Connect the Dots/ No Rocket Scientest needed

1. "'President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage." http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/18/obama-ties-immigration-to-health-care-battle/?feat=home_cube_position1

2. "we seem to still rely on the creativity and competence of politicians to solve problems, which always somehow seem to be tied in with which lobby is the strongest in Washington." http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=218

3. Who is lobbying for amnesty? Large corporations who want the cheap labor subsidised by the American taxpayer. http://www.numbersusa.org/ (At that link you will find that the Chamber is one of the biggest lobbyists for Amnesty...you will find out about many other interesting things as well)

Illegals and H1 B visa workers (outsourced workers too) are doing the work Americans once did for as much as one half to one third of the wage once paid. Once amnesty is achieved do you really think illegal immigration will suddenly stop? Now that we have several hundred applying for the same job, many legal American workers are complaining that their wages are much lower, and they are not paid overtime anymore ("bosses saying you should have finished in eight hours"). Fear of loosing their job makes them think twice before complaining. We are being whipped into submission as we are considered too "arrogant". One can read more about this at the following link (article by Chuck Baldwin on the goals for the North American Union/ NAFTA): http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=220

You will likely find this article very interesting too: "Fiorina's statement that "there is no job that is America's God-given right anymore" triggered particularly strong reaction. The pair spoke in Washington representing the Computer Systems Policy Project, a group of eight chief executives from the nation's top information technology firms. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/01/09/MNG6C46T0M1.DTL

Big Government?

Reporting for World Net Daily, author/researcher Jerome Corsi recently reported, "President Obama is continuing President George W. Bush's effort to advance North American integration with a public-relations makeover calculated to place the program under the radar of public opinion and to deflect concerns about border security and national sovereignty.

"The Obama administration has 'rebranded' and 'refocused' the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, to advance the Bush administration's agenda of North American integration under the rubric of the "North American Leaders Summit,' a less controversial banner, according to confidential sources in the U.S. Department of Commerce and State Department who agreed to speak with WND only if their comments were kept off the record."

As further evidence of President Obama's determination to continue the Bush policy of a commercial union between countries (or "League of Democracies" as John McCain called it), Corsi also reported, "President Obama has actively backtracked on his campaign promises to renegotiate NAFTA to get provisions more favorable to American workers."

And just as George W. Bush was willing to betray conservatives and Christians in order to achieve global unification, so, too, Barack Obama is willing to betray union workers and America's tradesmen in order to accomplish the same agenda.
read more here: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=220

Recently I listened to a young man who is well educated, and served in the Peace Core...a very fine young man. He believes in a large government to the point of a one world government. He explained to me that is the only way we can solve big issues like polution, global warming and world hunger. Now that we have world banks he feels that we need a world government to monitor them. After all the U.S. has no power over world Banks or international businesses. One needs a one world governing power for that he said.

I don't need to tell you my thoughts on this as I think you already know. But there are those who agree with this young man.

1. David Rockefeller in an address to a Trilateral Commission meeting in June of 1991?
""We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world-government. The supranational sovereignty if an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries"-- David Rockefeller in an address to a Trilateral Commission meeting in June of 1991
http://www.sodahead.com/sports/david-rockefeller-in-an-address-to-a-trilateral-commission-meeting-in-june-of-1991/question-373019/
_____________________________________________________________________


The IMF and the World BankHow Do They Differ?

If you have difficulty distinguishing the World Bank from the International Monetary Fund, you are not alone. Most people have only the vaguest idea of what these institutions do, and very few people indeed could, if pressed on the point, say why and how they differ. Even John Maynard Keynes, a founding father of the two institutions and considered by many the most brilliant economist of the twentieth century, admitted at the inaugural meeting of the International Monetary Fund that he was confused by the names: he thought the Fund should be called a bank, and the Bank should be called a fund. Confusion has reigned ever since.
read more here:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/differ/differ.htm
________________________________________________________________________
They also now have a One World Currency that has recently been issued by the International Monitary Fund. It is called the SDR
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2009/POL082809A.htm
_______________________________________________________________________-

For those of you who wish for a big government: Where do we draw the line...I mean how big do you want to get?

Solutions Come From Understanding All Perspectives

The plight of farmers looking for workers to pick their crops. (Understanding all perspectives helps evolve solutions)

http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/cbreiter2/september-4-2009/conversation-farmer.html?jid=246269&lid=9&rid=2293&tid=814673

Ted Kennedy's Immigration Legacy

I was dining in downtown Boston with a long-time acquaintance of Teddy Kennedy at the very time the Senator died a week ago. We had discussed what had caused Kennedy to pursue immigration policies that so fundamentally changed America.

http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/september-2-2009/ted-kennedys-immigration-legacy-and-why-did-he-do-it.html?jid=246269&lid=9&rid=2278&tid=814673

IMF Issues SDR; World Currency

1. As the largest holder of U.S. debt, China has expressed concern about its investment if the dollar should collapse.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he didn't believe there is a need for a global currency.

On Monday the governor of the People's Bank of China proposed expanded use of an alternative -- the International Monetary Fund's SDR, or Special Drawing Right, an accounting unit based on the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling and U.S. dollar

For Americans, that could mean higher interest rates for loans of all types, including mortgages and credit cards
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/03/25/china.currency/

2.IMF Injecting $283 Billion in SDRs into Global Economy, Boosting Reserves

With much of the world still mired in recession, the IMF took action to bolster its members' reserves through an allocation of SDRs, or Special Drawing Rights. The allocation, equivalent to $250 billion, was made on August 28 and will be followed by an additional, albeit much smaller allocation of $33 billion on September 9.

http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm

Different Forms of Government Defined

Following is a video explaining the different forms of government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4r0VUybeXY

Is Government Protection a Good Thing?

Interesting article HERE

True Story Guns

1 Many years ago when my first child was 3 months old, and before car seats, my husband, our little baby and I were traveling across country. Ahead of us were two young men running cars off the road into a ditch, one by one...very dangerous situation.

Tom told me to pick the baby up, and secure ourselves. Sure enough it was our turn. Tom picked the gun up, and pointed it at one of the young men to show him he would protect his family. You would be surprised how gentleman like these to guys suddenly became. Not only did they not harm us, they harmed no one else either. They found their behavior could be dangerous.

2. A friend of ours had a concealed weapons permit, and was eating in a restaurant. An armed robber held up the owner, and began terrorizing the clients. Our friend pulled his gun, and shot the man, who was arrested shortly there after.

My point is a gun, like a car, is a tool. It can kill, or it can save lives:

Studies show the Cities with the most gun control are the most violent ones. Like the two young men in my story, criminals tend to behave when they know law abiding citizens can protect themselves. It is not the tool that is good or bad, it is the operator. In emergencies police are not always there. click here for more info

Executive order 11110 by President Kennedy Very Interesting

• When Senators refuse to audit the Federal reserve they are in violation of their oath to uphold the constitution since it is the responsibility of Congress "To Coin Money, regulate the Value therof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures:" (Constitution Section 8 #5)
• Article X of the Constitution (Bill of Rights) says: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or the people." In other words if it is not a power given the Federal Government by the Constitution, they cannot take it from the States and the people. In other words they cannot re-assign their responsibility to the Federal reserve.

Shortly before President Kennedy's assignation he issued executive order 11110, which took the power to print money back in the hands of the Government, allowing silver certificates as the Constitution states (Section 8 #5).

That executive order was never repealed, is still in effect, but never enforced.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59049

I do not know why President Kennedy was assented. However there is much speculation about executive order 11110 being the reason, and many conspiracy theories circulate as a result. The important thing is that President Kennedy cared enough to do the right thing, and it is still in effect (and so is the Constitution Section 8 # 5).

