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Constitution of the United States
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- Category: Good Government
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The Constitution of the United States of America
When I penned the goundbreaking book, Taxation Without Representation in 2008, I had read many of the founding documents of the United States. One of the first things that I did in preparation for the book was print a copy of the Constitution on 81/2 X 11 paper and take it with me on my first cruise. I was not sure what I really was going to do but like many Americans I was fed up with politics as usual. The Constitution is not an onerous document. It is much more readable than the type of gotcha bills coming out of Congress today.
When I finished the book, I decided, among other founding documents to place the full text of the U.S. Constitution today. Without you having to buy any of my books, (I also put it in my Obama's Seven Deadly Sins Book), I have placed the full text of the U.S. Constitution right here and at the end there is a URL so that you can go to a government Web site to see any of the documents.
Enjoy the written voice of freedom, directly from the book, the US Constitution.
Obamacare 102
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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Healthcare should be determined by the marketplace
Instead of further removing healthcare from the market, in which doctors and patients and other providers work together to help patients, we should return to that true free market in healthcare. In that market, everybody is empowered --- but mostly individuals and definitely not bureaucrats. The bad guys will not control your healthcare dollars in a real marketplace.
Ron Paul is an American hero. When he was in Congress, he put out a bill, HR 1495, called the Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Act. It provides tax credits and medical savings accounts designed to do just that. This is a start and a good start but like most good ideas with a completely partisan Congress with a full takeover in mind, there was no action on the bill.
Obamacare -- Why Were They So Anxious?
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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Obamacare Anxiety / Betrayal
As a Conservative Democrat, giving the government control of healthcare does not fit in with my way of thinking. Healthcare is for doctors and patients only. So, even though I am a Democrat and even though you may be a Democrat, that does not mean that you should have had to give up your freedom to feed three big political egos. That also does not mean that a better healthcare plan cannot be passed in the 112th Congress. That is my goal.
This is From the Center for Individual Freedom
This was originally written at a time in 2009 / 2010 when the bill had not yet passed and they were in recess.
"The House and Senate may be out of session on winter recess, but Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are busy threatening legislators... cutting secret, back-room deals... they're twisting arms… all in a desperate attempt to pass ObamaCare.
Why were they so desperate?
Ballot Access: The Game is Rigged!
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- Category: Try Running for Congress!
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Incumbents Have the Game Rigged
Try running for office!
Contact: Brian Kelly for US Congress
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Date: April 13, 2016
****** PRESS RELEASE ******
Like you, Congressional Candidate Brian Kelly is disgusted with the current leaders in our government. He is asking for voters to forget about what big government can do for them. The results are in and the verdict is "0." Kelly is asking voters to write him in twice -- once in 2016 for the House of Representatives, PA District 17, and once in 2018 for the US Senate.
Brian hopes to help release our wonderful country from the grips of the socialists and communists.
In this essay, Brian Kelly demonstrates the difficulty for non-politicians (regular Joe's), such as him, to gain ballot access in a system designed of, for, and by corrupt incumbent politicians.
His essay title is:
BALLOT ACCESS: THE GAME IS RIGGED!
Please enjoy this essay by Mr. Brian Kelly.
Try running for Office in a state such as Pennsylvania, in which the political Incumbents and the establishment have the game rigged. Pennsylvania's corrupt state politicians have slanted the ballot-access table in favor of incumbents and against non-political regular citizens of the Commonwealth.
There are major trials and tribulations facing regular people who attempt to present themselves as candidates on any ballot for any office in the United States of America. The ballot access issue in Pennsylvania is one of the worst in the nation. It should not surprise anybody that the incumbent politicians make the laws that make it difficult for anybody to unseat them. There are many surprisingly restrictive ballot access laws in this country. The average citizen voter has no knowledge or concept of the extent of the problem until one day, he or she decides to put their hat in the ring and they run for office, hoping to give something back.
If you are so inclined, do you feel that you might actually be able to run unimpeded for an important office in Pennsylvania? Would you just go ahead and do it or would you be concerned that the weight of the political machine might be too heavily focused against your candidacy? If you gave it a shot, do you think you would be permitted to run unfettered against a well-established political class whose livelihood and whose continued excessive wealth depends on being elected continually until they die?
I thought I would run for office simply because I am an American and this is America. I have done so but let me tell you the road is unpaved. I ran for Congress and for Mayor. I was on the ballot for Congress in 2010 and on the ballot for Mayor of Wilkes-Barre in 2015. There is a lot of work in running for office and unless you become a politician or the people stop bootlicking politicians by voting for them, a new candidate can expect nothing but misery and failure.
Do you wonder why so few people run for office? Surely you have neighbors who you think would be much better at leading our country, state, county, or city than the same old crew whose names make the ballot every election. I know first-hand why more good people choose to stay away from becoming elected officials. It is because the politicians control the playing field. If you think the game is rigged, you are right! The game is rigged.
There is a big reason why potential candidates for office do not simply emerge into the sunlight when they are so inclined to be the next Mayor, Governor, Senator, or Representative. It is the same reason that even Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have learned in trying to become president. The game is rigged, at all levels.
The reason is that there are lots of impediments and major roadblocks that need to be carefully navigated. Those currently holding offices of and for the people, think they own the people. Consider that there are no documented cases of an elected official, who in their first term or any term ever calls all citizens of the community together for a meeting to find some other good candidates to run.
It seems logical that we all would have been invited at some time to say, a church hall, so that a great leader could describe to us the process of becoming the next such and such from so and so. If we all wanted the best people to serve, would we not be encouraging our neighbors to come out and be welcomed to consider putting his or her hat in the ring to serve the people?
Why are we deprived of having regular, ordinary citizens such as you and I, rather than machine groomed politicians be the candidates for the offices available in almost all elections? The answer is that over time, the political class through gerrymandering and restrictive ballot access laws, and special rules known only unto them, have made it difficult for anybody other than a crooked politician to get elected.
Politicians play the game and they eventually become experts. It is not by accident that the winners are almost always endorsed by the big Party machines, and let me tell you all, the machines are really big and are really powerful and tough to overcome. Regular Joe's and Josephine's are excluded in the process intentionally but the methods are not entirely obvious. The fact that it costs a lot of money to compete is just one of the first obstacles.
For the money and the major effort, a newcomer has less than a slim chance to gain the nomination or win a general election. Once you put your hat in the ring, there is a lot of unexpected and unnecessary work and expense. It is not an accident that any candidate running for the first time feels that all of the politicians and the minions in government have their hands locked into his or her wallet.
It was not always that way and the founders did not intend it to be that way. Unfortunately, elected politicians have always had the power to make things easy for their next election regardless of its impact on democracy, the will of the people, and the good of the people. The founding fathers expected that the people would throw the bums out but the bums have made it very difficult,
Their path to a reelection and a slot at the establishment perks table is much easier than your path to be newly elected. They use something that I would call a special "incumbent grease." The incumbent grease makes them quite slippery and it helps them to be impervious to the rot they create, through which those not as well connected must traverse.
It was not until the 1880's for example that paper ballots began to be printed by the government. Before then it was private entities who produced the ballots and even before then voice votes were used. In the 1880's official secret ballots came into being by government decree and that is when the ballot access issues for John Q Public began. It is funny how the government broke a system that had worked well for 100 years at that time. Government breaks a lot more than it fixes.
The elitists believed that only elitists should be able to run for public office and they set out to make sure that it was a task that most ordinary citizens would choose not to take up. Today as we see in Congress and the Senate, and even the Presidency, the sense of entitlement to the office held is so strong that the "elite" politicians believe that they know more than the people they serve.
They also know that it is so difficult for a newcomer to replace them that they no longer believe they have a requirement to do the people's will to be re-elected. Of course, that was before the recent populist movement that has Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, ostensibly outsiders to the presidential process, doing so well today. To not be an incumbent in 2016 is now a major advantage for the people. But, will the establishment still have the power and the gall to direct the results? We'll see!
The TEA Party movement of 2009 from its first brew was unfairly defamed by the corrupt progressive media. Yet, it is the TEA Party, a term not mentioned much today that built the foundation for today's populist movement. This movement has brought us candidates who do not owe their allegiance to big donors or the Party machines.
Wikipedia, which sometimes, but infrequently, gets it wrong, got this fact 100% right. It cites that historian Peter Argersinger pointed out that the 1880's reform "that conferred power on officials to regulate who may be on the ballot carried with it the danger that this power would be abused by officialdom and that legislatures controlled by the established political parties (specifically, the Republican and Democratic Parties), would enact restrictive ballot access laws to influence election outcomes, for partisan purposes, in order to ensure re-election of their own party's candidates." Peter Argersinger was 100% correct and my own story as a candidate confirms that.
