Health Care: A Bad Bill

Only a few people know what’s exactly in the new proposed Senate health care bill, but there are some things we do know. The only positive thing we know is that preexisting exclusions are prohibited. Everything else we know is undesirable.

Medicare will be cut by about 500 billion dollars. This will cause rationing and lower quality care for seniors and fewer doctors who are willing to accept Medicare. Seniors will be drastically affected. The government will not deem them “cost effective”.

Taxes will be raised. About one-half the funding for this bill will come from new taxes, fees, and penalties. Raising taxes in a recession is beyond foolish.

This bill will cost almost one trillion dollars. Health insurance is extended to only about thirty million more people. Using simple mathematics this means that it will cost over thirty thousand dollars per person. Might I suggest that the government provide ten thousand dollars to each person and let them select their own insurance? This would dramatically reduce the cost of this bill.

Medicaid will be extended to include about 15 million more people. This is one-half of the new people covered. States pay about half of Medicaid costs. The states can not afford these new mandates. This means new taxes on the state level or drastic cuts in other state services.

Insurance premiums will cost more. If Medicare further reduces the rate of reimbursement to hospitals and doctors, the private sector will have to pick up the difference and pay more. There will be new taxes applied to insurance and this will cause premium costs to rise even more.

For the first time in our history citizens will be forced to purchase an item – even if they do not want to do so. Car insurance is not the same as this requirement. Driving is a privilege not a right and drivers are required to carry insurance to cover the damage to other drivers. If you do not buy health insurance you are subject to a fine. If you do not pay this fine you can be jailed.

The fine is so low that it is not a deterrent. A young healthy person would pay the fine and only purchase insurance if they were injured or became ill.

Many new government bureaucracies are created by this bill. Controls over private insurance would be great. Our choices would disappear. How is this an improvement of health care? It is government control of our health care by another name. We do not want the government to control our health care and our very lives. Stop this bill! Vote NO!

Signed,
The Electorate

Jobs and Recovery

The government is working under a flawed premise. The government does not create wealth. People create wealth. Businesses create wealth. This country’s wealth and prosperity has come from the ingenuity and industry of its citizens. The government can only provide an atmosphere conducive to wealth creation. Right now business is frozen. No matter which way business turns it faces new taxes and regulations. Money is not available. The government has sucked up available funds with its insatiable spending.

The solution to our economic problems is not complicated. History has proven, over and over again, that these solutions work. They work for Democrats and they work for Republicans. The federal government needs to exercise some self-control and reduce its spending. The federal government needs to offer a stable, business friendly environment. If the government reduced individual, small business, and corporate taxes and loosened regulations, business and the economy would recover. As businesses recover new jobs are created.

The government is a poor creator of jobs. Infrastructure jobs are temporary jobs and the cost of each job is astronomical. True job growth can only come from the private sector. Small business is the engine of job creation. Currently the government is standing in the way of small and large businesses. The government needs to get out of the way and let the people correct our economic problems.

Signed,
The Electorate

Appropriations Bill

You can not spend your way out of a recession. It has NEVER been done. The wasteful spending of Congress and this Administration is extending the recession. Washington tells us the recession is over. It’s not.

Friday the House passed a 1.1 trillion dollar spending bill filled with over 5,000 earmarks. Budgets were raised by over ten percent. The Senate passed this bill on Sunday. This bill was written behind closed doors – again – and passed with little debate. The country does not have this money! Is this really the time for more pork barrel spending?

Congress just doesn’t get it. What world does Congress live in? Obviously it is not the real world. This is not a difficult concept. Stop throwing away money we do not have! Stop wasteful spending! Stop earmarks! Stop pork barrel spending! Cut or freeze all discretionary spending! When this bill was passed, Congress spit in the eye of the American public.

Signed,
The Electorate

The National Debt

The national debt ceiling is currently set at 12.1 trillion dollars. Congress is spending at such an alarming rate that they will soon exceed this limit. Congress now proposes raising the limit by 1.8 trillion dollars. This reckless spending has got to stop. The national debt is a stone around the neck of our economy and it is dragging us down. Stop spending money we do not have. Freeze or reduce discretionary spending. Do not pass new expensive programs. You are dooming this country and the future of our children. Be responsible or face defeat in your next election.

Adding insult to injury, Congress plans to attach this increase to the debt ceiling to a military funding bill. Congress plans to USE our servicemen and women so that they can waste more of our tax dollars. This is disgusting!

Signed,
The Electorate

Alternate Minimum Tax

The Alternate Minimum Tax was created by the Tax Reform Act of 1969. Its purpose was to prevent 155 high income households from claiming so many tax exemptions and credits that they would owe little or no income tax. It was not indexed to inflation. It has now become the bane of middle class America. Every year Congress passes a one year patch and kicks this can down the road.

The income level of the middle class has changed. Congress needs to correct this problem not postpone it. This could be done in a simple one page bill. Apply this tax to individuals who have an annual income of over $100,000 and to families with an annual income of over $150,000. Americans have enough to dread at tax time. We do not need this tax hanging over our heads.

Signed,
The Electorate

Senate's New Health Care Proposal

Just when you think that Congress could not devise a worse health care bill, they prove you wrong. Now the Senate proposes expanding Medicare down to the age of fifty-five; expanding Medicaid ( SCHIP has already been expanded); and having the OPM oversee and regulate private insurance companies. How is this not a PUBLIC OPTION? It’s a public option on steroids. The American public does not want a public option in health care reform – Let’s just change the name. The public is stupid. They won’t know what we are doing. This proposal is bad in so many ways.

