Every American should know the Bill of Rights! It is what gives us our freedoms and defines who we are!
The following are the Amendments to the Constitution. The first ten Amendments collectively are commonly known as the Bill of Rights. History
Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
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.
Amendment 3 - Quartering of Soldiers. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment 7 - Trial by Jury in Civil Cases. Ratified 12/15/1791.
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment 8 - Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Ratified 12/15/1791.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
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.
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Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Constitution of the United States of America
I think we all need to read and reveiw this document from time to time so we remember what is in it and what we stand for. As Americans it is our duty to know what is in this document. So here it is for you to read.
The Constitution for the United States
Here is the complete text of the U.S. Constitution. The original spelling and capitalization have been retained. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I
Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Section 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time: and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
Article II
Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens of different States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article IV
Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.Article VI
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwith-standing.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article VII
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Ideas for Government
Here are some things I would like to see our Government do.
Enact term limits for Congress so they cannot sit there forever and only concentrate on their personal political future. If Congress had a definite time limit in office then maybe, just maybe they would do what is right for the country instead of just what will get them further down their own political road.
Make an amendment to the Constitution for our leaders to balance our countries budget. We need to really start taking fiscal responsibility for ourselves and our country.
Our leaders need to start paying off our debt!!! When you have debt you answer to other entities, thus you no longer have complete control over your situation. That means someone has a form of control over you, you are answerable to them. Do we really want our country to have to answer to China or any of the other countries that control our debt? I do not think so.
Take away a lot of the power the Federal Government has and return it to where it belongs, which is the States. Our Federal Government is supposed to according to the Constitution go to the States and ask permission to do things, not the other way around. Government has gotten WAY to large at the Federal level. Government as a whole is involved in MANY things that they have no business in. Our wonderful (NOT) Government has succeeded in making us reliant on it. We should be reliant on ourselves, not our Government. Like the famous line from JFK's speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"! Now that line says a lot, think about it.
We need to get rid of the entitlement mentality that is very prevalent in our country. Many people feel the government owes them something. The government owes us a safe and secure place to live and fair laws that will enable us to prosper. They should not be trying to control us by making us reliant on them!
We need to stand up as Americans, work hard, get involved in our government, take back the control and ensure our great nation has just as great a future as our past and our beginnings.
Enact term limits for Congress so they cannot sit there forever and only concentrate on their personal political future. If Congress had a definite time limit in office then maybe, just maybe they would do what is right for the country instead of just what will get them further down their own political road.
Make an amendment to the Constitution for our leaders to balance our countries budget. We need to really start taking fiscal responsibility for ourselves and our country.
Our leaders need to start paying off our debt!!! When you have debt you answer to other entities, thus you no longer have complete control over your situation. That means someone has a form of control over you, you are answerable to them. Do we really want our country to have to answer to China or any of the other countries that control our debt? I do not think so.
Take away a lot of the power the Federal Government has and return it to where it belongs, which is the States. Our Federal Government is supposed to according to the Constitution go to the States and ask permission to do things, not the other way around. Government has gotten WAY to large at the Federal level. Government as a whole is involved in MANY things that they have no business in. Our wonderful (NOT) Government has succeeded in making us reliant on it. We should be reliant on ourselves, not our Government. Like the famous line from JFK's speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"! Now that line says a lot, think about it.
We need to get rid of the entitlement mentality that is very prevalent in our country. Many people feel the government owes them something. The government owes us a safe and secure place to live and fair laws that will enable us to prosper. They should not be trying to control us by making us reliant on them!
We need to stand up as Americans, work hard, get involved in our government, take back the control and ensure our great nation has just as great a future as our past and our beginnings.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Big Government
This country was founded on the principals of limited governmental power, not the seemingly unlimited ways in which our government now pushes itself on us. Is our government supposed to provide food, education, welfare and health care for us, or are they supposed to provide a safe environment for us to take care of ourselves? Today a lot of people are all too happy to sit back and let the government run their lives. Is this what the government is supposed to be doing? No it is not!
We need to stop having an entitlement mentality and start taking care of and responsibility for ourselves. People today seem to think that the government owes them something, yes the government does owe us something, they owe us proper representation and a safe environment for us to work hard and to be successful ourselves. Our government does not owe us many of the things they provide today. In fact our nation would be much better off if we got rid of many programs, downsized our government and took a look at our values.
We need to stop having an entitlement mentality and start taking care of and responsibility for ourselves. People today seem to think that the government owes them something, yes the government does owe us something, they owe us proper representation and a safe environment for us to work hard and to be successful ourselves. Our government does not owe us many of the things they provide today. In fact our nation would be much better off if we got rid of many programs, downsized our government and took a look at our values.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
40 Days and 40 Nights
Make the Pledge - 40 Days and 40 Nights
From Glenn Beck.comDecember 6, 2010 - 5:49 ET
For the next 40 days and 40 nights, I pledge...I COVENANT to practice faith, hope and charity by doing these things.
First...faith. I will pray on my knees every night for the next 40 nights...starting TONIGHT. Pray for guidance, inspiration, peace...pray for the leaders of our country. Pray for their safety, and that they will receive wisdom. I will re-establish my relationship with God.
Hope...hope comes from truth. You can't have hope based on lies. If you go to the doctor and you're in the early stages of cancer, but the doctor tells you that you just have the sniffles...that's false hope, and it won't help you, in fact, it would kill you. So, we have to have honesty, to have real hope. So, I will stop all lies for the next 40 days. That includes lying to myself. I will establish a pattern of honesty and make it become habitual. I will question with boldness...everything...even the things Glenn Beck tells you every night...I will do my own research...and then pray for my own confirmation on the things I have learned. I will find out what is true in my life.
