IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF THESE STATES, YOU DON’T HAVE REQUIRED PHOTO VOTER ID BUT YOU DO HAVE EITHER A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR OR SECRETARY OF STATE–BOTH HAVE A LOT OF POWER OVER VOTING IN THEIR STATES. PLEASE SEND THIS LETTER AND PASS IT ON TO GET THE BALL ROLLING FOR REQUIRED PHOTO VOTER ID AND OTHER VOTING REFORMS (You may also want to send it to your representatives to fight the upcoming bill on automatic registration as outlined below). For obvious reasons, I am assuming Democrat governors would not want to have Required Photo Voter ID but send it to yours if you would like:

Dear Governor and Secretary of State:

I am writing to bring to your attention that Required Photo Voter ID, secured voting machines, and properly screening voters for eligibility protects the voting rights of every citizen in your state.

I would like to point out that there is a difference among the various forms of voter eligibility screening:

METHODS OF VOTER ID
–Required Photo Voter ID
–Requested Photo Voter ID
–Voter ID
–No Voter ID

Your state does not have Required Photo Voter ID. A map of all of the states with the various forms of Voter ID (or not) can be found here.
Obama lost in every state with Photo Voter ID.

VOTER MACHINE INTEGRITY
Did you also know of the rampant fraud that took place in several previous elections regarding software voting machines?

Many states struggle with voting software tampering. It was widely thought, for instance, that the 2010 re-election of Harry Reid in Nevada was due to software tampering when the votes changed from Sharron Angle to Harry Reid via voter screens. A more recent example of this can be found here. The solution to this is to eliminate the software and go back to the ballot machines or to do extensive software auditing in each state.

ELIGIBILITY
Fraud that can take place when voters are NOT accurately screened for eligibility before they register to vote.

A bill (Voter Empowerment Act of 2013–H.R. 12) is in Congress right now to register every voter based on motor vehicle records, public assistance information and other sources unless a person specifically refuses to be registered. The legislation would also likely include a federal mandate to allow same-day voter registration and extend the franchise to convicted felons. As you can imagine with the endless possibilities for fraud via internet, this bill would end the integrity of the voting process.

We have an urgent danger in our country of losing votes from legitimate citizens and from illegitimate votes turning the results of an election.

My request to you is threefold:
1.) Work to install a REQUIRED PHOTO VOTER ID law in your state.
2.) Require that your state return to a voting ballot machine or require a complete audit of all of your voting software.
3.) Work to eliminate the possibility for internet registration in your state.

You can find more information on this blog:
Why 2014 Won’t Matter Without Voter ID and What You Can Do About It.

Thank you,

I am firmly convinced that Obama intends to steal back the House and increase his control on the Senate. Unless stopped, massive voter fraud which is a winning strategy for him will work again in 2014. And he MUST win the House to complete his agenda. I’m not foolish enough to believe that instituting Voter ID in more states is all that will win an election–electronic audits of rampant tampering of software (remember Reid and Angle and the magically changing SEIU voting machines?) –must also be performed. Voting integrity must be returned to the voting booth and it is a monumental task. The DFF (Democrat Fraud Factor) has permeated all states in the Union. But most of us know that where there was Voter Photo ID, Obama lost. In 2014 and beyond, it is my contention that the only way Dems can win elections is through voter fraud.

“The left is constantly working on these voting issues,” Mr. von Spakovsky says. “They have dozens of organizations, with a lot of money.” The goal, he says, is “to change the rules to give them an advantage in elections. The other side of the political aisle just doesn’t do that.”

In this same article in the Wall Street Journal, we learn about the Voter Empowerment Act (another radical lefist twist of phrase):

“The Voter Empowerment Act would also mandate automatic registration of individuals on motor-vehicle, tax and university rolls, many of whom are aliens or have multiple addresses in different states: “You’re basically going to be registering lots of people who are ineligible and leading to many duplicate registrations.” The groups pushing such efforts—among them the Brennan Center for Justice, the ACLU and the NAACP—include “the same organizations that have been filing lawsuits over the past few years trying to prevent states from verifying the accuracy and eligibility of people on their voter-registration databases,” Mr. von Spakovsky says.”

Now, you probably didn’t know there was a difference between Voter ID and Photo Voter ID and REQUIRED Photo Voter ID, right? There is a difference. As the chart below shows, there are states with NO VOTER ID required (I live in one–IL–DFF alive and well); REQUESTED PHOTO VOTER ID (if you want to cheat, how does this make sense? Reminds me of the question at airports before 9/11–”Do you have anything dangerous on your person?” before boarding a plane); VOTER ID (without photo); and REQUIRED PHOTO VOTER ID (this is the one we want, people, and the one the liberals are fighting).

How do we accomplish this? First let me explain something I call “THE DAILY PATRIOT.”

Everyday, every American needs to do something to promote our Republic. First, scan the internet for the latest headlines on what the liberals are doing each day to destroy the Republic. This is easy. They are working every day–you can follow Drudge or Bad Blue (be careful on this one of inaccurate information–do your research!) or listen to Mark Levin, etc. to find out how they are destroying America each day. Reputable blogs abound–TCH, The Gateway Pundit, Red State, etc. Another way to keep abreast of what is coming up for a vote (and monitor how your own reps are voting) is by following Mega Vote–you get this right in your email inbox and always have the latest information). Your job is to do something to counter the Left–every day. You call/fax/email your representatives to tell them how you want them to vote. If you want to go further, you can be a little creative. Write or fax OTHER representatives in OTHER states. It is my opinion what they do affects ALL of us so technically, they represent ALL of us. I contribute across the country so in effect, I am their constituent. In my letters to them, I say as much. I announce myself, “As a constituent…” and then state my case. It is easiest to fax. Links are at the end of this blog. If you need to write, it is more tedious as they expect you to know their 5 + 4 zip codes and it is a rep by rep contact. That is OK. I use their home office 5 + 4 which can be found here. I just methodically write them day by day going across the country. That is my Daily Patriot and I suggest you make up your own Daily Patriot and get busy. We have no time to waste.

Here is a place to start with REQUIRED PHOTO VOTER ID: Along with writing Senators and Congressmen/women in each state without it, we need to start writing/calling/faxing campaigns to those in the GOP who have a vested interest in passing Voter ID–Republican Governors and Secretaries of State. They like to stay in office and it will be increasingly hard for R’s to stay in office without required photo voter ID. We also need to be requesting independent audits of the voting software in each of these states and governors can make this happen. In this blog, I’ve provided you lists to start your Daily Patriot. But here are valuable fax/call lists of the 2013 Congress for Senators and House Reps.

Below is a list of Republican governors in states where there is no REQUIRED Photo ID to vote:

The Daily Patriot requires that we begin writing each of these governors and pushing them to work with their Secretaries of State to bring Required Photo Voter ID and software audits to their states BEFORE the 2014 elections. An additional group with whom to get involved is TRUE THE VOTE. They are fighting an uphill battle for voter integrity.

GIDDY UP!

Why didn’t Romney fight back? Why didn’t the GOP address the fraud? Maybe Romney knew he would lose before he did and all of it was play acting–there are the conspiracy theories out there. Maybe he knew when he lost that the GOP would not fight for him. In 1982, the GOP agreed to walk away from Democrat voter fraud to avoid legal ramifications of discrimination. A recent March 2012 attempt to reverse that ruling failed. The DFF (Democrat Fraud Factor) is with us to stay and now it’s winning presidential elections–by only 400,000 votes or 69 electoral votes. Some might say, “How did some R’s win at all?” There’s a theory for that where a total 100% loss would be too obvious.

TOP TEN REASONS THE ELECTION WAS RIGGED:
For the Record

We found it difficult to listen to the news because what we knew to be true wasn’t being reported. Romney and the GOP were being blamed for the loss. Those who did not vote were being blamed–and while certainly both reasons were factors, we saw the throngs at Romney’s events; we saw polls and research that pointed to landslides. And then we saw 149% voting in PA and 109% in FLA and 1 out of 5 voters ineligible to vote in Ohio. We saw the lineup of non-residents voting in Maine. We saw and read and heard and knew nothing would be done about it. In fact, if voter fraud is not tackled soon , a vote at all in 2014 is an act of lunacy. Obama needs to win back the House and keep the Senate to complete his agenda against America. For that reason alone, the DFF will continue.

Obama and his administration have put forth executive orders and mandates and fiats as if he had won in a landslide. There will be no compromising with the right nor consideration for the majority of the country who are vehemently against his policies and lawlessness. Everything from moratoriums on drilling in the Gulf to executive “actions” for gun control, shows we have a runaway despot in the White House.

There are no real investigations of any consequence into Fast and Furious, a gun-running scheme that cost the lives of many and the Benghazi incident has been carefully swept under the prayer mat.

Then of great consequence is the beyond control spending of this president.

“The problem is that Obama has only greatly accelerated everything Bush did wrong, and reversed everything Bush did right.”

Spending alone is bringing America to her knees which of course is the point and Obama’s plan all along to topple the greatest country ever created and in the process eliminate its Constitution.

Once you start to mistrust your “leaders” it’s hard to not get caught up in conspiracy theories. And they abound. Blogs daily sift through fear and reality. From gun control to stockpiling ammunition to plans for martial law to kill lists and murdered conservatives and heroes, informed Americans are having trouble sleeping at night. That foreboding is still with us but our guts are telling us not all is mere conspiracy.

Alinsky taught liberals to overload the system:

“..the “Cloward-Piven Strategy” seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.”

And we are overloaded. Many are beginning to stockpile weapons and ammunition. Survival/protection of one’s family several years ago was the stuff of horror films but are popular topics now since Obama’s re-election. Friends have told me they feel a creeping malaise stemming from a lack of control–their own inability to redress the instability that has seized the nation…and them. Houses underwater, Obamacare, a complicit media and conspiracy has made for a cocktail of doom–a feeling that the ship can never again be righted and we are destined to sink.

And so it is. Life has forever changed since The One took office for the second time. Yet something in us won’t give up…I can’t and don’t think God wants us to stop fighting evil, but I must admit I’ve added to my work studying the end times in Revelations. I find it essential to believe God is ultimately in control.

Our Constitution is a roadmap for fighting despotism and totalitarianism and we must continue to fight for it and for our Republic. If we conservatives were sleeping before, we’ve certainly awakened and our fight has expanded from national to local levels where we feel we still have some power (more on this in a later blog). And our efforts must expand to installing Required Photo Voter ID in every state but especially swing states (again, more on this later). Like our founding fathers, we are in the battle until the end however that happens. Like many of you, I’m not going under without a fight.

