1990

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No, I’m not bringing us back to the year 1990. That’s how many pages are in the new House healthcare bill given to us by our ever so wonderful Speaker of the House. Pelosi, the liberals in congress, et. al. seem to be so obvious about increasing the size and scope of the government.

Pelosi touted “We will bring transparency and openness to the budget process and to the use of earmarks, and we will give the American people the leadership they deserve.” – Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Press Release, December 12, 2006

So much for that. Transparency died October 29, 2009. She blocked the public from the unveiling of the House healthcare bill. I thought we were going to able to see what’s going on in this government. Why would they want to keep the public out of an event? Oh, why ask questions I already know the answer to, because the public will be hurt by the bill, thus they don’t want the public to be a part of it.

In total the 1990 pages comes with a cost of a meager $894 Billion. Doing simple math it comes out to just under $450 Million per page.  And $2.2 Million per word.  Okay… I’ll let you digest that for a few moments. Good, now that you have that in your head, that’s a huge amount of spending. Why do we have to spend ourselves further into debt and spend money we don’t have.

We should open up the borders with the states and allow insurance companies to compete against each other in the free market. In addition, providing for serious and enforceable tort reform, would help out the situation a great deal. By doing so would allow doctors/hospitals to charge whatever they want for their goods & services and let the market dictate what the public would be willing to pay. I seriously doubt someone would pay $150 for a heat pack or $25 for a gauze wrap. Bring the cost down and we’ll buy more of it.

I got off track for a moment. Pelosi and the liberals in congress want to tax and spend our way out of this while keeping the public out of the process. Lovely isn’t it?

To give you some parting words of wisdom:

The words of the Constitution state to “…promote for the general welfare” NOT “provide the general hospital”.

Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

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It has been a great week to be a Republican.  News that independents are leaning Republican again.  Republicans won governor races in Virginia and New Jersey.  The road to the 2010 election already looks that much brighter.  However, we must remember to not count our chickens before they hatch.

We still have a lot of work to do.

In 2010, Floridians face a once in a generation type election.  Every major statewide seat is up for grabs: Governor, Attorney General, Ag Commissioner, CFO, a U.S. Senate Seat; add to that 120 Florida House Seats, 20 Florida Senate Seats and Congressional Races.  There is a lot of work to be done.

And it is not too early to start.

We know that grassroots efforts are important in elections, if not the number one contributing factor that wins elections.  We must get out there and help the candidates that we support if we want to win these races in 2010.  Dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party certainly helps us, but we cannot expect that to automatically propel us to victory in 2010.  Our candidates must provide alternative solutions from Democrat proposals to solve the issues that concern the citizens of Florida.  We must get out there to help fund raise, make phone calls, and knock on doors.  Winning elections takes work, and we have the chance to make a difference.

Today, relish in the accomplishments Republicans have made countrywide.  Tomorrow, I urge you to choose the candidates you support and sign up as a volunteer.

Start now, make a difference, and in 2010 we will have many more opportunities to celebrate.

Who Wants a Free Golf Cart?

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Back in September a ruling came from the IRS (Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2009-37) that now Golf Carts are eligible for the energy efficient tax credit that applies to electric vehicles. I laughed as read this, not believing that something so silly could be true.

Much to my surprise when I Googled the credit, I found hundreds of golf cart dealers advertising that you could have a golf cart for free! Just what every American needs!

As silly as this credit is, it really struck a nerve. People these days need jobs, food and medical care. Yet our government is giving credits for golf carts. Fellow Citizens, you might be up to your eyeballs in debt and without a job, but you can have a free golf cart!!!!! Are you kidding?

“If it ain’t broke, dont fix it!”

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As many of you know I am a software engineer, there is a sign on my wall at work that says “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and that is a true statement in engineering because by fixing something that is not broken, you will break something else. That also can be applied to healthcare. To the Obama administration and the democrats it is a “crisis.” They are making it seem like everyone has a constitutional right to free healthcare, to them, why not, just keep printing more money for more entitlements until our nation is bankrupt, and the presses are already glowing white hot!