Medicare is going bankrupt in 5 – 8 years. Yet Congress proposes cutting 500 billion dollars from Medicare as more and more “baby boomers” enter the system. Now Congress proposes adding at least thirty million more people to the system. This can only make the system collapse sooner. Medicare, at best, is a flawed, inferior system. Medicare denies claims at twice the rate of private insurances. Half the doctors in this country currently will not accept Medicare patients, because the reimbursement rate is so low and it takes so long to pay reimbursements. Some areas of the country have no doctors that will accept Medicare. Medical care not accepted is medical service denied. The doctors, who do accept Medicare, will not be able to provide care to the increased number of patients. Care will be rationed. This health care proposal may bankrupt hospitals and doctors. Medicare only provides basic minimum health care to seniors. A secondary insurance is always needed to provide acceptable care.

Medicaid is worse than Medicare and the same arguments apply. States must pay about half the costs of Medicaid making this an unfunded mandate. Even if the federal government would fund it for a few years eventually the burden would fall on the states. When the states fail, they would be bailed out and fall under federal government control.

SCHIP was a travesty. Children from families making over eighty thousand dollars a year are eligible for SCHIP. Anyone who has an income this high does not need government help to pay for their children’s medical care.

The OPM would oversee private insurance. The devil will be in the details. It has been suggested that these private companies must be “not for profit”. What regulations would be forced on insurance companies? Would policies be required to meet minimum and maximum limits? This could stifle the quality and availability of our health insurance. This part of the proposed bill could go wrong in many, many ways.

I am still of the opinion that no health care reform would be preferable to the health care reform being proposed by Congress.

Signed,
The Electorate

End Run Around Congress and the Constitution

The Environmental Protection Agency now states that carbon dioxide emissions pose a danger to public health. It bases its “endangerment finding” on information provided by the IPCC. This United Nations agency bases its conclusions on data from scientists, who we now know have altered or destroyed any data that disagreed with their own preconceived theories. In short, these supposed scientists “cooked the books.” We know the information is tainted, but the EPA uses it as proven fact. This is not scientific or honest. The EPA proposes regulating carbon dioxide as an end run around Congress and the Constitution. The EPA is not comprised of elected officials.

Now members of the Administration are delivering the message to Congress that if Congress does not pass the Cap + Trade Energy bill, the EPA will regulate the bill into existence, but in a more draconian manner. It would affect the economy more adversely than the Cap + Trade Energy Bill would – even more jobs would be lost and prices would rise even higher.

This is not a choice. This is blackmail or gangster warfare. Al Capone would be so proud. This is true Chicago politics as usual. The public is getting very tired of having unwanted policies forced down their throats. Politicians need to wake up and see reality. This is not change that Americans want.

Signed,
The Electorate

TARP Funds

The TARP bill stated that any unused or returned funds would be applied to the national debt. That is the only way it is to be used. Our current debt can not be sustained or ignored. It must be addressed – now!

If Congress and the Administration want a new stimulus/jobs bill, they should use unspent funds from the first stimulus bill. It hasn’t worked anyway. Less than half of the 787 billion dollars has been spent. Let Stimulus Part I pay for Stimulus Part II.

The federal government can not continue to spend money that it does not have. Washington will turn us into a banana republic.

Signed,
The Electorate

Please Represent Floridians

To Senator Bill Nelson:

You have to know that the majority of Floridians oppose this health care bill. They have told you this, time after time. What must we do to get you to listen? You have to know this bill would adversely effect the quality and availability of health care for Floridians. Yet you seem bound and determined to support the party line and vote for this BAD health care bill. You were elected to represent Florida - not the Democratic party. You ran as a moderate, but you vote as a liberal. We must judge you by your actions, not your words. I, for one, am not pleased.

Signed,
The Electorate

Redistribution of Health Care

Last month, Ex-President Clinton told Congress that Democrats lost so many seats in Congress in 1994 because they did not pass health care reform. This is absurdly incorrect. Democrats lost so many seats, because they tried so hard to pass bad health care reform that the American people did not want. If they had actually passed the bill, they would have lost more congressional seats.

More Americans now oppose proposed health care reform than opposed reform fifteen years ago. Why are Democrats now so determined to ignore the will of the people and pass this legislation? Democrats must know that voting for this unwanted legislation is the same as signing their letters of resignation. Politicians usually have a strong sense of self-preservation. Are they willing to sacrifice their careers for party agenda or do they think constituents won’t remember their bad actions? People will remember for they will have to face the ramifications of this bad bill almost every day. The more they deal with it; the angrier they will become.

Congress needs to scrap these bad bills. All these bills do is put the federal government more in control of our lives and increase the size and scope of government. The people want health care reform that will actually improve the quality of health care. These bills are simply a redistribution of health care. A few more people are covered, but they each receive less care.

Signed,
The Electorate

No Reconciliation

Before the scheduled Saturday vote to bring the Health Care Bill to the Senate floor, we need absolute assurances that if this bill is brought to the floor the majority leadership will not seek to pass this bill by reconciliation. If such assurances are not made, then don’t let this bill be sent to the Senate floor.

If this bill were to be passed by reconciliation, the country would be tore apart. The American public is already irate, because they feel legislators are not listening to them. Reconciliation would absolutely drive people up the walls. It would be like holding a lit match to tender. Reconciliation must not be even considered.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care Bills are Travesties

The House and Senate health care bills are simply a redistribution of health care. The 85% of Americans who now have health care insurance will receive a lower quality of health care and will be forced to pay more for that health care. About half of those who do not have health care will receive mediocre health care. Approximately thirty million people will still not have health care coverage.

The purpose of health care reform was to provide high quality, lower costing health care to all. Instead, this country will spend trillions of dollars, which we do not have and can not afford, to reduce the quality of health care. We must also pay more for the privilege of receiving this inferior health care. We must submit to massive government controls and regulation of our health care. Why are those in Washington surprised that we think this is a really bad deal? Why can Washington not recognize that we do not want their health care bills? The American public is not stupid.

Neither the House’s health care bill nor the Senate’s health care bill deserves a single vote. They are travesties. They are massive spending and taxing bills. They gut Medicare. They will bankrupt this country.

I hope both Florida senators vote “No” on the Senate bill. If there is a joint bill I hope all three of my legislators vote against it. Do not force this monstrosity on your constituents and this country.

Signed,
The Electorate

Patriotism, an essay by a 14 year old son of an Army father

This essay was written by the son of one of my daughter's friends. He shows a real and touching meaning of patriotism as it defines his everyday life. We may give occasional thought to our troops whether stationed here or abroad, but frequently, forget about those on the home front helping them soldier on. In this essay, the son demonstrates not just love of his country but a profound love and respect for his father.

I have a big, virtual hug for you, sweetie. Young men like you are one of the reason's I'm proud to be an American. - The Electorate

PATRIOTISM
BY: H Peterson

Patriotism is the love of your homeland .It is also about the blood sweat and tears that are shed for it and the sacrifices that are made to keep it free. My father is in the military and has been away from home for 2 years. He comes home in December before Christmas this will be the first Christmas that we have had with him in that time. Patriotism is not always easy especially for military families. You can love your country and still struggle with the hard parts of that love.

Patriotism is more than just a word and only just a word until you see it in action. It’s the families left behind, the many moments you can’t get back, the holidays you miss and wishing for an end to fighting that will bring your parent home. It’s doing without because you know that why they are gone is important.

I am surrounded by people every day who can’t imagine being apart from their Dad for as long as we have, but could you imagine our country without people willing to do that to keep this nation free?

Patriots are the ones who are loyal to their country and stand up for what they believe in. No matter what branch of the military someone is in, we should make it clear that we are all thankful, even if some people don’t show it just know they are better off for what you do.

I have many friends and family members in different branches, the Marine Corp, the Air force and the Navy, they all have one thing in common, all of them sacrifice and so do their families. They have taught me pride and a sense of family.

We should honor our heroes at all times by keeping in mind that what they do doesn’t pay a lot; it has long hours and can be dangerous. When someone decides to support their military they also act like a patriot.


This is the link where his mom posted it on her blog: This Life is Not For Sissies: In the Words of My Son

The True Cost of the Health Care Bill

Recently someone in the administration stated that accounting was not an exact science. Excuse me, it most certainly is an exact science – at least it is out here in the real world. Apparently in Washington it is not. The Senate’s new health care bill is a fine example of this.

It was announced that over ten years it would cost 849 billion dollars and would have a surplus of 127 billion dollars. This sounds good until you observe the creative accounting tricks that are used. The rules of mathematics are suspended in Washington. One does not have to equal one. It can equal anything that politicians desire. Mathematical facts are deliberately obscured in this new health care bill.

The bill is paid for by over 400 billion dollars in cuts in Medicare. Old people are not popular in Washington. Old people will remember this in the next elections. At some point politicians may decide that it is against their interest to make these cuts. The bill is also paid for by taxes, fines and fees. Do you remember that there is a recession going on in this country? Individuals and companies can not afford more taxes.

This bill is paid for by taxing Americans and slashing Medicare for ten years. The benefits are received for only six years – some parts for less than that. A true cost analysis should be for ten years of payment and ten years of program. It has been estimated that ten years of the program would cost 2.5 trillion dollars. Let’s stop comparing apples and oranges.

This bill does not address the doctor fix. This will cost an additional 250 – 300 billion dollars. Oops, there goes the surplus.

This bill applies another accounting trick. This bill greatly increases the number of people on Medicaid. The federal government only pays about half the costs of Medicaid. States are required to pay the rest. This is an unfunded state mandate. The public will have to pay higher taxes at the federal level and pay for it again at the state level.

Can we not at least be honest about what this bill will actually cost? Congress needs to stop trying to fool the public. This is a BAD bill. Please don’t vote for it.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Please Vote "No"

Soon you will face one of the most important votes that any senator has ever been asked to make. Will you place the health care of this nation into the hands of the federal government? Will you take our health care decisions out of our hands and place it into the hands of bureaucrats? At one fell swoop will you turn one-sixth of our economy over to Washington? Big government is not the answer. It has never been the answer. Frequently it is the problem.

Recently a government panel – with no radiologists or oncologists on this panel – decided that women over forty no longer needed yearly mammograms. This panel stated that mammograms are now only necessary every two to three years for women over fifty. The American Cancer Society and most doctors do not agree with the decision of this panel. Everyone knows that early detection of this disease is vital. Soon insurance will no longer pay for yearly mammograms. How many women will die as a result of this decision, if the decision is allowed to stand?

This is the kind of decision that bureaucrats make. They are only concerned with the bottom line. That is why our health care decisions need to remain in our hands and the hands of our chosen doctors. We do not want to be “cost effective”. We want to be healthy and alive.

