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Praise the Lard – Senator Evan Bayh Not Seeking Re-Election

Well, this was a surprise at least to me, but along with some upsides is a downside.

This means that Indiana is wide open for a liberty loving constitutional candidate.

On the downside, it means that Evan has free rein to vote willy nilly, vote for more spending, vote for Cap and Trade, vote for the governmental takeover of healthcare and a host of other bad ideas and he can do all this and not care about the people. I’m not saying that he cared about the people in Indiana in the first place, but now, without having  worry about campaigning for votes, he is a loose cannon. He can do some serious damage during his swan dive.

Read the news here.

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this year, an unexpected decision that comes on top of other high-profile Democratic retirements.

The two-term senator is known as a moderate Democrat. His retirement gives Republicans yet another opportunity to pick up a seat in a year when several incumbent Democrats are considered vulnerable and some have already decided to jump ship.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan both announced their retirements in January.  Democrats are trying to defend open seats in Delaware and Illinois as well.

Bayh’s staff said the latest polling showed Bayh ahead of Coats by 20 points.

Former GOP Sen. Dan Coats had been planning to challenge Bayh in November. But a senior Democratic source told Fox News that recent polling showed Bayh way ahead of Coats, and that the retirement must have been a personal decision.

I guess Obama will have to find another socialist stooge to run as a Dem in Indiana.

Bayh Obama

One Nerve Left 15 February 2010 Evan Bayh, Indiana, Uncategorized No Comments

Pete Visclosky under Ethics Probe – Trading Campaign Money for Earmark Favors

Well, surprise, surprise, surprise, Pete Visclosky is under investigation and it has reached a new level.

The Times is known to be a democratic paper, swaying their reporting to reflect a socialist agenda, but they do at times, when the story is too large to ignore, make mention of democratic corruption.

Anyone who went to a Town Hall this month ( I went to three, it sucked, was torture, but I forced myself in the name of accurate reporting).

So here is Pete Visclosky finally being investigated.  Mind you, congress critters are not poked and prodded for wrongdoing at this level every day.  Pete is right up there with John Murtha , Charlie Rangle and some others on the ranking of the top corrupt officials.  You only needed to look into his eyes at a meeting and you could see he was lying.

It is time folks to elect a person who will honestly take charge of your interests, and represent YOU.  No more Petey.   He can take a hike along with his bag boy Mark.

Here is The Times article, written by : Christine Kraly

The U.S. House ethics committee announced for the first time Friday that it has been probing since early last month whether U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky traded campaign cash for multimillion-dollar federal earmarks.

The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct confirmed it is extending its review of the Merrillville Democrat, whose ties to a powerful lobbying firm are under federal criminal investigation.

The ethics committee will announce its “course of action” on or before March 2, the panel said.

In a statement Friday, Visclosky said he “intends to cooperate fully and believes the committee will conclude that he engaged in no wrongdoing whatsoever.”

He said he “looks forward to getting this matter behind him and continuing to work hard to serve all of his constituents in the First Congressional District.”

The announcement reveals what some congressional experts say can be a confusing check on some of Washington’s balances.

The panel began its look into Visclosky’s ties with PMA Group on Dec. 2 based on a recommendation from the Office of Congressional Ethics.

The OCE is a nonpartisan, independent body created in 2008 to review allegations of ethics abuse from the public. Prior to the group, only the House ethics committee could initiate such a probe, said Melanie Sloan, executive director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

If an allegation makes it to the second stage of the OCE’s two-prong investigation, it means there is “probable cause to believe a violation has occurred,” according to the OCE.

After the second phase, it must recommend either dismissal of the probe to the ethics committee or an extended review, as it did for Visclosky.

Sloan called the OCE recommendation likely “the least of (Visclosky’s) problems.”

For nearly a year, the U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Visclosky’s ties to PMA, a now-defunct lobbying firm suspected of making “straw” donations to lawmakers, concealing the true source of the money.

PMA had for years been Visclosky’s top fundraising source, sending millions to the congressman, who helped award PMA clients with federal earmarks. Visclosky’s congressional office, campaign committees and some employees, including former Chief of Staff Chuck Brimmer, were subpoenaed in May.

