Earmarks – Who are the fools who elected these guys anyway?… Sadly, it is us!

Congressional earmarks are a way for congress to usurp the power of the states to self-direct. One of the most effective ways Americans have to restore some integrity to congress is to eliminate earmark spending.

Basically what is happening currently is:

• Congress taxes Americans at a much higher rate than is necessary
• Congress gives some of our tax dollars back to the states
• Congress tells the states how to spend the money
• Political action groups and lobbyist (pay, donate, gift…) congressional representatives then demand federal tax money is spent on their special projects

Don’t you think it would be better if we got to keep more of our hard earned money? And, if we need something at a state level, don’t you think you could better decide how to provide for it on a local level?

Earmarks provide a way for special groups to get the EAR of the (often corrupt) officials who write our government’s checks.

It is amazing to me that congress can be so specific in telling a state how to spend tax dollars, or a public school what to teach but, they can’t be specific in telling private corporations (especially Wall Street and international banks) how to spend hundreds of billions of our tax dollars.

Who are the fools who elected these guys anyway?… Sadly, it is us!

No child left behind?

My grand-child’s cousin tested poorly and had to repeat kindergarten when he moved to Denver. He is a smart boy. Unfortunately, there were only three English speaking children in his 25 pupil kindergarten class and the teacher, a native Spanish speaker, taught the class in Spanish.

This wasn’t in Mexico. It was in central Colorado on the I-70 corridor.

False Advertising? Fraud? or Bidding UP!

Have you ever noticed that the only ones who get away with committing fraud are the banks and real estate agents?

If a house is in foreclosure and is owned by the bank, don’t you think you ought to be able to buy it if you offer $10,000 ABOVE the listing price?

NO! They sit on your offer, let it expire, then wait for the next party to offer more than your offer that they didn’t respond to.

Putting a price on a house that’s on the MLS isn’t like a starting bid on eBay folks.

On Record???

Why does Congress have to ask who received the bail out money they spent? It gives a whole new meaning to “BLANK CHECK.”  And we wonder why they can’t balance the budget…

9/11… 9/16. Can we just skip September this year?

A very busy week

Wow! This has been a very busy week. Heather went to the temple for the first time on Thursday, then our good friend Julia got married Saturday. Between the two events, and submitting an offer on a house in Salt Lake, and packing to move, and, and, and… We haven’t had enough sleep in a week, but it has been well worth it, a very good week indeed.

Selling Ice to an Eskimo

By Janet Walgren

It snowed today and it’s cold outside. It’s also dark and the kiddies should be getting ready for bed by now… so why is the ice-cream truck parked outside blasting it’s music while the driver knocks on 3 doors out of 24? It happens almost every night except after a drug bust. Money Landry truck perhaps…anyone, anyone, anyone?

Home Schooled

By Janet Walgren

Yesterday I went home shopping with a real estate agent and real estate investor/trainer. We viewed four homes out of the original list of the ten that we started with.  Three of the four were not functional and looked way too lived in (by pigs). As we were driving back to my car, the agent said, “Janet, you know what’s wrong?”

I asked, “What?”

He said, “You’re looking for a home instead of making offers on houses.”

I think he’s on to something. Architects design houses, contractors build houses, banks fund houses, investors rent or flip houses and real estate agents sell houses.

I wonder if the market might look a whole lot more appealing if someone was actually designing, building, funding, renting, flipping and selling (or living in) HOMES? I ask you:

• Does anyone ever think about the people who are going to live in the space they’re creating?
• Does anyone think about what a person, or family, does in a room when they design it?

The kitchens had room for a coffee pot on the counter and enough cupboard space for coffee and mugs. What more can I say when there isn’t anything more to talk about? ”I don’t even drink coffee!”

Doesn’t anyone cook anymore? If they do cook, where do they cook – the outdoor barbecue? Wait, there wasn’t one! I guess that ’s OK because there wasn’t really room for one. Where are people supposed to put their dishes, pots and pans and food? Where do they eat?

The bedrooms, what can I say? Crib space… that would have been a real ”WOW!” for me forty years ago, but wait!!! I had six babies and they got BIG!

Two of the houses smelled like barns. Perhaps houses ought to come with enough ”room for a pony” and out buildings with pet bathrooms.