Looking deeper into the issue I cannot find a sane person make a sane argument for the “public option.” There is none except for a liberal ideological handout for the nanny state. Americans need to wake up and use some common sense. Even using Obama’s own figures, there are 40 million people without healthcare, which includes the 20 million illegal aliens they want to cover. Common sense will tell us there is not a single hospital that will turn a person away if they don’t have insurance. Simple numbers, we supposedly have a crisis for 13% of the population so we need a whole new healthcare system? It does not make sense at all, fix the things that are broken, don’t try and fix it for the 87% of us who it works for! Even people who work at Wal-Mart can get health insurance, so is it really a crisis?

At my work I pay for the “gold” health plan. I like it and don’t want it taken away to where I will have to be on the conveyor belt, sit and wait red tape government run system. Why should someone like me who worked hard to get through college to get the job I have to only have something I earned stripped away? Is it out of “fairness?” Someone tell me why?

The President himself said that they can fund much of this by curbing the $70 billion in Medicare fraud and waste. Why don’t they do it now? It’s OUR money the taxpayer’s money that’s being wasted; it should be his duty as president to not waste our money! Why don’t they even mention tort reform? Most doctors will say their highest cost is malpractice insurance.

Every new drug to come out is developed here, some really amazing science like cholesterol drugs all done right here, but at a cost, research and development are not cheap, roughly $30 billion to bring a drug to market and for every one that makes it there is 10 failures. Would a government run system invest money like that or give it in handouts? It’s a profit driven system that we accept those failures and trump the successes. If the government ran it, all new advances in medicine would be lost.

We don’t need another bureaucracy, bloated and inefficient like Medicare, I like the system I am on and want to keep it, I hope Americans can sift through the rhetoric by liberals because the only crisis I see on the horizon is the federal government fixing something that ain’t broke.

Obama to Slash Executive Pay

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Last Wednesday the Obama administration announced plans to slash the pay of the top 25 executives at firms who received bailout funds by 90%.  Those firms include Citigroup, Bank of America, AIG, General Motors, Chrysler, and the financial arms of the two automakers.

I think most reasonable people are upset at the high salaries and bonuses being awarded to the executives at firms who were rescued by the taxpayer, but you have to ask yourself, “How is this going to help my husband who just got laid-off or my daughter who just graduated from college and now can’t find a job?”  I would like to see Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner answer those questions for the American people.

So far it is unclear whether this policy will be effective only until those firms pay back the funds they have received.  Is that why Goldman Sachs, American Express, Morgan Stanley, and others are not required to cut executive compensation?

There is no argument that executive pay itself caused the financial meltdown or has prolonged the effects of it throughout the economy.  This is simply a populist move by the Administration to distract the American people from the lack of progress being made on the economy.

Today, Republicans on the House Committee on Ways & Means released a study showing 49 out of 50 states have lost jobs since the stimulus package.  The mid-term election is going to be about jobs, jobs, jobs.  If Obama and the Democratic Congress have nothing to show for their actions they will have to report to the American voters.

What Obama’s Healthcare Plan Will Mean To Floridians?

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Health care reform has clearly been a priority topic for President Obama’s administration since day one.  But, his plan could mean tens of millions in unfunded mandates passed to the states who are responsible for a share of Medicaid coverage. The Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) estimated the cost to the states as low as $23.8 billion and as high as $93.7 billion.

The states facing the greatest burden include New York, Texas, California, Florida, and New Jersey.  Florida would be expected to pick up 45 percent of the cost of the expansion.  During tough economic times when the state legislature is facing difficult budget choices, why are the Democrats advocating this enormous unfunded mandate?

Boyd vulnerable in 2010

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Allen Boyd is facing a far different political climate than in the past 10 years. He faces a primary challenger in Sen. Al Lawson, a higher level of voter interest, and a potential backlash against the Democratic party in 2010.

On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd (D) will finally hold a community forum at the Gulf Coast Community College Gymnasium to discuss healthcare reform and other issues before Congress. The forum, originally scheduled for August 28, will allow Congressman Boyd to hear from the citizens of Bay County on the latest developments in the national healthcare debate, as well as other issues before the US Congress.

On the Republican side, three candidates for the Congressional District 2 U.S House seat introduced themselves and their platforms at the October 13 meeting of the Bay County Republican Roundtable. Bill Fisher (R-Bay County), Carl Meece (R-Suwannee County) and Steve Southerland (R-Bay County) took to the candidate soapbox and fielded a wide variety of challenging questions from the audience.