Come on District 1, don’t let Gary, Indiana,  send this POS back to DC again.  Step up and stand up.

One Nerve Left 16 January 2010 Indiana, Pete Visclosky , , , No Comments

Senator Evan Bayh in Trouble in Indiana – Fundraisers Try to Save His Seat

While reading over at Hillbuzz I came across this article which tells of their associations in Chicago and the word is that the Dems are doing some serious fundraising knowing that Evan Bayh’s numbers in the polls have tanked. Evan Bayh is in some deep trouble in Indiana and the Dems are worried he may lose his seat.  You see, Chicago plays a role in Indiana politics, especially northwest Indiana, Lake County in particular with that deep money pit of a city called Gary being the recipient of a lot of Chicago/Democratic payola.

Mind you that Evan Bayh represents the entire state of Indiana, but the Chicago connection seeps into Indiana from the northern border. So for the thugs in Chicago to be campaigning and fundraising for an Indiana Senator is no big news.

According to Hillbuzz:

More on this later when we have time to tell you the whole story, but here in Chicago there’s a push going out from big donors we know from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.  Evan Bayh seems to be in a lot of trouble in Indiana.

All it took was one Democrat — JUST ONE — to tell Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and the White House that more time was needed for the public, let alone the Senators voting, to understand what was really in the Healthcare Rationing Bill before voting on it.

Evan Bayh had the chance to stand up, courageously, and tell Democrats they were operating in the dead of night, in secret, contrary to all their promises they would handle healthcare in the open following  the wishes of the people.

Bayh could have ground everything to a halt and FORCED Democrats to behave responsibly, sensibly, and in the manner they promised in 2008.

He didn’t.

That was his choice.

Though it pains us to side against Evan Bayh, we feel Evan Bayh sided against us in the Nightmare Before Christmas.

How much trouble do you think he’s really in in Indiana?  The talk we hear is that, as of the latest internal polls this week, he’s going to lose his seat.

Read the entire article here.

One Nerve Left 9 January 2010 Evan Bayh, Healthcare, Indiana, Northwest Indiana Politics , , , 2 Comments

In Memoriam – Bonnie Kuzminski 1949 – 2009 A loving wife, mother and patriot.

(This post will be pinned at the top for a while. Please scroll down for recent posts)

It is with great sadness that I send this message. A dear friend and fellow Northwest Indiana Patriot has passed away. Bonnie Kuzminski was a dedicated mother, wife and patriot who was tireless in her pursuit of freedoms for all of America. She would spend days and nights researching bills, writing news briefs, traveling to protest locations days before an event so as to give the best directions for the rest of us, she donated her time, her resources so that as many people as possible could stay informed on the issues affecting our lives. Although she worked from the background, she was the driving force moving all things forward.

Bonnie was a brilliant writer with a quiet nature combined with a dry sense of humor. Much of this wonderful woman could be seen just below the surface.

Bonnie, my dear friend, we will miss you so very much. I know you are never far, for your new position will guide us from above.

In Memoriam

(From the NWIP website:  http://nwipatriots.com/blog/2009/12/27/in-memoriam/)

The Northwest Indiana Patriots have lost a loved and valuable member of our family.

Bonnie Kuzminski


Read more…

One Nerve Left 28 December 2009 Indiana, Women , , No Comments

Continental Congress 2009 – Stop the violations of The Consitution

Not long ago a call was sent out for nominations for representatives from all 50 States to convene for the 2009 Continental Congress. The nominees, two from each State are in Illinois as we speak for approximately two weeks.

As We The People are gathering at town halls, on the streets, in front of the offices of our non-representatives in the House and Senate, as we write, call, fax and build coalitions, as we do all of that and more we still have much work to do. Many times I have heard people talk about how the Constitution is being destroyed. Congress has over-stepped it’s limits many times and in the wake of their actions we have legislation, limits and laws in place that only serve to give more power and control into the hands of the Feds while ignoring the original premise of The Constitution.  The Constitution was written so that the Federal Government has LESS power than the States, LESS power than The People and now we have the States begging for ‘grant’ money, federal funds and in turn operating the State under a weighty burden of Federal mandates.

