An Open Letter To Congress
Aug 15, 2009 Political
Hello, you may know me- I am your electorate- you know, the people you are supposed to represent, the people you were elected to represent. Your party may be the group that holds your same ideal and principles, but it is the people that you should hold allegiance to first and foremost. Without them, you wouldn’t be where you are, because the party has no vote, but the people do.
You also have a little niggling thing that you pledged faith to called the Constitution. Remember that line in your oath, “To protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States.” It did not say squat about the Resident, or his “Czars”, or anything else, just the Constitution.
I am guessing that the Constitution is supposed to be important, but your actions have me wondering if you have forgotten this document in all the hoopla over the “first Post- racial President” ever. You see, it really doesn’t matter what color he is if he is a despot, and while I won’t say he is a Despot, he’s looking a little “Despot-ish”, with all these “Czars”.
You see, there’s a little problem with these little tin pot dictators he keeps propagating- they are not answerable to Congress, subject to checks and balances, and the oversight a responsible Congress is supposed to do. Instead, you allowed him to propose what is basically a “straw Cabinet” of people who will have little effect, while he is free to go around the Constitutional laws with these unelected, unvetted sock puppets of his.
And you do nothing- even worse, you aid him in this, never dreaming that one day you could wake up and find that because of your actions AND your inactions, you have become largely irrelevant, and the Resident will be free to ignore you. Believe me- he will.
You have by and large, already been emasculated as a law- making political body, but you can still grow a new pair- those are mainly a state of mind, and you (both parties here) can reverse this trend of irrelevancy if you act now, but passing this Healthcare bill and the Cap and Trade bill as they are written just gives this Resident more power, and believe me- that is not something you should do.
I am not saying that we do not have problems with energy, or healthcare, but our system was designed whereby laws were passed with a deliberate slowness, so we could have good, decent bills that benefitted everyone. Now we have someone who acts like the man behind the curtain in Oz. Oh, don’t look behind the curtain, he beseeches- because he knows that if you did, you would find that it is really all smoke and mirrors.
So you actively aid him, or inactively “allow” him to rape the Constitution. There are at least four of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights now under active attack by this administration.
The First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech, and the right to a free and unrestrained press (nowadays that would include ALL media) is being restrained or soon to be restrained by what the Resident is calling “Diversity”, but which seeks to silence Talk Radio,the largest percentage of which is conservative, but make no mistake, they will come for the print and visual media, and then the internet also.
The Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms, will soon be under full scale attack, using as justification the alleged arms that come from the southwest border states into Mexico. This is a lie, as far as percentages go, and it is virtually impossible to get a fully automatic weapon from the United States. Empirical evidence suggests that the bulk of weapons have come from Honduras, Venezuela, or Cuba, but the Resident wants to restrict gun sales in the U.S., so he allows this false evidence to flow unchecked.
The Fourth Amendment, that of restrictions against unreasonable search and seizure, and the right to privacy, is under attack in the middle of the Healthcare bill, where the government could, and would compel you to hand over not only your medical records, but your bank account information. Now, we all know that is just not right, and yet it is there, stuck in the middle of a bill 1017 pages long, like a stealth law.
And finally, compelling the States to accept the Stimulus money (or ANY money with strings attached), falls afoul of the Tenth Amendment, that of State’s Rights. You see, if the Constitution does not explicitly say what the Federal Government’s powers are respective to any situation vis-a-vis the States, then the power, and decision- making process devolves to the States themselves.
News flash- the Constitution does not say what, if any power the Federal government has over the states regarding the money- ergo, the states are not compelled to do what the Feds want them to do. Now, we have a problem with spineless politicians in the State Legislatures, but that just mirrors the Federal problem we have with you.
So here’s the deal- You need to climb down off of that cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it. Grow a pair, and represent the people you are supposed to represent. There is supposed to be somewhat of an adversarial context between you all and the executive branch- you are not the Resident’s dog- that position is already filled, so do not- I repeat – do not roll over and play dead for the Resident.
Or you might just die at the polls in 2010.
Your choice.
(P.S to all those who read and agree, send this to another blog, or Congressman, or Senator).
