Wednesday, March 31, 2010

R.I.P. Rob Krentz

The body of Rancher Rob Krentz and his dog were found shot to death on his ranch. Krentz, who always was good-natured and willing to help people, had called in that he had found an illegal alien and was assisting him. That was the last that was heard from him before his body was discovered.

Rob Krentz was a lifelong rancher in Southeastern Arizona, 12 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border and 25 miles northeast of the city of Douglas.

He was the father of three children. The ranch has been in his family for three generations, more than 100 years - since 1907, and sits on about 35,000 acres with 1,000 head of cattle. Running a ranch is hard work and with the influx of illegal aliens increasing, Rob was at ground zero of the stampede that is destroying the fragile desert landscape.

The Krentz family has received numerous threats in the past by illegal aliens trespassing on their property. In 2002, the family was physically threatened when one of them stumbled upon a group of 39 illegal aliens.

They were told to get off the land and they made threats. The Border Patrol did catch the illegal aliens after they were called, but we all know that illegal aliens, if deported, come right back across.

In 1999, Krentz and his wife Susan did an interview with PBS when they came around asking about the issue of illegal immigrationand its impacts on the local ranchers. "We've been broken into," Susan Krentz told PBS:

"One time," Rob said "You know, we've personally been broke in once. And they took about $700 worth of stuff. And you know, if they come in and ask for water, I'll still give them water. I - you know, that's just my nature."

In 2003, Congressman Tom Tancredo mentioned the challenges of the border ranchers, and in particular highlighted the the Krentz family's plight.

"In the month of November, 2002, in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol ... where the Krentz ranch is located, the Border Patrol apprehended 23,000 border crossers," Tancredo wrote. "many people would suggest that the [apprehension] ratio is just about maybe one in five, and that is a very conservative estimate. ... I think it is closer to one in ten".

That means in that sector alone for one month, 8 years ago, the most conservative estimate is that 115,000 illegal aliens crossed the border in that one chunk of land in the Tucson sector. All of the illegals are unknown. Tancredo notes that the Krentz's did mention to him that they called the Border Patrol. In one instance illegal aliens had butchered one of his calves.

In February [2002] ... a calf was butchered by illegal alien trespassers. Two men responsible were caught. They were tried. They were found guilty. They served a total of 51 days in jail. They were also ordered to pay $200 in restitution to the Krentz ranch. The Krentz ranch has not seen a cent of that money; and, of course, our best guess is they will not because these people have been released. They either came back into the population up here in the U.S.A. or returned to Mexico.

6 years after the PBS interview, in 2005, Krentz did an interview with KOLD as the number of illegal aliens exploded.
"We’re being over-run, and it’s costing us lots and lots of money," Krentz said. "We figured it up over the last five years and it’s cost us over $8 million," Krentz said. "Cattle don’t like people walking through, so they move. So, cattle weight loss, destruction of fences, breaking our pipelines, they break them in two and (the pipes) run for two or three days before we find it."

Krentz went on to say that when he was a boy he actually knew the few illegal aliens that came through looking for work, he said it's nothing like that now as hundreds of unknown illegals stream across his land.

Rob Krentz is just one of the many people who live and work along our southern border. A tough, hard working man who was trying to make a living and doing what he loved. Those who support illegal aliens will talk about "_human rights, but where were the "human rights" when it came to Rob Krentz? Where was the government) to protect our border and prevent this from happening, though they've been told time and time again? They didn't protect his property rights, nor his civil rights.

This country failed Robert Krentz, his family and all who work for him. As they have failed countless families all across this country. The number of deaths is estimated to be from 15-25 deaths caused by illegal aliens each day in this country.

It is not known yet whether Krentz was specifically targeted or whether it was just one of the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who come across our border every year who have actual criminal records, but in the end does it matter?
A hard working man was killed on his own land. And all for just trying to help out someone in need. And that is simply outrageous.

Rest in peace Robert Krentz, the country will surely miss a great and kind man like you.

Credit for this story goes to Dan "Digger" Amato. To continue to monitor this story click here

Monday, March 29, 2010

Are You Free?

During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote a song about a star-spangled banner waving over the land of the free. Is this land still free?

Are you free to earn a living as you see fit? More and more jobs now require a license to practice. The licensing board, made up of your would-be competitors, can block your entry because they better connected politically than you are.

Are you free to enjoy the fruits of your labor? The government takes roughly half of everything you earn. In addition, the government is encumbering your future earnings (and the earnings of future generations) by amassing ever increasing debt.

