Common Sense Approach to Health Care

As you can see, I originally posted this on Oct 9, 2008. I decided to repost it to show that common sense can be applied to the health care issue. In the months since this post, I have also come to think about the whole "45 million Americans without Health Care Insurance" and have concluded, using a bit of common sense, that is nothing but a ploy to drive universal health care down our throats. Take out those who can afford but choose not to buy H.C. Ins. and the number is 30 million. Take out the 20 million here illegally and what we really have are 10 million Americans without H.C. Ins. Something tells me if politicians tried to create a crisis out of that, they'd be tarred and feathered out of office. Anyway, what follows is my original post from last October...

Posted by sbabbidge on 10/09/08



Friends,

Last night, at the second Presidential debate, the
candidates were posed a question about health care - Is it a right, a
privilege or a responsibility? I intend to in the next paragraphs to
give you my take on the correct answer.

Is it a right? - Very
simply, the answer is no. And that is an emphatic no for those keeping
score. The basis for my answer lies in the US Constitution. There is no
place in the Constitution that declares health care as a right bestowed
upon our citizens. We do, in fact, have many rights.....health care is
simply not one of them. And, like so very many other things, Barack
Obama is flat wrong and proves himself again to have no respect for the
principles of our country when he, and others like him, try to tell you
health care is a right.

Is it a privilege? You bet it is! There
are some Socialist countries that provide health care for all
citizens....and by every factual account ever created, the quality and
efficiency of delivery in those systems stink! We have the best
available health care anywhere in the world....but just because you
live here you do not have the right to get that care.....it is a
privilege you have to earn, that is, you have to PAY for it.

Does
that mean that some people should and some people should not have
access to health care? Absolutely not. We all should, and we all DO
have access to health care. Let me use this example to further my point:

If
you live in America, you have a plethora of choices for transportation.
These choices get you from where you are to where you want to be. You
may choose to pay a fare and take a bus or a cab. You may walk, or ride
a bike. You may want your own car...perhaps a car that gets high gas
mileage, perhaps you want a gas guzzling truck, or maybe you want a
high end luxury car. Or, perhaps, your choice is dictated by your
ability to pay. You see, owning your own luxury automobile comes with a
price. If you want the finest car, you must pay for it. If you can't
afford the best, or the most options, then you have to choose the car
(ie health care plan) that works for you and your budget. But, much
like choosing the mode of transportation that works for you in your
situation, you should also have the privilege (and responsibility) for
choosing the health care plan that best meets your needs.

One of
the major problems we have in this country today is that people think
they are entitled to the best of the best of everything without having
to work hard, make choices and EEEEEEK sacrifice to get what they want.
Health care is no different. Everyone wants to best health care, but no
one wants to admit it comes with a cost and then foot the bill for the
type and amount and level of care they receive.

Exacerbating
this dilemma is the fact that health care and health care delivery in
America, is controlled and dictated not by the doctor and patient, but
by the insurance companies and the Federal and state governments. Using
the car example again, how many of us would accept having a 3rd party
tell us what car we can and can't drive? That's exactly what happens
today in our system. We must change this system.

We must also
educate people about health care insurance. Most people would be
financially ruined if a catastrophic medical incident happened to them
and they were without health care insurance. That is a fact. At the
same time, most people think about health care insurance as "how much
is my dr visit co pay, and what is my prescription co pay?".....we look
at health insurance the wrong way when we view it from behind those
glasses.

Insurance, by it's very nature, is a tool designed to
protect us in the event of an unforeseen, unpredictable catastrophic
event. If you have life insurance, you bought it to protect your loved
ones in the event you die (death is a certainty, but depending on one's
age, it can be an unforeseen and unpredictable event) and you have car
insurance to protect you from a costly accident or in the event you get
in an accident with an uninsured motorist. Why do we think of health
care insurance as something to offset the already low cost of a doctor
visit or 7 day prescription??? It makes no sense!

Health care
insurance should be like other insurances. We should have a choice of
major medical policies with the OPTION to choose the riders we want and
don't want included. Presently the Federal government and state
governments force insurance companies to insure over 65 different rare
and catastrophic diseases....the reality is that the overwhelming
majority of people don't ever get those diseases yet the government
REGULATES that the insurance companies must insure and charge to insure
those things.....that drives up the cost of insurance for everyone. If
I don't want cruise control, I am not forced into buying a car that has
cruise control. Why should the way we buy health care insurance be any
different?????

So, my plan would look like this:

1. Educate people on the differences in policies.
2.
Allow people total choice in what policies they buy, what the
deductibles and co pays mean in terms of service level and cost, laying
all the options on the table for every consumer.
3. With every major
medical policy, and to encourage people to take the lowest
premium/highest deductible option, a credit card to be used ONLY to
cover the policy deductible, would be included with issuance of the
policy. The fact is, not everyone has $10,000 lying around to be used
for the deductible on their major medical policy. Likewise, we don't
need to be giving credit cards out, but having the credit available and
ONLY allowing it to be used to cover major medical deductibles just
makes sense.
4. Allow people to see what it costs for their dr co
pays and prescription co pays. Many Americans, when shown the financial
facts, will choose to forego this type of insurance and the savings
will be substantial!
5. I also believe we should get employers out
of providing health care insurance. Encourage employers further by
telling them if they take the money they have been spending on employee
premiums and increase their employees salaries by that same amount,
that they will get a tax credit equal to the amount of the pay
increase. This will put more money in the paychecks of workers.
Teaching employees to buy smart insurance will save them more, and then
with the difference between the pay raise and the health care premium
amounts, let's give people tax credits for investing that extra money
into their pre or post tax retirement accounts. It's a win-win all
around.

All of which leads me to....is it a responsibility? The
answer here is an emphatic YES. It is NOT, repeat NOT, the governments
responsibility to do anything but provide for the national defense and
settle disputes between states. (OK, perhaps that is my slightly
utopian view of how our country should operate, but we should approach
everything from a limited federal government view, instead driving
governing decisions to the most local level possible) It is NOT
governments responsibility to provide/pay for health care or health
care insurance for the vast majority of Americans (I happen to think
that Medicare is a valuable and needed program, as is Medicaid in some
but not all instances). It is our responsibility to take care of our
own health care and it is a great gift that we live in a country in
which we can have such a privilege.

If you don't take care of
yourself, don't buy health insurance b/c you choose to buy other things
instead, then you must accept the personal responsibility for the
consequences of your actions. That is the key fundamental difference
between people like you and me and people on the Socialist left. We
believe in the greatness of America and our people. They think America
and our people are unable to make smart choices and responsible
decisions. The Socialist left wants more and more people to be
dependent on big government.....that's how they increase the number of
people that vote for them in elections.

So, there is a plan to
make health care insurance more accessible and more affordable to more
people, while still being compassionate and using tax dollars to help
care for the elderly and the most needy among us (needy meaning there
is a lack of ability to care for oneself, not a lack of desire). It
moves control to the hands of the consumer and away from government. It
reduces restrictions on insurance companies, which will allow for
insurance companies to be more flexible in the way they build and
structure policies. It gets employers out of the mix and encourages
them to do so. It also puts more money in the hands of working people.
In these economic times, it's a plan we can all live with.

As always, thanks for reading!

Health Care + Congress = FIASCO!

As I have been super busy with activities related to Take Back The Republican Party, attending numerous events to spread the word about TBTRP, and writing for www.examiner.com for my role as Charlotte Republican Examiner I have not been blogging lately.

However, the health care abomination bill being pushed through Congress has me back on the blogging trail.

I am very concerned that the government is expanding its reach into yet another area of American life - health care and health care insurance. As I have written before, I believe that we should be pulling government, at EVERY level, OUT of the health care insurance equation. The fact is, there is NOTHING that government does well, and more importantly, there is nothing government does that can not be done better by private enterprise. Why anyone among us believes that government run health care will be successful is beyond any semblance of logical reasoning. But the Democrats, in their quest to wreck America, take to the bully pulpit and claim how they so incredibly "care" about the 40 million uninsured Americans.

So I ask, let's require that group of uninsured Americans to be defined. How many of the uninsured:

- Can pay for health care insurance, but choose not to?
- Are illegal aliens and as such should not even be here, let alone be receiving health care and burdening our hospitals and driving up premiums for the rest of us?
- Frankly are unhealthy, and as a result, no insurance company will cover them?

We must put numbers to each of these groups so that we can determine the REAL number of Americans who do not have health insurance for reasons that would get those of us on the Right to say "perhaps we should come up with a solution to help".

At the same time, we need to allow people the freedom of choice when buying health care insurance. There are no other buyer-seller relationships so corrupted by government as is health care. We should have the ability to buy ANY policy we want with ANY coverage we want (or don't want as the case may be). Government should not be allowed to dictate the 100+ rare diseases be mandatory coverage for EVERYONE. Government does not have the right to price fix the process, or control what method of care a patient receives. Those are decisions best left to the patient and doctor.

