Middle Class America Rises Up

Senators and Congresscritters have been caught off guard and very surprised as they face angry voters and constituents at Town Hall meetings across America. For some reason, the American public, particularly the moderate and conservative majority, seem to be tired of their opinions and viewpoints being ignored.

How long have people in America's heartland felt that their concerns no longer matter to elected officials. They (we) are angry at the massive debt increase under the current bailouts and the Generational Theft Act. They are angry at bills, including Cap and Trade, and now it appears, a nationalized health care bill, that are being rammed through Washington before anyone has a chance to read the bills.

We see the same mistakes taking place over and over, and now we see a repeat of those mistakes in a Universal Health Insurance system being rushed through.

Instead of putting our fears to rest by explaining exactly what's in the bill and what it will cost, the American public has been scoffed at and told we couldn't possibly understand such a complicated measure.

Taken aback by the anger of those who elected them, instead of listening to voters, Democrats and their hired gun mouthpieces in the media have trumped a series of lies deflecting the outrage and claiming it to be manufactured by Republicans and organized by conservative groups.

Of course, the most ridiculous claim has been that we are doing this to "shut down free speech." Ridiculous because it has largely been the voices ignored for too long that are now speaking out. Voices ignored first by the Republicans during the last 8 years and now by the Democrats.

Of course, the mainstream media is in the pocket of the Dems. The New York Times recently ran an article titled "Health Debate Turns Hostile at Town Hall Meetings," where they continue the bogus claim of "protesters being organized by conservative lobbying groups." No such complaints came from the Times under the 8 years of verbal assaults by Democrats and liberals who organized under such groups as moveon.org, the Daily Kos, and ImpeachBush.org, now renamed to "IndictBushNow.org."

In reality, the left is now organizing disruptions and busing protesters complete with professionally produced material into Town Hall meetings to counter conservatives and to, in effect, shut them up. This happened in Denver, Colorado recently at an appearance of Nancy Pelosi. It also occurred in St. Louis where angry voters showed up and were blocked out while Union supporters were snuck into a side door. Outside, SEIU union thugs attacked and beat a black man selling "Don't tread on Me" flags, sending him to the hospital. In Tampa, Florida, union thugs stacked another Town Hall meeting, pushing and shoving people and closing doors on constituents, preventing them from even hearing what their elected officials had to say.

News reporters have broadcast some of these violent instances, but make no mention of the fact that it is Union thugs committing the violence, leaving viewers, readers and listeners to assume that it is conservatives perpetrating the violence.

All across the nation, marching orders have been given. Community organizers have issued the call and professional protesters are starting to show up to block opposition to health care reform.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.-NY) says to "stick with what we're doing and don't let them throw you off course." I take that to mean that our elected officials should ignore the wishes of the voters and conduct business as usual in Washington.

Read more...

Kudos to Chuck Schumer

One of the goals of this blog is to hold the people in Washington accountable for the crap that goes on there, and to do so from a conservative point of view. One of my secondary goals is to give credit where credit is due. Today, I'm throwing kudos behind a Democratic Senator for doing something that should have been done a long time ago.

There is a scam going on that should have been shut down a long time ago. Telephone calls from companies that offer aftermarket car warranties, that are, in fact, a scam. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer has called for an investigation of these companies.

(From the Associated Press:)

The telephone calls flood people every day around the country: A computerized voice tells them that their car warranties are about to expire and that they should sign up for new service plans.

The calls target people regardless of whether they have warranties or even own cars and have become such a nuisance that officials in 40 states are investigating the companies behind them.

The Better Business Bureau said that last year it received more than 140,000 complaints about the car warranty calls, which come even if a person has signed up for the national Do Not Call registry.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants a federal investigation into what he calls "robo-dialer harassment."

"Not only are these calls a nuisance, but they tie up land lines and can eat up a user's cell phone minutes, possibly leading to a higher cell phone bill due to overage charges," said Schumer, D-N.Y.

Michelle Corey, president of the Better Business Bureau in St. Louis, Mo., said the industry is based largely in the St. Louis area. She said a group of companies in Missouri in the mid-1990s began offering extended repair warranties to people whose manufacturer-issued warranties were about to expire. Within a few years, she said, about 35 firms were offering similar services.

"It's a very lucrative industry," Corey said.

The companies offer contracts akin to insurance policies, pledging to pay for car repairs in exchange for fees paid up front. They call numbers randomly and leave messages telling people that their auto warranties are about to expire.

Some companies also send out cards that mislead recipients into thinking that their vehicles have been subject to safety recalls, Corey said.

If people call back and agree to buy policies, Corey said, the companies often don't let them see the contracts until they agree to pay. And some scam victims don't learn until it's too late that the deals don't cover many types of repairs, Corey said.

"Some people are losing thousands and thousands of dollars in purchasing a product that turns out to be useless," she said.

The Federal Trade Commission, which already operates the do-not-call list, should work with state and local authorities "to find the scam artists and shut their operations down," Schumer said.

"This is an annoying scam whose perpetrators have found a way around the do-not-call list," he said at a news conference in his Manhattan office. "The FTC has to track them down and then shut them down to put an end to this nuisance once and for all."

It's a shame that this has gotten so bad that Congress has to take action. The FTC should have stepped in a long time ago. But when agencies don't act, I guess it has to go up the ladder.

Read more...