Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Time to call Rep. Tim Walberg

Involved Voters in the 7th Congressional District:

UPDATE - August 2, 2010: Please contact Representative Walberg to thank him for his "yes" vote on the debt ceiling bill, continue to press him to vote for future bills to increase the revenue stream, and ask him to support stimulating the economy through steps like creating an Infrastructure Bank to get people back to work.

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It's time to call Tim Walberg and urge him to vote to raise the debt ceiling immediately to a level that will last least 18 months. Why, because we need to reassure our creditors, and if the US goes into default, the cost of our current debt will go up and that money will be wasted. It will not be available to help us here in Michigan.

Urge him to let go of his "no taxes, no how" ideological stance and vote for a balanced plan to deal with the debt that includes targeted spending cuts and increases to the revenue stream through closing tax loop holes and asking the richest Americans to contribute more because cutting their taxes greatly contributed to the current deficit.

Please call today!
Washington Phone: (202) 225-6276
Jackson Phone: (517) 780-9075
Or go to his web site and fill out the Contact Form - not the most effective, but better than no action at all.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness

On this Independence Day, 2010, I'm taking some time to reflect on the these words from The Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
It seems to me that our beloved country has been maturing into the values set forth in this declaration. "All men" now includes those who were once slaves, and women who until 1920 were unable to vote.

The Great Depression prompted this country's' leaders to establish Social Security as a Safety net. In the 1960's, our leaders, realizing that Life and the pursuit of Happiness were impossible if people couldn't afford health care, instituted Medicare and Medicaid. Because these programs are designed to serve us, the citizens, rather than to make profits for investors, the efficiency and effectiveness of these programs can't be matched by private investment and insurance companies.

One area in which we as a country seem not to be maturing is "consent of the governed". When many citizens fail to vote, as in the 2010 General Election, it becomes possible for ideologues gain sufficient power to set upon dismantling programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; dedicate themselves to looking after the interests of a privileged few; and to refuse to consider closing tax loopholes and ending deficit-ballooning tax breaks.

As Involved Voters, we can turn this situation around. Knowledge is power. Americans as a whole are poorly informed about where the money they invest in our government through paying taxes goes. Here is a web site that can help counteract this: Your Federal Taxpayer Receipt. Before you visit the site, I recommend that you take a guess at what your income tax is supporting and then see how close you are to the actual percentages.

With our rights as citizens come responsibilities. Being an informed voter is one of them. Insisting that our elected officials act in the best interests of all Americans is another.