If It’s Such A Good Bill, Why The Bribes?
March 5, 2010
From Dick Morris: All aspects of President Obama’s Chicago-style tactics are on display as he cajoles, bullies, and bribes the House to pass his health care proposals despite the overwhelming public rejection with which they have been met.
To some, he offers bribes. Congressman Jim Matheson, endangered species – a Utah Democrat – succeeded in getting his brother Scott appointed to a federal judgeship. Matheson voted against Obamacare when it first passed the House. With his new-found winnings in his pocket, he now professes to be undecided. He faces a clear conflict between his district and his conscience on the one hand and the bribe to his brother on the other. The conscience will probably lose.
Matheson supports his party 91% of the time according to the Washington Post even though McCain got 58% of the vote in his district in 2008. But Matheson got re-elected – by professing independence from the Democratic Party’s liberal line – with 63% of the vote, so he probably figures he can sneak in a vote for health care and still con his district into re-electing him. After all, he’s not heavy. He’s my brother.
Even as Matheson basks in the glow of presidential bribery, Eric Massa, a renegade Democrat from the Southern Tier of New York State faces his wrath. Massa’s sin was to vote against Obamacare. So Pelosi and the ethically-challenged House Ethics Committee are investigating him for “verbally abusing” a male member of his staff. In this age of more serious offenses, using “salty language” to express his displeasure with staff work would not seem to rank high on the list of indictable offenses. If it were, Lyndon Johnson would have been impeached. But Massa is being hung out to dry as an example to other would-be independent minded Democrats. The attacks on him have gotten so bad that Massa has announced his retirement after only one term in office.
But there is a reward waiting for House members who ignore the wishes and interests of their constituents and vote for Obama’s health care proposals. Alan Mollohan has had a pesky FBI investigation hanging over his head for a few years. Now, presto, right before the health care vote, it went away. The Justice Department, headed by Attorney General Eric Holder, announced that the FBI was closing the inquiry.
Mollohan’s sin? He pushed for earmarks for nonprofit enterprises in his district and then went into a real estate deal in Florida with the head of the company under financial terms that were distinctly favorable to the Congressman. But Mollohan toes the party line and is now getting his unjust reward.
With health care reform coming up for a vote in the next few days, such tactics send a message to the House where Pelosi is having trouble lining up her votes: That Obama will do anything – anything at all – to pass this bill.
For those of us without judgeships or the FBI at our disposal, we can only call and write the swing Congressmen (go to DickMorris.com for a list and their phone numbers) or donate to the League of American Voters to step up its fierce media offensive in their districts to urge them to vote no.
GO HERE to help.
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Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick’s columns!
The Capitol Hill phones “going crazy” supporting ObamaCare
March 4, 2010
A message to all members of Patriotic Resistance
| From the Desk of: Steve Elliott, Grassfire NationThe “public option” is a real threat and liberal activists are flooding Capitol Hill. See below. –Steve Dear Resistors: I just received word from a trusted contact on Capitol The “Bennet letter” refers to a letter from Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado which urges Majority Leader Reid to use BUDGET RECONCILIATION to pass ObamaCare WITH THE PUBLIC OPTION. a message to House Democrats that the House version of the bill with the public option will be included in the final (real) ObamaCare bill using reconciliation. And reports indicate the Bennet Letter already has 33 signers! + + Odds of ObamaCare passing are rising This contact also relayed the following on the prospects “The person who has been our main contact said…last week + + Two Key Actions #1 — Send faxes right now Even if you’ve done so already… You can use our FaxFire system to send this message right http://www.grassfire.com/3122/offer.asp?ref_id=500062 (As always, we provide all the information for you to send #2 — Call your Senators and Representative Again, it appears the President’s grassroots strategy is Be sure to tell your Senators what you think about the “Bennet If you have already sent faxes, thank you! And thanks for Steve Elliott P.S. Also be sure to join the dialogue and the grassroots To take advanced action on the healthcare issue after calling your Rep and Senators: THE LIST OF HOUSE MEMBERS YOU NEED TO CALL TO STOP
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Stop Congress from Giving YOUR Benefits to Illegal Aliens
March 4, 2010
Below is a fax that you can send to your 2 U.S. Senators, by merely pressing the button below.
