How can the president claim such things?

Well, he can’t.

That is, not if he knows how to do math (or tell the truth).

The big problem is that all of his claims count 10 years of taxes but only 6 years of spending.

Paul Ryan, in last week’s health care summit, exposed this lie (and others) by doing the math for the president.  He pointed out that the real cost over ten years is $2.3 trillion – and even that is on the “low” side since lots of people will want the “now-free” health care and lots of businesses will drop coverage.

The President claimed that costs are $100 billion per year, but he’s not telling the truth (or can he just not do math?).  The truth is that costs increase each year.  And bringing down the deficit?  No, it won’t.  Deficits are going to be at least $460 billion over the first 10 years.  The ten after that?  $1.4 trillion.

Watch Paul Ryan take the president to Math (and Truth) school.

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By: Kitty Werthmann

What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books.

I believe that I am an eyewitness to history.  I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history.  We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote..  I’ve never read that in any American publications.  Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression.  Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed.  We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily.  Young people were going from house to house begging for food.  Not that they didn’t want to work; there simply weren’t any jobs.  My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need.  Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.

The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other.  Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna , Linz , and Graz were destroyed.  The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany , where Hitler had been in power since 1933.  We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.  Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group — Jewish or otherwise.  We were led to believe that everyone was happy.  We wanted the same way of life in Austria We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family.  Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back.  Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades.  The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order.  Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed.  The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.

Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women.  Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home.  An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family.  Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.

Hitler Targets Education – Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:

Our education was nationalized.  I attended a very good public school.  The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore.  Instead, we sang “Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,” and had physical education.

Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance.  Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum.  They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time.  The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail.  The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination.  The rest of the day we had sports.  As time went along, we loved it.  Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.  We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

My mother was very unhappy.  When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent.  I told her she couldn’t do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful.  There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political indoctrination.  I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it.  Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home.  I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing.  Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me.  They lived without religion.  By that time unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.  It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly.  As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

Equal Rights Hits Home:

In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established.  All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps.  At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work, you didn’t get a ration card, and if you didn’t have a card, you starved to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn’t have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented.  It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps.  During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys.  They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps.  After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines.  When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat.  Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack.  I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.

Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:

When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.  You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government.  The state raised a whole generation of children..  There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology.  By this time, no one talked about equal rights.  We knew we had been had.

Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:

Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna .  After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone.  Doctors were salaried by the government.  The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full.  If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn.  There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine.  Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.

As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household.  We had big programs for families.  All day care and education were free.  High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized.  Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.

We had another agency designed to monitor business.  My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables.  Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners.  Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar.  He couldn’t meet all the demands.  Soon, he went out of business.  If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection.  We were told how to shop and what to buy.  Free enterprise was essentially abolished.  We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers.  The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

“Mercy Killing” Redefined:

In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps .  The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated.  So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded.  When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work.  I knew one, named Vincent, very well.  He was a janitor of the school.  One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van.  I asked my superior where they were going.  She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write.  The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months.  They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.

As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death.  The villagers were not fooled.  We suspected what was happening.  Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months.  We called this euthanasia.

The Final Steps – Gun Laws:

Next came gun registration.. People were getting injured by guns.  Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns.  Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms.  Not long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns.  The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away.  We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria . Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath.  Instead, we had creeping gradualism.  Now, our only weapons were broom handles.  The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.

After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria .  Women were raped, preteen to elderly.  The press never wrote about this either.  When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could, dismantling whole factories in the process.  They sawed down whole orchards of fruit, and what they couldn’t destroy, they burned.  We called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded themselves in their houses.  Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as the troops mobilized.  Those who couldn’t, paid the price.  There is a monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred by the Russians.  This is an eye witness account.

“It’s true..those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.

America Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don’t Let Freedom Slip Away

“After America , There is No Place to Go”

Dr.  Barry Jacobs is a Reproductive Endocrinologist, practicing in Carrollton, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. He completed his residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and remained at that institution to become its first fellow once Baylor achieved accreditation for an advanced training program in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Dr. Jacobs has served on the faculty of several medical schools and was director of Reproductive Endocrinology at Texas Tech Health Science Center in Amarillo. Currently, in addition to his clinical activities caring for infertile patients and those with recurrent pregnancy loss, he is Chairman of the IVF committee at Baylor Medical Center in Carrollton.

