Throwing in the towel

While this recent item on Huffington Post is provocative and makes you think, it is this sort of view that is a danger for our country. Because at the end the writer’s recommendation is that we get ready to basically throw in the towel and start taking care of people — social welfare at its finest. This is essentially what the Europeans have decided to do with the French mandating shorter work weeks so that people could “share” jobs — and the government will subsidize the short fall in wages in what are now two part time jobs. Of course this now creates two dependents on the Kindness of The State which is exactly how the Progressives want it.

 

I say “that’s crazy!”

 

There are many causes of this “disappearance of jobs” but leading casues are onerous regulations and corporate tax rates that are significantly higher than competiting countries – plus the dumbing down of higher education (robbing us of the highest, elite caliber talent required to innovate and generate new business ideas and jobs). This dumbing down is a central idea within the stupid “guarantee” of federal money and forgiveness of loans if you go to college that the President promised in the SOTU speech last week.

 

We are slowly but surely removing all incentives to work hard, prosper and getting to keep the fruits of your labor to do as you see fit with them…

 

Geez.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-ford/jobless-recoveryand-joble_b_445439.html

 

Brilliant!

Paul Ryan, who I’ve been reading and watching for past year, is everything President Obama is: smart, articulate, and passionate. 

And many things The President is not: pro growth, pro liberty and individual responsibility, and sees simple, practical solutions as the best path forward. 

There’s still time to rejuvenate our market economy and avoid a European-style welfare state.

By PAUL D. RYAN

In tonight’s State of the Union address, President Obama will declare a new found commitment to “fiscal responsibility” to cover the huge spending and debt he and congressional Democrats have run up in his first year in office. But next Monday, when he submits his actual budget, I fear it will rely on gimmickry, commissions, luke-warm spending “freezes,” and paper-tiger controls to create the illusion of budget discipline. Meanwhile, he and the Democratic congressional leadership will continue pursuing a relentless expansion of government and a new culture of dependency.America needs an alternative. For that reason, I have reintroduced my plan to tackle our nation’s most pressing domestic challenges—updated to reflect the dramatic decline in our economic and fiscal condition. The plan, called A Road Map for America’s Future and first introduced in 2008, is a comprehensive proposal to ensure health and retirement security for all Americans, to lift the debt burdens that are mounting every day because of Washington’s reckless spending, and to promote jobs and competitiveness in the 21st century global economy. 

The difference between the Road Map and the Democrats’ approach could not be more clear. From the enactment of a $1 trillion “stimulus” last February to the current pass-at-all costs government takeover of health care, the Democratic leadership has followed a “progressive” strategy that will take us closer to a tipping point past which most Americans receive more in government benefits than they pay in taxes—a European-style welfare state where double-digit unemployment becomes a way of life. 

Americans don’t have to settle for this path of decline. There’s still time to choose a different future. That is what the Road Map offers. It is based on a fundamentally different vision from the one now prevailing in Washington. It focuses the government on its proper role. It restrains government spending, and hence limits the size of government itself. It rejuvenates the vibrant market economy that made America the envy of the world. And it restores an American character rooted in individual initiative, entrepreneurship and opportunity. 

Here are the principal elements: 

• Health Care. The plan ensures universal access to affordable health insurance by restructuring the tax code, allowing all Americans to secure an affordable health plan that best suits their needs, and shifting the control and ownership of health coverage away from the government and employers to individuals. 

 

It provides a refundable tax credit—$2,300 for individuals and $5,700 for families—to purchase coverage (from another state if they so choose) and keep it with them if they move or change jobs. It establishes transparency in health-care price and quality data, so this critical information is readily available before someone needs health services. 

State-based high risk pools will make affordable care available to those with pre-existing conditions. In addition to the tax credit, Medicaid will provide supplemental payments to low-income recipients so they too can obtain the health coverage of their choice and no longer be consigned to the stigmatized, sclerotic care that Medicaid has come to represent. 

• Medicare. The Road Map secures Medicare for current beneficiaries, while making common-sense reforms to save this critical program. It preserves the existing Medicare program for Americans currently 55 or older so they can receive the benefits they planned for throughout their working lives. 

For those under 55—as they become Medicare-eligible—it creates a Medicare payment, initially averaging $11,000, to be used to purchase a Medicare certified plan. The payment is adjusted to reflect medical inflation, and pegged to income, with low-income individuals receiving greater support. The plan also provides risk adjustment, so those with greater medical needs receive a higher payment. 

