"To retreat further - means to waste ourselves
and to waste at the same time our Motherland. Therefore it is necessary to eliminate talk that we have the capability endlessly to retreat...it weakens us and benefits the enemy... This leads to the conclusion, it is time to stop retreating. Not one step back! Such should now be our slogan." - Order 227
Yes, my headline is a mis-representation. But based up the Wall Street Journal's projections, the 2010 census may provide California and Texas with 13 additional seats in the house based upon the Census Bureau now counting non-citizen aliens living in those states:
"Next year’s census will determine the apportionment of House members and Electoral College votes for each state. To accomplish these vital constitutional purposes, the enumeration should count only citizens and persons who are legal, permanent residents. But it won’t.
Instead, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to count all persons physically present in the country—including large numbers who are here illegally. The result will unconstitutionally increase the number of representatives in some states and deprive some other states of their rightful political representation. Citizens of “loser” states should be outraged. Yet few are even aware of what’s going on."
Entire article HERE. Is this why the Obama administration is moving the Census Bureau under the political umbrella of the White House? Somebelieveso.
...the people we elect to represent us, and their minions who are blinded by the absolute certainty that their party is in sole possession of "the only way". The same people who hated President Bush as an evil war-monger, now play the race card on those who question President Obama's plan to reform 17% of our entire economy.
From the rightwingnuthouse.com blog:
"I am one of those who would have supported reasonable reforms in health insurance and realistic means to bring down health care costs. The Democrats are proposing neither, and are ginning up fear and outrage - as are Republicans in opposition - to ram down the throats of the American people, without legitimate debate or discussion reforms that are antithetical to the American character and the American way of doing things. The proposals make a mockery of our First Principles, and threaten not to “remake” America” but to fundamentally alter the compact between citizens and the government." (entire article HERE)
The media runs a 24 hour news cycle on the shouting matches that greet congress members at their town hall meetings, not that any of them could actually explain the details of bills they haven't had to the time to read. There is little factual coverage on what is actually being proposed in the bill. O'Reily and Olbermann provide the same amount of journalistic insight on the key issues as Jerry Springer and Rosie O'Donnell. The divide between us continues to grow. One of the things that scares me about President Obama is the determination with which he moves to grow our government. It's time for Americans to find something that will unite us, something that we can all agree on. Maybe it's time for Americans to remember that congress works for us. Rather then trying to help the 18% with Universal Health Insurance, maybe we should demand term limits, and a congress that must live by the same laws and policies they enforce on the public. If the current administration is so eager to ram though reform legislation, let's reform congress! If congress started supporting what is in best interest of the public, rather then what will get them re-elected, we might be surprised what could get accomplished. And that would benefit 100% of Americans.
The mob is angry, gathered with their pitchforks and banners. They circle around the monster, comprised of the dead, unthinking corpse known as "Congress". The monster lashes out, scared that the light from the torches will illuminate the patchwork of scars. The monster swings wildly in self defense, hitting only air. The mob noise increases, as it becomes more vocal with every new scared voice that joins. The monster is confused, don't these people understand he really doesn't mean any harm?
And so goes another Town Hall meeting. There appears to be very little middle ground. People come for their own reasons, some are asking serious questions. Others are just protesting and trying to shout down whoever is deemed to disagree with what is seen as the obvious and only right direction.
I believe there are currently 5 different bills involving Universal Health Insurance making the rounds through congressional committees. Most comments coming from the right appear to be inaccurate and designed to increase the fear of government intrusion into our personal lives. Democratic members of congress struggle to defend their position for a bill that is still being written. It is a spirited debate, to say the least. People on the right need to calm down and take some of their own advice, 'Read the Bill'. Some of the horror stories being said on talk radio just are not there, at least not as they are being presented. HOWEVER, the left must stop demanding that we must push through massive changes that effect 17% of our total economy, as well as our basic quality of life. Yes, it is an important issue. All the more reason to bring EVERYONE to the table to conduct reasonable discussions. The current system is working for 82% of Americans. Can we just step back from the edge and seek to find a compromise solution.
I am willing to put down my pitchfork and stop yelling, if you agree to downsize your monster and take more time putting it together so it can withstand the light of day. You should be comfortable takimg the time to show your monster won't impose a financial burden and actually improve our quality of life. Only then will you earn the trust of the mob.
