Monday, February 18, 2010

TO: Bishop, Durbin, Gillibrand, Holder, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer

I don't get it.  I write to you every week and it's like I'm writing to a dead person.  My son died in 2005 and one company sends him a statement a month. I've written and called to let them know that he's no longer available to answer his mail.  That company is as responsive as my government.

Ok, so I've received some canned messages that office flunkies seem to think may fit as responses to something that I've written.  Both you and they are getting paid good salaries on the government dole to represent the citizens of these United States.  From my point of view, you're abject failures.

After the Obamacare health debacle tanked, the president wants to meet with the Republicans to – I think – reach a bipartisan agreement on health care.  One problem is that nobody trusts the president or Pelosi or Reid.  Obama promised transparency and Pelosi laughed that off as campaign rhetoric.  Reid bought (bribed) support and the country rose up in indignation.

The other problem is that Obama's gesture is predicated upon working with the Republicans starting with the content of the bills that the country has already risen against.  Now, there are some that suggest that Obama's strategy is to get the Republicans so boxed in that they will have to reject the president's ploy – that way he can blame the failure for not passing a bill on them.  The country knows, by this time, that it was the Democrats who could not muster enough votes in support of the bill – they have had all the power they needed to pass it.

So what are you all going to do?  We elected Obama to help fix the problems with health coverage and his handlers have bungled the job -- we don't want the unmanageable cost, the mortgaging of our grandchildren's future or the onerous intrusions into our lives. Obama, Reid and Pelosi let us down!

The only right and honest thing to do is to start over.  Put ALL the proposals on the table.  We don't want politics, we want men and women of honor and ability to do the jobs that they were elected to do.  And, put it all on C-span.

February 8, 2010

TO: Bishop, Durbin, Gillibrand, Holder, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer

1. Honduras

The excerpt below from the Wall Street Journal bothers me as a citizen of a free, democratic country. My President and the Congress continue to harass the democratic ally of Honduras.

"It appears that State's pettiness still flows from the refusal of interim president Roberto Micheletti and his cabinet, from June to December, to cave to the U.S. demand that they reinstate Mr. Zelaya. In earlier acts of pique, State stripped the U.S. visas of Mr. Micheletti, his advisers and cabinet officials and even the entire Honduran Supreme Court. Last week it yanked more visas from members of the interim government.
Insofar as Mr. Micheletti is leaving office January 27, the only explanations for this pistol-whipping would appear to be: Don't mess with Uncle Sam's regional agenda, which since April's Summit of the Americas includes overtures to Hugo Chávez, Raúl Castro and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.
The State Department has never explained its harsh treatment of Honduras, a democratic ally. And this latest bullying won't help U.S. credibility with other Latin leaders who might help us, as opposed to assisting the chavistas."
Wall Street Journal January 25, 2010

I've sent letters about this issue (see below) to the administration and my congressional members. No one has bothered to respond.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the removal of President Jose Zelaya by order of the Honduran Supreme Court has incurred the wrath of your administration. I find this strange that a United States administration would interfere with another democracy. Your administration's policy contradicts the "official" position as found on the website: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1922.htm.
The site states:
"U.S. Policy Toward Honduras
U.S. policy toward Honduras is aimed at consolidating democracy, protecting human rights, and promoting the rule of law."
It is also disconcerting that the site continues to recognize Jose Zelaya as President:
"Principal Government Officials
President--Jose Manuel "Mel" ZELAYA Rosales"
Could you please tell me why your administration has taken this position?
August 31, 2009

I'd like to know your opinion about the democracy of Honduras and our government's condemnation of the lawful removal of former president Manuel Zelaya.
South Carolina Senator James DeMint visited Honduras and reported his views in the Wall Street Journal on October 10, 2009. I've included a copy of his article along with the Law Library of Congress August, 2009 report about Honduras.
Try as I might, I cannot find the State Department's legal opinion about the situation in Honduras as written by the State Department's legal advisor, Harold Koh. Could you please obtain a copy for me?
October 15, 2009

The voters are suspicious of our elected representatives. You seem to favor the memories of Mao and Che Guevara and are timid in dealing with dictators such as Amadinijab, Castro, Chavez and Ortega. It seems as if the tough America that defended democracy around the world has morphed into a scared sewer rat.

Why is your political tribe afraid to defend your out of touch policies?


