TAX DAY TEA PARTY! Congressman Allen West and Dick Morris top the list of speakers.
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Join us for a fun, family afternoon of amazing music, picnic food, kids activities, and excellent speakers on Sunday, April 15th from 1:30pm to 5pm. Our guest speakers will include:
- US Congressman Allen West, Florida District 22
- Dick Morris, cable news commentator and political analyst
- Anita MonCrief, ex-liberal and ACORN whistleblower
- Dan Mangru, Fox Business News Mangru Report
- Joyce Kaufman, local talk show radio host on WFTL 850
- Michael Solomon, author and facilitator of the 1st tea party in the US
- Roberto Alonzo (Cuban exile who became a freedom fighter in Venezuela before fleeing to America
- Representative Pat Rooney
- Representative Mark Pafford
- Slade O’Brian, Americans for Prosperity
- Craig Henne, conservative talk radio host
Our master of ceremonies for the afternoon’s festivities will be Brian Mudd, station manager and show host on WJNO AM1290. We are pleased to have Lou Galterio, “The Golden Voice”, sing the National Anthem. Please click here to read more about Lou.
David DiCrescenzo, publisher at The Patriots Press, will give the invocation and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Music will be provided by LeVeL, a West Palm Beach-based band (area code 561) best known for edgy, acoustic rock with elements of classic rock, punk, funk, jazz, acoustic rock, dance music and heavy metal; an amazing sound for all ages. Check it by clicking here and clicking on their sample music videos. A special guest singer will be Brie Goldsobel who will sing original patriotic songs.
The place is the beautiful new Wellington Amphitheater. The address is: 12100 Forest Hill Boulevard, Wellington, FL.
Click here for a description of the facilities. Bring your chairs and blankets and enjoy the beautiful afternoon! And here’s a map:
View Tax Day Tea Party in a larger map
For children, the park includes a large, beautiful, and well equipped playground. Parents and grandparents can accompany their children in the playground and still hear the speakers or the music. We will also provide face painting patriotic tattoos, and build-a-bear activities.
This will be fun for the whole family! Ask your friends early so they can join us as well. The park holds 5000 and there will be plenty of parking. Refreshment will be available for purchase. See the menu.
Last but not least, Amy Hair will provide signing for the deaf and HOH. There will also be a special section for the hearing impaired where they can set up their chairs or blankets and comfortably enjoy all the festivities.
Our thanks to AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY for providing the travel expenses for Anita MonCrief! Americans for Prosperity is an excellent alliance partner!
Stop the Trains!
This is from Sharon Calvert of the Tampa Tea Party. She and Tampa-912 leader Karen Jarosh were instrumental in the grassroots uprising that killed light rail in the Tampa area. Now Senator Jack Latvala is trying to end run the voter’s decision. Please click on the link and send a message to Tallahassee.
18 HOUR ALERT
LESS than 18 HOURS before critical BUDGET HEARING
Tallahassee INSIDERS are working to nullify the 2010 vote of Hillsborough County residents against Light Rail! As you read this, imagine the smoke-filled, back rooms of government from years ago, playing out again tonight in Tallahassee!
Senator Jack Latvala is working the back rooms of Tallahassee (before Tuesday’s all important BUDGET COMM. Vote), having inserted language into a BIG TRANSPORTATION bill to FORCE a merger between Pinellas (his) and Hillsborough County Transit Agencies. His aim is to FORCE these local communites, TWO SOVEREIGN COUNTIES, to pay a third Agency TAX PAYER MONIES . This agency TBARTA, has plans to re-introduce LIGHT RAIL despite the 2010 vote by HILLSBOROUGH residents against LIGHT RAIL by 60+%.
The TBARTA plan has not been vetted, it has not been put through a COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS!
It is an attempt for BIG GOVERNMENT INSIDERS to nullify the election results of 2010! But the PEOPLE have already spoken! Senator Latvala is trying to overturn the ELECTION with a back-door deal!
DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT! You have less than 24hrs to let them HEAR YOU
In the last year (since the people voted down Rail in 2010), the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) authority has given up its rail aspirations and has made steps to streamline costs and pare down inefficient routes to provide transportation to the transit-dependent. To survive in an era of dwindling property tax revenues, they have enacted reforms such as freezing wages, requiring employees make a contribution towards their health insurance premiums, and laying off redundant administrative staff. They have plans to raise fares so riders pay more of the costs that taxpayers are currently shouldering.
