Know Your Constitution Classes in Utah County

For those in the Utah County, Utah area, a Know Your Constitution Class is being presented for the next 5 more weeks. This is a 6 week series which actually started last week. The first class covered the Founding Fathers sources for the Constitution. Some of the philosophers that the Founders used in their guiding principles are John Locke, William Blackstone, and Frederic Bastiat. Their references also included the Old Testament, particularly, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus.

The first three Articles of the Constitution were covered briefly as the underlying paradigms to support the principles of the way the Branches of Government behave were uncovered and discussed.

The coming weeks will focus on in depth study of the Articles more, continuing with a review of the IV through to the last. The Bill of Rights will be examined as well as other amendments and their effect upon the working of the Constitution and our American lifestyle.

Classes are held on Tuesdays, at 7PM at 587 E. Center St. by the Shumways. Their home in on the corner of Center St. and 600 East on the North-West side of the street. There is no fee, this class is free.

S. 334 Bennett Health Bill: The Facts, Pure and Simple

Sins of Commission and Omission

in reporting about this bill:

There is a lot of misinformation about this bill. There are a lot of overlooked facts about how this bill works also. I have read through the bill and am detailing the most pertinent facts that Americans should know about it. At the end of this report will be commentary on the bill. In this way, you may choose to ignore the opining, or take it in, which ever suits you.

First, one of the misfired facts about this bill is that it will cost 2.2 trillion in government dollars. Not so. That figure was picked up by someone who skimmed through the document rather than reading it carefully to understand the number. In the Findings—the opening arguments of a bill to support its existence, it is stated that health care in America costs an annual amount of 2.2 trillion dollars. This is NOT government costs, but the cost in the entire health care industry. One is not the other. The government’s costs are included inside that number. It is not that number on its own.

“Personal responsibility for one’s health should include purchasing one’s own private health care coverage.”

There are a number of issues not readily explained for the public to understand about this bill. First, and foremost, it is compulsory. Period. All Americans 19 years and older MUST comply. One of the Findings to support this compulsory injunction states, “(4) Personal responsibility for one’s health should include purchasing one’s own private health care coverage. [Pp 5, S.334 IS]” How is it mandated? If one does not comply, the penalty is explicit. Penalties include the back pay of premiums of each month missed and 15% of the total of those defaulted months. Sound familiar?

Another Finding states that this should be a “shared” responsibility between the government, individuals and employers. Another Finding states that the main purpose of the bill is to encourage healthy lifestyles that prevent health problems, rather than treating the problem once it exists and is a serious medical and financial burden.

Another piece of misinformation I have read, as perhaps you have as well, is that the bill, as well as the Obama bill does not allow choice. Well, to the extent that it is compulsory, that is true. But within that framework, each state is required to provide at least two options for citizens of their state.

A family must be double the poverty level to qualify for assistance in the mandatory program.

What about those who cannot afford to be in the plan? The bill offers the solution through “Subsidies” for which they must qualify. A family must have a gross income that is 100% greater than the poverty line.

There are a number of performances required within this system as part of this “insurance plan” that are also compulsory. Added to those already mentioned above, are these: You must have a Primary Care Provider to “monitor” your health. No definition of “monitor” was provided in the bill. Additionally, to comply with the Findings that this bill is justified to actuate “preventive” medicine, your Primary Care Provider, upon your first visit, must lay out a “care plan” to “maximize” the individual’s wellness. [Pp18 S334 IS]

The bill has several sections covering incentive programs for the various parts and kinds of insurance to reward good behavior. Those that take better care of themselves, may receive “incentives” tantamount to a tax break.

Fifteen people will have more influence over the future health management of 300 million people than the people themselves.

One of the charges against this bill is that it is a government run insurance. Bennett says it is not because the bill provides providers from the Private sector. So does Medicaid but that doesn't make it private insurance any more than paying taxes means your money is going into a retirement fund. Fact: While changes to the Act inevitably fall to the Congress to make, fifteen people will, after enactment, control the entire system through recommendations to Congress each year as to what should be done. This committee will be in charge of any changes to the program after it becomes law. Fifteen people will have more influence over the future health management of 300 million people than the people. Along with this added Administration are added services. The bill provides opportunity for school districts to create wellness centers for children. Services are provided, according to the bill’s directive, at the consent of the parents.

The IRS Code will be modified to add power to collect for health insurance.

The Bennett Health Act is to be managed by the combined efforts of the state and the IRS. The IRS code is to be modified by this act in Chapter 24A to include power to collect for health insurance. Medicaid and Medicare will also be modified and eventually supposedly change to SCHIPs only.

And finally, one more very important fact about this bill: Each state will be compelled to do a number of duties as part of its responsibility to the program. One of these is to “collect data and to maintain a database containing information on the health insurance enrollment status of all State residents [pp118 S.334 IS],” which is to be sent to the Federal Government. In other words, your health is to be monitored and recorded by the Fed.

COMMENTARY:

There isn’t enough that can be said in defiance of this bill, except that it isn’t Obama’s bill. Hear me clearly: This is a very bad bill. I will only be giving a very brief synopsis of some of the arguments against it.

First it is compulsory. This is totally un-American. The basic premise of the bill is that because American medicine is expensive and not everyone can afford it, and it is selective, in that not everyone is treated the same depending on whether they have insurance or not, let’s go full bore, and make it a huge monstrosity rather than going in reverse. Granted there are problems. But that does not mean going forward in making what we have and where we are headed bigger—even gigantic. That is simply bad math!

Reversing the situation so that there is NO managed care, but only catastrophic insurance, as once was the case—real insurance—the playing field would again be even, with everyone paying out of pocket for health care. The magic here is that without the middleman, the HMO (and if Bennett or Obama have their way, another middleman, the Government), the cost will significantly go down, making health affordable to the average person in America. This is simple Economics 101 that is missing in the bill, big time.

Adding anything more for the IRS to manage is an insult to every taxpayer. There are serious questions about the Constitutionality of the IRS in the first place. In the second, their management style is harsh and insensitive at best. Where this bureaucracy has the inappropriate and unconstitutional power to seize all property without due process, imagine what could potentially go wrong with someone’s health involved. The bill mandates that states must find a proper way to enforce the provisions of the Act, but without withholding the insurance in doing so. But I could not find anywhere in the bill where the IRS was held to the same stipulation.

Adding a 15-member committee to provide recommendations to the Congress in every year’s review is a two-edged sword. On the one side, we have 15 people telling Congress how to take care of 300 million people. Here again the Federal Government is taking control out of our hands, and in this case, starting with a measly panel to direct our affairs. Pardon me, but I’m not particularly interested in 15 people telling me when I should brush my teeth and get a check up. And what that check-up should include, to boot!

But on the other hand, this is how bureaucracies are born. We see the start of one right here. Pretty soon this committee will be recommending pay, a larger panel to oversee interim studies, division into groups to handle specific medical issues that need to be addressed before Congress, and before you know it, Congress is authorizing an entire new Federal Health Department!

There are so many arguments against this bill based upon the huge potential for Federal Government infringement of just about every right available to us, that it is overwhelming. Here are just a few: School medical centers providing care with parental consent. Hello! Is it Groundhog Day? All over the country we have parents’ rights being ignored and trampled by states that have birth control and AIDS devices readily available to children. It is an insult that the sponsors, who must surely be aware of the circumstances around the country in this regard, could possibly think that this part of the bill will be honored. Even the very idea that Americans must be forced to take better care of themselves as defined by two, and possibly a few hundred legislators over 300 million of the rest of us smacks of omnipotence and omniscience, at least. There is no mistaking that we could and should be taking better care of ourselves. That is not to say this is the best method of accomplishing that end. The best incentive would be in freeing up the system from Government involvement altogether.

I could opine on every fact above, and then some. But the problems of many of the facts presented above are evident. I will close with just one more serious problem. Privacy.

The bill mandates states monitor their own citizenry through the collection of date, which is then sent to the Federal Government. I have only one thing to say about this. With all due respect to the authors of this bill, I sure hope they never have a highly personal and sensitive health issue they don’t want put in a databank—like ED, or all their colleagues are likely to know about it.

WHAT ALEX DE TOQUERVILLE SAW THAT WE ARE TOO BLIND TO SEE

Alex De Tocqueville, a 18th Century cultural anthropologist of sorts, intrigued why a newly formed society, forged out of wilderness and the unknown, thrived, but thrived ever so differently than the roots from whence the many citizens of its population came. He noticed huge differences in lifestyle compared with the Americans ancestral homes abroad. Americans had abandoned provincial lifestyles that thought inside the box for those that sparked ingenuity. This brought strength, individuality, independence, intelligence, and freedom. The latter brought Tocqueville to America.

But that was two hundred years ago.

