Tag Archive for 'political'

Issue 2 Update

October 29, 2009 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

With less than a week to go before the November 3rd election, here’s a quick update on Issue 2.

Some noteworthy news articles:

  • NO on Issue 2 – Toledo Blade, 10/28/09

    “Regardless of how anyone feels about the treatment of farm animals, Issue 2 is poor public policy, and it should be defeated.

    The Ohio Constitution should never be used to promote the interests of specific individuals, businesses, or industries. The reasonable approach to balancing the needs of Ohio’s farming industry and the concerns of animal-rights groups would have been to follow Michigan’s example and work out a compromise in state law that would protect both farmers and farm animals.”

  • Livestock care is key in Issue 2 debate – Columbus Dispatch, 10/25/09

    In case there’s any doubt about this being big business, consider Ohio’s 2008 agriculture numbers:

    • 4 million pigs were raised on 4,000 farms. Another 170,000 sows were used for breeding.
    • 27 million hens laid 7.1 billion eggs. There were 57.5 million chickens and 6 million turkeys raised for meat.
    • 1.2 million beef cattle came from 15,000 farms. Another 700,000 calves were marketed for veal.

  • Controversial proposal is battle over who regulates agriculture industry – Dayton Daily News, 10/25/09

    While the Ohio Constitution authorizes a state board of education, boards typically aren’t prescribed in that document, said Charles Hallinan, a University of Dayton law professor and constitutional scholar.

    “It’s an oddity,” Hallinan said of Issue 2. “It is unusual enough that it would give me pause to include it in the constitution.”

  • Issue 2 Spending – Columbus Dispatch, 10/23/09

    Backers of state Issue 2, the proposed constitutional amendment to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, gave more than $4 million to that cause.

    “Contributions to Issue 2 are about much more than just supporting a ballot measure,” said Jack Fisher, executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and treasurer of Ohioans for Livestock Care Political Action Committee.

    “They are really an investment in educating all Ohioans on farmers’ commitment to excellent animal care and to providing safe, affordable, locally grown food for our consumers.”

    Issue 2 supporters said about $3 million of the total came from Ohio family farmers and groups representing farm organizations.

    Records show about $1.2 million came via more than 100 donations from out-of-state organizations, ranging from the Delaware Farm Bureau to the Arizona Pork Council to the Texas Turkey Federation to the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council. Eli Lily Co. of Indianapolis added $25,000.

    The drive to pass state Issue 2 was led by a dozen six-figure donations. The Ohio Farm Bureau chipped in about $535,000 overall, although the largest single contribution, $200,000, came from United Egg Producers in Alpharetta, Ga.

  • Justice calls State Issue 2 misuse of constitution – Columbus Dispatch, 10/20/09

    O’Connor said the state constitution is a “much bigger document” that should not be amended to include policy decisions, such as livestock care, that are best left to lawmakers.

    O’Connor, who plans to run for chief justice next year, said backers of Issue 2 understand that once something is added to the constitution, it will take “an arm and a leg” to overturn it, the paper reported.

The most recent list of groups who officially oppose Issue 2 (I’m sure I’m missing some):

  • American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
  • Capital Area Humane Society
  • Center for Food Safety
  • Cleveland Animal Protective League
  • Clintonville Community Market
  • Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions
  • Columbus Top Dogs
  • Cornucopia Institute
  • Family Farm Defenders
  • Farm Sanctuary
  • Food & Water Watch
  • Geauga Humane Society
  • Grand Lake St. Mary’s Improvement Association
  • Humane Society of the United States
  • League of Humane Voters of Ohio
  • League of Women Voters of Ohio
  • Libertarian Party of Ohio
  • Local Matters
  • Mercy for Animals
  • Ohio Conference on Fair Trade
  • Ohio Connections to Whole Food and Nutritional Healing
  • Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association
  • The Ohio Environmental Stewardship Alliance
  • Ohio Environmental Council
  • Ohio Farmers Union
  • Ohio Freedom Alliance
  • Ohio Sierra Club
  • Organic Consumers Association
  • Progress Ohio
  • The Wellness Forum
  • Toledo Area Humane Society
  • Western Lake Erie Water Keepers Association
  • Weston A. Price Foundation
  • Williams County Alliance
  • Wood County Citizens Opposed to Factory Farms
  • Working Families Win – Ohio Chapter

Continue reading ‘Issue 2 Update’

Ohio’s Issue 2: Why I’m Voting NO

October 3, 2009 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

10/29/09 UPDATE: Please read my Issue 2 update here.