Contrast this with Pinellas’ transit agency PSTA. PSTA’s answer to shrinking tax revenues was to raise their property tax rate to a rate 50% higher than HART’s! They did not attempt to slash spending and live within their means. In January, PSTA also announced plans to build a lavish $1.7 billion light rail system that would require an ADDITIONAL $100+ million a year of taxpayer dollars to operate.
In order for PSTA to qualify for federal funds (more DEFICIT spending we cannot afford), they need to show phenomenal ridership numbers. This is a problem since demographers anticipate that Pinellas county’s trend of decreasing population will continue for the next 20 years! Therefore PSTA needs Hillsborough County’s robust 30% growth rate in their corner.
So, Senator Latvala and his partners in the efforts to OVERTURN the ELECTIONS of 2010 want to MERGE the two seperate County Agencies to beef up ridership numbers.
BUT….
…They have a problem however, because the HART board has rejected this idea with three resolutions. PSTA and HART already collaborate with seamless bus service across all three bay bridges and already realize quantity discounts on joint fuel and vehicle purchases.
SB 1866 pushed by Senator LATVALA requires HART and PSTA must meet to formulate the merger and bring the plan to the SENATE by February 2013!! Additionally, it requires HART to meet TBARTA goals within 7 years…including LIGHT RAIL…YES…the same LIGHT RAIL that HILLSBOROUGH residents already REJECT!
Senator Latvala is trying to OVERTURN the WILL of the PEOPLE! STOP Senate Bill 1866!!
PLEASE help the residents of CENTRAL FLORIDA stop SENATE BILL 1866….the next stop on this RAILROADING of the VOTER could by YOUR COMMUNITY!
Protect LOCAL CONTROL PROTECT your VOTE STOP SB1866!
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/libertytree/rcR4bPqr.aspx
Freedom Rally shows we have to do a better job of educating!
Several Palm Beach County Tea Party members, along with other like-minded folks, stood on the intersection of Parker Ave and Okeechobee Blvd during rush hour on Wednesday, rallying in support of the First Amendment and Religious Freedom. It was a difficult corner – since the road was very wide in all directions and the vehicles were moving at fairly high speed. As one person put it “we have 20 mph signs in a 50 mph zone’.
The ralliers were enthusiastic and we’ve got some pictures, below. Thanks to all who took the time to come out for our Freedoms! What was clear, however, was that when people were able to read the signs – most didn’t have a clue about the latest incursions on our First Amendment Rights, or anything about the Obamacare regulations related to ‘free’ contraception or it’s impact on Freedom of Religion. Those of us experienced at sign waving from past rallies and demonstrations, could tell by the blank stares of drivers/passengers, and the minimal responses (eg horn-honking, thumbs-up or other less pleasant finger signs) that our topic did not strike any kind of chord with our intended audience.
Our rights are being taken away little by little with barely a whimper. ACT! NOW!
A few pictures of the event:
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Obama is messing with my Religion
He is coming after my Religion
Obama has ignored my rights and the Constitution since he has taken office. His attitude is that he knows best as to what we the people need. He seems to thumb his nose at Congress and get away with it.
This time he has gone too far. When you try to mess with my religion, that is where I really get mad. It is not only the Catholics that are affected by this ruling; it is everyone no matter what your beliefs. If he can tell us that we must or we must not do something just because He thinks it is best, where will it stop? This country was based on a Constitution that protected the rights of everyone no matter of race or creed.
To best sum up I suggest you open the following links and read the stories for yourself.
If you feel the same way as I do, take action and contact your Priests, Rabbis and Ministers to let them know that we are all one and we stand together against this action.
- Catholic League Poised To Go To War With Obama Over Mandatory Birth Control Payments
- Roman Catholic leaders criticise Barack Obama over healthcare
- Archbishop to U.S. Troops: Obamacare Reg ‘Is a Blow to a Freedom…for Which You Have Seen Your Buddies Fall in Battle’
- Bishop: New Mandate Goes Against Catholicism
- Contraception mandate violates religious freedom
and the liberal E. J. Dionne’s piece last week:
Energy and Climate Realities by Mark Wohlschlegel
In my 40 year career involved in working in the energy business, I can’t recall a time when the facts about energy and climate are so tortured with contradictions, bad math, and just plain lies. And now with the Supreme Court ruling that CO2, one of the lower constituents of “green house” gases should in fact be regulated by the US EPA! That’s right; CO2 constitutes a very small percentage of all greenhouse gases which by the way, are absolutely essential to sustain human life on our planet! How many times have you heard that statement made in the media? Actually, the highest percentage of what constitutes greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is water vapor. Why doesn’t the Supreme Court mandate that the EPA regulate water vapor?