Dad was in the Millright’s union. He was a hard worker and proved himself on the job rising in his position of labor to eventually owning his own company (and got to see the other side of unions). But if Grandpa was anything, he was a patriot. At age 17, during World War 2, he joined the Navy and that experience and love of liberty and country shaped the remainder of his life.

He was a good man who was honest even when it was not politically acceptable to be so. Grandpa’s public political life started when he got involved as an alderman in Burbank, IL. He got elected I am sure because of his intelligence and easy going personality. He got along with others and always had a lot of friends. Many of these friends came to him for advice because he listened more than he talked and when he talked he waited until he had something of value to say. He meant what he said and said what he meant. You could always depend on him to follow through. And he expected the same of all of us kids. He would be more disappointed in us if we lied than if we failed. Failure was OK if we had honestly tried at something and followed through till the end.

I remember that, as an alderman of our ward, Dad got a lot of phone calls after work. Mom did not appreciate these as each one would take quite a bit of time because my dad took his responsibility very seriously. This caused more than annoyance at home. Because he was honest, it was hard for him to accept the expectations placed on him to go with the status quo and be a place holder for the “powers that be.” He was not a “yes” man and this eventually made him somewhat unpopular; he voted for what was right and true and this made some people with power very angry at him. My sister and I, at the time in high school, had become lifeguards at the local park district pool. We had always been excellent swimmers, had taken the training courses, passed our tests, were interviewed and hired. Again, our parents always expected us to do our best so we were excellent at what we did. But because Dad didn’t “go along to get along” these jobs were announced to be “political favors” and were taken from us as a punishment to him. He was beside himself that we were hurt because of him. He had gotten into politics to make a difference. But because he had no aspirations of ascension, he eventually finished out his term to not return. We easily found other employment but he never forgot what happened to us because of his integrity.

Integrity somehow falls out of politics. My parents originally were members of what is now called the “old Democrat Party” or the “Kennedy Democrats.” John F. Kennedy was no saint but that was before media gave everyone who entered politics a thorough anal exam. When we now look deeply into President Kennedy’s past, we see many moments in his private life that would not have made my father admire him. But that kind of behavior was not in the public eye then or maybe it was the beginning of poor behavior being shielded by the media for one party over the other. I’m not a historian so I cannot say when that trend began. Regardless, in his public life, Kennedy , though not a perfect leader, lead with integrity. He was trusted and well loved by the people he served. And he was a servant–not someone who was in office for ideology or personal gain. I was in 5th grade when he was assassinated. By the time I was in high school, all hell had broken out and the Viet Nam war was raging. Boys were dying overseas, no one seemed to know why we were there and politicians, to my young mind, for now the second time, became people not to trust. The Viet Nam years spawned a new generation of liberals and I was proud to be one of them–excitedly participating in a “walk-out” against the war in high school.

Liberalism had already gotten a stranglehold of America by the time I was a a young mother but I didn’t even notice. Rights were being eroded more and more every year. What started as an erosion of small rights…like when smokers could smoke and where has ballooned into New Yorkers being denied a large size soft drink. What started as a seemingly good idea–a way to help the impoverished (who by the way have grown by leaps and bounds because of these programs)-the Great Society–has turned into the Welfare State, Baby Mamas, ghettos and an huge erosion of culture and family. What started as “caring about the earth” has turned into farmers’ lives being destroyed because of a fish and CA residents having to live without using plastic bags.

As our country began to spend more and more on entitlement and other “programs,” our pocketbook became smaller and smaller. When people begin to depend on someone for their basic necessities, they become a slave to that someone and are controlled by them. A short history lesson:
“Until 1937, for the first 150 years of its existence, US government spending was less than 10% of the nation’s GDP. In 1937, with vastly expanded powers, Congress embarked on a spending spree that has only grown over time. Since 1937, in war and in peace, in recession and expansion, under Democrats and Republicans, government spending as a percentage of GDP has only increased, until today it is nearly 35%.”

I could go on and on with myriad examples but you get my point. We’ve been living like the frog in the boiling caldron and the temperature is just now at boiling. And we have a president who disregards our Constitution and Bill of Rights. For some examples,
–Launching an illegal war in Libya. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war. Under the congressionally enacted War Powers Act, Mr. Obama had 60 days to get congressional approval after U.S. bombs started dropping in Tripoli, but he didn’t bother. Putting the Muslim Brotherhood in charge of yet another Arab nation appeared to be a higher priority than following the law.
–Undermining the nation’s armed forces. Article II, Section 2, names the president commander in chief. Instead of asserting American power, Mr. Obama projects weakness, emboldening our enemies. The murder of our ambassador and three other staff members in Benghazi, Libya, and the attacks on our embassies in Egypt and Yemen are bitter fruit of that reality. In addition, Mr. Obama rammed through Congress a bill homosexualizing the military despite failing to make the case that this won’t hurt readiness, morale, retention or recruitment. He is unfit to be commander in chief.
–Violating religious freedom. Mr. Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services ignored the First Amendment by issuing a Soviet-style order to Catholic and other faith-based institutions to violate their beliefs and provide insurance covering abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilizations.
–Appointing agency “czars” without Senate approval. Article II, Section 2, gives the president the power to appoint ambassadors, judges and top agency officials, but only with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” Mr. Obama has appointed, without Senate approval, more than two dozen czars in federal agencies.
–Making illegal recess appointments. Article II, Section 2 allows the president to “fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate.” While the Senate was in session, Mr. Obama made recess appointments of Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three members of the National Labor Relations Board.
–Forcing Americans to buy health insurance. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to regulate commerce and levy taxes. It does not give Congress the power to force Americans to engage in commerce. During policy debates in 2009, the White House denied that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was a “tax.” But in court, the administration argued that it was a tax after all. In a shocking ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. bought the logic, upholding this unconstitutional monstrosity.
–Refusing to enforce laws that he doesn’t like. Article II, Section 3 states that the president “shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Mr. Obama directed Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to ignore the Defense of Marriage Act and even work against it in the federal courts. Mr. Holder also suspended newly enacted photo ID voter laws in Texas and South Carolina.
–Stonewalling on Fast and Furious. The Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “walked” more than 2,000 firearms to drug gangs across the border to Mexico. U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed, along with at least 100 Mexicans. The administration has shown contempt for Congress, and Mr. Holder denied knowing about the debacle despite evidence indicating otherwise. This is not “faithfully” executing the law or defending America’s sovereign borders.
–Violating equal protection and voting rights. The 14th Amendment guarantees “due process” and “equal protection of the laws.” The 15th Amendment guarantees that “the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race.” Mr. Holder ditched the case of New Black Panther Party members videotaped intimidating Philadelphia voters in 2008. Two former Justice Department officials testified that employees were told to ignore white complainants.
–Using the EPA to attack America’s energy industry. In 2010, the Senate refused to pass the “cap-and-trade” bill that would have created a carbon-tax system, vastly increasing federal power over energy. The Environmental Protection Agency declared carbon dioxide a pollutant anyway and began exerting raw bureaucratic power. Mr. Obama’s green zealots nixed the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada and virtually shut down new oil exploration and drilling.
–Allowing the FCC to grab the Internet. The Telecommunications Act gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority over wire and broadcasting, but not broadband. Congress and a federal appeals court rejected the FCC’s claims of authority, yet the FCC released “net neutrality” rules in December 2010. This violates the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. The FCC has no more authority over the Internet than it does over the musings of Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
–Attacking a state for upholding federal law. The 10th Amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” In July 2010, the Justice Department sued Arizona for a law requiring state officials to enforce federal immigration laws. Nothing in the Constitution prohibits states from assisting in enforcing federal laws. Meanwhile, the Justice Department ignores “sanctuary cities” that openly violate federal law.
–Giving a foreign leader platforms to denounce an American state. In May 2010, Mexican President Felipe Calderon addressed Congress, where he blasted Arizona to cheers from Democrats. Mr. Obama joined him later at a White House press conference where both men trashed Arizona. The president takes an oath that he will “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,” which guarantees that states are part of the United States, not part of a foreign country by default.
–Using the National Labor Relations Board as a goon squad. The NLRB sued in April 2010 to shut down the Boeing Co.’s new $750 million Dreamliner plant in right-to-work South Carolina because unions objected. Nowhere does the Constitution give the federal government the power to tell businesses where they can operate.

We can’t forget our $16 trillion dollar debt, more debt created than that of the other presidents before him. And then there is Benghazi where the character, competence and credibility of Obama and his entire national security team have been called into question. There is more and will be more in a second term. This knowledge has created a fear in me that is astronomical especially as we approach Tuesday. I understand that the main stream media has kept this information from the public ear so that many do not realize what they are losing. As stated in The Erosion of Rights:
“Rights do not disappear suddenly and noticeably, but slowly and often subtly. The price of democracy is eternal vigilance, but not all people are vigilant all the time, and most are willing to see various freedoms erode and even disappear.
Fear drives people to consciously give up rights in exchange for security.
Apathy permits one group that does not value a particular freedom to stand by and watch while it is taken away from another group that does value it.
Out of Hate one group will actively try to oppress another and take away their rights.
Out of Selfishness one group will infringe on another’s rights for their own economic benefit.
Ignorance lets some people sleep while the rights they never knew they had slowly disappear.
Conceit describes the justification of the ‘elite’ to make decisions for the masses as a parent does for a child. Friedrich Hayek called this the ‘fatal conceit’ because of the impossibility for a bureaucracy, however smart and well-educated, to be better informed than the people collectively.
Distrust of others’ judgment and motivations makes us willing to give up our own freedom in order to restrict theirs.
Impatience with the pace of non-coercive solutions to very real and troubling problems leads people to reach for the easiest solution: pass a law.”

“A democracy is measured by how it treats its minorities, but great energy and will are required to defend the rights of other groups with which you don’t personally identify. The Holocaust was not an aberration, but is repeated all around us on a smaller scale every day.”

As a young woman, I was not paying attention. By the time 9/11 happened, I began to be increasingly aware of America’s spiral into liberalism as I watched a liberal media attack President Bush. His lack of defense was one of the reasons we got Barack Obama. Liberalism had a great triumph in his election. The threat of a behemoth Obamacare literally caused me to get in my car and drive to Washington DC to protest.

