A North Texas Tea Partier's Response to His Congressman's Newsletter Question!?!

eMail to Kenny Marchant (R-TX) | September 2, 2011 | Ross Kesceg

[harpu]

Dear Congressman Marchant (any congressman),

I am a leader and supporter of the Irving Tea Party, the Arlington Tea Party, the Irving Republican's woman's club and serve as a delegate from the North Texas Council. I am a resident of Irving, reside in Valley Ranch and have been active in local politics. I have attended numerous Town Hall meetings, Irving ISD School Board and City Council meetings and have participated in fundraising activities for the recent Irving Mayoral race and U.S. Congressional campaigns outside of my district.

I hold an undergraduate degree in Economics from the W.P. Carey school of Business at Arizona State University. I have the utmost respect and reverence for private property rights, the rule of law, free and unbridled markets, mankind's innate, God-given unalienable civil, social and economic rights, and the binding chains of the U.S. Constitution that guard American's from the infectious power and abuse of government coercion, constriction and corruption.

I would like to take the time to respond to your newsletter titled "August District Work Period". In the newsletter, you encouraged your fellow citizens to give you additional insight into what we the people, as part of a Constitutional Republic, would like to see from our elected representatives. The answer is quite simple to those of us not in public office, as we are not subjected to political pressure from party leadership, slander from an uninformed and uneducated media elite or the withdrawal of financial campaign support bribes from wealthy, powerful special interests groups. Allow me to share our rational, logical and principled sentiments with you.

The illness that our nation has contracted is not an "ism". It is not liberalism, communism, socialism, nor progressivism. It is not ignorance, educational decadence, apathy or sloth. So long as our public servants in Washington allow us to keep but a single penny of our earned income we will take advantage of the natural incentives of voluntary exchange provided in the free market that has served as the exclusive catalyst to establish the most prosperous nation ever to inhabit the known universe. Despite bearing the burden of government largess, the monetary value today totals $14 trillion U.S., or nearly 1/3 of the world's wealth produced by only 1/20 of the Earth's population.

Despite the best efforts of the political propagandists, the illness is not society run amok, for society doesn't exist. Society is a fabrication of the demagogues. America is made of individuals, compacts, associations, organizations corporations, charities, churches and charters. Individuals, in their natural state, innately yearn to be free. The illness that has marred our nation is an idolatry of government by our self-ordained leadership, the belief in egalitarian omnipotence and God-like compassion, the denial of its infinite power and the consequential abandonment of our nation's founding principles. The denials of these self-evident truths were the original inspiration to a few members of mankind that held courage and seized the opportunity to escape the bonds of oppression and tyranny, despite great risk and without promise. More specifically, the illness that has infected our nation is the treachery perpetrated by the demagogues masquerading as conservative leaders; the wolf in sheep's clothing.

The solution is simple in theory. We need to remove the Republican, Democrats and Independents representatives in elected office that do not, unconditionally and without compromise, defend the founding principles, embodied and legally defined in the U.S. Constitution. Since the political establishment in both parties has made this incredibly difficult, we will petition you in the meantime, until we can raise enough awareness of the general public to remove those who stand in opposition to freedom. Those who are upholding their oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution have little to fear.

Allow me to respectfully directly address both the rhetorical political platitudes and policy prescriptions contained in your newsletter.

1) Deep concern about the size of government and federal spending

It is a statement of fact that few members of the House or the Senate personally read or understand the implications of every bill signed into law. Additionally, many laws have been passed prior to many members arrival in office, which makes understanding the size and scope of government by any elected official practically impossible. Additionally, the government is so large, irresponsible, and dedicated to central planning that the legislative body has over 117 committees and another 100 sub-committees who have been delegated to centrally plan hundreds of aspects of the citizen's lives. Not a single new piece of legislation should be passed that does not amend or repeal a prior bill.

Furthermore, our elected officials have delegated the writing of regulations to government bureaucracies administered by political appointees and staffed by government union workers, who essentially are drafting legislation, since Americans are bound by law and with threat of fine and imprisonment, to comply with their rules.

