Message To Congress --
• The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you have had 234 years to get it right; it is broke.
• Social Security was established in 1935 - you have had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.
• Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you have had 71 years to get it right; it is broke.
• The "War on Poverty" started in 1964 - you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked and our entire country is broke.
• Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you've had 44 years to get it right; they are broke.
• Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you have had 39 years to get it right; it is broke.
• Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the "Stimulus", the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009... none show any signs of working, although ACORN appears to have found a new pimp: the American taxpayer.
• And finally, to set a new record: "Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke as soon as it lauched! It took good dependable cars (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with high-priced and less-affordable cars, mostly Japanese. A good percentage of the profits went out of the country. And the American taxpayers take the hit for Congress' generosity in burning three billion more of our dollars on failed experiments.
• So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services" you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system?
One-sixth of our entire national economy?
With all due respect, are you crazy? Or do you think the American people are?
To stop government-run healthcare, go to: www.HandsOffMyHealthcare.com
Friday, October 30, 2009
Texas is on top, according to Trend Magazine
Texas is on top: thanks to leadership.
America's Future: California vs. Texas is a head-to-head, state battle we are winning and winning big. In an article, published in the October 2009 issue of Trends Magazine, Texas gets many kudos. It’s not without good leadership that we are in the enviable position of the top state in the country to do business, the top exporting state, the number one state for business relocation, and the fastest-growing state.
It doesn’t happen by accident. While we fiscal conservatives often get frustrated trying to get fiscally responsible legislation passed, we need to pat ourselves on the back – Texas isn’t California and we are in much better shape than the country is in. We need to take a minute and thank our leadership for their good work.
Here is Trend Magazine’s take on it:
What’s the worst state to do business in? According to readers of Chief Executive, it’s California. In the same poll, Texas won first place as the best state in which to put your headquarters.
As reported in The Economist, the two largest states in the nation have very different philosophies and very different success rates.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, California was the embodiment of the American Dream, offering great schools, roads, jobs, and communities with all the latest amenities, not to mention good weather, beaches, and quick access to the mountains and wilderness for recreation. As home to Disneyland and the movie industry, the state represented all that was glamorous and new.
Cut to the present day. California is $26 billion in the hole and has recently been paying its bills with IOUs. Its once-proud schools are suffering, and the prison system is releasing criminals early because the state can’t afford to keep them. Social services are being cut right and left. Infrastructure is aging and falling apart. Unemployment is nearing 12 percent. State employees are forced to take unpaid furlough days, and many California cities are worse off than Detroit. Its state income tax is the second highest in the U.S., and government regulations seem perversely aligned to discourage people from doing business there.
In fact, people are fleeing the so-called Golden State at a rate of more than 100,000 a year. From the Great Depression on, California was a dream destination for Americans. Now it looks more like a nightmare, taking on new debt at a rate of $25 million a day.
Texas, on the other hand, was considered something of a backwater in the 1950s and ‘60s, and certainly not a glamorous destination for the upwardly mobile masses. How things change. Unemployment in that state is two percentage points below the national average. It has one of the lowest rates of repossession for housing. There is no state income tax, nor is there a tax on capital gains in Texas.
Also, the Lone Star State has more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other place in the union: California has 51, New York has 56, and Texas has 64.
Texas, on the other hand, was considered something of a backwater in the 1950s and ‘60s, and certainly not a glamorous destination for the upwardly mobile masses. How things change. Unemployment in that state is two percentage points below the national average. It has one of the lowest rates of repossession for housing. There is no state income tax, nor is there a tax on capital gains in Texas.
Also, the Lone Star State has more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other place in the union: California has 51, New York has 56, and Texas has 64.
http://www.trends-magazine.com/trend.php/Trend/2047/Category/55
Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas leaders should be commended for helping keep Texas on top.
America's Future: California vs. Texas is a head-to-head, state battle we are winning and winning big. In an article, published in the October 2009 issue of Trends Magazine, Texas gets many kudos. It’s not without good leadership that we are in the enviable position of the top state in the country to do business, the top exporting state, the number one state for business relocation, and the fastest-growing state.