10/17/09 UPDATE: Welcome everyone who is researching the 2009 Ohio ballot issues! An educated voter is a wonderful thing.

Here is the most recent list of groups who OPPOSE Issue 2 (please note, PETA is NOT listed or involved in this issue, that’s a myth designed to scare voters):

  • American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
  • Capital Area Humane Society
  • Center for Food Safety
  • Cleveland Animal Protective League
  • Clintonville Community Market
  • Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions
  • Columbus Top Dogs
  • Cornucopia Institute
  • Family Farm Defenders
  • Farm Sanctuary
  • Food & Water Watch
  • Geauga Humane Society
  • Grand Lake St. Mary’s Improvement Association
  • Humane Society of the United States
  • League of Humane Voters of Ohio
  • League of Women Voters of Ohio
  • Libertarian Party of Ohio
  • Local Matters
  • Mercy for Animals
  • Ohio Conference on Fair Trade
  • Ohio Connections to Whole Food and Nutritional Healing
  • Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association
  • The Ohio Environmental Stewardship Alliance
  • Ohio Farmers Union
  • Ohio Freedom Alliance
  • Ohio Sierra Club
  • Organic Consumers Association
  • Progress Ohio
  • The Wellness Forum
  • Toledo Area Humane Society
  • Western Lake Erie Water Keepers Association
  • Weston A. Price Foundation
  • Williams County Alliance
  • Wood County Citizens Opposed to Factory Farms
  • Working Families Win – Ohio Chapter

Also, be sure to read the final text of Issue 2, exactly as it will appear on your ballot November 3rd.

I’ve been meaning to write about Issue 2, a sneaky little campaign (backed by factory farms and Big Ag) that would create the “Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.” Since this op-ed letter I just wrote to Outlook News pretty much summarizes where I stand, I’ll go ahead and copy it here.

For more information on this issue, please check out OhioACT.org (Ohioans Against Constitutional Takeover) and the Facebook group I’ve created: Ohioans Against Issue 2. On both sites you can download flyers, view recent news articles about the issue, and more.

To: hayes@outlookmedia.com, mdaniels@outlookmedia.com
Subject: Issue 2 endorsement

Dear Mr. Daniels,

I was highly disappointed to find an endorsement of Issue 2 in the latest issue of Outlook. Disappointed for many reasons.

The first reason is the obvious lack of research on the issue. Did you take your summary of the issue straight off the Farm Bureau’s website? Did you read ANY opposing arguments? Did you look at the list of groups who oppose it? This list includes the Capital Area Humane Society, Ohio League of Women Voters, Organic Consumers Association, Ohio Sierra Club, Ohio Farmers Union, Food & Water Watch… the list goes on.

Do you know how quickly the ballot measure was pushed through the Ohio legislature, passing through the House and Senate in just 6 days? Talk about suspicious. Issue 2 came about as a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of dealing with the Humane Society’s potential focus on expanding animal welfare laws in the state of Ohio. Rather than leave the decision up to voters who may decide farm animals deserve better treatment (as was recently the case in Michigan and California), the Farm Bureau decided to take matters into their own hands and shrug off the democratic process completely, saying they will regulate themselves. The fox wants to guard the henhouse, literally.

Issue 2 would amend the Ohio Constitution, an action that should NEVER be taken lightly.  Creating a Livestock Care Standards Board takes away power from the voters, as all future animal-welfare decisions would be decided upon and handed down by this unelected 13-member group. Did Outlook investigate the would-be members of this board? To put it simply: they’re not looking out for animals or food safety, they’re pawns for Big Agribusiness. Not to mention the cost of creating this new board. Can Ohio really afford this right now? Expanding government always means expanding the budget.

Also worth mentioning is the effect it will have on Ohio’s small farmers, who would have even more regulation to deal with if Issue 2 passes. That does not mean safer food, historically this has resulted in increased costs for small farmers who end up going out of business, then factory farms and Big Ag gladly take over. Factory farms certainly do not provide safer food, and absolutely do not provide better care for animals.

This is not “Ohioans taking care of Ohioans” — this is Big Agribusiness taking care of themselves. I can’t believe Outlook News fell victim to the Farm Bureau’s campaign. You’ve done a disservice to your readers by taking the lazy road to arrive at your endorsement decision, and it will be Ohio’s small farms and animals that suffer.