There is an old poster making commentary about involvement with three monkeys: one covers its mouth; one, its ears; and one, its eyes. Has America become a monkey? Because apparently our friends to the East of us, namely in the former Soviet Block, believe, and perhaps arguably know, we have. In several publications from Russia, Ukraine and other countries where understanding of freedom is swelling and loathing of communist philosophy is growing, heads are shaking over what is happening here in the United States since President Obama has become President.

I say that in an indifferent and third party syntax because to state that Obama is our President or that he is THE President of the United States activates my gag-reflex. I'm sorry to my Democratic friends, I mean no offense. The solemn truth is that Obama's seat as President here is not nearly as large a loss to Republicans or other Party affiliates, or unaffiliated voters for that matter, as it is to Democrats. My Democratic friends, to be soft, but to the point, have been duped--I hardly think most of them truly believe themselves to be Socialist/Communist, unless they don't actually know what either is. But a Socialist is who we voted into office. My Democratic friends have been duped. And we have all been robbed blind of our American heritage.

Friends across America: Across the seas they can see our demise because we are blindly headed down a dangerous Communist/Marxist road most of Europe and Asia have suffered through for decades. While they have prayed SILENTLY in their secret corners for eventual refuge from government control we are leaping by canyon-sized gallops towards it. Here are the facts that represent what kind of legislation is currently on Capitol Hill: These bills and the information presented herein are verbatim from a new service that can be found among other places on Face book, called Visible Vote. You will notice that while many of these bills look benign on their face, the devil, as always is in the details. In fairness and to provide balance, there are bills of all kinds included here and no measure has been taken to slant the legislation coming from Washington right now. There are good bills, albeit, very few, that demonstrate efforts to protect the U.S. Constitution. But a close look and careful scrutiny of most of the bills themselves, will unveil a fortress of government control that is scaring half the planet.

(Why not us?)

American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
Category: Energy

Question: Should the government pass this bill to regulate emissions from companies, create energy jobs, and transition to a clean energy economy? (Please note this bill is over 900 pages long with a lot of details).

Highlights:
Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to establish a combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard that requires utilities to supply an increasing percentage of their demand from a combination of energy efficiency savings and renewable energy (6% in 2012, 9.5% in 2014, 13% in 2016, 16.5% in 2018, and 20% in 2021-2039). Provides for: (1) issuing, trading, banking, retiring, and verifying renewable electricity credits; and (2) prescribing standards to define and measure electricity savings from energy efficiency and energy conservation measures.- Amends the Clean Air Act (CAA) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) set forth a national strategy to address barriers to the commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture and sequestration; (2) establish an approach to certify and permit geologic sequestration; and (3) promulgate regulations to minimize the risk of escape to the atmosphere of carbon dioxide injected for purposes of geological sequestration. Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator to promulgate regulations for sequestration wells.- Amends PURPA to provide for the development of electric vehicle infrastructure. Requires the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to establish: (1) a large-scale vehicle electrification program; and (2) a program to provide financial assistance for the manufacture of plug-in electric drive vehicles. Requires the Administrator to establish a program under which a state may create a State Energy and Environment Development Account.- Safe Climate Act - Amends the CAA to require the Administrator to promulgate regulations to: (1) cap and reduce GHG emissions, annually, so that GHG emissions from capped sources are reduced to 97% of 2005 levels by 2012, 83% by 2020, 58% by 2030, and 17% by 2050; and (2) establish a federal GHG registry.- Provides for trading, banking and borrowing, auctioning, selling, exchanging, transferring, holding, or retiring emission allowances.- Requires the Administrator to: (1) establish a strategic reserve account and place into that account specified amounts (ranging from 1% to 3%) of the emission allowances for each of calendar years 2012-2050; and (2) auction such strategic reserve allowances once each quarter of each of such years. Too Many Details to List. Mobile users please check out the Links on Visible Vote on Face book.
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Title: $106 Billion Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009
Category: Defense

Question: Should the government provide more funds (total $106 Billion) for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Line of Credit to the IMF, funds to help countries with Swine Flu, and provide vouchers for Car Trade-ins on gas guzzlers?

Highlights:
- Cost $106 Billion Dollars- $80 Billion for War time funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan- $5 Billion Line of credit to the International Monetary Fund to help developing countries combat the impact of the global recession.- $7.7 Billion to combat the Swine Flu Virus in Foreign Countries- $10.4 Billion in foreign aid to target and promote economic development and counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq- $1 Billion to the \"cash for clunkers\" program for consumers to receive $4500 vouchers to trade in old gas guzzling vehicles for more fuel efficient vehicles.
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Title: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
Category: Health

Question: Should the FDA have power to regulate tobacco products and to assess fees on the tobacco companies?

Highlights:
-Grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) power to regulate tobacco products (Sec. 101).-Requires tobacco product manufacturers to disclose all ingredients in its products, the form and delivery method of nicotine, and any research into the health, toxicological, behavioral, or physiologic effects of tobacco products to the FDA and notify the FDA of any future changes to any of the above (Sec. 101).-Requires tobacco manufacturers to release all marketing research documents to the FDA (Sec. 101).-Requires tobacco manufacturers to notify the FDA of any future changes to the ingredients of their products (Sec. 101).-Requires all owners and operators of companies manufacturing or processing tobacco products to register with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and to be inspected once every two years (Sec. 101).-Prohibits the FDA from banning existing tobacco products or requiring that they eliminate nicotine (Sec. 101).-Requires FDA review of new tobacco products before they can go to market unless they are similar to products marketed before February 15, 2007 (Sec. 101).-Bans companies from promoting products as lower-risk alternatives to traditional tobacco unless the FDA certifies that its sale is likely to improve public health (Sec. 101).-Establishes a mechanism to assess fees on tobacco companies and traders to finance FDA oversight of the industry (Sec. 101).-Orders a study on the public health implications of raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products (Sec. 104).-Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create a plan relating to enforce restrictions on the advertising and promotion of menthol and other cigarettes to minors (Sec. 105).-Mandates larger, more varied, and more prominent warning labels on tobacco products (Secs. 201, 204).
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Title: Constitutional Amendments To Define Marriage as between a Man and Woman
Category: Social

Question: Should congress amend the Constitution of the United States to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman?

Highlights:
There are currently 2 bills introduced in Congress to define marriage as a union between man and woman. We will be monitoring to see if one makes it out of committee and is voted on. The details for each bill are as follows. We will post both bills on our discussion forums on Facebook.HR. 1269 Marriage Protection Act of 2009- Amends the federal judicial code to deny federal courts jurisdiction to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity under the Constitution, of the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act declaring that no state shall be required to give effect to any marriage between persons of the same sex under the laws of any other state.HR. 37 Proposing Amendment to the Constitution of the US relating to Marriage- Requires marriage in the United States to consist only of a legal union of a man and a woman.- Prohibits any federal or state court from having jurisdiction to determine whether the Constitution or any state constitution requires the legal incidents of marriage to be conferred upon any union other than a legal union between one man and one woman.- Prohibits requiring any state to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state concerning a union between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage, or as having the legal incidents of marriage, under the laws of such other state.
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Title: Development, Relief, and Education for Alient Minors Act (DREAM) of 2009
Category: Social

Question: Should congress amend the illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act of 1996 to permit states to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students?
Highlights:
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2009 or the DREAM Act of 2009 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of an unlawful alien\'s eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence.- Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional permanent resident status, an alien who: (1) entered the United States before his or her 16th birthday and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding enactment of this Act; (2) is a person of good moral character; (3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (4) at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education or has earned a high school or equivalent diploma; (5) from the age of 16 and older, has never been under a final order of exclusion, deportation, or removal; and (6) was under age 35 on the date of this Act\'s enactment.-Sets forth the conditions for conditional permanent resident status, including: (1) termination of status for violation of this Act; and (2) removal of conditional status to permanent status.-Authorizes an alien who has satisfied the appropriate requirements prior to enactment of this Act to petition the Secretary for conditional permanent resident status.-Provides for: (1) exclusive jurisdiction; (2) penalties for false application statements; (3) confidentiality; (4) fee prohibitions; (5) higher education assistance; and (6) a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report respecting the number of aliens adjusted under this Act.- NOTE: This bill failed last year which you can see in the news articles.
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Title: Defense Appropriations Act of 2009
Category: Defense

Question: Should the government pass the appropriations bill to fund $91.3 Billion to the defense budget plus other various departments?

