Benicia Vallejo Asks George

George Miller votes to ban States from enacting single-payer health care

2009-07-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Rep. Miller,
Why did you vote NO on the Kucinich amendment to the Health Care Reform bill, an amendment that would allow the states to enact single-payer health care systems? (Thank goodness it passed the Ed & Labor Committee vote, in spite of your opposition.)

You claim that you fully support a "public option". Isn't single-payer a public option? Single-payer would eliminate the insurance company middle man, control costs, and ensure universal coverage. The so-called public option in the current version of the bill would not be nearly as effective as a single-payer system.

If you support the concept of universal affordable public health care, but can't get enough votes in the House to pass a single-payer system, why in the world would you block the States from enacting it?!

As this bill works its way through congress, there will be many working behind the scenes trying to strip this amendment out of the final bill. Please don't be one of them!
____________________________________________

House Lets States do Single-Payer
by David Swanson , July 17, 2009
http://www.opednews.com/

On Friday morning at 9:45 a.m. ET in the House Committee on Education and Labor, the committee members voted 25 to 19 to pass Congressman Dennis Kucinich's amendment to the healthcare reform bill. This amendment, if it survives the full House, the Senate, the conference, and the President, will not alter the federal legislation except to allow states to create single-payer healthcare systems if they choose to. ....

READ Full Article and see ROLL CALL VOTE
_________________________________________

A Real Win for Single-Payer Advocates
by John Nichols, July 17, 2009
http://www.thenation.com/

Canada did not establish its national health care program with a bold, immediate political move by the federal government.

The initial progress came at the provincial level, led by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's Tommy Douglas when he served from 1941 to 1960 premier of Saskatchewan. The universal, publicly-funded "single-payer" health care system that Douglas and his socialist allies developed in Saskatchewan proved to be so successful and so popular that it was eventually adopted by other provinces and, ultimately, by Canada's federal government.

... Votes for the amendment came from progressive Democrats who favor single-payer -- such as Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Lynn Woolsey, of California, and Raul Grijalva, of Arizona -- as well as conservative Republicans who have no taste for single-payer but want states to be able to set their own agendas.

Opposition to the amendment came mainly from Democrats such as committee chair George Miller, of California, who have resisted moves to create more flexible, innovation-friendly legislation.

.... After the committee vote, Rose Ann DeMoro, the executive director of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, said, "This is a historic moment for patients, for American families, and for the tens of thousands of nurses and other single-payer activists from coast to coast who can now work in state capitols to pass single-payer bills, the strongest, most effective solution of all to our healthcare crisis."

READ Full Article
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For an overview of the current health care reform bill being discussed and formulated in congress, and its prospects for genuine reform, see article, "Obama's Health Plan, far from transformation".

For better understanding of single-payer system, see website of Physisians for a National Health Program http://www.pnhp.org/

Miller flip flops on prior vote against war funding

2009-06-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Congressman Miller,

We were so impressed with your vote in the House on May 14 to oppose the $100 billion supplemental war funding bill to continue our endless military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course you and the sixty others who voted against it knew it would easily pass anyway, but it was an important principled stand.

Since then, the Senate passed their version of the bill, tacking on an additional 100 billion in the form of a loan to the IMF (to bail out European banks!), and now the House Republicans are saying they won't vote for the revised House/Senate version of the bill! This means the bill could actually fail!! And the wars could end!!

Unless of course the "House leadership" can convince at least forty of those Democrats who voted no on the first version of the war funding bill to flip their vote and vote yes on the revised bill.

And sadly we watched as you were one of the first of those Democrats to step forward and announce to reporters that you would vote yes on the revised bill. I guess this shouldn't surprise us, since you are actually Chair of the "Congressional Democratic Policy Committee".

But this certainly makes your original vote on May 14 look like an empty gesture, a safe vote for the purpose of political posturing.

NOTE TO READERS: If you don't like American policy of endless war, and George Miller's support for it, call him and tell him!

George Miller's contact form: http://georgemiller.house.gov/contactus/
Phone: 202-225-2095

No more billions without accountability and jobs

2008-12-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Miller,
What about the next $350 Billion the Treasury is asking for to continue to fund the bailout "plan". Are you just going to hand it over, telling us again that the situation is urgent and there is no other option?