It’s convenient that Outlook is now a monthly publication, since even if this letter made it to print, it would be too late for anyone to see. Nevertheless, I feel obligated to speak out against this ignorant endorsement.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Mohandas Gandhi

The Obama Deception

March 18, 2009 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Change?

All the talk in the news today has been about AIG’s $165 million taxpayer-funded bonuses and how it has outraged Mr. Obama. It’s been a very effective distraction, indeed.

What the media ISN’T telling you is that Obama’s Stimulus Plan actually PROTECTS the AIG bonuses. Or that our National Debt has now gone past the $11 TRILLION mark ($50+ Trillion if you count unfunded obligations.) They’re also not mentioning that Mr. Obama is now traveling the country trying to convince the American public (pretending it’s their decision, after all) to accept his $3.6 TRILLION annual budget.

That’s a lot of numbers to process, I know, so let me put them into perspective: AIG’s $165 million is 0.0046% of Obama’s proposed $3.6 TRILLION annual budget and 0.0015% of the national debt. So yes, GET ANGRY. But not just at AIG. Throw your shoes at King Obama, his Majesty’s Court, and every member of Congress that rolls over for him.

To celebrate today’s Kool Aid Moment, I give my readers The Obama Deception, the latest documentary by Alex Jones that sums up the Obama Scam better than I ever could.

What I wouldn’t give to have my brainwashed friends watch this. Alas, I’ll settle for preaching to the choir.



(Don’t see the video? Click here.)

*Caution, don’t mention this film on Facebook or your account could get deleted.

The Future of America Can Be Experienced At The Airport

March 1, 2009 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

A recent work trip reminded me that if you want a glimpse into the future of America, all you have to do is fly somewhere.

  • If you make it so far as getting your boarding pass, congratulations for not being on the No Fly list, which contains an estimated one million names.
  • Upon arriving at the security checkpoint, you get to strip down to your socks and if you’re lucky they let you keep your shirt and pants on. Cross your fingers as you step through the TSA scanners, hope a filling or metal grommet on your clothes doesn’t trigger a S.W.A.T. raid.
  • While your body is being checked for dangerous objects, another TSA agent will rifle through your belongings making sure you haven’t brought along anything dangerous, like 4 oz. or greater of face wash or lotion, which can spontaneously combust at high altitudes.
  • If you’re lucky enough to make it through security, you run a high risk of being checked by TSA agents again, usually a half hour before boarding. They’ll interrupt you while you’re reading or checking your email and will wear rubber gloves (in case you’ve suddenly contracted cooties) as they check your boarding pass.
  • Getting thirsty? Too bad you had to dump your drink at the security gate. Water collected outside the airport can spontaneously combust.
  • Fortunately, if you get thirsty or hungry while waiting to board you can visit one of many food chains located near the gate. But be prepared for hyper-inflation, as you are a captive audience. $5 for a bagel and $4 for coffee sounds about fair. But eat it FAST because it is not allowed on the plane, more spontaneous combustion risks. The peanuts and soda they pass out are specially treated and do not run this risk.
  • While waiting to board, you may find it hard to concentrate on a phone call or book because every five minutes you will be interrupted with a loud but friendly message from the Department of Homeland Security reminding you of the day’s current threat level. Five bucks says it’s orange. But DON’T BE ALARMED.
  • As you’re called to board the plane, you run the risk of being singled out AGAIN by a TSA agent for a random pat-down and boarding pass check. In case anything’s changed since the first three checks. They will also look at you menacingly, guilty until proven innocent, the American way.
  • Once on board the plane you will be offered a drink and food menu, but most items can only be acquired through electronic payment, no cash allowed.
  • All of these items will be outrageously priced, but you have no choice, you’re on this plane for hours and your drink from home was confiscated at the security checkpoint long ago.
  • If you survive all the previous steps, you should eventually arrive at your destination, feeling like a criminal that’s evaded capture yet again.
  • What a lovely experience that was! Hard to figure out why air travel is declining…

What have we learned from this little adventure? Hyperinflation, electronic currency, Fourth Amendment violations, and police-state surveillance tactics are all being tested at the great human laboratory we call the Airport.

You’ve probably already experienced these things throughout your day-to-day life, but that was nothing. Just wait til Airport mode comes out of beta — Homeland 2.0!

Oh yeah, and make sure your seat is in the upright position prior to landing. That 5 degree decline really distracts the pilot.

Obama, Remember That “Five Day Review” Promise?

February 14, 2009 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I guess you’re CHANGEing some things huh? And here I doubted you.