Congressman Boyd’s vote for the cap and trade bill, coupled with voter outrage over the proposed health care bill, has made a Republican challenge for the CD2 U.S. House seat more promising than ever before. We are very fortunate to have a strong field of candidates.

If one of these candidates is to emerge, they need a level of financial support approaching Boyd’s, estimated at 1.7 million dollars raised in 2009, which none has at this point. Boyd is already running ads in the Panama City market, which suggests his approval numbers are not what they have traditionally been. Republicans have a strong chance of winning this seat in 2010 if the population of heavily-Democratic Tallahassee and Leon County can be offset with strong support in the other 15 counties.

Cap and Tax (Er… Trade)

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Congress and Obama wishes to push the agenda of Cap and Trade. It’s all under the guise of “saving the environment.” Well, apparently the President and the liberals in congress haven’t seen some of the truth. World wide temperatures have been on a gradual decline every year for the past 10 years. Have we had any major hurricanes this year? What about the sunspot activity?

Supposedly it’s supposed to punish/help businesses that are big polluters. It’s a tax burden on businesses. In this day and age, with the economy the way it is, are we really wanting to punish business? If we start to tax business, then they’ll increase the price of their products and services and that will be passed onto us, the consumer, which will hurt us. It seems that all this government wants to do is harm business and the consumer.

The administration wants us to be way more “green.” Yet, the two largest polluters in the world, China and India have yet to sign on to the Kyoto Treaty.

CBO says it will cost $22 Billion annually or $175 per household. Yeah, let’s tax people more because everyone can afford it. Let’s tax people more because we aren’t taxed enough. Let’s tax people more because of false science. Let’s tax people more so we can feel better about ourselves. Let’s tax people more because when we tax people more it actually decreases revenue to the U.S. Treasury. Let’s tax people more because the top two polluters in the world, haven’t signed on to the Kyoto Treaty.

Patriotism and the Military

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Did you have a grandparent in the military?  What about a parent?  A brother or sister?  Friends?  For most, we had grandparents in the military.  Some of us may have parents in the military, and few of us have siblings in the military.  At this point in time, I am sure most of us know someone serving in the military, but if we lived in our grandparents’ generation, we would know even more people or be serving ourselves.

Since WWII, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of Americans serving in the military.  In 2004, there were 26 million living Americans who served in the military.  Nearly half were over the age of 60.  This year was the first year since 1973 (when our all volunteer military started) that military recruiters met their goal in both quantity and quality.  Why the sudden increase in recruits?

There are several reasons why people join the military.  Most of my friends and my brother have enlisted because college was not for them or they used the military to afford school.  Recruiters cite the economy as why recruitment numbers are up this year.  What ever happened to joining the military because of a sense of duty to our country?  Are we not patriotic enough to enlist to defend our country?  In times of war, there is always a spike in enlistments, but in a post 911 world, we still have fewer Americans serving our military than we did 50 years ago.  Why the change?

Time for a Czar Czar?

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32. 32 Czars who report directly to President Obama. That is 32 people who are paid by the taxpayers who haven’t gone through any kind of vetting or confirmation process. People who are unaccountable. Czars who are in charge of AIDS policy, Great Lakes Czar, Pay Czar, and California Water Czar.  Just to name a few.

I would say that it’s interesting that California gets its own water czar leaving the other 49 states out. However, saying the other states should be represented as well would only increase the size/scope of the federal government and that’s not we’re all about. I propose we just eliminate the California Water Czar. After all, they didn’t give the farmers the water they needed simply to protect a tiny fish thus, harming jobs and the future economy of the region.

Okay, I got off track, I apologize. These czars are way too many unaccountable folks. Perhaps they should be accountable to one big czar who we call the Czar Czar. The Czar Czar would provide the American citizenry the transparency that the Obama Administration promised time and time again during his campaign. (Off topic once again, but doesn’t he seem he’s still campaigning?)

All we the American people are asking for is for President Obama to at least be transparent and allow the Czars to be voted on by the Senate.

Should Republicans Include The Environment In Their Agenda?

