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Robert (Rob) Pastore, US House, District 1 Indiana, Meet & Greet Feb. 26th

Well, the time is nearing for candidates to ramp up their campaigns in anticipation of securing a win in the Indiana primaries held on May 5th, 2010.

Pete Visclosky (D) currently warms the seat as a U.S. Congressman in the House of Representatives, Indiana District 01. District 01 covers Lake, Porter, Newton, Jasper and Benton counties. Come May there will one democrat challenger to  Pete and 8 Republican challengers. You can go here and read the entire list (pdf) of candidates across the entire State of Indiana.

I have talked with two of the challenger for District 01 and I’ll let it be known that Rob Pastore is the guy I will be helping to win in the primaries and then helping toward a win in November.

Rob is holding a Meet & Greet this Friday, February 26th at 6:30 pm in Merrillville, IN

Go here and read the details.  This will be a good opportunity to talk with Rob. Leave your index cards at home, unlike Visclosky, he will not cherry pick questions.

If you live in any of the five counties listed above, contact Rob on his website and arrange a meeting.  I suggest gathering friends, patriots, tea party persons, and anyone you know and invite Rob to your home, business or wherever and have a meet & greet. See the form on his website under the ‘Volunteers’ label for a checklist of ways you can help and also to arrange a meet & greet.  While you are there, feel free to drop a little in the Contribute bucket. Every dollar helps.

Robert (Rob) Pastore for Congress U.S. Congress – District 01

One Nerve Left 22 February 2010 Northwest Indiana Politics, Pete Visclosky, Politics, Tea Party , , , No Comments

Pete Visclosky Votes Yes for 50 Million to buy an Island, Then Says We Have to Tighten Our Belts

Well, this is another head scratcher. Pete Visclosky is suddenly concerned with Federal government spending?

Pete Visclosky addressed the Crown Point Rotary yesterday and one of his comments regarding taxes was “…that he thought it was a problem to continue to spend with the size of the country’s deficit and said ‘changes have to be made.’”

Well la-di-da.  He is in full campaign mode and feigning concern with how the Democratic controlled House and Senate is spending too much money, deepening the crater called the deficit. Yep, look at the charts here and see for yourself who has been breaking the bank. The Republicans never even dreamed of blowing wads of our money like the Dems have done.

This guy talks out of both sides of his mouth. After attending three town hall meetings with him, I can tell you first hand that he is an arrogant, polished politician who is more concerned with what looks good in print. He will not answer questions directly and is blowing smoke up the collective a$$es of all of Indiana District 1.

How does Pete Visclosky reconcile his voting YES to spending 50 million dollars to buy a cotton plantation in the U.S. Virgin Islands?

Hey Mr. Money Man, that is OUR cash your are throwing to the wind.

Huh?  Hypocritical much Pete? You are a rising star on the most corrupt politician list, being probed by the House’s Office of Congressional Ethics, (we will see on March 2 if they take action), using your campaign funds for legal fees.

Do the people of Indiana really want to stay on that path, re-elect a career politician who has shown us that he really does NOT care about the people?

If you are fed up with lies, generational theft, corruption, backroom deals and career politicians who do not care about the people in Northwest Indiana then help Rob Pastore with his campaign for U.S. Congress District 1.

Go forth and multiply, do what ya gotta do to clean up Congress and protect the Republic of America.

One Nerve Left 18 February 2010 Corruption, Pete Visclosky , , , , , No Comments

3 Strikes and You are OUT, or rather, 3 C’s and you are Put Away for good. Scott Brown WINS

Obama supporters ought to pay attention to the three strike rule.

He has failed in these three C’s:

Chicago Olympics
Copenhagen Climate Change
Coakely in Massachusetts

The Scott Heard Around the World

The Scott Heard Around the World

Democrats may want to take a look at these three C’s and realize that everything Obama touches turns to carp (that’s another C, if you are counting). Obama has now thrown Martha Coakley under the bus, saying she ran a crappy campaign.  Was that really the reason why, for the first time in 50 years, MA, a liberal, heavily Democratic state, elected a Republican?  Could Obama’s push for healthcare, the midnight votes behind close doors, the lack of transparency and the representatives (such as Pete Visclosky) openly stating that they do not listen to their constituents?  Could it be that the people are fed up with politicians not listening to the will of the people?
People are upset with the democ-rats position of party before people.  MA was a hotbed of political shell gaming and shyster rule changes.  Our own little pro-Dem newspaper, The Times reports:

This Boston Globe article
sums up what happened. After Ted Kennedy died, the state Senate rammed
through a bill to change the law so that the Democratic governor could
appoint an interim successor. This came a mere five years after
Democrats rejected the very same bill, which in this case would have
allowed then-Gov. Mitt Romney to appoint an interim successor in the
event that John Kerry won the presidency.

