President Obama, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Boxer,
It is very unfortunate that many of you are really out of touch with your constituents. The energy bill, cap and trade, will do nothing more than place a burden on many of us that use energy to heat and cool our homes, commute to jobs, it is guaranteed to raise prices on all consumer goods, including food, as taxes levied on business will be pass on to the consumer, and bring job losses at a time when the job market is in turmoil. All of you in congress and the white house are part of an elite group that do not see any change or detrimental effect in your daily way of life or course of living; let’s face it, you have adequate financial means and security.
Here are the facts:
* Contrary to the flawed analyses being advanced by the bill's proponents, Heritage estimates that the direct costs would be an average of $829 per year for a household of four, totaling $20,000 between 2012 and 2035.
* But when considering the total cost as reflected in the cost of allocations and offsets, the average cost to that family unit would be $2,979 annually from 2012 to 2035.
* Adding insult and hypocrisy to injury, the bill would hurt the poor the worst because they would bear a disproportionate burden of the higher energy costs the bill would trigger.
* The bill is also projected to harm the manufacturing sector and cause estimated "net" job losses, averaging about 1.15 million between 2012 and 2030.
* The overall gross domestic product losses would average $393 billion per year from 2012 to 2035, and the cumulative loss in gross domestic product would be $9.4 trillion by 2035.
* The national debt for a family of four would increase by $115,000 by 2035.
Today, California has a budget shortfall of $24 billion and not just because of their over obligation to provide nanny state services but because of the overall state of the national economy and the loss of revenues from salaried individuals. Passing this bill would further endanger the states with less revenue from increased unemployment. And, most disturbingly, it would endanger the welfare of individuals who may lose their jobs and those who would bear the higher energy costs inflict by this bill.
The energy bill is supposed to decrease energy consumption by increasing taxes on carbon emissions; but in fact, for the average taxpayer, it will increase taxes that will affect normal day to day living. There is nothing in this bill that can help the average citizen to decrease their carbon footprint or decrease energy usage, unless it expects them to live in extreme heat and cold, eat less, not drive to work, and for many, remain unemployed or become unemployed. The fact is, average middle class citizens consume only what is needed for day to day living. This bill will unwisely increase taxes and leave every state, not just California, more vulnerable to reduced revenue and, individuals with losses in wages necessary to survive in this pitiful economy.
This is reality.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Cap and Trade Letter to the President and California Congresswomen
President Obama, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Boxer,
It is very unfortunate that you are really out of touch with your constituents. The energy bill, cap and trade, will do nothing more than place a burden on many of us that use energy to heat and cool our homes, commute to jobs that are in excess of 30 miles from home, which is a norm for many in California as I’m sure it is in other parts of the country, it is guaranteed to raise prices on all consumer goods, including food, as taxes levied on business will be pass on to the consumer, and bring job losses at a time when the job market is in such turmoil. All of you in congress and the white house are part of an elite group that do not see any change or detrimental effect in your daily way of life or course of living; let’s face it, you have adequate financial means and security.
Let me lay it out in a clear way with real life examples:
Both my husband and I are retired and receiving annuities, my husband works a part time job teaching for a community college, and we care for our disabled adult son. The city we live in, Temecula, has cold winters and very hot summers. Today, we don’t pay too much for gas heat in the winter, it is affordable. However, in the summer, the temperatures, for at least three months of the year, exceed the high nineties and many times drift into the triple digits. Cooling our home to a comfortable seventy-nine degrees costs us in excess of $500.00 per month. As a middle income family, but because we both receive annuities, we will not qualify for any of the subsidies your bill has identified. At this point, your cap and trade bill will cost us dearly.
Although we no longer commute to work, when we did, our commute equated to 130 miles round trip. At the current cost of $3.00 per gallon for gasoline, it would cost us $135.00 a week for the commute to work. Adding any additional tax to gasoline, would seriously put a dent in our pocketbook just to be able to get to work. A high percentage of people living in our community commute to either the San Diego or Riverside area for work, just think of the detrimental impact an additional gasoline tax would have on these middle class American workers.
If just the two aforementioned increases in energy taxes, electricity and gasoline, affect my day to day living, they will also affect companies and businesses that produce, manufacture, sell and transport goods that we all consume. It is inevitable that these costs will be passed on to consumers. I can’t begin to estimate how much of an increase my food and clothing purchases will be, but I suspect there will be a large increase.
It is estimated that at least two jobs will be lost for every one green job. Both my daughter and son-in-law are unemployed at this time and they also have a three year old to feed and care. Can you guarantee that at least one of them will be able to find employment within the next six months when their unemployment benefits ends? The stimulus bill you previously passed and promised would create jobs has done nothing to help them and many others in California, where the unemployment rate is now in the double digits.
