Congress has refused to act
Politicians seek the wrong solution to our economic woes. The income tax system has failed. It has driven business away from the U.S. The only proposal before Congress that will fix our economy is The Fair Tax (HR25) not to be confused with the Flat Tax.
The first year of enactment will produce 10.5 percent increase in the economy along with 36 percent increase in exports. Workers will keep their full paycheck with no deductions for Uncle Sam. Business will no longer have to keep mounds of records and report them to the IRS. That alone will save more than $500,000,000 annually which can be used to create new jobs. Every dime business pays to Uncle Sam in income taxes can be used to create new business.
Congress has refused to act. Grassroots effort is necessary to pass The Fair Tax. See: fairtax.org
Roy T. Newsom
Granbury, Texas
Conservatives send letter to leadership
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman David Schweikert, Congressman Tim Huelskamp, and Congressman Justin Amash released a letter that was sent to GOP House Leadership asking for written explanation for why they were kicked off their respective committees. They also requested the scorecard used to judge their votes. Below is the text of the letter:
December 7, 2012
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker of the House of Representatives
232 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner,
We write to request a full and complete written explanation of the rationale for removing us from our current committee assignments, including any “scorecards” presented to the Steering Committee to justify our removals.
On Monday, we learned that we had been removed from our committee assignments. Some of us learned of this news from a member of the Steering Committee; others never were officially informed and heard of the action from press accounts citing anonymous leadership staffers. To this date, no formal explanation has been given for the removal.
After learning of our removal, it came to our attention that a scorecard was presented to the Steering Committee to make the case for our removal from those committees. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Huelskamp stood before the House Republican Conference and asked to see a copy of the scorecard used to remove us.
Through this past term, we were not aware that any such scorecard existed, nor that the scores would cause us to be removed from committee assignments. We believe this would be valuable information for the entire Republican Conference to know, so that each Member can make a full and complete decision when casting votes in the future. It would also allow us to communicate to our constituents which votes caused us to be removed.
Please provide a full and complete written explanation for our removal, including a copy of the scorecard presented to the Steering Committee meeting, by close of business Monday, December 10th.
Sincerely,
David Schweikert, U.S. Representative, Arizona
Tim Huelskamp, U.S. Representative, Kansas
Justin Amash, U.S. Representative, Michigan
cc: Republican Steering Committee Members
Don Sorchych 11/21/12 editorial "the disgusting election"
Señor, suck it up! Your vote fraud theory is pathetic. Romney, and by extension, the Republican party got it's ass kicked, plain and simple. Why expose yourself as a whiner. Republicans should get the message that people are fed up with "morality laws" that seek to tell people who they can love (against gay rights), what they can do with their bodies (anti abortion) and what medicines they can access (against legal Marijuana). Plus, Romney is a creationist. He thinks the earth was created 6,000 years ago which means dinosaurs and people coexisted. Really? This belief is the mark of idiots! You can't justify this by saying it's a religious belief. Evolution is well documented and differing branches of science independently come to the same conclusion; plants and animals evolve. Yes, we are descended from apes, another plain and simple fact.
Notwithstanding his economic views, the issues mentioned make him unfit to lead our country. And this is another plain and simple fact!
Chip Roberge
Flagstaff
Minding the minority
As the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) once noted, James Madison said at the Constitutional Convention that the founders intended the Senate to be ‘a necessary fence’ that could ‘protect the people against their rulers.’ In contrast to the House of Representatives, which was set up to represent the people’s passions, the Senate was conceived to both represent the states and serve as a chamber of sober reflection. “[The] Founding Fathers intended the Senate to be a continuing body that allows for open and unlimited debate and the protection of minority rights,” Byrd said. “Senators have understood that…since the Senate first convened.”
And, indeed, for more than 200 years, the Senate has served exactly that role. One of the tools most important to the Senate’s proper functioning has long been the so-called “filibuster,” which essentially encourages compromise among senators. It requires the majority party to build a 60-vote coalition to pass major legislation, rather than simply ramming through its agenda without input from colleagues in the minority.
Senators from both parties have long agreed that the filibuster is necessary as, among other things, leverage to guarantee the right to offer amendments. The current majority leader, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), recognized its importance when he became leader in 2006. “The need to muster 60 votes in order to terminate Senate debate naturally frustrates the majority and oftentimes the minority. I am sure it will frustrate me when I assume the office of majority leader,” he said. “But I recognize this requirement is a tool that serves the long-term interest of the Senate and the American people.”
Yet, today, Senator Reid has come to regard the same things he once championed as an inconvenience. And worse, he wants to allow a bare majority of senators to change the rules, rather than the two-thirds majority required by the Standing Rules of the Senate. In other words, he wants to break the rules to change the rules.
Allowing the Senate’s majority party of the day – Democrat or Republican – to write its own rules would mean it could control everything, rendering the minority powerless. Without the filibuster, as noted, senators could be totally shut out of the amendment process.
