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[Ramblings] Bu's Views 8 June 2006
June 8, 2006 12:03PM
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Bu's Views 8June2006
Let's start in California and the special election for the California District 50 House seat Tuesday. I refuse to call it Duke Cunningham's seat. It isn’t. He simply occupied it. The seat belongs to the people of California District 50.
It is apparent that the Republican, Brian Bilbray, has defeated the Democrat Francine Busby.
We’ve heard this mantra for weeks. This is a heavily populated Republican district (no it's not) and Bilbray should have walked away with the election. But because of the "culture of Corruption", Bill just squeaked out a victory. The Democrats are using this as measuring stick for things to come. They did the same thing in Ohio in the Jean Schmidt/Paul Hackett race.
In fact, if you look at the County Results of the 2004 election found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm
you will see that San Diego is a red area (Red meaning republican). However, more detailed research shows that although the San Diego area went for Bush in 2004, it barely went to Bush. A more precise election map is found at:
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/
However, this particular time, I happen to agree with the Democrats. This election is a measuring stick for November, and all House Representatives and Senators up for re-election better take notice… This seat was decided because of the differences between the two on the illegal invasion going on right now. The people of San Diego have spoken and their message is… "Close the borders" and "to hell with an Amnesty bill".
Let's move on.
I have an ever growing, festering opinion about our elected officials. Unlike most others, I am not of the mind that all our representatives are bad, except mine. I think that becoming an elected official breeds a sort of arrogance in these people that I just can’t stand for. My representative, Tom Price, went to Washington with great intentions, so we were told. I wrote a letter to Dr. Price's office, only to receive a standard form letter, likely rubber stamped by a staffer. Nope. Call me dissatisfied with my representative. When I had an issue with a certain agency of the government, Dr. Price chose to side with that agency instead of one of his constituents. That's all I needed to know about my representative. Good intentions or not, a representative of the people does not side with a government agency against those people. Strike one, two and three Dr. Price.
I hear very frequently a well known radio talk show host say things like "We don’t want to wake up on the first Wednesday in November and hear the words "Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi!" Well, I’ve come to the decision that not only do I not want to hear those words, but I don’t want to "Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert" for two more years. Mr. Hastert has recently shown that even a former high school gym teacher is not immune to the disease that is called arrogance when you get to the beltway. I have recently seen his voting record, and I am pretty appalled at some of his votes, but the second he came out and spoke against the raid on Congressman William Jefferson's office as if there is some kind of congressional privilege that immunes them from the law, he lost any and all respect I had for him. Some have explained that he was speaking out in protest of the way Porter Goss’ dismissal as the head of the CIA was handled. If that's the case, Dennis Hastert too, has put politics above the law, and above the people who elected him. It's time for Hastert to go.
Let's head back to Georgia, and the wonderful Cynthia McKinney. Rumor has it that now they are close to reaching a "deal" with the Department of Justice that will keep McKinney from being charged for striking a capital policeman. This is yet another example of Congressional and Political arrogance and the thought that these elected public servants are above the law. The resentment from the people is growing and it will come to a head.
Now let's move on to Patrick Kennedy, the benefactor of the Kennedy nobility. A month ago, Kennedy, driving while under the influence of either alcohol or chemicals, depending on which story you believe, wasn't given a breathalyzer test after he struck a barricade; instead he was given a ride home by capitol police. Kennedy claimed he was going to a House vote, and thus couldn't be apprehended for his criminal activity. The problem is -- it was 2:30 in the morning. The Honorable Kennedy checked himself into a rehab center for three weeks and now claims he is cured of his dependency on drugs or alcohol and is ready to do the work of the people of Rhode Island. Let me say this again. There is a growing resentment across this land that these people are given free passes because they happen to be lawmakers and are getting away with committing everyday crimes. Too many people that I talk to are wondering how far under the jail they would be if they struck an officer, or caused an accident while DUI.
And let's not forget Congressman William Jefferson. This representative of the people of New Orleans, Louisiana was video taped accepting $100,000 in bribes, and to date, no charges have been brought against him. He is still an active member of Congress, and refuses to give up his leadership role. And his peers, on both sides of the aisle (I really hate that term) are defending him because his office was raided. They want to give him a free pass because he is an elected official. Not one of these congressmen or senators has mentioned his wrong doings as a reason to step down except Nancy Pelosi. She only did it because of the "Culture of Corruption" label that has been placed on the Republican Party and now she doesn't want that label to backfire on Democrats.
