In just 18 minutes, Lessig demonstrates, in crystal clear terms, the devastating effect corporate campaign cash is having on our democracy, and in turn, our lives. Lessig makes obvious that until we as a nation take up this fundamental fight – until we strike at the root of the problem – we will continue to see our democracy crumble.

Source: “Lawrence Lessig’s new TED talk” @ Fix Congress First

It is my opinion that gun laws are unconstitutional and those who make them are ignorant.

The following is purported to be an “actual letter from an Iowa resident and sent to his senator”. Whether it is or not, I find myself agreeing with the gist of the sarcasm.

The Honorable Tom Harkin
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone (202) 224 3254
Washington DC, 20510

Dear Senator Harkin,

As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill’s provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.

Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I’m excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as ‘in-state’ tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.

Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver’s license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent, (hoping to reach ‘illegal alien’ status rather than just a bonafide citizen of the USA )

Donald Ruppert
Burlington, IA

The main theme that seemed to show itself was the reluctance or fear of fighting such a “small battle” as the removal of “In God We Trust” from our currency.

If you think about it, the attacks of one group of people, such as Atheists, upon another group of people, such as Christians, constitutes intolerance. In the specific cases of forcing organizations of people to remove “religious artifacts”, such as “The Ten Commandments” and “In God We Trust” from public scrutiny, these attacks could be considered religious intolerance, or even persecution, which is clearly contrary to the Constitution of this nation.

On this topic, I am going to take the position that if we do not fight for what we believe then we do not really believe it. Are we not taught that:

“Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Matthew 5:15

Did Captain Moroni sit back and let the Kingmen take away his form of government because he wanted to be fair to them and not hurt their feelings? No, he rounded them all up and gave them a choice of supporting their country or being put to death. Was he wrong to do that? No.

The United States of America has been infected with a cancer. It is has many names. Let me list a few:

• Political Correctness
• Blind Fairness
• Open Tolerance
• Lack of Responsibility
• Entitlement

We are called intolerant when we will not let people trample over our beliefs. How much are we supposed to tolerate?

I WILL tolerate people voicing their opinions. I WILL tolerate other people calling me names.

I will NOT tolerate people forcing laws upon myself and my nation which go against my beliefs.

Standing up for what you believe is these days is now called “hate mongering”. And so many people COWER under the vicious reviling of the boisterous minorities. Like children throwing tantrums we cower and give them what they want so that we can be more comfortable. And the very act of giving in to their tantrums sets a precedence that they then use to gain more power over us and their tantrums grow ever more pernicious and bold. When did we become a nation of cowards? When did it become acceptable for people to weasel their way out of taking responsibility for their actions and avoid necessary consequences? Simple morals and ethics have gone out the window.

We have taught ourselves that:

• If you take away the ability for people to defend themselves with weapons, nobody will get killed. (WRONG!)
• If you want to live in America, just sneak across the border and they will give you food, clothing, shelter, and insurance because they are afraid to hurt your feelings and allow you to face consequences. (WRONG!)
• If you do not qualify for the title of “marriage”, whine and complain and yell about it enough and those who do qualify for it will get scared and give you the title. (WRONG!)
• If I stand up for what I believe and it is offensive to someone else, I am a hate-monger and should be shunned. (WRONG!)
• If a boy and girl CHOOSE to be promiscuous and they get pregnant, they do not have to take responsibility for it. They can just kill the life they created, even though they made the CHOICE to create that LIFE. (WRONG!)
• It is too hard to control our desires, in fact we should give into any desires we have as long as it makes us happy. No matter that it may hurt other people. (WRONG!)
• (the list goes on)

It is necessary that God stay in our nations artifacts and in our currency and in our courthouses and in our official documents, etc.

God and religion are innate aspects of this country. To remove them would be to remove the brain or the heart from a human. The person would die without those parts. So too will this nation die without God and religion.

The separation of church and state has to do with any one religious faction or church organization having control of the state. The separation of church and state has absolutely nothing to do with taking God and religion out of the state. In fact, one of the tenet of the religion that I subscribe to is:

“We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied.” D&C 134:9

Religion is who we are. Whatever beliefs, morals, and convictions we hold are our religion. To remove religion from the founding fathers and the founding documents would be to remove beliefs, morals, and convictions from the same. And it is already happening.

We are under attack by an anti-religion faction that has many fronts. The result of which will be the entire destruction of what we now know as The United States of America.

This nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles that were held by those who founded it. If they did not have those principles those people never would have left Europe and we would all be living in Europe right now. This land that we live on would belong to someone else. God led this people to this land. God has prospered this people in this land. God has tolerated our sins thus far but he will not tolerate them much longer. If we do not repent, he will let our enemies wipe us out and we will lose our nation and we will lose this very promised land upon with we now dwell.

If organizations and groups of people who have differing beliefs from me want tolerance, they better be willing to be just as tolerant to myself and my beliefs. If they love this land even a fraction as much as I do, then they better start consider their true intentions and standing up to defend this nation.

This seemingly small battle of removing God from our currency is just another of many small battles we face. If we let these battles pass us by because they seem so “small”. We will find that our enemies which are even now among us will have cut off all our resources and we will fall and great will be our fall.