With the stroke of a pen, Mr. Kennedy was on his way to putting the Federal Reserve Bank of New York out of business. If enough of these silver certificates were to come into circulation they would have eliminated the demand for Federal Reserve notes. This is because the silver certificates are backed by silver and the Federal Reserve notes are not backed by anything.

Executive Order 11110 could have prevented the national debt from reaching its current level, because it would have given the government the ability to repay its debt without going to the Federal Reserve and being charged interest in order to create the new money. Executive Order 11110 gave the U.S. the ability to create its own money backed by silver.

By A Dr.: What Drives Cost Of Medical Care

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=172

Find Out More About Florida Government

Find out more about Florida's government at congress.org
State legislature page
State Constitution
Department of State website

Insurance Co-ops: Private And National

I find it very interesting that the news media is finally talking about the co-op option. Odly enough they are saying there are no examples to show it works. Hm mm

• The North East Florida Real Estate Association (NEFAR) had a co-op for a few years. If you were a member you could belong, and enroll your family. It was negotiated by a local insurance agent with an insurance company called Well Care. It was excellent.
  1. No pre-existing conditions applied
  2. Very affordable since there were many members involved
  3. The doctors liked and accepted Well Care because they were good about paying.
  Government regulation put a stop to it though.
• You might also recall me telling you how small business owners use to be able to pool together in a large group to do similarly
• The North East Florida Builders Association also once had one before regulations put a stop to that as well.

These programs worked so well that I tried many times to find one again. Eventually I asked a local agent why it was so impossible to find. His reply: "There were people joining them who were not members." Hm mm....who was so concerned about that?

The consideration today, of course, is a government run program rather than private ones as the above examples. Have you ever called the IRS? Well, that is what it is like to call Medicare. I much prefer calling my local agent as I can easily fire him if he does a poor job.

Take a break and SMILE!

CIGARETTES AND TAMPONS A man walks into a pharmacy and wanders up & down the aisles. The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him. He answers that he is looking for a box of tampons for his wife. She directs him down the correct aisle. A few minutes later, he deposits a huge bag of cotton balls and
a ball of string on the counter. She says, confused, 'Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife? He answers, 'You see, it's like this, yesterday, I sent my wife to the store to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco and some rolling papers; cause it's sooo-ooo--oo-ooo much cheaper . So, I figure if I have to roll my own .. ......... so does she.

Rachel Exposes the Health Care Lies of Lobbyist Firm 60plus

Nice video with Facts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XChjPdm470

A lil humor - Please take lightly...

How Socialized Health Care Works in CanadaBy: Chris Bucholz August 11th, 2009 21 views

http://www.cracked.com/blog/how-socialized-health-care-works-in-canada/

As a Canadian, and Cracked's official Overseas Correspondent, I sometimes find myself with a very different perspective on current events than Cracked's readership.* Most of the time when this happens, the events are political, and as such, I generally steer well clear of them when picking column topics. This is at least partly out of a sense of self preservation. American political commentators tend a little more towards the shrieking, hair-pulling, ****ting-pants-in-anger style than I prefer to write, and the chance of getting knifed in the kidneys by someone with different views than you seems to be an ever-present threat. Mostly though, I refrain from adding my two cents out of a sense of politeness - it's not my business how you run your country, even if you are drunkenly swerving out of control and in danger of careening into my country. *Although Cracked draws an audience from every place in the world with Internet access and lazy office workers, the bulk of our readership still primarily hails from America, the so called "Land of Too Much Free Time on Their Hands."
However the recent debate about health care has offered me a unique opportunity to shed some light on the conversation. As American politicians muddle their way towards some sort of comprehensive health care reform, the usual television idiots and internet morons have contributed to the discussion by spraying the verbal equivalent of diarrhea all over each other as they try to frame the debate. A central point being "discussed" is what this hypothetical future health care system would look like. In particular, they ask, spraying loose fecal matter over each other with their mouths, what would government funded health insurance look like?
As Canada has had universal government funded health care for some time now, this seems like an ideal time for me to explain a bit about how it works. Hopefully this will allow you to see some of the advantages and disadvantages of so-called "socialized" medicine, and allow you and your leaders to make better informed decisions. No, seriously.
First, I might as well discuss the "Death Panels," a subject recently raised by one-time Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin. It's an uncomfortable truth that in any system, there will be a limited amount of resources to be spent on medical procedures - a fact which leads to some difficult questions. Is it right to spend $1 million to save one person, when 100 others can be saved for $10,000 each? Obviously real world examples are obviously never that cut and dried, but nevertheless cost-benefit calculations of that sort have to be made to ensure limited resources aren't misallocated. On old people, for example.
Here in Canada, there's no such thing as a "death panel," but decisions of this sort are handled by a centralized agency, the Canadian Department of Life. There, specially trained bureaucrats, using the most powerful computers available in 1997, work through a decision matrix to see what medical procedures are appropriate for a given case.
An example should help illustrate how this works. For most general medical assistance, Canadians simply visit their local health distribution center. There they wait in a short queue for their Initial 38-point Health Inspection. A doctor then sends the appropriate forms to the DoL, allowing the patient to wait in the comfort of their homes for the six to eighteen weeks it takes for the DoL decision. At that point the patient returns to the health distribution center to receive their approved health care.
The entire matrix is about 52,000 pages long, although half of that is just the same thing written in French. I won't print the whole thing, but here is a small sample:
Patient Age Between 20 years and 65 yearsConditionBroken ThumbDecisionDECISION-P7985: Set Bone, Install Cast OR Soft cast, 2 Tylenol
Patient Age Older than 65 yearsConditionBroken ThumbDecisionDECISION-L3267: Walk it off, 2 Tylenol
Patient Age Older than 65 yearsConditionBroken HipDecisionDECISION-A3779: Throw over town walls to the ice leopards.
Patient Age ALLConditionH1N1 Virus, "Swine Flu"DecisionDECISION-V1243: Public Health Override directive E76 - Cast into ice volcano.
I should point out this is the "simple" form of the matrix, and not what is actually used by the DoL. In the 1960's, the Supreme Court of Canada decided it was acceptable for the decision matrix to be biased to favor certain desirable social traits, much like the tax code. People with dependent children can thus expect to receive slightly better medical treatment, and people who smoke can expect the opposite. Other criteria deemed to be a positive benefit to society, and thus to receive better health care, include having some university education, voting regularly, or owning a thesaurus. Negative criteria include having overdue video rentals, making excessive purchases of light beer, or having an interest in wrestling.
As children are the workers of tomorrow, a great deal of care is lavished upon the young; infants in particular. Mandatory vaccinations are delivered weekly to all infants starting at the age of one month, with additional vaccinations provided to infants with particularly desirable genetic traits. Similarly, infants are also tested to see which are at risk of developing particularly expensive medical problems later in life. Contrary to popular belief these infants are not euthanized, and are instead cared for warmly and compassionately by trained nurses in specially outfitted shipping containers while they're on the way to Burma, at which point they're legally no longer Canadians.
Some Canadians, primarily those who come from the families of merchants, do seek out health care on the black market. It's widely rumored that in the underground, joint replacements can be had in exchange for 2-3 cartons of Marlboro cigarettes or a pair of Levi's. The government has naturally tried to discourage these insidious flare-ups of two-tiered health care. Nightly newscasts by the Canadian Department of Facts regularly point out that black market health care facilities are poorly maintained, and their workers are faceless monsters who feed on the flesh of the living.