There is a way fix this. I used to be a proponent of term limits, but I am not such a proponent anymore. Term limits would do nothing to curb this behavior, and would only give these public servants the pass to act as "short timers" during their last term. Instead of representing the people of their districts, or states, these elected public servants would be making the rounds on the media circuit trying to secure their futures after public office. It would be like a self-imposed lame duck period. No. Term limits is not the solution. We would still have to rely on these people to hold themselves accountable, and frankly, that's not going to happen. The answer lies in the people. We need to hold them accountable. It takes a citizenship's responsibility to get informed, and quit believing that they are all bad except their own representative. Let them know if they are not doing the job that you expect them to be doing, they will get the boot after one term. Let them know that we, the people they represent, hold the pink slip, and remind them that being elected is not a life-long appointment, and there will be a performance appraisal at the ballot box and stick to your guns. That requires a change in the mindset of the people. I believe we are about to see that change happen.
But if this little diatribe isn't enough to convince you to look at the primary challengers instead of the incumbents who believe the seats in Congress belong to them, let's just take a look at some of the spending that was approved by this congress for 2006. I am looking at a site called Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) (http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2006).
Just to run down a few of these "pork barrel" projects. I am sure you will be surprised to learn that our favorite critters in Congress voted to provide 13.5 million dollars to an organization called the International Fund for Ireland. That's right people. We are funding Ireland. Each and every citizen of this country gave an average of four cents to this fund. And what does this fund generally provide funds for? It financed the World Toilet Summit. You heard me right. We are funding Ireland's toilet research. It gets worse folks. In 2006, just under 10,000 pork projects were identified by the CAGW totaling 29 billion dollars.
Here is an example of how our tax dollars are being spent. This is a defense appropriation in California. 5 million 6 hundred-thousand dollars was appropriated in the name of defense for the Gallo Center. You recognize the name, The Ernest Gallo center at the University of California at San Francisco. This 5.6 million was provided to research the effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain. I don’t have a clue how that relates to defense spending. Maybe someone can clue me in.
While we are at it, maybe someone can tell me why the taxpayers are funding the research for something called the "Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative". Did I read that right? The people of this country are funding the research for waterless urinals? Yes we are. In 2006, we are paying 1 million dollars for that research.
We are also paying 2 and ½ million dollars for two conservatories in California. One will be a research center for extra-terrestrial life while the other will serve as a museum for our accomplishments in space.
Are you starting to get the picture? These elected officials are having a blast spending your hard earned money for vote buying schemes. The list goes on and on at the CAGW website. Visit it. It makes for great conversation.
Remember this is 29 billion dollars in pork. And just this week, our illustrious Senate body voted to move 780 billion dollars allocated for beefed up Port Security to continue to fund our military operations in Iraq. You got that right. While we are paying for research for waterless urinals, our senators are diverting funds from port security to pay for the war. This would simply be ironic if that same senate body hadn't earlier this year raised hell about the Dubai Ports World deal and cried about Port Security then. Now, not only is it ironic, it's moronic. People it's time to wake up. We have given these elected officials carte blanche for much too long. It's time to send a new breed to Washington, but only if we can hold them accountable. It's getting to the point where our voices will be ignored from now on. The Senate immigration bill is all the evidence of that we need. That bill boils down to one thing folks, and one thing only. It is this year's eminent domain issue. It is all about raising a voter base. It is all about raising revenues to the federal government. If these illegals are granted amnesty and given a path to citizenship, they will all have to be paid at least the minimum wage. Hell some will even have to be paid union wages. That equates to one thing, more tax revenue for our esteemed Federal Government to spend on pork.
The Fair Tax
Okay people. I have to bring this up. I support the Fair Tax bill. But really, this thing called the Fair Tax will never fly unless they change the name of it. I’ll tell you why. When you have the top fifty percent of wage earners paying 96.3 percent of all the income taxes and the bottom 50 percent paying just 3.7 percent, why would anyone of the bottom fifty percent want anything called a Fair Tax. To them the current system is fair; soak the achievers for their behavior, and reward the underachievers for their behavior. You can’t get fairer than that in the eyes of the bottom 50%, can you?
