The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

It has been more than 80 days since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began. I have watched in horrified amazement as this disaster unfolded. It is obvious that we have no idea how to respond to oil spills at this depth. We did not implement our own worse case scenario plan. We did not instigate a burn. We did not have the skimmers and booms we needed. We turned down the offers of other countries who wanted to help.


What did the federal government do? For over 30 days it did virtually nothing! The government sat there twiddling its thumbs as the black oil crept closer and closer to shore. I did not expect the federal government to plug the spill, but I did expect them to do something – anything – to protect the shores.

The Gulf States begged for help. They received little. In many, many cases the federal government actually prevented the states from helping themselves. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers said that states could not build berms without a study because it might adversely affect the environment. Any sane person knows the oil would do vastly more damage than a berm would.

Please tell me that this very slow and lack-luster response to the spill was not done to advance a political agenda. “If the damage is bad enough, we can pass Cap + Trade.” Of course, the alternative reason – incompetence – is not reassuring either.

It is obvious that this country needs oil – our own oil – to function. We must not depend on foreign oil. Practical alternative fuel is far in the future. We need to seek safer oil. If the government can not protect our shores from deep-water drilling, we need to drill closer to shore where spills can be contained quickly. We need to drill on shore. We need to make use of our large quantities of shale oil. We need more clean coal and natural gas. We can not afford to turn this country into a third world economy by waiting for some unknown or undeveloped alternative fuel. We need fuel now. We have fuel – let us use it.

Signed,
The Electorate

Department of Justice Lawsuit

Today the Department of Justice filed suit against the state of Arizona stating that Arizona’s law was illegal because it was the job of the federal government to secure the borders of this country. No one has ever disagreed with the statement that securing our borders is the responsibility of the federal government. However the federal government is derelict in its duty. The federal government has not secured our borders. It no longer even seems to be trying to secure our borders.

The Constitution was never meant to be a suicide pact. James Madison made it very clear in the Federalist Papers that if the federal government did not or could not secure our borders that states retained the right of self-defense. Does anyone really think that if hostile Indians swarmed a state’s border that the state would wait for the federal government to defend them? The answer is obvious. Drug dealers and human traffickers are now swarming our southern borders. If the federal government will not act, states are permitted to protect themselves.

The federal government should take this opportunity to assure the states that it will secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws. The federal government should not seek to further its political agenda by using the trouble and suffering of the citizens of this country.

Signed,
The Electorate

We Need Secure Borders

It is the responsibility of the federal government to secure and protect our borders. For years violence has been spreading across our southern borders. Why is the federal government not stopping this?

How many more violent crimes must occur before the government is willing to take action? The federal government needs to send the National Guard to our southern border to stop this invasion. The federal government needs to start building the promised fence – again. The PRIMARY job of the federal government is to PROTECT the American people. When will the government do this?

In the Federalist Papers, James Madison states while the federal government is responsible for protecting our borders that if it does not or can not do this that states retain the right of self-defense. States are ALLOWED to defend themselves. That is what Arizona is doing. It would not have been forced to do this if the federal government had been doing its job.

Long debates can be reserved for the future. The borders need to be secured NOW.

Signed,
The Electorate

Border Insecurity

I completely understand the frustrations that the citizens of Arizona feel. Their homes are no longer safe. Crime is running rampant. They are threatened with murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery, and vandalism. Criminals are swarming across the border. Drugs are flooding our borders. Arizonans are under attack. They have begged the federal government to send in troops and secure the border. The government, so far, has refused to do this. Are Arizonans expected to watch it happen and do nothing?

It is the responsibility of the federal government to secure the border. Why aren’t they doing it? Almost three years ago Congress promised they would build a fence to help secure the border. Where is the fence?

When Congress finishes the fence and has secured our borders, I will be willing to consider comprehensive immigration reform. Let Congress first show that they take our security seriously and will keep their promises.

Signed,
The Electorate

OSHA, VPP and the 2011 Federal Budget

While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is well known, much less is said about one of their innovative safety programs. Created in 1982, the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) is a leader in promoting exceptional habits and policies in the workplace. Companies can apply to join this program to demonstrate their beliefs in a safe and efficient workplace. According to OSHA VPP Fact Sheet, the “sites are committed to effective employee protection beyond the requirements of OSHA standards.” This commitment is revealed in the fact that the average VPP workplace has 51% less lost workdays than companies outside the program. The program is open to both companies large and small and is a boon to the American working environment.


At the outset, companies undergo a rigorous initial week long evaluation. They are then re-evaluated every 3 to 5 years. There are two ratings given to companies during their evaluations. The first rating is Merit which OSHA defines as “an effective stepping stone to Star. Merit sites have good safety and health management systems, but these systems need some improvement to be judged excellent. Merit sites demonstrate the potential and the commitment to meet goals tailored to each site and to achieve Star quality within three years. However, each Merit site is limited to one three-year term unless a second term is approved by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Onsite evaluations occur every 18 to 24 months.” The second, and higher, rating is Star. OHSA calls this rating “for exemplary worksites with comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Companies in the Star Program have achieved injury and illness rates at or below the national average of their respective industries. These sites are self-sufficient in their ability to control workplace hazards. Star participants are reevaluated every three to five years, although incident rates are reviewed annually.”