Highlights:
- Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 for the Department of Defense (DOD) for: (1) military personnel; (2) operation and maintenance; (3) the Iraq Freedom Fund; (4) the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund; (5) the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Fund; (6) procurement; (7) research, development, test and evaluation; (8) Defense Working Capital Funds; (9) the Defense Health Program; (10) drug interdiction and counter-drug activities; (11) the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund; (12) the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle Fund; (13) the Office of Inspector General; (14) military construction for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Air Force, and DOD; (15) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program; and (16) the Department of Defense Base Closure Account 2005.- Rescinds specified funds from various accounts under prior defense appropriations Acts.- Makes supplemental appropriations for: (1) the Department of Agriculture for the Foreign Agricultural Service for Public Law 480 Title II grants (supplemental food program) and wildland fire management; (2) the Department of Justice (DOJ), including for the National Security Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Federal Prison System; (3) the Department of Energy for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; (4) the National Nuclear Security Administration for defense nuclear nonproliferation; (5) the Executive Office of the President for the National Security Council; (6) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for firefighter assistance grants; (7) the Department of the Interior for wildland fire management; (8) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund; (8) the Capitol Police; (9) the Department of State for diplomatic and consular programs, the Office of Inspector General, and embassy security, construction, and maintenance;
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Title: Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2009
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under and open end consumer credit plan?

Highlights:
- (Sec. 2) Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit a creditor from increasing any annual percentage rate of interest (APR) applicable to the existing balance on an open end consumer credit card account unless specified conditions are met. Allows a creditor to increase an APR on the existing credit card balance only if the increase is due solely to: - a change in index;- expiration of the promotional rate;- payment not received during the 30-day grace period after the due date; or- consumer failure to comply with a workout plan. Prohibits any such APR increase from exceeding the APR applicable to the particular category of transactions on the day before the effective date of the workout plan. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) to prescribe standards governing such workout plan. Requires a 45-day advance notice of:- credit card account rate increases, except one resulting from a change in index, and- significant contract changes. States that a notice of an account rate increase shall not be effective before the end of the one-year period beginning when the account is opened. States that, in the case of a promotional rate, no written notice of an increase in the APR shall be effective before the end of a six-month period beginning from the date the promotional rate takes effect. Requires a creditor to provide a 30-day advance notice of an account closure.- Note: There was a rider attached to this bill in regards to Firearms. We couldn't find a summary on the Library of Congress but if you are interested please remember to do your own research.- This bill is extremely detailed. Please visit our Facebook app under discussions to get the link to the full bill.
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Title: 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act
Category: Energy

Question: Should the Secretary of Education make grants to State educational agencies for the modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities including green technologies?

Highlights:
A local educational agency receiving a grant under this title shall use the grant for modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities, including, where applicable, early learning facilities.- Cost $6.4 Billion- repairing, replacing, or installing roofs, including extensive, intensive or semi-intensive green roofs, electrical wiring, plumbing systems, sewage systems, storm water runoff systems, lighting systems, or components of such systems, windows, ceilings, flooring, or doors, including security doors;- repairing, replacing, or installing heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems, or components of such systems (including insulation), including indoor air quality assessments;- bringing public schools into compliance with fire, health, seismic, and safety codes, including professional installation of fire/life safety alarms, including modernizations, renovations, and repairs that ensure that schools are prepared for emergencies, such as improving building infrastructure to accommodate security measures;- modifications necessary to make public school facilities accessible to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794);- abatement, removal, or interim controls of asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, mold, mildew, or lead-based hazards, including lead-based paint hazards;- measures designed to reduce or eliminate human exposure to classroom noise and environmental noise pollution;- modernizations, renovations, or repairs necessary to reduce the consumption of coal, electricity, land, natural gas, oil, or water;- upgrading or installing educational technology infrastructure to ensure that students have access to up-to-date educational technology;- modernization, renovation, or repair of science and engineering laboratory facilities, libraries, and career and technical education facilities, including those related to energy efficiency and renewable energy, and improvements to building infrastructure to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian access;- renewable energy generation and heating systems, including solar, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, or biomass, including wood pellet, woody biomass, waste-to-energy, and solar-thermal systems or components of such systems, and energy audits;
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Title: Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act
Category: Finance

Question: Should congress impose new rules and restrictions on credit card lenders that attempt to ban abusive credit practices, enhance consumer disclosures, and protect underage consumers?
Highlights:
- Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require advance notice of any increase in the annual percentage rate of interest (APR) pertaining to a credit card account under an open end consumer credit plan.- Imposes a freeze on interest rate terms and fees on canceled cards.- Sets limits on fees and interest charges, including a prohibition against penalties for on-time payments.- Prohibits a creditor from furnishing information to a consumer reporting agency concerning a newly opened credit card account until the credit card has been used or activated by the consumer.- Revises requirements for prompt and fair crediting of card payments.- Prohibits universal default (except in certain circumstances) and unilateral changes to cardholder agreements.- Increases the civil penalty against any creditor who fails to comply with specified requirements in the case of an individual action relating to an open end credit plan that is not secured by real property or a dwelling.- Prescribes procedures for specified federal regulatory agencies to evaluate credit card issuers for compliance with this Act.- Revises: (1) payoff and repayment timing disclosure requirements; and (2) requirements relating to late payment deadlines and penalties.- Prohibits issuance of: (1) a credit card on behalf of a consumer under age 21, unless the consumer has submitted a written application meeting specified requirements; and (2) certain affinity cards to students unless certain requirements have been met.- Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to allow underage consumers to elect to be included in certain listings compiled by a consumer reporting agency.- Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to require all federal banking agencies and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to coordinate rulemaking and regulations. - Cost is around $6 per American from 2010-2014
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Title: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009
Category: Finance
Question: Should the authority of the Comptroller General be expanded to allow examination of open insured banks and be allowed to audit the Federal Reserve and its members?

Highlights:
- Repeals the authority of the Comptroller General to carry out an onsite examination of an open insured bank or bank holding company only if the appropriate federal regulatory agency has consented in writing. (Retains the authority of the Comptroller General to audit a federal agency.)- Directs the Comptroller General to complete, before the end of 2010, an audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the federal reserve banks, followed by a detailed report to Congress.
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Title: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009
Category: Social

Question: Should congress pass this bill that gives broader powers to the Attorney General and various other agencies in regards to hate crimes?

Highlights:
- Authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that: (1) constitutes a crime of violence under federal law or a felony under state, local, or Indian tribal law; and (2) is motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation of the state, local, or tribal hate crime laws. Directs the Attorney General to give priority for assistance to crimes committed by offenders who have committed crimes in more than one state and to rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraordinary investigation or prosecution expenses.- Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to assist state, local, and Indian law enforcement agencies with such extraordinary expenses. Directs the Office of Justice Programs to: (1) work closely with funded jurisdictions to ensure that the concerns and needs of all affected parties are addressed; and (2) award grants to state and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.
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Title: Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
Category: Social

Question: Should we extend the Adam Walsh Child Safety Act of 2006?

Highlights:
- This act established the National Sex Offender Registry law.- Extends funding for the Sex Offender Management Assitance program- Federal assitance to states for enforcing sex offender registration requirements- Pilot programs for monitoring sex offenders- Grants to combat sexual abuse of children- The Jessica Lunsford Address verifcation grant program- The program for safe surrender of fugitives- Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets act of 1968 to extend through FY2014 funding for sex offender apprehension grants and juvenile sex offender treatment grants.
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Title: Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act
Category: Social

Question: Should we expand the Volunteerism programs in the US, including but not limited to an expansion of AmeriCorps?
Highlights:
- Expand Americorps from 75,000 position to 250,000 Positions- Increase School programs to provide nutition education to students and manage physical activity programs.- Include new grants for College Students that participate in the Volunteer programs.- Expands the Senior Volunteer Age to 55- Increase current spending to $5 Billion over the next 5 years.
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Title: Tax to Recoup AIG Bonuses and TARP Recipient Bonuses
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government implement a new tax that imposes a 90% tax rate on Individual Bonuses (above $250k) IF their companies that received more the $5 Billion in TARP money?

Highlights:
- Impose a 90% Tax on Bonuses for People with Incomes Over $250,000 if their Company received more than $5 Billion in TARP Money.- This will not tax Commissions, Welfare, Fringe Benefits or Expense Reimbursements for indivuduals.
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Title: Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008
Category: Energy

Question: Should the government extend renewable energy tax credits and increase taxes on oil companies?
Highlights:
-Extends tax credits for wind facilities, closed loop and open loop biomass facilities, geothermal and solar facilities, small irrigation power facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash combustion facilities, and hydropower facilities for three years (Sec. 101).-Designates tax credits for marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy (Sec. 102).-Extends by eight years the 30 percent tax credit for solar energy property and fuel cell property (Sec. 103).-Creates new "clean renewable energy" bonds and designates a $2 billion limit on those bonds, which would be allocated to qualified projects of public power providers and cooperative electric companies (Sec. 104).-Extends tax credits for residential energy efficient property for six years (Sec. 106).-Raises the maximum credit for solar electric property from $2,000 to $4,000 (Sec. 106).-Allots income tax credits to consumers who buy plug-in hybrid vehicles (Sec. 201).-Extends and modifies tax credits for energy efficient appliances (Sec. 234).-Prevents tax deductions to major integrated oil companies for income resulting from the domestic production of oil and gas (Sec. 301).-Reduces the tax deduction of taxpayers with oil-related qualified production activities income by 3 percent after 2008 (Sec. 301).
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Title: Public Transportation and Alternative Fuel Grants
Category: Energy

Question: Should the government appropriate $850 million to the Department of Transportation in order to fund grants for the expansion of public transportation, the reduction of fares or avoidance of increases in fares, and the use of alternative fuel vehicle related quipment?

