5 Feb. 2009

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

            As two of your appointees (who have had tax problems which required one to withdraw) and also many senior Democrats have also stated our tax code is way too difficult to understand. I think you will agree with me that it is time for a change. There are many ideas floating around, but only one will actually solve the problem. It is called the Fair Tax. It is a progressive tax that will help the little guy and put a greater burden on the rich. Talk about by-partisan support; for you already have many Republicans and Democrat’s who support it, so just stop and think about it for a moment. You see, you then can go and say that you have fulfilled your promise of reducing 95% of everybody’s taxes and that you did it with overwhelming by-partisan support You then can come out and say see what we can do when we put politics aside and work for the good of the country. Not only that you then can say that you will be giving them “the little guy” a pre-bate check every month based on how many people in their household; think of what this would do for the poor. Now I think you might want to just leave out the part that everybody will get it even the rich. Once it goes into effect you will be a hero the one who brought both parties together to solve our financial mess.

            So I ask you to please take a close look at the Fair Tax. For when you do I believe you will agree that the billions of dollars it will bring into our economy will not only create real jobs but encourage investment. 

Sincerely

Here we go again another of President Obama’s appointee’s forgot to pay his taxes. I say forgot because when you are a Liberal you just forget but if you’re not a Liberal it’s tax evasion. He said the tax code is just too difficult to understand and he did not know that he had to pay taxes on certain types of income and then he said he was sorry. Trouble is this time this guy Tom Dassel when he was a Senator helped to write the tax code. High ranking Democrat’s are coming to his defense also stating that the tax code is too difficult to understand and so honest people can make mistakes. Well if he who helped to write the tax code still did not understand what he helped to write what chance do we, the little people have? So Mr. President if as both of these appointee’s and other leading Democrat’s in your own party have said that the tax code is just to difficult don’t you think we then should change it? Well I have a solution for you and them especially since you and they say you’re for the little guy. It is a progressive tax that will help the little guy and put a greater burden on the rich. I think you might have heard of it, it’s called the Fair Tax. Talk about by-partisan support; for you already have many Republicans and Democrat’s who support it, so just stop and think about it for a moment. You see, you then can go and say that you have fulfilled your promise of reducing 95% of everybody’s taxes and that you did it with overwhelming by-partisan support; you would be a hero. Not only that you then can say that you will be giving them the little guy a pre-bate check every month based on how many people in their household but I think you should just leave out the part that everybody will get it even the rich.  

My Dad was a Democrat

            From my writings many people believe that I and my family have always been a Republicans. But that is not exactly true for you see my dad started out a Democrat as his dad before him and his dad before him and it was not until the mid 1960s and the Viet Nam war that my dad first became an Independent and then latter a Republican. When I was growing up we would always discuss politics. Back then we had three stations ABC, NBC and CBS. My dad would always watch the news on ABC because as he said they at lest tried to be fair. He thought the other two were anti government and were run by Communist. When he supported George Wallace for president I asked him why. He said the Republicans are for the rich and look at the news and you will see Democrat Politicians with the Anti-war protestors spitting on our boys coming back from the war. He would say I don’t agree with the war but it’s not their fault, for they are doing what we asked them to do. My dad felt that since we elected the Politicians and they are the ones that sent our troops to war we the people were then responsible, especially when we kept sending them back into office. He also said everybody should serve in the military when called but then when I first joined the Army in 1970 he had a fit because my lottery number for the draft if I remember was like 364 so I would never have been drafted. I guess his Patriotism rubbed off on me I told him. Then when I received orders for Viet Nam, again he was fit to be tied, he said he did not want his son to die in a war that we were not even trying to win and he did not believe in and wouldn’t blame me if I went to Canada, but we both agreed that I knew what I was getting into when I joined, so that ended that. In 1974 I got out and found that getting a good job that supported a wife and new born son was hard to come by; so in 1976 I went back into the Army (and served for 20 years). My dad almost disowned me this time for he was old Amy Air Corps and felt that intelligent men went into the Air Force or maybe the Navy and those who were not to smart went into the Army or the Marines. Like I told him I might have been the only one in the family to graduate high school but I never claimed to be the smart one. Then when Jimmy Carter became President there was no going back for us, we became truly committed to conservative ideals and by default Republicans. My dad is gone now and I do miss our talks. He only made it in school to the 8th grade, but he had his own unique insight to current events and politics.