The VPP is ancillary to OSHA enforcement efforts. It supports rather than detracts from them. In OSHA terms, the program “compliments the agency’s enforcement activity without replacing it, allowing the agency to focus its inspection resources on higher-risk establishments.” Part of the VPP effort is outreach to companies that do not have stellar track records. By doing this, companies can assist others in creating safer and more efficient workplaces freeing agency resources.


In addition, VPP has a training program for employees of Star rated companies to assist in the evaluation and training process. During their 3 year term (after intense training), Special Government Employees (SGE) work with OSHA employees in conducting VPP assessments by reviewing documents, conducting onsite reviews, interviewing employees of the company under review and helping prepare final written reports. There are over 1,600 SGEs and their efforts with VPP are funded by their own companies. As OSHA says in their SGE pamphlet, the SGE program “encompasses the spirit of VPP – industry, labor, and government cooperation,” and it “embodies the idea of continuous improvement.”


The time and support these companies (and many more) have put into providing a safe workplace seems to be going unnoticed by OSHA, the Department of Labor and in the budgets of the current administration. In the FY2010 budget, while there were funds available OSHA did not use them for cooperative programs. Cuts were made to the number of initial audits performed for the year, and an increase in the wait time for recertification was pushed through. For FY2011, Secretary Hilda Solis has stated that OSHA will focus more on enforcement than improvement and thus shift 35 workers from supporting VPP to enforcing regulations. While there is always a need for enforcement of regulations, programs to bolster improvements in workplaces are essential in reducing the number of workplace accidents promoting the health and safety of the American worker. Secretary Solis also made an incorrect statements in the budget proposal when she said, “The VPP program in the past has been successful in promoting best practices and corporate safety and health programs, primarily in high performing large businesses. Rather than devote resources to mostly large companies that voluntarily meet and exceed OSHA’s requirements, OSHA is looking to sharpen its focus on businesses that continue to violate the law and put workers’ lives at risk, as well as on protecting hard-to-reach populations.” While large companies are involved in VPP, small companies hold a strong footing.


An example of a small company with excellent standing in VPP is Scott’s Liquid Gold. It is a company that has been in business for 56 years as an American standard in manufacturing and distribution. Their quality American made products range from wood cleaners to diabetic lotions to cosmetics. They have long been a member of the Voluntary Protection Program yet they are not a large company. Scott’s Liquid Gold has only 68 employees. Their Regulatory/Safety Manager, Kelli Heflin, is a member of the Special Government Employee program and participates in evaluations of other companies all while making sure her own is a safe and healthy place to work.

Please read through and see all that these programs provide employees and employers alike. Help them maintain the staffing levels and improve their budgets. Programs such as these are a necessity in creating and maintaining safe, healthy and happy workplaces.


We need to stand up for the Voluntary Protection Program and the member companies and those who aspire to join. We need to stand up for the Special Government Employee program and the workers who take on the additional job of helping others. We need to stand up for the American attitude of constantly striving for a state of excellence.

Signed,
The Daughter of the Electorate


OSHA Voluntary Protection Program flyer can be found at: http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/factsheet-vpp.pdf


OSHA SGE flyer can be found at: http://www.osha.gov/Publications/sge/OSHA_3222_sge.pdf

Reject This Bad Bill

When legislators run for election, they tell their constituents where they stand on issues. When they get to Washington they ignore their pledges and the opinions of their constituents. They arrogantly believe in their superior wisdom, thinking they know what is best for the poor ignorant public. What opiate is in the waters of the Potomac? This is not representation. We hired you to represent us – not to dictate to us or to control us.

Time and time again we have told you that the health care bill is terrible. We do not want it. We want to make our own health care decisions. We do not want the federal government to run, control, or regulate the details of our health care insurance. If government controls the health care of the citizens of this country, it controls the citizens. The government does not have this right.

The government says it can regulate health care under the commerce clause. We can not even buy health care insurance across state lines. How is this interstate commerce? The federal government has limited powers granted to it in the Constitution. Health care existed in1787. If the founding fathers had wanted the federal government to control or regulate health care, they would have granted this power to the federal government. They did not do this.

Health care is not a right. Franklin Roosevelt wanted to include health care in a second bill of rights. No such amendment was ever made to the Constitution. Are we a nation of laws or do you believe that the government can do anything it wishes?

We are responsible for our own health care. The federal government can insist that rules be applied equally to all. No one should be excluded because of a preexisting condition since this could be deemed discrimination. The federal government does not have the right to dictate what type of insurance we have and how and when it can be applied. We have the right to choose what plan best suits us. We also have the right to reject insurance, if we feel this is in our best interest. The government does not have the right to force us to buy something we do not want.

In this last year the federal government has sought to expand its control over our lives. Americans believe in their individual freedoms. That is why we have protested so vehemently against this expansion of power. We will continue to do so.

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

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.

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.