passed, Obama and his allies relied on coercing participation through mandates. And when it became inconvenient, they began arbitrarily implementing parts of laws. Administrative discretion became administrative abuse. When the president decided the Obamacare’s employer mandate was politically inconvenient, for example, he simply skipped it for expediency.


The Constitution doesn’t say, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law unless liberals tell us it’s super important.” Yet shortly after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration realized it would need more subsidies and asked for an appropriation from Congress.


When Congress, then teeming with politicians elected on the promise of overturning Obamacare, refused, then–Treasury Secretary Jack Lew ordered the administration to begin making “cost-sharing reduction” payments anyway, without any public legal justification. Obama created a $7 billion per year appropriation for insurance companies participating in the supposedly self-sufficient and competitive state health care exchanges. Not a single liberal pundit that I know of concerned himself with this norm breaking.


Barack Obama’s legacy will be his contempt for our republic, the people and the rule of law. May we never see the likes of him, again.


Source:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/the-obama-legacy-deserves-to-be-destroyed/


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/08/trump-cracks-down-u-s-business-and-travel-cuba/843419001/

California Jumps the Bolshevik!

California has jumped the shark, or should I say Bolshevik? A Democratic assemblyman submitted a bill to drop President Washington or Lincoln’s birthday as a holiday in exchange for International Workers’ Day. The bill didn’t pass this time around. Here is what an American had to say:

“I’m aghast that a bill like this would be able to get through committee,” California Republican Assemblyman Matthew Harper said to the Assembly. “Are we in competition to be the laughing stock of the United States?”


“Are we going that far to the left?” Harper asked. “This is ridiculous; this is insane; this is un-American. And for folks who think that the U.S. won the Cold War with the Soviet Union, this makes it sound like we’re going in the other direction — that indeed California is kowtowing to the Soviet domination of the Cold War.”


California has gone beyond laughing stock. They are now in a state of rebellion. These people no longer want to be part of this union. And I for one am willing to let them go.


Source:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/05/11/california-bill-washington-lincoln-holidays-communist/