You gave the banks $350 billion. It was supposed to get them lending again, which would help companies and consumers get credit. But the credit markets are still frozen and the economy's getting worse. And the banks won't even say what they did with the money!

Now Treasury is asking Congress for the remaining $350 billion in bailout funds. No more oversight. No strings attached. Just $350 billion that could be spent on health care, or green jobs, or more teachers—going instead into the black hole that is our financial system.

Please don't give one more dime to the banks unless they can show they're using it to create jobs and stimulate the economy!

Don't tell us bank bailout was your only option

2008-10-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Mr. Miller,
Why did you vote to use our taxpayer's money to bail out the banks, instead of insisting that the money should be used to help homeowners who can't pay their mortgages and and also used for job creation programs to stimulate spending? Do you think we are fooled when you tell us that because the government had to act fast, the Paulson bank bailout plan was the ONLY SOLUTION AVAILABLE? We know that there were many eminent economists proposing other solutions that would have directly benefited and protected Main Street instead of Wall Street. Why did you and the rest of the establishment Congressional leadership act as though those Main Street solutions didn't even exist? Why did you dutifully follow the dictates of Paulson, Bernanke, and their biased Wall Street economists to pass their plan for a $700 billion bailout that will only protect Wall Street banks (and their wealthy executives and investors) from the consequences of their greedy and reckless business investments at our great expense?
Congressman Miller, please watch this video clip of a speech by Congressman Brad Sherman , and answer his challenges, if you can! (The full video can be viewed at http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/441.html )

Questions for George Miller on the Bailout!

2008-10-03T00:33:00.000-07:00

What can you be thinking of to dare to spend $700 billion of our taxpayer dollars without holding open hearings on the plan first?

Why haven’t you listened to the advice of independent economists, instead of just listening to the finance industry’s own insider “experts” (people whose policies and actions were complicit in causing this mess, and whose industry cronies will be the main beneficiaries from the bailout).

Why aren’t you questioning the underlying premise, the idea that this credit market crisis and its effects can only be solved by a bailout to the finance industry with tax payer’s money?

Why haven’t you considered any other alternatives?

Why aren’t you forcing the immense wealth on Wall Street to bail its own finance industry out? (Including paying for the government bailouts that have already been enacted at taxpayer’s expense.)

Why aren’t you including regulations and laws to stop the over leveraged banking processes and market speculation and deceit that triggered this?

Why aren’t you taking back the bonuses, fees, and compensations from the financiers who got rich from passing off these dishonest mortgage securities?

Why aren’t you including regulations or insurance to protect the small investors and pension funds from the effects of these dishonest financial schemes?

What controls have you put in place to insure that the government would purchase the bad debt mortgage securities from the banks at an honest price matching their current value?

Why aren’t you directly helping homeowners, providing assistance with their debt burden and helping families faced with bankruptcy (instead of helping the fat-cat banks and hoping that benefit will “trickle down” to homeowners and workers)?

Why aren’t you reducing debts from Main Street (the real economy) instead of Wall Street (the financiers that speculate on the real economy)?

Why aren’t you addressing the structural changes that need to be made in the fundamental processes of our debt-based monetary system, a system that has made it possible for the banks and the Fed to hold this blackmail gun to your heads?

An angry voter from Benicia

Bail Out Main Street, Not Wall Street

2008-10-02T23:42:00.000-07:00

Congressman George Miller:
Based on your recent approval of the Wall Street Bailout Plan, it appears that you and the Democratic leadership have now completely abandoned your Democratic roots and values and gone over to the ideology of the Republicans, embracing their discredited trickle-down economic theories. The housing bubble and this credit crisis that we are now in proves that trickle-down ideology doesn’t work—it only benefits the financiers and wealthy investors and speculators. But now when that crowd and their “experts” hold a gun to your head and tell you to jump and bail them out, you jump – even though there is no reason to expect the banks will eagerly start loaning to other banks and businesses as soon as you spend $700 billion of our money to let them unload their bad debts on the government.

The only thing this plan does is trickle down their toxic mortgage securities to us, while ballooning our national debt which we and our grandchildren will have to pay back to those same banks plus interest! It will plunge America into a “disaster capitalism” scenario in which there is no money left over, after payments on our enormous national debt, to pay for infrastructure and basic government services and social safety nets. And what will it do to the value of the dollar and higher prices? This is a financial coup d’etat. Don’t do it!

