Politics – Page 380 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Counterfeit?

Ahab is confused as to why Liberty Dollars are illegal. At first I thought this was another case of the federal government acting outside its authority, but after more research I’m not sure. While I will still say that they should find better use of resources than picking on Liberty Dollars, the Liberty Dollar does appear to be in violation of federal law. The article mentions:

The U.S. Mint recently issued a statement saying “prosecutors with the Department of Justice have determined that the use of these gold and silver NORFED ‘Liberty Dollar’ medallions as circulating money is a federal crime.”

“Consumers who are considering the purchase or use of these items should be aware that they are not genuine United States Mint bullion coins and they are not legal tender.”

That would imply they are being charged under Title 18, Chapter 25 of the United States Code, titled “Counterfeiting and Forgery”. They certainly aren’t guilty of counterfeiting, but my guess is that they are probably being charged under this:

Section 486. Uttering coins of gold, silver or other metal

Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

It says the coins were of gold and silver, so I’m guessing these guys are nailed. The power to mint currency is one reserved to Congress, so you can’t really argue that it’s outside the federal government’s purview.

UPDATE: Just noticed there’s more about this over at Reason. It seems to me that the argument that because you had to use federal reserve notes to pay for your liberty dollars, that they were fraudulent, seems off base to me. I have to use federal reserve notes to buy video game tokens, poker chips, or various other substitutes for currencies. Are these fraud as well? I will read through the affidavit. But it seems to me the only thing they could be guilty of, based on the limited information I have, is utterance of silver or gold coin.

UPDATE: After reading through the affidavit, I agree there is evidence of fraud.Â It seems they were allegedly making claims that their currencies were backed 100% by silver, when that was not, in fact, the case.Â There is also accusations of fraudulent marketing practices and such.

Carjacking Hi-End SUVs

There was a carjacking in Ambler the other day, which is five minutes from where I work. I drive through that town every day. I’m happy the Philadelphia Police have caught these guys, because they were dangerous individuals. A lot of folks ask why I carry a firearm, and this is it. I worry about Philadelphia’s crime problem traveling into the suburbs, and it’s bound to happen. I worry not so much because I could be a target, but because suburban folks reaction won’t just be “Man, I need to think about protecting myself.” They might join in the delusion promulgated by our media culture that we can take guns away from criminals if we pass Just One More Law^TM

Eric has more. Apparently the woman who was a victim in Havertown, which was the same carjacking ring, managed to get the gun away from the carjacker and shoot him. I didn’t even know that, because the press here didn’t mention it. My advice to people in the Philadelphia suburbs worried about car jacking is twofold. One, it’s better to have your own firearm than have to take your attacker’s first. Two, your car is a much more effective weapon than any firearm.Â If they catch you while driving, don’t be afraid to plow the bastards down.

If he can do for Philly …

… what he did for Washington D.C., we’re in a lot of trouble. Well, I was getting optimistic about Nutter. Now I’m thinking maybe that optimism was misplaced.

UPDATE: Wyatt doesn’t like it either.

Analysis of Committee Vote

Based purely on what I know of Pennsylvania politics, which is admittedly incomplete, I thought I’d do an analysis of how the vote may likely turn out on the gun bills next Tuesday. I got a little bored with my descriptions of how the various representatives will hurt or help us :) Either way, the results of my analysis:

Likely votes against gun control: 15
Likely votes in favor of gun control: 9
Could go either way: 5

This is definitely no time to get complacent folks, because this could definitely break against us if Rendell is able to twist enough arms. The maybe people, and the chairs of the committee are the most profitable people to contact. But make sure they hear from you. Even someone on our side will like to hear that you appreciate their stand in favor of your gun rights.

I’ve provided links, as well as some speculation as to where the various state representatives likely stand. It’s important to contact friends as well as enemies. Click below for more.

Continue reading “Analysis of Committee Vote”

Elections Matter

It’s always been a mystery to me why Pennsylvanians, who normally have no love of the City of Philadelphia, would elect its Mayor as their governor. Rendell made inroads among suburban voters because he has a reputation for turning the city around. That reputation is largely undeserved. Philadelphia rode the same economic boom everyone else in the 90s did, but was greatly outpaced by other cities. Ed Rendell never really fixed any of the cities problems, and to some degree, dumped a lot of those problems on John Street, who was unable to deal with them any reasonably effective manner.