It doesn’t happen by accident. While we fiscal conservatives often get frustrated trying to get fiscally responsible legislation passed, we need to pat ourselves on the back – Texas isn’t California and we are in much better shape than the country is in. We need to take a minute and thank our leadership for their good work.
Here is Trend Magazine’s take on it:
What’s the worst state to do business in? According to readers of Chief Executive, it’s California. In the same poll, Texas won first place as the best state in which to put your headquarters.
As reported in The Economist, the two largest states in the nation have very different philosophies and very different success rates.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, California was the embodiment of the American Dream, offering great schools, roads, jobs, and communities with all the latest amenities, not to mention good weather, beaches, and quick access to the mountains and wilderness for recreation. As home to Disneyland and the movie industry, the state represented all that was glamorous and new.
Cut to the present day. California is $26 billion in the hole and has recently been paying its bills with IOUs. Its once-proud schools are suffering, and the prison system is releasing criminals early because the state can’t afford to keep them. Social services are being cut right and left. Infrastructure is aging and falling apart. Unemployment is nearing 12 percent. State employees are forced to take unpaid furlough days, and many California cities are worse off than Detroit. Its state income tax is the second highest in the U.S., and government regulations seem perversely aligned to discourage people from doing business there.
In fact, people are fleeing the so-called Golden State at a rate of more than 100,000 a year. From the Great Depression on, California was a dream destination for Americans. Now it looks more like a nightmare, taking on new debt at a rate of $25 million a day.
Texas, on the other hand, was considered something of a backwater in the 1950s and ‘60s, and certainly not a glamorous destination for the upwardly mobile masses. How things change. Unemployment in that state is two percentage points below the national average. It has one of the lowest rates of repossession for housing. There is no state income tax, nor is there a tax on capital gains in Texas.
Also, the Lone Star State has more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other place in the union: California has 51, New York has 56, and Texas has 64.
Texas, on the other hand, was considered something of a backwater in the 1950s and ‘60s, and certainly not a glamorous destination for the upwardly mobile masses. How things change. Unemployment in that state is two percentage points below the national average. It has one of the lowest rates of repossession for housing. There is no state income tax, nor is there a tax on capital gains in Texas.
Also, the Lone Star State has more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other place in the union: California has 51, New York has 56, and Texas has 64.
http://www.trends-magazine.com/trend.php/Trend/2047/Category/55
Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas leaders should be commended for helping keep Texas on top.
Rendezvous with Destiny
I had the privilege of working for President Ronald Reagan and worked in his presidential campaign. I was't there when 45 Years Ago Today, he made the great "We Have a Rendezvous With Destiny" speech.
We forget this anniversary at our peril.
As conservatives face off against their own natural party, the GOP, in NY-23, Florida, and elsewhere, we should remember Ronald Reagan's famous speech, "A Time To Choose."
"Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to." And in that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.
And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and the most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man.
This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down-[up] man's old-old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism...
"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments' programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth...
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
"We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."
They have the whole speech and audio at RedState.
Please check here for the rest of their post: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/10/27/45-years-ago-today-we-have-a-rendezvous-with-destiny/
But I think the upcoming health care votes in Congress and the big-government agenda being pushed by Washington presents us with another crossroad. Will we put 1/6th of our U.S. economy under the federal government? I hope the answer is "no". - Peggy Venable
We forget this anniversary at our peril.
As conservatives face off against their own natural party, the GOP, in NY-23, Florida, and elsewhere, we should remember Ronald Reagan's famous speech, "A Time To Choose."
"Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to." And in that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.
And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and the most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man.
This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down-[up] man's old-old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism...
"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments' programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth...
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
"We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."
They have the whole speech and audio at RedState.
