Candidate For Congress

 

by Kerry Thomas

November 7, 2009

 

 

Okay, so I guess the cat’s out of the bag. One reporter from the Appleton Post-Crescent actually did her homework, checked the facts with the Government Accountability Board, and discovered that I am the first, and so far the only, person who is officially registered as a candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District race.

 

I filed my official Declaration of Candidacy August 2, after I had finally finished reading all 1017 pages of H.R. 3200 America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (the health care bill).

 

I guess you could say that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

 

Previously I had managed to read the 1434 page conference report of H.R. 1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the “stimulus bill.” You might remember that one. You know, the $787 Billion bill that was rushed through Congress in such an “emergency” that no one bothered to read the bill before they voted on it.

 

Congressman Steve Kagen voted in favor of the bill (roll call vote no. 70).

 

We were told that America’s economy was under such a severe threat that, unless that $787 Billion stimulus was passed right away, the unemployment rate would rise to 8%. The stimulus bill was passed – and the unemployment rate is now 10.2% and, according to the Obama Administration, is expected to remain that high for the foreseeable future, despite all the stimulation.

 

According to Vice-President Joe Biden, “We misread how bad the economy was.”

 

No kidding, Joe.

 

Meanwhile, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, testified before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress that “the stimulus will have its greatest impact on growth in the second and third quarters of 2009…. By mid-2010, fiscal stimulus will likely be contributing little to growth.”

 

So much for all that $787 Billion in larded stimulation, money that Congress simply charged to the American Taxpayer’s credit card without the cardholder’s approval.

 

There were the Billions that were spent to keep GM and Chrysler out of bankruptcy. That sure worked out well, didn’t it?

 

There was H.R. 2346, the $ 177.3 Billion emergency supplemental spending bill, which included $1 Billion + $2 Billion more under the ‘‘Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Program’’ better known as “Cash For Clunkers” that was used to buy used cars which had to then be destroyed instead of being recycled.

 

Congressman Steve Kagen voted in favor of the bill (roll call vote no. 348).

 

While the world was having a collective cow over the death of yet another famous drug addicted freak, the House of Representatives pushed through HR2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act, aka the Waxman-Markey cap-n-trade “clean energy” bill. This legislation plowed through the House by a vote of 219-212, with virtually no one having read that 1500+ page bill either. This monstrosity of a bill has hidden costs to you and me that are flat out incalculable. The Senate’s still working on their version of this disastrous legislation.

 

Congressman Steve Kagen voted in favor of the bill (roll call vote no. 477).

 

Let’s not forget the $700 Billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout of the banks (H.R. 1424, more formally known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008).

 

Congressman Steve Kagen voted in favor of the bill (roll call vote no. 101).

 

And now those governing our Republic want to spend some $1.055 Trillion more to pay for health insurance for 50 million people they say have no health insurance, and “transform” America’s health care system, against the objections of a majority of Americans. The Democrats are actually telling us they can borrow and spend another $1.055 Trillion and it will somehow reduce the deficit. And they’re somehow going to cut $500 Billion in waste from Medicare. Where? From Medicare Advantage? And where have they managed to cut waste from Medicare so far?

 

When Congressman Steve Kagen was asked about the bill, he replied, “I am writing the health care bill.  What would you like in it?”

 

Congressman Steve Kagen supports this socialized health care legislation, parroting the Democrat talking points (more empty political promises) of the 1990 page bill (H.R. 3962), which was forced through the House of Representatives by a vote of 220-215 late Saturday night.  1 misguided Republican (in name only), Joseph Cao or Louisiana, voted in favor of this bill; 39 Democrats voted against it.

 

Congressman Steve Kagen voted in favor of the bill (roll call vote no. 887).

 

When Judge Andrew Napolitano asked South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, where in the Constitution it authorizes the federal government to regulate the delivery of health care, he replied "There's nothing in the Constitution that says that the federal government has anything to do with most of the stuff we do."

 

That’s become the attitude of the majority of Members of Congress today. President Obama sees the Constitution as a charter of negative liberties. Using his logic, I guess you could also call the Ten Commandments a charter of negative liberties (Thou shalt not…).

 

(By the way, have you tried getting a swine flu shot lately? You know, the 120 million doses of H1N1 vaccine that government-run health care promised us would be available by October 1. Where do you fall on the government list of prioritized (rationed) populations to be immunized?)

 

I could give you more than 11,994,656,649,124 more reasons why I declared myself a candidate for Congress. I could also give you about 39,006 reasons why you should consider the idea yourself. (see Oliver's National Debt, Stop The Stimulation! and Maybe They Haven't Heard There's A Recession).

 

I was a charter member of Citizens Against Government Waste, founded by J. Peter Grace after President Reagan tasked him to go through the entire federal budget and compile a list of wasteful government programs (the Grace Commission). Council For Citizens Against Government Waste has given our current Congressman, Steve Kagen, a 2008 taxpayer-friendly rating of 8 out of 100 (hostile to taxpayers) for supporting just 8% of 48 key votes in 2008. CCAGW gives Kagen a lifetime rating of just 7%.

 

Most people are familiar with Edmund Burke’s 1795 quote that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” But Burke, an Irish orator, philosopher, and politician, also said “No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

 

After bearing witness for the last five years to the debacle that has become the Republican Party, and to Members of Congress and the Executive Branch running roughshod over the Constitution, I felt I had to do something. The only way America will be able to undo the damage caused by those currently governing our Republic is for people of good character to step forward and replace those currently governing our Republic.

 

“When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

 

To do anything less would be unconscionable.

 

I may not get elected to Congress. I may not even get on the ballot next year. But I can represent a point of view not shared by the three people who’ve “announced” they’re candidates, none of whom have formally declared themselves to be so. At least I live in the 8th District. I don’t have to make excuses about why more than 88% of my donations have come from outside the 8th District. I haven’t been cited for driving with a suspended driver’s license or been charged with domestic abuse.

 

I may not have a fancy law degree but I know how to read legislative bureaucratese, which should be a prerequisite for anyone in Congress these days.

 

The primary election isn’t until September 14, 2010, and the general isn’t until November 2, 2010. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of wannabe politicians spending a year or more asking you for money so they can run ads telling you what a dirty rotten skunk their opponent is. I’m tired of having to vote for the skunk that stinks the least.

 

If you agree with anything I have to say after reading through my Archived Articles, tell a friend or two about me. And if you feel you just have to give me money for a campaign, stop a minute and think about that choice. I’d rather you take whatever money you wanted to give me and donate it to a good reputable local charity instead. If you can’t think of any, start with my list to the right under Support Our Troops.