The proposal also fully funds Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) for low-income beneficiaries, while continuing to allow all beneficiaries, regardless of income, to set up tax-free MSAs. Enacted together, these reforms will help keep Medicare solvent for generations to come. 

• Social Security. The Road Map preserves the existing Social Security program for those 55 or older. For those under 55, the plan offers the option of investing over one-third of their current Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts, similar to the Thrift Savings Plan available to federal employees. This proposal includes a property right, so those who own these accounts can pass on the assets to their heirs. The plan also guarantees that individuals will not lose a dollar they contribute to their accounts, even after inflation. 

The plan also makes the program permanently solvent by combining a modest adjustment in the growth of initial Social Security’s benefits for higher-income individuals, with a gradual, modest increase in the retirement age. 

• Tax Reform. The Road Map offers an alternative to today’s needlessly complex and unfair tax code, providing the option of a simplified system that promotes work, saving and investment. 

This highly simplified code fits on a postcard. It has just two rates: 10% on income up to $100,000 for joint filers and $50,000 for single filers, and 25% on taxable income above these amounts. It also includes a generous standard deduction and personal exemption (totaling $39,000 for a family of four), and no tax loopholes, deductions, credits or exclusions (except the health-care tax credit). 

The proposal eliminates the alternative minimum tax. It promotes saving by eliminating taxes on interest, capital gains, and dividends. It eliminates the death tax. It replaces the corporate income tax—currently the second highest in the industrialized world—with a business consumption tax of 8.5%. This new rate is roughly half the average in the industrialized world and will put American companies and workers in a stronger position to compete in a global economy. 

Even without the Democratic spending spree, our fiscal outlook is deteriorating. They are only hastening the crisis. It is not too late to take control of our fiscal and economic future. But the longer we wait, the bigger the problem becomes and the more difficult our options for solving it. 

The Road Map promotes our national prosperity by limiting government’s burden of spending, mandates and regulation. It ensures the opportunity for individuals to fulfill their human potential and enjoy the satisfaction of their own achievements—and it secures the distinctly American legacy of leaving the next generation better off. 

Mr. Ryan, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, is the ranking member of the Budget Committee.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904575025080017959478.html#articleTabs%3Darticle 

 

Folly

Barbara Tuchman, a noted historian and wonderful writer, defines “folly” in the context of governments and societies as: “a policy pursued despite contemporary arguments to the contrary.”

Charles Krauthammer, writer for the Washington Post aligned this definition exactly with the Obama Administration’s approach to terrorism.

In his piece he states this telling insight: “The logic [of the Obama administration] is perverse. If we find Abdulmutallab in an al-Qaida training camp in Yemen, where he is merely preparing for a terror attack, we snuff him out with a Predator — no judge, no jury, no qualms. But if we catch him in the United States in the very act of mass murder, he instantly acquires protection not just from execution by drone but even from interrogation.”

Read the entire piece here. Folly is the only word I can think of to describe what’s going on.

 

Keep your underwear on!

Alan Dershowitz is not someone I often agree with but these are good and reasonable ideas.

And even better — I read it on the Huffington Post! Wow, they have some crazy ideas on there but regardless of the company he’s keeping, a rave for the professor is deserved!

Will The Next “Underwear Bomber” Succeed?

Alan Dershowitz, Lawyer and author

Posted: January 5, 2010 01:26 PM

My dire New Year prediction is that Islamic terrorists may well succeed this year in blowing up a civilian airliner. They have already twice proved that suicide bombers can get through security. And those are only the successful security bypasses that we know about. Who knows how many other potential terrorists, who have been tasked to test our system, have made it through. For all we know, the Christmas Day “failure” was also a test, at least in part — a test that included the potential for catastrophic success, but a test designed to probe weaknesses in our airline security system. And only 10 days later, another person got past security at Newark Airport and was never found. Who knows how many other people have simply managed to walk around the metal detectors or through the security exit.

I myself saw a man run pass security at Newark Airport several years ago, and when I notified security, their response was to search my briefcase and nearly make me miss my flight. There was no search for the security evader and no shutdown of the concourse.

Security at airports in many parts of the world is a cruel joke. Worse, it is an invitation to terrorism. In many international airports, security is no better than in the least secure country from which any flier begins his flight. Once in the secure area of some airports, there are no further checks when boarding a second flight. There must be security checks at every gate, not merely at the entrance to the general boarding area. Otherwise, passengers whose flights begin at low security airports can board planes without going through reasonable security.

Nor have we learned enough from the near successes of the shoe and underwear bombers. In both cases, we should have acted as if they had succeeded. The only reason they did not had absolutely nothing to do with our security, but rather with factors over which they have complete control, namely improving the effectiveness of their explosive triggers.

