by Rebekah Sharp

The FHFA (Federal Housing Financial Authority) has instituted seventeen separate law suits in the state of New York on behalf of Fraudie Mac and Phoney Mae (that’s us, as both of these institutions are in receivership) against the seventeen major banks (trusts/securities) for the massive fraud that perpetrated the biggest ponzi scheme in the history of our nation that has flat lined our economy. Since the filing of these suits, the fifty attorney general investigations and settlements (ooops I mean forty-nine now, they ousted Sniederman from New York because he was too tough on the banks) has been halted with the major banks walking out of the settlement meetings. That has me very busy and quite frustrated on two counts. First, didn’t like the settlement terms as it would let the banks off the hook for their criminal and civil liability, leaving homeowners without legal recourse to pursue a remedy and a collective settlement amount of only twenty billion to be divided up among the fifty states leaving a mere four hundred million for each state in the hands of, in our case Pam Bondi. Once the fees and cost for this investigation, which has already taken over one year, are paid back, that doesn’t leave much for the folks and there is no specifics in the plan of how much or who will be the recipient of what is left. So maybe it’s a good thing the banks walked out of the settlement meetings. But is it? No, it is not because there have been no penalties imposed for their walking out and that clearly tells us all just exactly who is in charge, the banks and not the attorney generals. Pam Bondi either doesn’t have a clear understanding of the problem or she too is in bed with the banks as throughout this year-long investigation she has lead the disruption (along with four of her contemporaries) of the settlement stating boldly and loudly that the deadbeat homeowners should not be rewarded for their irresponsibility by not paying their mortgages. Part of the original deal was the majority of the attorney generals wanted to make the banks reduce the principal amount of the loans to current market value and reduce the interest rate to a fixed four percent on homesteaded property. Ms. Bondi was against that too and fired the two assistant attorneys’ general, June Clarkston and Teresa Edwards, because they were too aggressive when pursuing the banks and the companies aiding the fraud. This has lead to an investigation into their wrongful termination. More of your tax dollars at work.

You may remember HB1191 the Fair Foreclosure Bill that it was subsequently killed in the 2011 Florida legislative session. That’s the bill that would make the State of Florida a non-judical state leading to the abolition of our homestead exemption and leave homeowners without legal recourse to pursue the massive fraud and the threat of eviction in twenty-four hours, rather than the current seventy-two hour requirement. Passidomo (R), of Tampa, has reintroduced The Fair Foreclosure Act of 2012 to be taken up in January’s session. This is the third year she has presented this bill. We must stop it once again, however this time will be the most difficult as the bank lobbyists have been very busy bees stuffing our representative’s coffers with career bonuses and promises of more for their 2012 re-election campaigns . This is a non-partisan problem…surely you see if this bill passes it will strip Floridians of so many of their liberties. The elderly are already having a very difficult time making their property tax payments, as with the rest of the state with their unemployment rate is so high.

We, at RLCNEF are committed “restore” the peoples liberties, and take our country back. Conservatives stand for the rule of law, and as such we hold the position that no citizen shall be deprived of property except by that same rule of law. Accordingly, we also hold that sufficient laws already exist in the state of Florida. We must stay on careful watch and not allow any more of our liberties to be taken and I sincerely feel that is role is to combat the Unfair Foreclosure Act of 2012. I am working day and night on this ONE project. Please help me.

The seventeen lawsuits filed in New York on behalf of the people, is yet another smoke and mirrors game to allow the folks to think that finally something serious is being done to make the banks pay back the money they stole from this country. Surely it will end in yet another settlement with most of the language written in such legalese as to exonerate the banks of all their civil and criminal liabilities at a huge cost to taxpayers. Let’s consider the expense to file, maintain and bring to a conclusion seventeen lawsuits in New York. The J.P. Morgan complaint filed is two hundred, seventy-seven pages long. I know because I read it. Imagine how much that document alone cost us to prepare and file. It’s nice to see so many attorneys employed in this country while the remainders of the folks eke out a living day by day. Let’s not forget that Fraudie Mac and Phoney Mae engaged in the exact same illegal and fraudulent behavior as the folks they are suing (and continue to engage in as I write this) and that will certainly be raised during the course of these suits. There is already talk of banks filing suit against them. So it goes that Wall Street has begun the in-fighting between themselves, all pointing the finger at each other.