All of the above is common knowledge however - something anyone can learn by opening the Wikipedia page on Canada and reading between the lines. To dig a little deeper then, and get the straight journalistic dope that Cracked readers desperately crave, I also spoke to local Licensed Health Distributor, Doctor Neil Channing. The interview transcript is below.
_______
Chris Bucholz: All right, the recorder is running. This is Chris Bucholz, Government Journalist ID A26732243, Registered Satirist number 58008. The date is August 8th, 2009. With me is Doctor Neil Channing of Health Distribution Centre PYR-27. Shall we?
Neil Channing: Let's.
CB: We hail the glorious government of Canada. We hail its far seeing leaders who stand vigilant against our numerous enemies.
NC: Death to the bourgeois, may the Canadian people be forever free from their nine tentacles of deception.
CB: Kadosh! -pounds fist into hand-
NC: Kadosh! -pounds fist into hand-
CB: Ok then. Doctor Channing, I'm glad you could make time for me.
NC: No problem.
CB: The reason we're talking today is I wanted to get an idea from you what challenges you face, as a practitioner of medicine in a country where the government provides basic health insurance for all citizens.
NC: -louder, speaking into microphone- I face no challenges at all Chris. The system works perfectly.
CB: Thank you for your time.
________
As you can see, the Canadian health care system is the pinnacle of human achievement. With the measures and processes in place, costs are kept under control, average life expectancy is steadily creeping towards 120, and the first generation of flying infants are expected to be born in 2085.
Hail, hail Canada!

Video explaining 10th Amendment

Viceo explaining the 10th Amendment

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=185470

Florida has such an Amendment: HM19
http://flfreedom.org/

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0019__.xml&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0019&Session=2010To find your Florida State Representative click HERE

Roma & Sandy Discuss Health Care Confusion

Roma Writes:
Sandy,
I agree there is lots of rumor, and exaggeration against the plan. I think that, and hollering and disruption of meetings is counter productive. It will only help to push the thing through.

• The article you send sites Medicare and Medicaid as examples. That makes my point...it is socialized medical care, and it is lousy. I know because my husband is on it, and so was my Mom whom I took care of. We have to purchase extra insurance so the thing won't bankrupt us or leave us without care for what it will not pay (donut hole as example). Plus it is due to go bankrupt itself. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/26/eveningnews/main1839288.shtml
  
• What has the Federal Government run successfully so far other than e-verify which it wants to get rid of? Every bill passed in the last few administration favors big business at the expense of the middle class (bail out money case in point). The Health Care bill will most likely be the same. How many times must we be fooled before we learn.
  
• Government interference is what caused the problem in the first place. Lets remove the legislation that caused the problem, and watch how easily it is solved.
  

More On What Drives Up Health Care Personal Story: Health Insurance

More importantly, if one reads the Constitution, the Federal Government cannot usurp a power not explicitly given it in that document (read Amendment X). The Fed is prohibited from providing socialized medical care...it is illegal. Thus if we give them this power, we give up more liberties spelled out in the Constitution. Is that what Americans really want?
http://www.answers.com/topic/amendment-x-to-the-u-s-constitution

Sandy writes:
Roma,
This is a very interesting article and worth reading. I don't believe anything I hear, read or watch anymore. But, these groups I belong to give me a better understanding that seems believeable in a lot of areas.

Sandy

Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 3:43 PM
Subject: [AlternativeAnswers] Re: Obama explains elimination of private insurance

Dr. Bate,Like you said....As a Canadian I'm grateful for our health care system. In our current province we pay a bit according to income for coverage. Needy and poor people don't pay.I saw some pretty bad propaganda online against the Canadian system that was highly inaccurate. My friend's very old mother (over 80) just got a new knee that involved months of hospital and home care. Another friend has MS and she has someone come in and help her at home. She's in a wheelchair. She loves it. She's American but living here. My neighbor had a leg removed due to diabetes. He was dying of cancer though too. No idea why they thought this man was worth a $600000 operation when he was old and dying but he got it anyway. He passed away a few months later. Some unnecessary procedures are not covered and must be paid out of pocket. What I'd really like to see is dental coverage included since most disease is linked to dental health. In Germany a good portion is paid for by mandatory insurance (lived there for a while).Yes, at times there's a waiting list but if you had to pay for insurance you could just as easily think--okay I've saved $400 (figure my US friend pays monthly for basic insurance so not a totally random number) a month by not having to pay insurance. I could use that money and travel somewhere to get my operation. $400 x 12 months=$4800 a year. Over several years or a lifetime that would cover any necessary travel costs if you wanted to travel to another province with no waiting list or even to Thailand or India where the health care is very cheap and reliable. Enjoy some sunshine and don't get rushed out of the hospital as quickly.In a perfect world junk food would be taxed and users would not be eligible for anything but emergency accident care. Money would be used to teach mothers what to eat before pregnancy and during. Breastfeeding from healthy mothers would dramatically cut our health care costs by producing a new generation of healthy people. I could write a whole book about this, LOL!Just don't believe everything you see that's against government health care. At least our people aren't dying in the streets or claiming bankruptcy because of not being able to pay their medical bills.I recently saw on a TV show (online--I don't watch TV normally), that people with arthritis need to travel 5 hours to the nearest arthritis doc in Newfoundland. Ironically the woman in question showed how hard it was for her to lift a carton of milk from the fridge!!!! I'm sure everyone reading in the forum knows that arthritis is aggravated by pasteurized dairy. Why doesn't the clinic teach these people what to eat to stay well.In that respect the system is a failure because they pay for preventable disease and they also pay for vaccines.I haven't delved into the American plan in too great depth but I do have to wonder how a country that is so broke will be able to afford it. There are pros and cons to everything and people need to read the bill rather than believing what they see on TV.Sharon--- In http://us.mc587.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=AlternativeAnswers%40yahoogroups.com, Dr Bate wrote:>> Thank you Irene. Big Insurance and Big Pharma and the AMA are all huge > contributors to the Republican congress, and while they give "lip > service" to "reforming the health situation, it's just that! At the > same time, they are spending billions trying to confuse the people on > the issues.> > Let's look at some facts:> > 1. If as the Republicans keep saying, the government can't run anything > efficiently, what do the insurance companies have to fear? We already > have socialized medicine for government persons and the VA. Would you > believe that the "management costs" of the VA are down well under 4%, > while Big Insurance> costs are 25-30%. I'm a veteran that gets socialized medical care, and > I love it. > > The same for government run Medicare and Social Security, and I remember > the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Govt built it and ran it with the > cheapest electricity in the US, and making a big profit. Then > Republicans got into office, and they broke it up and sold it to their > friends and contributors. Guess what? It's not nearly as cheap now!!> > 2. Some of the ads have "dire stories" about how the Canadians hate > their medical system. LOf course, this is skewed along with a lot of > other information. If you ask a Canadian "How do you like your > system?" You'll probably get> a negative answer or gripe. That's normal human nature.> > However, if you ask A Canuck (or Brit, or Frenchman, or Italian.this > question, "Would you like to switch to the US system instead?" The > answer is a resounding "NO WAY!". I know as I've asked this question of > over 100 Canadians, and many Europeans. Ask the right question.> > 3. The outright lies used are ridiculous. The one about how the > government is going to somehow use your answers on the simple Living > Will to kill you as you get older. Anyone for Soylent Green? All that > portion of some bills does is allow you to question a MD about it, and > the government pays the MD for his time. > > 4. In a fairly secret poll taken of MD's around the country, it seems > that a majority of them are actually in favor of socialized medicine, > against the heads of the AMA. They're sick of the mismanagement of > patient care by insurance companies, and the huge cost of malpractice > insurance today. > > 5. BTW, I disagree with you Irene in that this is a subject for this > and every other group dealing with any aspect of health. Thanks to the > web we can get truth if we look for it. > > -- > Phil Bate PhD> http://drbate.com/ - Free Alternate Health Advice > > Neuroliminal Training (NT) helps solve > mental problems without drugs at low cost.> ADD to Autism, Insomnia to depression & more.> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]>
__._,_.___
********************************************* Peacefulmind.com Sponsors Alternative Answers-HEALING NATURALLY- Learn preventative and curative measure to take for many ailments at:

Rumors on Health Care

More from KJ
Hi Roma,
Alot of useful truthful information about Healthcare.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

*****Is There a Right to Health Care?

Excellent article sent in by KJ on health care

http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth--14-Is_There_Right_Health_Care.aspx

Video: Fords State Of The Art Plant in Brazil

Interesting video of Ford's state of the art car manufacturing in a rual area of Brazil with their own port, and......