Imagine what the reaction would have been if hundreds of Detroit-bound passengers had been murdered! That is what the reaction should now be to this near-catastrophe.

We must adopt a multi-tiered approach to airline security. Frequent fliers who pose no security threat should be eligible for a non-transferable telemetric security card that is keyed into their retina for near foolproof identification. They could quickly pass through metal and explosive detection. Other fliers can opt for increased security or increased privacy. Those who opt for increased security would be subjected to intrusive scanning, without a metal box protecting their private parts. After all, it was the private parts that were the location of the most recent explosives.

If you are too prudish to have your private parts scanned, then opt for privacy. In that case, you have to come to airport three hours early and be subjected to a thorough external pat down and a lengthy sit-down interview.

The time has come to take airline security seriously. (We must also upgrade security in railroad and bus terminals, but Al Qaeda’s obsession with airlines should influence our priorities.) Those civil libertarians who claim that increasing security will not work are simply lying. It will work (though not perfectly) and it will also diminish privacy and civil liberties (though not significantly). Life is composed of tradeoffs. Those civil libertarians who deny that there are tradeoffs are serving neither the interests of civil liberties nor of truth. Among the most important civil liberty is our ability to travel without excessive fear of terrorism, and without excessive intrusion into our privacy.

We must increase the quality and training of the security personnel at the airports. It should become a job for retired and experienced law enforcement officials. It should pay well and it should be subject to rigorous testing. Security “testers” should be using every available tactic to try to evade security. Those in charge of protecting us should be graded by their ability to spot terrorist threats.

There must be more searching interviews of travelers who do not opt for the security card or the scanning. There is nothing wrong with profiling, so long as it does not lump together all members of a particular race, religion or ethnicity. Profiling, based on a wide variety of characteristics that are directly associated with the risk of terrorism, is a good thing. So is “negative profiling” — that is, excluding certain categories of travelers from super-scrutiny based on their obvious non-involvement in terrorism.

Finally, we must have air marshals on every flight. This will be expensive, but nobody ever said that safe travel coupled with reasonable privacy would be cheap.

We will implement all of these proposals — and more intrusive ones — as soon as the first plane is blown out of the sky and hundreds of innocent travelers murdered. Why not do it now before this preventable tragedy occurs?

 

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?

 We are having a wonderful holiday away with family this year. Even got a little snow the other night which made the season just a little merrier and bright. It had been refreshing and relaxing end to 2009.

Until I read this: The Price of ’History’  

I knew I shouldn’t have done it. Reading it made me sick.

A typical reaction I have to reading about the carrying on in the U.S. Senate and House.

It put a definite damper on my festive mood by showing us yet again what this “change” we heard all about actually means:  

Coal in our stockings.

IOUs under the tree and littering 2010 and beyond that we can’t possibly repay and will be burdens for our children, and their children and every generation to come.  

A big, collective middle finger from Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and all the Senators and Congresswomen and men who don’t care if we like it or not.

The good news is that it made me think of a new meaning to the phrase we sung last night at midnight, to ring in 2010, “should old acquaintance be forgot?”

If the acquaintance is a currently seated U.S. House or Senate member the answer is “YES” – forget them at the ballot box come November 2010! We need some “new acquaintances” if we have any hope of righting the path of change we are currently on. We can’t afford it!

As you can see in the rogues list below, it will be easy for Senators to figure out how much they should get when they themselves waddle up to the trough come 2010 and the final vote for Healthcare Deformation comes up (just as Mr. Harkins predicts) … I’m sure Mr. Reid has plenty more where this came from (our taxpayer pockets):

Who is really "Going Rogue"?

 

We’re the best! We stink!

I found this an interesting read. Click this link if you are interested. As a rave it says:

In sum the U.S. appears to be very good at cancer care for older patients.

As a rant it says:

But curiously mediocre for younger ones.

Say what you will about the current health care debate, but we already ration health care in this country and much of what we are fighting about now is how it will be rationed in the future. And who decides on that rationing.

For a VERY balanced look at the broader issues and the public option — although be forewarned it is very detailed — see this link to The Statistical Truth.

 

Take This (Pow!), Then That (Smack!), Get This (Brrr!)

The Congress is trying to get busy spending our money before they go home for Christmas! Well, actually they already spent ALL of our money (plus $1.1 Trillion) — so I guess they are getting busy spending China’s money too …

I read three news articles today, unfortunately right in a row.

After I recovered, it made me think about how they fit so well together.

The first was this: Senate OKs $1.1 trillion in spending . POW!

