Liberty Maven

Congress is busy wasting your money.  Yesterday, a whopping 79 new bills were introduced.  Again we have more pleas to allow special exceptions in immigratory status for aliens living in the United States.  Then there are a large number of bills which are simply tinkering with unconstitutional laws already on the books.  And of course, there are the bills designed to protect the children.  (Oh, how could we ever deny these?!?)  Below are some of the worst examples.  (Most are quite obviously unconstitutional, but for those I couldn’t resist commenting on, my comments will be in red).

• HR217 – Recognizing the week of March 15 through March 21, 2009, as “National Safe Place Week”  (to protect the children).
• HR215 – Congratulating the Minority Business Development Agency on its 40th anniversary and commending its achievements in fostering the establishment and growth of minority businesses in the United States.  (Please explain to me why we need 535 people in Congress to vote to send congratulations?)
• H214 – Recognizing the efforts of the countless volunteers who helped the Commonwealth of Kentucky recover from the ice storm of January 2009.  (I’m sure this was just an oversight on the part of the founding fathers when they penned the Constitution…of course how could they have possibly known about the big storm of ’09…?)
• HR213 – Urging the establishment and observation of a legal public holiday in honor of Cesar E. Chavez.  (Another day off work?)
• HR211 – Supporting the goals and ideals of National Women’s History Month
• HR1372 – To allow for special treatment of Vicente Beltran Luna with regards to immigratory status.
• HR1371 – To require the establishment of regional consumer price indices to compute cost-of-living increases under the programs for Social Security and Medicare and other medical benefits under titles II and XVIII of the Social Security Act.
• HR1370 – To improve the protections afforded under Federal law to consumers from contaminated seafood by directing the Secretary of Commerce to establish a program, in coordination with other appropriate Federal agencies, to strengthen activities for ensuring that seafood sold or offered for sale to the public in or affecting interstate commerce is fit for human consumption.  (Since the mountain of FDA regulation is working so well already…)
• HR1366 – To protect innocent parties from certain fees imposed by depository institutions for dishonored checks, and for other purposes.
• HR1364 – To amend the Social Security Act and the Public Health Service Act to provide for sex education, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and for other purposes.
• HR1363 – Establishes the GothamCorps program. Directs the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide, through such program, for the award of grants to certain units of local government to carry out volunteer projects. Requires local government units to provide each participant in a volunteer project with a scholarship equal to the cost of one year’s tuition at a local public college. Authorizes grant funding from amounts made available in the National Service Trust.
• HR1362 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of permanent national surveillance systems for multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological diseases and disorders.