The bottom line is that even YOU, Mr. Marchant, don't even know how embarrassingly big the government really is or even where the funds are actually spent. Most Americans, then, certainly don't know. Whatever you do know should be broadcast in the public forum educating to forward the conservative debate, instead of hosting fund-raisers for your party that represents your incumbency, not your constituents.

2) Cut Federal Government Spending and Amend the Constitution with a Balanced Budget Amendment

The debt deal you signed did not cut government spending, despite the claims of your leadership. Instead of discussing spending cuts, change the debate. We all know there were no cuts, just reductions in increases. According to the CBO, another giant government bureaucracy, simply freezing spending at current levels, as opposed to making "draconian cuts" would reduce projected deficits by more than $7-9 trillion over the next 10 years, far more than was "accomplished" by the recently passed bill. Who is running the Republican PR campaign and how difficult is that to understand or articulate to the public? Our leadership is ignorant, incompetent or simply not serious.

With the above in mind, who is going to join you in Amending the Constitution to ensure a balanced budget? Are these the same charlatans that passed the deficit deal and heralded the maintenance of our $1.3 trillion annual deficit as progress? While you are busy working to amend the Constitution, why don't you propose the idea of ELIMINTAING the individual federal income tax, or prohibiting the federal government from borrowing money, unless there is an imminent national security threat from a foreign nation engaged in military action against the U.S. on our soil.

3) Our number one priority should be jobs

I have carefully read your letter and agree with you that businesses should be enabled to grow. Americans and their businesses certainly are thankful that the government allows them to benefit from the fruits of their own labor. We pray for your continued compassion and graciousness! I also agree that your implication that only the private sector can make our economy grow. What I have yet to hear in the public forum from any significant number of Conservatives in office is a reiteration of the fact that the government cannot create jobs. The government can only employ people by taking money from other workers and businesses, which robs Peter to pay Paul. The government does not have any of its own funds, so government spending is inherently hurtful to the sectors of the economy who do not receive any benefit from the government. Assistance from the government to those in need should only be temporary. We are losing this debate because there are few public officials educating the public about these simple truths. Our leadership is spineless and insulting to the people, especially considering we are paying their salaries and benefits.

4) Pass the three free trade agreements; Simplify the tax code; Lower corporate and personal tax rates

Free trade agreements are simply a negotiated rate for tariffs. The countries who historically grow at the highest rate have the lowest tariffs for imports AND exports. Tariffs should be the same for ALL INDUSTRIES and should be as low as possible, as this will help the economy. Why is this policy not followed? Special interests and congressional favors.

The only way to simplify the tax code is to abolish the IRS in its present form completely and have a flat tax. The only reason why the tax code is so complicated is because the 536 people that run our governments have been busy making lobbyists happy at the expense of the taxpayers. Regulatory and tax compliance consumes over $1.5 trillion in the private sector. There is plenty of support from the public to lower both personal and corporate tax rates, assuming it is discussed in the right context. Please remind the public that everyone who does NOT work for the government will benefit from this policy. A majority of Americans do not work for the government; this is a political layup.

I would encourage you to change the debate by appearing in public forums and educating the American Public on the REAL issues facing our nation. Do they know about the $1.3 trillion deficit? Do they know that most cabinet level federal departments in the last 3 years since 2007 have increased their budgets by 60-300%? Do they understand that participation of the U.S. in the UN is a voluntary relinquishment of our national sovereignty? Do they know that federal pensions (which are wholly arbitrary and paid for by workers in the private sector) will exceed $200 billion dollars this year? Do they know that revenues from the payroll tax only pay for 1 out of 3 programs the government claims, making the programs already bankrupt? Do they know that we give foreign aid to over 170 countries, of which the funds are wholly unaccounted for and are paid to many nations that despise the U.S.? Do they know that we have hundreds of costly and unnecessary military installations around the globe? Do they understand that 50% of Americans do not pay any income tax?