My dad always told me that there were two things you never wanted to hear a Politian or Salesman to say and that is Trust Me or I am just looking out for you. He said if they said either of those two things, grab your wallet and run, because they are about to take you for a ride and after that ride you will be broke and the Politician would raise your taxes all the time telling you they really were not raising your taxes but the other guys. But lately I have been hearing too many Politicians’ say trust them that they know how to get us out of this financial mess they got us into. One critic stated this week that George Bush will be out of office next week and things will be different. Well that is all good except for one minor point she forgot to state; George Bush is only one man and it took guess who else to get us into this mess? If you said Congress you are correct. Matter of fact if you are willing to look at this with an open mind you will see that congress more then President Bush has been responsible for this mess. Yes he did ask for a lot of the spending but it took congress to authorize it; a minor fact that Congress will not tell you. Trouble is most Americans have a closed mind approach to politics. You hear the same thing all the time, I am a Democrat and it’s the Republicans fault or I am a Republican and it’s the Democrat’s fault. Here is one I really love, I am an independent and so it’s not my fault. An independent is just some one who will not take a stand because that means a commitment and responsibility; no they just sit on the fence to see which way the wind blows and then jumps in after it is over with to say I told you so. So when these politicians say trust me all I could do is say, well here we go again I am about to get you know what again and I hope they the politicians at lest use Vaseline this time because they are playing heck with my hemorrhoids. What ever happened to the true Statesman who actually did the peoples business? Did they all become Politicians?

Just before Christmas I E-Mailed my ex to get directions to her new home. You see my daughter who I hadn’t seen since her wedding a year ago last September was coming up from Fla. for Christmas. Since my ex had the room she was going to spend a week in South Carolina with her mother. So my son and I were going to South Carolina to visit and enjoy Christmas with them. Well my ex sent me the directions and said she was happy that we all could get together for Xmas. So being the person I am, I replied saying I did not know we were getting together for Xmas or when it was but to let me know when it was when I got there for Christmas and I’d try to get off from work. Well it was not 2 hours after I sent the E-Mail that she called me all confused. She said she did not understand my E-Mail that she thought I was coming down for Christmas and I told her I was. She then said but your E-Mail said you did not know when it was or if you can? I then I had to explain that no, I said that I did not know when Xmas was not Christmas. She stated that they were the same and I then said no; that was not true, that ex.’s were for ex-wife’s (like her), ex-husbands or ex boyfriends or ex girlfriends and such not for Christmas. You haven’t changed she stated you are still an A-hole (She used the actual word.), I told her no I have changed a few years a go I would have let the Xmas thing slide. But with all this Political Correctness going on I thought we should be political correct and keep Christmas as Christmas not Xmas. You know we don’t want to upset the politically correct crowd. We both laughed and I told her that I would see her for Christmas. After all she is still one of the best cooks I know.

Christian Values and our Founding Fathers

All my life or at lest my adult life I have heard the statement of separation of Church and State, that the government is not allowed to put up Christmas Holiday decorations or say  a prayer before a Public event because of the separation of church and sate.  Now for years this has troubled me because that I was never able to but up a good argument against them because I did not have facts to back up my beliefs for you see when I went to school the beliefs of our Founding Fathers were never taught. Oh yes we were told that they were Christians and the Government should not set up a National Religion but that was about it. Then came the internet and I was able to search and what do I find that not only were they Christians but they were men of very strong faith. Then one day as I was searching the internet I found a book that not only opened my eyes but confirmed what I had always believed that they formed our Government based on Christian Values, it is called The Christian Life and Character of The Civil Institutions of The United States. Yes a long title with a 1060 pages, but well worth the reading. They also thought Realign so important that one of the first items of order during the First Continental Congress was to authorize a Chaplin for the Congress. Not only that I found out that during the Revolutionary War on September 11, 1777 that Congress authorized the purchase of Bibles for the troops. By the way this book was originally published in 1864. Yes, the author Benjamin F. Morris in 1853 was concerned about people who denied our Christian Heritage and he felt that our history needed to be preserved, so he went back and looked at speeches, letters and writings from the Continental Congress which showed Christianity not only played a key role in the founding of this nation but played a key role in the lives of the Founding Fathers. Now I don not believe everything I read so I have the habit of trying to verify the facts and from what I have found this book is right on target. So in closing I would like to say our founding fathers never did say that the members of the government could not practice Christianity at work or display their faith at work but that they could stop anyone else from practicing or displaying theirs.

