Television You NEED To Watch

My friends. I told you that I probably would not post unless I saw something that I thought needed to be shared. Last week, I saw such a thing.

As someone who does his research before going out with a story, I watched three hours of truly remarkable television that i want to share. Glenn Beck did an amazing three hours on George Soros AKA "Spooky Dude" and his influence, power and attempt to change the United States.

I suggest each of you watch this. Dedicate some time to it and reflect. Then as Glenn says, go out and do the research. I can tell you from a personal standpoint, there have been countless times as I investigate different things, whether it be Lacy Clay or various other things that I look into, groups like the Tides Foundation continue to come up.

This is well worth your time to watch. Please do.

Quick Hits and Random Thoughts

While I am looking into something that could be BIG or nothing at all, I just thought I would post some random thoughts and quick hits.

• What happened to waiting 72 hours before voting on bills. Wasn't it Nancy Pelosi who complained about rushing bills to a vote? I do not care what side of the aisle you are on, all bills should wait 72 hours before a vote. This was not a national security or wartime issue.


• So, if, and that is a big IF, healthcare gets to Obama's desk and he signs it, how long will it be before it goes before a Federal Court on the basis that it is unconstitutional? To see my opinions on this, click here.


• Do you know how your Congressman and Senator will vote if the UN Rights of the Child treaty comes up for ratification? If you are not familiar with this, you should be. Read more here. The President has already stated he is for it.


• Is Fox News and the Murdoch news empire becoming the new leader in making and leading news? Just something to think about.
  
• This is old news, but was recently brought up to me, why is it OK for the US to aide Brazil in offshore drilling in Brazil, but not assisting US companies in drilling offshore of the US?


• Will easing the creation of nuclear power plants be enough to get some Republicans to vote for Cap and Trade regulation. Just a thought, just because it gets easier does not mean environmental fascists will not file junk lawsuits to try and block the building of them.


• Have you ever noticed that the government, which is made up of a lot of lawyers and trial lawyers, does a damn good job of protecting trial lawyers? Just a thought.


• And finally, this is a sign I saw this weekend at a car wash in Hazelwood, MO off of Howdershell Rd. I am contacting the owner to see if I can do a quick interview to get his thoughts, as a small business owner, on Cap and Trade, Healthcare and Lacy Clay. If you are in Hazelwood, stop by and get your car washed and support this small business.

Lacy Clay & a Call to Action

So, I sent Lacy Clay an email 10 days ago and have not received anything but an auto reply. I personally doubt that he will ever respond. Why is that, because I truly believe he does not care.
Lacy Clay was born in St. Louis but not raised here. He was raised outside of DC while his father served as the Congressman for St. Louis. Everything Lacy has done has been geared towards being a professional politician. Other than go on expensive “fact finding” trips and tour the region, we see little action from him that benefits the St. Louis area.

Where was Lacy Clay when American Airlines started laying off St. Louis employees. The only thing we heard was a press release talking about how he wants “to do everything possible to help the employees who are directly impacted by this decision.” We have not really seen anything come from this. In fact, American has continued to cut flights and services here in St. Louis. To make matters worse, in 2008 Lacy Clay endorsed American creating a Chicago to Beijing route. Why endorse the creation of a nonstop flight from already busy O'Hare when St. Louis could readily handle this operation? Could it be because American Airlines PAC has donated a total of $6000.00 to Clay’s re-election campaign since 2002?

Where was Lacy Clay when Ford was threatening and then closed the Hazelwood assembly plant? Yes, he was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden to a committee to keep the plant from closing, but we know nothing ever came from that. In fact, it was only after Clay’s inaction and the Ford plants closure that Clay’s campaign received a $1000 donation for his 2008 re-election campaign. Additionally, it was only after President Obama was elected that Clay elected to do anything to try and support local auto manufacturers. It was after Obama’s win in the presidential election that Clay endorsed the bridge loan for the US auto industry and more recently praised the “Cash for Clunkers” deal. Of course we know that “Cash for Clunkers” really benefited the foreign manufactures more than those in the US. Ford was the only company to make the top 5. GM and Chrysler were non existent.