Now the trillion dollar question is: How is any of this helping the economy, the homeowners or the rest of the American people? This is just another attempt to divert the public from the simple and plain solution put all the bankers in handcuffs. All these suits filed to avoid the obvious conclusion that what they have done is immoral, illegal both criminally and civilly and arresting each and every one and freezing their assets, both on shore and off shore, would solve the problem. Then, require the principal reduction to all homestead property to five percent below the Net Market Value (NMV), leaving a five percent equity position in the home. This very simple solution would get the economy back on track as homeowners can make their payments, plus fix up the homes they are allowing to deteriorate due to fear of foreclosure. Lowes, Home Depot, all kinds of businesses would improve and so would the real estate sector. Home values would go up, or at least stop going down and would serve to get this country back on track again.

I am committed wholeheartedly to this cause and will stand with the millions of others who have been and continue to be affected by this tragedy. If you agree please sign the petition to kill this bill: http://signon.org/sign/do-not-support-the-florida?source=s.tw&r_by=26214

Rebekah Sharp is a member of the Executive Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida.

Regarding Ax Handle Saturday, I am not exactly sure why we should be celebrating a day when a bunch of black folk got beat up by a bunch of white folk with ax handles. I think it is unlikely to happen again given Republican efforts made to repeal Jim Crow gun laws preventing African Americans from arming themselves. Any such attempt made now by racists to assault their fellow citizens would be surely be met by a hail of gunfire, and that’s the way it should be.

I am told that approximately 360,000 Union soldiers died during the Civil War, of which approximately 40,000 were black. The rest were white. It seems silly to talk about what color they were now, as they are all dust. By their actions they preserved the Union, and they ended the open practice of slavery.

Racism is still going strong, based on the idea that the color of a person’s skin will automatically serve as an indicator of how they think and act politically. Of course there are some cultural arguments to be made. If you are a member of a group of people that looks alike and has the same history and traditions, and lives in the same area, it might be likely that you would hold the same opinions as your life-long friends and relatives. But that should not discount the fact that a person can grow as an individual and change their political opinions based on reason.

People love to mix racism with politics, not to end it, but to promote is and use it to fool the voter. Although it is personally appalling to me, I will condescend for a moment to draw attention to skin color. Former Councilwoman Glorious Johnson, Mr. Sam Newby, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Duval County, Clive Rickets, Chairman of the Libertarian Party of St John’s County, these among others are champions of Liberty and the American Way. Patriots do not view them as “African” Americans, but only as Americans who by the serendipity of nature happen to have dark skin. They are not leaders of “black” men, they propose to lead “all” men. Justice Clarence Thomas, defender of the Constitution and natural law, a man who would never apologize for his country; Dr. Alan Keyes, defender of Liberty and the life of the unborn, Herman Cain, Dr. Condi Rice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jennifer Carroll, Eldridge Cleaver, all of them Republican political examples to be emulated. However, to say that one does or does not admire them because of their color their skin is as ludicrous as saying that I admire Lord Acton because he was fat.

What is most annoying is when racists accuse others of being racist. It is not racist to be rich and to want to keep your money. It is not racist to say that before we allow this country to degenerate into all-out, one-world socialism, we will go to war in the streets. It is not racist to say that we do not have as a country or as individuals the resources, or the responsibility, or even the desire to take care of all the needs of the poor. It may or may not be selfish, or mean spirited, but it is not racist. Racism is the big lie and should never be tolerated. The vocabulary of racism, even the word “race” should never be tolerated. We are all one race, one set of DNA. Differences in color, in height and weight, in age, are ridiculous subjects for political contemplation.

Differences in ideology however are not. Differences in ideology are fodder for war between countries, and for civil war. We fought the Civil War based on the question, “Will men be free or slaves?” NOT “Will black men be free or slaves?” It appears that we are soon to fight that battle again, not over the issues of color but over the issue of economics. Will men be free or slaves? Will they be able to keep the fruits of their labor? Will they be able to own property? Will they be able to keep what they have earned to enrich themselves and their families, or will it be taken from them and given to others who have not earned it in the interest of “fairness.”

We on the far right despise racism and do not tolerate it. We stand for liberty for all. We demand due process and equal access for all to the procedures and processes that describe our political system. Our system, a constitutional republic, administered by representatives elected by democratic process. A capitalistic economy ruled by market forces that anyone, anyone at all may benefit from and grow rich . A system where the rights of the individual are more important than the rights of the “state”, or the “masses.” A system that tens of thousands of Americans have died to establish and preserve, that we ourselves are prepared to fight and die for even today, and tomorrow. Let’s celebrate that instead the memory of some horrific act that means nothing today except for its value as a tool to alienate men and women of good will on the basis of color.

