United Liberty

Barring any significant breaking news, we’ll be taking the next few days off to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and spending time with our families and loved ones.

We want to thank you for reading United Liberty. We hope to continue bringing you coverage and commentary on the race for the GOP nomination and the 2012 Election.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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This was sent out on late in the evening on Friday (July 8). While Speaker John Boehner has backed away from a deal that involves tax hikes, it’s still worth posting.

Today, 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul issued a statement strongly opposing a proposed deal on the debt-ceiling that is rumored to be in the works between the Obama administration and Republican House leaders. See statement below.

“Sources in Washington tell me that House Republican Speaker John Boehner is considering a deal to raise taxes as part of a debt limit ‘deal.’

“In fact, reports are they may be ready to cave in to Barack Obama’s demands for a trillion dollars in tax increases in exchange for mostly phony spending and tax cuts in order to raise the debt ceiling.

“House Republicans would be foolish to go for this ploy and be taken in by the Obama administration, only to leave American taxpayers on the hook again for more out-of-control government spending.

“The Democrats pulled a similar maneuver during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, a deal that promised 2 to 1 spending cuts in exchange for tax increases. Taxes went up, but the cuts never came. They did it again in 1990, promising much the same deal, and delivering only on their tax increases.

“In Washington, if you hear about a so-called deal, you can be sure the taxes will come, but the cuts never will.

“Republicans cannot take the bait and get fooled again.

“This is exactly why I was the first Presidential candidate to sign on to the Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge — because we cannot continue to steer our country down this road to ruin with a massive federal budget and unchecked spending. We need to change course right now.

“Agreeing to this scheme by the White House would be a betrayal of the voters who put Republicans back in charge of the House in 2010.

“By today’s standards, King George III was a very mild tyrant indeed. He taxed his American colonists at a rate of only pennies per annum. His actual impact on their personal lives was trivial. He had arbitrary power over them in law and in principle, but in fact it was seldom exercised. If you compare his rule with that of today’s U.S. Government, you have to wonder why we celebrate our independence.” - Joe Sobran

Happy Independence Day! Take some time today and read the Declaration of Independence with your family.

Last ditch efforts to save a bill that would restrict the TSA’s ability to conduct invasive pat-downs in the Lone Star State failed Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday evening, the Texas Senate ignored an amended House bill that lowered the threshold TSA agents would have to meet  from “probable cause” to “reasonable suspicion” and passed its own version of the anti-groping legislation (SB29) 19-11. Senators promptly adjourned, leaving representatives just one day to consider the legislation.

The House passed the second reading of the Senate bill 106-27, with 16 representatives absent Wednesday morning.

But with the end of the special session looming, House members had to vote to suspend the Texas Constitution’s three day reading rule and allow a second vote on SB29 later in the day. Several representatives left after the second reading, and the vote to suspend the rules fell short of the 4/5 majority needed on a 96-26 vote.

Tenth Amendment Center founder and executive director Michael Boldin said lawmakers failed in their obligation to interpose and protect Texas citizens from federal overreach.

“It’s a state’s duty to stop the TSA, because the TSA is never going to stop itself.”

TAC communications director Mike Maharrey expressed frustration with the political games played by some Texas lawmakers, but remained optimistic, noting the proposed legislation put the TSA issue in the national spotlight.

“This bill jump-started the debate. We may have lost this battle, but it’s just the first salvo in the war,” he said. “The American people are sick to death of standing around in their socks at the airport while blue-shirted agents grope their children and grandmothers. These people aren’t making us safer. They are stealing our dignity, along with our constitutional rights. This isn’t the last you will hear on this issue.”

Nearly a year after her battle with lung cancer prevented her from contributing, one of United Liberty’s contributors, Laura Thigpen, passed away on March 31st.  She was 53 years old.

A mother of four, John Stuckey, Daniel, Sara, and Zach Thigpen, and a successful small business owner and journalist in Decatur, Georgia, Laura will be missed.