Our own James Wilson has analyzed this issue on our blog.

The good news is that President Obama isn’t going to Copenhagen to sign a treaty, but he may sign a proposal that could lead to a treaty at a later date. The Copenhagen proposal is designed to create an international scheme to control carbon emissions (and the entire world economy in the bargain).

President Obama wants to have the “cap and trade” (cap and tax) bill passed before he goes to Copenhagen.

Our goal should be to send him to Denmark empty-handed.

Cap and trade should be defeated because . . .

• It hasn’t worked in Europe
• It probably isn’t the best way to control carbon emissions, assuming you believe that’s important
• The climate models that supposedly justify cap and trade have been consistently wrong

Cap and trade needs 60 votes to come to the floor in the Senate. If we can stop that from happening now then there’s no way that 67 Senators will come together later to ratify a treaty for the same purpose, especially if that treaty cedes American sovereignty to international organizations.

We must defeat cap and trade. We must send Obama to Denmark empty-handed.

Please send Congress a letter opposing cap and trade.

You can use my letter to Congress as a guide . . .

Please pay attention to the climate change models. They have consistently predicted global warming, and been consistently wrong. We’ve had global cooling over the past eleven years, NOT global warming. Mother Earth disagrees with the climate models, and mother always knows best.

If you haven’t kept up with the science please check out this BBC article: http://tinyurl.com/ygwaaqp

Please also pay attention to the fact that cap and trade hasn’t worked in Europe. Meanwhile . . .

Science and industry are creating all sorts of innovations that will be much more effective than your politically designed regulations. These innovations are happening because consumers want green solutions! I’m especially excited by the recent breakthroughs in “cold fusion” as reported on 60 Minutes: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4955212n

Freedom works! We need more freedom and fewer coercive, top-down government dictates.

I want my two Senators to vote against cap and trade, and I want my Representative to vote against it if it comes to another vote in the House.

END OF SAMPLE LETTER TO CONGRESS

You can send your letter here.

Please take additional steps to spread the word, recruit more DC Downsizers, and increase the heat on Congress:

• Ask other people to send a letter to Congress — forward them this message
• Digg this message on our Blog
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Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Check out these recent posts on our blog:

Will Copenhagen Treaty cede U.S. Sovereignty?
President Obama keeps a promise
Congress responds to Constitutional questions
The latest news about the “Read the Bills” idea

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
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But what about the department of energy? A little snippet from Doug Casey’s Daily Dispatch answer this one quite succinctly:

Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the Department of Energy…. during the Carter Administration? Anybody? No?

Didn’t think so! Ready??It was very simple… and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The  Department of Energy was instituted on 8-04-1977… to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

Hey, pretty efficient, huh???

And now it’s 2009 – 32 years later – and the budget for this “necessary” department is at $24.2 billion a year. They have 16,000 federal employees and approximately 100,000 contract employees. And look at the job they have done!

Good ole bureaucracy.

And now we are going to turn the banking system, healthcare, and the auto industry over to the same government? Hellooo! Anybody home?

Make no mistake that is what Barack Obama wants to do. Whether he actually can accomplish it is another story. For more details on the new case and its history see this excellent article from Reason. Let’s all hope that the Supreme Court takes the case and does the right thing.

Ron Paul is one of the leading advocates of interpreting the 2nd Amendment as written. No surprise there, but does he actually put his money where his mouth is? Of course he does. Here are three gun-related bills he introduced a few weeks ago in the House:

H.R.3022 : To restore the second amendment rights of all Americans. This bill repeals various gun control laws already on the books, including background checks and child safety locks.

H.R.3021 : To repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and amendments to that Act.

H.R.3023 : To provide for the safety of United States aviation and the suppression of terrorism. This bill would allow employees of airlines to carry guns in order to protect themselves and their passengers.

I especially like that last one. September 11th may have turned out differently had the pilots been armed. They say that 9/11 changed everything. Well, if pilots were armed it may have changed nothing. No justification for the Iraq war. No justification for the Patriot Act. No justification for warrantless wiretaps. And so on.

Gun control is certainly important but in the age of Obama there seems to be 3 major efforts that liberty lovers need to do everything in our power to stop. All of them directly affect our economy in bad ways. Together they are a recipe for economic armageddon.

1. Cap and Trade: This bill needs to fail in the Senate after already passing in the House. We all know why it’s a bad idea. In fact even some of those who voted for it in the House know it’s a bad idea but voted for it anyway. I wish Ron Paul would name names.
2. Government Health Care: Obama says the government is going to “compete” with the private sector. The market will react by forcing people toward using government health care until all the competitors are gone. Obamacare is really just a migration plan toward complete socialized medicine. How much is it going to cost to provide health care for 130 million more Americans and where will the money come from?
3. Stimulus, Part 2: There’s a renewed effort under way to push for another stimulus program. We haven’t even spent more than 10% of our previous stimulus money and we already want another one? Obama used fear tactics to push his first one through. It had to be done right then, yet months later we’ve only spent 10% of the money. The only effective shovel ready Obama project is the one that is shoveling bullshit from the White House directly into our ears.

Fighting this evil recipe for economic armageddon should be first on your liberty to-do list.

And on that “up” note here are this week’s random thoughts, tweets, and quotes:

• Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the f**k happened. – @rebelyid on Twitter

• In the U.S. every day should be Independence Day. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty!

• I wonder how many would show up if we had a memorial/funeral for the Constitution. Not “celebrity” enough I guess.

• Screw Al Qaeda, there are at least three other Al’s that need to be stopped, Al Franken, Al Sharpton, and Al Gore.

• If people automatically think that strict adherence to the Constitution is “crazy” then Ron Paul will never be considered sane.

• G8 all agree to attempt to control the weather. Mother Nature laughs.

• I cringe at the word “regulation” more than any other imaginable swear word.

And finally, my favorite, passionate Frederic Bastiat quote:

Away with the whims of governmental administrators, their socialized projects, their centralization, their tariffs, their government schools, their state religions, their free credit, their bank monopolies, their regulations, their restrictions, their equalization by taxation, and their pious moralizations!

and with that… Have a wonderful weekend!

Helen Thomas and Chip Reid berated White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs the other day for pre-selecting questions for Obama’s “town hall” and “controlling” the press. It appears that the honeymoon (I call it the “Obamagasm”) is coming to an end. Gibbs seems to be out of his league as Obama’s Press Secretary. I’ll be surprised if he makes it through Obama’s first and hopefully only term.

There is one particular forbidden health care question for Obama. I would love to hear his answer to the following question:

“Mr. President, you are considered a Constitutional scholar. Could you educate the American people a bit and tell them what section, article, or amendment permits the federal government to provide health care?”

Sure, he would dodge the question, but it is one dodge that I long to hear.

On Monday, Ron Paul’s son Rand Paul held another money bomb campaign fund raiser. The goal was to break $100k. The goal was met. This is huge news and a great sign that the Ron Paul wing of the Republican Party is not going anywhere. Rand Paul raised over $100,000 in about a month without an official fund raiser. Senator Rand Paul has a nice ring to it.