That’s the subtext of “the people’s seat” comments that you heard during Brown’s acceptance speech.

The Democrats just changes the rules at will in order to keep a democrat in the seat, then changes them back when they need to pull another dirty trick.

The tea party patriots,I believe, played a large role in assisting this upset. Patriots from around the globe sent donations to Brown, phone banked for him, flew and drove to MA to campaign, watch the polls. Patriots want change, want their country back and they flexed their muscle.  I would say that come this November,  Evan Bayh and Pete Visclosky may get a run for their money.

James Simpson over at American Thinker brings up some good points regarding the Democrats and their lose to Scott Brown:

The real problem is that Coakley’s campaign defines what the Democratic Party has become today: arrogant, boorish, incomprehensibly ignorant and downright thuggish. Former Vermont Governor and Presidential candidate Howard Dean, for example, reacted to Brown’s victory by saying that now Democrats have to get tough, and not “deal with Republicans anymore.” Stunning. So that’s what we’ve been witnessing all year, with Democrats violating Senate rules, holding closed-door meetings, locking Republicans out of discussions, rejecting outright any Republican proposals and violating their own promises of “transparency.” But they haven’t been tough enough. Simply amazing.

But it was even more than that. People have had enough. We have had enough of bald-faced lies from Democrats. We have had enough of big spending bills being disingenuously presented as “deficit reducers.” We have had enough of massive government programs guaranteed to cripple the economy and lose jobs. We have had enough of ever more intrusive government attempting to take over every aspect of our daily lives. We have had enough of blatant corruption and coddling of terrorists. We have had enough of radicals attempting to ram their virulently anti-American agenda down our throats and calling us “domestic terrorists” for objecting.
This election is a game changer. Make no mistake about it. Not only is the U.S. Senate in play for Republicans in November, but so is the House of Representatives, state legislatures and governor’s mansions. Last night, Sarah Palin said to Greta Van Susteren on Fox News ”We just witnessed a wicked political pivot… This is a tidal wave sweeping the country…” She is right.

I ask that those beholding to the Republican Party do not see this as people swaying to their side of the aisle. People are tired of politicians that covet their  Party over the People and that holds true for the Dems and the GOP.

The Tea Party is made up of people from all political stripes and the common thread between everyone is that they love this country.  Massachusetts should serve as a wake up call to all politicians.

One Nerve Left 20 January 2010 Evan Bayh, Obama, Pete Visclosky, Tea Party , , , , , , , 1 Comment

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

Indiana Attorney General to review Constitutionality of Federal Health Care Overhaul Senate Bill

Finally, someone in Indiana is starting to act like a representative of the people and ask that the Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller take a look into the constitutionality of the healthcare bill. The GOPs are doing what they were hired to do and that is to protect the people of Indiana. Interesting that not a single democrat has stood up and demanded accountability from the federal government, demanding that all legislation, especially this push by the feds to control the entire population through this power grab called healthcare reform, be held up to the light and read for its constitutionality.

Every person elected to office has to swear on oath to uphold the constitution. No politician should have any problem with a review of any legislation to make sure that the federal government is not overstepping the limited powers granted to them by the people.

Pete Visclosky and Evan Bayh each voted FOR this federal takeover with Bayh voting ‘yes’ twice. Their pal Ben Nelson, the guy who got Nevada a sweet payoff deal in exchange for his yes vote on healthcare reform asked all of the AG’s to ‘call off the dogs‘

Meanwhile, you can add the Indiana’ s AG to the list that Ben Nelson originally complained about. You have the republican party to thank for growing a set and demanding that the federal government and the dems currently in control of America be held accountable for their proposed takeover of 1/6th of our economy via this healthcare legislation.

The entire article can be found here.

A snip is posted below.

WASHINGTON — At the request of some Indiana Republicans, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is reviewing the constitutionality of the health-care overhaul bill passed by the Senate last month.

Several Republican senators say the bill’s requirement that most people buy insurance or face a penalty violates the Constitution’s ban on taking private property for public purposes without just compensation.
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Republicans also say a provision that could treat some insurance companies in Nebraska and Michigan differently violates the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause.

