National Primary Your Congressman Day

Not sure what day is “National Primary Your Congressman Day”, so we’ll make it today.

At all levels of governance, if you believe your city, county, state, country are headed in the wrong direction, your jobs three:

• Find the name of the incumbents
• Educate your neighbors
• Vote them out in the Primary.

…that is, if you still believe in your Party’s platform.  Should the incumbent win in the Primary, it’s your call whether or not to stick with them in the General Election.  Remember, you never waste your vote.

From Ed Martin…

Dear Friend,

http://www.whiteflagcongress.com

Did you know: today is National Primary Your Member of Congress Day!*  All across America, men and women are waking up to the fact that the Congress – both parties! – is in service of themselves and their special interest supporters … not the American people and the Constitution.  And regular folks – like you! – are filing to run for Congress against these incumbents who fail to do their duties.

One example of a failed Congress: last year, members of Congress gave themselves an automatic salary increase.  However, Congress also gave Social Security recipients receive no “cost of living adjustment” increase.  That’s right: your Congressman got more take-home-pay and you or your senior friends are told to keep living on last year’s social security even as inflation and costs go up.

So let’s get back to National Primary Your Member of Congress Day!  Is it really worth doing?

Yes, yes it is.  Because just last night refugees to America were arrested for plotting terror (the refugee program funded by Paul Ryan’s Congress a few weeks ago!).  Because Planned Parenthood announced yesterday that in addition to abortions, they will fund Hillary Clinton’s campaign for President (Planned Parenthood funded by Paul Ryan’s Congress a few weeks ago!).  And because the Paul Ryan-Obama Omnibus bill of 2015 includes quadrupling immigration visas (more jobs for foreigners, less for Americans, brought to you by Paul Ryan’s Congress!).

In this short email, we won’t try to cover this Congress’ betrayal on education (they funded Common Core!) and guns (they funded Obama’s background check gun grab!).  This Congress issues press releases, offers sound bites, and takes meaningless show votes.  To try to fool us into thinking they care about us or the Constitution!

It’s a disaster but you already know this.  So, NOW YOU HAVE TO ACT.

Please consider filing for office against your incumbent member of Congress.  People will help you run including me.  Even as we all work to elect a new President – one who actually abides by the Constitution – we need a Congress that puts Americans first!

Email me (edmartin1791@gmail.com) to find out more.  “Making America great again” seems far off because right now we need to save Americans from Congress. Don’t despair: we can do it.  File today.

All the best.

Ed Martin

President, Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum

* I am making it today.  I hope you will join me.

It makes me think of the song, Old McDonald (EIEIO)

Every Incumbent… …EVERY INCUMBENT… …OUT!

 

Ed Martin: How Congress Lies To Us

Below is an indictment of US House Republicans by a ‘Platform Republican’ like me for the games played when voting for the Boehner / Pelosi / MConnell / Obama budget deal. As you read the letter, remember these votes by the Republican contingent for Missouri. How did they vote when it was stoppable (when they should have fought for us)? How did they voted when it was unstoppable (and could be used to pretend that they fought back against Obama / boehner)?

Member	Stoppable	Unstoppable
Rep. Sam B. Graves [R-MO]	Aye	Nay
Rep. Vicky Hartzler [R-MO]	Aye	Aye
Rep. Billy Long [R-MO]	Aye	Nay
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer [R-MO]	Aye	Aye
Rep. Jason T. Smith [R-MO]	Aye	Nay
Rep. Ann Wagner [R-MO]	Aye	Nay

I’ll give Hartzler and Luetkemeyer credit, they supported Obama / Boehner all the way.

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Here is Ed’s e-mail…

Dear Friend,

One week ago, I traveled to Washington, DC for meetings that were scheduled a few months ago. During the day I spent there, I along with some Eagle Forum state leaders met with a dozen members of the House and one Senator.
To a person, these members of the United States Congress complained about the Boehner-Obama secret budget deal that had been released just a day or two earlier.

“It just came out and no one really knows what’s in it,” they all said in one way or another. And, “Republican leadership wants it passed, but how can we vote on this massive deal if we haven’t read it??”

If this sounds to you just like Nancy Pelosi who told us that the Congress “ha(s) to pass the (Obamacare) bill so that you can find out what is in it,” you’re right. It was appalling to hear this from members of Congress … and infuriating to realize that John Boehner was asking Republicans to vote for a budget bill they did not yet understand AND to give Obama unlimited authority to raise the debt. (By the way, this week, the Obama administration admitted that it raised the debt by nearly $300 billion after Obama signed the Boehner-Obama budget. The insanity continues.)