There may be an explanation why the country that has become the savior of the world draws so much rebuke.  I think it was best expressed by an author I consider the Jonathon Swift of mid twentieth century America – Robert Heinlein.  In one of his satirical novels, he pointed out that it is human nature to resent anyone to whom we are indebted.  Well, the whole world is indebted to the United States.  Yes, we do have our friends and allies, like Britain, but even the British manage to find fault.  OK, we are not always right, but Americans are still the most generous people on the planet.  It would be nice if the rest of the world would cut us a little slack.

Dr. Jacobs is a Reproductive Endocrinologist, practicing in Carrollton, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. He completed his residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and remained at that institution to become its first fellow once Baylor achieved accreditation for an advanced training program in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Dr. Jacobs has served on the faculty of several medical schools and was director of Reproductive Endocrinology at Texas Tech Health Science Center in Amarillo. Currently, in addition to his clinical activities caring for infertile patients and those with recurrent pregnancy loss, he is Chairman of the IVF committee at Baylor Medical Center in Carrollton.

Sign up for our RSS feed and become a fan of our Facebook Page and we’ll keep you informed about what you can do to combat Big Government.

(Scroll down for the URGENT ACTION ITEMS.)

US News & World Report is reporting that Democratic Leaders are planning secret health reform deliberations.

Despite their claims to the contrary, the way that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have handled the healthcare bill has been anything but transparent. And, if the left-wing blogosphere is to be believed, the two congressional leaders intend to keep the deliberations secret as they try to merge the House and Senate versions of the legislation into something that will pass both chambers.

C-SPAN has challenged the President and Congress to open Health Care talks to TV coverage, writing:

President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation’s editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation’s health care system,” he wrote. “Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American.

And then C-SPAN reminded the president that he “pledged during the campaign to open up health care talks to C-SPAN’s cameras”.  In fact, what Obama said was:

That’s what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are.

Today Pelosi responded to C-SPAN’s request that the reconciliation process not be hidden from the American People.  Her reply?

There has never been a more open process for any legislation.

Quite a bold statement.  Never.  Never, ever has any other bill had a more open process than this one that has been totally conducted behind closed doors.  She must have sensed the absurdity of her statement because she then added

We will do what is necessary to pass the bill.

That’s more like it.  A little truth, finally.  And if what is necessary means dissembling, hiding, breaking campaign promises, and shutting out the public, then she’s willing to do it.

We don’t have to stand for it.

Step one is to let everyone we know that this is going on.  If we can inform enough people that this is going on, we can encourage a groundswell of opposition and force the legislative process into the open.  Remember, it was President Obama who promised transparency and televised broadcasts on C-SPAN, and we are demanding that he and they keep this promise.

What can you do?

URGENT ACTION ITEMS:

1. Please go right now and join the Facebook group “We Demand Congress Televise All Health Care Legislation Deliberations” (just click on the link) and then invite all of your Facebook friends to join, too.

2. Then sign the petition at Letthecamerasin.com and encourage your friends to do likewise!

You can also forward this blog post along to them.

If we can get this information to spread quickly, we can force their hand.  But we must act quickly and decisively!

1. Cash For Clunkers is a Modern-Day Version of the Broken Window Fallacy

2. The Two Biggest, Fattest Lies In The Health Care Reform Debate

3. Anatomy of a Trojan Horse: How Big Government Plans to Take Over Private Health Care and What We Can Learn From Arizona To Stop It

4. The Power of Language: How to expose BIG GOVERNMENT with our words

5. This is Gonna Hurt: The Pain of Mandatory Health Insurance

(As a side note, one of the most searched-for terms in search engines that led people to SBABG was “Ben Nelson Traitor“; we think his goose is cooked and we’re glad to do our little part to try and ensure it.)

Clearly, and unsurprisingly, the impact of Proposed Health Care Legislation dominated Small Business interest this year, and likely will in the coming year.

We hope you found our information and analysis helpful this year.  If there’s anything you’d like to see more of in the coming year, let us know in the comments below or at the Facebook update related to this blog entry.

