Confusion on the Oregon Trail

Wow! Talk about a confusing state. Abortion yes! Abortion no! Pass out money! Don't spend a dime! And that is Greg Walden, the sole Republican of the Oregon contingent. There are very few surprises from the Democrats in the House and Senate with one exception on one bill by Senator Ron Wyden in 2007 on a budget bill that he actually voted against. Makes you wonder of he bothered to read that one or if he forgot to talk with Uncle Harry about how he was supposed to vote. Unfortunately there are no other surprises with the Oregon Congressional team. They follow the poor trend of discovering ways to raise the debt to unbelievable heights.

So I am sorry to say that Ron Wyden, Jeffery Merkley, Greg Walden, David Wu, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader are in the same class as the rest of the people who have (served?) us these past several years. You will need to contact the Oregon Employment Security to file for your unemployment because your constituents would have been better served by 6 chimps and a ferret. Not one of these should be sent back to D.C.

Obamacare, Cap and Trade, Jets for Congress, Stimulus 1 and 2, Sotomayor, etc. These issues pale in camparison to why replacing Congress has become my mission. The debt these "servants" have laid on us and the next 3 generations is criminal. The saddest thing is that none of these people will face a single jury or indictment for the debt they have given us. Then to top it off, I have seen 4 television commercials praising Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and Brian Baird (All Dems) and chastising Dave Reichert (R). These are all from Washington and I will be discussing this group and more soon.

Sen. Feinstein likes a VAT, eh?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said last month: "I'm ready for people to come and say, 'Look, here's our plan to cover 46 million uninsured people, and here's how we pay for it: A, B, C, D. That has to happen.' "

A. Create a health insurance exchange: The federal government should create a system to offer standard benefit health insurance packages and impartial information about them so individuals could choose what best fits their needs.

B. Tax employer-paid health benefits: But only the excess over the low-price plan, the one offering the standard benefits for the fewest bucks. The fact that employees today can take advantage of unlimited tax benefits on health plans costs the federal government more than $260 billion per year.

C. Convert Medicare to a similar model: Create an insurance exchange for government-paid health care and offer beneficiaries a voucher. Help them choose among the competing subsidized plans. The exchanges would follow rules similar to the employer-funded plan exchange described in A.

D. End employer-based health care: Once health expenditures have slowed to the nationwide rate of income growth, phase in subsidies for everyone at the cost of the lowest-priced plan in their market.

As this happens, health insurance would no longer be connected to jobs. Government would pay for health insurance for all with a broad-based tax on consumption, like the value added tax in Europe.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/15/INMA1977RQ.DTL#ixzz0OK27H0TA

Senator Feinstein's solution is to give us more types of taxation. This Value Added Tax tax is aimed at every American, not just those making over $250,000. We cannot afford this type of governance. Our leaders on both sides of the aisle have forgotten they are paid, handsomely, to represent our wishes. Americans of all political persuasions are sick of this attempt to turn us into Canada, Sweden, Holland or Britain. There is a reason that many times the number of people from all countries emigrate to the United States, yet very few Americans choose to permanently leave to go to any other country. If there are Representatives and Senators who truly desire to have this version of health insurance and a VAT then Sen. Feinstein and all the rest of Congress should pack their belongings and move above the 49th Parallel and leek to represent the citizens of Canada. Then they can have everything they want and allow us to repair the damage politicians have done to our nation. fire them all!

Being Civil to Brian

Here is a letter I just wrote to Brian Baird of the 3rd Congressional Dist of Washington:

Congressman Baird,

I am writing regarding the Health Care, Health Insurance, Health (enter new idea here) reform that is gathering so much attention. I agree with you that this is a difficult and complex issue that requires a well though out plan to insure we are taking the correct path. My 2 greatest questions are:

1)Why are the President and the Democrat Legislators in such a rush to get this done now, instead of working to find the best solution? Your party has all the power and leverage right now. The Republicans could not prevent you from accomplishing anything right now. Yet you and your colleagues are demonizing Americans who are confused and upset, not by what you are trying to do but, by the tactics and reckless abandon you are displaying and the disregard you collectively have for the wishes of the American people.

2) With the government having spent more money than ever in its glorious history and having a deficit larger than the GDP of most of the countries in the world combined. How do you plan to pay for this? The government, my government has spent money at an unsustainable rate for the past 2 decades and if this happens we will lose our country and the liberties we (you) are taking for granted. Looking at the budget for the near future, we are scheduled to run a deficit in excess of everything we as a nation will produce. That concept brings so many adjectives to mind but, to me, the most fitting shameful.

