LDS Church reasserts it's Political Neutrality while incuraging activism.

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently issued a letter . . . encouraged Latter-day Saints to attend their local precinct caucus meetings.

In doing so the Church has also reasserted it's stance on being politically neutral:

"The Church does not:

• Endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.
• Allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes.
• Attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to. This policy applies whether or not a candidate for office is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader.

The Church does:

• Encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.
• Expect its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.
• Request candidates for office not to imply that their candidacy or platforms are endorsed by the Church.
• Reserve the right as an institution to address, in a nonpartisan way, issues that it believes have significant community or moral consequences or that directly affect the interests of the Church."

On a somewhat related topic the LDS Church is also encouraging it's U.S. Members to "participate in the 2010 United States Census", sighting that "The Church also uses census data for planning purposes."

Seth Hollist for Public Office.

Check out Seth's Latest News and Opinion editorials as the Collin County Independent Examiner.

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Some day I hope to to run for office as a Moderately Conservative candidate that's more interested in doing what's right for his constituents, rather then selling out to special interest groups, behind closed doors dealings and a power hungry freedom grabs. Instead I find myself with a deep desire to defend the U.S. Constitution as it was originally intended, instead of trying to re-interpret based on what happens to be trendy for the day. I also don't find myself being particularly strong towards one party or another as they all seem to think they same type of government is good at all levels, as apposed to me, who believes that government has different rolls at different levels: for example, a Federal/National/World Government is there to set standards that insure the States work together as a single unified nation while protecting the nation as a whole from destructive outside influences; beyond this any Federal government should be very limited as to it's influences upon the States. The States should be more moderate in providing social services to it's people, and enabling the local and county governments to organize community efforts to look after each other.

This is in contrast to the Republicans who tend to like big government (even under Ronald Regan the size of the federal government grew in some ways) so long as it benefits free enterprise and their own "conservative" views of socially acceptable behaviors and morality. While I certainly think that a moral nation will be more prosperous with less social unrest, I believe more strongly in one's ability to chose for one's self, and do not believe any amount of government controls or laws can ultimately keep a society moral but should rather be focused on protecting life liberty and the pursuit of happiness (but providing no guarantees to any).

My ideas also contrast the Democrats in that I do not believe it's the Federal governments roll to protect the individual, nor provide anything for them. Rather I believe these should provided on a limited basis by the States, and to a greater degree by local governments and communities. After all, it's not truly charity if you are forced into it, and I believe we would all be more generous, giving, and moral as a society if we had a bigger stake in taking care of our fellow neighbors, rather then paying someone else to do it for us.

If I could, I would be a member of the Constitution Party (they certainly think I am), on a national level if they didn't seem so self righteous about certain aspects of their party platform. However, on a State and local level, I would probably differ from them to some degree.

Libertarians have some good ideas, but they often take them too far and ignore the importance of some of the things that Federal government does to provide standards and order to the nation as a whole. They also ignore the importance of the Federal government being at least moderately involved in international affairs as part of it's efforts to promote world peace and protect the nation from destructive out-side forces.

The Green party is focused on things that I believe have been overly exaggerated. While I agree that having clean air and a clean environment improves quality of life for everyone, it has to be balanced with reality and a sense that Man is also a part of nature as the dominate creature on this earth. I believe we are meant to take care of this earth, and use it to our benefit while maintaining those uses and it's resources for the future.

Other parties just don't have enough of a presence in the political spectrum to have gotten my attention.

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Check out some of my other posts on this blog:

The Clean Slate Amendment

Bad Gun Laws

Affirmative Action Abolished

Separation Church and State

The Importance of Self Governance

The Problem with Politics

Who's Rich Enough to Be Taxed

Bailouts R us vs. Inflation

My commentary on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration

Seth.Hollist.org Moves to Spaldam's Rants

- Posted by Seth Hollist

The Clean Slate Amendment

Pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, stating:

". . . on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments . . . by Conventions in three fourths thereof . . . of Ratification may be proposed . . . and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."

I call upon the Legislative bodies of the many States to demand a constitutional convention for the sole purpose of nullifying the following constitutional Amendments:

AMENDMENT XVII which states:

"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the Legislature of any State may empower the Executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution."

AMENDMENT XXII SECTION 1. which states:

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

And replace them with the following:

• Allow the members the Senate to be appointed by their respective State Legislatures, or elected at large by the citizens of the respective state, as to be determined threw passage of law by the respective state legislators.
• Disallowing the funds from any state, or citizen of one state, or entity of any state from funding or interfering with an election of any other state. Also preventing any Party, Faction, or Organization of any kind from one state from effecting the elections of another state threw funding, advertising, campaigning, or any other means to help insure those elected are elected solely by the efforts and funding of those they represent. It will be left up to the individual States to determine if such actions are also needed within their respective districts.
  
• Increasing the number of Representatives in the House of Representatives for the United States congress to at least double it's current number, of not more, so that the people they represent will have increased access to and familiarity with their representatives.
• Allow members of a Start Party to also be members of an unassociated National Party of their choosing without recourse or disadvantage.
  

Also, due to these constitutional changes, we must assume any and all laws passed in the last hundred years have not been done under a Congress with appropriate authority to represent the people of the United States that the Constitution clearly states are the true stewards of the government. Thus any Federal laws in affect or passed by congress, including bureaucratically created regulations and executive orders, before the passage of this amendment must be nullified four years following the ratification of this amendment, as would be demanded within the amendment (however, the enforcement of said laws shall not be affected for crimes committed while they were in affect). Also, said amendment must require that any new laws passed from that point forward must follow these guidelines:

• Each Bill must reference the specific clause(s) of the United States Constitution that grants the power of the Federal government to enact it into law.
• Each bill, and every amendment, must be read in its entirety before a quorum in both the House and Senate.
• Every member of the House and Senate who votes in the affirmative for any bill will committed perjury if he or she has not attentively either personally read, or heard read, the complete bill to be voted on.
• Every bill to be voted on must be published for public display at least 7 days before a vote, and Congress must give public notice of the date when a vote will be held on that bill. Exceptions must approved by both the Senate and House by a three fourths vote, and only in cases deemed a matter of national security.
• No Bill or Joint Resolution shall embrace more than one subject at a time, and that shall be clearly and descriptively expressed in the Title.
• A Bill amending or revising a statute shall identify the statute to be amended by its Title or Number of Public Law, or Chapter or Section of the United States Code, and shall set forth completely each section or subsection as it would read if the amendment or revision to that section or subsection were adopted, noting clearly the proposed insertions or deletions to the existing statutory text.
• If an Act appropriating funds contains a provision outside of the jurisdiction of the relevant subcommittee of the House and Senate Appropriations committee, and therefore outside the subject of the bill, then such provision shall be void.
• All executive orders given by the President shall only be applicable to matters of national security, the armed forces, and the cabinet members of the President.
• Regulations produced by a regulatory body shall have no basis for criminal action if such regulations are not followed, unless they have been voted on an approved by the members of congress to make them official law.
  
• Passage of a bill, regulation, or executive order, that does not abide by these provisions will render the measure null and void, and establish grounds for the law to be challenged in court. Any person aggrieved by the enforcement of, or attempt or threat of enforcement of, an Act passed without having complied, or any member of Congress aggrieved by the failure of the house of which he is a member to comply with these requirements, shall, regardless of the amount in controversy, have a cause of action against the United States to seek appropriate relief, including an injunction against the enforcement of any law, the passage of which did not conform.

