Fife and Drum

CAMPAIGN ISSUES 2008
LETTERS TO CONGRESS

  • 1. Inspiration for Letters to Congress. This was inspired by the question on CNN: "What would you do if you were President?" Oct-22-06

  • 2. Minimum Wage. The minimum wage should be a living wage set at $10.00 an hour and tied to a percentage of a Congressman's salary. Then every time the Congressmen give themselves a raise the poorest workers would get a raise too.

  • 3. Lower Taxes, Less Government, More Freedom. Give the people lower taxes, less government, and more freedom. Change the Federal Income Tax to a Flat Rate Tax that will not exceed 10% of Gross Income from all sources, with no exemptions. Family income below the Poverty Level will not be taxed. This will create a simple fair tax that is equally shared by all.

  • 4. General Amnesty for Non-Violent Prisoners. Declare a General Amnesty for Non-Violent Prisoners. Jails and prisons will be reserved for violent criminals. Non-violent crimes will be punished with restitution, fines, and Community Service.

  • 5. Stop Deficit Spending. Stop deficit spending. Government spending will not exceed government income. If this is good enough for the Family and the States, it is good enough for the Federal Government. It is not acceptable to spend our children's future. The Federal Government has too much money and is on a spending binge.

  • 6. Pay Off the National Debt. Pay off the National Debt. This debt burden should not be passed down to our children. Government borrowing competes with private borrowing and raises interest rates. Every payment on the National Debt will make more money available in the commercial and private market, and it will be at a lower interest rate. This will stimulate the economy and increase taxes to pay off more of the debt.

  • 7. Cap Credit Card Interest Rates. Put a cap on the interest rates on credit cards. Ten percent (10%) interest, or 3% over the Prime Rate will be the maximum rate. Any more than that is just institutionalized theft. Payments will be applied to the highest interest rate balances first, and interest rates will not be raised on existing balances. Terms will not be changed on existing balances. Notice of change of terms on future charges will be mailed 60 days prior to the effective date. Notices of balance due will be received 30 days before the payment due date, and there will be a 30 day grace period after the due date before payments are considered late. There will no annual fee, or late payment fee, or over the balance fee, or any other fee except interest. The only penalty for late payment, or over the balance, will be suspension of future charges until the account is made current. Simple interest will be charged on the end of month balance only once a month. Credit cards will not be issued to anyone under the legal age to vote. Universal default will be banned. Failure to keep one credit card current will not be used to raise interest or change terms for other credit cards. The penalty for default on one credit card will only be applied to that credit card.

  • 8. Social Security. Establish Social Security as the one national old-age retirement system. This will include all American citizens over 65, including all government and non-government employees, and including Congress and the President. If Congressmen are under Social Security instead of their own fat-cat private retirement system, they will be more inclined to adequately fund Social Security. Social Security funds will collect interest and will not be used for purposes other than to pay retirement checks to citizens over age 65. Social Security funds will be self supporting and will not be diverted to other causes. Fraud, waste, and abuse will be severely punished. Costs will be controlled and reasonable.

  • 9. NUCLEAR POWER. Nuclear Power plants are not clean and they are not safe. There is no safe place to store the radioactive waste generated by a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plants leak radiation in the surrounding area, and nuclear power plants do not inform the public when there is a radiation leak. Radiation kills people and other living things. We do not need, or want, any nuclear power plants.

    These statements by John Zinc, a so called Nuclear Engineer, in a letter to the Tulsa World newpaper are wrong: "In fact, some level of radiation is helpful to life processes. ... All of this natural radiation is many times greater than whatever might come from a nuclear power plant. "

    The radiation that might come from a nuclear power plant can kill you, and/or give you cancer. Remember the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia melting down in 1986 and creating a permanent "forbidden zone". It can and will happen here one day.

    Don't forget the "Three Mile Island" nuclear power plant meltdown in the USA.

    Also, nuclear power plants have a poor safety record. They are always releasing radiation into the surrounding communitys. They don't release information on radiation leaks because they "don't want to create a panic."

    The people have a right to know about radiation leaks from nuclear power plants so they can take precautions: like taking iodine pills, closing doors and windows and staying inside, or evacuating.

    Read the FEMA web site information on what to do if there is a nuclear accident: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/nuclear/index.shtm .

  • 10. RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms shall not be infringed. The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is an individual right, yet most cities and States infringe upon this Right. Semi-automatic rifles are not Assault Rifles, yet they are banned under the Assault Rifle Ban laws in most cities and states. Assault Rifles are fully automatic machine guns, not semi-automatic rifles. Even so, Washington DC, for example, has defined any rifle with an ammo clip to be a "machine gun" and banned as a machine gun. The People have an individual Right to own and carry (keep and bear) a semi-automatic rifle or pistol, and any law that infringes upon this right is unconstitutional. Yet, the police, in some cities and states will put you in jail for owning and/or carrying a semi-automatic rifle or pistol.

    Message sent to the following recipients:
    Senator Coburn
    Senator Inhofe
    Message text follows:

    Ronald Ballew
    303 NE 26th St
    Lawton, OK 73507-7105

    September 23, 2008

    [recipient address was inserted here]
    [recipient name was inserted here],

    Dear Senator:

    If you have already signed on to the Kay Bailey Hutchison letter -- directed to Sen. Harry Reid -- then I want to thank you. If you have done that, then please keep urging him to bring up the D.C. gun ban repeal (HR 6842) for a vote.

    If you have not joined on to this letter yet, I urge you to cosign it right away. This important letter urges Reid "to ensure that D.C. residents do not have to wait any longer to realize their constitutional rights by allowing the full Senate to consider H.R. 6842 before the 110th Congress concludes."

    This is an issue that I strongly believe in, and if you support the Second Amendment, then you should support the rights of D.C. residents by signing on to this letter, as well.