It is all upside-down. The People have the most power, then the State and last is the Federal government. Look around you and who has the power now? Are you afraid of the Federal government? The IRS? If the Federal Government send out a mandate, say for how to school your children, does your State tell them to buzz off of do you receive a notice that your taxes are increasing because there is an added cost to comply with the Federal mandate? Why is you State NOT telling the Feds to buzz off? The States, according to the Constitution have MORE power than the Feds? When did all of this get reversed and The People ended up with the least power? How did that happen?  How do we fix that?

So, the Continental Congress has this purpose, as stated on their website:

PURPOSE OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

The purpose of Continental Congress 2009 is to determine a legal and peaceful means to stop the violations of The Constitution of The United States of America and to restore Constitutional governance.

Visit the sites below, Dr. Kate, The Dame Truth and get the lowdown from folks just like me and you. They are there and are writing about the CC2009 as it happens. We need and rely on people such as those that are taking two weeks out of their lives to work toward righting America.

Dr. Kate is a representative attending the convention and she is writing about it here.
Visit her site and scroll down to read the entries covering the events. The Dame Truth is another great blogger who is a representative and she blogs here.
She also has a radio program and is a great resource for information.

The convention is being streamed over the Internet at This Link. Take a listen and watch the Continental Congress 2009 in action. You can also click on the map shown on that link and see who is representing your state. While you are there drop a dollar in the donation bucket. These are real people, not a corporation, lobbying firm or a political party. They need your help.

One Nerve Left 16 November 2009 Constitution, Indiana, Politics , No Comments

Tea Parties: Misunderstood and Vastly Underrated by Kyle-Anne Shiver

Over at American Thinker a post caught my eye because the author captures my experiences with the Tea Party people.

In Northwest Indiana we have patriots that gather around two tea party groups. One group is lead by a woman and the other by a man. This is not a woman vs man thing, but merely a way of distinguishing the two groups. The woman began her group from her living room and it is the largest in the area. She has never ran for office and has no plans to run for office. Her events draw large crowds. The man’s group is run by a politician who has run for Congress many times and jumped onto the Tea Party bandwagon as a Republican candidate for Congress.

His focus at protests has not been the protest itself but in sending out minions to gather names, addresses and telephone numbers. We know why politicians do that sort of thing. This guy does this under the guise of being a Tea Party leader who needs all of that personal information so that he can keep you informed. Yeah, right, you need our street addresses and telephone numbers? Mark my words, Tea Party people will begin to see his campaign propaganda show up in their mailboxes, at their front door and be phoned during dinner come campaign time. And some Tea Party people may wonder how this politician got their personal info. It is an underhanded and classless move by this guy.

He takes no initiative to pursue freedoms for the people as much as he takes his lead from the Indiana State tea party group. They are the self appointed leaders for the State of Indiana and reside in the Indianapolis area. He has pursued good relations with the State group as a method of eventually using them to promote his run for Congress. They don’t believe he is anything but a great tea party guy and the people in Northwest Indiana who actually live here and know about this guy have been trying to wake up State for a long time. The Indiana State Tea Party is being used by this guy and it makes a person wonder just what is going on in Indy when they have allowed a politician to take over a tea party.

People are murmuring that the Tea Party people should vote and campaign for this guy because he is a Tea Partier. They could not be further from the truth and this becomes a dangerous position for the Tea Patry. Just because a person, a politician has aligned himself with the Tea Party movement, he or she should NOT be given a pass and be viewed as the best candidate. People must investigate each and every candidate as an individual and ignore any R, D, I, G or whatever after their name. Republicans ARE trying to use the Tea Party for their political gain. We saw and continue to see that with The Tea Patry Express. We have a very clear example here in NWI with they guy who runs a tea party here, a Republican who saw this as a political vehicle from day one.

