This bill reduces medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions. SEE SEC 1302 (pp 672-692).
Sec 1114 (pp 391 – 393) replaces physicians with PAs in overseeing care for hospice patients.
Sec 1158 – 1160 (pp 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what IT COSTS IN THE LOWEST COST REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY.
Sec 1161 (pp 520 – 545) cuts payments to MEDICARE ADVANTAGE Plans (used by 20% of seniors).
Sec 399V (pg 1422) Provides for grants to community “entities” ACORN
Sec 222 (pg 617) Provides reimbursement for culturally & linguistically appropriate service.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/24/senate-blocks-bid-offshore-drilling-policy/?test=latestnews

And go here to see how your Senator voted. Keep in mind that a Yea vote was a vote to not accept Vitter’s motion and kill the proposal. Anyone who voted yea needs to be run out of office in the next election. http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00293

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Furor-grows-over-partisan-car-dealer-closings-46261447.html

Cash for Clunkers was hailed as a tremendous success, exceeding all expectations. What a great deal! Take your perfectly serviceable trade, drain the engine oil, fill the engine with a sand solution, and then run it until it self-destructs. And this brilliance only cost the taxpayers $4500 per trade-in destroyed plus about $500 in administrative costs (dealer and federal government combined).

Great, so far so good. What could possibly be more efficient than showering new car buyers with $4500 in taxpayer funded cash? This saves each buyer $4500 on his new car purchase that he can use to purchase other goods and services or put in savings right?

Well………..not exactly.

Any car traded in under this program had to be running and so none of them were worth $0.00 dollars. In fact, if my unscientific reading is correct, the average trade-in sent to the scrap heap by this program would have been worth $3100 wholesale without this program. Uh, OK.

So that means we shelled out $4500 in taxpayer cash plus administrative costs to dole out a net benefit of $1400 to the car buyer, right? Though it’s not looking like such a great deal for the taxpayers at this point, $1400 is better than nothing, at least if you’re the car buyer, right?

Well……………….not exactly.

It turns out that most states, other than California, only charge sales tax on the net difference between a trade-ins value and the new car price. Here in Arizona our sales tax is 9%. All state governments have decided that the $4500 provided by the cash for clunkers program is not a trade-in allowance and is therefore subject to sales tax. So a standard trade in (non clunker) allowance of $3100 actually provides a net reduction in the after-tax new vehicle price of $3380 ($3100 x 1.09). This reduces the net benefit to the average purchaser utilizing cash for clunkers to $1120. A $1120 benefit to one taxpayer that cost his fellow taxpayers $4500. Uh, OK. Is that it?

Well…………..not exactly.

It now comes to light, after the program is finished and the deals are done, (although the dealers have not been paid yet), that there’s more! It has been determined that the $4500 allowance is taxable income to the car buyers who took advantage of it!!!! The non-clunker deal after sales tax allowance of $3380 is not taxable income to the car buyer. The $4500 government allowance is taxable income subject to both federal and state income taxes. Here in Arizona our state income tax is 5%. The top federal tax rate is 35% for a combined income tax of 40%. A high income Arizona car buyer with the average trade in who took advantage of cash for clunkers will pay $1800 in income tax on that $4500 government allowance if he is in the top bracket. Thus a high income car buyer would end up paying a net after-tax penalty of -$680. Even car buyers in much lower tax brackets who live in states like Texas without any state income tax and with a federal tax rate of 28% would still pay $1260 in income tax (28% x $4500) on that $4500. So even for a lower income taxpayer living in a no income tax state, the average net, (after sales tax and income tax), benefit of the cash for clunkers program amounts to MINUS -$140. Uh, OK.

You mean that taxpayers shelled out $4500.00 per car (just under 3 BILLION DOLLARS TOTAL) to provide the average buyer taking advantage of this program a net after-tax PENALTY that amounts to $140.

Yeah………exactly.

Uh, OK. OUCH!!!!!

Dear :

 Thank you for contacting me regarding climate change. I appreciate knowing your thoughts on this issue.

 According to extensive international scientific studies, including reports by the National Academy of Sciences and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, dramatic increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing global temperatures to rise. Human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, are the primary source of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere.

 As Americans, we can no longer ignore our significant contribution to this foremost environmental threat. The United States must act responsibly to address this issue and work to preserve the global environment for future generations. It is also essential that we maintain our leadership role as the world moves toward an international market for greenhouse gas reductions.