I said I support the Fair tax bill, but I don't support the Fair Tax. I support the effort. The reason I support this effort is because it is something the People of this country can embrace, and demand. The people reacted to the Harriet Miers nomination and the nomination was pulled. The people reacted to the Dubai Ports World deal (but in my opinion, they were wrongly swayed by the finger in the wind Senate), and it will take the people's reaction to get rid of such a basis of Congressional power like the Federal Income tax. Let's make no mistake about this. The Congress, and lobbyists want to keep the Federal Income Tax system and the IRS more because they can manipulate votes, and keep the uniformed dependent upon the Federal Government than they want to keep it because it is a way to raise revenues for the Federal Government.
So you’re asking, how can I not support the concept of the Fair Tax, but want to see it implemented? Let me clarify. Any legislation that rids this country of 1) The IRS, and 2) the oppressive tax on achievement, I am for. However the pretense of replacing an Income Tax with a National Retail Sales Tax is nothing more than changing the way the Federal Government is funded. Without getting into what I believe are the constitutionality of both forms of taxes, I’ll simply remind you of the 29 billion dollars in pork spending I hinted at earlier, and then point you to the monstrosity that is known as Social Security and Medicare. More than 60% of our federal budget is for Entitlement Programs. 80% of that figure goes to fund Social Security and Medicare. I am of the belief that if it weren’t for the Federal and State sponsored "Old People's Retirement Benefit", neither of which are guaranteed to be paid out to anyone who has ever "contributed to it", then there wouldn't be such a level of "poverty level" amongst our senior citizens. I am of the belief that these programs should have never existed in the first. They are here now, and the dependency is too big to cut it off altogether at this point.
Getting back to the Fair Tax, and its "revenue neutrality", I firmly believe we wouldn't need "revenue neutrality" if we had a Congress committed to reducing spending bills to the constitutionally authorized appropriations. Therefore, the concept of the 'fair tax' is not something I can endorse.
Why I do endorse this legislation is very simple as I stated previously. This is something that the American people can embrace, and will ultimately force upon the Congress of the United States. If this is pulled off, it will be because we the people demanded it, and I believe it will start the process of returning the governing of this country back to the people, where it was intended initially. If the Fair Tax can get a vote on the floor of the House, it will be considered the People's success. I also believe that once this happens, the people will once again realize that they are employers of our government officials, and they will begin to hold them accountable.
I just have to caution the proponents of the Fair Tax, and those sitting on the sidelines waiting for it to happen. It won’t happen unless you stop believing that someday this will pass, while you’re sitting around watching Entertainment Tonight. It will never happen the majority of registered voters believe all Congressmen and women are bad, except their own. Listen folks. This is your opportunity to return to being the self-governed and not simply the governed.
So where does this all lead?
Everything I have said today leads to one thing; Individual accountability. Stand up. Air your grievances and take action. Hold your representatives' feet to the fire and let them know they work for us. We hear it daily how the republicans are going to lose the house because everyone is tired of them. I don't think that will happen. What we are about to see, is what we saw in San Diego, and in California this week. The People of this Country are standing up and letting our elected officials know "We have an agenda, and if you are going to be part of the problem, and not the solution, don’t let the door hit you on the way out." It happened in Pennsylvania recently when the entire city council was given its walking papers by the voters. It's also happening in Virginia in local primaries.
Whether some of us like it or not this is a conservative nation, who wants a conservative government. If the RINO hippies who campaigned as conservatives only to join their liberal friends in Washington don't start getting it, they will lose in their primaries. I will exercise my right at the ballot box in any primary I have the privilege of voting in, as well as in November. More of you will be doing the same. If we don’t like the RINOs in office now, we will replace them with their party challengers. We won't stay home, which is the only way the Democrats can win anything.
Lastly, I recently received a letter from a republican candidate, my state representative, asking me for a donation. I sent the envelope back with a note. "Show me the legislation you are going to sponsor to rid the citizens of Georgia of the State Income tax. When you do, I will send you a contribution." We will all start receiving these requests in the near future. I would suggest you not ignore the requests, but respond in kind. Hold these representatives at all levels accountable to you and your neighbors. I would urge you to get to know the platform your candidates are running on. Simply going in and pushing a button where the only thing that matters is the (D) or the (R) next to their name is what they are all hoping you will do. Let me just you. There are no financial requirements for a Congressman or woman. Meaning this country was founded on the blood dripped by the worst of scoundrels and renegades, not the elite blue bloods who seem to think they are better than you are, and more importantly think they know more what you want than you do. Get informed. Hold them accountable. It starts locally. Understand that.
Have a great election season.
Mark Bureau
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"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse"
~ Edmund Burke ~
Maybe THIS will refresh your memory.
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