Photo by dailymail.co.uk

At this point in time, 2009, I was fully awake. I returned in 2010 to protest its passing–a bill so large and overpowering it will finish the job of shredding our precious Constitution and control over 1/6th of the economy pushing us over the fiscal cliff and into socialism. If you wonder what socialism will be like in its totality, please watch this advertisement:

And so we come to this letter I am writing to you. Despite its length, I’ve asked you to read it in its entirety. You love me–you’ll do it as you’ve done so many other things because you love me. You are “humoring” me by reading this. Until recently, some of you haven’t voted. Some of you have told me you don’t know who you’ll vote for. Some of you have told me you delete my emails filled with evidence of what I’ve told you today. I love YOU. That is why I have written this piece–I will be 59 later this month. If fate allows, I figure I have 15-20 years left on this earth. YOU are the reason I have been fighting night and day for every local campaign to save our country. It is essential that we stop Obama–with a new president–but also with an overturned Senate and a solid House–to keep them all in line to repeal Obamacare, bring order and the Constitution back into our governance and reduce the size of government so you can have liberty for you, for my grandchildren, for our country.

If you know who were the last winners of American Idol or the plots of latest sitcoms better than you do who is representing you in Congress, you and your children are in deep trouble. If we are lucky enough to remove Obama from office on Tuesday and to get a majority in the Senate, we will have a short breather to begin the long hard task to save America–it will take more than this election to do that. If we lose either of those objectives, we will either sink into the hole of socialism or tread water for short while before we sink. Voting is not enough, dear children. You have to get involved. If Obama is re-elected, you will be the first generation of a socialist America. When Obamacare is in full force, in 2014, you’ll see and feel it for the first time. You will complain but there will be nothing you can do about it. Oh, Congress will tinker with it–for decades–but it will never get smaller or less powerful. It will only grow until your memory of liberty was a thing of the past. Obama will pass more and more executive orders so that at the end of four years, even those who have not been paying attention, will notice the change. I’m afraid it will be too late then.

Tomorrow night I’m going to bed knowing I have done everything I can to save this country. I’ve made phone calls, walked in parades, contributed more than I could afford to conservative candidates, walked streets I never knew to try to convince people what was happening and how they needed to vote. Did I wake up late to the reality of liberalism? Yes. But I’m not going down quietly–without a fight. Grandpa was a proud Democrat when the Democrats had morals–before they made a far-left turn. He died a staunch Conservative and I will do the same.

After Tuesday, I don’t know what the forecast will be for our liberty. I sincerely doubt America can withstand another four years of untethered liberalism. It is my fervent prayer that you wake to the reality before all your liberties are gone and that you begin to act every day to keep or regain them. That will mean beginning to read more, getting involved locally, and knowing for what and why you are voting (and reading my emails once in awhile)!

I love you more than words can say and I promise I will fight until my last breath to restore America for you and for my grandchildren whomever they may be. I pray you, too, will pick up the gauntlet before I am gone and continue the fight for those you love.

Love you always,
Mom/Nancy

For the first time in recent history those on the left and the right fervently agree on an issue and that issue is to vote NO on Illinois Amendment HJRCA 49 (HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT HC0049) which states:

“Upon approval by the voters, the proposed amendment, which takes effect on January 9, 2013, adds a new section to the General Provisions Article of the Illinois Constitution. The new section would require a three-fifths majority vote of each chamber of the General Assembly or the governing body of a unit of local government, school district, or pension or retirement system, in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system. At the general election to be held on November 6, 2012, you will be called upon to decide whether the proposed amendment should become part of the Illinois Constitution.”

“If you believe the Illinois Constitution should be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system, you should vote YES on the question. If you believe the Illinois Constitution should not be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system, you should vote NO on the question. Three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election must vote “YES” in order for the amendment to become effective on January 9, 2013.”

Sounds like a real conservative deal, doesn’t it? Unions and pensions are eating this country alive and the taxpayers are caught in what has been called a “web of greed.” Why wouldn’t a responsible citizen vote YES to make it harder to increase the size of the state’s massive pension pockets? The simple answer is that this amendment will not only not solve the pension problem but give more power to those who created the problem. The Herald-Review sums it up well: “…this amendment does nothing substantive to make {a pension solution} more likely.”

Often what sounds like a solidly good idea has, when you look deeper, more than a few holes.

First, a little background:

One might assume from listening to other pension stories across the country that our grossly mismanaged pension problem in IL is the fault of teachers and unions. The fundamental problem with our pensions stems, not from the workers who have faithfully funded their pensions (and are not eligible for Social Security), but rather the legislature who raided those funds for personal agenda and gain.

“As state employees paid their scheduled share into the pension systems, the state often failed to do likewise, using the money elsewhere. Retirement costs were covered through borrowing. Everyone, including state employees, should have complained more loudly. The resulting debt service now dwarfs current retirement costs and cripples the state.”

There were many reforms put forth by various factions but none better, in my opinion, than the plan put out by IL Senator Chris Lauzen. You can read more about this reform acclaimed by Forbes here but for the record, it was ignored by Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and his followers for political reasons.

Pensions must be reformed to avoid bankruptcy in Illinois, but the legislature has failed to do the hard work of developing a workable solution. Stage left enter Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton who are behind this amendment “head-fake” and the Advocate Press says it best:

“It’s ironic that Madigan is the chief sponsor of the amendment to make it harder for people like Madigan to use the legislative process to pay off political friends with taxpayer money.” 

What do Madigan and his buddies stand to gain by this amendment? “Power” comes to mind–more power over taxpayer money to steer toward his list of cronies.

A 2010 Tribune examination of public records and a review of more than 20,000 tax appeals filed by Madigan’s {law} firm since 1998 raises substantial questions about where Mr. Madigan draws the line between the state’s interests and his clients’ gains. The article gives many examples of how Madigan’s clients stood to gain by state monies.

As stated by the State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA), this constitutional amendment:
“would grant unprecedented powers to government…[Article XIII, Section 5] and eliminate the uniform laws that now exist”–

This section of the amendment is a trojan horse giving Madigan his real power. Do we really want Madigan to have more control over our tax dollars?

Furthermore, besides giving Madigan and his friends more power and not reducing the state’s pension systems’ current $83 billion unfunded liability, the amendment would also do the following:

–limit the bargaining power of both employees AND employers–employees who work towards incentives AND employers who use those incentives.

–make it nearly impossible to remedy the Social Security issues with the recent passage of Senate Bill 1946 in April, 2010. The passage of this bill created a two-tier program connecting newly hired teachers to the Social Security wage base causing disparity and a whole host of other issues yet to be solved.

—make it easier for a majority “Yes” vote due to legislative absence.

Rather than posture another piece of wool over the Illinois taxpayers’ eyes, the Illinois legislature should do the hard work of working in unison to create real reforms to our pension woes removing us from the fiscal cliff and back on a road to recovery. That is the real reason to vote NO on this amendment.

Before voting for this bill, you need to ask yourself–do you trust Springfield? If so, vote yes. If not, vote no.

Replace the word, “people” with “Duckworth supporters” and this quote pretty much sums up the Joe Walsh/Tammy Duckworth debate last night. Tammy is a good speaker and liberals and conservatives in the audience listened to her as she spun her tales based on her service and emotion.

What she possesses in speaking, however, she lacks in substance. When asked about her support of Obamacare, she launched into emotional stories of those without healthcare totally ignoring the substance of the tax Armageddon she backs. She talked about how wonderful teachers are rather than address the exploding pensions problem in Illinois. She erroneously reported that Illinois does not have trouble with voter fraud (is she new to Cook County?) saying instead she did not want to discriminate against minorities. She counted on the emotion of the liberals in the audience to get her applause. They did not disappoint.

Almost every answer Tammy gave included her veteran experience. In fact, she obviously insisted that she be called “Lieutenant Colonel” each time she was addressed. I wonder if anyone counted how many times she said the word “veteran.” That is her platform–I served therefore I can succeed in representing you in Congress. Wrong. John Kerry also served and we know from his abysmal voting record how well that has turned out for America. They both back socialism/communism, increased spending and a decrease in the defense budget–at a time when America is in grave peril from the Middle East. Regarding Tammy’s proclamation that her military service prepared her to run a budget, an article in Examiner.com summed it up stating:

“…just because you were a member of the military does not mean you have first-hand knowledge in dealing with the military budget. This is like saying a janitor at a school has the same “first-hand” knowledge in dealing with a school budget.”

Joe Walsh, on the other hand, reported what liberals in power have done to our country in the form of taxation and spending us into gargantuan debt. He confronted Tammy on her spin but it was difficult to hear him. Every sentence was punctuated with cackles and caws from liberals in what can only be described as a pagan arena. The only time they quieted was when Joe explained to them that if we don’t fix the pension problem OUR way, the courts will decide for us when Illinois is in bankruptcy. Unfortunately, their standing ovation of Tammy at the debate’s end shows us that their out stretched hands prevented their entitlement brains from understanding the gravity to the country (and the 8th district) of a Duckworth win.

Walsh is the voice of truth–though not an eloquent spinner of tales–he is the real deal. He stands up for all Americans and fights for us.

The first piece of legislation he introduced was a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He then took the lead in opposing the debt ceiling increase. He’s taken a hard line on Washington’s reckless spending. He introduced multiple pieces of legislation that would cut off all U.S. funding to the United Nations and {has fought to keep the Egyptian government accountable}. (Redstate.com)

Joe Walsh is a true conservative, one with backbone and integrity, who will never compromise the Constitution or his principles. He reminds us of Ronald Reagan who was the same kind of man. The one thing Joe doesn’t do well is spin a tale–as in Tammy’s case–a fairy tale of “what you’ll get if you vote for me.” He’s not about handouts–but rather about saving the country and that includes the 8th district in Illinois
Ms. Duckworth can best be described as a controversial ultra-liberal, tax and spend Progressive heavily funded by out-of-state special interests and the Chicago machine. Congressman Walsh has been described as a ‘controversial Tea Party-backed freshman’  who has been particularly vocal in urging Congress to reduce spending and cut taxes. (klsouth.wordpress.com)
Friends with the Muslim group CAIR, Tammy is also proudly backed by the Communist party.

One might say that for the 8th district, Tammy is John Kerry And Joe Walsh is Reagan. I’ll vote for Reagan–and Joe Walsh every time.

Conservatives are nervous. And exhausted. But wasn’t this the plan? The Alinsky/Cloward-Piven strategy overwhelms the system which is why we are fighting on every front. From Wayne Allen Root:

As Glenn Beck correctly predicted from day one, Obama is following the plan of Cloward & Piven, two professors at Columbia University . They outlined a plan to socialize America by overwhelming the system with government spending and entitlement demands. Add up the clues… Taken individually they’re alarming. Taken as a whole, it is a brilliant, Machiavellian game plan to turn the United States into a socialist/Marxist state with a permanent majority that desperately needs government for survival … and can be counted on to always vote for bigger government. Why not? They have no responsibility to pay for it.

