By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  April 12th at 11:55 AM  | 

Yesterday 16 Republican Senators, including both Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker from Tennessee, joined Democrats in voting to begin debate on legislation expanding background checks on gun purchases. With 68 votes to begin debate, a threatened GOP filibuster was stopped before it started. Grassroots reaction was both swift and pointed. Grassfire.com wrote, “Sen. Harry Reid’s gun-control legislation has cleared the first hurdle … bringing the creation of | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  April 9th at 05:10 PM  | 

Please forgive the alliterative title … I’ve been paying too much attention at church (love you Pastor Tim!). But it’s true. Since childhood, firearms and fireworks have been a part of my life.  My attitude towards guns and support for the 2nd Amendment is based in no small part on my childhood experience. Some friends and I were talking about this very thing. How is it | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  April 5th at 12:59 PM  | 

Given that the principles of Life, Liberty and Property – what “the Pursuit of Happiness” refers to – are the bedrock on which American culture and society were built you would think that politicians would at least be respectful of The Big Three! Unfortunately you would be wrong! Attacks on these, most notably property rights, are not infrequent at all. In fact, it seems there | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  March 11th at 12:18 PM  | 

In the wake of comments on an earlier post, The Minimum Wage and Liberal Math, I thought to look at the results of raising the Minimum Wage at a real company. I chose Dunkin’ Donuts, a company Liberals highlighted in a recent email campaign as only paying its workers the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. A web search for my Zip Code showed 6 stores, all open at | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  August 8th at 07:48 PM  | 

One of the most basic and brilliant facets of the founding document bequeathed to us by men wise beyond their years is a system of checks and balances designed to prevent any one of the three branches of government from acquiring too much power. We’re familiar with many of these. Vetoes and their override is a well known example. Another is Presidential appointments wherein the | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  August 8th at 01:05 PM  | 

The day after the election, the the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) disavowed the winner of their US Senate primary, Mark Clayton. There are lots of explanations. None cast the TNDP in a positive light. The TNDP said, “The only time that Clayton has voted in a Democratic primary was when he was voting for himself,” implying Clayton isn’t really a Democrat or at least not Democrat enough for | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  July 31st at 09:53 PM  | 

Laws don’t stop people from tresspassing or stealing. A moment’s thought will tell you that’s true. They don’t prevent murder either. So why the clamor for “tougher gun laws” after a high profile incident like Aurora, CO? In part, it’s scale and location. Sabotage a car so it crashes and it’s reported locally. But set off bombs on trains in Madrid? Poison your spouse and it’s | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  May 31st at 04:43 PM  | 

Back in the day, a woman pregnant out of wedlock got sent “to her sister’s.” Being pregnant and not married was considered disgraceful and wrong. It was a strike against you. The babies were born but given up for adoption, abandoned at churches or orphanages or raised by someone else. The child was a socially awkward item, an inconvenience or a mistake that could ruin | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  May 27th at 03:23 PM  | 

I think people fundamentally misunderstand much of the nature of Christianity; especially when it comes to combining faith and political activism. The difference is found in the nature of behavior and separating what one does from what one is. What does it mean to “love one’s enemy?” The “Love the sinner, hate the sin” argument is valid at all times. It’s easy if the sinner is | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  May 25th at 12:04 PM  | 

If you want to know the end of a matter, it’s often instructive to examine similar matters elsewhere. The results have a way of serving as a predictor of outcomes. They have the added advantage of being based in real world happenings rather than political promises. Here in Nashville, TN we are looking at a massive property tax increase that Mayor Karl Dean insists he | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  April 26th at 04:58 PM  | 

In 1988 Al Gore, Senator from Tennessee, announced he was running for President. His campaign and his politics were generally characterized by everyone as being Moderate or Centrist. Gore’s 1988 campaign Wikipedia pagenotes, “According to CNN, Gore ran his campaign as, “a Southern centrist, [who] opposed federal funding for abortion. He favored a moment of silence for prayer in the schools and voted against banning | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  April 20th at 01:41 PM  | 

Not quite 30 years ago, Californians approved a ballot measure creating the state lottery. The measure was sold by proponents as a boon for education, with hundreds of millions of new dollars going to schools each year without having to raise taxes at all. Yet, as evidenced by the record setting Mega Millions jackpot last week, that boon was more of a bust as California schools got | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  April 5th at 06:05 PM  | 

