Super Committee will hold Public Meeting on Discretionary Spending

According to Senator Max Baucus, the Super Committee will be holding at least one public meeting and it will address discretionary spending. Also, that no final decisions will be made behind closed doors.

From USA Today --

The joint deficit reduction congressional committee will hold one, maybe two, public meetings next week, and no decisions are being made behind closed doors, Sen. Max Baucus, a member of the committee, said Wednesday.

The Montana Democrat said the first meeting will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday and will cover discretionary spending, those parts of the federal budget that are not mandated, such as Medicare and Social Security.

The meetings have been closed thus far to prevent interest groups from influencing members, he said.

"We're really going to keep all of this to ourselves. Once a proposal gets up to the public domain interest groups will jump all over it -- it makes things difficult," Baucus said.

No votes or final decisions will be made behind closed doors, said Baucus, who promised to open up Congress when first elected to the U.S. House in 1974.

"There were decisions made by members of the House and Senate in that Congress that were made not in public and that's wrong. This is different. All votes and all decisions will be made in public," Baucus said.

While it is good they are negotiating privately to keep the discussions focused, that no public input has been taken to formulate their 'great compromise' is suspect.  It smells more like the typical "we know what's best" elite establishment attitude of D.C.

Newt Gingrich offers up probably the best description on the Super Committee...

"If you want to understand how totally broken Washington is, look at this entire model of a [deficit] supercommitte, which has now got a magic number to achieve and if it doesn't achieve the magic number then we'll all have to shoot ourselves in the head. So when they come back with a dumb idea to merely cut off our right leg, we will all be grateful that they are only semi-stupid instead of being totally stupid." – Newt Gingrich

Most likely we will see a "plan" that is fiscally unappetizing to most and then, like the debt ceiling / default fraud, we will be told we must take it or we face imminent doom. 

Dick Morris on the Herman Cain "9-9-9" Plan

From Dick Morris --

In 1980, facing a terrible economy, Ronald Reagan called for a new tax program: 10-10-10. Based on the Kemp-Roth bill, he called for 10 percent cuts in income taxes for three years. He got it, and it kindled 20 years of prosperity.

Now, Herman Cain understands that we need fundamental reform to get our economy moving. He calls for replacing the current system with just three levies of 9 percent each on personal income, corporate income and consumption. There would be no capital gains tax, inheritance tax, Social Security tax or Medicare tax. Just 9-9-9.


His proposal is breathtaking. Currently, the lowest top tax rate is Poland’s 18 percent. And Poland is the only European nation that had no recession. If Cain passes 9-9-9, we will thrive and become the destination of choice for every business and businessman. Look at what Reagan’s tax cuts achieved, and at the best-performing state economies, where there is no income tax.

The proposal, naturally, attracts critics and skeptics.

Some worry that it will add to the deficit. But that’s not likely.

• Americans now earn $12.5 trillion of personal income. Tax it at 9 percent with no deductions and you generate about $1.125 billion.
• We spend $10.3 trillion. A 9 percent tax would yield about $927 billion.
• Net corporate income (after dividends) is $1.1 trillion. A 9 percent levy would generate $100 billion.
• That comes to $2.152 billion, about the same as our actual revenues of $2.162 billion for fiscal 2010.

And then, when you factor in the economic growth this plan will engender, the scenario becomes even better.

Liberals worry that the tax would shift the burden from the rich to the middle class. No, sir. Americans making $50,000 to $60,000 a year now pay an average of 6 percent of their income in income taxes. But they also pay 6.5 percent in FICA levies and 2.9 percent in Medicare payroll taxes (a total of 15.4 percent). The Cain proposal would replace these with a flat 9 percent, saving them 6.4 percent.

Of course, the middle class would also have to pay a 9 percent sales tax, but it would be largely offset by the savings in their payroll taxes.