Political majorities in Washington are fleeting. Republicans controlled the Senate a few years ago, Democrats a few years before that. While Democrats form the Senate majority today, they might not tomorrow; that’s why they should be especially careful about taking tools away from the minority – and, in so doing, cause the Senate irreversible harm.
For the past few years, there has been less and less committee consideration of important legislation, and fewer and fewer amendments allowed on the floor. These are the bricks and mortar of our democratic institutions. Do we really want to wake up one day and find that these important decisions are no longer decided on a collaborative basis by 100 senators representing 50 states, but by one man who happens to lead the Senate’s majority party?
Our Founders knew the tyranny of one-man rule – that’s why they rebelled against a King.
They knew the importance of inserting checks and balances into the system, with the Senate ensuring minority representation. We should respect the founders’ wisdom, the rules of the Senate, and each other. It’s what’s best for America.
Sen. Jon Kyl
Senate Republican Whip
Senate Finance and Judiciary committees
Visit http://www.kyl.senate.gov
Morning sickness
I'm experiencing around-the -clock morning sickness with the around-the-clock obsession with Kate. We fought a war to become free from George III; yet, we are glued to the telly and the scandal rags that deal with Kate's tummy. Retch!
A technicality:
1.
The queen is NOT Kate's grandmother
2.
The Aussie radio woman who called in wanted to speak with her "granddaughter"
3.
Presumably, Kate has or had two grandmothers, neither of whom is the queen
4.
Therefore, the Aussie did not misrepresent herself as Elizabeth Regina
5.
Conclusion: The charge will never hold up in a legal court.
J-P. A. Maldonado
Phoenix
Mr. Snider’s comments
Hello Mr. Mayor,
I've been notified that Mr. Snider has made some comments that may have
indicated what he may consider my position to be on some matters
pertaining to the bicycle lane that was proposed in a town council
meeting some months ago. I was present at that town council meeting, and
the only information that I have received on this topic was at that
public forum.
As I have only hearsay knowledge, but no direct knowledge of what
exactly was said or to whom it may have been said to, please be advised
that I was not consulted by Mr. Snider on what he was going to say, I
have not authorized or asked Mr. Snider in any way to make any comments
on my behalf, nor do I intend to stand by anything that he may have
said.
Regards,
Charles Spitzer
Cave Creek
State insurance exchanges will not avoid federal controls
Governor Brewer recently decided not to set up a state insurance exchange for Arizona. She should be complimented for this decision. Approximately 17 states so far have decided to set up these state exchanges. Their governors have stated that the main reason for doing so is to maintain state independence and avoid federal controls.
This level of ignorance about how the federal government operates is breath taking. There are already controls in the Obama care law itself that the states will have to follow and, when the regulations are written implementing the Obama care law, these 17 states will find that they are, once again, captive robots of the federal government. There will be numerous “incentives” and penalties to insure “compliance.”
We should thank Governor Brewer for not being fooled by promises of independence.
Roy Miller
Phoenix
The Hispanic vote
The Hispanic vote continues to go for those whose policies contribute to the genocide of their race. If more Hispanics were made aware that democratic support of Planned Parenthood equates to genocide, we would have a new President of the U.S.
Around $360 million taxpayer dollars/year goes to Planned Parenthood, our nation's leading baby-killing business. Did you know that Planned Parenthood has strategically located 62.5 percent of its facilities in high minority areas? This would explain these staggering statistics: although Hispanic women only make up 13 percent of the female population in our nation, they account for 20 percent of abortions. Black women comprise 12 percent of the female population, yet account for 36 percent of abortions. Combined, Blacks and Hispanics have 56 percent of abortions, while only accounting for 25 percent of the female population. Can you say genocide?
I get the whole immigration angle and how Hispanics tend to vote for those whose policies are less burdensome on immigrants, but let's get real. Immigrants have a fighting chance at life. They can fight for their rights and try to make a better life for themselves, but unborn babies cannot. They are not being directly killed. Immigrants are not snuffed out in their mothers' wombs, without ever having a chance at life.
Sincerely,
Mike Rachiele
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Too bad California
Don’t want your tap water fluorinated? Too bad! Don’t want the majority of your grocery vegetables to be genetically modified? Too bad!
Don’t like the U.S. government feeding us artificial dyes, flavors and additives not allowed in Europe? Too bad! Don’t want to buy into ObamaCare or don’t want to take flu shots to get ObamaCare? Too bad!
Don’t like the Federal Reserve and the World Bank eventually owning the world? Too bad! Don’t like Goldman Sachs making money on every bond sold by the U.S. government? Too bad! Don’t like ex-Goldman Sachs and Federal Reserve thugs in every presidential administration driving policies for us to borrow even more money from the Fed? Too bad! Wanted to know if GMO food is on the shelf? Too bad!
Don’t like your rights taken away? You are just seeing little signs of the “New World Order.” As Henry Ford once said, you can have any color you want, as long as it’s black.