Congress promised cheaper, high quality health care for all. The proposed bills deliver more expensive, lower quality health care which still does not cover thirty million people. The bills cut Medicare and create new taxes and fines. Take these plans back to the drawing board.

Your vote, especially on cloture, will help determine whether we will keep our health care under our control or if the federal government will take over and manage our health care. The federal government is not noted for its efficiency and the public dreads a government takeover. I ask that you vote to keep health care in the hands of the people.

Signed,
The Electorate

Happy Birthday to the US Marine Corps!

Special Birthday Message for the 234th Birthday of the Marine Corps

I wanted to send out a special Happy Birthday and a giant Thank You to all the members of our US Marine Corps and also to their families for all their sacrifices and support in defense of our great nation. Happy Birthday and Thank You!

If you see a Marine today, shake their hand (or hug them), and wish them a happy Corps birthday.

Congress Can Do Better

The health care reform bills now being considered in the House and Senate are monstrosities. We were told that health care would be cheaper; would be higher quality; and include everyone. The American public was skeptical – apparently rightly so. These huge convoluted bills do the exact opposite.

Health care will cost more. Insurance premiums will go up because of punitive taxes and fines. Taxes will go up to help pay for the program. The national debt will go up. The Congressional Budget Office states that the House bill costs more than projected. Both versions will cost more than projected, since all government programs exceed their projected costs. These bills are too expensive.

The government option will drive private insurance companies out of business. Private companies can not compete with the might and power of the federal government. They can not compete with the federal government financially. The government can tax, print, and borrow at will.

The quality of health care will go down. As the rolls of Medicare increase, its budget is being cut by five hundred billion dollars. Of course, this will affect the quality. These bills add more patients to our health care system, but the number of doctors remains constant. Some type of rationing will be necessary. The government decides what type of treatment is required to be covered or not be covered by insurances. The government, not the doctors, decides what treatment is acceptable and “cost effective” – goodbye old folks.

While more people are covered, by no means are all legal Americans covered. This goal too was not met.

These are poorly crafted, inadequate, undesirable bills. Health care goals are not met. Can not Congress write a bill that provides high quality, affordable, health care to more people and still maintains the doctor-patient relationship? This needs to be done in the private sector. Medicare and Medicaid are poorly run and do not provide high quality health care. Do not denigrate the health care system we currently have. Congress can do better.

Signed,
The Electorate

The Wrong Direction

I, as are many other Americans, am alarmed at the direction that this Congress and Administration is trying to take our country. The federal government seeks more and more power and control over the private sector and over our lives. Bigger government is not the answer. It is the problem. Our latest financial disaster was precipitated by the sub-prime mortgage collapse. The federal government was the primary cause of this crisis. The federal government not only encouraged these bad loans it required them, by Congressional acts. Banks would not have approved these unsound loans without the pressure from the federal government.

The strength of America does not lie in the federal government. The strength of America lies in the determination and ingenuity of its people. We do not want the government to give us “free stuff”. We only want the opportunity to work hard and use our talents to better our lives and the lives of our families. Big government is stifling us. Get out of our way and let us try to succeed. Thomas Jefferson once said that any government big enough to give you everything you want...is big enough to take everything you have. We do not want this type of government.

I honestly think that Congress knows we do not want these policies that they are seeking to force down our throats. That is why the bills are written in secret and then rushed through Congress. That is why they seek to pass them in a non-election year. They hope we will forget about what they have done. We will not forget.

If Congress continues to not represent us and our opinions, they will not represent us in the future.

"No" To Public Option

A public, government run, option will force this country into a single payer system. This is no doubt what is intended. Private companies can not long compete with a government option. The playing field is not level. The government makes and enforces the rules and regulations. A public option is backed by the weight and power of the federal government. It is backed and subsidized by taxpayer dollars. How can any private company compete? It is like having the head coach of one team referee the big game.

The government would eventually completely control our health care and our lives. We had better be really good or big brother would be unhappy. This is all about power and control. It is not about improving the quality and affordability of our health care. The American people do not want this government take-over of our health care. We want our health care to be controlled by our doctors and ourselves.

I am asking you, my legislator, to not vote for any bill that places my health care in governmental hands.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Eventually The Public Gets To Vote

The House Speaker wants to call the public option the consumer option. The Senate majority leaders want a public option/opt-out plan. The name is not the problem. It is the policy we don’t like. We do not want the government to run and control our health care. We want to control our own health care.

Almost every poll I see affirms that the majority of Americans do not want the public option. The Washington Post poll puzzled me until I saw that the question didn’t mention “public option” and that nearly twice as many Democrats were polled as Republicans. This caused the abnormality.

Eventually the public will get to vote on the health care issue. We just have to wait for the next elections. Then we can vote to not reelect those who supported this bill. New legislators can then vote to reverse this legislation.

Signed,
The Electorate

Lower Taxes Needed

Congress needs to reconsider burdening taxpayers with more taxes. Whether they are called a tax or a fine, they are taxes. Congress wants us to further tighten our belts so that they can loosen theirs. Our belts are about as tight as they will go.

Speaker Pelosi is beginning to sound like Yogi Berra. When asked about the expiring tax cuts, she replied, “That wasn’t a tax increase. It is...eliminating a tax decrease”. For all practical purposes how does one differ from the other? Taxpayers will still pay higher taxes. This is Washington double speak.