As a candidate several times who paid a big price to be on the ballot, I can assure all Americans that the ballot access system provided by the states is not designed to let the most competent person through the maze. Thus, the people most often send the same scoundrels back to office rather than helping new blood present its case. First of all, there are no ready forums to present one's a case.
One would presume with no knowledge that the United States would have the most fair ballot access rules in the world of countries that practice a form of democracy. But, this is not true. The United States has been criticized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for its harsh ballot access laws in the past. From my own experience, the US has not really lightened up on the rules that prevent ordinary citizens to get on the ballot. The corrupt press never reports on it as it is part of the problem, not the solution.
This is one place in which it appears the Brits have us beat. In their political science model of a healthy two-party system, every candidate for Parliament faces the same ballot-access hurdle-- a simple filing fee. Not only is it free but candidates from all parties are granted two free mailings to all the voters. That's not the end of the fairness. Every candidate also gets some free TV and radio time. It's almost as if the Brits want real people not just politicians to be able to achieve an office in Parliament. We have the same access here if you have the big bucks and lots of spare time. In Britain, they have legal equality between all the parties and it seems to work. Our system seems to be corrupt. As Donald Trump says quite well and quite often: "The system is rigged." Trump is right!
You saw what happened in Colorado, Trump said. Its a fix. We thought we were having an election and a number of months ago, they decide to do it by you know what, right? They said well do it by delegate. Aw, isnt that nice? And the delegates were all there waiting. And, one of them tweeted out today and said today, by mistake, and then they withdrew it, something to the effect of See, never Trump.
Mr. Trump spoke at a rally with over 0,000 supporters who packed the Times Union Center, a sports and concert venue in downtown Albany: Im hundreds of delegates ahead but the system, folks, is rigged. Its a rigged, disgusting, dirty system.
As a person who has run twice in this dirty system, I more than agree. It is rigged to benefit long term dirty corrupt politicians who in this election, are known simply as "The Establishment."
Even at the local level, when I ran for Mayor last year and was on the ballot, I requested in early 2015 that Mayor Leighton open City Hall for a meet the candidates night twice a month for the few months of the election season. Each mayoral candidate would speak for an hour and each Council candidate would also get time to speak.
The Mayor said the City could not sponsor such events as it was against the law. I have two sons who are lawyers and this simply is not true. Regardless, the Mayor acted like he owned City Hall, not like he was merely renting it with the people's permission until the end of his term. I beg to differ that a Mayor or public official cannot choose to help the electoral process.
But, we all know it is very difficult fighting City Hall. The newspapers are AWOL. Radio stations permit call-ins for brief periods but the local TV stations including Public TV offer nothing for aspiring candidates. The message is to get your wallet out and pay to permit the people to learn to know you. The Fourth estate is dead in Wilkes-Barre PA and for the most part across the country.
In 2010, when I ran for Congress, the incumbent, who seemingly was responsible for funding allocations for Public TV, decided that there would be no public forum or debates on Public TV for the Congressional House Race! Is it not convenient to be the well-known incumbent and have the power to limit your opponent's opportunities to take your job.
The noted scholar John Henry Wigmore, professor of law at Northwestern Univ. from 1901 to 1929, who ultimately was dean of the law faculty had some big-time opinions on fair elections. In his earlier life (1880s) Wigmore had been a leader for election law reform, especially the secret voting method and ballot access laws. His suggestion in my opinion makes sense. He recommended that as few as ten signatures would be an appropriate requirement for nomination to gain access to the official ballot for a legislative office.
For Congress in PA, a candidate needs 1000 signatures plus 1000 more signatures to cover signature challenges. For Mayor, one needs 100 signatures plus 100 more to cover challenges. I dare you to try to get a signature from anybody for anything. See how easy it is. Candidates get three weeks to get all signatures while still going to work every day. Each signature petition sheet of 50 maximum and 1 minimum must be notarized. That is another $5.00 to $10.00 per signature.
So, does that make Pennsylvania law 100 times better than the suggestion of this sage legal scholar who thinks ten signatures are sufficient? Let me repeat myself on the requirement. As noted, in PA, one hoping to become a candidate on the ballot for Congress on the Republican or Democrat side must attain 1000 signatures plus 1000 more for challenges in less than three weeks. I submit that this is regardless of how many snow storms there may have been. All of this hard work, 100 times more than Wigmore's suggestion is necessary to be a candidate for US Representative for either party. Incumbents illegally use their staff to get the signatures or the Party pas as much as $5.00 to $10.00 per signature to have professionals canvas for them. Regular citizens have no such staffs.
At about six to ten signatures per hour, one certainly cannot expect to hold a job and live a normal life if trying to get the signatures by oneself. The clear objective of such as system is to limit the access to the ballot so that normal people say "no way," and politician after politician has his or her way with the people's treasury.
When the signatures are submitted, it is also clear that the objective is to eliminate signatures, not to verify the real citizens who signed the petitions. They may be valid citizens, thereby making their attestation valid but if they make a mistake in their own name or the city or the date or their apartment #, their attestation of a candidate is thrown in the garbage. In the current US Senate primary in Pennsylvania, Joseph Vodvarka's signatures are being challenged by the opportunistic Joe Sestak.
When I first wrote this essay, Mr. Sestak hoped to deny Pennsylvanians a candidate who is of the people and not of the political class. He hoped to chop hundreds of signatures from Vodvarka's submitted petitons. He wanted them marked invalid so that Mr. Vodvarka would lose his right to be on the ballot. That's how bad it is. Since then, I learned that on April 1, the Courts favored Sestak. What a sham. The system is rigged.
Sestak almost immediately took Vodvarka to court so it will cost Vodvarka money to defend his petitions with over 2000 signatures. Sestak, a well-tuned in politician says more than 60 percent of the Vodvarka voter signatures is not known for being a handwriting expert. Yet, he claimed the signatures were flawed and should not be counted. I say if they can find ten good signatures, Vodvarka should be in! Try getting 4000 signatures in three weeks.
Most courts are smarter than the politics often employed by jurists in making decisions. The PA Court ruled against Vodvarka.
U.S. Senate candidates have a tougher time to get signatures than House candidates. Instead of 1000, they need to collect 2,000 signatures to qualify to be on the ballot. Those petition signers must be registered to vote in the county where they reside and be of the same political party as the candidate. Joe Vodvarka had submitted 2,744 signatures, which ought to be enough, except in a rigged system, to have him on the ballot.
Prior to the Commonwealth Court hearing argument on Sestak's challenge, attorneys for Vodvarka and Sestak reached an agreement and stipulated to the court that 558 signatures on Vodvarka's petitions were invalid. As long as he was on the ballot, why would Vodvarka care that he only had 200 or so to spare. That left Vodvarka with 2,186 signatures. But the Commonwealth Court chopped off another 400 signatures so Vodvarka could not run on the ballot with 1800 signatures. What kind of guy does that make Sestak? What kind of lousy system would authorize such a perpetration of justice?
Political pundits have often said that the poll tax is the worst tax possible as it denies people the right to vote. It is my humble opinion that the method of using exorbitant numbers of signatures and arbitrary signature cancellations is worse than a poll tax as it denies the citizens the very candidates that would make an election with just politicians running, into a real election. A politician's objective, such as Joe Sestak, is to eliminate candidates not to verify that they are capable of serving.
Speaking of taxes, to help get 1000 signatures, one can ask for the county database or state database. I called the state and was routed back and forth and then each time, the phone was conveniently disconnected. For my part, I got the pleasure of dialing again but since time is important, I chose not to work with the state. The state database cost $20.00 or so I had been told.
District 11 [Before the recent changes to District 17] in Pennsylvania consisted of all or part of five different counties -- Carbon, Columbia, Monroe, Lackawanna, and Luzerne. To get the databases for these counties, they must be obtained from the counties one by one, for a sum of $50.00 per CD or $250.00. To capture one signature on a petition in each of the five counties--a total of just 5 signatures--would cost approximately $10,00 in Notary Public fees per sheet or $50.00 to have all five signatures notarized.
Why is this a requirement when the State does not accept the notarized affidavit---the word of the Notary, anyway? Vodvarka's were all notarized but the court did not accept the Notary's attestations. The answer is because it is effective harassment for anybody who dares challenge the powers that be. But, you already know that.
Of course each House petition holds 50 signatures so it would take 20 perfect petitions to reach 1000 signatures at a cost of $200.00. Since, at least 1500 signatures is recommended as many will be eliminated rather than verified, this cost is at best $300.00. With signature circulators working on behalf of every candidate, many of the sheets have no more than ten signatures. Of all had just ten signatures, this would be 100 sheets and the cost would be $1000.00 for the notarization of the signatures.
What purpose does this serve?