Finally, someone in the MSM is starting to ask some serious questions regarding the Obama plan for Universal Health Insurance.
Time magazine starts to understand why some Americans feel the need to attend town hall meetings to ask questions and make some noise:
"Public skepticism is warranted when the President promises to cut costs while simultaneously providing coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured people. It is even more warranted when his congressional allies seek to raise taxes to pay for all the new spending that this cost-cutting entails. We aren't talking about short-term spending either; this isn't a trillion-dollar investment in a new system that will ultimately save money. The Congressional Budget Office says the leading health-care-reform proposals will increase health-care spending and make the budget harder to balance in the long run. Yet saving money is the President's principal stated rationale for reform."
Five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan Tuesday.
Four soldiers died in southern Afghanistan after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb - the deadliest attack on American forces there this year, military officials said.
An Afghan civilian working with the soldiers was also killed.
In Iraq, two thugs wearing cop uniforms opened fired at a police station in the northern city of Mosul, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Their Iraqi interpreter was also shot dead.
The Defense Department released the names of the three soldiers who were killed in Iraq on Monday.
One of the fallen soldiers was Cpl. Michael Mayne, 21, of upstate Burlington Flats.
He and two other soldiers were killed in a gunfight in Diyala Province, one of the last Al Qaeda strongholds in the country.
Meanwhile in Saint Louis:
Democrat supports bring in union members to town hall meetings while refusing to admit anyone who might be a protester. Police made 6 arrests, including a local news camera man who was filming the events:
St. Louis County police on Thursday arrested six people, including a Post-Dispatch reporter, outside a town hall forum held by Rep. Russ Carnahan, said Dawn Majors, a Post-Dispatch photojournalist who witnessed everything unfold.
It happened about 8:30 p.m at Bernard Middle School on Forder Road in Mehlville. Carnahan, D-St. Louis, had drawn a rowdy crowd that overflowed the school gym and left dozens of people outside. Many of those who showed up at what had been billed as a forum on aging carried signs about the national health-care debate.
Dozens of people were kept out because there was no room for them inside. Members of the local Tea Party Coalition, a movement that has emerged to counter President Barack Obama’s policies, had urged their members to attend, which in turn spurred Democrats to establish a strong presence.
The event was winding down when Majors said she saw a police squad car turn its lights on and went to see what was happening. As she approached it, her eyes started to burn.
“And that's when I realized I'd walked through remnants of pepper spray,” Majors said. She turned her attention to taking pictures.
She said she saw a woman in handcuffs who was complaining about the pain of the spray and asking to wash her face and eyes. The response of the officer who was arresting her was, “I warned you,” Majors said.
Majors said the woman had been speaking very loudly and passionately in support of health-care reform earlier in the evening. US taxpayers spent almost $13 million in expense of flying members of Congress, their staff and families. No doubt the current fleet of jets in service need to be increased in order to keep members of Congress up to the personal standards that they have become accustomed to.
“She made herself very visible,” Majors said.
She also saw a man handcuffed and on his stomach. The man kept asking why he was being arrested, Majors said. An officer nearby said she wasn't the arresting officer, but she would let him know later. That response upset the man on the ground, she said.
Another man was sitting on the ground rubbing his knee, but was not handcuffed. Majors said she heard an officer tell him that he would be taken to jail and booked.
She also saw Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman, who was reporting on the event and shooting video for stltoday.com. He was standing on a sidewalk, taking video.
As she photographed everything, Majors said she heard Wagman yell her name and say that he was being arrested. She turned and saw he had been handcuffed and was being put in the back of a squad car. The officer said Wagman had been interfering, Majors said.
She said she did not see what led up to his arrest.
Efforts to get the police version of what happened have been unsuccessful as of 10 p.m.
And in Tampa:
Again, union members are brought in for purpose that can only be described as "crowd control".
And in Washington DC:
Congress put forth plans to spend $550 milion to by eight new jets, 3 Gulfstream V and 3 Boeing 737, to add to the fleet of two dozen passenger jets maintained by the US Air Force to fly members of Congress, their staff and families. US taxpayers spent almost $13 million in expenses last year transporting Congress around to perform their appointed duties.
Best quote heard from a recent town hall meeting: If it takes 6 months for Obama to pick out a new dog for his kids, why the hurry to ram Universal Health Insurance through in 3 weeks?