To insure judges are also held accountable to the people, congress shall have the authority to impeach Federal judges by the same manner and requirements for which they would impeach the president; on the basis as set forth in the constitution of "Good Behavior".

Shall we partake of the "ism"'s?

A video from 1948, that at time time seemed far fetched, but today it seems to be happening:

Climate Change Finally in Reach of its True Goal

SUMMARY OF THE BANGKOK CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS

According to the National Committee Against the U.N. Takeover & Citizens United for American Sovereignty & Freedom Alliance:

In the One-World Government the following will occur:

1. Our military will be under the UN control. Our military will be brought before UN judges and court system.
ICC...International Criminal Court. ICC consists of U.S. hating judges who meet in European courtrooms.
2. UN will tax our pension, travel, use of oil & electricity, phone calls overseas, and imported consumer goods or other words a World IRS
3. UN will control the ocean's resources. Through the Law of the Sea Treaty, UN will start taxing Americans for oil drilling and mineral extraction and even start telling the U.S Navy where it can & can't go.
4. UN will abolish the death penalty in America
5. UN will open up America's borders to illegal aliens & potential terrorists.
6. UN wants the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay freed and allowed to live in the USA.
7. The Global New Deal....as the UN international welfare program. It is modeled after the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt. The Global New Deal would provide the equivalent of food stamps & welfare checks to every Third World country. It would also establish a socialist health care plan for every person on the face of the earth.
8. An Environmental Regulation Agency....UN will "negotiate" a Climate Change Treaty in Copenhagen. China, India, Brazil and Pakistan will be exempted from the treaty, American industry will be at a huge disadvantage and will cost American workers their jobs.

I've also received information from a trusted source that:

On 12/6/08 CGS Obama transition team Meetings:

Eric Schwarts is in charge of the US/UN transition team & also handles multilateral issues for the National Security Policy team.

1st meeting was with a delegation from the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping (PEP) and the next was with members of the Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court (WICC is a coordination group of the Washington base organizations committed to ICC) Citizens for Global Solutions play a lead role in both of these coalitions.

Our objective was to give the incoming administration pragmatic objectives that could be accomplished during a 4 yr. term on our issues.

For the PEP briefing 7 priorities were discussed:
1. Pay down nearly $1.6 billion in U.S. arrears to the UN & request Congress permanently lift the cap on U.S. dues to U.N. peacekeeping

2. Balance the inequity between UN Security Council mandates & the resources provided to support those mandates

3. Work with DPKO. Increase US peacekeeping participation & leadership by putting more blue helmets on US troops.

4. Include conflict prevention & civilian protection as fundamental pillars of the U.S. foreign policy

5. Voluntarily restrict the use of the U.S veto in the Security Council in situations involving genocide, major war crimes & major crimes against humanity.

6. Support the expansion of the UN Dept. of Political Affairs to enable it to more effectively respond to emerging crises.

7 Stand up the Civilian Response Corps with dedicated staffing & request funding for a Conflict Response Fund

For the WICC meeting we shared 3 priorities:

1. Reinstating the US signature to the ICC treaty (which was unsigned by Pres. Bush & John Bolton)

2. Constructive U.S. participation in the ICC's governing body, the Assembly of State Parties in preparation for the ICC's 2010 Review Conference.

3. Expanding, deeping & further formalizing the official channel of US cooperation with the Court so that we can help bring to justice the those responsible for atrocities in Darfur, the Congo, Uganda & other cases the ICC is involved in.

Enumerated Powers

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DC Downsizer Michael Mitchell of Alaska compiled this list from Article I of the U.S. Constitution. These are all the powers that the Congress has.

1. Borrow money
2. Regulate commerce among the states
3. Regulate naturalization
4. Regulate bankruptcies
5. Coin money
6. Fix weights and standards
7. Punish counterfeiters
8. Establish post offices
9. Establish post roads
10. Record patents
11. Protect copyrights
12. Create federal courts
13. Punish pirates
14. Declare war
15. Raise an army
16. Provide a navy
17. Call up the militia
18. Organize the militia
19. Makes laws for Washington, DC
20. Make rules for the Army and Navy

And that's it! Mitchell continues, "According to the 10th Amendment, all else is controlled by the states or the people."

Go to DownsizeDC.org's Enumerated Powers Act campaign.

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According to Judge Andrew Napolitano that number is only 17 (I wonder what three he missed or combined). According to Mr. Napolitano:

"Congresses used that power to control the conditions for production and sale of goods that eventually made their way into interstate commerce. And modern Congresses have used that power to regulate any human behavior they wish, so long as the behavior, when combined with other similar behavior, might conceivably affect the movement of goods or persons in interstate commerce. Thus, today, the water you drink, the air you breathe, the size of the toilet bowl in your bathroom, the number of legs on your desk chair, the strength of the water pressure in your shower in your home, the amount of wheat you can grow in your yard, the amount of sugar manufacturers can put into ketchup, the words you can utter in public or private, are all regulated by the Congress, claiming power under the Commerce Clause."

He also points out that: it would take the "state legislatures of 34 states to enact a resolution by a simple majority vote of each house of the states’ legislatures [to instruct] Congress to convene a constitutional convention. . ."

But as Glen Beck points out, "when the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia for their constitutional convention their orders were to do nothing more than “amend the Articles of Confederation.” By day three they had unofficially agreed to abolish the Articles and create a new form of government". I think Glen has a point here. Without elected officials that truly believe in doing what's right for the people, instead of making themselves more powerful, a constitutional convention would likely lead to the end of our government as we know (or even knew) it. What we truly need are good people to stand up for what's right in the face of almost certain death; something the founding fathers themselves actually did.

ObamaCare

I know that this is lengthy, but this is just a small sampling of what is going on in Washington to reform health care and what people are saying about it. I would urge you to educate yourself and then take action and call your senators and congressmen.

While the First section from "BreakDownOfAmerica.com" does seem a bit far fetched, I do believe some of what they say is based in truth even though it may be exaggerated to some degree or another. On the other Hand, most of "MoveOn.org"'s references they used to prove their point are pointing back to their own web-site or that of the White house they seem to love so much. Are you really going to trust someone who tries to prove something to you by referencing their own biased work? I guess you'll have to decide that for yourself.

What I do believe, is that the U.S. Constitution give absolutely no authority to the Federal government to provide any kind of Health Care and/or Health Insurance to the American people. Thus if we truly want to do this, and do it the right way, we need to be talking about a short few paragraph long Constitutional Amendment, not a 1000+ page long law that full of so much legal jargon and "pork" that nobody seems to know for sure what all is in it. The big question I would ask, is who will truly benefit from this bill? If it's anyone other then the American people (the vast majority of whom already have Health Insurance, or could afford it if they made it a priority, and ALL of whom already by law have Health Care available to them - it's really just a question of who's paying the bill).

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John Stossel seems to have a fairly reasonable take on the whole mess...

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Horrors in the ObamaCare Bill - from breakdownofamerica.com an obvious opponent of ObamaCare:

Since the "journalists" haven't read the 1,000 plus page long ObamaCare bill and all they want you to believe is that Obama is going to give everyone free cotton candy and ponies, then, due to their media malpractice, you may not know about the following atrocities in the Bill:

“Pg 22 of the Health Care Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self-insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123- THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.

Pg 29 lines 4-16 - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!

Pg 42 - The “Health Choices Commissioner” will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152- HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.

Pg 53- Severability (KEY GEM)

“If any provision of the Act, or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this Act and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.”

Pg 58 - Govt will have real-time access to individual’s finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!