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: Bill of Rights, constitution, due process, spineless politicians, subversion
How Stupid Can You Be?
Aug 15, 2009 Political
That’s not a question you want to ask your lawmakers or the chief executive in power. Not that asking the question would be so bad, but nowadays, you have to be scared of the answer, because apparently there are NO limits to their stupidity. The stupidity du jour is the new “Diversity” Czar, Mark Lloyd.
I can understand if you haven’t heard of this man- I hadn’t either, but when I heard what his idea of diversity was, my ears pricked up- for the simple reason that he is the newest tool of the left to dismantle our Constitution, and he is going to take on our Freedom of Speech.
In the old days, the “tool” used was a little thing called the “Fairness Doctrine”, wherein anyone who espoused a political point of view had to leave free time to an opposing viewpoint- but that was dismantled in the 80s, and talk radio began to flourish, with Rush Limbaugh taking the lead. Local radio began to sprout up, with many of the local voices being conservative in nature,
There was no impedement to liberal voices on talk radio, they were free to talk all they wanted, but as we have seen in the case of the radio station Air America, no one tuned in to listen, at least not in the amounts to make it a commercially viable enterprise- not the fault of conservatives- but it seems that liberals, socialists, and communists do far better when they get stuff for free.
And that is just what Mr. Lloyd is prepared to do , in the name of “diversity”. He has proposed to charge talk radio stations, (listen up), 100% of their estimated gross for renewal of their licenses. Okay, now read that sentence again, slowly- Mr. Lloyd wants to charge these stations ALL of their profit, PLUS whatever it costs to run the station, just to keep that station on the air.
In 2006 while at the liberal Center for American Progress Lloyd wrote a book entitled, Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America. In the book he presents the idea the private broadcasters (private business) should pay a licensing fees which equals their total operating costs so that public broadcasting station can spend the same on their operations as the private companies do. By doing so he hopes to improve the Corporation for Public Broadcasting currently at $400 Million for 2009.
Not only does he want to redistribute private profits, he wants to regulate much of the programming on these stations to make sure they focus on “diverse views” (Progressive Views) and government activities. I am all for that when I see on PBS a conservative voice next to Bill Moyers. And when I hear a conservative voice on NPR or just voice on NPR that sounds excited with some passion.
rightpundits.com
If these stations do that, that money will be given, through “grants” to minority owned stations, so these stations can parrot the party line, which of course is liberal in nature. Since Liberal stations cannot make money on their own, all the big, bad old conservative stations would have to “subsidize” these ideological cripples.
This is bad, because this is a direct assault on Freedom of Speech, our First Amendment, and concerns not only talk radio, but eventually print, visual, and the internet. Everybody will be adversely affected by this Czar and his decisions. The fact that this is illegal doesn’t concern those in power, as they have made an art of getting around those pesky Bill of Rights amendments, by forging laws that skirt the main issue, and attack the flanks, like a cowardly hyena.
What is truly alarming is that this makes, by my count at least four of the first ten amendments that this administration is actively attacking- The first; Freedom of Speech and the right to a free press, the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, is under attack by new taxes on sales of firearms, and possible new restrictions due to the fictitious amount of firearms that “appear” in Mexico drug cartel fights.
Then there is the Fourth Amendment, protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and the right to privacy, which goes down the drain with the Healthcare bill’s provision whereby the administration can have unwarranted access to your medical records, and bank accounts, so they can jerk money and information from your private records. Lovely.
And last but not least, they have been chipping away at the Tenth Amendment, that of State’s rights– simply by compelling the states to take the stimulus money. It is true that some states need the money, some might not, but to attach strings to this money, in order to better control these states, is blatantly unconstitutional.
This is a coordinated and cooly systematic attack on the fundamental tenets of our lives and country. The Constitution is the glue that holds us together as nothing else; it is the reason we have lasted so long, as large and diverse as we are.
Now, this socialist administration is looking to take us apart and re- make us in their image, which has nothing to do with the Constitution- indeed, the Constitution is a roadblock they cannot abide, because it reminds them of what they cannot do. They want a document that says what they can do.