(Louis William Rose is a political philosopher and the Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida you can contact him at louisrose@yahoo.com)

I know that I am the odd man out when I say I could care less about the Jaguars. But given that, you must admit that professional football is a fantasy world where the players (Boselli and a few others noted exceptions) don’t care anything about the town where their team happens to be located. The Jaguars will play here, they will play in Detroit , they will play in Beijing if the money is right. And pro-football aficionados get all excited about it, like they were a college team from their Alma Mammy. This is also the problem with the Republican Party. Put on the uniform and we will cheer for you no matter who you are.

That has to stop. A republican is someone who believes in Liberty and a republican form of government. A republic is a form of government where the majority is constrained from doing things by a written constitution and where representatives (not leaders) are elected by the people, who retain all the power. People who do not ascribe to this philosophy are not Republicans and if they say they are they are lying to you. People who do not support this type of government are not Americans either, because their allegiance is not to the Republic as is constituted. They are the domestic enemies of our Republic referred to in the Constitution and need to be shunned and expelled (preferably bodily) from our party. This includes folks who do not act and vote as if they are Republicans.

Do not be confused if I tell you that the members of the Democratic Party also must support this type of government. We are all republicans because that is the type of government we have established, a republic. There are many issues that Republicans and Democrats can debate and disagree on, and many programs and policies that can be tried and judged on their merits. But the type of government we are going to have is not open to debate. That frankly is a non-negotiable issue for us, a life and death issue. The fact is that both our parties are filled with individuals who have over several decades attempted to transform our republic into a collectivist state. Now at last the call for Liberty is ascending and this will stop. Make no mistake, it’s still “Liberty or Death.”

A life of Liberty is not easy, but it is sweet. There is no Social Security with Liberty ; there is no health care with Liberty ; there are no government loans or bailouts with Liberty . It’s pull yourself up by your bootstraps boys, and oh yes, you get to keep your money if you can earn it. There are no seatbelt laws with Liberty, there are no cameras on every street corner with liberty, there is less crime with Liberty because everyone is heavily armed and the criminals are well…dead. Liberty means being the actual head of your household, and if you can’t hold it together, Liberty means looking to your family, and your neighbors, and your church, because the government is not in the business of being your mama. Liberty means being on your own to do what you want, and sometimes doing the wrong thing and having to pay for it. But in Liberty is also the motivation and the necessity to do great things and that is what makes it sweet.

The good ol’ boys and gals down at the Tea Party are not going to have the wool pulled over their eyes. They know what manure smells like. The GOP cannot go on supporting the socialist, big government buffoons like Peyton, Crist and McCain. Make no mistake, the list is much longer than that. When we say that we are a big tent, inclusive party, it means that we don’t care what religion, sex, or color you are as long as you are for people being left alone to live their lives. That goes for foreign policy too. We can no longer accept villains who want to tax every transaction, and regulate our every movement. The time has come for government to step off or be stepped on. The real republicans in this party are going make it happen, our ranks swelled by those who will not be lied to by power hungry elitists. Screw football. Let’s talk about the issues, let’s talk about what Liberty means and what lengths we are willing to go to for our children to enjoy its fruits.

Louis William Rose is a political philosopher, writer, and the parliamentarian of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida. You can contact him at louisrose@yahoo.com.

by John Hart

Today I received an email from Congressman Tom Rooney.  In the email he announced the following:

President Ronald Reagan said it best when he stated, “Our liberties, our values, all for which America stands is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom’s front. And we thank God for them.” …. Too often partisan rhetoric drowns out some good work we are doing to help those who have served our nation. Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to vote for and support legislation that will improve the lives of veterans…. I have taken the lead in improving access to quality mental health care for our military and veteran community. I introduced two critical pieces of legislation, H.R. 1308 which would mandate mental health screenings for returning combat troops and H.R. 3839 which expands the accessibility of mental health counselors for TRICARE beneficiaries. I’m happy to announce that provisions from H.R. 1308 were signed into law last month as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. This legislation will ensure our returning service members receive the face-to-face counseling necessary to diagnose critical mental health disorders.

To be fair, Congressman Rooney also mentioned a number of other pieces of legislation to specifically help veterans including H.R. 3691, The Seniors and Veterans Economic Stimulus Act of 2009, which proposes to use unobligated funds from the economic stimulus package to provide seniors and veterans with the assistance they need among other measures to aid homeless veterans and other similar legislation.