Then this: Sen. Lieberman adds new twist. SMACK! (you knew if they had to, they’d simply ram it through).

When they are all done, this will be life for the rest of us: Households take up challenge to be chilly. BRRR!

Enjoy your money and your home heating while you can this Holiday Season!

Merry Christmas from the U.S. Congress and the POTUS.

 

Be Like Franklin

Last week President Obama made an important speech at West Point to announce his decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Much of his speech can be applauded for making the case that the fight against terrorism is not over and will require additional investment of our resources and the skill and blood of our armed forces to root out and defeat terrorists and the organizations that support this evil ideology. He emphasized that this war is not over and additional sacrifices are needed from our nation.

I really would have liked, though, if he would have made a more personal plea to the citizens of the United States and more clearly identified this as a severe test for our nation. A test that will not be easily passed and that we should bring the gravity of this test and its importance to the future our of nation to the front of our minds. While he showed by his decision that he’s serious about the test — by committing additional soldiers to the effort, which is a decision I am confident the President did not take lightly or miss the potential impact it will have in terms of costing American service men and women their lives — a call to each of us to reflect upon this sacrifice was sorely lacking.

I really wish he’d be more like Franklin … Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On June 6, 1945 President Roosevelt made one of the most famous speeches in American history. This was the start of the D-Day invasion of continental Europe and the great push to defeat the Nazis. He used a prayer as the central device of his speech to bring the minds of all Americans listening to the speech or who would read about later into sharp focus upon the seriousness of the situation facing our troops, and our allies, on the beaches of Normandy that day. Calling upon the nation to pray made it clear that this was no ordinary battle, even in the midst of a war that had already wrought unimaginable destruction and cost millions of lives and casualties.

President Obama could have done something similar last week. He missed an opportunity to use the “pulpit” from which all Presidents can uniquely communicate with the nation to ask the country to rally behind the troops and rally behind our cause. If he truly believes — which he must based on his decision and his words — that the cause behind his decision to commit troops is just, he could reconnect all of us as citizens to this cause. This is a connection I fear we have lost since September 11, 2001.

Here is President Roosevelt’s speech. It is eloquent and inspiring. I hope to hear a similar one from President Obama some day.

Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer

June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

 

A Pox on Both Your Houses

It is easy to be even handed when talking about problems with Congress — both Democrats and Republicans deserve little support or gratitude from us as citizens — we, the people, deserve better!

The famous quote in this post’s title is from Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio says this phrase three times (I think he actually said plague, not pox) as a curse on the families whose rivalry led to his death. This phrase is commonly used to criticize opposing factions when their rivalry brings ruin to others … as I said at the start, this would seem to fit Congress perfectly.

I thought I’d share some recent writing by Thomas Sowell entitled: “Solving Whose Problem?” which captures this issue well from a modern political perspective. I’ll apologize upfront for the off-putting photo of Barney Frank that graces the beginning of the article.

In it there’s this despicable story: “A recent news story told of three young men who chipped in a total of $33,000 to buy a home in San Francisco that cost nearly a million dollars.

Why would a bank lend that kind of money to them on such a small down payment? Because the loan was insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The bank wasn’t taking any risk. If the three guys defaulted, the bank could always collect the money from the Federal Housing Administration. The only risk was to the taxpayers.”

And another piece I read yesterday was from a small town newspaper, The Crossville (Tennessee) Chronicle entitled: “WE THE PEOPLE: You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog!” by John Wund. A great point was made toward the end of the article:

“People are becoming restive. The future may not be as bright for corporate toadies as it once was. Elected officials might be wise to begin serving the real needs of the majority of their constituents instead of deferring to the opinions of those with the fattest wallets.”

Think about these next time you are in a voting booth and deciding whether the incumbent, of either party, deserves your vote.

 

 

Health Care Reform: a Letter from Concerned Citizens

A small group of friends sent this letter to our congress and senate representatives and to President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. We encourage you to copy and paste this letter yourself – or download a copy (in Word) by clicking this link: Healthcare Letter – and send it to your leaders in the U.S. Congress. You will find links on this site also to how you can contact your representatives and other leaders on this or other issues.

Let your voice be heard — it matters and it is your right and duty as a citizen!

Dear U.S. Congressional and Senate Members,

 As concerned citizens, we have examined the issues related to Health Care reform.  We have learned a great deal about the proposed legislation and would like for you to consider the below thoughts and recommendations.

