Tag Archives: Taxes

A Southern Perspective with James Yeager

In this episode, I went down to Camden, TN, and spoke with James Yeager, the MFCEO at Tactical Response. I first heard about James on CNN in the infamous pack your bags video.

Second Amendment

What is each individual’s red line in the sand, in terms of how much overreach they will tolerate from government?

Governments use incrementalism to encroach on rights of the people, because there will be less pushback compared to abrupt changes in policy.

President Obama threatened to use an Executive Order to bypass Congress and restrict guns in response to the school shootings, which James also comments on in Active Shooter Part 2.

People often make the argument that the founding fathers did not anticipate the level of technology in modern firearms, but James would counter that private citizens had cannons and heavy ordinance during the revolution. The point of the second amendment is more than self-defense; it is the ability to check a tyrannical government, which means citizens shall have access to basic weaponry the average soldier uses, such as modern rifles.

Before one could take up arms against the government, it is his or her responsibility to exhaust other means of addressing encroachment on civil liberties, such as lobbying representatives.

Healthcare and Taxes

Healthcare was perhaps the most important legislative initiative of the decade, yet the Republican-controlled government failed to repeal or replace it, in part due to all of the pressure constituents put on their representatives. An issue like firearms, which may be less of a priority, should be easier to lobby.

We had roads and bridges before income tax, communities paid for them.

Robin Hood was a thief and killer, stealing from the rich is not heroic.

Other Western countries are dissimilar to the United States, in that they do not have defense spending like we do. Further, we have the best care for the money (although we don’t necessarily rank the highest in terms of outcomes).

Healthcare as a right will run out of money, and so the “guarantee” will turn into rationing.

Civil War and Slavery

Lincoln said he would do anything to preserve the Union, yet he ended up emancipating the slaves. Was this the plan all along?

James posits that slavery was going to end because it was too expensive to keep slaves; while Jordan points out that many decided it still made economic sense to keep slaves.

Regardless of whether the Civil War was or was not about slavery, the Civil War resulted in the end of slavery, much like WWII was not about Holocaust but ended it nonetheless.

Confederacy did not need justification to secede and should have been free to do so without a war, America should be two different countries.

James says that the Antebellum and post war periods are why there was animosity towards the North. He also says the war was about high taxes and state’s rights.

Charlottesville

Southerners contributed to many military tactics, thus they deserve some recognition.

Jordan distinguishes between whitewashing history vs celebrating a cause, Jordan and James disagree on whether the Civil War was “our own” cause.

James points out that there could there be interlopers or plants making the two sides look like they are comprised of Neo-Nazis and Communists.

DHS warns Antifa may be designated a domestic terrorist organization.

Jim Hinson’s One-Man War, a civil War Sniper.

Trump

People idealize their party’s leaders and demonize those with opposing views.

Trump hasn’t done much for NFA or healthcare.

Tweets offer transparency, good or bad.

Trump says generals lost the troops, rather than taking responsibility himself.

Travel Ban

Travel ban was political not practical, Trump did not use government resources to develop this plan. A legitimate policy would have taken longer to develop after taking office, and would have used Homeland Security and State Department expertise.

The list of countries with bans is nonsensical, in that some of them arguably should not be includes, while others that should have been included were not.