We look forward to hearing from you in 2010.  Keep in touch by signing up for our RSS feed and becoming a fan of our Facebook Page!

Page 22 of the HC Bill:  Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!!

Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill:   THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.

Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Page 42 of HC Bill:  The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!

Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.

Page 58 HC Bill:  Govt will have real-time access to individuals’ finances & a ‘National ID Health card’ will be issued!

Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24:  Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer.

Page 65 Sec 164: Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN).

Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the ‘Exchange.’

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill:  Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans–The Govt will ration your health care!

Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.)

Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps) to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members – your health care WILL be rationed!)

Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill:  Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. ( No choice..)

Page 12 4 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt monopoly.

Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/American Medical Association – The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.

Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. (NO choice!)

Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees AND their families.  (Employees shouldn’t get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.)

Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll!  (See the last comment in parenthesis.)

Page 150 Lines 9-13:A business with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn’t provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll.

Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income..

Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.)

Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin..  will have access to ALL Americans’ finances and personal records.

Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.”  (Yes, it really says that!)

Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors.  (Low-income and the poor are affected.)

Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: It doesn’t matter what specialty you have trained yourself in — you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that’s not Socialism!)

Page 253 Line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor’s time, profession, judgment, etc.  (Literally — the value of humans.)

Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for “private” HC industries.

Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer patients – welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e… re-admissions).

Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission — the Govt will penalize you.

Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!)

Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.) Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required.  (Can you say ACORN?)

Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of 2 outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want — rationing.)

Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc..  (Forcing people into the Govt plan)

Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of ’special needs people!’   Unbelievable!

Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a “Tele-Health Advisory Committee.”  (Can you say HC by phone?)

Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates “Advance-Care Planning Consult.”  (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)

Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc.  (And it’s mandatory!)

Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an “approved” list of end-of-life resources; guiding you in death. (Also called ‘assisted suicide.’)

Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on “end-of-life.”  (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!)

Page 429 Lines 1-9: An “advanced-care planning consultant” will be used frequently as a patient’s health deteriorates.

Page 429 Lines 10-12: An “advanced care consultation” may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans.  (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)

Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.  (I wouldn’t want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)

Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life!  (Again — no choice!)

Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello?  ACORN Medical Services here!?!)

Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy.  (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.)

Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services.

Here is the link to the .pdf of the bill that accompanied Dr. Frazer’s letter to Bayh which he forwarded along …

http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

Be alarmed!  This so called “health care reform” is actually a bid to remove the Constitution as our governing law and establish rule by fiat.  Hitler, Stalin and Mao would be proud.

Again, please share this article with everyone you know.  We must get the word out.

–

Dr. Barry Jacobs is a Reproductive Endocrinologist, practicing in Carrollton, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. He completed his residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and remained at that institution to become its first fellow once Baylor achieved accreditation for an advanced training program in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Dr. Jacobs has served on the faculty of several medical schools and was director of Reproductive Endocrinology at Texas Tech Health Science Center in Amarillo. Currently, in addition to his clinical activities caring for infertile patients and those with recurrent pregnancy loss, he is Chairman of the IVF committee at Baylor Medical Center in Carrollton.

Not only was it not bi-partisan, it wasn’t even close to unanimous within the Democratic Party.

Divisive.

Toxic.

Political Suicide.

Nearly 20% of House Democrats refused to stand with Pelosi and Obama.

Or did Pelosi and Obama refuse to stand with their party?

Simply. Amazing.

If you want to know what’s in the 2,000 page bill, and just how it will affect your small business, read this.

Please subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Facebook group to stand with other small business people against Big Government.

We’ve bolded a few items in the email that we think this member did very well – we particularly love how he used his association with SBABG to send a message.  We encourage you to do the same.

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 2:23 PM
To: sbabgorg@gmail.com
Subject: Healthcare – I made a difference today

Yesterday, I got so fed up with the congress, Pelosi and the health care nonsense that I finally boiled over, picked up the phone and called Harry Mitchell’s (Arizona Democrat in the House of Representatives) Washington D.C. office and asked to speak with the legislative director. Rep Mitchell has still not publicly tipped his hand on how he will vote on this bill and I wanted to voice my opinion and wanted to make sure my voice was heard.

