June 24, 2009
The High Cost of Cap and Trade: Why the EPA and CBO Are Wrong
by heritage.org
Fact Sheet #34
The EPA Is Wrong
False Assumptions: Proponents of cap and trade point to the low cost estimates by the EPA and CBO as a reason to pass Waxman-Markey. The EPA underestimates that the bill would cost households an additional $140 a year.
Based on Consumption: The EPA's numbers are based on consumption changes, which are typically less than income changes, as families respond to income losses by saving less.
Uses Discounting: Discounting is a reasonable approach for comparing costs and benefits that occur at widely different times. However, costs of climate change rarely use a discounted rate this high. Without discounting, the impact per household is $1,288 in 2050. Adjusting household size to reflect a family of four raises this cost to over $1,900.
Assumes Rebates: The EPA assumes all the allowance proceeds will be rebated directly to consumers. This clearly isn't the case, since most of the allowances have been promised to industry.
No New Taxes?The loss that the EPA calculates doesn't include the cost of the energy tax to consumers, since the EPA assumes that all of the money is rebated. The cost of the energy tax is actually $4,600 per family of four in 2035.
The CBO Is Wrong
False Assumptions: CBO underestimates that the bill would cost households $175 in 2020. They assume that the carbon tax isn't a tax if the government spends the money. When have Americans ever seen all of a tax returned to them? It's like suggesting your tax rebate will be as large as the amount taken from your paycheck every year.
Numbers Don't Add Up: The CBO's allowance cost numbers don't add up. They say the allowance price will be $28. Since there are 5.056 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in the cap that year, that implies a $141 billion gross cost. They list $91.4 billion.
Hard to Believe: In the CBO's June 5 analysis, they projected allowance revenues of $119.7 billion, $129.7 billion, $136 billion, $145.6 billion and $152.9 billion for the years 2015-2019. It's hard to believe that the next number in that series would be $91.4 billion.
Ignores Economic Damage: The CBO doesn't include the decrease in GDP as a result of the bill. The GDP hit in 2020 would be $161 billion (in 2009 dollars) according to our analysis. For a family of four, that is $1,870 that they ignore.
Cap and Trade Is Wrong
It's a Massive Energy Tax
It Will Not Make a Substantive Impact on the Environment
It Will Kill Jobs
It Will Cause Electricity Bills and Gas Prices to Sharply Increase
It Will Outsource Manufacturing Jobs and Hurt Free Trade
It Will Make You Choose among Energy, Groceries, Clothing and Haircuts
It Will Be Highly Susceptible to Fraud and Corruption
It Will Hurt Senior Citizens, the Poor, and the Unemployed the Worst
It Will Cost American Families Nearly $3,000 a Year
President Obama Admitted "Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket" Under His Cap-and-Trade Program (January 2008)
For more information, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/News/Cap-and-Trade-Global-Warming-Bill.cfm
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Top 10 Facts on Why Speaker Pelosi's National Energy Tax Is a Bad "Deal" for America
"Deal" Is a Win for Liberal Special Interests, a Loss for Workers, Small Businesses, and Rural America
Washington, Jun 24 - Democratic leaders have announced a so-called “deal” to bring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) national energy tax up for a House vote on Friday. Senior Democrats have already started to tout a number of trivial concessions and compromises that made this “deal” possible. But, the fact is, the consequences of this “deal” are no different from the consequences of the initial legislation introduced by Democrats earlier this year. It still amounts to jobs-killing policy that will increase costs for every American and will further harm our economy and American workers at a time when they can afford it least. Following are the Top 10 Facts about the House Democrats’ so-called “deal” to bring Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax to the House floor later this week:
1. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Impose a National Energy Tax on Every Single American. If you drive a car, buy food or a product manufactured in America, or have the audacity to flip on a light switch, you’ll pay more under Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. Here’s what Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) had to say about the tax: “Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax. And it’s a great big one.” And of course, President Obama agrees, saying that electricity rates will “skyrocket” under this scheme.
2. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cost American Jobs, Shipping Them Overseas to China & India. According to a study by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will cost 2.3 to 2.7 million jobs each year, even after the creation of new “green” jobs. It will impose tough new requirements and increased costs on American manufacturers – higher costs that they won’t face overseas, in places like China, India, or Mexico. This will cost American jobs in two ways: either domestic manufacturers will move overseas directly, or American companies in energy-intensive industries will be driven out of business by overseas rivals that undercut their prices. These job losses, and their ripple effects throughout our economy, were excluded from an incomplete analysis recently completed by the Congressional Budget Office. The Brookings Institute recently released a report that confirmed a national energy tax would reduce economic growth, increase costs, and kill jobs.
3. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cause Electricity Bills to “Skyrocket.” Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will increase electricity bills for every American and small business. President Obama even admitted that it would cause electricity rates to “necessarily skyrocket.” And Duke Energy, a major utility company that would receive free allowances under the Democrats’ plan, has already requested a rate hike of 13.5 percent in anticipation of the energy tax.
4. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Hurt Family Farmers & Rural America. Rural Americans would be disproportionately impacted by this burdensome, jobs-killing tax. They travel 25 percent farther than urban residents to go to work and run errands. They spend 58 percent more on fuel than urban residents as a percentage of their income. And electricity is far more costly to deliver to rural households than to urban homes across America. The end result: if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax becomes law, family farmers and rural small businesses will pay much, much more. That’s why an increasing number of rural organizations are opposing this harmful policy.
5. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Not Improve the Environment. Even supporters of the national energy tax concede that unilateral American action will do nothing to improve Earth’s environment unless global competitors like China and India curb their emissions, too. The response from overseas? Don’t hold your breath. According to the Washington Post, “But, after their talk this week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China would not agree to reduce its emissions… Spokesman Qin Gang said…“[I]t is natural for China to have some increase in its emissions, so it is not possible for China in that context to accept a binding or compulsory target.’” And according to Xinhua News, Shyam Saran, India’s principal negotiator on climate change, discussed India’s reluctance to capping its greenhouse gas emissions, saying, “[W]e don’t want to announce targets which we have no intention of achieving.”
6. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cause Gasoline and Diesel Prices to Spike Further. Gasoline prices have spiked in recent weeks, yet Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will make gasoline and diesel even more expensive for families and small businesses. The Heritage Foundation estimates that it will raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 58 percent. Not only is that troubling to middle-class families trying to make ends meet, but small businesses – such as America’s truck drivers who are responsible for transporting food and other products across the country – are especially vulnerable during an economic recession. In fact, Tommy Hodges, First Vice Chairman of the American Trucking Association, recently warned that Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax on America’s truck drivers will leave America’s truck drivers, exposed to dramatic and sudden fuel price spikes.
7. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Be A Bureaucratic Nightmare. Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that would create a slew of new government programs overseen by a long and confusing web of government agencies. At the center of this web is the Environmental Protection Agency along with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Commodities Future Trading Commission, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Treasury, the Department of State, the Forest Service, the Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Geological Society, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Land Management – all with a hand in taking and redistributing trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers payrolls.
8. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Send Billions of US Taxpayer Dollars Overseas. In addition to sending American jobs overseas, under Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax, between 2012 and 2019, the United States will send $302 billion in taxpayers’ money directly to foreign countries for international offsets, international tropical deforestation, international adaptation, and international technology transfer. American taxpayers are tired of the bailouts. Why do Washington Democrats want to force them to bankroll another global bailout too?
9. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Raise Food Prices. Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will drive up costs for gasoline and energy used by farmers and businesses across the country. One of the most troubling results? The cost to produce and transport food will be driven higher than ever. The Heritage Foundation says “The cost of producing everything from wheat to beef will increase. Indeed, the price deflator for private farm inventories goes up over 20 points by 2035. This increase gets quickly translated into much higher food prices for consumers at the grocery stores.” During a severe recession and further job losses, is this really the news small businesses and middle-class families want to hear?
10. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Set the Stage for Another Market Meltdown. Mother Jones recently warned that if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax “is signed into law, it will generate, almost as an afterthought, a new market for carbon derivatives. That market will be vast, complicated, and dauntingly difficult to monitor. And if Washington doesn’t get the rules right, it will be vulnerable to speculation and manipulation by the very same players who brought us the financial meltdown.” Taxpayers have paid dearly as a result of the financial crisis. Are Democrats setting them up to pay once again?
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=133823
"Deal" Is a Win for Liberal Special Interests, a Loss for Workers, Small Businesses, and Rural America
Washington, Jun 24 - Democratic leaders have announced a so-called “deal” to bring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) national energy tax up for a House vote on Friday. Senior Democrats have already started to tout a number of trivial concessions and compromises that made this “deal” possible. But, the fact is, the consequences of this “deal” are no different from the consequences of the initial legislation introduced by Democrats earlier this year. It still amounts to jobs-killing policy that will increase costs for every American and will further harm our economy and American workers at a time when they can afford it least. Following are the Top 10 Facts about the House Democrats’ so-called “deal” to bring Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax to the House floor later this week:
1. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Impose a National Energy Tax on Every Single American. If you drive a car, buy food or a product manufactured in America, or have the audacity to flip on a light switch, you’ll pay more under Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. Here’s what Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) had to say about the tax: “Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax. And it’s a great big one.” And of course, President Obama agrees, saying that electricity rates will “skyrocket” under this scheme.
2. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cost American Jobs, Shipping Them Overseas to China & India. According to a study by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will cost 2.3 to 2.7 million jobs each year, even after the creation of new “green” jobs. It will impose tough new requirements and increased costs on American manufacturers – higher costs that they won’t face overseas, in places like China, India, or Mexico. This will cost American jobs in two ways: either domestic manufacturers will move overseas directly, or American companies in energy-intensive industries will be driven out of business by overseas rivals that undercut their prices. These job losses, and their ripple effects throughout our economy, were excluded from an incomplete analysis recently completed by the Congressional Budget Office. The Brookings Institute recently released a report that confirmed a national energy tax would reduce economic growth, increase costs, and kill jobs.
3. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cause Electricity Bills to “Skyrocket.” Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will increase electricity bills for every American and small business. President Obama even admitted that it would cause electricity rates to “necessarily skyrocket.” And Duke Energy, a major utility company that would receive free allowances under the Democrats’ plan, has already requested a rate hike of 13.5 percent in anticipation of the energy tax.
4. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Hurt Family Farmers & Rural America. Rural Americans would be disproportionately impacted by this burdensome, jobs-killing tax. They travel 25 percent farther than urban residents to go to work and run errands. They spend 58 percent more on fuel than urban residents as a percentage of their income. And electricity is far more costly to deliver to rural households than to urban homes across America. The end result: if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax becomes law, family farmers and rural small businesses will pay much, much more. That’s why an increasing number of rural organizations are opposing this harmful policy.
5. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Not Improve the Environment. Even supporters of the national energy tax concede that unilateral American action will do nothing to improve Earth’s environment unless global competitors like China and India curb their emissions, too. The response from overseas? Don’t hold your breath. According to the Washington Post, “But, after their talk this week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China would not agree to reduce its emissions… Spokesman Qin Gang said…“[I]t is natural for China to have some increase in its emissions, so it is not possible for China in that context to accept a binding or compulsory target.’” And according to Xinhua News, Shyam Saran, India’s principal negotiator on climate change, discussed India’s reluctance to capping its greenhouse gas emissions, saying, “[W]e don’t want to announce targets which we have no intention of achieving.”
6. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cause Gasoline and Diesel Prices to Spike Further. Gasoline prices have spiked in recent weeks, yet Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will make gasoline and diesel even more expensive for families and small businesses. The Heritage Foundation estimates that it will raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 58 percent. Not only is that troubling to middle-class families trying to make ends meet, but small businesses – such as America’s truck drivers who are responsible for transporting food and other products across the country – are especially vulnerable during an economic recession. In fact, Tommy Hodges, First Vice Chairman of the American Trucking Association, recently warned that Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax on America’s truck drivers will leave America’s truck drivers, exposed to dramatic and sudden fuel price spikes.
7. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Be A Bureaucratic Nightmare. Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that would create a slew of new government programs overseen by a long and confusing web of government agencies. At the center of this web is the Environmental Protection Agency along with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Commodities Future Trading Commission, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Treasury, the Department of State, the Forest Service, the Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Geological Society, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Land Management – all with a hand in taking and redistributing trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers payrolls.
8. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Send Billions of US Taxpayer Dollars Overseas. In addition to sending American jobs overseas, under Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax, between 2012 and 2019, the United States will send $302 billion in taxpayers’ money directly to foreign countries for international offsets, international tropical deforestation, international adaptation, and international technology transfer. American taxpayers are tired of the bailouts. Why do Washington Democrats want to force them to bankroll another global bailout too?
9. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Raise Food Prices. Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will drive up costs for gasoline and energy used by farmers and businesses across the country. One of the most troubling results? The cost to produce and transport food will be driven higher than ever. The Heritage Foundation says “The cost of producing everything from wheat to beef will increase. Indeed, the price deflator for private farm inventories goes up over 20 points by 2035. This increase gets quickly translated into much higher food prices for consumers at the grocery stores.” During a severe recession and further job losses, is this really the news small businesses and middle-class families want to hear?
10. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Set the Stage for Another Market Meltdown. Mother Jones recently warned that if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax “is signed into law, it will generate, almost as an afterthought, a new market for carbon derivatives. That market will be vast, complicated, and dauntingly difficult to monitor. And if Washington doesn’t get the rules right, it will be vulnerable to speculation and manipulation by the very same players who brought us the financial meltdown.” Taxpayers have paid dearly as a result of the financial crisis. Are Democrats setting them up to pay once again?
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=133823
Thursday, June 25, 2009
An open letter to the United States Leadership
I'm a home grown American citizen, registered Republican. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming.
We the people are coming.
(As previously written by an unknown author.)
These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming.
We the people are coming.
(As previously written by an unknown author.)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I know it's hard, and most of us are not used to doing this, but we have to carve a few minutes out of our days to pay attention to what is going on in Washington. Then we have to take some action.
Gone are the days when we could be complacent about what is happening in Congress; gone are the days when there was some sort of balance of power in Washington that insured against us lurching too far radically left or right.
Now WE must act - sadly, there is nobody in Congress to protect us from this radical agenda.
Nancy Pelosi has rammed a bill through committee and wants to schedule it for a floor vote THIS FRIDAY.
It is called HR2454 and has been referred to as Cap and Trade, but call it what you will, it is another attempt by the federal government to control our free market society.
It will put limits on industrial production, under the control of federal bureaucrats and politicians. Those who exceed arbitrary, federally mandated, "caps" will be forced to buy "credits."
It is really just a tax, with no ceiling, that can be raised or lowered at the whim of the government.What it will mean to you is higher prices, across-the-board, for food and energy.
We are slowly and systematically being taxed to death, but when we go to our graves poor, leaving our children and grandchildren nothing but debt, we can go secure in the knowledge that our sacrifices have made the planet a fraction of one degree cooler than it might have been.
People who have never run so much as a lemonade stand will effectively control our economy, under the guise of protecting our planet from "global warming."The greatest nation in the history of the world, the United States of America, is being torn down, piece by piece, by a messianic
President and a complicit, veto-proof Congress. If we fail to make our voices heard now...well, let's just say that time is running short. Gone are the days where we could let somebody else take care of it. To paraphrase: If not us - nobody. If not now - never.
Stop what you're doing and pick up the phone. Call one, or all, of these numbers, and express your feelings. Do not try to debate the merits of the issue, they will only spin and obfuscate.
Simply say: "I want to urge Congressman McMahon to vote NO on HR2454 - Cap and Trade. We DO NOT need more federal regulation. I am paying attention to the Congressman's voting record, and he WILL NOT GET MY VOTE if he continues to vote for excessive federal power."
Here are the numbers:
Rep. McMahon, Michael [D]Washington, DC 323 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-3371 Fax: (202) 226-1272
Staten Island 265 New Dorp Lane, 2nd Fl Staten Island, NY 10306 Phone: (718) 351-1062 Fax: (718) 980-0768Brooklyn
8505 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11209 Phone: (718) 630-5277 Fax: (718) 630-5388
Then you can write. Here is what I have written; you can re-word it any way you like, and then FAX it or send it via his Contact Page.
Dear Congressman McMahon;I am writing to urge you to vote NO on HR2454. This is poor legislation based on junk science, and is antithetical to a free market society.Reasonable regulations are of course necessary to maintain the health of our planet, but this bill, like so many others coming out of this Congress, shifts too much control of the economy to federal bureaucrats and politicians.When our industrial base experiences increases in the cost of doing business due to excessive regulation, those higher costs inevitably trickle down through the economy and impact the family budget. HR2454 will have a dampening effect on an already sluggish economy, and consumer spending will grow ever weaker.At a time when many Americans are struggling financially, the unintended consequence of this bill will be an across the board tax increase.HR2454 is BAD for America and BAD for your constituency. We are paying attention, Congressman, and will closely examine your voting record when we make decisions in November of 2010.
Sincerely,
Frank Santarpia
Gone are the days when we could be complacent about what is happening in Congress; gone are the days when there was some sort of balance of power in Washington that insured against us lurching too far radically left or right.
Now WE must act - sadly, there is nobody in Congress to protect us from this radical agenda.
Nancy Pelosi has rammed a bill through committee and wants to schedule it for a floor vote THIS FRIDAY.
It is called HR2454 and has been referred to as Cap and Trade, but call it what you will, it is another attempt by the federal government to control our free market society.
It will put limits on industrial production, under the control of federal bureaucrats and politicians. Those who exceed arbitrary, federally mandated, "caps" will be forced to buy "credits."
It is really just a tax, with no ceiling, that can be raised or lowered at the whim of the government.What it will mean to you is higher prices, across-the-board, for food and energy.
