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Joe Hicks explains why the Senate's official apology for slavery may be one too many. http://www.pjtv.com

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On Jan. 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr. of Florida read a list of 45 Communist goals into the Congressional Record. The list was derived from researcher Cleon Skousens book The Naked Communist. These principles are well worth revisiting today in order to gain insights into the thinking and strategies of much of our so-called liberal elite:

Vets For Freedom has Endorsed Nathan as well. 

Meet Nathan

Who is Nathan Bech?

Nathan Bech is a West Springfield native, small businessman and veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. His firsthand experience on the battleground and running a business make him uniquely qualified to serve Western and Central Massachusetts in the United States Congress.

Nathan’s Childhood

Born in Springfield in 1974, Nathan moved with his parents and brother to West Springfield at the age of ten. Nathan is the son of a middle class western Massachusetts family. His father was a restaurant manager and his mother worked in a drug rehabilitation center. Later in life they started a property management business which Nathan eventually took over. Like many others, Nathan came from what he calls a “politically blended family”; his father was a Republican and his mother a Democrat. He learned early on that good ideas and real solutions come from both sides of the house.

Weekends for the Bechs were spent on outings across Massachusetts’ majestic landscapes. Nathan and his brother loved swimming at Gardner State Park or Otis Reservoir, hiking along the Quabbin and passing by the fall foliage along the Mohawk Trail. They have fond memories of climbing the glacial potholes in Shelburne Falls and scouting at the Moses Reservation in Russell. This early start appreciating nature has made Nathan the outdoorsman and environmentalist he is today. Nathan still enjoys hiking, kayaking, and scuba diving.

His Education & Military Service

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H/T to Threehourtour

Coburn Urges Senate Leaders to Hold Full and Open Debate on $11 Billion Omnibus Spending Bill

Calls on Senate leaders to end obstruction of civil rights investigations, medical research, energy exploration

July 24, 2008

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today in advance of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan to consider a massive $11 billion omnibus spending bill this weekend.

Dr. Coburn offered the following compromises to Majority Leader Reid in a July 17 letter.

     I would strongly recommend that the underlying bill or the managers’ package would include offsets that would pay for the cost of any new spending authorized by the bill by reducing lower priority federal spending elsewhere as well as an explicit assurance that there would be no limitations on energy or mineral exploration resulting from the bill. This would be my preference and would require no amendments or lengthy floor debates. It would also set an important precedent that any new spending approved by Congress will be paid for rather than continuing Congress’ “borrow and spend” policies that have resulted in a $9.5 trillion national debt. 

     If there is no willingness to pay for the cost of the omnibus, then I would request a fair amount of time to debate the contents and have the opportunity to offer a fixed number of amendments to address cost and any other related negative impact of the bill.

Some potential agreements include:

· One related amendment and one hour of debate for each $1 billion authorized in new spending by the omnibus;

· One related amendment for each new government office, government program federal commission, park, heritage area, wilderness area, or museum created by the omnibus with at least 30 minutes to debate each amendment; or

· One related amendment for each of the individual bills wrapped into the omnibus with 30 minutes of debate for each amendment.

“Senator Reid has refused to agree to any of these common sense proposals, and he has failed to provide a CBO score of this bill, as he pledged to do in a letter,” Dr. Coburn said.

“The Senate has a nine percent approval rating because its current leaders prefer demagoguery over debate and politics over progress. Many of the bills in this omnibus package are case studies in the triumph of mindless partisanship and spin over common sense solutions,” Dr. Coburn said.

“For instance, Senator Reid and others continue to claim I am blocking civil rights legislation like Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act (S. 535) when they have voted against additional funds for this effort in order to protect their pork. These Senators also continue to block a common sense compromise I offered that would allow this bill to pass today,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Senate Democrats first blocked passage of this bill in 2006 after its sponsor, Senator Jim Talent (R-MO), agreed to offset the costs of the bill. Democrats objected to this agreement because they wanted to deny Senator Talent a legislative victory in the midst of his re-election campaign,” Dr. Coburn said.