Republicans used those arguments to back procedural challenges to the Senate’s bill but were defeated in party-line votes before the Senate approved the bill on another party-line vote.

In a letter to Zoeller on Tuesday, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., wrote that because votes on procedural challenges took place only five days after the bill’s final language was made public, there was not enough time to study the constitutional issues.

Indiana law allows the attorney general to make “any reasonable or appropriate investigation or study” of federal legislation when asked to do so by a member of the state’s congressional delegation.

“This little-known provision in state law was intended for a circumstance such as this, where proposed federal legislation could have a sweeping impact on state government,” Zoeller said.

Zoeller said he will look at other issues not specifically requested in Lugar’s letter, including a provision added by Democrats to gain the support of Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson. The federal government would pick up all of Nebraska’s share of the cost of a proposed expansion of Medicaid but pay only for most of the expansion in other states.

In that same article it says,

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, a self-described progressive legal association, has written a brief arguing that the bill’s insurance mandate is constitutional because Congress has the authority to regulate commerce and set taxes.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that he doesn’t think “that anybody has legitimate constitutional concerns about the legislation.”

When you read the word ‘progressive’ read ’socialist’. The socialist party took on the mantra of ‘progressive’ because it was a politically sexy word that hid who they are and covers up what they really want to do.

I say that there is no way the feds can hide behind the commerce clause in that this healthcare legislation demands and requires the people to purchase something, and that is it’s own right is unconstitutional. What is next? The feds own GM, and GM’s profits are falling, so the feds say ” From now until the end of 2011, the only cars available for your purchase will be GM cars.” ?

One Nerve Left 9 January 2010 Constitution, DICK Lugar, Evan Bayh, Healthcare, Pete Visclosky , , , 1 Comment

Lugar, Donnelly, Visclosky vote in favor of Socialized Medicine against the People’s Wishes

The American people did not want the Health Care reform bill weeks ago when it was being voted on in Pelosi’s House and they did not want it in Reid’s Senate but the rat basturds voted it through regardless of the people’s wishes.

What does this say for our non-representatives? It says that special interest groups, lobbyists, big business have more clout than the people the representatives are supposed to serve.

Oh You Democrats, Don't Be an Ass

Oh You Democrats, Don't Be an Ass


Pete Visclosky and Joe Donnelly voted yes in the House, Bayh voted yes in the Senate. When Lugar’s office was asked, directly, in person if the NO stack was larger than the YES stack, according to the letters, calls and emails that he received, his minion refused to answer. They do not want us to know that more people in Indiana told him to vote NO and that the majority of people were against this healthcare boondoggle. He has and had no intentions of voting according to the wishes of the people he serves. His vote, along with Vislocky and Donnnelly were based upon calculations of how to swing votes for re-election. They need the unions, ACORN and SEIU, the AFL-CIO to pull votes for them, so it doesn’t matter what the people of Indiana want.

Here are the polls indicating, for all intents and purposes, the way they should have voted and that vote should have been a big fat NO.

Poll: Support for health care plan plummets, Senate Democrats push ahead

A day after the Senate begins debate on health care legislation a new survey from Rasmussen Reports shows the highest level of opposition yet recorded. In a staggering reversal from last week the poll suggests just 38% of American voters now favor the Democratic health care plan against 56% who are opposed. The previous poll taken on November 13-14 showed support had grown to its highest level since mid-September with 47% of voters in favor against 49% in opposition. (Read the rest of the article here.)


Got that? 49% of the people told them to vote NO. Only 47% wanted them to vote yes, as of Nov. 14th.
As of Nov. 22 56% told them to vote NO and only 38% wanted them to vote yes.

Read the Rasmussen Reports here and see for yourself that the American people do not want this push by Obama to control 1/6 of our economy and bring a government employee into our doctor’s office and our homes. There is something very wrong with what they are trying to do in Congress and people are beginning to wake up. Something is very wrong when so many people are telling our hired help (Lugar, Donnelly and Visclosky) to shove this thing where the sun don’t shine and they adopt a cavalier, pompous and condescending attitude and vote Yes anyway. Plus there is something wrong with a Louisiana Senator being paid off to the tune of 300 million dollars to place a ‘yes’ vote for this legislation. What other kind of deals were cut? How much did Lugar, Donnelly, Visclosky and Bayh get to vote yes?

How many more examples does a person require before they realize that politics, as we have it toady, is dirty and that our non-representatives do NOT act upon the best interests of the people, but act upon their own best interest.