The energy bill is supposed to decrease energy consumption by increasing taxes on carbon emissions; but in fact, for the average taxpayer, will only increase taxes that will affect normal day to day living. There is nothing in this bill that can help me decrease my carbon footprint or decrease my energy usage, unless it expects my family to live in extreme heat or cold, eat less, not drive to work, and my children remain unemployed. The fact is we now only consume what we need for day to day living. This bill only increases taxes and leaves less available for my family for day to day living; if you believe otherwise, you are deaf and blind to the true plight of the middle income family. That is reality.
It is very unfortunate that you are really out of touch with your constituents. The energy bill, cap and trade, will do nothing more than place a burden on many of us that use energy to heat and cool our homes, commute to jobs that are in excess of 30 miles from home, which is a norm for many in California as I’m sure it is in other parts of the country, it is guaranteed to raise prices on all consumer goods, including food, as taxes levied on business will be pass on to the consumer, and bring job losses at a time when the job market is in such turmoil. All of you in congress and the white house are part of an elite group that do not see any change or detrimental effect in your daily way of life or course of living; let’s face it, you have adequate financial means and security.
Let me lay it out in a clear way with real life examples:
Both my husband and I are retired and receiving annuities, my husband works a part time job teaching for a community college, and we care for our disabled adult son. The city we live in, Temecula, has cold winters and very hot summers. Today, we don’t pay too much for gas heat in the winter, it is affordable. However, in the summer, the temperatures, for at least three months of the year, exceed the high nineties and many times drift into the triple digits. Cooling our home to a comfortable seventy-nine degrees costs us in excess of $500.00 per month. As a middle income family, but because we both receive annuities, we will not qualify for any of the subsidies your bill has identified. At this point, your cap and trade bill will cost us dearly.
Although we no longer commute to work, when we did, our commute equated to 130 miles round trip. At the current cost of $3.00 per gallon for gasoline, it would cost us $135.00 a week for the commute to work. Adding any additional tax to gasoline, would seriously put a dent in our pocketbook just to be able to get to work. A high percentage of people living in our community commute to either the San Diego or Riverside area for work, just think of the detrimental impact an additional gasoline tax would have on these middle class American workers.
If just the two aforementioned increases in energy taxes, electricity and gasoline, affect my day to day living, they will also affect companies and businesses that produce, manufacture, sell and transport goods that we all consume. It is inevitable that these costs will be passed on to consumers. I can’t begin to estimate how much of an increase my food and clothing purchases will be, but I suspect there will be a large increase.
It is estimated that at least two jobs will be lost for every one green job. Both my daughter and son-in-law are unemployed at this time and they also have a three year old to feed and care. Can you guarantee that at least one of them will be able to find employment within the next six months when their unemployment benefits ends? The stimulus bill you previously passed and promised would create jobs has done nothing to help them and many others in California, where the unemployment rate is now in the double digits.
The energy bill is supposed to decrease energy consumption by increasing taxes on carbon emissions; but in fact, for the average taxpayer, will only increase taxes that will affect normal day to day living. There is nothing in this bill that can help me decrease my carbon footprint or decrease my energy usage, unless it expects my family to live in extreme heat or cold, eat less, not drive to work, and my children remain unemployed. The fact is we now only consume what we need for day to day living. This bill only increases taxes and leaves less available for my family for day to day living; if you believe otherwise, you are deaf and blind to the true plight of the middle income family. That is reality.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Letter to the President and Congressmen/Women on Healthcare
Our current health care system is at risk. I sent the following letter to my congressmen/women and the President. You can write to them also at Congress.org or use your representatives' individual web pages to send them direct messages/emails.
President Obama, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and Representative Issa,
I like my insurance coverage. I don't want any change to it nor do I want a public/government run health care program that will inevitably create an unsustainable deficit, increase our taxes, crowd out private insurers from the market, encourage employers to stop providing coverage, and quite possibly will lure employees from private insurance to the cheaper government option making it even more difficult for many of us who already pay for insurance to obtain affordable health care insurance. We are a democratic nation but our voices are being ignored and drowned out by politicians making decisions that will only benefit the small minority of people in the uninsured category.