Please do not vote for another Wall Street bailout plan. We are not fooled by the sugar coating of tax breaks (much of it pork), toothless oversight, and other tweaks. Not one cent of our taxpayer money should be spent assisting Wall Street. Vote only for a Main Street bailout plan. Use our tax money to directly assist homeowners and the real economy on Main Street.

Your constituents are watching. Don’t fail us again.
Sincerely,
Norma Fox, Benicia, CA

Note: If you want specific suggestions from independent economists on what an appropriate bailout plan should look like, please hold some public hearings and invite a few of the 200 economists who wrote to Congress on Sept. 24 regarding dangers in the Treasury Plan.

And for some very practical specific suggestions for a bailout that would protect and stimulate Main Street, that would mostly employ mechanisms that are already in place, and would not require taxpayers to borrow hundreds of billions, see the WashingtonPost.com op-ed by James K. Galbraith, Sept. 25, “A Bailout We Don’t Need”

Also see the key principles laid out by the Institute for Policy Studies in their Plan to Pay for the Recovery

Miller spins a response to our question about war funding

2007-07-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Congressman Miller responds to our key question about "why doesn't the Congressional Democratic leadership (Pelosi) simply cut off the purse strings by just not offering any more Supplemental Iraq funding bill at all." (Ending the war now was after all the clear mandate of the American voters when the elected a Democratic majority to Congress in 2006.) Cutting the purse stings by not offering a supplemental funding bill would end the war without the game of trying to round up Republican votes on a bill. With the clear message that there would be no supplemental funding extension, the military would have no choice but to begin an orderly withdrawal of troops, using the plentiful funding they still have in the pipeline from previous funding authorizations. Instead, the Democrats keep offering supplemental funding extensions with "strings attached," knowing full well that the strings will be stripped away in negotiations with the Republicans, or vetoed by the President.

Listen to Miller's response and see whether he actually answered our key question (about not offering a supplemental funding bill to vote on at all) or whether he evaded it (quote from Miller: "as you know, we cannot end the war without Republican votes"), while he throws in the false spectre that the decision to not offer another supplemental funding extension would leave our troops with no funding at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4iFlmIJZNU

Impeach to end Iraq war AND prevent IRAN WAR

2007-07-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Representative Miller,

The danger of an expanded war into Iran is imminent. The only way to prevent it is through impeachment of Cheney and Bush. Legislative restraints won't work because they think they are above the law. And in any case, we don't have TIME for your legislative strategy to play out. They have already made all the preparations for an attack on Iran and they are looking for any excuse to launch it.

You know that both Cheney and Bush have committed many impeachable offenses with regard to the war in Iraq. Through the tool of impeachment you have the power not only to end the Iraq war but also to prevent a horrendous expansion of the war into Iran -- will you use that power? Will you cosign H.Res.333 (Articles to Impeach Cheney) and urge Speaker Pelosi to allow the impeachment process back on the table?

The American people will never forgive the Democrats if they allow Bush-Cheney to expand the war into Iran when they could have prevented it through their power (and responsibility) of impeachment. In the context of their intentions for imminent war with Iran, how can you say that impeachment would be a "distraction" from more important business?

Please read this article from Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration and former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Think hard about his urgent warning about Iran. The fate of so many lives, and our democracy, rests on you decision. This is no time for safe political strategy.
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts07162007.html
"Impeach Now, Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy"
Counter Punch, July 16, 2007

Sincerely,
A formerly loyal Democrat,
Benicia, CA

Cong. Miller: You must change your mind.

2007-07-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

The demand for impeachment is growing , you must accede to the will of the people. It is a known fact the only

weapon the electorate has are its legislators. Your refusal to represent us in this matter is a serious detriment to

our demand. M.S. Vallejo

Loyalty to character

2007-07-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

Dear George Miller,

Through the years your commitment to follow your conscience and defend Democrat positions has always been appreciated and the fact that you have been continually re-elected is clear testimony to the faith that many of us have in your judgement. In the case of Iraq, a quagmire of Vietnam proportions, I choose to offer my support to any solutions you offer. Good luck and may the force be with you!

