Talking Out Loud

Senators Murray and Cantwell,

At a cost of an estimated $10 trillion dollars by 2035, the Waxman-Markey Bill will impact every taxpayer in higher utility bills, the cost of food and clothing, rising gas costs, and loss of employment. For most of us the cost of living is a very real expense, and makes a very real impact on our household budgets. We, by the way, are forced to cope within those budgets. They are finite and we cannot ‘invent’ a new source of income to magically balance them. This is the biggest tax increase I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, and the fact that it comes with such incredible job loss is appalling. Every industry in America depends on energy, and every one of those higher costs will be passed on to the consumer. We know that. Simply denying that the laws of economics exist is not a real argument, and the CBO’s ‘snapshot’ of only the early years of the costs of this bill is really just a half-truth – or a lie - in support of the bill, isn’t it. The really big hit comes down the road during years the recent assessment by the CBO doesn’t bother to recognize , and during years I might add that many more of us will be retired and even less able to afford it.

On page 781 of this bill, taxpayers are ‘volunteered’ to finance those job losses with unemployment benefits, and then again to finance schooling in governmentally specified 'green jobs'. Estimates on those job losses are up to 1,450,000 in some reports and this is in addition to the hardship we’ll already be suffering. What else is in this bill, that by Friday will have more last minute amendments added to its 1000+ pages that no one reads? More RAT boards? More laws circumvented or put into place without our knowledge – or our vote? More of our money dedicated to support more special interest groups and campaign contributors? Anybody bother to read it this time, or do you think we just don’t care? Or is it that we just don’t count? I care. And I can count. And I expect you to do the same thing.

Transparency ‘after it’s been spent’, ‘eventually’, or whenever it’s more expedient and or is just too late is not transparency. It’s duplicity. I know the difference, and I’m not alone in that.

Any positive impact is more than offset by the tremendous costs that will again fall on American taxpayers to absorb. The cost of converting to these ‘green energy’ sources is enormous – Congress should devote their energies to cutting down THOSE costs, and stop assuming we’d just love to pay for another half-baked plan that essentially takes more money away from our families, kneecaps American business and industry, and effectively passes every one of those costs right back to me.

All of the above will have a significant impact on our GDP – it’s unavoidable. While We the People (or ‘taxpayers’, as we’re so often referred to) attempt to compensate for rising costs by using less and less energy and buying fewer and fewer products – production of those same products will inevitably decline. The cost of providing those supplies will increase, because there has not been sufficient effort put into making green energy cost effective, or even accessing our own fuel instead of importing it. It’s put off over and over and over again. Meanwhile, We the People continue to subsidize other countries that use the money for - what? Good works and charity? Hardly. Drill here and do it faster , thank you.

Supply and demand is a fact, not a myth. 'Pay-Go' is the myth. Our businesses will have to leave, or fold, or pass on the cost - our farmers will suffer, and we will become more dependent on outside sources for those same supplies instead of supporting our own. Don’t deny the reality, because the rest of us aren’t going to. We won’t be able to. We will come face to face with it every time we turn on a light, get in the car, make a purchase, or cancel a vacation. Airlines, automobiles, food, light – come on. Stop denying reality and face facts.

Will there be penalties and taxes imposed on product imported from other countries as well, or is just America’s businesses and taxpayers that will be penalized? Of course not. Do the right thing, the harder thing, and put some effort into research that will decrease the costs of ‘going green’. Make it financially feasible for our business and industry, and make this affordable for America. I’d love to be green, I really would – but I am disgusted by the lack of any intelligent effort put into doing so. Stop assuming you can just take more of our money because it’s just so much easier. Let’s remember that our politicians are supposed to represent the People and their interests. Not the special interest groups, not the biggest campaign contributors – the People. Protect OUR future. Stop treating the taxpayers like an inexhaustible line of credit. We are NOT the government’s personal bank.

I can’t for the life of me come up with one good reason why I should have to even make that point, can you?

