Beginning today, our nation inches closer to Fascism.

Notice anything different today?  Most folks probably won't.  Such is the way with creeping totalitarianism.

What's different today from yesterday?  June 30th, 2010 was the last day it was legal in the United States to ship cigarettes by mail.  Yet another freedom lost...a completely legal adult product is no longer able to be purchased online, by phone, or through a catalog, to be delivered to you in the comfort of your own home.

Why, you might ask?  Here's your answer:  When President Barack Obama signed into law the SCHIP expansion as one of his first acts in office, increasing tobacco taxes by up to 156%, he not only broke his campaign pledge that he would not raise taxes on anyone who made less than $250,000 a year, he also wanted to make sure you didn't have a legal way to avoid paying his tax increase.  Thus, our current Democrat controlled congress went to work writing another bill...and another bill means another law...and another law generally means someone is going to lose another freedom.  Voila!  In March of this year President Obama signed the "Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking" Act.

You see, the Federal Government always thinks that when there is a completely legal way to avoid paying their onerous taxes, say through the mail ordering of cigarettes from a business located on a tax-free Native Reservation, you are somehow depriving our elected "leaders" of money they feel should rightfully be theirs.  So, they must find a way to "close" that "loophole", so you can be gouged just like any other schmuck who walks into any convenience store in your town.

Oh, you can still drive out to any smoke shop on pretty much any Indian Reservation and buy your smokes tax-free.  So far, I guess our Federal government hasn't figured out a way to make that illegal without putting thousands of natives on the warpath.  Rest assured, the money hungry "powers that be" in Washington D.C. are working on it.

In New York State, a new law levying taxes on the walk-in sale of tobacco to non-natives is scheduled to go into effect September 1st.  J.C. Seneca, a Seneca Nation Tribal Councilor, has declared the state law "an act of war". The last time New York threatened to tax tobacco on tribal lands, there were threats of violence, and a state Thruway across tribal lands was closed after it was blocked with burning tires and debris.

According to the Seneca Tribe, the new Federal law banning mail-order cigarette sales which goes into effect today threatens up to 1000 jobs on the Seneca Nation alone.

Thus, another job and freedom killing measure from our Democrat leadership is in the books.   Native American rights are again trampled.   And the citizens of the United States don't even wince.

The Oil Spill Address: Barack Obama again runs for.....President.

If the American People wanted answers.  They didn't get any.  If the American People expected solutions.  Sorry, no such luck.  If the American People hoped to hear how the Obama Administration, in partnership with British Petroleum, was going to solve the oil spill crisis in the gulf, and clean up the mess.  Nothing doing.

What the American People got was another campaign speech.

President Obama gave an 18 minute address to the nation last night, and it was merely a re-iteration of some of the the same rhetoric that we heard from candidate Obama when he was running for the office of leader of the free world.  The only difference was that back then, it was fresh and new.  Last night, it sounded old and re-hashed.

What we did learn is that the arrogance and thuggery that is becoming synonymous with this administration was fully present, in that President Obama declared that he was going to "make" BP put money into a slush fund administered by a third party, money which is to be used to clean up the oil and compensate those who are losing their livelihoods due to the spill.  Sounds like tough talk from a man who is working hard in the interest of the people of the gulf region.  The only problem is:  President Obama simply doesn't have the power, under the Constitution, to do it.

The reality is, BP is legally bound to pay only the amount of damages up to the cap set by the U.S. Congress, which is currently $75 million. This does not mean that BP won't pay more, as anyone affected by the spill, including an entire state, can file a civil lawsuit which can be legally decided outside the scope of the Federal legal liability cap set by congress.  And BP itself has stated that they intend to do as much as possible to clean up the mess they've created, which includes spending well more than the $75 million cap.

We also learned, in President Obama's address, that he intends to use the oil spill situation as a campaign issue to press for all sorts of new regulation, new and increased taxes upon the American people, and subsidy for ethereal alternative forms of energy, none of which is a solution for the problem at hand. In other words, President Obama's insatiable drive to grow government is wholly intact.  And we leaned, through the absence of specifics, that the spill in the gulf is currently unstoppable, and it appears it will remain so for the foreseeable future.  Apparently the best we can hope for is for a better "mop up" effort in an attempt to soak up the continuous spillage of oil which is currently taking place.  But no details were forthcoming about how either BP, or the Federal Government, intended to improve what has been universally declared a dismal clean-up effort.

Basically, what we were offered last night was nothing more than a commonly vague political speech which gave us no real details or solutions for the problem today, and no real solutions or details for solving anything tomorrow.  It was a speech reminiscent of empty campaign promises, and as such, was utterly forgettable.

Just put it on my tab....

That U.S. National Debt has moved beyond $13 trillion when you factor in the $42 billion dollars in "chump change" the Fed auctioned off the other day.

That adds up to about $45,000 per man, woman, and child in the United States.

We're talking about the Federal government spending $1.72 million per minute!!!

I suppose I could "pony up" my share..but I'd have to spread it out over a few credit cards. (Hey, I got my lessons in economics from a government school!)  If we'd all quit being so stingy and just chip in, our nation could be out of debt today!!  (Of course, my kids are on their own for their share.)

Unfortunately, if we did manage to pay off the debt today, we'd be another 4 billion in the hole by this time tomorrow.