Showdown at the House

I really hope to leave this subject soon but honestly it has consumed my thoughts. I really believe that we are giving up some fundamental tenets of our economy - not to mention our freedom.

I am upset with the Senate and in particular the delegation in my state. They both hail from the party of limited government but they are willing to cast it all aside when someone cries "wolf"!

Principles are what you hold onto in spite of the dire predictions and the apocolyptic cries.

I'll tell you, if I lived in a coastal town and there was a ship in the harbor full of congressional earmarks - this morning I could have been easily tempted to dress up like a Native-American (Indian) and dumped those "give-aways" that I am paying for, into the sea.

But I have settled down a bit now. Possibly because some time today, I took the time to scribble down some of my angst and have included those thoughts in the following letter which I emailed to the two Senators in my state. I also copied it to my Representative in the House - who made a courageous stand earlier this week (I am hoping for a repeat performance tomorrow).

Here is the letter - if you can salvage anything useful from it feel free to include it in your own letter to your Representative:

"Taxation without representation is tyranny"

I believe that our nation is back to this point.

Your willingness, along with a majority of your colleagues, to saddle the taxpayers of this country with this huge debt while at the same time federalizing a large portion of our economy is chilling. I believe it rises to the level of tyranny.

The early fathers of this nation felt that tyranny was reason enough to revolt.

They left succeeding generations the power to do the same. Today we revolt through the ballot.
I appreciate that the bill you voted to enact is better than earlier proposals; but too easily many Senate Republicans settled for "pretty good" - when you should have held out for the "best".
Let me point out a few of the areas with which I take issue with this bill and the handling of this entire "crisis":

- At my last review, the bill was 450+ pages long. I do not believe that a bill that large could have been properly read or digested in the two to three days it has existed. I do not believe anyone could have made a proper assessment in that short time. And I know it cannot be properly explained.

-The changes that have been made since the original proposal might have reduced some of the graft; and perhaps some of the wise counsel regarding tax breaks and mark to market accounting has been heeded - but the cost didn't change. It is still a $700 BILLION proposal. Where is the progress in that?

- It is the taxpayers - those that play by the rules - those that saved their money and prepared before entering mortgage agreements, that will fund this bill. The bill rewards those who borrowed foolishly; it rewards those who loaned without discretion, and rewards those lawmakers who profited by "looking the other way" rather than providing proper oversight.

- And no one has truly addressed the "why". Wise counselors advise debt-troubled people against consolidation loans until they have first corrected the lifestyle issues that got them into their mess in the first place. This bill is an attempt to throw money at a problem in order to avoid getting to the root cause.

I am thoroughly disappointed in the passage of this bill. I would like to point out that the doomsayers have been setting deadlines since last Friday and still the major calamity has not hit. Perhaps it will if we fail to act; but taking foolish action will only compound the problem and postpone the inevitable.

I am saddened that so few would see opportunity in this mess. I am disheartened that the party that once stood for principled leadership and limited government has so little to say anymore.
Earlier this year, I had set all my hopes for the future of conservatism on the House and Senate. I was prepared to even vote third party or not at all in the Presidential race. I had given up on that one.

I had hopes that our current Republican legislators would form a loyal opposition and inspire others to follow.

This action in the Senate and the inability to look for answers outside of the typical government model has demonstrated an unwillingness to take a stand.

It was not the right thing to do.