And third...I will have charity. Charity begins at home. I will do something kind for every member of your family at least once a week. I will write it down, and then do it. Also, I pledge to take notice of how blessed I really am. I live in the greatest country the world has ever known...and even the least prosperous among us, are among the wealthiest people in the world...I will be grateful.
Pledge of Nonviolence
1. As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus
2. Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.
3. Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.
4. Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.
5. Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.
6. Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.
7. Perform regular service for others and the world.
8. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.
9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
10. Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.
The Five Principles of Nonviolence
1. Non-violent resistance is not a method for cowards. It does resist. The nonviolent resister is just as strongly opposed to the evil against which he protests, as is the person who uses violence. His method is passive or nonaggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, but his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. This method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually; it is nonaggressive physically but dynamically aggressive spiritually.
2. Nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through noncooperation but he realizes that noncooperation is not the ends itself; it is merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent.
3. The attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is a struggle between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.
4. Nonviolent resistance avoids not only external physical violence, but also internal violence of spirit. At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
5. Nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. It is the deep faith in the future that allows a nonviolent resister to accept suffering without retaliation. The nonviolent resister knows that in his struggle for justice, he has a cosmic companionship.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Top 10 Ways the Obama Budget Wastes Taxpayer Money
I did not write this information, I found it at FreedomWorks.org but I am posting it because I feel it is very important for people to know about what is really going on.
FreedomWorks
Mar 31, 2009
Top 10 Ways the Obama Budget Wastes Taxpayer Money
The president’s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal amounting to $3.55 trillion in spending was released on Feb. 26. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the president’s proposals will add deficits of $9,300,000,000,000 over the next 10 years—many times more than the inflation adjusted cost of all of World War II. The budget proposal sets record levels of annual spending between a minimum of $3,556,000,000,000 in 2011 and $5,139,000,000,000 in 2019. The budget raises taxes by as much as $1,600,000,000,000 over the next ten years.
This graph, as run in the Wall Street Journal with data from the CBO, displays the wide gap between spending and revenue outlined in Obama’s budget.
Although we were promised that President Obama would go through the budget line by line to take out the waste, it does not look like he has. While there are plenty more, the Top 10 ways the Obama budget waste’s taxpayer dollars are:
1. The Budget Includes a $646 Billion Cap-and-Trade Energy Tax.
The president’s budget would create a cap-and-trade energy tax system—essentially a tax on the use of fossil fuels. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions allowed in the country would be capped, companies would pay for the right to some of these emissions, and then can trade those rights with other companies. This would cost American business an estimated $646 billion—a tax they currently do not face, and a tax that would be passed on to the consumer, like all taxes. It will make virtually every other good more expensive. It is an explicit attempt to raise the cost of energy in this country.
The President claims that under his system, “if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum.” The new taxes will drive up costs for virtually every good while simultaneously pressuring foreign capital to seek countries with fewer regulations. The tax increase on energy alone according to Dr. Margo Thorning would, “In dollar cost terms, probably [be] an additional $700 to $1,400 per family per year, starting around 2012.”
2. The Budget Makes a “Down Payment” on Socializing Healthcare.
The White House Budget creates a reserve fund of more than $630 billion for healthcare reform. The President, in his budget summary, calls it a “down payment on reform.” If $630 billion is a down payment, taxpayers should be extremely concerned about the total cost of such a program.
Obama’s campaign goal of government run healthcare may become reality with the funding created for it in this budget. The administration has recently announced its intentions to completely overhaul the healthcare system. Increased funding for socialized coverage suggests this effort will greatly expand the role of government in the health sector.
We agree that healthcare needs reform. The problem, however, is not a lack of government funding, but a lack of markets in healthcare. Government restricts supply, creates mandates on insurance companies, requires occupational licenses for medical workers, and intervenes in a variety of other ways. If the government got out of the way, the market could reduce prices—making healthcare more affordable for everyone.
Where the market is allowed to work, we have seen lower prices. Health savings accounts (HSA), for example, add market incentives to treatment processes. An HSA allows individuals with a high deductible health plan to pay tax free dollars into a savings account that they can later spend on medical care. Studies find that HSAs cut overall long term healthcare costs by about a third by encouraging account holders to shop for the best care at the best value. Government should get out of the way to let markets reduce prices and expand insurance coverage for more Americans.
3. The Budget Hands out Billions to Agencies that Fund ACORN and other Community Organizing Groups.
The budget provides $4.5 billion for Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an activist group convicted of vote fraud and spearheading a campaign to trespass on and take over foreclosed properties, has historically received money from this program. Taxpayer dollars, rather than providing public services for Americans, might be funneled through HUD to groups like ACORN. That money comes on top of what ACORN and other groups that helped to elect the President are already receiving from the stimulus bill and omnibus.
According to the American Spectator, the stimulus bill gives as much as $5.2 billion to ACORN.
4. The Budget Increases Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Funding after It Helped Cause the Financial Crisis.
The budget increases HUD’s discretionary funding by $6.4 billion in addition to the $13.6 billion it received from the stimulus bill—a 50 percent increase over last year. Discretionary funding is spent on whatever the department sees fit. It is not mandated funding with a specifically named purpose from Congress.
The Department insures mortgages for those who would not normally qualify. By driving up the demand for housing through loan guarantees for the unqualified, HUD contributed to the housing bubble. The program should be scrapped. Rather than eliminating a program that contributed to the housing and financial crisis, President Obama wants to increase its funding.
HUD’s former Secretary, Alphonso Jackson, was involved in the same “Friends of Angelo” VIP program with Countrywide Financial that Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) was.
5. The Budget Summary Claims that Government Knows Better than Taxpayers about Their Retirement.
The Budget increases discretionary funding for Social Security by $1,100,000,000 and a matching amount from the stimulus bill. The discretionary funding is not marked for Social Security checks, but instead can be used by the department in virtually any way it pleases. For instance, this money might be used for administration costs or self-promoting propaganda.
The funding is an issue, but perhaps more importantly, the recently released budget summary reads, “The President recognizes that Social Security is indispensable…He is strongly opposed to privatizing Social Security.” That means that the president thinks the government can handle your retirement money better than you can.
The $42.9 trillion the government owes on entitlements like Social Security is bankrupting the country. To put that in perspective, the total net value of all privately held assets in America is about $51.5 trillion. Social Security should stop making promises it will not be able to fulfill, and instead allow us to fund our retirement in accounts we own and control.
6. The Budget Creates Yet Another Entitlement and Spends Billions on Pell Grants.
Pell Grants are federal subsidies for post secondary education. The stimulus bill includes $15,600,000,000 for Pell Grants and Obama’s budget takes even more money for them. It increases the maximum award to $5,550, will have the amount adjust with inflation, and will make Pell Grants an entitlement.
Entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are threatening to bankrupt the country, but Obama wants to create another one with increasing long term cost to future taxpayers.
While the President is trying to increase government funding for education, his budget also mentions raising taxes on charitable contributions which might threaten private scholarships. The President and Congress should be cutting entitlements to save taxpayers money.
7. The Budget Spends $178 Billion on Interest on the Debt.
Of course, we have to pay the interest on the national debt, but the debt does not have to continue to increase in size, in turn increasing the interest payments. According to the CBO, the total national debt by 2019 will be equal in size to 82.4 percent of the economy. We are responsible to pay back the money overspent during past administrations, but we should be looking to reduce spending to cut back on the amount of interest we are paying in the future.
We are already paying $147 billion in interest on the debt for 2009. According to Obama’s budget, the interest on national debt will rise from $171 billion in 2010 to $391 billion in 2019. As of March 23, 2009, the entire national debt, accumulated since the founding of our nation, was $11,041,711,544,305. The CBO forecasts an additional $9,270,000,000,000 added over the next 10 years. It took the country over 200 years to acquire the current level of debt; Obama’s budget would double the number in just 5 percent of that time.
The President did inherit a huge national debt and trillion dollar deficits, but continuing to ramp up spending is not the solution. President Obama and Congress should cut programs and reduce taxes rather than wastefully spend even more. Government should be paying back the money that it owes rather than borrowing to spend even more.
8. The Budget (as Part of Its $1 Trillion Tax Hike!) Raises Taxes by $1 Billion to Fund the Failed EPA Superfund Program.
The budget includes an excise tax increase to collect over $1 billion to finance the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund program. Superfund is one of the biggest government boondoggles in American history and the president wants taxpayers to pay even more for it. The program was created in the 1980s after the media drew attention to high levels of dangerous chemicals near Love Canal in New York.
Hooker Electrochemical Company buried chemicals in the area of Love Canal lawfully with government permits in sealed, thick, protective tubes of impermeable clay. The Niagara Falk Board of Education, however, acquired the land and despite warnings that the land was contaminated, dug it up and constructed a public elementary school on the site. Irresponsible government caused the leaks at Love Canal and then even more irresponsible government forced taxpayers to pay for it.
The law gives the EPA the power to force a cleanup of any site they claim as toxic, even if there is no evidence that people in the area are harmed. John Stossel calls it our “most expensive clean up project.”
Toxic waste reduces life spans of average individuals by 4 days. Driving reduces the average life span by 182 days. If government really wanted to save lives, then at a very minimum, the Superfund money would go to making roads safer.
This program, like so many others, is receiving extra taxpayer dollars after failing to accomplish its mission. Rather than shutting the project down after it failed to achieve its goals, it gets even more money. If business was run like government agencies, then we would expect more money for producing products that consumers did not want and would not buy. Superfund is one of the worst wastes of taxpayer money and Obama wants to increase its funding.
9. The Budget Generates Even More Cheap Credit to Further Distort the Market.
The Budget provides $17.5 billion for loan guarantees to new businesses. The proposal explains that the program is intended to unfreeze the credit markets. Cheap credit from the Federal Reserve played a significant role in the creation of a bubble in the housing market. From where will the next bubble come? If the government spends billions to finance small businesses, then maybe we will see a bubble there. Will that result in another crisis? Will taxpayers have to pay to bailout even more failed companies when government intervenes again?
Further tinkering with prices for credit will only exacerbate the problems that we are facing today. The market needs the uncertainty created by government intervention to end in order for a speedy recovery to take place.
10. The Budget Increases Funding for Space Exploration while the Country Suffers in Recession.
Discretionary funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration increases by $900,000,000 in Obama’s budget plus another $1,000,000,000 from the stimulus. The President backs returning to the moon in the budget. Sure, NASA has brought us some pretty cool rocks from the moon, but is this really such a priority that it is worth taking money from working Americans through taxes to fund?
FreedomWorks
Mar 31, 2009
Top 10 Ways the Obama Budget Wastes Taxpayer Money
The president’s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal amounting to $3.55 trillion in spending was released on Feb. 26. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the president’s proposals will add deficits of $9,300,000,000,000 over the next 10 years—many times more than the inflation adjusted cost of all of World War II. The budget proposal sets record levels of annual spending between a minimum of $3,556,000,000,000 in 2011 and $5,139,000,000,000 in 2019. The budget raises taxes by as much as $1,600,000,000,000 over the next ten years.
This graph, as run in the Wall Street Journal with data from the CBO, displays the wide gap between spending and revenue outlined in Obama’s budget.