Listen, politicians such as the one I am referring to are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They take no action, join no group unless they see a way to use that group for their personal gain, for votes while stepping on the back’s of the unsuspecting Tea Party people to attain a self-centered, narcissistic goal of winning a political office.

This ties into what Kyle-Anne states as her experience below in that the tea party people smell something funky when it comes to politicians using the Tea Party Movement. Funky is not the word for the Patriots in Northwest Indiana. It outright stinks up in here.

Sure, politicians may have an opinion that is shared or resembles what the Tea Party Movement stands for, but to be a politician and run a tea party, to actively run for Congress and run a tea party, to pull some stunts at tea parties that shows people that you are a politician first and an American second, to write website posts that push your political agenda while pretending that no-one notices that you are a politician using the Tea party movement, well, those things do  not pass the smell test and yes, We The People notice.

Kyle-Anne Shiver writes: (Excerpts posted below. Bolding mine. Read the entire article HERE.)

Since last April, I’ve written a few columns on the Tea Parties, but I had never actually
attended one in person. I harbored a few misconceptions, formed at a
distance through the media’s drive-by lens. Being a woman who tends to
cower in crowds and who loves the security and solitude of my little
office-cloister, I had been content to write based on the observations
of others. But an Alabama homemaker-turned-activist, Suzanne Green of
Birmingham, pulled me into the bosom of the Tea Party movement along
with the Rainy Day Patriots.

So what’s a Tea Party?

In
a nutshell, the Tea Parties are a visible expression of the widespread
rekindling of the love of liberty. This rekindling of freedom’s fires
seems to be occurring among diverse individuals independently, and then
they seek out fired-up others with whom to connect. Among Tea Party
participants, there is a demonstrated willingness to actually do
something tangible in order to claim those unalienable rights of which
our Founders wrote, and for which so many have given their lives in
battle.

This
may be the movement Americans truly have been waiting for. It’s the
real deal, the genuine article. It comes from the groundswell of the
people, not from the power-broker elites in political, corporate, or
religious America. It’s middle-class, thoroughly unpretentious, with a
good sense of humor and a keen disdain for things like faux Greek
columns, tacky props, and professionally written hyperbole. At a Tea
Party, you won’t find puffed-up hubris or even a tad of the liberally
popular it’s-all-about-me syndrome.  

Party operatives? Not
welcome. Political candidates?  Keep your mouths shut and your ears
open. Prefer a D or an R after your name? Not here, not on our time, or
on our dime.

The clear message: This is the people’s movement. Outsiders, opportunists, and party pols are vehemently not invited.
Read more…

One Nerve Left 12 November 2009 Indiana, Northwest Indiana Politics, Tea Party No Comments

Update: Victory against Big Labor: Home health providers reject SEIU, AFSCME power grab

Michelle Malkin provides an update covering SEIU’s power-grab for Unionized control of the persons who provide home health care for disabled persons.

The health care providers flushed SEIU and AFSCME down the tubes with the following breakdown of votes:

SEIU – 293 votes
AFSCME – 220 votes
NO UNION – 1018 votes

Folks, we must stay on top of ACORN/SEIU/AFL-CIO in Indiana and nationally.  Please help research where our State funds are going.  Every time you read an article regarding a ‘community’ program, be that for loan applications, housing, voter registration, child care, health care, employment training, school coalitions, home weatherization, teacher associations, labor, political action committees (PACS) and the list goes on, look into the associations of the organizations behind those programs. If you dig just a little you will find that the majority of those organizations have association with ACORN/SEIU and it’s money handler Citizens Services Inc.

Mitch Daniels says and seems to think that he is not doing business with ACORN and that they are top of the voter registration fraud perpetrated in Indiana via ACORN. I find it hard to believe that Indiana is not funding ACORN. Remember, ACORN has over 300 shadow corporations & organizations. That is why you have to do the research on the name of the community service and track it back to ACORN.

ACORN comes into an area with such righteous sounding names which serve to cover up the ACORN/SEIU organization. These groups then proceed to get grants and funding, using these benign names and continue to rip off the State of Indiana and the Feds for billions of dollars.