Dear Governor Palin

            As a conservative I want to thank you for all you did in the last Presidential Election. I for one believe that that you were an asset to the party and if John McCain would have let you run as yourself things might have turned out differently. Also I would like you to really think about a run as President in 2012 for you see you renewed my faith in the Republican Party.

Thank You Again

And God Bless

David G. Speckhardt Sr.

Selma, NC

The Big Three Automobile Bail Out

I keep on hearing that when the government bailed out Chrysler in the 1970s that Chrysler paid back every dime plus the Government even made money. That looking at Chrysler, the same thing will happen this time. But what nobody wants to remember or have not bothered to look at was that Chrysler had an Ace in the hole. What was this Ace you may ask? The M-1 Abrams Tank! There were two companies bidding for the contract to build the Armies new battle tank one of them was Chrysler. So what happens after Chrysler gets the loan they also get the contract to build the new tank? Then they go and turn around and sell the contract to General Dynamics. Oh and guess what they then pay off the loan. So what I want to know is this, what Ace in the hole do the Auto industry have this time? If none then we the tax payer are in big trouble because with out that Ace in the hole we will never get our money back.

Moving on With the Fair Tax

Now that the election is over it is time to get back to the Fair Tax. Yes, during this last elections cycle for some reason we kinder put the Fair Tax on the back burner. I guess we were more focused on other issues that we felt were more important at the time. In retrospect I believe we made a mistake by not pushing this issue harder, but as they say hindsight is 20/20. We also lost some good candidates who supported the Fair Tax in the last election but I do not take this as a set back but as an opportunity to gather new support for the Fair Tax. For those of you who keep on telling me that this is not going to happen, I can sight many instances in our history where someone was told that what they want to happen would not happen that the odds are against them, so why try. They did not listen and guess what, against all odds they made it happen. You see I believe in this country and the people of this country and I also believe that what ever we as a people put our mind to do, we can accomplish, so don’t tell me it can’t be done. Yes it is going to be a long hard road I admit this. Therefore for those of you who you who want to know more and see how the Fair Tax can save our financial future go to Fairtaxorg.

The way I see it the Republican leadership needs to go for the GOP has done it again. They tried to be Democrats and lost again. When Ronald Reagan ran as a conservative on conservative values; he won and when he won twice, the pundits were surprised and shocked. Not the American people though, they knew what they wanted. They wanted a strong confidant leader who had their values and portrayed a positive out look. If you look you will find over and over again when Republicans run as conservatives and stay true to their core values they win and when they run as liberals and forget their core values they then loose. Why is that? Maybe it is because most of America is basically Conservatives in their thinking. When I was working the outside the polls trying to get McCain and Palin elected I had the opportunity to talk to more then a few Democrats and what I found was surprising at lest to me anyway. Many had the same values as I did, strong family values, lower taxes, less government interference in private lives, school choice, strong military, Christian Values, and even abortion. They were actually conservative in their thinking. Yes there were a couple wacko’s out there but the other Democrats kept their distance from them for as they said they did not want to be seen with them. There was one in particular that was there and I was told that she gave them (the Democrats) a bad name. So my question really is why are they Democrats? Then I have to ask myself why I a Libertarian on most issues remain a Republican. Ronald Reagan once said that he did not leave the Demarcated Party that they left him. I feel the same way about the Republican Party, but I do believe the Republicans Party is worth saving at lest for now. For I believe if they return to their core values they can bring these Conservative Democrats to at lest vote form them, just as Reagan did. The GOP is holding their Governor’s conference in Miami and will then be electing new leadership shortly, so all I can do now is wait and hope. But, if the Republicans do not get rid of the National Leadership and start going back to their core values well this could be the end of the Grand Old Party as we know it.