You may inform all of your colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate that I will be working with a passion I have never known toward government to see that all of you are replaced in your next election. You as our leaders should have done better but you chose to be juvenile and think that Americans only see Red and Blue. We see all of the colors that make up our country. Democrats and Republicans have had our faith that you would do something different and both of you have sorely disappointed us. At least try to get this one correct.

Boomers or Busts?

This was a tough one as I have a great deal of respect for the former representatives from Oklahoma. Steve Largent, J.C. Watts, Frank Lucas and, in the Senate, James Inhofe. Devout believers in the Contract with America who were determined to bring us fiscal responsibility and fight the growth of government. Alas, Largent and Watts have left the House, leaving Rep. Lucas and Sen. Inhofe without their morale and fiscal compass. Unlike the infamous tax & spend liberals of the 60's, 70's and 80's, Lucas and Inhofe developed into the tax-cutting-spend-anyway Republicans of the 21st century. Lucas appears to have the greatest challenge as he has demonstrated that he is a party voter. Throughout his career you can watch his pattern of approving spending during the Bush years and suddenly in 2009 he is against anything that is not military.

The rest of the House Republican delegation has demonstrated the same propensity for toeing the party line, rarely going against party leadership with votes for stimulus, TARP and stimulus 2 while appeasing the Republican base with votes against most tax issues that would reduce the deficit. The lone Democrat in the delegation is Rep. Dan Boren who, based on his voting pattern, acts like his seat in the House held the winning lottery ticket. If it allowed money to be spent, then Representative Dan voted for it.

There is one lawmaker from Oklahoma who is difficult to include in the desire to "dump them all." That is junior Senator Thomas Coburn, the first term senator who has been very consistent on his voting during his short career. He has made his budgetary priorities known and, unlike his senior senator, has the demonstrated the ability to vote his priorities. The gigantic concern is, if he were allowed to remain in his post, would he develop into the leader our new Senate? Or would he follow the lead of Senator Inhofe and forget why the wonderful people of Oklahoma sent him there? The future of America is far too important to to make this decision yet. I will reserve the exit ticket for Sen. Coburn until all contingents have been discussed.

Now that I have shown that I am not looking for the label, the party or the rhetoric. I am looking for the patriots who will lead us to a balanced budget, common sense and the American decisiveness that will pull us out of the free-fall we are in. Our current leaders just don't get it. We are TRILLIONS of dollars in debt and they are spending like money is poison and they must get rid of it. Every day I read, watch and listen to the news and I am aghast at the behavior and ravings of Congress. Are any of them listening to what they are saying? Could they possibly believe that we can spend our way out of our morass? If we try and fail (like it will) how will future generations even have a hope to have the life we have had. It is heart-wrenching to witness what may be the end of America as our forefathers intended it to be. The actions of Congress is what will doom fine leaders like Sen. Coburn. We will throw good people out with the bums because we will have no trust or faith left.

Dear James Otis

This patriot from Boston is the man most closely associated with the quote "Taxation without representation is tyranny." He would agree that our legislators have proven to us that taxation with representation is not any better. As this fine man represented the great state of Massachusetts, this edition of the blog will focus on their representatives.

Senators Kennedy and Kerry have a combined 70 years representing Massachusetts. This fact alone should make the case for term limits but when we look a the records of these gentlemen we see a duo that is at the very core of the deficit spending that has plunged us into the current state of our union as they have collaborated on many attempts to spend our money and raise our taxes. Sen. Edward Kennedy is the Godfather of Universal Health Care, having presented this virtually every year since his election during the Kennedy administration. Sen. John Kerry has been a highly adept student of Sen. Kennedy with continual votes on laws that have increased the federal deficit and programs that have led our country to it's current, unsustainable level of spending. This includes Senate Amendment 739 which Sen. Kerry voted against on 3/31/2009 which proposed:

To prohibit the consideration of any budget resolution, or amendment thereto, or conference report thereon, that shows an increase in the public debt, for the period of the current fiscal year through the next 10 years, equal to or greater than the debt accumulated from 1789 to January 20, 2009.

The Massachusetts members of the House of Representatives are not faring any better with consistent Yes votes on TARP, Stimulus and the quietly done but typical for our representatives, HR 2634 which the House passed on 4/16/2008. The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008. What this wonderful piece of legislation is designed to do is forgive 1/2 billion dollars in debts that other countries owe us. It goes a step further in that it states that the United States is now on the hook for another Billion dollars in guarantees to the IMF and World Bank for the loans of other low income countries.

So thank you Massachusetts for making the job of replacing you as the representatives even easier. The research did not uncover any instances of similar generosity toward any American citizens or businesses. This should make the people of the State of Massachusetts wonder just whose side their representatives are really on.

Just another reason why we need to vote them all out of work.