Although we were promised that President Obama would go through the budget line by line to take out the waste, it does not look like he has. While there are plenty more, the Top 10 ways the Obama budget waste’s taxpayer dollars are:
1. The Budget Includes a $646 Billion Cap-and-Trade Energy Tax.
The president’s budget would create a cap-and-trade energy tax system—essentially a tax on the use of fossil fuels. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions allowed in the country would be capped, companies would pay for the right to some of these emissions, and then can trade those rights with other companies. This would cost American business an estimated $646 billion—a tax they currently do not face, and a tax that would be passed on to the consumer, like all taxes. It will make virtually every other good more expensive. It is an explicit attempt to raise the cost of energy in this country.
The President claims that under his system, “if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum.” The new taxes will drive up costs for virtually every good while simultaneously pressuring foreign capital to seek countries with fewer regulations. The tax increase on energy alone according to Dr. Margo Thorning would, “In dollar cost terms, probably [be] an additional $700 to $1,400 per family per year, starting around 2012.”
2. The Budget Makes a “Down Payment” on Socializing Healthcare.
The White House Budget creates a reserve fund of more than $630 billion for healthcare reform. The President, in his budget summary, calls it a “down payment on reform.” If $630 billion is a down payment, taxpayers should be extremely concerned about the total cost of such a program.
Obama’s campaign goal of government run healthcare may become reality with the funding created for it in this budget. The administration has recently announced its intentions to completely overhaul the healthcare system. Increased funding for socialized coverage suggests this effort will greatly expand the role of government in the health sector.
We agree that healthcare needs reform. The problem, however, is not a lack of government funding, but a lack of markets in healthcare. Government restricts supply, creates mandates on insurance companies, requires occupational licenses for medical workers, and intervenes in a variety of other ways. If the government got out of the way, the market could reduce prices—making healthcare more affordable for everyone.
Where the market is allowed to work, we have seen lower prices. Health savings accounts (HSA), for example, add market incentives to treatment processes. An HSA allows individuals with a high deductible health plan to pay tax free dollars into a savings account that they can later spend on medical care. Studies find that HSAs cut overall long term healthcare costs by about a third by encouraging account holders to shop for the best care at the best value. Government should get out of the way to let markets reduce prices and expand insurance coverage for more Americans.
3. The Budget Hands out Billions to Agencies that Fund ACORN and other Community Organizing Groups.
The budget provides $4.5 billion for Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an activist group convicted of vote fraud and spearheading a campaign to trespass on and take over foreclosed properties, has historically received money from this program. Taxpayer dollars, rather than providing public services for Americans, might be funneled through HUD to groups like ACORN. That money comes on top of what ACORN and other groups that helped to elect the President are already receiving from the stimulus bill and omnibus.
According to the American Spectator, the stimulus bill gives as much as $5.2 billion to ACORN.
4. The Budget Increases Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Funding after It Helped Cause the Financial Crisis.
The budget increases HUD’s discretionary funding by $6.4 billion in addition to the $13.6 billion it received from the stimulus bill—a 50 percent increase over last year. Discretionary funding is spent on whatever the department sees fit. It is not mandated funding with a specifically named purpose from Congress.
The Department insures mortgages for those who would not normally qualify. By driving up the demand for housing through loan guarantees for the unqualified, HUD contributed to the housing bubble. The program should be scrapped. Rather than eliminating a program that contributed to the housing and financial crisis, President Obama wants to increase its funding.
HUD’s former Secretary, Alphonso Jackson, was involved in the same “Friends of Angelo” VIP program with Countrywide Financial that Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) was.
5. The Budget Summary Claims that Government Knows Better than Taxpayers about Their Retirement.
The Budget increases discretionary funding for Social Security by $1,100,000,000 and a matching amount from the stimulus bill. The discretionary funding is not marked for Social Security checks, but instead can be used by the department in virtually any way it pleases. For instance, this money might be used for administration costs or self-promoting propaganda.
The funding is an issue, but perhaps more importantly, the recently released budget summary reads, “The President recognizes that Social Security is indispensable…He is strongly opposed to privatizing Social Security.” That means that the president thinks the government can handle your retirement money better than you can.
The $42.9 trillion the government owes on entitlements like Social Security is bankrupting the country. To put that in perspective, the total net value of all privately held assets in America is about $51.5 trillion. Social Security should stop making promises it will not be able to fulfill, and instead allow us to fund our retirement in accounts we own and control.
6. The Budget Creates Yet Another Entitlement and Spends Billions on Pell Grants.
Pell Grants are federal subsidies for post secondary education. The stimulus bill includes $15,600,000,000 for Pell Grants and Obama’s budget takes even more money for them. It increases the maximum award to $5,550, will have the amount adjust with inflation, and will make Pell Grants an entitlement.
Entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are threatening to bankrupt the country, but Obama wants to create another one with increasing long term cost to future taxpayers.
While the President is trying to increase government funding for education, his budget also mentions raising taxes on charitable contributions which might threaten private scholarships. The President and Congress should be cutting entitlements to save taxpayers money.
7. The Budget Spends $178 Billion on Interest on the Debt.
Of course, we have to pay the interest on the national debt, but the debt does not have to continue to increase in size, in turn increasing the interest payments. According to the CBO, the total national debt by 2019 will be equal in size to 82.4 percent of the economy. We are responsible to pay back the money overspent during past administrations, but we should be looking to reduce spending to cut back on the amount of interest we are paying in the future.
We are already paying $147 billion in interest on the debt for 2009. According to Obama’s budget, the interest on national debt will rise from $171 billion in 2010 to $391 billion in 2019. As of March 23, 2009, the entire national debt, accumulated since the founding of our nation, was $11,041,711,544,305. The CBO forecasts an additional $9,270,000,000,000 added over the next 10 years. It took the country over 200 years to acquire the current level of debt; Obama’s budget would double the number in just 5 percent of that time.
