Author Archive | Matthew Silber

Missouri First reports that, “With a party line 4 – 2 vote, the Missouri Senate General Laws Committee voted to send SB 325 on to the full senate for consideration.” However, there’s a lot of work to be done yet. For one,  the president pro tem, Sen. Tom Dempsey, must place it on the calendar promptly and then majority floor leader, Sen. Ron Richard, must carve out valuable time on the senate floor for debate.

PLEASE ACT NOW TO HELP MOVE SB325 FORWARD.  

1.  Call the following two senators and respectfully, but firmly, let them know you want to see SB325 get a vote – a YES vote – in the Senate

• Call Sen. Tom Dempsey: (573) 751-1141
• Call Sen. Ron Richard at: (573) 751-2173)

Call in the evenings or over the weekend.  If you reach a voicemail, leave your message in support of SB325 and ask for a return call as well.

2.  Contact your own state senator.  Be strong and respectful – and let them know that you want to see nothing less than a YES vote on SB325.

contact info here:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/Leg_Lookup.aspx

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From Missouri First: There are only 2 months left in the Missouri General Assembly’s legislative session. Every passing day decreases the chances any bill has to pass, and our state legislature is on vacation this week. We must work while they are on break!.

The new attacks on our right to keep and bear arms are moving faster in Congress than the protection bills are moving in the Missouri legislature. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has passed bills to require universal background checks AND an assault weapon ban. Pundits say those bills won’t pass the full Senate or the House, but federal and state agencies are implementing programs that are eroding the right to keep and bear arms piece by piece. The actions of the Veterans Administration and the Missouri Dept. of Revenue’s collaboration with the Dept. of Homeland Security are prime examples.

To protect our rights to protect our families in Missouri, our goal MUST be to pass eitherHB 436 or SB 325 and put it on the governor’s desk within the next 30 days. Why 30 days? Missouri law requires the governor to either sign, veto, or let a bill become law without his signature within 15 days of receiving it from the legislature if there are more than 15 days left in the session. If he vetoes it, the legislature can, then, override the veto during the remainder of the session. Continue Reading →

In the article, “Bills put focus on state’s rights“, Jonathan Shorman at the Springfield News Leader writes about several recent measures introduced in Jefferson City that seek to “invalidate” Federal Law within the borders of our State.

“Nullification is the idea that states can and should refuse to follow federal laws they see as unconstitutional,” Shorman writes. “A News-Leader analysis of proposed legislation shows that almost 20 bills introduced this year either seek to invalidate existing federal law or stop enforcement of possible future law.”

The article goes on to discuss lawmakers like Sen. Brian Nieves, who recently proposed three bills to stop federal law. One such bill is Senate Bill 325, which declares several existing federal gun laws invalid in Missouri. Also mentioned is Senate Bill 150, sponsored by Sen. Brian Munzlinger, which prohibits enforcement of any federal gun law passed after Dec. 31, 2012. Also included in the liberty-minded group is Rep. Doug Funderburk, who has introduced, House Bill 436, which could put local and state law enforcement in direct conflict with federal agents. Continue Reading →

Every four years, it’s the same thing. Hysteria abounds over Party A and their candidate, verses Party B and their candidate. The devoted disciples of each Party point to the other and accuse all manner of devastation and horror wrought upon the innocent people of the not-so United States. And all the while, no matter who is elected as King over our communities, the Federal Government grows, unemployment persists, and the economy fluctuates. But because this election is different (insert sarcasm), following are ten reasons why YOU should vote Romney and SAVE the WORLD. Continue Reading →

In the early years of the twentieth century, Kansas City and the rest of Missouri faced a bit of a crisis situation. No, it wasn’t from the threat of outside invasion, or tyranny in Washington, but from one of our own. Tom Pendergast, who was born in St. Joseph Missouri in 1873, would become an adept Kansas City businessman who owned such companies as “Wholesale Liquor Company”, and “Ready Mix Concrete”. Through utilizing backroom deals, monopolies, crime, strong-arm tactics, and the political experience of his older brother Jim – it wasn’t long before Tom had risen through the ranks of Kansas City Power to rule as “Boss”.

However, not content with Kansas City alone, Pendergast soon sought to exert his will on State Government and beyond through the backing of such figures like Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark and Harry S. Truman (See note below). While Pendergast’s considerable influence would help Kansas City prosper during the Great Depression – this came at a cost of increased violence upon the streets. One such incident was the Kansas City Massacre at Union Station in 1933, in which four police officers and their prisoner, Frank Nash, was gunned down in broad daylight.