Let’s be honest here. Lacy Clay is an extreme liberal who would love nothing better than to see nearly every job fall under organized labor and have most industries nationalized. His backing of cap and trade and his refusal to support President Bush’s efforts to end the Federal ban on offshore drilling show partisan politics at its best. He demands green energy but at the cost of current jobs. Of course his answer is to have these individuals and families become more reliant upon the government. In addition, Lacy Clay does nothing to help those and represent those of us who are not North St. Louis city dwellers. When we were at risk of losing the Ford plant and the hundreds of jobs that are associated with it, where was he? When American Airlines began cutting St. Louis staff, where was he? During his time in office, Clay has done little more than promote a yearly jobs fair, push jobs financed through Federal spending and increasing unemployment benefits. Read his own press releases and you will see this.

That is not what North St. Louis County and City need. We need someone who is going promote both white collar and blue collar jobs. We need someone who is going support and pass laws to lower our taxes and make it easier for every one of us to live our life to the fullest without government being a part of it. We need someone with a proven track record for creating jobs and slashing expenditures. We need someone who has done more than be a professional politician. We need to quit looking at his race and the fact that his father held this seat up until his retirement in 2000. Too many times people continue to give up and assume that it is a no win scenario. It is not. This is not a black or white thing; this is not a Republican or Democrat thing. This is a, we need someone who can truly work for their constituents thing.

With the right person, we can make a difference and get rid of this do nothing. I would step up, but I honestly do not have the experience, the connections or the money to make a legitimate go of this. That is why I ask, no I beg, someone PLEASE step forward and be the candidate we need. There are many people that will support you. With our debt growing and jobless rates going up, can we afford to have Lacy Clay in office?

A Letter to Lacy

My friends, after much consideration and in an attempt to restore civility to politics, I have sent another email to Lacy Clay. Based upon the information that was sent to me on Thursday, I felt it was worth it. Below, is the exact letter that I sent to Congressman Clay. I hope he does respond. If he does, as I previously committed to, I will post his response here.
Congressman Clay,

Let me introduce myself. I go by Middle Class Joe and I am a North County blogger at http://middleclassmadashell.blogspot.com/. I was just made aware that your sight was having some issues so I am resending you this letter in hopes that you will respond.

I have some very simple questions for you that I would like answered. Seeing as your my representative, I want to ensure that you are representing me and the many people like me in North County and not just my peers in the city.

OK, to the point, here are my questions:

Question 1. We have already lost the Ford plant and many jobs at and around Lambert due to cutbacks at American airlines. I read on your press releases that you backed the "cap and trade" bill. Are you not worried about how this bill will effect industry in St. Louis, especially some of those companies in areas you represent like Boeing and if this bill is so needed, then would you be willing to sponsor an amendment to any future bills or sponsor a new bill that would require the Federal Government be held to the same standard for carbon output as all companies? Please explain your answer in detail.

Question 2. You released a statement stating that you support President Obama and would prefer a public option. My question here is simple. Would you be willing to sponsor an amendment to require that all government employees including current and retired Congressional and Senate members be required to give up their current healthcare plan and move over to the public option should one be created? It is my belief that if the public option is so good, it should be good enough for everyone up to but not including the President and Vice President. My fear is that many companies
will see that the 8% payroll fine will be cheaper to pay than to carry healthcare benefits, therefor forcing more people to lose their insurance and have to go to a public plan.

Today is 9/12. 8 years ago today, it did not matter if you were a Republican or Democrat. The only thing that mattered was you were an American. At this time we threw out partisan politics and worked together to throw aside our differences to come to a fair consensus on the issues. I believe we are in need of that type of
bipartisanship again.

I am a fair person. As I see it, you are my elected representative and I have a right to know what and how you are thinking. Even if I disagree with you, at least we can have an honest debate. Maybe you can show me where I am wrong, and maybe I can show you where you are wrong. We have to be willing to listen to one another.
That is something that is not occurring anymore. Right now, I am offering an olive branch.

I look forward to reading your response.

What do you think?