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/multimedia/player/index.php?id=1189

****This will bring a tear to your eye and a smile to your heart

The following was sent in by KJ. Thanks for sharing it KJ. Always more that one side to a pyramid (the bigger picture)
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/08/05/nr.haros.flag.cnn

Personal Story: Health Insurance

As business owners My husband and I had company insurance. Medical insurance for employees is more expensive for the small company than for large corporations. If the small business has anyone on the plan with pre-existing conditions the cost is driven higher for every employee on that plan. For the large companies that is not the case. True the larger the pool the more costs are absorbed.

However, at one time, small business owners could unite to create a large pool. Regulations no longer permit that. (I do not know if it is due to State regulations, Federal regulations, or both)

Solution: Allow co-ops. As citizens we should be allowed to unite, and create non-profit insurance pools independent of business if we so choose...like through Churches, professions and other organizations. We should also be allowed to cross State lines to do so

Simple solutions such as this are far less complicated, they are constitutionally legal (Federally run health care is not legal as per the U.S. Constitution), and there is less chance of pork (a nice word for theft) than with the Federal Government's thousand plus pages that no one can read.

There is no need for protesters to holler or disrupt meetings. The law and common sense are on their side.

What Makes The U.S. Great

Are you surprised about the rise of public demonstrations in the U.S. today? Or are you concerned about what is happening in our Government? Perhaps you just wonder what is behind Nancy Pelosi’s facial contortions. I especially liked the opened round lips when she was asked about water boarding. :-)

In accounting classes one of the first things we learned was to set up the books and quality control so that theft is discouraged. Studies show a surprisingly large number of people, when tempted with the opportunity to steal, will do so.

In 1968 a teacher by the name of Jane Elliot did a class experiment showing how easy it is for most of us to participate in behavior like the Germans did under Hitler. One can learn more about that very interesting true story at this link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/

My family once lived in a small town in Arizona. That town was controlled by a religious group that normally is very kind and considerate. But not in that town. If a person displeased them (even if they were of a different faith), they were prevented from keeping their job or obtaining work. The children of those who were the most powerful even received preferential treatment at the expense of the other children in school. They could be quite ruthless. “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

History is full of such examples of the nicest people becoming ruthless or corrupt as they gain too much power:

• The Crusades (in which Christians became too powerful)
• McCarthyism (which resulted from government regulations giving power to a small group) . http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthyism.htm ),
• Roman Emperors, and the Supreme Leader of Iran are but a few examples of Oligarchies.
• At the opposite end is anarchy resulting from no government.

Our founding fathers had suffered the abuses of oppression. They were very learner-ed men, and did a study of history and governments as they formed our early U.S Constitution. They could have set up an Oligarchy with themselves in control. “In fact there were those who wanted George Washington to be their king.”

They studied the pure Democracy of the early Greeks, and found that form of government leads to mob rule (the majority forcing their will on the minority). They also studied the Roman form of Government.

“The Romans built a republic that limited government power and left the people alone. . Since government was limited, the people were free to produce with the understanding that they could keep the fruits of their labor. In time Rome became wealthy and the envy of the world, much like America.”

“In the midst of plenty however, the Roman people forgot what freedom entailed. They forgot that the essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government. When government power grows, people’s freedom recedes. Once the Romans dropped their guard, power-seeking politicians began to exceed the powers granted them in the Roman Constitution. Some learned that they could elect politicians who would use government power to take property from some and give it to others” (“distribution of wealth“, and. “Trickle Down Theory“). “Agriculture subsidies were introduced, followed by housing and welfare programs. Inevitably taxes rose and controls over the private sector were imposed. Soon, a number of Rome’s producers could no longer make ends meet and they went on the dole. Sound familiar?”

" we Americans are ultimately left with only two choices: We can keep our republic, as Franklin put it, or we will inevitably end up with an Oligarchy – the tyranny of the elite.” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2206639/posts .

The X Amendment is very important. It states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people". In other words if the Constitution does not, in writing, give a power to the Federal Government, it is not their power to take, and to do so is Constitutionally illegal. Thus, folks, we are a republic with a built in democracy...the democratic part being "left alone to reap the rewards of our labor". I was never taught these things in school, and for too long did not understand what made America great. How can we protect something if we do not even understand what we are protecting?
.
That folks is why so many Americans are now calling for:
1. An audit of the Federal Reserve (which is an oligarchy of a few unelected people in control of our monetary system, and who are refusing to disclose to Congress what they did with three trillion dollars of bail out money, some of which has shown up in foreign countries) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5232639329002339531 ),

2. Saying no to socialized medicine and government regulation. Note: Government regulation is what has created the present high cost of medical insurance and medical care.

read more at.... More On What Drives Up Health Care

No need for protesters to holler, and disrupt meetings. The law, as spelled out in the Constitution, is on their side.....read more at:
Personal Story: Health Insurance

http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth--14-Is_There_Right_Health_Care.aspx

3. Saying no to the erasing of borders http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. They are calling for the rule of law spelled out in the Constitution (State sovereignty which is not about seceding from the Union. Bill # HM19 says the State of Florida will no longer participate in lawlessness which is prohibited by the Constitution http://flfreedom.org/ ) . Currently 21 States have claimed such. Full Text of HM19 Memorial = http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0019__.xml&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0019&Session=2010
To find your Florida State Representative click HERE

The past success of the Constitution is the reason so many workers, doctors, business owners,… average people are united in grass roots organizations.. The Constitution is a unifying document because it is not about Liberal verses Conservative, Democrat verses Republican, or one faith against another. It is about what 9/11 taught us…Americans

Note:
1. Thoughts and research by Roma Cox, free lance writer and published author.



From Ezine Articles
"You've also earned Expert Author status:"
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2. links are provided for resource credits, documentation, and further study.
************************************************************************************************
Link below: the American Anthem (and history) like you have never heard it before…Beautiful
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=21689194
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For your convenience here is a list of some of the grass roots organizations:
Note: The author does not represent or speak for any of the following organizations:

1..First Coast Tea Party- http://firstcoastteaparty.org/ “Mission at FirstCoastTeaParty.org is to promote the principles of our Founding Fathers — individual liberty and responsibility, limited government, and moral leadership.”

I find them to be among the most active and organized. So if you like getting things done, you will likely enjoy this one.

2. Campaign for Liberty- http://www.campaignforliberty.com/ “mission is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a non-interventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.”

This site has an excellent blog open to members for discussions and education about the Constitution, economics and other issues. They are good at practicing what they preach: freedom of speech. If you want information this is an excellent site.

Note: I am sure they do not discuss confidential strategy on the blog or in e-mails. That is likely kept within the core group (as it should be), but questions and discussions are welcome.