Disclaimer: In my previous post I gave the impression I would completely stop being political. That’s not exactly the case. I can’t stop paying attention, stop caring completely, or stop being pi$$ed off because I still have a working brain and heart. But I AM drastically toning it down and sticking to the big stories. Most of the White Flag changes are happening offline, as Congress motivates me every day to spend less time pointing out the obvious and more time prepping for the culminating disaster. I no longer see light at the end of the tunnel, I see an oncoming train. If you want more news stories like I used to post, I suggest checking out my News page, where I’ll continue to highlight events and stories that deserve attention.

As I said, I’m sticking to the big stories now. And this Spendulus bill is REALLY big. Equal to a third of our annual budget, in fact. It is indeed the Democrats’ own Patriot Act (which Mr. Obama voted for in 2006):

Congress has done this before and apparently hasn’t learned their lesson. Another year, another Congress, another President. OBAMA = BUSH = CLINTON.

I’ve already ranted about how completely ineffective and wasteful this bill is, in fact it only got worse since that posting. But I haven’t yet mentioned how its passage is breaking an important campaign promise made by Obama back in 2007.

He LOVES to talk about transparency. It gets the zombies excited. So excited they forget to actually demand it.

BEFORE:

“When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you will have five days to look online and find out what’s in it before I sign it.”

Barack Obama
June 22, 2007, Manchester, N.H.

AFTER:

“Approved earlier by the House, the [Spendulus] plan — which went through multiple permutations as it bounced back and forth on Capitol Hill over the past week — now goes to Obama’s desk, where he plans to sign it into law by Presidents Day.”

- CNN

B R O K E N .

The bill passed the Senate on Friday night and will be signed Monday? That’s 48 hours at the MOST. And why should we have to work on the weekend when the government doesn’t have to? Fortunately the bill is a light read, just 1,100 pages, so you only have to read 550 pages a day to finish it by Monday. If you read quicker than that, you’ll have enough time to write up some feedback to send to Obama beforehand, I’m sure he’ll take it into serious consideration.

I’d like to start reading except right now I can’t find it anywhere on Whitehouse.gov and there’s nothing on Recovery.gov. Found it, sort of, it wasn’t easy — plus one of their links is broken so only 998 pages will load. They’re even soliciting comments, acting like they actually care what you think. Not that it’ll make a difference, but tell them anyway, maybe we can blow up their server. Thank god for the people at ReadTheStimulus.org who are devoting their time to making it at least somewhat accessible. But why isn’t Obama’s team doing that?

A side note: Ohio’s own Senator Brown was the deciding vote. It’s safe to say he will NEVER AGAIN get my support (as he did in 2006), and I vow to financially support anyone that runs against him in the future. Mr. Brown, you’ve sold out the people of Ohio and the rest of this country, you should be ashamed. As should all the Senators and Representatives who supported it. You have failed us. Again.

Before I step away from this and start enjoying my weekend, I will leave you with a glimmer of hope. Somehow Congressman Ron Paul manages to fight on and speak the truth, and thank god for that. Ron Paul is my President. Buck Farack.

(Can’t see the video? Speech transcript here.)

Obama’s First Big Failure: Spending Us Into Oblivion

January 29, 2009 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

It’s official, President King Obama has taken his first steps towards ruining our country, seamlessly picking up where George W. Bush left off.

Last night his $825+ BILLION “Stimulus” bill was passed. NONE of the House Republicans voted for it (for once Ron Paul did not stand alone), and all but 11 Democrats voted for it (including Mary Jo Kilroy, new Representative for Ohio’s 15th District, who will NEVER AGAIN get my vote.)

Congressional Democrats had no problem rushing through a spending bill that they surely didn’t read (it’s 1,588 pages.) It seems all a President has to do now to get their agendas passed is claim that it’s an emergency (DO IT NOW, OR ELSE!!!) and threaten that “it’ll be worse if we do nothing.” Hmm, I think that’s the same line they used to justify rushing the TARP bailout plan through. And look how successful that’s been, aren’t we all much better off now?