    Gun Owners of America will score the signing of this letter in its upcoming congressional rating. Please let me know how you intend to act.

    Sincerely,

    Ronald Ballew
    580-248-9801

  • 11. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE INSURANCE. MEDICARE will be the Universal Health Care program for all citizens. Everyone will pay into it (including Congressmen) and everyone will receive medical care payments from it (including Congressmen). Risks will be equally shared because everyone will be covered regardless of preexisting conditions. MEDICARE funds will be self supporting and will not be diverted to other causes. Fraud, waste, and abuse will be severely punished. Costs will be controlled and reasonable.

  • 12. CORPORATE THEFT. CEO pay or the pay of Corporate Officers will be limited to $500,000 per year. Any more than that is theft of stockholder money and will not be allowed. No one’s time is worth more than that. There will be no "Golden Parachutes" for CEOs or Corporate Executives. Gross pay from all sources over $500,000 per year will be taxed at the rate of 100%. This will insure that no one is stealing any more than that from the public. CEOs will not be paid more than US Senators, and Corporate Officers will not be paid more than Congressmen in the House of Representatives. The highest paid citizen in the United States will be the President of the United States. Anyone being paid more that the President will be taxed at 100% of gross total income exceeding the gross total income of the President.

  • 13. NEW STATES. Add new States of Guam, Haiti, Puerto Rica, Cuba, Mexico, British Columbia, American Samoa, and Washington, D.C.

  • 14. USERY. Interest is usury and in biblical days was punished by death. Gradually decrease the maximum legal interest rate until it reaches zero. This will reduce prices which are inflated because people can borrow money to buy things they cannot afford. Interest reduces the effective income of everyone who pays it. People will have more money if they cannot borrow money because the interest is lost income. Everyone will be better off. People with excess money will have to invest it in plants and factories instead of loaning it out. New plants and factories will create new jobs that will make everyone better off. This will reduce the need for charity. People with excess money can still loan it out, or give it away, but they cannot charge interest for it.

  • 15. BAILOUT OF WALL STREET. The $825 BILLION Dollar Bailout of Wall Street mortgages by the U.S. Government should not be approved by Congress. The inflated price of houses should not be propped up by the U.S. Government. This is Government interference in the free enterprise market place and will lead to Socialism, the ownership of all assets by the Government. Socialism will destroy the free enterprise market place. Government interference in the free enterprise market makes things worse in the long run. The inflated price of houses should be allowed to fall as determined by the free enterprise market.

    If Congress insists on buying the "toxic" foreclosed mortgages in the market place, Congress should establish the policy that ANY foreclosed mortgage will be turned over to Congress for refinancing. Congress should refinance the mortgage at the same interest rate as U.S. Treasury Bills. The property should then be sold to people that can afford to make the payments on the low interest loan, not to banks. People that cannot afford the payments on their existing house should move to a cheaper house. Houses should be appraised at the value of the cost of building an equal house, and not automatically inflated in value 7% every year.

    Congress should eliminate home sale "closing costs" by establishing a title service that simply guarantees the title and transfers land, homes, and commercial property titles with a simple piece of paper, just like car titles are transferred. Existing State systems for transferring car titles could be expanded to transfer home property titles.

  • 16. STUDENT LOAN RELIEF DOUBLE STIMULIS PACKAGE.

    1. STUDENT LOAN RELIEF: Instead of giving bailout money to banks for nothing, the government should pay off student loans that are over 10 years old, and student loans to seniors over age 65.

    a. Student loans include loans to students and to their parents. (Parent student loans will be paid off by government subsidized insurance when they die anyway; go ahead and pay them off now.)

    b. This will provide a double stimulus to the economy:

    1. One stimulus is to the banks when they receive payment in full for the student loans. That money can then be loaned to new students and parents for school expenses for the following semester. They can expect to make payments on these loans for at least 10 years after graduation. (These should be low interest 30 year loans at the interest rate for Treasury Bills).

    2. The other stimulus is to the economy, when the students and parents no longer have to make monthly payments to the banks for the student loans. That money will now go directly into the economy for other badly needed consumer goods.

    2. JUSTIFICATION:

    a. This will directly stimulate the economy with money that can be spent in the next 12 months.

    b. Students and parents badly need relief from student loans.

    1. They will be paying on these for the rest of their lives, mostly interest, with very little decline in the principal owed.

    2. These loans will only be paid off at the time of death with loan insurance, that the government pays for too. The amount paid in during the life of the loan will probably be over double the original amount of the loan.

    3. These are predatory loans. They start out with low payments that get larger and larger. The interest rate never goes down, even when the Prime Rate goes down. (They should be tied to 1% over the Prime Rate.)

    c. Students Loans over 10 years old, and to seniors over age 65 provide economic stimulus to groups the public can identify with and agree to.

  • 17. BANK BAILOUT. Instead of giving banks bailout money for nothing, the government should require the banks to give up something. The banks should give up student loans and mortgages. This would still give the banks bailout money, but it would also give the people their monthly payments back. Students and parents could then stimulate the economy by spending this money for badly needed consumer goods. (2/4/2009) Sent to OFFICE OF PUBLIC LAISON

  • 18. GROCERY TAX. Taxation is theft by force. Abolish all taxes. Government should be funded by a fee for service. If government provides a wanted service for a reasonable fee, people will subscribe to it. Examples of government services that could be paid for with a fee include: trash pickup, water & sewer, roads and bridges, fire and police protection, city events, code inspections, permits, national defense, disasters, ambulance service, emergency medical care, etc. Citizens should be able to choose where their money goes, especially if it goes to government services. If I do pay taxes, I should be able to designate what percentage goes to each branch of government, and to what department. This will make unwanted government departments dissapear.

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