Danville, IN, Town Hall with Rep. Steve Buyer (R)

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

Daniel, Hoosier Taxpayer, and CPA to Evan Bayh

August 20, 2009

Senator Bayh,

After reading the attached letter to you from a fellow Hoosier (Whom I have never met), I need to remind you how I feel as well regarding H.R. 3200 “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act” and any similar bill.  My wife and I have written and called Rep Peter Visclosky, Senator Lugar and your self on various topics during 2008 and 2009.  We have received responses from your office and appreciate them.  Since you represent us, we need to understand what you stand for and what you are doing in Washington.

Concern is growing daily over the direction our current President and Congress are taking us.

As a CPA, I believe in small, medium and large business based on my experiences.  Businesses have adjusted extremely quickly to the recession during the last 9 months.  We have cut cost in order to be able to service our customers, pay our vendors and employ as many people as we can considering the current environment.  We are making these changes so that we can return to creating wealth which can be used to reinvest back into our people and communities.  Those that have not been able to adjust because their business models completely broke down have the Bankruptcy System to re-employ the remaining assets into new productive structures.  It would take years for the US Government to adjust operations/spending the way that American Businesses have already been able to. 

My experience also tells me that the smaller businesses can adjust much more quickly than the very large ones.  That is why growing the US Federal Government with Deficit Spending and unavoidable Increased Taxes is UNACCEPTABLE.  Like AIG and GM etc, the US Government is also not TOO BIG TO FAIL.  Like the US Taxpayer Bailouts of AIG and GM only the US Tax Payer will be able to save the US Government causing extreme pain to those Tax Payers.

I say all this to say that the average tax paying Hoosier is against Government Run Health Care in whatever form or language Congress uses.  The larger the US Government grows the less freedom individual Americans have.  The Doctor expressed this very well.

We ask you to vote against any form of Government Run Health Care and any form of Health Care Reform that increases deficits or raises taxes.

Most importantly, whether you vote for or against Government Run Health Care doesn’t really matter.  What matters is if Government Run Health Care passes.  If it passes than you did not do enough to stop it!  Our only alternative than will be to vote you out of office and replace you with someone who represents us.  My family is prepared to spend our time and resources to see that we are represented in Congress now and in the future. 

No we are not a large special interest, we are Americans!  Our individual voice is small but we have remembered how to use it, and there are many of us.  Please hear us and act on our behalf.

Sincerely

Daniel  XXX, CPA

Hoosier Tax Payer and Voter

 

Senator Boxer… A Racist

Liberals… uncovered for what they are

 

A Change We Can Believe In

A quick note on this… It was written at the end of April.. to help put the article in context. 

“A Change We Can Believe In” by Frank

 American citizens came together on April 15^th and participated at Tea Parties around the U.S. to tell our representatives to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the foundation on which our country was formed.  Our thoughts about what the Tea Parties represented to us are as follows:

 What began years ago, is continually changing America, and has accelerated during our lifetime are the following;  The Federal State and local governments, step by step, have taken over our lives becoming stronger and larger than anytime in U.S. history creating unsustainable debt and massive government programs catering to special interests.  Our representatives in Washington and at the State level have put the U.S. in a downward spiraling debt to which we may never recover unless we vote and replace those in our legislative body who are growing this debt.  Quoted from the “Principles of Liberty; The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free market economy and a minimum of government regulations.” America could easily plunge into a severe depression unless we limit government spending and taxation. Our liberties will be gone and our standard of living, the envy of the world, will be reduced to subsistence   Morality and a religious foundation that America was built on are no longer taught in the public schools. (Private and charter schools are the exception.) We now contend with a new world order and a real threat to American culture, the Constitution and our liberties.

 Why have millions of immigrants come to America?  Because they want to live in a country that was built on the “Principles of Liberty” which are written about in the book “A Miracle that Changed the World, the 5000 Year Leap”. Learn how adherence to these principles during the past 233 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5,000 years.”  Please read the 28 “Principles of Liberty” listed at the end of these comments.  Also, a must read is “Liberty and Tyranny”, by Mark Levin.  Even President Obama’s mother knew to send her young son back to America to get a better education and standard of living than Indonesia could offer him.

 So if the Principles of Liberty, our Constitution and the foundation of America are such a blessing to the human race, why are we allowing our elected representatives to grow the government and subject us to intolerable debt that will put our generation and the next generations into economic slavery?  That is a question all of us must ask ourselves.  Who is to blame?  Probably most of us are to blame.  Is it too late to turn this ship around?  Our Constitution and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers gave us a system of checks and balances adopted to prevent the abuse of power. The Tea Parties were the first step. What we can do is contact our representatives and remind them about the Principles of Liberty and how our Constitution is not being upheld.   We can express our views and remind our representatives that they work for us, not that we work for them.   We can organize and educate each other, the American public (which includes the millions of recent American citizens and those waiting to become citizens) about what is occurring in our legislative process, those liberties that we are losing and the unsustainable debt we are facing. We need to act, to expose the abuses and put the pressure on our legislators to regain what is rightfully ours; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We need all Americans to stand up and fight to help preserve this great country.