Highlights:
-Vote to pass a bill that appropriates $850 million to the Department of Transportation in order to fund grants for the expansion of public transportation, the reduction of public transportation fares or avoidance of increases in fares, the use of alternative fuel vehicle-related equipment or facilities, or the expansion or establishment of commuter matching services with information about alternatives to single occupancy vehicle use.-Specifies that grants for projects that involve designing, engineering, constructing, or acquiring property for additional parking facilities at end-of-line fixed guideway stations or at park-and-ride lots that serve commuter bus routes of more than 20 miles in length shall be for 100 percent of the net capital cost unless the recipient requests a lower percentage (Sec. 7).
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Title: Alternative Energy Tax Incentives
Category: Energy

Question: Should tax incentives be given for the production and use of alternative energy sources in addition to providing individuals income tax relief?

Highlights:
-Extends the renewable energy tax credit by one year for new wind facilities (Sec. 101).-Extends the renewable energy tax credit by 3 years for new qualified closed-loop or open-loop biomass facilities, geothermal or solar energy facilities, small irrigation power facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash combustion facilities, and qualified hydropower facilities (Sec. 101).-Designates marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy as being qualified energy resources eligible for the renewable energy tax credit (Sec. 102).-Extends for 6 years the 30 percent energy tax credit for qualified fuel cell property and solar energy property and the 10 percent credit for microturbine property (Sec. 103).-Extends the tax credit for certain new residential "energy efficient" property for 6 years and raises the total tax credit for new solar electric property from $2,000 to $4,000 (Sec. 104).-Extends the research tax credit, restaurant property depreciation tax credits, and optional state sales tax deductions for one year (Sec. 221, 225, 201).-Extends tax credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel used as fuel for one year, and raises the biodiesel credits and biodiesel mixture credits from 50 cents per gallon to $1 per gallon (Sec. 122).-Provides an additional standard deduction for real property taxes for non-itemizers of up to $350 or $700 for a joint return (Sec. 301).-Increases the child tax credit for low-income parents (Sec. 302).-Delays tax code provisions that would allow companies to allocate interest on a worldwide basis for 10 years (Sec. 402).-Mandates that compensation deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan of a foreign corporation shall be includible in gross income in the absence of a substantial risk of forfeiture of rights to such compensation (Sec. 401).
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Title: Consumer First Energy Act of 2008
Category: Energy

uestion: Should the Senate consider a bill that would redirect a portion of windfall profits of oil and gas companies into a fund to reduce American dependence on foreign oil and offset effects of climate change?

Highlights:
-Establishes a 25 percent tax on the "windfall profits" of major oil companies, defined as those oil companies that produce at least 500,000 barrels of oil per year and meet certain other criteria (Sec. 103).-Defines "windfall profit" as the excess of the adjustable taxable income of a taxpayer for the taxable year that exceeds the "reasonably" inflated average profit for such taxable year (Sec. 103).-Prohibits major oil companies from deducting the receipts from the production, refining, processing, transportation, or distribution of petroleum primary products from their taxable income (Sec. 101).-Reduces the foreign tax credit for foreign oil or gas related income (Sec. 102).-Allows oil companies to deduct investment in alternative energy production (including wind facilities, closed-loop and open-loop biomass facilities, geothermal or solar energy facilities, landfill gas facilities, small irrigation power facilities, trash combustion facilities, and qualified hydropower facilities) from the "windfall profits" tax (Sec. 103).-Establishes the Energy Independence and Security Trust Fund with the revenue created by this bill, with the stated purpose of decreasing the United States' dependence on foreign and "unsustainable" energy sources and combating global warming (Sec. 104).-Authorizes the president to declare a Federal energy emergency for a maximum initial period of 30 days in an area where there is a fuel supply shortage or price anomaly that affects the well-being of citizens (Sec. 204).-Prohibits suppliers from selling fuel at an "unconscionably" excessive price in an area that the president has declared the subject of an energy emergency (Sec. 203).-Suspends the acquisition of petroleum for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until December 31, 2008 (Sec. 301).-Authorizes the Attorney General to take action against foreign states or agents thereof that attempt to collectively limit petroleum production, limit petroleum distribution, set the price of petroleum products, or restrain the trade of petroleum products (Sec. 401).-Mandates that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission promulgate regulations to increase margin levels for crude oil trading to reduce oil speculation (Sec. 502).
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Title: Expand Social Security Act and Improve Childrens Health Insurance
Category: Health

Question: Should the government pass a bill to expand the Social Security Act and increase the scope of the Childrens Health Insurance(CHIP) program?

Highlights:
-Allows states to provide pregnancy-related assistance under CHIP for pregnant women whose income is at least 185 percent of their state's poverty level or at least 200 percent of the poverty level for children under 19 years of age (Sec. 111).-Phases out coverage of non-pregnant childless adults by prohibiting the approval or renewal of waivers after September 30, 2009, unless a state requests a one year extension (Sec. 112).-Expands CHIP coverage to children of families whose incomes would exceed 300% of the poverty line but for a general exclusion for blocks of income (Sec. 114).-Expands CHIP to allow states the option of covering children of legal immigrants and pregnant legal immigrants and allows them to bypass the normally required five-year waiting period before eligibility (Sec. 214).-Prohibits states from providing CHIP to any undocumented immigrants (Sec. 214, 605).M-Increases the federal excise taxes on tobacco products, including raising the cigarette tax by $0.61 to $1 per pack, in order to fund CHIP (Sec. 701).
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Title: Blair Holts Firearm Licensing Record of Sale Act
Category: Social

Question: Should the government implement a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and create a record of sale system for those firearms and for other purposes?

Highlights:
1) Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.2) Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.
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Title: $410 Billion Omnibus Bill
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government pass the current $410 Billion Omnibus bill to keep the government operating for the remainder of fiscal year 2009?

Highlights:
1) Spending bill keeps federal government operating through September 30, 2002) Bill now moves to the Senate for further consideration3) Some argue the bill's spending increases are too large
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Title: Stem Cell Research Act of 2007
Category: Health
Question: Should the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells?

Highlights:
- Amends the Public Health Service Act to state that regardless of the date in which stem cells were derived from a human embryo, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall conduct and support embryonic stem cell research (Sec. 2)- Amends the Public Health Service act to establish the following ethical requirements for research: (1) the stem cells have to be derived from human embryos that have been donated to in-vitro fertilization clinics for the purpose of fertility treatments and are deemed in excess of the clinical need for individual treatment, (2) it must be determined that the embryos would never be implanted in a woman, and therefore would be discarded, and (3) the individual who donated the embryos did so without receiving any financial or other inducement to make the donation (Sec. 2)- Amends the Public Health Service Act to state that the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall conduct and support research to develop techniques for isolation, derivation, production, or testing of non-embryonic stem cells that are producing all or almost all cell types in the body (Sec. 3)
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Title: Close Guantanamo Bay Detention
Category: Defense

Question: Should the US close Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and limit the use of certain interrogation techniques?

Highlights:
1) Close Guantanamo Bay Cuba Detention facility.2) Limit use of certain interrogation techniques.3) Prohibit interrogation by contractors.4) Require notification of the International Committe of the Red Cross of detainees.5) Bill currently going through house committee.
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Title: Change Mortgage Terms In Bankruptcy
Category: Finance
Question: Should bankruptcy judges be allowed to reduce the principal owed on a mortgage loan?

Highlights:
1) Allow bankruptcy judges to reduce the amount of principal owed in a mortgage loan.2) Attempt to stop foreclosures and rescue people upside down on mortgages they cant afford.
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Title: Fair Tax of 2009
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government repeal the income tax and other taxes, abolish the IRS and enact a national sales tax to be administered by the states?