 As an overall statement, we do not find either the bill in the House or the Senate to be acceptable. To be as straightforward as possible, our reasons for opposition are based on our core and fundamental belief that any legislation addressing Health Care reform must address the core issue of delivering value (“improved outcomes and lower costs”). Neither bill appears to meet these criteria.  In addition, the unintended consequences that inevitably accompany a bill of this magnitude are of the utmost concern to us.

First, the current bills seem to be more about power — who gets it (the citizens or the government), how that power will be used, and whether those with power will be clearly held accountable. Second, the process of arriving at these pieces of legislation appears flawed. It is regularly stated that health care spending equates to 1/6th of the U.S. GDP. This is an enormous proportion of our collective output as a nation. Something this large must be dealt with in a deliberative manner with bipartisan support in order to achieve its stated goals.  This bill should not be “rushed” to a vote as has happened historically with prior legislation.

Recently, we discussed an interview with Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania. He was critical of the process this legislation has gone through and was outspoken about the lack of the true inclusion of any ideas that “everyone can agree on” (e.g., portability).  Additionally, he noted the necessity of gaining widespread consensus on the details of the legislation.  It would serve to rally support of a broad swath of U.S. citizens and put momentum behind change that we ALL can believe in.

We respectfully ask then that you DO NOT SUPPORT the current legislation.

Further we also urge that you only support any bill emerging from reconciliation which adheres clearly to these recommendations:

Increase Consumer Choice in medical insurance and providers

1. Mandated coverage should be limited or eliminated and replaced with simple, basic plans (covering only those areas the individual or family wants).  As you know, increased costs resulting from the proposed employer taxes will likely result in reduced job creation.
2. Create transparency in medical service provider fees and do away with the mysterious “negotiated rate” between insurance companies and providers.  This will allow the customer to choose the best option for them because they will no longer need to “guess” how much the service costs. 
3. The use of Health Savings Accounts and high deductible options should be expanded and encouraged – through tax advantages and public education programs.
4. Allow consumers to purchase insurance across state lines

Increase access for every U.S. Citizen

1. Allow premiums to be priced based on risk and health of the consumer but do not allow denial for pre existing conditions, age or other negative health factors;
2. Mechanisms such as targeted government funding or incentives should be thoroughly tested prior to being universally mandated.  The mechanisms may include:

            -      helping states to create, fully fund and maintain “high risk pools” for those with poor health or pre existing conditions

            -      easing requirements / expanding access to Medicare or SCHIP should be considered, providing vouchers that can be used to purchase needed medical services.

            -      revamping the VA organization into a more efficient and more broadly available healthcare system for those that cannot otherwise afford insurance – this utilizes existing facilities and investments first before creating new ones.

      3.    Promote organizations that enable individuals without access to employer-sponsored health     insurance plans to participate at a cost-effective level.

 Physician and medical service providers should be paid for high quality outcomes, not simply for rendering services.

1. Reduce the number of optional or “nice to have” services that are currently covered by health insurance – this will eliminate the trend toward covering everything that does not necessarily improve overall health; thus, reducing overall demand for health care (lower demand = lower costs).
2. Provide incentives for investments in information technology and medical records management in order to reduce costs and improve quality through innovation instead of penalties.
3. Fund grants that support innovative approaches to quality improvements and better information flows. Find “best practices” (e.g., the Mayo Health Clinics) and then set payments targeted at those levels of quality outcomes.
4. Provide incentives for physicians and their patients to develop and maintain healthy habits and lifestyles.

We would also include the following recommendations that are universally good ideas – in fact, we believe that these should be addressed regardless of what reform is put into place:

       -  Focus on reducing fraud because it is estimated to be 10% of healthcare spending and costs over $200B per year.

       -  Provide a safety net for citizens with disabilities and the poor.  This will potentially reduce healthcare costs by giving them access to medical care other than high cost emergency rooms or going without

       -   Enact reasonable tort reforms that will eliminate frivolous legal suits and associated costs while allowing individuals recourse from damages caused by truly negligent medical practices.

      -   Require  Members of Congress to enroll in any newly created health care plan created by the proposed legislation. (we encourage you to sign the petition by U.S. Representative John Fleming).

We will continue to work diligently to understand the issues on the table as well as the proposed solutions.  We will also be talking to the people within our circle of influence to bolster support for a bill that meets everyone’s needs.  Regardless of your party affiliation, as you work on these critical issues, we as citizens expect your votes and peer influence to be focused on providing an effective solution to the underlying problem.  We are opposed to any legislation that simply transfers power and/or money.

We appreciate your time and attention to this letter. We would be eager and pleased to discuss these issues with you or your staff at any time. Please do not hesitate to contact us.