The seventeenth amendment changed the foundation of our government toward democracy, and away from a representative republic. Giving franchise to the people, rather than nomination of the several state governments made the Senate another place politicians could buy votes from the electorate with preferential spending.

The Senate was initially envisioned by the founding fathers to protect the smaller states from the larger ones. The power of the purse was not totally controlled by the voters. The change made by the seventeenth amendment gave the power of the purse to a disproportionate number of voters in small states. States with smaller populations tend to get more from the federal government per person, after all they have more representation per person. Conversely, large states have less representation per person.

Voters will eventually figure this out. I live in the most populous state and have the least powerful vote. Some will argue, with merit, The United Sates is better of with less California influence. As a Californian, I have a way to fix my weak vote without worrying if the rest of the United States will go along. Without  any help from outside, all California would need to do, to get more power for vote is to spilt into three states, Northern, Central, and Southern California. The United States would have to accept the new states.  Other states could also reorganize themselves.

There are already moves to give the voters'  voices greater range, by changing the way Presidential Votes are cast. Many states will now give electoral votes by district, rather than the traditional winner take all fashion. They see this as a way to get all of the candidates from both parties to consider their states. How long will it take for those same states to try to figure out how to get their votes considered by the Senate?

As we face a general election, in 2008, I think I have a winning, although jarring strategy. We need to quit being soft in our rhetoric about the cost of wrong choices. My new Republican adds would win, and upset people who disagreed. They would ask the fundamental questions facing the United States, in straight forward, easily understood language. Here are several examples:

Would you rather add more headstones of dead young American Soldiers down at the cemetery, or put up with a few oil derricks off the coast of California, and Florida, and some oil wells above the aortic circle in Alaska?
We have the technology to build evironmentaly friendly wells, but we don't have the technology to bring those young Americans back to life.

We can depend on foreign oil, and fund terrorists who would kill us, make a fast changeover away from oil, and do without food until we get it up and running, or slowly let technology  deal with our problems while we develop our own domestic resources. Pick one.

Money, spend yours, mine, or my childrens' childrens', just give me some now. Is this the way to run our government?

Now Mr. Ben Laden, anything you say can be used against you, you have the right to remain silent, or have an  attorney present, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to represent you, do you understand these rights? I don't.

Just keep running these on every radio station everyday. If we could have such a unified approach to counter the environmental whackos, and the liberal establishment, well maybe we would stand a chance. Conservatism works, when it is consistent, and clear.

I forget which comedian said "even paranoids have enemies", but Joe Stalin said "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Both sayings are sage advice. As I think about my life long opposition to the United Nations, I think how naive I was to want it sent out of our borders. We need it here to keep a closer watch on those who would do us harm. Anti-American plots are like a watched pot, when they are in New York City. If they really started to boil, we would likely turn down the fire, or at least notice the overflow sooner. If we have a sane government, we won't add gasoline to the fire. Sending it to Brussels Belgium, might be gasoline. If you think the inmates now  run the asylum, with the moderating force of the reality New York apartments, and lifestyle show the delegates, think about a European environment, where if population trends continue, there may be Ceria Law. That would be gasoline.
The world has always been against us, and there are those who plot. We need to keep an eye on them. I like to have them under the microscope, there in New York City. Although we pay a disproportionate share of they budget, it is worth the nuisance to have all of the bad actors on our stage, watching their every move.
As you can tell, I don't like them, nor do I think the U.N. has our best interest, or freedoms interest, at heart. I have just figured out, I like them close enough to check on, and in a global game of diplomacy, check mate.

Would you give money to the government;  think social security, watch them spend that money without regard to the promises made to give that money back in a annuity, tell you the money is gone, therefore you may get none, then trust that government, which admits it cannot pay you the money they owe you, to be in charge of your life; think government health care? First of all, remember they did not ask for the money, they took it. Second, if you give them charge over your life, they will take that too. They admit they cannot repay the debt of social security money they have confiscated from us, so if they can pare the social security rolls by withholding medical care from those on the rolls, it would be an obvious choice.
You think that some future generation, steeped in the culture of self esteem, and informed by social relativism, as a moral compass, would not consider cutting off medical care for the old geezers who want that money that generation cannot repay? That truely is faith. Faith in the government is what allowed social security to go so far wrong, in the first place. Trust the government to make life and death decisions for you? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, and in the same way, shame on us all!

We just stopped the Amnesty Bill, in congress, and it took passion. Now there is a bill to give the names of all legal gun owners to the federal government, to post on the internet. I'm not kidding. Any criminal in a public library could look to see that you had a legal firearm, and burglarize you. This is no crazier than letting illegal immigrants vote, oh they're doing that in California already. Passion in the defense of liberty, and our American Herritage, is required to protect it. Passionate folks gave their blood, and lives to defend it, and we must not squander that sacrafice. When we the people are not passionate enough to stop the infringement on our bill of rights, we squander the gift of patriots past. That is our only lasting treasure, the American Treasure we were given, from God, who let us be born Americans.
At what point can you be ethical, and compromise, by supporting a government bent on offrending the laws of God, and the sensabilities of man? If you pay your taxes, you must vote, and if you vote, you can't leave it at that. You must get involved, write letters, call your elected officials, regardless of your support for them. They, in fact, represent you.
Remember the founding fathers, they published bulletins, gathered together at taverns, talked on street corners. They did 18th century blogging. Can we do any less, not if you have Passion for America.
Think with your head, lead with your heart, and act with passion.

