The Problem with Senators...

As many of you know I call my wayward junior Senator on a monthly basis to express my disappointment with whatever it is he is doing wrong this month. Well in true clueless electronic fashion Mark’s has sent out a form letter that completely ignores the core issues I brought to his staff's attention.

I called to express a concern that the current bill was going to bankrupt us and to make it absolutely clear I opposed the PUBLIC OPTION that has since been added to the bill. Yet in true democratic form, ignoring the hewn cry, form around the nation, by educated and concerned doctors and citizens. However, this is a representative republic so I understand the insanity that is going on in Washington at break neck paces, bad pun intended. In the Democrats rush to prevent the people from discovering the truly horrific nature of this PUBLIC OPTION, lies a the clearest evidence that this has little to with health care and much to do with the insanity of their desire to limit personal liberties and freedoms..

Below is the form letter, followed by my response to his form letter, not that he will ever bother to listen to his constitution-loving constituents.

----------------------------------

October 27, 2009

Dear Mr. Royce: Thank you for contacting me about insurance and health care reform. I appreciate you taking time to share your thoughts regarding plans in Congress to address the complex issues of insurance and health care costs. I believe health care should be accessible and affordable for all Americans. The need for insurance and health care reform is great. Medical costs are out of control and now tie up one-sixth of the national economy. More than 133,000 Alaskans are uninsured - nearly 20 percent of our population. The cost of their uncompensated care is passed on to those with insurance. This means Alaska families, on average, pay an additional $1,900 a year in premium costs due to this "hidden tax" and insurance premiums for individuals are $710 higher than they should be. Health insurance reform would provide Americans the security of:

• No discrimination for pre-existing conditions,


• No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays,


• No cost-sharing for preventative care,


• No dropping of coverage for seriously ill,


• No gender discrimination,


• No annual or lifetime caps on coverage,


• Children continue to be eligible for family coverage through age 26,


• Insurance can't refuse renewal because someone became sick.

Health care insurance reform is essential for small businesses. Even a middle-of the-road version of health reform could save America's small businesses $800 billion over the next 10 years - money that can be used to innovate, increase productivity, hire more workers and pay better wages. There has been great progress towards a solution on insurance and health care reform. Three committees in the House of Representatives came together to introduce combined legislation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Senate Finance Committees have passed their bills. Senate leadership is currently merging the two Senate bills to produce a version to bring before the full Senate. Again, thank you for contacting me. I will continue to work with my Senate colleagues to make health care affordable, and will keep your comments in mind as I do so.

Sincerely, Mark Begich U.S.
Senator

------------------------------------------------------

Honorable Senator Begich (and fellow Toastmaster), While I agree that there a problems that need to be addressed with the system. I STRONGLY DISAGREE with the PUBLIC OPTION! It is always a BAD FINANCIAL decision to employ government! It is always a BAD LIBERTY decision to employ government! What is called for is LESS GOVERNMENT, not more! Your last term as mayor is a perfect example that you could choose to profit from experientially. Consider the long-term contracts that have now burdened the city, (and I am a biased commentator as I am an IBEW member). They have saddled the current set of city leaders with the inescapable necessity of layoffs. That is due in no small part to your choice to enter into a more government solution to the situation. Yes, anytime you increase wages to a government employee; regardless of the overall number of jobs (unless you reduce the total number of employees sufficiently to account for the increased costs,) you are engaging in a big government solution. I know you are philosophically interested in "helping the little guy" as you see the situation. However, in this case your "help" is costing the little guy his job. In this economy it is always better to have a job albeit underpaying than no job. Your actions have hurt the economy as well because with each individual who gets laid off it decreases the amount of public sector disposable income that gets transferred back to the private sector. The transfer is to be understood as money that was originally removed, (by means of implicate threat,) from the private sector that is now returning in a much skewed fashion. You speak admirably of the need to reduce the cost of health care and I am sure you believe what you say. However, it is this very PUBLIC OPTION that you are advancing that is going to have the chilling effect upon the overall effectiveness of what is without argument the best health care money can buy. This is why so many foreign nationals come to the United States to receive the “latest care techniques”. Your blind party allegiance is not "helping the little guy". It is quite simple the reason the "little guy", like myself is in trouble in the first place. Think for a minute what would happen if I had an additional 10K in disposable income through out the year, without the corresponding increase in "legalized plunder" from the governments both local and federal. Would I need the free lunch program for my 5 children? Would I need a subsidy to buy milk? Would I need assistance with my heating bill in the winter? Would a subsidy be needed to help me winterize and improve the energy rating of my house? The answer to every one of those questions in my family's case is NO. Sir, I STRONGLY DISAGREE with your insistence that the PUBLIC OPTION is to my families benefit. Regardless of the "savings" in the short-term it is a destructive system that will only deliver long-term increases in cost and decreases in service. I have seen what rampant inflation does, when I lived in the Ukraine in the post Soviet era, and it is crippling! That is not a non sequitur, either, because when government runs out of funds to pay for an entitlement program it has two choices, stop the program or print more money. When the government runs into difficulty paying for this PUBLIC OPTION which the GAO and other agency reports have clearly shown it will. What will be Washington's response?