Cain says that competitive pressures would hold down prices and force businesses to eat much of the 9 percent sales tax. Employers would not have to pay their 6.5 percent share of payroll in Social Security taxes, and their corporate taxes would be cut. For commodities with high price elasticity — like cars — competition will hold down prices. But for inelastic purchases — like food and drugs — some of the tax would probably be passed on. For the middle class? It’s a wash.

More compelling is the possible impact on the poor. A family making $20,000 to $30,000 a year pays only 3 percent of its income in taxes (much of it more than offset by tax credits). But it still pays 6.5 percent in FICA and 2.9 percent in Medicare taxes. So the requirement that such a family pay 9 percent in personal income taxes would probably be fully offset by the cut in payroll taxes. But the poor might face higher prices. Cain plans to spell out how he can mitigate the impact on the poor through special empowerment zones. We need to see the details. Certainly, the poor would benefit from the increased employment, wages and growth the Cain tax cuts would generate.

Conservatives worry that 9-9-9 will open the door to a European Value-Added Tax that starts at 9 percent but goes up each year. Cain proposes that a two-thirds vote be required to raise rates. But a simple act of Congress could change that.

The real answer is political. If the Republican Party surges back to power in 2012, captures the Senate, keeps the House and takes the presidency, it can make sure the rates don’t go up. Republicans usually can count on 40 votes in the Senate; we just have to use them.

The 9-9-9 is a good, good plan that can save our economy.

The Cost of Freedom -- Some Are Still Paying For It

While we talk about our national debt, there is a debt our country can never repay -- it is to the Americans that have served our country at a time of war.

In what was and will always be a black eye on our country -- the treatment of our Vietnam Veterans, while serving , coming home and, for many years after -- and knowing the Cost of Freedom isn't Free, these interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall show the cost some paid and how many are still paying it and will for many years to come.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the only war memorial dedicated to the soldiers and not the war in which they fought. There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.
The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.

• Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased

• There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

• 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

• 8,283 were just 19 years old.

• The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

• 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

• 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

• One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

• 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

• 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.

• 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

• 31 sets of parents lost two of their sons.

• 54 soldiers on attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.

• 8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

• 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

• Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

• West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, they see the faces and feel the pain that these numbers created.

They are, until they too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were their friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.



Tea Party Patriots Tele-Town Hall with VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Dear Patriots,

Please Join Tea Party Patriots for a free national telephone town hall event on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 8:00 PM EDT.  We are honored to host Virginia's Attorney General and Tea Party champion, Ken Cuccinelli.  CLICK HERE to register.

As you may already know, Mr. Cuccinelli championed a Virginia lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate clause in ObamaCare. Many experts believe that this lawsuit poses the single best opportunity to repeal ObamaCare. However, earlier this month, the Fourth Circuit Court in Virginia decided unanimously to throw out the case on standing and did not address the merits of the constitutional arguments. Next stop: the Supreme Court.

Attorney General Cuccinelli will be joining Tea Party Patriots from around the country to talk about:

• The court's ruling that Virginia lacks standing to bring the lawsuit
• The implications of the court's standing ruling for state sovereignty
• And the extraordinary position of the court as compared with Federalist 51 (you know, written by that radical guy by the name of James Madison...)

This is a FREE tele-townhall event, but register today as space is limited!  CLICK HERE to register.  Please forward this information to all your Tea Party friends. We want as many Patriots to join us as possible.

Action Alert: Protect Voter Integrity in Ohio / Call the Ohio Senate

Action Alert

The bill requiring Photo ID for voting in Ohio (HB 159) is expected to come up for a vote in the Ohio Senate this Tuesday 9/27/11. 

Already passed in the OH House and delayed in the OH Senate since June, HB 159 will require voters casting provisional or voting in person to furnish a photo ID for identification purposes...