The President did inherit a huge national debt and trillion dollar deficits, but continuing to ramp up spending is not the solution. President Obama and Congress should cut programs and reduce taxes rather than wastefully spend even more. Government should be paying back the money that it owes rather than borrowing to spend even more.
8. The Budget (as Part of Its $1 Trillion Tax Hike!) Raises Taxes by $1 Billion to Fund the Failed EPA Superfund Program.
The budget includes an excise tax increase to collect over $1 billion to finance the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund program. Superfund is one of the biggest government boondoggles in American history and the president wants taxpayers to pay even more for it. The program was created in the 1980s after the media drew attention to high levels of dangerous chemicals near Love Canal in New York.
Hooker Electrochemical Company buried chemicals in the area of Love Canal lawfully with government permits in sealed, thick, protective tubes of impermeable clay. The Niagara Falk Board of Education, however, acquired the land and despite warnings that the land was contaminated, dug it up and constructed a public elementary school on the site. Irresponsible government caused the leaks at Love Canal and then even more irresponsible government forced taxpayers to pay for it.
The law gives the EPA the power to force a cleanup of any site they claim as toxic, even if there is no evidence that people in the area are harmed. John Stossel calls it our “most expensive clean up project.”
Toxic waste reduces life spans of average individuals by 4 days. Driving reduces the average life span by 182 days. If government really wanted to save lives, then at a very minimum, the Superfund money would go to making roads safer.
This program, like so many others, is receiving extra taxpayer dollars after failing to accomplish its mission. Rather than shutting the project down after it failed to achieve its goals, it gets even more money. If business was run like government agencies, then we would expect more money for producing products that consumers did not want and would not buy. Superfund is one of the worst wastes of taxpayer money and Obama wants to increase its funding.
9. The Budget Generates Even More Cheap Credit to Further Distort the Market.
The Budget provides $17.5 billion for loan guarantees to new businesses. The proposal explains that the program is intended to unfreeze the credit markets. Cheap credit from the Federal Reserve played a significant role in the creation of a bubble in the housing market. From where will the next bubble come? If the government spends billions to finance small businesses, then maybe we will see a bubble there. Will that result in another crisis? Will taxpayers have to pay to bailout even more failed companies when government intervenes again?
Further tinkering with prices for credit will only exacerbate the problems that we are facing today. The market needs the uncertainty created by government intervention to end in order for a speedy recovery to take place.
10. The Budget Increases Funding for Space Exploration while the Country Suffers in Recession.
Discretionary funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration increases by $900,000,000 in Obama’s budget plus another $1,000,000,000 from the stimulus. The President backs returning to the moon in the budget. Sure, NASA has brought us some pretty cool rocks from the moon, but is this really such a priority that it is worth taking money from working Americans through taxes to fund?
Dear Mr. President
Mr. President,
Because you refuse to believe that Americans overwhelmingly oppose your failed, out-of-touch progressive policies, let us be clear ONCE AND FOR ALL. As Americans – both within the Tea Party and the nation as a whole – we stand united in opposition to your radical agenda, including but not limited to:
We are NOT misdirected. We know exactly what the problem is...
YOUR DIRECTION.
Get the picture now?
Because you refuse to believe that Americans overwhelmingly oppose your failed, out-of-touch progressive policies, let us be clear ONCE AND FOR ALL. As Americans – both within the Tea Party and the nation as a whole – we stand united in opposition to your radical agenda, including but not limited to:
- Generation-robbing deficits which threaten to destroy the American dream for all posterity;
- Crippling new cap-and-trade taxes on energy, hikes in the personal income tax, and a host of other redistributionist tax schemes that rob the American people of the fruits of their labor;
- Government takeovers of our health care system and freedom-crushing individual mandates;
- Bailouts of irresponsible and rightfully-failing banks, businesses and labor unions;
- Foolish economic theories which have deepened our recession and sent unemployment skyrocketing.
We are NOT misdirected. We know exactly what the problem is...
YOUR DIRECTION.
Get the picture now?
Join the fight against Cap and Trade!
The fight against cap and trade and other economy-killing energy taxes is far from over. Please call your Congressmen and urge them to oppose the "American Power Act."
Here are some suggested talking points:
1. The legislation includes a "Fuels' Fee" that is in fact a $.27 per gallon of gasoline tax.
2. The bill is really just another cap and trade scheme in disguise.
3. It's a jobs killer in the industrial Midwest and across the country.
4. It creates a brand new government slush fund for Washington to spend.
5. It's an energy tax, hitting the poor and middle class the hardest.
6. It's the largest tax increase ever.
7. It will needlessly export more American jobs to China, India, and other countries.
8. It will do nothing to impact global climate temperatures.
9. The bill contains multi-billion dollar handouts for select corporations like General Electric, Duke Energy, and BP, who all support higher energy costs.
Please be polite, urge a no vote, remind the office that you will be watching their votes this November, post a comment below to tell us how it went and how your legislators plan on voting, and finally - urge your family and friends to call.
Here are some suggested talking points:
1. The legislation includes a "Fuels' Fee" that is in fact a $.27 per gallon of gasoline tax.
2. The bill is really just another cap and trade scheme in disguise.
3. It's a jobs killer in the industrial Midwest and across the country.
4. It creates a brand new government slush fund for Washington to spend.
5. It's an energy tax, hitting the poor and middle class the hardest.
6. It's the largest tax increase ever.
7. It will needlessly export more American jobs to China, India, and other countries.
8. It will do nothing to impact global climate temperatures.
9. The bill contains multi-billion dollar handouts for select corporations like General Electric, Duke Energy, and BP, who all support higher energy costs.
