I believe there are many good people that run for office, with the best of intentions in representing their constituents; and to make positive changes for their country, fellow citizens, and communities…

However, after a long string of events, that seemingly make little to no sense from our elected officials in Washington; only to see continued pain with each new proposed bill; after watching many good people lose every thing that they’ve worked so hard for; it not only breaks my heart, but it leaves me with an extraordinary cynical view of our current federal government; and the incessant abuses that continue to be legislated, and forced on the good people of this country; none of which, by virtue of common-sense, seem to be aimed at truly fixing the problems at hand, let alone restoring this country to the virtues and foundations which have made us a great country.

So, if we were to apply common-sense, most of us can relate to the old adage..”If it isn’t broke, then don’t fix it”… However, what if the machine is severely broken? Shall we continue to replace it with bad parts? 

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”–

“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world”…

“In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people”…

Democracy was started in Ancient Greece, and the word Democracy in Greek is “demos kratia,” which in English, literally means “people rule.”

Therefore, let’s not be confused or misled: here in The United States, we are not living in a true democracy… If anything, we have  a Representative form of Democracy.

In reality, we are a Republic… which is a state or a country that is not led by a monarchy, and which the people (or part of the people) have an impact on it’s government. More broadly, we are a Constitutional Republic, governed by laws, and by which the people are represented by elected officials.

The word Republic is derived from the Latin phrase “res publica,“ which is translated to English as “public thing,” or “public affair.”

Article 4, Section 4, of The United States Constitution:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,…”

By Janet Contreras…

I am Janet Contreras, a concerned, home-grown American citizen. I am 53, and I have been a registered Democrat all of my adult life. Before the last Presidential election, I registered Republican because I no longer feel the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. I now no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me.

There must be someone, please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me you are there and are willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please do it now.

You might ask yourselves what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me? These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

* Illegal Immigration—I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S. I am not a racist. This not to be confused with legal immigration.

* TARP Bill—I want it repealed and no further funding supplied to it. We told you “NO!” but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze! Repeal!

* Czars—I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the Czars. No more Czars. Government officials answer to the process not the President. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

* Cap & Trade—the debate on global warming is NOT over, there IS more to say.

* Universal Health Care—I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

* Growing Government Control—I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Please mind your own business; you have enough to do with your REAL obligations. Let’s start there.

* ACORN—I do not want ACORN or its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them on every real estate deal that closes. Stop all funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audit and investigation. I do not trust them with the taking of the census or with taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before the taxpayers get any further involved with them. It walks like a duck and talks like a duck—hello… stop protecting political buddies. You work for the people. Investigate.

* Redistribution of Wealth—No. If I work for it, it is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth I support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do want me to hate my employers? What do your have against shareholders making a profit?

* Charitable Contributions—although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities where we know our needs best and can use local talent and resources. Butt out, please. We want to do this ourselves.

* Corporate Bail Outs—knock it off! Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we will be better off just getting to it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful, like ripping off a band aid. We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us a chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

* Transparency and Accountability—how about it? No really, let’s have it. Let’s say we give the “buzz” words a rest and have some straight, honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with cleaver wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

* Unprecedented Quick Spending—stop it, now. Take a breath. Listen to “The People.”

Let’s just slow down and get some more input from some “non-politicians” on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law.

I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant nor a violent person. I am a mother and grandmother. I am a working woman. I am busy, busy, busy and tired, tired, tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawns and wash our cars on weekends, and be responsible, contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same, all the while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding our Constitution and believed in the checks and balances to keep you from getting too far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think that I find humor in hiring a speed reader to unintelligibly ramble through a bill you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not! It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face! I am not laughing—the arrogance!

Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it, but you expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children? We did not want that TARP bill. We said “NO!” We would repeal it if we could. I am not sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all the recent spending. From my perspective, it seems that you have all gone insane.

I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back!

You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington.
—

I realize that a lot of people in our country (today) are freaked out and confused by this ridiculous, and unprecedented spending in Washington D.C as of late. If you are, it is OK, you are not alone…I am also very concerned, and a bit freaked out by it as well; especially with reputable economists talking about the very good possibilities of hyper-inflation, soring interest rates, and ultimately the devaluing of United States currency.

For anyone that has not really given this kind of spending, any real serious thought, I would like you to please consider a few things…

The Iraq war costs approximately 10 billion dollars a month…while that alone is an enormous amount of (tax payer) spending,  the federal government, on February 17, 2009, signed into law, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which conveniently started out being sold as The Stimulus Bill. That one bill was for the monumental amount of 787 billion dollars…

According to my calculations, that would be 78 months of funding for The Iraq War; which amounts to 6.5 years, and roughly the cost of the entire war thus far. So, was that bill (monetarily) a bit unprecedented? Let’s not leave out the interest… it is estimated that the total cost, with interest, is approximately 1.4 trillion dollars…

Estimates say, that amounts to $30,000 per household…Can anyone think of a few other ways that our federal government (or we the tax payers) could have utilized that money?

Well, China holds approximately 763 billion dollars of United States Treasury Securities; which in short, is our government’s debt to foreign countries. Perhaps paying off our debt to China, “may” have been “one” of the several prudent things that the federal government could have done. 

Now, for a moment, let’s stop and ponder what a trillion dollars really is…

• If you had one thousand dollars ($1,000), 1,000 times over, you would then have one million dollars ($1,000,000)

• If you had one million dollars ($1,000,000), 1,000 times over, you would then have one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000)

• If you had one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), 1,000 times over, you would then have one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000)