Conyers (D - MI) Sees No Point in Reading 1,000-Page Bill

Check out this video:


Clearly, John Conyers (D - MI) doesn't "get it". No congressman should ever vote for a bill that they didn't read and fully understand! He obviously isn't watching out for the best interests of constituents. Hopefully the people of Michigan's 14th congressional district will "get it" and replace him come election time.

Is there a way we can replace him even sooner? The people of Michigan should be outraged!

Read The Bill!

-Bob

Why Don’t Lawmakers Want the Public Option?

From Congressman Sam Graves' Straight Talk with Sam newsletter:

Congress has become very good at telling you what is good for you and your family. Earlier this year, Congress spent your money, because some lawmakers believed that you would not spend it on the “right” things.

When it comes to health care, once again Congress thinks they know what is best for you. That is why it was so telling last week when my colleague Roy Blunt offered an amendment to the health care bill in Committee. It would have required all federal elected officials, including the President, Vice-President, and the Congress, to join the government health care plan.

Not surprisingly, that amendment was defeated in Committee. If the government run health care plan is such a great deal, why not enroll all elected officials? If it is good enough for all Americans, it should be good enough for Members of Congress.

The answer is that these lawmakers know that a government run health care system will decrease the quality of your health care and theirs. It will lead to rationed care and bureaucrats would make decisions about your health care instead of you and your doctor. A government run health care system will also reduce your choice. In fact, it will become your only option.

I do not want a government bureaucrat making decisions for my family or for your family. That is why I oppose this bill. I believe that there are better solutions that are market-driven, increase the access for all Americans and can help bring down costs.

Sincerely,
Sam Graves

Good job Sam. I'm right there with you with you, if the government run heath care plan isn't good enough for our government officials, how can it possibly be good enough for the rest of us?

-Bob

What was he thinking? - Manzullo: Congress Should Expand "Cash for Clunkers" Program to Allow Vouchers for All Vehicle Purchases

Here's an excerpt from Don Manzullo's e-mail announcement:

[ROCKFORD] U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) today said the federal government should dramatically expand the popular “cash for clunkers” program by removing all conditions and giving vouchers to all Americans who buy a new vehicle. Such a program would energize our economy, re-start the auto manufacturing supply chain, and put Americans back to work, he said.

Manzullo voted Friday to shift an additional $2 billion in previously-approved federal funds to the original cash for clunkers program, which was frozen late Thursday after officials realized the original $1 billion appropriated for the program was exhausted after just a week in operation (it was scheduled to run until Nov. 1).

He goes on to claim:

The original program gives prospective car buyers up to a $4,500 voucher for trading in a gas guzzler (18 mpg or less) in exchange for a more fuel-efficient vehicle. According to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the initial $1 billion cost of the cash for clunkers program generated $5.5 billion in economic activity, including substantial tax revenue for state and local governments.

Working these numbers, the $1 billion is divided up into $4,500 vouchers, equaling a sales of 222,222 cars. These sales "generated $5.5 billion in economic activity" or, $24,750 per car. Let's continue with his e-mail:

Manzullo introduced legislation earlier this year to give Americans a $5,000 voucher to purchase a new vehicle, no strings attached. The New Automobile Voucher Act of 2009 (HR 1606) would have provided a one-time, $5,000 electronic voucher from the U.S. Treasury at the point of sale of a new vehicle through the end of 2009. It would have provided vouchers for 15 million new vehicles (original cash for clunkers bill covered 250,000 new vehicles).

Now, the bad math starts to show. $1 billion / $4,500 = 222,222 not 250,000. Now, he wants to provide $5,000 vouchers for 15,000,000 million new vehicles. Let see, $5,000 x 15,000,000 = $75,000,000,000 (yes, that's $75 billion)!

Of course, it keeps getting better:

Every one million in new vehicle sales has the following impact on the economy:

* Creates 60,000 jobs (10,000 at vehicle assembly plants; 50,000 at suppliers, auto dealers, and other businesses).
* Provides $750 million in tax revenue to the federal government.
* Provides $1.4 billion in sales tax revenue to states.
* Saves federal government $1.4 billion in unemployment payments, food stamps, job retraining and COBRA health subsidies.