Vote them OUT. Contact a Tea Party, a Patriot group, ANY group that places principle before party. We must act in whatever way we can be that calling, writing, emailing, visiting their local offices, protesting,  whatever we are able to do in order to get them to pay attention and let them know that we are watching them, we are taking notes and come 2010 they will face an election period like none other.

Do not expect the Republicans to help you as they are not much different than the Democrats in placing Party before Principle. Find a candidate that resonates with your goals and desires, find a person who place Principle before Party and believes in the Constitution.

One Nerve Left 24 November 2009 DICK Lugar, Evan Bayh, Healthcare, Joe Donnelly, Pete Visclosky , , , , , No Comments

Pete Visclosky – Office visit puts a lowly citizen in her place (not)

Courage to See went to Visclosky’s office in Indiana and wrote about the experience here.

Visit the site to read the full experience.

In a nutshell, Petey’s bag boy basically told her that she doesn’t know what she is talking about regarding the Healthcare Reform legislation ,(she read the bill in it’s entirety’) and that although Pete Visclosky is NOT going to read the Healthcare Reform bill, he (Pete) thinks that he knows how to vote. HE IS NOT GOING TO READ IT. Get that? Pete Visclosky has no idea as to how this bill will affect the lives of every American. He is going to vote based on political party affiliations and what is best for his career. He is NOT going to vote on the basis of how all of our lives will be forever changed. After-all, Pete never has to worry about what will happen to him and his family, he is immune to the aftermath of his decisions which basically change the lives of Americans.

Mind you that there is NO mention of what the people in Pete Visclosky’s District 1 have submitted as their opinions on this matter. Pete has not referenced what the people want unless he is referencing what the local Unions, Acorn and MoveOn people want. I guess that Visclosky thinks that those three groups represent all of northwest Indiana District 1 voters.

The arrogance of the bag boy in Visclosky’s office is representative of Pete Visclosky. No person working in any office escapes being guided by the boss. The workers express the attitudes of the person they work for and in this case, the arrogance and dismissive postures of the workers in Pete Visclosky’s office definitely represent what we have experienced in person at local events where Pete graced the lowly constituents with his presence.

Pete Visclosky, even with his current legal case load centering on his resisting the evidence that exposes corrupt bribe taking, thinks he has no reason to worry about being re-elected in 2010. The Republican party has presented collusion when it comes to opposing Pete. They run ineffective, weak candidates the ensure another Democratic Visclosky win. It is a very troubling situation in Northwest Indiana and one that deserves national attention.

Below is an excerpt from Courage to See’s experience. Let this be a wake up call to all persons that just vote ‘D’ for Democrat . The person behind the ‘D’ in the ballot booth does NOT always represent your best interest. You must vote for the person, NOT the political party.

I inform her I wanted to drop off a letter for the Congressman regarding the Health Care bill and wanted to hand deliver the letter to see an actual person.

“Has the Congressman decided yet how he will vote on the bill,” I ask.  She ignores the question and tells me that she will make sure the Congressman receives my letter.  She stands and walks across the room to another desk.  Another Visclosky aide emerges from the mysterious back room; I ask him if the Congressman has made a decision on how he will vote on the Health Care bill.  He tells me, “No, not yet.”

“Has the Congressman read the bill?”

“No, he hasn’t,” he replies.

“How can he make a decision…”  I am cut-off  with..

“The bill is complex, only special people can understand what is says,” he says.

“I’ve read the bill,”  I inform him.

“You read the entire bill, the one out on Thursday?”  he asks.

“I read the entire bill back in July and since have read through various sections of the amendments,”  I reply.

Again he stresses this time with aggression, “only special people can understand the bill, it references numerous codes which you must know to understand. You have to be a lawyer and have special training to understand…”

Admittedly I’m now feeling frustrated; this  individual is either calling me a liar in stating that I have not only read the bill and understand it or that I’m just too stupid and not one of the “special” people.

“I’m not looking to argue the bill with you,” I tell him calmly.

“I’m not looking to argue either.”

“..the codes are used so that the bill is shorter.” He adds.

Yea dope, it’s called being parsimonious.


“Well they haven’t accomplished that, the bill has exploded to twice its original size,” I pointed out.

As he turned to walk back down the mysterious corridor and chuckled with an audible “ha.”

And what happened?  Pete voted FOR the Healthcare Reform bill in the House.

Folks, Pete Visclosky needs to be voted OUT. He does not represent the Constitution of the United States nor does he represent the people.

Read the entire post from Courage to See here: http://blog.couragetosee.com/?p=558

One Nerve Left 10 November 2009 Pete Visclosky No Comments

Pete Visclosky funded by big business and special interest, but Indiana shouldn’t give that no mind. (head pat)

Anyone notice this little gem in the Times? Read it here “Indiana District 1 does not support Visclosky, but he keeps getting wagon loads of cash from out of state. The people of Indiana won’t throw a penny in his pot, but Visclosky could care less, big business and special interest groups grease his wheels.”

Okay, so I took liberty with the title in the link to the news article. The actual title of the article is “Hoosiers not filling Visclosky, Bayh campaign coffers”.

Read the article and hear gems from Visclosky’s bag boy, Mr. St. John, (and I use the term bag boy in so many ways that you would be totally distracted if I explained them to you.) such as:

Having served 25 years in Congress,

“It is not surprising that he would attract campaign donations from people here in the district and elsewhere who like the job he is doing and want to see him continue his leadership,” St. John said of Visclosky.

Psst, it gets better.

* A little more than 2 percent of Visclosky’s contributions came from within his constituency, Indiana’s 1st Congressional District.

* 96 percent of Visclosky’s donations came from donors in other states.

Visclosky is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, serves on the defense subcommittee and is chairman of the energy and water subcommittee.

According to FEC records, the same industries regulated by those committees help fuel Visclosky’s campaign, with at least $192,575 coming from the energy industry and $278,700 coming from labor and defense combined from January 2008 through June 30.

Okay, so is it any wonder, for those of you who missed the Visclosky Town Hall in Chesterton where he and his office collaborated with the local Democratic Party to publicly call the people of northwest Indiana ‘Tea Baggers’, that he really could care less about what you and I think.  Politics is about money, it is all about getting the fringe vote. He doesn’t care about the 40% that will vote for him out of what is normally named blissful ignorance, blind party loyalty or just plain low-information stupidity. He cares about the 10% fringe vote, the ‘poor’, the labor unions, the special interest groups. He wants those 10 percenters to push him over the 50% mark and into another term in office.

So, at the Chesterton Town Hall, Petey exited the rally, cruising through the hall’s doors at what I would call a brisk clip. He did NOT express any interest in addressing the over 100 people standing just to his right.

Now, call me silly, but if I am a politician and I had over 100 people (actually 250 people at its height) come out to a meeting, I would stop, glad-hand the crowd, kiss babies, pet dogs and otherwise do what politicians do which is smile at you and laugh at your jokes even if they don’t understand that the joke is on them.

Not Petey. Maybe it was the shouts of ‘Vote Him Out’ that set him on edge, but he showed no interest in the people that are fondly called his ‘constituents’.  Instead, he focused on maybe 10 people standing to his left.

Hmm, 10 people vs. 100? Yep and Petey shook THEIR 10 hands, smiled at THEM and if there had been a baby or dog in the crowd he would have kissed it.  Guess who those 10 people were?  They were the paid protesters who came out to support him from Acorn, SEIU, AFL-CIO and MoveOn. We have the photos to back this up.

Get it?  This is why Pete Visclosky could care less about what you think or want. He does not vote or perform his job with Indiana in mind.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, he throws a bone to Indiana making a big deal that he porked the government and got Indiana some grant money. Never mind that that WAS OUR MONEY to begin with and the programs he gives it to are frigging union, Acorn and special interest projects.

But hey, all Hail Petey and his pork.

So, what are you going to do about changing the line-up come November of 2010?  Pete Visclosky will not be hurt if you withhold funds. He gets his money from special interest and big business from around the USA. He doesn’t need your money and he doesn’t have your interests in mind when he votes.

If you think otherwise consider this.  You get a paycheck for doing a job. Now, your responsibility is to build a job performance that you can drag out come review time where you can wag on about what you did for the community.  But, the money you really need in order to keep your job comes from a group of dudes who need you to vote a certain way so that their corporations can profit. Those dudes give you millions of dollars so that you can convince the community that you are doing a good job for them and for them only.

When it comes time to vote on issues, do you vote in favor of what is in the best interest of the constitution and the citizens or do you vote to make sure you keep getting those millions that grease the election wheel?

You and I know what you would do, if you were Petey and we all know what Pete does.

Enough. It is just time to say ‘Knock it OFF’ Pete. We are not stupid and, guess what, “WE WILL VOTE YOU OUT”

No more lies.

Take that and the big business grease and shove it.

One Nerve Left 5 October 2009 Corruption, Pete Visclosky , , , , No 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