If you truly believe in God, whatever you may name him or her or it, then it is your duty to stand up to these vicious attacks against the very foundations upon which our nation was built. If you do not, you will find that the “small” termites that you have seen and let pass were only the tip of the iceberg of infestation that has rotted the core of your entire structure which now collapses upon you to your utter doom.

I call upon every man and woman who has any amount of conviction and love for this nation, to stand up and fight for the support of our foundations! Our country has lasted as long as it has because of those foundations. If we now continue to be lax and silent in our majority, we will lose everything that we hold dear. And we will have only our lazy, cowardly, and complacent selves to blame for the results.

If you have a belief, MAKE IT KNOWN!!! The squeaky wheels are getting the grease. Those minorities whose values differ from your own are making changes underneath your very noses. If you do nothing, then you default to whatever those who DO SOMETHING will do.

If you are afraid of hurting the feelings of your enemy, then you are lost. FEAR YOUR GOD and WIN!!! FEAR your ENEMY and LOSE!!! “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself” FDR

The argument that often comes up is, “look at it from their perspective”, or “what if you were in their shoes?”. I think there is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of merit in viewing any given argument from the perspective of your opponent. If it does not change your mind, it will solidify your own position. By all means, make sure that you think critically about whatever it is that you do and whatever position you take. However, in the end, YOU MUST TAKE A POSITION. There is no neutral ground here. If the topic that is in dispute can be compromised, by all means, work out a suitable compromise.

HOWEVER, I submit that when it comes to disputes that involve your moral and ethical convictions, any compromise you make will signal your defeat and you will surrender those morals and ethical convictions. You mark your self as a coward and by your fruits you shall be known.

IF YOU DO NOT ACTIVELY STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE, THEN YOU DO NOT REALLY BELIEVE IT.

Show your believe by your actions. Your actions speak louder than any words you may mumble in your house when it is safe and comfortable and secure.

Now is the time to speak. What do you stand for? And will you be actively defending it?

A friend of mine had an idea and acted on it, to start a grassroots campaign to show Washington how the economy is supposed to work and give it a boost from the people who ARE the economy. WE are the economy.

Tired of waiting for Washington to patch up the economic mess we’re in? I am too. Everywhere I turn, I see or hear about Washington’s plans to ’save’ businesses, industries, communities, and the economy in general.

The only real economic stimulus is that which the citizens of this nation provide when they let go of fear and live abundantly.

I encourage everyone to “join the Green 317 movement” and together we can send a message to Washington and show them what a real economic stimulus is.

Here are some more helpful links. Podcast episodes that will help you change the way you think about money in a more positive and productive way:

• Money And The Great Paradox
• Killing Sacred Cows On Purpose
• What is Wealth?
• Real Value
• Investigating Investing

Congressman,

Tax cuts are certainly a better idea than trillions of inflated US dollars flooding the country, printed on the whim of the fed. It saddens me how many people that there is so much lack in our country. We are one of the most wealthy nations on earth, yet so many of our people think we are in a recession. I am overly disgusted with hearing about bailouts. There is so much entitlement and lack of responsibility going on in our nation right now. So much finger pointing and divisiveness.

Money is not the answer to the supposed “economic crisis” that our country is currently faced with.

Nor is the lack of money the source of the same supposed “economic crisis” with our country right now.

The problem is ignorance and a scarcity mentality. In other words, the problem is in the way people view the world around them. Any given person could have a “net worth” of a billion dollars and still feel financial insecure. At the same time, any given person could have a “net worth” of zero dollars and feel completely financial free peaceful.

It all comes down to personal choice. Either people choose to feel prosperous or they choose to feel scarce. Whatever they focus on is what they will get more of.

The feelings of scarcity are perpetuated by people believing the money myths that are constantly propagated throughout our society under the guise of “sound financial advise”.

The answer is to educate people.

Help people see how much wealth and goodness abounds in this great nation. Help people understand that how they think about money and value greatly determines how much they have of it.

Bailout’s and “stimulus packages” are small bandages on gushing wounds. Just like any “stimulant” there may be an initial increase in activity, but the effects quickly wear off and leave the users feeling even worse and often addicted.

“Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him forever.”

The more people are given, the less responsibility they have. We do ourselves a great disservice by giving instead of teaching. The more we allow our government officials to run our nation, the fewer freedoms we enjoy.

The federal government should stay out of the economy as much as possible. It is not the place for federal government.

Congressman, please tell Washington to stop trying to babysit this nation. If we have a bad economy it is our fault and we need to face up to the responsibilities we have for our actions or inactions. Bailing the country out is very unwise. The country needs to bail itself out. In other words, let this people show it’s mettle! Let us, the people of the United States, show what we are made of. Let us struggle with our own hard times and tribulations, for it is only through the overcoming of tribulations that we will become stronger.

Congressman, please tell Washington to stick to maintaining the defense of this nation, both internal and external. Tell them to let the people take care of the economy.

Thank you

Write to your elected officials and tell them what you think about all of this:

Contact Elected Officials

Then, tell me what you think of my opinion.