Additionally, there is a filing fee of $150.00 to be able to submit the petitions and be duly registered as a candidate to be placed on the ballot. They don't take Visa or Master Card. They do not take personal checks. So, I had to go to the bank to get a $150.00 cashier's check made out perfectly to the State of PA or they would not accept it. More harassment. Then, though there were five Voters services offices in District 11, ostensibly because this is a National election, the full petition, a notarized affidavit (another $10.00) and the cashier's check had to be taken to Harrisburg (two hours each way plus mileage cost -- say another $50.00) to a specific room to be processed.
In the directions from Harrisburg, to add insult to injury, I found it comforting that there was a caution after noting that the signature period was from February 16 to March 9. The caution said, "Do not wait until the last minute." In other words, the office is closing at 5:00 P.M. on March 9 so you better be in, processed, and out by 5:00 P.M. When I arrived on a Tuesday, I thought I was OK. Only about forty signatures were discounted. Despite all the obstacles I made it onto the ballot. .
Many citizens do not know how difficult it is for a non-politico to run for any office in Pennsylvania or they would insist that the rules be more reasonable. We have our corrupt state lawmakers to blame for that and they must fix this even before, in our contempt for them, we replace them all. I will do my best, I can assure you to enable ballot access for all so that we the people are not cursed to have only politicians to choose from in our elections.
Speaking of citizens and the requirement for 1000 signatures. It is my understanding that the incumbent merely instructs his staff to get signatures and it is not that big of a deal. If the staff is only minimally involved the incumbent can attend a number of political events during the three week period with hundreds of willing signatures available at each event. The lone wolf, the average Joe, our own John Q. Public, does not have it quite so easy.
In my case, I called a number of establishments to see if I could bring my petition inside and quietly ask people to sign to help grant me ballot access. I learned something in this process. Some establishments are quite gracious and assist in this civic duty of enabling ballot access for citizens of NEPA, who are not part of the machine.
Of course, they would also permit those of the machine and that is fair. Some establishments are not so gracious and they either put me off or took it up the flagpole only to have the owner decree that they did not engage in such politics. For me in these cases, I concluded that they had an alignment with the machine, which I did not have. Knocking on doors is the toughest way to get signatures.
I am running for Congress in 2016 and the US Senate in 2018
Until I die, I will probably be running for some political office. When elected to Congress this year, I will serve one term and then my plan is to serve six years in the US Senate. That ought to be enough, but who knows, maybe one more term... but just one. I spent close to $5000 of my own money to run for Congress in 2010. When I ran for Mayor in 2015, I thought it would be easier. I spent about $6000 but family and friends donated about $3000 so altogether, I am out at least $8,000 and probably more because of PA ballot access laws. I won't do this again this way for sure. I wish I had the cash back for a few family vacations. Yet, here I am running for office. How am I going to pull that off? Quick-answer -- Write me in!
If voters tuned into write-in ballot laws, and there were a listing service so that anybody could announce that they were running as a write-in candidate, we can again have a democratic republic as the founders intended. It costs nothing to run as a write-in. All you have to do is make sure that the potential voters know about you. So, with the listing service, instead of having to get 1500 signatures, anybody can run for Congress. Because it would be so easy and be no charge, citizens would have a huge selection of candidates. We should talk more about this... don't you think?
In the meantime, I bought a web site to handle write-in ballots. Well, it really does not handle write-in ballots as you still have to vote at your polling place. However, it is a place in which any write-in candidate can list his or her name so that any citizen can access the site to find out who they are. That way, ladies and gentlemen, we are not stuck with politicians as public officials.
The name of this web site is www.writeinballots.com. I will figure out how to make it work and it will be available to all. Feel free to check it out while I am building it.
God bless America!
Vote for the Underdog... Just write in Brian Kelly this time. It's that easy! Next time, send out a memo like this, and we'll all be voting for you and it will not cost you a dime I think!
With 64-books, Brian W. Kelly is the most-published and thus the leading conservative author in America. He is an outspoken and eloquent expert on solutions to help America and Americans Though a Democrat, he is a JFK Democrat. One of his pet peeves is the chicanery and deceit of RINOS and DINOS on all Americans.
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About Brian Kelly,:
Brian Kelly is a former IBM Senior Systems Engineer and Retired Professor of Business and Information Technology (BIT) at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. He was a candidate for US Congress from PA District 11 in 2010. Kelly was also a candidate running or Mayor in his home town of Wilkes-Barre PA in 2015. Brian still manages his own IT business (www.kellyconsulting.com), and he has recently completed his 64th book, available at www.bookhawkers.com.
Brian is currently running for office as a write-in candidate as a Democrat for Congress to represent the 17th PA District You can check out his two campaign web sites at (www.briankellyforcongress.com and www.kellyforussenate.com). These are both in the process of being rejuvenated for 2016 and 2018. The good news according to Kelly is that when running as a write-in, there are virtually no campaign expenses.
Thank you for being part of the quiet populist revolution to save America.
Healthcare Accountability
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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Healthcare Accountability
Healthcare is a right! How can it not be? Why should some have healthcare and others not have healthcare? Are these issues not at the center of the debate about who gets the bounty produced by the workers in America? In days gone by there would have been no dispute, the workers would get their bounty. Almost sounds piggish to mention that in these days--when rights trump work.
The Barack Obama Healthcare plan which is aptly shortened to Obamacare could never have passed muster with the greatest Americans of our time, the founding fathers. These guys and the 5 million population that were around in the post 1750 era had a tough time asking the Crown for a Crown, if you get my drift.
What Happened to the Democratic Party
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- Category: Democrats = Socialists???
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An Essay By Brian Kelly
What happened to the Democratic Party
Something happened to the Democratic Party since I first joined. Before my dad passed away, we both noticed the big change. The change was not good. It moved the party into being more and more socialist. In many ways, it was so far left that it left the liberals far behind in the rear view mirror.
My father, though never a rich man, loved the American dream. He loved what was his and envied nobody. As part of those who believe in the dream, my dad believed deeply that we should all work hard, get the best wage that we can, and we should be able to keep what we earn. As a Brewery worker, my dad thought much like other hard laborers in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and that included the miners.
A number of my uncles earned their living from 5 AM to 5 PM in the mines, often never seeing the light of day in the short daylight of winter. The miners, the brewery workers, the coal men, and other factory workers in Northeastern PA were rugged individualists. They all loved freedom and they worked hard to enjoy the small breaks in the action. Their love of freedom and family helped them get up every day to put in that long day's work. And I can attest there are family members that even under such seemingly circumstances managed to be overweight. But, it just wasn't so bad!
Work Is Good for the Heart
My career was not as tough as what these men had to put up with in their highly physical jobs. Unions were what helped them all even the score with management so that their wages were higher than mere subsistence. I did benefit from my dad's notion of work. As a very young boy, he picked coal along the railroad tracks to assure there was something to heat the family home. I had a similar youth experience.
When I was five years old, I am not joking when I say that my first job was as an entrepreneur. I used an old Radio Flyer Wagon or an old wheel barrow or a well-used baby carriage to collect papers and rags from my "customers" every Saturday. I worked within a five block radius and I would knock on doors or ring the doorbells of my "customers." to pick up their old newspapers. I would take them to the junkyard that was less than two blocks from my house. I made about a quarter to thirty-five cents a week. It gave me an understanding of what it takes to work and it put something in my pocket. It was a great life lesson.
I later moved on to shoveling sidewalks, cutting grass, working in a 5 & 10 (Huntzinger's), and then I spent time spotting pins in a bowling alley (WB Republics Club). I finished my high school career working on a soda truck (Eagle Bottling Works -- Zep-Up) and I inherited my older brother's paper route, which I turned over to my younger brother Joe when I graduated from Meyers High School in 1965.
At King's I was fortunate enough to get a work-study job in the maintenance department, and as I was scraping gum from the bottom of the tables in the library one day, I was invited to join the student aide's in the Computing Center. That was my first white collar job. One summer before I graduated, I had the pleasure of doing the payroll for the sellers and the cashiers at Pocono Downs, another white collar job. After King's I began my career with IBM, which was most challenging and exciting.
I tell you all this because I hope to give you the right picture. I was doing manual labor from the time I was five years-pls, though nothing like the miners of yesteryear, and I always had a blue collar job or a clerical job or I had no money. It was that simple. My father taught me of the value of unions for the working man but when I joined IBM, there were no unions. All I had to do was my job and when I did it extremely well at IBM, I was rewarded with more than I had ever dreamed of in high school or in College.
Working for IBM was an experience of a lifetime. I have not stopped working but times have changed for me. I am ready to take on the challenge of representation for the people of Northeastern PA. I am a Democrat, but I am a traditional Democrat like my father, not one who longs for the day when an America of the future is ruled by communists.
One of the big differentiation factors between me and the Democratic Party Leaders and our own Congressman Matt Cartwright is that I believe that if you work hard, you should keep what you earn. You should not be obligated to pay the freight for someone whose only problem in life is that they do not want to work.
In our democracy, in our freedom, in our American dream, those who are able to amass a huge bounty and those who are able to earn even a meager living do have obligations to the poor and the sick and those struggling with life. Even though we are morally obligated to try to help the helpless, income re-distribution by government is not the way. Another objective of a country is to create a set of rugged individuals like our parents and grandparents that are prepared to help keep America strong. Yes, I am for helpless people but I am not for making people helpless.
Having watched the Democratic Party evolve from the party of Harry Truman and Henry Scoop Jackson when I joined the party in the early 1970's, to the party of Harry Reid and Barack Obama, I would say one can only come to the conclusion that it has become an immoral, corrupt party. The party has lost its moral underpinnings and basic understanding of its roots.
In the past, my party, the Democrats, were not afraid to defend and promote the freedom and rights of every American. Now in what I would have to call a contaminated state, they support the abandonment of the Constitution; the power of the government to force an unwanted and unpopular health care system on the American populace; the diminution of black Americans through abortion; money laundering of taxpayer funds through unions, and using documented Saul Alinsky strategies to demonize their opposition with the help of a one-sided corrupt press.
Is it Democrats or their leadership or both? I wonder. I know who I am but I do not claim to know all Democrats. I am a Democrat but I do not think like the new fringe-loving Democrat Party. I ask myself for example, why would Democrats seem to love Al Sharpton? I am white and Irish. Sharpton does not make comments about the Irish but he is always chipping at the dignity of white people in America.
Mr. Sharpton is anti-white, anti-Semite, a liar, a con man, and a hustler who extorts millions from corporations. On top of that he is a habitual tax cheat with continual White House visitation privileges. Al owes millions to the IRS but they have given the Reverend a pass. I bet if I tried to find real examples, I could prove that Sharpton is anti-Black among his other scourges. To me he has few redeeming qualities. Yet he keeps appearing as the face of the Democratic Party. Is it so? Is Al Sharpton, white or black, all we Democrats have in our foot locker? What is the Democratic Party? Maybe it is not worth talking about? Maybe it is just in need of resuscitation?
Why does the Democrat Party embrace Al Sharpton? Willie Nelson lost his farm for owing the IRS millions just as Rev. Al. Nelson did not have all the money so the IRS took everything except his guitar, which his daughter had shipped out of the country before agents arrived. Is this the new Democratic Party?
What's different between the favored Rev. Al and the singer who produced FARM AID and many other benefits that helped Americans? Is it no longer OK in the Democratic Party to be a good guy to be permitted to live OK? By the way, Nelson is a major supporter of the Democratic Party. Too bad it does not know it. Too bad for Willie, nobody told the IRS. Or was that a Republican?
This is not my father's Democratic Party designed for the working stiffs in the US. Instead, it has morphed into an institution that is beholden to its public-sector union clients, elite academics, the Eastern aristocracy, and of course the crony capitalists who take from the government and give the Party its major funding. Hey, the next contract must come from someplace!
Obama ran so far left that it took even the hard left factions of the Democratic Party time to catch up. He simply repudiated the Bill Clinton New Democrat idea which embraced business because business was good for the country. Obama never cared what was good for the country--just his ideology. He never really liked America, even as a community organizer and he has shown disdain for John Doe Americans every day of his presidency. Few are really sure if seven years of a lavish lifestyle on the backs of the American taxpayers have yet to help him like America!
Mr. Obama knows he is the boss. That is for sure. He helps his cronies and that is how he makes it financially / politically. Yet, he has attacked private equity, a cornerstone of capitalism, from which his personal wealth springs. Obama is his own man and to hell with America. For example, a Bill Clinton Democrat would have chosen a non-Obama path and would have championed the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Obama did not care that it would help the country and our feeble economy. It did not matter. He teamed with faux environmentalists to resist it. His duplicity was so obvious that even his clone appeared to be speaking the same exact Obama language. For example, before he was known as a repetitive liar, he campaigned in coal country as a friend of the industry, knowing inside his very being that he hated coal country and all the jobs the people who supported him counted on. Then his EPA intentionally created such tough regulations that there were administration officials who admitted, "if you want to build a coal plant you got a big problem." The folks who loved Obama always felt he was rooting for them. Not so!
Workers affected by such policies were swing-state voters, who are still keenly sensitive to values issues. Yet, they were sucked in by his energy and charm and they voted against themselves for a person whose unspoken intention was to kill their jobs.
Once having conquered through chicanery, the energy workers, Obama then went on a social spree with mandates on contraception that were to help him with single women and urban voters. It did not matter that it might hurt him among Catholics in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Even Catholics loved him so much they would not believe that he was actually who he was.
Clinton had already signed the Defense of Marriage Act; but Obama stopped enforcing it, and then declared himself a nouveau supporter of gay marriage the day after North Carolinians voted a traditional definition of marriage into the state's constitution. Obama could flip flop on any issue and then blame Bush or someone or something else for the reason it took him so long to come around. And, the people, wanting to believe in him, believed him as they today are believing Hillary. No blame ever sticks to Obama because he is always working for the good of Americans even if he is the one who created the problem. He is the perfect "American" to sell anybody the Brooklyn Bridge.
Mr. Obama held his own on his flip-flops because he is the energizer bunny. Despite being killed off numerous times but people, including Sarah Palin, he simply does not accept it, picks himself up undaunted, and he keeps going and going and going. Eventually some who had begun to change their minds that he may not be the great guy they had once thought. After seeing him on TV for the 1000th time again started thinking he was the real deal. He is a Pied Piper for sure and he is very good at it. And that is why so many smart people appear dumb at his feet.
This President goes out every day with a major propaganda message and he helps convince the masses even as his poll numbers drop that he is still the Messiah. He simply looks sincere and repeats his drumbeat of lies more often than fact-checkers can refute them. When the people once loved him seemingly at even higher percentage, all the Democratic leaders backed him and loved him and looked for his coattails.
Even with a funk of an economy and morass as everybody's new wake-up code word of the day, Obama still manages to pretend that he is the reigning emperor and king of America. He does not acknowledge that he has screwed up America. He is Obama!
There are still suck-up Democrats who will follow him to the ends of the earth despite the carnage he has left in his wake. One of them of course is Hillary Clinton. Ironically, Hillary had to abandon Clintonism for Obama's brand of Nihilism for her own survival... or so she thinks.
Democratic analyst and pollster Doug Schoen often gets it 100% right as he does not wear his liberal ideology on his chest, and he does not appear to live on the far left. He says that Obama has substituted class warfare for Clintonism." Americans can feel it. Black v White. Minorities v traditional Americans. Christians v Muslims. Establishment v Outsiders... etc. etc. etc.
Many Clinton New Democrats wish they had gotten a New Democrat President for a few more years before hard left Obama took over. But, they also seem afraid of Obama, who has been known to be vindictive. So, they do not make waves with this ideologue who has captured everybody's Democratic Party to the point that it is no longer recognizable. Hopefully, most Democrats are beginning to see the folly in the ideology and hopefully, they will not vote for more of the same in 2016. But, Obama will definitely be there coaxing his once loyal constituency and there will be those who fall for it.
Help People Help Themselves.
Too bad Obama was not what he once seemed to be. He cares little about any of us. Yet, we have a natural duty to help those who need help, but we should do so without institutionalizing their neediness and putting Obama in charge of the institution. Creating a permanent needy class by government taking and redistributing the small holdings of struggling citizens is not the way to truly help the poor.
It is a way, however, for politicians to gain get credit for giving unearned gifts to the "needy class." As such it is no wonder politicians, mostly Democrats, through Obama have opted for a major redistribution of wealth. Oh, and of course it does help the newly dependent to prefer to cast their vote for the person who gave them their grab bag full of goodies.
The greed of politicians is a huge problem today and we all know that at their worst, politicians are the lowliest of the lowly in spirit and goodness. The welfare state, the needy state, the dependent sate, gives the political class the opportunity to buy votes using the public treasury. This is a sin unto itself and instead of saying that is how it is, our representatives should end this practice.
The politician's disdain for being thrifty with public funds is manifest and disgusting. "Gifts" of other people's wealth from politicians is stealing and it is unconstitutional. Even if you have received such a gift, please know that it did not come from a politician. It did not come from the government. It came from your neighbor.
Gaining without working is a way government breaks the spirit of rugged individualists and freedom lovers. Once on the take, it is tough to become rugged again and get a job. The largesse does not help American citizens. Instead, it makes us all weaker. Being lumped into this human receiving pot takes Americans further from ever becoming self-sufficient, rugged individuals and contributing members of society with a real stake in the American Dream. It is a way of forever darkening spirits as the receiver quickly calculates that it is better to take from the government than to work.
Regardless of how good it makes Joe feel, the government's role is not to take from Harry to give to Joe. It is Harry's obligation to help Joe as a human being, but not by degrading Joe into a dependent of the state. Likewise, it is Joe's obligation as he sees the hard work of those who help him, to stop taking from them as quickly as can be, and to become a part of the American Dream.
Unfortunately, many in my party believe that government is the panacea. Government is the big pill bottle and the only medicine for whatever ails you. I submit that it is too much government that has created and encouraged much of what is wrong with America today. The Democratic Party unfortunately is today's drug pusher if you know what I mean.
Common Man & Democratic Party
In today's Democratic Party, the most liberal and greedy politicians appear ready at the drop of a hat to take your hard earned dollars and squander them in full daylight. They will argue "that is the way politics works." They take your meager wealth and liberally distribute it for projects that are so full of bad, spoiled, pork, that they stink. Any given day, you can expect your favorite politician to appear unknowingly with the face of the trichina worm, rather than his own, showing his true liberal, greedy self. Too bad we cannot see politicians in the mirror for what they really are.
It is no longer the common man for whom the Democratic Party Leaders work. As much as I regret to say it, at the national level, my party's leaders seem to work instead to enrich a whole host of "others" than "we the people." These include first and foremost, themselves, the extreme left, special interests, Harvard faculty and graduates, and more recently, Chicago faculty and graduates. The common man is not even on the list. Their major goal of today's progressives is to grow the impact of the government in our daily lives, stealing as much of our small holdings and our freedom with each casting of the ballots.
There is virtually no Republican opposition that has numerical significance. The seven years of Obama have demoralized establishment Republicans to having become the me-too party. As long as the "me" is satisfied, they too are OK with the plight of America. The leaders of the party of Lincoln have nestled in with Democrats to enjoy the life that Obama has given them. They do not have to fight to make it better. And, so, they seem quite content with Obama's leftovers.
Moreover, there really are few Conservative Democrats willing to stand up and be counted. I am a Conservative Democrat and proud of it. Though in my own community, even the press thinks I am unworthy because I am not endorsed by anybody.
I believe government is to help the people to do what we cannot do ourselves. Even the faux Blue Dogs are no longer willing to think for themselves anymore. In recent legislative battles almost all Democrats, even those who would have once labeled themselves as "blue dogs," gave up their individual vote to Nancy Pelosi's wishes or to Harry Reid's. This is not why you sent them to Congress and so it is time to call them back.
Worse than that perhaps, there is nobody on the opposition side brave enough to speak up. Even the Speakers won't speak for Americans. John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell have apparently decided that they need only follow the leadership of the minority party. They have yet to do anything to help Americans though they have the power. The power was given to them by the conservatives, who they now bad-mouth regularly. And, so that is why there is so much disgust in the Republican / Conservative ranks and why Donald Trump is making his mark, and why nobody cares that Ted Cruz is not loved by his fellow Senators. They favor treason and Cruz favors a bright and shiny City on the Hill.
Only Republicans, I am sorry to say stood up to challenge the freedom-stealing steamrollers from my party in both the House and the Senate. Though some, there were not many. There were few on either side with the guts to stand up to the Party Leaders steering a bad course for America. Some even took bribes for their districts in exchange for their votes. If that is politics as usual then it is time to never invite a politician back to be your representative of the Democratic Party.
Conservatives
There are many conservatives in the Democratic Party but their voices have been shut off by Party Leadership. Don't let the big shots do this to you. When you have the time, look closely, and you will see that today's Democratic Party Representatives, once a super majority in both the Senate and the House, and now serving in a minority role, may not give a damn about you! Make sure you check that out!
You will notice that our own cast of actors from Pennsylvania are stealing more of America from the people with each of their votes. The people and only the people can hold these representatives accountable by denying them their most precious reason for being -- your vote and their reelection. Though they no longer pay homage to the electorate, remember, until they actually shred the Constitution publicly, you can vote these bums out of office whenever you have the chance. And you should.
These corrupt representatives and their leadership are not stupid people. In fact, they are very smart. They hear Americans from both parties as well as Independents screaming to slow down. Take it easy! What's the hurry? Are they afraid that so many Americans will wake up that their sinister plots to change America into a Banana Republic will be foiled?
They cannot help but hear every-day Americans pleading for them to take the time to read the anti-American and the unconstitutional legislation that their minions and their computers have conjured up for them. They do hear but they are compelled to ignore because the people no longer matter to them. The hard left agenda trumps everything, even human life. Those on the right choose to be powerless.
Look at our Northeastern Pennsylvania representatives and tell me the truth. Of the lot of them, who is worth keeping? We are now suffering through over seven years of the worst recession since the Great Depression and the Congressional Leaders have created Lemmings out of our PA Legislators. Our brood from PA are for whatever Harry and Nancy command, even though Republicans theoretically have the power.
They think the solution is to tax the people and to spend, spend, spend. Throughout the history of America, recessions have always gotten worse when taxes were raised and government spending of the people's tax money was the order of the day. No wonder there is no recovery for the people. No wonder seven years later there are no jobs and 85% of recent college graduates go back home to live with mom and dad.
We're Broke
Though we may joke about it, our representatives, especially the bulk of the Democrats in the House, and all of the Democrats in the Senate (shame) are actually spending dollars loaned by Chinese peasants living behind the Great Wall. America is broke. We have no money. Our politicians spent it on their friends. They already sent too much of it to China!
We cannot tax and spend our way out of this mess. China is for China. Try telling your representatives you don't believe in how they are voting. Go ahead! You will be surprised at their arrogance. If you have tried reaching one of these emboldened elite paragons of intellectuality and maturity to offer your opinions as I have, you will be favored by a returned note that confirms your worst suspicions. The raw fact is, "What you think does not matter."
The response always explains your legislator's opinion in a bully-type response. It is always well written but the verdict is always the same. Their opinion trumps that of the people. Coincidentally, their opinion always seems to match that of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and others who are the only real masters they serve. It is no longer a euphemism to say that our representatives no longer represent us. It is reality. And it is one of the worst reality shows that any of us can ever get to see.
Coins for Congress?
I am convinced that if there were a "Coins for Congress" program to unseat the whole lot of them, many of us would quickly get our nickels and dimes out to pitch in to make the program a success. Wouldn't it be nice if they were all gone and the new guys were already in place and the new guys chose to work for the people and not for themselves?
Our "representatives" do not serve us and so, simply, they have got to go, starting right here with our own long-time actors in Pennsylvania. Not getting elected is a sure cure for too many terms. It is the ultimate term limiter.
Hold on to your nickels and dimes. I have a better way. "Just throw the bums out!" And, hopefully, sooner than later. You do not have to pay a nickel or a dime to have these folks extricated from their seemingly entitled comfortable seats in Washington DC.
Today's Congress, especially the Democrats have made a big mistake. They have forgotten to take away your freedom to vote. Was it a mistake? Is it possible they have plans so that they will not need your vote? Maybe they are hoping to bring in millions of new voters from other countries to enshrine their ability to keep their spots in Washington.
Is Congress for Americans?
Maybe there are thirty millions of these folks; maybe there are sixty millions. They are already living in America and can be called in to vote merely by being declared citizens? If the Democratic politicians have these new voters, maybe they do not need you or me. We are simply regular Democrats. But, it is possible the Party may think they won't need our votes. Will we ever be able to get rid of this Congress if they create replacement voters this year, next year, or in subsequent years? Are we looking at an Invasion of the Body Snatchers that never seemed so real?
You know deep down that they hope that by having all these new voters, who do not contribute, even to our churches, they will always be elected. They do not mention that the love of giveaways from the people's treasury, which give the politicians their re-elections, are the rationale for their favor.
The Democrats especially know that these new citizens will pay them back with votes. So, your regular citizen votes will be discounted and not count much in future elections. This may be the last time that the people actually can take action with their votes. If not this year, it is coming soon. In 2016, do not miss the oportunity to take control of the government back from the politicians. Do it before the replacement voters take control.
The fact is that in 2016, your vote still does count. In 2016, voting is a much more valuable right than ever before in the US, and we all must use it in the Primaries and in the General Election to return America to a Representative Democracy (a Democratic Republic).
It all starts at home. Every unresponsive legislator, at least 60 and probably more in the Senate (though only 1/3 are up for office) and the majority of the members of the House, need to be given their pink slips. In Northeastern PA, that means that Matt Cartwright needs to go, regardless of who we elect to represent us. It all starts with cleaning the House at Home.
Republicans had their chance for years and they blew it, big time. But, and this is a big but, Republicans, have not tried to turn the US into a post-Romanov Russia. The Reid/Pelosi combo, out of power now but still exerting more power than McConnell and Ryan, want to create a new Communist Russia.