Similarly, people who are healthy and live a healthy lifestyle should not have the same premiums as someone who is unhealthy and lives an unhealthy lifestyle. This "everyone pays the same premium" is garbage. It gets sold to us as "group coverage" and how we are all so lucky to get lower premiums because we are part of a group....the reality is that is not true. Our systems penalizes the healthy and health conscious and rewards unhealthy behavior and lifestyles. In fact, these group insurance plans place an unfair de facto tax on tens of millions of Americans and American families. People who are unhealthy should pay more for insurance than those who are healthy...and as a persons health status improves, their premiums should go down.


Additionally, we need to educate people about the reasons for buying insurance in the first place. People should have major medical insurance to protect them in the event that an unforeseen and catastrophic medical event takes place. This type of major medical insurance has a high deductible and low premiums. However, using tax dollars to pay for people to go to the dr when they have a cold so they can take advantage of a $25 dr co-pay is simply not acceptable. Same goes for prescription drug coverage. Most Americans are so dramatically OVER insured that it does nothing but pad the drug companies and the insurance companies profit margins.

If major medical costs $100 a month and the forced mass coverage plans totals $700 per month, that means people (and companies) are paying $600 a month ($7,200 per YEAR) for $25 dr visits and $10 drug co-pays. Let me tell you, you have to go to the dr A LOT to even break even!!!

It's time to bring common sense to our country's health care and health care insurance scenario. I encourage you call/fax/e-mail your Democrat AND Republican US House and US Senate Representatives and tell them you do NOT want nationalized medicine and that you want the government to get out of the health care industry!

We CAN do better than the system in place today. But going to a system that has MORE government interference is NOT the correct way for us to proceed.

My Plan for the Rise of Republicanism

There are a lot of career politicians, a lot of people "in the know" and tied to the process who think they have THE plan to return the Republicans to power.

Well, I am here to tell you that I've been talking the talk for the better part of the last year. Thanks to Newt Gingrich for getting on board. Mr. Gingrich, welcome to the party!

For any of you who listened to Newt's speech at the big fundraiser last night, much of what he talked about are things I have been saying since I began blogging at this time last year.

So Mr. Smart Guy (me) what's your big plan?

In short, my plan is built around a principle I learned as a young boy - KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

1) We are a nation under God. Yes, our history is in the Judeo-Christian tradition, but we are not one nation under Jesus....in fact we are one nation under God. This means we are a nation of Faith - Faith in God, Faith in ourselves and our individual ability to do better for ourselves than any government can do for us.

2) The ideals and core values that bind us together and make us Americans are far stronger and more numerous than are those things that we disagree on. It is time that we include people in the Republican Party because of what each person DOES believe in, not to exclude people because of what they do not believe in. What does that mean? It means that if the most important issues of the day are, as we almost all agree, lowering taxes, shrinking government and restoring and preserving and upholding the liberty and freedom granted to us by the Constitution.

Lincoln made the Republican Party THE ORIGINAL party of inclusion, fighting for equality and individuals for those who were wrongly enslaved. Reagan re-energized the Republican Party and included and welcomed to the party Republicans, as well as Independents and Democrats who wanted a better way, a better life, a better America!

The Democrat Party, under the false pretense of helping the poor and caring for the oppressed, have in fact, only furthered the oppression of the the poor in America. The War on Poverty and throwing money at welfare programs has been, and always will be, a complete abject failure. Why is welfare a failure? Because welfare is absolutely and profoundly ANTI-AMERICAN! It is self-reliance and the fact that left to our own devices, Americans will always do better for and by themselves than government can EVER do for us. It is just fact.

3) As a people, we are in agreement in our desire to:
- Have lower taxes, and allow our citizens the opportunity to keep more of what each of us earns;
- Have small government, reduce wasteful spending, and drive governing decisions to the most local level possible, as often as possible, and so as to increase the level and amount of accountability that we can impose upon ALL politicians, regardless of their party;
- Remove the government from interfering in the daily and private lives of citizens and businesses. EVERYTHING government touches it does poorly. Why would we want more government? WE DON'T!!!!! That's the point!;
- We want our country to be safe from terror attacks and we want our streets free from crime;
- We want the quality of education our children receive to improve so that our kids and grandchildren can get better jobs;
- We want REAL immigration reform. Did you know that over 80% of American citizens who are Latino want illegal aliens deported. People who worked hard, followed the rules, and came to America to make America better are sick and tired of people coming here illegally. Further, almost 60% of Americans of Latino descent want ENGLISH to be the ONLY National language of America!!!
- We want REAL welfare reform. Fact is, some 90% of Americans want welfare reform, and over 80% of the people ON welfare want it reformed. People do NOT want to be dependent on the government. People WANT to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. To think otherwise is to think that there are people who intentionally WANT to be failures....that is simply ridiculous. We ARE better than that as a country!

So, the plan for Republicans to return to power and fix America is to understand ALL that is in what I have written above and to campaign on those points. To get out into the community and talk to ALL citizens. To talk WITH and NOT AT people. To listen and include people......because we, as Americans, overwhelmingly agree on everything I have written in this piece.

Keep it simple. Keep it American. And work harder and harder and harder to reject and destroy the LIES that the Democrat Party and the Liberal Media spew every day.

We CAN win....the future of our country....the future of our kids and grandkids depends on our party, THE party of inclusion, to win this fall and next and in 2012.

It's time for "Faith and Solutions"

4 months into the President Obama's tenure and we have discovered a couple of things about "hope and change":

1) Hope and change are what people cling to when government has stripped them of their belief in themselves and their ability to achieve their own personal American Dream
2) Hope and change are actually code words for politics as usual only with MORE government spending

Like many people, I tried to give the new President the benefit of the doubt for at least the first 100 days...but lets face it, he is exactly who we knew he was....he just campaigned to the right of McCain and once again the Democrats beat the GOP at what should be the GOP's game.

So, hope and change has become more political promises unfilled and the only change is that instead of having a HUGE spending social conservative in the Oval Office, we have a bigger spending social liberal.

I have said it 1,000 times before.....elections have consequences.

So, now that "it is what it is" what can we do?

I have some ideas!

The first is for us stop complaining about what has already been done.
Next, lets use our energy and desire for a better America to work together!

The fact is, those of us in the center and on the right agree on so much....these things we agree upon I now call the "Principles of Republicanism"

The "Principles of Republicanism" are defined as follows:

- We want low taxes and agree taxes are too high
- We agree government is too big and too wasteful and we want small, responsive, lean and solutions based government
- We want free enterprise to be allowed to work (that means rewarding success and achievement and penalizing failure without government interference)
- We want government completely and permanently removed from our daily and personal lives

So now, instead of getting bogged down and arguing about the details of how the "Principles of Republicanism" get implemented, we need to find leaders who will run on a clear and consistent message of the "Principles of Republicanism" and we need to support them and the organizations that are working to get them elected. Once we regain power all across America in the fall of 2009 and 2010 we can work together to implement the right solutions.

And it is time to understand that hope is reflective of the absence of faith. If we would simply work to restore our faith in ourselves and help our friends, neighbors, co-workers to find faith in themselves.....then one by one by one, our collective dependence on hoping government will fix things for us will wain and the indivudual and collective greatness of America will once again be on the rise!

We can do it! We can do better! We have to.......

Please learn more about the "Principles of Republicanism" at www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com

Have faith in yourself....for that is where the key to your personal power and personal greatness is waiting for you!

Republicanism - NOT GOP politics as usual

As Founder of Take Back The Republican Party (www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com) I am privileged to have conversations with good people from all across America each day. Like you, they are frustrated - some are even angry - at the state of our union and the direction we are being forced down by the Socialists. From each conversation I am part of, I listen and learn to what people have to say. Over the last 9 months, here is some of what I have learned:

1) Americans - regardless of their party affiliation or social beliefs, overwhelmingly want low taxes, small government (with governing decisions made as close (local) to the people as possible), and the freedom and liberty granted us by the Constitution to be restored, preserved and upheld.

2) Americans are tired of both sides and the media focusing on the issues that divide us. People are desperately seeking an end to the divisiveness and instead, want our country to focus on the things that we agree on - low taxes, small govt, the Constitution.

3) Americans are confused by the plethora of niche groups who focus on one ideological issue instead of focusing on the most urgent and pressing needs of the day with real and reasonable solutions and plans to achieve those solutions.

4) Americans don't know what to do to make a difference and feel like, alone, they can not make a difference.



As a result of our research at TBTRP, we've come to understand that we the people, are overwhelmingly united in our belief in and desire for Republicanism to be THE set of governing principles used to run the country. Republicanism is low taxes, small government, decision making driven to the most local level possible to increase the ability of the people to have a say and to hold elected officials accountable, and certainly, the restoration - preservation - enforcement - upholding of the Constitution - most especially as it relates to the freedoms and liberties granted to us as Americans.