Are you free to use your property as you see fit, as long as you do not infringe on the rights of others? You are required to get the permission of bureaucrats before you can build anything on your own property. Even if you submit to all of the government's use requirements, your home and property can be taken from you in favor of a "public use" (such as a furniture store).

Are you free to enjoy your inalienable right to life? The government can draft (conscript) you into military service to fight in a foreign war that you believe is unjustifiable. Now politicians are suggesting conscription for mandatory domestic service for every young American, following the Europeans on the road to serfdom.

Are you free to live your personal life as you see fit? You must receive permission, in the form of a license, before you can get married.

Are you free to invest your retirement savings as you see fit? The government requires you to participate in the world's largest Ponzi Scheme, known as Social Security.

Are you free to keep your personal finances personal? You may someday have to sit and watch an IRS agent going through your personal checkbook in an attempt to take even more of your money.

Are you free to travel? Americans are subjected to random search, seizure, and interrogation in airports reminiscent of Germany's darkest hours in the 20th century.

If you consider yourself free, I would like to see the criteria you used to make that judgment.

Francis Scott Key asked the critical question: Does that star-spangled banner yet (still) wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave? The star-spangled banner still waves over the land. But is the land free? Are we brave enough to do something about it?

You Belong To Me:



All Of Me:

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Why Conservatives Lost the Health Care Battle

The reason that conservatives bit the dust in the recent health-care battle is simple: their fateful decision to abandon their principles many decades ago cost them any chance of defeating President Obama's socialist health-care plan.

Think back to the 1960s, when liberals were celebrating the enactment of LBJ's Medicare and Medicaid plans as much as they are celebrating Obama's plan today. Those were the halcyon days when the statists were proclaiming that Medicare and Medicaid would bring a health-care paradise to America.

At the time conservatives were warning Americans against traveling down this road to socialism, a road to serfdom, a road that would lead to national bankruptcy, a road to where socialism has led Greece today.

But Americans wouldn't listen. Surrendering to the siren's song of the statists, the American people embraced Medicare and Medicaid (and the welfare state), in the process ditching what was once the finest health-care system in the world, one based on freedom and free markets.

Conservatives realized that they had an important choice to make -- whether to adhere to their free-market principles or to join the statists. Fearing that they would lose political power and "legitimacy" and "credibility" with the mainstream press, they chose to throw in the towel and join the statists. They embraced Medicare and Medicaid (and Social Security and the rest of the welfare state) with eagerness and enthusiasm, sometimes, it seems, even trying to appear more statist than the liberals.

Meanwhile, libertarian free-market thinkers were continuing to warn Americans what lay ahead.

Friedrich Hayek, whose famous book The Road to Serfdom had been published in 1944, continued to sound the warnings.

Ludwig von Mises was pointing out that one government intervention would inevitably lead to future interventions to deal with the crises produced by previous interventions.

In his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman included a chapter in which he called for an end to medical licensure.

Putting all this together inevitably led any devotee of liberty to but one conclusion: that the root cause of America's health-care woes lay in the socialism of Medicare and Medicaid and the interventionism of medical licensure and insurance regulation. As these government programs developed over time, the health-care crisis grew bigger and bigger, producing more and more distortions and perversions, leading statist proponents to call for ever-increasing new socialist and interventionist programs.

So, where did that leave conservatives in the latest health-care debate? It left them with nothing. Concerned about legitimacy, credibility, and power, they couldn't bring themselves to call for the only real solution there is to a crisis produced by decades of socialism and interventionism: Repeal (i.e., don't reform) Medicare, Medicaid, medical licensure, and insurance regulation (along with the taxes that fund them).

Yet, calling for nothing would have left conservatives in the position of implicitly defending the continuation of the nation's health-care crisis. So, they took the predictable course: They proposed their own alternative reform plan, which simply called for a bit less socialism and interventionism than Obama's plan.

That leaves the libertarians to lead the way. Ever since conservatives threw in the towel, libertarians have assumed the difficult task of sounding the warnings against socialism and interventionism and striking at the root of the welfare state rather than trimming its branches.

Can we succeed in bringing about a change in course, one away from socialism and interventionism and toward freedom and free markets? Sure, but we must never permit ourselves to do what conservatives did. We must continue adhering to our principles and our integrity and to speaking the truth. It is, of course, no guarantee of success but it provides the only real chance there is of restoring a free, prosperous, harmonious, and healthy society to our land.

I'll Never Be Free:



Baby (You'Ve Got What It Takes):

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Yet another Open Letter to Joe Donnelly

Mr Donnelly,

Many times in the year I have written with my concerns and opposition to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”

What are you going to do if Mr Obama does not issue the promised executive order? Or more likely the suits that will be filed to reject the order succeed?

To quote Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.

"The executive order on abortion funding does absolutely nothing to fix the problems presented by the health care reform bill that the House will vote on this evening,” she said. “The very idea should offend all pro-life Members of Congress. An executive order can be rescinded at any time at the President's whim, and the courts could and have a history of trumping executive orders. Most importantly, pro-abortion Representatives have admitted the executive order is meaningless."


What are you going to do this November Mr Donnelly when you are removed from office for not listening to those you swore to represent, for not following the Constitution you swore to protect and defend?

According to CNN you have already decided to vote for this bill. It is now 10:30 Sunday evening, and the vote is scheduled to start finally. I have watched the debates and proceedings all day. I cannot understand, even after all this time how it is possible for anyone to believe that this will be good for the American people.

David McDougle

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Pelosi: Constitution Be Damned, we will Pass ObamaCare At All Costs

Nancy Pelosi just unveiled Plan B. If she can't strong-arm the votes she so desperately needs to shove ObamaCare down your throat, she's going to simply "deem" the Senate version of ObamaCare passed in the House of Representatives without actually voting on it.

House Minority Leader John Boehner called this latest development a "controversial trick." Rep. Thaddeus McCotter used the phrases "acme of arrogance" and "shredding the U.S. Constitution" to describe what is going on right now.

But even Boehner's and McCotter's descriptions might be gross understatements. Think about it... why stop at allowing radical leftists in Congress to "deem" that laws have passed without votes?

Why not disband the Senate and the House of Representatives altogether and allow Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to simply invoke laws the American people oppose by direct declaration? Isn't that, after all, what they are now attempting to do with ObamaCare?

This latest scheme to pass ObamaCare without voting on it further proves Ms. Pelosi’s, Mr. Obama’s and Mr. Reid’s arrogance and desperation. They will stop at nothing to pass this government takeover of health care against the wishes of the American people.

Can the House pass the Senate healthcare bill without voting on it? If Speaker Pelosi has her way then that may be what happens. It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry, and we keep wondering, can they really get away with it?

For one thing, there's a 1998 Supreme Court ruling that says each chamber of Congress must approve the exact same wording of a bill before that bill can become law.

You wouldn't think Congress would need a court ruling to determine this, but they are politicians, so they need lots of remedial assistance with simple logic.

We really don't think this pig can fly. If the Democrats try to launch it, the courts will sink it. And a differently constituted Congress may also repeal it after the November election. But you never know, so we need to keep pressuring Congress to drop this bill. Please write them another letter. Remember . . .

These people work for you. They also have the power of coercion over you. You have the right to tell them what you think, as often as you want, day after day, or even several times a day. Use this right.

Every letter you send gets counted and reported up the chain of command. And some of these letters will be read by the top staff in each Congressional office. Even President Obama reads 10 letters per day. So your letters DO count. They do matter. Keep sending them. Specifically, today . . .

1. If your House Rep is a Democrat, and you haven't called this week to tell him or her to oppose the healthcare bill, please do so today.
2. If you haven't yet asked a friend to use our system to send Congress a letter, please do so today. You can forward them this message.
3. Send another letter of your own.

You can borrow from the following sample letter, or copy all of it . . .


This letter is mainly for my House Rep, but I'm also copying my Senators to remind them of how angry I am about this issue. Please be aware that I know how Congress has rigged the rules to hide 60% of the cost of the healthcare bill.

When President Clinton tried to pass similar legislation his budget had to show the cost of the mandates he wanted to impose on the American people. This was one of the things that caused that bill to fail. But now . . .

You politicians have changed the rules so that the Congressional Budget Office no longer has to include the costs of these mandates in its scores. This is a willful attempt to deceive the American people.

This CBO memo is the smoking gun: https://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10731/MLR_and_budgetary_treatment.pdf

Michael Cannon, of the Cato Institute, provides a good summary here: http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/12/16/bland-cbo-memo-or-smoking-gun/

Please remember, everything you do is based on coercion. If I do not submit to your dictates eventually some government official will show up at my door and point a gun at me. This healthcare bill is no different. Please stop trying to force me to do things your way. Please stop threatening to point guns at me. Please mind your own business. Please obey the limits imposed on you by the Constitution. You can start by defeating this healthcare bill.

END LETTER

If you do not know how to contact your congressman or Senator, or are not sure who they are this link will take you to a website that will allow you to find that information.


Please I implore you to take a stand for yourself and your family.

For St Patty's day

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral:



Black Velvet Band: