Friday, June 29, 2012

RON PAUL ON SUPREME COURT OBAMACARE RULING

“I strongly disagree with today’s decision by the Supreme Court, but I am not surprised. The Court has a dismal record when it come to protecting liberty against unconstitutional excesses by Congress.

“Today we should remember that virtually everything government does is a ‘mandate.’ The issue is not whether Congress can compel commerce by forcing you to buy insurance, or simply compel you to pay a tax if you don’t. The issue is that this compulsion implies the use of government force against those who refuse. The fundamental hallmark of a free society should be the rejection of force. In a free society, therefore, individuals could opt out of “Obamacare” without paying a government tribute.

“Those of us in Congress who believe in individual liberty must work tirelessly to repeal this national health care law and reduce federal involvement in healthcare generally. Obamacare can only increase third party interference in the doctor-patient relationship, increase costs, and reduce the quality of care. Only free market medicine can restore the critical independence of doctors, reduce costs through real competition and price sensitivity, and eliminate enormous paperwork burdens. Americans will opt out of Obamacare with or without Congress, but we can seize the opportunity today by crafting the legal framework to allow them to do so.”

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Ron Paul to Hold Major Rally in Tampa Ahead of RNC

For Immediate Release:
June 28, 2012

Contact:
James V. Barcia
jamesb@ronpaul2012.com

Ron Paul to Hold Major Rally in Tampa Ahead of RNC
‘Champion of the Constitution’ to welcome, address supporters at University of South Florida Sun Dome
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul will hold a major rally with thousands of supporters ahead of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

The event will take place at noon on Sunday, August 26th at the University of South Florida’s 11,000-seat Sun Dome. Yesterday the Ron Paul campaign signed a contract to secure the venue with the approval of the Republican National Committee.

Details of the event are as follows. Time is Eastern.

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Congressional panel clears way for Fed audit bill

A U.S. House of Representatives panel on Wednesday approved a measure that would allow an audit of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions, a level of scrutiny the central bank says would compromise its independence.

The measure was proposed by Republican Representative Ron Paul, a long-time critic of the central bank, and has 257 co-sponsors, more than half of all House members.

Its approval by the House Oversight Committee clears the way for a vote in the full House. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said last month the House would vote on the legislation in July.

“The Fed’s balance sheet now stands at nearly $3 trillion. It is long past time for a real audit,” said Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa.

The central bank’s balance sheet has ballooned to about $2.8 trillion from around $800 billion before the 2007-2009 financial crisis as the central bank bought Treasury securities and mortgage-related debt to drive borrowing costs lower and boost economic growth.

Similar legislation was approved by the House in 2010 but was watered down in the broad Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation approved in July of that year.

Ron Paul’s son Senator Rand Paul has introduced a companion bill in the 100-member Senate that has 20 co-sponsors.

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Texas college hacks government drone

There are a lot of cool things you can do with $1,000, but scientists at an Austin, Texas college have come across one that is often overlooked: for less than a grand, how’d you like to hijack a US government drone?

A group of researchers led by Professor Todd Humphreys from the University of Texas at Austin Radionavigation Laboratory recently succeeded in raising the eyebrows of the US government. With just around $1,000 in parts, Humphreys’ team took control of an unmanned aerial vehicle operated by the US Department of Homeland Security.

After being challenged by his lab, the DHS dared Humphreys’ crew to hack into their drone and take command. Much to their chagrin, they did exactly that.

Humphrey tells Fox News that for a few hundreds dollar his team was able to “spoof” the GPS system on board the DHS drone, a technique that involves mimicking the actual signals sent to the global positioning device and then eventually tricking the target into following a new set of commands. And, for just $1,000, Humphreys says the spoofer his team assembled was the most advanced one ever built.

“Spoofing a GPS receiver on a UAV is just another way of hijacking a plane,” Humphreys tells Fox. The real danger here, however, is that the government is currently considering plans that will allow local law enforcement agencies and other organizations from coast-to-coast to control drones of their own in America’s airspace.

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Judge Napolitano on What Comes Next for Stockton, California

Union workers in Stockton, California are nervous because once the town files for bankruptcy, contracts presumably will become null and void.

Earlier on Your World, Judge Andrew Napolitano weighed in on this topic, stating that the Constitution prohibits the government from interfering with a contract and taking anyone’s property without suing them for it and demonstrating fault before a jury, except when it comes to bankruptcy.

He said, “If they file for bankruptcy, a federal bankruptcy judge in San Francisco alone, not with a jury, will look at the obligations that they have and the income that they are likely to have and she or he will make the decision. That judge will have the power to say to the unions, ‘You have an agreement that says you’re going to earn $50,000 a year, I’m cutting it down to $35,000.’”

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