Please check here for the rest of their post: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/10/27/45-years-ago-today-we-have-a-rendezvous-with-destiny/
But I think the upcoming health care votes in Congress and the big-government agenda being pushed by Washington presents us with another crossroad. Will we put 1/6th of our U.S. economy under the federal government? I hope the answer is "no". - Peggy Venable
The TRUE Cost of ObamaCare
If you are like me, wondering how the folks in Washington can claim that they will achieve “health care reform” while not increasing the deficit, welcome to my world.
That’s right, there is no free lunch. The costs will be dear – not only in monetary costs, but in costs to our freedom.
No Free Lunch: The True Cost of ObamaCare is a great piece by Matt Patterson at
The National Center for Policy Analysis.
Below is an overview, and to read the entire article go to: http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/press/no-free-lunch-the-true-cost-of-obamacare
________________________________________
Far from providing "affordable" care for everyone, as President Obama has promised,1 the main health care proposals working their way through Congress would in fact come at a painful price - higher insurance premiums, more and higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower wages, a reduced standard of living and an erosion of privacy and individual liberty.
Here's what ObamaCare would cost you, and how:
Higher Insurance Premiums
Government meddling in the health insurance market leads to higher premiums.
Bottom line: Billions in new taxes and fees on insurers and health-care companies8 would be necessary to pay for ObamaCare - costs that would then be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher premiums.
Higher Taxes
When government promises to subsidize and expand health coverage, more and higher taxes are sure to follow.
Bottom line: Government cannot provide free or subsidized care for someone without taking money from someone else - and that someone else may be you.
Lower Wages/Fewer Jobs
ObamaCare would lead to reduced wages and further depress the job market, hitting low-skilled and low-income workers hardest.
Bottom line: Government cannot provide free or subsidized care for someone without taking money from someone else - and that someone else may be you.
Standard of Living
The massive government spending required to finance national health care would significantly expand the federal deficit17 with ruinous consequences for every American's standard of living.
Bottom line: ObamaCare would means huge deficits, and deficits soak up money from the economy that would otherwise be used for the savings and investment needed for economic growth.
Medicare Benefits
ObamaCare would pay for itself, in part, with hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare and Medicare Advantage.
Bottom line: ObamaCare means less Medicare - a lot less.
Privacy
ObamaCare would erode your privacy by expanding the IRS and mandating that insurers, employers and government agencies share with one another your personal financial information.
Bottom line: ObamaCare regulations would result in a larger, more powerful IRS, and ensure that more of your personal information is shared with more people.
Your Freedom
ObamaCare would enlarge the state at the expense of your freedom.
Bottom line: This "individual mandate" would constitute a gross abuse of governmental power and a violation of every American's right to decide what is best for themselves and his or her family.
ObamaCare won't save us money, nationally or individually. Instead, it will increase insurance premiums, raise taxes, depress wages, siphon jobs, explode the deficit, reduce our living standards, rob us of privacy and erode our personal liberty.
BOTTOM LINE: That's the kind of "free" care we just can't afford.
To sign up for Hands Off My Health Care, go to: www.HandsOffMyHealthCare.com
That’s right, there is no free lunch. The costs will be dear – not only in monetary costs, but in costs to our freedom.
No Free Lunch: The True Cost of ObamaCare is a great piece by Matt Patterson at
The National Center for Policy Analysis.
Below is an overview, and to read the entire article go to: http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/press/no-free-lunch-the-true-cost-of-obamacare
________________________________________
Far from providing "affordable" care for everyone, as President Obama has promised,1 the main health care proposals working their way through Congress would in fact come at a painful price - higher insurance premiums, more and higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower wages, a reduced standard of living and an erosion of privacy and individual liberty.
Here's what ObamaCare would cost you, and how:
Higher Insurance Premiums
Government meddling in the health insurance market leads to higher premiums.
Bottom line: Billions in new taxes and fees on insurers and health-care companies8 would be necessary to pay for ObamaCare - costs that would then be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher premiums.
Higher Taxes
When government promises to subsidize and expand health coverage, more and higher taxes are sure to follow.
Bottom line: Government cannot provide free or subsidized care for someone without taking money from someone else - and that someone else may be you.