So now we see what the results may be. For every 1 million cars there is:

• $750,000,000 in federal tax revenue.
• $1,400,000,000 in state sales taxes.
• $1,400,000,000 "saved" in unemployment payments, food stamps, job retraining and COBRA health subsidies.

The total of these is $3,550,000,000 ($3.55 billion). This where my seemingly simple mind gets lost. How is it a benefit to the tax payer to take $5,000,000,000 ($5 billion) in taxes ($5,000 x 1,000,000 cars) and have $1,450,000,000 ($1.45 billion) (or more) of that money just disappear?

How about this much simpler "Stimulus" plan: Declare that cars will be completely tax free for a certain period of time! Let's say, until 1/1/2010. Here's why:

• It will still greatly encourage car sales
• It will still "save" unemployment payments, food stamps, job retraining and COBRA health subsidies.
• No new taxes to "pay for it".
  
• All for less than half the cost - $2,150,000,000 ($2.15 billion) in "lost" tax revenue.

I don't know about you, but, I would certainly be much more likely to buy a car if it were tax free. Is that not stimulus enough? Even if you only sell half the number of cars, it looks to me like you (the people) are still ahead.

What am I missing here?

-Bob

Props to Sam Graves - H.R. 3435- Cash for Clunkers.

From Sam Graves' weekly "This Week in Washington" e-mail update:

4. H.R. 3435- Cash for Clunkers.

In less than one week, the Cash for Clunkers program exhausted the $1 billion dollars that had originally been budgeted for it. Did Congress review the problem to see if it was working as it was intended? Nope. Instead Washington quickly doubled down and approved another $2 billion dollars in less than 24 hours. It passed overwhelmingly 316-109. I voted against it, but I’m reminded of why many Americans do not want the government in charge of their health care.

Here is one of the very few Congressmen that should be given a pat of the back for "getting it". Clearly he understands that throwing our tax money at a problem rarely, if ever, helps. The 316 id10ts in Washington that voted for this clearly don't get. They must think that You’re just too dumb to spend your own money!

If our government representatives can't get "Cash for Clunkers" right, why would anyone assume that they can "fix" health care?

Thank you Sam for doing the right thing!

-Bob

Obama proposes ‘Indefinite Preventive Detention’ without trial

Isn't this worse than what he accuses the Bush administration of doing? Watch the video, it's from pMSNBC of all places:

For more of the story see: http://newcitizenship.net/?p=5510

-Bob

Help Stop Socialized Healthcare And $1.5 Trillion In New Taxes!

Please sign the petition opposing Government-Run, Socialized Health Care: http://www.grassfire.org/122/petition.asp?Ref_ID=2650&PID=21411185

Also, while there, please listen to the audio clip where Obama support rationing health care!

-Bob

Questions I Never Asked Obama

By Robert M. Goldberg:

Here is a list of questions that reporters wanted to ask President Obama about health care reform at Wednesday night's press conference but were afraid to ask:

Read the rest: http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/24/questions-i-never-asked-obama

-Bob

What if I don't want health insurance?

By Becky Akers:

New York – I'm one of the nearly 50 million Americans who don't have health insurance. I don't want it, either.
But the bill the House of Representatives is debating would force me to buy it. How good can any product be if Congress compels me to purchase it?

Read the full article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0720/p09s01-coop.html

-Bob

What's in your wallet?

-Bob

Right ON Old man.

From my wife:
(click for larger image)

-Bob

$100

From my wife's friend Pat:

A Little boy wanted $100.00 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened.

Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100.00.

When the postal authorities received the letter to God, USA, they decided to send it to the President.

The president was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5.00 bill.

The president thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.

The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 bill and sat down to write a thank-you note to God, which read:

Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington D.C. and those assholes took $95.00 in taxes.

-Bob

LETTER FROM THE BOSS

Here's one to think about:

As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that
Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way. To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go. So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change, I gave it to them.


I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.

Have a wonderful day!

What would you do? How else could this be handled? Obviously those that voted for B. Hussein Obama were expecting "change". Why shouldn't the CEO honor their wishes?

-Bob

PATRIOTIC-The Finger - Marine Style

A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of "up to and including my life."

That is Honor and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it!!

While this one may have been around for a while, it's always worth

repeating:

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as 'Iron Mike' or just 'Gunny'. He is on his third tour in Iraq. He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour.