We have also found that there is confusion in the real world about the difference between Republicanism as a set of governing principles, and Conservatism as a set of social beliefs. The two do NOT necessarily go together. For example, the are big government proponents (Socialists) who are very Conservative on social issues. The best example of this would be President George W Bush. Under President Bush, we saw a definite focus on moving social policy to the right, but at the same time we saw an unprecedented (until Obama) expansion in the size of government spending. It's not the Conservative policy of President Bush that turned off so many Americans, it is that he claimed to be Republican yet did not govern in the tradition of Republicanism - government grew, the economy soured, people got angry about the war - and as a result the people felt lied to by our government and politicians once again. So, in 2006 the people said enough of the RINO's and the "Republican Party" and voted in the Democrats (whom I refer to as Socialists as that is a more appropriate definition). Did the American people WANT Democrat Party rule? Of course not, but the Democrats do what they say. Crazy as it sounds, people like that.



At the same time, there are people who are Moderate or Liberal in their social beliefs, yet very much want, and want to vote for, Republicanism. And they do. In fact, most Americans vote purely based on a candidate's governing principles. Case in point, let's go back to 2008. The numbers tell us that only 22% of the American people consider themselves Liberal. 34% Conservative. 44% Moderate. One would think that the more socially conservative candidate would win every time. Just capture 37% of the Moderate vote and victory is achieved. However, it's not social philosophy that drives the majority of the vote in America - it is governing principles. And we know that Republicanism is the desired set of governing principles people want. So, which candidate did a better job of convincing the people he was the one with the Republicanism principles? Correct, it was Obama. What was the message he used to swing the vote his way? "Tax Cuts for 95% of Americans." Clear, concise, and people could relate to that message. Forget all the other stuff.....people first and foremost care about their finances!! You would think that after Bill Clinton and "It's the economy, stupid." and Obama with "Tax cuts for 95% of Americans." that those leading the GOP would have the light bulb turn on.....and yet, even under new leadership, it has not changed the GOP.



The answer is NOT to move to the center or the left and become the Democrat Party light. The answer is NOT to compromise on your social beliefs (no matter what they may be). The answer, no matter if you are Conservative, Moderate or Liberal is to understand that governing principles drives votes.



The answer is that in order to take back power, we must win elections. To win elections we must throw away the current playbook and people calling the plays for the GOP. We must, one town, one city, one county, one state at a time, replace GOP "leaders" with people who understand its about winning elections and to win elections we must have a clear, simple, understandable message of Republicanism and deliver it in a way that regular people can relate.



Today there is no clear message coming from the GOP. And, the message, if one could call it that, that the GOP is delivering is not the message of Republicanism. We MUST change that.....or we absolutely will continue to see our freedom and liberty diminish - our taxes will go up further - our government will grow even larger - and our way of life will continue to evaporate.



I ask, encourage, urge, beg each of you reading this to become part of the solution and help us Take Back The Republican Party.



Thank you for reading and God bless America.



For Today. For Tomorrow. For AMERICA!

Try this on for size (actually I can't think of a good title for this one, but please read anyway)

I received an e-mail from a meetup group I belong to...it talked about how making 30,000 calls to Congress did somethng or other....below is the response I wrote to that board.....

"I will caution you....thumping our chests, stomping our feet and making 30,000 calls to Congress are all well and good, but they do not solve the problem.

The only thing that will solve the problems is to understand that we are not in a battle between Democrats and Republicans, but we are in an epic war between Republicanism and Socialism....and right now, Socialism is winning.

Why is Socialism winning? A couple of reasons. First, the people the have been in charge of leading the GOP for the past 15 or so years have abused their power and not lived up to the principles of Republicanism that almost every American agrees is the way government needs to operate. The GOP has repeatedly nominated RINO's, when they should have been finding and nominating and getting elected REAL Republicans. Remember, a RINO is someone who is a liberal politician that believes in Socialism and expands government, wants more people dependent on government so as to secure votes, and will not stand up and LEAD. A REAL Republican will not only talk the principles of Republicanism, but will stand up and lead and act on those principles. During the 90's when the GOP controlled Congress, we should have seen a shrinking of the size and scope of the federal government by 75%. They failed, no matter what Newt tells you. From 2000-2006 the GOP again was in charge of Congress AND the White House, but these were not REAL Republicans. They are all RINO's and they all FAILED at shrinking the federal government, instead, they spent like the liberal socialists that they are, and again, they let US down. For example, go look at Sue Myrick's record. She is not the great conservative Republican she claims to be.....she voted against the stimulus until the Democrats sweetened the pot for her....then she voted for it. Look at her record from 2000-2006....she was a free spending, big government lib.
"
This is not to attack Rep Myrick or Newt or anyone else individually. Rather, it is to point out the fact that calling Congress, stomping feet, looking for third party options, or other radical things is just NOT what we need to be doing.

What we need to do is mobilize together, take over the county and state and national GOP groups, kick out those who are not absolute and die hard believers and leaders of Republicanism (small govt, low taxes, individual liberty, upholding and enforcing the Constitution, returning governing power to the state and local levels). We need to come together as an organized group, under one leadership vision. To Take Back THe Republican Party, find, recruit, fund and elect REAL Republicans who will defend AMerica, the Constitution and our way of life against Socialism.

On our site, www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com we have a ticker. It is the number of days, hours and minutes until the 2010 elections. We have to get moving NOW, before another day is wasted.

We must understand that elections are won all over America by the candidate who has the most simple and understandable message of Republicanism. The most liberal US Senator won the Presidency in 2008 because he ran his campaign around a singular message of Republicanism "Tax cuts for 95% of the American people". "Our" candidate and party had no message. And "our" party did not focus on Republicanism.

The beauty of Republicanism is that it is a set of governing principles that does not require you to compromise on your social beliefs. Rather, it is THE ONLY set of governing principles that insure you are able to keep those beliefs and that the government can do nothing to infringe upon those beliefs, ie your individual liberties.

This is a really, really important time in the history of the United States of America. Continuing to do what we have done (be complacent, complain, but still sit on the sidelines thinking we are helpless) is not the right way to move forward. The right thing to do, for our parents, our children, grandchildren and all future generations of Americans is to understand that we all agree on the same things - we want and need dramatically lower taxes, a federal government less than half the size it is today, restoration and preservation of the Constitution and all of the freedoms and liberties granted to us under that amazing document, return of governing decisions to the most local level possible. Is any single one of us going to get "our" way in how the details of each of these things play out? The answer is NO. But, if we get a 50% cut in income taxes, elimination of the capital gains tax, federal government that only has 2 departments (Defense and Justice) and defense of the Constitution.....who among us would really complain???????????????????

But it requires that we come together, locally, regionally and nationally. It requires that we kick out the good old "boy" network of political favors and favoritism, put people of principled leadership in charge, and nominate leaders to run for office against the politicians.

That is why I have spent my own money to start up and stand up Take Back The Republican Party. Not for any personal gain, but because it is something that must be done. It's time for the generations that have come after the Baby Boomers to do something real to make our parents proud, strengthen our country, and make it possible for our children and future generations to live life free from tyranny and full of individual liberty.

I look forward to meeting you at the meeting next week. I encourage you to get on board with us - we are working to build a group of 500 people who will all meet at one location, and 10 wide and 50 deep, walk into the July 4th Tea Party in Charlotte arm in arm and make an absolute statement to everyone watching and everyone in attendance that business as usual is not good enough for America any longer.

The time for divisiveness has passed. It is time for us to rally around our common belief in the principles of Republicanism, fix what is wrong with government and strengthen our country. There is NO issue more important or mission more vital to freedom than this movement.

And, as Ronald Reagan was famous for saying, "If you agree with me on 80% of the issues, you ARE my friend." That's the attitude we need to fix our country!

Scott"

Republicanism the ONLY Path for Social Conservative Agenda

It has become plainly evident over the past number of years that there are numerous points of contention among the American people. For far too long, it has been the divisive ideologies that have been the focus, and the result has been an overwhelming power grab by the Democrat Party. Being a fiscal and social Conservative myself, this has been the impetus for the creation of Take Back The Republican Party. I have no burning desire to become a political activist, nor a craving for the spotlight or political office. Rather, in the fall of 2008 I surveyed the landscape for real leadership and found nothing but barren tundra. So, I asked myself, “If not me, then who….if not now, then when?” and with that began the journey which has seen the successful launch of www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com .

So, like many, you be thinking, sounds great, but how do we Take Back The Republican Party? It’s not only a great question, but a very serious one as well.

First, we must understand that Americans fall into one of six categories. On one side are those who believe in Republicanism. On the other side are people who believe in Socialism.