To amend sections 3501.01, 3503.14, 3503.15, 3503.16, 3503.19, 3503.24, 3503.28, 3505.18, 3505.181, 3505.182, 3505.183, 3509.03, 3509.031, 3509.04, 3509.05, 3509.08, 3511.02, 3511.05, 3511.09, and 4507.50 of the Revised Code to generally require electors who appear at a polling place to vote or who cast absent voter's ballots in person to provide photo identification, to establish a process for electors to receive free photo identification, to establish a process to permit electors with a religious objection to being photographed to vote, and to revise the information that must accompany a provisional ballot for that ballot to be eligible to be counted.

With more than can be counted examples of illegal immigrants voting illegally, and with OH being a known battleground state for the Presidency, it is important we protect the integrity of the voting process in Ohio. 

The OH Senate passing HB 159 will minimize the chance of illegal immigrants and non-residents from voting in Ohio.

The OH Senate, though having a GOP majority, is not the bastion of conservatism as you may think. The vote on requiring Photo ID for voting has been put off by the Ohio Senate since June.  WHY?

Because of this, we must let them know keeping the highest standards in voter integrity is of the utmost importance. It is important pressure be put on the GOP members in the OH Senate to pass HB 159. 

The question is very simple... if you cannot provide an ID proving who you are and that you are a resident of OH -- why should you be allowed to illegally vote in elections affecting Ohio?

OH Senate Leadership

PresidentState Senator Tom Niehaus
Phone: (614) 466-8082
Email: SD14@senate.state.oh.us

President Pro Tempore

State Senator Kieth Faber
Phone: (614) 466-7584
Email: SD12@senate.state.oh.us

Majority Whip

State Senator Shannon Jones
Phone: (614) 466-9737
Email: SD07@senate.state.oh.us

Majority Floor Leader

Senator Tom Patton / District 24

Phone: (614) 466-8056
Email: SD24@senate.state.oh.us

N/E Ohio Area GOP State Senators

Senator Gayle Manning / District 13

Phone: (614) 644-7613
Email: SD13@senate.state.oh.us

Senator Larry Obhof / District 22

Phone: (614) 466-7505
Email: SD22@senate.state.oh.us

Senator Frank LaRose / District 27

Phone: (614) 466-4823
Email: SD27@senate.state.oh.us

State Senators from the Cuyahoga County area

Senator Shirley Smith / District 21

Assistant Minority Leader (D)
Phone: (614) 466-4857
Email: SD21@maild.sen.state.oh.us

Senator Michael Skindell (D) / District 23
Phone: (614) 466-5123
Email: SD23@maild.sen.state.oh.us

Senator Nina Turner (D) / District 25
Phone: (614) 466-4583
Email: SD25@maild.sen.state.oh.us

For contact information for OH Senators outside Cuyahoga County, please click here.

New legislation to counter EPA attempt to Regulate Farm Dust

Trying to make air cleaner than God ever intended -- The EPA!

From The Voice of Agriculture --

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 13, 2011 – New legislation introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating naturally occurring farm dust is welcome news for the nation's farmers and ranchers, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

"Regulation of farm dust by EPA could severely hamper the ability of farmers and ranchers to meet the world’s food needs," said AFBF President Bob Stallman.

EPA is reviewing existing regulations for particulate matter, which includes soot and dust. Soot is generated by car emissions and factories; dust occurs naturally.

According to Stallman, planting and harvesting crops, livestock moving from place to place and people driving down dirt roads are just a few of the ways dust occurs naturally on farms and in rural areas.

"The current rules pertaining to dust are adequate," said Stallman. "Increased regulation of farm dust could result in decreased productivity and higher food prices, coupled with lost jobs in the rural economy. Moreover, the scientific basis for establishing such regulation has been called into question and it has not been demonstrated that the benefits of EPA regulation would outweigh the costs."

The new legislation introduced by Johanns prevents EPA from making dust regulations even more stringent, while taking health concerns into consideration.

"State and local governments would have the authority to regulate dust in localized areas if necessary," Stallman explained. “But a national standard would not be imposed.”

-30-

9/11: Never Forget!