Do they understand that social security is that SAME ponzi scheme that Bernie Madoff was imprisoned for, except for that fact that tax payers are forced to participate in fraud while Bernie's clients volunteered, albeit unknowingly? Do they know that the postal service will lose 8 billion dollars this year; Amtrak $3 billion? Do they know that the tax thugs confiscate more cents off each gallon of gas than the oil companies make in profit? Do they understand that the public school system is a government monopoly, a collusive arrangement by school districts and legislators to eliminate competition between the government administered schools districts, which has had the obvious effect of protecting administrators and teachers at the expense of parents, children and taxpayers?

Do they understand that central planning, wherever it has been tried, has failed miserably both socially and economically? Do they understand that the growth of government power and authority inherently requires the reduction of their individual freedom? Do they know that the majority of the world still lives in abject poverty, precisely because citizens of those nations have few social and economic freedoms? Is it any wonder that the freest nation on earth enjoyed the greatest amount of economic growth and prosperity prior to unions, the welfare state, the regulatory state, public education, government housing, the war on drugs and the income tax?

Do they understand that government is the disease? Do you?

[harpu]

I received this from my local Tea Party coordinator with suggestion we pass it around for all to read and use if we so choose.

Good Stuff! Powerful and full of facts to understand and use where you can.

[wita]

The length couldn’t hold the attention of a Congressman,
much less a teenage staffer.

Those who are upholding their oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution have little to fear.

I believe this sentence should have had a great big NOT between are and upholding.

Which brings me to the point about an OATH to support and defend the Constitution.

The two or three items which have allowed the nation to veer off into the path of ultimate destruction.

There are precious few in elected office, government officials or bureaucrats who fully understand the limits of the Constitution, when it comes to government.

Even fewer who will or are capable of fulfilling their oath of office to support and defend the Constitution.

We have lost the foundation of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence as the guide and stay for our Republic.

We have swerved into a Godless democracy doomed to failure followed by destruction should we choose to continue down the path of least resistance.

As Jesus exclaimed on the cross, My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me. In our case the word us should be used and the answer is so obvious as to be hidden from most.

[RicocheT]

Well written and full of good ideas. I’d say simplify it to say, The US government needs to get out of the way by reducing its size, spending, borrowing and regulations to then let economic capitalism work its magic to create jobs, opportunities and prosperity.

[RedMDer]

Very good!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Excellent letter. Though I doubt will have any more effect on Mr. MArchant's conciousness rthen a .22 calibre round fired at an elephant's skull.

Reading this letter remined me of something I read during the debt ceiling fiasco. Some simple steps to fix the economy once and for all. Though, I won't be holding my breath;

1. Do you have any idea how much one trillion is? The average human life span is around 2.8 billion seconds. If someone was just now approaching their one trillionth second of life they would have been born in 29,000 BC. NOW do you have a grip on a trillion? Good --- because first we need to address the trillions of dollars of American-owned wealth that are legally resting in overseas accounts where they are safe from American confiscatory taxation. Declare a tax amnesty. Allow that money to come home to work in our economy without taxing it. Can you imagine what a few trillion dollars pumped into the private sector and not into political vote-buying schemes might do for our economy?

2. Thanks to generations of government education most Americans don’t realize that corporations and businesses don’t pay taxes. They collect taxes from customers, employees and shareholders and merely pass them on to the federal government. All wealth in this country is held by individuals, and all taxes are paid by individuals. So let’s get smart and reduce business income taxes immediately --- especially corporate income taxes. To do otherwise is to operate on the belief that the federal government would do a better job of spending this money (shrimp on treadmills?) than would the people who actually did the work and earned it.

3. We’re currently wasting around $100 billion a year on the Department of Education. There has not even been a hint of an improvement in government schools since this useless support system for teachers unions was created. Abolish the Education Department and send that $100 billion to the states with the mandate that it be used specifically for education programs to prepare young adults for employment upon graduation from high school and not for college prep. We have far too many English, social studies, LGBT and history majors running around now whose workdays consist of endless repetitions of the phrase “would you like French fries with that?"

4. End the hideously expensive war on drugs. At the state and federal level we are spending over $1,700 per second in drug war costs. There’s over $15 billion a year to be saved here. Studies have shown that treatment is a more effective means of reducing drug usage than criminalization and incarceration. Bonus: We reduce crime and make our streets safer.

5. Repeal Davis-Bacon. Allow governments to pay prevailing private sector wages, not inflated union wages, on public works projects. The tax money set aside for these projects would go a lot further, more people would be hired, and the more work could be done.

6. Repeal ObamaCare and the Chris-Dodd consumer finance reform act. Both of these hideous pieces of legislation have been shown to be jobs killers. There is no right to health care, and caveat emptor should still mean something.

7. Immediately halt all regulatory rule-making processes at the federal level. We have enough regulations now to get the job done. More than enough. Businessmen aren’t hiring or expanding because they don’t know what the rules are going to be. Would you obligate yourself for a mortgage if the lender told you they would just fill in the terms later? Yeah … some of you probably would; especially Obama voters.

8. Eliminate capital gains taxes. Too many of us are sitting on investments that have pretty much maxed out, but we won’t cash out because we don’t want to pay the tax. Eliminating these taxes would allow a free flow of investment capital that would enable countless new business startups … and that means new jobs.

9. Make every state a right-to-work state. Completely outlaw compulsory unionism. Nobody should ever have to join a union in order to work.

10. Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley. It’s another jobs killer and inhibits corporate growth and profitability. Google it.

11. Institute loser pays at the federal level and urge states to do the same. This means that if you file a lawsuit against someone and you win, good for you. If you lose, you pay the other side’s legal fees. I used to be a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association, (now called The American Association for Justice --- bwahahahahah), and I can tell you that many trial lawyers look at filing a lawsuit as comparable to buying a lottery ticket. Not much to lose, but a lot to gain. Put some risk into this equation.

12. Eliminate most business and professional licensing requirements. Why should you need the state’s permission to braid hair or to match pillows with drapes? And while we’re at it find that loon in Florida who said that ending the licensing of interior designers would cost 80,000 lives a year and put her in a glass cube in the Museum of Idiocy. If there isn’t such a museum, start one. It will have to be a huge facility.

13. Send a balanced budget amendment to the states. Most states have to operate under just such a restriction, and they’ll be more than happy to see to it that the federal government does as well.

14. Last – but certainly not least – set a date certain for the expiration of our current tax code. That will force congress to come up with a better plan. I happen to have some ideas along those lines as well.

[Rumplemeyer]

SAVE

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Sorry. Forgot the attribution. 'Twas Neal Boortz.

[mosaicwolf]

I wish every member of congress got this well written, factually correct letter. Of course many would not understand it or deny it. I guess it is close to the time when the “People” will have to take back control of their government.

[SunkenCiv]

You’ll probably wanna see this.

[sickoflibs]

Nice, I liked the part about trade agreements.

Our economy will not grow without us being able to export, and those that claim ‘We cant ever compete’ are calling for natunal suicide, and they are usually the ones that support laws and regulations and taxes that make it impossible for us to compete. Is our vision of the US more like Germany or like France.

[AFreeBird]

Powerful piece. Needs wide distribution.

[super7man]

And “they” say TEA Party-ers are stupid.

Got some news for you.....

[CitizenM]

Bump for reading again later.

[VRW Conspirator]

The length couldn’t hold the attention of a Congressman, much less a teenage staffer.

Ditto that. This was well articulated but it needs to be in cut into edible bites( may God help us). And put the economic issues at the top of the list because, even then, I am not sure they can pay attention long enough.

[cc2k]

I completely agree with others. Too long, too many points.

You are writing to teenage staffers, not the actual Congress Critter. Make sure your letter/email/fax is targeted to the person reading it.

Also, focus on one issue per letter/fax/email. Send several if you have several issues to discuss.

Here's an example. This addresses point #3 in your TEA Party leader's diatribe (also point #7 in Bloody Sam Roberts' ... err ... Neal Boortz's list). I'm about to send this to my Establishment RINO Congress Critter:

My latest letter to my Congress Critter

Honorable Congressman:

I read with interest Majority Leader Cantor’s memo of August 29 about the “Upcoming Jobs Agenda.” It will be good if Congress can stand up to the regulatory madness and put a stop to these job killing regulations. However, it seems you are spending months to address only a few of the symptoms when you should be addressing the root cause of the problem.