In 1934, President Roosevelt appointed local man Maurice M. Milligan (1884 – 1959) to serve as U.S. District Attorney for the Kansas City based Western District of Missouri. Mr. Milligan became active in vigorously prosecuting voter fraud in 1936, and would go on to build a case against Tom Pendergast’s political machine. Because of Milligan’s work – which centered on a $750,000 insurance payoff scam and failure to pay federal income taxes from 1927 to 1937 – Pendergast ultimately pled guilty to two charges of income tax evasion, was fined 10,000, and went to federal prison for 15 month. Mr. Milligan would later run for U.S. Senate in 1940 against Harry S. Truman, but lost. Continue Reading →

“The peace president bombs countries around the world, the drug war rages on, the patriot act exists, the Fed prints and prints and prints. Bailouts, mandates, and regulations – they never seem to end. When Government doesn’t follow the rules given to it, what do you do about it? Well, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both warned us that if the Federal Government ever became the sole, exclusive arbiter in the extent of it’s own powers – that power would always grow. Jefferson wrote, ‘A Nullification of the act is the rightful remedy whenever the Federal Gov. violates the constitution.’” – Michael Boldin, Executive Director, TAC

If Nullification is the rightful remedy against Big Government gone wild, then certainly Nullification: The Rightful Remedy Documentary is just what the doctor ordered for ignorance and false information. Written and Directed by Jason Rink (Foundation for a Free Society), the DVD comes in at 72 minutes (1 hour and 12 minutes), and is absolutely stuffed to the brim with a diverse range of issues and personalities involved in the Tenth Amendment / Nullification movement. But not only that, it’s like taking the excitement and energy of a full-blown Nullify Now! Event, and putting it into a package your living room can handle!

With the DVD package design prominently featuring Thomas Jefferson on the front, and a diverse crowd of “Tenthers” on the back, the professional appearance of this documentary will surely entice a friend or community leader into checking it out. Additionally, the audio and video quality of the production itself is very good, with the likes of Jordan Page and his song Message of Freedom serving as a perfect fit for this crucial discussion.  

And while the DVD is best intended for being viewed in it’s entirety – specifically for those who may know little about the Tenth Amendment and Nullification issues – it has a chapter feature for classroom settings, or for emphasizing certain sections to a viewing audience. Continue Reading →

Cross-posted from Missouri Tenth 

Missouri Tenth: Thank you for agreeing to talk with Missouri Tenth about your book “Georgia Burns”. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, your interest in writing, and what inspired you to write this book?

Tom Davis: My name is Tom Davis, most call me Tommy. My wife Angie and I live in Southeast Georgia. We have four grown children. I am a bi-vocational businessman and Baptist pastor.

I have been interested in writing since I was in high school. It was about eight to ten years ago that I started putting down on paper some ideas for a political thriller. I first came up with a major action scene which takes place aboard Air Force One. The President of the United States attempts to land at the airport in Atlanta but is turned away by the Governor of Georgia! This gives rise to a crisis of authority on board between the President and the Secret Service. A fighter-jet flying in escort of AF1 mysteriously explodes mid-air. From that beginning I added fast moving chapters that feature story lines such as economic collapse, war with Iran, the lost ‘Tybee Bomb,’ riots in major American cities, Islamic terrorism, militia risings; all inter-woven around the central plot of a serious struggle between the President and the Governor of Georgia. Everything is fiction, but it feels like it could all happen tomorrow.

Missouri Tenth: Considering there might be aspiring writers out there who have been frustrated with getting their work published, do you have any suggestions for them based on your own process of writing and publishing?

Tom Davis: In terms of getting published, for this book I chose to self-publish throughcreatespace.com. They are connected to amazon.com, and make it easy. Just upload your material and some cover art and they will print you a ‘proof’ paperback copy of your book for just a few bucks. You can make corrections if you like, then order as many or as few copies as you wish. It is ‘print on demand,’ and works great for new authors. All my advertising has been word-of-mouth and on the internet. Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America has also helped advertise the book.

Missouri Tenth: Writing a book can be a huge project, that often requires extensive research into a variety of subjects. Do you have any interesting (or humorous) stories in the researching and writing your book that you’d be willing to share?

Tom Davis: A political thriller can require a lot of research, and I found myself writing the book while at the time jumping over to the internet to read up on anything from the inner workings of a jet engine to the H-Bomb that was lost off the coast of Georgia back in the 50′s. Every aspiring writer needs to remember to pay attention to detail and write so that the reader will see the action in their mind’s eye as they read.

Missouri Tenth: The reason “Georgia Burns” caught our eye here at Missouri Tenth, is that this appears to be a fascinating introduction to a series that possibly utilizes the power of storytelling to help educate on a variety of issues. Did you write this book with that intention in mind? If so – could you tell us about what you hope people learn from your series? Continue Reading →