Tea

Politicians have always been accused of flip flopping, but now, as is evidenced in the recent town-hall meetings, they have reached the point where they just plan ignore the voters wishes and desires and do whatever they want. They no longer claim to represent the voter, but represent themselves once elected.

Baron Hill (IN-09), refuses to allow his constituents to tell him how to run his office. I suppose being a Representative for him means ignoring the voters wishes.

'Let me repeat that one more time. This is my town hall meeting for you. And you're not going to tell me how to run my congressional office. Now the reasons why I don't allow filming, is because usually the films that are done end up on YouTube in a compromising position."

Of course, if he behaved like a Representative and didn't do anything compromising, he wouldn't be on YouTube so much in compromising positions.

Eric Massa (NY-29), also thinks he knows better than his voters.

"I will vote adamantly against the interests of my District, if I actually think what I am doing is going to help them... ...I will vote against their opinion."

"Every town-hall meeting, show of hands, 90% against and 10% for. Ok, got it, no problem. There comes a time when members of congress sometimes must vote against popular opinion because they know it is in the interest of their districts and the country..."

So Rep. Massa let's the cat out of the bag. Congress-persons think they know better, they are the parents and will vote what they think is best. The voters aren't grown up, or intelligent, or knowledgeable enough to know what is best for them. So the peoples representatives will vote their way, and not represent you and your needs. After being elected, they represent themselves, and their opinions and desires. The opinions and desires of the people aren't worthy of being represented.

You can do something about it. Fill out and mail them the Tax Expenditure Allowance (TEA) form. Tell them where you want your tax money spent, and on what. Put your congressperson on an allowance, they are behaving like children and spending your money any way they please. The real adults in this country have to put the spoiled spendthrifts in Congress on a shorter leash.

If your share of taxes for the Federal Department of Education is to high for what you want or desire from them. Then lower the allowance congress gets for it. Make your share of taxes paid to that Department lower, and spend that money on a Department you think is underfunded. Or tell congress to use it to pay down some of the National Debt and stop borrowing from your children and grandchildren to pay for congressional pork. Pork for their friends and  family, paid for by money borrowed from your children and grandchildren.

TEA form at : http://www.braindeadrepublican.com/tea/tax_expenditure_allowance.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJdsrByTV8U

Tax Expenditure Allowance

by Michael DeWeese

Permission is hereby given to reprint this article without permission according to the Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ . The article must be reprinted in its entirety including all links and be an exact copy of the original at: http://www.braindeadrepublican.com/Wordpress/economy/tax-expenditure-allowance/

The United States Congress seems to like to get voted into office and then spend the taxpayers money any way they see fit. Instead, the taxpayer should be sending a Tax Expenditure Allowance to congress directing them where each taxpayer wants their taxes they pay spent. A simple form to send in to Congress giving them an allowance to spend on each Department and Program according to your desires.

This is a paradigm shift. In the past, voters elected a legislator to represent them in congress to determine budgets and on what their taxes would be spent. It was to cumbersome with the technology available at the time this system was designed to run a large government any other way.

With today's technology, such outdated methods to determine what each individuals taxes need to be spent on is archaic. Each individual can represent themselves in their general desires for the expenditure of their taxes they pay. A form can be filled out and sent to the federal government to be processed that has an individuals desires for where they give an allowance to each government Department or Program.

The details of the expenditure can be determined by their elected representative since most taxpayers lack the time or desire to micro manage the government entities. Determining how many new aircraft should be built or which bridges should be repaired is a tedious chore and can be delegated to legislators and bureaucrats.

Providing an overall allowance for the government agencies and programs as determined by the taxpayer, will do more to guide the legislator in where the taxpayer wants their money spent. With this process, people determine where their money is spent, and if they want more of their share to go to a particular project and less to another, they can do that. It could even be conceivable that folks who really care about the funding of a particular project can pay extra taxes to be designated to fund their pet projects.

No longer will Legislators get into office and spend taxpayer money on their personal pet program or agency, but will have to spend it on what the taxpayer wants funded, and not spend it on projects of no worth to the taxpayer. Now the legislators will need to justify to the taxpayer the reasons they should put in an expenditure allowance for them to spend on programs.  Once again, the legislators will be working for the taxpayer, instead of the taxpayer working to fund the legislators frivolous wishes.

And legislators that don't support T.E.A. will do so because the people that vote for them, are people who pay no taxes and will be afraid they will not get any welfare from the ones that do pay taxes anymore.

Alexander Tyler - 17th century historian:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;From spiritual faith to great courage;From courage to liberty;From liberty to abundance;From abundance to complacency;From complacency to apathy;From apathy to dependence;From dependence back into bondage.

From Barack Obama, August 28, 2008:

"the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it."

Demand change. You are the American people, bring change to Washington.

If you don't, more and more will be taken from you to pay for things that are frivolous and useless until you are taxed beyond your means. When America is taxed beyond her means.

John F. Kennedy understood the conundrum of high taxes. And that is where we will eventually go if we do not take a firm hand upon our employees in Congress and give them a strict allowance to spend where we want it spent. Legislators will simply continue to vote higher taxes, if not on income, then on consumption as a sales tax or a value added tax (vat). Let them know enough is enough. Tell them what you want your taxes spent on.

John F. Kennedy was at the Economic Club in New York in December of 1962.

He said:

"It is increasingly clear that...an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenues to balance our budget just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits. In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now."

Another President understood more about the prospect of a government that looks after you than anyone. Letting the politicians take your money and spend it on what they think is good for you becomes truly frightening.

"The most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I am here to help."Ronald Reagan

Any Departments or Programs that do not get enough of an allowance from the taxpayers get shut down. Maybe not immediately, perhaps a 10% reduction in funds per year maximum until they reach the taxpayers allowance level or are completely shutdown after 10 years.

Taxpayers can put their money where their ideals are. Want more money for education, tell congress to put a larger expenditure of your taxes into the Department of Education. Want more of your taxes to go for Police, Firefighters, give congress a bigger allowance towards the Department of Justice.

 There are 138,394,754 taxpayers (latest figures available are 2006) per year. Each taxpayer has an average tax share of $122,951.19 for 2009. It is time to take back control of your money.

Stop letting Congress put you and your children and your grandchildren into monstrous debt.

Stop letting the non productive vote in legislators to steal your families hard earned wealth and put your family into debt for generations to give them benefits they have not earned.

Stop letting your legislator tell you where they will be spending your money, fill out and send them the T.E.A. Form and tell them where you want your money spent.

Click here for a PDF, or OpenOffice copy of a T.E.A. form ( 5 pages ) to fill out and send to your Congressperson(s):

References and Links:

There are 31 Departments / Agencies / Programs that are funded by the 2009 Federal Budget.

There are 32 Departments / Agencies / Programs that are funded by the 2010 Federal Budget.

The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2009 was a spending request by President George W. Bush to fund government operations for October 2008-September 2009.

The President's budget for 2009 totals $3.1 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2008. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

Mandatory spending: $1.89 trillion (+6.2%)$644 billion - Social Security$408 billion - Medicare

$224 billion - Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) 

$360 billion - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending 

$260 billion - Interest on National Debt 

Discretionary spending: $1.21 trillion (+4.9%) 

$515.4 billion - United States Department of Defense 

$145.2 billion(2008*) - Global War on Terror 

$70.4 billion - United States Department of Health and Human Services 

$59.2 billion - United States Department of Education 

$44.8 billion - United States Department of Veterans Affairs 

$38.5 billion - United States Department of Housing and Urban Development 

$38.3 billion - State and Other International Programs 

$37.6 billion - United States Department of Homeland Security 

$25.0 billion - United States Department of Energy 

$20.8 billion - United States Department of Agriculture 

$20.3 billion - United States Department of Justice 

$17.6 billion - National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

$12.5 billion - United States Department of the Treasury 

$11.5 billion - United States Department of Transportation 

$10.6 billion - United States Department of the Interior 

$10.5 billion - United States Department of Labor 

$8.4 billion - Social Security Administration 

$7.1 billion - United States Environmental Protection Agency 

$6.9 billion - National Science Foundation 

$6.3 billion - Judicial branch (United States federal courts) 

$4.7 billion - Legislative branch (United States Congress) 

$4.7 billion - United States Army Corps of Engineers 

$0.4 billion - Executive Office of the President 

$0.7 billion - Small Business Administration 

$7.2 billion - Other agencies 

$39.0 billion(2008*) - Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending 

The financial cost of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan are not part of the defense budget; they are appropriations.