This is perplexing but it is clearly their intent. Republicans to their credit have yet to appoint even one Communist Czar. The Democratic controlled Administration seems to be able to find only Communists to serve in their US Government unofficial councils. As witnessed by Van Jones, the deposed Green Czar, these folks are not quiet Communists, but a crew of Czars happy to have their ideology displayed along with their full names.
Finally, the Republicans have not and are not stopping the movement of the country further and further to the left to fight the Democrat's stifling regulations. Unfortunately, Republicans are moving the country in no direction at all as they have cowarded out of the foray. All of these Democrat regulations are being infused into de-facto law with impunity from a complicit Republican-controlled, Democrat principles dominated Congress.
I regret to say that it is the Democrats who are doing all this to the people. If I am elected, I will do my best to stop this move post haste. Without changing philosophies or enabling millions and millions of new voters, Democrats will not be able to win another major election for twenty-years. Enough is enough.
My candidacy offers the Democratic Party an opportunity to get in line with the thinking of the vast majority of Americans and to stop flirting with another Bolshevik Revolution.
Tea Parties?
There is nothing wrong with being a Conservative Democrat. The Tea Party once got a lot of tracking as a real political party. It was never a political party. It was simply a means for the white members of the middle class to express frustration at the biased government and the press who somehow and for some reason did not like white males.
Today the ideals of conservatism are embraced by the populist movement that favors Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. I cannot believe all of the one-time staunch Clintonites, who I see switching parties so they can vote for Donald Trump. This is encouraging as it shows that even Democrats have come around to understanding that we must be nice to America for America to be able to be nice to any of us.
Congressional Leaders in both parties, and right now mostly the Democrats have an effective but freedom-stealing agenda. Congress has chosen not to listen to the voices of the people. Instead, they are stealing away our basic freedoms, rights, choices, and also a good part of our incomes.
Obama's executive actions to undermine the Constitution have been heralded by Democrats and permitted to stand by gutless Republicans. Our representatives in the Democratic Party have hijacked the Party and because they have almost absolute power (dangerous as that may be), they have also hijacked our government.
Anybody paying attention sees the government leaders changing the idea of "change we can believe in" to the "Nightmare of Change." Please pay attention. Watch as there is less and less democracy in this constitutional republic. It is a shame that there is more of each of the following: Progressivism, Marxism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, etc. We must stop it, whether we are Democrats or Republicans, Conservatives, or Liberals.
In order to get the right recipe for this new style of government--a government that would like to take over our very lives, the Congress and the President are currently trying to mix all of these "isms" into a big brew and throw them down our throats. Rest assured, the mixture will not taste good.
As the old joke ends, we will all be inclined to want to bring it back up for another vote. In the words of President Barack Obama, the best virtual crisis creator since the Eggplant that ate Chicago, "it may be too late." Be warned that "if he's still hungry, the whole country is through." Where is Norman Greenbaum, the songwriter who penned the 1950's spoof tune, "The Eggplant that Ate Chicago!" when we need him most? Obama, from Chicago seems not to be content until he completely destroys America.
Naming Names
It's time to name some names. Besides our own Matt Cartwright and Bob Casey, against whom, I am pleased to run for Congress, and then in the Senate for the 2018 election, there are others at the national level that must be defeated.
Senator Harry Reid may not be on the ballot but his minions will be looking to replace him in 2016. He was not for America. Instead, Harry, or as Rush Limbaugh called him, Dingy Harry used his power for outlandish hard left special interests. The word is that many of these have benefited good ole Harry himself.
Yet, in 2016, as active as they are for their own agendas, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi have been a veritable tag team of neglect for the needs of the American people since having gained control of Congress and subsequently losing it. They have chosen a radical, socialist agenda that favors non-citizens over citizens. If you are not a citizen, you should be quite pleased with Democratic Leadership. If, as a bona fide citizen, you need a job in the United States, you should be disgusted.
Harry Reid cannot read the news or he would not say the illogical things that he utters. For example, Reid says that those opposed to his government take-over of health care are on the "wrong side of history." Out-of-touch Harry doesn't realize that a majority of Americans and a majority of his constituents and the vast majority of we the people in Northeastern PA opposed and continue to oppose his health care scheme and now we want it repealed and replaced.
Neither Harry's deals nor Nancy's deals and schemes are built to help the America we know. They think that a cut of $500 Billion from Medicare has added to the benefits to which Senior Citizens are accustomed. Yet subtraction is not addition. When Congress steals from the people, there are no benefit increases.
Al Gore thinks he invented the Internet but he did invent the term fuzzy math. Taking lots of a lot from anything cannot make it more than it once was. Sorry Harry. Taking from Medicare has not helped the program to provide more benefits.
The Reid and Pelosi team, with help from the most radical socialist President since Woodrow Wilson, have taken from the people to hand out huge bailouts, and multiple humungous pork stimulus packages. Even China is worried that they will not get paid back. And, of course, you know the bill will come due in time to assure that our grandchildren have to struggle to get by.
Harry Reid and most of Congress do have their own "Nightmare of Change." They do not want their roosts in Washington changed. Their worst dream is for the public to understand that they do not care a darn about America. They want to keep their digs and their perks and their cushy salaries and they want to do so without having to care what you think about what they choose to do. Then, when they retire they can write the gospels about how they planned all along to have that 5 $million dollar job as a Washington Lobbyist. Hey. they can keep their apartments.
Harry Reid was not doing well in his home state until he promised the unions the world. By the way, you and I are paying for that world and Harry has received a large chunk of it from the US Govt. He is about ready to write some gospels that will not be good news for Americans.
Northeastern PA
So, now that we have discussed a number of things that are wrong with the Democratic Party, let me tell you how I would change government and the Democratic Party if the citizens of NEPA favor me with their votes.
If I am fortunate enough to be elected as your Representative for the 17th District of Pennsylvania, I will proudly work to defend life and prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion. I will actively work to protect our 2nd Amendment rights. I will consistently vote against pork spending and will work to roll back the unprecedented growth of government and its impositions on all of our cherished, hard fought freedoms. Obamacare will be repealed and Healthcare 2017 will be remade into something better with less government control and bureaucracy -- and no stealing from Medicare.
I will work to repeal all of the lousy, anti-American legislation that was passed this year by our sold-out Congress. I assure you that among other things, I am opposed to any tax increases and I would be happy to sign any pledge that I will not vote for any new taxes and I will vote to reduce the taxes that are already smothering our economy and those that are about to try to remove our air supply.
We are near the end of this important essay. Please indulge me for a page or more while I hit on a number of other issues that will help the Democratic Party and will help the people of NEPA if I am elected.
Obamacare
Way back in 2010, a completely Democratic-controlled Senate and the House passed a health care bill. The purpose was not to make health-care better as there are no paragraphs in the legislation that discuss medical advances that are needed and that will be funded. Instead it was a bureaucratic bungle of do's and don'ts to remove the doctor as the caretaker and replace him or her with the government. My party, the Democrats were thrilled and heralded this major theft of individual freedom from the people.
The legislation simply took control of healthcare from individuals (Doctors and patients) and gave it to the government. Anticipating being the big winner, the government had already hired enough bureaucrats to institute health care rationing and that is a big part of the new Democratic health care agenda now known as Obamacare.
Moreover, the bills in Congress provided taxpayer funds for abortions. Just in the last week of March 2016, the Little Sisters of the Poor were before the Supreme Court as Obama tried to slap a $27 million fine on their charitable work which would have ended their existence as a charity provider.
Bart Stupak who was the stupidest Congressman in 2010 agreed to an amendment that theoretically would tentatively hold the abortion line in the House, but he was aware it would more than likely not hold when the Senate / House Conference Committee finished its work. It did not or the Sisters would not be pleading for the ability to continue to exist.
Congress does what it wishes regardless of the wishes of the American people. Because Paul Kanjorski and now Matt Cartwright follows the corrupt Nancy Pelosi's wishes, Cartwright is part of the problem. He is not part of the solution for NEPA nor the Democratic Party. I will work very hard to change this. It is a top priority and it will be done.
It is time to send Democratic Leadership -- whatever is left running in 2016-- all the phony Representatives from NEPA and elsewhere in the country, back home for good. It's time for Democrats to put up some good candidates who come from the people and are for the people.
Campaign Spending
Originally, I thought I could get by not spending a dime on my 2010 Congressional Campaign v Paul Kanjorski. I was wrong. I am a regular citizen who happened to be a computer consultant by trade. Until after my first campaign, when I chose to support Lou Barletta for Congress, I served Marywood University as an Assistant Professor of Business and Information Technology.
I won't spend a bundle v Matt Cartwright but I can handle this modest Web Site that cost me about $10.00 for the domain name per year. This year I will spend no more money unless I receive some unsolicited donations. I am counting on gaining name recognition for free. Hopefully, the press to whom I send this release will help for the sake of democracy!