We are told repeatedly that the race to the White House is over. And yet Rush tells us:
“…the only way any of this can be true is if the American people are at a record level of stupidity. The only way this narrative today can be true is if we have lost the country and everybody in it, or a big enough majority that’s gonna vote Democrat is just plain dumb now, just ignorant and stupid.”

For those of us who fight, depression, exhaustion and eventually retreat can ensue. I believe this depletion of energy is further exacerbated by an uphill battle to get the truth to those who can change our country–the American voter. And a voter–asked me if Pelosi is Democrat or Republican. Yes. I had this question last week from a voting US citizen with a master’s degree. At least I convinced him to vote R but what of those with whom we cannot reach? And what of the elderly lady we stopped to talk to on the street who asked us, “Why do all the other countries get free stuff and Americans do not?” We walked away shaking our heads. Then there was a young woman who said, “I want free health care because I can’t afford it–and that’s what Obama will give me.” These folks will also vote in November based on misinformation or on lies purported by the leftist media. These people will get nothing free and they will pay–in many cases–with their lives. Yet they are lied to by a press that was designed,in the beginning of our founding, to tell the truth. And the lies continue. Obama’s lies, Axelrod and Reid and Pelosi’s lies. Carney’s lies. And the left wing media carry their water into the depths of the parted Red Sea where complying Americans will drown before awakening to truth. This same media care not nor bear any responsibility for their part.

An article by Pat Caddell “The Mainstream Media is Threatening Our Country’s Future” is spot on in many respects:

“It is one thing to bias the news, or have a biased view. It is another thing to specifically decide that you will not tell the American people information they have a right to know…” The press’s job is to stand in the ramparts and protect the liberty and freedom of all of us from a government and from organized governmental power. When they desert those ramparts and decide that they will now become active participants, that their job is not simply to tell you who you may vote for, and who you may not, but, worse…what truth that you may know, as an American, and what truth you are not allowed to know, they have, then, made themselves a fundamental threat to the democracy, and, in my opinion, made themselves the enemy of the American people.

The question repeatedly asked–is Romney running a weak campaign? For once I’d like to see the GOP pundits support what he says and does and instead of joining the MSM in criticism, actually analyze the strategy rather than make judgment on how the left views the result. We are like the kid on the block who has not only the bullies after him but those he thought were his friends turning their back on him too.

And what if his campaign IS weak? Will it matter? No–not to conservatives–we are voting our ticket come hell or high water. But to those in the middle….the undecided and there are literally millions of them–those who only absorb what the media feeds them–what about them? And do we have enough conservatives who will come out to vote in numbers enough to overcome—the dead voters–the traveling multiple vote voters–the dog and disney voters–the early voter fraud–the software fraud–the votes found in the trunk fraud and the write-in idiots for Gary Johnson and Ron Paul? While the media maneuvers the news to depress and keep conservatives from voting, I see fear on faces when I walk the precincts–conservative voters refuse yard signs because of vandalism. Fear is rampant, but if Obama wins, there will no longer be two parties and that fear will turn into self-preservation. I hope we make enough understand the importance of standing down those threats in our last chance to save the Republic.

And the polls. Always the polls. They’re up for Obama. That is all we read. And there’s severe oversampling of Democrats in just about every one. So from Rush we hear:
An August study by the left-leaning think tank Third Way showed that the Democratic voter registration decline in eight key swing states outnumbered the Republican decline by a 10-to-one ratio.

And I ask myself: Did 2010 not happen? Was I dreaming through that election? We would have won even bigger–taken the Senate were it not for the Franken and Reid fraud. Did the 2010 patriots disappear? No, but many of them hoped for more of a conservative nominee than Romney. They believed their win meant we could turn America around in one election. We can’t. (This is foolish thinking and I pray it doesn’t turn into the Perot effect in the most crucial election of our lives.) Regardless, we in the trenches need to tattoo “2010″ to our foreheads, and for those who read this, for heaven’s sakes, please get out there and join us!

Yes, conservative activists are exhausted–emotionally–physically–psychologically. This MUST be how the Founders felt. Farmers without training came out of their small homes with rifles and guns to band together to fight against the enemy who would steal their liberty. Many gave their lives to save a fledgling country on the precipice of tyranny. They, too, for different reasons, had no one to tell them everything would be OK. They faced a powerful force–the British military Red Coats–backed by an entire country well armed to take back power. This is where we are and our formidable foe is from within–a tyrannous administration and determined to take America down with media renegades to protect them from discovery. And though they have the same tyrannous motives, they’re not wearing red coats–
–at least on the outside.

This is a very sad day for our country and I fear it portends an ominous future. I can’t help but think the bowing and pandering of this administration toward Islamic regimes has portrayed America as weak and ineffective. It is a show of true strength that has gotten this country to where she is and without it, we will indeed be lost.

In a recent video, the former Navy Seals have it right–we should bow to NOBODY:

In addition, the support of the Muslim Brotherhood both inside and outside our own government is misguided and foolish. To ignore radical Islam and its growing peril is dangerous folly. What happened unfortunately is not an unusual outcome if you look at the timeline of events in Libya. Yet we could say that Obama “owns” Libya. He is the one who did the pushing of Gaddafi out and the Muslim Brotherhood in without pause for the consequences. It was a diplomacy “photo op” in his campaign.

In an article in Newsmax entitled: “Hayden: Obama’s Libya Adventure to Blame for Ambassador Death”
Violent protests in Libya that claimed the life of the U.S. ambassador were the result of President Obama’s decision to intervene in the Libyan revolt without a “deep appreciation” for what would follow, Michael Hayden, a former four-star Air Force general and CIA Director shared regarding the events in Libya:

“I’m reminded of Secretary of State Powell’s comments about Iraq going back almost a decade — the Pottery Barn theory that if you break it you own it.

But even as recently as yesterday, Obama was apologizing yet again to Islam‘s intolerance.

The U.S. Embassy isn’t scolding protestors for attacking the Embassy, but instead are attacking free speech itself by condoning radical Muslims who were protesting against….free speech, or in other words, protesting because someone simply said something they didn’t like.

Townhall.com
It is my belief and that of many others that these extreme actions must be met with strength, not weakness or merely regret. Case in point–recall when Gadaffi backed down after Bush invaded Iraq and captured Sadaam.

And, as in the Bush administration, we need to be keeping Israel as our ally. Obama hasn’t treated them like an ally. He’s tiptoeing through the middle and in the process has all but convinced Netanyahu, our only stable Middle East partner in democracy, that while he’s busy asking all his donors to “have his back” he doesn’t have Israel’s. And earlier this week he denied Netanyahu a meeting...he’s too busy campaigning while Israel faces a nuclear Iran.

Netanyahu said that those who do not place “red lines” in front of Iran’s nuclear capability have no moral right to put a “red light” in front of Israel when it comes to military action. Netanyahu’s words came in the wake of statements by Clinton on Sunday, and State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Monday, that the United States had no intention of putting either red lines or deadlines in front of the Iranians.

Unlike Obama, Reagan created a strong America:
Ronald Reagan’s three most important pillars of national security policy were (1) peace through strength; (2) trust but verify; and (3) beware of evil in the modern world. We followed that wisdom. And communism collapsed. The Soviet empire crumbled. Tyrants everywhere fell onto the ash heap of history. And emerging democracies and markets gave promise to the long held desire of human kind for peace and prosperity.(Family Security Matters)

Obama’s response of condemnation was 9 hours too late following his apology to those who killed Americans on the anniversary of 9/11. They were killed because there was no real security (and should have been–Obama again missed his intelligence briefing this week) around the Islam based compound on this historic day. America has lost its image of strength around the world because we have a weak and compliant leader. Yesterday’s events prove this point more than any words can say.

Obama may call his actions strength but we know from our experience that his words are slights of hand for what is America’s reality. As Clint Eastwood famously said, “It’s time to let {Obama} go.”

I’ve never run a political campaign. It has to be 24/7 exhausting and for most, it is volunteer work. Exhausting 24/7 volunteer work. Who does that?? Thousands, I’m told, across the country. The Democrats, often using political machine or sometimes tax dollars (often the same), have run liberal campaigns for decades. They get some volunteers but often can pay their union workers and bus them around. Not so for Republicans. We are grassroots, many of us working part or full-time jobs on top of our volunteer work. We don’t have the luxury of tax dollars laundered through hidden pathways within our political system. We also haven’t had a centralized system orchestrating moves down into the local sector.

So on the right, we “get what we get” in our volunteers. The good thing is their hearts (not pocketbooks) are in for the fight. We’re not mercenaries like the Democrats. The bad thing is we don’t have trained people but rather a lot of eager neophytes to the political process. I’m one of those neophytes. But I’m learning. I’m learning that our side desperately needs organization.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I volunteered to deliver yard signs for a local campaign. We stopped by the headquarters and loaded up our car with signs. We went into the office and got a list of addresses and an apology. The apology was because the list was not organized into cities or sections of cities or even streets. We ventured out anyway and shortly realized how long this venture would take because, not knowing the neighborhoods, we headed back and forth for hours to deliver just a few signs. In this case, a little planning would have gone a long way.

Last weekend, we volunteered for another campaign. We were to canvass neighborhoods. There were donuts, coffee, clipboards and maybe 50+ people filtering in and out of the headquarters early on a Saturday morning. Although we were in the midst of strangers, we found what we thought was an experienced canvasser to accompany us. We were given a clipboard, pens and a list of homes to visit. It was then that the lack of planning and organization started to erode our progress. There were no cities listed on the address banks so we sat for 20 minutes in our car with our GPS trying to locate the right city with the right page. My husband did head back into the office but the people there did not know the cities either and there were several towns in the precinct. We finally found an address match and headed off excited to begin our walk. Unfortunately, the “experienced” volunteer with us was under the impression that the lines drawn around the sections were to be strictly followed and our walk should not include the neighborhoods within the lines. This was not the case but we had no one else to ask so we forged ahead and got to about 15 homes, many of them unresponsive. So we left some literature in doorways.

We were surprised at how little we were able to get accomplished with so few homes, so we headed back to headquarters to get another clipboard. On this second venture, by the time we were able to locate a street that matched a town, we had already spent 30 minutes and then another 30 to finally drive to our first house. The woman who answered the door told us that other volunteers had just done her block. Glancing at another door across the street, we noticed literature stuck in the crease and we were able to confirm her comment when we finally called someone back at the office and were told that yes, we were doing a repeat. Back in the car we headed for a return trip to our start point. There we were told that 7 other people had similar experiences. We had been either on the road or problem-solving for 4 hours at this point so in frustration we headed home. A whole morning misspent. The way I figure it, we were the 8th group to have a wasted morning. If you take 4 hours and estimate a small group could hit about 25 families/homes in an hour, multiply that by 4 and multiply that times 8 groups, you have literally hundreds of voters that were lost. And more than a few frustrated volunteers who might not return.