2. Health Care

The following excerpts are from letters that I sent to my elected officials – mine as well as the ones who wrote HR 3200 – and The White House:

… according to the bill approved by the House of Representatives on July 14, 2009, it looks like whatever funds were asked for, an additional $38,800,000,000 will be required between 2010 and 2019 for Community Health Centers?
(Subtitle H -Miscellaneous, Division c - Public Health and Workforce Development, Title I - Community Health Centers, Sec. 2101, Increased Funding).
How can you justify appropriating $38 trillion over the next nine years? How will the funds for this be raised?
August 12, 2009

After reading Bill H. R. 3200, of the 111th CONGRESS 1st Session, I must admit that I feel as overwhelmed as Rep. John Conyers does. Rep. Conyers, however, has the advantage of having 2 lawyers to assist him.
I'm appealing to you because you're an expert on this bill and I need your help. After looking at most of the costs identified in the bill I came to the conclusion that over a 10 year period it will cost us almost $304 trillion. That's over $30 trillion per year.
Please look at the attached summary and tell me where I went wrong. Please also tell me how the Congress expects to raise revenues for the health care program as well as the many other programs essential to the security and well-being of the United States?
August 17, 2009

I've included a copy of the Health Care Bill summary. No one bothered to answer my question about its accuracy which leads me to suspect that the figures are accurate and cannot be refuted or defended.

NOTE:  If you would like a 1 page pdf. copy of the Health Care Bill summary, request it at:: ryanslament@gmail.com

3. Credibility

It seems to me that your political tribe is hell-bent on bankrupting our country. Blaming Bush doesn't cut it – that's why I voted for Obama. The lies from The White House, insane spending and political deals are frustrating and all credibility is lost.

I hope that you people will get the picture that your ivory-tower approaches are not working. The blundering, cover-ups and secrecy need to stop.

February 1, 2010

TO: Bishop, Durbin, Gillibrand, Holder, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer

There were 224 graduates in my 1958 New York City vocational high school class. We were a mixture of nationalities, races and creeds in the middle of the most exciting city in the world. Eric Holder was around 7 years old when I graduated. Like me, he later commuted to a Manhattan high school.

Neither of us live in the city any longer but we sure do have different allegiances to it. The Obama and Holder plan to try the 9/11 terrorists in a civil court in the city makes no sense. The unprecedented move would cost around a billion dollars and endanger the lives and occupations of millions of ordinary citizens. The fact that Obama and Holder would consider such a fiasco is unfathomable. Why would they be so insensitive in bringing continued grief to those affected by the World Trade Center attacks?

The assertion that a civil trial in New York City would show the world that we are a civilized nation ruled by laws is nonsense. Ron Bloom, Obama's Manufacturing Czar said, “We kind of agree with Mao that power comes largely from the barrel of a gun”. The Maos of the world agree with Bloom – they respect power, not weakness. They don't care about justice and the only way for us to remain free and prosperous is through power and the willingness to use it.

While your political tribe uses raw power to push regulations, spending and higher taxes against American citizens, the world looks at you and laughs. Picture Nancy Pelosi parachuting into wherever she needs to get to pass a health care bill. The world's laughing at her.

Citizens are baffled by the contents of the President's State of the Union address. Fact checkers from ABC News, NPR, factcheck.org, Asbury Park Press, examiner.com, Yahoo News, the Washington Post and cato-at-liberty.org have found that his comments on the following were either false or half-truths:
stimulus and employment, cutting taxes, government spending freeze, job creation, stimulus success, White House visitors online accessibility, health care provisions, lobbyist involvement, transparency in government, number of terrorist deaths, the Supreme Court decision on campaign financing, oil imports, his mortgage aid plan, U.S. invention of the automobile and completion of the transcontinental railroad during the civil war.

What's going on? What are you people doing? We deserve better. Don't assume that we're stupid! Even though the majority of us didn't graduate from Harvard or Columbia, we can discern falsehood from truth.

I had limited interest in politics in the fifties – I was going to school and working after school. I chased girls, took advantage of the cultural offerings of New York City and went to college in Oswego, NY. Admittedly, I knew nothing of H. L. Mencken in those days – he died in 1956 – but his words mirror the frustration of today's citizens with your political tribe. H. L. Mencken said:

"The legislature, like the executive, has ceased to be even the creature of the people: it is the creature of pressure groups, and most of them, it must be manifest, are of dubious wisdom and even more dubious honesty. Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle."