Bart Stupak had an interview with Frank Beckmann back in November of 2009.  When pressed on the constitutionality of the Health [...]]]>

Bart Stupak had an interview with Frank Beckmann back in November of 2009.  When pressed on the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform legislation, Stupak reveals that he doesn’t agree with the framers of the Constitution.  The Constitution he took an oath to uphold.

Stupak on the Frank Beckmann show, WJR Detroit–click to listen.

I am in the 1st district where I am taxed without representation.  Stupak is my Congressional Representative.

I found this podcast of the Frank Beckmann show, which is only accessible in these parts by computer streaming.

I am a huge fan of Frank Beckmann, even though I don’t get to listen to him very often.

The podcast runs 17 minutes, you should listen to it, but here is my take of what was said;

On the Stupak Amendment

The first hypocrisy of Stupak is that he agrees with Beckmann when Beckmann says that Stupak has been making it clear that he in no way would vote for the health care bill with federal funding of abortion in it.  That is a lie, in Cheboygan Stupak made it known that even if his amendment failed, he would still vote for the bill, as I have outlined in Stupak “whipping” on Abortion from afar, doesn’t really mean it.

Next Frank plays the audio of Obama’s now famous, “This is a healthcare bill, not an abortion bill,” and wonders how the President can have it both ways, how can he wish each side of the abortion issue, to eventually be placated.   But Stupak only hears the President say that we should keep current law.  This is interesting because either Stupak is purposefully trying to train the audience to listen to certain words of the President, and forget the rest, or that is what he does without knowing it.  What the President said was that he doesn’t want to change the status quo on abortion, which right now is legal because of a Supreme Court case, not by Congressional legislation.  Stupak goes on to explain the Capps amendment that he lost trying to block back in July.  So, to hear Stupak tell it, the bill has language in it to simultaneously allow for the federal funding of abortion and it stands amended to not allow federal funding of abortion, except in instances of incest and rape. Make sense?

On The Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Beckmann asks Stupak if the far left is turning on him because of the abortion amendment, and the quote that follows is the money quote of this part of the interview.

Well ya know, the far left is the one’s who want health care, they never would have received health care if it wasn’t for Bart Stupak and the Stupak Amendment.

It is nice to hear some truth for once from the guy.  The Amendment that Stupak admitted would not keep him from voting for the bill, as well as does not prohibit federal funding of abortions, was obviously put up as a trick to pass the bill.  That is sick, Bart.

Stupak Saves Healthcare and The Democratic Party

Frank cites the polls from Rasmussen and Gallup that say that the Republican Party is more favored and that the people of America don’t want the health care bill, and asks Stupak if the issue of health care has saved the Democrats.  Bart replies that the polls are close, and the calls and emails to his office run about 50/50, so everything is about right,  and when more members go to the public to tell what is in the bill that people will be less upset about it because in is view, right now, “Yeah, you’re passing health care, we don’t like it because we don’t know what it is.”  Um, no Bart, we don’t like it because we do know what it is.

On the Fines and Jail Time

Bart admits that if you do not purchase the health care insurance as the government tells you to, you will be taxed at 2.5%.  Stupak is a former law enforcement officer, but he suggests that those who don’t pay the penalty will face the jail time.  It is strange that he figures that moving ahead with this legislation is right and proper even though 1) the American people do not want this bill and 2)the American people on the whole are satisfied with their health insurance plan and 3)the American people are taxed enough already and 4)the American people are having a hard time finding jobs and 5)the American people buck at getting forced to do anything.  It is obvious Stupak thinks there is nothing wrong with the government telling you to pony up, or be prosecuted under the tax code as a fraud.  It is beyond unbelievable that Stupak does not see how he and his fellow democrats are commanding us to go along with this,

If you don’t want to go along with it, just pay your 2.5%.

Then he comes up with this incoherent point,

We all have to come together, and contribute to the health care system, to make sure its there.

We already do, congressman, it’s called insurance.

On the Constitution

Things get a little contentious here, and this is why I like to listen to Beckmann.  He rightly points out that no where in the Constitution does it allow for the government to take over the health care industry.  Bart insists it does say so in Article I, Section 8 with the words the left have been using to bring the country to point it is today with rampant socialism and welfare programs that have done nothing but create a dependent society-”The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to…provide for…..general welfare….”