Senator, you and I both know that Washington's wheels will empower the Federal Reserve to print more Dollars which will only decrease the value of existing Dollars. Increasing the overall cost of healthcare purchased with those dollars. This is the unintended consequences of your best intentions of "helping out" with medical costs is a devalued US Dollar, which will more and more resemble the currency used within the popular board game Monopoly. This will spiral a little more out of control with every “good intentioned helping hand” offered to assist “the little guy”. The net result is decrease in the affordability of the goods and services we take for granted in this the Greatest Nation ever to rise from the myriad mists of history. Your job as a Senator is to look at the TRUE LONG-TERM COSTS, not the political short-term needs of any one ethically challenged political colleague, regardless of their status within your chosen political party. Remember you ran saying you were a man of principle compared to Uncle Ted. The only question now is: Are you going to live up to that promise or are you going to play politics as usual. I urge you to BE A REAL MEN OF PRINCIPLE, who STANDS FOR TRUE LIBERTY, as our Founding Fathers envisioned it! Sincerely an Annoyed Constitution-loving, Union Member and Independent Super-Voter, John Royce

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes this was a long post, the moral of which is call and write your Senators and Representative(s), regardless of your perceived effectiveness. It is our sacred responsibility to utilize our dearly purchased freedoms to maintain the cause of LIBERTY!

Harley Biker & the Lion

This is an email I got today from a coworker. It has circulated the net from time to time in recent years but I saw it today and also saw a corollary to the level of debt that "We the people..." have accumulated as a result of the poor caliber of leaders we have collectively elected.

-------------------

Subject: Harley Biker & the Lion


Harley Biker & the Lion


A Harley biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.
The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.
Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.
The reporter addressing the Harley rider says, 'Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I've seen a man do in my whole life.
The Harley rider replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and acted as I felt right.
The reporter says, 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page... So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?
The biker replies, 'I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican.
The journalist leaves.
The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page;



U.S... MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH

That pretty much sums up the liberal news media's approach to the news these days.

----------------------

Thus ends the email I was forwarded. I nearly deleted it and moved on to the next email in my list 1 of nearly 200 pieces of junk email I get everyday... But that is topic for another day.

That sadly does sum up the situation out there especially when you look at the stuff ABC has been doing with this whole health care reform debate. They have given up on the appearance of impartiality and have become an arm of the White House Press Office. I am not sure what the solution is but I sure see the little girl (US Taxpayers) in this story, however there is not really a "gallant Marine" to save us from the Lion 'Socialist in our Government'.

As I see it before Obama's Socialize Government cronies and their team members in the House and Senate are done with us (and the US); we will have an 18 TRILLION dollar deficit and that is still a modest estimate of the cost of this debacle in conjunction with all the rest of the 'STIMULUS' bills that are going to come due and 'PAST DUE' over the next decade.

