Tired of all of the rhetoric and none of the truth?

95% of the working class got a tax cut last year. That’s the largest tax cut in US history for middle class and working Americans.

So how is it that the angry and scared members of the radical fringe dominate the news cycle every night?

They scream about deficits and “outrageous taxes.” Where were they when President Bush added almost $5 trillion to our national debt? [1]

Meanwhile our country faces critical challenges in our infrastructure, education, economy and overall quality of life.

Taxes and government are an essential part of all of these.

The answer isn’t “big government” but effective government.

The Other 95 Percent

He firmly declared that the energy that built the tea party movement does not have to lead to violence.

“What we learned from Oklahoma City is that our words really do matter. There is this vast echo chamber, and the words fall on the serious and delirious alike,” the former president warned. “You don’t have to be nice. But be careful with what you say and do not advocate violence.”

Clinton said the same kind of “disorientation” that riled Americans during his term is apparent today in “the idea that we ought to bring back Confederate month in Virginia without talking anything about slavery” and “the fact that you ought to be able to pack a six-gun into Starbucks and order a Cowboy Latte.”

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Politico

There are several schools of thought on this subject. What is your take on the matter?

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America is good place, not perfect, but good.
(America is a failing empire… Broke and out of shape)

If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
(This includes all?)

I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and not a guarantee of equal results.
(This is true… But our Constitution is a guarantee for equal rights, in a way)

I work hard for what I have. I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
(Taxes must be paid, nonetheless… If not, then would there be healthcare? Fire departments? An educational system?)

It is not un-American for me to disagree or share my personal opinion.
(“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”)

The government works for me. I do not answer to them. They answer to me.

- “Democracy is a political government carried out either directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people”
- “A republic is a type of government where the citizens choose their leaders of their country and the people (or at least a part of its people) have an impact on its government”

By my father, I am told that America is a Republic. I am also told that the new Health Care Bill is a piece of crap that goes to help pay for not only the people working, but also for those that are living off of welfare and lying on their behinds. (Negative)

By my mother, I am told the Health Care Bill is a wonderful opportunity for her… All those mothers and fathers, single and helpless when it comes to keeping up health… So many turned down because of a pre-existing condition. (Positive)

By other just completely random people, I am told that America is a Democracy. How are we a Democracy? We chose our leader, didn’t we? We still have an impact on the government… But we don’t directly run the country, do we?

So what’s going on here? What exactly is it that we’re fighting for? What is in the health care bill?

“Voters want to see the end of ‘too-big-to-fail’ financial firms but don’t care about the other, more arcane details that divide the two parties.”

Has Congress allowed themselves to become so polarized over the heat of the health care debate that they’ve dismissed good sense when faced with it? Is everyone unwilling to work together even when it is for the common good of all?

“This is so unlike the health care debate,” said Corker, noting that some of his Republican colleagues have made misjudgments on that point over the last month. “I don’t think people realize that this is an issue that almost every American wants to see passed. “I think that again a major strategic error has occurred.”

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Bob Corker: GOP erred on financial reform

Not gonna happen. There are no words to describe how enlightened I was after dedicating just a few minutes of my time to this interview at the Capitol building in Washington DC.

This should be required watching for everyone whose lives will in any way be touched by Health Care Reform.

This is only a step. HR3590 was a change to the bill, and it now must go back to the senate for reconciliation/affirmation.

The senate, in essence, must avoid making any changes to the HR3590 changes in order to present this to the president. The bill produced for the executive must be identical from the house and senate.

Were the senate to make any amendments, the bill would then again be put to the house for reconciliation.

HR3590 changes include eliminating the FFEL program (i.e stafford loans, FEL) in turn for direct government loans for secondary education. It includes language restoring the original method of requiring citizens to obtain health insurance under penalty otherwise, and language requiring that states create insurance exchanges that will serve as an alternative to private insurance for particular groups of income earners.

The latter two are of questionable constitutionality. Never before has the congress attempted to pass legislation requiring a private citizen purchase what is ostensibly a private product; and the tenth amendment prohibits the federal body from requiring via legislation the state governments use in enacting any piece or part of federal legislation.

Another note; taxes written up in HR3590 specifically against insurance company executives are also of questionable constitutionality, as it has bee ruled in the past that such taxes against certain individuals, groups, or classes *as named* are de facto penalties. Things the gov’t may not say: Joe is to pay 50% higher taxes. People with red hair are to pay 50% higher taxes. People working in widget manufacturing are to pay 50% higher taxes.

HR3590 also introduces a 3.6% (check me) tax on investment income to entities of $200,000 annual income or higher.

The current government appears to be “Aside the people, astride the people, and to the people.”