Urge Senate to Demand Worker Verification in Jobs Bill!
The Senate has passed a jobs bill, seeking to put many unemployed Americans back to work. Unfortunately they refused to include any worker verification provisions that would prevent illegal aliens from also gaining access to U.S. jobs. American workers will continue to face unneeded competition for jobs, as long as illegal aliens will be allowed continuous access to our job markets.
Countless times already the American public has spoken loud and clear about their disapproval for illegal aliens being allowed to work U.S. jobs while the government does nothing to stop it. Tell your Senators that without worker verification, many Americans will continue to be left out of the jobs they rightfully deserve.
ROY BECK , NumbersUSA President
| PRESS HERE TO SEND NO-COST FAX |
|
DEAR SEN. (Your Senator’s Names Will Appear Here), I was disappointed to learn that the recent jobs bill (H.R. 2847) did not contain American worker protections. Please ensure that the next jobs bill has E-Verify provisions. More than 15 million Americans are unemployed, but more than 8 million illegal aliens have jobs. Doesn’t this seem unjust and unfair to you? I hope so, because I find it downright appalling. Unfortunately, H.R. 2847 will help unemployed illegal aliens (and would-be illegal aliens) just as much as it helps unemployed American workers because it does not mandate the use of the E-Verify system. I know you could not have modified this jobs bill because no amendments were allowed, but I expect you to support an E-Verify amendment to the next jobs bill (which the Senate will take up soon). Your constituents are depending on your to create jobs for unemployed Americans, not illegal aliens. Please don’t let us down. Sincerely, |
New video from Chevron from API
February 26, 2010
API – Chevron, which as you know is headquartered in San Ramon, posted a new video on YouTube today about offshore production. It features Bobby Ryan, Chevron’s VP of global exploration for Chevron Global Upstream & Gas. The video can be found here.
By the way, Bobby participated in a blogger conference call back in May. If you’d like to hear the audio or read the transcript, click here.
Jane Van Ryan
API
Obama Falsley Tries Another Stab at Pay Go!
February 18, 2010
Last week, Congress passed PAYGO, a bill that requires SOME new spending to be offset by other spending cuts or tax hikes.
It doesn’t go nearly far enough. We must tell Congress that the ENTIRE budget should be subject to spending cuts.
You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .
Congress passed a PAYGO bill (H.J. Res. 45) that . . . http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hjres45
* exempts 150 programs from any future PAYGO cuts
* encourages the use of tax hikes to pay for new programsThe President congratulated Congress for passing this bill, and then announced a three-year freeze on non-Defense discretionary spending.
Nice try, but there’s something wrong with this picture . . .
* PAYGO doesn’t apply to automatic increases in current entitlement spending, only to new programs
* Defense accounts for 40% of discretionary spending
* together, entitlements and defense account for two-thirds of the proposed budget
* the projected budget deficit is LARGER than ALL OTHER government spending
* tax hikes will only delay or prevent economic recoveryI know what you’re afraid of . . .
* if you address mandatory entitlement spending, you’ll be accused of hating the elderly, the sick, the poor, and veterans
* if you curb Defense and Homeland Security spending, you’ll be accused of undermining national securityBut Defense spending and entitlements are the main culprits behind our fiscal mess. And if nothing is done to address these problems now, America will be much poorer and weaker for generations to come.
I’m writing to tell you that NOTHING should be “off the table” when it comes to spending cuts. I encourage you, the entire Congress, and the President to . . .