 95% of the citizens approached in our region of Indiana agreed with the Tea Party principals.  Some could not come to the Tea Parties for various reasons but they were there in spirit.  So Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Tea Parties are not an “astroturf movement” as you so eloquently stated, they are a grassroots movement.  Newt Gingrich stated on Fox News that he thinks “30% of Americans want the massive growth of the new administrations government programs, 70% do not.”   I would think that the 30% who want this massive growth of government will not want it when they see the results 10 years down the road.   The debt is unsustainable and they and their descendents will suffer from the current administrations’ actions.

 We are the silent majority. Many of us have our ancestral roots with the founding fathers and the patriots that fought during the American Revolution, who framed the Constitution and helped bring this great nation into existence.  We also have in our families those that served and some who have died to preserve American freedom.  We are not cowards as the present administration would want the world to believe. So we say, don’t poke the bear.  

 Both political parties are at fault.  It was under both of their watches that the spending went out of control, government meddled too much in the market place and the laws already on the books were not being enforced.  

 However, the present administration is creating potentially disastrous scenarios.  Many voters admit they made a mistake by voting for an administration that within 90 days: 

1. Voted in a far left socialist agenda;
2. Who is apologizing for America and saying we are an arrogant people and a nation of cowards;
3. Who is growing our debt and creating massive government programs that will spiral out of control;
4. Cutting defense spending to the bone and severely weakening our military defenses;
5. The new head of Homeland Security stating in a report “the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their community could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks;
6. An administration that is unwilling to drill for oil here in America or build nuclear facilities to make us energy independent from foreign influences. They want us to depend on expensive solar panels, windmills that can be blown away in a tornado, grow corn for fuel which should be used for food, and to put air in our tires. Even though alternative energy sources can add to our energy needs, developing them exclusively will greatly weaken our economy.
7. Government taking over businesses, firing CEO’s, controls what someone in the private sector can earn.
8. Giving up Jefferson’s great American experiment.

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) By Craig Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Apr. 1–WASHINGTON — Many of the foreign leaders meeting with President Barack Obama at Thursday’s G-20 summit in London believe the global recession has discredited “U.S.-style” laissez-faire capitalism and want America to take a more activist and “European” approach to regulating financial markets.

But back home, conservatives have been making a different argument about the U.S. and European systems.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Janesville and other Republicans have assailed Obama’s budget as an effort to “Europeanize” America.

“This budget does propose to bring us toward a European-style form of government,” Ryan said Tuesday at a forum organized by the libertarian Cato Institute, as Congress began debate this week on the federal budget.

Ryan put the case more pointedly at a committee meeting last week, saying the Democratic budget plans could alter “the unique character of America and Americans” and trade “much of our freedom in exchange for Washington taking over much of our lives.”

Said Ryan: “If we accept this path and this agenda comes to pass, it will mark this period in our history as the moment where we begin to give up on Jefferson’s great American experiment, and transition to the European model will begin in earnest.”

 An administration whose health care reform is creating the largest government power grab in American History.  From the Heritage Foundation website, an article “Quoting from Learning from Vermont on health care” by Dennis G.  Smith  “President Obama’s health care budget proposal is large but surprisingly unimaginative. It depends on old-fashioned, populist, “soak the rich” tax hikes combined with technocratic tinkering with administrative payment and new software in anticipation of program savings. It does very little to change America’s flawed public and private third-party payment arrangements, where value is secured for “payers,” not individual patients. If the President wants to affect real change—and secure value for individual patients rather than third party payers—he should take concrete steps to transfer direct control over health care dollars and decisions to individuals and families.”  

 Etc, etc.  the list goes on and on.

 Whoever voted for this administration did not do their homework, nor did they understand what or who they were voting for; likewise for past administrations’ policies and leadership mistakes. In a year and half we can vote in economically fiscal conservatives, those that would govern by the constitution and begin to correct these mistakes; or at least slow down some of the damage that has been done.  But it will take much effort and sacrifice.  It may mean activities such as a nationwide march on Washington D.C.  Everyone needs to jump on board, for change is coming and together we can make it happen.

 A book called “A Miracle that Changed the World, the 5000 Year Leap: Principles of Freedom 101” author W. Cleon Skousen.   Ronald Reagan-President of the United States stated  “The National Center for Constitutional Studies.. is doing a fine public service in educating Americans about the principles of the Constitution.”

 In this book are emphasized 28 governing points that we should ponder as we participate in our Tax Tea Parties.

 “Principles of Liberty: Learn how adherence to these principles during the past 200 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5,000 years. 

1.  The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural     Law.

2.  Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right of property is secure.

3.  The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest.

4.  The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.

5.  A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.

6 The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.

7. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free market economy and a minimum of government regulations.

8. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to the government, all others being retained in the people.

9.  Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.

10. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.

11.  All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible.

12.  All men are created equal.

13. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

14.  To protect man’s rights, God has revealed certain principles of divine law.

15. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.

16. The United States of America shall be a republic.

17. A constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human fragilities of their rulers.

18. The government should be separated into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

19. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power.

20. The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written constitution.

21. Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.

22. Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.

23. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.

24. A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.

25. A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.

26. “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations: entangling alliances with none”.

27. The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity.

28. The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to the entire human race.”

 

Health Care Takeover… It’s the Ideology Stupid

Healthcare Take Over.. It’s the Ideology Stupid

By: Jeff Petersen

Today many around the nation are rallying together to make their voices heard in opposition to the idea of Uncle Sam taking over the health care industry. I know that many do not like to call it a take over but that is exactly what it is. The liberal left hates the idea of individual choice unless it deals with women killing their unborn babies. The liberal left loves bureaucracy. The liberal left hates freedom. The voices that are rising up today are not those of the liberal left but of working (well some may be out of a job at the moment) Americans who hold to the idea that our Constitution does not support the government taking over any part of the private sector; not the auto industry, and certainly not health care.

From 1200EST-1:00PM EST, grassroots movements around the country will be protesting at government offices across the nation. The Tea Party Patriots are one of these groups. The truth of the matter is that everyone who reads this article (maybe it will only reach 300 people) should make an effort to keep this “reform” from happening. So if you were unable (like I am) to make it to one of the protests, then call the Senators and the Representative that represent you. You can find their contact information by clicking the link contact your representative right here on my blog.

In doing some research I found that the House version of this bill actually has a provision in it that will allow community organizations (read ACORN) to survey you based on your weight, your lifestyle, and your need for health care! My dear readers, this is yet another power grab by a hungry group of statists and progressives who truly believe that Big Brother can run your life better than you can. The liberal left wants to control your healthcare; this same liberal left is in full support of allowing women to kill their unborn babies on demand and is often found on the side of supporting euthanasia. Do you want this type of person making life and DEATH decisions for you? Remember that the socialist/communist mantra is based on the good of the community not the individual. If these are the people who run healthcare you would do well to never get sick and to stay productive (helping the community).

This legislation is also very expensive. I will not address the idea that healthcare is a right in this particular article. The bill that passed the House does not even satisfy the goal of insuring every American. What will happen is we will spend the money of working men and women to the tune of at least 1.5 trillion dollars. 1,500,000,000,000 dollars.  How is spending 1.5 trillion dollars going to save people money?  If taxes must be raised to pay for this behemoth legislation how is that saving people money?  Then there is the fear that 1.5 trillion is actually what it will cost or if the bureaucracy, that is sure to rise out of this system, doesn’t drive the costs higher. That is what happened with Medicare. I am sure history won’t repeat itself.

Another thing to consider is how invasive this new legislation will be. This bill is more about ideology than it is about practicality. It is about taking away choices away from individuals and giving them to a bureaucrat. It will no longer be a question about what your doctor thinks, or even what you think. Uncle Sam will decide if you really need to have that lump looked at. You are fooling yourself if you don’t think an Excel spreadsheet will be used to figure out if you are worthy of healthcare… put age into cell A1, weight into cell C44, taxes paid in last FY in cell AA22, political affiliation in cell R1. Presto.. coverage denied.

Lastly, it is about closing down the private sector. This bill, in tandem with Cap and Trade, is designed to repress small businesses and entrepreneurs. I know it is hard to believe but the liberal left is for BIG business. Why? Because BIG business can be manipulated. This bill is a scam. It is meant to drive private insurance companies out of the private sector. It is simply a lie that the progressives do not want to take full control. Of course they do. Though most people are unaware, there is a big push by the left to cease 401ks and replace them with an upgraded social security program. The liberal left and our political elite feel that you, the working men and women of our country, need to be managed. Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves.

This is a fundamental right we have as citizens of the United States. I am calling on you to fight for our country. My children are depending on you. Call, call, fax, fax, email, write, call your Senators… your representative… Let them know.. That you, the American taxpayer, have had ENOUGH.

 

Why YOU SHOULD BE Concerned with what Happened to Palin

What Happened Once will Happen Again

By: Esther Petersen

 I got involved  in a discussion with a group of Campaign for Liberty supporters and some people from the Constitution party who were down right GLEEFUL at what happened to Palin and it got me to thinking about the extremes that were equally thrilled with her demise……the ultra-right wing and the modern day Feminist. Amazing, isn’t it, how extremes are so likely to circle back together?

 Why Conservatives and Feminists SHOULD be upset with Palin’s resignation:

 I contend, as a person who did not vote for the McCain/Palin ticket, that those in this country who do care about statesmanship SHOULD be very upset by the Palin resignation. Why? Because her resignation shows a triumph of the cruelly liberal left driving someone out of the public eye because that person dared to be the antithesis of what the liberal left media THOUGHT they should be.