Our backs are to the wall. Taxes need to be lowered. The taxes on small and large businesses need to be lowered. This would create more jobs. Jobs are what we desperately need.

Congress needs to extend the tax cuts and not burden taxpayers with new taxes as is proposed in new legislation such as the health care and energy bills.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care Must Be Paid For

While Congress debates what they want or don’t want in a health care bill, they are glossing over a vital issue. This bill has to be paid for. The national debt is increasing at an alarming rate. This level of spending can not be sustained. This federal spending spree has got to stop – NOW.

Congress seems to want to fund this enormous program by cutting Medicare and raising taxes. Whether or not Congress is actually willing to cut Medicare, it is irresponsible for them to propose cutting Medicare by ten percent as more and more “baby bloomers” are entering the system. Increasing taxes in a struggling economy will only deepen and prolong the recession. Ask your constituents – the recession is not over.

The costs of the health care bills are not mathematically correct. Taxes and cuts will begin in 2010. The programs will not begin until 2013 and will not be fully implemented until 2017. Basically Americans are paying for this program for ten years and receiving about five years of benefits. Ten years of the program would cost twice the estimates. Even that would be a low ball figure. Government programs always cost more than the initial estimates. Bernie Madoff would be so proud.

Health care proposals need to be cut down to the basic needs. Increase competition by allowing Americans to purchase insurance from any American based insurance company – NO cost to government. Make it illegal to refuse coverage because of a pre-existing condition – NO cost to government. Enact real tort reform – This will lower the cost of insurance at NO cost to government. Reasonably expand the eligibility for Medicaid and fund the mandates to states. This has a cost, but it is far less than the proposed trillion dollar bills.

Does Congress understand that this is a time to live within our means? Be responsible. The future of our children is at stake.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Opting Out

The latest health care trial balloon being floated is that states would be allowed to opt out of a federal health care public option. They would first have to prove that they were providing health care coverage to citizens of their state that met standards set by the federal government. No doubt it would be almost impossible to meet these standards – especially during the current difficult financial times. Most states are struggling to provide now existing programs.

If states did opt out, would their citizens then be exempt from the new taxes which are being proposed to fund the federal health care proposals? Would the cuts to Medicare not be applied to their state? It would be unfair to ask residents to pay for a federal public health care program that they were not receiving.

Florida has a home insurance program, Citizens. Its premiums have been traditionally higher than other private plans. Everyone knows that if a major hurricane hits Florida, Citizens could not pay its claims. State taxpayers would be responsible for the state’s shortfall. It would seem a state health care program would face the same problems.

Health Care: Public Option

Any legislator who supports the public option should take a long hard look at the public health care options we currently have. They are not good examples of efficient, high quality health care. Is a Medicare type plan what this country really wants?

Only half the doctors in this country accept Medicare, because of the low reimbursement rate. This rate is scheduled to be reduced even more in the future. Then even fewer doctors will accept it. It does not matter if you have health insurance if no one will accept it.

Medicare denies treatments at a higher rate than private insurance companies do. The government seeks to determine what treatments are “cost effective”. More treatments will be denied in the future.

Fraud is rampant in Medicare. Medicare pays for procedures for dead people. Dead doctors bill Medicare and are paid. Medical facilities are reimbursed for procedures that were never done. It is estimated that 75 billion dollars are wasted every year due to fraudulent claims. Medicare doesn’t seem to really care. After all it’s the taxpayers money not theirs. Private insurance companies lose far less to fraudulent claims.

Medicare frequently takes at least a year to reimburse doctors. This is not an efficient organization.

Medicare will be bankrupt in eight years – if not sooner. Is this the example Congress wishes to follow?

Medicare works for older people who are more apt to be sick. Ninety percent of health care costs occur in the last year of life. Private insurers don’t really want our older citizens. Medicare helps older citizen – just not very well.

Before Congress seeks to extend this type of option to the entire country, it needs to show the public that the government can run health care in an efficient and affordable manner. Solve the problems of Medicare first. Prove to the people that the government can provide high quality health care and not bankrupt the country. Then people will consider a government run option.

Signed,
The Electorate

Meaningful Tort Reform Needed

Throughout the health care debate one group has been suspiciously silent – attorneys. Of course nothing has been proposed that would restrict or harm them. Could this be because so many legislators are attorneys and wish to protect their own or is it because they donate such large amounts to political campaigns?

If Congress truly seeks to contain the rising costs of health care, tort reform MUST be addressed and it must be meaningful tort reform. Frivolous laws suits need to be eliminated and doctors must be allowed to stop practicing defensive medicine. Costs will drop if unnecessary tests are no longer ordered and malpractice insurances rates are lowered. Some have suggested a study of tort reform. This is merely a way to shelf tort reform and hope it is forgotten. We do not need a study. Some states have already enacted tort reform. That is your study. In Texas malpractice law suits have decreased by over fifty percent. Frivolous law suits no longer clutter its legal system. The cost of malpractice insurance has dropped by forty-five percent. Tort reform works. Only the lawyers don’t approve.

The American Bar Association’s lobby is powerful, but Congress must stop catering to it. The welfare of American citizen should be more important to our legislators than the interests of a select, powerful few. Even with tort reform lawyers will prosper.

Bailing Out Newspapers

Bailing out newspapers is an absolutely terrible idea. This could corrupt or destroy the concept of a free press. The press has always played a special role in this country. It is the watchdog of the republic. It is a check on the government. It reports on the actions of the government – the good and the bad. The government can only be accountable to the people, if the people know what the government is doing. The First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom...of the press”.

