Kudos to Maria Cantwell, it took courage to vote against this bailout, . . and I'm a conservative.

Congrats!

It's the conservatives that got us into this mess, just as in 1929.
Read your history!

We the People must make a decision, if we fail to first educate ourselves as to what the right course of action is, and then fail to act accordingly; we have made a decision and must then suffer the consequences of that decision. This is what’ happening now.

The picture painted by the supporters of the bailout is dire. President Bush reinforced this notion in his address to the nation last night, and again urged Congress to act immediately. The problem with Bush and his administration is that they have lied repeatedly to the American people, and with these lies have gotten us embroiled in a war without just cause. Never mind that Congress has never formally declared war since December 8th, 1941 as is still mandated in the Constitution; and for a good reason I might ad.

Remember what happened the last time the executive branch warned of horrible consequences and rushed legislation through Congress? We got the Patriot Act, which to this day threatens our civil liberties on an unprecedented scale.

We do know that our economy is in for a rough ride. These bad mortgage-related assets will have to be cleared out, and the market will have to reset. The only question is how that will happen.

There are those who think that the way out is to continue the same practices that created this mess. We can put $850 billion, for starters, in the hands of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (a former CEO of Goldman Sachs) and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and let them spend the money on whatever they wish. I say for starters because the provisions of the proposed plan do not limit the number of times these fools can be allowed to spend up to the limit of $850 billion; there is still no Congressional oversight contained in the plan with the ability to put an end to the spending. There is no recourse to any due process or court of law to reverse their decisions. You & I are the ones who will have to begin supporting this ill conceived debt with our pocket books; your children’s children for untold, unborn generations will be paying for this folly.

This “plan” will only delay the economic downturn, which will only be worsened.

Or, we can take this opportunity to end the federal government's interference in the marketplace, truly embrace free market capitalism, and return to a sound monetary system.

The Federal Reserve's practices of easy credit and monetary inflation have crashed our economy, and now they're asking us to trust them to fix it.

It is time for Congress to:

1.) End the Bailouts - Congress must revoke the Federal Reserve's authority to bail out failed businesses at our expense.

2.) Cut Taxes and Curb Regulation - If we really want to stimulate businesses and revive the market, we need to cut corporate and capital gains taxes, spurring investors to come back to the market, and making it easier to attract new workers and clients. It is also time to end failed legislation like Sarbanes-Oxley, which has crippled capital markets, diminished our competitiveness, and greatly harmed small businesses.

3.) Reduce Spending - We must freeze all non-entitlement spending by the federal government at current levels, and eliminate wasteful spending both domestically and in our trillion-dollar overseas budget. Our debt has to come down, and it won't until we start living within our means. This by the way will end wars on our part unless we are clearly and deliberately attacked within our own borders. I don’t advocate complete isolationalism, but I do advocate we get the heck out of the business of other nations, including all foreign aid other than that used for direct relief of disaster victims, and spend the next few generations concentrating on our own issues here at home. Our biggest export ought to be the hope of true freedom and liberty to all nations by our own strong example; not terror and strife.

4.) Reform the Monetary System - If we are to have long-term economic progress, we must end the system of printing money out of thin air. The current laws limiting the circulation of gold and silver-backed currency must be overturned. We can no longer base our money on the empty promises of bureaucrats. The Constitution for the United States of America, Article One section eight gave the Congress of the United States the authority to “coin” the currency of the nation, and to regulate the value of it. The states of the union are restricted to using only that currency mandated by Congress in Article One, section ten. That currency as mandated by the Constitution, and to which the Congress is obligated to issue and control the regulations of weights & standards of, is limited to gold and silver coin.



To this newspaper, and everyone reading this message,I challenge you to show me the duly ratified amendment according to Article Five of the Constitution that has eliminated this mandate from the responsibility of Congress, and the responsibility of “We the People” to hold our elected leaders accountable to the Constitution.

The Coinage and Mint Act of 1792, ratified by Congress in response to the Constitution, is still the law of the land to this day. It is a sound monetary doctrine which ought to be the “Plan” Congress reverts back to in order to cure these nations’ financial woes. It will mean a lot of sacrifice on all of us, every man, woman & child in this Republic. I am my self willing to endure this time of sacrifice to bring back Constitutional accountability, I am willing to say as our founders did in the beginning of this generational struggle for freedom & liberty, and that that we must be willing to pledge “our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honor.” In doing so we too must place our trust in the Divine Providence of God Almighty our creator just as did our forefathers and foremothers.

The federal government is trying to scare us into accepting more tyranny. Don't stand for it. This all came about because “We the People” have abandoned our firm understanding of how our Constitutional Republic is created to operate; we have abandoned our firm stand upon the moral rectitude which comes from our principles contained in our founding documents including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution for the United States of America including the Bill of Rights; but most importantly we have abandoned for the most part on a National level our firm reliance on our Creator God trying to remove that faith from which hope eternal abounds in a misguided attempt to “separate religion from government.” The belief in God is a matter of the heart; it is the essence of that person and cannot be separated from whom and what they are. It is the source of our moral rectitude; without it there can only be tyranny and failure.