It’s even more of a mystery why gun owners in this state didn’t work harder to defeat him. There are very few politicians more anti-gun than Ed Rendell. He is one of the true believers in gun control. He was smart enough as a politician not to push his gun control agenda very hard during his campaign, and during his first term. Gun owners got complacent, and he was elected to a second lame duck term. Now that he no longer has to face the voters, there will be no arm Ed Rendell won’t twist to get his way, and everyone in Pennsylvania knows Rendell is a pit bull when it comes to fighting for his agenda.

We have to stop this tide now. We all know there will always be Just One More Law, because none of what’s being proposed will fix Philadelphia’s crime problem. I do hope everyone makes at least a few phone calls before this vote on the 20th. If this does make it out of the assembly, we stand a good chance of being able to stop it in the senate. Remind your state representatives that you oppose this. Ed Rendell may be a lame duck, but if we punish his party for this behavior in the next election, the next anti-gun governor will have a much harder time twisting arms. Elections matter, and now it is time to pay the piper for handing Rendell a second term.

It’s Game Time Pennsylvania!

Rendell managed to get a judiciary committee vote on his gun control measures:

At the request of Governor Ed Rendell (D), the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee has tentatively scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, November 20 at 10:00am, to vote on several anti-gun measures.Â The package of bills include one-gun-a-month, a requirement for individuals to report lost or stolen firearms, and legislation that would overturn Pennsylvaniaâ€™s current preemption law.

The bills are:

HB 18, which basically destroys our state’s preemption law
HB 22, which limits gun purchases to one gun per month
HB 29, which requires the reporting of a lost or stolen firearm to police under severe legal penalties.Â This bill has the potential to trap unaware gun owners who are victimized by crimes.

It’s critical to write your state representatives and members of the Judiciary committee and tell them to vote no on these bills.Â Follow the link to the NRA alert to get contact info for the state representatives.

Boston Magainze on Sullivan

It seems there might be some problems here:

Because as Sullivan prepares to decamp for DC, taking with him his carefully cultivated reputation for relentlessly cracking down on street crime, he leaves in his wake a basket case of a U.S. Attorneyâ€™s Office. Judges are complaining of sloppy briefs and missed deadlines in Sullivanâ€™s shop. Cases are taking longer to resolve than in any other state in the country. And bungling management and sometimes shocking instances of patronage have sunk morale. An estimated dozen assistant U.S. attorneysâ€”the career professionals who do the important legal workâ€”left the office during a recent 12-month stretch.

Given that track record, itâ€™s fitting that Sullivan feels such warmth for Alberto Gonzales, his old boss at the ATF and U.S. Attorneyâ€™s Office, whose going-away party he marked with this dewy-eyed toast: â€œWhen I think of the attorney general, three words come to mind: discipline, duty, and honor.â€

When I think of Alberto Gonzoles, I have a different image:

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Hat tip to Red’s Trading Post for the story.

Passing the Buck

If there’s one talent that John Street has, it’s passing the buck.Â With two new shootings of police officers in the city, and a sixteen year old drug dealing low-life in custody, there’s no failure of his administration that Street seems unwilling to blame on Harrisburg.

Street and Johnson said the latest round of police-targeted violence underscored the need for stricter gun laws.

Street called on Washington and Harrisburg to react.

“They’re not getting the message,” he said of federal and state legislators who have failed to pass tougher gun-control legislation.

But he also said the city was making “progress” in the fight against violence.

“We’re actually making progress, but we’re not getting the help we need,” Street said. “This city is rallying. . . . It’s an uphill and difficult task, but we’re having great success.”

Pushing for gun control is the last refuge of scoundrels, and Street and Johnson definitely fit that description. Â What law do they imagine would have stopped this shooting?Â Make it illegal for 16 year olds to possess a gun?Â It already is.Â Make it illegal for someone to give a 16 year old a gun?Â It already is.Â Make it illegal to possess a gun while dealing drugs?Â It already is.Â What new gun law do they imagine is going to fix this problem?

There isn’t one.Â Street is passing the buck and the morons who work for the Philadelphia media establishment are letting them get away with it.Â John Street has been a disaster for the City of Philadelphia, but that story doesn’t get told, because it’s easier just to blame Harrisburg for the “gun” problem, and the media seems to be fine with that explanation.

Two More Officers Shot in Philadelphia

Two more officers have been shot in the City of Philadelphia.Â Michael Nutter can’t take over fast enough.Â Anything, anything has to be better than John Street, and what the city has turned into under his watch.

Leaving New Jersey

The Geek seems to be happy to be out of The Garden State, after relaying a story about how the police there are putting cameras in schools.Â A lot of people seem happy to leave.