Lower Wages/Fewer Jobs
ObamaCare would lead to reduced wages and further depress the job market, hitting low-skilled and low-income workers hardest.
Bottom line: Government cannot provide free or subsidized care for someone without taking money from someone else - and that someone else may be you.
Standard of Living
The massive government spending required to finance national health care would significantly expand the federal deficit17 with ruinous consequences for every American's standard of living.
Bottom line: ObamaCare would means huge deficits, and deficits soak up money from the economy that would otherwise be used for the savings and investment needed for economic growth.
Medicare Benefits
ObamaCare would pay for itself, in part, with hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare and Medicare Advantage.
Bottom line: ObamaCare means less Medicare - a lot less.
Privacy
ObamaCare would erode your privacy by expanding the IRS and mandating that insurers, employers and government agencies share with one another your personal financial information.
Bottom line: ObamaCare regulations would result in a larger, more powerful IRS, and ensure that more of your personal information is shared with more people.
Your Freedom
ObamaCare would enlarge the state at the expense of your freedom.
Bottom line: This "individual mandate" would constitute a gross abuse of governmental power and a violation of every American's right to decide what is best for themselves and his or her family.
ObamaCare won't save us money, nationally or individually. Instead, it will increase insurance premiums, raise taxes, depress wages, siphon jobs, explode the deficit, reduce our living standards, rob us of privacy and erode our personal liberty.
BOTTOM LINE: That's the kind of "free" care we just can't afford.
To sign up for Hands Off My Health Care, go to: www.HandsOffMyHealthCare.com
Thursday, October 29, 2009
HISD battle cry: CHARGE IT!!!
Houston Independent School District doled out 1,200 credit cards; some staffers issued cards have bad credit and bankruptcies
Some HISD staffers who have been handed credit cards owe money to schools.
This story comes to us from the investigative reporters at Texas Watchdog:
http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/10/houston-independent-school-district-issues-credit-cards-to-employees-with-bankruptcies/
A similar story was reported by AFP two years ago when we found out that Dallas ISD didnot maintain information on their credit card charges, and were charging atround $3 million a month. Three DISD officials were indicted.
Your tax dollars at work; your education dollars aren't getting to the classroom.
Some HISD staffers who have been handed credit cards owe money to schools.
This story comes to us from the investigative reporters at Texas Watchdog:
http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/10/houston-independent-school-district-issues-credit-cards-to-employees-with-bankruptcies/
A similar story was reported by AFP two years ago when we found out that Dallas ISD didnot maintain information on their credit card charges, and were charging atround $3 million a month. Three DISD officials were indicted.
Your tax dollars at work; your education dollars aren't getting to the classroom.
The 1,100-Page Health Care Bill is Online
Thanks to everyone who has demanded that the bill be posted online, Congress has decided to post at least one of their ObamaCare bills online.
Read it and be afraid... Be very afraid...
http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf
Read it and be afraid... Be very afraid...
http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf
Health Care Corruption
As Sen. Harry Reid pushes singly-payer (government-run) health care, it’s hard to know where he is today. He has found a way, however, to provide his home state with a tax break. So while all of us in the country will be paying higher taxes under ObamaCare, Harry Reid has exempted what state? That’s right, his home state of Nevada. And what about New York? Yep, Sen. Chuck Schumer has managed to get his state exempt from the taxes. That information, and more, was shared with the standing-room only crowd at the Hands Off My Healthcare townhall meeting this morning in Texarkana.
Let’s not forget that union members won’t pay the insurance tax being proposed for everyone else…you and me. Guess Democrats, who count on union support, anticipate since they can’t pass card check legislation, they will increase union membership by providing this tax exemption.
Frankly, the corruption around the proposed government-run health care plans is massive.
Let’s not forget that union members won’t pay the insurance tax being proposed for everyone else…you and me. Guess Democrats, who count on union support, anticipate since they can’t pass card check legislation, they will increase union membership by providing this tax exemption.