Look under the cap of the acorn and dig into the nut and you will find a rotten core.

If Mitch Daniels and his hired crew cannot see how they are funding ACORN then it is up to us to bring this to their attention and to demand that they stop handing our Indiana tax dollars, OUR money over to any group that is associated with ACORN/SEIU.

You can read the full article here: http://michellemalkin.com/2009/10/19/victory-against-big-labor-home-health-providers-reject-seiu-afscme-power-grab/

One Nerve Left 22 October 2009 ACORN-SEIU, Corruption, Indiana, Mitch Daniels, Uncategorized , 1 Comment

Coming to a Home near you, SEIU unionizing parents of disabled persons.

Guess what, the State of Illinois is acting and then reacting to SEIU’s (read ACORN’s) push to come into the living rooms of people who provide home health care to disabled loved ones.

Don’t think this is just an Illinois problem. Northwest Indiana suffers from chronic Illinois/Chicago corruption especially in Lake County. (Yeah, Pete Visclosky is deep into northwest Indiana as his dad started his political career here and handed it down to Petey.) Whatever ACORN/SEIU and the union thugs get away with from political corruption in Illinois is not far behind from effecting District 1 of Indiana. The NWI area is just a stone’s throw away from Chicago. In fact, northwest Indiana has a large population that rivals Indianapolis in numbers yet is treated like a red-headed stepchild of Indy. Unfortunately, that means that our capitol, Indianapolis, often sees NWI as not having any real issues because all things germane to the state of Indiana naturally emanate from Indy.

Michelle Malkin details the takeover by SEIU, how the home care providers were steamrolled by the union and by their own State government who were working with SEIU, ( The Illinois government stepped in and tried to distance their ties to SEIU when exposed for being in collusion, but the facts remain steady and unchangeable.) Instead of fighting for the freedoms of the Illinois people, the freedoms of the home care providers, the State of Illinois played a dirty game and allowed SEIU to deceive the public and in the end, capture union members who never, ever thought they were being herded into the railroad car for the SEIU/Illinois State Government trip to unionization.

THE STATE of ILLINOIS GAVE SEIU the names and contact info for the home health care workers. Then the State claims to have no dog in this fight? Oh for friggin sake.  The State thinks it can lie and get away with it?  Of course they do, no one is reporting to the entire population. No one seems to get a whiff of the stink, so they think everything is just A-Okay.

And then there is this:

Special report: A parental revolt against the SEIU’s home invasion robbery.

Read her article here: http://michellemalkin.com/2009/10/05/special-report-a-parental-revolt-against-the-seius-home-invasion-robbery/

Last month, I noted the appalling story about the SEIU’s power grab in Illinois to unionize home health care workers.

Roughly 3,500 people in Illinois receive state funding to assist someone, usually a family member, at home with a developmental disability. In June, Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn signed an executive order approving collective bargaining by “individual providers of home-based support services” — effectively busting open the doors of private homes for the Purple Shirts of the SEIU and other union competitors hungry for new dues-paying members.

The home-based workers weren’t seeking a collective bargaining agent.

But unions were targeting them.

Yes, Illinois provided both the SEIU and AFSCME with the names and home addresses of all 3,500 in-home care providers for the purposes of increasing their membership rolls and political clout. [The State provided union thugs with homes addresses and names!  There goes your privacy when any government, be it State or Federal has the info.]

Indiana has it’s version of Acorn via SEIU extending it’s criminal tangs into Home health care via unionizing and then making claims of benefits via http://www.seiuhealthcareilin.org/SEIU__Addus_renew_national_home_care_agreement.aspx

Home care aides from across Illinois & Indiana gathered in Chicago on Tues., Feb. 10th to celebrate the renewed national agreement between SEIU and Addus HealthCare, Inc. The agreement covers 10,000 home care workers in 11 states, protects workers and will raise standards for quality care for seniors and people with disabilities.