Pg 59 lines 21-24- Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for electronic funds transfer

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community organizations (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 - Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange

PG 85 Line 7 - Specs for Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7- Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. Example: Translation for illegal aliens

Pg 95 Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals. for Govt HC plan.

PG 85 Line 7 - Specs of Benefit Levels For Plans. #AARP members- Your Health care WILL be rationed

PG 102 Lines 12-18- Medicaid-Eligible Individual will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.

pg 124 lines 24-25 No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt Monopoly.

pg 127 Lines 1-16- RE: Doctors- The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer w/ payroll $400k & above who doesn’t provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.

PG 150 Lines 9-13- Biz w payroll between 251k & 400k who doesn’t provide pub. opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 Any NONRESIDENT Alien is EXEMPT from individual taxes. (Americans will pay)

Pg 195 -Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans financial/personal records

PG 203 Line 14-15- “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it actualy says that.

Pg 239 Line 14-24-Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor will be affected. Expendable.

Pg 241 Line 6-8- Doctors, doesn’t matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same.

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr’s time, professional judgment, etc. Literally sets the value of humans.

PG 265 Sec 1131-Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries

PG 268 Sec 1141- Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

PG 272 SEC. 1145- TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151- The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems “preventable re-admissions.”

Pg 298 Lines 9-11- Doctors, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission? Govt will penalize you.

Pg 317 L 13-20- OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Drs. what/how much they can own..

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand.

pg 321 2-13: Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!

Pg335 Lines 16-25, Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates establishment of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing.

Pg 341 Lines 3-9: Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing people into Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people! WTF. My sister has downs syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191- Govt creates more bureaucracy - “Telehealth Advisory Committee.” Can you say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates “Advanced Care Planning Consultations.”

PG 425 the Federal Government will require EVERYONE who is on Social Security to undergo a counseling session every 5 years with the objective being that they will explain to them just how to end their own life earlier.

Pg 425 Lines 17-19: Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: Govt provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death.

PG 427 Lines 15-24: Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Govt has a say in how your life ends.

Pg 429 Lines 1-9: An “advanced care planning consult” will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates

PG 429 Lines 10-12: “advanced care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from the Government.

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15- The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.

Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services = Non profit organizations. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17: PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment to a community-based org. Like ACORN?

PG 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage.

Pg 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those services.”

PG 502 Section 1181 Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research Established. - Hello Big Brother - Literally.

PG 502 Line 5-18 Government builds the “Center” to conduct, support, & synthesize research to define our HealthCare Services.

PG 503 Line 13-19 Government will build registries and data networks from YOUR electronic medical records.

PG 503 Line 21-25 Government may secure data directly from any department or agency of the US including your data.

PG 504 Line 6-10 The “Center” will collect data both published & unpublished (that means public & your private info)

PG 506 Line 19-21 The Center will recommend policies that would allow for public access of data

PG 518 Line 21-25 The Commission will have input from HealthCare consumer reps - Can you say unions & ACORN?

PG 524 18-22 Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund set up. More taxes for ALL.

PG 525-620 deals with the Government basically taking over nursing homes,

PGs 525-620 deals with the Govt basically taking over nursing homes,long-term care facilities (think assisted living) through regulations of the facilities, the owners of sd facilities, the employees of sd facilities and even the land owners of that sd facilities reside on. Additionally as you read these 90+ pages you can come to the conclusion that any Health related svcs will be determined and rationed by the Govt for our senior citizens and others in nursing homes. This one post should do enough to raise awareness of the control the Govt is exerting over the older population of American citizens.

PG 620 Line 1-9 The Government will define, prioritize, and nationalize your Health Care Services.

PG 621 Lines 20-25 Government will define what Quality means in HealthCare. Since when does Government know about quality?

PG 622 Lines 2-9 To pay for the quality Standards Government will transfer $ from to other Government Trust Funds. More Taxes.

PG 624 “Quality” measures shall be designed to assess outcomes & functional status of patients.

G 628 Section 1443 Government will give “Multi-Stake Holders” Pre-Rule Making input into Selection of “Quality” Measures..

PG 630 9-24/631 1-9 Those Multi-stake holder groups including Unions & groups like ACORN deciding HealthCare quality.

PG 632 Lines 14-25 The Government may implement any “Quality measure” of HealthCare Services as they see fit.

PG 633 14-25/ 634 1-9 The Secretary may issue non-endorsed “Quality Measures” for Physician Services & Dialysis Services.

PG 635 - 653 Physicians Payments Sunshine Provision - Government wants to shine sunlight on Docs but not Government.

PG 654-659 Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections - Looks okay.

PG 660-671 Doctors in Residency - Government will tell you where your residency will be, thus where you’ll live.

PG 676-686 Government will regulate hospitals in EVERY aspect of residency programs, including teaching hospitals.

PG 686-700 Increased Funding to Fight Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. You mean the Government with an $18 mil website?

PGs 701-704 Section 1619 If your part of HealthCare plan that isn’t in Government HealthCare Exchange but you qualify for Federal aid, no payment.

705-709 SEC. 1128 If Secretary gets complaints (ACORN) on HealthCare provider or supplier, Government can do background check.

G 711 Lines 8-14 The Secretary has broad powers to deny HealthCare providers/suppliers admittance into HealthCare Exchange.

Pg 719-720 Section 1637 ANY Doctor who orders durable medical equipment or home medical services MUST be enrolled in Medicare.

PG 722 Section 1639 Government Mandates Doctors must have face-to-face with patient to certify patient for Home Health Services.

PG 724 Lines 16-22 Government reserves right to apply face-to-face certification for patient to ANY other HealthCare service.

PG 724 23-25 PG 725 1-5 The same Government certifications will apply to medicaid & CHIP (your kids) Pg 735 lines 16-25 For law enforcement purposes, the Secretary of Health & Human Services will give Attorney General access to ALL data.

PG 740-757 Government sets guidelines for subsidizing the uninsured (That’s your tax dollars peeps) Pg 757-762 Fed Government will shift burden of payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) to States. (Taxes)

Page 763 1-8 No DS/EA hospitals will be paid unless they provide services without regard to national origin Pg 765 Section 1711 Government will require Preventative Services including vaccines. (Choice?)

Pg 768 Section 1713 Government - Nurse Home Visitation Services (Hello union paybacks)

Pg 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government Abortions anyone?

Pg 769 11-14 Nurse Home Visit Services include-economic self-sufficiency, employment advancement, school-readiness.

Pg 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government ABORTIONS anyone?

Pg 770 SEC 1714 Federal Government mandates eligibility for State Family Planning Services. Say abortion & State Sovereign.

Pg 789-797 Government will set & mandate drug prices, controlling which drugs will brought to market. Bye innovation

Pgs 797-800 SEC. 1744 PAYMENTS for grad medical education.. The government will now control Drs education. PG 801 Sec 1751 The Government will decide which Health care conditions will be paid. Say RATION!

Pg 810 SEC. 1759. Billing Agents, clearinghouses, etc. required to register. Government takes over private payment system.

Page 820-824 Sec 1801 Government will identify individuals ineligible for subsidies. Will access all personal finances.

Pg 824-829 SEC. 1802. Government Sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another tax black hole.

PG 829-833 Government will impose a fee on ALL private health insurance plans including self insured to pay for Trust Fund!

PG 835 11-13 fees imposed by Government for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.


838-840 Government will design & implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids & families expecting kids.

PG 844-845 This Home Visitation Program includes Government coming into your house & telling you how to parent!!!

Pg 859 Government will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000. Yes thats Billion.

PG 865 to 876 The NHS Corps is a program where Drs. perform mandatory HealthCare for 2 years for part loan repayment.

