The Right Lane update 2.12.13

The pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, free markets and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

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Should President Have Sole Authority To Order Drone Killings?

The Obama administration recently acknowledged its policy of using drones to kill U.S. citizens abroad who have terrorist ties, prompting outrage across the political spectrum.  Most voters don’t like the idea and some lawmakers have now proposed creation of a special court to review planned drone strikes by the president. Just 36% of Likely U.S. Voters favor the American government’s use of unmanned drones to kill U.S. citizens in other countries who pose a terrorist threat.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 40% oppose government use of drones for this purpose. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure.

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Health Care Law

Voters remain closely divided over President Obama’s national health care law but also still believe overwhelmingly in individual choice when it comes to health insurance. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters have a favorable opinion of the health care law, while slightly more (49%) view it unfavorably. This includes 21% with a Very Favorable opinion and 35% with a Very Unfavorable one.

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Marines Were Disarmed for President Obama's Second Inaugural Parade

Marines marching in President Obama's second inaugural parade recently were caring rifles without bolts, meaning they were removed.  “Didn't know the Marines had to take the bolts out of their rifles for the Inaugural,” an email forwarded to Gun Rights Examiner from a United States Marine Corps source observed. “Wonder if someone can explain why [they] would be marching in the inaugural parade with no bolts in their rifles!”  The email linked to a YouTube video of the 57th Presidential Inaugural Parade, embedded in the column, featuring Bravo Company Marines from the Marine Barracks Washington. Sure enough, the observation in the email is confirmed by watching the video, with screen shots provided in the photo and slide show accompanying this article. “The bolts have been removed from the rifles rendering them unable to fire a round,” the post stated. “Apparently Obama’s Secret Service doesn’t trust the USMC. Simply searching each guy to make sure he didn’t have a live round hidden on him wasn’t enough, they had to make sure the guns were inoperable.

Wondering if this may be an inauguration policy of long standing that transcends administrations, A cursory search and found something even more curious. In the 2009 Inaugural Parade, the United States Navy marched with rifles that had not been so disabled. This isn't the first time Marines have been disarmed for an Obama administration event. 

“In a sign of the nervousness surrounding Mr. Panetta’s trip, the Marines and other troops who were waiting in a tent for the defense secretary to speak were abruptly asked by their commander to get up, place

their weapons — M-16 and M-4 automatic rifles and 9-mm pistols — outside the tent and then return unarmed. The commander, Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall, told reporters he was acting on orders from superiors. “All I know is, I was told to get the weapons out,” he said. Asked why, he replied, “Somebody got itchy, that’s all I’ve got to say. Somebody got itchy; we just adjust.” Normally, American forces in Afghanistan keep their weapons with them when the defense secretary visits and speaks to them. The Afghans in the tent waiting for Mr. Panetta were not armed to begin with, as is typical.”

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People will have more incentive to work hard

When this phrase is used in by the political class, it sets off a fire storm.  Why?  One might be lead to believe this is ONLY directed towards to poor and disadvantaged.  Isn't this what we were taught by life as we grew up?  Get an education, work hard and reap the benefits.  However, in today's conversation this seems like it is no longer a simple truth.  There is may be not harm in everyone hearing the message and being incentivized to work hard and reap the benefits.  However, I say, the message is most important for the non-poor and disadvantaged.  A caring nation can do more for the less privileged if it is wealthy and prosperous.  That said, government cannot be looked upon to provide those incentives.  It can, be in the position to REMOVE those incentives.  As we listen to the debate on the hill, let's keep this in mind.  As Dr. Carson said; "...in order for an eagle to fly it takes two wings, a left wing and a right wing - enough said...."  Giving people the "incentive to work hard and prosper" is not "owned" by either party.  Rather, it is a principle and view best held by all.

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CNN Anchor Asks Bill Nye If Global Warming Had Anything To Do With A Near-Earth Asteroid

Those who believe that global warming is dire, warn that this phenomenon represents a major threat to life on earth but is global warming also a threat beyond our planet? On the face of it, the “global” aspect of global warming would lead one to believe that the threat of climate change is somewhat localized. For one CNN anchor, however, the challenges posed by global warming extend out into the solar system where they somehow created the circumstances that led to a near-earth asteroid just missing the planet. After wrapping up a Saturday afternoon segment on the impact climate change may have had on the extreme winter weather that hit the Northeast this weekend, CNN anchor Deb Feyerick turned to a feature on a large asteroid that will just miss earth as it passes by. “We want to bring in our science guy, Bill Nye, and talk about something else that’s falling from the sky, and that is an asteroid,” said Feyerick. “What’s coming our way? Is this the effect of, perhaps, global warming? Or is this just some meteoric occasion?” “Except it’s all science,” Nye said rescuing Feyerick. “The word meteorology and the word meteor come from the same root, so…” Nye went on to discuss the asteroid which has missed impacting earth by 15 minutes. He says if this body were to impact over a populated area like New York City, that municipality would be completely leveled.

Watch the clip below via CNN:  And folks wonder why some of us long for real journalism.

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Strong Evidence for Life on Mars? by Jake Hebert, Ph.D.