Those who believe in Republicanism as the correct set of governing principles are in favor of:
Low Taxes
Small Government with the best governing happening at the most local level possible
Personal Freedom and Individual Liberties
Self-Reliance
Rule of Law
Upholding the Constitution
Free Enterprise

Those who believe in Socialism favor:
High Taxes
Big Government
Government that tells you what you can/can’t do/see/hear/read/watch
Reliance on Government
Manipulating Laws and the Constitution to further their political power
Government Ownership of Business

We must then include Social Philosophy as the second ingredient to understand how to win elections. There are 3 types of Social Philosophy – Conservative, Moderate, Liberal. In fact, people with each of the social philosophies are represented within the two different governing principles as follows:

Republicanism – Conservative
Republicanism – Moderate
Republicanism – Liberal
Socialism – Conservative
Socialism – Moderate
Socialism – Liberal

People who believe in Socialist governing principles as well as people who believe in Republicanism that are Moderate and Liberal put their governing principles first, their social philosophy second. Social Conservatives who believe in Republicanism is the one group that puts social philosophy first and governing principles second. This is an extremely important point to understand. The hard fact is, in order for our country to be returned to a path of Social Conservatism, those of us who believe in Republicanism must win back power. The only way to win power is to win elections. The way to win elections is to understand how EVERYONE believes and how they vote.

The Liberal media and the Democrat (Socialist) Party in America, has taken power by:
- Talking Republicanism during campaigns (Tax cuts for 95% of Americans ring a bell?) (And this is PROOF that governing principles move votes more than social issues, whether we like it or not, it is reality.)
- Understanding marketing, creating simple and consistent marketing plans that regular people can relate to.
- Portraying everyone who believes in Republicanism as Conservatives, and convincing people that Conservatives are intolerant, hateful and lack compassion. (All of which is patently untrue, but GOP leadership has failed miserably in creating a platform and message to counter the media.)

Tell me, what was the message that the GOP took to the American people in 2008?

That’s right, there wasn’t one. Hmmmm, no wonder 78% of Americans claim to be Conservative or Moderate in their social views, yet the Liberal candidates won all over America.

This is further proof that, in FACT, it is governing principles that dictate how people vote. The Democrats did a better job of talking Republicanism than the GOP, and as a result, they got more votes. More votes = election victory. Election victory = Power.
Power = Ability to shape governing policies AND social policies.

This is absolutely NOT to say that we should compromise on our Conservative values and beliefs. Rather, it is to explain that, in order to have the power to shape social policies, we must win elections. And, in order to win elections we must understand that the overwhelming majority of Americans vote based on governing principles, NOT social issues. That is a hard pill to swallow for most Social Conservatives but tough to swallow or not, it is THE ONLY WAY for us to reshape the GOP, win elections all over America in 2010 and ultimately regain the power needed to affect social policies. But we must not nominate people who will turn their backs on the governing principles of Republicanism. That’s what President Bush and the Republicans in Congress did from 2000-2006 and it caused the GOP to lose overwhelmingly in 2008.
At Take Back The Republican Party we are educating and informing the American people with the message of Republicanism. It is a positive and uplifting message, and we use examples that REAL people can really relate to, and as a result our following is growing with each day that passes. We ARE going to take over the Republican Party and elect candidates who truly believe in Republicanism and will uphold the founding philosophies and principles of our country. We need your help as well, so please join our team. Together we can fix America.
Visit us at www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com to learn more!

Republicanism the ONLY Path for Social Conservative Agenda

It has become plainly evident over the past number of years that there are numerous points of contention among the American people. For far too long, it has been the divisive ideologies that have been the focus, and the result has been an overwhelming power grab by the Democrat Party. Being a fiscal and social Conservative myself, this has been the impetus for the creation of Take Back The Republican Party. I have no burning desire to become a political activist, nor a craving for the spotlight or political office. Rather, in the fall of 2008 I surveyed the landscape for real leadership and found nothing but barren tundra. So, I asked myself, “If not me, then who….if not now, then when?” and with that began the journey which has seen the successful launch of www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com and with more than 4 out of 5 people I talk with, a rallying around our message and our philosophy for taking back our party and our country.

Liberal Democrats have done a masterful job of finding a great marketing message and they have used it consistently to sway an overwhelming majority of Independents and Moderates to their side, and the result for America has been one which continues to lead us down a disastrous path.

Conservatives, and the Republican Party (and most notably those that have been leading the GOP) have completely lost touch with the pulse of a large portion of the American people. Rather than crafting a message that appeals to the American people, we’ve chosen to focus on divisive issues and as a result, driven away the very people Ronald Reagan used to win the Presidency. How did President Reagan do it? He did it by focusing first and foremost on things that made us proud to be American, and on the things upon which then, like today, 4 out of 5 Americans agree upon. President Reagan was a master marketer. He won the votes of Democrats and Independents not by pushing them away based on differences, but rather by including those groups because of what they DID believe!

There is a great lesson to be learned, and it is the basis for our movement at TBTRP. When exit polling after the 2008 elections showed 44% of Americans to be Moderate and 34% to be Conservative, the only way Republicans can continue to lose elections is by doing what we have been doing….focusing on divisive issues and pushing away the very people who want to vote Republican, but do not feel welcome or included by the GOP.

The reality is there is a better way. Nearly 80% of Americans are united in their desire for:
Low taxes
Small government
States rights and the ability for governing decisions to be made locally and NOT nationally
Welfare reform that keeps compassion in our country and puts the rewarding of achievement back INTO our country
Real immigration reform that welcomes and rewards those that come here legally while discouraging and punishing those that violate our laws by coming here illegally
Preservation and restoration of individual liberties and personal freedoms that government keeps taking away from us.

These are ALL principles and policies of true Republicanism! Republicanism is a set of governing principles which also just happen to be the basis for a simple and consistent marketing message that will get real Republicans elected. And it is only when Republicans get elected and take control of Congress, governor mansions, state legislatures and the like will we actually be able to implement change in social policies.

So, no matter how far right you are on social issues, it is time for us all to realize that the ONLY way to make gains in those areas is to win elections. The only way to win elections is to once again make the Republican Party the party of inclusion, the party of limited government and individual liberties and personal freedoms. And that does NOT mean we have to compromise on our personal beliefs or social philosophy in order to win elections.

If we continue down the divisive path we have taken over the last 15+ years, we will continue to alienate the very people we need to include. And as we include, we can use that as opportunity to teach and educate in a positive, compassionate and inclusive way.

Ours is a country under God, built on ideals that government has no place interfering in the private lives of citizens and that government which governs least governs best. God has patience, compassion, understanding and a willingness to teach and educate….it is time we follow in that example and come together around things we agree upon to build consensus and understanding so that we may tackle the issues upon which we are not as yet unified.

Please join our team. Together we can fix America. Visit us at www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com to learn more!

I don't often get angry......

......but today I am mad as hell!

I had a conversation with one of my very best friends today. He is having to choose between taking a huge pay cut or letting some of his staff go.....after discussing the topic with him for the better part of a half hour, I came to the following conclusion:

-We need to vote out EVERY sitting politician, bar none.
-We need to reinvigorate our country with leaders and dispose of the career politicians who have gotten fat and happy while the overwhelming majority of Americans are paying the price for their corrupt and unethical and irresponsible behavior.
-We need to strip the federal government of nearly all of its power, and returning the responsibility of governing to the American people at the local and state level.

And we need to stop arguing about the divisive issues that tear us apart, focus on and fix the issues we already agree upon.

Lower taxes
Less government
Self-reliance
Personal responsibility
Welfare reform
Immigration reform

The politicians and elitists who run Washington and BOTH political parties in this country should be ashamed of themselves. It is time for a REVOLUTION!!!!

So, get off the sidelines and get into the game. Join www.TakeBackTheRepublicanParty.com and help us fix America NOW, before it is too late!

Perspective and "Stimulus Bill"

Over the past week, we have a seen the market bounce nearly 1000 points from its low a couple of weeks ago. Certainly good news! Yet, in this day and age of bi-polar news reporting, where any bad day means the end of the world is coming, and any good day means the recession is over, it is important that we have perspective.

Perspective, to me, means keeping a view of immediate events within a broader long term outlook. Ultimately, whether government did, or did not, do anything relative to the current economic situation this recession would ultimately have a beginning, a middle and an end. When we lose perspective on that natural order of things, we react and overreact emotionally. We panic and take action for the sake of taking action. Doing something HAS to be better than doing nothing it is argued. Perhaps that is true. But what if it is not true?

What if spending what is now nearing $2 TRILLION dollars to reward failure and underachievement turns out to be the wrong thing? The fact of the matter is the US government spending $2 TRILLION to bail out this bank and that automaker, this insurance company and that investment house is akin to taking out a sub prime mortgage on the future economic stability of America.

This bill IS going to come due. You, your kids, and the next 2-3 generations of Americans are going to have to pay the price of rewarding failure. Banks and bankers made risky decisions, they gambled and lost. They failed. The American automakers allowed the unions to run roughshod over them for decades signing contracts yesterday that are crippling them today.