PG 876-892 The Government takes over the education of our Medical students and Drs.

PG 898 The Government will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps. to ensure supply of public health professionals.

PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of officers of Regular & Reserve Corps of Service.

898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of civilian employees of the U.S. as Secretary deems.

PG 900 The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians.

901 The Public Health Workforce Corps WILL include commissioned Regular & Reserve Officers. HealthCare Draft?

PG 910 The Government will develop, build & run Public Health Training Centers.

PG 913-914 Government starts a HealthCare affirmative action program thru guise of diversity scholarships.

PG 915 SEC. 2251. Government MANDATES Cultural & linguistic competency training for HealthCare professionals.

Pg 932 The Government will establish Preventative & Wellness Trust fund - intial cost of $30,800,000,000-Billion.

PG 935 21-22 Government will identify specific goals & objectives for prevention & wellness activities. Control You!!

PG 936 Government will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Performance Standards” Tell me what to eat?

PG 942 Lines 22-25 More Government? Offices of Surgeon General -Public Health Services, Minority Health, Women’s Health - THIS MEANS TAX DOLLARS USED TO PAY FOR ALL ABORTIONS.

PG 950- 980 BIG Government core public health infrastructure includes workforce capacity, lab systems; health information systems, etc

PG 993 Government will establish school based health clinics. Your kids wont have a chance.

PG 994 School Based Health Clinic will be integrated into the school environment. Say Government Brainwash!

PG 1001 The Government will establish a National Medical Device Registry. Will you be tracked?

PG 1003 9-11 National Medical Dev Reg ‘‘(iii) other postmarket device surveillance activities” you WILL be tracked.

PG 1018 States give up some of their State Sovereignty.

PEOPLE, THIS IS IT. YOU CAN NO LONGER IGNORE THIS BLATANT TAKEOVER OF OUR COUNTRY.

This is not about health-care, it is about the POWER OF THE STATE. I beg you if you’ve never read Animal Farm, 1984 and Atlas Shrugged please, please, do..

IT IS TIME TO TAKE TO THE STREETS.

God help us all.

Continue reading to learn about the racial preferences mandated by the bill.

The Democrats’ health care bill creates a very significant financial incentive for medical schools and other entities to lower admission standards for “individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups” if that is what it takes to have the winning “demonstrated record”.

On page 879-880, the bill states that the Secretary of Health and Human Services:

“shall make grants to, or enter into contracts with, eligible entities . . . to operate a professional training program in the field of family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, or geriatrics, to provide financial assistance and traineeships and fellowships to those students, interns, residents or physicians who plan to work in or teach in the field of family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, or geriatrics.”

On page 881-882 the bill states:

“In awarding grants or contracts under this section, the Secretary shall give preference to entities that have a demonstrated record of the following: . . . Training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds.”

On page 883 the bill states:
“The Secretary shall make grants to, or enter into contracts with, eligible entities . . . to operate or participate in an established primary care residency training program, which may include-(A) planning and developing curricula; (B) recruitment and training of residents; and (C) retention of faculty.”

On page 884-885 the bill states:

“In awarding grants and contracts . . . the Secretary shall give preference to entities that have a demonstrated record of training . . . individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds . . . .”

On page 887-889 the bill states that the

“Secretary shall make grants to, or enter into contracts with, eligible entities . . . to operate a professional training program for oral health professionals, to provide financial assistance and traineeships and fellowships to those professionals who plan to work in or teach general, pediatric, or public health dentistry, or dental hygiene, to establish, maintain, or improve academic administrative units (including departments, divisions, or other appropriate units) in the specialties of general, pediatric, or public health dentistry, to operate a loan repayment program for full-time faculty in a program of general, pediatric, or public health dentistry.”

On page 889-890 the bill states:

“In awarding grants or contracts under this section, the Secretary shall give preference to entities that have a demonstrated record of the following: . . . Training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds.”

On page 908-909 the bill states: “The Secretary shall award grants and contracts to eligible entities” to do the same things for the field of public health as the Secretary can do for dentistry.

On page 909 the bill states:

“In awarding grants or contracts under this section, the Secretary shall give preference to entities that have a demonstrated record of the following: . . . Training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds.”

---

Listen to this interview between former Senator Thompson and Betsy McCaughey (former LT Governor of New York and now Chairmen of the Committee on Infectious Deaths)

The Chairmen states that she has read the Medical bill that is going through congress
and that it will require EVERYONE to go on an HMO plan and that there are several
plans to save money by going after the Elderly - which is the most costly part of our society.

To include mandatory counseling of seniors on medicare every five years
on how to END THEIR LIVES

http://action.afa.net/webcast/fredthompson_072509.m3u

More shocking details.

http://defendyourhealthcare.us/

---

From an e-mail forwarded to me, orignally from MoveOn.org, an obvious supporter of "ObamaCare":

The health care fight has turned ugly, fast. Right-wing mobs are crashing congressional town halls,1 lies are spreading via anonymous email chains,2 and Sarah Palin bizarrely said that President Obama was going to set up a "death panel," whatever that is.3

Many of these claims are just incredible—but if we don't fight back with the truth, the right will continue to poison the health care debate. So as part of our Real Voices for Change campaign this August, we're working to set the record straight.

. . .

Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!

The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill."4 What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.5

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!

The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.6 Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.7

If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.8 But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!

The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.9 And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!

The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.10 Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.11

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!

The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.

Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.12 The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade13—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.14 Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.15

We're closer to real health care reform than we've ever been—and the next few weeks will decide whether it happens. We need to make sure the truth about health care reform is spread far and wide to combat right wing lies.

. . .

Sources:

1. "More 'Town Halls Gone Wild': Angry Far Right Protesters Disrupt Events With 'Incomprehensible' Yelling," Think Progress, August 4, 2009.

2. "Fight the smears," Health Care for America NOW, accessed August 10, 2009.

3. "Palin Paints Picture of 'Obama Death Panel' Giving Thumbs Down to Trig," ABC News, August 7, 2009.

4. "No 'death panel' in health care bill," The Associated Press, August 10, 2009.

5. "Stop Distorting the Truth about End of Life Care," The Huffington Post, July 24, 2009.

6. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 11, 2009.

7. "Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan," The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.

8. "Obama: 'If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor,'" The Wall Street Journal, 15, 2009.

9. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

10. "Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in health care reform," CNN, July 28, 2009.

11. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

12. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

13. "Premiums Run Amok," Center for American Progress, July 24, 2009.

14. "Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies," CNN, June 5, 2009.

15. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

Sources for the Five Lies:

#1: "A euthanasia mandate," The Washington Times, July 29, 2009.

#2: "It's Not An Option," Investor's Business Daily, July 15, 2009.

#3: "Rationing Health Care," The Washington Times, April 21, 2009.

#4: "60 Plus Ad Is Chock Full Of Misinformation," Media Matters for America, August 8, 2009.

#5: "Obama's 'Public' Health Plan Will Bankrupt the Nation," The National Review, May 13, 2009.

---

Glen Beck even got his people into researching the rumors and behind "ObamaCare".

Wall Street Journal: Obama Touts Single-Payer System for Health Care

Family Research Counsel: President Obama's 'Wild Misrepresentations'

This is A Time For Courage

At the TEA PARTY, a black man, Dr. Donald May, delivered this message from the courthouse steps in Lubbock . He electrified the audience like I haven't seen in a long time. His delivery was masterful. I am sorry you could not see him in action. Anyway, I thought you might enjoy his words. The news media was there, but not one word of this man's appearance ever appeared on TV or in print, even though he completely dominated the scene.

This is A Time For Courage
by Dr. Donald May
Delivered at the Lubbock , Texas , TEA Party
April 15, 2009 - 11:49 pm

Ladies and gentlemen, This is a Time For Courage.

We are gathered here today on the Plains of West Texas in common purpose. We are here to remind our government that this is our country. We the People are still in charge, and our government is still our servant and not our master.

Our Nation's founding document is The Declaration of Independence .. It tells us that our rights come from God and not from a small group of Elite men and women.

Our Constitution starts with the words "We the People." Our Constitution was written for ordinary Americans like you and me. Our Constitution protects us from our government and from the politicians.

Our President has complained that our Constitution gives ordinary people too much protection. He has ridiculed us for the high value we place on our Bibles, our guns, our personal property, and our Liberty .. He tells us we do not deserve to keep the money we have earned.

We are told freedom has not worked. Personal responsibility, free enterprise, and Liberty have not been effective. Our government will now make more of our decisions for us.

Other than our military, I can think of not one government agency I have ever found to be helpful.

And speaking of our military, how about those Navy Seals blowing the heads off those three terrorist pirates? Don't you just wish our entire government would function with such efficiency, professionalism, and courage?

We watch in disbelief as our beloved United States is weakened economically, militarily, and morally by a Radical President and his eager accomplices.

What has taken generations to build is systematically destroyed and replaced with the same Socialist Evil that brought poverty, destruction, and despair to untold hundreds of millions.

The problems we face today have occurred because we have not defended our Nation from Socialism. For too long we have allowed the wrong people to make the worst possible decisions.

The Bible warns us of class hatred. The Radical leadership of our government daily fans the evil flames of class envy.

Our European and Canadian friends beg us to not make the same Socialist mistakes they did.

The President of the European Union warned our President that his Socialist economic plans are taking the World down the "road to Hell."

The path to power for Socialists includes taking God and guns from the citizens. Without spiritual and physical protection, people cannot defend themselves and their Liberty . They soon become slaves.

We are angered that our President apologizes for the exceptionalism and heroism of the United States of America . We are deeply troubled that he told others the United States is not a Christian nation.

We are angered that we have been called cowards and racists because we oppose Socialism. Socialism is not racial. Socialism is an equal opportunity destroyer.

We are angered that a recent Department of Homeland Security report has singled out our military men and women who are returning home as being radical threats.

The report also characterizes you and me as right-wing extremists and radicals because we favor smaller government and lower taxes.

You and I are average citizens who believe just like most of our fellow Americans. We want our government to leave us alone and to keep its hands off our money, our religion, or guns, our private property, and our lives.

We demand that our government stop spending money it does not have.

Stop confiscating our money and private property.

Stop printing money.

Stop subsidizing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the other failed financial institutions and companies.

Mr. President, stop appointing tax cheats to positions of power and influence.

Mr. President, secure our borders.

Mr. President, do not divert money from our missile defense, F-22 Raptors, and other vital military equipment. This gives encouragement, aid, and comfort to our enemies. Protecting us is your number one job.

Mr. President, do not give voting rights to millions of illegal aliens and felons. You have no more right to create new voters for your benefit than you do to use our money to buy the 2010 and 2012 Elections.

We gather peacefully here today because there is a growing concern for what our government is doing to us and to our future. We fear for the very survival of our Republic.

Yet there is much to make us hopeful and to fill our hearts with optimism and courage. This is still our country!

The Constitution of the Unites States belongs to We the People. Our Constitution still protects us from our government.

Call every possible elected official, including our President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the House.

Demand that they stop stealing our money and giving it to ACORN and their other political supporters in order to buy votes.

Call Senators Cornyn and Hutchison, and Representative Neugebauer. Thank them. Urge them to do much more. Remind them now is a time for action and not for campaigning.

Volunteer to work on our 2010 Census. Confront ACORN. Keep our Census honest... We must not allow our President to take control of our Census for his political advantage.

We must replace as much of our Far Left Congress as possible in 2010. Get involved... Do not let the ACORN control our 2010 Election.

Talk with someone every day who does not understand our nation's history and our great heritage. Tell them why the United States is a good and prosperous nation. It still remains that brightly lit city on the hill. It still is the best hope for all mankind.

Talk with all of the young people you can find. They are our future. Many do not understand what they have and that their future is being destroyed.

Encourage your elected State officials to pass legislation that will protect us from our Federal government. This is a time for strong peaceful action. Let us pray that We the People can quickly return our government to its Constitutional responsibilities.

Our President and Congress were elected to be our servants and not our masters..

May God help our President and Congress to quickly realize the error of their ways and stop their reckless and unwarranted spending, cut our taxes, and reduce the size of our Federal bureaucracy.

If they do not, may God grant us the courage and determination to vote them out of power next year.

May God richly bless and protect each of you, and our Constitution, as together we pursue Liberty !

A stimulating letter to Senator John Cornyn

I got an e-mail from one of my Senators this week asking me to reply to the question, "How do you think the "stimulus" package has fallen short?" Here was my reply:

Senator Cornyn,

Thank you for you're question about the so called "stimulus bill and other failed initiatives that have passed threw congress recently. I hope you will take the time to personally read my thorough response.

It seems to me that you voted for a "stimulus" bill late last year. I urged you not to. Not because I didn't think there was a problem (there obviously was/is), not because I didn't think something needed to be done (I still think something does need to be done that isn't even being considered currently), but because I know it isn't wise to give people billions of dollars who mishandled a great deal of money in the first place. As we have since seen the money has not even gone to the very purpose it was meant to, but instead as gone to fill to coffers of those who came asking for the handout in the first place!

Now you've sent this request for comments, I can't help but say "I told you so", but you didn't listen. Apparently you are listening now, so let me tell you what should be happening. And I hope you can see it as I do, not as an opinion, but as a matter of constitutional law and authority.

I believe every single member of congress has violated his or her oath of office to uphold and defend The Constitution. I would love to get elected to congress myself so that I could start presenting cases as to why all of you (including President Obama, all of his zars, and at least half of the supreme court justices) should be removed from office, but as it is right now, I'm too busy working hard to do the right thing, and support my family; including my two 10 month old twins. Not to mention that the current election laws just make it too time consuming, expensive, and right down impossible to do so with out an army of bureaucrats and lobbyists assisting you. Perhaps you could pass a new "stimulus" bill to help "stimulate" more direct participation in government from you're constituents that employ you.

I would exhort you to spend some time reading and studying The Constitution as I have and especially pay attention to the 9th and 10th amendments. They used to be a valued part of the constitution, but today they might as well not exist. Also, try to find anything in The Constitution that authorizes federal bailouts or social programs of any kind.

I understand there are a lot of tough battles to be fought in Washington right now, which is all the more reason why we need strong people who will stand up to those who are violating our constitutional and God given rights (see the Declaration of Independence while you're at it, and pay attention to the part about our "Creator" and the rights he gave us). People of the highest integirty who will NOT compromise on doing what is best for their constituents, within the bounds set forth by The Constitution. Keep in mind, we are not a Democracy, and the majority cannot do anything they want just because they have the largest voice, rather they must follow the rules and laws as they are, and the foundation of those laws in this contry is The Constitution.

Please start fighting for a return to our core Constitutional foundations an give the people of this country and opportunity to make us a great nation once again.

- Seth Hollist

Obama for King

H. J. Res. 5, Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President

According to OpenCongress.org: ". . . Over the past six congressional sessions, several members of Congress have introduced similar legislation, including Sen. Harry Reid in 1989 ( S.J.Res. 36). As is likely the case in the 111th Congress, the resolutions have never proceeded out of committee. Furthermore, given its past history, it is not likely that such resolutions have been or are currently tied to any specific presidential session."