They are very determined in their traitorous endeavors- they will not stop until they literally can go no farther, and right now, that stops with the Supreme Court. God help us if they manage to tilt the court to the left, and that possibility is there. If Justice Kennedy were to retire, then the balance would shift drastically to the left.
All that would be left then would be to influence the legislatures of the various states to convene a Constitutional Convention to amend the Constitution in their favor, and with their bullying of the States in this stimulus thing, they might begin to get their way.
In the meantime,meet the new Boss- the one with the power to abridge your flow of information to suit this P.O.S. administration. You might think this would wake up the rest of the media, but no- not yet.
I guess they will finally wake up when the gag is slipped on- by then it’s too late.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: Bill of Rights, constitution, denial of rights, socialism
Now We Are Political Terrorists
Aug 7, 2009 Political
First they published a memo calling all people who have conservative values Right Wing Extremists. The chilling report labeled people with single issues like opposition to abortion, as extremists. It was distributed to police agencies so they could be on the look out for us. Though that met stiff opposition and was reportedly quashed, I would not be surprised if those sentiments were still held and we are all being observed under the radar.
Then came the snitch campaign where the Obama White House wants people to report anyone who says something about the health care plan that might be “fishy.” There is an email address that people can forward such things to. This means if you send an email to a friend and it gets passed on to the White House, you will be in a database of opponents. This is reminiscent of the Nazi campaign to snitch on neighbors, particularly to rat out Jews. Is it any wonder that someone would feel compelled to carry a swastika to a protest event. Yes, it appears that two were seen at different events. All the other signs were ignored and the swastika was the focus of attention. I challenged Pelosi to find one and one of her lap dogs did. I am willing to bet there were more of them at one anti Bush rally than have been at all the protests combined. Why would they feign indignation now when they were not bothered then. It is because they are trying to paint all protesters as right wing radicals rather than the diverse group that includes Democrats, liberals, Republicans and conservatives. They want you to believe that only Republicans and conservatives are involved and they are radicals who have, gasp, a swastika. How dare they insult Herr Obama?
Now we have a columnist at the Washington Post chiming in. He has labeled those who are voicing opposition to the plan as political terrorists. Steven Pearlstein says:
The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they’ve given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They’ve become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems. [emphasis mine]
So Steven, what were the Democrats and Obamadinejad when they opposed more than a half a dozen bills that would have reformed health care? If they were concerned about this serious domestic problem then why did they all oppose items that would have provided reform without a complete overhaul in order to cover a small percentage who have no insurance?
The claim by Mr. Pearlstein is that Republicans are making claims that this will result in a government takeover of health care and he contends that there is no way to read what has been proposed and conclude that. This is, of course, a matter of opinion. However, the words of Obama saying that he wanted a single payer system and of Barney Frank saying the way to get there was by first passing a government run plan are clear indications of what they want and what they have in mind. The claims that the opposition is being misleading or disingenuous are funny considering that those who are pushing the plan are misleading and disingenuous.
This is another example of someone presenting two options. Obama has said it a number of times. People who oppose this want to keep things they way they are. This straw man argument is designed to make people believe there are only two options. The reality is that many members of Congress have introduced legislation to reform and those items did not involve the complete overhaul of our system. Democrats opposed these because they want to control it all.
There are plenty of options as I have discussed in the past. We can drop the mandates in coverage. States require a number of things to be in a plan before it can be offered. Some companies do not want to put those plans out so only a few are allowed to offer. This means less competition. Insurance should be like a cable plan. There are items that are essential such as catastrophic care, emergency care, dental care, vision care, surgical care and any preventive care that involves more than a routine office visit. Then other items can be offered if the consumer desires them. It makes no sense to force a single male to pay for a plan that includes abortion services or OB/GYN. It is nonsensical to force people who do not drink or do drugs to pay for substance abuse treatment. Some people might like aroma therapy but others see no benefit. Allow those who want it to add it on and pay for it and those who do not to pass on it. Just like cable TV, you have a basic package and you add on the extras that you want. People should also pay for wellness visits. We have car insurance but that does not pay for routine maintenance. Why should people not pay for their routine care?