3. Numbers USA http://www.numbersusa.com/content/ “website to help you influence Congress to turn away from policies forcing a more and more congested and regimented future for our country, our children and our grandchildren.

But before relying on anything on the Internet, users always need to evaluate carefully the credibility of each website.

This is a non-partisan site. We have strong Democrats, Republicans, Reformers and Independents not only among our advisers but in our offices. It will take officials of all parties to bring federal population policy back to a logical plain.”

This site is focused on one issue…that of immigration. Because of that focus it is very well informed, keeps you up to date on any bills that come to the house concerning this matter, and provides easy on-line faxes from you to your Representatives. They are against any immigrant (legal or illegal) bashing or mistreatment as they know the problem is created by government policies.

4. Americans for Fair Tax: http://www.fairtax.org/site/Clubs?club_id=1000&pg=main&s_oo=YNrvp6nxoHgJvOfq6tY-rQ.. Fair tax gets rid of the IRS, eliminates the income tax, and creates a sales tax. Campaign for Liberty suggests other solutions which also rids of the IRS, eliminates the sales tax, and reduces the size of government (as per the Constitution) thus making it possible to use the same tax solutions that were used by the Founding Fathers. Which is better? That is for you to decide…just do your research before making a decision.

5. T.Boone Pickens Energy Plan: http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan/ alternative energy to reduce dependency on foreign oil. Mr. Pickens explains why this is a National security issue. Being dependent on any foreign government to supply necessities such as oil or food is a national security issue.

6. Peterson G. Peterson Foundation http://www.pgpf.org/ Producers of the documentary I.O.U.S.A (which can viewed on their website)., They discuss the deficit and its consequences.

.To find your Senator, click here. To find your Representative, click here
To find your Florida House Representative click HERE

Conspiracy Theories

I come across many conspiracy theories. Could they happen? Yes, the Holocaust proved that. However, at this time, things are not in place in the U.S. for most of these things to happen. History reveals: the more power that is placed in the hands of the few, the more likely it is for these things to happen. Example: Iran.

So, for now, focusing on the "what ifs" only robs our energy off of what needs to be done to insure that power does not become concentrated in the hands of a few. There are so many more Americans than ever before taking action to make sure that does not happen. If you worry about what ifs, simply become involved in making a difference, and focus on that.

Constitution" Tenth Amendment"

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

The Tenth Amendment effectively cast the Constitution as a "Default Deny" policy against a large and oppressive government. Default Deny is a term used in computer networking to describe a set of firewall rules that deny all network communication from anywhere and to anywhere unless it’s specifically allowed by an administrator. Similarly, the Tenth Amendment clearly disallows the government from exercising or granting itself powers not specifically granted to it by the Constitution itself. Those powers instead lie with the state governments and individuals.

The founders believed in distributed government. They expressed the idea that wherever possible, problems and disputes should be addressed locally. If a family had a dispute, the family should resolve it. If a town had a local issue that needed to be addressed, it should be addressed locally, and so on from the county to the state and finally to the federal level. Those most familiar with the ideals, values, morals and habits of the locality and people who are affected by the problem should be the ones to fix it. A bureaucrat in Washington, DC is ill-equipped to rule effectively on issues affecting Forks, WA. A problem should only be elevated to the next level if a conflict arises between two or more families, towns or states. This is bottom-up government. This is a form of government that empowers individuals as much as any form of government ever has. This is the most effective way to manage a geographically and demographically diverse country while maintaining universal freedom and property rights.

http://www.kodewords.com/2009/06/14/sunday-philosophy-the-10th-amendment/

Video: Why the Federal Reserve Violates the U.S. Constitution

FIAT EMPIRE - Why the Federal Reserve Violates the U.S. Constitu...
Jul 30, 2007 - 58:53Inspired on the book, THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND by G. Edward Griffin, FIAT EMPIRE discusses the effects of the Federal Reserve System on the U.S. economy and explains why the debt-backed...

Learn The Constitution on Video

I have only watched the first video on the constitution, but so far it is great.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS325US325&q=understanding+the+U.S.+Constitution&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=-XVsSsXsBtGptgeI0v2aAQ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4#

A Personal Story about Illegal Immigration

My Husband and I had owned a business in the construction industry since 1984, and closed it November 3, 2008. We, at one time had 5 employees. Most people think the banking crises was the cause of so much of what happened to the home building industry. But that is not the case at all. Let me share our story with you.


In the beginning Illegal workers were brought in to do low skilled jobs, not because Americans would not do the work, but because they were cheaper. They are often paid with cash, under the table, and at 1/2 to 1/3 of what their American counter parts were paid. We were often asked by illegal workers how they could get paid. They were telling us they had worked for their employer for over a week, and had not been paid. They were also often charged 10% of their low wage for a, so called, "processing fee." It sounds so much like what coal miners went through in the early 1900's. It is, in reality, slave labor. This slave labor was replacing mostly young people in the beginning. So you see it is abuse of the foreign and domestic worker. Soon they were replacing more skilled labor. ..roofers, slab layers, block layers, framers..... That is when construction problems became rampant. Examples:

1. In the dry climates, like in Mexico, roofers use what is called a "California Valley". In the valleys of the roof the shingles are not over lapped, but meet end to end. It is very noticeable, if you know what to look for, because you will see a straight line down the valley. In the wetter climates, like in Florida, it does not give a problem until we get heavy rains. Whole subdivisions have been built this way, and home owners are not being told the truth about why their roofs are leaking

2. We installed windows, and sliding glass doors. (Note: we had two top quality installers, and the rest of our employees were under their supervision) One day we began having problems with the way slab work was being done making it impossible to make proper installations. Three times my husband explained to the slab man what he needed to do before we could make the installation. The man shook his head as if he agreed. Finally we figured it out: He could not read or speak English. They were putting houses together without even being able to read the blue prints, or communicate with others.

3. Homes were being build in swampy areas without putting pilings under the foundation thus the homes are settling, and flooring cracking. And these are multi million dollar homes we are talking about. These are but a few examples of the illegal work we witnessed.
You would think these things would not pass city inspection. But they were. We noticed some of the inspectors would simply exit their car, open the inspection box, and check it as OK, even though they never entered the home. We also sometimes saw them then drive to the office, load up some building materials, and drive off. I do not know if that was a pay off, but it sure looked suspicious. Builders also threatened inspectors who were strict about the building codes. They were told the builder would hire independent inspectors causing city inspectors job loses. Some builders actually did so.

4. One window company would have a higher grade window approved, and then install something much cheaper that should not have passed inspection. This was hard for inspectors to detect.

We had worked for a major window and door supplier for eight years. One day they approached us with an offer. They said that if we would hire two illegal companies under us as subcontractors (meaning they hired illegal workers for less than what we paid ours), they would pay us 1000.00 per week for doing nothing. They would even pay the other two companies payroll for us. When we refused, we lost that work, and the illegal companies got the work. We do not know who they worked for since we were not involved. In other words there was great pressure from larger companies for the smaller companies to participate in the illegal procedures. One of the reasons we refused was because once one agrees to illegal acts, they have you under their thumb...all they have to do is turn you in to authorities if you refuse to do what ever else they ask. We saw this happen to one of our colleagues. They put him out of business in the end.

Illegal workers were being brought in by the buss load daily. If there was an ICE raid the coyotes simply brought in another bus load the next day. They even put them up in motels.

When we reported these things to authorities, we were told workman's comp was well aware of the problem but only had 8 agents to patrol the hole state of Florida...the problem is bigger than they can deal with. Most City and State officials seem to be more interested in promoting the cheap labor (slave labor) wanted by business, then they are in protecting the consumer.
In the State of Florida it was discovered that 3 % of the people who show up for jury duty are illegal aliens, which means they hold a valid drivers license giving them the right to vote in the State of Florida. It has also been discovered that many illegals hold as many as Five different driver's licenses. You can put 2 and 2 together here.