But now that all the Obama Loving Liberals are in control of congress, will this bill actually get passed? This is typically one of the first steps for any dictator to take over a republic or democracy: Get the laws out of the way that will keep him from becoming all powerful...

Is All "Fair" in socialized government?

While reading comments on my HOA's on-line discussion forum lately, I've noticed a lot of people have been complaining about getting notices because their garbage cans weren't in the correct location. Seems silly, I know, but from the HOA's standpoint, it's all about being fair and insuring nobody is devaluing the neighborhood with a trashy looking house.

It seems to me that they should be a bit more intelligent about it. If the real goal is to protect the value of the neighborhood, then is a trashcan being out of place really a problem? Shouldn't they really be looking for houses that have a number of violations; like lawns getting to long and full of weeds along with trashcans or cars on cinderblocks? On the other had, they need to be "fair" don't they? Or do they? Can't they just single out the obviously troubled homes, or would that be discriminatory?

Is it really about being fair when you go around and blanket the neighborhood with notices for people who claim they were just cleaning out the garage at the time, or mowing the lawn and need to move the trashcans so they weren't in the way? Is it really fair that Neighbor Joe Shmow is sick this month and can't take care of his lawn, so he gets a notice or two? To truly be fair, wouldn’t we have to go around and talked to every violator to see what the circumstances were related to the problem, and then determine if the deserve a violation notice or not?

This line of though may seem silly, but isn't that what the “Liberals” are all about? Making sure the rights of the people are fairly protected and properly analyzed? Is that even possible? When you start heading down this path, you start to see some crazy things happening; things like the appointment of Czars.

What you end up with when trying to be “fair” to everyone is an attempt to be all things to all people; and ultimately being fair to no one. That's exactly what our current U.S. government leaders are trying to be; the end-all-be-all of healthcare for all U.S. Citizens. "Let's make sure the poor and cared for," or "Lets make sure the rich don't have any un-fair advantages." How about the one were we say everyone had a "right" to proper health care, because it's only the fair thing to do, isn't it? Or is it? Where in the constitution does it say the Federal government even has the right or responsibility to provide health Care?

How do you think it is that our government has gotten so schizophrenic? Every time a spending bill comes along, every senator, congressmen, and even presidents seems to want something added to it for their constituents and supporters. What you end up with is a spending bill that tries to be all things for all the people. It gets very expensive that way, and sets a very "liberal" standard when it comes to our government's spending habits.

It always starts small. We need to do something for the poor people, or we need to so something for this or that minority. As one group gets something for nothing, another group decides to get in on the action and sets up a campaign. For the U.S.A. it kind of started with the Great Depression (although I’d argue it started a bit earlier then that) when we setup Social Security and later setup Medicare. Today that model of helping others has gotten out of control and is threatening to bankrupt the Republic. Now that we are supposedly fighting of another depression (I don’t know how less then 10% unemployment equals the 25-30% we saw during the great depression) and it’s being used as a tactic to once again allow the government to become increasingly more socialized. It’s taken almost a hundred years, but the Republic has almost been completely replaced with a socialistic government.

What if instead we stopped trying to be all things to all people, and allowed the people to decide for them selves what they need. Give them the freedom and ability to work for it, and obtain it on their own. Give them the freedom to give help to those in need, and ask for it when needed; instead setting an expectation that their taxes will force them to pay for someone else to do it for them (that’s a lot more expensive then just being helpful within your community). What if my HOA, instead of hounding everyone about ever little thing would instead coordinated help for those like Neighbor Joe Shmow? How much smaller would the government suddenly become as the need to pay out all this money in the future would disappear.

Personally, I'd prefer it if the U.S. federal government would stop trying to be all things to all people, and instead try to be the bearer of basic standards and national defense. Let the states worry about the more socialistic aspects of government in such a way that we encourage local communities to work together to make this world a better place.

Personally, I'd prefer to see my HOA stop nitpicking over trashcans, and focus more on the park bench that's been broken since last year, and the swimming pool that has a broken water fountain. Sure I want my property values protected, and troubled homes dealt with, but not in such a way that my neighbor get a notice about his trashcan just because he was trying to clean out his garage or mow his lawn.

Personally, I'd rather not have a health care plan pushed down my throat just because the Vice President thinks that spending more money will somehow save us from the future of an unaffordable status quo.

Death of a Republic, Long Live Socialism.

"Beware the greedy hand of government, thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry." -- Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

Sure, the government will tell us they need to push this health care plan right on through because it's what we need. We can't have little kids without armpits running around uninsured now, can we? Poor little Sally Muckenfuch has no eyelids AND no insurance. It's horrifying. So quick! Pass this 1,000 page legislation before anyone can think about it! In the off chance you do want to think about it and find out what this plan really means --- and what it's really about -- see Glenn's review of the plan. ( Transcript)

If you're worried about how complicated a government run healthcare system will be -- don't worry, this handy flow chart should help.

Glenn reads through just a few of the thousands of personal stories regarding the new health care proposals, and the pattern is clear: this Health Care plan is a job killing machine. Read the stories from radio today. (Transcript)

The new Health Care plan will eventually force the sun setting of all private insurance.

---

I wrote some letters to my U.S. Representatives in the house and the senate. Here's what I had to say:

Please introduce DownsizeDC.org's "One Subject at a Time Act" (OSTA). You can find the text of the legislation here:http://www.downsizedc.org/osta-legislation.shtml
When things like the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filing a hate crimes amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill come up, I can help but feel outraged by such underhanded idiocy. What does a Defense Authorization Bill have to do with Hate Crimes (Aren't all crimes hateful in some way already anyway)? If we could only find some way to keep such things from happening, such as requiring the title of a bill to actually describe it's contents, and forbid anything from being in the bill that doesn't match the title.

You don't need to redesign the American health care system in one giant step. Instead, please start by passing a law that would permit me or my employer to purchase health insurance regulated by other states. This would make major medical coverage affordable for millions of Americans, by allowing people to sidestep the special interest coverages mandated in many states. (Canned statement by DownsizeDC).
Less government involvement in Health care is the real answer, not total control. You can't fix a problem by making it bigger, any more then you can fix a blotted government by giving it more control and power over the people.

I am aware that the federal government has future unfunded liabilities estimated at $101 trillion. Please stop ignoring this problem. Please start reducing spending now. Balance the budget now. And start retiring the debt now so you can stop spending so much of my tax money on interest charges. (Canned Statement by DownsizeDC)
Replacing Medicare with "Universal Health Care" will not solve this problem. It will only make it much much worse. It will destroy our republic which I love so dearly.

Aren't all crimes hateful? They why do we need a separate law that tries to determine what we are thinking or feeling while committing a crime? Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a hate crimes amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. Please don't let him get away with this underhanded backdoor dealing that messes with our Nations Heros ability to do their job.

Judicial Nominations

• Sonia Sotomayor has been giving lip service to make her self appear like a Justice that would truly uphold the constitution; however, her actions tell a different story:
• She claims to be opposed to using other countries' laws, however, just last April she stated that "nothing in the American legal system stops us from considering the ideas that (international) law can give us."
• She agreed with Chairman Pat Leahy that the 2nd Amendment was an "individual right"; however, she was part of a judicial panel that ruled the 2nd Amendment does not apply to states and that it is not a "fundamental right."
• Ms. Sotomayor said that judges should not "prejudge," despite her statement in 1994 that "prejudices are appropriate".
• Sen. Kohl falsely stated that Ms. Sotomayor was overturned by the Supreme Court only three times. In truth seven of her decisions have been overturned--three in this year alone!
• Justice Sotomayor is not fit to serve on the Supreme Court. Please do not confirm her nomination.

I would encourage everyone to wright their representatives with their own thoughts and ideas. All this only took me a few hours to research compose and send. Doing that even just once a month, or even better, once a week, would make a big difference in letting our representatives know we are watching them, and make us much better educated voters so we can take our country back. It is after all a government, for, of and by the people. If We the People aren't involved then we have only ourselves to blame.

Death and taxes

I was listening to the radio on my way home from work on Thursday and they were talking about the death of Pop Legend Michel Jackson. Instead of celebrating the good things Mr. Jackson had done in his life, some of the callers instead were suggesting his death was some kind of punishment from God; despite the fact that we have no real proof of his wrong doing. My first thought was "how short sighted that opinion is", and it reconfirmed for me how my beliefs help take the sing out of death.

When everyone is destined to die, and it's really just a matter of when, how can we say death is a punishment (unless you torcher them to death) especially when you believe as I do that death is not the end. Rather I believe death to be a necessary next step in our eternal progression. Instead of grieving, I find myself hopping Mr. Jackson has now found the peace he needs.

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly sad when loved ones leave us, and I do believe in capitol "punishment", both as a deterrent and as a way of dealing with people whom have done such terrible things that society has no other way to truly deal with them.

I'm not even talking about rapists or pedophiles, as I think we should castrate them instead; rather I'm talking about people who are likely to do there horrific acts again and again if ever given the chance. In that case death is a way of protecting society and preventing them from committing further sin. From this perspective, death can even be seen as merciful. They will also be further along their way to the true judgment and punishment of God that is well beyond anything we can ever inflict in this mortal life.


So what do taxes have to do with this, other then supposedly being the other unavoidable thing in life? While many people are busy morning over dead celebrities that they don't even really know, Congress has been busy finding new ways to tax us and ultimately destroy more jobs in the name of protecting us from a still poorly understood phenomenon commonly referred to as "Climate Change"; formally known as "Global Warming", and in the '70s it was referred to as "Global Cooling".

What I'm getting to here is the single largest tax ever to be put on the U.S.A. In a single session of congress: cleverly named "Cap and Trade". In an already slow economic time, this bill will only hurdle us even closer to a full-on depression, and no I don't think a depression is inevitable, or at least I didn't until the Democrats took over Washington D.C. ealier this year. Quite honestly, the passage of this bill is something i think most Americans should be more graved by then the passing of a couple of celebrities (with exception to those who actually knew the deceased personally).

As the economy continues to plummet, our liberal government will continue to find new reasons why they "have to" take over more aspects of our lives to keep us from hurting our selves. The reality is that it's the government putting stumbling block in our path that is causing us to trip and fall. Sure a reasonable amount of regulation is good to protect the people against tyrants and thieves, but I believe the U.S. government has taken this way too far. My biggest fear is that we are not even close to being done with all the encroachments the government is going to make into our lives and our wallets.

The moral here is that our country is going to continue on a downward spiral until we start getting our priorities straight, and getting involved. We can talk about it all day long, but until we actually do something, all we'll get is more of Obama's "Change". I say he can keep his change, and I'll keep my dollars.

---

If things get bad enough will the government say they "have to" step in a take complete control over the economy and all businesses?  Either way, it looks like we have until 2020 before the worst of it kicks in, so lets get started on looking for good people to represent us that will repeal this economy killing bill.  On the other had, maybe we'll all be driving electric cars by then... yeah I know, not likely; though I'm sure there'll be a few around by then.

The New, New World Order of Collaborative Government

I've been listening to the audio book version of Wikinomics while driving to and from work for the last few weeks, and it gave me an inspiration. One section in particular seemed to question why government couldn't be more like collaborative organizations and businesses such as eBay, facebook, flicker the Human Genome Project, Goldcorp, PNG and many others. It made me think, that maybe what we need is a new form of government that utilizes the kind of collaboration the Internet to allow threw its openness, accessibility, and global participation; creating a government that is truly of, for, and about the people it governs. It may require taking a gander at the book Wikinomics to help you understand what I'm really talking about; not that I agree with everything in that book, but it’s ideas and examples are very powerful.

I'm not talking about a Democracy were almost 6 billion people all voting on the same laws to see whose opinions gets forced upon everyone else, but rather allowing existing governments of the world, and their citizens, to work together in a new and better way; while still allowing them to maintain their own sovereignty. I'm also not talking about a Republican form of government were the elected leaders of the world get to make all the decision, influence their own elections, and become corrupted by power, greed, and flattery from bureaucracies and special interest lobbyists with deep pockets; rather I'm talking about a truly collaborative government that allows any citizen of the world to give input, develop new ideas, and ultimately help bring the world to a more peaceful, respectful and cooperative existence. This would give those who care about an issue, the responsibility and ability to act, along with part of the risk and consequences of failure.

What might such a collaborative government look like?

If you've read this blog, you'll know I'm certainly a fan of the U.S. Constitution, but it was designed to be the basis for a Republic (that's right the U.S.A. is not a Democracy, it's a Republic) and was certainly not meant to be involved in many of the collaborative efforts that the Internet continues to facilitate to greater and greater degrees every day. In fact the U.S. Constitution is in some ways anti-collaboration in it's requirements for elected officials to take up residence within the nations capital, and to do all official business is physical assemblies away from their constituents that they might otherwise be more able to collaborate with. Basing a government on the powerful abilities that the Internet provides for collaboration would certainly require something new that would allow for more virtualization and thus more diversity within the organizations.

Perhaps the U.S. Constitution could still be used as the model for a new form of government? It would still help promote individual rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, but be amended to take advantage of the power the Internet has to provide. Not that I want that to happen, as such amendments could end up being twisted into something more dangerous the helpful.

This "New World Order" could still have Executive, Judicial, and Congressional branches. A President could still be elected via representatives from participating nations and organizations, much as the U.S. President is elected via an Electoral Collage; likewise, participating governments could elect Senators, just as the U.S. Constitution had originally intended. Perhaps Judges could still be appointed by government officials, but with a new dynamic brought on by collaboration and trial by piers. The rest of Congress would of course have to be elected by individuals, or perhaps elected is not the right word. What if instead they were required to gain enough support to archive a certain level of authority over certain matters or groups in such a way that they could ultimately become Presidents and Judges threw the collaborative efforts of their supporters?

When exploring the idea further, one has to ask if a truly collaborative government would even require such divisions of power as true collaboration allows people to self organize into self governing groups that would inherently be a separation of powers, responsibilities, as well as spreading the risk to all participants; ultimately leading to a new way of dividing up the governance and power. With that in mind it seems that it would be better to "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s", and instead build something completely new, something better, that would let current government and organization stay as they are, or do as they may, while inviting them to participate within this new collaborative world government.

While thinking threw how all this might look, I had a vision of an on-line community that may give rise to a collection of individual, yet integrated, on-line groups that together form a governing world body. If it gained enough support, the opinions and ideas it could create would influence governments to reform and follow along; giving way to more open and collaborative governments on national, state and local levels; all while making it easier and even fun and rewarding for individuals to participate and have their voice be heard.

This integration of communities would be divided up by groupings. Each grouping would be based on three main elements, including (but certainly not limited to):

1. A core set of beliefs or values such as: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheism, Hindu (or some specific tenant of any religion), Open Mindedness, Scientific Disciplines, Ethics, etc...
   