To show that I am not here to pick on Democrats, tomorrow we will examine the the failings of the Oklahoma contingent which is very heavily Republican.

Health Care

There are many sides to the health insurance issue. Let's look at the statistics that have been presented so far:

• The population of the United States is over 300 Million.
• There are between 28 Million and 52 Million people who, by choice or circumstance, do not have health insurance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the number is 45 Million.
  
• There are an estimated 10 Million aliens without health coverage.
• Of those, MIT estimates 6 Million of are undocumented and would not be covered under any of the proposed systems.
• Of the 39 Million lawful residents, 43% or nearly 17 Million people can afford coverage but choose not to buy it.
• The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of reform would top 1 Trillion Dollars over the next decade, while reducing the number of uninsured by 15 Million.
  
• The population of the United States is divided on what path should be taken in reforming health insurance or health care.

Based on the statistics that have been agreed on by both sides of the debate, why is the debate still going on? The coverage is not universal, it is expensive and it will make it more difficult for private companies to compete. There is a quote from an interview in The Post-Journal of Jamestown, NY; Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, that one of the problems with the current health insurance landscape is the lack of competition.

Perhaps the most glaring example of that lack of competition is the Rochester market, where two insurance companies control 94 percent of the market. Not far behind is Ithaca, where the top two insurance companies control 91 percent of the market. In the Buffalo, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda market, the top two insurers control 87 percent of the market.

''We have to introduce more competition,'' Schumer said. ''The lack of competition is what drives up premiums. Introducing further competition into the market will push those prices down for those who are already insured and put health insurance within reach for those who cannot afford it now. Our current system, dominated by private insurance companies, simply has not done the job.''-The Post-Journal Aug. 2, 2009

Perhaps Senator Schumer should have checked with the New York State Insurance Department. He would have uncovered the inconvenient fact is that there are 48 companies or HMO's licensed to sell insurance in the state of New York. How much more competition does Sen. Schumer desire. Or is it that he only wants the not-for-profit government insurance company to be the new competitor?

Why should a government based health care system be a cause for concern? 2 major reasons are that it creates a huge potential for displacing tens of thousands of workers in that field. The second reason is a development from this past weekend.

The president of Cuba, Raul Castro announced Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a floundering economy.

The former defense minister who took over the presidency last year called state spending "simply unsustainable" and said the cash-strapped government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.-AP Aug 1, 2009

That is the most frightening aspect of the whole debate. That your health care could be jeopardized in order to balance the budget. As I have stated in previous posts, our spending is already unsustainable and the government isn't paying for health care yet.

The fact that our legislators are playing us is the reason they need to go. Chuck Schumer is up for re-election in 2010. To the fine citizens of New York I ask you to begin looking for a replacement for him, Senator Gillibrand and the 29 members of the House of Representatives .

What has happened to our federal government?

In the election of 2008 we were promised a change from politics as usual. What we have received is a hyper-progressive group that is determined to bankrupt our country. That in itself is a bad step to take. When you add that it is coupled with more of the same over-spending, micro-managing government we have been experiencing for the past 2 decades then it's time to tell the legislators that we have had enough. This is the call to all Americans to vote out our legislators. All of our lawmakers. I mean mine, yours, your friends and families. Not one of them can be forgiven for taking us down the path of ruin we are headed. WE have a lot of work to undo the damage of the last 20 years and we cannot trust any of the current office holders to do the right thing. Let my blog be the catalyst for action as we reclaim our country.

It is time to tell our federal government that what they consider progress made over the past 20 years is not an acceptable path in preserving our rights, freedoms and the American way of life. Our legislators have mortgaged our future for the get rich quick schemes they accuse the wealthy of taking advantage of. In fact the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Government's auditor, argues that the U.S. is on a fiscally "unsustainable" path and that politicians and the electorate have been unwilling to change this path. According to the Presidents own budget, the federal debt will exceed 90% of the GDP for the first time since the aftermath of WWII and will rise to the point that it will exceed 100% of the GDP in 2011 and 2012. The GDP is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a nation in a year. What that means is that in 2011 and 2012 the federal government will borrow more money than the ENTIRE COUNTRY PRODUCES in each of those years. How in the world do they expect to pay for that gluttony? They have taken us from the largest lender nation to the largest debtor nation in less than 20 years. It is time to replace them. Every one of them, BEFORE THEY WRITE A CHECK THAT WE CANNOT EVER REPAY. We have an opportunity to remake the government that represents the majority. The major parties have, for decades, pandered to the extremes of their political spectrum and those extremes are growing further from the center and further from us. When the parties pander to the extreme 15% of the population that makes up the most vocal half of their party, that leaves 70% of the nation without real representation. We, the 70% the parties have forgotten about, will take back our country and institute an old friend, Common Sense!