One house was an art gallery of sorts. It had graffiti on the walls (0r what was left of them). The water pipes burst when they had frozen and then flooded when they thawed. The tile, walls and ceilings all over the house had been smashed to get to the offending copper pipes.  This was a bank owned property that needed gutted back to the frame. Do you think the bank would loan money to a buyer or pay someone - anyone to fix it?

I asked my agent about it and he said someone would need hard money (cash loaned by a private investor at about 10-12% interest) for the purchase. The bank won’t even loan money to sell their own house. No wonder the market is slow.

It kind of makes me want to drive a stake in some raw land and start from scratch.

WAKE UP AMERICA – HR 45: The Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009

By Janet Walgren

HR 45, The Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009, that was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives is a threat to the U.S. Constitution and the liberty of our nation. It would make it illegal to own a firearm unless:

• It is registered
• You are fingerprinted
• You supply a current Driver’s License
• You supply your Social Security # 
• You submit to a physical & mental evaluation at anytime of the government’s choosing.
• Change of ownership through private or public sale must be reported and would cost $25.00. If you failed to report updates, you would automatically lose the right to own a firearm and would be subject up to a year in jail.
• All guns must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18. The Child Provision Clause on page 16, Section 305, provides the government would have the right to come and inspect your home to see that you are storing your guns safely away from accessibility to children. There would be a fine for non-compliance and the violation would be punishable for up to 5 years in prison.

This is NOT a joke – go to this website find out about the legislation for yourself. 

• http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45

Our right to bear arms, to own guns has a purpose, a reason to exist. Our forefathers understood that sometimes folks need to DEFEND THEIR LIVES, THEIR LIBERTY and THEIR FREEDOM. They understood that sometimes folks need to obtain food. What was true then is also true now. We must demand that the U.S. Congress does not INFRINGE on our Constitutional right to bear arms.

Amendment II

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

HR 45 may seem to make sense to a legislator from Illinois who represents a crime-ridden state, with a high unemployment rate, a high foreclosure rate and low civic morals. I understand why corrupt politicians are getting worried that guns could become a threat to their lives. But, HR 45 is unconstitutional and it really doesn’t make sense for the the rest of us as a nation.

We don’t give Chemo-therapy to a family, a block, a city or an entire nation because an individual is diagnosed with cancer. It makes no sense to medicate (poison) the rest of us. So, why would we cripple the majority of healthy Americans, and deny them the right to protect themselves, just because a small segment of society lacks an understanding of morals, liberty, freedom  and civic responsibility?

There is a reason that the Constitution provided for States Rights and Individual Rights. Some folks have guile and therefore elect representatives who are corrupt, greedy and power hungry. Some representatives have dangerous motives, agendas that would rob us of our liberty.

To protect us from unscrupulous law makers who would legislate away our liberty, our founding fathers insisted on some provisions known as ”The Bill of Rights,” (the original 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution).

Amendment IX

 ”The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

 Amendment X

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Unfortunately, not all citizens have an understanding of their constitutional rights. If an individual or family can’t solve their own problems, the courts get involved and a solution is mandated by law. If a city or state can’t solve their own problems, the courts get involved and a solution is mandated under the law.

We don’t have the person or family that has a problem, that created a problem, make mandates to the courts. NO, we have the court, under the law of our republic, mandate a solution for the problem for the person who has the problem.

If Chicago has a problem with gangs using guns, Chicago needs to fix Chicago. They need to get rid of the gangs and get rid of the criminals. Illinois needs to fix Illinois. Why should we believe Illinois can fix the nation when they can’t even fix themselves? The overwhelming majority of Americans don’t need fixing we just need to be left alone.

Wall Street broke the world when it comes to finance. Now the same Wall Street folks who broke the world’s financial system have been appointed to fix the world by raping everyone’s piggy banks.

Are we now going to allow our Congressional representatives to break America when it comes to the rest of the Constitution. They have gutted the Constitution one law at a time. The courts have been (or at least act like they have been) neutered. Who is defending our liberty?

I do not own a gun. I am not a member of the NRA, but I believe the right to own a gun is critical to my liberty as a citizen of the United States of America. If you value your freedom, you need to speak up now. You need to become a fan of C-SPAN and read the congressional record. You need to watch Washington D.C. like a hawk. WAKE UP AMERICA! Get involved!!!

Go here to find the contact information for all Congressional Representatives, after all, there votes affect you regardless of who voted them into office:

• http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm
• http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html

• https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

• http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/