I have worked with several organizations serving the disabled with many of the participants coming from a family where a mother (typically) or a father (seldom) serves as the person who stays at the house with the disabled child/adult. I can bet you a dime to a dollar, from personally experiencing how overwhelmed these parents are, that they never saw ACORN/SEIU coming.  These folks don’t have a solid information network, as home health providers, they do not have as much as a simple phone tree in most situations, let alone, an organization that allows them the information and understanding of what was being done TO them via SEIU/Obama.

Understand, this is not something that the parents and providers for disabled persons sought out, this was something that was injected into their lives. As if their loads are not enough, they now have to deal with the likes of ACORN/SEIU coming into their homes and demanding actions or performances because the are now SEIU UNION employees.

What a shame. You have to read the entire article. I only provided a few snippets.  Basically, the State of Illinois is working with the Marxist ACORN/SEIU and brownshirting the home health care providers with underlying threats if they do not comply. Yep, that’s a Union for ya.

What a shame that Obama is directly connected with this takeover although he shields his intentions through third parties such as acorn and seiu. What a shame that he has facilitated a takeover of a group of Americans who never saw this coming.

How did this happen?

WHERE WAS THE STATE OF INDIANA, PROTECTING THE DISABLED?

Votes and power.  SEIU wants to claim to be the largest union organization in the USA and they work underhandedly to acquire as many faceless bodies as possible. We see that the Illinois Government facilitated the SEIU takeover of the disabled and their home care, although doing a dance later to try and deny their actions. What a fine piece of work that crew is. (not)

Stopping SEIU is important, exposing them is paramount to ending this rush to harm the defenseless. Look at the ranks of SEIU. See the ranks of hotel workers who cannot speak English let alone know what a union is, yet they are now required to sign up to and PAY a union/SEIU to ‘protect’ them.

Top this off with SEIU taking over the care providers of Indiana’s most vulnerable and no one was there to help these families withstand SEIU’s jaws of assimilation into Obama’s army of voiceless Americans.

Where is Mitch Daniels and his crew in protecting the disabled and their care providers from a Union takeover by SEIU?

Listen, SEIU uses union dues to promote Marxism and socialism. The people they use, the union members, have no say in any of this.  SEIU is one of the 300+ arms of ACORN. They give Obama money as if it is going out of style.

To put it simply, the home care providers now ‘unionized’ in the dark of night by SEIU will have their money paid as ‘dues’ given to an administration that will in turn facilitate rules and regulations that work AGAINST home care providers. The SEIU union is now in your home and will make demands of you and SEIU does not do much of anything that isn’t in Obama’s big plan book  that outlines the control and takeover of the American citizen.

It is the same as being demanded to dig your own grave. That is SEIU.

One Nerve Left 17 October 2009 Indiana , , No Comments

1,982,760 – Can you say Two Million? Can you hear us Now? 912dc March on Washington.

Cspan has a tape of the event. It is almost 3 hours of live coverage.  I have included a link at the end of this post. Take a look at The MOB, the angry, irrational, scary protesters who gathered. Can we just say that 2 million people who knocked on Congresses’ door on Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009 can’t all be confused, uninformed, right wing, paid protesters, racists, bigoted, ignorant fringes of the population? From my personal experiences, for every one person who was able to make the trip, one hundred others wanted to be there.

This event is a piece of the United States history.  The current administration has control of most media outlets. We are able to view the lack of coverage from, for example, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN as indicators that we can no longer see the truth or hear the news from those agencies. The current administration has swallowed them up and they are now the mouthpiece for government controlled information. Can anyone say North Korea, Venezuela? State controlled media is here in the USA. Obama recently added a FCC czar. Do the math folks. The intent and purpose of this FCC czar is to control the information given to the American People and ‘redistribute’ the media airwaves to state controlled left wing organizations. They have already begun the process and that is another post to be aired down the road.

So much BS, so little time.

Here is another video I took of the march. There were waves and waves of people.  During the march, as we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, we heard a rumble, sounding like a low roar, with the sound getting louder as it neared. We couldn’t make out what was being said until the wave of the chant neared us. It became clear that the crowd was saying, “You Lie. You Lie.” and we joined in as the wave became us and those in front of us caught the wave and picked it up. It was a very surreal experience, very moving and powerful.