Hmmmmm signing something today to keep things going without keeping perspective of what that means for tomorrow......do you see the parallel between that and what the Obama Administration is doing? They are signing away trillions of dollars today to "keep things running", trying to garner support of some Americans by playing the fear game and scaring folks with words like catastrophe and depression and "we'll take from the rich and give to the poor". But there is going to be a tomorrow, and the bill is going to come due. How do you think we are going to pay for it????

Do you think it is just a snap of the fingers, tax the rich and tax businesses? If you believe that, there is a reality you are not going to like in your future.

Q: What happens when you tax the rich and businesses?
A: The rich take money they would invest and money they would pay taxes on, and they find ways to shelter their money. This leads to lower tax revenues and less investment. Exactly the opposite of what makes our economy go. Businesses, in order to hit EPS and keep stock prices climbing, lay off workers, cut back on investing in new technology, and lose their global competitive advantage. This leads to higher UNemployment, fewer jobs, slower economic growth.

But boy, we sure can feel good because the government is going to stick it to the rich and the businesses that take advantage of the rest of us! (Fact is, the rich own and invest in businesses that employ people. Businesses invest in new technologies to be more competitive, hire workers, and are a primary cog in the engine of the American economy. The dirty little secret the liberals and socialists don't want you to know is that lower taxes on the rich and businesses is better for the average American than raising taxes on the rich and on businesses.)

I hope you see this for what it is. A chance for government to exponentially increase spending and later on, increase taxes. And not just taxes on business. Your tax rate is going to go up. The Democrats, librals and socialists will ultimately come back and say "This debt is just too high and everyone must pay his/her share." (except those on welfare, but they already get rewarded for underachievement) This only leads to slower economic growth and growth in the number of people who become hopeless and dependent on government. This is as anti-American as anything I can imagine.

Let's keep some perspective as the market rises, and also as it falls.

Let's remember that there are things that are undeniably true, no matter what the biased media lead us to believe:

1. Taxes MUST be lowered dramatically for ALL Americans. When companies keep more of what they make, they invest in new technology and hire new workers. When people keep more of what they make, the buy more and save more, improving the standard of living for all. We CAN have it both ways....lower taxes for ALL Americans.
2. Government must be reformed and expenditures slashed. (Defending the country, upholding the laws of the land, ending the financial drain and strain on our states and cities caused by illegal immigration, rewarding achievement and enforcing personal responsibility and self-reliance)

It is time for action in America. It is time to stop bickering about issues we don't agree on, and time to come together around the things we do share as common ground. Together, we can add perspective back into the national consciousness and make the changes needed to move America forward in the right ways.

America needs Take Back The Republican Party!

The more I think about it, the more I talk to people, the more clear it becomes that America needs TBTRP and our message of American Values.....

We don't need to hope for government to save us, we just need to have faith in ourselves!

Hope is the absence of self-reliance and determination.

Faith is the knowledge in self and the determination to make one's life what we want it to be.

It's time for us to take back our party and our country. Our message is simple:

Lower taxes by 50% for ALL Americans and American businesses
Reduce the Federal Government by at least 35% and end all unfunded mandates
Restore the American Values of Personal Responsibility and Self-Reliance
Reward achievement and discourage everything else

It can be done. It MUST be done. Time's a wasting.....ONLY 597 DAYS LEFT til the midterm elections of 2010!!!

The time to ACT is fast approaching!

With each day that passes, the saying made famous by former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green becomes more and more true...after squandering a lead and eventually losing to the Chicago Bears, Coach Green went on a tirade in his post game press conference. "They are who we thought they were!" are the words Coach Green used to describe the Bears. The Bears were a juggernaut, manhandling all of their opponents during the season until they met the lowly Cardinals. But Coach Green saw the Bears weaknesses and knew if his team executed, that they could beat the vaunted Bears. The problem the Cardinals had, was that they could not stick to the game plan and execute the plan for the full game.
Fast forward to today, and while candidate Obama did a masterful job of playing used car salesman and convincing many moderates/independents and even a whole bunch of RINOS that he was going to be different, a leader who would lead from the center and bring the nation together, we now know that Obama is who we thought he was. A big government socialist, with an agenda to dramatically expand the size of government, further increase the number of people dependent on government to live their lives for them (thereby increasing the voting bloc of the Democrat Party) and undertake what is about to be the largest redistribution of American wealth in the history of our great country. President Obama is who we knew he was.
There are people like Rush and Newt who are famous and popular, who host shows and write books and make millions, yet never seem to actually drive any action. Couple that with the fact that we must finally take action and force change in our country before it is too late, and Take Back The Republican Party has been born.
We will soon be officially launching Take Back The Republican Party, on a platform of ideals that more than 75% of Americans agree with:
- Lower Taxes for All Americans! We have been led to believe that you are either for tax cuts for the middle class, or you are for tax cuts for business, but that you can not be for both. TBTRP vehemently disagrees. We believe the only real position to take is to be in favor of tax cuts for ALL AMERICANS.....individuals and businesses. In fact, we propose and recommend a 50% tax cut for individuals and businesses. This WILL absolutely spur the kind of economic growth we need to emerge from this recession stronger than ever.
- Less Government! Reducing taxes by 50% will not require a 50% reduction in the size of the federal government and we know this to be true because history has proven that any time taxes are cut, tax revenues are not affected in the same way. You see, tax cuts spur business growth and consumer spending which increase the taxes paid to government. So, a 50% decrease in taxes should be accompanied by a 35%-40% reduction in the size of the federal government. Per the US Constitution, the federal government has but two duties. Provide for the national defense and settle disputes between the states. The fact of the matter is that ANYTHING other than these two things that our federal government does is unconstitutional. Not to mention the looks I get when I ask people, "What would happen if the federal government shut down tomorrow?" The overwhelming majority of Americans would not even notice!!!!!! We need to take a hard look at our federal government and eliminate all unfunded federal mandates and eliminate all agencies that are not directly involved in providing for the defense of our country or settline disputes between states. All other governing decisions need to be made at the state and local level, as the Founders intended.
No More Taxation without Representation! And frankly, no more representation that goes against the wishes of the people. The first American Revolution was the result of a distant government taxing citizens without honest and accurate representation. The same thing is going on today. More than 75% of the American people want lower taxes and less government, yet taxes are going to go up under Obama, and government is already (and has been) growing at an astronomical rate. It is time for the American people to take a stand!
Other items in the TBTRP platform include ending the financial drain on our economy and on our state and local governments caused by illegal aliens; doing everything needed to make our towns and cities safe and free from crime (this includes more police, more DA's, more jails, and requiring that judges follow the laws in sentencing); a return to Self-Reliance and Personal Repsonsibility (we must end the generational dependency on the government that too many people have been born into and accepted); and welfare reform - all government welfare programs have been a total and complete failure. The Great Society, the War on Poverty and other programs have done nothing to shrink the percentage of people on welfare, which is what these programs were designed to do. These programs must be fixed and made temporary. No one of able mind or able body should be allowed to live off the state and not contribute positively to our society. However, these programs should be examined, made VERY temporary and recipients need to be forced to work in order to receive any type of benefit.

We have a tremendous task ahead of us. Or success will be determined by our ability to get people to get off the sidelines and take action.

In the days, weeks, and months ahead, Take Back The Republican Party will formally launch, and we will ask you to get involved, contribute, and get your friends and family involved. Together, we will Take Back The Republican Party, we will take back control of Congress, and we will fix our country.

Take Back The Republican Party
For Today. For Tomorrow. For AMERICA!

Market is up 280 points on 3/10....but not so fast.....

It is great to see some life in the stock market today, at last check the market is up 280 points today. HOWEVER, it must be noted, that since President Obama got elected, the market is down nearly 35%!!!

A one day bump in the market makes us feel relief, but the stimulus bill passed by Obama and the Congress, just like the election of 2008, has consequences. Very serious consequences that are going to have to be dealt with in the years to come.

We have effectively allowed Obama and the Liberals from both parties to fast track the United States of America into becoming the Socialist Republic of North America. Nationalize this, nationalize that. This bank is too big to fail, that business is too large to fail. Except that when we look under the covers preferential treatment is given to some banks over others...I wonder why that is??? And why is it that GM, or Ford can't be "allowed" to fail?? The natural order of a free market capitalist society is that failure, just like market downturns, weed out the underperformers and the failures. Until the socialists like Obama and Pelosi and Reid took over, business failing was a regular, and necessary aspect of business life in America.

The hard, indisputable fact is that businesses should be allowed to fail and government needs to get out of the way. Name one thing government does well? Aside from collecting taxes, you can't name a single thing government does well. We have become so soft and so dependent on having "government" live our lives for us, that we have no stomach for tough times or failure.

Did failure stop Lincoln from becoming President? NO.
Did failure stop Lee Iaoccoca from taking Chrysler from bankruptcy to prominence? NO.
Did failure stop us from letting the Savings and Loans from ceasing to exist in the 1980's? NO.