Does it mean that ones doctrinal issue be made legislation? God forbid. It does hold an individual to a higher standard to which all can repair in times of judgment. Those who legislate today must do so laboring under the lies and trickery of past Congresses; as far back as 1910 when the first meeting on Jekyll Island was formed in secrecy to create the Federal Reserve System. It was foisted upon us by a banking cartel that to this day has sought but one objective: world domination of the financial market by destroying the financial base of our Republic, and the moral decline of the generations of Americans subsequent to its enactment.

Forcing Congress to revert back to the Constitution and all legislation enacted to institute a gold & silver standard of fiscal responsibility will not by itself cure this nations woes; but as has been seen three times in our national history, and once before the Revolutionary War, that the spiritual and moral decline will devolve itself if we are willing to trust the wisdom of our founders and that of Divine Providence just as did that radical bunch of right wing malcontents [as the King called them at the time] who started this grand experiment.

I do urge you to call Congress to express your outrage at the bailout, tell them you want real solutions, not more lies and deceit. Pass this message on to those you know. Let the American people know that there is already a “plan” in place and it doesn’t create debt, it eliminates it.

I’ve watched my retirement fund disappear into thin air due to this scandalous deceit by our “elected Leaders”, and I’ve had enough of it. How about you? The words of Thomas Jefferson are never truer then they are today; his “prophesy” has come true in our generation.

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered...I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. The issuing power of money should be taken from the banks and restored to Congress and the people to whom it belongs."

By Thomas Jefferson



"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public
Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with the result that a
democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship."
- Alexander Fraser Tyler, "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic"


Michael D. Heit
P.O. Box 441
Harrington, WA 99134

Well said Michael I do however, have to disagree with you about Bush lying to us time and time again. As much as this adminstration has screwed up - one thing they have not done is flip flop on literally everything they have said or done in the last 8 yrs. President Bush is about the only one that has stuck to his guys.

Recall that fateful day 9/11 - I do. Recall the weeks and months following it - all the ball games televised all the NORMAL folks crying during the national anthem and OH SO Proud to be an AMERICAN... YES even our politicians. (Forgetting about the image of Barrack Hussein Obama standing with hands folded in front of him during the national anthem) Most Americans were proud and wanted to go kick some butt.

NOW - with all the Bush hatred pushed daily - and I do mean dail all these years in our schools, press, and even these blogs (just look around) it is no wonder the brain washing is working. We are becoming more and more socialist everyday.

Americans have no real clue as to the mess we are in and why - I highly suggest a book titled: Power, Faith and Fantasy by a Michael Oren - you will be amazed at the history between America and the Middle East - it has not changed one ioda - nor have the politics surrounding it - since before we even became a real nation.

Patriot Act - hummm - well there is a very long history on this one - both parties have tried to pass many times over the years - and it finally took effect after 9/11. Had the intelligence community not been torn down and handcuffed - much of this could have been foreseen and maybe even prevented. If the Patriot Act is used against us as Americans as harrassment - then they should be held accountable. If they are using it to monitor mosques and muslim hate groups here and abroad - I agree 100%. Stop it before it gets here. NOW - when the Democrats as Clintons did and DNC now condones on hacking GOV Palins e-mail - use it to benefit their party - we are only going to see more and more of it in the future - if they are NOT held accountable NOW.

Pelosi - is a traitor - she went to enemies during a time of war and made proposals she had not even talked to the countries involved - but presented them anyways. Why was she not held accountable? They know they are above the law - and we let them do it. I totally agree - we MUST demand they be held accountable. OH - we forget they write the laws - and the more they homestead the harder they make it. They are making themselves untouchable.

Cynthia McKinney - lost her election - she and her Black Panthers start talking about death to Israel - it is white man doing this... Gimme a break... she slaps cops - Oh yeah - she gets away with it. Imagine that....

Here is a bit more to add as to the reasons for much of these problems.

Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae executives who have brought down Wall Street.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregularities in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted , ' Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that 'mistakes were made' and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years.' Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by&n b sp;$9 billion. ;Raines left with a 'golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear.

http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ . The Government noted, 'The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital r eports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner.' These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.


Tim Howard - Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard 'was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a 'stable pattern of earnings' at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that, 'Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and report ing functions within Fannie Mae,'


On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004. Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million.' Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae. Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.


WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON? Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee

IF OBAMA PLANS ON CLEANING UP THE MESS - HIS ADVISORS HAVE THE EXPERTISE - THEY MADE THE MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE. Would you trust the men who tore Wall Street down to build the New Wall Street ?


Bart R. Heimsness
Graham, WA