SOPA - Government kowtowing to Hollywood

HEY CONGRESSMAN GOODLATTE!

WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING BEING A SPONSOR OF SOPA!

This is why the GOP is known as the STUPID PARTY!

You're supposed to be part of the SMALLER GOVERNMENT party.

Freaking idiot!

Soooooo, what ELSE is in the bill?

BWAAAAAHhhahahahahahahahahahaa!

Congress didn't read their own bill and now THEY may not even have their own cushy health care program....

Congress strips themselves of health care?

I guess Nancy Pelosi had to pass it in order to find out what was in it. Hopefully, they are screwed.

If the GOP had any cojones, they would go buy private insurance and make this an election point.


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Buy Healthcare or Go To Jail?..I Don't Think So

As a friend of mine told his EllTee when he arrived downrange in Iraq in 2004, "You may as well start the paperwork now, cause I'm not going to recognize those rules."

The dhimmicrat Congress is now officially off the reservation. They have gone rogue, or rouge, both apply equally. They have over-stepped their Constitutional limitations by a factor of 100 to the nth power.

Committee On Ways & Means Republicans Ranking Member, Dave Camp http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:
“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1] - - - - - - - - - -

“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2] - - - - - - - - - -
“Criminal penalties
Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:
• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]

When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.

“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates. Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

Richmond Tea Party Press Release

It is beyond time for elected officials to make a decision regarding their loyalties. They took an oath to obey the Constitution. They swore to uphold the laws of the United States of America.
Republican or Democrat, from this moment on, need to decide if they are politicians or Americans serving the will of the people. From my position, all I see is politicians, and I've had quite enough of the Bravo Sierra from Congress. I will make it my life's mission to replace every single politician with someone who truly understands the Founding Principles.

Richmond Tea Party News Release!
October 13, 2009
They Should Be Ashamed of Themselves
“Senators Warner, Webb, and Congressman Cantor Reject 6,000 Petition Signatures”

Richmond, VA – Six thousand Richmond area residents have signed a petition protesting nationalized health care, but Warner, Webb and Cantor refuse to personally meet to acknowledge the petition despite multiple requests.

“The petition signatures represent genuine concern of taxpayers about government take-over of our health care system. The signatures were gathered through face-to-face meet-ups at festivals, neighborhood walks and in our workplaces. We expect our elected representatives to at least feign interest in the will of the people, but when we requested meetings to personally deliver the petitions, we were rebuffed at every turn,” said Sara James of Midlothian.

“These politicians have repeatedly demonstrated no interest in the opinions of thousands of voters in their districts. Warner, Webb and Cantor should be ashamed of themselves.”

Corky Mann of Henrico, a relative newcomer to the political process, expressed dismay about the lack of response by his representatives. “These politicians seem to forget that we hired them, and we expect them to be responsive and considerate of our opinions, not to mention the fact we expect, at a minimum, a reverence for the Constitution, which these health care bills clearly ignore.”

Mechanicsville resident Kevin Dumville agreed. “The absurdity of their refusal to receive 6,000 petition signatures can be easily demonstrated by the fact that when these petitions are laid down end-to-end, they stretch longer than a football field. How does an elected representative ignore that level of opposition?”

The petition states: “We the People of Virginia demand that the Federal Government remain within its Constitutional boundaries on health care. We reject any of the following: Government-run health insurance; One-size government-dictated package of health benefits; New job-killing mandates on employers; Federal medical mandates that violate State Sovereignty; Requirement on individuals to buy medical insurance coverage; Federal institution that controls private health insurance; Government intrusion into our medical privacy; Taxpayer dollars for euthanasia, or life ending services; Medical coverage for illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense.”

The Richmond Tea Party is a grassroots organization giving voice to the Silent Majority. Its mission is to work to reign in a Government that Has Grown Too Big, Spends Too Much and No Longer Listens to the Will of the People.

Vapor Bill

Vapor bill:

A bill which moves through the legislative process in one or more houses of the U.S. Congress without legislative language. The best example of a Vapor Bill is the Senate Health Care Reform bill, which has no legislative language, but has been amended in the Senate Finance Committee. The term Vapor Bill was derived from the word Vaporware, a term coined during the dot-com era to describe all-singing-all-dancing software that was not written yet.

Here is how Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation describes the Vapor Bill:

President Barack Obama’s push for a sweeping health care overhaul is going to be voted upon in the Senate Finance Committee this week and nobody has read the actual bill yet.

The Washington Post reported last Friday that “Senate Finance Committee Releases Its Final Text of Health-Care Bill,” yet you click on a link to the “Bill” referenced in the Post article and all you get is a 262 page description of the legislation. There still is no actual legislative language being given to Senators, Staff or the American Public. That is why many are calling it the “Vapor Bill.”

Why It Matters:

A bill without legislative language cannot be accurately scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Its impact and effects cannot be judged, nor can it be accurately evaluated without the legislative language. The end of life counseling in the House bill was discovered by reading the bill — as were many other objectionable ideas and issues.The Vapor Bill is part of a key Senate Democratic Leadership strategy to bring a blank bill before the Senate — in this particular case — the AIG Bonus bill.

How You Can Stop It:

Call Your Senator’s right now and demand that the legislative language for the health reform bill be available for 72 hours before the Senate begins consideration of the bill, and that CBO Scores the bill by evaluating the legislative language — not a literary work that is not the language that will become law. The phone number for the Senate switchboard is (202) 224-3121 and if you tell the operator which state you live in, they will connect you with your Senator’s office. Call the Democratic Senator first. They are the ones that need to hear the following message:

Vote against cloture on the motion to proceed until the bill’s legislative language has been scored by CBO and the language has been available on the internet 72 hours before consideration of the bill begins.Are we losing control of our democracy, if such far reaching legislation can be hidden from the public? If you answered yes, call your Senators NOW.

I'm with the government. I'm here to tax, um......help you.

Some busybodies cannot leave well enough alone. Congress is addicted to our money. Congressmen are addicted to "fixing" what is not broken. Many want to force us into certain social pathway because they think its important.

Now, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D) Oregon, wants to spend our money so that the government can spy on us. He wants to spend millions of dollars developing a system that tracks every motorist in America in order to tax their mileage. Apparently, he hasn't heard about the odometer yet. He needs to also track WHERE we're driving.

US Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced H.R. 3311 earlier this year to appropriate $154,500,000 for research and study into the transition to a per-mile vehicle tax system. The “Road User Fee Pilot Project” would be administered by the US Treasury Department. This agency in turn would issue millions in taxpayer-backed grants to well-connected commercial manufacturers of tolling equipment to help develop the required technology. Within eighteen months of the measure’s passage, the department would file an initial report outlining the best methods for adopting the new federal transportation tax.

“Oregon has successfully tested a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fee, and it is time to expand and test the VMT program across the country,” Blumenauer said in a statement on the bill’s introduction. “A VMT system can better assess fees based on use of our roads and bridges, as well as during times of peak congestion, than a fee based on fuel consumption. It is time to get creative and find smart ways to rebuild and renew America’s deteriorating infrastructure.”

Of course, this would be on top of the gas tax. And the technology used to track which roads and bridges are most used, wouldn't EVER be used by law enforcement, oh no.... Or be used by insurance companies to track individual driving habits.

The government controls ONSTAR. This bill would track all motorists. The government wants to control your health care. The government wants all medical records online and wants access to them. The government has shown interest in having the IRS be involved in your health care decisions and now your driving decisions. The insurance companies would love to have all this information. And if the government is running health care.......it won't matter. Because the government will have access to all of it.

Tell me that I'm wrong that these ideas would not be abused. Tell me that I'm wrong in that these programs would, eventually, piece meal, be implemented so that more and more restrictions would be put into place. All in the name of saving taxpayer money or saving the children, of course. Politicians can't help themselves. Everything they do is a "good idea at the time" in their eyes. THEY are not affected by any of this. They have to be seen as doing something, anything.....

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

cross posted at RedState