Frankly, the corruption around the proposed government-run health care plans is massive.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
AFP President Tim Phillips in WSJ
In response to: Cap and Trade Could Be a Boon to New York by Senator Gillibrand.
Hasn't the country learned its lesson that creating fanciful financial instruments, like derivatives, and allowing Wall Street to bandy them about institutionalizes instability? Carbon derivatives would be even worse than financial instruments that gave us the housing bubble. Cap and trade seeks to create a commodity out of thin air. The government would create a value where none exists. At least the mortgage securities had an actual asset behind them.
Tim Phillips
President
Americans for Prosperity
Arlington, Va.
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/letters.html
Hasn't the country learned its lesson that creating fanciful financial instruments, like derivatives, and allowing Wall Street to bandy them about institutionalizes instability? Carbon derivatives would be even worse than financial instruments that gave us the housing bubble. Cap and trade seeks to create a commodity out of thin air. The government would create a value where none exists. At least the mortgage securities had an actual asset behind them.
Tim Phillips
President
Americans for Prosperity
Arlington, Va.
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/letters.html
Will Obama Sign away US Sovereignty?
This from the Washington Times today:
"Environmental alarmism is being exploited to chip away at national sovereignty. The latest threat to American liberties may be found in the innocuous sounding Copenhagen Climate Treaty, which will be discussed at the United Nations climate-change conference in mid-December.
http://www.facebook.com/l/abb0e;www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/27/green-world-government/
The only hope is for the Administration to fail to get 2/3 of the U.S. Senate to go along with his scheme.
"Environmental alarmism is being exploited to chip away at national sovereignty. The latest threat to American liberties may be found in the innocuous sounding Copenhagen Climate Treaty, which will be discussed at the United Nations climate-change conference in mid-December.
http://www.facebook.com/l/abb0e;www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/27/green-world-government/
The only hope is for the Administration to fail to get 2/3 of the U.S. Senate to go along with his scheme.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Electricity deregulation is working for Texans
The Dallas Morning News recently said electricity deregulation didn't work. Not so, says former Texas Public Utility Commissioner and former FEC Commissioner Pat Wood:
The Dallas Morning News broadly criticized the Public Utility Commission on customer protection issues after running two articles on prepaid electric providers. It is only fair to put negative stories in the broader context of a well-monitored, competitive market that is working well.
It is incorrect to say that the competitive market has weakened the PUC's customer protections. In fact, in breaking open the retail power monopolies in 1999, the Legislature insisted on more protection of customers than we had under full regulation. As PUC chairman at the time, I worked with a broad collaborative group to set up the "rules of the road" before the market opened in 2002. And since then, the Legislature and the PUC have enhanced those protections.
In addition, today's open market provides Texans with rates lower than TXU's last regulated 9.7 cent per kilowatt-hour rate in 2001. On www.powertochoose.org, I see that Dallas customers can get flexible rates as low as 8.6 cents per kwh and fixed-term rates of 9 cents per kwh. If you aren't getting rates like that, shop around. And when you do, know that your customer protections are stronger than ever.
Pat Wood III, Houston
The Dallas Morning News broadly criticized the Public Utility Commission on customer protection issues after running two articles on prepaid electric providers. It is only fair to put negative stories in the broader context of a well-monitored, competitive market that is working well.
It is incorrect to say that the competitive market has weakened the PUC's customer protections. In fact, in breaking open the retail power monopolies in 1999, the Legislature insisted on more protection of customers than we had under full regulation. As PUC chairman at the time, I worked with a broad collaborative group to set up the "rules of the road" before the market opened in 2002. And since then, the Legislature and the PUC have enhanced those protections.
In addition, today's open market provides Texans with rates lower than TXU's last regulated 9.7 cent per kilowatt-hour rate in 2001. On www.powertochoose.org, I see that Dallas customers can get flexible rates as low as 8.6 cents per kwh and fixed-term rates of 9 cents per kwh. If you aren't getting rates like that, shop around. And when you do, know that your customer protections are stronger than ever.
Pat Wood III, Houston
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