Relating my story to a couple of volunteer colleagues, I found that I am not alone in my experiences. So I have several suggestions for those that run the campaigns.

1.) Have a leader who is the “go to” person for logistics on the volunteer day. Others may advise only after talking to that person. This person also oversees all of the lists and has underlings (head volunteers) who review each list for accuracy making sure that pages are accurate and that anyone can locate a starting address on a page. There are only TWO lists of each set of addresses–one is marked MASTER and the leader has that list. The other is marked VOLUNTEER and only ONE set of volunteers gets that list.

2.) All volunteers must sign in and leave a cell phone number. New volunteers who are not already on the list and arrive that day must sign in and leave a cell phone number. Volunteers arriving late will get Round #2 lists (see below) and only can leave after getting specific directions.

3.) Arrange the clipboards by sections and cities. Parcel them out to groups and have a checklist of what has gone out, to whom and what is still left for Round #2. Make sure each group has an address starting point.

4.) Have a general meeting with the volunteer troops BEFORE they head out. Assign them to groups with head volunteer contacts. Have the head volunteer in charge of X amount of canvassing groups. The head is also a phone contact connection with at least one cell number per group for two way contact. Make sure each group has a clipboard with addresses. Have them take a few minutes to look over the addresses and packets to make sure they understand what they have. Allow time for questions.Give them directions and advice. Explain everything they are given from lists to addresses to maps. Tell them they are to do ONLY their list of homes and if they finish they can come back in for Round #2. If they abort the mission for any reason in the middle of their journey, they are to call the designated head volunteer to report where they left off.

I know that all of the volunteers–both leaders and worker bees–have the best of intentions. But a quote I once heard applies here: “We judge ourselves by our intentions but others judge us by our actions.” A little bit of organization will go a very long way, save time, frustration and gain voters not to mention keep valuable volunteers from leaving the ranks. We have no time to lose in this fight to save the country and our warriors are ready and willing. They just need direction.

Many conservatives in Illinois despair of ever having an honorable government. (Isn’t “honorable government” an oxymoron these days?) We work locally to keep as many malfeasants out of office as we can trying year after year to save a state that has for decades been riddled with corruption. Most of our governors serve their final terms in jail in Illinois and we know have an extension of Washington as head of the Chicago Machine. Rahm Emanuel won with little fanfare. Everyone knew he’d have the baton of the Machine passed to him from Daley in a macabre dance where zombie voters grant a crony win in every Cook County election.

And now the dance continues with the teacher pensions. For years, the state squandered their responsibility to help fund the TRS (Teacher Retirement System). Hundreds of thousands of teachers paid into their pension system and their retirement insurance coffers for their entire careers. Every paycheck, every month, every year for years and years while the state, because of a loophole in the system, was able to spend the dollars they were to contribute on pet projects and other agenda items, ignoring their part in the process. Illinois is not a state where the teachers did not have to pay for their insurance or pensions. They dutifully paid into a system which is now close to bankruptcy. It isn’t politically correct now to complain about that. People are without work in the private sector. They don’t have pensions and although they DO have Social Security–it’s broke too–for similar reasons–the squandering of government systems.

In Illinois, there is a crisis and lawmakers are crying foul. It’s a mess. But rising out of that mess is a lawmaker who isn’t very popular with unions or his fellow legislators for that matter. This dislike may stem from many reasons the public isn’t privy to but I know that the fact that Chris Lauzen has been outspoken about conservative values is one of the causes for resentment from both factions. Now Chris is leaving the legislature after almost 20 years for a new elected position as Kane County Board Chair. Good for him. He will be a champion in our county. I’m sad to see him leave the Senate and I know I’m not alone. He fought the good fight and as he left, he gave the Illinois Legislature a gift–a solution to our pension and bankruptcy woes. And just as they did when he was a part of that legislative body–they’ve chosen to ignore it. True to the Chicago way, they have their own agendas–their own cronies to please and many pet projects and pockets to fill. The Chicago Machine continues–the beast is fed by backhanded deals and continued corruption.

As Lauzen wrote regarding the Illinois budget:
The Blagojevich and Quinn administrations along with their enablers in the General Assembly have bankrupted the state over the past decade, as you already know. They have raised our income taxes by 67 percent, driven hundreds of employers and thousands of jobs to other states, begun to cut social services including homeless shelters and early childhood learning, and now they’re talking about multibillion (with a B!) dollar cuts to Medicaid and public employee pensions. Who votes for these folks?

This time, over 300,000 retired educators and the people in the state of Illinois are the ones who will suffer from this corruption–whether you agree with the pension system or not, imagine planning your whole life on it to be told–when you get to retirement age, that the rules are being changed. Oh. Not for the judges…that would be political suicide…and oh…not for those in another state system (IMRF–Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) because they were smart enough to not have a loophole in their plan. The Illinois lawmakers would rather strip educators and cheat taxpayers than even consider a plan that Forbes magazine calls ” …a clear map out from under the $3 trillion debacle.”

What is Lauzen’s plan?

1.) “Cap and Age”would cap the abusive amounts being paid to some highly-paid administrators when they retire.
2.) Public employees would work until 62 which is the “early retirement” age under social security with a grandfather clause built in for those close to retirement.
3.) Lastly, reducing the COLA (Cost of Living Increase) by 1%

These three proposals would rescue Illinois, Lauzen states, from the insolvency threatened by its $83 billion unfunded liability. He also requests that a clause be added to the TRS agreement, similar to the one in IMRF, where the state would be unable to squander the funds under penalty of not receiving those funds.

So I wrote to the IRTA (Illinois Retired Teacher Association) which is connected to the Illinois Teacher Unions. I shared Lauzen’s plan with them and was told, and I quote, “The Lauzen Proposal is getting NO traction because he is disrespected by both his Party (R’s) and Dems. His proposal no matter what he might say is dead in the water.” I was told privately from two different upper level union sources that it was a viable plan (except for the TRS agreement change verbiage). So then I got a letter from IRTA telling me the following:
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has decided to allow a limited pension-reform bill (HB1447) to be considered when the General Assembly returns for a special session on August 17th. The bill requires State Employee Retirement System and General Assembly Retirement System members to make a choice between receiving their annual 3% compounded COLA in retirement and give up their access to retiree health insurance or choose to continue to have health insurance access and in exchange their COLAs would be reduced to 3% simple or one-half the consumer price index whichever is less.

Retired educators have paid into their retirement insurance and their own pension system for up to 34 years and beyond. To eliminate either is the ultimate corruption. This is a quickie fix which makes already retired educators choose between a cost of living increase (COLA) or their insurance. Not only does this plan rip the Illinois Constitution, it also forces already retired teachers to either find other insurance or reduce what they have counted on their whole careers. Most but the most radical retirees would accept Chris Lauzen’s plan to reduce pensions but not demolish whole parts of them and save Illinois at the same time. To ignore this solution for political reasons is insanity and Chicago Machine politics on steroids.

Law professor John Eastman on Roberts: The issue here is whether the federal Constitution limits the power of the federal government. And I don’t care whether they act under the Commerce Clause or under the Spending Cause. If they do things that were not delegated to them, the role of the court and the chief justice in particular is to say to Congress, “No.” And if the assumption is right that he thinks this was unconstitutional but found a way to uphold it to preserve the “integrity” of the court, then he really ought to resign. Because it proves that he doesn’t have the judicial fortitude to do the job that he’s been chosen to do.

Do we want him to resign? Not until January. Obama should have no more choices and Romney would be better able to choose the next Supreme Court Justice. We’ve seen how well we fare when Obama makes decisions. After January, if Obama wins, it won’t matter if Roberts stays or goes. If Romney wins, Roberts could be replaced with someone who respects the constitution so as to counter the 4 rabid liberal activists who hate the constitution.

Many pundits have hailed Robert’s decision as genius. Those of us who know better have felt abhorred by his betrayal of the constitution but also his opening of a door, even if the law is repealed, to allow Congress to use a precedent created to control our behavior and eradicate what is left of our liberty. While this and other horrors are contained within the almost 3,000 pages of the ruling, if we are able to repeal it, the reality is we will NOT be left with a precedent to counter. A lawyer caller on Rush explained this quite well:

“…the pundits…are saying, ‘Well, at least the Commerce Clause can’t be used to expand government.’ But this opinion by Roberts doesn’t do that at all….they’re trying to just take these words, and people won’t doubt that these words are in the opinion, but the words are unnecessary for the opinion. And that’s why it’s called “dicta.” And that means it cannot be used as precedent on –”…And that means the next time they want to expand the government authority and using the Commerce Clause, nothing’s to stop them from it, because when a case is brought to the Supreme Court, they can’t really get away with using, oh, but Roberts said, it can’t be done. We can’t uphold the mandate under the Commerce Clause. Well, he didn’t need to say it in order to come to his ruling.” . After this all shakes down and we get Obamacare repealed, this decision will just wilt away. And it will not be important for anybody. And Roberts will be seen eventually as a person who pandered to public opinion, instead of doing the tough job of ruling on the facts and the law.”

This makes it even MORE important to repeal it. We know a vote in the House will take place on July 11th. A vote for naught but symbolism since the Senate would not concur and even if they did, Obama would veto. And, so, how would we repeal this excrescence? From PushbackNow.net:

It would be dependent on a triple Republican victory this November: Mitt Romney would need to defeat President Barack Obama, Republicans must hold their majority in the House, and they must also gain enough seats in the Senate so they have at least 50 of their own in the upper chamber….

Not in this case. Because Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion ruled the individual mandate a “tax,” a Republican-led Senate could repeal that provision–and others–using what is called “budget reconciliation,” a procedural tactic that requires only a simple majority vote. The Republican vice president, in this hypothetical scenario, would break the tie. (Democrats used the same method in 2010 to pass the health care bill.)

One thing we do know is SCOTUS is no longer a last resort for the constitution or conservatives. We have only November.

The more people we can convince of that between now and V-Day, the better.

What has occurred to me is that in November 2012 conservatives will attempt to do what they have always done…and that is, like a permissive parent, yet again save liberals from their own poor choices. And like the consequences that permissive parents often experience, the longer our liberal children have been allowed to raid the coffers and do whatever they want, the harder it will be to reign them in. For decades, the GOP establishment has acted like a permissive parent in taking a backseat to its responsibility to the constitution and the country–allowing liberal miscreants to drive us to where we are now. And like spoiled and foolish self-centered children, the liberal citizenry will wake up someday surprised to find themselves with very few choices and a life or death existence.