And guess what, the result of each of these failures allowed America to emerge stronger than ever before.

Until now. Now, government is trying to save businesses by mortgaging the future of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

So, the next time you see a day like this with a 280 point pop in the market, it is ok to feel some relief. But remember, the actions taken by our President since he was sworn in on Jan 20, 2009, do have, and will continue to have major implications in the survival of this country....and in your economic survival in the years to come.

We can fix it, but we have to find people who will stand up and do what is right. Shrink government. Dramatically reduce taxes. Allow businesses and individuals to keep more of what they earn.

Take Back The Republican Party is a national, grass roots initiative that is launching on April 15th. We'll be asking for your involvement and your support as we set off on the incredible task of fixing our party and our country. We will do it. We HAVE to!

For Today. For Tomorrow. For AMERICA!

Obama mumbling, the DOW is tumbling.....

Are the American people really so naive to think that Obama really is who he claimed to be during the election?

The great Savior, the almighty One has proven to be more like a North Korean dud missle than anything remotely resembling the leader that he claimed to be during election 08. The Dow Jones Industrial average reached a new post 1997 low today, closing at 6,594.

Retirees and those nearing retirement are seeing their nest eggs get hard boiled, and I have yet to hear the President talk about how anything he has proposed is going to help the generation that built modern America. Why is that I wonder? 95% of Americans are getting tax cuts....$13 a week...woohoo! Oh wait, those in or nearing retirement belong to a generation of Americans that actually ACHIEVED something, and that perfectly explains why President Obama has turned his back on them. Achievers have no place in the world of Barack Obama and the Socialist Liberals that make up his administration AND Congress. Where are the Conservatives? Where are the people who believe in what America really has been and should be?

President Obama, the Republican Party AND every Liberal in the country should be ashamed of the way this country is treating the Baby Boomers. It sickens me and disgusts me.

America is better than this........or at least before Obama, the Libs and the RINO's we damn sure were.........

Every generation needs a new revolution

And so goes the saying by one of the most famous of all Americans.

"Every generation needs a new revolution." - Thomas Jefferson

While the world we live in today is vastly different than it was during colonial times, there is much truth in the saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In the 1770's, the colonists, fed up with paying taxes to a government that paid them no attention, other than to take their earned monies, revolted. It was a revolution fought with weapons and many men perished in the struggle. But revolution led to the creation of the greatest country that humankind has ever known.

Today, I see the United States making mistakes like England did back during the time of the first American Revolution. To be sure, I am not a scholar, but it is quite plain to see that today our government is not learning from the past, but rather hell bent on taking us down a road that leads to a dimmer future and a much less certain tomorrow.

Will the market rebound and will the economy grow again? Yes it will. Regardless of, and in spite of government, the economy will grow and the markets will recover.

Government can, and will, have an effect on the length and depth of our recessions and our growth phases. No free market can ever go up forever, or go down forever. Simply, there is always a buyer and always a seller. Each has a price and a risk tolerance level they are willing to accept. There have been, and always will be, times when some combination of poor management and difficult economic conditions will result in the failure of businesses. This is the natural order of such things. It is ok for businesses to fail. The survivors, who run better businesses, will be rewarded.

I think today of all of the bailouts that are going on. These are truly, and purely, political plays taken by a President paying back those that helped elect him. This is what America has become. A country in which politicians sell themselves out, in order to raise money to get elected and re-elected. Where playing the political game is more important than doing what is right. Where sounds bites and slick talkers manipulate and twist words, saying whatever is needed to make the current audience feel like the politician is on their side.

We are told that companies like GM can not be allowed to fail. Well, what if GM failed? What if GM ceased to exist? Reality is, GM has been poorly run for decades. Agreeing to bad contracts with unions and the resulting lack of innovation and quality are killing GM. Yet when times are good or before (foreign) competition, anyone can succeed. But when competition increases, and other companies make a better product for a lower price, your business is in trouble. Such is the case with GM. Does this mean I want GM to go out of business? Of course not! But if GM goes out of business, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and any other company making cars would take GM's customers, sell more cars and trucks and be healthier businesses. The companies that make better products at lower prices would expand their businesses and grow. This would lead to job creation to offset the job losses at GM. (I am only using GM as an example)

While the private sector tightens its belt in order to become more efficient or save mo ney or ensure its business life, government continues to grow at an ever alarming rate, and the more it grows, the more it interferes in things it has no right to touch. The American people want lower taxes, smaller and less government. President Obama is undertaking the largest expansion of government in our history. The American people were and are clearly against the "stimulus" bill just signed into law. President Obama signed a bad bill anyway, because he is a socialist and wants to turn our free market country into a third world socialist state. There is nothing in the stimulus law to stimulate the economy, it is just full of earmarks paying off all the people/organizations that helped fund Obama's election. It is time that we force our government to once again be of, by and for the people.

It is time for the 2nd American Revolution! This revolution against government will not be bloody. It is a revolution based on values and ideals that we, the American people, hold as important and vital to the continuation of our way of life.

As was the case with the colonists in the 1770's, once again we have a government that takes our money and spends it against the will of the people...against our will. The elite political aristocracy is in control and they could care less about entrepreneurism, free markets, capitalism. They want to take from the achievers and give to those who will become even further dependent on government assistance. It is how they will stay in power.

The longer we wait, the more people there will be on the government rolls. The longer we wait, the more we lose touch with self-reliance and personal responsibility. The longer we wait, well, we can't afford to wait any longer.........

Obama and change......

Well, Obama is delivering on his promise of change alright!

He's quickly changing us from the greatest free market country in the world to an average, run of the mill socialist state in which mediocrity is rewarded and greatness is penalized......

That's not the kind of change ANY of us should believe in....but for all the people who voted for Obama without knowing anything about him, for those that voted for change without knowing really what the changes were going to be, and for those who thought that once Obama took office all would be right with the world.......Thanks!

Thanks for putting us on the fast track to socialism, where everyone has the same stuff....and it is all crappy stuff! Thanks for wanting universal health care....so that everyone, including the responsible and hard working among us, can wait in line 18 months for needed surgery, or an MRI. But hey, it'll be "free".

Thanks for fast tracking us toward a future in which the most driven and talented among us move to Mexico so they can have a chance to shine and be rewarded for greatness. Thanks for wanting to make the United States become the old Soviet Union. You do know how that turned out, right?

That is the kind of change we can REALLY believe in isn't it? I have said it before to all of you that voted for Obama and for those of you who think we should move our thinking and policies to the left......Elections have consequences...........

Why does ANYONE think more government is the answer?

President Obama spoke before Congress last night. He is a smooth communicator, and people are buying his junk just like they did when President Clinton was in office.

The devil, as they say, is in the details. And the details can be summed up as follows:

President Obama has pushed for and signed the largest spending bill in the history of the United States. This spending bill tasted bad going down, and when the bill comes due it is going to taste even worse coming up. Combined with TARP1 and TARP2 we've committed to spending 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS on a mess that right of center thinking and policies would have prevented.

1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS - If we had to pay that back today, it would cost $5,000 for EVERY man, woman and child in America. There are 3 people in my family....what great benefit is there for me having to pay $15,000 for all of this spending? You NEED to ask yourself the same question!

The scary part is, we won't be paying back 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS, it will, with interest and the added and ongoing funding of programs, be more like a 10 TRILLION DOLLAR price tag. In case your math is a little fuzzy, that means EVERY man, woman and child alive today will be responsible for giving the government an ADDITIONAL $30,000+ in HIGHER TAXES!!!!

Taking it a step further, not all of the 300 million US citizens pay taxes. Deduct children and those on welfare and the numbers go even HIGHER for all of us that work hard and try to provide for our families.

So, we have two options. One option is to keep buying into this garbage we are fed by the mainstream media and by President Obama and the Democrat Party. The end result will look a lot like the Soviet Union where, unless you were one the few in the elite class, you got the same as everyone else, and everyone else lived in poverty.

The other option is to stop and think and answer the following questions:

1. Does government make anything with the tax dollars it collects that creates real, permanent economic growth? The answer is a resounding NO!

2. Name one thing our government touches that is run well and with a high degree of efficiency.

3. Name one thing our government does that private industry can not do better? (You can't, so don't waste your time thinking about it.)

There is, and always will be, a need for government. However, our country is one founded on principles and ideals. That we should not have taxation without representation. Do you feel the members of Congress truly do what the American people want them to do? The American people were and are against TARP 1 and 2. The American people are against the latest bailout. The American people overwhelmingly want lower taxes and smaller government, yet what we are getting is higher taxes and more government!!!! We must put a stop to this now!

Our federal government should be responsible for protecting the country and settling disputes between the states. There shoould be a Treasury Department and a State Department as well.
Yet, on this 25th day of February, 2009 I ask you to stop and think for a moment. What purpose does any other federal agency serve....and more importantly, would you, or anyone, notice if we shut down every other federal government department?