* reassess the effectiveness of America’s vast military presence overseas, and of our entire Military-Industrial Complex
* find ways to cut costs and reform entitlement programs, including allowing individuals to withdraw from these programs
* reconsider many discretionary programs for both their Constitutionality and effectivenessA smaller federal government is no longer just an “option,” it is REQUIRED. We simply cannot afford Big Government.
If you commit yourself to cutting spending in ALL areas, I will applaud and support your efforts. Please respond and tell me you will do so.
END LETTER
You may send your letter through DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
Official email newsletter of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation.
Washington Subsidies Can’t Save Nuclear Power
February 17, 2010
Note: Reaching out to Republicans? How about the citizens? – FedUpEditor
Facing new polling showing that 52% of the American people believe that he does not deserve a second term in office, President Barack Obama attempted to reach out to conservatives yesterday by promising $8.33 billion in federal loan guarantees for a pair of nuclear reactors in Georgia. The President told an enthusiastic audience of union officials in Lanham, MD: “Those who have long advocated for nuclear power — including many Republicans — have to recognize that we will not achieve a big boost in nuclear capacity unless we also create a system of incentives to make clean energy profitable.”
In other words, as newspapers across the country have noted this morning, President Obama’s nuclear loan guarantee announcement is really nothing more than a transparently cynical attempt to revive his moribund cap-and-trade/energy tax proposals currently languishing in the Senate. In reality, the $8.3 billion announced yesterday is actually just a first down payment on the $18.5 billion in loan guarantees that were authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. While the administration should be applauded for following the law, loan guarantees are not enough to recreate a robust nuclear industry in the United States. Indeed, an expansion of the program could do much more to stifle the industry’s growth than to help it.
And expanding the nuclear loan guarantee program is exactly the approach the Obama administration plans to pursue. Their 2011 budget provides an additional $36 billion in loan guarantee authority to nuclear energy projects. When added to the $18.5 billion previously authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the American taxpayer will now be subsidizing $54.5 billion in loans to the nuclear industry. But just as conservatives do not support subsidies for wind, solar or biomass energies, conservatives should not support subsidies for nuclear power, either. Heritage Research Fellow Jack Spencer explains:
Expansive loan guarantee programs, however, are wrought with problems. At a minimum, they create taxpayer liabilities, give recipients preferential treatment and distort capital markets. Further, depending on how they are structured, they can remove incentives to decrease costs, stifle innovation, suppress private-sector financing solutions, perpetuate regulatory inefficiency and encourage government dependence.
President Obama’s bureaucratic/special interest/Washington approach to energy policy is clear: tax and regulate those energies unpopular with his political base while subsidizing and mandating the use of those energies that his supporters favor. This is the same approach the United States tried in the 1970s under President Jimmy Carter, and it was a colossal failure.
What America really needs is a true free market approach to the energy sector, and the nuclear industry is a great place to start. Specifically, the federal government should: limit the loan subsidies of Energy Policy Act of 2005 to existing law; avoid creating a government-dependent nuclear industry; remain committed to scientific conclusion on Yucca Mountain; introduce market principles into nuclear waste management reform; and focus the government on key responsibilities like establishing predictable and effective regulation that will ensure safety and security.
Just as with the health care debate, the White House seems to believe they can win conservative support for their big government policies by buying off selected industries. What the White House continues to fail to realize is that true conservatives are pro-market, not pro-business. Subsidies and mandates are never the answer to an ill-functioning market. A predictable and reliable regulatory framework where firms and consumers can find the best solutions through undistorted price signals is the better approach for energy, health care … and really just about everything.
The Morning Bell
Protect yourself from an unconstitutional money system
February 17, 2010
Last week we launched our campaign for the new and improved Free Competition in Currency Act. Today, please continue educating Congress about this bill.
You may copy or borrow from this letter . . .
Supporting this bill will enable you to honor your oath of office. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution limits federal powers to only those functions the Constitution specifically mentions. Congress has no power to . . .