What I see in our future…within a decade (long past Obama’s tenure and blame)…our options in the marketplace will be few, and government will control almost every aspect of our lives from mere choices in the grocery store to whether or not we will live or die due to poor healthcare.

And our task is formidable! We have to try to change the presidency, keep the House and flip the Senate–all of this while facing massive mob-like voter fraud in every precinct in the country! Our choices for the executive branch were less than stellar–a situation we ourselves created by a generation of complacency. But because of that, we have a depressed conservative constituency–many of whom–out of foolish conscience–will not vote for the one candidate that will oust our liberal dictator. Those who say a majority win in the House and Senate alone is enough are simpletons. Our lawless president has shown us the fruitlessness of that aspiration–he governs without Congress.

Our GOP candidate SHOULD win in a landslide, but I doubt he will for reasons stated. But even a win creates another daunting task: not only will our lukewarm conservative president have to work with Congress to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act but our elected representatives will have to fix our now compromised constitution–and only if we have enough true conservatives in both Houses to override a Democrat/RINO filibuster.

We have a glimmer of hope. But it is only a glimmer. The long historically predicted outcomes of the fall of a civilization happening after 200 years have been oft stated:

(The quotation below is old, and most people have attributed it to Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee (1747-1813), a Scottish attorney and writer, although it has been attributed to several other men as well.)

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to selfishness;
From selfishness to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.

A conservative win in November will be a miracle and a loss securely tied to fraud and fools.

Conservatives would do well to learn a lesson from the Holocaust survivors who fight until their deaths to keep the memory of that tragedy alive. And there are not many WW2 survivors are left to remind us why they fought for our freedoms…the same freedoms we lost yesterday and are losing every day a liberal is in power. And like the Holocaust survivors, we need to keep what liberalism does to a republic out front and center with daily education to every sector however small. After all, the Holocaust started with small changes in a democracy that grew to a dictatorship because of those on the Left. The same dangerous seeds have already been planted in our country.

Many, after yesterday’s SCOTUS betrayal, want to give up. The Left mocks us and our own president spikes the proverbial football time and time again while railing against us to shut up and take it. Do you think for a minute those who fought to found this country ever thought they could rest? Yet we have rested for decades, not paying attention.And now we ARE attentive, aren’t we. Do you think our founders and those who backed them were not afraid? They were as terrified as we are at this point in history. Terrified to lose this nation. When Rush Limbaugh says he’s scared–I’m scared. But, THIS is what courage means–doing something in spite of your own fear. Acting in the face of fear. This is what soldiers do. And we are soldiers of the highest order. Fighting a battle that cannot be lost.

Liberals in power do not rest. They do not give up, they push on with their agenda by hook or by crook–and crooks they all are. I have never felt anger like I do toward liberalism and its misguided followers. Holocaust survivors have worked to educate the public and children in schools with yearly programs and museums. Liberals have worked with unions to educate children by controlling schools and teachers and textbooks filled with liberal propaganda and slants against our Republic. When THEY lose, as in 2004, they turn to big money like George Soros to change the Secretary State in at least 11 states from Republican to Democrat so that voting fraud can prosper, they put in place cheating mechanisms so that people like Franken and Reid can win and gain majorities in the Senate. They turn to the media–ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, etc. spewing misinformation and slanted rhetoric.

What do we do when WE lose? We get involved. Between this blog, my Redstate blog, email and Facebook, I only have an audience of maybe 50. I’m a tiny fish in a tiny pond. But I do have children and although they look at me like a political kook, I’m not giving up on them. I got them to vote R in 2010, now I’m working to get them involved locally. My stepson, God bless him, has connected with the San Francisco Young Republicans of all places–the most liberal city in the land. I have gotten some of my family and friends and a few acquaintances more engaged in the process. Each of us needs to do this and we multiply our efforts. There are many out there who are sick and tired of liberalism but don’t know what to do. They can put a sign in their yard. They can make phone calls, walk in parades, pass out literature, drive someone to the polls, be a poll watcher, walk neighborhoods, etc.

For your adult kids:
Use a search engine to find their local Young Republicans, local Tea Party. Look up their local GOP candidates and send them the information on how to connect. Regale the positives of connecting with others who fight for liberty. Impress upon them the consequences of doing nothing–the increase in taxes and the decrease in their pocketbooks. You may be the only one to give them this message. This conservative activism stuff is not just your hobby–it’s your responsibility–it’s your country. Give them a subscription to talk radio or send them info on Mark Levin who doesn’t charge for his subscriptions.

Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” You didn’t let them walk out into a busy highway when they were 2. If they are doing nothing, they are now on a fast moving highway toward a cliff. Like our brothers and sisters of the Holocaust, it is time for them to take up the gauntlet now.

Do not lose hope fellow conservatives. While I too woke this morning with a depth of sickness in my belly at hearing the misguided decision of the Supreme Court, I am not one to give up easily. Our fight since we started was never easy and it will not be easy in the future. This decision has further awakened and strengthened the populace to defeat the self-appointed dictator Barack Obama on November 6th. SCOTUS is not the final decision on Obamacare–YOU are. It is up to YOU.

Right now, we may feel helpless. Stop. Think. Use the emotion of anger to spur you forward to what will be a victory in November and beyond. In a prophetic piece in the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol wrote:

While a defeat for Obamacare in the Court would be nice, the defeat of President Obama at the polls on November 6 is crucial. If electoral victory is achieved, Obamacare can and will be repealed?—?and more judges of a constitutionalist persuasion will be appointed by the next president. Indeed, one could almost say that a bad Court decision later this month would be a salutary reminder that here the people rule, and that persuading the people is the key task. As Lincoln put it in his first debate with Stephen Douglas, “In this and like communities, public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. Consequently he who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.”

Also from the Weekly Standard:

“This Election Just Became About Obamacare”

“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the constitutionality of Obamacare, the principal choice now facing Americans on November 6 will be whether to keep Obamacare or to repeal it. The question is a binary one, and the answer — expressed almost entirely through their presidential vote — will go a long way toward determining the future course of this great nation.

Yes, the economy is extremely important; and, yes, Obamacare is hurting the economy. But the reason why this election is the most important since the Civil War is not because Mitt Romney would make a far better steward of the economy than President Obama (though he would). Rather, it’s because we are about to decide whether to put what will soon be one-fifth of our economy under the control of the federal government; whether to funnel previously unthinkable amounts of power and money to Washington; and whether this nation conceived in liberty will continue to prioritize liberty.”

Don’t know about you, but I’m donating to Romney. God Bless America

It is time to oust the king. Treason is defined as the betrayal of one’s own country by waging war against it or by consciously or purposely acting to aid its enemies. There are several examples of Obama’s involvement in activities that deliberately step on our Constitution: From DCX Exposed:

—President Obama has appointed numerous people to cabinet level positions without the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, as is required by the Constitution.

—Since taking office the President has used executive orders, laws pushed through Congress in the dark of night, and administrative actions by his departments to nationalize and control automobile manufacturers, banks, insurance companies, and portions of the healthcare industry. There is absolutely no authority in the Constitution of the United States that allows the President to do this.

Were this earlier in his tenure, it would be imperative that we push our elected representatives toward impeachment proceedings for treason against our country.Though certainly he deserves impeachment for treasonous acts against America, the American people unfortunately cannot count on many of our weaker GOP leaders in Congress to do anything but whimper. So although we would like to see him tried for his heinous acts against America, we need to be expedient–at this time–we just need to get him OUT of office. And what are we up against to do this? He is working on gathering not only his radical left wing base (by engaging in the above listed acts) but also pandering to all of the minority fringe factions: LBGT groups support him via words alone–even though he always (secretly or otherwise) supported same sex marriage, his words have changed nothing except votes (which of course is his point in doing all of this). Latinos have increased in great numbers to support him regardless that his immigration “statement” in reality changed nothing in terms of what is already taking place–he just gained more support with parsing of words. (His recent response to the Arizona SCOTUS outcome is a different issue and a NEW affront to our Constitution) Nothing he SAYS changes the plight of any of these groups…but like true liberalism…it makes them “feel” better and also makes those that hang more on words than actions be more inclined to vote for him. Which again, is his point.

So, through voter fraud, intimidation and fringe faction support from minorities and widespread main stream media support, Obama is pushing hard for a win in November however he can get it. Many say Obama will lose in a landslide. I wouldn’t count on it. Like most of us have learned in life, what happens in our lives is UP to us. Wake up. Pay attention. Vote. Vote locally against Democrats and RINOS. Vote nationally against Democrats and RINOS. Become a precinct captain. Assist your precinct captain. Canvass. Call. Volunteer locally in your GOP or Tea Party. Volunteer nationally. Donate. SHOW UP–DO something. Work however you can to OUST THE KING and help us find our way back to a Republic.

Tea Party Patriots, of which I am one, began our fight over watching the country we love (and took for granted far too long) being dismantled by liberals and RINO Republicans. We bristled over John McCain’s lack of backbone in a 2008 race to the White House that never got off the starting block. And in this present time, we have built our anger to a fevered pitch to get the most radically liberal president and his minions out of power and begin the long road back to a republic and our founding fathers.

I read something about the Tea Party recently that disheartened me. “Who pulled the plug on the Tea Party?” the writer lamented? “What happened to them?” We are still here. We’re working our rear ends off to pay the bills, donating, calling and volunteering when we can for the fights we think we can win locally. Sometimes we cross state lines to win the battle, but we are here and we are still strong. We’ve just got our noses to the grindstone to do the work that turns the wheels of conservatism. Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts is an example of what we can do even though Senator Brown can be classified as a RINO–we did what we needed to do to keep the liberal out of his seat. For Scott Walker, we fought a huge almost year long battle to save him from recall and from a leftist liberal win in Wisconsin. There were fights we did not win–like Norm Coleman who lost by political fraud. Doug Hoffman and Joe Miller were other losses–but we must realize we have not only had to fight liberals–that is almost a clean fight (even though liberal dogs cheat, steal and lie) compared to fighting the Republican establishment. That fight is a dirty and sickening one where the cancer is eating its way through you and you’ve no one but yourself to count on. The ones you thought had your back put a knife in it. It’s ugly and it makes you ashamed to be in the Republican party. But I’ll never be ashamed to be conservative. Never. And that is where the Tea Party comes in and stays in. If we ever think from this point forward that we can rest on any laurels, we are fools. We will be fighting this battle until the day we die. And we’d damn well better teach our kids to pick up the gauntlet.

Of course, I am disappointed we don’t have as a nominee someone who is a true conservative like me….like you. There is a large faction of conservatives who are so angry at not getting the Holy Grail of conservatism–a Reagan Republican–that they are threatening to not vote or to write in a vote for Gingrich…for Paul….for Johnson. I am a very passionate conservative–fiscally, socially–in every sense of the word. Yet I struggled with the concept of the Romney nominee for about a week. And then I let it go.