So what’s in this bill that’s supposedly going to bring back jobs, fix our broken mortgages, and put more money in our wallets? Let’s examine some of the ridiculous things Mr. Obama has deemed urgently necessary:

  • $1 Billion for Amtrak (the federal railroad that hasn’t made a profit in 40 years)
  • $650 Million to pay for digital TV conversion coupons (on top of the billions already doled out)
  • $600 Million for the federal government to buy new cars
  • $150 Million for The Smithsonian
  • $20 Million for new sod at the National Mall
  • $4.5 Billion for Federal management/oversight of the funds (money needed to monitor the money)
  • $2.1 Billion for Offices of Inspector General for management/oversight of funds (more money needed to monitor the money)
  • $25 Million for salaries and expenses for the Government Accountability Office for oversight activities relating to this Act (money to pay the people using the money to monitor the money)
  • $50 Million for watershed rehabilitation by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (is this an emergency?)
  • $1 Billion for Periodic Censuses and Program by the Bureau of the Census (why does the census bureau need a stimulus, they’re already part of the budget?!)
  • $350 Million for salaries and expenses for National Telecommunications and Information Administration (gotta pay the guys that tap our phones and read our emails.)
  • $100 Million for NIST Scientific and Technical Research and Services (these are the guys who can’t recognize a controlled demolition when it’s right in their face)
  • $100 Million for NIST Industrial Technology Services (more for them)
  • $300 Million for construction of NIST research facilities (still more?? Again, is this really an emergency?)
  • $400 Million for habitat restoration and mitigation activities by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (emergency?)
  • $600 Million for accelerating satellite development and acquisition, acquiring climate sensors and climate modeling capacity and establishing climate data records by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (emergency? jobs?)
  • $400 Million for science by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (emergency funding for NASA?)
  • $50 Million for cross-agency support by NASA ($50 million for other agencies to talk to NASA? Haven’t they heard of e-mail?)
  • $2.5 Billion for research and related activities by the National Science Foundation (emergency? jobs?)
  • $100 Million for education and human resources for the National Science Foundation (emergency? jobs?)
  • $400 Million for major research equipment and facilities construction by the National Science Foundation (wow, they really made out nicely!)
  • $4.5 Billion for improvement, repair and modernization of Department of Defense facilities, restore and modernize Army barracks and invest in the energy efficiency of DOD facilities (apparently over half the federal budget isn’t enough for these guys.)
  • $350 Million for DOD energy research and development (they need a lot of money to research how to kill people.)
  • $2.4 Billion to demonstrate carbon capture and sequestration technologies by the Department of Energy (that much just to “demonstrate” a technology? How many jobs is this going to create, really?)
  • $500 Million for Defense Environmental Cleanup (stop dropping depleted uranium and you won’t need this.)
  • $200 Million for FEMA emergency food and shelter programs (yay, more FEMA prison camps!)
  • $500 Million for Bureau of Indian Affairs construction (is this an emergency?)
  • $800 Million for EPA Hazardous Substance Superfund Remedial program (is this an emergency?)
  • $200 Million for EPA Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program (I wish this were a joke.)
  • $550 Million for Indian Health Service facilities (is this an emergency?)
  • $3 Billion to establish a Prevention and Wellness Fund (the Era of Personal Responsibility means having the government tell you how to be healthy, and we need yet another federal agency to do this.)
  • $6.0 Billion for DOD Military Construction (MORE for the military?)
  • $500 Million for Native American Housing Block Grants (emergency?)
  • …and the list goes on, I hope by now you get the picture.

Allow me to remind you: it’s NOT the federal government’s job to make sure you have digital TV service, museums, and trains. If you can find this clause in the Constitution, I’ll give you $100. It’s obvious that 98% of these items don’t have anything to do with emergencies or job-creation, they’re just going to expand an already overweight federal government and feed its bureaucracy.

What Obama hasn’t told you is that this bill has added an additional $6,700 of debt for every man, woman, and child in this country. Do you really want new sod that badly? What about your kids, how do you feel about enslaving them without their permission? It’s been said the tax cuts in this bill will put an extra $12 a week in the wallet of every American. Which number is bigger: 12 or 6,700? At $12/week it would take 10+ years to get that $6,700 back, and you can bet it will be worth WAY less than it is now thanks to inflation.

Needless to say, I’m beyond angry at this point, our political “representatives” (along with the American people) are RUINING this country with their apathy and lack of education on basic economics. Piece by piece we are building our own graves, and people are actually applauding it. The basics are simple to understand, and yet Americans still can’t grasp how it works. We are $10+ TRILLION in debt (counting unfunded obligations, that number is $50+ trillion), so Obama proposes tax cuts and spending INCREASES? He never once considered spending LESS on our military budget, pre-emptive wars, and empire-building, of course. I suppose once you get above $10+ trillion, the number is incomprehensible anyway, who cares how much higher it goes, right? (Unless you’re aware of what happens when you expand the money supply by trillions of dollars.) Americans see nothing wrong with this. We can spend, spend, spend, it’s all okay!