When Frank tells Stupak that we must look for the intent of the signers like Madison to understand the article, Bart says, “not everyone agreed with Maderson (sic) and Jefferson,” and that if the government agrees that it is in the best interest of the nation, it is constitutional.  Frank replies:

Congressman with all due respect, if you are promoting that, with all due respect, I think you are promoting tyranny.  You are not following the constitution which  says, that there are ways to change the Constitution through amendment, and a majority vote in the congress is not one of them.

This statement befuddles Stupak to the point that Frank has to reiterate that the Constitution places restrictions on congress, and Bart still doesn’t get it, and says if you don’t agree that what the one-party rule says in Washington, take it to court.

Bottom line, Stupak believes the health care bill will be challenged in court, and the Supreme Court will rule the law Constitutional.

This is what I don’t get,

Frank:  You are tellin me now, because I live and breathe on this plant, that I have to buy insurance.

Bart:  In this country, right.

Well, then, why don’t you just force the people who refuse to buy insurance into the system?  What is this, we all have to do it stuff?  I know the answer, the answer is, that the government wishes to take over 1/6th of the economy so that every political battle from here on out will be about how the Republicans are mean and they want people to die and so on.

The Oath Stupak took is this:

“I, ___ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

God help us.

I got up at 4 that morning to do my taxes.  I waited because I knew I’d have to owe.  I [...]]]>

I got up at 4 that morning to do my taxes.  I waited because I knew I’d have to owe.  I have friends who actually think that if you pay in taxes, you must either make a lot of money, or you’re doing it wrong.  I fall in neither category.  As I’ve said elsewhere on this blog, I am a seamstress, my husband is a mechanic and a union member.

Anyway, after I finished my taxes, I went to work, told everyone there how my taxes went, and reminded them I was leaving early going to the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.)

“Now, tell me why again?” asked my friend Doris.

I said, “After our leaders in Washington decided to spend trillions of dollars we don’t have, and consequently they will raise taxes for, I stand in protest.”

After we  picked up the kids from school, we headed to the Post Office to mail my return.  I owed 400 dollars more for the State of Michigan than last year, and since I like to use my money all year, rather than give it to the government biweekly, I owed over 2,000 dollars between the State and Federal.  It is a good thing we have deer meat in the freezer yet, or else I would have to take on more debt to feed the family the next couple of months.

By all accounts, the number of patriots attending the Soo Tea Party reached up to and over 300.  I was impressed.  When we drove up, (my husband and children came with me) there seemed to be just a few people there.  However, just as we were walking from our parking spot, it was like a pilgrimage of people coming from all directions, calmly walking to the open space by the river.  Some were carrying signs, some with dogs, some with little ones.  Once we got there, we were no longer afraid that we would be the only ones.

There were several speakers, one was Jim Jacobson, former policy analyst for the Reagan Administration who reminded us of Reagan’s quotable quotes about the size of government and how ineffective it is.  The organizers did a great job of including a singer, who led us all in the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, and This Land Is Your Land, and two men from a local radio show had a great time on stage pointing out all the wasteful spending included in the stimulus package.  The whole program lasted an hour which culminated with most of the attendees lining up to throw tea into the Saint Mary River.

When my husband and I talked with some of the attendees, we found out that our drive of 2 1/2 hours was not as far as some had come.  There were people from Marquette, Boyne City, Detroit and Battle Creek, Cheboygan and Mackinaw City, Rogers City and Hawks.  And no, none of us were paid to be there.

I  have friends that do not understand that the money they get back at tax time isn’t money from the government, it is money they overpaid throughout the year.  Consequently, they never see the big number they actually paid in.  I’m serious!  And one of them is a school teacher!

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan is a town of about 16,000 people and is the oldest city in the midwest.   It is at the eastern edge of Michigan’s upper peninsula, and is connected to Canada via the International Bridge to it’s twin city of  Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

A lot of talk has been started about Obama’s speech during Holy Week of the idea that America is not a Christian nation. While in Turkey, a Muslim country, Obama said the following: