Time to Dissolve It?

[JTScribe]

They are great for when I'm flying. (I started and finished Storm Front while flying home from California last Saturday.) The parallels to his universe and yours in the Paxton Locke series are interesting. I think it is why I liked it instantly. Hopefully we'll be seeing book 4 soon?

(And I know I'm in the wrong thread for this, but I just realized that I somehow missed Z-Day Book 3? I have vacation coming up in a week, so I've rectified that situation.)

4 is with the publisher waiting on the editor and cover artist, and I'm about a third of the way through 5. I hope to have them out pretty close together.

 

[Sigblaster]

Absolutely not. The states have all agreed to be united under The U.S. Constitution, and be subject to the protection of, and powers of, and benefit from the protections provided therein. Fickle and trendy politics should not be allowed to break that bond.

However...

Thanks to decades of growing centralization of power in Washington, DC, American policy is increasingly made by the national government and not by state and local authorities. This means American life is more and more governed by one-size-fits-all policies hatched by faraway politicians in DC. Thus, with each passing election, the stakes become higher as gun policy, healthcare, poverty relief, abortion, the drug war, education, and much more will be decided by the party that wins in DC, and not in the state capitol or in the city council.

This is true, and it's a problem. The federal government has expanded its power well beyond the limits that The U.S. Constitution authorizes, and has not vehemently defended all of the protections provided for in it. I think the primary reason for the states accepting this is "the power of the purse". Government at every level is addicted to money, and like an addict, will debase itself to get that fix.

Consider the raising of the minimum drinking age to 21. Not all states wanted to go along, but they did, because if they didn't, they were going to lose their federal highway fund grants. Gotta get that fix.

The deviousness of using federal grants to subjugate the states cannot be overstated. Besides the mostly unchallenged legislative usurpation of state powers, federal block grants are the greatest power the feds have over the states. Federal block grants should be illegal, but they obviously never will be, as long as the states suffer under their addiction to the dollar.

It's a pipe dream, I know, but I would love to see Indiana's entire government go to rehab and get out from under the spell of the federal dollar. Refuse every block grant and eliminate every law associated with it. Run the state with state funds, and be frugal about it. Imagine how many entitlement recipients would flee the state. Imagine how much more freedom we would have. Never happen in real life, but I think it would make a good movie. I'd watch it.

 

[Sigblaster]

Some additional reading, if you're interested:

http://www.federalgrants.com/Category/

2159 Agricultural Grants.
1741 Energy Grants.
4537 Income Security and Social Services Grants.
1492 Humanities Grants.

Crazy.

 

[nightgaunt]

Some additional reading, if you're interested:

http://www.federalgrants.com/Category/

2159 Agricultural Grants.
1741 Energy Grants.
4537 Income Security and Social Services Grants.
1492 Humanities Grants.

Crazy.

Um, a lot of those closing dates are in 2016.

 

[Sigblaster]

Um, a lot of those closing dates are in 2016.

Well that makes it less impactful.

 

[Tombs]

The real issue is the continually growing role of the federal government, making state governments and local governments all but irrelevant.

It doesn't need dissolved, states just need to take a harder line with what they'll put up with from the federal government.

 

[Sigblaster]

The real issue is the continually growing role of the federal government, making state governments and local governments all but irrelevant.

It doesn't need dissolved, states just need to take a harder line with what they'll put up with from the federal government.

See my previous post. They can't do that without turning off the free-flowing crack pipe of government dollars.

It would be so easy for states to regain their power. Just shut off the federal dollars, and fund your state frugally and with regard for the citizens. Not going to happen, but that's how they could do it.

 

[Thor]

Our enemies will not stand by and wait for us to figure out our internal issues. At the very least our allies will suffer, the weaker ones will probably cease to exist then they will come for our land and resources.

 

[GIJEW]

The real issue is the continually growing role of the federal government, making state governments and local governments all but irrelevant.

It doesn't need dissolved, states just need to take a harder line with what they'll put up with from the federal government.

I think it's a case of "both this AND that". The overreach of fed.gov is a--the--major problem but that doesn't mean that state and local gov't are irrelevant. Likewise, states being properly empowered per the Constitution wouldn't resolve the ideological divide in the country. Consider that leftist cities/capitols across the country and up and down the coasts, dictate policy opposing the wishes of conservative or rural citizens

 

[jamil]

Nope, the Blue states think that if America is dissolved that they can just take their state lines and keep them intact.

People in suburbs and rural areas might have a different opinion about that...

That’s not a very good representation of reality either, especially in the very sparsely populated counties out west. Here’s what I think better relates the magnitude of voting to the geography.

 

[NKBJ]

When you think about it, Woodrow Wilson had a big hand in a LOT of the issues we've faced for years.

Wilson's handler good ol' Col. House was a real piece of work. Ever look at who brought that guy out of shadows and into the White House?
Americans were so upset by what was going on that the powers had to pump up a PR campaign to ameliorate the public ire.
Once found a book from that effort (copy of a whitewash biography of House) in the used book shop at Mitchell Field (Milwaukee).

