Valerie Jarrett Was Flat Wrong

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One of President Obama’s Senior Advisors, Valerie Jarrett’s claim that Justin Aarberg made a “lifestyle choice” by being gay.  One could infer from this that she may believe that all LGBT Americans actually actively make a choice about who they are. If this is how she thinks, that is a very sad outdated viewpoint.

To anyone who thinks that homosexuals choose to be that way, there’s only one question that needs to be asked. Did you have to make a conscious choice to be straight? I know I didn’t, so it stands to reason logically that homosexuals clearly do not choose to be gay. The only choice they make is whether or not to be open about it. They choose if they want to live with the scorn, hatred, disrespect and possible physical harm that potentially comes with sharing the truth about who they are.

President Obama looks to this woman for advice. We are on the cusp of a time in this country where we’re starting to see the LGBT community gaining the civil rights they have been denied for so long. Because of this, Valerie Jarrett needs to be made to truly apologize for her remarks. A disingenuous apology for if her comments “offended anyone” or a calling of her statements “inartful” or “poorly chosen” will not do. If Valerie Jarrett truly believes that being gay is a choice, then she not only needs to apologize, but President Obama needs to demand her resignation immediately.

What Exactly Is Big/Large Government? – Part I

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This is a pretty popular topic as we hear this term quite often but no one can provide a valid definition of viewpoint.  That is to be expected though, as what you hear amongst your friends, the general media (not the liberal media rhetoric that is displayed constantly, that has been proven to be false in my first post about that), it is more to identify what exactly is “Big Government” and the common misnomer to, “Large Government.”

Here is exactly what the term “Big Government” actually means.  It is basically when the Government (regardless of level) legislates your daily life to the point where you are not free to do as you choose (as long as you’re not violating the freedom of others).  That is all; sorry for all the Austrian-school individuals and the Anarcho-Capitalists out there who only believe the world’s woes can be solved by money and Big Government affects that.  For that crowd, pick up some actual literature and information beyond the ramblings of those that live in their own fantasy world.

“Large Government” which we hear of occasionally is not the same as “Big Government.”  “Large Government” entails two key items:  a significant portion of the population working in some capacity for the government (directly, or indirectly); and the steady growth of government workers/agencies due to natural circumstances (mainly the increase of a country’s population).  There is a very key difference between the two, and clearing those items up is one of the first steps before we continue on with this topic.

Stay tuned, as tomorrow I will have Part II up as I go into details about this item and provide more information as how the two affect our daily lives.

– “Classic Liberal”

The TEA Party is… Part III: Regressive

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Cutting Unemployment Insurance, closing the EPA & the FDA. Privatizing Social Security, Medicare & the VA. Returning the ability to health insurance company to make decisions about your life that are motivated by profit rather than helping you get better. Banning abortion and monitoring all pregnancies to ensure the woman actually gives birth regardless of if the woman was a rape or incest victim. Increasing the retirement age. Reducing or eliminating the Federal Minimum Wage. Cutting back Federal college assistance programs like Pell Grants.

These are the ideas that the Republican TEA Party candidates are running on. These views are also shared by several Republicans that already hold office in the House of Representatives or the Senate. These ideas are not only extreme, but they would set our country back years if not decades. We are better than that America. We need to continue to be Progressive like Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Eisenhower, & Kennedy. You don’t need to be a die-hard supporter of the Democrats or the Republicans. You can be progressive and want a better future for this country without subscribing in totality to either political party’s views.

The goal is to be logical and rational and educate ourselves and vote for people that will help us to move our country in a direction that will fix problems. We can’t be voting for people that want to undo all of the good work that has been done in the past to address large problems that have faced our nation.

– “Left of Center”

An Instance of Responsible Regulation

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Following the bursting of the housing bubble, the economic crash of 2008, and to a lesser degree the financial reform bill of 2009, mortgage brokers & lenders were forced to abandon (at least temporarily) the most prevalent and profitable form of predatory lending, the variable rate mortgage.

It was only a matter of time before a new low-life anti-consumer practice was thought up to replace the variable rate mortgage. That time is now, with the introduction by a select group of lenders including Freehold Capital Partners, of the home resale fee. This is a rider or buried clause included with the purchase of a home that legally binds the seller of a home to pay the original mortgage company up to 1% of the profits from the sale of the house even if you’ve paid off your home.

That money should go entirely to the homeowner and yet once again, big businesses are burying terms and conditions in contracts that take power away from individuals in the interest of profits that they are not entitled to. Thanks to responsible early action in Arizona, California, Florida, Texas and several other states, this practice is already banned. Thankfully Congress is taking up the debate to make this illegal at a Federal level.

This is a prime example of where the Tea Party is wrong about regulation. This is a good idea. This is the right thing to do. If you purchase a home and then at a later date choose to sell it, any profit you earn from that sale should be yours and only yours.

– “Left of Center”

Related Articles

• Bill Introduced To Ban Home Resale Fees (techdirt.com)

Word Associations & Definitions – Part I

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Recently in the United States, we’ve managed to severely pervert certain words to have a definition no where remote close to its actual definition, or distort the meaning to something completely opposite as a scare tactic to the general populace.  Unfortunately for many of the citizen in here, they have fell for such tactics and associate such words/phrases with mean whatever their friends, the media, politicians and anyone else who wants to manipulate viewpoints.  Let’s examine some word associations and definitions, I am going to supply four words:

• Liber
• Liberalis
• Liberty
• Liberal
• Libertarian

If we carefully examine the word structure, the last four on the list all share the same, exact root word, “liber.”  Liber of course, has a double origin.  It was the name of a Roman God, known as “The Free One” and also has origins in Latin, meaning “to free.”  Now let’s re-examine the list once again:

• Liber
• Liberalis
• Liberty
• Liberal
• Libertarian

Common basic facts and civics will point out that all the words on the list all point to the same meaning.  A “liberal” in your proper definition sense is someone who advocates as much freedom as possible, with a very heavy emphasis on individual freedom.  This doctrine was established in the 18^th century in Europe and then, the fledgling United States.  It is where we I have my handle as “Classic Liberal” as well; I strongly promote as much individual freedom as possible (this is where society consistent uses Government to legislate their way of life, resulting in Big Government).

Over recent times, the word liberal has been adjusted to mean completely the opposite of what it is.  I hate using the “No True Scotsman” argument as it is very weak; however since we have a lot of individuals who use the “true conservative” statement, we can use the “true liberal” statement.  A person who is an actual “Libertarian” will not support legislation at the state-level (we call those individuals anti-federalists).  Legislation of any personal/civil issues at any level of government is not endorsing freedom; that is where individuals like Ron Paul (a fake Libertarian) fail (let the States decide).

The term “Libertarian” was first used in the 19^th century in France by a man whose economic ideas were more “collectivist” in nature.  His emphasis on the term and ideology (the gentleman’s name is Joseph DeJacque if you want to look it up, I’ll bring him up on a future post) was directly related to Classic Liberalism (defined earlier).

The second part of “Word Associations & Definitions” in a future post will cover more details about “liber” as well as how it relates to today’s politics (United States, Civics 101, Foreign Policy & World Viewpoints).

– “Classic Liberal”