• HR1361 – (also S-538) To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists by low-income local educational agencies.
• HR1359 – To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for take-back disposal of controlled substances in certain instances, and for other purposes.
• HR1358 – To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Lake Band as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other purposes.
• HCR69 – (also SR65) Honoring the 100th anniversary of Fort McCoy in Sparta, Wisconsin
• HR1346 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to liability under State and local requirements respecting devices.
• HR1341 – To amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to provide the Special Inspector General with additional authorities and responsibilities, and for other purposes.
• HR1340 – To provide for the admission to the United States of certain Tibetans.
• HR1339 – To amend the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans provide coverage for treatment of a minor child’s congenital or developmental deformity or disorder due to trauma, infection, tumor, or disease.
• HR1337 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the United States domestic energy supply.
• HR1332 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply.
• HR1330 – To amend the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and title 5, United States Code, to require that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans and Federal employees health benefit plans provide coverage of colorectal cancer screening.  (It is precisely this type of meddling that is dragging the health care industry to its knees and raising costs).
• HR1329 – To amend title 49, United States Code, to support efforts by States and eligible local and regional entities to develop and implement plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, and for other purposes.
• HR1327 – To authorize State and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran’s energy sector, and for other purposes.  (What?  The Federal Government is trying to grant  power to the states?  Sorry, you’ve got it backwards!  All power automatically resides with the states and with the people, except for the 18 specific enumerated powers given to the Federal Government…)
• HR1326 – To prohibit the conducting of invasive research on great apes, and for other purposes.
• HR1325 – To require financial literacy counseling for borrowers, and for other purposes.  (Whatever happened to personal responsibility?)
• HR1324 – To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve the nutrition and health of schoolchildren and protect the Federal investment in the national school lunch and breakfast programs by updating the national school nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold outside of school meals to conform to current nutrition science.
• HR1322 – To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide emergency protection for retiree health benefits.    (Ahhhh, clear evidence of progressive incrementalism).
• HR1321 – To provide affordable, guaranteed private health coverage that will make Americans healthier and can never be taken away.  (Yes, federal law that would guarantee to make you healthier!  Give me a break).
• HR1319 – To prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on a computer through the use of certain “peer-to-peer” file sharing software without first providing notice and obtaining consent from the owner or authorized user of the computer.  (Legislators clearly do not understand technology (it’s a complicated series of tubes, after all), and should mind their own business).
• HR1356 – To reduce foreclosures of residential mortgages.
• HR1355 – To amend the National Labor Relations Act to require employers to provide labor organizations with equal access to employees prior to an election regarding representation, to prevent delays in initial collective bargaining, and to strengthen enforcement against intimidation of employees by employers.
• HR1354 – To make the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available at a discount to certain veterans.  (Never mind the fact that it’s unconstitutional for the feds to own all this land in the first place…)
• HR1353 – To extend the registration and reporting requirements of the Federal securities laws to certain housing-related Government-sponsored enterprises, and for other purposes.
• HR1352 – To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to clarify that the value of certain funeral and burial arrangements are not to be considered available resources under the supplemental security income program.
• HR1351 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat computer technology and equipment as eligible higher education expenses for 529 plans, to allow certain individuals a credit against income tax for contributions to 529 plans, and for other purposes.
• HR1350 – To provide for research on, and services for individuals with, post-abortion depression and psychosis.
• HR1349 – To establish the Federal Accounting Oversight Board to approve and oversee accounting principles and standards for the purposes of the Federal financial regulatory agencies, and for other purposes.  (Ok, so we have regulators hovering over financial institutions, and now we need another layer of bureaucracy to keep an eye on the regulators?)
• HR1347 – To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines with respect to school-aged children, and for other purposes.
• SR66 – A resolution designating 2009 as the “Year of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps of the United States Army”.
• HR1343 – To provide immunity from civil liability to first responders engaged in lawful efforts to prevent acts of terrorism, and for other purposes.
• HR1342 – To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide for the reduction of greenhouse gases, and for other purposes.
• S-533 – A bill to amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to establish a grant program to ensure waterfront access for commercial fisherman, and for other purposes.
• HR1338 – To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for assistance in hiring additional school-based mental health and student service providers.
• S-530 – A bill to extend Federal recognition to the Muscogee Nation of Florida
• S-529 – A bill to assist in the conservation of rare fields and rare canids by supporting and providing financial resources for the conservation programs of countries within the range of rare felid and rare canid populations and projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of rare felid and rare canid populations.
• HR1334 – To provide for livable wages for Federal Government workers and workers hired under Federal contracts.
• S-541 – A bill to increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and for other purposes.  (These people are in such denial.  The Federal Government is insolvent!  Hello, McFly?!?)
• S-540 – A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to liability under State and local requirements respecting devices.
• S-539 – A bill to amend the Federal Power Act to require the President to designate certain geographical areas as national renewable energy zones, and for other purposes.
• S-536 – A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition of the term “renewable biomass”.
• S-534 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reduce cost-sharing under part D of such title for certain non-institutionalized full-benefit dual eligible individuals.
• S-532 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a business credit against income for the purchase of fishing safety equipment.
• S-531 – A bill to provide for the conduct of an in-depth analysis of the impact of energy development and production on the water resources of the United States, and for other purposes.
• S-527 – A bill to amend the Clean Air act to prohibit the issuance of permits under title V of that Act for certain emissions from agricultural production.

Every day hundreds of elected officials aspire to make the government bigger and more intrusive.  Have you contacted them lately to tell them how you feel about this?

Here is how to contact your Senators

Here is how to contact your representatives in your legislative district.

Don’t email them. It’s much quicker and easier to contact them via telephone. They usually answer right away, and you can simply state that you are calling to voice your strong opposition (or support) for a particular bill. No need to lauch into a diatribe, since the ones answering the phones will only mark down a “Yea” or “Nay” in a column for each bill.

Give it a try. You may find it an exhilarating experience to have taken part of the process by giving your input.