My intentions in writing this article are to try to have an honest factual discussion about energy policy, global warming, and how devastating an impact that a cap and trade regulation would have on America. My goal is to appeal to your common sense with easily verifiable facts—not hype and propaganda.
A little background and facts. Our atmosphere consists of 75% nitrogen, 22% oxygen, 1% argon, and .0001% neon, helium, and krypton. These are constant gases. Variable gases which are greenhouse gases consist of water vapor 4%, and CO2 at .038% plus four other gases that are consider trace in concentration, methane, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and nitrogen oxide. So one can see greenhouse gases represent a very, very small amount of what composes our atmosphere, however, greenhouse gases perform an important and critical function that allows us to sustain life on our planet. Greenhouse gases serve as a blanket over our earth that keeps our planet from cooling. Our planet without the presence of greenhouse gases would on average be 33 degrees F cooler than at present. Greenhouse gases are fundamental to all known forms of life and in fact studies show that the gases are very beneficial for crop production, i.e. sources of food for people on our planet.
Carbon dioxide is NOT a toxin, is not directly harmful to human health, and is not projected to become so even without legislative or regulatory action. If we look at the percentages closer isolating just greenhouse gases, water vapor is the largest component—between 36-72% and when we consider clouds 66-85% and by the way, water vapor, clearly the most significant component of greenhouse gases is NOT affected by humans. CO2 represents from between 9-26% of greenhouse gases—the variations are as a result of photosynthesis, ocean and crop absorption. Methane is between 4-9% and nitrous oxides, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons constitute the balance.
There are few greater challenges facing mankind today than to figure out how we are going to meet the energy needs of a planet that is projected to have 9 billion people living here by the year 2050. The magnitude of this challenge becomes even more daunting when you consider that of the 6.5 billion people on the planet today, more than 1.6 billion don’t even have electricity—that’s a fact—25% of the people living on this earth today do not have electricity—have never flipped on a light switch.
The media long ago along with the politicians declared that CO2 greenhouse gases produced by man are creating a “global emergency” and that we must take immediate action to reduce the man-made concentrations of CO2. Scientists by the way are hugely divided on this debate. Recently, an article appearing in the Wall Street Journal, January 27th edition, opinion section signed by 16 scientists, summarized the situation as follows:
The article states “a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed.” This is based on the inconvenient fat that “there is a lack of global warming documentation for well over 10 years.” This was actually substantiated by the “2009 Climategate” email of climate scientist Kevin Trenberth-stating the fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t.” Lastly, the WSJ article states, “The lack of warming for more than a decade—indeed, the smaller than predicted warming over the 22 years since the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change began issuing projections-suggests that computer models have greatly exaggerated how much warming additional man made CO2 can cause.” “Faced with this embarrassment, those promoting alarm have shifted their drumbeat from warming to weather extremes, to enable anything unusual that happens in our chaotic climate to be ascribed to CO2.”
I would encourage you to read this article in the WSJ.
My further research of fact suggests that yes; we have been in a cycle of incremental warming, but not by an unusual and not so alarming amount. Over the past 250 years since the end of the Little Ice Age, CO2 levels in the upper atmosphere have increased by about 280 parts per million to about 380 parts per million today—that’s .00038. What this tells us is that CO2, the gas we all exhale, the gas in a Diet Coke, the gas that plants need to grow—is in fact a trace gas, comprising just four out of every 10,000 molecules in the atmosphere. Allow me to put this into an example that we can all appreciate. Imagine a football stadium with 40,000 people in it. 380 parts per million CO2 is analogous to just 16 people in a stadium of 40,000. Bottom line—CO2 is a vital trace gas—there would be no earth without it.
Contrary to what you hear in the media and through politicians, no one knows how much warming will occur in the future if any at all. That is fact. No one knows or can predict if any warming will occur due to man, or due to nature. When someone tries to convince you otherwise, recall Mark Twain’s advice: respect those who seek the truth, be wary of those who claim to have found it!
