The state of Florida has recently passed a law that states that any new welfare claim that is submitted, the person must have a drug test done before receiving any benefits. the claimant is responsible for paying for the test, but if the test is negative, the person will be reimbursed for the cost of the test. If they fail, they will not be paid back for the test as well as they will not be eligible for welfare for one year. This issue has become an ever growing concern for people on both sides of it.

The left (Democrats) feel that it’s an unconstitutional decision to invade someone’s privacy. They use the 4th Amendment as they reason to not allowing these test to be legal. The right (Republicans) think that if you’re going to get assistance from the government, you should be expected to abide by the same standards as those who have to take a test to get a job. They say that since employees who work to pay taxes to help fund entitlement program have to take the same test to work, the people on welfare should do the same. The reason behind their thinking is that there is so much corruption within the welfare system (along with multi-generation families) that this is one way to weed out the wrong-doers.

Those people who say that the drug testing is wrong is because if infringes on their Constitutional right as laid out in the 4th amendment The fourth amendment protects the American citizen from unwarranted and illegal search and seizures. In 2003, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Michigan’s drug testing of welfare applicants as a Fourth Amendment violation.
As for the other side of the issue, the 4th amendment pertains to privacy and they feel that if these people are looking for public assistance, then the issue of privacy doesn’t play a role in the debate.

While I agree to the drug testing, some say that I’m wrong. All I can say to that is that I must trust the judicial system to make the right decision on the matter. Unfortunately I don’t trust those who are serving on the circuit courts as well as the Supreme Court. Again this issue is for each state to make their own decisions as to if they want to legalize medical marijuana.

Here is the letter he sent out to the people in his district, followed by the response I sent to him.

After watching Standard & Poor’s performance in the Enron and housing debacles, it’s hard to stomach their decision to downgrade America’s credit.

But even coming from S&P, there is a message we should hear: The finger pointing and hyper-partisanship has to stop. If it doesn’t, we really will be on the road to ruin.

Democrats need to see tea partiers as something other than debt-limit hostage-taking Republicans. And Republicans need to see President Barack Obama and Democrats as something other than big-spending socialists.

We’ve got to stop this attack madness. We have to bring civility back to the public square. We have to put the country back on the path to fiscal sanity.

To do that, we need to cut some $4 trillion to $5 trillion. We made a down payment on this with the $2 trillion dollars we cut just last week. Now we need to go further.

To understand what we have to do, though, we first need to look at how we got here.

We went from a $236 billion budget surplus in 2000 to a $1.3 trillion deficit last year — and a record $14 trillion debt. A huge chunk of the debt comes from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re bringing the troops home.

Another significant piece stems from the Bush-era tax cuts. Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, says the tax cuts for the wealthy should be left to expire. They’re set to do so at the end of next year. We should let that happen.

Agree or not, don’t you think most Americans were better off before the tax cuts than they are now?

Much of the rest of the debt comes from the economic downturn since 2008.

That brings us to today. And there’s no mystery about what we have to do. It’s just common sense. In addition to the spending cuts Congress just made, we need tax reform.

And by tax reform, I mean closing loopholes, special interest tax breaks and corporate subsidies. It’s just plain wrong to be protecting tax breaks for oil companies and to be rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth Subcommittee, I’ve scheduled a hearing for early September to investigate closing many of these loopholes. Doing so will likely generate $2 trillion over the next decade. Add that to the $2 trillion in spending cuts we’ve made — and we’re in the $4 trillion range that we need to hit.

It’s time to stop the shouting and bickering and political attacks. It’s time to show the world that America can take care of business.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is a member of the Senate Finance and Budget committees.

Senator,

The piece that you wrote for Politico is nothing but a poor attempt to convince me to vote for you next year. I will tell you that that will never happen.

Your attempt to lie to the American people about the so-called surplus in 2000 is just something else for me to tell my neighbors and friends about when they ask me for my political advice. The surplus you refer to was nothing more than a projected number if nothing in the equation would change. You know damn well that politicians, both Republicans and Democrats alike, do nothing to stop the spending of our tax dollars.

As for the $2 million you say that Congress just cut is also a lie. Again you cut money from the projected spending that you guys would like to do in the future. It’s like me saying I saved $90,000 this year since I wanted to spend $150,000 next year and will only spend $60,000. Of course I only make $60,000 a year, but that doesn’t matter since I saved $90,000 from “cutting” my spending.

It’s politicians like yourself that has ruined this country and too bad we are left to deal with you and your type forever since there is no term limits for you Senators and Congressman.

If you want to get my vote, pass a term limit bill before your next five weeks vacation that you and your fellow politicians don’t deserve. You civic service was never meant to be a career.

As for tax reform, absolutely we need tax reform. Let’s get it all over with and enact the Fair Tax Plan and get rid of the IRS. If it wasn’t for taxes, you guys would have nothing to use to get the different classes of people mad at each other which takes the focus off of the crap you and the others are doing in Washington DC. There are two classes in this country, the citizen class and the political class.

As for your last section where you state, “It’s time to show the world that America can take care of business.”, You are so right and for us as a country to do that, we need to clean out the House and the Senate of all politicians that have held the office for more than 6 years. Working along side of GOOOH.com (Get Out Of Our House) we are working to make that happen.

In closing, I want to thank you for your time in sending out this e-mail to remind me and my fellow readers/subscribers and countrymen of what’s important to America.

Both of these companies have been poorly run and not regulated properly for the past 10-15 years. It’s only in the last three years that all the dirt is being revealed. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd started the ball rolling in 1995 drafting a bill, The Fair Housing Act, later signed by president Clinton. The bill was meant to help lower income families to get a mortgage to buy a home. Unfortunately, the politics of Washington strong-armed the mortgage industry into approving just about anyone who wanted a mortgage, even if they couldn’t even afford the down payment and/or the monthly payments. Of course many of the issues didn’t really kick into high gear until years later when more and more people started to realize how easy it was to get a home without any money down and with low interest rates (for the first 2-3 years). Adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) started to pop-up throughout the United States. All of these factors added to the entire housing market collapse as well as the financial situation with both Fannie and Freddie.

In the last three years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received over $170 billion and they are no where near getting their heads above water. There is so much leverage within the financial/housing market that it will takes years to correct. Because of that reason, the federal government can not just close the doors on Fannie and Freddie. It would cause major declines in the housing market throughout the country as well as causing the interest rates to skyrocket out of control.

Plans have to be made to start transferring the assets of these two government subsidized programs to the private sector. It’s not something that can be done immediately, it will take 5-7 years to do so, but the idea is to start now so in a few short years America’s housing market will be stable again and more in line to how the mortgage industry needs to be operated.

With private companies running the show, stricter rules will be in place to manage the mortgages as the qualification to getting one. Owning a home should be looked at as a benchmark of a person/family’s success, not as a right to own one because you exist. When the federal government is involved, it becomes more of a political tool to help get a candidate or a particular party into office. Washington has never operated as a business and I doubt they would know how to in the first place.

That’s right, you are. If you’re like me, you’re the type that looks at the bill each month to be fully aware of what I’m being charged for. On our monthly bill, there is a charge from the federal government. For each cell phone provider, it’s written different. My company lists it under government fees and taxes. An extra 3% is added to my bill each month. These charges help pay for these free phones. The programs, Assurance Wireless and SafeLink Wireless, are federal government programs to provide free phones to the lower income families.

So how do you qualify for this program? If you are already on some sort of entitlement program, you pretty much qualify. Depending on what state you live in will decide the details of the program.
In the state I live in, Florida, here’s the basics to qualifying:

If you’re on any one (or a combination) of these programs, you qualify.
. Medicaid
. Food Stamps/SNAP
. Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
. Temporary Cash Assistance

. Bureau of Indian Affairs Programs (BIA)
. Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA) or Section 8
. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
. National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program

The way we read it, this Safelink Wireless program gives you a free cell phone, free monthly service, and free minutes. You qualify even if you make 35% more than the designated “poverty” level or if you’re already getting additional freebies from the government. And we see nothing that indicates you have to be a legal resident of the United States to qualify.

How much more is it going to continue? As it is right now, $1 trillion of the national budget is slated for low-income assistance. I understand that there are people who are in dire straits because of the current (and for some time to come) economic situation, but this is going a little too far now. As we’ve seen in the last week, our country is already having difficulties paying for the programs it has in place. The federal government has gone too far over the last twenty years and if we don’t stop it, it will get worse.

As it is, many Americans are starting to think that the government owes them something just for the simple fact of existing. Why is that? Because the federal government has given the American people that feeling that it’s what they are there for. The federal government has made it where many people have no idea of what the federal government authorities actually are. Americans no longer seem to care about what the government does as long as they’re getting something for free.

These types of programs do nothing but weaken the country as a whole and damages the natural flow of the free market. When will people realize that once the government gets involved with any industry and starts to subsidize any part of it, the products that come out of the industry has gone up for their customers. Doing this is going to do nothing but push the price of service up even more. Each phone that is connected, the phone provider is paid $10 per customer. My own bill’s basic service is $49.95 a month. So how is the company making money off of the program? They charge the individual customer $49.95 for basic service along with the government fees and federal universal charges to make up for the lost.

Until we as Americans stand up to the politicians and their way of doing business, we will continue to deal with programs like this one. Like the old saying goes…”Nothing is forever except for government programs.
These are the things that need to be cut in the budget, I know damn well the Social security and Medicare are just scare tactic tools that politicians use to confuse most Americans.

There are billions of dollars being spent on programs that do nothing to increase jobs in America or to raise GDP. Instead of talking about those items, both parties are using scare tactics about Social Security and Medicare. Two things that will get the American voter engaged in doing something next year at the booth.

At the same time, the Democrats are feeling the pressure from the labor unions telling the Dems to stand firm on Social Security and Medicare. While I strongly believe in keeping the benefits of the two programs in place, there are other areas of the programs that can be cut. Such as administration costs of the program. We all know that government offices have to many employees in each of the different offices. They can not tell us that there is no way to cut at least 15-20% of staff within each of the programs. Most of the system is automated and to have so many employees in the system is taxing on the program itself.

The federal government has known about this issue for months now and have touched on the subject, but they wait until now to really get involved in it. Why is it that they wait until the last minute to do something? It’s because with the pressure of time, they can push the bill through quickly and claim later on that they didn’t realize what was in the bill since they didn’t get adequate amount of time to go through it. Of course the American people have short-term memory and forget that they waited and that’s what the politicians hope for, so they can do it again.

So as we see the politicians are trying to draft anything to get a majority of the politicians to vote yes on extending the debt. The Republicans in the House of Representatives have unveiled a two-tier plan that will cut $1.2 trillion over a ten year period and will only raise the debt ceiling for a few months. Obama has already expressed that he will not sign it because it’s a temporary fix.

Meanwhile the Democrats have presented their own plan to cut @2.7 trillion over the next ten years, but with a debt limit hike that will carry it through the 2012 elections. An election where Obama and many lawmakers will be up for re-election.

As we see over the last decade that the situation is getting worse as in the politicians doing what is necessary to get the fiscal condition of this country back in order. It’s always a temporary fix and not a permanent one. Each time the debt ceiling has come into play, politicians never cut the spending that is needed, instead they draft plans that cut spending in the future, not in the present. What happens is the cuts never come, but the spending and the raising of taxes always do.

We are coming to the end of the fuse and if we, the American people don’t do something to change the mindset of Washington, we will be finished sooner than later. This has gone on for way to long and it will come to an end one way or another.

Coburn’s plan is a joke of what needs to be done to get the economy and the country back on track fiscally. From raising the retirement age to 70 to start collecting Social Security to even proposing that many veterans pay more for their medical care as well as prescription drugs. There are other items of concern in his proposal such as cutting funding for community development grant, student aid, farm subsidies, housing subsidies for the poor and medicare. These things being mentioned are “hot points” for political battles. Just the mention of these items will put someone on the defensive, but let’s be for real, we need to get EVERYTHING in order fiscally if we want to survive as a nation.

Coburn’s plan also includes eliminating $1 trillion in tax breaks over the next ten years. A move that has set off an uproar from the anti-taxation group, Americans For Tax Reform. The plan will prevent taxpayers from claiming the mortgage interest deduction from their second home as well as limiting it to homes worth $500,000. He would also ease taxpayers into higher tax brackets more quickly by using a smaller measure of inflation to adjust the brackets.

Senator Coburn’s figure of $9 trillion in savings doesn’t include an additional $2.4 trillion in cuts to Social Security that will be funneled back into the program. Added to the fact of Coburn’s plan of raising the retirement age, his plan also calls for future benefits to be topped out at a less generous measure of inflation and hinder benefit increases even more for the top 40% of earners.

“I have no doubt that both parties will criticize portions of this plan, and I welcome that debate,” Coburn told reporters. “But it’s not a legitimate criticism until you have a plan of your own.” It’s too bad that many have offered some great ideas, but the powers that be won’t listen to them for the simple fact is that they don’t like the plan.

As a Libertarian, I’m tired of the political moves of the Democrats and the Republicans which will always leave the American people out in the cold while they live the high-life. There are so many unnecessary programs that the federal government is involved in. Many of which, they shouldn’t even be involved in. If the Senate would write the overdue budget, we would be able to see what and where we can cut to save the country. Too bad the democratic controlled Senate has not written a budget in over 800 days. What are they waiting for? I’ll tell you. As long as there isn’t a budget in place, they (politicians) can spend without any checks and balances. It’s just a spending frenzy that isn’t being monitored.

When politicians talk about how much money this program or that plan will save over a period of five, ten, or twenty years, it’s a joke. What they’re doing is what is known as “creative accounting. President Clinton did it during his term by saying that his administration had a surplus of $9 billion and the Democrats like to say that G.W. Bush destroyed and spent it all. In actuality there was never a surplus, it was all “projected” surplus and that is not the same thing as actually having the money in the bank.

With the present system, we pay taxes on everything, income, corporate, property, sales, and a whole slew of others that I’m sure you can name. You are basically being taxed on both ends of the equation. Why should you pay taxes when you get your money and then when you want to spend it? The system was designed to get the government the most of your money without you really complaining.

This country was created because our fore fathers felt that they were paying taxes to England without representation. That is something that is going on again in this country. When was the last time your local politician or even your state representative actually went around and ask everyone (or at least most) of his/her constituents what they really wanted? Of course they will take the time to talk to the wealthiest of the sector, but that’s not the majority of the sector.

If we were to go with the Fair Tax Plan, there would only be one type of tax. The consumption tax would be the only tax in place under the Fair Tax Plan. Without corporate taxes, payroll taxes and a few other related taxes that corporations pay, their products would be cheaper because of the reduce costs of running the business. With a company having less financial burdens on their balance sheets, it gives them more capitol to invest, do research or hire more employees.

Another thing that is never considered when talking about taxes, is the handful of industries that don’t pay taxes. The drug industry which is a $40+ billion one doesn’t pay any taxes on their profits, since they don’t record or report any of them. With a consumption tax, the money that is made in these types of business would be collected. Think of it, when a drug dealer goes out and spends his/her money, the government is only collecting a small part of the taxes they could have collected if the Fair Tax Plan was in place.
Don’t forget about all the gambling, prostitution, and other illegal activities that don’t pay their share of the tax burden that it takes to keep this country running.

I don’t have a problem paying my taxes. I like to have policemen protect my family from criminals, firemen to put the fires out when they threaten my home and family. Let’s not forget that having the garbage picked up is a good thing too. These are the types of taxes that each state imposes on it’s residents.

The federal taxes have gotten totally out of control. Our federal government’s responsibility is to protect our borders from foreign attacks. It was the States that created the Federal government, not the other way around.

AP Photo- Charles Dharapak

Of course, in true form of politicians, nothing was done except Obama and Cantor had their feelings hurt and walked out of the meeting. Depending on who you talk to, you will get different comments as to what happened behind closed doors. Either way you look at it, our political leaders are more concerned about their chances in next year’s election instead of what’s right for the country. Obama (like the kid in the playground with his marbles) is threatening to veto any bill that is put before him if he doesn’t get his way. The president said that he’s concerned for the American people. So if he is, why isn’t he eliminating programs that are draining the system?

The big problem that politicians are faced with, is if they have to close portions of the government for any length of time, the American people may realize that these programs weren’t needed in the first place and there won’t be a need to be reinstated once the crisis is over. Obama has used scare tactics this week by saying he can’t guarantee that the social security checks will go out in August. He knows that will not be the case and saying it just shows you how he’s willing to play ball.

Every time the threat of the country (or State) having to shut down part of the government, politicians will always use the tactic of claiming that the police, firefighters and medicare will be the programs that will be affected. This isn’t the case since there are so many other ones (parks, museums and rest areas) that can be cut for the time being (if not permanent).

So in the meantime, politicians will sit there and use spin tactics to scare the people and in turn whine and complain about the way things are getting done. If you think about it, the government is working exactly the way our politicians have set it up to work…poorly.

His speech contained 113 paragraphs and a good percentage of them (32) talked about increased “investments”. It’s amazing how politicians think if they use a different word to describe something, it’s ok. An investment is something you put money into expecting a return on investment. Spending money on pet projects in “hopes” of helping the country is not an investment, it’s spending money.

Our current crisis right now is the fact that Congress and the Administration are spending money that they do not have or the ability to obtain unless they tax the American people more than they already do.Obama did say that he promised to “save”$400 billion of the next ten years, but that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what is being spent. he did mention two specific programs cuts that his administration has or is going to make, subsides to banks and oil companies. Take note that Obama stated that the money save would not be put towards deficit reduction, but to other spending. How is doing something like that going to improve this country’s crisis? Ironically the former Community Organizer also discussed cutting spending towards community action programs.

The deficit wasn’t even mentioned last night which is a topic (I feel) should be discussed during the State Of The Union address. Our deficit for this year is reaching $1.5 trillion and growing. Washington needs to face up to the fact that they’ve failed the American people of the last 40 years and with the President’s refusal to inform us of the deficit during the address makes me wonder what else they’re not telling us. The current state of this union is in dire straits and we should all be concerned.

Libertarianism is both a philosophy and a political view. The key concepts defining Libertarianism are:
Individual Rights as inherent to human beings, not granted by government
A Spontaneous Order through which people conduct their daily interactions and through which society is organized independent of central (government) direction
The Rule of Law which dictates that everyone is free to do as they please so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others
A divided and Limited Government, checked by written constitution
Free Markets in which price and exchange is agreed upon mutually by individuals
Virtue of Production whereby the productive labor of the individual and any translation of that labor into earnings belongs, by right, to the individual who should not have to sacrifice those earnings to taxes
Peace which has, throughout history, most commonly been disrupted by the interests of the ruling class or centralized government.

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