Please accept an American Citizens apology for what our President has done

Embassy of the Republic of Poland
2650 16th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
daria.nowak@msz.gov.pl

Dear Ambassador,

The American people stand with the people of Poland in defense of your nation. We thank you for your support in the War on Terror. Our President announcing he would not defend your nation and ours on the 70th Anniversary of the Soviet invasion of your nation was wrong and without feeling. It is not the feeling of most Americans. We appreciate your nation being our ally. May God bless Poland and the Polish people.

With Warm Regards,
Gary Howell

Democrat Rules of Civility and Decorum

Obama's Misplaced Priorities

Obama went to one of the few crowds left in the world that adore him, liberal college students, and made the announcement that the struggle for health care reform was the most important one of our time.

Honestly, this guy is the president?

The President of the United States is commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country. Tens of thousands of troops remain in harms way in Iraq. Tens of thousands more are going actively into battle every single day in Afghanistan. Their loved ones wait every day to hear good or bad news.

Obama, get this message. When American soldiers are in battle THAT is the most important struggle of the time. Everything else is secondary.

Did Obama mean to show disrespect to the troops? Probably not. He just lacks a basic understanding of America and what we consider most important. Our soldiers fight in Afghanistan to prevent the reestablishment of a regime that assisted in the 9/11 attacks. They fight to give to that nation a measure of stability and rule of law where women can go to school and almost all can live without fear. Compared to those ends, Obama's health care proposals pale considerably.

Again, Obama shows a basic lack of comprehension and inability to understand the big picture. He needs to stop campaigning and start being president.

Capito Statement on Corridor H Congresswoman Applauds Progress, Renews Call for Project’s Completion

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., today praised ongoing progress in the construction of Corridor H, while also calling for renewed efforts to complete the project.

“Corridor H is critical for promoting economic growth and opportunity through Appalachia,” said Capito. “We’ve already seen the benefits of the completed portions of Corridor H, and those opportunities will only grow with today’s developments and the full completion of the highway.

“This project has been held up long enough. Simply put, it’s time to see this project completed.”

Capito also reiterated her desire to see real bipartisan investment in highway infrastructure.

“It’s clear that – despite the rhetoric – the stimulus bill’s highway investment amounted to less than 5 percent of the bill and dozens of projects remain unfunded or underfunded,” she noted.

“With a smart, bipartisan highway bill we have an opportunity to start filling in the gaps with infrastructure projects we know can set the stage for economic growth now and in the future.”

Make Mine Freedom (1948)

When Will Our Democratic Congressmen Stop Listening to Pelosi and Start Listening to Us?

Revelations over the past two weeks transformed the image of ACORN from merely shady community organizers to a group apparently willing to help bring children into the United States for the purpose of prostitution. Multiple branches of this recently federally funded group offered to help various investigators commit a variety of felonies. The former Secretary of State Betty Ireland understood them enough to investigate their activities prior to last year's election. Her successor has not followed up on this problem.

The US Senate quickly voted to suspend funding of this rogue group. Several executive branch agencies, including the Census Bureau, stopped coordination with them as well. Today the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to shut down funding for ACORN.

Two representatives, Alan Mollohan and Nick Joe Rahall, voted against cutting off funding.

Why?

How are two rural congressmen so bound to these would be abbettors of child sex slavery?

It would have been appropriate and risk free to support the majority of Democrats and all Republicans on this issue. West Virginians are not known as vocal supporters of ACORN.

So why not vote against them?

Tyson Replaces Labor Day With Muslim Holiday

Capito Asks for ACORN Hearings Housing Subcommittee Has Oversight Responsibility Congresswoman Says

In light of troubling reports about the conduct of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is calling for congressional hearings to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being used improperly or illegally. ACORN, a recipient of federal funding, has been under intense scrutiny after representatives of the organization were documented providing housing assistance to a couple attempting to set up an illicit business.

In a letter to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Cal., the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Capito notes that the subcommittee has jurisdiction over many of ACORN’s key housing-related functions and she asks the chairwoman to hold a hearing to investigate current and past allegations.

“ACORN has been on the receiving end of more than $50 million from U.S. taxpayers and it’s only appropriate that we ensure that those dollars are not being mis-used,” said Capito, who is the subcommittee’s ranking Republican member.

“Housing programming forms a significant portion of ACORN’s activities and our committee should not ignore the implications of these recent developments.”
In her letter, Capito also addressed passed allegations of misconduct by ACORN representatives.

“… we cannot forget that this entity is also facing investigations regarding potential voter registration fraud in Ohio, Nevada, and Florida among others,” she wrote.

***Complete text of the letter can be found below***

----------------------------------------------------------------
September 16, 2009

Rep. Maxine Waters
Chairwoman
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
House Financial Services Committee
2344 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwoman Waters:

Over the August recess, many of the concerns expressed by my constituents involved the amount of money the federal government is spending. They want to know where this money is going and when we will begin to reduce the overall level of spending. I think we can all agree that we must bring our nation’s fiscal house in order and be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money.