The scientist’s computer models, as complex as they are, simply do not accurately predict future warming. If the only variable driving global average temperatures were CO2, man-made CO2, then the math would be simple. Global average temperatures would increase 1 degree over the next 100 years. But the earth’s climate is what engineers and scientists call a non-linear, dynamic system and thus impossible to model. The most sophisticated models depend on man’s multiple inputs which are the “opinions and assumptions” of the modelers. As an example, scientists assume that clouds and water vapor’s (the highest percentage of greenhouse gases) net effect is to cool the earth by reflecting radiant heat from the sun back into space. But it’s an assumption, one that some well-qualified scientists doubt. The point is if you don’t have consensus on how to model clouds, you don’t have consensus on the significance of human CO2 emissions.
There are other inconvenient facts that are seldom communicated to us by the media and politicians. We all know that the sun is by far the biggest driver of the earth’s climate. Over the past 50 years, global-temperatures have shown a higher correlation with solar radiation from the sun than from atmospheric CO2 levels. In fact, data over millions of years shows no cause-effect relationship between CO2 levels in the atmosphere and global-average temperatures. The warmest year in the US in the last century was 1934—75 years ago, when human CO2 emissions were far less than they are today. Global-average temperatures have been essentially flat for the past 11 years, despite continued increases in manmade CO2. None of the models predict this reality. Atmospheric CO2 levels have been much higher in the past and somehow the planet has survived. This simply proves one thing—the climate is always changing!
So with the above facts, can anyone explain to me how Congress can for example pass the Waxman-Market bill containing 1,428 pages with a House vote of 219-212 to pass it followed by similar legislation in the Senate sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry?
The fact is W-M is arguably one of the most asinine pieces of legislation passed by our Congress in the century. It is government at its worst. The W-M bill has promulgated over 1,500 new regulations and mandates involving 21 federal agencies. It has essentially engaged our federal government to micromanage energy choices.
Briefly, to translate W-M into common language, the requirement which is now law is to reduce emissions by 83% from a 2005 baseline by 2050! Americans emitted about 5.8 billion tons of CO2 in 2005. Divide 5.8 billion by the US population of roughly 300 million and you get America’s carbon footprint—about 20 tons of CO2 per person in 2005. Under W-M, by 2050, we’d have to cut US CO2 emissions by 83% to just 1 billion tons per year. The Census Bureau projects that by 2050, the US population will reach 430 million people. Divide one billion by 420 million people and you get 2.4 tons per person per year.
When was the last time America’s carbon footprint was as low as 2.4 tons per person per year? The answer is in the 1800’s when Thomas Edison taught us how to use electricity, before cars, trucks, and planes. 2.4 tons is roughly the per-capita carbon footprint of Bangladesh, Cuba, and North Korea. Tell me folks—does this make sense to you? How is this great country going to wean ourselves of fossil fuels in just four decades? It is simply impossible to get there from here.
The reality is that government through their deliberate actions and complete disregard for “facts” is completely incapable of reconciling our prosperity and our way of life with our environmental ideals which are based on fiction—not facts. Who of us is willing to make this sacrifice? We all aspire to our way of life, and to an improvement of our way of life. We like our computers, our flat screen TV’s, our air conditioning, our plastic things and clothes—all of these depend on abundant, affordable, and growing supplies of energy. And guess what, as stated above, we share this planet with 6.2 billion other people who all want the same things!
The U.S’s energy demand has been growing by about 1% per year, driven by prosperity and population growth. But while our way of life is directly affected by increasing amounts of energy, we are “crazy” when it comes to the things that energy companies must do to deliver the energy the makes modern life possible. We want energy security—we don’t like being dependent on foreign oil. But we don’t like drilling in the US million of acres of onshore lands plus the entire east and west coasts of the US. We hate paying $4.00/gallon for gasoline—but not as much as we hate the refineries that turn crude oil into gasoline. We have not built a refinery in this country for over 30 years. We expect the lights to come on when we turn them on, but we don’t like coal which produces 50% of our electricity today very efficiently with our own abundant in the ground resources. We don’t like and will not expand nuclear energy (100 plants) which produces 20% of our energy and is clean. Hydro power is also clean and inexpensive and renewable but it has been black listed—dams hurt fish.
We don’t want pollution of any kind, in any amount, but we also refuse to ask and answer the question, “How much are we willing to pay for environmental perfection?”
Reduction of CO2 and the commensurate value of doing so based on the above discussion is a real questionable objective. But let’s say just for argument sake, that there is a solid correlation between the production of man-made CO2 and climate change. There are some significant facts that we must consider in proposing a “solution” to reduce future levels.