Please be polite, urge a no vote, remind the office that you will be watching their votes this November, post a comment below to tell us how it went and how your legislators plan on voting, and finally - urge your family and friends to call.
Stop the Cap and Trade Energy Bailout!
Big government’s bailout mania seems to know no bounds. The mortgage bailout for irresponsible borrowers and banks…the TARP, Wall Street bailout…the auto-bailout that turned General Motors into “Government Motors” overnight…enough is enough!
Nevertheless, President Obama, joined by some of his liberal allies in Congress including Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, and Barbara Boxer, are pushing yet another bailout…the Cap and Trade Energy Bailout.
Cap and trade creates a new multi-billion dollar “market” for trading CO2 literally out of thin air.
The winners: A handful of companies that have cut back-room deals with Obama and company that will give them a leg up in this new cap and trade system in exchange for their support.
The losers: As usual, the American taxpayers that will once again get stuck with the bill for a new big government program as they see their energy costs go up across the board.
Nevertheless, President Obama, joined by some of his liberal allies in Congress including Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, and Barbara Boxer, are pushing yet another bailout…the Cap and Trade Energy Bailout.
Cap and trade creates a new multi-billion dollar “market” for trading CO2 literally out of thin air.
The winners: A handful of companies that have cut back-room deals with Obama and company that will give them a leg up in this new cap and trade system in exchange for their support.
The losers: As usual, the American taxpayers that will once again get stuck with the bill for a new big government program as they see their energy costs go up across the board.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A Modern Tower of Babel
The tower of the Louise Weiss Building (shown below), although it looks unfinished, was designed with the expressed purpose of resembling the tower of Babel as depicted in Brueghel's painting!
Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
The EU expanded from 15 members to 25 in 2004, making a new constitution necessary for practical governing. Before it could come into effect, the EU constitution had to be ratified by all 25 EU member states, either through a referendum or by a parliamentary vote. Nine countries already had done so: Austria, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, however, rejection by even a single remaining country would prevent it from taking effect in November of 2006. The "no" vote that derailed the EU constitution happened on May 29th, 2005 in France. The Netherlands also voted "no" on June 1st, 2005 and the United Kingdom announced on June 6th, 2005 that it would not vote on the constitution. For all practical purposes, the EU constitution and its attempt at unity is dead.
As of January 1, 2007, the EU expanded to 27 nations with the addition of Bulgaria and Romania.
The European Union dropped plans for a constitution and decided to amend two existing treaties instead. Signed by the heads of state in Lisbon on December 13th, 2007, it still had be ratified by all 27 member nations to go into effect. Ireland, the only country to put the treaty to a public vote, defeated the Lisbon treaty proposition on June 12th, 2008.
In September of 2009, Czech senators filed a complaint against the treaty in the constitutional courts that delayed Czech signing of the treaty.
Ireland voted again on October 2nd, 2009, approving the Lisbon treaty, and Poland's President signed the Treaty on October 10th, leaving only the Czech republic's president to approve it, who has said he will not sign the treaty unless his country is granted an opt-out from the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.
On November 3rd, 2009, Czech president Vaclav Klaus signed the Lisbon Treaty, after the complaint to the constitutional courts was rejected. The Treaty became law on December 1st.
Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, chosen unanimously by the 27 European heads of government over dinner on November 19th to become EU President, is a devout Roman Catholic who was educated at the Jesuit Sint-Jan Berchmans College in central Brussels, and has degrees in philosophy and applied economics from the Catholic University of Leuven. This brings to mind:
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
One World Currency???
420 banks demand 1-world currency
Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium online newsletter published by the current No. 1 best-selling author, WND staff writer and senior managing director of the Financial Services Group at Gilford Securities.The Institute of International Finance, a group that represents 420 of the world's largest banks and finance houses, has issued yet another call for a one-world global currency, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
"A core group of the world's leading economies need to come together and hammer out an understanding," Charles Dallara, the Institute of International Finance's managing director, told the Financial Times.
An IIF policy letter authored by Dallara and dated Oct. 4 made clear that global currency coordination was needed, in the group's view, to prevent a looming currency war.
"The narrowly focused unilateral and bilateral policy actions seen in recent months – including many proposed and actual measures on trade, currency intervention and monetary policy – have contributed to worsening underlying macroeconomic imbalances," Dallara wrote. "They have also led to growing protectionist pressures as countries scramble for export markets as a source of growth."
Dallard encouraged a return to the G-20 commitment to utilize International Monetary Fund special drawing rights to create an international one-world currency alternative to the U.S. dollar as a new standard of foreign-exchange reserves.
Likewise, a July United Nations report called for the replacement of the dollar as the standard for holding foreign-exchange reserves in international trade with a new one-world currency issued by the International Monetary Fund.
The 176-page report, titled "United Nations World Economic and Social Survey 2010," was issued at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Economic and Social Council and published in its entirety on the U.N. website.
So what does this mean for us? I don't know, but I know that any form of going to a one world anything is not good in my eyes. Read a chapter in a pretty well selling book called "THE BIBLE"! called Revelation!!!
Going towards a one world government, or a one world religion is NOT a good thing.
Head of IMF Proposes New Reserve Currency
IMF's Strauss-Kahn suggests IMF may one day provide global reserve asset(article via link below)
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9958995
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Lyrics to make you think...