Well, passionate response to the rally of people resisting the threat of government imposed immigration won. We defeated the forces from the Mexican Government, bent on exporting all of their social problems to the United States.The Mexican Government Lobby is quiet again, until the next election.
Also, the Shelby Ammendment passed. It will keep government gun ownership roles secure.Like the immigration debate, the opposition will only remain silent until they think we fall asleep.Passion can keep us alert.
Since the illegal immigration debate started, we have heard of " The Battle of Veracruz", and other historical matters, but how many know original gun control laws were introduced by "Jim Crow" proponenets? The idea was to keep guns out of the hands of former slaves, and their decesendants.If an unpopular treaty, and the memory of a lost battle keep current attitudes bitter against us, in Mexico, what is the reason anti-gun forces keep at their task? What is the basis of their current anger? Are they affraid the decesendants of former slaves will have guns?
Bad sources create bad ideas. The tree will be known by its fruit, but a bad tree cannot grow pleasant fruit.Maybe we can look at the root of all of the bad ideas those against of our values came from to confront them? Cockroaches run from the light.
Find out the truth behind the dark forces, and bring them to light, on an individual basis.Do it yourselves, and use Passion.

A Belgian Borse... done Chinese.
China stated yesterday 11/7/2007, they will move currency holdings from the weak U.S. Dollar, to Euros, Canadian Dollars, and other "hard currency". Besides causing U.S. interest rates to rise, or inflation to rise, or both, what will this do to me, as an American? The first casualty may be Wal-Mart. Goods from China, that we have become so accustomed to, may become very expensive. Can Wal-Mart survive with high prices?
Wal-Mart says it saves several thousand dollars per family, in communities it serves. Wal-Mart is also one of the biggest employers, in the U.S..  Rising prices at Wal-Mart will effect everyone, even those who do not shop there.
Auto manufacturers, such as General Motors, Ford, and to a lesser extent, Chrysler ( now Cerebus ) have parts imported from China. Boeing has some manufacturing in China. Much of American Industry depends on China for some content. The entire toy industry seeems to revolve around China. If you thought high oil prices were putting a bite on your wallet, high exchange rates for Chinese goods will hit harder than oil. The Chinese will also drive oil prices higher, by causing petrol settlements in currency other than U.S. Dollars, as they, and the rest of the world buy their oil in other currency. The U.S. Dollar will be further devalued.
The one good thing this will do, U.S. exports will be cheap abroad. I would guess one other good thing could be, U.S. foreign debt will be greatly reduced, in value, therefore, balancing the books. Smaller real foreign debt, and more markets for U.S. exports will set a foundation for a stable economic future, if we can last through the short term pain.
Hold on tight!

Perhaps the best way to convert the concerned "global warming" hystericals is to offer comity. I have told open minded indoctrinates, "okay, this carbon dioxide thing is ridiculous, and mans' ability to change the climate is questionable, but living as a convservationist is not bad. Instead of using questionable science to make your point, just use the universal desire to live in a more aesthetically pleasing world. We all want a nice clean personal environment. We all like pristine streams. We all want to see the distant horizon, and a clear sky. Let's agree to pursue those things for their own sake."
If they can agree to these things, we can agree to pursue them logically, without hysteria, or political, and economic devastation.
Political correctness: A group of misguided politicains, and selected pluralities agreeing you can pick up a turd by the clean end.

    I would expect everyone reading this has heard the "Urban Legend" about a large company spending a million dollars to engineer a part in a product that saves a dime per unit cost.  Economy of scale would have to be enough to amortize that investment in 10,000,000 units. 
    It is true a manufacturer will spend a lot to cut per unit costs. When the energy cost to manufacture goods, and transport them to the market are high, the profit motive will be the driver of new effeciencies. Profit will do more to cut energy use than any "green" agenda the far left has. If we let the profit motive happen, rather than go the route of a demand economy, results will be faster, and better. That is a lesson the left had better learn, or they will cause the very thing they are against, global polution.
    Remind a liberal that they had better embrace capitalism if they really care about the environment. If they go the other way, just ask them how great the example is from the old Soviet Union.

 Desmond Tutu got it, Yasir Arafat got it, Jimmy Carter got it. Every one of these winners have came out against Israel. There is a long European History of antisemitism. This brings up a question, would a pro-Israel person take a stand against the Nobel Committee, and refuse this prize? Has anyone asked Al Gore, "in the light of recipients coming out against Israel, do you feel there is an anti-semitic element in the Nobel Prize Committee?"
Why do I mention this? There is an election coming up. If Al Gore uses the Nobel Prize to jump into the race for President, or anoints himself "kingmaker", in the Democrat Party, the obvious anti-semitic bias of the Nobel Committee should dislodge a few votes, in our favor. We should be the natural home of all pro-Israel voters.
You can bet the Democrats would use something like this, to dislodge votes from Republicans, and they count on Jews as a reliable plurality. 
We can be the natural home of The Jewish Vote. We need to point  out  vigorously, "we stand for Israel!" Let the other side defend themselves. We need to create voting blocks on our side. Cultivating the Democrat Base for votes changes the political calculus of the election.