In the State of Florida police department is trained, legally positioned, and willing to work with ICE to solve the problem. All that is needed is the support of our Representatives, which they are not giving..http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4441/is_200610/ai_n17197791/
Having been in the position we were in, we saw abuses that many Americans are totally unaware of, and the news media is not reporting.

P.S.
1. My research indicates there are similar such stories effecting our food, medications, illegal drugs, steel, paint, bees, computers, genetically engineered seeds, toys, commerical airplane
repairs, and many other things that most consumers know little about.

2. I do not put blame on the illegal alien. I to would cross the border to feed my family. Given current conditions some Americans may be doing just that. The illegal employer is very much part of the magnet that draws him here. And, as Ron Paul points out, so is our government (IMF Policies). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdEIy38Qdms
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=3985423&page=1

3. Note: Not all of the illegal companies and workers were illegal aliens. The two illegal employers they wanted to put under us were operated by Americans, but they did not hold proper documentation because they had lost their drivers licenses and could not get the required liability or Workman's Comp. insurance due to DWIs.

4. The abuses the illegals have reported to us is much like my definition of slavery: Rape, work without pay, work without food, threats of deportation (or imprisonment) if they report abuses, lack of help in getting treatment (and total abandonment) if they are injured (to mention a few)...but I guess it depends on one's definition of slavery. There exists a whole underground world that most of us (including me) know little about. There are those who take advantage, and profit off of those trapped in this underground world.
http://www.usillegalaliens.com/impacts_of_illegal_immigration_abuse_of_the_guest_worker_program.html

Likewise, I would classify the conditions of the American coal minors during the early 1900s as slavery, as they reported similar abuses that few knew about for many years
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/7642
http://www.fairus.org/site/News2/274295583?page=NewsArticle&id=17191&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1761
The following link is an impact study on current immigration polices
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

More On What Drives Up Health Care

• 
  Ron Paul, in his recent video mentioned interest rates, frivolous law suits, and government intervention drive up health care costs. He also mentioned that health insurance was not intended to pay for things beyond catastrophic events (like paying for subscriptions)

http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-06-15/ron-paul-obamas-healthcare-plan-will-make-things-much-worse/

More Research on The Subject

• 
  Government forcing free heal care for illegal aliens amounts to aiding and abetting:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLJxmJZXgNI NOTE: someone pays for all this free stuff...you.
• 
  Almost half (48.7 percent) of all uninsured workers are either self-employed or work for firms with fewer than 25 workers. Insurance companies offer better deals for large companies with a large pool of employees, and routinely raise prices for the small business owner. Solution: Create alternative pools for the employees of small firms--including plans offered through churches, unions, and other intermediaries, as well as through the FEHBP--so that these workers and their families can access a wide range of affordable plans. Yet both the tax system and government insurance rules discourage other insurance arrangements for these uninsured working families (Government Intervention) http://www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/bg1769.cfm
• Government run health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid are so inneficiently run they also drive up the cost for everyone http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDk0YmY2ZTZmMDMzZmUzNTMyNzA3NjkzZWVmOTM0NjY=
• Third Party coverage explained in the link below. "Our healthcare system is in trouble today because we have consistently ignored market-oriented solutions and instead sought out policies based on public finance and top-down regulation. Historically, each crisis has brought its own government solution, which in time has given rise to new problems necessitating still more government intervention. This all began in 1944, when employers began offering health insurance and other benefits to attract prospective employees because government wage and price controls prevented the payment of higher cash wages. Thus government regulation had the unintended consequence of giving rise to the current system of employer-provided health benefits. In the mid-1960s, President Johnson's "Great Society" gave us Medicare and Medicaid, which insured millions of senior citizens and in the process drove up the cost of medical care due in part to the third-party payment problems discussed above. In response to high prescription drug costs, President George W. Bush gave us an oddly designed Medicare prescription drug coverage benefit (Medicare Part D). Apart from being excessively complicated, the plan is a great example of the misuse of insurance-Medicare Part D should cover catastrophic drug expenses, not mundane drugs such as Viagra.
  Fast forward to today and we are on the cusp of instituting nationalized healthcare despite the fact that the baby boom generation is beginning to retire and both Social Security and Medicare are staring down the barrel of insolvency http://www.american.com/archive/2009/may-2009/what-is-driving-rising-healthcare-costs ;
  

*****Inspiraional: True

Provided to us by Sandy
Someone (BJ) sent me this back in 2008, and it's an eyeopener, FOR SURE ! ! ! ! This should be a required video for everyone on planet earth !


Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtweZxNGk1Y&NR=1
Be sure to watch the entire video and the portion being interviewed by Rev Shulman, where he says "we should not compare sufferings"


Sandy“If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right!” – Henry Ford

***Numbers USA Update

Attached Video: The Senate and House put clauses in the stimulus bill to make sure stimulus money went to American workers as the people have insisted. However, in a secret meeting three people removed those clauses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&eurl=http://www.numbersusa.com/content/&v=Am5c6u5ScSg

The Mayor Needs Your Input

As you may know Jacksonville is facing a budget problem, and the Mayor has posted a website explaining his position (raising taxes). He is asking for your opinion or support (Jax residents that is). Here is the website http://www.fixitnow.cc/default.html

Below is my solution which I sent in. Let him hear yous.

Dear Council Members,

This is in response to the Mayor's "Fix It Now" request.

California is giving IOUs to legal citizens while illegal residents receive free subsidies. When Governor Schwarzenegger was asked about this, he said "I am glad to give them (illegal residents) the services".

Ask any policeman: Jacksonville is in a similar situation, and I have contacted City Representatives in the past, but with no response. All City and State Representatives should be aware of the following independent impact study on this problem before making any budget decisions:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
It is all about "cheap labor"/ slave labor. The foreign and domestic workers are being taken advantage of and abused.

Jacksonville police department is trained, legally positioned, and willing to work with ICE to solve the problem. All that is needed is the support of you, our Representatives..
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4441/is_200610/ai_n17197791/

No need to raise taxes if you cut illegal services. Thank you

***Power of The Mind

This is a very interesting article (link below)

First some information about the author:
Paul Murdock is currently a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at Indiana State University. In addition to his academic studies, he is a writer, employee at a state psychiatric hospital

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php

To Find Out Whate Your County is doing with Stimulus money

If you want to find out what your state, and county is doing with stimulus money click below:

http://www.recovery.org/home.aspx

**** Video: Current info : Federal Reserve & IMF

Excellent video to pass on: current

• expanding powers of the unelected Federal Reserve who refuse to disclose what they have done with trillions of tax money
• 105 Billion of U.S. tax dollars given to IMF
• discussion of positive results rising because of you and action steps

Video: Unelected Representatives?

Following from David

Now unless our brains are stuffed full of silly putty, we had better listen up and Speak
up, because this Could be the WHOLE America of tomorrow.....it's alREADy the America
of too much of our nation. "Scary" doesn't even come close to describing this.
Maybe some of our (like us) Non-elected citizens of this country can explain to the rest
of us how Any of this is Good for us. This country was the Best in the History of the World for over 200 years, and 'overnight', it's becoming the laughing-stock-nation-of-
woosies to the rest of the world. UNacceptable to me....what about You?
(PS: What's being done here Now has NEVER succeeded ANYwhere in the HIStory of
the world. When will we learn?)