"Hands Held High"
By Linkin Park
Turn my mic up louder I got to say something
Light weights step to the side when we come in
Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping
People on the street they panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping
Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
F*** that I wanna see some fists pumping
Risk something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank
These f***ers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the cheque
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"
[Chorus:]
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen
World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions
Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me
Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away
It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"
By Linkin Park
Turn my mic up louder I got to say something
Light weights step to the side when we come in
Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping
People on the street they panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping
Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
F*** that I wanna see some fists pumping
Risk something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank
These f***ers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the cheque
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"
[Chorus:]
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen
World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions
Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me
Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away
It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Be Prepared: An Introduction to Food Storage
November 21, 2010 - 1:30 ET
In the age of the 24 hour supermarket, food storage may seem like a crazy concept. But economic forces are converging in such a way that skyrocketing food prices no longer seem like a possibility, more and more they appear to be an impending certainty. While Glenn could be wrong about inflation, there’s no harm in being prepared. Don’t be the person holding up a sign looking for help, be the person with a life raft. Look at the information on food storage and decide what’s best for you and your family.THINGS TO CONSIDER
- No refrigeration, plan for emergency assuming no electricity.
- Be nutritious, there may be some more physical activity required (ie. Blizzard requires more shoveling)
- Keep calorie count
FOOD
- Recommend you start with 2 week supply of food
- Good no-cook food items
- Energy bars / breakfast bars- Plan around the way you already eat.
- Almonds
- Peanut butter
- Tuna packages
- Canned pasta
- Dried fruit / canned fruit
- Dry milk
- Instant coffee
- V-8 juice
- Build around 3 categories of food
- Grocery store goods: often inexpensive, and it’s all familiar stuff. (i.e. mac & cheese)- Don’t stock up on it unless you know you like it.
- Freeze dried foods: lightweight and don’t take up much room. more expensive up front, but priced out per serving, it’s budget friendly.
- Bulk dry food: rice, beans, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, cornmeal, wheat, dried milk, etc. It will be the backbone of your food storage and last up to 20-30 years.
- Look at ingredients. You don’t want something high in sodium or preservatives
- Pay attention to shelf life. Take a look at package, can. Soup doesn’t need water and can store this for a few years. Plastic bags and cardboard boxes – 1 yr max
WATER
- Easiest way to store is by using cleaned out 2 liter soda bottles. You can easily clean out with hot water, drop of soap. Rinse thoroughly. That type of plastic is safe for storage.
- Recommend 2 liter soda bottle / per person / per day. For consumption and washing.
- If a situation where water is an issue, be sure to have stash of paper plates & freeze dried meals.
- If you can heat water, then at least you can enjoy a hot meal (i.e. mac & cheese, pasta, soup)
STORAGE
- 5 main enemies to storing food
- Temperature: ideal is 40 degrees - 72 degrees. For every 18 degrees above 72, food will lose its’ nutritional value by half - Humidity: Store food off the floor and away from outside walls- Look for places where can you declutter (I have water bottles stored under my kids’ beds)
- Pests: Keep food in air-tight containers clean up food particles on the shelves or floor
- Oxygen: Use oxygen absorbers, rotate food, vacuum packing food to reduce oxidation
- Light: Keep your pantry area dark. If food is in clear containers, keep them in labeled boxes with lids.
- You can store food in bin under a bed, clear out space in closet and designate a shelf.
- I recommend pieces of furniture that can double as storage. (i.e. Bench that opens up with a storage component – especially good for small homes)
- Store in a place that you won’t be dipping into constantly.
NON-FOOD ITEMS
- Items like toilet paper, can be bulky but it can be stored in garage, attic, shed, etc. moisture will affect it but temperature won’t.
- Non-food items, purposefully 1-2 weeks supply
- Go through entire day and jot down every non-item used. Soap, shampoo, contact solution, etc. buy extras of those.
- Keep easily organized in buckets (i.e. dental, laundry, etc.)
- Give serious consideration to how your family will cope when power is down. Communication, entertainment, What would we do to take care of pets? Keep things cool in the home, etc?
Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation
Storage information
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/store.html
Canning information
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html
Drying information
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry.html
Articles about our Economy
Check out this article from Glenn Beck about our economy. It is very good and really makes you think.
12 Signs Economy May Tank
Here is another article also by Glenn Beck about the economy.
Prepare prepare prepare
12 Signs Economy May Tank
Here is another article also by Glenn Beck about the economy.
Prepare prepare prepare
Fusion Magazine and Glenn Beck
This is a new magazine that I think everyone that reads this blog should read. Here is what they say about the magazine from their website:
Fusion is not the weekly standard, and it may not be for everyone...
If you were going to start a whole new division of a business you would probably conduct extensive research and product testing with surveys and focus groups, which would take many months. You'd hire analysts to dissect the market to find out if there was a need for your new product and only when that was all done would you actually start to develop and test it. Great! Now we know what you would do.
We, on the other hand, noticed one day in an airport that there really weren't any smart and funny magazines. So we wrote one. No testing, no research and not a single focus group.
Each issue, subscribers to Fusion can expect to get the latest perspective on what is happening in our world, coupled with my personal thoughts as 'work in progress' as well as cutting edge comedy and satire. Believe us, this magazine is not the weekly standard and it may not be for everyone, but because we know that, those that do enjoy it are going to LOVE IT.
It is our sincere hope that you are one of those people.
Subscribe
Also if you have not seen the Glenn Beck show recently it is a MUST SEE! Go to you-tube and search for Glenn Beck Soros, or Glenn Beck 3 part series. It is a group of shows that were on about a week and a half ago where he talks about some very serious things that everyone as Americans should be aware of. Like he says on the show, do not take his word for it, do the research yourself. He talks about a lot of topics that every one should know about and be aware of.
Fusion is not the weekly standard, and it may not be for everyone...
If you were going to start a whole new division of a business you would probably conduct extensive research and product testing with surveys and focus groups, which would take many months. You'd hire analysts to dissect the market to find out if there was a need for your new product and only when that was all done would you actually start to develop and test it. Great! Now we know what you would do.