 Sarah Palin is someone the status quo liberal despises because she is a woman who does not hold up women like Betty Freidan, Gene Boyer, Mary Eastwood, Margaret Sanger, or Carol Sue Weathers as the “heroic” women who changed the course of her life. No, Sarah Palin does not look to these “feminist icons” for her inspiration. Palin was not inspired to run for political office to assert the feminist ideal or because she wanted to further a feminist agenda. She ran as (gasp, horror) a pro-life, conservative woman. Because she DARED the sacrilege of opposing that most sacred feminist institution (the right to kill your baby if that is what you feel like doing), she immediately put a big bulls eye on her back and the media took aim. The onslaught began with: Who is Trig’s real mother? If Bristol is Trig’s mom, then is it possible that Todd is the father and that is why he has Down’s syndrome? Does Trig have Downs’ because his mother neglected her prenatal care? Would not Trig have been better off had she done the responsible thing and aborted him? After that, came the onslaught of her intelligence, or lack thereof: She was called “disabled”, a “redneck”, a “a bad b-list porn actress”, she has been called a MILF, she has been called a word I refuse to even type, and she has of course been called the favorite buzz word always lobbed at anyone with a conservative slant…….stupid.

 They did not just take aim on Sarah Palin; they took aim on her family as well. The children of candidates have always been protected by the unspoken political rule that the shots can be taken at the candidate and the candidate’s spouse (in recent years) but the children are off limits. Not so, with Palin’s children: Trig was called the “devil baby”, jokes were made about statutory rape concerning her second daughter, her children were NEVER granted the same “hands of policy” of all other children from political families. Even now, amid the Sanford scandal, the Sanford sons have their faces blurred every time a picture of the family comes on the screen. This is done out of respect for the children. Palin’s children received no such respect.

 I have heard Palin derided by conservatives because she did not stay home with her children, a valid point considering the religious context in which that opinion is given.  I am not saying that I completely agree with that position, but I do understand the background in theological thought for those that hold that position.   I have also heard FEMINISTS make the exact same argument which I find laughably ironic. Feminists are both angered and afraid of what she represents; a woman who does not conform to the mold the feminist agenda feels is appropriate. I find the diatribe of virulent hatred irritating on the feminist side and disturbing on the conservative side. Did Palin make mistakes? Yes, she did. She should have been as strong in her knowledge of foreign policy as she was on energy independence. Even though I believe she was mishandled by the McCain campaign due to the jealousy her popularity produced, she could have educated herself much better on her weaker issues. That being said, make no mistake that most of those early in their political life will not know every detail of every issue that faces our nation. It takes years to cultivate that, as Obama is now learning. Her second mistake was, after the election, she should have immediately stopped giving any “personal interest” stories to the likes of Greta VanSusteren, and focused her interviews solely on how current domestic and foreign policy would impact her state. She did not do either of those things and I do believe that she had a hand in her own current political situation. She will most likely never be considered a viable candidate by those who believe her sex is an immediate disqualifier, and she certainly will never be a favored candidate by the feminists because she is diametrically opposed to their agenda. Yet both of these groups should be concerned with what happened to Sarah Palin.

 Feminists should be worried that the existence of Sarah Palin’s active uterus was an immediate deterrent for so many people. They should be concerned that references such as I outlined above were acceptable forms of description for a woman who dared to enter the political realm. Any self-respecting feminist should find the myriad of comments made concerning Sarah Palin’s looks to be in no way conducive to a furthering of the stated feminist goal as outlined in this statement, “is not a problem with certain angry and difficult women, it is a program for liberation and a vision of justice for all. – Batzell”. If the feminist or liberal does not like Palin based on her political stances, fine, the problem, from a feminist view point, is that Palin was attacked far more on the peripheral of her looks than she was on her record or policies. When is the last time you witnessed this kind of an attack on a male candidate?

 Conservatives, you stand to lose the most with the kind of attacks that the Palin family has endured since October of 2008. I have already listed many of the attacks the family received so I will not go through them again. I will ask: where were the bloggers and the press when Bidens’s daughter was in a picture that seemed to suggest she was doing crack? What if that had been Bristol in the photograph? Where are the “all meant in good humorous fun” jokes concerning Michelle Obama’s looks and the statutory rape of one of her daughters? The press was no where to be seen with Ashley Biden and there would have been an outcry had it been Michelle and Malia Ann sitting in the stands of the Yankees game that night. Conservatives, the question you have to ask yourself is this: What if Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, or Ron Paul were able to garner enough support to make a true run at the White House? Because we were not loud enough in opposition, and in some cases joined in on the complete war on the Palin family in the press, would those families now be forced to endure the same level of virulence and slander just for being willing to stand in the gap? What if a man or woman out there is willing stand up and run for Congress, Senate, Governor, ect. on a staunchly pro-constitution/pro-family platform? The door has been opened for the media to declare an open season on YOUR family because you DARE to think outside their conventional little box. Allowing the media to get away with their never ending onslaught of Sarah Palin has given them the green light to continue their attacks on ALL conservative people, and it will not end. Those who participate in the Tea Parties have already been called a vulgar name with no ramifications, so the media WILL continue that onslaught. Any conservative woman who dares to speak her opinion in opposition to the feminist platform will be opening up both herself and her family to obscene and frightening hatred.  Many “so called” feminists have sat silent in the onslaught of Palin based solely on her sex because they simply did not agree with her opinions and policies.   Many conservative men have shown that they are willing to sit on their collective hands and allow a courageous woman to be attacked in this vicious manner because it simply is not her place to speak out. In sitting on those hands or simply remaining silent, however, you also open the door for YOUR family to be slandered, should you ever decide to do more than just complain about the state of your country. When we, as conservatives, remained silent on the Palin attacks, we hurt ourselves.