“In October 2007, Senators Reid, Durbin, Dodd and Leahy all voted against an amendment I offered to increase funds for the Department of Justice’s effort to investigate these crimes by redirecting funds from less vital special interest pork projects. Unfortunately, each of these Senators put their own pork projects ahead of victims of civil rights cases. Senator Dodd voted to protect $450,000 for a submarine at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. Senator Leahy voted to protect $300,000 for the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in Vermont for the ‘Eye-In-The-Sky’ Program. Senator Durbin voted to protect $300,000 for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago,” Dr. Coburn said. See related Amendment summary and Vote breakdown:

“Majority Leader Reid has now taken the step of effectively drawing a moral equivalence between legislation related to botanical gardens and victims of unsolved civil rights cases. The Majority Leader could pass the Emmett Till bill today if he brought it up as a stand alone bill with spending offsets I have already identified. Instead, the Majority Leader has linked the issue of unsolved civil rights cases to other causes that are unrelated and, in some cases, frivolous,” Dr. Coburn said.

“I have detailed reasons for asking for debate on each of the bills in Reid’s omnibus bill. In many cases, I support the bills in the package but believe the Senate should live within its means, like every American family, and pay for new programs by reducing spending elsewhere. Any Senator who can’t find offsets in a government that wastes $300 billion every year through fraud or duplication doesn’t deserve to be here,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Regarding the omnibus’ medical research component, I look forward to explaining why various bills in this package that could block entities like the National Institutes of Health from conducting life-saving medical research. The disease specific earmarks in the Reid’s omnibus would essentially put career politicians, congressional staffers and Washington lobbyists in charge of medical research in this country. Medical research dollars should be directed by trained scientists and physicians, not politicians, lobbyists and celebrity activists,” Dr. Coburn said.

“I hope the Majority Leader will give the American people what they deserve: legislation that allows us to live within our means, or at least a full and open debate that will allow him to explain why we should not,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Finally, what the Majority Leader defines as my unprecedented obstruction is my desire to see the number of bills that pass the Senate in secret with no debate, no amendment and no recorded vote be reduced by less than ten percent. I have supported 855 unanimous consent or ‘hotline’ requests in the 110th Congress while I am presently urging further debate on less than 80 bills. What is unprecedented, therefore, is not anyone’s obstruction but the Majority Leader’s secret spending and refusal to debate critical legislation,” Dr. Coburn said.

As Americans take time this Memorial Day to remember those who have given what Lincoln called "the full measure of devotion" to protect our freedoms, here in Washington it is politics as usual - actually, it's even uglier than usual.

Congress this week found time to honor a college basketball team, Arnold Palmer, and Frank Sinatra…but then went home for a two-week vacation without funding American troops in combat, putting even the paychecks of our soldiers in jeopardy.

That's bad enough, now this video surfaces in which Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a leading congressional liberal, admits that Democrats lied to the public on the War in Iraq to win control of Congress.  You'll be outraged by what you see.

In response, Freedom's Watch is launching a telephone campaign to inform Americans about Congress' cynical and reckless dereliction of duty and how it's hurting our troops.  On our behalf, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan will be calling constituents all across the country telling them what their representatives are up to and asking them to deliver to Congress a simple message:  stop playing politics and support the troops!

My Name is William T. Russell. I am running for Congress against John Murtha as a Republican in the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the November 2008 election.

I would like to introduce myself to you. I am a family man, a husband, as well as a father. I am also a small business owner and entrepreneur, as well as an American Soldier.

My wife, Kasia, is one of my heroes. For some strange reason, she saw fit to marry me eight years ago. She was born and raised in Poland where her father was one of the local leaders in the Solidarity movement against the communist government in the 1980s. We met and married while I was stationed in Germany. She moved to the US with me after we married, learned English and became a US Citizen. After surviving the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 (while six months pregnant with our son), she continued to raise our children by herself for 19 months while I was deployed to Kosovo and then Iraq.