Then, on September 19, he got blown up. He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US soldiers. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit. 'You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision,' he explains. So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term 'the longest walk', stepping gingerly into a 5 foot deep and 8 foot wide crater.

The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it. He cut the wire and used his 7 inch knife to probe the ground. 'I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs,' he says. 'That's when I knew I was screwed.' Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet 'A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded,' he recalls. 'As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.' I was just ticked off they were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down'

His colleagues cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. None could believe his legs were still there 'My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down,' says Sgt Burghardt. 'I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.' As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in. 'I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher.' He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. 'I flipped them one. It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week.'

Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as an exemplar of the warrior spirit.

Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father - who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam - he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.

Are you proud enough to send this on?

YOU BETCHA I AM

-Bob

Quote of the day 2009/06/10

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it..
-Adolf Hitler

Sound familiar?

-Bob

"Obama Man" by Greg Morton

Canadian comedian Greg Morton weighs in on the current financial crisis and how President Obama plans to get us out of it.



-Bob

President Obama: No Amnesty for Illegal Aliens!

I have just signed a national grassroots-led petition opposing Obama's coming amnesty push. If allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged, Obama will throw open the door for widespread amnesty--forcing you and I to pay for their benefits--benefits once reserved only for citizens and legal aliens!

Obama has promised the Hispanic community that he will make comprehensive immigration reform a frontline issue this year! Help stand against this coming invasion by adding your name to Grassfire's national petition opposing Obama's open border, amnesty agenda.

Click here to add your name: http://www.grassfire.org/117/petition.asp?PID=21039035&NID=1

-Bob

MEMORIAL DAY

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,  who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag,  

It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag, 


ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

I'd be EXTREMELY proud if this message reached as many as possible. We can be very proud of our young men and women in the service no matter where they serve.
God
Bless them all!!!

 

Makes you proud to be an AMERICAN!!!!

Happy Memorial Day

I GIVE MY LIFE

By Tena Bastian

www.tenabastian.com

 

I give my life for your life

I give my strength for your day today

My family goes on without me

So that yours can stand up and say...

I am proud to be an American

There is no other country where I would ever be

The sons and daughters, the sisters and brothers

Our sacrifice comes down to me

The soldier who fought for freedom

and the mother who sits alone

Holding in her hand, the letter

That says I did not make it home

 

I give my life for your life

I do this without regret

I only ask one thing of you

That none of you will ever forget

How priceless is this freedom

To young and old, rich and poor

That all of you live your life to it's fullest

And remember what were fighting for

Not just today but every day

Pause for a moment and bow your head

For those who stepped up and offered their service

And for the wounded and the dead.

 

I give my life for your life

As does every soldier in every war

On American soil or in a distant land

If I can ask just one thing more...

May God bless the wounded soldier

May he bless and keep those close to him now

May he watch over the ones who stand at arms

And help them find their way home somehow

May you keep them in your thoughts and prayers

May the fighting someday cease

Because I give my life for your life

But I also pray for peace.

 

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY. Please keep this going by forwarding it today to everyone in your life. In honor of those who fight for freedom and pray for peace, of their families who make the ultimate sacrifice, THANK YOU!

I'm a card-carrying Right-wing Extremist!

I am sick and tired of the attacks coming from the new congressional and executive leadership against law abiding citizens simply because of their faith or the values they hold. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) efforts to label you and me as "extremists" and "terror threats" are outrageous. 

I just requested a free "Right-wing Extremist" wallet card as my way of turning the tables on misguided DHS attempts to marginalize us and label us as extremists. If it is "extreme" to hold pro-life, pro-veteran, or pro-Second Amendment views, then I wear the term "Right-wing Extremist" as a badge of honor! If you would like to receive a free card, go here: 

http://www.libertyaction.org/305/petition.asp?PID=20997430&NID=1

-Bob

Pastor-silencing bill in Congress

Perhaps you heard about the effort in Congress to pass so-called "Hate Crimes" legislation that is a stepping-stone to regulating the speech of people who support family values.

I just signed a petition to stop such "hate speech" laws from going into effect. Congress is getting ready to vote on this issue and I understand this bill could be passed quickly unless citizens rise up. 

Please join me. Go here to sign: 

http://www.libertyaction.org/292/petition.asp?PID=17717056&P=1&NID=1

-Bob