Rickety» Government

Ron Paul Orange Rolls

rickety — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:28:58 +0000

Ron Paul Orange Rolls

Igave a copy of The Ron Paul Family Cookbook to Adelaide. She soon made Banana Nut Bread from page 5 and now she has cooked up Ron Paul Orange Rolls from page 20.

Adelaide says:

I’ll send orange rolls home with Jill for you to try. I made them last night and refrigerated them overnight so we could have hot rolls for breakfast. I used a cookie sheet instead of a 9×13 pan, and some of them burnt on the bottom (the filling spilled out, which maybe doesn’t happen with the pan?) So I’ll have to try it again using two 9×13 pans to see if they turn out better, but they still tasted great!

You could easily half the recipe for only a dozen rolls. Also a package of active dry yeast is equivalent to 2 tsp (in case you use a jar of yeast, like I do.)

I ate three of the rolls and they were mighty delicious. Adelaide, you should have sent over a whole plateful.

I gave out the recipe for the Banana Nut Bread but this time get the Cookbook and support the Ron Paul Campaign.

Ron Paul Banana Nut Bread

rickety — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:47:18 +0000

Ron Paul Banana Nut Bread

After a small donation last week to the Ron Paul Campaign I received three copies of The Ron Paul Family Cookbook. I gave one of the cookbooks to Adelaide and she made Banana Nut Bread, with a slight change of ingredients:

What I did different: I didn’t use nuts, as we didn’t have any pecans, which is what I like using in banana nut bread. Also, I used 2 mini loaf pans instead of a regular sized loaf pan, but still cooked it for 45 minutes.

Ron Paul Banana Nut Bread

½ cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe mashed bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix and bake the ingredients at 350° for 45 minutes.

So how did it taste? Adelaide said:

Oh, and it was really good. We ate one of the loaves yesterday (which is when I baked it) and have devoured most of the second one today.

Precision Smokestack Targeting

rickety — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:29:54 +0000

Once in awhile I read an amusing quote. There was one recently in an article by The Wall Street Journal reporting on the Pentagon’s first cyber strategy. Part of the plan warns nations of the consequences of attacking the U.S. by hacking computer systems. Hackers, supported by national governments, pose as significant a threat to U.S. nuclear reactors, subways or pipelines as a hostile country’s military.

An unidentified U.S. military official said:

“If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks.”

Previous attacks have originated from Russia and China but often both the perpetrator and impact are unclear.

Protect Marriage Campaign

2010 Defense Spending by Country

rickety — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:25:27 +0000

The eighteen countries with the largest military budgets. See table below for actual dollar amounts.

Military Expenditures

The eighteen nations with the largest military budgets in 2010 are shown in the chart above (click to enlarge). The United States, with a budget of $698 billion, spends more on defense than the next seventeen nations combined. The United States military spending is almost six times that of the next biggest spender, China ($119 billion) and more than eleven times that of Russia ($59 billion).

The Department of Defense budget in fiscal year 2010 accounted for 19% of the United States federal budget and 28% of estimated tax revenues. The U.S. accounts for 40% of the world’s yearly defense outlays.

Defense Spending by GDP – Top Ten Countries

U.S. Marine patrol, Combat Outpost Castle, Afghanistan

Eritrea 20.9%
Saudi Arabia 11.2%
Oman 9.7%
United Arab Emirates 7.3%
Timor Leste 6.8%
Israel 6.3%
Chad 6.2%
Jordan 6.1%
Georgia 5.6%
Iraq 5.4 %

When spending is considered by percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the United States is not even in the top ten. At 4.7% of GDP the U.S. falls to eleventh place.

Six of the ten countries listed are in the Middle East where there are sharp regional tensions. The fear of conventional military attack is very real which helps justify high defense spending.

Internal instability is a growing factor and is a threat to the existing power structure within states, as demonstrated by recent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and other Middle East countries.

GDP percentages are for 2009, except for Eritrea (2003). The list contains seven countries that do not appear in the table below because their total military spending is lower than the top thirty nations.

Table Of Defense Spending – Top 30 Countries in 2010

Click ONCE on column headers to sort.

Country	$billion¹	$ Rank	%GDP²	%GDP Rank³	$ Per Capita
United States^{4 & 8}	698.3	1	4.7	11	2,260
China⁹	119.4	2	2.2	55	88
United Kingdom	59.6	3	2.7	45	963
France	59.3	4	2.5	47	915
Russia	58.7	5	4.3	14	419
Japan⁷	54.5	6	1.0	129	429
Saudi Arabia⁵	45.2	7	11.2	2	1,727
Germany	45.2	8	1.4	99	550
India	41.3	9	2.8	42	34
Italy¹¹	37.0	10	1.8	77	615
Brazil	33.5	11	1.6	88	172
South Korea¹⁰	27.6	12	2.9	39	569
Australia	24.0	13	1.9	70	1,115
Canada	22.8	14	1.5	91	672
Turkey	17.5	15	2.7	44	231
United Arab Emirates¹²	16.1	16	7.3	4	3,410
Spain	15.4	17	1.1	122	339
Israel⁶	14.0	18	6.3	6	1,929
Netherlands	11.2	19	1.5	93	671
Colombia	10.7	20	3.7	25	232
Greece	9.4	21	3.2	34	835
Taiwan	9.1	22	2.4	49	395
Poland	8.9	23	1.8	78	234
Singapore	8.4	24	4.3	13	1,736
Indonesia	7.2	25	0.9	136	31
Chile⁵	6.9	26	3.5	28	404
Norway	6.7	27	1.6	87	1,385
Algeria	5.7	28	3.8	21	160
Pakistan	5.6	29	2.8	43	31
Sweden	5.6	30	1.2	118	607

Notes

Figures are in US $billions at 2010 prices and exchange rates.
Percent GDP is for 2009.
Percent GDP ranking is included because high expenditure countries are not necessarily spending at high percent of GDP.
$159.3 billion of the U.S. budget is for “Overseas Contingency Operations,” to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Figures for Chile and Saudi Arabia are for the adopted budget, rather than actual expenditure.
Figures for Israel do not include spending on paramilitary forces.
Figures for Japan do not include military pensions.
Figures for the USA are for financial year (1 October to 30 September of stated year).
Figures for China are estimates, including estimates for items not in the official defense budget.
Figures for South Korea do not include spending on relocations and welfare of $974 million dollars.
Figures for Italy include spending on civil defence, which typically amounts to 4.5% of the total.
Figures for United Arab Emirates are uncertain and lacking in transparency. The only available source of data is from the IMF.

Sources

SIPRI Military Expenditure Database 2011, http://milexdata.sipri.org.
Dollars per capita were calculated using 2010 populations via Wolfram Alpha.
U.S. military budget percentages from Wikipedia, accessed 4 June 2011.
DoD photo by Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Clinton W. Runyon, U.S. Marine Corps.

100 Years Ago: Tax, Tax, Tax

rickety — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:00:58 +0000

The following was adapted from the Improvement Era magazines of April 1911 and May 1911.

Inheritance Tax

The largest inheritance tax on record in the United States was lately received by the state of Utah. The check, dated March 1, 1911, was received by State Treasurer David Mattson, on the 9th of March, from Mrs. Mary W. Harriman, executrix, and was made out for the amount of $798,546.85, being the inheritance tax on the late Edward H. Harriman’s property in Utah.

The legislature on the 10th passed a bill appropriating $750,000 of the amount towards the building of the state capitol, in Salt Lake City, which had been arranged for earlier in the session, and for which a bond issue of one million dollars had been authorized.

[The story also appeared in The New York Times. The inheritance tax was 5% on $15,980,937 of Union Pacific stock. The Union Pacific Railroad was incorporated under the laws of Utah, hence payment to the state. In 2011 the Federal estate tax was 35% with Utah no longer having an inheritance tax nor an estate tax.]

Corporation Tax

The corporation tax provision in the Payne-Aldrich tariff act was held by unanimous opinion of the United States Supreme Court, rendered March 13, to be valid. The decision was announced by Justice William R. Day, appointed to the Supreme Court from Ohio, in 1903.

The opinon was an elaborate treatment of the subject, and the tax was declared to be an excise tax on the doing of corporate business, and not a direct tax on the ownership of property. It was held that the tax was not applicable to the real estate “trust” of Boston, and the Minneapolis syndicate, since they were not “doing business” within the meaning of the law.

An income of approximately twenty-five million dollars annually will be assured to the government by this decision.

[In 2011, Federal tax rates on corporate taxable income varied from 15% to 35%. In 2010, 6.6% ($138.2 billion) of Federal revenue came from corporations.]

Income Tax

The national income tax amendment to the national constitution, submitted by resolution of Congress in July, 1909, has been acted on favorably this year by nineteen legislatures, eleven states have thus far rejected it. Since the amendment must be approved by three-fourths of the states, nine more states are necessary for favorable action.

Since the constitution fixes no time limit to legislative action, the legislatures which rejected it this year may approve it next. Utah so far has not joined in favor of the proposed measure.

[On February 25, 1913, the amendment was ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states, and became a part of the Constitution. On October 3, the Revenue Act of 1913 was enacted which re-imposed the Federal income tax. The Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Utah legislatures rejected the amendment. Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia never considered the amendment.]

Adapted from: “Passing Events”, Improvement Era, Vol. XIV. April, 1911. No. 6 and “Passing Events”, May, 1911. No. 7

Presidents on the United States

rickety — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 01:26:39 +0000

The State of the Union

The annual address by the President to the Congress reports on the condition of the nation and outlines the President’s legislative agenda and his national priorities. Before Warren Harding most presidents delivered the State of the Union as a written report.

He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. Article II, Section 3

The quotes herein are from State of the Union messages, except for William Harrison (died of pneumonia) and James Garfield (assassinated). I use instead their Inaugural addresses.

George Washington
(1789–1797)

“Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to.”

John Adams
(1797–1801)

“The commerce of the United States is essential, if not to their existence, at least to their comfort, their growth, prosperity, and happiness.”

Thomas Jefferson
(1801–1809)

“We continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of our Indian neighbors and of their dispositions to place all their interests under the patronage of the United States.”

James Madison
(1809–1817)

“I should fail in my duty in not recommending to your serious attention the importance of giving to our militia, the great bulwark of our security and resource of our power, an organization best adapted to eventual situations for which the United States ought to be prepared.”

James Monroe
(1817–1825)

“In our intercourse with each [European power] due attention continues to be paid to the protection of our commerce, and to every other object in which the United States are interested.”

John Quincy Adams
(1825–1829)

“…[Washington] informed them that the returns gave the pleasing assurance that the population of the United States bordered on 4,000,000 persons. At the distance of 30 years from that time the last enumeration, five years since completed, presented a population bordering on 10,000,000.”

Andrew Jackson
(1829–1837)

“There will have been paid on account of the public debt during the present year the sum of $12,405,005.80, reducing the whole debt of the Government on January 1st, 1830 to $48,565,406.50, including $7 millions of the 5% stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States.”

Martin Van Buren
(1837–1841)

“Britain and the United States are of the most friendly character, and I am well satisfied of the sincere disposition of that Government to maintain them upon their present footing.”

William Henry Harrison
(1841)

“Not-withstanding the limited sovereignty possessed by the people of the United States and the restricted grant of power to the Government which they have adopted, enough has been given to accomplish all the objects for which it was created.”

John Tyler
(1841–1845)

“It is believed that the United States is the only nation which has by its laws subjected to the punishment of death as pirates those who may be engaged in the slave trade.”

James Polk
(1845–1849)

“The terms of annexation which were offered by the United States having been accepted by Texas, the public faith of both parties is solemnly pledged to the compact of their union.”

Zachary Taylor
(1849–1850)

“The predictions of evil prophets, who formerly pretended to foretell the downfall of our institutions, are now remembered only to be derided, and the United States of America at this moment present to the world the most stable and permanent Government on earth.”

Millard Fillmore
(1850–1853)

“The Government of the United States is a limited Government.”

Franklin Pierce
(1853–1857)

“France was the early and efficient ally of the United States in their struggle for independence. From that time to the present, with occasional slight interruptions, cordial relations of friendship have existed between the Governments and people of the two countries.”

James Buchanan
(1857–1861)

“On the 15th of September, 1857, Governor Young issued his proclamation, in the style of an independent sovereign, announcing his purpose to resist by force of arms the entry of the United States troops into our own Territory of Utah.”

Abraham Lincoln
(1861–1865)

“That portion of the earth’s surface which is owned and inhabited by the people of the United States is well adapted to be the home of one national family, and it is not well adapted for two or more.”

Andrew Johnson
(1865–1869)

“The Union of the United States of America was intended by its authors to last as long as the States themselves shall last.’”

Ulysses Grant
(1869–1877)

“I have always felt that the most intimate relations should be cultivated between the Republic of the United States and all independent nations on this continent.”

Rutherford Hayes
(1877–1881)

“The power of the United States to coin money and to regulate the value thereof ought never to be exercised for the purpose of enabling the Government to pay its obligations in a coin of less value than that contemplated by the parties when the bonds were issued.”

James Garfield
(1881)

“There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States. Freedom can never yield its fullness of blessings so long as the law or its administration places the smallest obstacle in the pathway of any virtuous citizen.”

Chester Arthur
(1881–1885)

“As is natural with contiguous states having like institutions and like aims of advancement and development, the friendship of the United States and Mexico has been constantly maintained.”

Grover Cleveland
(1885–1889 & 1893–1897)

“The interest of the United States in a practicable transit for ships across the strip of land separating the Atlantic from the Pacific has been repeatedly manifested during the last half century.”

Benjamin Harrison
(1889–1893)

“The enforcement by the Treasury Department of the law prohibiting the coming of Chinese to the United States has been effective as to such as seek to land from vessels entering our ports.”

William McKinley
(1897–1901)

“Lynching must not be tolerated in a great and civilized country like the United States; courts, not mobs, must execute the penalties of the law.”

Theodore Roosevelt
(1901–1909)

“It should
mean something to become a citizen of the United States; and in the process no loophole whatever should be left open to fraud.”

William Howard Taft
(1909–1913)

“Collateral investigations of the opium question in this country lead me to recommend that the manufacture, sale and use of opium and its derivatives in the United States should be so far as possible more rigorously controlled by legislation.”

Woodrow Wilson
(1913–1921)

“The United States, this great people for whom we speak and act, should be ready, as never before, to serve itself and to serve mankind; ready with its resources, its energies, its forces of production, and its means of distribution.”

Warren Harding
(1921–1923)

“It is the voice of sympathy and fraternity and helpfulness, seeking to assist but not assume for the United States burdens which nations must bear for themselves.”

Calvin Coolidge
(1923–1929)

“The Government of the United States has been created by the people. It is solely responsible to them. It will be most successful if it is conducted solely for their benefit.”

Herbert Hoover
(1929–1933)

“The first requirement of confidence and of economic recovery is financial stability of the United States Government.”

Franklin Roosevelt
(1933–1945)

“The first President of the United States warned us against entangling foreign alliances. The present President of the United States subscribes to and follows that precept.”

Harry Truman
(1945–1953)

“It will be the continuing policy of the United States to use all its influence to foster, support, and develop the United Nations Organization in its purpose of preventing international war.”

Dwight Eisenhower
(1953–1961)

“We should recognize by law a fact that is plain to all thoughtful citizens — that we are dealing here with actions akin to treason — that when a citizen knowingly participates in the Communist conspiracy he no longer holds allegiance to the United States.”

John Kennedy
(1961–1963)

“Members of the Congress: The United States did not rise to greatness by waiting for others to lead. This Nation is the world’s foremost manufacturer, farmer, banker, consumer, and exporter.”

Lyndon Johnson
(1963–1969)

“Most important of all, in this period, the United States has reemerged into the fullness of its self-confidence and purpose. No longer are we called upon to get America moving. We are moving.”

Richard Nixon
(1969–1974)

“Let this be our national goal: At the end of this decade, in the year 1980, the United States will not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need to provide our jobs, to heat our homes, and to keep our transportation moving.”

Gerald Ford
(1974–1977)

“If we don’t act to slow down the rate of increase in Federal spending, the United States Treasury will be legally obligated to spend more than $360 billion in fiscal year 1976, even if no new programs are enacted.”

Jimmy Carter
(1977–1981)

“While this invasion [of Afghanistan] continues, we and the other nations of the world cannot conduct business as usual with the Soviet Union. That’s why the United States has imposed stiff economic penalties on the Soviet Union.”

Ronald Reagan
(1981–1989)

“If the United States can trade with other nations on a level playing field, we can outproduce, outcompete, and outsell anybody, anywhere in the world.”

George H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)

“Much good can come from the prudent use of power. And much good can come from this: A world once divided into two armed camps now recognizes one sole and pre-eminent power, the United States of America.”

Bill Clinton
(1993–2001)

“And I would like to say a special word to our religious leaders. You know, I’m proud of the fact that the United States has more house of worship per capita than any country in the world.”

George W. Bush
(2001–2009)

“From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”

Barack Obama
(2009–)

“But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.
. . .
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America..”

Sources

The Presidents Series

Presidents on Arms

rickety — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:48:53 +0000

The right of the People to keep and bear arms

The Second Amendment, adopted on December 15, 1791, is the part of the Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Recently the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia. The Court also ruled that limits placed on the federal government also apply to State and local governments.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The version above was passed by Congress. The version ratified by the States does not capitalize militia or arms but does capitalize People.

Collected herein is a quote from each president about arms. Do you have a favorite?

George Washington
(1789–1797)

“A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well digested plan is requisite: And their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories, as tend to render them independent on others, for essential, particularly for military supplies.”

John Adams
(1797–1801)

“Opposition, nay, open, avowed resistance by arms, against usurpation and lawless violence, is not rebellion by the law of God or the land.”

Thomas Jefferson
(1801–1809)

“No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”

James Madison
(1809–1817)

“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”

James Monroe
(1817–1825)

“The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals.”

John Quincy Adams
(1825–1829)

“…it is by the militia that we are constituted an armed nation, standing in perpetual panoply of defense in the presence of all the other nations of the earth.”

Andrew Jackson
(1829–1837)

“Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to, but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe.”

Martin Van Buren
(1837–1841)

“[Great Britain] taunted us with our weakness, railed at our fir-built frigates, lightly estimated our prowess and our resources and despised our reiterated declarations of a necessity and a determination to resort to arms for a redress of wrongs.”

William Henry Harrison
(1841)

“Can the citizens of a free country, who have taken arms to defend its rights, think of submitting to an army composed of mercenary soldiers, reluctant Canadians goaded to the field by the bayonet, and of wretched, naked savages?”

John Tyler
(1841–1845)

“A principle much more controlling was found in the love of order and obedience to the laws, which, with mere individual exceptions, everywhere possesses the American mind, and controls with an influence far more powerful than hosts of armed men.”

James Polk
(1845–1849)

“Our reliance for protection and defense on the land must be mainly on our citizen soldiers, who will be ever ready, as they ever have been ready in times past, to rush with alacrity, at the call of their country, to her defense.”

Zachary Taylor
(1849–1850)

“It is to be hoped that no international question can now arise which a government confident in its own strength and resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government like our own, founded on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms.”

Millard Fillmore
(1850–1853)

“To maintain this Union by force of arms, merely, would require a standing army that would exhaust all the resources of the nation, and necessarily convert our Government into a military despotism. This is a result that no patriot can contemplate without horror.”

Franklin Pierce
(1853–1857)

“…never to shrink from war when the rights and the honor of the country call us to arms, but to cultivate in preference the arts of peace, seek enlargement of the rights of neutrality, and elevate and liberalize the intercourse of nations…”

James Buchanan
(1857–1861)

“[Brigham Young] has therefore for several years, in order to maintain his independence, been industriously employed in collecting and fabricating arms and munitions of war and in disciplining the Mormons for military service.”

Abraham Lincoln
(1861–1865)

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it.”

Andrew Johnson
(1865–1869)

“…the other [act of Congress] is contrary to the express declaration of the Constitution that ‘a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’”

Ulysses Grant
(1869–1877)

“When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.”

Rutherford Hayes
(1877–1881)

“We cared nothing for foreign nations: they were too far, too distant; and anyway, with the North and South united, as I believe they now are, in feeling, we can meet the world in arms against us.”

James Garfield
(1881)

“Our country cannot be independent unless its people, with their abundant natural resources, possess the requisite skill at any time to clothe, arm and equip themselves for war, and in time of peace produce all the necessary implements of labor.”

Chester Arthur
(1881–1885)

“But if we heed the teachings of history we shall not forget that in the life of every nation emergencies may arise when a resort to arms can alone save it from dishonor.”

Grover Cleveland
(1885–1889 & 1893–1897)

“With the nations of the Western Hemisphere we should cultivate closer relations; and for our common prosperity and advancement we should invite them all to join with us in an agreement that for the future all international troubles in North or South America shall be adjusted by impartial arbitration, and not by arms.”

Benjamin Harrison
(1889–1893)

“If there is too much exuberance in the thought that we can whip the world, it is a safe saying that we can defend our land and coasts against any part of the world that will ever be in arms against us.”

William McKinley
(1897–1901)

“It is asserted that the western provinces are already well-nigh reclaimed, that the planting of cane and tobacco therein has been resumed, and that by force of arms and new and ample reforms very early and complete pacification is hoped for.”

Theodore Roosevelt
(1901–1909)

“We desire the peace which comes as of right to the just man armed; not the peace granted on terms of ignominy to the craven and the weakling.”

William Howard Taft
(1909–1913)

“We shall enter into any war with a full conscious-
ness of the awful consequences that it always entails, whether successful or not, and we, of course, shall make every effort consistent with national honor and the highest national interest to avoid a resort to arms.”

Woodrow Wilson
(1913–1921)

“We must depend in every time of national peril, in the future as in the past, not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a citizenry trained and accustomed to arms.”

Warren Harding
(1921–1923)

“Amid it all we have riveted the gaze of all civilization to the unselfishness and the righteousness of representative democracy, where our freedom never has made offensive warfare, never has sought territorial aggrandizement through force, never has turned to the arbitrament of arms until reason has been exhausted.”

Calvin Coolidge
(1923–1929)

“We do not know of any nation which has ever been able to provide arms enough so as always to be at peace.”

Herbert Hoover
(1929–1933)

“The smaller the armed forces of the world, the less will be the number of men withdrawn from the creative and productive labors.”

Franklin Roosevelt
(1933–1945)

“But even a nation well armed and well organized from a strictly military standpoint may, after a period of time, meet defeat if it is unnerved by self-distrust, endangered by class prejudice, by dissension between capital and labor, by false economy and by other unsolved social problems at home.”

Harry Truman
(1945–1953)

“We must preserve our national strength. Strength is not simply a matter of arms and force. It is a matter of economic growth, and social health, and vigorous institutions, public and private.”

Dwight Eisenhower
(1953–1961)

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

John Kennedy
(1961–1963)

“By calling attention to ‘a well regulated militia,’ ‘the security of the nation,’ and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms,’ our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy…”

Lyndon Johnson
(1963–1969)

“Yet as we protect freedom by courage in arms, we shall every day continue the search for an honorable peace. It is tragic that young lives must be sacrificed, that great sums must be spent for the instruments of war, when the work of peace awaits man’s accomplishment in every land.”

Richard Nixon
(1969–1974)

“[President Eisenhower's] life reminds us that there is a moral force in this world more powerful than the might of arms or the wealth of nations.”

Gerald Ford
(1974–1977)

“America must remain first in keeping peace in the world. We can remain first in peace only if we are never second in defense.”

Jimmy Carter
(1977–1981)

“Our stand for peace is suspect if we are also the principal arms merchant of the world.”

Ronald Reagan
(1981–1989)

“You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There’s only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up and if you don’t actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time…”

George H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)

“A world once divided into two armed camps now recognizes one sole and preeminent power, the United States of America.”

Bill Clinton
(1993–2001)

“In the end, all the world’s wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.”

George W. Bush
(2001–2009)

“I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun.”

Barack Obama
(2009–)

“As a general principle, I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms. But just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can’t constrain the exercise of that right, in the same way that we have a right to private property but local governments can establish zoning ordinances that determine how you can use it.”

Sources

The Presidents Series

Reduce, Reform, and Restrict National Government

rickety — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:26:04 +0000

Shays' Rebellion, a clash between farmers and merchants, threatened to plunge the states into civil war

The Revolutionary War left many of the colonies deep in debt because of borrowing for troops and weapons. States tried to pay back these debts in Continentals, printed by the Confederation Congress, but people wanted gold and silver that had real value. Each state was printing its own money, causing disputes over what each currency was really worth.

The Confederation Congress could not raise taxes nor use a court system to force states to trade with each other. Some farmers refused to pay taxes and took up arms causing the federal militia to be called out to stop the rebellion. Obviously a stronger national government was needed. From this need evolved our current Federal Government.

A number of people recently have expressed delight that the Federal Government may have to close down. They feel that we would all be better off with no national government at all. Clearly, if history is understood, we cannot return to the days before the Constitution and all the problems a weak national government entailed.

Rather, we need to insist on the government the Constitution gave us. The set of fundamental principles and established precedents detailed in the Constitution outline how we are to be governed. If the Founders thought that no national government was necessary, they would never have met in Philadelphia and given us the Constitution.

The real problem is not that we have a national government but that Washington has overreached its power, overspent its budget, and overrun state sovereignty. A reduced, reformed national government, restricted to its enumerated powers, should be our goal.

Presidents on Government

rickety — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:30:16 +0000

Presidents Day

The federal holiday honoring George Washington began in 1880 in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all of the Federal Government. It was celebrated on Washington’s birthday, February 22. In 1971 the holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February and as such never falls on Washington’s actual birthday.

In the 1980s the term “Presidents Day” began its public appearance. Although Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington’s Birthday observances as “Presidents Day”, “Washington and Lincoln Day”, such as Utah, or other such designations.

Collected herein is a quote from each president about government. Do you have a favorite?

George Washington
(1789–1797)

“I entertain a strong hope that the state of the national finances is now sufficiently matured to enable you to enter upon a systematic and effectual arrangement for the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt, according to the right which has been reserved to the Government.”

John Adams
(1797–1801)

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Thomas Jefferson
(1801–1809)

“A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.”

James Madison
(1809–1817)

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

James Monroe
(1817–1825)

“The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil.”

John Quincy Adams
(1825–1829)

“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”

Andrew Jackson
(1829–1837)

“As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of persons and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending.”

Martin Van Buren
(1837–1841)

“The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity.”

William Henry Harrison
(1841)

“I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.”

John Tyler
(1841–1845)

“So far as it depends on the course of this government, our relations of good will and friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations.”

James Polk
(1845–1849)

“The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government.”

Zachary Taylor
(1849–1850)

“In any action calculated to promote an object so near the heart of everyone who truly loves his country I will zealously unite with the coordinate branches of the Government.”

Millard Fillmore
(1850–1853)

“God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil, for which we are not responsible, and we must endure it, till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world.”

Franklin Pierce
(1853–1857)

“The dangers of a concentration of all power in the general government of a confederacy so vast as ours are too obvious to be disregarded.”

James Buchanan
(1857–1861)

“The distribution of patronage of the Government is by far the most disagreeable duty of the President.”

Abraham Lincoln
(1861–1865)

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

Andrew Johnson
(1865–1869)

“The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people.”

Ulysses Grant
(1869–1877)

“When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.”

Rutherford Hayes
(1877–1881)

“There can be no complete and permanent reform of the civil service until public opinion emancipates congressmen from all control and influence over government patronage.”

James Garfield
(1881)

“It is no part of the functions of the National Government to find employment for the people, and if we were to appropriate a hundred millions for his purpose, we should only be taxing 40 millions of people to keep a few thousand employed.”

Chester Arthur
(1881–1885)

“…there has been substantial accord in the doctrine that only such taxes ought to be levied as are necessary for a wise and economical administration of the Government.”

Grover Cleveland
(1885–1889 & 1893–1897)

“It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens.”

Benjamin Harrison
(1889–1893)

“No other people have a government more worthy of their respect and love or a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look upon, and so full of generous suggestion to enterprise and labor.”

William McKinley
(1897–1901)

“Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law. It is sometimes sneeringly said by those who do not like free government, that here we count heads. True, heads are counted, but brains also…”

Theodore Roosevelt
(1901–1909)

“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.”

William Howard Taft
(1909–1913)

“A government is for the benefit of all the people.”

Woodrow Wilson
(1913–1921)

“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of the government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.”

Warren Harding
(1921–1923)

“Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much of government, and at the same time do for it too little.”

Calvin Coolidge
(1923–1929)

“The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager.”

Herbert Hoover
(1929–1933)

“When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.”

Franklin Roosevelt
(1933–1945)

“They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers… call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order.”

Harry Truman
(1945–1953)

“The external threat to liberty should not drive us into suppressing liberty at home. Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.”

Dwight Eisenhower
(1953–1961)

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”

John Kennedy
(1961–1963)

“It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions — by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence.”

Lyndon Johnson
(1963–1969)

“If government is to serve any purpose it is to do for others what they are unable to do for themselves.”

Richard Nixon
(1969–1974)

“I don’t think a woman should be in any government job whatever. I mean, I really don’t. The reason why I do is mainly because they are erratic. And emotional.”

Gerald Ford
(1974–1977)

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

Jimmy Carter
(1977–1981)

“The government and the church are two different realms of service, and those in political office have to face a subtle but important difference between the implementation of the high ideals of religious faith and public duty.”

Ronald Reagan
(1981–1989)

“We are a nation that has a government — not the other way around. And that makes us special among the nations of the earth.”

George H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)

“…the heroic actions of our veterans, the lifesaving work of our scientists and physicians, and generosity of countless individuals who voluntarily give of their time, talents, and energy to help others — all have enriched humankind and affirmed the importance of our Judeo-Christian heritage in shaping our government and values.”

Bill Clinton
(1993–2001)

“Criticism is part of the lifeblood of democracy. No one is right all the time. But we should remember that there is a big difference between criticizing a policy or a politician and demonizing the government that guarantees our freedoms and the public servants who enforce our laws.”

George W. Bush
(2001–2009)

“Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all.”