This congress woman calls it like it is. Scary.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thR-lVuztIY

Respectful Communication and Truth

The Founding Fathers warned against the two party system we now have. They said it would divide us. 9/11 taught us we are not all of these polarizing labels (white verses black, Republican verses Democrat, Liberal verses Conservative, Christian verses Muslim verses Jewish) as much as we are Americans. I believe that the most important thing we can do is education (the truth) through respectful communication that will finally unite us. http://liberalcommonsense.blogspot.com/2005/05/perils-of-two-party-system.html

Someone very dear to me often used insults to "win" discussions because it was more important for him to win then it was to reveal truth and to unite in a common cause...result eventually no one valued his opinion either.

Pictures of Tea Party Event

Above is a side picture of the stage. A very talented little boy sang at the event, and got a standing ovation. Several Doctors spoke, and informed us about provisions in the Obama health plan that are not being published. They have volunteered to form a committee to contact the administration with their concerns and recommendations which they spoke about at this event.

Above is a picture of a small portion of the audience. It was much bigger than last time, and many of our politicians had Representatives present to answer questions. They also attended the event listening to the speakers who told them to listen to the people, or we would vote them out of office for sure.

Above is a sign Tom and I carried calling for Americans to unite as one people instead of many different polarizing labels. This one got a positive response by some, but (not surprisingly) not everyone. Thomas Jefferson was against ever having the two party system we now have because he said it would divide us. ..."united we stand, divided we fall".

Above is another sign we carried. I think the cartoon is pretty legible. The bottom reads: "Once your tax money passes through the IRS and various government agencies you are returned only a small percentage in benefits. Your choice: your money or their poop.

This last sign was quite popular, and got lots of attention.

Government Health Care

Judy explains why government run health care is a good thng:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-agin/sleepwalking-in-america-o_b_224351.html

Cheap Labor, Plain Crashes and Whistle Blowers

Whistle blowers in the FAA have for sometime been complaining about plane unsafety conditions. They found evidence of repairman being hired that could not speak or read English, and could not read repair manuals (among other things). The whistle blowers complained that they were retaliated against by the FAA, a government agency, as the agency conceded to the wishes of the companies they were suppose to oversee. (IMF policy of "business friendly environment")

http://faa-whistleblower.blogspot.com/2009/04/thousands-of-aircraft-mechanics.html

Why Is The U.S. Following Failed Policies Of The IMF Instead Of The U.S. Constitution?

Lets begin with the very interesting story of Argentina which is also a member of the IMF.

President Peron ruled Argentina in its golden years. He invested heavily in public works, and gave rights to the working class such as the right to organize for better working conditions. As a result Argentina prospered and had the largest middle class in South America. It was an upcoming economic success to match Canada and other Capitalistic countries. Argentina was a rich Country made poor.

In the 1990’s President Carlos Menem also transformed Argentina by following the policies of the IMF. He implemented every “business friendly policy” in it all at one time…downsizing, corporate handouts, and selling off of public assets, and Washington approved. (Note The following was taken from the IMF website: “The IMF was conceived in July 1944, when representatives of 45 governments meeting in the town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in the northeastern United States, agreed on a framework for international economic cooperation. They believed that such a framework was necessary to avoid a repetition of the disastrous economic policies that had contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. “http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/what.htm ). The policy turned into a disaster.

When workers protested for better working conditions the factory owners simply closed the doors and moved to countries offering a cheaper more compliant labor force. They left behind gutted empty factories, and the jobless.

While people where without work, money was free to travel. Argentinean currency started to faultier. So national banks moved forty billion dollars out of the Country, and froze all bank accounts in the dead of night with the support of judges, politicians and the police force. The rich were able to travel to obtain money, but the average citizen was robbed of their life savings in that one night. IMF policies destroyed the Argentinean middle class. Once they ate in fancy restraints. Now they rummaged their dumpsters for food. The IMF policies are not limited to Argentina. They are global stretching from Seattle Washington to South Africa. But the beauty of the Argentinean people began to rise from the ashes of that disaster.

A group of women from a closed garment manufacturing company were the first to take action. They showed up for work anyway, and ran the company themselves. Under the women the company was a bigger success than ever before. The reasons they gave: “we do not have excessive pay to anyone (CEOs), everyone is treated equally, and we do not send profits out of the Country.” They were surprised to find out how easy it actually was to run the factory they had worked in. But their efforts were not without resistance. Factory owners hearing of their success wanted their factories back. The original owners felt those factories belonged to them as it was their investment that made it all possible.

Others followed the example of the women. Even closed schools were opened this way by parents and teachers uniting.

Argentina went through five presidents in three weeks. Menem had exited the country, but returned for elections. He promised change, and the return of prosperity. He promised to put the people back to work. Some refused to vote complaining that all of their presidential choices where only men that had caused the problem in the first place. Sound familiar? Menem won the election by a small margin.

As soon as he took office he began to reward those who had financed his campaign. Factories were taken from the control of the people, and returned to the original factory owners. The first one to go was the women’s garment factory.

One can learn much more form the documentary called “The Take.”
http://www.thetake.org/
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0218-31.htm

How unions gave my redneck family a chance at the American dream

How Unions Gave My Redneck Family a Chance at the American Dream
By Joe Bageant, AlterNet
Posted on June 22, 2009, Printed on June 24, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/140797/

In looking back on growing up, I always remember 1957 and 1958 as "the two good years." They were the only years my working-class redneck family ever caught a real break in their working lives, and that break came because of organized labor.

After working as a farmhand, driving a hicktown taxi part time and a dozen catch-as-catch-can jobs, my father found himself owning a used semi-truck and hauling produce for a Teamster-unionized trucking company called Blue Goose.

Daddy was making more money than he'd ever made in his life, about $4,000 a year. The median national household income at the time was $5,000, mostly thanks to America's unions. After years of moving from one rented dump to another, we bought a modest home ($8,000) and felt like we might at last be getting some traction in achieving the so-called American Dream.

Yup, Daddy was doing pretty good for a backwoods boy who'd quit school in the sixth or seventh grade -- he was never sure, which gives some idea how seriously the farm boy took his attendance at the one-room school we both attended in our lifetimes.

This was the golden age of both trucking and of unions. Thirty-five percent of American labor, 17 million working folks, were union members, and it was during this period the American middle class was created.

The American middle class has never been as big as advertised, but if it means the middle third income-wise, then we actually had one at the time. But whatever it means, one-third of working folks, the people who busted their asses day in and day out making the nation function, were living better than they ever had. Or at least had the opportunity to do so.

From the Depression through World War II, the Teamsters Union became a powerful entity, and a popular one, too, because of such things as its pledge never to strike during the war or a national emergency. President Roosevelt even had a special-designated liaison to the Teamsters.

But power and money eventually drew the usual assortment of lizards, and by the mid-'50s the Teamsters Union had become one corrupt pile of shit at the top level. So rotten even the mob enjoyed a piece of the action.

The membership, ordinary guys like my dad, was outraged and ashamed, but rendered powerless by the crooked union bosses in the big cities.

My old man was no great follower of the news or current events, but he tried to keep up with and understand Teamster developments. Which was impossible since his reading consisted of anti-union Southern newspapers, and the television coverage of Teamster criminality, including murders and the ongoing courtroom trials.

All this left him conflicted. His Appalachian Christian upbringing defined the world in black-and-white, with no gray areas. Inside, he felt he should not be even remotely connected with such vile things as the Teamsters were associated with. And he sometimes prayed for guidance in the matter.

On the other hand, there was the pride and satisfaction in providing for his family in ways previously impossible. He'd built a reasonable, working-class security for those times and that place in West Virginia. Being a Teamster certainly made that possible. But for damned sure no one had handed it to him. He drove his guts out to get what he had.