With that in mind, the recent reports of inappropriate behavior by employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, commonly referred to as ACORN, must be addressed. In the past few weeks, there have been numerous accounts of ACORN representatives advising a young couple on how to obtain housing assistance to set up an illicit business.

While ACORN reportedly is taking steps regarding some of the individuals involved, this is but the latest development in a series of serious charges being leveled against this group. Since 1994, the American taxpayers have provided ACORN with approximately $53 million in federal funding for housing assistance and counseling. While there may be entities within ACORN that provide appropriate assistance to Americans struggling to find housing, we cannot forget that this entity is also facing investigations regarding potential voter registration fraud in Ohio, Nevada, and Florida among others.

Many of ACORN’s activities relate directly to issues under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. Specifically, the ACORN Housing Corporation provides counseling to first time homeowners, mortgage counseling and foreclosure prevention assistance, and low income housing development. Earlier this year, the Committee adopted an amendment I offered directing the Committee to conduct oversight over the use of Federal funds by non-profits, for-profits, and third party entities; especially with the identification of questionable behavior by housing personnel. It is imperative that the Subcommittee hold hearings on the current and past allegations against ACORN to ensure that the taxpayer’s money is not being used improperly or illegally.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Shelley Moore Capito
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity

Mollohan moves up from top 20 most corrupt to top 15

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington which puts out the list of most corrupt politicians and backs it up with facts, named Congressman Alan Mollohan (D, WV-1) to the top 15 this year. (Click Here for the Full Report)

Capito Asks Colleagues to Focus on Issues at Hand

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brought legislation to the floor today to chastise Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for comments made last week during the President’s address to Congress, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., today urged her colleagues in the House of Representatives to avoid a partisan side-show and focus instead on the issues at hand.

“It’s striking that as we approach the one year anniversary of one of our nation’s greatest economic collapses and with unemployment still creeping towards 10 percent, that the House continues to dwell on an issue that both Mr. Wilson and the President himself have said is over,” said Capito.

“Mr. Wilson rightly apologized for his rude and inappropriate behavior, and the President rightly accepted his apology. They’ve both asked us all to move on and focus on the issues that matter – we should heed their logic. If Mr. Wilson’s apology is good enough for the President, it’s good enough for me.”

The morning after the President’s address to Congress, Capito appeared on national television and criticized Rep. Wilson for his outburst, calling it “very inappropriate.

Awakening the Sleeping Giant

Admiral Yamamoto used this analogy to describe the reaction of the United States after the proposed attack on Pearl Harbor. He could not have been more accurate.

Politically speaking, the attempt to wrench the United States down a left wing socialist path during a prolonged economic crisis has done the same thing.

In this case the sleeping giant was conservative and libertarian America. These folks, for the most part, are the backbone of America. They own small businesses, many served in the military, some work for larger companies in every capacity you can imagine. Others are self-employed as professionals. Some grow our food or even work in the government itself. All share the same ideal, that in America you can get farther, faster on your own efforts without government getting in the way.

Taking over major corporations with government power, promising to raise electric bills based on a discredited environmental theory, running up major deficits and planning to spend even more money on dubious health care programs are bad enough. Meanwhile we have pursued a policy of weakness in foreign affairs.

Increasingly it is clear that America did not vote for Obama. It voted against a centrist Republicanism that talked small government but delivered more debt. It voted for change in a time of economic fear, willing to gamble on the outsider, perhaps wanting to prove once and for all that America is not a racist nation. John McCain would have made a solid president, but the times demanded a stronger statement from the GOP. Conservatives refrained from casting a ballot for president in silent protest, a portent of the release soon to come.

We bet on the wrong horse.

You might also call the Republican Party a sleeping giant. Its limbs have awakened faster than its head, but it is roused and ready for action. Tea Party advocates crammed the streets of Washington last weekend. Morgan McComb of Texas proudly related on Facebook that at Obama's inauguration people had room to sit. At the 9/12 tea party in the nation's capital, bodies were jammed together, peacefully standing and protesting socialism. They also protested teh centralization of power in the hands of Obama along with the Chicago style corruption that has tarnished appointments and appropriations.

The RNC seems to still be wary of the movement, cautiously backing it. That being said, the West Virginia state party leadership has shown tremendous enthusiasm. You have to remember, until recently many Republicans proudly said "conservatives do NOT protest." As Bob Dylan sang once, the times they are a changin'. People are roused to direct action nationwide in numbers reminiscent of the 1960s. Many of the people mobilized to act were of that generation. They do not want to see the government steal their lifetime of savings or take away the Medicare plans that were promised them.

Left wingers reacted with hysterics at the suddenly uncivil tone of conservatives and libertarians. Accustomed to strongly worded letters to the editor, they had no experience in dealing with the kind of action they endorsed against the policies of President Bush. Confident in their mastery of a radical playbook, they could not fathom that their opponents might try the same ideas used by them for the past eight years. Leftists seem to have all been stricken by some kind of amnesia related to their past behavior. All they can do in response is shout the trite label "racist."