We should also remove restrictions on buying insurance across state lines. If a person likes a plan offered in another state then he should be able to buy it. Restricting to in state companies stifles competition and drives costs up.
I also think Doctors should be given tax credits for seeing people with no health insurance. I heard Congressman Ron Paul’s son discuss this and I think it is a great idea. Rand Paul is a doctor (Ophthalmologist) and he is running for a Senate seat in Kentucky. He believes that doctors should see those without insurance and receive a tax credit for doing so. This will provide care to those who need it and compensate the doctors providing the care. Of course there will need to be oversight or some will abuse the system but I think it will provide incentive for doctors to see those who truly cannot pay.
These are but a few ideas that would help to reform the system and they would make health care more affordable. People will still have to pay but it will not cost as much. I am sure if they can afford a cell phone, two cars, high speed internet and cable TV with the premium channels they can squeeze in health insurance.
For the absolute destitute among us, we still have government plans that will cover them.
No, I am not a political terrorist for opposing the health care scheme and wanting less government regardless of what any reporter says. I do wonder though, where this guy was when the left was using similar tactics to oppose Bush? Has he called the Code Pink morons who harassed Marines in Berkeley political terrorists?
The First Amendment protects our right to free speech and the right to peaceably assemble. Opposing health care or any other plan in a peaceful fashion is not political terrorism, it is an exercise of our Constitutional rights.
Those who cannot see that or would work to oppose it, are the real political terrorists.
Big Dog salute to Stop the ACLU
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: constitution, debate, health care, political terrorist, rand paul, rights, Steven Pearlstein
Protests Are Bothering Democrats
Aug 6, 2009 Political
The Democrats knew they would catch hell during this break and so far there have been quite a few encounters with constituents that have gotten loud. None of them have gotten out of control and there was no violence like there is when liberal goons are involved. These meetings included Democrats and Republicans who were present to express their dissatisfaction with the health care overhaul.
The Democrats in office, the DNC, and the media wing of their party have been portraying the protesters as right wing extremists who are hell bent on destroying Obama. No matter what the make up of the audience is, it will be labeled as a bunch of conservatives and members of the vast right wing conspiracy. Even though people at the meetings describe themselves as Democrats, they are still identified as conservatives and helps to brand them as supremacists.
Senator Boxer said that the groups are well dressed people as if ordinary citizens cannot dress nicely. Nancy Pelosi said that the protesters are carrying swastikas and other offensive items (I challenge her to find such a thing). This is a lie and is designed to make it look like the Republicans or the conservatives are the problem.
The groups are not the right wing, they are Americans from all backgrounds and ideologies who do not believe in what is happening. The Democrats want you to believe they are united and it is the right holding things up. Keep this in mind, they have enough votes to pass it without one Republican vote. The problem is many Democrats do not want to vote for it because they are worried about reelection. The Dems are blaming this on the right to take the focus off their own members who oppose it.
As for the unruly mobs that the Democrats want you to think are involved, look at any video and you see people who are angry and talking out of turn and over each other but there is no violence. The people are only expressing themselves and are really letting their representatives have it when they hear a lie, or as the White House calls it, something fishy.
Harry Reid is not happy at all and says these protesters are trying to sabotage the Democratic process:
The Senate’s most powerful Democrat on Thursday scolded health care protesters dogging his party’s lawmakers at local meetings, arguing that some critics on the political right have run out of ideas—and ditched their civic manners. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused the protesters of trying to “sabotage” the democratic process. Breitbart
Isn’t it amazing how when Democrats are out protesting, damaging property and attacking people they are being patriotic because they are dissenting but when people (identified as Republicans by Dems) are peacefully protesting the government’s actions they are “sabotaging” the Democratic process?
It is further amazing that Harry Reid would call people expressing their Constitutional rights as saboteurs. Not only are these folks exercising their right to free speech, they are also exercising their right to peaceably assemble. Harry Reid thinks this is getting in the way of progress. You read that right, a US Senator thinks that people who exercise their Constitutional rights are saboteurs. Is it any wonder we hold these people in contempt?