Yesterday, Rand Paul endorsed Romney. While some might give reasons of political favor for his endorsement,in making clear that he is publicly behind Romney, Rand Paul is sending a very clear signal:

{Paul is saying} I’m a good soldier for the GOP. Make no mistake: The Republican party establishment will never embrace Rand Paul as one of their own — nor would he want them to. But, it is possible that Paul playing the role of loyal Republican in the 2012 election could well neutralize some of the fears the party regulars have about the prospects of him carrying their standard at some point down the line.

Let’s face it, our 50 years of laxness was unable to get us a true conservative nominee for the White House in 2012. We woke up 5 or 6 years ago, but were asleep for generations. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this: “It took a long time to get this way; it ain’t gonna change overnight.” And I’ve also learned that everything of value is expensive–in time, in effort, in blood, sweat and tears.

So we have a nominee that is not Reaganesque. Let’s surround him with true conservatives. We need one as a VP running mate and we need to stack the Congress with genuine conservatives. Radical liberals must be voted out and we will help RINOS follow suit. If Romney is surrounded by true conservatives, I’m not stupid enough to believe he’ll become one, but my contention is that were this the case, Romney will be forced to move to the right. Even Clinton shifted to the center.

We will be working, at the same time, to revise the Republican establishment—if Congress changes and we keep vigil–the Republican establishment must change, too. We will build a conservative fortress around this country making it impossible for liberals and RINOS to penetrate. To vote third party is to give up on saving our country. It is biting off your nose to spite your face. By not voting or voting third party you will have won your emotional battle and you will have lost the war. And Obama will win. You can keep your values and belief system and still vote for Romney.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

36 Reasons Why You Should Thank a Union

Weekends: Having weekends off means we don’t get paid on the weekends. Most salaried workers in America take work home. I know I did. Looking to unions to define our work week, in my opinion, is not a benefit. Much of the private sector do not have weekends off…if they did, their profits would go out the window. It breeds non-productivity.

All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks: Having specified work breaks and lunch breaks disrupts the work flow. Taking a break or lunch “when needed” is a more natural way to work and increases productivity. It also encourages employees to focus on the work rather than the clock. We had one worker in my workplace who sat there counting the minutes to each break and nagged her co-workers incessantly for them to hurry up and cover her while she got her 15 union minutes. She did little work right before and after these breaks and disrupted others’ work to boot.

Paid Vacation: While I enjoyed a paid vacation, I did not need a union to give it to me. It was a perk that encouraged me to take the position. Good employers provide amenities to attract quality employees.

FMLA: This means Family Medical Leave and is for long-term medical leaves which includes having a child or getting a hysterectomy, psychological issues, etc. It allows a worker to use their sick days for a longer time. It actually forces a worker to use their sick days. I was mandated to take FMLA for an operation I had some years back. It ate up the sick days I had accumulated (I was not union) and it was frustrating. I would have rather negotiated a work at home agreement for a few weeks until I healed. In addition, some unions have negotiated situations where the employer is forced to hold open positions for as many years as a new mother would like to take off…even 4 years and then giving her the same position regardless of the hard work or talent of her replacement.

Sick Leave: Sick Leave is a double edged sword. Part of some private sector salaries is a set of sick days. Because I was involved heavily in my work and cared about it, I only took a sick day when I absolutely had to–when I was really sick. Quality salaried employees in the private sector handle sickness similarly–you take a day off when you are really sick. Today, union supplied sick days have morphed into Christmas shopping days and extra vacation time.

Social Security: I don’t think I need to say much about this government monstrosity that took worker money, exploited and wasted it so that future generations would pay into something they’d never see.

Minimum Wage:This is the biggest impediment to economic job growth that could have been prescribed for a country. Raises are based on government decisions, not merit or quality of work which further encourages mediocre performance.

Civil Rights Act/Title VII: (Prohibits Employer Discrimination): Again, while starting out in the 1960′s as something necessary to prohibit discrimination against workers, it ballooned into hiring practices that can be described as reverse discrimination or at the very least force employers to hire unqualified workers based on their gender or ethnicity.

8-Hour Work Day: Better to have the project be completed than stop at 5 PM and pick it up again at 9 AM regardless of the urgency of the task. This government created workday is counter productive to the actual art of work and success. Successful businesses and inventions would never happen on a 9-5 time table. A quote from a small new local business’s website sums it up pretty well, We are excited and determined to be successful. We are not afraid of working many hours, to make our customers happy. This could never happen in a union-controlled business.

Overtime Pay: So if a business does not have the money to pay someone overtime, tasks and projects cannot be completed regardless of the outcome. So if students need extra help, teachers won’t stay to help them unless the district finds the money to pay for extra help–outcomes be damned. Work based hours rather than tasks hurts everyone.

Child Labor Laws: This was when unions/Child Labor laws worked for the common good and not some union leader’s pocketbook. Just wondering, is this why children can no longer sell lemonade or girl scout cookies? (It’s not but this is just another example of controlling liberalism.)

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA): Here’s an example of unions on steroids. While OSHA may have begun as something which helped workers stay safe, it has transformed into micromanagement of unmanageable details in the workplace–for example–see this article about OSHA penalizing employers for employees who text message while driving to work.

40 Hour Work Week: Limits productivity of most workplaces and forces workers to concentrate on time rather than task. It strips employees of any feeling of accomplishment but rather focuses them toward time served. It encourages clock watching and mass exodus rather than accomplishment.

Worker’s Compensation (Worker’s Comp): The examples of abuse are rampant in this area. I know of one example of someone who has been off of work for over 10 years and on worker’s compensation due to “unknown stress.” How much have companies lost and how much productivity been lost due to dollars flying out the window for unethical workmen’s comp? Again, this was an idea that started out legitimately but one that unions have exploded into unscrupulous practices.

Unemployment Insurance: Here’s a little story to describe the union monster this “benefit” has turned into: At my last job, people who worked for a very short time could collect unemployment at the taxpayer’s expense. There were loopholes and tricks that could be used to continue this for several years. All they had to do was be a substitute one day to cover for another employee and they could continue to leech off the system for another year or two or three. All on the taxpayer’s dime and because of unions, the employer could do nothing. Part of this problem is to be blamed on the employers who buckle under union pressure often due to threat of strikes and lawsuits. I have to give companies who fight back a lot of credit for placing themselves in peril of losing everything when the union wins. And as we’ve seen in Wisconsin recently, the unions stick together across this country and they have a LOT of OUR money with which to fight.

Pensions: Workers (and I am one) were sold a bill of unrealistic goods, union bosses, leaders and politicians cashed in and now the workers are left holding the bag. I paid into a pension which was set up to fail. I paid into insurance for retirement with every paycheck. Union bosses and state politicians squandered my dollars on liberal campaigns and pay-offs filling their own pockets and paying for their pet projects. All of those dollars came from the taxpayers, were earned by my hard work and flew out the windows of lobbyists and cronyism. Now retired, I face a reduced pension and no insurance. Had this same system been set up with a realistic actuarial and not been hacked into by dishonest unions and liberal politicians, I’d have a realistic pension and insurance into my old age. Now I am facing a dire prospect of old age without resources. Thanks, unions!

Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations: See OSHA

Employer Health Care Insurance: When this is set up with no employee skin in the game, it can get out of control which it has in this country. Union control of insurance has bankrupted more than one school district. Take the example just explained by Paul Ryan, Senator in Wisconsin where a school district in his jurisdiction saved over a million dollars by not having to use the union supplied insurance company but rather was able to work with several insurance companies. Dollars saved, jobs saved due to escaping union control. Governor Scott Walker’s plan was for making public school teachers pay 5.8 percent of their pension costs and 12.6 percent of their health care costs. This is far below the national average for government workers and it would still be two-thirds or less of what workers in the private sector pay on average.

Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees: This is a double-edged sword. When I was a young teacher, I was dismayed to be forced to contribute to a union which used my dollars to support liberal candidates. This is a part of collective bargaining. I’ve also watched union leaders fight for and obtain policies which hurt children, parents and teachers like elimination of mentoring programs for young teachers because one or two on the labor committee didn’t like them. Wisconsin, again, is a perfect example of how eliminating collective bargaining can save jobs and millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Some facts about Governor Walker’s plan for collective bargaining in Wisconsin: From Freedom Works:

Collective bargaining is regularly used to excessively jack up the salaries and benefits of government workers. This is why only 26 states have public sector collective bargaining laws similar to Wisconsin. State employees in 12 states have no legal right to collective bargaining.

Governor Walker’s bill does not restrict the collective bargaining of police officers and fire fighters. States should instead model their labor laws after the federal government. Washington, D.C. is a right to work zone. Federal government employees cannot collectively bargain and they are not required to join a union or pay union dues. If the federal government cannot afford collective bargaining, neither can the states.

Wrongful Termination Laws: Again, another union created rule that started out as a fair and good idea but has grown into a gargantuan debacle that keeps incompetent tenured employees in positions detrimental to others–and in the teaching profession–innocent children.

Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises): Oh yes, let’s give EVERYONE a raise regardless of the abominable job they do. Let’s build an entitlement expectation where many who do next to nothing or worse a job that actually harms fellow workers or children and reward them for it. As an educator, I was all for merit pay. I knew I would receive it because I was great at what I did but I was in the same monetary boat as those whose ineptness made me embarrassed for the profession.

Whistleblower Protection Laws, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Sexual Harassment Laws, Employee Polygraph Protect Act Veteran’s Employment and Training Services (VETS) : Additional ideas that started out well but have morphed into rules and regulations strangling productivity. And I just have to ask…are all of these groups on the whole better off or could we have accomplished the good intentions without unions or government?

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA): This started out as a great idea and was needed but again it is another liberal idea that has a cost far beyond its benefit. Examples of big governments’ actions and their unintended consequences which end up hurting those it meant to protect:
From Cato“…Thus in recent months a New Jersey jury ordered a rheumatologist to pay $400,000 for not providing a deaf patient with a sign language interpreter at his own expense; the Ninth Circuit ruled that the law may require movie theaters to provide captions and descriptions for blind or deaf viewers; a federal appeals court ruled that the nation’s paper currency unfairly discriminates against the disabled and must be redesigned (thus taking a different view from the National Federation of the Blind, which doesn’t think there’s a problem); a police dispatcher won a settlement in her lawsuit saying she was unfairly discriminated against because of her narcolepsy (tendency to fall asleep at inappropriate times); a large online tutoring service agreed to provide interpreters; miniature golf courses learned they will have to make 50 percent of their holes accessible to wheelchair users; and so forth. On Friday the Department of Justice announced that it would revisit the high-stakes question of whether and to what extent website operators must make their designs and services “accessible” to disabled computer users, perhaps in onerous and expensive ways.”