Cliff Nelson Sr.
113 Ardmore Way
Benicia, CA 94510

No Funding! Yes Impeachment!

2007-07-18T13:23:00.001-07:00

Dear Representative Miller,

I wish the Democrats sent no military budget at all. That would have called the Administration's bluff and would have forced them to orderly withdraw the troops, since they would have had enough funds to do just that. Why can't the Democrats be more forceful? What are they afraid of? And why don't they want to impeach Bush, who lied to start this illegitimate war?
Respectfully,
Alberto Ramon
El Sobrante

I just don't buy it

2007-07-17T20:54:00.001-07:00

Honorable George Miller:
I just don't buy your reasoning....the Dems have GOT to take the lead in first, beginning going down the road of starting to remove the troops NOW. We need to force the Republicans to vote yea or nay every day...public pressure is building at an amazing rate...were you surprised at the number of strong feelings at our Benicia Toen Meeting? (ok, we'll ignore the rude loudmouth). But, although I at first could undertand your reasoning (needing to negotiate, get the number of votes needed form the Republicans), I now sincerely believe that we need to force the R's by making unwavering stands that they must vote no on and then have to face their constituents and explain why they want to continue this war. The people across the street from our peace vigil every Thursday here in Benicia have no signs because they cannot say, in all good consciousness, that war is good. As we used to say during the Viet Nam war, "war is not good for children and other living beings". I believe we owe it to the people of Irag to help rebuild, but lets stop destroying their country NOW.
Thank you for the town meeting....you are aptient and wonderful man. Why don't you run for President?
Sincerely,
Susan Street
Benicia

Impeach!! Why do you believe Bush will honor any of this Iraq legislation you are trying to pass??

2007-07-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

Dear Congressman Miller,

1) Why should I have any faith in the Congressional strategy of passing incremental pieces of Iraq legislation as a means to gradually force Bush to end our occupation of Iraq? Hasn't Bush shown us repeatedly that he feels he is above the law and above Congress in his role as Commander in Chief and can just disregard any legislation that you pass? Isn't Congress just agreeing to play the enabling partner in a rigged game by following that strategy?

Both Cheney and Bush have repeatedly violated our laws and the Constitution. They are attempting to vastly expand the power of the Executive, and weaken and destabilize the coequal checks and balances and separation of powers. The Framers of the Constitution established impeachment as a necessary process to be used by Congress in cases of serious Executive overreach such as this. In the context of their contempt for the rule of law and our Constitution, I have come to believe that the only way we will ever end this war, and prevent an expansion of it into Iran, is through the process of impeachment of both Cheney and Bush.

At your recent Town Hall meeting here in Benicia, you stated you would not support calls for impeachment because it "wouldn't succeed, and would be an 18 month distraction from other important business that needs to be addressed, such as ending the Iraq war."

2) Your claim that there wouldn't be enough votes for impeachment is just speculation, isn't it? That is only true if you don't try. If a Congressional leader, such as yourself, with your immense political stature and influence, would cosign H.Res.333 (Articles of Impeachment of Dick Cheney), don't you think it would open the flood gates and suddenly many other legislators would jump on board?

3) And why should we believe your claim that impeachment would be dragged out for 18 months by appeals. Other impeachment campaigns haven't taken that long have they? Furthermore, seeing the handwriting on the wall, the accused might resign (as Nixon did).

Your claim that impeachment would just be a "distraction" from other more important business that needs to be addressed is very disturbing.

4) Why do you consider it a useless "distraction" for Congress to take action to defend the Constitution against this imperial administration's erosion of our Constitutional separation of powers and rule of law? What could be more important?! Even if Congress doesn't "succeed" in impeaching Bush-Cheney, don't you think it's imperative for them to send an all important message to future administrations who might otherwise contemplate a similar overreaching of their Constitutional powers?

I encourage you to view the recent PBS program on Bill Moyer's Journal (particularly the comments by Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein about the need for Statesmen to stand up in this dangerous hour)
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07132007/profile.html

5) I would like you to explain what you think of their arguments for impeachment, and if you disagree with them, why?

I sincerely hope, Congressman Miller, that you will rethink your position on impeachment and resolve to take the courageous stand of the Statesman that I know you are.

Why can't Dems announce NOW, while there is still plenty of money for troops, that they will not be offering ANY funding bill in Sept?

