Russ Steele
The setting was a beautiful yard on Cement Hill under the shade trees. Somehow a beautiful yard on a cement hill is hard to fathom, that is until you visit Jo Ann Rebane’s beautiful yard. What a lovely place to discuss the politics of the day.
The House and Yard
When we arrived there was a large table of sandwiches, fruit and scrumptious brownies, with bottles of chilled water and green iced tea waiting for us. Soon neighbors, friends and recognized tea party supporters started arriving, all of us looking forward to hearing our 4th District Representative, Tom McClintock, give us a first hand report from the circus in Washington.
The Food
While selecting our food, and enjoying the light lunch, we had an opportunity to ask Tom questions and participate in one-on-one discussion of issues important to us all. He was most gracious, listening and then giving direct answers. No “daisy talk” as George calls useless chatter devoid of content. This was an opportunity for access to first hand knowledge of the political process, and nobody wasted this opportunity on “daisy talk.” More on Daisy Talk at Ruminations
The Conservation
On the top of the discussion was the Cap and Trade Bill that just made it’s way through the House of Representatives. According to Tom, we are deciding our survival as a nation. Tom has an excellent grasp of history, and explained the impact that Smoot-Hawley had on delaying the recovery following the 1929 market crash. Smoot-Hawley levied import tariffs on 20,000 products coming from foreign countries, to make US make products more competitive in the US. Tom explained that Cap and Trade is really just a tax on all US products. A tax that makes them less competitive on global markets. All these new taxes in the middle of a recession, could cause the nation to sink into a depression. Smoot-Hawley caused a depression, do we have another one just over the horizon?
The Details
Tom’s next subject was Healthcare. Unfortunately, my interest in the discussion caused a lapse in my note taking. He thinks that we should give the same tax credits to employees that we are giving to those who employ workers, so they can buy an insurance plan that will meet their family needs. Interesting, no mention of how us retired folks will fair.
Tom noted that Europe is abandoning socialism, while the US, Iran and Venezuela are moving toward adopting socialism. This is leadership driven effort, as conservatism is growing in the nation. Time for the citizens to let their leaders know change is afoot. American’s are sensing the growing danger and are becoming restless. Calls requesting a vote no on Cap and Trade crashed the House Switch Board.
George and Jo Ann in a Final Word With Tom
Tom pointed out that the nation should be learning from the “greening of California” . Once AB-32 was passed, companies started moving to Nevada, Arizona and Texas where they did not have to deal with the excessive carbon taxes and regulations. Since 2007, implementation of AB-32, California unemployment has been growing faster than the national average, when in the past, California’s unemployment was lower than the national average. The rush of green jobs promised by California politicians never appeared, leaving thousands of Californians unemployed.
There were questions about healthcare, funding of czars, why Mary Bono, a Republican voted for Cap and Trade ? His assessment of Nancy Pelosi, and why we are allowing the darter fish to turn the Central Valley into a desert ? Do we really have to fill out all the private data on the Census forms ? Where do we stand on national defense with the new challenges from North Korea and Iran ?
I did not capture all the answers, except for the last one. In Tom’s view, the Obama apology tour has given rogue nations the high sign, they have nothing to fear from the US. Being a student of history, Tom recalled the events that set the stage for WWII, when Europe told Hitler he had nothing to fear from nations of friendly people. Tom’s fear is that Obama is sending the same message to Iran and North Korea, we are not going to be a obstacle to your ambitions.
George, has more on the meeting with Tom and forty friends and neighbors on Rebane’s Ruminations.