There were rules and log books and all the other crap that were supposed to assure drivers got enough rest., and ensure road safety and fairness for the truckers. Rural heartland drivers saw it for the bullshit it was, but it was much better-paying bullshit. For a little guy hauling produce from Podunk, USA, to the big cities, it still came down to heartburn, hemorrhoids and longer hauls and longer hours than most driver's falsified log books showed. And sometimes way too much Benzedrine, or "bennies."

Bennies were a type of speed commonly used by truckers back then because of the grueling hauls. As a former doper who has done bennies, I can avow they are some gritty, nerve-jagging shit. Their only virtue is making you wide awake and jumpy, and after you've been awake on them a couple of days, which many drivers were, crazier than a shithouse rat.

Nearly every truck stop sold bennies under the counter. Once, while hallucinating on bennies, Daddy nearly wiped out a roadside joint. He recalled “layin' on the jake brake, down shifting and watching hundreds of the witches like in The Wizard of Oz come down out of the sky in the dark." Somehow he got 30,000 pounds back onto the road while several folks inside the diner were pissing themselves in the windowside booths.

My daddy ran the eastern seaboard in a 12-wheeler -- there were no 18-wheelers yet. It had polished chrome and bold letters that read "BLUE GOOSE LINE." Parked alongside our little asbestos-sided house, I'd marvel at the magic of those bold words, the golden diamond and sturdy goose. And dream of someday "burning up Route 50" like my dad.

Old U.S. Route 50 ran near the house and was the stuff of legend if your daddy happened to be a truck driver who sometimes took you with him on the shorter hauls: "OK boy, now scrunch down and look into the side mirror. I'm gonna turn the top of them side stacks red hot." And he would pop the clutch and strike sparks on the anvil of the night, downshifting toward Pinkerton, Coolville and Hanging Rock. It never once occurred to me that his ebullience and our camaraderie might be due to a handful of bennies.

Yessir, Old 50 was a mighty thing, a howling black slash through the Blue Ridge Mountain fog. A place where famed and treacherous curves made widows, and truck stops and cafes bloomed in the tractor trailers' smoky wakes. A road map will tell you it eventually reaches Columbus and St. Louis, places I imagined had floodlights raking the skies heralding the arrival of heroic Teamster truckers like my father. Guys who'd fought in Germany and Italy and the Solomon Islands and were still wearing their service caps these years later, but now pinned with the gold steering wheel of the Teamsters Union. Such are a working-class boy's dreams.

I have two parched photos from that time. One is of me and my brother and sister, ages 10, 8 and 6. We are standing in the front yard, three little redneck kids with bad haircuts squinting for some faint clue as to whether there was really a world out there, somewhere beyond West Virginia.

The other photo is of my mother and the three of us on the porch of that house on Route 50. On the day my father was slated to return from any given run, we'd all stand on the porch listening for the sound of air brakes, the deep roar as he came down off the mountain. Each time, my mother would step onto the porch blotting her lipstick, Betty Grable-style hair rustling in the breeze, and say, "Stand close, your daddy's home."

And that was about as good as it ever got for our family. Daddy's heart later gave way to a congenital defect, and he lost everything. He was so scrupulously honest about debts, he could never recover financially. Unable to borrow money, uneducated and weakened for life, he set to working in car washes and garages.

After his union trucking days were over, we were assigned to the margins of America, a million miles from the American Dream, joining those people never seen on television, represented by no politician and never heard from in halls of power.

Now it was only a little house by the side of the road with not enough closets and ugly asbestos shingle siding. But it was ours, just like the truck and the chance to get ahead that it offered. And we had felt like we were some small part of America as it was advertised. All because of a union job during the heyday of unions in this nation.

It was also a period of Teamsters Union corruption, replete with criminal moguls such as Dave Beck, George Meany and Jimmy Hoffa. Yet the history of the few top lizards on the national rock of greed is not the history of the people.

If a few pricks and gangsters have occasionally seized power over the dignity of labor, countless more calculating, bloodless and malevolent pricks -- the capitalist elites -- have always held most of the cards, which is why in 1886, railroad and financial baron Jay Gould could sneer, "I can always hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half." And why a speaker at the U.S. Business Conference Board in 1974 could arrogantly declare, "One man, one vote has undermined the power of business in all capitalist countries since World War II." And why that same year, Business Week magazine said, "It will be a hard pill for many Americans to swallow -- the idea of doing with less so that big business can have more. Nothing in modern economic history compares with the selling job that must now be done to make people accept this new reality."

The new reality is here, and has been since 1973, the last year American workers made a wage gain in real dollars. Hell, it's been here so long, we accept it as part of America's cultural furniture. Only about 12 percent of American workers are unionized, and even with a supposedly union friendly Democratic Congress, unions are still fighting to exist (although government employees are unionized at 36 percent, because the Empire allows some leeway for its commissars).

In fact, things are worse than ever. Employers can now force employees to attend anti-union presentations during the workday, at captive-audience meetings in which union supporters are forbidden to speak under threat of insubordination. Back in 1978, when I was working to organize the local newspaper, the management was not even allowed to speak to the workers on the matter until after the union vote results were in.

Then there's President Barack Obama, the guy soft-headed liberals think is going to turn this dreadful scenario around. He talks a good game about unions, when he is forced to. But Obama is working on the things that will "create a legacy," such as health care (which is simply a new way to pay the insurance industry's blackmail) or the economy (by appointing the same damned people who fucked it up to fix it), and immigration reform, a nicely nebulous term that can mean whatever either side of the issue wants it to mean.

Obama's not going to publicly ignore the unions. But he's not going to sink much political capital into this corporatized nation's most radioactive issue either. For him, union legislation is just a distraction from the "legacy building" of a very charming, savvy and ambitious politician. That is the assessment of Glenn Spencer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most anti-union institutions in America. (Many thanks to Washington writer Ken Silverstein for publishing Spencer's astute observations.)

Things are changing though. Union membership climbed 12 percent last year. Twelve percent of 12 percent ain't shit, but at least it's forward motion. At that rate, it will only take us 21 years to get back to the 1956 level of union membership.

We can expect no miracles, top union leaders are still among the Empire's elites. And they are still technically accountable to whatever membership will still have jobs when the 2012 elections roll around. The least they could do is make it harder for Obama to lick off those millions of hard-earned union-support dollars from the top of the campaign contribution ice cream cone as he did in '08.

But who can be sure? Because the new union elites and their minions are lawyers and marketing professionals. They've never come down off the mountain with both stacks red hot, or gathered on the porch of a crappy but new roadside bungalow, proud because they owned it, and stood up straight because, "Boys, your daddy is coming home."

I'm not going into the current brouhaha about the Employee Free Choice Act or the "card check" bullshit here. Because what it's gonna take to restore dignity to laboring America ain't gonna be more legislative wrangling. What it takes won't be pretty, maybe not even legal in this new police state, and sure as hell won't be "within the system." Because the system is the problem.

So it will be up to us, just like it always has been … the writer, the Nicaraguan janitor, the 40-year-old family man forced to bag groceries at Wal-Mart, the pizza delivery guy, the welder and the certified nurse … the long-haul trucker and the short-order cook. And they will snicker at us from their gilded roosts on Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Some people are bound to get hurt in the necessary fight. In fact, people need to be willing to get hurt in the fight. That's the way we once gained worker rights, and that's the way we will get them back. The only way to get rid of the robbers' roost is to burn the fucker down.

Anyone got a match?


Joe Bageant is author of the book, Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (Random House Crown), about working-class America. A complete archive of his online work, along with the thoughts of many working Americans on the subject of class may be found on his Web site.

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