Stop the ACLU has a video of some of these right wing radicals. It features a bunch of senior citizens at an AARP meeting. The AARP representative is trying to explain why government health care is so great and why the seniors should like it. When people start to express their dissatisfaction the person holding the meeting ends it and leaves. The seniors all said they were going to cancel their membership in AARP and I hope they do. The AARP is only out to make money. They do not care about seniors, they care about advancing liberal positions.
I urge all seniors who belong to the AARP to cancel your memberships and ask for a refund. Then consider joining organizations like the 60 Plus Association or the American Seniors Association. Both of them believe in limited government and ending oppressive taxes. They have your interests in mind.
Keep the heat on the members of Congress. Do not let them get away with the lies about the plan. They will say anything to get this passed so they can control your lives. Don’t let them get away with telling you how great they can do things. They can’t run a post office, they can’t run Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, all of which are out of money or will be soon.
If you like going to the Department of Motor vehicles then you will love government health care. But keep in mind, if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it is free…
As for you seniors, keep giving them hell and then vote them out of office before they pass a health care bill that will kill you off.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: constitution, Democrats, Harry Reid, health care, liberals, lies, medicare, Obama, social security
Checks and Balances
Jul 20, 2009 Political
Our form of government, as we all have been taught (at least those who have had a government and/ or civics course would know), has three branches of governmental powers and duties, all designed to split the power, so no one branch could rule over the other two. This truly took a lot of thought, and was revolutionary for it’s foresight in that day and time. It still is, or would be if the Socialists were not so intent on working around the strictres of this government.
The Executive branch is the titular head of the government, but has to answer to the Legislative branch- this is supposed to keep the President honest, and within bounds legally. The president proposes legislation- a laundry list of what he believes need to be done to keep this country on course. If he is an honest man, he proposes things we actually need, and things we can afford.
It is up to the Legislative branch to actually write the laws that the president wants done, but in addition, these lawmakers have yet another duty, a higher duty, and that is to the people they serve. If the president is proposing onerous laws, laws that would harm the people back in the Representative’s or Senator’s areas, it is their duty to oppose this. This not only gets them re- elected, but it serves the greater good of the people they represent.
This is admittedly a fine balancing act, where your duty to country and your duty to the people you represent can sometimes be seemingly at odds. But, if you are honest, and truly want what is best for all, you will be able to craft just laws that will serve the country well. Unfortunately, there are many lawmakers who will blindly follow this Resident and his Socialist agenda. Once upon a time you could count on legislators to protect their turf from even a president within their own party, jealousy being a strong emotion, and turf is something to protect- but not now, apparently.
Even if not, there is the third branch, the Supreme Court, where all the laws can be looked over to see if it passes the Constitutional Test- does it co- exist within the framework of the Constitution? The Supreme Court is supposed to be the arbiter of All Things Constitutional. In recent years, there has been a distinct ideological split in the makeup of the court, and that makes for often close and contentious decisions- when they do make decisions.
Unfortunately, the Court doesn’t take every case- just those where there could be a question of constitutionality from lower courts, so there is a lag on the time something becomes law to when the Court might rule on it, and Hussein is going to try and pack the Supreme Court so the “empathy” factor favors him.
If Barry can tilt the court, and he maintains the party majority in the legislature, he can be King in everything but name- he can pass whatever laws he wants, and tax us until we bleed, and I believe he will. I have no sense of ease in his ability to govern with an even hand, I do not believe he wants to- at least not until he has made over our country into something we do not recognize, a faint ghost of what we once were.
When that happens, you can be sure of one thing- we will have war(s)- the rest of the world will see us as weak, and they will be right, and we will have fights with Mexico in the south over the borders, N. Korea, China, Iran, and of course Russia will all test our will and our ability to deter their plans.
Russia will begin to try to take back the satellite countries like Lithuania, Estonia, the Ukraine, and Poland. It has already begun to creep into Georgia again. China practically owns us- at least our debt, and we have a Resident who is all talk. Whoop-de-do.
Just when we need to be strong, Hussein will wussify us, I guarantee this- this is already happening.
We are writing checks we can’t cash, because we have nothing in our balances.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: constitution, hussein, socialists, trouble in River City