* pass a legal tender law
* create a central bank
* create money (the Constitution only authorizes the federal government to make coins out of *existing* gold and silver money)This means that our current system is the exact opposite of what the Constitution requires . . .
* The Federal Reserve, created by Congress, is the nation’s central bank
* Congress has conferred legal tender status on Federal Reserve Notes
* the Treasury’s gold and silver coins are simply collectibles that cannot be used as moneyThe Free Competition in Currency Act would reverse this unconstitutional scheme by . . .
* repealing the legal tender law that established the Federal Reserve’s money monopoly
* allowing the private minting of coins that can be used as money
* prohibiting state and federal taxes on precious metal coins and bullionThese changes would . . .
* allow individuals to settle payments with each other on mutually agreed-upon terms, using Federal Reserve Notes, gold, silver, or any other form of money they might choose
* compel Federal Reserve Notes to compete with other forms of money, such as gold and silverThe Federal Reserve System is unconstitutional and should be abolished. The Free Competition in Currency Act will . . .
* allow the creation of a free market money system parallel to the Federal Reserve system
* prove that we don’t need the Fed
* provide a stable transition leading to the Fed’s ultimate abolitionSupporting the Free Competition in Currency Act will show me that you are committed to . . .
* Honoring the Constitution
* Protecting the value of my money
* Fostering my freedom to choose
END LETTER
You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.
James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org
Lynn Woosey and E-Verify
February 8, 2010
Letters to the Editor
Marin Independent Journal
Dear Editor,
I recently received a form letter from Lynn Woolsey about her decision to vote against e-verify which was totally untrue and insulting. E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows an employer, using information reported on an employee’s Form I-9, to determine the eligibility of that employee to work in the United States. Her argument against the program is that it would increase unemployment and could make our recession last longer.
This is not true. In fact, it would ensure jobs go to US citizens, not foreign illegals. Since illegal aliens are not in the system, when they are employed it does not count toward employment numbers. (Note: the only reason unemployment recently went down was because of the hiring of temporary census workers. These jobs will be eliminated once the census is completed.)
By not supporting e-verify, Woolsey has taken an un-American stand against the citizens who were naturalized or were born here… the people who vote for her! Wages would naturally go up as more qualified workers came into the workforce and off the unemployment rolls. What reason could Ms. Woolsey have for supporting illegal aliens? After all, they are not supposed to be voting! How about supporting constituents?
Once again, Lynn Woolsey has shown she is out of touch with her voters. Maybe it is time to retire.
- FedUpEditor
George Will Bets Chuck DeVore Will Be Republican Candidate for Senate in California
February 7, 2010
Who Supports Real Budget Reform?
February 5, 2010
From Senate Conservatives Fund:
It’s time to get serious about reducing federal spending and we believe Republicans need to lead by example.
That is why Senator Jim DeMint, chairman of the Senate Conservatives Fund, sponsored a spending reduction package this week that includes two common-sense budget reforms:
- Ban congressional earmarks for at least one year so lawmakers can begin to break their addiction to pork-barrel spending.
- Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forcing Congress to balance the federal budget each year.
Click here to listen to DeMint discuss the reforms with Sean Hannity.You would think that these two common-sense solutions would be supported by all Republicans. Unfortunately, many Republicans are still addicted to earmarks and will do whatever it takes to keep the congressional favor factory open for business. And believe it or not, there are still some who won’t support a Balanced Budget Amendment.
That is why the Senate Conservatives Fund is keeping a list of the Senators who agree to cosponsor both of these important measures. We’re not going to reduce spending until we force Congress to end its earmark addiction and we’re not going to balance the budget without a mechanism that forces lawmakers to make tough choices.
Click here to see who is serious about budget reform.
Please contact your Senators and urge them to cosponsor S.J.Res. 27, the Balanced Budget Amendment, and S.2990, the earmark moratorium.
We’re also keeping track of Senate candidates who support these reforms, which will be a factor in future candidate endorsements.