1) Worldwide demand for energy will grow by 30-50% over the next few decades. Simply put, America and the world will need all the energy that the markets can deliver.
2) There are no near-term alternatives to oil, natural gas, and coal. Folks may not like to hear this but this is fact. Not only is there no alternatives now, but their frankly are no alternatives for decades to follow. Projections by IEA on World Energy Outlook forecasts that fossil fuels will supply about 80% of the world’s energy demand in 2030—which is roughly the same as today. Someday at least part of this need can be supplied by renewable but that is still a long way off. This is not about who is in the White House, or who is in Congress, or who is in power positions in other OECD countries. It’s about thermodynamics and economics.
Renewables such as wind and solar are NOT alternatives to fossil fuels, at best they are and will always be only supplements. Taken together, in spite of huge government subsidies over the past decade in the US, wind and solar are still less than 1% of the generation in the US. The reason for arguing supplements is very simple. Electricity in bulk cannot be stored—it must be produced when consumers use it. With wind and solar, that translates into the fact that when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining, these technologies cannot produce electricity—and therefore they must have fossil fuel or nuclear backups. There is a metric in the power industry called capacity factor. Capacity factor simply stated is the ratio of the availability of a generator to produce electricity when it is needed. For wind and solar, at best this ratio is 30%. Translated, this means that 70% of the time, when you need electricity to be produced by a solar plant or a wind plant, it will not be available! So our politicians who continue to subsidize and make statements like we will eventually get to a solar and wind generation based asset in our country are either stupid, or grossly gullible, or they are lying to us.
Why are the subsidies for wind and solar power materially failed? The answer to that question has nothing to do with politicians or environmentalists, but is has everything to do with the laws of thermodynamics. Turning diffused sources of energy such as photons in sunlight or the kinetic energy in wind requires massive investment to concentrate that energy into a form that’s usable on any meaningful scale. The technologies will never compete with conventional sources of power generation—just can’t happen based on facts.
It is impossible to safely or reliably operate the power grid with more than just a few percentage of electricity coming from intermittent sources like wind and solar. Until there is a major breakthrough in high-density electricity bulk storage (and it has been worked on for more than 100 years)—wind and solar cannot be relied upon for base-load power.
Besides thermodynamics, there is a second and large factor which makes these technologies impractical—economics. The US has invested trillions of dollars in electricity infrastructure over the past 150 years. Changing these systems based on a renewable energy will require massive new investment for many, many decades.
In summary, please understand that solar and wind will never be alternatives for fossil and nuclear plants—at best supplements and most likely for a long time—very small supplements.
3) Cap and trade has not been recently discussed but rest assured, it is on the hearts and minds of the EPA and environmental groups. It is a disaster as has been clearly demonstrated in Europe. It will drive the cost of electricity painfully higher which by the way is the whole objective of a cap and trade strategy—to drive up the cost of fossil energy so that otherwise uneconomical alternatives can compete because they cannot compete on a level playing field. The price tag for cap and trade to US consumers and industry will be in the trillions of dollars. This is not a strategy to re-tool our manufacturing and create jobs! Furthermore, higher electricity costs will hurt low-income Americans very hard.
What we as citizens must demand of our administration and Congressman is how much future warming will be avoided for all of this sacrifice? The answer to this question is probably none.
This brings me to the next topic. Global warming is not a US problem presuming it is happening, it is a world problem. A pound of CO2 emissions in Houston is the same as a pound of emissions in Beijing. What this says, is that even if the US severely reduces its CO2, unless you have 100% participation throughout the world, it simply will do no good. China today for example, is commercializing one large coal fired power plant each week! In the US, we essentially have stopped all new coal power plant additions as they are virtually impossible to get permitted. India is right behind China in building out new coal fired power plants. Our own government’s forecasts show that by 2050, 70% of global manmade CO2 emissions will be coming from China, India, and non-OECD countries (developing countries). Our Congressman cannot (or maybe they are) so naive to believe if we jump off the cliff, that the rest of the world will do the same. China and India will not—it has been publicly stated by their politicians. There is no way these countries will sacrifice economic growth in a futile attempt to sever the link between prosperity and fossil fuels.
So what are we to do? Perhaps we should consider given the sketchy scientific facts, an alternative strategy. Let’s call it adaptation. Even if we believe there is some very small incremental warming of the planet (and many of your older folks remember in the late sixties and early seventies that pundits were arguing that the planet was cooling and that we were going into an ice age), maybe we should adapt to this small warming. Many scientists believe that added CO2 in the atmosphere may be good for the planet because CO2 helps plants grow. How many times have you heard this opinion in the media or from a politician? There also is a theory touted by some scientists that we are about to go into a global cooling cycle!