$75.8 billion - Supplemental and Emergency spending ($70 billion for Global War on Terror - and $5.8 billion for Gulf Coast Hurricane relief)

Along with this is a Debt. With projected receipts significantly less than projected outlays, the budget proposed by President Bush predicts a net deficit of approximately 407 billion dollars, adding to a United States governmental debt of about $10.2 trillion.

Details of the 2009 Federal Budget are at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/pdf/budget/tables.pdf .

 More budget information at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/budget.html .

The President's budget for 2010 totals $3.55 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2009. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

Mandatory spending: $2.184 trillion (-17.9%) 

$695 billion (+4.9%) - Social Security 

$453 billion (+6.6%) - Medicare 

$290 billion (+12.0%) - Medicaid 

$0 billion (-100%) - Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) 

$0 billion (-100%) - Financial stabilization efforts 

$11 billion (+275%) - Potential disaster costs 

$571 billion (-15.2%) - Other mandatory programs 

$164 billion (+18.0%) - Interest on National Debt 

Discretionary spending: $1.368 trillion (+7.0%) 

$663.7 billion (+12.7%) - Department of Defense (including Overseas

Contingency Operations) 

$78.7 billion (-1.7%) - Department of Health and Human Services 

$72.5 billion (+2.8%) - Department of Transportation 

$52.5 billion (+10.3%) - Department of Veterans Affairs 

$51.7 billion (+40.9%) - Department of State and Other International Programs 

$47.5 billion (+18.5%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development 

$46.7 billion (+12.8%) - Department of Education 

$42.7 billion (+1.2%) - Department of Homeland Security 

$26.3 billion (-0.4%) - Department of Energy 

$26.0 billion (+8.8%) - Department of Agriculture 

$23.9 billion (-6.3%) - Department of Justice 

$18.7 billion (+5.1%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

$13.8 billion (+48.4%) - Department of Commerce 

$13.3 billion (+4.7%) - Department of Labor 

$13.3 billion (+4.7%) - Department of the Treasury 

$12.0 billion (+6.2%) - Department of the Interior 

$10.5 billion (+34.6%) - Environmental Protection Agency 

$9.7 billion (+10.2%) - Social Security Administration 

$7.0 billion (+1.4%) - National Science Foundation 

$5.1 billion (-3.8%) - Corps of Engineers 

$5.0 billion (+100%) - National Infrastructure Bank 

$1.1 billion (+22.2%) - Corporation for National and Community Service 

$0.7 billion (0.0%) - Small Business Administration 

$0.6 billion (-14.3%) - General Services Administration 

$19.8 billion (+3.7%) - Other Agencies 

$105 billion - Other

More details at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/A_New_Era_of_Responsibility2.pdf .

Detailed information can be found at http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=96981,00.html .

Congressional Budget Office Projections. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10014/Chapter1.5.1.shtml

 The next step for Iowa is to have a meeting with all organizers from all over the state.  We need to create a data base of all supporters assuming every Tea Party took names and had a petition to sign.  The Des Moines IA Tea Party is already doing this and getting information from it's supperters as to what special skills everyone can bring to the revolution. Then we need to get linked with all other Tea Parties in the nation and create a national data base. In the meantime lets get going on spreading the word to all out there that this is a non partisan movement looking to stop irresponsible spending that causes unecessary taxation, let the country know that we are not just a right wing radical group with no legs underneath us, but a viable force that is capable of voting out the elected officials that have gotten fat on pork and uses insider trading tactics to line their own pockets and those of their friends.  We The People demand that Government stay out of our personal lives and out of privately owned business. As we get our message out, our numbers will continue to grow because this is what mainstream American is all about. Not the hype of Hollywood or the "Government can fix all" mentality of Washington. We will also initiate a huge voter registration drive to motivate the "silent majority" to exercise their constitutional right not only to vote, but to have an impact on the government when we feel  our elected officials are not representing our values and beliefs. All Tea Parties must organize themselves and keep the people in their towns and states motivated and start thinking about who is going to run for office in their next elections. We need to make the changes on a local basis first and tackle the federal level in 2012. The American people will make this happen and the sooner we can step up and run for office ouselves on a local level, the sooner we will effect "real change".