Highlights:
This bill has been referred to a house committee. It has been introduced into the congress for the past 3 years and never been voted on from what we have found.Here are the details we know thus far. We will update you when we know more:TITLE I--REPEAL OF THE INCOME TAX, PAYROLL TAXES, AND ESTATE AND GIFT TAXESSEC. 101. INCOME TAXES REPEALED.SEC. 102. PAYROLL TAXES REPEALED.SEC. 103. ESTATE AND GIFT TAXES REPEALED.SEC. 104. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS; EFFECTIVE DATE.TITLE II--SALES TAX ENACTEDSEC. 201. SALES TAX.Sorry no news media links were found on this. We made the foxnews link a link to Fairtax.org
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Title: Second Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act
Category: Energy
Question: Should the government extend selected agricultural assistance programs, provide funding for the purchase of certain foods for domestic nutrition programs, and lower income tax credits for ethanol producers?(President Bush Veto Override)

Highlights:
-Grants $37 million in technical assistance to specialty crop producers (Sec. 3203).-Prohibits persons with adjusted gross non-farm income of over $500,000 or adjusted gross farm income of over $750,000 from receiving certain types of subsidies (Sec. 1604).-Reauthorizes the Federal Food and Nutrition Program, the Commodity Distribution Program, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and distribution of surplus commodities to special nutrition projects through 2012 (Sec. 4406).-Establishes a table of market assistance loan rates for 19 commodities including corn, wheat, barley, oats, and soybeans (Sec. 1202).-Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to spend $991 million during 2008-2012 (and $206 million each subsequent fiscal year) for the purchase of fruits, vegetables, and nuts for nutritious foods in domestic nutrition assistance programs and an additional $250 million during 2008-2012 for fruits and vegetables for schools (Sec. 4404).
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Title: Expand Medicare Coverage
Category: Health

Question: Should the government provide expand Medicare coverage to improve access to preventive and mental health services, and enhance low income benefit programs? (President Bush Veto Override)

Highlights:
-Increases annually the amount covered by Medicare of health care costs associated with mental, psychoneurotic, and personality disorders until 100% of related costs are covered in 2014 (Sec. 102).-Prohibits Medicare Advantage marketing from conducting direct soliciting via telemarketing, door-to-door marketing, in health care settings, at educational activities, and from attempting to sell non-health related products at events related to Medicare Advantage plans (Sec. 103).-Makes available an additional $100 million to aid states in giving assistance to low-income Medicare beneficiaries through September 30, 2008, and makes available a total of $600 million through December 31, 2009 (Sec. 111).-Makes available $48.9 million for low income Medicare subsidies and Medicare Savings Program administrative costs (Sec. 113).-Removes life insurance policy values from being factored into determining an individuals income eligibility for Medicare low-income subsidies (Sec. 116).
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Title: Defense Authorization Bill $603 Billion
Category: Defense

Question: Should the government authorize $603 Billion for activities of the Department of defense, including $69 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Highlights:
- Provides a 3.9 percent basic pay increase for members of the armed forces (Sec. 601).- Prohibits funds in this bill from being used for permanent stationing of armed forces in Iraq, and from exercising United States control over Iraqi oil resources (Sec. 2913).- Prohibits detainees from being interrogated by contracted personnel (Sec. 1036).- Requires the Department of Defense to develop a plan to increase the roll of the National Guard and Reserves in national defense (Sec. 1053).- Authorizes $153.55 billion for operations and maintenance- Authorizes an additional $19.86 billion for operations in Afghanistan, and an additional $49.63 billion for operations in Iraq
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Title: Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act
Category: Social

Question: Should the government redefine employment laws that allows each paycheck sent to a person count as an offense if the company is found guilty of discrimination?

Highlights:
-Changes the current unlawful employment discrimination laws to include the adoption of discriminatory compensation decisions or practices, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid, and when an individual is subjected to or affected by such practices (Sec. 3, 4, 5).-Allows the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties (Sec. 3).-Takes effect as if enacted on May 28, 2007 and applies to all claims made on or after that date (Sec. 6).
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Title: Obama $900 Billion Stimulus Package
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government spend $900 billion on infrastructure investment, energy efficiency, unemployment assitance, and state local fiscal stabilization?

Highlights:
- 900 Billion Dollar Economic Stabilization Act- Please go to http://thomas.loc.gov and search for HR 1 to read more. There is too much information to list here.
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Title: Paycheck Fairness Act for Women
Category: Social

Question: Should victims of wage discrimination be able to sue for punitive damages and require employers to prove that any disparities in pay between men and women are job-related?
Highlights:
-Requires that employers be able to prove that any disparities in pay between male and female employees are job-related (Sec. 3).-Prohibits employer retaliation against employees who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their own wage or that of another employee (Sec. 3).-Increases penalties against a discriminatory employer including compensation of legal fees and liability for punitive damages against an employee (Sec. 3).-Issues grant money for salary negotiation skills training for girls and women (Sec. 5).
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Title: Prevent AIDS, Malaria, TB In Foreign Countries
Category: Health

Question: Should the government provide $48billion to a global fund against AiDS, Malaria, and TB?

Highlights:
-Establishes a plan to prevent 12 million new HIV infections worldwide, provide support care for 12 million who are already infected with HIV/AIDS including 5 million orphans and children, and help countries reach 80 percent of the targeted group with counseling, testing, and treatment (Sec. 101).-Allows individuals with AIDS to receive a visa to travel into the United States (Sec. 305).-Provides assistance for counseling, testing, and treatment to prevent the transmission of HIV among men who have sex with men and by providing male and female condoms (Sec. 301).-Requires "balanced funding" for sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS prevention (Sec. 403).
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Title: $700 Billion Bailout
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government allocate $700billion dollars to buy troubled assets from financial institutions and backstop their losses?

Highlights:
-Establishes the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to allow the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase troubled assets from any financial institution (Div. A, Sec. 101).-Sets the initial authority for purchasing troubled assets at $250 billion, allows for the President to extend the authority up to $350 billion, and allows for an extension of up to $700 billion with both Congressional and Presidential approval (Div. A, Sec. 115).
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Title: India Nuclear Agreement
Category: Foreign

Question: Should the US provide nuclear technology and materials to India for non-military use?

Highlights:
-Provides for the transfer of nuclear technology and materials to India for non-military use (Sec 101).-Opens civilian nuclear facilities for inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (Sec 101, 104).-Requires the president to certify to Congress that this agreement does not violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by assisting India to produce or acquire nuclear weapons (Sec. 102).
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Title: Amtrak Revitilization
Category: Finance

Highlights:
- Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak for the next five years, including $5.32 billion for capital grants, $2.95 billion for operation grants, and $1.9 billion for intercity passenger rail services (Div. B).- Authorizes $1.5 billion over the next ten years for capital and preventive maintenance projects for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Div. B, Sec. 601).- Provides $1.63 billion for rail safety programs (Div. A).- Allocates $18 million for 2009-2013 to design, develop, and construct the Facility for Underground Rail Station and Tunnel in Colorado to test and evaluate above-ground and underground rail tunnels to prevent accidents, mitigate and remediate the consequences of any such accidents, and to provide a realistic scenario for training emergency responders (Div. A, Sec 3).
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Title: Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government extend unemployment compensation to people who have already used up their limit?

Highlights:
- Allows an individual who has no rights to federal or state regular unemployment compensation, or who has exhausted his or her rights to federal or state regular compensation, to receive the lesser of 80 percent (up from 50 percent) of the amount of his or her regular yearly compensation or 20 times (up from 13 times) his or her average weekly benefit amount (Sec. 2).- Provides additional extended emergency unemployment compensation in an amount equal to the lesser of 50 percent of the individual's regular yearly compensation or 13 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount in states that are in an extended benefit period, as defined by the unemployment rates (Sec. 3).
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Title: Automotive Company Bailout
Category: Finance

Question: Should the government provide $14billion to the American Auto Manufacturers?

Highlights:
-Requires the President to designate one or more officials (referred to by the media as "Car Czars") to be overseen by the Comptroller General in order to assess auto manufacturers recovery plans and approve bridge loans (Secs. 3, 4).-Allocates $14 billion for bridge loans and long-term restructuring loans to American auto companies that submitted recovery plans to the government by December 2, 2008 (Secs. 4, 10).-Requires participating auto manufacturers to submit a final restructuring plan to the Presidents designee by March 31, 2009, unless the designee chooses to postpone the deadline until April 30, 2009 (Sec. 6).
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At first blush these bills may look like they were created with the best and most honorable of intentions. Indeed, I believe their sponsors believe their intentions are to be such. But that does not reduce the fact that in the end most of these bills have ab entirely different intent. The bottom line on most everything you have read above--save perhaps one bill, the marriage bill, is all about government control. Our country was devised and planned to avoid government control. Therefore, these bills, and many many more like them are by their very existance designed to take away Americanism! Americans, who more than two centuries came for religious and philosophical freedom, and monetary abundance secondarily, are preoccupied with fame and fortune. Indeed, freedom has been supplanted by security. The two oppose each other and do not co-exist without tention.

What we are not appreciative of, that DeToqueville observed so readily in American lifestyle, are qualities of character that surpass fortume and thus create it. He saw common folks having uncommon valore as an everyday affair. People, regular Joes and Josettes were familiar with Americanism because they sacrificed to get here. They sacrificed for their homes, families, and especially their beliefs. That was very real for them. They are not for us. It is all disposable to us, just like the Junker bill that Obama approved that gives everyone thousands of dollars to buy a newer car--at a price, of course.

Sign away your rights to privacy and you can have the money for a car.

Of course.

Obama--heard he studied Marxism.

Of course.

Obama would have activated DeToqueville's gag-relex. DeToqueville would have hurled his lunch at the thought that his book, Democracy in America (aka: "Democracy" for short) described a Socialist country after all.

It is imperative that we move now to reverse government control of our freedoms, as we are loosing them in a quantum leap of time.

HR3200: The Democrat/Obama Health Bill and It's Alarming Effects Would Devistate American Economy and LIfestyle

Congressional Hearing testimony confirms the devistating outcome of HR3200:


Under testimony during Congressional Hearings July 22, 2009, Senator Dan Burton spoke directly and rationally about the devastating blow the Obama supported Health bill would have on the American people. He cited the Congressional Budget Office, Lewin Group, a private think tank that did models and calculations on the data of legislation as we know it thus far, and colleagues, as well as common sense to illustrate his points.

While this article does not serve to give full dialog to the subject of Socialized Health Care, nor this bill, it does use Senator Burton's full text to illustrate key points in the legislation's ultimate and grim outcome.

Below is the full text of his testimony, verbatim:

There’s been an awful lot of misinformation about the Democrat health care proposal, Mr. Speaker, and so I would like to take just a couple of minutes tonight to talk to my colleagues about what’s really happening and what will happen if this bill becomes law.

According to the Lewin Group, there will be 114 million Americans who could lose their current coverage under the bill according to this organization. 4.7 million is the number of the jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to provide health care insurance coverage according to a model developed by the Council of Economic Advisers: $818 billion in total new taxes on individuals who cannot afford health care coverage and employers who cannot afford to provide coverage that meet the Federal bureaucrat standards; $1.28 trillion in new Federal spending in the next 10 years, but some believe it will be as much as $3 trillion. And then there are 33 entitlement programs the bill creates, expands, or extends in an increase from where we are right now.

This is the organizational chart [not displayed in the record] of the health care plan the Democrats are proposing. The white spots are new agencies that will be created or will be added to the plan, and it’s going to be a real maze for American to go through in order to get health care. It will result, in my opinion, in most people’s opinions who study this, in rationing of health care and additional cost to the taxpayers of this country to the tune of between $1 trillion and $3 trillion over a decade.

Now, I just want to quote some of the things that have been said by our leaders over the past few days about this plan.

Yesterday, President Obama, when he was talking about this, said that this bill will not add to the deficit. He said: I will not sign a bill that adds to the deficit. Period. That is a direct quote from the President yesterday.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House bill, this bill, will add $239 billion to the deficit. So either the Congressional Budget Office or the President is wrong because it is going to add to the deficit, according to CBO.

Representative CHARLIE RANGEL, one of my good friends her in the Congress, was commenting on President Obama and Speaker Pelosi by saying he thought they were moving too fast. He was overheard to say yesterday or day before yesterday: No one wants to tell the Speaker that she’s moving too fast and they darn sure don’t want to tell the President. He was on his way to a closed door meeting about this because there is an awful lot of concern about this bill, even among Democrats.

Speaker Pelosi, in a front page interview in USA Today, said: Many Members think that there’s more to be squeezed from the hospitals, the pharmaceuticals companies and the docs. Squeeze them. And I hope all of those institutions are listening.

Joe Biden, the Vice President, said: We’re going to go bankrupt as a Nation, he warned at an event in Virginia last week. He continued: People, when I say that, look at me and say, What are you talking about, JOE? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt? And he says, yes, we do have to spend more money to keep from going bankrupt.

Now that’s something that is new to me. I have never heard that you can spend your way out of bankruptcy. And the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, told the New York Times that Obama intends to use tonight’s press conference, that is going to happen this evening as a “6-month report card,” and he is going to talk to the American people about “how we’ve rescued the economy form the worst recession” and that we’re moving forward with our legislative agenda.

Now if they’ve rescued us from the worst recession, I’d like to know how we’re going to explain to the American people that we are very rapidly approaching 10 percent unemployment when just a month or so ago they said it would’t go above 8 percent, and how when they said they weren't going to spend us into the red anymore, and we’re looking at trillions of dollars of additional spending. So tonight I hope everybody watches the President and listens to him. But I hope they ask themselves, are things better today then they were 6 months ago, when you took office, or are they worse? Because he’s going to tell you everything is coming up roses.

(Sen. Dan Burton, ID; Congressional Record, July 22. 2009; Thomas, Library of Congress.)

Please contact you representatives, particularly your Senators, (being this bill has already passed the House of Representatives) to let them know that HR3200's devastating effects and government control are not what you want for your family. Time is an issue.

OUR PERCEPTIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD: A Direct Affect of Our Participation in Our Own Government--For Better or Worse

Over the past few weeks I have had the occasion to talk with two youth from Denmark, each at different times and apart from the other by a number of weeks. Clearly they had formed opinions about America based upon news brought to them overseas by sources consistently touting Americans as greedy, thoughtlessly rich, wealth-mongers who couldn’t care any less about the poor on their own, who wanted no part in making life equally painless for all citizens and apparently thirsting for “stuff” more than caring for their own, all the while meddling in the affairs of others the world over.

In the first case, the young man, an exchange student who was on a multi-state tour ending a year of “studies” that did not count toward his official education, said he had learned a lot about Americans by being here. He said he had realized that Americans were not what he had always believed them to be: Spoiled rotten brats who didn’t know how to work, let alone work hard, that had everything at their fingertips, so to speak. His opinion now is quite the contrary: we are hare working, ambitious, caring people that do much good on the planet. How refreshing and “whew” are we ever saved by the bell! But it is too bad that he had to live here before realizing that we aren’t all a bunch of spoiled jerks only out for our own good, not caring about any one or anything other than ourselves. Where did such a grossly distorted and blatantly bias opinion ever become so inflated?

A few weeks later, a friend’s niece arrived, also from Denmark, for a multi-week visit. While we sat visiting and I was pouring over Face book requests, she noticed one particular request asking for support to get rid of liberal Democrats including Pelosi, and of course, President Obama. When my friend’s niece saw that I clicked on the button to become a member she was aghast and stunned! Questioning my clarity of mind, she asked why in the world I would ever want to get rid of a hero such as Obama who is saving America from itself. I was curious to say the least.

She couldn’t see how anyone would want to get rid of Obama over McCain especially with all the good Obama wanted to accomplish. He is doing do much good, she said. So much good, I wondered? I wondered where she was hearing this. In school, from her teacher, for one, she told me. She was shocked that so many of her classmates didn’t know anything about what Obama was doing. I admit I was wondering the same thing about her teacher. I was equally wondering the same thing about her. How could she possibly not know what menacing acts Obama was doing here in America? How could she not know, or even see, or detect that he is a Fascist Marxist? It occurred to me that she probably didn’t know what that was and I realized that much education needed to be taking place.

This is not the forum to report the entire discussion. Nor would it serve the right purpose, as we discussed many facets of politics, including socialized medicine, school choice, and Cap and Trade. The latter will be used as an example of how to solve the conundrum Americans have in remedying our complex and confusing perception problem by other countries in this blog entry.

What is the Problem with our Perception by Other Countries?

This is still the nation that out-performs all other nations in giving—not just government spending to give, but in personal donations to charitable causes. This is still the nation that donates and contributes to the rebuilding of other nations at our expense. This is the nation that ships, via government programs and private charitable organizations massive amounts of cargo and supplies to refugees, displaced, and homeless countrymen around the globe. And this is the nation that invests more into global programs and organizations that tout peace but later prove helplessly wasteful and defunct; yet we pick up the tab without complaint. With all this we still seem to have a serious PR problem with other countries, despite our attempts. How is that?

If one follows the news, it is hard to miss a number of weird and interesting public relation plays by Obama that leave most Americans scratching their heads, at the least. When the President of the United States goes overseas and apologizes for our behavior like we are the Universal Outlaws of the new century, one has to wonder. But if we look back over time at what might have caused this plight, we cannot blame Obama for it—only point to him as an opportunist seizing the timeliness of our bad publicity and even contributing to it by feeding the hungry dragon it has become. The real culprit is, as it should be, us. I mean US.

Yes, the US, is us. We the people are always the answer and the solution to any problem or triumph. The brilliance of our system of government makes it so. We ARE the government. When we, the citizens forget that we run the government, as we have done, trouble blossoms and festers. Unlike other countries, ours cannot function, nor perform as designed without citizen contribution. “We the People” really does mean something. Them’s not just words here in America—or at least it shouldn’t be. The simple truth is that when we acquiesce to elected leaders to do what we should be doing—and should have been doing all along—we have failed, not our leaders.

So, to solve the problem of our horrible perception, we must return to caring for the government. In other words, we must return to caring for our country. We run it. If we run it, Obama cannot sign into law with the sweep of his pen actions he claims are “Executive Orders” that several generations ago would have marked him as a traitor and had him guilty of treason, and high crimes against the citizens of America for the dangerous position he has put us in. Running the government is simply a matter of attending local meetings, writing our elected officials, banding together to join forces on particular issues and making use of ALL possible avenues to speak our minds opening and bluntly and holding our officials accountable to report to us what they are doing and WHY they are doing it.

Through the discussions with my friend’s niece, I shared a couple of strange acts Obama displayed. He is for the so-called, “Cap and Trade”, which some less than affectionately refer to as “Cap and Tax” legislation. As I explained to her, this legislation will require utility companies—uh—er, force them, to develop a percentage of their production from alternative energy sources, I.E.: wind turbines, solar panels, etc. in combination with their current traditional sources of energy. I, personally am all for alternative sources of energy, as a designer of homes that specialize in alternative sources, I support that creativity. But FORCE is NEVER the answer in free markets. Never.

This legislation is a perfect example of what happens when the government forces action: The “Cap and Trade” causes is huge increased expense to the consumer of an approximate average cost per capita per annum of $2000!! The town I live in has its own power generators. They have for over 100 years. The projected cost for those who use Provo City Utilities is projected to be any where upwards to $5000! Thank you Obama! Way to be a hero to the poor as those across the sea believe you are! The painful reality that our foreign friends must see is that we are not only crippling our economy, but sticking it to the poor and creating a huge reservoir of greater poor among us to those overseas believe Obama has come to save. Sadly his policies and actions are causing grave damage to us and we could use the support of all our foreign friends in getting him out!

When I explained this legislation, plus Obama’s “moratorium” on production of gas drilling in Utah—with one of the largest deposits in the nation—which will only tighten the supply and drive up the costs of fuel, her face became serious and forlorn. I thought she was going to cry. No longer did she look as though she would emphatically support Obama. Indeed she acknowledged that she could see actions in Obama that were inconsistent with his words.

The moral of the story is that most of us are not going to have the opportunity to discuss politics with foreigners. We won’t have the chance to share the truth with them about what is really going on in America, or what our legislators, to say nothing about our President, are doing verses what they say they are doing. The truth and reality is that our closest link to them is in controlling our elected officials.

Who’s the boss? We the People. We must rise up, speak up, get involved in saying what is right and what is certainly wrong and doing something to stop the latter and promote the former. It is in the power of the will of the people that others across the globe will get the truth. But only if we care enough to deliver it to them rather than ignoring what is going on until our reputation is sorted and tainted. Believe it or not, that latter takes more work than just getting involved in the first place. The old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, applies profoundly in American politics. Our involvement in our system of government is the answer to our PR problem. If we don’t take action we cannot blame Obama for his.

Banding together in organizations that speak for us with power to represent our thoughts and beliefs as well as give us updates on information to keep our elected officials informed about our opinions is key. Here are the links to the Utah County Republican Women, one of the most influential groups in Utah and a superb information portal as well as an avenue to take that information into action.

Timpanogos Republican Women, a new upstart organization taking after the model of UCRW and located on the Northern side of Utah County facilitates particularly those women who need to meet in the evening. It’s young and vibrant leadership and small, fast growing membership welcomes new members as well. Their information can be found below and on the UCRW website.

http://www.ucrw.org/
President: Elaine Bonham: mailto:elainebonham@aol.com
Membership Chair: Suzanne Merrill: merrillsuzanne@gmail.com
Blog general info: Sheryl Devereaux: sherphd@gmail.com

(TRW President Debi Ring: http://sn116w.snt116.mail.live.com/mail/EditMessageLight.aspx?MailTo=%22Debi%20Ring%22%20%3cdebi%40sixrings.org%3e&n=1770413546)
801-910-5600 phone; or text message
801-995-8672; phone; text message; Skype IM

Universal Healthcare: Evidence of a Desperate Nation or Impulsive Leadership? The solution is in restoration of key virtues & sound principles

A recent poll on Facebook asks whether the member is for or against the Universal Healthcare Plan supported by President Obama. In response: Let me use the wise words of my youngest daughter (a young adult): "heck no, techno!"

In words that Obama and his administration can understand--and any legislators who may think we are backed into a corner: We are not a desperate nation. We do not need to resort to this manipulation to "solve" our problems today to make them worse in the future.

Patience, a virtue needing as much restoration as the Constitution itself, is the answer: We don't need impulsive pen scribbles on legislation that will cripple our nation.

We need private policies to flourish. Specifically, eliminating the (HMO) middle man, a basic economics principle, in reducing costs to consumers will allow doctors to negotiate with patients a sliding scale fee like the old days where patients paid as they went and catastrophic insurance was the only "health insurance" available.

Current FDA criteria is two-fold. A drug must be tested for a period of time in double blind testing for safety, usually on rats or other "spare" animals. Once that testing passes standards of safety, clinical trials for effectiveness begin, requiring many years of study and documentation and funding. Reducing the FDA criteria for testing Rx's, allowing doctors to prescribe directly to patients drugs without trials for effectiveness, allows years off the arduous and expensive clinical trials required. In reality, docs already use this method of "testing" meds with patients--and have been for years--prescribing a drug for something other than what it was originally intended. For instance, Rogaine was originally a heart medication in pill form. But dermatologists, knowing of its potency for hair restoration would grind the pill into powder, and mix it in an alcohol base to prescribe it to patients as a topical treatment for baldness. Why not extend this practice to drugs not jet on the market, that have been tested for safety, (the one trial FDA should continue) but allow doctors to test effectiveness among their patients who want to try the drug. Who would, and should a patient trust more, their doctor or the FDA? This bureaucratic policy change would literally shave millions, perhaps billions, off the expense of medications--an ever increasing drain for most American households.

A medical co-op plan put together by the private sector may be the viable solution for many who need the "bulk rate" of many pooled together for their personal risks to go down. Unlike the scams of insurance, which, by the way, is the# 1 primary market for investments, (meaning they are a financial entity, not a service, as most of us believe) a co-op is a direct shared expense for only health costs with little to no overhead and no hidden agenda. (Imagine that.)

Universal Healthcare? Absolutely not.

Universal anything? Never: the very definition is totally un-American.

EDUCATION THEN ACTION

One of the most exacerbating problems with public policy is that most of us suffer from information overload. We live in a world anxious to pour an overwhelming amount of so-called "facts" on all of us to the point that we suffer from inebriation of "knowledge". The problem isn't that we don't want the facts, but that the media are so happy to help us become informed that we cannot process what in the world to do with the information once we have it. Generally speaking we either have two much information to know what to do with what we think we know, or we wonder if the information we are getting is accurate in the first place. How do we know anymore that what we are hearing is verifiable? Virtually everyone has been the victim of spreading what they thought was accurate information only to find out later that it was anything but that. And, again, what do we do with the plethora of information once we have it? It is enough to cause a society to shut down from what I term "information anxiety". Indeed we have.

There is hope. There are people and organizations, seeing the need for a support system and a cohesive way to deliver accurate information that is verifiable, that have set up networks, and memberships to help the population cope. The Utah County Republican Women and the Timpanogos Republican Women are ranked among those powerful groups that have taken the initiative to make a difference in disseminating information then taking action--correct action--powerful action--to utilize that information.

If you are absolutely sick of too much information that you cannot process--if you don't know where to turn to take that information, and get better information to make a difference in your world, then become a member of one, or even both of these organizations. If you are disturbed by the increasing, and even exponential decay of our form of government and our society, then become a member of either the Utah County Republican Women or the Timpanogos Republican Women. The UCRW is one of the oldest in the state of Utah. TRW was just newly formed, and is meeting in Saratoga Springs. The latter takes in the northern part of Utah Valley, whereas, UCRW, traditionally took in any part of Utah County. Both have individual charters and are designed to take on growth and help assist other Charters to form.

For more information about either organization, please call 801-910-5600; or visit www.ucrw.org; or visit the group Utah County Republican Women on Face book.

Part Two: Government Oversight of Waste Management

Part Two:

What has this to do with the legal theory of Equity in the Law and Family Law in Utah? Everything.

About a year ago I approached my then very green legislator about correcting the problem of imbalance in the equity between two parties in family law--the very same issue as previously mentioned in part I of this series. To my chagrin, and dismay--and my Legislator's bill--not even formally written up yet--was dead on arrival! It had no chance from the beginning because another legislator who happened to serve on the health and human services committee said changing one line in the ORC's ledger affected by the bill would cost upwards of $250,000! What is worse is that the department was locked into this program for about 6 years!

What is wrong with this picture? Any businessman in his right mind would NEVER lock himself into a program for that many years, for one. IT changes nearly overnight. To lock into a program for that long guarantees your competitor the edge when times are tough and every penny on a dollar counts toward a profit. Secondly, to lock into a program with a line change costing $250,000 is ludicrous--unless you are the programmer. Then you are a genius.

The bureaucratic mess penalizes the least to afford such a blunder. Imagine what could be had for the sake of the least fortunate in the State of Utah with $250,000. A recent cut in benefits just eliminated services that include eye care, physical and occupational therapy and specific mental health services. These are key services for the hopeful advancement into society of what would otherwise be termed "fringe" members of society. Those on the outside edges of society. Conservative politicians would argue that charitable services should not be given: Citizens must do for themselves: Private entities must do for others: Arguably, charity has no place in Government they say.