There are some that say we are not sure of the facts but we should take heed and employ a precautionary principle. There are at least three major problems with employing this strategy.
1) No one in our daily lives live according to the precautionary principle. Example-around the world there are about 1.2 million people who die each year in automobile accidents—about 3,200 deaths a day. If we impose a 5 mph speed reduction, we could reduce a substantial percentage of these fatalities. How many of us are willing to do that? Answer—none. We all accept trade-offs in life and many of us do a cost-benefit analysis and conclude that we will not do without our cars, or we will not drive slower to save a percentage of these fatalities.
2) The politicians and media dwell on the potential harm from global warming but never balance this against the fact that the costs to reduce CO2 will also do substantial harm. We have hunger, poverty, malaria, dirty water, and many other social problems that kill millions each year. The world has finite wealth. By taking huge amounts of this wealth and investing it in the reduction of CO2 that otherwise could be spent addressing these other problems to save lives should be evaluated and considered. When was the last time you heard a media person ask the EPA or the administration, what if we took the billions of dollars that we are spending in subsidizing renewable technologies and move that instead into bolster our inner cities, or creating jobs—now wouldn’t that be a worthy question to ask?
3) The consequences of regulation that force shifts to inefficient and otherwise uneconomic forms of energy will be slower economic growth. Slower growth, compounded over decades means we leave future generations with less wealth to deal with the effects of global warming whatever they may be. The impact will hit poor and the disadvantages proportionally more. When again have you heard the media or a politician discuss this issue?
In conclusion, let’s look at history. We have learned over the past 30 or more years that energy choices favored by politicians but not confirmed by markets are destined to fail. We must insist that politicians do not substitute their judgments for the markets, and let the markets determine how much energy get used, what types of energy get used, where, how, and by whom energy gets used. The fact is no energy source is perfect, thus only markets can weigh the pros and cons of each source. Government’s role is to set reasonable standards for environmental performance, and allow the markets to work. This is not happening in our current political environment today. We must all look at this situation and elect officials that will truly reverse our craziness.
Thomas Jefferson
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson, 1802
Keystone XL Pipeline
I was furious today when I heard the president said “No” to the Keystone XL pipeline.
He is saying NO to shortening our transportation pathways for crude oil supplies, NO to getting supplies from a stable and reliable ally, NO to sending a positive economic message, and most of of all NO to shovel -ready jobs!! We will not get the 20,000+ jobs, which could lead up to as many as 100,000 jobs, which has been estimated by this pipeline going through.
Info on the pipeline:
This pipeline has been in the works for many years. TransCanada has most recently been working with the State of Nebraska to ensure the Sandhills would not be disturbed. (They were successfully working to go around any environmental concerns).
June 2010 TransCanada started operations on the first phase of the Pipeline. This first phase had to do with conversion of natural gas to crude oil and construction of a “bullet line” that brings the crude oil non-stop from Canada to market in the U.S. Midwest.
Keystone (Phase II) which was an extension from Steele City, Nebraska to Cushing, Oklahoma became operational February 2011. This 36-inch pipeline connects storage/distribution facilities at Cushing, a major crude oil pipeline hub.
The Keystone GulfCoast Expansion is approx.1,661 miles, pipeline which would start at Hardisty, Alberta and go southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. It would encompass a portion of Phase II through Nebraska and Kansas for markets at Cushing, Oklahoma continuing through Oklahoma and deliver to terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas market.
Former Obama U.S. National Security advisor Gen. Jim Jones said “If we get to the point where we cannot bring ourselves to do what is in our national interest, then we are clearly in a period of decline, in terms of our global leadership and our ability to compete”.
We are going the wrong way people, let’s wake up and fast!!
Feb 11 Conference: Citizens Concerned for Property Rights
(The Treasure Coast, FL) – Several locally affiliated conservative action groups announce a one-day program of distinguished speakers and events focusing the spotlight on the continuing encroachment of rights in the U.S. by groups that promote the United Nations Convention to establish uniform regulations to manage “the Earth’s resources” and its population. “
These “central planners” are hostile to private property rights – the legal mainstay of our free-market system. Their denial of your right to keep the fruits of your own labor is a back-door attack on our republican form of government as well as to American sovereignty itself.” – Leigh Lamson
Featured Speakers: Dr. Michael Coffman John Casey
Dr. Tom Cuba Dr. Allison Ramsersaad
Krisanne Hall, Esq. Karen Schoen
DATE: February 11, 2012, Saturday
RESERVATION: $25 [cash at door] R.S.V.P
website – http://gulfspeaks.info/Conferences.html
R.S.V.P. will get you a seat at a table. Without reservation, general seating is available.