So where do I go now?

I know that this will come as a surprise to some of you but I did go to Black Tie Affair for Obama on election night. You see this dear friend of mine Roz Battle in Rocky Mount North Carolina had an Obama for President Party on Nov. 4^th and asked if I would be her escort. When I told her yes I would be happy to be her escort I could see the excitement her eyes. I figured it would be no problem going since I would know most of the people there anyway and besides, that is what friends do. They support each other. Besides that she is a great cook and we have been friends for a long time

So, Saturday November 1st, I arrived about 9:00Am to help her rearranging her living room and set up the decorations for the party. Through out the whole day I kept on asking myself are you sure about this? But then I would see the excitement in her eyes and knowing how important this was to her all my doubts would disappear. At lest for a little while; after all I was still going to be a Republican at what could be a Demarcated victory party. Finally about 10:30 Pm we finished. Now all that was left was the cooking and that would happen on Tuesday.

 Finally Tuesday arrived and I showed up early about noon to help her with the final perorations. The Rocky Mount News paper was to be there taking pictures for their paper, plus a production crew from Vlabar Productions was going to be there filming the whole thing. As the start time for the event neared I started to get cold feet again you know the usual doubts came back, what was I a Republican doing at a Demarcated calibration? You know this is not supposed to happen if you listen to the main street news media. But then again I would see the excitement in Roz’s eyes and that big beautiful smile of hers and I knew I was doing the right thing. Besides, I would be escorting the most beautiful lady in Rocky Mount. After all, regardless if he won or lost this was a history making moment and a big deal for my African American friends and besides they always treated me like family, so why would I not join them in their joy and calibrating this special moment. That’s what friends do. Right! Anyway the night went off with out a hitch and we all had a great time and yes I did get a little ribbing. Her daughter told me that I could not park my pick-up in their driveway because I had it loaded with McCain and Palin stickers and someone asked if I was now going to become a Democrat and I said no way I can’t go left I must stay with the Right side.

The main point here I think is that normal people like us (well some people say I am not normal) can get along even when they disagree. Even though I was disappointed that my candidate lost, I was happy for my friends and was happy that I was able to be part of their history making calibration. And yes, I plan to be joining her at his inauguration. Willingness to be open minded and respect for each others opinions breaks down all barriers. To bad others can’t figure this one out.

Congressmen Bobs Coffee and Biscuits

I went to see Congressman Bob Etherege 2^nd district North Carolina, Saturday just to hear what the other side had to say. You see I like to hear all sides before I make a final decision and then even after I do make a decision, I still like to make sure I have all the facts. Yes  do not worry I still plan on voting for Dan Mansell, for he is in my opinion the best man for the job. Plus Bob has become too entrenched in the extreme socialist liberal spread the wealth mentality. Everybody there seemed friendly enough even when I explained that I was supporting the other guy. They even offered me coffee and biscuits and to be honest I was surprised that they were so friendly and it restored my faith in our system. You see when you watch the National news you all ways see this hatred on the left for anyone that does not agree with their opinion. So it was good to see just normal folk just like me talking politics in a calm and respectful manner. Matter of fact Saturday I did most of the people had some of the same opinions as I did so I was surprised they were still Democrats. Except for Congressman Bob being there I would have thought I was at a Dan Mansell for congress meeting. But then again I have found this to be the case so many times when I talk to my Democrat friends. They support the Conservative Republican ideas for lower taxes, the right to bare arms, the right for free speech, a strong military, the right for school choice (School Vouchers) and smaller government. Matter of fact we disagreed on very little so why are they supporting a party that wants to limit free speech, that wants big government, and spread the wealth aka Socialism I can not explain. A bright light at Bobs Coffee and biscuits breakfast was most of the people I talked too said in private and asked not to mention their names that they were voting a split ticket. They did not say who they were voting for but the idea that they like me do not always vote a straight ticket was encouraging. Maybe there is hope yet.