I was floored at an apparent insensitivity to our nation’s open wound.  The public is on edge right now trying to figure out the Fort Hood tragedy.  Officials from many departments are distancing themselves from their responsibility on what they knew about the alleged shooter, an Army psychiatrist.  How ironic that Congressman Rooney considers this a protection of our liberties.  This attack on the dignity and civil liberties of all returning service personnel is outrageous. Already, since 1999, over 100,000 U.S. military veterans have been stripped of their Second Amendment rights on the basis of psychiatrists’ opinions for issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

This is my opinion.  I welcome yours.

It’s the liberty movement when we say it, but it was “Far right constitutional extremism” when those crazies said it two years ago. The hypocrisy of statist Republican leadership cliques.

by Cliff Johnson

Have you noticed the massive liberty movement happening today in America? It’s pretty hard to miss amongst the sea of bright yellow Gadsden Flags and hand made picket signs. Our country is experiencing an uprising against out-of-control Federal government and unconstitutional usurpation of our basic natural rights of life, liberty and property. Unbeknownst to many, this movement has been an on going battle for decades nearing a century! In my life time of 35 years, I have had the opportunity of only one of these “awakenings”. I was awakened when that skinny congressman from Texas opened his big mouth at the debates and said that the attack on the WTC was a result of “blow-back” an unintended consequence of United States overseas involvement in the Middle East. My initial response to his statement was very similar to Rudy Giuliani’s response. “Are you suggesting that we brought this upon ourselves?” It was then I began to actually put the party line, back Bush, rhetoric aside and think about what he actually said. It was at that moment I said aloud to myself, “You know, he is right”. From that point on, I simply stopped scoffing at the man and LISTENED to his argument. It was simple, based purely on common sense. Simply put, it just made sense to me. That is how I got involved in the Ron Paul presidential campaign.

After listening to a man who knew the Constitution backwards and forwards and based every one of his votes in congress upon whether or not the bill was Constitutional, I began my own journey into studying that magnificent document amongst other founding documents like the Declaration of Independence and learning more and more about our founders. This was MY awakening. About this time, Ron Paul had already had a bad rap from most other establishment Republicans and the incredibly bias media, mainly due to his not supporting the war in Iraq. The man had one set of principals and had stuck to them without compromise. You may ask, “what principals cannot be compromised?” The answer: The principals set forth in the Constitution of the United States of America. He knows, as our founders knew, that once the principals as stated in the Constitution were compromised, Freedom and the Republic would be compromised. To our founders, and Ron Paul alike, these principals were not “Extreme” but were necessary to maintain the liberty of the people in a free nation.

During his campaign for president in 2008, the Ideals of Liberty that Ron Paul brilliantly supported were considered crazy, extreme and unwilling to compromise. The Republican party ridiculed him over his opposition to the war in Iraq and willingness to repeal the 16th amendment, the unconstitutional income tax amendment. His willingness to pass a bill to audit the unconstitutional Federal Reserve System with the intention of completely putting it to an end.

After the election of BHO, our country has been smacked awake by the imposition of socialism into their lives. The government takeover of private industry, the destruction of our dollar by the Federal Reserve. Massive corporate Bailouts. The bursting of the housing bubble. If any of us were to mention the possibility of these occurrences 5 years ago, you would have been considered a conspiratorial whack-job. Well, Ron Paul has been predicting these occurrences for a lot longer than 5 years, and yes people called him crazy. Well folks, he wasn’t so crazy after all was he?

Now we have cliques of “Republican” Senators like Lindsay Graham, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter, John McCain. The list goes on and on. These elected servants are petrified of loosing their seats because they know the people are coming to find out that elected officials care not about their constituency. Power and money has corrupted these people and they have been called out.

Now these Fake Conservatives are singing the song of “Liberty”, trying to ensure us that it is about party and loyalty. The message that true conservatives have been delivering all along has now been picked up by those who are terrified of loosing their power. And guess what? They are trying to stake a claim as if they have been carrying that message all along. These people, my friends, are liars, hypocrites and manipulators. They care not about preserving liberty, but hold dear their elected power. The Tea Party movements are not a Republican love fest, they are a liberty love fest. They are made up of ordinary people who represent a nation who loves their liberty more than any party.

The bottom line is this, the conservatives of this nation must unite despite their differences in opinions. It is truly amazing what you may learn from someone if you put party rhetoric aside and listen to another conservative argument. It may surprise you that you may come to understand their point of view, even if you don’t agree. This is about saving our nation from tyranny. Study your representative’s voting record and kick the communist / socialist bums out regardless of party affiliation.