No, it’s NOT okay. Let me try making an analogy using these same principles, free from political terms that confuse and turn off most Americans:

Joe the Plumber is $500,000 in debt. He ran up his credit cards buying a bunch of things he didn’t need, lives in a house that he can’t afford, and financially supports a family in another neighborhood that constantly tries to attack the people next door to them. He’s lived this way for years and years but suddenly now he’s FREAKING OUT because he can’t make his monthly payments so the credit card companies are getting very angry, threatening to take away all of his assets, and the power company is threatening to turn off his electricity. He had to fire his pool boy, the dog’s private yoga instructor, and his private chef. Times are tough.

Joe comes up with a plan to fix this problem: he’s going to take a pay-cut at work and spend $100,000 using another credit card. He uses that $100,000 to buy a fancy new BBQ grill, some new trees for his yard, a new car, presents for the family in the other neighborhood, and other non-essential amenities. Joe the Plumber is now making less money each month, and is another $100,000 in debt. Do you think his plan will work? Will Joe wake up next week and suddenly be debt-free, with his pool boy and Spot’s yoga trainer back on the job?

If you support Obama’s plan, I have 3 assignments for you:

  1. Find where in the Constitution it says the federal government is allowed to use tax-payer money for these things.
  2. Read the Stimulus Bill for yourself. All 1,588 pages.
  3. Report back to me in a few months and tell me how many jobs have been created and how much better off we are thanks to this emergency pillaging.
  4. EXTRA CREDIT #1: Research how FDR’s New Deal programs actually prolonged the Great Depression.
  5. EXTRA CREDIT #2: Research the Weimar Republic and how hyperinflation affected them.

The kicker of this whole thing is that Obama has said over and over again that it’s time for an Era of Personal Responsibility. This means NOT RELYING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU.

If you really want to follow the King’s advice, quit begging for help from the government and then crying even louder when they make it worse. Quit asking for more debt. Quit asking for less control over your life. Try some COMMON SENSE, America.

Immediate Action Item: Oppose the $825 Billion Stimulus Package!

January 28, 2009 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

A vote is expected today on Obama’s $825 billion economic stimulus package (H.R. 1). Check out this list of 200 Economists who are opposed to this bill, something neither Obama or Congress wants you to see.

All Americans who are concerned over the fiscal irresponsibility of Congress and the inflationary effects of its trillion dollar deficits, trillion dollar bailouts, and trillion dollar stimulus package, MUST contact their representative immediately in opposition to H.R. 1, the economic stimulus package.

“There is a lot of stimulus and growth in this bill – that is, of government.  Nothing in this bill stimulates the freedom and prosperity of the American people.  Politician-directed spending is never as successful as market-driven investment.  Instead of passing this bill, Congress should get out of the way by cutting taxes, cutting spending, and reining in the reckless monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.”

- Congressman Ron Paul

Rep. Ron Paul issued a statement yesterday regarding this bill which makes it clear what type of bill it is and some of the reasons why we must oppose it. Here are some highlights:

  • “In reality, this bill is just an escalation of a government-created economic mess. As before, a sense of urgency and impending doom is being used to extract mountains of money from Congress with minimal debate….. We are again being promised that its passage will help employment, help homeowners, help the environment, etc.  These promises are worthless.  This time around especially, Congress should know better than to pass anything of this magnitude without first reading the fine print.”
  • “At least $4 billion is allocated to expanding the police state and the war on drugs … and the COPS program, both of which are corrupt and largely ineffective programs.”
  • “To help Big Brother keep a better eye on us and our children, $20 billion would go towards health information technology, which would create a national system of electronic medical records without adequate privacy protection.”
  • “$79 billion bails out states that haphazardly expanded their budgets during the bubble years, but refuse to retrench and cut back, as their taxpayers have had to, during recession years.”
  • “Of course the bill is rife with central planning projects.”
  • “This bill delivers an additional debt burden of $6,700 to every American man, woman and child.”
  • “There is a lot of stimulus and growth in this bill – that is, of government.  Nothing in this bill stimulates the freedom and prosperity of the American people.  Politician-directed spending is never as successful as market-driven investment.  Instead of passing this bill, Congress should get out of the way by cutting taxes, cutting spending, and reining in the reckless monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.”

The bottom line is that Americans need to help preserve their freedom and prosperity by opposing this nearly trillion dollar economic stimulus package.

Speak out against this, contact your Representative immediately!