I have been trying to decide what to be on Halloween then it hit me. What did Obama say to Joe the plumber? I want to re-distribute the wealth because it is just fair (AKA Socialism). You see this is the first year in about 15 years that I have been off and able to celebrate Halloween. So this year I decided it would be a good idea to be Senator Obama. You see what I am going to do is when the kids come to my door I will look into their candy bags and see if anyone has to much, that is according to me the government, for those that I feel have to much I will take some away from them. I will explain that I am going to re-distribute the wealth just like Senator Obama because that is fair, and explain to them that is what is called Socialism. That under Socialism (which Senator Obama wants) the government decides how much is too much. I will also explain that it does not matter that you worked harder by going to more houses then someone else because all we the government cares about is being fair. Because being fair, well is only fair right! When they complain I will tell them that this is what will happen if their mom and or dad vote’s for Obama. Now I do realize that I will get a lot of flack from parents and be called all kinds of names but I believe it will be well worth the complaints if I can just educate some of these Obama supporters. But then again most of the Obama supporters that I have met can’t explain what Obama really stands for. All they say is well he wants change and wants to lower the taxes of 95% of the people. Then when I explain that according to the IRS only about 55% of the people actually pay taxes. Therefore it is impossible to do what he says unless you are really going to take money from those who pay taxes and then give that money to people who don’t pay taxes. Re-distribute the wealth AKA Socialism. I get the deer in the head light look and a statement like well as long as my taxes go down that’s all that matters. They just do not get it, that it is a smoke and mirrors trick. It is a shame because some of these people are dear friends and family who are mesmerized by him and do not lesson to his words. Then did he not say that they are just words and the words are not important?

Matter of fact I think I well E-Mail this to Senator McCain because I believe he uses this analogy he will be able to reach more people then me.

The Democrats say they want to bring change to the government. Let us take a look at the last two years that the Democrats have been in charge.

First of all we need to understand that it is the congress, specifically the House of Representatives that have to initiate spending bills not the President. This is something most people do not know and something the Democrats will not tell you. Yes the President can ask a Republican Congressman to submit a spending bill but it takes the rest of the Congress to approve it. The last two years the Democrats have had a majority control of Congress and has had enough votes to stop any spending bill the President has requested. Matter of fact they have had enough votes to pass any bill they wanted and then let the President either sign it or veto it. If he vetoed it they could have then jumped up and down and say look what we tried to do and the President vetoed it. But no they just sat there and complained. Why because even members of their own party could not stand the smell of corruption and partisanship by the leaders of their party.

So in the last two years that the Democrats have been in control of congress what have we seen?

Consumer confidence went from a record high to an all time low. Regular gas went from $2.19 to around $4.00 a gallon. The unemployment rate went from 4.5% to almost 6%. Home mortgage defaults (foreclosures) are a 30 year high. The Dow Jones just over a year ago hit an all time high of 14,000 now it is down below 9,800. Guess what else the approval rate of congress has never been this low in our over two year history (below 12%). That is even worst then that of President Bush. Two years ago the American people wanted change because the Republicans forgot why they went to congress. So the Democrat s said they would do what the Republicans failed to do; that was to cut spending and bring confidence and integrity back. Now what do we have, the biggest financial scandal in years? In 2001 many times since President Bush asked for more oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Democrats in Congress said no not needed. In 2005 when the report came out that Fannie Mae and Freddie were cooking the books The Democrats yelled foul and Democrat Barney Frank said that the Republicans were trying to tarnish two great men and lead the fight to block legislation for more oversight. Turns out these so called great men Raines and Johnson (who are both are democrats) walked away with Millions of dollars in bonuses for running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the ground and we now find out these same Democrats who supported them received hundreds of thousands dollars each from them, including Senator Obama who in the last four years received almost TWO Hundred Thousand dollars. So now since the Demarcated Congress has done nothing for two years except to try and destroy our economy we want to give them more power? We want to trust them now? To do what, put us in a depression? I am sorry I do not think we can afford any more of their kind of change. So if you as some of my liberal friends and family have said voting for Obama is history in the making and that’s why they are voting for him, we should at lest put the Senate or House in the hands of the Republicans. This way we keep some kind of checks and balances. Now me I have never been for doing something just to make history, I have always thought the Country should come first. What about you!