 Again, I did not vote for the McCain/Palin ticket as I am not a fan of John McCain. It is the “Palin deserved what she got” mentality I am hearing among conservatives that I find truly disturbing. I am glad that she was willing to speak to many of the issues that concern me. It is a shame that more Conservatives are not stepping up to the plate. But does the fault for that really lie with Palin or with the Conservatives who are content to complain about the state of the country rather than do something about it?”

 

Getting Involved with Politics at the Local Level

I apologize for the stagnant blog. From time to time things come up in life that simply cannot wait. That being said I have a few articles already to go for the site.

The following was obtained by a fella I call Don of Indy. I think it is a good read for a couple of reasons. 1. It gives you insight into the current apathy in our country; 2. It gives encouragement to those who are attempting to make a difference. Enjoy JP:

Hey Folks,

I attended the Townhall meeting today at the White River Branch of the Greenwood Library. State Rep (R) David Frizzell was also in attendance with Burton. Other than Tea Party events, this was my first attempt at politics since I moved back to Indiana in Sept 06. There were 12 – 15 of us in the audience. I was surprised at the small turnout, in my estimation. But, that bubble was busted immediately, by Burton’s and Frizzell’s opening remarks, “In at least 7 years, this is the largest turn out for a Townhall meeting that they had seen; usually only two or three people show up.” I though to myself, “no wonder this country is in such bad shape with so little public interest and apparent apathy.”

I found the meeting to be interesting, enlightening, and educational. I would recommend all of you to start attending future townhall meetings. They really do listen and inform. The meeting lasted about an hour, but, seemed longer. That is not a negative, a real positive point. So much was discussed in such a short time that it seemed much longer. I came away refreshed and encouraged, because even outside of our Tea Party groups, there is a lot of similar sentimentality.

Now to some specifics of the discussion:

The start off subject was the State Budget. They laid out enough background to help me understand the infighting that went on in the State House and to give me a better feel of how things (generally) operate between the four caucuses (Reps and Dems in House and the Reps and Dems in the Senate). We should congratulate ourselves because we are one of only eight states to pass a balanced budget. [You have probably seen the national discussion of “bailout” for states that cannot budget for themselves.] This led to an explanation of the troubles in coming to a compromised bipartisan agreement on the budget.

I’m sure that all members of our group know that the Indiana House is run by a one man rule, Speaker of the House, State Rep (D) B. Patrick Bauer (South Bend). The Dems (read Bauer) wanted to add lots of unfunded items and to raise taxes. But, and this is an important point, both Burton and Frizzell made a point of congratulating us, the audience, for causing a change to business as usual. And, I want to pass this on to all.

When the Special Session was convened and was stalemated by Bauer, as a result, the House was deluged with emails, phone calls, and faxes to the point that the systems had to be shut down. All of it directed to individual reps and mostly directly at Bauer. So overwhelming was the mail, plus a couple of editorial in the Media, caused Bauer to realize that he was pissing off too many people so he recused himself from the budget discussion.  His stepping aside allowed the Rep and Dem members of the house to come to a compromised budget that was balanced and had a $1 billon reserve, and not new, or raised, taxes.

I make this point, not just because Burton and Frizzell thanked us, but, because I personally hope that all of you understand that enough voices can make a difference. So if you were one of those who spoke out, pat yourself on the back.

This discussion about Bauer, led to my shinning moment, in my opinion. As a follow-up, I asked both of them what they, and the other Republican members of the House, and the State Repub Com are doing to unseat Bauer and to regain control of the House? I must admit their answers were more than a tad disappointing. Both agreed that winning majority control at the next election was a given, and both talked about what “they” will do when they win. They plan to redistrict the state along geographic areas, not along political affiliations, as is the current districting, which was done by the Dems. Even after pressing, I was left wondering at to ‘how’ they plan to win the majority.

$823 million of the new State budget goes for education, but, most of audience discussion concerned the out of control school board in Center Grove and Franklin. Building Taj Mahal’s was the main issue. But, changes which require school boards to get public approval thru referendums are supposed to solve the problem.