I am taking donations for past campaigns but not this one. I still need about $8000 to break even from my mayor campaign and the prior Congress campaign. Feel free to go to www.bookhawkers.com and make a small donation.
I did not plan to make the Wedding, Bar Mitzvah, Baptism, or Funeral circuit in NEPA in 2010 and I will not do so in 2016. I did spend almost $5000 on signs and cards and a few ads. It mounts up fast. I plan no media buys in 2016 so that will not tickle the press in NEPA. I don't think a candidate of the people should have to do that. I have sent out a number of press releases for the past few months about my candidacy but there has not been one story about it written in any local paper or media outlet. Ask them why?
With today's modern technologies, I don't think that a person willing to break out of the mold of regular person in order to represent his or her community should have to go broke to get elected. I also do not believe that a regular person should have to become a politician to run for office. I don't believe that a candidate should have to solicit money from others or spend other people's money on an election campaign. That is not my idea of a representative democracy.
So, I will spend little of my own money and none of anybody else's. I will take no donations to my campaign. In my 2010 campaign I spent under $5000 of my own money. I do wish I had it back for my next vacation. I will take some free radio spots and TV spots that are offered to all candidates and I will make myself available for newspaper interviews that are available to all candidates. But, I will not be in your face every time you turn around, asking for your vote.
Yet, I do want to be elected as your representative so that I can help begin a turnaround of a government gone sour. I'd like to spend the next few years sweetening the smell around Washington by removing as muck of the dirty politics as I can.
Team for Action
I hope to build a team and a mechanism to create as much high impact, yet simple to read legislation as possible and I hope to shepherd it to get it passed for the good of the people. That's why most of Congress has to be thrown out this year or nobody's legislation intended for the people, will have a prayer. Though I am a Democrat, my recommendation is to select the best candidate, hopefully a conservative Democrat such as myself. Please do not vote for a hard left Democrat such as Matt Cartwright to replace a hard left Democrat or you will have little return for your vote. The entrenched politicians have a history of protecting their sponsors. It is time for them and their sponsors to get out of Washington.
More Information
There is lots of stuff on my web site, briankellyforcongress.com. It will tell you about me and my ideas for a better America for Americans. If you want to read even more, I have written 63 books, many of them about the issues of today. The books are published by Lets Go Publish! (www.letsgopublish.com) and are available for purchase at www.bookhawkers.com.
Help!
I do need your support to get elected but you don't have to invite me to breakfast or dinner. Just vote for me by writing my name on the ballot after selecting OTHER. Tell all of your friends, family, and co-workers to vote for me for Congress. I promise honest conservative, Democrat representation. Tell them to visit the site at www.briankellyforcongress.com.
I know that I am the biggest contrast to anybody in Congress that you'll find in this race or any race -- ever. I, like you, am an ordinary citizen. I will serve one term if elected, though I do reserve the right to try for one more. After my one House term, I plan to be a Senator for six years before i retire from public life. I will vote for term limitations so the people do not have to purge Congress regularly of people who have lost track of their real mission -- for the people.
Paul Kanjorski & Matt Cartwright
I think Paul Kanjorski may have been an OK guy. I never met him but we in NEPA all knew him. I had no personal beef with him. He was for a lot of good things, including being pro-life (though only when convenient). I credit him mostly for that. But, he was also for a lot of bad things, the things conjured up by the Leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi-- such as Obamacare and Cap and Trade.
Paul Kanjorski was defeated. His successor is more socialist than Kanjo could have ever dreamed. I am talking about Matt Cartwright, an otherwise nice guy. He just is not good for you or I or regular Americans as our representative. He is aligned with Obama. Need I say more? Cartwright is not the right person to represent the 17th District. We can do better! Why settle?
The Plan
My plan is to proudly represent the people of Northeastern PA when you choose to elect me.
If you would like to learn more about how I think on critical issues, and I encourage you to do so, feel free to purchase any of my major patriotic books. As you can see by the titles, they are quite germane to the issues of today. Even if you are philosophically opposed to my candidacy for your own reasons, you can learn a lot about the environment in which we live by reading any of the following books. This should help you be better prepared to pick your own candidate for the 17th District if you believe I am not the proper candidate for you.
Books by Brian Kelly
(available at www.bookhawkers.com)
- Lifetime Guest Plan: A long-term immigration fix puts Americans first Let's Go Publish! (LGP!), an American Publisher, 2015
- Geoffrey Parsons' Land of Fair Play, LGP! 2014
- Sol Bloom's Epoch Story of the Constitution, LGP! 2014
- The Bill of Rights 4 Dummmies! LGP! 2014
- The Constitution 4 Dummmies! , LGP! 2014
- America 4 Dummmies!, LGP! 2014
- The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, LGP! 2014
- Bring on The American Party, LGP! 013
- No Amnesty! No Way!, LGP! 2013
- RRR: A Unique Plan for Economic Recovery and Job Creation LGP! 2012
- Americans Need Not Apply, LGP! 2011
- Kill the EPA! LGP! 2015
- Jobs Jobs! Jobs!, LGP 2010
- Healthcare Accountability, LGP!2009
- Obama's Seven Deadly Sins. LGP! 2009
- Taxation without Representation LGP! 2011
* all books published by Lets Go Publish! www.letsgopublish.com
* all books are available at www.bookhawkers.com
Don't you think it is time that NEPA and the rest of the Country got some real representation?
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Brian W. Kelly
Thank you for being part of the quiet populist revolution to save America.
Obamacare Is Full Government Control!
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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Obamacare Is Full Government Control!
Your government, also known as the politicians that you elected to represent YOU, have been hiring a ton of bureaucrats to take over control of YOUR healthcare. They began the hiring process with the stimulus bill and hired over 160,000 people in just the first year, even before the passage of Obamacare. They did not want to overburden that budget, so they were able to pre-hire people using the stimulus bill so that Obamacare could hit the ground running with dollars already allocated. These people were hired to take control of all parts of YOUR life -- not just health and education.
Global Warming
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- Category: Global Warming?
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Cap and Trade -- A Hoax on Americans
Global warming is something only dumb scientists seem to like. If you're smart, you already know it is bullsh-tt!
A brief political essay by
Brian Kelly
Here we are in early 2016 projecting what may happen if what was supposed to heppen on June 26, 2009, a bit before Congress took its summer break seven years ago, actually was able to become the law of the land. Congress, run by the D Party, who would prefer Vladimir Putin or Leonid Brezhnev were president of the US, snuck through the infamous Carbon Cap and Trade bill.
Though this bill is not named in such a way as to appear to affect anybody in a bad way, it really does. It affects you and I. It would have brought the economy down if passed. Yet, miraculously, it did not. Many who have analyzed the bill see this potentially as the largest tax increase ever to befall the American people. It is better named "The Energy Tax Bill" Though the Democratic Party (an I am embarrassed being a D when they put forth dumb things like this) quieted down on this, you can bet it will be back with the next and the next congress. It will kill America if we are not already dead by then.
Obamacare Stole a Lot of Your Money from Medicare
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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The Obamacare Medicare Caper
On Sunday, March 21, the US U.S. House with just Democrat support voted 219 to 211 to steal over a half trillion dollars from Medicare. I know some of you think they just got rid of Medicare Advantage to pay off AARP for some good moral support. That also is true but they did steal from the already weakened trust fund to give Medicare benefits to those who never paid into the system. You know that the government makes everybody who works, fork over a penny and a half of every dollar they earn into the Medicare “trust fund.” Actually, it amounts to three cents as the employer matches your contribution. Well, illegal aliens do not contribute. Is that a surprise?
Read more: Obamacare Stole a Lot of Your Money from Medicare
Did We Really Need Change?
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- Category: No Help from Obama
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Do We Really Need Change?
Do We Really Need Change?
In a word, "yes."
We needed change from a number of the policies of the Bush Administration. All ills are not Obama ills though most of the deadly ones definitely are.
Whether George Bush was really bad or not is debatable but the Country surely was suffering from Bush fatigue and Bush. Eight years or so earlier, the country suffered the same malady with Clinton fatigue.
Nobody, in either the Bush or Clinton Administrations made it seem like it was a good idea for the government to get more active. Nobody asked the government to begin to control everything. We did not need that kind of change.
From unimportant things such as big taxes on juice and soft drinks and small pleasure items to one ply toilet paper instead of two-ply to more serious matters such as no Mammograms for women over 40. The Obama czars are quietly serving but they have been destroying America for their seven year existence.
Socialist bureaucrats have been changing the US to what Russia was before President Reagan ordered the big wall torn down. Most people cannot believe how bad it is but then, others have their eyes wide shut.