If the press receives money from the government, it becomes indebted to the government. The press is seriously compromised. The government can use the power of the purse strings to influence and control what the press reports. The press needs to be independent if it is to be believed.

If a newspaper can not produce a product that people are willing to buy, then it needs to fail. It will be replaced by a news organization that can succeed. When the government, in anyway, influences or controls the news, the news becomes propaganda.

Behind Closed Doors

Behind closed doors, in secret, a few members of majority leadership are now writing health care reform bills. Apparently the open debates of the last few months were nothing but dog and pony shows. Majority leadership is drafting the bills they want. These bills will be written in a lengthy, convoluted manner to hide what is in them. The bills will then be rushed through Congress; so that neither the public nor members of Congress actually know what goodies are concealed.

What happened to the transparency that we, the voters, were promised? Legislation was not to be drafted in secret. Meetings were to be broadcast on C-Span. The public would know what was happening and what was in proposed legislation. Bills would be posted on-line 72 hours before Congress voted on them. I am waiting for these promises to be kept, but I am not holding my breath. They were probably only the promises of campaigning politicians.

It is up to moderate Democrats and Republicans to insist that they and the public be allowed time to read these bills. They must also insist that sufficient time is allowed to discuss the bills and for the public to express their opinions. This legislation will affect one-sixth of our economy and our very lives. Congress needs to get this right!

Is This Why You Have No Town Halls?

Sent to Senator Bill Nelson

You recently stated that you supported the public option. Could you not have stood up this summer and looked your constituents in the eye and stated and defended your ideas? Good ideas, if they are good, will stand on their own merit. Could you not have then listened to and addressed the opinions and concerns of your constituents? Someone who is willing to face a dangerous journey into space should be willing to face the people they represent. I am really disappointed in you.

Signed,
The Electorate

Better No Reform Than Bad Reform

I really believe that we need some common sense health care reform. We need to increase competition by being able to purchase insurance across state lines. Our health insurance needs to be portable. We need to prevent exclusions because of preexisting conditions. We need true tort reform – not a study of tort reform.

This does not appear to be the type of health care reform that Congress is willing to deliver. Every proposal seems to be overly expensive and more concerned with increasing government size and power than it is with improving health care. We tell Congress we do not want a government takeover of health care. Congress does not listen. Congress wants what Congress wants and does not care what the people want.

The latest poll shows that 40% of people think the government’s top concern should be jobs. Another 25% think the top concern should be reducing the deficit and spending. Only 13% believe that health care reform should be the top governmental concern. Yet Congress is devoting most of its time to health care. Can Congress adjust its priorities to coincide with the people’s priorities?

I would rather have no health care reform than have the health care reform that is being proposed. There is an old adage. Nothing is so bad that the government can’t make it worse.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Cadillac Plans

Congress is considering funding health care reform by taxing what they refer to as Cadillac plans. Unfortunately, these Cadillac plans have now become Kia plans. Beginning in 2013, an excise tax of 40% would be levied on these plans. It would be applied to plans valued at $8000 for individuals and $21,000 for families. Most work health care plans would fall into this category and would be taxed at 40%. The cost of these plans would increase. Soon these plans could no longer be offered. Less expensive, inferior plans would be offered instead.

Is the purpose of health care reform to lower the quality of health care? Does Congress seek to eliminate the good, but not spectacular, health care plans that 85% of Americans now have only to replace them with cheaper, inferior plans that could be offered to a slightly larger segment of the population? Can not this country do better than that?

Pledges were made to maintain the quality of health care. Were these empty promises? Your vote will answer this question. When you next run for reelection will your slogan be “I support lousy health care for all”?

Paying for Health Care, Part 2

The question is really quite simple. Is Congress willing to pay for this health care reform, which the majority of Americans oppose, with unfunded state mandates, massive cuts to Medicare, taxes and fees on the middle class, and taxes and fees on businesses both small and large?

Does Congress really want to provide health care to others by cutting health care to seniors? Every year more and more baby boomers are entering the system. Congress says it can provide better care to an increasing number of seniors while cutting costs. This is unrealistic.

Unfunded state mandates must be paid for by additional taxes, fees, and fines on individuals and businesses on the state level; so, essentially everyone will be forced to pay twice to fund this flawed plan.

The middle class is already overtaxed. We can not afford more taxes. Democrats pledged that 95% of Americans would not see their taxes increase by a single dime. Will that pledge be honored?

If taxes, fees, and fines are increased on small and large businesses, they will be forced to cut their work force or increase product or service costs. Probably both will be done. Taxing insurance companies and companies, who produce medical products, will result in higher premiums and higher costs for medical products. Almost all health insurance companies make a profit of less than five percent. This is not excessive. Congress stated that health care reform was needed to reduce costs and make it more available. Why is Congress proposing legislation that will raise costs?

Congress needs to go back to the drawing board and review their priorities. This is not a wise use of taxpayer money.

Paying for Health Care Reform

After all these months no one has found a good way to pay for a large health care reform bill. We can not borrow more for we are drowning in debt. The government’s uncontrolled spending has already trashed the dollar and has increased the strain on the already sagging economy. Few want to loan this country money anyway for we are a bad risk. If we print more money, the dollar will be further devalued. The only remaining way to fund an enormous spending bill is to raise taxes.

Raising taxes during a recession will only deepen and prolong the recession. Yet the latest health care proposal is filled with taxes and fines on individuals and corporations. Corporations will pass their taxes along to consumers in higher prices. Individuals can not pass along their taxes. We can not afford any more taxes. We are hanging on by our finger tips now.