Until August 31st of this year, I was a fulltime Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve, stations at the Pentagon and a little over 2 years short of full, active duty retirement. Until March of 2007, Kasia and I were simply looking forward to finishing out my Army career and moving to southern or southwestern Pennsylvania. We have been attracted to this part of the country since our first visit to the state in 2000. We were attracted to the people and lifestyle of the state as well as its natural beauty. We recognize it is a great place to raise our children and I saw it as a great place to begin a second career in business after retiring from the Army.

But last March I had the opportunity to meet with some of our Wounded Warrors during their visit to the Pentagon. I have always been impressed by the spirit and good cheer of so many of these wounded heroes but also understand the sullen responses from some. Seeing these Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen with missing and shattered limbs, two with missing eyes and wounded faces, I found myself wiping away the teas as I walked back to my office. I was both saddened and angered that the sacrifices these brave service men and women, like the others I have served with in combat, make for this country and the thought of how they are betrayed by the actions of politicians such as John Murtha.

Congressman Murtha’s actions have done more to lead us toward political defeat in this war than the enemy could ever hope to accomplish by their own devices. His calls for withdrawal of our forces and limiting the authority of the Commander-in-Chief in executing this war, plays directly into the hands of our enemy. He is undermining our Soldiers in the fight and encourages the enemy to kill or maim a few more of our Soldiers and kill large numbers of Iraqi civilians on a weekly basis. The Islamic extremists, just like the communists in Vietnam, see his weakness of political resolve as the reason to keep fighting in spite of their military losses. He must be replaced with a candidate who understands the importance of an integrated political, military, and economic strategy that does not pit political ends against military and economic, but synchronizes and orchestrates them with the recognition of the imperative to achieve the victory that this war demands for the safety of our children and grandchildren.

Perhaps the best illustration of the importance of this issue is the story of  US Marine Lance Corporal (L/CPL) Justin Sharratt, from Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania (part of the 12th district). For those not familiar with him, L/CPL Sharratt is an American Hero.  On 19 November 2005, Justin’s convoy was attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) killed his friend and squad mate L/CPL Miguel Terrazas.  This ambush included not only the bomb but also sniping and rifle fire at the Marines as they secured and evacuated the wounded out of the vehicle in which L/CPL Terrazas had been killed.  L/CPL Sharratt assisted in the security, recovery and offensive efforts to capture or kill the enemy combatants who initiated the complex ambush. When he moved into a building with some of his squad mates, Justin found himself in a close fight with four armed insurgents. When his machinegun jammed, he was forced to engage them with his 9mm pistol.

Justin and the other members of his unit were facing an enemy who fights by a different set of rules in which there is no such thing as atrocities when committed for their cause.  This enemy hides behind civilians in order to protect themselves and to create propaganda opportunities by accusing Americans of atrocities when innocents are caught in the crossfire.  The enemy does this because they are seeking to create My Lai type incidents for propaganda use on the Arab street as well as the anti-war movement in the US.  Innocents were caught in the cross fire in the heat of combat that day.  But those who were identified were safe guarded and protected by the Marines.

No one reading this account would argue that Justin and his family deserve our deepest thanks for his actions that day at a town called Haditha. Congressman Murtha’s thanks to Justin and his comrades for their risks and sacrifice was to publicly accused them of “cold-blooded murder” of innocent civilians.

