Steve Buyer learns about The Apollo Alliance

Who writes the bills? Who is the Apollo Alliance? A high school student asks Congressman Steve Buyer – if HR 3200 passes, and salaries for physicians are capped, what motivation does he have to enter med school?

 

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

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

Grass-roots vs. Astro-Turf

Read about the double standard in this article by Michelle Malkin.

 

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.

 

Another TEA Party letter from Knoxville, TN

Term limits urged for all politicians

I am a great-grandmother who attended the inspiring patriotic Knoxville Tea Party.

I am an angry American who is witnessing our country being destroyed in less than 100 days of the Barack Obama administration.

As a nation, we must return to the God-given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness as provided in the Declaration of Independence.

The grassroots movement by ordinary people must save our freedom in America. We must have limited government–of the people, for the people and by the people.

Term limits for all politicians.

Mary Sanders
Harriman

published in the Knoxville News Sentinel, May 2009

 

Letter to the Editor, Knoxville

Entitled Tea partier is not would-be terrorist

I have been described as the whining rich, arrogant, redneck, astro-roots, would-be, could-be terrorist by the media.

In reality, I am a 78 year-old grandmother who participated in the Knoxville Tea Party.

I worked 33 years for AT&T and earned a pension and am considered in the poverty category.

Everything I buy is taxed. Food is a necessity–a big tax burden out of my budget.

I fear for my grandchildren and their load of our government debt.

My sign said, “Stop Bankrupting America.”

I want the best for my country and pray that we are not headed on the road to socialism and international law.

Ruth Yetsko
Harriman

published in the Knoxville News Sentinel on May 9, 2009

 

Toxic Asset Plan. Obama has saved the day.

500 points up.  Why are investors in banks so happy today?  Shouldn’t this wonderful plan put an end to these senseless Tea Party’s?  The Democrats and Moderate Republicans were right all along.  Socialism is the answer.  Bigger Government will bail out America.

 

Or were they?

 

Why are investors so thrilled with putting money into banks?  Because Uncle Sam just rolled out a plan basically letting all of the people who responsible for this mess off the hook, that’s why.  In reading about this plan it calls on private investors to buy up “toxic assets” and the government would take a large share of the risk.  The government is going to subsidize the risk.  That does not sound like a free market solution.  Call me crazy but this does seem like a good deal to everyone except….. drum roll please… the tax payer!  Initially they are talking about using 100 billion taxpayer dollars but do not be fooled they are hoping to invest 500-700 billion into this project.  The only reason they are not asking for the money now is because they know that John and Jane taxpayer have had enough.  Maybe we were a bit premature in calling off the Tea Party’s.  Maybe the everyday working man and woman are getting screwed yet again.

 

Lets explore this just a little bit further in defining what these “toxic assets” really are.  Hold onto your seats but if you boil all the murky water away and clear away the smoke you basically have a group of people who borrowed money they could not afford to pay and banks that should not have made the loans.  Remember when everyone was so upset when Obama rolled out his plan to help people who were about to default on their mortgages?  Remember how everyone was so angry about it?  This new plan that was rolled out today is basically the same thing except on steroids and without actually helping anyone stay in their home.  The good ole boys on the Hill are teaming with the good ole boys on Wall street.  They forgot to invite us to the party.

 

I don’t mean to harp but here is what you need to be telling your Representative and Senators:

 

Get out of the private sector.  Stop telling me that America is too fragile to handle AIG being put into receivership.  Stop spending money you do not have to bail out irresponsible people.  Balance the budget.  Right size government *hint* you guys are going the wrong way.

 

I will be writing a letter on this and will post it.  Feel free to copy and paste and use my link on the left to get in touch with your politicians who represent you.