A Good First Step to Energy Independence

“President Obama’s plan to promote more offshore drilling for oil
and natural gas is an important step in achieving true energy reform.
We should be taking full advantage of every available American
resource to help decrease our crippling dependency on foreign oil --
a dependency that is slowing our economic recovery and jeopardizing
our homeland security.

“Even if the estimates of the reserves are correct, we are 10 years
away from being able to use them. It’s imperative that we promote
other immediately available domestic alternatives to solve the
national security crisis created by foreign oil dependency.

“Transportation has to lead the way -- it accounts for two-thirds of
our oil imports. No energy strategy can be effective unless it promotes
the use of domestic natural gas as a transportation fuel alternative to
foreign oil/diesel, and the focus has to be on America’s eight million
heavy duty vehicles. The NAT GAS Act , a bipartisan bill proposed on
both sides of Congress, would advance the use of natural gas as a
transportation fuel.”

When is the Taxpayer Paying?

Under the ObamaCare legislation, women who receive tax
credits to help pay for health coverage may choose a plan
that covers abortion.
In Grove City College v. Bell, 1984, the Supreme Court
held that "there was no "substantive difference" between
institutional assistance and aid received by a school
through its students."  If students received Basic
Educational Opportunity Grants through a Department of
Education-run program, this assistance to students
qualified the College as a recipient of federal
assistance.
If a student receives taxpayer money and spends it for
tuition at a college, then that college has received
taxpayer money.
If a woman receives taxpayer money and spends it for
insurance coverage which includes abortion, then taxpayer
money paid for the abortion.  The requirement to write a
separate check and be reimbursed is a shell game.
There is no 'substantive difference' between taxpayer
money funding insurance coverage which includes abortion
and taxpayer money being received directly by an abortion
clinic from the federal government.

Noteable Government Failures

a. The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 235
years to get it right and, it is broke.

b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 75 years to
get it right and, it is broke.

c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 72 years to get
it right and, it is broke.

d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 46 years to get it
right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred
to 'the poor' and, they only want more.

e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 45
years to get it right and, they both are broke.

f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 40 years to
get it right and, it is broke.

g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our
dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees
with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever
before. You had 33 years to get it right and, it is an abysmal failure.
h. The Department of Education was created in 1979 and today our
students are not prepared to compete in the global economy. You
had 30 years to get it right and, it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every 'government service' you have shoved down
our throats while overspending our tax dollars AND, YOU WANT
AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A
GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM? IT'S NOT ABOUT
THE NEED FOR GOOD HEALTH CARE. IT'S ABOUT TRUSTING
THE GOVERNMENT TO RUN IT.

Time to Debate Secession - Again!

With the Federal government out of control, the secession option
should be debated. The nation is deeply divided anyway.
The supreme law of the land, the United States Constitution, has
been ignored for many years lately. It is not a list of "suggestions"!
If the Federal government passes a law - bill in Congress or
Executive Order - that is unConstitutional, then it is void. If it
is a SCOTUS decision, then it has the force of the supreme law -
whether the decision was correct or not. The United States no
longer operates under a rule of law.
Read the Declaration of Independence From the USSA from
4 July 2009 on this blog.

1940 Census Available to Public in 2012

72: Number of years individual census records are kept before they are
made public by the National Archives and Records Administration. In
2012, individual records from the 1940 Census will be made available
to the public for genealogical research.
If you subscribe to ancestry.com, then the "latest" census data is the
1930 census. This is a problem for geneologists because the mistakes
take so much time to resolve. In the 1930 census the taker entered my
mother's father and twin brother incorrectly:
Robert Minter Alexander was listed as Robert Minta Alexander
Peyton Alexander was listed as Paxton Alexander
If you do an exact search, then they will not be found. Surprised,
we did a "close-enough-for-gov't" search to find the errors.

Harmful Energy Policy

With an economy struggling to regain sound footing, Energy Secretary
Steven Chu advocated a starvation diet devoid of additional fossil fuels
that are to remain under the ground and seabed. Instead, he supports
53% more funding for wind research and a 22% jump for solar
research.To leave vast stores of domestic energy untapped while
Americans are looking for cheap energy and jobs is irresponsible.
Unfortunately, this administration has no long-term energy solution,
other than hoping for a lot of cloudless and windy days.
There is a national security aspect when we import about 9 million
barrels of oil each week at a cost of about $80/barrel. This money is
used to educate Islamic terrorists who want to kill us. We have
enough coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy to be energy
independent right now!

5 Points of ObamaCare

1.) Nearly half of a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts. This is a
program that will be broke in six years, yet the Senate bill does nothing
to put it on firm financial footing

2.) Dramatic expansion of government. The Senate bill creates
159 new offices, agencies, and programs. What will these new agencies,
commissions, and programs do? They will regulate, they will dictate,
they will spend.

3.) Raises taxes by more than $500 billion by raising payroll
taxes, fines to businesses, new investment taxes, fees on medical
technology companies

4.) Corrupt backroom deals to buy votes, like the Cornhusker
Kickback, Louisiana Purchase, and exemptions for certain states and
companies so they avoid new regulations or cuts that others will bear

5.) Taxpayer funded abortion coverage. Individuals can use
federal subsidies to help pay for insurance that covers abortion, and
they buy abortion coverage through an insurance exchange that the
federal government creates, funds, and administers. Thus the federal
government will be actively promoting and facilitating the purchase
of abortion coverage.

Census 2010

"Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get
its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health
facilities, and many other programs that you and your neighbors need."
[WARNING:] "Without a complete, accurate census, your community
may not receive its fair share."
Robert M. Groves, Director, U.S. Census Bureau, March 8, 2010.

The Census is for the purpose of "apportioning the House of
Representatives."
United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, Census Act of
1790.

Does anyone else see a difference?

The Role of the Federal government

The role of the Federal government is enumerated in the
Constitution. Other roles are retained by the people and the states.
Jimmy Carter was wrong to create the Cabinet offices and huge
Departments of Education and Energy. You favor:
1) "Federal" money for research grants at universities
2) "Federal" money for low interest loans and scholarships
3) "Federal" money for grants to teachers and administrators
I can not find any of these in the enumerated powers of the
Federal government, so I am against them.
The Savannah River National Laboratory is the newest of the
National Labs, and it is located in your district. Research for the
common benefit should be funded and coordinated by the
National Labs. Research should be for Constitutional purposes -
national defense, etc.
Loans and scholarships are necessary because lottery money has
so increased the demand that tuition at state universities has
increased more than 1000% since I went to Augusta College
(ASU now) in the 1960s. I would like to see corporations do this
instead of government. If the Fair Tax is passed, then
corporations will not be taxed except to buy new supplies. They
have the incentive to pay for the best employees. I like the co-op
program in which your education is reinforced by work in a
chosen career during alternating terms.
Merit bonuses should be given by the people who appreciate the
person the most - the parents.
The Department of Energy spent $13B of utility customer money
on Yucca Mountain. Now Nevada has reneged citing NIMBY. We
want our money back!