When I called I identified myself as a local small business owner and a member of an organization of 8,000 small businesses allied against big government policies.  I had a 25 minute conversation with the legislative director about why I oppose the proposed legislation and what it means for me, my family, my business and my employees. After finishing the conversation, I felt like I had truly made an effect on the legislative process and clearly explained why I am so opposed to it. If you’d like, you can pass on my experience to your readers so that they can also call their representative’s offices and tell them strongly how they feel.  After speaking for nearly a half an hour and clearly explaining why I strongly oppose this legislation.  I used one statement that I believe made a big difference.

“If Mr. Mitchell votes for this legislation, I will make it my personal mission to do everything in my power to make sure that he does not get re-elected. I will give my time, my money, my support and I will enlist other small business owners from our organization to campaign against him.”

This really seemed to resonate and I could tell he was taken aback. There was a long pause and then he said “wow… ok… I will make sure Representative Mitchell knows how you feel.”  At that moment I realized that this legislative director will also be out of a job if Mr. Mitchell does not get re-elected, so I think it sunk in right then that I would be campaigning to put him personally out of a job.

He was cordial, bright and well-informed so the conversation was actually quite interesting and informative and non-confrontational. He did try and cite some incorrect figures about certain things and about the bill, but I was able to correct him and he seemed to defer on those points.  I was expecting to get a fire-breathing Pelosi clone on the phone for some reason, but was pleasantly surprised and impressed with how receptive he was and with the fact that he told me he would take my thoughts and speak to Mr. Mitchell about them. I almost felt bad for – in effect – telling him I was about to do everything I could to get him fired.

I hope other members are calling their representatives, too, and speaking with their staff members about how we will oppose them if they continue to pursue policies that hurt our businesses and communities.  I know it makes a difference.

—-

That was a cool email to get today.  We’ll get to see how Rep. Mitchell votes on the bill very soon (too soon!), but whether he votes yes or no the approach this member took is very effective and serves as a case-study in how to call a representative.

First off, this member spoke to the right person. The legislative director is key to the process.  He or she monitors the legislative agenda and makes recommendations to your representative regarding issues.  If we can influence the legislative director, we will likely influence the politician.

Remember that when we talk to the staff of a politician and you tell them that if the politicians votes a certain way that we’ll draw upon all resources we have and organize a campaign against that person, and we are credible, we can influence that person to influence the candidate.  It’s often very effective to target the people around a primary target.

Second, this member was well informed, civil and talked for a long time about the whole issue in depth, registering opposition by explaining why he was opposed to the bill and who would be victimized by this bill (note – we have a future post forthcoming about “pleading on behalf of the victim,” which is a technique this member provided).  By doing so, the member’s threat to oppose the politician was credible.  Also, long conversations are good.  The legislative director has only so many hours per day.  If those hours are filled with conversations from people like us, carefully and rationally explaining our opposition to this bill, that is what will dominate the director’s day.

Third, the member identified himself as a small business owner. This is vital. Whereas left-leaning politicians love to bash big business and “the excesses of capitalism,” they are usually very sympathetic to small businesses, which they often identify with “the working man.”

Fourth, the members used his association/affiliation with outside groups to communicate the reality that there are many more people like him who the legislative director might not be hearing from, but who are none-the-less real and who feel similarly. Use your associations with various groups to your advantage and feel free to use your association with SBABG in your conversations.

Do not give up the fight.  Now is the time (NOW is the time) to pick up the phone and call the legislative directors of your representatives!  Please email us (through the contact form above) with your experience.

Also, please subscribe to our RSS feed and our newsletter, and join our Facebook group so that we can keep you informed about how you can fight against Big Government.

Look at this recent chart in the Wall Street Journal.  Only 27% of Americans feel positively about Nancy Pelosi.  That’s pretty remarkable considering that means that only half of Obama voters like her.

In 2006 and 2008 Republicans tried to tie Democrats to Nancy Pelosi, but didn’t really work for several reasons.  One, she wasn’t as well known and so wasn’t really the face of Big Government, and, two, the Republican party was also very unpopular (and deservedly so).

But now, as the Speaker of the House presiding over a large majority, she’s the well-known face of Big Government.  She is associated with out of control spending, interventionism, and corruption.