TIMES:
8:00 Doors open for registration and continental breakfast (included)
8:45 Program begins with Pledge of Allegiance and invocation
11:45 – 12:15 Lunch Break (included in registration)
4:00 expected adjournment
LOCATION: Genesis Community Church auditorium – MAP ( http://g.co/maps/am3ye)
rear of the Crowne Plaza shopping center
8643 U.S. Highway 1
Port St. Lucie, FL 34953 Office phone: 772-873-1075
The St. Lucie 9-12 Group and The Martin 9/12 TeaParty Committee are local grassroots public-issues groups associated with the 9-12 Project and Tea Party Patriots, a grassroots coalition with more than 3,500 locally-organized chapters and more than 15 million supporters nationwide. www.stlucie912.org http://the912-project.com/ http://www.m912tc.com
Agenda21Today – http://americanfreedomwatchradio.com/
Change in Direction Needed by Mark Wohlschlegel
I am by nature an optimist—I have all my life looked at the glass and concluded that it was half full not half empty. I am an engineer and technologist by profession—so I question things and therefore classify myself as a realist as well. Through some research that I have recently done and through my good friend Tom Boyton, who is owner and President of WJTW radio Jupiter, Florida who I thank for many of the statistics that follow, I would like to make a case for the fact that our current direction in our country is wrong, and that we must make some significant re-direction of priorities and fix what is clearly broken. Solving problems requires first understanding the problem. What concerns me most is that our leaders and elected representative don’t seem to get it and we the people, simply are not elevating our voices to put sufficient pressure on these elected officials to change course. Therefore, I feel that we all have a personal obligation to educate and present facts to as many people as we can to engage them in this debate and generate interest and involvement. This is our country—and there are no guarantees for continued prosperity. We can through action and inaction, destroy what our forefathers have handed to us.
I also love history and know that great nations and nation states that once found themselves “on top of the world” and enjoyed great prosperity through conscious decision destroyed wealth and their positions in the world. I am a believer in the fact that basic beliefs lead to decisions, and decision then lead to consequences. If one’s basic beliefs are not sound, then bad decisions follow and in turn bad consequences and outcomes will result. I grew up under the guidance that solid values and hard work will result in prosperity. I was blessed to have been born in the USA—and to have lived under a government for the most part that adhered to basic principals set forth by our founders. Our leaders practiced what our founders had framed for us. Unfortunately, we have significantly drifted from these principals, and unless we can change our current course, we are destined to some pretty bad outcomes. I believe we have already strayed from what has made our country great, and the outcomes are pretty apparent by the stats I present below. So I ask the question, do you think we are headed in the right direction as a country? If the answer to this is no—then get involved—make your voices heard. It is only through the voices of the people that things will be set back on course.
1. Today, a staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be “low income” or are living in poverty
2. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the US are living in homes that are either considered to be “low income” or impoverished.
3. If the number of Americans that “wanted jobs” was the same today as it was back in 2007, the “official” unemployment rate put out by the US government would be up to 11 percent or higher.
4. The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the US is now over 40 weeks.
5. A recent survey found that 77 percent of all US small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers and we all know that the engine that drives employment in the US is not large corporations it is small businesses.
6. There are fewer payroll jobs in the US today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.
7. Since December 2007, median household income in the US has declined by a total of 6.8% accounting for inflation.
8. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million
9. A recent Gallup poll found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed
10. According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all US adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.
11. Back in 1980, less than 30 percent of all jobs in the US were low income jobs. Today, more than 40 percent of all jobs in the US are low income jobs.
12. Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July of this year, only 81.2% of men in that age group had a job.
13. One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.
14. The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of US households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.
15. According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the US is now 154 percent.
16. As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all US adults were married.
17. The US Postal service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past year
18. In Stockton, CA home prices have declined 64 percent from where they were in 2005-2006
19. Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 59 months in a row
20. The median price of a home in Detroit is now $6,000
21. According to the US Census Bureau, 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63 percent larger than it was 10 years ago.