We, on the other hand, noticed one day in an airport that there really weren't any smart and funny magazines. So we wrote one. No testing, no research and not a single focus group.
Each issue, subscribers to Fusion can expect to get the latest perspective on what is happening in our world, coupled with my personal thoughts as 'work in progress' as well as cutting edge comedy and satire. Believe us, this magazine is not the weekly standard and it may not be for everyone, but because we know that, those that do enjoy it are going to LOVE IT.
It is our sincere hope that you are one of those people.
Subscribe
Also if you have not seen the Glenn Beck show recently it is a MUST SEE! Go to you-tube and search for Glenn Beck Soros, or Glenn Beck 3 part series. It is a group of shows that were on about a week and a half ago where he talks about some very serious things that everyone as Americans should be aware of. Like he says on the show, do not take his word for it, do the research yourself. He talks about a lot of topics that every one should know about and be aware of.
Hyperinflation and what to do about it
So the Fed is printing money again, and just monetized our debt, so who thinks inflation is not coming? Well if you think that then I have some things to sell you. lol....
Really inflation is coming if not hyperinflation (inflation of over 100% over the course of 3 or more years). All the signs are there, so what can we do about it? Good question, this may help:
What can we do to survive a period of hyperinflation?
One, make up your mind that you will survive. Make up your mind that you will not fight the predominant trend. You do not do your country nor your family any service by being broke. Since hyperinflation is basically a collapse in confidence of the value of a nation’s currency what we need to do is think of assets that might retain their value against a depreciating currency.
These assets might be gold, silver, art, diamonds, antiques, religious artifacts and farmland. Now farmland may seem like an odd one, but imagine that most people live in cities. Those cities are entirely non-self supportive. These populations are only able to feed themselves because of their ability to offer dollars for food. If those dollars had no value, then they would be in a position of not being able to eat. So one’s ability to grow their own food is a pretty valuable asset, lest people start eating their neighbors.
So think about what you are going to do when this happens, no think about what you are going to do now to prepare yourself and or your family for the events that will happen.
Start storing needed food, supplies, water, ammunition and any other thing that you might need. It does not hurt to be a little prepared even if things do not get that bad. But if they do where would you rather be? Amongst the crowd that said oh do not worry things are fine, or with the people who know it is not a bad thing to be a little prepared.
Like the Boy Scouts say "Be Prepared"!
Really inflation is coming if not hyperinflation (inflation of over 100% over the course of 3 or more years). All the signs are there, so what can we do about it? Good question, this may help:
What can we do to survive a period of hyperinflation?
One, make up your mind that you will survive. Make up your mind that you will not fight the predominant trend. You do not do your country nor your family any service by being broke. Since hyperinflation is basically a collapse in confidence of the value of a nation’s currency what we need to do is think of assets that might retain their value against a depreciating currency.
These assets might be gold, silver, art, diamonds, antiques, religious artifacts and farmland. Now farmland may seem like an odd one, but imagine that most people live in cities. Those cities are entirely non-self supportive. These populations are only able to feed themselves because of their ability to offer dollars for food. If those dollars had no value, then they would be in a position of not being able to eat. So one’s ability to grow their own food is a pretty valuable asset, lest people start eating their neighbors.
So think about what you are going to do when this happens, no think about what you are going to do now to prepare yourself and or your family for the events that will happen.
Start storing needed food, supplies, water, ammunition and any other thing that you might need. It does not hurt to be a little prepared even if things do not get that bad. But if they do where would you rather be? Amongst the crowd that said oh do not worry things are fine, or with the people who know it is not a bad thing to be a little prepared.
Like the Boy Scouts say "Be Prepared"!
Weapons and ammo
So in coming up with a good list of arms to prepare my family with I came up with the standard ones. Go with the AR or AK families of weapon systems. The main issue is cost involved and availability of ammo and mags. The AR weapon system costs more in all those categories with the exception of mags. The ammo for the AK-74 system(5.45X39) is the cheapest with 2160 rounds available online for about $250 with the weapon itself available for under $500 with tax and mags for about $15 each you can see that it is a very affordable way to arm your self and or your family with a very effective system.
More on this later.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Food Storage
Having a food storage for your family is always a good idea in troubled times and good. What do you do if you loose your job, get snowed in, disaster strikes, etc...? Well if you have a little or a lot of extra food stored then you just go about your business and your family is taken care of and you have the ability to help others in need.
With the economy and job market the way it is today I really think this is one of the most important investments you can make for you and your family.
Also food storage is just a general term for emergency supplies not just food, but all the things you will need to live on if you cannot get to supplies or afford them.
If you are on board with this idea then the question becomes how much food storage is necessary? Well I believe it is a good idea to have a year of food for every person in your family, of course this takes some time to build up too and some money also. But imagine the peace of mind that you will have when you have it? Wow that would feel so good and you would know that your family would be able to take care of it's self no matter what happened.
Here is what my faith says about food storage:
"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.
"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.
"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."
With the economy and job market the way it is today I really think this is one of the most important investments you can make for you and your family.
Also food storage is just a general term for emergency supplies not just food, but all the things you will need to live on if you cannot get to supplies or afford them.
If you are on board with this idea then the question becomes how much food storage is necessary? Well I believe it is a good idea to have a year of food for every person in your family, of course this takes some time to build up too and some money also. But imagine the peace of mind that you will have when you have it? Wow that would feel so good and you would know that your family would be able to take care of it's self no matter what happened.
Here is what my faith says about food storage:
"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.
"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.
"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."
To be a patriot
This blog will cover many different topics from educating ourselves about current events to preparedness, politics, religion and many other topics most Patriots would be interested in.
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