 

[Mikey1911]

Wilson's handler good ol' Col. House was a real piece of work. Ever look at who brought that guy out of shadows and into the White House?
Americans were so upset by what was going on that the powers had to pump up a PR campaign to ameliorate the public ire.
Once found a book from that effort (copy of a whitewash biography of House) in the used book shop at Mitchell Field (Milwaukee).

And after Wilson’s stroke, his handler became Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.
She’s almost on the level of Tsaritsa Alexandra Romanov to Tsar Nicholas II.

 

[chevyguy]

Originally Posted by NKBJ
Wilson's handler good ol' Col. House was a real piece of work. Ever look at who brought that guy out of shadows and into the White House?
Americans were so upset by what was going on that the powers had to pump up a PR campaign to ameliorate the public ire.
Once found a book from that effort (copy of a whitewash biography of House) in the used book shop at Mitchell Field (Milwaukee).



Col. House also helped facilitate the creation of The Federal Reserve along with Wilson read about it in G Edward Griffin’s: The Creature From Jekyll Island

 

[worddoer]

It seems to me that most of the main stream media and most of far left and progressives are living in a separate reality. Especially when you have news like this.....

According to MSNBC, President Trump wants to murder all reporters: https://www.theblaze.com/news/ready...d-kill-reporters-if-he-could-get-away-with-it

According to a professor at Columbia, President Trump needs to be declared a public health emergency: https://www.theblaze.com/news/columbia-professor-trump-public-health-threat

Chuck Schumer said that the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett is one of the darkest days in Senate history: https://www.axios.com/schumer-coney...ays-ea9baed0-0c81-4fab-8fd3-162a443d6556.html

I have lost count of the number of news articles that say president Trump and his administration is exactly like Hitler's Germany or Putin's Russia and Trump is a dictator who is denying all Americans their rights.

The hyperbole of yesterday is transformed into deeply believed facts of today. And although this is happening to some degree on both sides of the political isle, it seems to be far worse by a magnitude on the liberal / progressive side.

As an analogy, I can look at a light blue sky and call it light blue. Yet those living in this alternate reality looking at that very same sky would call it neon red.

How can we even have a discussion when our words don't even mean the same thing? How can we resolve differences when we can look at the exact same thing and see it two completely unrelated ways? Like apples and sleep apnea....2 unrelated categories.

When we are in a place like this, how can we resolve this peacefully? I don't know if we can. When you have a group who has become unhinged from reality promising that they will continue to riot/burn/loot/destroy until their reality is recognized and promoted by all, I am not sure how that can be resolved peacefully.

I hope I am wrong and someone comes to the forefront that can bridge both sides and help us to communicate to bring some resolution or at least to calm those who are acting out violently. But at this point, that is a Hail Mary play and the likely hood of that is not high.

Dissolution may end up being our only peaceful option. However, as many have stated above, I am not sure if that will work in the long term either. That would only be a short term solution.

 

[phylodog]

I don't predict that we are headed for peaceful coexistence. Unfortunately at least half of this country gets out of bed every day searching for something to be pissed off about and someone to blame it on and that isn't going to change until they have real concerns to occupy their time and energy. We have become the softest, most spoiled populace on the planet.

 

[Keepourguns]

My wife is from Poland, when the old USSR ran things...She and many other Poles cannot believe what America is allowing to happen to this great country. They talk about the controls put upon them under the USSR and the lack of most personal freedoms. Why are we trading freedom for governmental control. She and the others shake their heads at this. This is why they came here. To be all they can be, free of those socialist and communist controls. Our young people today would trade it all for a freee cell phone, free school and great internet speeds! Truly sad. Biden wins and this country NEVER recovers, never

 

[Keith_Indy]

I don't predict that we are headed for peaceful coexistence. Unfortunately at least half of this country gets out of bed every day searching for something to be pissed off about and someone to blame it on and that isn't going to change until they have real concerns to occupy their time and energy. We have become the softest, most spoiled populace on the planet.

Actually, you are over-estimating the number of hard-core disgruntled individuals. Twitter and MSM may look that way, but main stream America isn't.

 

[Keepourguns]

I am from Illinois. Prior to Pritzker, the last dem Governor was elected this way...EVERY county in Illinois went red EXCEPT ONE, COOK. The Dems lost by 650,000 votes but won the "State" of Cook County by 800,000 votes. Sadly in Illinois we realized no matter what we did COOK County elects every State held office in Illinois. For me hello Indiana...

 

[JettaKnight]

Actually, you are over-estimating the number of hard-core disgruntled individuals. Twitter and MSM may look that way, but main stream America isn't.

Spend enough time on INGO and you'll be convinced that everyone is at the extremes, and all liberal are alike and traitors.

 

[Virch]

The sequel, Indian Country, is set in southern Indiana and follows the insurgency against the socialists. It's really, really good, and I'd say you could even read it first since it's a prequel to People's Republic.

I read that book yesterday. Some things I thought were a bit fanciful, and I thought a lot of the "blue's" were caricatures. That said, one of the things that irked me the most was the author constantly referring to the deer hunters with .270s and .308 Winchesters in Southern Indiana. Whole time I'm thinking, we were forced to use slug guns until the mid aughts, and only got "hunting rifles" for use on private land in the last few years.