RAISE YOUR VOICE
To be Heard

Attend a Tea party in your Community.  
The Tea Parties on April 15th were a great start.  I know that the liberal media played them down, even insulting the participants.  That is one indicator of the success.  President  Obama took a shot at Fox News and the Tea Parties as well.  If they weren't a big deal, the President would not take time to address them.

Often it is political will joined with strong values and a sincere belief that win the day.  That is why it is important to meet with others , regularly build a popular consensus, and keep the pressure on. 

Join the Tea Party in your community on July 4th.
For information on the Southeast Iowa, Western Illinois area Send us an email

    Thank you for contacting me. I appreciate hearing your thoughts about the
impact of federal spending on our economy and our long term deficits.

    In these tough economic times, I believe that the federal government needs
to act to help stabilize our economy. As you are aware, to date, Congress has
passed a number of spending items to help cope with these extraordinary times,
including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) and the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Recovery Act). In addition, the Congress also
recently approved the FY2010 budget. While I do not support all of the
provisions of every one of these measures, I believe that combined, these
actions will ultimately help to minimize the impact of this recession by helping
credit to flow, creating and saving jobs, and helping the most vulnerable cope
with the effects of this recession.
 
    I appreciate hearing the concerns of many that this amount of spending is
unsustainable and will negatively impact our nation. In normal economic
circumstances I agree, and I do not think we can operate at these increased
spending levels permanently. But unfortunately, these are not normal economic
times. In fact, economists on all sides of the political spectrum agree that in
these times the federal government needs to spend money, and that reducing our
deficit needs to take a backseat in the short term to fixing our economy.
 
    However, once our economy stabilizes, I believe that we urgently need to
return to the “Pay As You Go” system that was standard during the Clinton
Administration. I have long advocated for a return to this system, which
prevents Congress from increasing mandatory spending or making changes to the
tax code without paying for it. This system was largely responsible for putting
our nation on a path to a budget surplus by the end of the Clinton
Administration, and I am pleased that President Obama has also proposed to
reinstate this system.

    In addition one of the reasons I strongly supported the FY2010 Budget
Resolution is because it will cut our deficit in half by 2012, which will help
return our nation to long term fiscal health. The Budget Resolution outlines
savings for future generations by reducing how much we borrow to spend on the
war in Iraq, reforming our health care system, and getting rid of wasteful
spending and ineffective programs. It will also raise revenues by phasing out
the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for those making over $250,000, and ending tax breaks
for companies that ship jobs overseas. In addition, it ends the practice of not
accounting for supplemental funding requests that fund the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, which will restore transparency and accountability to our spending
on these wars.

    Thanks again for contacting me. Please rest assured that I will continue to
keep your thoughts in mind as Congress continues to consider ways of getting our
economy going again.

                        Sincerely,

                        Tom Harkin
                        United States Senator


TH/zss

---

My Rebuttal to the Above
Sir,
Thank you for your concerned response, dated June 2, 2009.

I respect your intent, and position, however. I have some concerns that go beyond the governments recent financial insanity.

In this country sir, I remind you, there is only one law of the land.  That is of course, the Constitution.  Business failures are required to seek bankruptcy through the courts to satisfy all involved with a business failure.  Please explain why the interference of the Congress, and the Executive Branch are not a violation of the Separation of Powers.

Second, Providing for local governments in some cases can be validated.  Can you say without a doubt that this "unread" bill will not be used to prop up a state's bad decisions.  If not, then sir, we have been taxed without representation.

As far as "Pay-Go".  I believe this government was already to big, and now has become an uncontrolled monster.  I ask for you support repeal of the 16th amendment, Repeal the 60,000 page tax code, and establish a fair consumption tax.

Sir,  I know the talking points. I need specific answers.  In full disclosure. I will be posting your recent reply, and a copy of this email to my web site, and distributing them both to other friends with like .concerns

If you are concerned about other issues that may very well be important to most voters in the coming election years. Please visit newparty2009.org

Respectfully,
Richard Gates

---

Property values have and are continuing to fall, have your property taxes?

The head of the IRS can't figure out his own taxes.

The Secretary of Homeland Security didn't know that entering the U.S. illegally was a crime. Here's a hint (it' illegal)

The Dictator in Venezuela basically said that they have just had a great victory for socialism as it is coming to North America.

The Federal Reserve is going to trade preferred for common stock which gives them controlling votes in how these businesses are run.  It also puts tax dollars given to these companies at greater risk.

Both sides continue to generate Billions of dollars in spending bills and earmarks.
We will most likely have one of two energy solutions imposed on us. Either Cap and Tax, or a flurry of new EPA regulations that will tax every business and every household in the country.

Tobacco users, the majority are middle to low income, have seen huge increases in taxes on tobacco products in effect a tax on the poor.

Conservative Americans held peaceful protests all over the country that were orderly and a real grassroots effort to draw attention to the dissatisfaction.  They have been greatly dismissed or minimized by career politicians