After lunch last Wednesday as I sat in more meetings with members, I suddenly realized what was happening: the United States Congress – the House in this case – was preparing to execute one of their classic lies to the American people: the old bait-and-switch vote. Here’s how it worked: just after 3pm EST, there was a vote on the floor of the House with all of the Republicans in the House except 29 voting to advance the “Rule” for the Boehner-Obama secret budget deal. By passing this “Rule,” Republicans who had not read the bill or even likely understood its details, were putting Boehner, Pelosi and Obama in charge of our future. To be clear: If the Republicans had voted against this “Rule,” there would have been no vote on the budget deal.

What happened next is the best recent example of how Americans have been betrayed. At just after 5pm, the House voted on the Boehner-Obama secret budget deal. 138 Republican members of the House changed their vote from just a few hours ago and voted against the Boehner-Obama secret budget deal.

Let me be clear: the reason these Republicans voted FOR the Boehner-Obama secret budget BEFORE voting against it was so they could come home to you the American people and tell you that they voted against a very bad bill. But they didn’t vote against Boehner-Obama budget until after they voted for it.

It is always a surprise when men and women of good will are dishonest. We conservatives believe the truth matters and that men and women of good will are abide in the truth. To be candid, I am not sure whether the lies we are being told are malicious or if the Republicans are in the throes of “Stockholm Syndrome” and believe that what they are doing is somehow justified. But I am not sure it matters: America is on the brink and our Congress is lying to us.

I flew home to St. Louis last Wednesday evening and my stomach sank, not just from a bumpy flight, but because I knew something was dramatically wrong in our nation.

All the best.
Ed Martin
President, Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum

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Ed joined the McGraw Millhaven to discuss the issue.  Listen here.

 

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To see the vote details, try the links below

1st vote of House to move Boehner-Obama Budget Deal (3:33pm, Wed. Oct. 28th) Note that only 29 Republicans voted to stop it. You can find how your member voted here.

2nd vote of the House to move Boehner-Obama Budget Deal (5:21pm, Wed. Oct. 28th) Now, 267 Republicans voted to stop it but it’s too late! You can find how your member voted here.

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And, this spending problem does not just exist in Washington DC.  At all levels of Republican-led government, more spending, more laws, more government.

Bottom line, Conservatives and GOP clearly have two different definitions for ‘smaller government’. GOP believes that ‘smaller government’ is government that adds thousands of employees, more laws, and Trillion$ in spending and debt… …albeit at a slower pace than the Democrats. Conservatives believe that ‘smaller government’ is defined by fewer government employees, fewer laws, lower spending than the prior year, and repayment of debt.

This budget fight seems to be another example of “Surrender… …Then Play Fight”

But, as so astutely detailed by Bill Hennessy, the GOPe has left it’s base.

 

Kim Davis’ Opportunity To Win For Separation Of Church And State

Unlike most, I don’t subscribe to the modern notion of church / state separation and am fully informed that it is not a law or a matter of Constitutional principle.  It’s a note from Thomas Jefferson to someone else. 

However, here we are and Kim Davis is in jail for one simple reason:  the governments of and within the United States have stepped over the wall of separation between church and state especially in the area of marriage.

One thing we know is that Lance and Larry, in 1787, didn’t go with a Justice of the Peace to the sugar white sands of the beaches of Destin, FL and define marriage.  Marriage was a religious institution and was described in The Bible long before the creation of the United States; it certainly predates the notion of separation of church / state; and it was created without the assistance of and likely prior to the creation of any form government let alone the United States government with its 1st Amendment.

At some point in the short history of the United States (and certainly after the Civil War), state governments stepped onto the wall of separation and began getting involved in the religious institution of marriage in the appropriate area of protecting the rights to property – especially that of women.

Eventually, the state decided it would fully step over the wall of separation, declare itself a religious institution, and start performing government marriages (GMs) outside of the church’s involvement.

Now, it’s decided that it has the right to define and redefine marriage.

All of this (except for the protection of private property and offspring) is the government – not the church – crossing the line between church and state.

Kim Davis has taken a stand on that line, and with a little logic from our elected representatives, we can rightly put the governments of this nation back on the correct side of the church / state line.  Let’s start from the point that Kim Davis should have made her stand…

In Kentucky, ALL Marriage Laws have been declared null and void:

Article 1, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution declares, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”  Section 29 of the Kentucky State Constitution declares “THE legislative power shall be vested in a House of Representatives and a Senate, which, together, shall be styled the ‘General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.’” [Emphasis Added]

This, of course, means that no other branch of the Federal or State government, including SCOTUS, can make or change laws.  ALL powers for making or changing laws has been granted to Congress and the Kentucky Legislature.  Again, SCOTUS cannot make or change laws.  They can declare laws unconstitutional and have done so for laws excluding homosexuals from marriage.

Therefore, any law that has defined marriage as only between a man and a woman has been declared null and void.  SCOTUS can’t change the law to say something else; Article 1, Section 1 and KY Section 29 says they do not have the powers to do that.

Here is the Kentucky law defining marriage:

402.005 Definition of marriage.

As used and recognized in the law of the Commonwealth, “marriage” refers only to the civil status, condition, or relation of one (1) man and one (1) woman united in law for life, for the discharge to each other and the community of the duties legally incumbent upon those whose association is founded on the distinction of sex.

SCOTUS has declared this law null and void.  Therefore, since the law defining marriage is null and void, all activities, such as distributing licenses for marriage (something now undefined in Kentucky) are null and void.  How can you distribute licenses for something that is undefined?

Again, the activity of distributing ANY marriage license in Kentucky is illegal until the Legislature convenes to create a law that rightly defines marriage and the Governor signs such a law.

This is where Kim Davis must make her stand…

Remove marriage from government!

The words ‘marry’, ‘marrying’, ‘marriage’, et al should have never been allowed to enter the sphere of centralized governance and must be removed.  Government, in its bigoted ineptitude, having originally defined marriage (implicitly and explicitly) as between a man and a woman, has now defined marriage as including coupled homosexual marriages disregarding and excluding other types of marriages.  So naturally, the fight looms regarding multi-partner relationships or any other type of relationship that wants to be recognized by the government.

Government has no business in the area of civil relationships other than to protect the private property of those involved, ensure that government benefits and entitlements are properly distributed before and after death, and ensure terminations of such relationships are orderly and fair (especially to offspring).  Other than that, government is not a party to the relationship.  Therefore, it has no course to define or redefine the words used to describe that relationship.

To that end, the words ‘marry’, ‘marrying’, ‘marriage’, et al must be removed from all federal, state, and local constitutions, laws, statutes, regulations, ordinances, and policies and immediately replaced with words such as Civil Relationship Unit(s) – or CRU, or cru.

Thus, if any number of consenting, capable adults want to be a cru, so be it.  If two men or two women want to be a cru, they go to their county clerk, ask for a contract, sign it, and they are a crued.  If three men and one women want to be a cru, here’s the forms.  If five adult women and Warren Jepps want to be a cru, so be it.  If seventy-two virgins want to cru-up w/ Mohammad Ali, so be it.  It’s contract on how to deal with property; it’s a contract to live within a certain system of laws.

Then, if any of those people can find a church or other organization that wants to hold a ceremony in honor of their Civil Relationship Unit and whatever name that may be called within that group (marriage / harriage / garriage / barriage), so be it.  And, if any church or other organization doesn’t want to engage in such a ceremony, so be it.

.

The problem is not that a religious person is in government; the problem is that government has long crossed the line of separation into religion.  And, it’s time to get it out.

.
Kim Davis has the opportunity with her lawyer, Mat Staver, to push government back over the line, keep her job, and become a hero of the religious community.  Help her friends and family help her pursue this course.

 

Your US House Member And The Farm Bill Vote

As expected, the Farm Bill was re-married with the Welfare/Food Stamp Bill and was an assault on the taxpayers, freedom, and the free market in general.

Sadly, the conservative position as well un-represented by the Missouri Republican Coalition with all Republicans voting for the bill:

http://www.heritageactionscorecard.com/votes/vote/h31-2014

It’s disappointing, as I look at the current scorecard for Missouri (a bit differently than most), I see that:

• Billy Long votes against conservative positions 18% of the time
• Jason Smith 24% of the time
• Ann Wagner 31% of the time
• Vicky Hartzler 32% of the time
• Sam Graves 33% of the time
• Blaine Luetkemeyer 37% of the time
• Senator Blunt votes against conservative positions 43% (almost half) of the time

Notice how often the Missouri Democrats vote with the other side of the aisle – lock – stock – barrel:

• William Lacy Clay votes against liberal positions 16% of the time
• Emanuel Cleaver 10% of the time
• Clair McCaskill 6% of the time

Some middle-of-the-roader Clair is… …but the point to note is that when our “conservative” representatives go across the aisle… …this country continues to move to the left… …toward tyranny.

 

On Congressman William Lacy Clay’s Exit From Benghazi Hearing

By Pat Patterson, Cape Girardeau, MO

I am not sure if I should apologize to the constituents served by Congressman William Lacy Clay. I just know that I’m not one of those people. I do not live in the Congressman’s district. However, I can not hold my tongue on his shameful action of toeing the party line and leaving the hearings on the Benghazi victims and their parents. I am just so sick to my stomach right now because of something like this — not only to shame those who were killed and their survivors, but to willfully ignore their existence and search for justice.

What was going on in Benghazi? Right now, it does not matter if it was not a YouTube video or a gun running operation by this administration, which in light of Fast and Furious seems much more plausible then a schmuck running around in front of a video camera. This should be about trying to find out why there was a cover up, why is Hillary Clinton receiving a medal, not only in light of her actions as Secretary of State, but also past actions with Whitewater.

This whole debacle stinks, and unfortunately, Congressman Lacy brought it back to Missouri. This is supposed to be the Show-ME State, instead, the Congressman skittered out of the hearing, with no reasons or excuse, and crawled back into the blanketed crowd in the cesspool quagmire that is currently a District of Columbia mire of partisan muck and filth for not honoring fallen soldiers who attempted to protect American assets and interests above and beyond the call of duty.

It just befouls the entire state with stench when a Congressman avoids the truth like this. And to not even honor fallen military and their family. It just seems that Congressman Lacy is affiliated with a political super-hazard waste disposal site worse than Times Beach, the Love Canal, and Three Mile Island could ever accomplish together, even if they were fed by the Cuyahoga River. And he’s intent on pulling the truth down with him when he acts like this. It’s shameful for the constituents of his Congressional District #1 in St. Louis, and equally shameful for the entirety of Missouri and our honor not only as Missourians, but U.S. Citizens as well.

Thank you, Pat Patterson

 

Fairtax / Income Tax / Jason Smith

John McMillen, of Sikeston, MO, posted the following to Jason Smith’s Facebook timeline.  It’s GREAT stuff!

The American system of private property ownership is the most important guaranty of freedom. This was the corner stone on which our founders built our “Bill of Rights” and our “Constitution.”

When personal property rights are respected, honored, and preserved, not only is it a guarantor of Freedom to those who own property, but also for those who do not. Each person is free to move from place to place for a better opportunity, and with no government confiscation of the wealth when individuals are free to produce, more real opportunities are created by the success of others. This principle applies right down to a person’s paycheck.

The best way for government to put more money in people’s wallets is for government to leave it there in the first place. This devilish system developed in America using the IRS INCOME TAX as the Mother Ship of Socialism has brought America’s economy and societal morays to its knees.

A good model to observe was adopted in a land of total communist rule by the Soviets in the late 1980s. It is a good example of evidence as to the original American system’s effects for increased production and industriousness voluntarily exercised among the people, without government coercion.

In that example under ‘Perestroika’ (Restructuring) and ‘Glasnost’ (Transparency) Russian citizens were allowed to keep the wealth they created by raising vegetables on their own garden plots to sell and trade however they wished, and were allowed to keep 100% of the proceeds. Although these individual garden plots composed only about 2% of the agricultural lands in the Soviet Union, they produced 25% of the food!

When Soviets kept the wealth they pe rsonally created individually, they produced almost 16 times more than when it was forced from them by government order (taxation) at gunpoint!

The Fairtax Bill HR-25 is available now with 65 cosponsors. 3 of Missouri’s U.S. Representatives are cosponsors of this Bill. Jason, I hope you will study this bill closely and consider becoming a cosponsor as well. I hope you will seek council with Rob Woodall, Georgia, Sponsor of HR-25, and Ann Wagoner who just signed on as cosponsor last week for their insights.

 

So Now What’s Going On At The CBO? (Updated)

Update: 2 More E-Mails

I’ve been monitoring the activity at the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) for a little over two years now.  It’s a great way to know what legislation is coming down the pike in Congress.  I highly recommend that you sign up for their e-mail list.

Yesterday was a banner day.  I received four six different e-mails from the CBO with a total of twenty-four thirty-two different documents (four twelve were duplicates).  I’ve never received that many documents from the CBO let alone four six different e-mails.  Were we not buried in an avalanche of Obama scandals, I would likely ignore the avalanche of e-mails.  But, in the current environment, it got my attention.

A couple of items stood out (links are below):

• The Budget Baseline
• The Supplemental Security Income
• Medicare Baseline
• Medicaid Baseline

Scariest is the Budget Baseline which shows that by the 2023, our gross Federal Debt will be over $25,000,000,000,000… …another $9 Trillion in Federal Debt.  This cannot be allowed to happen!

It’s been said that “Disability” is the fastest growing employment sector under the Obama administration.  This expenditure stays static at about a $1 Trillion per year over the next 10 years.  Yes, we will be spending $10 Trillion of our General Tax Revenues to help ‘Disabled’ people… …some who need it… …and (I suspect) most like the ones I saw dancing and smoking pot in Illinois a few months ago.

For Medicare, the next 10 years sees mandatory outlays doubling from $549 Billion to $1062 Billion ($1.062 Trillion) per year.  Yes, I know you’ve paid for Medicare; so have I.  But, have you paid into Medicare the same amount that you’ve taken out?!?  For both SSOAI and Medicare, receivers should first be provided with the balance of their account… …the amount they paid in less expenses.

And finally, for Medicaid, the next 10 years sees outlays double from $251 Billion to $554 Billion per year.  The DSH (Disproportionate Share Hospital) amount goes from $10 Billion to $13 Billion… …you know that horrible thing where people go to hospitals when they don’t have insurance and the government has to pay for them so we need to have the government fix the $10 Billion problem by taking over the entire healthcare system to the tune of $2 Trillion… …that DSH.

BOY! That’s a big document dump on the same day the IRS, Benghazi, Kermit Gosnell, Fast and Furious, and AP scandals hit a fever pitch.  I’m glad I’m not a conspiracy theorist, or the black helicopters would be circling…

SQUIRREL!!

New from CBO

• CBO’s Estimate of the Net Budgetary Impact of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Coverage Provisions Has Not Changed Much Over Time
• Effects on Health Insurance and the Federal Budget for the Insurance Coverage Provisions in the Affordable Care Act—May 2013 Baseline
• Medicare’s Payments to Physicians: The Budgetary Impact of Alternative Policies Relative to CBO’s May 2013 Baseline
• Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023

New from CBO

• Child Nutrition Programs—May 2013 Baseline
• Individual Income Tax Receipts and the Individual Tax Base—May 2013 Baseline
• Children’s Health Insurance Program—May 2013 Baseline
• Child Support Enforcement—May 2013 Baseline
• Child Support Collections—May 2013 Baseline
• CBO’s Estimate of the Net Budgetary Impact of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Coverage Provisions Has Not Changed Much Over Time
• Effects on Health Insurance and the Federal Budget for the Insurance Coverage Provisions in the Affordable Care Act—May 2013 Baseline
• Medicare’s Payments to Physicians: The Budgetary Impact of Alternative Policies Relative to CBO’s May 2013 Baseline
• Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023

New from CBO

• Unemployment Compensation—May 2013 Baseline
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families—May 2013 Baseline
• Supplemental Security Income—May 2013 Baseline
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—May 2013 Baseline
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation—May 2013 Baseline
• Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance—May 2013 Baseline
• Social Security Trust Fund—May 2013 Baseline
• Social Security Disability Insurance—May 2013 Baseline
• Military Retirement—May 2013 Baseline
• Medicare—May 2013 Baseline
• Medicaid—May 2013 Baseline
• Foster Care and Adoption Assistance—May 2013 Baseline

New from CBO

• H.R. 701, a bill to amend a provision of the Securities Act of 1933 directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to add a particular class of securities to those exempted under such Act to provide a deadline for such action
• H.R. 674, Rota Cultural and Natural Resources Study Act
• H.R. 1156, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding of a road outside of the floodplain
• H.R. 723, Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Protection Act
• H.R. 602, Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act
• S. 545, Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013
• H.R. 267, Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013

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More e-mails found after original blog post publication…

New from CBO

• USDA Mandatory Farm Programs—May 2013 Baseline
• Highway Trust Fund Accounts—May 2013 Baseline
• Federal Programs that Guarantee Mortgages—May 2013 Baseline
• Pell Grant Programs—May 2013 Baseline
• Student Loan Programs—May 2013 Baseline
• Historical Budget Data—May 2013 Baseline Projections
• Budget Projections—May 2013 Baseline Projections
• Deficits Projected in CBO’s Baseline and Under an Alternative Fiscal Scenario

New from CBO

• Historical Budget Data—May 2013 Baseline Projections
• Budget Projections—May 2013 Baseline Projections
• Deficits Projected in CBO’s Baseline and Under an Alternative Fiscal Scenario
• Child Nutrition Programs—May 2013 Baseline
• Individual Income Tax Receipts and the Individual Tax Base—May 2013 Baseline
• Children’s Health Insurance Program—May 2013 Baseline
• Child Support Enforcement—May 2013 Baseline
• Child Support Collections—May 2013 Baseline