So the people don't wake up and find Obama and the 111th through 114th Congresses in their socks, their underwear, their private items, and their bank accounts, this administration and Congress have been hurrying to get the job done before anybody notices that our freedom is disappearing fast. That is not the change anybody was seeking.
It is my party, the Democrats, who have done all this to us and it is time to replace all of the corrupt Democrats in Congress with real people. While we are at it, let's get rid of all the Republicans too. However, in a head to head with Republicans and Democrats, remember Republicans are just ineffective in defending America. Democrats want to destroy us.
It is hard to believe that deep down the Democrats in Congress want to make everybody's life worse. Yet, they are doing the best they can to make the country fall apart. It cannot be by accident.
Democrats under Obama are undermining the country at every turn and they are making America weak? They are not blind. They know what they are doing so we must get rid of them. It is happening before our eyes and it is one of the big things I want to change. If you don't see it, then permit me to admonish you of one thing, "Please pay attention, our freedom is on the line."
As bad as the Bush Administration was reported to have been by the low-ratings media, ole Bush and company never tried to stifle our lives with massive regulations and massive taxes. Bush may have wanted and may have gotten his but he was not trying to take yours. Bush never declared human exhale a noxious and hazardous gas. The hard left--should never be in public office again-- Democrats have been plain silly since they took control and we need to bring sense back into Congress.
Additionally, I do not recall Bush and his cronies changing things so that extreme Muslim Terrorists ever found America an easy target. Democrats will not even use the term terrorist. What is that all about. Should we simply capitulate?
Dr. Thomas Sowell, one of America's deepest and finest thinkers was asked about his greatest fear in a recent interview. You wont believe his response but it is true. He said his biggest fear is that the Iranians will get nuclear weapons and attack not Israel, but the United States. Well, Obama and Kerry have already given them permission for nukes.
Dr. Sowell added that this was his deepest and first fear but his follow-on fear was even worse. He said that what would happen in the US if the Iranians actually attacked us is his worst fear, bar none. He said that let's say Iran fires a nuke and hits a major city like Chicago. He is convinced that if Obama is president when it happens, that he will surrender. Yes, you heard me right. As commander in chief he has the power to surrender the US to a foreign power. If Iran blew up Chicago, would Obama surrender the US to Iran and dismantle our government and the military so the Mullahs would have no resistance when they came to Washington to rule. Ask Thomas Sowell!
Yet, this is precisely what the party in charge and the "outgoing" President have done. This group of bad actors have done so bad that I am embarrassed to be a Democrat. Many Democrats and other Americans, including myself are looking at the Bush days as the good old days. That's how inept our 111th through 114th Congresses have been and our President's continual worldwide apology tour has not helped our image at all. "I'm sorry" may have made the day for Connie Francis but it is destroying the notion of American Strength." Even Castro got an apology.
My candidacy to win the Democrat nomination as you might suspect is not endorsed by the established Party Leaders because they would like to give you more of the same corruption and misuse of the people's treasury. My candidacy is the right medicine for the Democratic people of NEPA, not necessarily the "go with the flow Democratic leadership." I do not expect any established politicians to get up any day soon to give a speech that heralds my choosing to run for office. In fact, I am tickled about that. I would be worried otherwise.
It's time for all hard left Democrats to be called home and to be replaced by better Democrats such as yours truly. As hard as it may be to say, even the Republicans in Congress have done a better job over this last year as the Democrats.
Democrats have become socialists, Marxists, fascists, while calling themselves progressives. Most of the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania will have nothing to do with that. That's why they like me as a candidate. I offer a no politics approach to government and I think the people understand that quite well. They are looking for a change they can live with.
The Administration with hard left Democrats in charge has abandoned the American people and along with the 111th through 114th Congress with Democrats in charge most of the time, they continue to siphon the American Treasury to make it more comfortable for trespassers in our country than for citizens.
Why do the foreign nationals who sneak into the US have more rights than citizens and how is it they benefit from our bounty more than we do? I regret to say that Democrats today in Congress have become un-American. That is not the change anybody asked for and it is time to send them home and to clean up the Democratic Party. It starts at Home in NEPA. If we cannot muster the strength to send socialist Matt Cartwright packing from Washington, why should we expect anything to get better?
No incumbent who does not love America better than Lobbyists should be elected. I had been looking for a wholesale 435 representatives exiting but there are some, though very few who still have what's best for America at heart. There are not many Democrats in their lot, unfortunately. That's why we need more Democrats and even more Republicans but very few of the same. The Founders never expected the people to vote scoundrels back into office. We are smarter than to ever do that again. And, while we are creating some good change, maybe we can clean up the Democratic Party so the people no longer fear it!
Healthcare Rationing?
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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HealthCare Redistribution: Rationing By Any Other Name Would Be Rationing!
Finally, a real explanation of the new form of health care rationing coming in the Obamacare Bill that passed. If you find your tongue hitting your cheek on this don't worry, it is not a medical emergency.
Before I begin, this essay needs a little set up time. The editors suggest that this rambles as it goes off topic sometimes. Though this appears to be the case, there are some prerequisite notions that I try to explain in line, rather than suggest you take a link. For example, technically, with Medicaid and EMTALA in place for years, there was no pressing need for Obmacare per se. Yes, there needed to be a preexisting condition stipulation as well as policy dollar limits but none of the required changes that needed 2700 pages of freedom-stealing regulations..
What is Donald Trump?
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- Category: Great Emails
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From: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To: Undisclosed-Recipients:
Sent: 1/28/2016 10:06:38 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: OMG- a 'Keeper'- "What Is Donald Trump?" (So well written & FUNNY too! )
What Is Donald Trump?
I did a search on ‘truthorfiction.com’ (I don’t trust snopes) for the author Don Frederick & there’s one by that name who writes for Bloomberg, but I couldn’t find this particular column. --- It’s great, whether he wrote it or not. It's what we all think but simply cannot say it so well!
Dear Congress: Read the Bills
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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Read the Bills
Government waste has gone far beyond outrageous and government corruption is a rotting, bloated stinking pig that has been poisoning us. Many of us were unaware it was even happening. We are now fully aware and IT MUST STOP!! The trillions of dollars that are being spent on bailouts opposed by the voters, and Obamacare plan that is making America a bankrupt nation have helped put our country in financial jeopardy.
And making matters worse, our lawmakers still do not give themselves enough time to even read the laws before they vote on them. Often they have not been printed and they are asked to read them. The bills do not exist yet they vote on them.
Political Humor: What is a politician?
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I regularly fight people who call me a politician. I am not a politician. When most people think of a politician they mean a person with few values other than greed, narcissism, and a me-first attitude.
A a formal definition of the word politician in this light is as follows:
"A person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization"
I have another definition of my own: "A politician is a person who once elected, decides to go for a second term."
Obamacare 101
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- Category: Obamacare -- Bad for America
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Obamacare 101 -- A Tough Pill To Swallow
Do we all need health care? You bet we do! But even before the big March 21, 2010 Pelosi / Obama/ Stupak takeover, the citizens of the US already had health care. Do you remeber those days. Obama was not even in the equation. When we were sick, we went to the doctors. How is not being able to go to your doctor a better deal?
Hard to believe now but it is fact that our illegal alien friends also have health care. It is better care than we will get when we choose not to pay the Obamacare penalty. IllegalCare has been the Federal law since 1986. Can you think of the expense that would be saved if the freeloaders and deadbeats from other countries were not chewing so much out of our system. Maybe we could actually afford more than just emergency room care for all citizens.
We must defeat Matt Cartwright in District 17
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- Category: Say No to Cartwright
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Start Fixing Congress Forever By Replacing It Today!
My Name is Brian Kelly. I am not the coach of Notre Dame. I am from District 17 in Northeastern Pennsylvania and I am running for Congress as a write-in candidate to help return government to the people.
Representing the people is not and never was intended by our founders to be a career. The current system creates politicians such as Scranton's Matt Cartwright from ordinary people when they choose to be in Congress for life representing their careers instead of the people.
Fixing Congress starts at home! Matt Cartwright and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania are not immune. In fact, they are examples of the problem. Members of congress from both parties after three 2-year terms or two six-year terms should immediately be sent home. It starts right here in Northeastern PA, District 17.
US Education Sucks!
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- Category: Education
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U.S. Education Sucks!
Eliminating federal involvement in K–12 education is one of my top domestic priorities for education. The Constitution offers no provision for federal meddling in education. Ron Paul says that, "It is hard to think of a function less suited to a centralized, bureaucratic approach than education. The very idea that a group of legislators and bureaucrats in D.C. can design a curriculum capable of meeting the needs of every American schoolchild is ludicrous."
As the federal government has exerted more control over education, what has happened? I don't need to tell you because you know. "The deteriorating performance of our schools as federal control over the classroom has grown shows the folly of giving Washington more power over American education." Do you really want an American bureaucrat determining the education your child receives.