Congress plans on increasing the number of people eligible for Medicaid. States are responsible for almost fifty percent of Medicaid’s cost. The federal government then only has half the cost of new benefits included in its projected costs. Isn’t this a neat bookkeeping trick? Of course, the people are still entirely responsible for all the costs, but it sounds better. These are UNFUNDED state mandates unless you live in Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, or Rhode Island. The federal government will pay their share of the new Medicaid costs. Apparently they are special.

Congress needs to scale back their plans for health care reform. Reform the obvious. Allow us to buy insurance across state lines to increase competition. Follow the Texas example and enact real tort reform. It has lowered costs there and will lower costs elsewhere. Make it illegal to deny health care insurance because of a pre-existing condition. These three items will not affect our budget. Then provide scholarships for primary care doctors and provide premium subsidies for those who truly can not pay for insurance. These last two items will have a cost - but will not cost the trillion dollars that other plans will. Do not punish citizens with higher taxes or push this country over the financial precipice by significantly increasing the national debt.

Where is Common Sense?

I wonder if Congress ever stops and listens to what they are actually proposing. In what world does what they are saying even make sense? I ask you to actually listen to the proposals and ask yourselves in what third world dictatorship could these proposals actually be enacted.

Congress is proposing a mandate to force all citizens to have health care insurance. Congress argues that car owners are required to have insurance on their cars. Car owners are required to carry insurance to cover the damage to other people’s cars. This is not the same as requiring everyone to have health care insurance. An excise tax would be placed on anyone who does not comply. If this tax is not paid that person could be fined up to $25,000 and be sentenced to one year in jail. Aren’t the jails already overcrowded? Now we will need debtor and noncompliance jails. Isn’t this one of the reasons colonists fled England and came to this land? This is a punitive tax for behavior t hat the government does not approve. It is not constitutional. Did not Congress swear to uphold the Constitution?

It is also being proposed that people who smoke or who weigh more than the government deems appropriate would have to pay thirty percent more for health care insurance. This could be raised to fifty percent at a later date. The Food Police strike again. Wasn’t the main purpose of health care reform to make it more affordable? Over fifty percent of Americans are considered overweight; thus these people would pay significantly more. If they don’t or can’t comply, they could be placed in Fat Jails. Here calories could be restricted and exercise programs be made mandatory. This gives a whole new meaning to forced labor camps.

Does not Congress see how intrusive and even ridiculous these bills would be? The Constitution never gave the federal government power to control these aspects of our lives. It is no wonder more citizens are becoming more and more vocal every day. We are Americans. This goes against everything in which we believe.

Don't Hide The Bills

In the last six months more and more Americans are paying attention to what is happening in Washington. Frankly most of them are appalled. The sleeping giant is now awake. A number of recent bills and policies should be challenged in the courts, because their constitutionality is very questionable.

Citizens now want to know what is in proposed legislation. We want to express our opinions to our congressmen and congresswomen. We want them to consider our opinions before voting. How can we do this if the bills are hidden from the public?

We were promised transparency. Where is it? All bills should be posted online at least five days before Congress votes on them. If they are good bills, the public will approve of them. If they are bad bills, they should not pass. Ours is a representative government. All we ask is that you truly represent us. You can only do this if you inform us and then consider our opinions.

This is especially true of the proposed health care bills. This affects one-sixth of our economy and our very lives. Don’t hide the bills from us. Give us time to read and consider the bills and to voice our concerns. Represent us – not special interests or individual parties.

Signed,
The Electorate

A Practical Health Care Solution

I would like to suggest a condensed health care plan.

1. Doctors – not bureaucrats - determine appropriate treatment.

2. Don’t gut Medicare to pay for health reform.

3. No one should be excluded because of a pre-existing condition.

4. Provide full scholarships for primary care doctors.

5. Enact real tort reform – cap “pain and suffering” awards and instigate a “loser pays” policy for medical malpractice suits.

6. Allow citizens to buy health care insurance across state lines.

7. Subsidize premiums for low income families.

8. Drop the public option. It is too expensive for both the country and its citizens.

Please do not try to hide controversial items in lengthy, convoluted bills. Read the bills and make them available to the public at least five days before Congress votes on them. Be open and transparent. Respect the intelligence of your constituents.

Signed,
The Electorate

Article V - VII: Amendments, Debts and Ratification

Article. V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

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Article. VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

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Article. VII.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

The Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.

Attest William Jackson Secretary

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

From the National Archives

Article IV: The States

Article. IV.

Section. 1.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section. 2.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

Section. 3.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section. 4.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

From the National Archives

Article III: The Judiciary of the United States

Article III.

Section. 1.

The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section. 2.

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;-- between a State and Citizens of another State,--between Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section. 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

From the National Archives

Is Health Reform Meant To Save Social Security?

I am beginning to wonder if health care reform is meant to solve the social security problem. Social security is running out of funds. How can less money be spent on social security? Every year more and more people are entering the system. If fewer people received social security, the system could be saved. If medical treatment was restricted to those who received social security, the number of recipients would be reduced.

All the health care proposals being considered cut Medicare by over 500 billion dollars. As more people enter Medicare, how can costs be massively cut and benefits not be affected? Eliminating fraud alone will not accomplish this and why has eliminating fraud not been addressed long ago? The government says it will cut waste. So what does the government consider waste? Is it denying treatment to seniors when that treatment would be approved for those who are younger? Is this waste? Some of the president’s remarks indicate that it would be.