 Climate change legislation has been the subject of Senate debate for a number of years. As you may know, Senator Lieberman and I have been working to pass legislation to address this critical issue since 2003. Most recently, in January 2007 Senator Lieberman and I introduced S. 280, the Climate Change Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007. This bill placed a limit on the amount of greenhouse gases companies could emit and established a market-based trading program. The trading system proposed under S. 280 allowed companies to buy or sell emissions units. A company that reached the required levels in certain emissions would have been able to trade emissions “credits” with a company was struggling to meet emissions requirements. Without a market-based greenhouse gas emissions program, it would be increasingly difficult for U.S. companies to operate abroad and to maintain their position as leaders in the global marketplace.

 Earlier this year, President Obama released his budget plan, which relies upon raising nearly $650 billion dollars of revenues from a climate credits auction. This large revenue producing mechanism was not the cap-and-trade system I had envisioned. The President’s proposal of auctioning one hundred percent of the carbon credits is bad economic policy that would cost businesses billions of dollars and allow for little to no transition into a low carbon system.

 More recently, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. While I still believe that climate change is a critical issue that must be addressed, some significant changes will have to be made to this legislation before I can support passage of similar in the Senate. However, please be assured that I will keep your views in mind as I work together with my fellow Senators and the Administration to negotiate a successful method of addressing this critical issue

 Thank you again for sharing your views. Please feel free to contact me regarding this or any other matter of importance to you.

 Sincerely,

 John McCain

United States Senator

 JM/cd

And my response……

United State Senate

Washington, DC

Senator McCain,

It disappoints me greatly to hear that you have bought into the farce that is global warming. In fact, it’s not called global warming anymore. Now it’s climate change. The climate change that happens on the planet is a naturally occurring phenomenon. More and more scientists are finally standing up to the bullying that government and even their own colleagues have been subjecting on them to come forward and show strong support and evidence that global warming/climate change is not caused nor impacted by humans. It is occurring naturally. The earth goes through cycles as a matter of course.

Even though you buy into the global warming farce, I’m also very disappointed to hear that you believe in a cap and tax system. How can you agree with this concept as it will push a regressive tax on each and every citizen of this great nation? And how can you support this when most of your constituents don’t?

Senator, you have proven to me that you are not a true conservative. From global warming to amnesty for illegal aliens, you are letting conservatives in your state, nay, the nation down. On the illegal alien issues, you only started saying secure the borders first when your constituents went after you for trying to provide amnesty first.

Unfortunately, unless you make a marked change in your stands on issues, I will not be able to support you anymore.

I don’t expect I’ll get a response to this email. It will be a pleasant surprise if I do.

Respectfully,

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
who signed the Declaration of Independence ?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,
and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,
and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants,
nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
men of means, well educated,
but they signed the Declaration of Independence
knowing full well that the penalty would be death if
they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the
British Navy. He sold his home and properties to
pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British
that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family
was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that
the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson
home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General
George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill
were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
children vanished.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many
people as you can, please. It’s time we get the word out that patriotism
is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer,
picnics, and baseball games.

Supporting link: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18103

The next step is to write, call or fax your Senators and Congressmen and tell them to stop the rest of the stimulus payouts.  It is NOT needed.  All it do is drive us into debt that our children’s children will be paying off.  Use this link to find Congressional contact information.  http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml  You can use this to contact the President and Vice President as well, but I think that would be a waste of time, effort and resources.  Their track record has shown that they don’t care what the American people think/desire.

Is there anything that you can do without being taxed by the government? I challenge you to respond to this post and inform me of what it is. By the way, if they tax it, fundamentally that means that you don’t own it. They LET you own it. 

Take a look at the link below.  When you read it, look at the industries that are swapping “help” for huge portions and control of those industries.  The government already owns the industries.  With these huge payouts, the government is paying hush money to these industries.  The money is being used to keep the industries quiet while the government takes overt control of them.  Time will tell whether our government will relent and let the industries appear to control themselves once again.

http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/

Now tell me, with all the BS conviction that you can, that the government doesn’t own EVERYTHING.  We have let our government get so big that we exist to feed the government machine.  We are supposed to control the government, but we are now letting the government control us.  WAKE UP, AMERICA!  Take care of yourself!  Quit looking to the government for everything.  Once we do that, we can roll back the insidious taxes and start living a more free life.  A life that doesn’t exist to support the government.