Instead of addressing onerous regulations one at a time, I believe you should propose legislation to strip Executive agencies of their purported "Law making" ability. Article I, Section 1 of the United States Constitution states:

---

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

---

Article 2 of the Constitution lays out the Executive and the powers of the executive. Conspicuously absent from the Executive powers is any legilslative power or power to "make laws." Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the President, has the authority to make laws, nor does it say that the President can delegate to the EPA, the NLRB, or any other executive agency the authority to make laws.

You should propose a new bill, the "Regulations are Not Laws Act." Here is the bill I propose:

---

Regulations are not Laws Act

No regulation proposed by the Executive Branch or any agency thereof shall have the force of law until it is passed by a majority of both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President.

All regulations currently documented in the “Code of Federal Regulations” will sunset 5 years from the date of passage of this act, unless those regulations are presented to Congress and passed by a majority in both houses of the Congress and signed into law by the President.

---

Spending 10 weeks (or more) addressing the 10 worst regulations is counter productive. Instead of "nibbling at the edges," please address the root cause of this problem and fix that.

Thank you for your attention to this,

Cc2K.

Feel free to copy and modify that as you wish and send it to your Congress Critter.

wita wrote:

Which brings me to the point about an OATH to support and defend the Constitution.

The two or three items which have allowed the nation to veer off into the path of ultimate destruction.

There are precious few in elected office, government officials or bureaucrats who fully understand the limits of the Constitution, when it comes to government.

Ultimately, it's up to to enforce those oaths. Also, it's critical that officials at all levels of government 1) take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, and 2) understand their part in keeping Congress and the Federal Government within the limits of the Constitution.

In my state, voters take an oath as well.

From the Florida Voter Registration Application:

---

Oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida, that I am qualified to register as an elector under the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida, and that all information provided in this application is true.

---

I'm making it my personal goal to personally hand a copy of this form with that section highlighted to every registered voter in my precinct, along with a copy of the Constitution of the United States and founding documents.

Also, every elected official in my state takes a similar oath, again to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida." This is important. But it's equally important that make an issue of this.

Our local TEA Party and 9-12 group attend our county commission meetings and our board of education meetings. If ever something comes up where "Federal grants" or "federal funding" is going to be requested, we ask our commissioners and/or board members, "Where in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution does Congress get the authority to tax the people of South Dakota to pay for Roads/Parks/Schools in Florida?"

If your county commission or city council is begging Uncle Sugar for "free money," they are part of the problem.

We have a state senator down here (RINO to the core), who 1) voted for a “10th amendment resolution” in the State Senate and then 2) signed on to a letter asking the Obama Department of Transportation to send us “federal funds” that were supposed to be for high speed rail so that we could use them on other projects after Governor Rick Scott turned down the high speed rail proposal. He doesn't see the hypocrisy in that, and he needs to be run out of office because of that.

[harpu]

Whoa, great reply(?) but be careful now. I wouldn’t want you to fall off your soapbox!

[LTC.Ret]

I’ve read it and agree with it -—

Send ME to Congress. Add ME to the Tea Party Freshmen already there as one more reinforcement.

One replacement by one replacement instead of those who have camped out in Congress for 15-20 years riding along on the path of least resistance and creating the mess we are in today will turn the tide.

I really need everyone’s help -— my District is HUGE, and our current Congressman has lots of money and power behind him to keep the status quo.

If you know any like minded individuals in Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, or anywhere else in Texas District 13, please help me make contact so that I can get my -— OUR -— message out, and then take it to Washington to drag our government back kicking and screaming to the Constitution!!!

[PAR35]

A low level staffer might read it, but more likely just harvest the name for fundraising purposes. Writing stuff like that might make the author feel better, but the Washington crowd doesn’t care.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Excellent. Most excellent.

[SunkenCiv]

The US needs to bring its energy costs down; without doing that, there will be no US economy to worry about. Weird coincidence that the known anti-America socialists Clinton and Obama both attacked domestic fuels production.