California voters will find Proposition 29 on their ballot this June. Supporters bill it as important to cancer research and a sound investment by Californians for California. Opponents highlight some of the more spectacular problems with the measure at their website No On 29. Among them, Prop 29 raises annual taxes on Californians by $735,000,000 while failing to address the current $10,000,000,000 deficit the state enjoys. The measure | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  February 4th at 09:26 AM  | 

A friend told me about a Chicago Tribune story, “Obama says draws from Christian faith to craft policy.”As I read it, I realized the challenge is not to realize we have leaders who appeal to God for wisdom and direction. The challenge is determining which nugget or road taken which they credit to the Almighty is actually compatible with Christianity. The piece notes, “Obama … | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  January 16th at 06:20 PM  | 

Newt Gingrich’s recent criticism of Mitt Romney has landed him in hot water. At issue is Bain Capital, a venture capital firm Romney ran, which made its money buying up troubled businesses and selling the assets at a profit. Gingrich questioned the validity of that business experience as it relates to qualifications for being President. Gingrich’s comments were labeled as anti-Capitalist and even compared to | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  December 9th at 05:37 PM  | 

I advocate for Limited Government chiefly because, despite claims to the contrary, Government fails miserably at having the wisdom and experience to solve problems in the various economic market segments. For proof, one need look no further than Transportation, specifically Public Transportation. Since 2006, Nashville, TN has had The Music City Star; a 32 mile long rail line from its eastern suburbs to downtown. Stories run | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  November 15th at 12:31 PM  | 

Recently, TN State Rep Rick Womick, at a conference contrasting Sharia Law and the Constitution, said Muslims should not serve in the US military because they could not be trusted. Some in the Muslim community are calling for Womick to be impeached for his remarks. I find it fascinating that, in the context of a conference on the Constitution, Womick spoke because he believes evidence exists that | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  November 3rd at 05:44 PM  | 

The biggest problem with government is the nature of government itself. It is impossible for Government to do anything except by regulation or legislation. This is both a description of the beast and a condemnation of its behavior. Thus, if one looks to Government for help the result is predictably a new law or regulation on top of all that have come before. There is | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  October 26th at 02:11 PM  | 

Full disclosure: I have a personal interest. My oldest son, whom I cherish and of whom I am more proud than I could ever say, is a crew chief on a Chinook helicopter and due to deploy for his second tour in Afghanistan next year. I have nothing but respect for members of the US Military. When duty calls, they answer; putting lives and skills | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  October 21st at 11:46 AM  | 

Mitt Romney said, “It’s about time … Moammar Gadhafi was a tyrant who terrorized the Libyan people and shed American blood, and the world is a better place without him.” Marco Rubio weighed in with, “… justice has been done today.” Meanwhile, the reports of exactly how Gadhafi died are, in the words of one network, “conflicting.” The one constant in the accounts I have read is | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  October 12th at 04:18 PM  | 

With the “We Stand With Gibson”rally over, I thought it would be at least a week before I’d have to point out the Declaration of Independence’s third “self evident truth” is that the purpose of government is to secure the inalienable rights of men. While yesterday’s Americans clearly saw the self evident nature of that truth, too many Americans today cannot. If the “blind” man | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  October 4th at 12:07 PM  | 

On Saturday, Otober 8th in Nashville, artists and activists are holding a concert and rally to support Gibson Guitar. We’re calling it simply “We Stand With Gibson!” Why stand with Gibson? The short answer is, if I believe in Individual Liberty, I can do nothing else. On to the long answer … On August 24th, agents of the US Fish and Wildlife Service ran down | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  September 19th at 12:54 PM  | 

At 54, I’m old enough to remember regular use of a phrase I seldom hear anymore but which I have intentionally begun using. I no longer say “the United States.” Instead I refer to “these United States.”  I remember thinking as a child that use of the term was quaint and backwards; as if the user were ignorant. It seems I was the ignorant one. | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  September 11th at 10:55 AM  | 

What did I learn on 9/11? Not much, really. While that’s the “hook” for the post, it’s not what I mean. You see, I didn’t learn these things on 9/11. I knew them all along. 9/11 let me see them clearly. My pastor teaches character is not developed by adversity. Rather, it is revealed by it! In the midst of crises, we respond, not from | Read More »

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  September 7th at 06:13 PM  | 

Gibson Guitar’s CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, will be present for President Obama’s “Jobs” speech to Congress tomorrow night as the guest of Tennessee Congressman Marsha Blackburn. Gibson, a Tennessee company, has locations in both Memphis and Nashville. Recently, Gibson has been taking fire from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a Federal regulatory agency, and from the Obama Administration for building guitars and employing Tennesseans. The | Read More »