Shouldn't the post office be required to operate as a for profit business? Can you REALLY name one thing that the US Dept of Education does that has a positive effect on the eduction of your child in your town? We could go department by department, and over and over again, the conclusion that any sane individual would come up with is that our massive federal government does not do anything but raise taxes and unwisely spend our tax dollars.

Shouldn't decisions on things like energy, the environment, education, roads and the like be made at the most local level possible? How do Senators and Representatives from Oregon know what the citizens of Florida want? In North Carolina, it is the will of the people to drill for oil off the coast, and use that money to improve roads and lower taxes and the like. Why is it that people who have never been to North Carolina can tell us how we can and must use our resources?

You see, we are at a serious point in American history.

Down the road laid out for us by President Obama is a Socialist State, where everyone is the same and where individuality and entrepreneurism is discouraged and penalized. Bigger government, higher taxes, a lower standard of living and the abomination of self reliance and personal responsibility await us.

There is another road. This other road is one in which American companies and entrepreneurs are rewarded for creating jobs and growing the economy. This other road is one in which more people are working, taxes are lower, government is dramatically smaller and our standard of living is much higher. This other road is full of shining examples of people and families that take personal responsibility for their lot in life. Where people do not look toward government to pay their mortgage or heat their home, but rather, where Americans look inward and rely on themselves for everything they have and everything they want and need.

Reliance on self and taking personal responsibility for your own life is the very meaning of freedom and independence.

Are you willing to give up your freedom and independence?

$75 Billion for 7.5 million homeowners.....

Perhaps it is time for a little lesson in realistic math....

President Obama just tagged ANOTHER $75 Billion of our money to help troubled homeowners get mortgage help. Digging beyond the headline, what do those numbers really mean?

First, the money is going to be used to, essentially, reimburse banks for refinancing people who are current on their mortgages but who are in danger of falling behind. Sounds like a really good idea. However, $75 Billion divided by 7.5 million homeowners is $10,000....take that $10K and divide it by 360 (the number of monthly payments in a 30 yr fixed mortgage) and you get a monthly reduction in mortgage payment of $27.

So, do we REALLY think that $27 is going to save anyone's mortgage??? Give me a break!

How about this idea: Let's say the average family earns $60,000 per year. If taxable income ends up being $40,000 ($20K in deductions) the tax owed for the year is $5,201. What if, we implement my idea, and cut the personal (and corp) income tax rate by 50%? That would put $2600 into people's budget every year, or per month, $216.

What if you are a family making $100K with $30K in deductions (again a high estimate of deductions). Your $70K in taxable income carries a tax liability of $10,194. If we cut the rate in half, that family would get an extra $5,097 per year or $424 per MONTH injected into the family budget.

In both cases, that is REAL buying and investing power for tens of millions of families across this country. You want to save mortgages Mr. President, then let's do the RIGHT thing. Lower taxes, drastically shrink the size of government (on the campaign trail, YOU DID tell us you were NOT going to sign any bill with pork and you WERE going to go through the budget and government with a fine tooth comb).

You've already gone back on campaign promises Mr. President. We ARE watching........

Do you pay your bills on time.....

Let me preface by saying, myself included, I think we have all had times in life when we have been late on a payment, or maybe even two or three.

However, today, given President Obama's speech in my old stomping grounds of beautiful Mesa, AZ, if you work hard, do the right thing, pay your bills on time, you had better be so completely irritated and annoyed that if you are not already on my side, you need to be!

This recession has had a direct impact on my family and people that I know well. And, while not everyone in my family agrees with me on all of my political views, not a single one of them is looking for a handout or a bailout.

Within my circle of family and friends, people I know personally have been affected by the recession in the following ways:
- preparing for retirement this year, only to see portfolio drop by some 50%
- trying to sell current house to move into a new house, are having difficulty selling the current house and may have to back out of the contract for the new house
- 20% involuntary pay cut at work, yet within 24 hours had a second, part time job, to ensure that his family and responsibilities are taken care of

These are ALL real examples of real people that I know and love. Not one of them is looking for anything special. Yet, today, President Obama has basically told each of them tough crap.

We're going to SPEND another $75 BILLION to keep people in houses they NEVER had any business buying in the first place!

Yes, I am mad as hell. And I place blame all around! President Bush and the RINOS (Republicans In Name Only) that ran Washington from 2001-2006 were irresponsible on virtually every item of domestic policy (aside from national security). The Republicans turned a blind eye to corruption and over spending. These fake Republicans had a significant hand in creating this recession.

At the same time, the Democrats, INCLUDING Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, upon taking control of Congress in 2006, further exacerbated the problem by further increasing spending. The Democrat led Congress also forced banks to loan money to people who had no business buying homes because, as Democrats see it, home ownership is now an ENTITLEMENT.......are you kidding me?????

The Dems forced banks to NOT act like banks and loan money to people who did not qualify for the loans they received.
The banks deserve responsibility for not standing up to the corrupt politics of the Democrats in Washington and saying no. Instead, banks went along, made billions, and are now being bailed out when they should be allowed to fail or succeed of their own volition. (CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY)
The individuals who signed loans, knowing there was NO WAY they could make the mortgage payments are also responsible for this mess. (PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY) Now, we are going to bail these people out and make their boo-boos all better.

And yet, here we sit, the middle, upper-middle and above economic classes of Americans, the success class, the ACHIEVER'S class....and what do we get? We get hard working people with young families who do the right things yet they get screwed. We have hard working retirees and people nearing retirement - people who helped build this country - worked hard and honestly, did the best they could and saved money for retirement. Only to have their retirement security wiped out in the cosmic blink of an eye. We have talented people, top performing people, who are having to take pay cuts, or are losing their jobs because the people we elect care more about getting elected than they care about doing what it right.

If you pay your bills on time, have the American Dream and a better future for your kids and a secure retirement as goals for your life, then you, like me and millions of others across this country, should be mad as hell!

Congress and our President are spending our retirement and the future standard of living of our children and unborn grandchildren into the ground.

Running up deficits on pork projects is NEVER the way to stimulate the economy.
Government can NEVER do better anything private industry can do.
The ONLY strategy and tactic that will ever grow the economy are tax cuts for the people, and tax cuts for businesses.

I do not care if you are a supply-sider or a Keynesian demand-sider. THE FACT is that when people have more money they spend more and they invest more. When companies have more money they invest in technology and in hiring people to grow their business.

When companies have more money and they employ more people, more people are at work, unemployment is lower, savings are higher, spending is higher and the economy grows.
When people buy more, companies have to make more to keep up with demand and suppliers have to supply more.

Government spending never has, and never will, be better than private sector spending. You MUST realize that government NEVER makes anything (well they never make anything but a mess of things).

We must shrink government. We must reduce taxes. Those are the two overriding goals of Take Back the Republican Party. We'll be launching the organization officially in the next 4-6 weeks and I am asking you now and I will ask you again to join us to fix America. Whether you are Republican or Democrat or Libertarian it doesn't matter, you are welcome with us. Conservative or Liberal or Moderate, you are welcome with us. Active or passive when it comes to politics, you are still welcome. No matter your background or your life experiences, you are welcome to join us.

We stand, as Americans, upon a common ground:
We all want lower taxes, yet our government (at every level) continues to do things that will ultimately raise our taxes.
We all want less government. We are Americans and we all believe in limited government interference in the lives of citizens, it is what this country was founded upon.

YET, the people we elect talk a great game, but do exactly the opposite of what we want them to do.

There are many other issues we must deal with as a country, but none can happen successfully for the long term future of America if we do not first get personal and corporate income taxes reduced, I say by 50% and the Capital Gains tax eliminated.

Those actions would jump start our economy instantly. People and companies would have more money. Companies would hire workers lowering unemployment and increasing consumer spending. People would spend and save more. This increase in spending will result in an increase in consumer and investor confidence. Investors of all sizes will flock back into the stock market, stock prices, EPS, and investor portfolios will climb once again.

More people working means more people able to buy houses. Demand for houses goes up, prices will follow. Not at the outrageous rates we experienced earlier in this decade, but to historically accurate and reasonable levels.

This is the start. I need your help. We CAN do it.....For Today. For Tomorrow. For America.

Recession - Catastrophe - Depression....or how about TAX CUTS!

Well, you have to hand it to Obama, he has a great way of manipulating expectations.

During the campaign, he was the great savior of hope and change.....but now that he has taken office, the President has lowered expectations to the point that, if we don't tumble into the next great depression, he thinks he'll go down in history as the greatest president of all time!

Now, let's be fair. President Obama has inherited a mess. The greatest crisis since the Great Depression?? Well I am not so sure about that. From what I have learned, unemployment and the economy were actually in worse shape when President Reagan took office in January of 1981 than they are today. But it seems our President only knows of two periods in American history - the last 8 years and the Great Depression. Unemployment in January of 1981 was at 7.5%, in January 2009, 7.2%. In Jan 81, inflation was at 14%!!!!!!!! Today, it's extremely low and depending on the report hovers between 1% - 3%(it's going to trend higher with all the deficit spending we are doing, but as of today, inflation is low).