Holiday Pay: I remember as an educator bemoaning the fact that we had so many holidays, the children would very rarely receive a full week of school. And we worry about our educational standards in this country. Our union once explained to the board and administration that the teachers NEEDED two full weeks off at Christmas to be productive. We have a holiday for every conceivable notion. Another union morph.

Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance: See Employee Insurance above

Privacy Rights: Began as a good idea, now ties the hands of everyone through HIPPA.

Pregnancy and Parental: See FMLA above

In summation, anything that unions or liberals attempt to control transforms in an amazingly short amount of time into a behemoth of a problem for everyone but especially those it intended to help. Unions were once good for America. Now they join liberalism in being the faction that, if not stopped, will be the final nail in America’s coffin. Wisconsin’s recall election is a good place to begin…or end as the case may be.

Obamacare has almost 3,000 pages of what is and is not allowed in terms of our rights and liberties effectively wiping out much of what we take for granted today. I got to wondering what is it exactly that we have become accustomed to in our rights and liberties and what is it that has eroded over the last hundred years or so and what, with Obama’s signature legislation do we have to look forward to losing in our future?

What are the implied rights and liberties as originally outlined by the Founders? In the beginning and based on what new Americans were attempting to escape in their motherland…“..individuals were deemed to have reserved certain rights spoken of as “natural” rights. These rights could neither be taken away nor be limited without the consent of the individual affected.” This is considered a social contract theory. In a word, man is regarded now throughout Europe, contrary to the view expressed by Rousseau, as primarily a member of society and secondarily as an individual. The rights which he possesses are, it is believed, conferred upon him, not by his Creator, but rather by the society to which he belongs. What they are is to be determined by the legislative authority in view of the needs of that society. Social expediency, rather than natural right, is thus to determine the sphere of individual freedom of action.

In the first place, the rights of men, of which their liberty consisted, were, as natural rights, regarded in a measure—and in no small measure—as independent of the law. This means the Constitution is superior to mere laws that might be passed. In fact, the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution reads, “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The Constitution and Bill of Rights represent a more thorough, but (according to the Ninth Amendment) not an exhaustive exploration of the unalienable rights that belong to all people.
For example, the Constitution does not enumerate the right to eat one’s food, but the Constitution does not grant to the government the power to deny people that right. The Ninth Amendment recognizes that such natural rights are retained by the people and cannot be abridged by the government.

As James Madison explained in the Federalist Papers: “In the first place it is to be remembered, that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects.” The Federalist No. 14, at 65 (James Madison) (Carey & McClellan eds., 1990). (From Law.com)

From Heritage: The Constitution’s Framers placed their faith not in specific guarantees of rights—those came later—but in an elegant system of checks on government. Foremost is the separation of power between the three branches of the federal government, as well as between the federal government and the states. These arrangements provide the flexibility necessary to ensure security and the restraint essential to safeguard liberties.

The Tenth Amendment is central to maintaining our rights: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Because the Constitution created a government of limited and enumerated powers, the Framers initially believed that a bill of rights was not only unnecessary, but also potentially dangerous. State constitutions recognized a general legislative power in the state governments; hence, limits in the form of state bills of rights were necessary to guard individual rights against the excess of governmental power. ….The Federalists relented and passed the Bill of Rights in the First Congress only after making certain that no such implication could arise from the prohibitions of the Bill of Rights. Hence, the Tenth Amendment—a rule of construction that warns against interpreting the other amendments in the Bill of Rights to imply powers in the national government that were not granted by the original document. (The Constitution in One Sentence: Understanding the 10th Amendment.)

Implied rights, though not specifically stated in the original Constitution, are extensions of what is in the Constitution (i.e. Bill of Rights) or are made more explicit via the Supreme Court. Some of these are as follows (from: US Constitution Online):

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”

This phrase is commonly attributed to the Constitution, but it comes from the Declaration of Independence. The Fifth Amendment does offer protections to our “life, liberty, or property,” noting we cannot be deprived of any of them without due process of law.

The Right To Privacy

The Constitution does not specifically mention a right to privacy. However, Supreme Court decisions over the years have established that the right to privacy is a basic human right, and as such is protected by virtue of the 9th Amendment. The right to privacy has come to the public’s attention via several controversial Supreme Court rulings, including several dealing with contraception (the Griswold and Eisenstadt cases), interracial marriage (the Loving case), and abortion (the well-known Roe v Wade case). In addition, it is said that a right to privacy is inherent in many of the amendments in the Bill of Rights, such as the 3rd, the 4th’s search and seizure limits, and the 5th’s self-incrimination limit.

Other rights were found in a book, Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, Volume 1 By Paul Finkelman:

{Among others}: The right to believe must be cognate to the rights to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. The right to marry and have children, the right to association, the right to study a foreign language, the right to educate one’s children, the right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures and against self-incrimination {as part of right to privacy}, etc.

We’ve watched over the decades and even more so in this administration, our rights being slowly eroded. Like frogs in a boiling kettle, many Americans have sat idly by as evidence of our own demise mounts. The rights of smokers and now what restaurants can serve are curtailed. In a previous blog, I lamented the elimination of plastic bags in an entire state. We’ve watched the power of the Environmental Protection Agency grow into a gargantuan monster now controlling access to oil in our own country. We protect a Gobi fish over the life of an unborn child. Any reader can easily cite their own example not listed here. And the water boils hotter and hotter as we await the decision of what could come down to one Supreme Court Justice’s vote in just a few months.

So let’s look at Obamacare:

The first most obvious violation stems from the infamous Commerce Clause: whether Congress has the authority to create commerce and then regulate it. This questioning follows the arguments presented by AFLC’s (American Freedom Law Center) Co-Founders and Senior Counsel Robert Muise and David Yerushalmi in their lawsuit against Obamacare and in their “friend-of-the-court” brief filed in this case in the Supreme Court: does Congress have the authority to regulate inactivity?

Under Obamacare, the federal government can force people under penalty of federal law to engage in economic activity; and once they are engaged in this activity, Congress then seeks to regulate them under the Commerce Clause. Once this right of whether or not to purchase something is taken away,the federal government has no limits.

In another lawsuit against Obamacare, AFLC () has continued its fight against Obama’s unprecedented attacks on our Constitution by challenging his controversial “contraception” mandate with a lawsuit filed in a New York federal court on behalf of Priests for Life, a Catholic pro-life organization. This latest Obamacare mandate is a direct attack on religious freedom and the First Amendment.

But it is my premise also that Obamacare attacks many of our “implied rights” such as the right to privacy. If Obamacare passes, my right to privacy in my medical records being between me and my doctor and my right to make decisions in my own medical care evaporates into the control of someone in the federal government who does not know or care about me. I’m 58. By the time this law comes down the pass, I’m too old for a pacemaker or certain surgeries. I’m a conservative and I did not nor will vote for Obama or any other liberal attempting election. Who is to say I will receive any care at all? Someone else is deciding that and they aren’t looking out for my best interests but rather their own and their political party’s best interest. I harken back to the closing of “certain republican owned” car dealerships as an example.

Will I feel safe to express my opinions? Will it be safe to assemble? We already have the Whitehouse Watchdog site encouraging citizens to report other citizens on a taxpayer paid web link.

Would I lose my right to vote for whomever I choose? What would be the consequence to voting against the left? How will children get healthcare from their government? Will it happen in school? Will home school still be allowed? Our tax dollars already pay for a state-controlled education system. What is in our future after Obamacare?

It is my belief that we are on the road to having all of our rights taken away when liberals and the federal government control one sixth of our economy and all of our life, liberty and eventual pursuit of happiness. If they can control what we can or cannot buy and from whom and how we stay alive, they can control everything.

What we DO worry about is the systemic fraud that has been set up and is even now active in several far reaching areas to give Obama another 4 years and our country a permanent socialist status. The Chicago Machine has gone viral. Sharon Meroni and her colleagues from DefendtheVote.com have unearthed many illegal or unsanctioned actions throughout Chicagoland making many precincts ripe for fraud. We have Democrats fighting everywhere against voter ID.

And voter fraud, by design, is and has been a huge factor in elections across our country. It WILL play a large factor in an Obama win. Project Veritas, a group headed by James O’Keefe (of Breitbart/ACORN fame), states:

A new study conducted by the Pew Center on the States shows that almost TWO MILLION dead Americans are on active voter rolls, and almost THREE MILLION people have active registrations in more than one state. In all, the study said, approximately one out of every eight voter registrations in the United States are either invalid or have “significant inaccuracies.”

Each state must make its own fight against voter fraud which is sure to be an uphill battle especially in this upcoming election. Ms. Meroni and her team have found help through the GOP in Illinois which is very encouraging. They have had very recent victories:
A Brief Overview: Chicago changed their security procedures on Election Day equipment. New Seal procedures have been added providing greater security. They added a Democrat and a Republican election judge to every early voting site in Chicago. They added the requirement early voting sites will be administered only by US Citizens. They agreed to work with security experts on safe-guarding the electronic vote. They changed their Human Resource procedures. Chicago is very active in purging their voter registration rolls. They purged late in 2011. Chicago takes particular pride in how they administer the military vote and provided details of their active role in promoting and securing the military vote.

There is more: The meeting was truly an open forum. The Commissioners answered every question the public had. They were open, approachable and responsive! What a difference compared to last Wednesday’s Illinois State Board of Elections meeting (listen to the audio of this meeting HERE)! You can contribute through DefendTheVote.Com or volunteer to help in Illinois by becoming a Vote Auditor. For other states, contact your local GOP, the Save America Foundation, your local precinct committeeman/woman and/or join Project Veritas.

The following is an interactive map of the Voter ID requirements in the United States:

And who will be voting besides dead people and double voters? Concerns abound about illegals and felons voting. I had asked Ms. Meroni about the Illinois felon vote that took place in our recent governor race. She said the numbers were not high enough to make a big effect here. I’m not so sure about our state times 50. Obama is working hard to get the illegal alien vote and through “last minute legitimacy” or fraud or a stronger Latino vote, this would surely affect his numbers. Recent 2010 reports show that presently 11,200,000 illegal aliens live in the US. I’m assuming since that report is 2 years old our numbers are even higher. If Obama is successful in his backdoor amnesty efforts, this many more votes are added to his coffers.

As Rush Limbaugh had stated–our hope of winning in 2012 is through a landslide–it is very hard to achieve your win via fraud in a landslide. May it be so.