We are slowly and systematically being taxed to death, but when we go to our graves poor, leaving our children and grandchildren nothing but debt, we can go secure in the knowledge that our sacrifices have made the planet a fraction of one degree cooler than it might have been.
People who have never run so much as a lemonade stand will effectively control our economy, under the guise of protecting our planet from "global warming."The greatest nation in the history of the world, the United States of America, is being torn down, piece by piece, by a messianic
President and a complicit, veto-proof Congress. If we fail to make our voices heard now...well, let's just say that time is running short. Gone are the days where we could let somebody else take care of it. To paraphrase: If not us - nobody. If not now - never.
Stop what you're doing and pick up the phone. Call one, or all, of these numbers, and express your feelings. Do not try to debate the merits of the issue, they will only spin and obfuscate.
Simply say: "I want to urge Congressman McMahon to vote NO on HR2454 - Cap and Trade. We DO NOT need more federal regulation. I am paying attention to the Congressman's voting record, and he WILL NOT GET MY VOTE if he continues to vote for excessive federal power."
Here are the numbers:
Rep. McMahon, Michael [D]Washington, DC 323 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-3371 Fax: (202) 226-1272
Staten Island 265 New Dorp Lane, 2nd Fl Staten Island, NY 10306 Phone: (718) 351-1062 Fax: (718) 980-0768Brooklyn
8505 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11209 Phone: (718) 630-5277 Fax: (718) 630-5388
Then you can write. Here is what I have written; you can re-word it any way you like, and then FAX it or send it via his Contact Page.
Dear Congressman McMahon;I am writing to urge you to vote NO on HR2454. This is poor legislation based on junk science, and is antithetical to a free market society.Reasonable regulations are of course necessary to maintain the health of our planet, but this bill, like so many others coming out of this Congress, shifts too much control of the economy to federal bureaucrats and politicians.When our industrial base experiences increases in the cost of doing business due to excessive regulation, those higher costs inevitably trickle down through the economy and impact the family budget. HR2454 will have a dampening effect on an already sluggish economy, and consumer spending will grow ever weaker.At a time when many Americans are struggling financially, the unintended consequence of this bill will be an across the board tax increase.HR2454 is BAD for America and BAD for your constituency. We are paying attention, Congressman, and will closely examine your voting record when we make decisions in November of 2010.
Sincerely,
Frank Santarpia
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Obama says Single Payer healthcare not on the table..
Lets start with the definition of "Single Payer" option. A single-payer health care system is one in which a single-entity -- the government -- collects almost all of the revenue for and pays almost all of the bills for the health care system. In most single-payer systems only a small percentage of health care expenses are paid for with private funds. Countries that have a single-payer system include Australia, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In other words, you will never have to pay for a medical bill again. (well you pay through your taxes) But you wont have to write a check for your doctor. The govt will charge you in your taxes, collect your money, make interest off your money, and then pay your medical bills. IF they deem that the care you are seeking is affordable/necessary. When the system starts to have financial problems (lets keep in mind that medicare is bankrupt. the trust funds are empty) and it will; they will start cutting healthcare first to the elderly. Then to others based on what THE GOVT decides is necessary and proper.
Here is a great article on single payer healthcare Myths...
http://www.freemarketcure.com/singlepayermyths.php
In the past week the President of the U.S. and his Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have both publicly denied that the public plan is intended in any way to be a trojan or stalking horse for a single-payer system. The President went so far as to claim that anyone who says this is lying. Well Mr. President, was Russ Feingold lying about this? Was Kathleen Sebelius lying about this? Was Rep. Jan Schakowsky lying about this?
You know, if the stakes weren’t so critically important I’d probably just chalk this up as typical spin-making on the part of politicians. But healthcare represents something like 20% of our economy and we are literally talking about an issue of life and death. For our children and grandchildren…and perhaps more importantly our parents and grandparents. Because it is the elderly that will suffer the most under the rationing that will inevitably result when the financial reckoning comes. I am not willing to just sit back and watch this happen as an innocent bystander. These people are outright lying to us about their real intentions. And I am going to keep calling them on it until the public plan goes down in the defeat it so rightly deserves!
Saul Alinsky --> ACORN
If you have a problem with Glenn Beck, lets for argument sake ignore the messenger and just listen to the message.
Fish or Farmers?
80,000 farmers in california are out of work to protect a minnow. Instead of turning the water back on to allow the California farmers to support themselves, and expand thier local economy, lets just force them to take tarp money. Great plan!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