Medicare already has arbitrary restrictions. A bone density test can not be ordered without a diagnosis of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is diagnosed by a bone density scan. It is a Catch 22. This is government bureaucracy at work.

Only half the doctors in this country currently accept Medicare. Next year, their reimbursement will be cut by twenty-one percent. Other cuts are proposed for the not so distant future. Fewer and fewer doctors will accept Medicare. Lines will get longer and in some areas cease to exist.

The current health care proposals are all a bad deal for seniors. The health care proposals are being paid for by cuts that only effect seniors. The plans are build on the backs of seniors. Plans would virtually eliminate Medicare Advantage, which supplies health care to about twenty-five percent of seniors. Many of these are low income seniors. In some sections of the country this is the only plan available. Civilizations are judged by how they treat their very young and very old. It is not about “cost effectiveness”. It’s about valuing human life.

Signed,
The Electorate

Article II: The Constitution and the President

Article. II.

Section. 1.

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section. 2.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section. 3.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

From the National Archives

Health Care Part 2: Congress Still Doesn't Listen

This summer the American people made it abundantly clear that they did not like and did not want the health care reform being proposed by Congress. Polls show that this is still true. Two-thirds of our representatives were unwilling to meet with their constituents. I can at least respect those who were willing to “take the heat”. I have waited to see the response of our representatives. At first they ”hunkered down”, but are now again beginning to try and push this unwanted, so called, reform down our throats.

The House is trying to “repackage” and combine their proposals. The bills don’t need to be repackaged; they need to be fundamentally changed. A bad bill is a bad bill. The House needs to consider what the people want and not just what Congress thinks they need.

The Senate is working on a supposedly bipartisan bill. If the government controls a co-op, it is still a public option. The bill is now being marked up in committee. It is being changed from a true effort of bipartisan legislation into the same kind of legislation that the public has already said that they do not want.

Is Congress unable or unwilling to listen to the American people? We do not want the government to run or control our health care. It doesn’t matter what Congress calls the plan. We do not want and can not afford a large, expensive new program. Congress has already spent all the money this country has and more. In this difficult time, citizens can not afford more taxes and fines are nothing but hidden taxes.

Significant changes can be made to our health care system that will make it more available and more affordable. These changes will not further bankrupt this country and will not cause more governmental intrusion in out lives. Congress needs to drop the public option. Congress needs to eliminate exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Congress needs to allow citizens to buy health care from any insurance company based in this country – across state lines. This would increase competition and lower costs. Congress needs to enact real tort reform. Cap “pain and suffering” awards and instigate a “loser pays” system for medical malpractice suits. This would discourage the practice of defensive medicine and lower malpractice insurance. This would lower health care costs. This has already been proven at the state level. Congress does need to address the fraud and waste in current government health care programs. Congress should not gut Medicare to provide health care to others. Congress can set a basic minimum of health care coverage, but not a maximum. Congress should eliminate comparative cost effectiveness in health care. People are not lab rats. These are just a few things that could be done to reform health care and would not put our country further in debt.

Signed,
The Electorate

We The People and Article I

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section. 2.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section. 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section. 4.

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section. 5.

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section. 6.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section. 7.

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section. 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Section. 10.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

From the National Archives

A Delcaration from 1776

Perhaps you recognize it. Emphasis mine.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

National Archives and Records Administration

Another Proposed Federal Takeover

The Federal Reserve is proposing that they regulate the salaries and bonuses of those working in our financial institutions. They propose regulating the salaries of those in both upper and middle management. Even the salaries of loan officers would be regulated. They propose regulating compensation in banks that took TARP funds and in banks that did not take TARP funds. Where did the Federal Reserve suddenly and magically gain this power to regulate salaries and bonuses?

Should not Congress be protesting this usurpation of power? There was no legislation passed granting this power - Nor would it be constitutional to grant this power. The federal government has no right to control salaries in private companies. This is not Venezuela – yet.

The banks did not make the toxic loans that contributed to the recession because they thought i t was a wise business decision. They made these loans because the federal government required them to make the loans. Bill such as the Community Reinvestment Act (1977) and the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Security + Soundness Act (1992) required banks to make these toxic loans. The roots of the recession are found in Washington.

Missile Defense

When President Obama looked Putin in the eyes, we now know who blinked. It was announced today that we are shelving the missile defense systems that were to be built in Poland and the Czech Republic. Appeasement does not work. It has never worked. Poland and the Czech Republic took a huge political risk when they agreed to missile defense bases in their countries. They were subjected to the threats and ire of Russia. We have hung them out to dry. Can not the United States be depended on to honor its commitments to its allies? We have just given Russia permission to again invade Georgia and to invade the Ukraine.

The Administration states that currently Europe is only at risk for short and medium range missiles and that mobile missile systems will be sufficient. Isn’t this short term thinking? The Administration says that it may reconsider land bases in 2015. It will take time to build these bases and reconsidering them in six years may be too little, too late. Could we not have mobile defense systems and build land bases at the same time? Delaying the establishment of land bases will not improve relations with Russia for they will view it as weakness – weakness they will seek to exploit.

Last spring Congress made major cuts to our own missile defense system. Considering the current world situation this seems extremely foolish. Are we really taking defense seriously? Can not Congress at least do something to reinstate funds for our missile defense system?

Can they not also do something to restore our credibility to the defense of our allies?