But while one my argue the virtues of governmental charity, mismanagement definitely does not belong in government. Period. This is the people's money. $250,000 will go a long way to pay for glasses so the less fortunate can see to fill out an application at an interview. $250,000 will go even further to assist the depressed from lack of work to get on their feet again and get out in the workplace. Taking away vital health services and mismanagement of funds penalizes those who may otherwise assist the Utah economy more than any other single entity. One, they get off the "dole". and, two, they become productive citizens, even by piecemeal if need be.

Health and Human Services exists to provide for the least able to do for themselves without any other resources from which to draw. I consider myself one of the most conservative people. But common sense is still common sense! As one friend of mine put it though, it's unfortunately true that "common sense isn't that common!" So when two seemingly unattractive sections of government, one a theory in Law and the other a practice in bureaucratic business management get together, you have to know something needs correction.

Equity in the Law and Government Oversight of Waste Management

This is an 2-part article written in preparation for the upcoming legislative session for Utah. As an FYI: Since I chair the Legislative/ Mobilization Committee for the Utah Federation of Republican Women (UFRW), this particular blog post is written from that perspective. Responsible participation through this blog or on Facebook under the Group, "Friends of the Utah Federation of Republican Women" is invited.

Equity in the Law and
Government Oversight of Waste Management

Part One: Equity in the Law

First, let me lay a foundation by saying that the UFRW lobbies on behalf of its members across all areas of legislation. But we are particularly interested in family welfare, human dignity, etc. Broad in scope these can entail about any kind of legislation if one really wanted to push it. Now looking at the title for this blog entry, one would truly wonder exactly how "equity in the law" and "waste management" could be tied together. If anyone knows about the one, they are not likely to know about the other, as they are about as opposite as two topics could be. Or so it would seem.

For now, let's consider the welfare of those effected by split families for a minute. In law, there is the theory called "equity in the law", meaning that whenever two parties (or more) are involved in an action where the welfare of all need to be considered, those needs are balanced against the availability to provide for them, not the number of available resources to the number of those parties. In other words, what is fair is not split down the middle, but is split according to need. In family law, the party with the most pressing need and the smallest available resources to offset those needs gets the lion's share of combined assets. Catch my drift?

So child support, meant to provide for the least likely able to provide for themselves is calculated by a formula. This formula, if you are not familiar with it, (and pardon this dialog if you are), adds both rational incomes of the parties, and then divides the larger into the smaller to get the percentage of one most liable for expending resources. This is fair and balanced according to the law of equity. But in Utah medical expenses--also a type of child support, obviously--is split ignoring the law of equity, right down the middle--using a completely different rule--that of number of resources to number of parties. This is nonsense. It is a simple breach of the algebraic equation: What you do to one side, you must do to the other side. Otherwise you mess up you outcome and your equation doesn't make any sense! And clearly this doesn't.

What this does is force the person with the least resources, usually the one with custody, and the woman, (but not always) to either ignore medical needs until they become critical, or ignore them altogether, or to go on chips. Now, when the other person's income has already been proven to be able to bear the burden of responsibility, why would we allow the state to become the bearer of responsibility? This becomes just another waste of public assets!

Other states use the correct formula consistently across the full measure of child support--both the financial contributions and medical/in kind contributions. What is the matter with Utah? This should be fixed a.s.a.p. So then why isn't it?

Part Two will discuss the reason why.

Adaptation & Unification: Keys to Political Survival

With every election the final outcome is not the election itself, but the reaction to it. The winner proves his/her grace as easily as speaking kindly and eliminating boastful "I told you so's" and rubbing remarks. Too often not done, and too often ignored by constituents ready to break down their opponents "goal post" rather than pass along a gentle "well done--a battle well fought! I'm glad that's over, aren't you?!" condolences. Or better yet, congratulations for stepping into the ring in the first place are left absent as opponents walk, backs turned away, as if people never counted in the first place.

To the looser, grace is shown in how tactfully a congratulations and admission that the better person may have won is done. Or at least, to admit that the better person won even if the looser doesn't really believe it. It is far better for this contender to prove his/her chivalry and poise under pressure than that he or she has been wronged. A giant task indeed--one of which only the best of candidates has proven to triumph over these days! Increasingly, we see an embattled candidate lay blame for campaign miscalculations, downright error, or frankly, personal inadequacies compared to the opponent, by bringing up all kinds of travesties heaped upon them by their opponent or his/her supporters, the media, circumstances, even God. Though there are plenty of elections filled with lies, misinformation, and downright slander against an opponent, when the battle is over, the loser must show him/herself to be above the fray.

The simple truth is this: Great leaders are good losers. They are not prone to whining but pick themselves up and learn from the experience. They take that new-found knowledge with them to their next election adventure. It is what separates the poor, average and the truly great among us.

To complicate feelings about elections and their results, are the outcomes of elections won by newcomers defeating incumbents--even incumbents with strong, loyal supporters. Such was the case with the race between Chris Cannon and Jason Chaffetz for US House of Representatives for the 3rd District of Utah. The fact that Chris lost is history to Cannon. He has gone on to develop projects for which he as a Congressman saw a need and longed to do, but could not for lack of time and commitment. His opportunities have skyrocketed.

To the constituency, however, the rubble remains. Chaffetz has yet to gain real support and trust among vast majorities of the population of his district. Why? Consider that the primary election is in June. A weird, off beat and frankly ridiculous month to consider a vote from the populous. History is showing that this choice is beneficial to the offbeat election, the odd referendum and bond issues, that might otherwise not be passed, or conversely should be passed. Consider the race again between Cannon and Chaffetz: Chaffetz did indeed receive 60% of the vote in that June Primary election. An enormous, lopsided win. But it was 60% of 8% of registered, eligible voters! This is hardly a mandate. The fact is, those who took for granted the outcome didn't come out to vote. Many were elsewhere--Disneyland! We do not know what the real vote would be because those voters never showed up.

But the reaction to the outcome of an election is telling. In a recent local election for a women's group within the 3rd District, one of the candidates running for President of the group was very vocal about her involvement with the Chaffetz campaign, and her continued support for him. It was in her literature as well as her speeches. She lost by about a 20% margin to the other candidate, despite heavily recruiting her own supporters. Direct feedback, of which yours truly witnessed, was, bluntly put, that she was a Chaffetz supporter.

But the constituency also has a responsibility to the final outcome of an election as well as those directly involved in the candidacies. Our reaction can either destroy our communities with crippling poison that warps our perception and keeps us from being productive, or it can produce growth in adversity--sunshine after a storm you might say. Even heavy manure will yield a hardy and abundant bouquet in the garden, if one is willing to look for what might be cultivated. The trick is to not over fertilize with manure, right? Doing that will burn what might otherwise have grown. In that scenario, only starting anew will due.

Perhaps that might be where many feel the 3rd District of Utah is. The field was so badly burned that only starting over will due. If so, then start anew we must. The fact is, the outcome of the election resulted in Chaffetz becoming the next Congressman. Starting anew means those who opposed Chaffetz must accept him as their Congressman. Those that supported him must get off their high-horse and work with those who have concerns. To do otherwise will result in our own 3rd District crippling.

I choose not to make matters worse. While I disagreed with many statements Chaffetz made during his campaign--that I verified as incorrect via the LOC, and which he has yet to retract, I don't have to make matter worse, now that he is my Congressman. I can start anew. Starting with him as my Congressman--not a candidate--I can expect him to rise to the occasion. I can and will use my him as my voice--because he is. Likewise it would be prudent wisdom for all constituents--whether they cared for Chaffetz as a candidate or not to do the same.

Are we willing to sabotage our district's well-being to see Chaffetz flounder? To ignore our conduit to the Federal Government because we believe him not to be the best choice will not serve us, and is tantamount to the candidate who pitches a fit after loosing an election by claiming forever he/she is the victim. Those in the 3rd District who felt victimized by a poor election must rise anew. We cannot be self appointed victims for the next two years. If we do our part as an active citizenry and constituency, Chaffetz's failure, should that happen, will be solely his own. Then, and only then can our adaptation to the political situation in which we find ourselves work to our benefit.

Unification does not mean agreeing upon any particular thought, necessarily. It does mean that we must have the same end goal: Success is the same as survival in politics. The 3rd District is in continual need of Federal dollars for infrastructure; Protection against oppressive legislation is a constant need. Utah's oil shale, school trust lands, wilderness, family values are all in need of constant support and vigilance. We, as a constituency, MUST be united in our efforts to improve and protect Utah. We must raise our voices and submit our own contributions.

Then what ever failings Chaffetz has will be his alone. But whatever we as a District choose to work as a united team to enhance will be ours together--as a District.

And of course, the great leader would be prudent to acknowledge the hand of all those who worked toward success. For great leaders are good losers and gracious winners.