No liquid water is present on the surface of Mars, but researchers have suggested that a lake may have once existed on the surface of the red planet.¹ Researchers inferred, based upon photographs taken by the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the presence of a former lake in the northern hemisphere.² The lake's waters are believed to have flowed into the crater from an underground source. The researchers suggested that these possible underground water sources may have allowed microbes to live below the Martian surface. They have suggested that life may have originated below the surface on Mars, and therefore life on Earth also started below the ground. Creation scientists do not expect intelligent extraterrestrial life to exist in the universe, and they generally think it is barely possible that "simple" extraterrestrial life exists. Evolutionary scientists, on the other hand, tend to ignore the enormous difficulties with secular origin-of-life stories and reason that if life evolved here, then it likely evolved elsewhere in the universe as well. So, they reason a discovery of extraterrestrial life would somehow validate evolution, despite its apparent improbability. Of course, there is currently no evidence whatsoever for any extraterrestrial life on Mars or anywhere else. However, evolutionary scientists would see the discovery of liquid water (or even past liquid water) on Mars as in indication that life could have existed on the red planet—the next best thing. But even if there was water on Mars' surface once, it does nothing to assist evolutionary speculation about life's origin. Although water is necessary for life, water cannot produce life. In fact, the presence of water is problematic for secular origin-of-life stories, since it tends to break apart the complex bio-molecules necessary for life through spontaneous chemical reactions known as hydrolysis.³  Moreover, even if microbial life were found on Mars, the same insurmountable difficulties that plague secular stories about life's origin on earth would also plague stories about life's origin on Mars. Far from making the evolutionary story more believable, the discovery of microbial life on Mars would require two wildly improbable series of fortuitous coincidences—one on Earth and another one on Mars!⁴  In summary, this "strongest argument" for life on Mars is very weak⁵—like claiming that the discovery of aluminum ore on Mars is evidence that ancient Martians built space shuttles. Scientists have not found life on Mars. And although they think they have found evidence of past surface water, they can only speculate about present subsurface water. But water cannot produce life. Even if microbial life were eventually found on Mars, its existence would still require a miracle.

References

1. Choi, C. Q. Giant Mars Crater Shows Evidence of Ancient Lake. SPACE.com. Posted on space.com January 21, 2013, accessed January 21, 2013.
2. Michalski, J. R. et al. 2013. Groundwater activity on Mars and implications for a deep biosphere. Nature Geoscience. 6 (2): 133-138.
3. Sarfati, J. 1998. Origin of life: the polymerization problem. Journal of Creation. 12 (3): 281-284).
4. Psarris, S. 2009. DVD. What You Aren't Being Told About Astronomy, Volume 1: Our Created Solar System. Creation Astronomy Media.
5. 'Strongest evidence yet to there being life on Mars.' The Telegraph. Posted on telegraph.co.uk January 20, 2013, accessed January 21, 2013.

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Sen. Rand Paul: 'The Sequester Is a Pittance' By Susan Jones

While President Obama and many Republicans are now "caterwauling about the sequester," tea party conservatives say the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over ten years is only a start:

"Tea Party people are saying the sequester is a pittance," Sen. Rand Paul told CNN's "State of the Union" host Candy Crowley on Sunday. "One trillion dollars, and we're increasing spending $9 trillion. So really, even with the sequester, spending goes up $7 trillion or $8 trillion over the next 10 years. We're not getting close to scratching the surface of the problem."

Unless Congress replaces the indiscriminate spending reductions with specific cuts by March 1, spending automatically will be cut by $1.2 trillion over ten years, with half of those cuts coming in defense and half in discretionary domestic spending.  But the national debt now stands at $16 trillion, and Sen. Paul said that's the nation's number-one problem: "I think the debt is the number one. I think the debt is costing us a million jobs a year. The economy slowed in the last quarter. I really that think we have to do something about how enormous government is. And the way tea party folks see this is, we see it like our family budget. I have to balance my budget at home, why shouldn't government?"

The only way to avoid the sequester’s meat-axe spending cuts is for Congress to pass a budget, and then pass 13 appropriations bills to fund the government as it is supposed to do. Republicans have twice passed a plan to replace the sequester, but the Democrat-led Senate hasn’t passed a budget in the last four years, and President Obama recently missed the deadline for submitting his.

Paul said the tea party still generates a "lot of energy," giving an "independent voice" to conservatives who often disagree with the Republican establishment. "But I would say that there are things that I will talk about -- you know, the president likes to talk about a balanced approach for things. We'll talk, for example, about a balanced budget and how that would be good for the economy. The president likes to say everybody needs to pay their fair share, which means he wants to raise taxes. I'll talk about the Republican message, which is we believe you stimulate the economy by reducing taxes, not revenue neutral, I mean really reducing taxes, cutting corporate tax in half, cutting the personal income tax, and the fact that you actually sometimes bring in more revenue when you cut tax rates."

"I think we do the best to promote what we believe in. One of the things I have talked a lot about that there haven't been many other Republicans talking about is that we shouldn't send foreign aid or money to people who are burning our flag and chanting death to America. So I think I do represent a wing of the Republican Party who doesn't want to send good money after bad to Egypt, or to several of these countries. I would put strings on the money that goes to Pakistan. I would say to Pakistan, you don't get more money until you release the doctor who helped us get bin Laden.

"So there are things that distinguish a lot of different Republicans. It doesn't make them bad, or me right or them wrong, what it means is that there is a Tea Party wing that is interested in not sending money to people who are not acting like our allies."

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35% of Major Federal Regulations Were Issued Without Public Notice

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), 35 percent of major federal regulations – those with at least $100 billion in annual economic impact – were issued without a public notice from 2003 to 2010. The GAO also said that 44 percent of non-major regulations were issued without a public notice, which is referred to as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). “During calendar years 2003 through 2010, agencies published 568 major rules and about 30,000 non-major rules,” the GAO said in a December report to Congress. “[Federal] agencies published about 35 percent of major rules and about 44 percent of nonmajor rules without an NPRM during those years.” Yes, let's put all our trust in Daddy; the government!

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