Statement on Pearl Harbor Day and Arraignment of Navy SEALs

“Today we remember one of the most horrific attacks against America.  The attack at Pearl Harbor resulted in the death of thousands of servicemen and women as well as civilians.  As a result of this attack, the United States entered World War II.  Not only should we remember those who died on this day in 1941, but we should also remember the response of those who fought for their country during World War II and the response of the American people who showed a similar spirit of determination, dedication, and support.

Today we will also witness a travesty in the arraignment of three Navy SEALs who are accused of assaulting an enemy detainee.  Navy SEALs are some of the most elite special forces in our nation’s military and in the world.  The apologetic attitude that is pervasive in our federal government only paralyzes these elite forces from protecting our freedom and our country. The interests of other nations come second to those of the American people and the United States of America.”

When Is A Blue Dog Really A Blue Dog?

When is a Blue Dog really a Blue Dog?  That question begs to be asked following the recent actions by Congressman Marion Berry.

First — a little background on the origins of the term Blue Dog.

The Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1994 in the wake of the mid-term elections in which Republicans took back the majority in the House of Representatives.  The Blue Dog Coalition gave the more conservative members from the Democratic Party a unified voice in the wake of these elections.

The Blue Dog Coalition states that a “…top priority will be to focus Congress on balancing the budget and ridding taxpayers of the burden the debt places on them.”  But votes just this year by Marion Berry calls in to question this very important tenant of the Blue Dog Coalition and should cause individuals in the First District to ask, “When is a Blue Dog really a Blue Dog?”  Here is the evidence:

• October 3rd, 2008: Marion Berry voted for TARP I  ($350 Billion Dollars)
• January 21st, 2009:  Marion Berry Voted for TARP II ($350 Billion Dollars)
• January 28th, 2009:  Marion Berry voted for the Obama Stimulus Package ($787 Billion Dollars)
• February 24th, 2009:  Marion Berry issued a press release where he stated that “eight years of fiscal recklessness by the Bush Administration” created “unsustainable deficits” for our country.
• November 7th, 2009:  Marion Berry voted for Healthcare Reform ($894 Billion Dollars)
• Total Costs of these four votes:  $2,381,000,000,000 Dollars.  That is 2.3 trillion dollars!  That is $8,460 for every single person in the First District, or over $5 billion dollars in debt for the entire First District, not including interest!

The above votes are extremely revealing in comparison to the comment by Marion Berry just this week. After President Obama proposed an increase in troops being sent to Afghanistan, Marion Berry was quoted as saying, “I don’t remember him saying anything about how we’re going to pay for this.” Berry said after the president’s address at West Point, “I just think it’s got to be paid for.”

In October, lawmakers diverted $2.6 billion dollars from funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects.  You can read about those projects and how those funds were diverted here.

Marion Berry, along with his Blue Dog colleagues in both the House and Senate need to ask themselves, “When is a Blue Dog really a Blue Dog”?  The votes previously outlined paint a picture of anything but fiscal responsibility. Instead the votes increasingly and excessively burden taxpayers.  Indeed, the votes tell quite the opposite story – one of being a Lap Dog for Nancy Pelosi, not a Blue Dog representing the people of the First District.  Marion Berry’s conscious-come-lately of fiscal responsibility does not hold water with the people of the First District.

We need someone who will go to Washington who is a fiscal conservative before arrival.  We need someone who is willing to cast votes against spending bills when we do not have the money to support them.  We need to send someone to Washington who will cut taxes and lower our deficits in a way that is fiscally conservative and responsible without having a coalition determining when those times are.

I want to go to Washington and be your conservative voice and vote accordingly so that families in the First District do not have to worry about soaring deficits, out of control spending, and the liberal Obama-Pelosi-Berry agenda that will bankrupt our country.  It is time we send Marion Berry home to Gillete and send someone to Washington who will be a conservative vote, voice, and leader.

($2,381,000,000,000 divided by the total number of Americans in the 2000 census (281,421,906) equals $8,460.  $8,460 multiplied by the population of the First District at the time of the 2000 Census (668,360) equals $5,654,325,600.00)

The Perfect Storm

As we head towards the end of 2009 and look towards 2010, there is a perfect storm brewing in regards to our nation’s economy that should cause us all to have great pause.  As we have seen so far this year, our national debt has ballooned at a quicker pace than we have seen in decades.  What has happened as well is the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at or near zero percent for much of this duration.

These interest rates will remain low only for a short time.  Necessity will demand they go higher. Foreign countries, namely China, have continued to purchase our debt but the interest they are earning on that debt has been minimal and they will more than likely look to increase that very soon.  And when China and other countries want that to happen, we will have to oblige their request because if we don’t, we will have even greater economic problems to deal with.

That is where the perfect storm comes in to play.  Not only will we have to increase the interest payments to those who hold our debt, but we will have to start to raise our interest rates here at home.  As reported in the New York Times today, the storm looks to be very menacing:

“With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year, even if annual budget deficits shrink drastically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.

In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

When you put in perspective — our interest payments in proportion to our overall federal budget — it is troubling what is looming on the horizon for our country.

If the Federal Reserve does not act precisely in tandem with the White House and Congress to address these upcoming issues, we could be in for a prolonged period of economic distress that shows no signs of turning around.  But there are solutions we can deploy that would not cost taxpayers and would restore our economy at a much more advanced pace while also curing many other ills.

Where our Congress has failed miserably over the last three years has been in its desire to create more programs that spend money we do not have.  So to counteract that, we need to cut government spending and taxes for individuals and corporations so we can put more money back in the private sector.  The private sector needs more of its own money now than it has in the last twenty plus years.  The Obama-Pelosi-Berry agenda is to raise taxes in all areas of our country to pay for programs we do not need and that are not fiscally responsible.  

We also need to restore the dollar so we can keep its prominence in the world as the reserve currency.  When we have a strong dollar all nations prosper.  If we do not have a strong dollar, our nation suffers.  By employing fiscally responsible economic policy we can restore many segments of our economy and more people will be able to go back to work to good paying jobs.

There are common sense solutions that we can use and have ready for the perfect storm that is ahead.  If we chose not to have leaders in Washington who will draft legislation that will reinforce these principles, then what is coming will hurt us even worse than what is going on right now.  If we chose to send people to Washington who want to cut federal spending, who want to restore our economy through conservative fiscal policy and cutting taxes, I believe we can turn our economy around.

I want to be your next Representative of the First District and be your voice in Washington to see that these things come to fruition.  We need people in Washington who are not afraid to act and act decisively when it comes to our nation’s economic future.

Statement on Healthcare Reform Vote

“Tonight we saw history made where a liberal congress decided they know how to deal better with healthcare decisions than the American people do.  Marion Berry voted in favor of this legislation and in doing so, completely ignored what his constituents wanted.  Marion Berry proved again how he is nothing more than a Yes vote for Nancy Pelosi and her liberal agenda.”

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