Property Tax cap was discussed, and both promised to push for a State Constitution amendment to limit property taxes to 1% of accessed value. Both pointed out that the Dems are trying to make pools, decks, gazebos, etc, separate and taxable separately.

Increased benefits for Vets was discussed, and I, as a Vet, am pleased.

2nd Amendment was endorsed by both.

Most of the remaining discussion centered on individual/local issues. i.e. extra curricular activities at schools should be self funding.

I did make a point to both Burton and Frizzell, that there are 18+ Tea Party related groups in Indiana. We represent an untapped resource and many members are ready and willing to help take back our state and our country.

One last note, this meeting reinforced my opinion that it is the squeaky wheel that gets oiled. Speak out and make your voice heard. They really do listen, even when they do not answer you mail.

Don of Indy

“One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence.” Charles A. Beard (1874-1948)

….To answer the question of “how will we get the majority back?” … it will be through good and decent people who have common sense about them… they will show up to the polls and escort some of these folks out of office.  JP

 

“Nothing but a Propaganda Machine”

Recently, Bill O’Reilly appeared on Glenn Beck’s show to discuss the disparity between the “Earth Day” coverage and the TEA Party Day coverage.

Everybody knows that NBC and MSNBC is totally in the tank for Barack Obama, and has been ever since he became the Democrat candidate for Presidency. But this goes deeper than just the heads of NBC being politically or idealogically aligned with liberal politicians! As Beck and O’Reilly explain, NBC and MSNBC are owned by GE… which makes wind turbines and other “green” things… which they hope to be able to sell to companies if and when the “Cap and Trade” legislation passes.

This is quid pro quo. Dirty Chicago politics gone national. NBC/MSNBC promoting — heavily promoting — politicians and policies that will eventually serve to make them billions.

Any wonder why Barack Obama wasted 9000+ gallons of fuel flying half-way across the country to deliver an “Earth Day” speech in front of a wind turbine, when he could have saved all that fuel (and time, and money, and Secret Service activity) delivering a “save the planet” speech from the White House?

 

Citizen ABUSED, when will we start moving our representatives out?

Below is a story from an involved citizen in the great state of Indiana. I KNOW it is a long read but I ask that you take the time to do so. I have not edited it. I was SO upset after reading this I felt compelled to share it with all of my readers. This story happened back in 2007. This Senator is STILL in power. For now……

I can tell you for a fact that Lugar is FOR amnesty and virtually anything else that rewards illegal aliens. He proudly displays a framed picture of him receiving an award from La Raza in his office. I’ve been to his Indy office many times, along with likeminded friends at times, and have called more times than I can count. I have been told, and yelled at, by his staff that:

1) Being against amnesty is an emotion driven, knee-jerk reaction of uneducated constituents. There is NO reason anyone would be against it.

2) Myself and likeminded Hoosiers are just too simple to understand the big picture or the process of government the way Lugar and other amnesty supporters do.

3) Lugar doesn’t work for his constituents. He’s sent to Washington to do what HE thinks best, regardless of what the majority of his constituents demand or desire. (I kid you not. His staffer said those exact words to me “The Senator is not in Washington to do what his constituents want.”)

Here is the report I wrote after my last visit to Lugar’s office, which was awful, in June, 2007. I dissolved into tears at one point and was so stressed from this incident that I suffered a shingles outbreak the next day (something that always happens with extreme – and I do mean extreme – stress.) I shared this with bloggers, family and friends. ~ Tish

The four of us met outside Lugar’s and Bayh’s offices at around 9 a.m. Our plan was to go into each Senator’s office and register our opposition to SB 1639, the Grand Amnesty, and to formally request that each Senator vote against cloture on that bill later that morning.

I expected to have the same experiences I’ve had in the past: a staffer takes notes of our points, our suggestions, and our requests, followed by a shaking of hands all around and a quick exit from the office; nothing but a semi-friendly exchange of time for all. That is not what happened at all.

The meeting in Lugar’s office, which was conducted with two Lugar staffers, Lane Ralph, Deputy State Director, and Bob Healey, Staff Assistant, started out with Cheree giving points of why we were against the bill. They listened politely – at first.

When I suggested that it was “sheer lunacy” (my words exactly) for our Senators to even be debating amnesty for 12 to 20 million illegals and doubling legal immigration at a time when our system couldn’t even keep up with our current immigration, Lane Ralph said that was my “philosophy” and dismissed me with a wave of his hand. He said, none too friendly, he wasn’t here to discuss philosophical issues. I said it was “reality,” not merely my philosophy and that the people of Indiana agreed with me. I said 90% of the people in Indiana are against amnesty and want our borders secured. He yelled – yelled – “80% of the people in Indiana want change!” He shook his head in a cocky sort of way as he said it. I came back with, “EXACTLY! Giving amnesty is what has always been done. It’s maintaining the status quo.” His intellectual response was, “No it isn’t.” “Sure it is!” I said. He then leaned toward me (he was sitting directly to my right) and condescendingly “explained” what status quo meant, as if to suggest I was too stupid to understand the term. He said it very slowly, as if he was speaking to a mentally impaired person, “Status quo means ‘no change’.” “Yes,” I said, “this will be the 8th amnesty in 20 years. The change people want is for current laws to be enforced.” How the idiot could even suggest with a straight face that giving amnesty is not the same ol’, same ol’ is beyond me!