2007-07-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

Please watch this short Kucinich video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDtWCJF7xgY

Kucinich says Congress is not obligated to offer ANY Iraq Supplemental funding bill at all when Bush comes asking for more money in September. (No need to round up votes; no veto.) Congress can put Bush and the Petagon on notice NOW, while there is still PLENTY of money in the pipeline, that there will be NO supplemental war funding bill offered in September, period.

WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THIS STRATEGY, CONGRESSMAN MILLER??

By putting them on notice NOW, Congress would not be accused of putting the troops in harms way without funding. This would give the Bush administration plenty of warning and time to start preparing and implementing a phased troop withdrawal plan. If Bush fails to take these steps, Congress can begin Impeachment against him for recklessly endangering our country and our troops.

Yes this is showdown brinkmanship, but it puts Congress on the high ground and Bush on the defensive, and it renews the public's respect and trust in Congress. And it's the only way we'll get these maniacs to end the Iraq occupation. The incremental legislation strategy is just playing into their game! You can't use parlamentary rules and procedures with people who have shown they have no respect for the law or the Constitution.

askgeorge

Dear George: What part of this 9-point Peace Plan do you not support and WHY?

2007-07-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Many of your constituents in Benicia/Vallejo have signed a pledge to the following 9-point Comprehensive Peace Plan, and we would appreciate a direct answer from you (on each of the nine points), do you support each one, or not, and why not?
Please reply on your facebook "Ask George" page, and on your "Ask George" MILLER TV. Thankyou.

WE THE PEOPLE DECLARE PEACE!

We call on You to Defund the War & Establish a Comprehensive Peace Plan

1. An end to ALL funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq.

2. Safe and rapid withdrawal of ALL U.S. troops and coalition forces from Iraq, with NO future redeployments.

3. No permanent U.S. military bases or installations in Iraq.

4. Support for an Iraqi-led peace process, including a peace conference to shape a post-occupation transition.

5. Return control of Iraqi oil to the people of Iraq, as well as complete sovereignty in their
economic and political affairs.

6. Support for reparations and reconstruction to address the destruction caused by the U.S. invasion, military occupation, and 13 years of economic sanctions.

7. Establish a U.S. peace dividend for job creation, health care, education, housing, and other vital social needs at home.

8. Increased support for U.S. veterans of the Iraq war.

9. No war against Iran or any other nation.

(More info at: http://www.declarationofpeace.org/ )

(P.S. Congressman Miller, please take a moment to meet us and hear our concerns at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teFFepakrjk )

askgeorge

Regarding the Undressed Emperor's Latest Machinations and the Court Jesters

2007-07-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

I've been analyzing the latest act in a pathetic
performance by a desperate Duhbya. What an
incompetent liar. He'll say anything he thinks will
buy him more time. Clearly he's angling for another,
"Pearl Harbor event." If you aren't careful he's
going top get it. Here's why:
Fact: Al Qaeda means, "The Base," in Arabic.
Fact: "The Base," was constructed by the CIA who
armed and trained Osama bin Laden and his cohort.
Fact: The violent overthrow of the duly elected Iraqi
government in 1958 was orchestrated to put the
Baathists in power as a CIA client entity.
Fact: We armed and educated Saddam Hussein and
outfitted him with a coercive intelligence agency.
Fact: We pulled the same stunt in Iran as we pulled
in Iraq.
Fact: We constructed permanent military bases in
Saudi Arabia.
Fact: We're constructing permanent military bases in
Iraq.
Fact: All this is causal in the fomentation the
Islamic Fundamentalist Revolution.
Fact: We're losing our grip on Pakistan and Musharraf
isn't long for leadership there. The ISS is going
into ascent, imagine their finger on the Islamic
nuclear trigger.
Fact: We're losing our grip on Afghanistan. Welcome
back the Taliban.
Fact: The Neo-Cons stated the following for the
record regarding their agenda: "Dov Zakheim, called
for a 'Pearl Harbor' type of incident being necessary
to foster the frame of mind needed for the American
public to support a war in the Middle East that would
politically and culturally reshape the region."
Fact: Bush's imperialist adventure in Iraq opened the
floodgates and invited Al Qaeda into the fray in Iraq
where they had had a zero-footprint previously.
Fact: The philosophy known as, "The enemy of my enemy
is my friend," will prevent the Iraqis from
dispatching the Al Qaeda problem in their country
until the, "Infidel Occupiers," have left their
territory.
Fact: The longer we delay our departure from Iraq the
more organized and entrenched Al Qaeda will become in
Iraq.
Fact: The more entrenched and organized Al Qaeda
becomes the more likely they will execute their next
attack on the continental United States.
Fact: The Neo-Cons backs are presently against the
wall.
Fact: The Neo-Cons would welcome another, "Pearl
Harbor," event as it would allow them to redirect the
American public back down the path of Jingoism to
another ill considered invasion.
Fact: The administration has their Iran attack plans
fully formulated and are itching to put their fingers
on the trigger and launch that offensive.
Fact: The administration is rapidly formulating a
plan to intercede in Pakistan.
Fact: The United States military is already
dangerously overextended and spent, most poorly.
Fact: We have foreign mercenaries; with boots on the
ground in America, acting without legal constraint on
behalf of the Department of Defense.
Fact: If you don't do something about all this soon
it will once again be too late and you will have
failed through inaction just as you have failed
through inaction very consistently since the 2000
election.
Fact: When the Neo-Cons get their, "Pearl Harbor,"
event, they are going to bury you along with what
little is left of the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights.
Fact: We didn't win the Cold War by scaring or
outspending the Soviets. We won the Cold War by being
the kind of a country our opponent's cadre decided
they would prefer to live in.
Fact: We aren't that country anymore!