Barack Obama
(2009–)

“In Africa, you often see that the difference between a village where everybody eats and a village where people starve is government. One has a functioning government, and the other does not. Which is why it bothers me when I hear people say that government is the enemy. They don’t understand its fundamental role.”

The Presidents Series

15 Military Action Photographs

rickety — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:32:18 +0000

The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the United States of America.

Largest Employer

The Department of Defense is America’s oldest and largest government agency. With over 1.4 million men and women on active duty, and 718,000 civilian personnel, the Department of Defense is the nation’s largest employer. Another 1.1 million serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces.

The Pentagon

Headquarters of the Department of Defense, the Pentagon is one of the world’s largest office buildings. It is twice the size of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York.

Built during the early years of World War II, it is still thought of as one of the most efficient office buildings in the world. Despite 17.5 miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building.

The Department’s physical plant is huge, consisting of more than several hundred thousand individual buildings and structures located at more than 5,000 different locations or sites. When all sites are added together, the Department of Defense utilizes over 30 million acres of land.

Fifteen Photographs

The following photographs show the United States military in action while training and in combat. The only criteria for selection was that a photograph showed weaponry in use and that I liked the image.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Rigsby and Air Force Staff Sgts. Devlin Long and Scott Underdoll detonate a controlled disposal of an improvised explosive device near Espandi, Afghanistan, Jan. 10, 2011. Rigsby, Long and Underoll, all explosive ordnance disposal technicians, are assigned to Forward Operating Base Ghazni.

U.S. Marines, Reconnaissance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal, take cover from a blast during the Dynamic Entry course on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Oct. 29, 2008. The 10-day course is held semi-annually, by the III Marine Expeditionary Forces Special Operations Training Group to teach Marines how to breach buildings, through various techniques.

U.S. Army Pfc. Mark Ayers stands ready to dispose of spent brass during a artillery live fire qualification range on Memorial Range, Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, May 21, 2010. Ayers is assigned to Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery. The soldiers are required to conduct range qualification to keep the fire team’s accuracy and timing at its best.

A U.S. Marine with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment provides support by fire during Operation Cobra’s Anger in Now Zad, Afghanistan, on Dec. 5, 2009. The Marines are clearing buildings occupied by insurgents.

The U.S. Navy launches two modified Standard Missile-2 Block IV interceptors from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie during a Missile Defense Agency test to intercept a short-range ballistic missile target, June 5, 2008. The missiles intercepted the target approximately 12 miles above the Pacific Ocean 100 miles west of Kauai, Hawaii, on the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ryan Pettit (left) and Cpl. Matthew Miller with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment fire their service rifles during an operation in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on July 3, 2009. The Marines are part of the ground combat element of Regiment Combat Team 3, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher fires its MK-45 5-inch/54-caliber lightweight gun during a gun exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 22, 2011. Mitscher is conducting a composite training unit exercise as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group to prepare for an upcoming combat deployment.

U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery train on firing points with an M119 Howitzer outside Camp Liberty in Iraq on Dec. 23, 2005.

U.S. Army Pvt. Adam Eggers shoots his M4 rifle at a live-fire range on Camp Blessing in Kunar province, Afghanistan, July 27, 2009. Eggers is assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade.

Marine Lance Cpl. Gary R. Nichols fires an AT-4 light anti-armor weapon at an old tank during fire and maneuver training near Camp Bucca, Iraq, on July 18, 2005. Nichols and his fellow Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) are operating out of Camp Bucca to conduct various force protection missions.

A ground-based interceptor lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Dec. 5, 2008. The launch is a test of the Ballistic Missile Defense System, which successfully intercepted a long-range target launched from Kodiak, Alaska.

U.S. soldiers fire 120mm mortars from their Stryker MCV-B during crew certification at Fort Lewis, Wash., May 30, 2008. The soldiers are assigned to 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.

U.S. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment deploy an MK-154 Mine Clearing Line Charge system during assault training at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., Jan. 18, 2009.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Kyle Page, right, and an Estonian Defense Forces member make their way over rubble as a controlled detonation explodes behind them during a clearing operation in Northern Now Zad, Afghanistan, Oct. 26, 2008. Page is a team leader with 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, attached to Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

Smoke spews from the muzzle of an M-198 howitzer as a projectile is launched down Artillery Firing Area 8 at Camp Pendleton, Calif, July 7, 2005. With the reality of guerrilla warfare in Iraq, Marines from Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, broke in the new firing base tailored to what they’ll face in Iraq.

Sources

Photographs and descriptions: U.S. Department of Defense.

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