At this point, rather than discussing something substantive, or doing his job which was to take notes so he could give our message to the Senator, he was more comfortable with insulting me yet again, as if pretending my comments were nothing more than the “philosophical” rantings of an ignorant, mentally impaired woman weren’t enough of an insult. He said, “That is an emotional issue! This shouldn’t be an emotional issue!” I said, “Excuse me, but it is an emotional issue for many and,” kind of laughingly, I said, “I’m not a robot; if you rouse my emotions, you’re gonna see them.” He said, “Well, perhaps you’d be better of discussing this some other place then.” Cheree said, “Oh? Where should we be discussing this issue?” He responded, “Emotional counseling.” I looked at Cheree with a “WTF?!” look on my face because I could not believe what I was hearing. The cat had caught my tongue! I was so shocked that I couldn’t respond.

Helen spoke at length about various things and the entire time she spoke, he would shout over her, as though he was trying to “out” her as ignorant or something. He would aggressively shout over her, throw out demanding questions as if trying to get her to reveal that she didn’t really know what she was talking about. I watched him as he did this, half thinking of striking him, and I noticed his hands were shaking as he yelled. I started wondering if he was, perhaps, a bit unstable because of the amount of outpouring from the public over this issue. Poor staffer, made to deal with the unruly, uneducated, unwashed pestilence called the “American people.” As the meeting progressed, he made it abundantly clear that was HIS philosophy!

When Cheree made the comment about the unusual process the Senate was taking in their attempts to shove amnesty down our throats, Lane Ralph practically jumped out of his chair and, condescendingly, shouted, “You’re wrong! That’s the system. That’s the way the system works! Republicans do it to Democrats when they’re in charge and Democrats do it to Republicans when they’re in charge! That’s our system and it happens all the time!” From all of us came the question, “So Senators pass laws they don’t read all the time?!” He continued yelling “No, they don’t read every word of every bill, but someone does! Senators read summaries of the bills.” He then went into a missive about how our government works. How amendments are made to make bills better or fix them when they’re bad, etc. Cheree said that Senators weren’t being allowed to offer amendments, that they were cherry picked by a select few. Again, he yelled “That’s how it works!”

At this point, Cheree, being every bit as upset as I was, grabbed the picture of her son and said that if that was the system, it was WRONG. She held up the picture. For a moment, I thought she was going to start crying. Bless her heart, she let them have it! “This is my son. He has served and bled for this country, and he’s still being treated at Walter Reed for injuries received in Iraq. He has to fight to get anything from the government. He was just turned down by our government for occupational rehab therapy. His chosen career was law enforcement, but now he’s blind in one eye because of his service to the country. The government is denying him help, but is trying to give rights to people who have broken our laws! Don’t you tell me what’s going on is “right”! She slid the picture across the table and she was angry as hell. The only one who bothered to pick up Troy’s picture was Bob Healey. He asked a few questions about him, like how old he was, and laid the picture down. If my memory serves me correctly, Lane Ralph never glanced at the picture. He wasn’t there for anything but a fight, it seemed. I know I most likely have Cheree’s comments botched, but that was the gist of them. I felt like standing up and applauding when she was done!

I think it was at this time that Tina said that Senator Lugar should listen to and respect the wishes of his constituents. Lane Ralph began yelling something at her again, something about “hundreds of years ago when this government was formed, Senators were sent to do what they felt was best for their constituents.” I smarted off, “Oh oh, that’s a philosophical issue,” but he apparently didn’t hear me because he kept ranting. I interrupted and said things aren’t like they were 100 years ago and that Senators have the ability to learn how their constituents feel. I said a law should be introduced where issues have to be put before the people of the states and that Senators should be forced to vote accordingly. He whipped his head around to look at me, and demanded, “Oh! Like the 55 mph laws?!” Not sure what he was trying to get at, I said yes, maybe “sure”, I don’t really remember. He snorted, like he had “caught” me being stupid or something and yelled, “Oh yeah! People really follow THAT law, don’t they?” and turned away. Again I looked at Cheree and said quietly, “I’m ready to go. This isn’t getting anywhere.”

I didn’t get up to leave because I didn’t want to be rude or leave my group. I couldn’t understand much of what was said after that, except those times I smartassishly piped in, “And yet ANOTHER philosophical issue!” or “Oh, that’s your philosophy.” I remember I said that when he felt it necessary to give us uneducated four a history lesson in government and immigration, particularly at those points when he said everyone who had ever come to America was an “illegal,” that “we are all immigrants,” and that we didn’t know who the indigenous peoples of this land were, that it might even be the Hispanics who are coming here illegally. The man wasn’t there to discuss philosophies – except his own.