22. New home construction in the US is on pace to set a brand new all-time record low in 2011
23. 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 are now living with their parents.
24. Electricity bills in the US have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.
25. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5 percent of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today, they account for approximately 16.3 percent.
26. A recent study found that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.
27. One out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.
28. The US spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the US.
29. Projections for the US trade deficit for 2011 will be $558.2 billion.
30. The retirement crisis in the US just continues to get worse. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46 percent of all Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29 percent of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.
31. Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below federal poverty line.
32. According to an analysis by the Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 55.
33. 37 percent of all US households that are led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero or less than zero.
34. A higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty (6.7 percent) than has ever been measured before.
35. Child homelessness in the US is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007
36. . Sadly, child poverty is absolutely exploding all over America. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4 percent of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty. 40.1 percent of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty. 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty. 53.6 percent of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.
37. Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.
38. . In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7 percent of all income. Today, government transfer programs account for more than 18 percent of all income.
39. A staggering 48.5%of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.
40. Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.
41. For fiscal year 2011, the US federal government had a budget deficit of nearly 1.3 trillion dollars; that was the third year in a row that our budget deficit has topped a trillion dollars. Translated, we are spending over a trillion dollars more than we are taking in.
42. . If Bill Gates one of the wealthiest people in the world gave every single penny of his fortune to the US government, it would only cover the US budget deficit for about 15 days.
43. The US government has now accumulated a total debt of 15 trillion dollars. When Barack Obama first took office the national debt was 10.6 trillion dollars.
44. . If the federal government began right at this moment to repay the US national debt at a rate of one dollar per second, it would take over 440,000 years to pay off the national debt.
45. . The US national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.
46. During the Obama administration, the US government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.
A trend that must be broken—
An article that appeared in the Bangor Daily News stated that in the state of Maine, “445,074 Mainers paid state income tax while 453,194 received some sort of state aid. In Maine, Medicaid, welfare, food stamps and subsidies for education have a combined enrollment of 660,000.”
Nationally, only 53% of all Americans living in households pay income taxes. Translated—47% or nearly half of all Americans don’t pay any federal income taxes.
We are continuing to depend on fewer and fewer wealth producers to pay for those who are on the take. This is re-distribution—this is socialism—which has proven to fail over and over again. This trend must be reversed—socialism works always for a while—until you run out of other people’s money!
We now have 92 million people on public assistance in one form or another. This includes 33 million children or 45% of all the people under the age of 18. Medicaid is the largest of all government programs and covers 74 million people—translated—one in four Americans. Food stamps now cover 34 million Americans or one in nine people! Almost 20 million people live on cash welfare and 11 million people live in public housing. Our federal policies do in fact incentivize people to depend on federal government programs and discourage job creation. Allowed to continue, this truly is a formula for disaster.
Understand our direction, and understand it is unsustainable. Have the guts to get involved and make your voices heard. Engage people, friends, acquaintances, young people, we are entering one of the most significant political elections in the history of our country. If we do not change the direction that our country is headed, it will be destroyed.
Why Do You Continue to Lie to the People Mr. President?
There is in Washington an ideological riff between the socialist/progressive party and the conservative party. The socialist/progressive party with their titular head, Mr. Obama believe that we have a tax problem—that is we must tax the rich to solve our debt problem. The conservatives clearly understand that we have only one problem in Washington—a spending problem.
I have collected some “facts” on what is happening with taxes in spite of Obama’s continual reminder that we must tax the rich folks not the middle class. My question is once again, he is either stupid or he is lying and I don’t believe he is stupid. He claims to be targeting the rich but in the example below, I certainly would not call this family “rich”.
If the President and Congress do not proactively work to keep the Bush tax breaks, we are going to have a significant tax jump for a very large part of our population come 2013.
The fact is, if nothing is done in terms of putting into place long term “permanent” set of tax laws, many average American families will get whacked. See the article by Bob Jennings on Fox Business: Why Your Tax Bill Might Surge Next Year
With our economy in such poor shape, why would anyone in their right minds want to put this additional burden on the American people? The above represents one of the biggest tax increases on our citizens in the history of our country.
Once again, millions of small business owners had better enjoy the next 16 months, because come January 2013, they are going to get whacked with a giant tax bill.
Oh, I forgot one other tax not mentioned above. See: The 2013 Tax Cliff in the Wall Street Journal.
Ladies and gentlemen, get out and vote these people out in November of 2012!