YouTube Preview Image

We can easily say that 2 million patriots attend this historic event. Zac Moilanen calculates the number to be

Zac Moilanen – Indiana University (Leave it up to a Hoosierite) has a PDF HERE outlining the calculations for The Real Number of Protesters at the 9/12 Washington, D.C. March. Considering that the government and the State run media refuse to report accurately, Zac took up the project.

1,982,760

That is the number from Zac’s analysis.

Click here for Cspan’s live coverage of 912dc March on Washington.

“I got One Nerve Left and you’re on it.”

One Nerve Left 19 September 2009 9-12 March on Washington, Constitution, Indiana, Obama, Politics , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Visclosky & Donnelly voted yes to approve H R 3221 Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009.

Rep. Peter Visclosky [D, IN-1] and Rep. Joe Donnelly [D, IN-2] voted yes to approve H R 3221 Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009.

In summary, this bill slid under the radar while Healthcare was being battled. In effect, what this bill does is remove private lending options for students seeking to get loans for college. The government will be in control of educational lending, adding layers and layers of bureaucracy and providing the government with a reserve of indentured servants.  See, these college kids can get out of repaying their loans if they agree to work for the government for ten years.

Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-6) has a post on her blog that can be found HERE. It is well worth the time to read her take on this bill including the Increased Cost of the program.

Summary: This bill eliminates the Federal Family Education Loan program and shifts all student loans to a government-run and taxpayer financed system under the Direct Loan program, as well as creates nine new programs and increases the federal government takeover of early education, higher education, school construction, and more.

Concerns: As proposed in President Obama’s FY 2010 budget, H.R. 3221 eliminates the FFEL student loan program that has been the overwhelming choice of students and families for more than 40 years, replacing it with a government-run program.  While Democrats continue to use government takeovers as a panacea to all economic problems, converting all student loans to government subsidized loans is just another way that Democrats are killing jobs, increasing government intrusion, and eroding the rights of the consumer.

This bill greatly increases the role of Federal Government in higher education. H.R. 3221 will federalize all student financial aid. The U.S. Department of Education will be tasked with administering and supporting all student loans, which will greatly increase the federal government’s role and power in education.

While we were fighting nationalized healthcare and Cap & Trade they moved quickly to nationalize education and you didn’t even see it coming.  Pete Visclosky and Joe Donnelly did this to us and never even bothered to tell us.

Additionally, H.R. 3221 includes Title IV (Section 401) which creates an “early learning challenge fund.” This early learning challenge fund would allow the federal government to provide grants to the states to support state efforts to increase early education programs from birth to age 5.

What is the Federal Government doing controlling access to college and universities? What is the Federal Government doing ‘granting’ States funds for educational programs for that state’s children from birth to 5 years of age.  Does anyone think that grants come without strings and mandates? Why is our state of Indiana not pushing back, demanding a reduction or elimination of the Federal tax, keeping the money in the state so that they are not begging for some of it back from the Feds? The current administration will be further dictating what must be taught in schools, what your child must learn and can anyone just take a trip down fantasy lane and envision how the most malleable of brains will be receiving this administration’s messages.

There is no language in the bill to clarify that the state’s early education programs funded through the federal grants must be voluntary. As a result, there is the danger that states may try to pass legislation which would create mandatory early education programs, using the grants from the federal government to help fund the program.

You may have thought Obama’s ‘original’ plan to address the schoold children with the message of servitude to Obama was bad, before he changed it due to public outcry, but now this bill gives him and his ilk full access to not only control a child’s learning from birth, but to control access to funds for higher education, determine what is taught in all levels of education and attach Federal government strings to every educational institution in the USA.

Our next step has to be addressing our representatives in the Senate. Call, write, email and fax them and let them know where you stand on H.R. 3221. We have to get on this before Obama can get his hands on it.

One Nerve Left 18 September 2009 Big Brother, Education, Indiana, Joe Donnelly, Obama, Pete Visclosky, Politics, Socialism , , , , , , , No Comments
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