President’s Column
by Jim Butler, President
Sangamon County Rifle Association

We see the rights and freedoms our Founders fought and died for may soon be replaced by the chains of permanent bondage as the agenda of Barack Hussein Obama is being exposed more each day.  Mr. Obama’s deeds and policies sure point to a carefully planned and thought out attack against America, crafted to subvert our cherished freedoms and replace them with the tyranny of a socialist “utopia”.  Our leaders in Congress like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are assisting Mr. Obama create a European-style socialist America irrespective of what most American citizens want.

At no time in our history have we seen a greater threat to our liberty and the Founders’ vision than today.  It is imperative that we confront these new threats, in all of their ugly forms, both foreign and domestic.

We continue to see a major economic crisis unfolding in our nation under the Obama Presidency.  New government programs are started daily, and future plans are being made for even more expensive government expansion.  All of them are based on the mistaken belief that we’re in this mess because of free   market capitalism and sound money have failed.  The Obama Administration’s answer to this is  more deficit spending, the bailout of bad investments, quantitative easing, higher taxes and more big government.   Many are even saying we need an international answer to our problems with the establishment of a world central bank and a single fiat reserve currency.

At least 90% of this financial mess can be blamed on the Federal Reserve.  Their manipulation of credit, the blowing of economic bubbles, and interest rates have led to the present crisis.

Congress has added to this confusing mess by various programs and institutions like the Community Reinvestment Act, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FDIC, and HUD mandates, which were all backed up by aggressive court rulings.

The FED and US Treasury have given out trillions in subsidized loans to troubled banks and other financial institutions through TARP, which has been, in part, used to bail out Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke’s friends working in the banking industry.  The Federal Reserve and Treasury constantly brag about the need for openness and oversight, but it’s all just talk.  Actually they want none of this. They want secrecy while the privileged are rescued at the expense of the middle class.

Once the President gets the dreadful and expensive socialized health care bill he wants, I believe he will make a frontal assault on our firearm rights.

Obama’s record as an Illinois legislator shows that he has either sponsored, cosponsored or voted to:  oppose right-to-carry; ban shotguns and semi-auto rifles (the so-called “assault weapons” ban); ban large capacity magazines; and require “trigger locks,” making firearms useless for self-defense.

Obama has supported requiring a 5-mile “gun free school zone” for gun shops, eliminating small town gun stores; banning “Saturday Night Specials” (affordable handguns to you and me); and requiring handguns to be usable only by the purchaser – effectively rendering them useless by a spouse in an emergency!).

Gun owners have responded to Obama’s election by buying guns and ammunition in record numbers, and for good reason.

Obama has surrounded himself with many well known anti-gun politicians and aides who would take your Second Amendment Right in a heartbeat if they could.

This is why the midterm 2010 election is so important to anyone who values the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Get out and vote to protect them from the Socialist onslaught.