The point was made again that the Senator wasn’t listening to Hoosiers on this issue, as evidenced by his votes, and he blew his lid. He was glaring at Tina, I believe, and shouting, “Don’t we take your names, addresses and numbers when you contact us?! We don’t do it because WE want to, we do it BECAUSE THE SENATOR REQUESTS THAT INFORMATION!!! The Senator gets a list every day of those who contact us and why they contacted us!!!!” He was slamming the tip of his finger on the notepad in front of him as he yelled.

I finally had enough of his shouting, arguing, condescension and outright contempt towards us. I said, “That’s it!” and jumped up to leave. I knocked the chair over backwards. I said, “Sorry about the chair,” none too friendly, as I picked it up. I think I told Cheree I was going to the restroom, I don’t really remember. I just had to get away from that condescending, shouting maniac before I did something to land myself in jail. I stormed out, closing the door without taking any precautions to make sure it shut quietly. I found the restroom and my husband called seconds after I walked in. As soon as I heard his voice, I started bawling. I hate getting that angry. And then when it makes me cry, which it always does, I get even angrier for not being strong enough not to cry. I hollered, vented really, in hubby’s ears for a couple of minutes and started working on calming down. I washed my hands, wiped the tears away, and left the restroom to walk around and compose myself. Once that was done, I headed back up to Lugar’s office. I walked in and went straight to the conference room. When I walked through the door, the shouting maniac, Lane Ralph, was standing there as the meeting was coming to an end. He said, “Oh, hey, I’m sorry.” It didn’t seem genuine in the least. I responded through clenched lips which had begun quivering again, threatening tears because I was so angry, “I didn’t come here for a civics lesson. I didn’t come here for a history lesson and I didn’t come here for condescension.” He turned around and walked away. I turned and shook Bob Healey’s hand and said, as Lane Ralph stood on the far side of the conference table, “It was a pleasure meeting YOU,” and thanked him for his time. The next time I looked over, I saw Lane Ralph leaving the conference room through a back door. Good.

The whole experience was a negative, infuriating one. It left me drained and shaking. I’m shaking now, just typing this brief and remembering.

While Mr. Healey was much more friendly and affable than Lane Ralph, he still approached us from the perspective that we were really just too stupid to understand how things really work. He went through a rather lengthy explanation of how the contacts to the Senator’s office are logged and sent to the Senator at one point in the discussion. What they refuse to understand is that no one cares HOW it’s done! If the Senator is going to ignore what the large majority of his constituents want anyway, it makes no difference HOW it’s done or even IF it is done!

None of us deserved the treatment Mr. Ralph unleashed on us that day. We did not go to our Senator’s office to argue, to receive a history lesson, a civics lesson, or to be dismissed as irrelevant and ignorant. Thanks to Lane Ralph, that is precisely what happened.

It was quite clear that these staffers were more interested in telling us HOW to think and intimidating us into adopting their stance rather than listening to anything we had to say. And when we said things they didn’t like or with which they disagreed, the tactic of the day was to scream and insult us.

When we left the office, we met outside to kind of gather ourselves. We couldn’t believe what had just happened. I went to put some change in the parking meter because I had only filled up 40 minutes’ worth at around 9 a.m. The meter showed that my time ran out 59 minutes before. We had been in there for approximately an hour and a half.

I don’t know if Lane Ralph was merely at his breaking point because of the stress of his duties and the pressure from the public or not. I’m inclined to think his treatment of us is merely an extension of his boss’ view towards us, “Those pesky Americans! Why can’t they sit down, shut up and leave us smart people alone so we can do our job?!” They don’t realize that WE are their employers. I hope Hoosiers join me in reminding them at every opportunity that they WORK FOR US and WE PAY THEM. We aren’t their “subjects,” though it’s very clear that is how they would prefer it to be

_______________________________________________________________________________________
IN 2010 WE THE PEOPLE WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND ALL OF DC WHO IS STILL IN CHARGE!

JP

 

Next Steps… what can we do after the Tea Parties?

Next Steps….

It seems like in the past few days there are a tremendous amount of posts about where do we go after April 15th. April 15th will be a day where hundreds of thousands of protestors will unite against:

The bailouts/stimulus packages that were passed
Wasteful Spending
Higher Taxes that are coming and are already here
Unconstitutional Laws being passed

There are probably other things that many people are concerned about. I would like to hear from you about what your ideas are for POST April 15th. My idea is that we organize a 3 day march on Washington DC next summer… not on a Holiday but in the middle of a working week. The other idea is that we boot some incumbent politicians both Dems and Republicans in the primaries and instead elect some grassroots candidates.

Let me hear your ideas.

https://conservative74.wordpress.com/

JP