Our nation is at a crossroads. We need to work to build a strategy for the future. Will it be big government paternalism or a return to small government that unleashes the potential in each individual willing to work hard? The next two elections will indicate where our country goes from here. It is time for free people to stand with the Republican Party, elect strong candidates in the primaries, and take them to victory in Novembers to come.

The Ugliness of Pure Unadulterated Bigotry

In the past few days we have seen the ugliness of bigotry directed at the good people of South Carolina.

In a defining moment of the current political debate, Congressman Joe Wilson shouted during Obama's speech to Congress last week "You lie!" Under pressure from other Republicans he issued an apology. Pushed to reiterate his retraction, he refused to budge another inch. In other words he does not dispute what he said, just the forum in which he said it.

Wilson's statements triggered an unusually heated blast of hatred from the Left that coincided with the massive protests last week in Washington DC and elsewhere. Obama's Administration dictated to the protestors that their stance was simply "wrong." Columnists such as Maureen Dowd of the New York Times and Margery Eagan of the Boston Herald attacked Wilson as a racist. His powerful stance against a president that happened to be black could not have come from honest disagreement over that chief executive's policies. No, it must be racism.

And here is how you know that the leftists have lost. They try to hush all debate by hauling out what used to be the dreaded "R" word. That word used to make people shake in their boots. Stab me, shoot me, just don't call me a racist. However it has been trotted out so many times, it's lost its punch.

Eagen was particularly eager to slam the state of South Carolina, hauling out historical figures who, except for Strom Thurmond, all died before any of her readers were born. Of course she recounted all the insults (the Audacity of Dope I particularly liked) and accusations aimed at Obama as a sign of hysteria. Did she feel the same when Bush was accused of falsifying National Guard enlistments, or was compared to a monkey? She was likely right along with that hatred, feeling morally righteous all the while. Today she says the whole state of South Carolina is full of crackpots and dingbats. Maybe I think that her entire newspaper is just as filled with hate, bigotry, and vitriol as she is. That would not be fair, but the left specializes in collective generalization.

Folks, this is what they think. Don't assume that they will not attack West Virginia. They feel the same, if not worse, about us. It is hatred, pure bigotry, a knee jerk negativity that knows no reason or bounds. If they could get away with hanging all rural conservatives from a sour apple tree, they would.

The scary thing is that two groups of Americans move farther and farther apart, unable to fathom the other side or how we even live in the same country. They blame it on conservatives and libertarians, but they lie. Two visions exist of what America ought to be. One side wants government paternalism, the other a restrained system that promotes freedom and responsibility. Just as before the Civil War, the realm of compromise shrinks to imperceptibility.

In the Civil War no option remained by 1860 except to fight. No political solution existed to solve the divide between those that believed that individual liberty was best protected by states and those that believed the federal government ought to play a predominant role (although much less predominant than leftists today.) Are we seeing the same trend in our time? Perhaps, but probably not.

Bigotry from the left expresses a hatred not seen in this nation since the 1960s. That hatred was the last gasp of the dying segregationist culture. They knew history was closing the book on them. Hopefully radical left wing socialism is issuing its last foul and dying breath with this administration.

The Trap of the Imperial Presidency

Historians will often use the phrase "Imperial Presidency" to describe a personal style of rule that some chief executives assume. When thinking about this concept, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt often come up in discussions. Debates arise over whether or not personal rule is best for the country because it gets things done quickly, or whether it violates the balance of powers set in the Constitution.

The main instrument in the hands of an aspiring imperial president has been the executive order. This has the force of law and can claim indirect lineage from the Middle Ages era power of the monarch to make statutes. In recent years executive orders have proliferated and encompass a much broader scope than in the past. Obama exacerbated the problem of expanding presidential power by appointing powerful bureaucratic chieftains nicknamed "czars" to direct policy. These men and women, unlike official advisors, do not require Senatorial consent.

Lincoln and Roosevelt have this in common. They used their expanded powers during a time of national crisis. After Lincoln, the power of the president, for various reasons, shrank. During the Cold War and after it has expanded. Yes a president needs the authority to meet national emergencies, but too many use that power in more mundane situations.

Much of this is our fault. We expect our presidents to be superhuman. They must maintain economic prosperity, national security, protect innocents around the world, and attend to every issue that we think is important. When crises occur, we expect him or her to do something. We are not sure what, but we want something done, even when it would be better to do nothing.

In this way we resemble Rome at the end of the Republic. They had elected consuls that could not solve every social problem. When the dictator Julius Caesar acted forcefully, the people approved even though it broke their constitution. After Caesar came civil war and the establishment of the empire. Augustus was everything his people could have wanted in a leader, just, wise, effective. He seemed to affirm the positives of the imperial ideal. However when less scrupulous, and then downright insane people inherited the throne, the power Augustus used for good was bent towards evil goals.

We must put the brakes on the imperial presidency through constitutional amendment. First, kill off the czars. No major appointments without the "advice and consent of the Senate." Second, cap executive orders. No executive order may remain in force for more than five years without congressional affirmation. That is enough time for a president to address an emergency. Executive orders involving the seizure of land must be approved by the state legislature, or territorial, or Indian reservation authorities before they go into effect. This is the first step in restoring balance to our system and saving our Republic.