By publicly stating that the US Marines committed murder and denying that there was a firefight and roadside bomb (specifically, the bomb which killed L/CPL Terrazas), United States Congressman John Murtha endorsed the enemy’s propaganda effort and confirmed in the minds of millions of Arabs, as well as many Americans, that US Marines had committed atrocities against Arab civilians as an extension of US Policy. By making such inflammatory statements of guilt against the bravest of Americans when the investigation had just begun, Congressman Murtha not only denied the Marines the rights that he and his colleagues so adamantly want to bestow on the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, he helped the enemy fabricate a lie which has done more damage to our efforts in this war than any other politician. Mr Murtha not only threw a local hero under the bus for political expediency, he helped the terrorists create a lie that has been repeated by Al Qaida and other terrorist organizations for recruiting purposes throughout the Arab World.  It has also been repeated by Code Pink, KOS and other anti-war elements in their effort to undermine the US efforts in the Middle East.

I am entering this race because I believe it is imperative to our nation’s security and its future. The small economic sacrifice of leaving a secure, well-paying job, two years short of a guaranteed pension with health care for life, is nothing in comparison to the sacrifices of our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who are on extended tours in active contact with an enemy and who are being undermined by politicians who are too corrupt, cowardly, or incompetent to recognize the nature of the war we are in. Surrender on the political, military, and economic fronts is not an option.

When I was looking at moving here to start a business career after retiring from the military, I knew that it was economically challenged area. But after moving here due to the imperatives of our national security, I have come to recognize the depth of the economic crisis facing this area also. Its economic future is at stake. To Mr Murtha’s credit, he has attempted to protect the jobs of this community with Congressional earmarks for a long time. But in trying to protect the economic past, we have lost sight of some economic realities and the future. The end results of the last 30 years of directed congressional spending has not produced the intended results.  After many years of congressional earmarks, southwestern Pennsylvania’s greatest export is young college graduates. Young people looking to start their careers believe they must travel to other areas to start their careers. This region has lost approximately 59,000 people in the last two years.  I have heard stories of churches that are conducting 40 funerals for every baptism. While I recognize this region as a great place to raise my children, I want my children to grow up and see this as a great place to raise their children. 

We must build an embraceable future for our children to raise their children.  In order to do so, we must establish the national security framework to allow for our economic growth. Our economic growth must spring from a resurgence of market driven small businesses – we must relight the spark of entrepreneurial fire and raise the next generation of entrepreneurs.   We must build businesses which derive their purpose and profits from the demands of the market in keeping with the laws of supply and demand. The United States economy is booming (in spite of what we constantly see in the press). There is no reason for southwestern Pennsylvania to not share in our national prosperity. We have great resources and people. We can leverage our empty buildings, available housing, and wealth of natural beauty to build an economy that is attractive to future college graduates to begin their careers and to raise their families.  

To help accomplish this, I have already started working with entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to build businesses which are market driven, have applications outside the defense industry and not dependent on congressionally directed budgets. These are the people who will build our economy. I believe the role of government is to establish the framework for growth (provide security, law enforcement, laws to safeguard fair business and contract enforcement, and road networks and certain levels of infrastructure) and to allow the spirit of entrepreneurialism to grow and bear fruit. It is not the role of government to substitute for the forces of the free market. Excessive government involvement in the market produces a continual cycle of dependence, drives out naturally developing small businesses, and suppresses the development of new industries.  

But I am also entering this race with the recognition that I am the out of town kid who wants to join the local team which has some long time players. I hope the communities of the 12th District will welcome a new and unknown player who would like to try out for the team. Throughout this campaign, I will be visiting with people of every county and township in this district to listen and learn so that I can better understand how this team functions. The economic ideas, plans, and solutions that become part of this campaign must answer to the needs of the communities in the district.

I hope the people of the 12th District are willing to consider this career Army transplant who grew up as an Air Force brat and has lived in 11 different states and seven foreign countries. I believe I have a unique background as a soldier, small businessman, and student of international relations to help build an embraceable future for our children and their families.  

I thank you for your time, interest, and support.

Very Respectfully,

William T Russell

Department Engages Congress for Full 3.5 Percent Troop Pay Raise
Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:23:00 -0600

Bush, Gates Comment on Partial War Funding Approved by Congress
Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:53:00 -0600