There was high drama last Friday afternoon on the House floor during the debate on the narrowly passed Cap and Trade bill. The Republicans kept pointing out that the legislation will lose more jobs and put a higher tax burden on the American people.

Prior to the Cap and Trade debate members of the Congressional Black Caucus requested a moment of silence for Michael Jackson, who died the day before (as we all know). The request was granted. Later, during the Cap and Trade debate Tom Price (R-GA) requested a moment of silence for all of the people who will lose their jobs due to the bill. The Democrats objected. No moment of silence was held. This was a genius move by Price to demonstrate that the Democrats seem to care more about a dead pop star than thousands of American jobs. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, most of the news outlets didn’t make the connection.

In more local personal news I purchased my first handgun for my birthday (yesterday). I took an NRA class a few months ago in preparation for owning a firearm. It feels damn good to rack the slide on that 2nd Amendment. Now I join millions of other gun owners searching for scarce ammo at reasonable prices.

I don’t believe we’ll see any fundamental action from Obama on gun control for awhile (if ever). The path he must travel toward gun control is littered with political land mines, some of them placed there by his own party. Then again so is immigration reform and he is starting to kick up the dust on that again.

And now a few random thoughts and quotes for the week:

• When it comes to paying attention to the unraveling of America, ignorance is not bliss, it is willful neglect.

• If I turn on the news tomorrow and hear anything about Michael Jackson I’m going to moonwalk off a cliff!

• Will it take 99 more Al Frankens winning for Americans to wake up and realize their govmt is a joke?

• Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed. – Sarah Brady

• “A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders.” – Larry Elder

• “I ask you sir, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people.” – George Mason

• One of my favorite gun rights bumper stickers: Guns only have two enemies: rust and politicians.

• White House to offer new breakfast cereal: Obamaganda. Ad slogan: “Obamagasms for Obamaganda: A free carbon credit in every box!”

• Senate version of Cap and Trade will probably have a provision forcing everyone to hold their breath for 60 min/day.

Have a great Independence Day weekend!

May the number of fingers on your hand today equal the number of fingers on your hand on Sunday!

He’s actually making many great points about the horrible details in the bill.

What he is doing right now is giving great ammunition for supporting the “Read the Bills” Act in the near future.

“Is there anything that we aren’t regulating in this bill?”, Boehner yells.

At about 20 minutes in, Henry Waxman interrupted and asked how long Boehner would be permitted to speak. The chairwoman stated that it is customary to hear the leadership speak, forcing Waxman to sit down and allow Boehner to continue (to great cheers from the GOP side of the House).

We live in interesting times folks.

Please continue to contact the Reps who are on the fence regarding the bill. For a list see this page from the NTU.

Quote of the Day: “I’ve come to expect that even nobly conceived laws will be manipulated and distorted for private ends. But once in a while I hear a story that gives me the queasy feeling that I’m nowhere near cynical enough.” — Christopher Hayes, The Nation

Prior to Congress deciding it could use tax policy to re-engineer America’s energy use from on-high, the paper industry had been 70% fueled by something called black liquor, a natural by-product of the paper making process. In other words, the paper industry was inherently energy efficient, until Congress got involved.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized a 50-cent per gallon tax credit for mixing gasoline or diesel with an alternative fuel. To get the credit, paper companies began to mix diesel with their black liquor. In other words . . .

• The government is paying the paper industry to use a less efficient, environmentally-destructive fuel!
• The cost of this scam could reach $8 billion this year. [Source: The Nation]

Congress could mess up a train wreck.

At first glance, this appears to be an example of “unintended consequences,” but this assumes we really know what Congress intended . . .

• The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was 1,273 pages.
• The House passed the bill just one day after it was filed.
• The Senate passed it one day after that.

It’s impossible to believe that any member of Congress had the chance to read and completely understand the bill. This means that those who voted for it didn’t really know what the intention was. Someone could have wanted the paper industry to have a hidden subsidy. But if the Read the Bills Act had been in force, the Energy Policy Act would have been . . .

• Read before a quorum in both chambers, giving all members a chance to review it thoroughly
• Posted on the Internet for seven days before a vote, so the public could review it too

Someone might have seen that this legislation had the potential to cause the reverse of its supposed purpose.

Without the Read the Bills Act, messed up train wrecks like this are bound to continue. In the past two weeks, the House passed 23 bills totaling 209 pages, while the Senate passed 5 bills and 99 pages.

• We won’t know until it’s too late how many messed up train wrecks are hidden in these bills,
• And this will continue to be the case until we pass the Read the Bills Act.

Please use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful System to tell your Congressional employees to introduce and pass DownsizeDC.org’s Read the Bills Act.

Use your personal comments to complain about . . .

• The 1,273 Energy Policy Act that no member of Congress had the time to read or understand
• The multi-billion dollar subsidy to the paper industry that rewards them for using more fossil fuels

To beat the 31,730 messages to Congress the Downsize DC Army sent in April, we need Downsizers to send 1,570 messages today. Send your message at DownsizeDC.org’s Read the Bills campaign page.

Please also add your website or blog to the Read the Bills Act Coalition. In return, we’ll link to your site and mention it in a Dispatch like this one, reaching over 25,000 subscribers. Here are the instructions.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how much we’re growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

P.S. The list of bills Congress passed April 20-May 1 can be found below my signature in the blog version of this Dispatch.

Keeping Score

You can’t change the government by yourself. You’ll need a huge “army” to help you. That means these numbers must grow constantly . . .

The Downsize DC Army now stands at 25,159. It’s grown by 810 net new members so far this year, and 54 net new members yesterday. YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting.

We can also grow faster by mailing recruitment letters to potential DC Downsizers. If you want to start a monthly credit card pledge to help make this happen please let us know on the secure contribution form if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN MAY: Nancy Kovar, Ryan Ackroyd, WM Michael O’Brien, 1 unlisted APRIL: Mark J Wilson MARCH: Franklin L. Webber, Scott Boeff, Darryl W. Perry, Raul Torres, Alex Vournas, James E. Sopher, Vincent B Grubb

Or, if you’d prefer to make a one-time donation please let us know if its okay to publish your name here . . .

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When taking a look at the list below, keep in mind that the U.S. Constitution, which created our Federal Government, clearly enumerated 18 specific functions that it is given.  For all other things, the 9th and 10th amendment make it clear that the individual states have the power.  Note that it states in the Constitution that it is the Supreme Law of the Land, which can be usurped by no other.  This means that all opinions to the contrary made by the Supreme Court are technically invalid.  Throughout the past couple of hundred hears the Supreme Court has rule one way or another on some “interpretation” of the Constitution, but in fact no interpretation is necessary, as the intention of the founding fathers are quite clear.  For example, if the “general welfare” clause or the “interstate commerce” clause was intended to be used as a catch-all for any arbitrary piece of legislation, then the 10th amendments which reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

would be completely meaningless.  So simple logic, in addition to the writings of Madison and other founding fathers, dictates the notion that the Federal Government was set up to have very little power, and that these United States are intended to be a loose federation of sovereign states.

Only due to politician’s greed and overwhelming desire for power does the Constitution get relegated to the trash heap.

So, despite the  noble intentions of many of these bills, it doesn’t mean they are legal.

No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it.
– 16 Am. Jur. Sec. 177 late 2d, Sec 256

Of the bills introduced yesterday, these are ones that are clearly not legitimate functions of the Federal Government  [as always, my commentary will appear in red]:

• HR1892 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 102 North Main Street in Cedarville, Ohio, as the “William ‘Brent” Turner Post Office’.
• HR1929 – To establish the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Investigative Commission to investigate the policies and practices engaged in by officers and directors at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac responsible for making the decisions that led to the enterprises’ financial instability and the subsequent Federal conservatorship of such enterprises.  [Keep in mind that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been basically nationalized, which is, of course, unconstitutional.]
• HR1925 – To designate as wilderness certain Federal portions of the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin Deserts in Utah for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
• HR1924 – To amend the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to improve the prosecution of, and response to, crimes in Indian country, and for other purposes.
• HR1922 – To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold at least 1 public hearing before issuance of a permit affecting public or private land use in a locality.
• HR1921 – To establish an Office of Public Advocate within the Department of Justice to provide services and guidance to citizens in dealing with concerns involving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes. [Fantastic!  Create another layer of bureaucracy to help people deal with bureaucracy...]
• HR1978 – To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the ability of State and local governments to prevent the abduction of children by family members, and for other purposes.
• HR1977 – To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study drywall imported from China in 2004 through 2007, and for other purposes.
• HR332 – Providing that the House of Representatives will focus on removing barriers to a prosperous economy and therefore renew the dream.  [Reading the full text of the bill it all sounds nice, but it's really nothing more than platitudes.  Nothing will come of this.  It's not recommending anything concrete.]
• HR1971 – To provide for the elimination of duties on certain comforter shells
• HR1970 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to exempt unsanctioned State-licensed retail pharmacies from the surety bond requirement under the Medicare Program for suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS).
• HR1969 – To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.  [Oh god. Oh god, no! Haven't we gotten ourselves into enough jams with this interventionist crap?]

• HR1968 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the limitation on capital losses to $10,500 and to index such limitation to inflation.
• HR326 – Expressing support for designation of the week of April 13, 2009, through April 17, 2009, as “Protect Your Pharmacy Week”, and for other purposes.
• HR1966 – To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to cyberbullying
• HR1964 – To address HIV/AIDS in the African-American community, and for other purposes.
• HR1962 – To authorize the Space Shuttle to be flown from 2010 through 2015, and to authorize appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for this purpose.  [Ron Paul might even vote for this one, because he's supported NASA in the past.  But I maintain the the existence of NASA is unconstitutional, and the private sector would be able to perform these tasks more efficiently and more inexpensively.]
• HR1961 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the availability of the saver’s credit, to make the credit refundable, and to make Federal matching contributions into the retirement savings of the taxpayer.
• HR1957 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a higher education tuition credit in place of existing education tax incentives.
• HR1956 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an offset against income tax refunds to pay for State judicial debts that are past-due.
• HR1955 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income amounts received on the sale of animals which are raised and sold as part of an educational program.
• HR1954 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make higher education more affordable by providing a full tax deduction for higher education expenses and interest on student loans.
• HR1952 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax for amounts contributed to charitable organizations which provide elementary or secondary school scholarships and for contributions of, and for, instructional materials and materials for extracurricular activities.
• HR322 – Expressing support for the designation of July 25, 2009 as “National Day of the Cowboy”
• HR1951 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals a credit against income tax for tuition and related expenses for public and nonpublic elementary and secondary education.
• HR330 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of the Navy should name an appropriate Navy ship in honor of Marine Corps General Clifton B. Cates of Tiptonville, Tennessee.
• HR329 – Recognizing the anniversary of the tragic accident of the steamboat ship SS Sultana
• HR328 – Expressing the sense of Congress that all Americans should recognize National Military Appreciation Month with appropriate programs and activities.
• HR327 – Honoring the humble service of Edward Cardinal Egan as Archbishop of the New York Archdiocese and congratulating Archbishop Timothy Dolan on his appointment by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to succeed Cardinal Egan.
• HR1945 – To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility and suitability of constructing a storage reservoir, outlet works, and a delivery system for the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation in the State of California to provide a water supply for domestic, municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes, and for other purposes.
• HR325 – Expressing support for designation of a “Free Enterprise Education Week” to encourage elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, and small and large businesses to educate students about free enterprise.
• HR319 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should take all necessary steps to expeditiously deploy a missile defense system in Europe that will help provide such a defense to United States allies in Europe while enhancing United States defenses against missile attacks.
• HCR99 – Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Early Educator Worthy Wage Day
• HR321 – Congratulating the boys’ basketball team at Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California, for winning the State championship.
• HR320 – Honoring the Life and achievements of Dr. John Hope Franklin
• HR331 – Supporting the goals and ideals of National Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Month
• HR1935 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the treatment of partnership interests held by partners providing services.
• HR1933 – To direct the Attorney General to make an annual grant to the A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center to assist law enforcement agencies in the rapid recovery of missing children, and for other purposes.
• HR1932 – To increase the number of well-trained mental health service professionals (including those based in schools) providing clinical mental health care to children and adolescents, and for other purposes.
• HR1931 – To improve the treatment of juveniles with mental health or substance abuse disorders by establishing new grant programs for increased training, technical assistance, and coordination of service providers, and for other purposes.
• HR1930 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a loan repayment program for faculty members at programs of general dentistry or pediatric dentistry to alleviate faculty shortages.
• HR1873 – To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 with respect to juveniles who have committed offenses, and for other purposes.
• HR1928 – To increase home healthcare services, particularly for underserved and at-risk populations, by assisting visiting nurse associations and other non-profit home health agencies to improve training and workforce development for home healthcare nurses, promoting and facilitating academic-practice collaborations, and enhancing recruitment and retention of home healthcare nurses.
• HR1927 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide comprehensive cancer patient treatment education under the Medicare Program and to provide for research to improve cancer symptom management.
• HR1926 – To authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Global Warming Education Program.
• HR1869 – To require the President to call a White House Conference on Food and Nutrition  [What? The Congress is going to require the the president do something?  How is that possible?  And on top of that, what they want to require of him is blatantly unconstitutional!]
• HR1923 – To require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to make video recordings of the examination and testing of firearms and ammunition, and for other purposes.
• HR1920 – To prohibit United States funding for the 2009 United Nations Durban Review Conference (”Durban II Conference”) or any other activity relating to the planning, preparation, or implementation of a follow-up meeting to the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (’Durban I Conference’) in Durban, South Africa.  [Bills like this make me want to vomit.  Of course I agree with the intent of the bill, but doesn't the Constitution already prohibit the US from funding such things?  Ugh.]
• HR324 – Expressing support for designation of April 2009 as “Jazz Appreciation Month” and April 25, 2009, as “Willis Conover Day”, and honoring the global impact of jazz music.
• HR1979 – For the relief of Mary Cole, Decontee Cole, Emmanuel Cole, Anna Cole, Yon Deh Cole, and Emmanuel Cole, Jr.
• HR1976 – To authorize grants for nongovernmental organizations that use independently produced documentary films to promote better understanding of the United States abroad and better understanding of global perspectives and other countries in the United States.
• HR1975 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 100 West Percy Street in Indianola, Mississippi, as the “Minnie Cox Post Office Building”.
• HR1974 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the depreciation classification of motorsports entertainment complexes.
• HR1912 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax for qualified conservation contributions which include National Scenic Trails.
• HR1911 – To amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to require funding to help award recipients defray the costs of data collection requirements initiated pursuant to such Act, and for other purposes.
• HR1907 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to use consumer information maintained by retailers to improve recalls of food, and for other purposes.
• HR1905 – To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a coastal climate change adaptation planning and response program, and for other purposes.
• HR1904 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individual taxpayers to designate a portion of income taxes to fund the improvement of barriers at the United States border, and for other purposes.
• HR1903 – To provide incentives for the residential housing market
• HR1901 – To provide for a comprehensive study by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to assess the water management, needs, and conservation of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River System.
• HR1900 – To provide for emergency deployments of United States Border Patrol agents and to increase the number of DEA and ATF agents along the international border of the United States to increase resources to identify and eliminate illicit sources of firearms into Mexico for use by violent drug trafficking organizations and for other lawful activities and for other purposes.  [This really about gun control and the war on drugs.]
• HR1899 – To extend Federal recognition to the Muscogee Nation of Florida
• HR1898 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under the Medicare Program for consultations regarding orders for life sustaining treatment and to provide grants for the development and expansion of programs for such orders.
• HR1897 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit to employers for the costs of implementing wellness programs, and for other purposes.
• HR1896 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that installment sales treatment shall not fail to apply to property acquired for conservation purposes by a State or local government or certain tax-exempt organizations merely because purchase funds are held in a sinking or similar fund pursuant to State law.
• HR1895 – To provide driver safety grants to States with graduated driver licensing laws that meet certain minimum requirements.
• HR1894 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve access to, and increase utilization of, bone mass measurement benefits under the Medicare part B program.
• HR1893 – To prohibit any person which sells to or otherwise disposes of any asset through a public-private investment program, including the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, from purchasing or otherwise acquiring any other asset from or through such programs, and for other purposes.
• S-826 – A bill to promote renewable energy, and for other purposes
• S-827 – A bill to establish a program to reunite bondholders with matured unredeemed United States savings bonds.
• S-828 – A bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide loan guarantees for projects to construct renewable fuel pipelines, and for other purposes.
• SCR17 – A concurrent resolution authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the unveiling of a bust of Sojourner Truth.
• SR100 – A resolution expressing the support of the Senate for the establishment of an Urban Youth Sport Initiative in partnership with the United States Olympic Committee.
• HCR96 – Recognizing the importance of autism awareness, supporting efforts to increase funding for research into the causes and treatment of autism and to improve training and support for individuals with autism and those who care for individuals with autism.
• HCR98 – Recognizing the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address climate change.
• S-781 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for collegiate housing and infrastructure grants.
• S-782 – A bill to provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System.
• S-783 – A bill to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf in the Mid-Atlantic and North Atlantic planning areas.
• S-784 – A bill to provide for the recognition of certain Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.
• S-785 – A bill to establish a grant program to encourage retooling of entities in the timber industry in Alaska, and for other purposes.
• S-786 – A bill to authorize a grant program to provide for expanded access to mainstream financial institutions.
• S-787 – A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the United States.
• S-789 – A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility and suitability of constructing a storage reservoir, outlet works, and a delivery system for the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation in the State of California to provide a water supply for domestic, municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes, and for other purposes.
• S-790 – A bill to improve access to health care services in rural, frontier, and urban undeserved areas in the United States by addressing the supply of health professionals and the distribution of health professionals to areas of need.
• S-791 – A bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out programs and activities to improve highway safety.
• S-792 – A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the National Program of Cancer Registries by expanding data collection and allowing data sharing for public health objectives, while preserving the confidentiality of patients, and for other purposes.
• S-793 – A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a scholarship program for students seeking a degree or certificate in the areas of visual impairment and orientation and mobility.
• S-795 – A bill to amend the Social Security Act to enhance the social security of the Nation by ensuring adequate public-private infrastructure and to resolve to prevent, detect, treat, intervene in, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and for other purposes.
• S-796 – A bill to modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals on public domain land, and for other purposes.
• S-797 – A bill to amend the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to improve the prosecution of, and response to, crimes in Indian country, and for other purposes.
• S-798 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend existing elective tax treatment for Alaska Native Settlement Trusts.
• S-799 – A bill to designate as wilderness certain Federal portions of the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin Deserts in the State of Utah for the benefit of present and future generations of people in the United States.
• S-802 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow Indian tribes to transfer the credit for electricity produced from renewable resources.
• S-803 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit to employers for the costs of implementing wellness programs, and for other purposes.
• S-804 – A bill to amend subpart 2 of part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish incentives for States to extend the minimum length of the school year to 200 full days by 2014, and for other purposes.
• S-805 – A bill to provide for a comprehensive study by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to assess the water management, needs, and conservation of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River System.
• S-808 – A bill to amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to reauthorize the Act, and for other purposes.
• S-809 – A bill to establish a program to provide tuition assistance to individuals who have lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn.  [People out of work are probably busy trying to find another job, anyway.]
• S-810 – A bill to establish 4 regional institutes as centers of excellence for research, planning, and related efforts to assess and prepare for the impacts of climate change on ocean and coastal areas and for other purposes.
• HR1880 – To establish a system of regulation and supervision for insurers, insurance agencies, and insurance producers chartered or licensed under Federal law that ensures the stability and financial integrity of those insurers, agencies, and producers and that protects policyholders and other consumers served by such insurers, agencies, or producers.
• HR1881 – To enhance the transportation security functions of the Department of Homeland Security by providing for an enhanced personnel system for employees of the Transportation Security Administration, and for other purposes.
• HR1882 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide safeguards for credit card holders whose accounts were, or are about to be, terminated for inactivity, and for other purposes.
• HR1883 – To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a demonstration grants program to provide for certain patient coordination, outreach, and assistance services to reduce barriers to receiving health care and improve health care outcomes.
• HR1884 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation of optometrists in the National Health Service Corps scholarship and loan repayment programs, and for other purposes.
• HR1886 – To authorize democratic, economic, and social development assistance for Pakistan, to authorize security assistance for Pakistan, and for other purposes.
• HR1888 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax to vehicle fleet operators for purchasing tires made from recycled rubber.
• HR1889 – To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reserve funding for American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
• HR1890 – To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to increase the percentage of State revolving loan funds reserved for American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
• S-811 – A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to promote mental and behavioral health services for underserved populations.
• S-812 – Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act: to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the special rule for contributions of qualified conservation contributions.
• S-813 – A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to apply the protections of the Act to teaching and research assistants.
• S-814 – A bill to provide for the conveyance of a parcel of land held by the Bureau of Prisons of the Department of Justice in Miami Dade County, Florida, to facilitate the construction of a new educational facility that includes a secure parking area for the Bureau of Prisons, and for other purposes.
• S-817 – A bill to establish a Salmon Stronghold Partnership program to conserve wild Pacific salmon and for other purposes.
• S-818 – A bill to reauthorize the Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2001, and for other purposes.
• S-819 (also HR1878) – A bill to provide for enhanced treatment, support, services, and research for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families.
• S-820 – A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the automobile assistance allowance for veterans, and for other purposes.
• S-822 – A bill to support the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, and for other purposes.
• S-823 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 5-year carryback of operating losses, and for other purposes.
• S-824 – A bill to establish a Jobs Creation Coordinator in the Department of Commerce to ensure that agencies in the Department use resources in a manner that maximizes the maintenance and creation of jobs in the United States, and for other purposes.
• HR1906 – To permanently prohibit oil and gas leasing off the coast of the State of California, and for other purposes.
• HR1908 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for property certified by the Environmental Protection Agency under the WaterSense program.
• HR1913 – To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.
• HR1914 – To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for the suspension of each provision of the Act during periods of drought with respect to Federal and State agencies that manage Federal river basins that are located in each region affected by the drought.
• HR1915 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for expanded coverage of paramedic intercept services under the Medicare Program.
• HR1916 – To amend the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act to provide for a revised schedule of price increases for the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, popularly known as the “Duck Stamp”, and for other purposes.
• HR1917 – To establish the Centennial Historic District in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and for other purposes.
• HR1871 – To designate certain counties in the State of Arizona as high-intensity drug trafficking areas.
• HR1874 – To provide Federal contracting preferences for, and a reduction in the rate of income tax imposed on, Patriot corporations, and for other purposes.
• HR1876 – To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the incorporation of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles in military construction projects carried out in the United States or overseas, to require a specific goal regarding the use of renewable energy sources on all military installations, and for other purposes.
• HR1877 – To amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to reauthorize the Act, and for other purposes.
• HR1938 – To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Public Health Service Act to set standards for medical diagnostic equipment and to establish a program for promoting good health, disease prevention, and wellness and for the prevention of secondary conditions for individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes.
• HR1939 – To direct the Attorney General to establish a system of background checks for employers and employees of the electronic life safety and security system installation and monitoring industry, and for other purposes.
• HR1940 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Wellness Trust
• HR1941 – To allow for additional flights beyond the perimeter restriction applicable to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
• HR1944 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the subpart F exemption for active financing income.
• HR1887 – To establish a Presidential Commission on Women, and for other purposes  [WTF?]
• HR1946 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to address health workforce shortages
• HR1947 – To regulate certain deferred prosecution agreements and nonprosecution agreements in Federal criminal cases.
• HCR95 – Recognizing the importance of the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges.
• HR1949 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for elementary and secondary school teachers.
• HR1950 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for professional school personnel in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 through 12.

Each bill introduced takes countless hours to be drafted, typed up, disseminated, put through the various stages of the process, all costing time and money.  So even if the bill seems minor, such as SR85 (”Congratulating…”), it costs you money.  Do you want your tax dollars being spent on this stuff?

Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to contact your representatives via telephone simply to tell them that you support or oppose a particular bill.  It’ll most likely take you less than two minutes, and it’s so very important that we stand up to our increasingly tyrannical government.

If you don’t know who your Senators are, or how to contact them, click here to found out.

If you don’t know who your Representatives are, or how to contact them, click here to find out.

When taking a look at the list below, keep in mind that the U.S. Constitution, which created our Federal Government, clearly enumerated 18 specific functions that it is given.  For all other things, the 9th and 10th amendment make it clear that the individual states have the power.  Note that it states in the Constitution that it is the Supreme Law of the Land, which can be usurped by no other.  This means that all opinions to the contrary made by the Supreme Court are technically invalid.  Throughout the past couple of hundred hears the Supreme Court has rule one way or another on some “interpretation” of the Constitution, but in fact no interpretation is necessary, as the intention of the founding fathers are quite clear.  For example, if the “general welfare” clause or the “interstate commerce” clause was intended to be used as a catch-all for any arbitrary piece of legislation, then the 10th amendments which reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

would be completely meaningless.  So simple logic, in addition to the writings of Madison and other founding fathers, dictates the notion that the Federal Government was set up to have very little power, and that these United States are intended to be a loose federation of sovereign states.

Only due to politician’s greed and overwhelming desire for power does the Constitution get relegated to the trash heap.

So, despite the  noble intentions of many of these bills, it doesn’t mean they are legal.

Of the bills introduced yesterday, these are ones that are clearly not legitimate functions of the Federal Government  [as always, my commentary will appear in red]:

• HCR89 – Supporting the goals and objectives of the Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets.
• HCR86 – Authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the unveiling of a bust of Sojourner Truth.
• HCR87 – Observing the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and calling on all responsible nations to uphold the principles of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
• HR298 – Congratulating the on-premise sign industry for its contributions to the success of small businesses.
• HR299 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that public servants should be commended for their dedication and continued service to the Nation during Public Service Recognition Week, May 4 through 10, 2009, and throughout the year.
• HR300 – Congratulating Camp Dudley YMCA of Westport, New York, on the occasion of its 125th anniversary.
• HR301 – Honoring the life of Dr.John Hope Franklin

• HR1774 – To incorporate smart grid capability into the Energy Star Program, to reduce peak electric demand, to reauthorize energy efficiency public information program to include Smart Grid information, and for other purposes.
• HR1775 – To provide support to develop career and technical education programs of study and facilities in the areas of renewable energy.
• HR1776 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the development of quality measures for inpatient hospital services, to implement a performance-based payment methodology for the provision of such services under the Medicare Program, and for other purposes.
• HR1778 – To provide for the establishment of national energy and environmental building retrofit policies for both residential and commercial buildings, and for other purposes.
• HR1779 – To provide for resources for the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes, and for other purposes.
• HR1780 – To amend the Clean Air Act to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions through transportation efficiency.
• HR1781 – To direct the Secretary of Labor to carry out a sustainability workforce training and education program.
• HR1782 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect consumers from certain practices in connection with the origination of consumer credit transactions secured by the consumer’s principal dwelling, and for other purposes.
• HR1783 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage investment in certain industries by providing an exclusion from tax on certain gains.
• HR1784 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage the purchase of residential property by providing an exclusion from tax on certain gains.
• HR1785 – To expedite adjudication of employer petitions for aliens of extraordinary artistic ability.
• HR1786 – To establish a Best-in-Class Appliances Deployment Program
• HR1787 – To amend the Clean Air Act regarding transportation fuels and establishment of a low carbon fuel standard.
• HR1789 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives to encourage investment in the expansion of freight rail infrastructure capacity and to enhance modal tax equity.
• HR1790 – To reduce global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from land conversion and deforestation in developing countries, to provide incentives for developing countries to increase forest carbon stocks, and for other purposes.
• HR1791 – To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize certain aliens who have earned a Ph.D. degree from a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to be admitted for permanent residence and to be exempted from the numerical limitations on H-1B nonimmigrants.
• HR1792 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide recruitment and retention incentives for volunteer emergency service workers.
• HR1794 – To provide incentives to reduce dependence on foreign oil
• HR1795 – To provide for the establishment of an Offsets Integrity Advisory Board, and for other purposes.
• HR1796 – To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to require residential carbon monoxide detectors to meet the applicable ANSI/UL standard by treating that standard as a consumer product safety rule, to encourage States to require the installation of such detectors in homes, and for other purposes.
• HR1797 – To reform certain provisions of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to make compliance with that section more efficient, with the goal of maintaining United States capital market global competitiveness.  [The only appropriate "reform" for this heinous law would be to repeal it.]
• HR1799 – To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to vehicle weight limitations applicable to the Interstate System, and for other purposes.
• HR1801 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a 70 percent tax on certain compensation received from certain companies receiving Federal bailout funds.
• HR297 – Recognizing May 25, 2009, as National Missing Children’s Day
• S-735 – A bill to ensure States receive adoption payments for fiscal year 2008 in accordance with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.
• S-737 – A bill to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to authorize the Secretary of Energy to conduct research, development, and demonstration to make biofuels more compatible with small nonroad engines, and for other purposes.
• S-738 – A bill to amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act to assure meaningful disclosures of the terms of rental-purchase agreements, including disclosures of all costs to consumers under such agreements, to provide certain substantive rights to consumers under such agreements, and for other purposes.
• S-739 – A bill to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study drywall imported from China in 2004 through 2007, and for other purposes.
• S-740 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the homebuyer tax credit, and for other purposes.  [All these "tax credits" may sound good, but tinking with an unethical looting operation isn't the best solution.  Plus, things like this are simply designed to control the way you act, and usually have disastrous consequences.]
• S-742 – A bill to expand the boundary of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in the State of Georgia, to redesignate the unit as a National Historical Park, and for other purposes.
• S-743 – A bill to require air carriers to provide training for flight attendants and gate attendants regarding serving alcohol, recognizing intoxicated passengers, and dealing with disruptive passengers, and for other purposes.
• SR90 – A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Fifth Summit of the Americas, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 18, and 19, 2009.
• SR91 – A resolution calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to take action on issues relating to drywall imported from China.

Each bill introduced takes countless hours to be drafted, typed up, disseminated, put through the various stages of the process, all costing time and money.  So even if the bill seems minor, such as SR85 (”Congratulating…”), it costs you money.  Do you want your tax dollars being spent on this stuff?

Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to contact your representatives via telephone simply to tell them that you support or oppose a particular bill.  It’ll most likely take you less than two minutes, and it’s so very important that we stand up to our increasingly tyrannical government.

If you don’t know who your Senators are, or how to contact them, click here to found out.

If you don’t know who your Representatives are, or how to contact them, click here to find out.

Quote of the Day: “The only things that are immortal in this world are government programs and cancer cells in petri dishes.” — Jim Babka, President, DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Future historians may someday come to identify one day this week as a day of ruin. Here’s why . . .

Congress will pass a budget this week. We believe this budget will create a condition of permanent annual TRILLION dollar deficits. Please follow our logic . . .

* Government programs never die. They live forever, growing constantly larger.
* The Obama-Democrat budget contains a host of new programs covering all aspects of YOUR life — health care, energy, education, housing, charity, EVERYTHING.
* These programs won’t die, instead they’ll just grow larger.
* We think the same thing will hold true even for many of the bailout programs that are supposedly temporary, because very few government programs are ever really temporary.
* Therefore, the trillion dollar deficits these new initiatives are causing today will also live and grow forever.

In the short-term this will cost your family a minimum of $27,800 per year, or $9,200 per person.

In the not-so-short term these trillion dollar annual deficits will crash head-on into the un-funded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare which have risen to $56.4 trillion dollars, your share of which is a whopping $184,000!

And none of these statistics include the associated increases in top-down, one-size-fits-all government regulation. For instance, plans are already well advanced to turn the American health care system into a giant HMO, with federal bureaucrats deciding what medical treatments you can and cannot receive.

We must repeat, once these new programs are launched they’re unlikely to ever shrink again, let alone die. Government programs really are like cancer cells in a petri dish, which live unless the scientist in charge of them forgets to feed them. Something similar may happen in the case of our cancerous government . . .

The people who fund the federal government’s debt, including governments like China, may decide to stop. This might kill the cancerous government programs, but at a crushing cost.

Do these numbers and their consequences shock you? They should, but the number we really need to start focusing on is the Misery Index for Politicians, which is the total number of Internet messages and phone calls the politicians receive protesting their actions. We need to make the Misery Index for Politicians soar.

Please use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful System to tell your elected representatives to vote NO on the Obama-Democratic leadership budget. You can use our “cut spending” campaign for this purpose.

Or, if you sent a message yesterday using the “cut spending” campaign, then please send another one today using our “unfunded liabilities” campaign.

Then, when you see the phone numbers for your elected representatives on your computer screen, call each one of them and deliver the same message by phone. Make the politicians feel miserable about what they doing to our country.

And after you’ve made your calls . . .

* Go here (better yet, click on the Digg link above)
* And after you’re logged in at Digg and you’ve “dugg” the message, click “thumbs up” in response to the first appropriate comments on this Digg post

We’ll report back tomorrow on the number of Internet messages sent and phone calls made. And we’ll know how many calls were made based on how many “thumbs up” we see!

Now, if we haven’t said enough to make you take action, please consider the reckless pace at which Congress is moving. They’re not only rushing to pass a dangerous budget before the two-week Easter recess, they’re also going to vote on a huge number of bills this week, without READING A SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Here’s the list . . .

H.R. 1388 – Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act
H.R. 1171 – Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
H.R. 1377 – To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand veteran eligibility for reimbursement by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for emergency treatment furnished in a non-Department facility
H.R. 1513 – Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009
H.Res. 152 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States remains committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
H.R. 1246 – Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2009
H.R. 756 – National Pain Care Policy Act of 2009
H.R. 20 – Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom’s Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act
H.R. 479 – Wakefield Act
H.R. 1253 – Health Insurance Restrictions and Limitations Clarification Act of 2009
H.R. 1259 – Dextromethorphan Distribution Act of 2009
H.R. 577 – Vision Care for Kids Act of 2009
H.R. 985 – Free Flow of Information Act of 2009
H.R. 1029 – Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2009
H.R. 838 – Miami Dade College Land Conveyance Act
H.R. 151 – Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2009
H.R. 1299 – Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act of 2009
H.R. 1664 – To amend the executive compensation provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards

If you have any energy left, consider sending a message telling them to slow down and READ THE BILLS.

Please fight this madness. Protest. Take action now. And thanks for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

• HR1652 – To require institutions receiving certain assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program or the Federal Reserve to have employee bonus payment plans approved in advance of the payments being made.  [Each member of Congress must operate in a bubble, and/or they're all hoping for the "credit" if their bill is passed.  This is at least the fifth bill on this subject in the past three days!]
• HR1656 – To require TARP payments to be conditioned on the top 10 highest wage earners at a company having repaid any bonuses received during the previous 5 fiscal years.  [Six!  Ok, let's review.  We have HR1542 by Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY], HR1572 by Rep. Michael Thompson [D-CA],  HR1582 by Rep. Steven LaTourette [R-OH], HR1603 by Rep. Charles Wilson [D-OH], HR1652 by Rep. Christopher Murphy [D-CT], and now this one from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher [R-CA].  Are these people working in a vacuum?  Could the process be any more inefficient?]
• HR1650 – To enhance the oversight authority of the Comptroller General of the United States with respect to expenditures under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.  [Yet another TARP regulation bill.  The full text of the bill is not currently available, so I couldn't tell if it specifically mentions employee bonuses so I could add it to the list above.  Why don't these people just come out and admit that this TARP garbage is immoral an unconstitutional in the first place?]
• S-651 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose an excise tax on excessive bonuses paid by, and received from, companies receiving Federal emergency economic assistance, to limit the amount of nonqualified deferred compensation that employees of such companies may defer from taxation, and for other purposes.  [Number 7, by Sen. Max Baucus [D-MT]…]
• HR1649 – To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to reduce the size of core curriculum classes in public elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes.
• HR1645 (also S-638) – To provide grants to promote financial and economic literacy.  [While I think it's critical that people become more financially and economically literate, government should certainly not be the teacher, or else we'll end up with more Keynesian nitwits that have destroyed our economy to date.  Rather, people can take Chris Martenson's Crash Course for free, and read books like Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and Tom Woods' Meltdown.]
• HR1643 (also S-648) – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a prospective payment system instead of the reasonable cost-based reimbursement method for Medicare-covered services provided by Federally qualified health centers and to expand the scope of such covered services to account for expansions in the scope of services provided by Federally qualified health centers since the inclusion of such services for coverage under the Medicare Program.
• HR1642 – To provide loans and grants for fire sprinkler retrofitting in nursing facilities.
• HR1641 – To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for a study of the Cascadia Marine Trail.
• HR1640 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect consumers from usury, and for other purposes.  [Caveat emptor.  The process of buying a home would be much quicker and hassle-free if not for the myriad of regulations and bureaucratic red-tape imposed by the federal, state, and local governments.]

• HR1608 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national usury rate for consumer credit transactions, and for other purposes.
• HR1639 – To amend the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to extend Federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens.  [So Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D-AZ] wants us all to pay for health care services for those who are in this country illegally.  What do you think of that?]
• HR1637 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit universal defaults on credit card accounts, and for other purposes.
• HR1636 – To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act with respect to the qualification of the director of food services of a Medicare skilled nursing facility or a Medicaid nursing facility.
• HR1635 – To authorize alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering for new Metrorail capital projects in Northern Virginia and surrounding areas.  [So farmers in Kansas will be forced to help pay for commuter transit in Virginia?]
• HR1634 – To amend title 23, United States Code, to extend the period during which States may allow low emission and energy-efficient vehicles to use high occupancy vehicle facilities.
• HR1629 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide penalty free distributions and loans from certain retirement plans for the purchase and refinancing of principal residences.
• HR1628 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit hardship loans from certain individual retirement plans.  [Sounds like a good idea, but why should the government tell you what you can and cannot do with your own money in the first place?]
• HR1625 (also S-654) – To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to cover physician services delivered by podiatric physicians to ensure access by Medicaid beneficiaries to appropriate quality foot and ankle care.
• HR1623 – To protect children from sexual exploitation by mandating reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and other sex offenders against minors intending to engage in international travel, providing advance notice of intended travel by high risk sex offenders outside the United States to the government of the country of destination, preventing entry into the United States by any foreign sex offender against a minor, and for other purposes.
• HR1622 – To provide for a program of research, development, and demonstration on natural gas vehicles.
• HR1621 – To withhold Federal funds from schools that permit or require the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem in a language other than English.  [So let's get this straight: The feds confiscate money from the citizens of a state, and then agree to give some back for specific purposes (schooling, in this case).  But the local school officials cannot run the school way it deems best for those living in the community; instead, the Feds try to dictate how things will be run by threatening to not give the state their own money back.  What a racket!]
• HR1619 – To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit preexisting condition exclusions for children in group health plans and health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets.
• HR1616 – To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to permit States the option to provide Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals infected with HIV.
• HR1615 – To amend section 435(o) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding the definition of economic hardship.
• HR1614 (also S-652) – To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to community health coalitions to assist in the development of integrated health care delivery, and for other purposes.
• HR1612 – To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to expand the authorization of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior to provide service-learning opportunities on public lands, help restore the nation’s natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, and scenic resources, train a new generation of public land managers and enthusiasts, and promote the value of public service.
• HR1611 – To amend the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 to repeal a provision prohibiting the use of funds for a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexican-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico.
• HR1610 – To amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to limit the annual percentage rate of interest that may be charged by recipients of financial assistance under such Act with respect to consumer credit card accounts, and for other purposes.
• HR1609 – To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service to verify income for purposes of determining the eligibility of persons for certain Department of Agriculture payments and benefits, and for other purposes.
• HR1607 – To provide for and promote the economic development of Indian tribes by furnishing the necessary capital, financial services, and technical assistance to Indian-owned business enterprises, to stimulate the development of the private sector of Indian tribal economies, and for other purposes.
• HR1606 – To establish a new automobile voucher program.
• HR1605 – To seek the establishment of and contributions to an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, and for other purposes.
• HR1604 – To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections.  [Each state has absolute jurisdiction over how its elections are handled.  And then there's the argument that voting by mail is a very bad idea.]
• HR273 – Recognizing the 188th anniversary of the independence of Greece and celebrating Greek and American democracy.
• HR271 – Recognizing the need to support the development and enforcement of a well-informed national long-term care strategy to solve the problems of cost, quality, and access to long-term care in the home and community, and the imperativeness of including long-term care in the comprehensive health care reform agenda.
• HR270 – Recognizing the establishment of Hunters for the Hungry programs across the United States and the contributions of those programs efforts to decrease hunger and help feed those in need.
• HR269 – Supporting the goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.
• HR268 – Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of Earth Hour 2009.
• HR267 – Recognizing the cultural and historical significance of Nowruz, expressing appreciation to Iranian-Americans for their contributions to society, and wishing Iranian-Americans and the people of Iran a prosperous new year.
• HR266 – Celebrating 90 years of United States-Polish diplomatic relations, during which Poland has proven to be an exceptionally strong partner to the United States in advancing freedom around the world.
• S-655 – A bill to amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to ensure adequate funding for conservation and restoration of wildlife, and for other purposes.
• S-662 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for reimbursement of certified midwife services and to provide for more equitable reimbursement rates for certified nurse-midwife services.
• S-661 – A bill to strengthen American manufacturing through improved industrial energy efficiency, and for other purposes.
• S-660 – A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to pain care
• S-659 – A bill to improve the teaching and learning of American history and civics.  [Unless this bill specifically dismantles the entire Department of Education, it is worthless.]
• S-656 – A bill to provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals of Liberia to that of lawful permanent residents.
• S-649 – A bill to require an inventory of radio spectrum bands managed by the national telecommunications and Information Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.
• SR79 – A resolution honoring the life of Paul M. Weyrich and expressing the condolences of the Senate on his passing.
• S-647 – A bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to improve the transparency of information on skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities and to clarify and improve the targeting of the enforcement of requirements with respect to such facilities.
• S-646 – A bill to amend section 435(o) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding the definition of economic hardship.
• S-643 – A bill to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit preexisting condition exclusions for children in group health plans and health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets.
• S-641 – A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent the abuse of dehydroepiandrosterone, and for other purposes.
• S-639 – A bill to amend the definition of commercial motor vehicle in section 31101 of title 49, United States Code, to exclude certain farm vehicles, and for other purposes.
• SCR11 – A concurrent resolution condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and reaffirming the support of Congress for the mandate of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Ant-Semitism, and for other purposes.

Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to contact your representatives via telephone simply to tell them that you support or oppose a particular bill.  It’ll most likely take you less than two minutes, and it’s so very important that we stand up to our increasingly tyrannical government.

If you don’t know who your Senators are, or how to contact them, click here to found out.

If you don’t know who your Representatives are, or how to contact them, click here to find out.

• HR209 – Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Daughters of Penelope, a preeminent international women’s association and affiliate organization of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).
• HR206 – Honoring the efforts and contributions of the Montgomery, Alabama, Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.
• HR1296 – To achieve access to comprehensive primary health care services for all Americans and to reform the organization of primary care delivery through an expansion of the Community Health Center and National Health Service Corps programs.
• HR1295 – To mitigate mortgage foreclosures, facilitate and include fairness in housing recovery, and combat mortgage fraud, and for other purposes.
• HR210 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that providing breakfast in schools through the National School Breakfast Program has a positive impact on classroom performance.
• HR1316 – To provide for appropriate notification of communities and homeowners of establishment of flood elevations for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program.
• HR1297 – To establish the Hawai’i Capital National Heritage Area, and for other purposes.
• HR1253 – To require that limitations and restrictions on coverage under group health plans be timely disclosed to group health plan sponsors and timely communicated to participants and beneficiaries under such plans in a form that is easily understandable.
• HR1259 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the distribution of the drug dextromethorphan, and for other purposes.
• S-525 – A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the importation of prescription drugs, and for other purposes.

• HR1298 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the importation of prescription drugs, and for other purposes.
• HR1262 – To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize appropriations for State water pollution control revolving funds, and for other purposes.
• HR1256 – To protect the public health by providing the Food and Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate tobacco products.
• HR1303 – To require the Attorney General, through the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice, to establish a 5-year competitive grant program to establish pilot programs to reduce the rate of occurrence of gun-related crimes in high-crime communities.
• SR64 – A resolution recognizing the need for the Environmental Protection Agency to end decades of delay and utilize existing authority under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to comprehensively regulate coal combustion waste and the need for the Tennessee Valley Authority to be a national leader in technological innovation, low-cost power, and environmental stewardship.
• HR1313 – To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 so that any local educational agency receiving funding under part A of title I of such Act or public charter school is eligible for a Troops to Teachers participant.
• HR1310 – To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify that fill material cannot be comprised of waste.
• HR1309 – To codify the definition of terms used in subheading 1604.14 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, relating to tuna products.
• S-523 – A bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish pilot project offices to improve Federal permit coordination for renewable energy.
• HR1307 – To authorize improvements to flood damage reduction facilities adjacent to the American and Sacramento Rivers near Sacramento, California, and for other purposes.
• S-522 – A bill to resolve the claims of the Bering Straits Native Corporation and the State of Alaska to land adjacent to Salmon Lake in the State of Alaska and to provide for the conveyance to the Bering Straits Native Corporation of certain other public land in partial satisfaction of the land entitlement of the Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

One bill in particular, HR1296, is an attempt at achieving Universal Health Care.  Have you contacted your representatives lately?

Quote of the Day: “Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — from “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.

President Obama gave a speech Tuesday night. He asked the American people to believe many impossible things at once. He claims he’s going to . . .

* Continue to intervene in the economy and bailout irresponsible companies and individuals
* Revolutionize health care
* Transform energy and the environment
* And cut government spending too

It was an “Alice in Wonderland” performance. His speech, to once again guote from “Alice,” demonstrated a complete mastery of “The different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”

It’s hard to decide which, of all his many impossible ambitions, is the most frightening. However, since we can only fight one impossible thing at a time, we choose this one . . .

President Obama called for “cap and trade” legislation to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

“Cap and trade” would . . .

* Cap CO2 emissions
* Sell CO2 emission permits to businesses in amounts equal to the cap
* Allow companies to trade and/or sell these permits to allegedly create a market for innovations that would reduce CO2 emissions
* Use the proceeds from the permit sales to create a vast new research bureaucracy to help corporations cope with the cap

As a practical matter, “cap and trade” will . . .

* Raise your electricity and gasoline bills
* Provide politicians with new tools to control the economy, hand out favors, and punish enemies
* Be as ineffective in doing “research” as the Energy Department has been
* Probably (if the example of Europe is a reliable guide) have little impact on over-all CO2 emissions

Even if you accept that human CO2 emissions are causing problematic global warming, a government run “cap and trade” system isn’t the best way to deal with this problem. Here are some points to consider . . .

* Fossil fuels create massive amounts of air pollution, quite apart from CO2.
* This pollution causes health problems, none of which are reflected in the price of fossil fuels.
* Fossil fuels enjoy a “free ride” in terms of pollution costs that make it hard for alternative energy sources to compete.
* Air pollution is a form of trespass, and preventing trespasses is a legitimate function of government.

The federal government could do this by . . .

* Taxing fossil fuels
* Cutting other taxes so that your overall financial burden would remain unchanged or even reduced

Your energy costs would rise, but your taxes would fall by an equal or greater amount. Doing this would . . .

* Eliminate any justification for a “cap and trade” boondoggle
* Make fossil fuels reflect more of their true costs
* Provide an incentive for everyone to reduce their use of fossil fuels
* Make other sources of energy cost competitive
* Limit the financial impact on you and the economy
* Help reduce air pollution, including CO2 emissions

For those Americans who fear climate change a carbon tax combined with tax cuts in other areas would be a better approach than “cap and trade.” This impossible “cap and trade” proposal must be defeated, especially since the federal government already has so many other impossible things on its agenda.

Please use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful System to tell your elected representatives to oppose all “cap and trade” legislation.

Use your personal comments to point out that “cap and trade” hasn’t worked in Europe.

Please also use this Dispatch to educate and recruit new members, by forwarding it to others, by re-posting on your own blog, if you have one, and by “Digging” it in on our blog.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. We’ve added 303 net new subscribers so far this year, and 5,827 since February 27, 2007.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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