This is madness and they are certifiable!

This Pictures Speaks VOLUMES About the Character of the Man Who is President

I am not surprised in the least to see the societal paladin, Crowley, standing at the side of his erstwile antonist, Professor Gates, helping him with grace and dignity. While the egotist Charlitan snake charmer, having achieved his ends, he is careless and thoughtless as he strides in oblivion of another's need.



This is the reason people will come to view him as the worst President of the United States. A title that used to be held by Jimmy Carter, but at least with Carter you knew he cared about the little guy as he was out there swinging a hammer to build them a home... With Obama there is not even that quality that can redeem him.

He claimed during the campaign that we should "do unto others" as Jesus taught and yet in his personal walk he ignores the lame man next to him. Is this the "fruit" of a good tree as one of Jesus's parables would encourage us to ask. I know my answer.


Is he truly the worst President?


What of Woodrow Wilson, who followed the ideals of the European rot and laid out the plans to plant the Tree of Socialism?
What of Franklin Roosevelt, who tainted a great family's name and planted the Tree of Socialism?
What of Jimmy Carter, well that was already touched on.
What of George Bush Sr., who let Reagan's efforts get turned on their head and remade as a laughing stock to make the ground more fertile for the Tree of Socialism?
What of Bill Clinton, who nurtured that same soil?
What of George Bush Jr., who force fed the tree miracle-gro while letting the government gremlins run free, while taking the brunt of their backlash, allowing Obama to not only win, but passing off wholly unreasonable power both in government and socially?

This tree has grown for over a 100 years, we cannot cast the sole blame on Obama for being the President who starts harvesting the bitter "fruit" of the tree that the Progressives and Liberals planted. Because it was nurtured by those on the other side of the isle who wanted "to get along" and be thought of as nice guys and gals. Liberty is not free! It requires those who possess it to actively defend against the weeds and poisoned trees that begin to take root in its forgiving ground. Each of us as voters are the gardners of this sweet land of liberty.

I Can Hold My Tongue No Longer!

OBAMA's POLICES ARE A DISASTER IN THE MAKING!!!

My cousin has recently begun blogging as a Disenting Californian and in his latest post he has noted that the market nose 300 points when the UNREAD PORKULOUS was signed into law nearly FIVE DAYS after it was passed... It obviously wasn't SO CRITICAL to get PASSED AND SIGNED if it could wait until 'THE ONE' could get back from his vacation after less than ONE MONTH IN OFFICE!!! But I have digressed.

The scarry thing is that that is just 10% of what the markets have lost since Obama was elected President. All because the many has NOTHING GOOD TO SAY! He obviously didn't learn the old saying, "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all." where the economy is concerned. He rails about consumers not consuming and the woes of the nations capital markets yet he is the one driving them down with every speech he makes.

Some one should do a parody song using the Police song - Every breath you take.

It could go something like this. Mind you I only took a 2 minutes to rework the words, so there is obviously room for improvement.

Every speech you make
Every move you take
Every bond you break
Every stock you take
The market is watching you

Every single lie
Every thought is die
Every game you try
Every night you fly
The market is watching you

Oh, can’t you see
It belong to me
How my 401 aches
With every stock you take

Every move you take
Every bond you break
Every smile you snake
Every claim you fake
The market is watching you

Since you’ve come I been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but its you I cant embrace
I feel so cold and I long for you to be no place
I keep crying No Obama, please...

Oh, can’t you see
It belong to me
How my 401 aches
With every stock you take

Every move you take
Every bond you break
Every smile you snake
Every claim you fake
The market is watching you

Every move you take
Every speech you make
The market is watching you

The market is watching you
The market is watching you
The market is watching you
The market is watching you

Why is the Electoral College needed anyway?

Yet again I came across an intelligent individual proposing a solution without fully comprehending its ramifications on one of the boards I frequent. This time it is the Electoral College was in the line of fire.

Here's the solution: get rid of the electoral college. That's what's keeping the two parties in power.

If you remove the Electoral College what is the consequence of that action? You will have even less influence upon the election of a President.

Why? You might ask. Easy. We are then just a straight Democracy rather than a Representative Republic. In a Democracy we would be subjected to the whims of the three to five most populous states. Thus, California, Florida, New York, Illinois and Pennsyvania would be SELECTING your next President. I don't know about you but that sounds very BAD to me. It is the Electoral College that evens out the playing field and forces candidates to enter the heartland and the rustbelt. Without it you can bet places like Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kentucky, The Dakota's and my home state of Alaska would NEVER EVEN BE VISITED. They would be ruled by the mobs in the big cities. That is why the electoral college was created. That is why even though it appears to be an archane system, it really is quite ingenious.

Our Founding Fathers were not short sighted in the least when they instituted the Electoral College. They were wise beyond their years!

Don't have good ideas if you aren't willing to be responsible for them. -- Alan J. Perlis, Epigrams, 1970s

Time to Get Back to Work!

I have a diverse set of correspondence that I keep across many political boundaries, due to my belief that we can "agree to disagree" as Oliver North was so fond of saying.

Anyway some might think that based upon my questioning of President-elect Obama's birth certificate that I would be angry or devastated by the outcome of yesterday's election. You would be correct in the assumption that I am not happy to see a socialist at best and possibly even a Marxist elected to the Presidency of the United States. Yet the reality is that if I had not lived in the former Soviet Republic of the Ukraine I would likely have succumb to his infectious rhetoric and platitudes. However, knowing that a man who walks and talks redistributionism is in reality an American Soviet. Thus, I was not fooled. But that is a discussion for another day. The purpose of this post is to address a feeling that I have incountered on several discussion boards today that can be summarized by the following post:

The United States was born of rebellion. The United States will be born again by rebellion. Benjamin Franklin cries out to pick up our arms and cleanse this land of tyrants. The time for talk is nearing an end.

Anglo-Saxon culture, conservative Christian culture, and the Republic must survive at all costs. We the people must rise up and crush the abomination which is the United States of America. We have become a monster that King George on his worst day could have never imagined. The beast must fall lest it devour us all!

This is a very impassioned view of the current political realities that many of the individuals who our President-elect Obama maligned for "clinging to God and their guns." He was wrong to adopt that view as I believe those who believe a second revolution is needed at this point. I will detail why I feel this way in the response I posted to counter my anonymous friend.

I am a Patriot to the core. I am a Constitutionalists in my political stance. However, I do not believe that now is the time for blood spoken of by Ben Franklin! I believe that now is the time for the approach suggested by Newt Gingrich's American Solutions.

If the nation ever revokes the Constitution that will be the day that we as true patriots will be called upon for the use that the second amendment was established to protect and defend this free nation. Until that day we have a peaceful framework within to work out our differences. And furthermore it is our DUTY AS PATRIOTS to utilize that framework to our nation's greatest benefit.

Therefore, I say we rally to the cause of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; for our God, our Country and our Families! We must stand united in purpose and engage our ideological adversaries and persuade them with long suffering that the cause in which we find ourselves is just. That my fellow conservative Americans is what we must do.

We must honor the founders and their vision. We must fight the good fight each day and be logical and passionate in our defense of Life and Liberty. If we do so the Pursuit of Happiness is assured to all. Not it is the pursuit not the guarantee of such a state.

We have a long battle ahead of us. Educate your children to be Constitutionally literate. Furthermore, help the to become astute and savvily aware of the lures and lies that are used to promote the corrosive socialistic influences that are always present in a society. And most important is to help them recognize the REALITY of our situation. Idealism is important but becoming an ideologue is deadly in all its forms as it removes the ability for an individual to speak to one another.

All that needs to be done for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing -- Edmund Burke

Here is a Petition for us as Citizen's to ask for REDRESS from our elected officials...

I have signed this Petition and I would encourage you to as well. It is hard to believe that this is even needed yet, Mr. Obama continues to refuses to produce his birth certificate.