So, President Obama, before you talk about how tax cuts don't work, and how tax cuts have resulted in us getting into this mess, let's get the facts out there for people to understand:

1. Taxes are down a couple of percentage points today, compared to where they were pre-Bush.
2. President Reagan turned the economy by instituting massive tax cuts.

From a report by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, circa 1996 comes the following:

"The Reagan tax cuts, like similar measures enacted in the 1920s and 1960s, showed that reducing excessive tax rates stimulates growth, reduces tax avoidance, and can increase the amount and share of tax payments generated by the rich. High top tax rates can induce counterproductive behavior and suppress revenues, factors that are usually missed or understated in government static revenue analysis."

The full text can be read here http://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/tx-grwth/reagtxct/reagtxct.htm

President Obama, you are flat WRONG when you say tax cuts do not work. In fact, reducing taxes on the highest earners (business and top income individuals) actually INCREASES tax revenues. I Know, this is something you and the other Liberals in America just don't understand. Further proof that Liberals just don't get it when it comes to economics.

President Reagan cut the individual tax rates, across the baord, by 25%!!! And guess what, the economy grew. The wealthiest Americans stopped hiding their money in tax shelters and actually paid MORE taxes! Not only that, but middle and low income Americans paid LESS in taxes!

Ummmmm HELLO PEOPLE!!!!

The real solution is right before us. It is NOT massive spending. Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts for EVERYONE AND EVERY BUSINESS!

The stimulus bill, ie porkulus as it is being called is going to have serious consequences. Huge deficits that will have to be paid back. A further lessening of the value of the US dollar which WILL result in inflation, the likes of which we have not seen since the Carter Administration. When inflation hits 15% and it costs $6 for a box of Cheerios, you can thank both the out of control spending allowed by the Bush Administration and the Republican led Congress of 2000-2006 AND Persident Obama and his Liberal pals and the policies and plans they are about to implement.

Permanent, decisive and large tax cuts on businesses, capital gains, and individuals across the board, coupled with a 30-40% reduction in the Federal budget is THE only answer that will solve the current economic downturn we are experiencing AND allow us to be positioned for future economic growth without the heavy burdens of uncontrollable deficits and runaway inflation.....

Mr. President, it is time to do the RIGHT thing....

Buffalo, geese and the "stimulus" bill

I am not sure if any of you have heard the comparison story about buffalo and geese in business, and how all the buffalo will follow the "lead buffalo" even if the lead buffalo leads them to their death. Whereas geese operate in a different manner. Geese fly in "V" formations, still traveling in groups like the buffalo, but if the lead goose falls ill and drops from the sky, plunging to its death, the rest of the geese do not follow the "leader" into the ground, another goose takes the lead spot in the "V" and on they fly.

You should ask yourself if you are a buffalo, following our "leader" in thinking the proposed "stimulus" bill is really the right way to lead our economy through the rough patch we are experiencing. You see, President Obama is now resorting to FEAR tactics in his effort to get his spending bill passed. The bill is not a stimulus bill, well the part about tax cuts will have a stimulating effect on the economy, that is for certain. But all of the pork project spending in the bill will in no way stimulate anything but the growth of government.

Every day I speak with people frustrated with the amount they pay in taxes, the size and scope and intrusiveness of government. Yet, people still believe we can somehow spend over a TRILLION dollars that we do not have, burden our children with debt they will NEVER be able to pay off, and still preserve the standard or living and way of life that makes America the greatest country in the history on humankind.

The ONLY way to stimulate economic recovery, job growth, reinvestment....is to reduce taxes AND reduce the size of government and government spending. In a time when our "leader" should be actually leading us toward recovery, he is wanting us to be buffalo and get us to follow him down the road toward socialism........

The choice is very clear. Be a buffalo, follow Obama and drag our great country into socialism. And in case you have forgotten, the SOCIALIST economies of Europe are in far worse shape than the US. Socialism does not and has not EVER worked.

Or, be a goose and let Obama drive himself and his party into the ground. Allow America to stay true to our heritage and our greatness. Sacrifice some today so that our parents can be proud and our children can have a future ripe with realization of their own American dreams.......

So, are you a buffalo, or are you a goose?

Bailout #2 is coming.......

Bailout II will be bigger. It will:

• Create a "bad bank" to own the worst of the so-called toxic assets now burning through bank balance sheets.

• Guarantee hundreds of billions more in shaky assets that banks decide to keep in their vaults.

• Help to prevent foreclosures and to reduce unsustainable large mortgage payments.

• Require more limits on CEO pay and bonuses, more visibility into how banks use taxpayer money and more disclosure of who lobbied whom to get billions for specific banks.

(courtesy of Jim Jubak)

So, yet again, those of us that pay our bills on time, that try to live responsibly and within our means, are going to get the short end of the stick.

Personal Responsibility has lost ALL value in this country. Today, we have become a nation of people who strive for mediocrity. We have become a nation of people without the backbone to stand up against what is wrong and for what is right. Instead, we coddle those that are irresponsible and choose to make bad decisions. We take care of able bodied who don't work because they don't want to, or because they feel they are owed something.

Many years ago, I was 5 months behind on my mortgage, receiving letters every other day from the mortgage company threatening foreclosure. Did I ask for or receive a bailout? NO. You see, there are still some (I hope MILLIONS) of us that were brought up to take responsibility for our actions. To do whatever it takes to make it....for me that meant 3 jobs, cashing in the change bucket, foregoing any and all extras, to help get my family back on the right track. Sure my credit score got trashed. And yes, it took years and years to rebuild it. People make mistakes, it is only human. And while people should not be unduly ridiculed for their mistakes, we should all have to pay the price and do what it takes to right those errors.

We really are at a turning point in the history of our country. Down the road we are following is bigger and bigger government with a larger and larger percentage of the population in servitude to the government in one form or another. Be it through this next bailout which promises to have the government take all of the "bad" assets from the banks or forgiving people of their mortgage payments, or expanding government provided health care coverage. We MUST understand that ALL of these are things which allow government to get larger and take away more and more of the freedoms earned for us by our ancestors.

Thankfully, there is an alternative. The alternative is for me, and you, and everyone you know, to join the next American revolution. It starts with me and my team that are working hard to launch "Take Back the Republican Party". It continues as you and everyone you know and everyone they know join the revolution to restore our country to one comprised of the following:

1) Personal Responsibility - No more bailouts. It is time we take our medicine and fix the problems we have been using band-aids on....
2) Small, Limited Government - As the founders intended, we must dramatically, and quickly reduce the size of government at every level, returning most governing decisions to the state and local level.....
3) Immediate Reduction in Taxes - The ONLY - ONLY - ONLY way to truly stimulate the economy is by putting more money in the hands of the people that grow the economy. Businesses should be allowed to keep more of the money they earn to invest in new technologies and jobs. Individuals should be allowed to keep more of the money they earn as that money also gets pumped immediately and directly into the economy.
4) Ending and reversing the economic devastation happening to our cities and towns as the result of illegal immigration. America was built on the backs of immigrants. Immigrants who came to America LEGALLY and worked hard to make America and their lives better....not to send the money they earn back to their country of origin. THAT is the greatest redistribution of wealth happening in America today and it must stop now.

I know we have a long, difficult road ahead of us. I also know, as the result of the people I speak with each day, we are fed up with the way things are, and the direction towards which things are headed. NOW is the time to act. But, in America, anything IS possible.

Home Sales are up, but.......

Just read an article on www.marketwatch.com that noted in December that home sales were up 6.5% as prices continued to fall on existing homes. Some 45% of the homes sold were in some form of distress.....either in foreclosure or sold short.

At what point, instead of just handing out billions to the banks, do we insist, that if the government is going to get involved, to tell our government to tell the banks to refinance people. I still contend that NO ONE wants to lose their house! Not only that, you know that most of the people who have or are getting foreclosed on have tried to work with the banks and would like nothing better than to work out an arrangement that keeps them in their house and keeps the money flowing to the bank. Would it have killed the banks to refinance people to a lower rate, 40 year fixed mortgage...or 50 years if that's what it took.....shoot, what if the banks even got creative and said that you could refinance to a lower rate and longer term, BUT, if you sell or try to refinance there will be a penalty of some sort.

There is no free ride, and no one who could, or could have, been refinanced and helped us avoid the depths of the current situation on the housing market should be given a free ride. Getting refinanced with condition would have saved the banks AND the American taxpayer, ooooooooh, about A TRILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!

I am sick of our inept and corrupt government. I am sick of the people who have given up or don't care because they think nothing can be done about it. I am sick of the politicians in Washington who will do and say whatever they need to do or say to get votes or campaign contributions. It's time we get people in Washington and in every governors mansion across the country that will stand up and put an end to the exploitation of America.