Perhaps you’ve heard of the recent tragedy on Wall Street? Or possibly the recession? The People are reeling: they’ve suffered huge monetary losses it’s taken them years to accumulate, they’re losing jobs and income, businesses and homes, funding for schools and parks and community services. Virtually every state is operating in deficit, with the exception of four or five. Yet amazingly, the worker bees in DC are busily figuring out how to spend more money they don’t have, and raise taxes to finance it via a country already in pain. Health care benefits and charitable donation’s, cost of living increases and penalties for our businesses. What the hell are you thinking? Why aren’t you screaming ‘NO, this does harm to the People I represent’? Who do you represent? Is it us? It can’t be – if it were and our interests and needs were being put first, I don’t think we’d be in the tragic state we’re in. We got here because someone else is being represented. The new ‘big business’ of special interest leaps to mind. I’m just dying to know why ACORN gets a cut out of every escrow deal – which bill did that get snuck into, out of curiousity? You remember the Fair Housing Act, and what a whopping success that was too, right? Was that the one?

My community will be watching the votes on this bill, and all the bills to come. We’ll be keeping an eye on the Census Bureau as well. I find myself very interested in this new intrusion, and the DOJ’s changes to our state election laws on the basis that requiring a social security number is somehow ‘discriminatory’, and the countless other defilements I see being put in place. We’re feeling pretty motivated to pay attention, as we have been most lax. We are angry, Senators. And we are hurt. We’re being abused. We’d be most appreciative of your representation, and your efforts to stop our country being destroyed from the inside. Or we will obviously find someone that will. We can climb our rooftops in the night, too. And I most certainly will.

Sincerely,

Kim Veldt

Long , isn't it. I had a lot to say. They'd better listen up too, because I meant every word and I'm not done yet. Check this out:

Duplicity:
Pronunciation:\du̇-ˈpli-sə-tē also dyu̇-\
Function:noun
Inflected Form(s):plural du·plic·i·ties
Etymology:Middle English duplicite, from Middle French, from Late Latin duplicitat-, duplicitas, from Latin duplex
Date:15th century
1: contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action ; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action
2: the quality or state of being double or twofold
3: the technically incorrect use of two or more distinct items (as claims, charges, or defenses) in a single legal action

Is there anyone out there who thinks the Fair Housing Act was a stellar decision? Who gifted us with that idiocy? The Carter administration. It took years - but it caught up in the end, just like the Waxman bill will. It not only hurt the folks it was designed to help, it damn near took the whole country out. You NEED to pay attention and start fighting for your country. What is it going to take? We're BANKRUPT , people - what the hell is wrong with our government? The solution is raise our taxes some more so they can keep on spending? Really? Are you going to suck that up too?

We have been so incredibly complacent it's criminal. We did not watch, and when we did manage to surface from our own immediate concerns we gave them permission - saying 'well - we knew they were lying the minute they opened their mouths , right? What else is new?' This is on us, and we've created a cannibal.

Get your blog on , ladies. You know who you are, I've spoken with so many of you. Pay attention and start making your voice heard in DC before you're too broken to cry anymore and of no consequence anyway. Insist on being a vote that matters. Communicate your concerns and anger too. TALK OUT LOUD. If you do NOT do that , and continue in apathy and silence - there will be no change. You'll disappear along with your country and the right and privileges you take for granted. It MATTERS, girls. Stop relying on people to make decisions on your behalf that so obviously don't care, or just aren't bright enough to do the job. You can't afford to be lazy and not take responsibility. You must have noticed by now that does us no favors.

There's an old saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and there are people are using that to their advantage. And our elected politicians are the ones enabling them. It's not that they don't have the time to read the bill's , it's really that they just don't care. What we don't know won't hurt them , right? Ask yourselves what they get in return, and then ask yourself why you would vote them back in for more of this crap.

You put them in and you can take them out. Do it. I swear to God I will. I fully expect to have to do it more than once because they're pretty optimistic. And they have every right to be, all things considered. But that's MY kid's future on the line as well as what's left of mine, and I want him to grow up in the same country I once had. I will NOT have it. I will NOT. It's glaringly obvious that we have not demanded nearly enough of our representatives , and by not doing so failed ourselves and our children miserably. I'll be continuing to talk out loud and long in many more letters to my reps.

Stop watching the endless coverage on Senator Sanford, and Perez, and Ed, and Iran and Farrah and Michael and start actively looking for the really important things that are happening right now, right here. Spend the time online - and it does take time. I cried for the mothers in Iran. I wish their children had fought smarter instead of dying in the streets for their vote. But we must pay attention at home. Cry for your own vote. Or your own lack of a voice.

If you'd like to locate your representatives , and I hope you do , look them up here: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/