Do me a favor; Wake Up and face your only logical
choice: Be Statesmen; Do It Right; DO IT NOW! Put the
Neo-Con animal to sleep. I DO MEAN euthanize it
immediately. It's cancerous; it's traitorous; it's
Un-American.

To Do List:
-Get us OUT of Iraq NOW!
-Impeach Cheney.
-Impeach Duhbya.
-Repeal the Patriot Act.
-Staunch the bleeding from our free-trade wounds; Free
Trade is poorly disguised corporate fascism, a
manifestation of the race to the bottom and unworthy
of America.
-Disassemble Homeland Security and redistribute the
various agencies that were uprooted to comprise it
back to their respective parent entities
-Roll back the FCC's rulings for the past 30-years and
legislate replacement regulations that disallow
concentration of ownership while breaking up the media
monopolies.
-Regulate how much gross profit a News organization
may make in a year. Two point five percent is
probably about right.
-Require that television act in the Public Interest;
provide News a minimum of Two hours per day.
-Provide block-time free of charge to balloted
candidates at election time along with equal time
provisions to ensure a level playing field.
-Cut off lobbying at the knees to tear 'Big Money' out
of politics.
-Entrench Net Neutrality; an Amendment to the
Constitution is in order, as the Net Neutral Internet
is the only Free Marketplace of Ideas left in this
nation.
-Repair the damage done to our educational system over
the past 35 years so that we are once again educating
generations of independent thinking problem solvers
and adventurers.
Note: Mankind is a dangerous phenomenon that requires
drama and conflict to excel. Herein lies our primary
dilemma: what to do about it? Fortunately the answer
is simple!
1. Conquer Outer Space: We have to get some of our
genetic material off this planet before we lose that
capacity; So, Do It!
2. Conquer Renewable Energy/Global Warming: The
phenomenon most likely to derail human progress is our
pathetic insistence on clinging to a technology that
is dangerously obsolete. Obliterate it in favor of
the future.

When you've completed these tasks pat yourselves on
the back and take a well-deserved Two-week vacation.
Then, GET BACK TO WORK! I'm not paying you to lounge
around destroying our Nation through inattention to
detail. There's much to be done. Now that you're
statesmen I expect you to put your shoulders to the
wheel and make the right decisions on behalf of the
Citizens you represent. Remember: The business of
America is, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness." Business comes in a very distant second
for consideration on this scale.

P.S. Britain's reallocation of the legitimate
Palestinian State's territory to Israel in collusion
with the United States created an open wound that must
be equitably redressed before a legitimate peace can
ever be reached in the Middle East.

Laurens Lincoln Battis III
Fairfield, CA

Sincerely,
Larry Battis

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect
everyone who approaches that jewel." --Patrick Henry