2. A geographic element such as a city, state, nation, planet, climate, region, rock formation, etc...
3. A third element based on what ever the group wants such as a political ideal, a favorite book, a person from history, or some other core belief, ideal, or objective.

Each element could also have the potential to be duplicated into in every different language on earth, and be mixed and matched in countless ways to create countless numbers of different groups. Anyone can create a new element and/or group, or join an existing one simply by choosing their own combination of pre-existing elements. The ultimate goal of a group would be to gain a voice in the worldwide conversation as a member of or even a representative for their group or element; so long as the majority of the group gives them their support to become a representative. In order for a representative within a group to gain a higher status of a Delegate, with increased authority and responsibility, the group (or element) would have to gain a certain level of membership and possibly gain multiple delegates if their membership levels continue to rise.

Delegates would then create a worldwide community of electorates that would give their support to other delegates (other then themselves) to create Leaders. Leaders would then, threw collaboration with other Leaders, create policies or even binding laws, while getting input from the groups that support them via their Delegates. Individuals would be able to withdraw their support for any Delegate or Leader at any time, by giving it to another individual (other then themselves), creating a new dynamic within the group. Laws and Policies could also go in and out of affect depending on the continual or withdrawn support from Leaders (or the Leaders themselves being demoted effectively removing the support for the policy). Limitations would likely need to be set on how often support can be shifted by a given individual, so that individuals have more incentive to think about who they give their support to.

Judges would also be elected by the same means, but instead of advancing upwards they would remain within their respective groups to help resolve conflicts within that community alone. Delegates would also select Judges from within their ranks to resolve conflicts between Delegates, and to hear appeals from the groups that support them. Judges, however, would likely not have to make rulings of their very often, but instead be in charge of setting up simple voting polls, creating a quickly and easily means for a "Trial by Peers".

Before a Judge or a Delegate could be considered qualified for such a task, they would need to provide credentials, prove a certain level of trust and commitment, and/or show their abilities by passing a basic test proving they have a working knowledge of the group's policies and the constitutionally set boundaries for the overall collaborative government; as well as certifying their desire and intent to uphold the same. Such qualifications could even be managed threw gaining credits for participation within and contributions to their group or elements; including passing tests or on-line classes to prove knowledge and understanding of the collaborative government. Representatives on the other hand could be based more on how willing they are to help with maintaining the more technical aspects of a group or element.

No one, not even a Representative, Delegate, Leader, nor Judge would be allowed to fill more then one role at a time. Once a Representative becomes a Delegate, someone else must fill the void (the next person in line with the most support from the group, very much like a vise-president). Like wise, if a Delegate becomes a Leader, the group must select a new Delegate. This could be accomplished automatically by allowing group members to select alternates (or vise-delegates/leaders/judges/representatives/etc.) as their second and even third choices if their first choice were to be promoted to a new position, or automatically reassert their support if their first choice is demoted. If any person changes groups, they would lose any support they had from the previous group, as individuals would only be allowed to give their support to those within their respective groups.

I personally have participated in an on-line collaborative effort to come up with a new movie idea. The voting for the main idea of the movie happened in such a way that the combination of everyone’s first and second choice, along with elimination of any choices found unacceptable by a large number of people, ultimately ended up deciding which movie idea the group moved forward with. The picking of delegates and leaders could be done in much the same way such that a bad choice, picked by a larger minority of the community, would be eliminated threw the objections of many other members, while the combined first and second choices everyone combined would end up picking the person with the widest acceptance.

This process would eliminate the need for official election cycles, and having it Internet based would make participation basically free. There would be no need for expensive elections campaigns that cause the riches to win over others who found it difficult to even have a conversation in the debates. There would still be a cost to the community it's self as they would need to have potentially a great deal of expensive computer infrastructure to even exist, but then so do projects like Linux and other Open Source software projects were the projects themselves don’t make any kind of money. Perhaps the real costs and risks could be distributed to those who wished to start a new element or group to participate threw, as they would have to fund the hosting services and do the initial software configurations and setups that this collaborative government would run on. The founders of a group could then be authorized to collect donations to the continued cost of running the group, and in this manner all individuals could share in the risks as well as the triumphs of the group.

Exactly how all this would freely integrate together into a would wide community, while preventing fraud and insuring validity, is probably the biggest hurtle to making an Internet based and collaborative form of government even possible. There are certainly concerns in this area, but then interactive web-sites today are already dealing with this problem threw means that make sure it’s a human doing the typing and not some automated cracking program or “root kit”. At that point, how much participation can a single person really do in a 24-hour period? Add on limitations as to how much posting, updating, or changes a person is allowed to do in a single day, and you’ll find that such unwanted spamming and fraud would become difficult. That’s not to say groups of people might not get together for a weekend brawl to try and disenfranchise a group, but with the whole government being free and collaborative, such activities might prove unprofitable and any gains would be short lived.

The great thing about this form of government is that it could be completely tax free, and therefore bureaucracy free. One could participate from the comfort of one's own home via on-line forums run on phpBB (one for each element), video conferences via Skype, Wikis run by their respective groups, and other on-line collaboration tools that could automatically record and publish information to insure openness and transparency within the government. In fact all participants of this government could be bared from having any personal monetary gain as a result of their positions or participation to help prevent the power hungry, greedy, and corrupt from infiltrating and ultimately controlling the majority of this new collaborative government (much like what political parties do today).

Each group would have their own exclusive on-line community for posting sharing and participating without encroachments from other groups. It would be open to all to read, but only those within the group and with the proper authority could post, participate in votes, edit entries, and ultimately be an active part of the group.

This system would have to be distributed in such a way so that a single computer system or node would only have to support a single group or element if necessary; as apposed to having a single system try to support potentially billions of people from around the world all at once. A way of inter-connecting participating systems around the world would need to be developed; a main computer system or network would provide the initial credentialing and validation, but allowing the systems to work independently once the trust is established. Perhaps something similar
to how "Open ID" works to allow a single log in to multiple systems and be granted varying degrees of access depending on what position you have within that group or element.

Certainly creating this new form of government would require a great deal of developmental effort before it could even get started, as well as support from current governments and world leaders to gain legitimacy. On the other hand many of the technologies such a government would be based on do exist, and the real challenge is to find a way to integrate them with other communities around the world. In the mean time, mock trials could be done threw "virtual realities", and perhaps as these mock trials took shape and gained popularity they would eventually also gain legitimacy within the world at large. It could even be seen as the next big revolution, except this time, it hopefully would not require physical confrontations or civil wars, but rather a war of words and ideas where the truly best ones eventually rise to the top.

This might sound overly ambitious and even unrealistically ideal, but I'm sure many people said the same thing about the Founding Fathers who created the U.S. Constitution. The same Founding Fathers who risk their lives to go up against otherwise insurmountable odds and came out victorious; eventually laying the grown work for what I believe lead to the greatest nation ever, in the history of the planet (It's really too bad Obama and his Liberal friends want to change it so drastically).

One might think such a New World Order of Collaborative Government also faces insurmountable odds at coming into existence; however, I’d be willing to predict that such a government is almost inevitable. As online communities continue to increase in popularity, as new and upcoming generations grow up on-line, as the world gets smaller and smaller threw cheaper and more interactive communications enabled by the internet, and ideas become easier and easier to share, world wide collaboration will become a normal way of life, and eventually all these on-line communities could in and of themselves become new forms of government. As they join together threw using existing and emerging technologies, they will find new ways to collaborate, create policies, and ultimately give individuals the ability to create a new truly globalized and collaborative government.