For that reason, anyone, and I mean anyone, who espouses a Big Government agenda needs to have Nancy Pelosi tied around his neck and worn from now until she is no longer the face of Big Government.

The way you do this is by joining her to the other person by showing they (1) support the same agenda and (2) have shared ownership of it.

For example, Lindsey Graham has gone completely squishy on Cap and Trade, proposed legislation which is disastrous for small business and is based on fraudulent science.  If you are in South Carolina, represented by Graham, when you talk with others about these policies you could say, I’m opposed to “Lindsey Graham’s and Nancy Pelosi’s prosperity-destroying Cap and Tax Legislation, and here’s why …”

You could also say, after a vote in which the politician voted with Pelosi, “I can’t believe that is so supportive of Nancy Pelosi on X, Y, and Z issues.”

You need to get these people attached to Nancy Pelosi.  She is now, finally, an electoral millstone.

Write letters to the editor of your local paper that link her to your local politicians.  Blog.  Call into talk shows.  Email your friends.  Just.  Do.  Something.  Anything.  It all adds up.

This goes for Republicans and Democrats.  You’ll notice in the example above that I used the Big Government Republican Lindsay Graham (and, by the way, Graham has said he may support Cap and Trade provided that the Democrats throw some things into the bill that he wants).  Libertarians and Conservatives cannot let a party label next to a name prevent them from calling a spade a spade; to do so is to engage in “situational ethics.”

Big Government Republicans are JUST AS DANGEROUS (maybe more so) than Big Government Democrats, because these Republicans expand government from behind the facade of restraint.  Do NOT hold fire on them.  Go after them especially hard in the primaries.  Make sure they’re sufficiently bloodied.

The recent events in the NY-23 race were a great example of this dynamic at work.  It’s very important that – win or lose – it keeps happening.   The main stream media will try and dissuade such by mocking it (just as they did with the tea parties and town hall protests) and claim that it’s “destructive.”  Keep the following in mind – if it seems like the mainstream media is giving you advice on what they think you should, do the opposite.  They do not have your best interests at heart.  Pay them no heed.  NY-23 was a HUGE victory against Big Government, because it took out a Big Government Republican while simultaneously proving the viability of Small Government candidates.

So, to recap, Nancy Pelosi is toxic to most Americans.  By effectively tying her to a candidate, you stand a good chance of turning that candidate to poison.

Tie away!

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45% for Obama, 49% Against – If Election Were Held Right Now:

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to vote for Obama if he was up for reelection right now. Forty-nine percent (49%) say they would be unlikely to vote for the president’s reelection.

Thirty-four percent (34%) would be very likely to support Obama, while 40% say they would be not at all likely to do so.

The question did not specify whom the president would be running against and also was asked of all adults as opposed to just likely voters.

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SBABG on August 3rd.

Cash For Clunkers is an economically unsound program that will only make the American economic situation worse.  It transfers wealth from one group of people to another while simultaneously destroying real wealth and misallocating scarce capital away from its best use.

To understand why this is, you need only understand the Broken Window Fallacy.

Today at the WSJ.

Remember “cash for clunkers,” the program that subsidized Americans to the tune of nearly $3 billion to buy a new car and destroy an old one? Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood declared in August that, “This is the one stimulus program that seems to be working better than just about any other program.”

If that’s true, heaven help the other programs. Last week U.S. automakers reported that new car sales for September, the first month since the clunker program expired, sank by 25% from a year earlier. Sales at GM and Chrysler fell by 45% and 42%, respectively. Ford was down about 5%. Some 700,000 cars were sold in the summer under the program as buyers received up to $4,500 to buy a new car they would probably have purchased anyway, so all the program seems to have done is steal those sales from the future. Exactly as critics predicted.

Rather than stimulating the economy, the program made the nation as a whole $1.4 billion poorer.

How were we able to predict this?  Because we read Bastiat, Hazlitt, Mises, and Hayek.  And when approaching an analysis of a proposed political solution to a problem, we employ a secret weapon that cannot be found in Washington DC – common sense.

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More here.

We can stop this! Please take a few minutes to share this video and read the rest of the article for details & resources to take action.

Shelly Roche
ByteStyle.tv

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