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A March 2009 Gallup poll showed that 57 percent of Americans believed that the media’s portrayal of global warming was correct or underestimated, whereas only 41 percent believed the media’s portrayal of the seriousness of global warming was exaggerated.  When broken down by Party ID, 66 percent of Republicans believed media reports on global warming were exaggerated, compared to 44 percent of Independents and 22 percent of Democrats.  Looking at these numbers, it is apparent that global warming is a partisan issue.

In a different Gallup poll, from 1985 to 2008, the majority of Americans also responded that the protection of the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of curbing economic growth.  This shifted in 2009, when 51 percent of respondents said economic growth should be given a priority over the environment.  With the recession, obviously economic growth is the number one priority of individuals and government.  What about once the economy improves?

With the current push to go “green” and the majority of Americans believing in global warming, this begs the question- should Republicans include the environment in their agenda?

Personally, I have always been all about doing the little things to help the environment when it is easy.  I don’t litter, I recycle, I use my green bag at Publix when I remember and I even replaced a couple of light bulbs to the more energy efficient kind.  This really does not take any extra effort and I did not need the government to tell me to do these things.

With bills like Cap and Trade, words like global warming, and our every dwindling amount of natural resources (arguably), what should Republicans do?  Should we just let the Democrats take control, or should Republicans also create their own agenda?  Does the environment even need saving?  If so, how can Republicans tackle environmental issues without creating burdensome regulations that affect businesses and individuals?  What environmental issues should Republicans focus on?

This is not an issue that will easily go away, and how we decide to approach it can have serious implications, not only on the environment, but also on the voters and the general public.  So, should Republicans include the environment in their agenda?

General McChrystal

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The Obama Administration never ceases to amaze me. The president asks General McChrystal to give a report on Afghanistan and when it is not what he wants to hear he has everyone from Secretary Gates to Nancy Pelosi throw the General under the bus.

The Democrats were the ones who said Afghanistan was the only war we belonged in, now they want to bail. It’s a tragedy that they want to be cowards and that cowardly act will only get us attacked again for when the “paper tiger” as Bin Ladden called us, pulls out. We will be leaving Afghanistan to fester even more hatred for America and their training grounds will be back up and running in no time.

Latest Assault on Individual Rights

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Written by Travis Sowards

On Friday night I watched the riveting Distracted Driving summit on C-Span 2 hosted by the Department of Transportation. Exciting life I live, right? Texting while driving was the target of the five Democrats, three bureaucrats (most likely Democrats), and one Republican at the summit.

The Alert Drivers Act has recently been introduced in the Senate. The proposed legislation would reduce the amount of federal highway funding available to states that do not enact a law prohibiting an individual from writing, sending, or reading text messages while operating a motor vehicle. This is exactly the kind of nanny state paternalism that liberals call “good governance.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed more than 5,800 distracted driving deaths and 515,000 injuries last year. However, the fatality figures do not break down crashes by specific driver behavior. Broadly, safety officials identify cell phone use, texting, eating, talking to passengers and manipulating radio or vehicle controls as distractions. Why are liberals targeting cell phone usage, specifically texting, when there are so many other distracting activities you can participate in while driving? Are we going to ban individuals from grooming themselves in their mirror or having children ride in the backseat?

Educating young people on the dangers of texting while driving through PSAs and the school system would be a much more effective method of reducing traffic accidents and deaths, much like educating people on the dangers of smoking and drunk driving.  But obviously this would be more costly than a draconian ban and wouldn’t raise any revenue through ticketing.

This is not just an attack on the rights of individuals, but also the states.  Driving regulations are a police power of the state and it’s inappropriate for the federal government to usurp the state’s police powers. Chicago and New York City have already banned cell phone use while driving, but what may be good for two of the largest urban areas in the nation may not be good for the rest of America.  Most of the population in this country lives in areas where commuting to and from work by car is a necessity. People use these times to get work done away from the office and to communicate with friends and family.

All of this talk of banning cell phone usage while driving might be for naught with voice activation for dialing and texting becoming more common, especially for “smartphones” such as the iPhone and Blackberry.

A federal ban on texting will not be easy for Republicans to oppose, especially with wireless providers and insurance companies in support of the ban, but Republicans need to stand up in opposition to the continued assault of the rights of individuals and states by this out of control 111th Congress.