The statistics speak for themselves (from: Townhall.com): of the 45 million people without insurance, about 14 million qualify for Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, veterans' benefits, etc., but are not enrolled and 9.1 million have incomes over $75,000 that can afford their own insurance buy choose not to buy or opt to pay as needed. Of the remaining half of the uninsured, 9.7 million are not citizens of this country. If we must providing insurance to the remaining 20 million uninsured people who really cannot afford insurance, then I think there are more viable alternatives to this over-reaching, over-priced, taxpayer funded, single payer system being forced onto us. One of the more viable alternatives is discussed by George Will at Townhall.com, and it suggests a refundable tax credit or a debit card system that would not cost taxpayers an enormous amount of taxes. The government could compete contracts with over 1000 private health insurance companies to get the best price for insuring the true 20 million uninsured people.
Please vote smartly, thoroughly review and discuss all alternatives before making decisions, and discuss these issues with all parties in the Senate and the House. Consider our economic health, the predictable ramifications of a single payer system, and do not levy a burdensome tax on already strained wages and businesses that are struggling to survive and keep our economy going. Stop the incessant direction toward socializing our nation; this is not what our forefathers intended for our nation.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Our Country's Financial Hole
Strange how everyone talks about how dangerously high the budget deficits have gotten in the United States; you hear it on the news, you see it on the internet, and you even hear it straight from the horses mouth, that "we are out of money." Yet, everyday we continue to read about more bills enacted by congress and more bureaucratic nonsensical positions created by the president that obviously keep digging us deeper into debt.
Just recently, congress voted for the "cash for clunkers" bill that will be enacted any day now; this bill will take my hard earned tax dollars and give them to anyone that will trade in an automobile for a new one that increases their gas mileage by at least two additional miles per gallon. Can you believe this? They (not straw men "they," but real moronic elected officials) are giving my money away to someone else to buy a new auto? I can't afford a new auto, but my money will be redistributed to someone else that can afford one so that they can buy a new one. If they can afford a new car, they don't need my "cash for clunkers" tax dollars!!! Does this anger me? YOU BET!
And, this is just the beginning. In the next few days, weeks, months, and years, more unnecessary spending will be enacted by those "not so brilliant" government employees we call congressmen/women and presidential representatives. This hole is being dug so deep that it will eventually collapse within itself, and we will be left with nothing for generations except the hole filled with debt.
Just recently, congress voted for the "cash for clunkers" bill that will be enacted any day now; this bill will take my hard earned tax dollars and give them to anyone that will trade in an automobile for a new one that increases their gas mileage by at least two additional miles per gallon. Can you believe this? They (not straw men "they," but real moronic elected officials) are giving my money away to someone else to buy a new auto? I can't afford a new auto, but my money will be redistributed to someone else that can afford one so that they can buy a new one. If they can afford a new car, they don't need my "cash for clunkers" tax dollars!!! Does this anger me? YOU BET!
And, this is just the beginning. In the next few days, weeks, months, and years, more unnecessary spending will be enacted by those "not so brilliant" government employees we call congressmen/women and presidential representatives. This hole is being dug so deep that it will eventually collapse within itself, and we will be left with nothing for generations except the hole filled with debt.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Greta's "The Competition"
Several days ago Greta Van Susteren tweeted that she was giving away a pedometer to the first five people to contact her assistant. My thought was that I never win anything, but I would call anyway to see what would happened. Guess what, I won! Although I wasn't quite sure what this was leading to, I figured, what the heck, I could use a pedometer since I had recently started walking a few days a week with my neighbor. Today, Greta posted:
And, as "girlscout" touts, my competetive nature has also kicked in; nothing like a good competition to get the blood pumping. I'm code name "Deltagrace" and I'm in.
June 18, 2009 05:26 PM EDT
THE COMPETITION: Check this out!!
A quick note....I sent out 5 pedometers to 5 GretaWire bloggers (I asked them to come up with code names so we could remember them)...I want to start a competition among them for daily steps and here is day #1:
(by the way, pick your person to cheer for below....and just because TYG Mint is behind on day one doesn't mean that TYG Mint is not going to bolt ahead tomorrow!!!)
Alamogirl - 9,030.
Girl Scout- 7,300
The TYG Mint- 4,856
Deltagrace- 7,840
Still waiting for Texasroots
-------
UPDATE 6:21 ..below is an email my assistant just received from "Girl Scout" above...it puts pressure on the others!
To: Verducci, Kara
Sent: Thu Jun 18 17:58:31 2009
Subject: Saw the Blog
Kara, I just read Greta Wire. Wow!!! I feel my competitive nature kicking in! I don't blog under girlscout but I do tweet under the username ******
Off to the park for a ... what else but ... A WALK! I am so excited. Really pumped up!
And, as "girlscout" touts, my competetive nature has also kicked in; nothing like a good competition to get the blood pumping. I'm code name "Deltagrace" and I'm in.
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