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From the Publisher

2012-01-25 13:56:18

What if we made this happen?

Q: What’s new?

A: I am always glad to be asked. I must tell you, in all of what we’ve been through as a country, I doubt I have ever been as sad and sick as I have been these past several months of watching the Washington politicians, on all sides. Maybe you are as well. First, it was the President’s refusal to accept the recommendations of the bi-partisan, Bowles-Simpson commission last year; then all of the hoopla and partisan bickering that went on with the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts; then this year’s vote in August to increase the Federal debt limit; then the failure by the Super Committee to accomplish anything; then the “Jobs Bill” that our President has spent millions of dollars going around the country advocating…and the press covering…where the only thing to come out of it has been the recent payroll tax cut legislation, which to date has provided the average household in America with about $168…certainly not a “huge savings” for most households…and most certainly nothing to do with businesses creating a single job because of it; then our President’s disregard for our Constitution, our laws and our process with his, “We can’t wait” campaign, where regardless of what our Constitution, laws and process says, he is moving forward like a dictator in what he is doing…and getting away with it. It leaves most of us to wonder, “What is next?”; then his most recent maneuver to “table” the Keystone XL Pipeline…again bogging up the legislative agenda, failing to do the things to make us energy independent, and playing politically to the environmentalists…just in time for his re-election; and everything else that our elected officials have done…and have failed to do. Personally, I think it is all too coincidental, for what is happening not to all be planned, but that’s just me, I could be wrong. You will see what I mean though if you Google Cloward & Piven, two professors from Columbia University, who put forth a plan in 1966 to socialize America by overwhelming the system with Government spending and entitlement demands, all the while fostering extreme partisanship so no one helps anyone get anything done. It all turns into a mountain of chaos, and most look to the government to give them what they want. Is this what was meant by a “fundamental transformation of America?” For one of the most enlightening 15 minutes and four seconds you will spend in a long time to help you understand what is going on, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxDwT55rmIw&feature=youtu.be. Ed Griffin, author and political lecturer makes a case why there is little difference between the parties, or the right and the left, and why there has been little difference for decades. Regardless of what they all say, and the words they all use to describe what they do and what they stand for, and to demonize the opposition, they both favor a big, strong, powerful, centralized government. We, the electorate, go back and forth and end up as “puppets” to their rhetoric and their actions, but nothing changes. We have more government intrusion into our lives, we spend more, we are more regulated, we become more of an entitlement society with each passing month, and at the end of our “day,” it will be this big government that will supposedly solve all of our problems. This situation is a mirror image of what Rome was like before its Fall in 476 A.D. If it has been some time since you’ve read this, do yourself a favor. Google it too. You will be amazed at the similarities of what is happening now in our country and in Rome 1,536 years ago. You will also see how little their governing bodies were able to accomplish at the end of their days. Virtually nothing is getting accomplished in Washington DC…all due to the political games that are being played. Most all of our elected officials are in a perpetual “election” mode. When I see people who we have elected to represent us, play these political games, all under the auspices of “doing it for the working men and women of our country,” I get more sad and more sick. Then there are the Tea Party stalwarts. While I too, adamantly believe in smaller government, civic responsibility, and the elimination of excessive taxes, the national debt and excessive spending, I am not going to do so at the expense of doing what needs to be done. I am there to do my job as an elected official. I’m going to do my job. I am not going to shut down the government. The art of negotiation is through the art of compromise. Good faith and flexibility must be on both sides of the table in any negotiation. Most of the time we see neither. Instead of bowing their necks and saying “No” to any increase in taxes, they must aggressively counter with tax reform. I do not see this happening. In the 2010 mid-term elections, it was “throw the bums out.” There were those who advocated replacing every elected official we had. But how does that do any good if all we do is replace them with more of the same? We may have replaced them with worse of the same. While many say it’s too late and that what we have to replace what is happening is already set…maybe not. I remember the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Oilers had a guy named “Krazy George” as one of their most ardent fans. Most people thought he was crazy. Most people may think I am crazy too, for the things I propose and what I am getting ready to propose, but in my opinion, we still have time to do more than just gripe and complain. I know in regards to myself, like some of you and many other Americans, I could never withstand the vetting process to be elected to any type of position because of all they could “dig” up. I don’t think I have too much serious baggage, but it’s kind of like a 70-year old man pulling off his shirt at the beach…most don’t want to do it if he doesn’t have to. But there are good people out there who could withstand it. Maybe we don’t have to sit here on our duffs and watch this great country go down the tubes. Maybe the time is exactly right with 27% of all Americans saying they’re Republicans, 31% saying they’re Democrats and 42% saying they want no label…that they are Independents. Maybe it’s the perfect time to meld our positions. What if we made this happen? What if we began a brand new political party that could “catch fire” as quickly as a lit match would ignite a pool of gasoline? It would be called the Write-In-Party (WIP). Coming from the world of marketing, I can tell you…it is rare when a name of anything includes a description of what it is and a call-to-action too. It’s credo would be, “Just do what’s right.” It would be a party based upon “individualism,” which means…let the majority of the people decide what is best for us, our families and our country…and then have elected representatives carry it out. I believe this is what Lincoln meant when he said, “…a government of the people, by the people, for the people…” Here’s why it would work. We wouldn’t have to worry about getting on the ballots throughout the country. Why? Because for every elected position, there is already a place for a “Write-In-Party Candidate.” It’s on every ballot, in every voting precinct, in every state. All we would have to do is coordinate millions of Americans filling in the same name. Would that be tough? Not if we would all be united. Who would the candidates be? They could be affiliated with any political party now…Democrat…Republican…Libertarian…any party. They could be current office holders; ones who are seeking office; or ones who never thought about running until they heard about the WIP Party. All they would have to do is sign on and support the below WIP Platform, with the added caveat that at the end of the day, his/her job would always be to do his/her job…and that is to act. What if this were to be the WIP Platform? An Immediate General Tax Reform 1. Our present tax system is broken. Even if the most wealthy Americans would have their taxes increased by 25%...and NO ONE is advocating this…it would not bring in enough revenue to cover what we are spending. We would continue to run deficits, thereby running up the national debt even further. A few weeks ago, the President asked Congress to increase the debt limit by $1.2 Trillion, as the increase last August to $15.2 Trillion has been used up. Four days later, for what can only be political purposes, the President withdrew the request. One week later, it was back on. It is another political game. Float it out there. If someone doesn’t yell too loud, advance it. If they do, keep floating it. Before long it will be an accepted fact that it is going to be increased. We must have immediate tax reform. The WIP Platform would support the abolishment of every Federal tax. These taxes would be replaced with a FairTax of 23% on every new, personally-consumed product and service in the United States, with no exemptions of any kind. Each head of household (individual/family), regardless of income, would receive a monthly pre-bate payment to pay the FairTax equal to poverty-level expenditures to enable the necessities of life (food, medicine, clothing, etc.) This pre-bate payment is based upon family size only. It is not based upon income. There is no “means” testing for this pre-bate payment. Every American citizen qualifies for it. The citizen/family must prove they are indeed a citizen of the USA. There would be no FairTax on used products. This FairTax would be collected at the point of sale by the seller of the product or service. One fourth of one percent would be retained by the seller, then the seller would immediately send the balance onto the state. The state would retain one fourth of one percent and immediately send the balance onto the Federal Government. There would be no FairTax on business to business transactions of products or services. This FairTax would replace: A. All Personal Federal Income Tax; B. All Social Security Taxes paid in by both employees and companies; C. All Medicare Taxes paid in by both employees and companies; D. All Federal Estate Taxes; E. All Corporate Income Taxes; and F. All Capital Gains Taxes. Imagine, each of us paying no more Federal Taxes for anything. Imagine your take home check being gross wages, or nearly gross wages, if there was no Federal Withholding, no Social Security, no Medicare, and no Federal Tax deductions of any kind. Imagine businesses putting all of their capital into the purchase of new equipment, locations and employees, instead of peeling off a huge chunk for all of the Federal Taxes. How fast would we grow? How many jobs would be created? You know how some of you pay your estimated quarterly Federal Taxes? You would not do so any longer. How many tens of millions of dollars have been spent on the debates and politics over the past 18 months of all of these different Federal Taxes, that would be moot if this FairTax was enacted? Extension of the Bush Tax cuts…moot; Estate Tax…moot; Social Security reform…moot; Increasing taxes on the rich…moot; Increasing taxes on business…moot; Capital Gains Tax…moot; and so much more. Take away all of these and ask yourself, “What would we have gotten accomplished if our elected representatives had not spent all of the time and money on these things that they did?” Since we use the Q & A format in all that we do, let me do a few Qs and As for you, so you will better understand this FairTax and how it relates to you and your situation. Q: But I don’t pay any taxes now. Would this FairTax make me pay? A: Let’s take a look. You will get a pre-bate payment each month from the Federal Government to pay the FairTax on essential, poverty-level expenditures to enable you to purchase the necessities of life (food, medicine, clothing, etc.) of new products and services that you buy each year. You will also have no deductions from your paycheck for any Federal Taxes, such as Federal Withholding, Social Security or Medicare. Even though you will pay the 23% FairTax on all new products and services you buy, you will have more disposable income each month than what you do presently. Q: Our present, household, after taxes, annual income is $50,000. Are we going to experience less cash at the end of the month with this FairTax? A: Let’s take a look. First, you will no longer have any Federal Withholding, or any other Federal Taxes, such as Social Security or Medicare taken out of your paycheck. This will cause you to have substantially more take-home pay…approximately $12,800 more. Add to this your monthly pre-bate payments and, even though you will pay the 23% FairTax on all new products and services you buy, you will have more disposable income than what you have now. Q: Our present, household, after taxes, annual income is $125,000. What will this FairTax do to us? A: Again, let’s take a look. You will have no Federal Taxes (i.e. withholding, Social Security, Medicare, etc.) withheld from your paychecks, which will result in your household, annual income being substantially more…approximately $50,000 more. Add to this your monthly pre-bate payments and, even though you will pay the 23% FairTax on all new products and services you buy, you will have more disposable income than what you have now. You are also a household that would typically pay capital gains taxes on investments. You would pay no more capital gains tax. Q: Wait a minute, how can everyone have more disposable income but we still take in more revenue? A: Isn’t it amazing? Presently 56% of all Americans now pay $500 or less in income taxes. With this FairTax, everyone will pay on all new products and services they purchase, with no exemptions of any kind. There will be no more exemptions or loopholes for anyone. If you purchase new products and services, you will pay a 23% FairTax on them at the point of sale. When you a 23% “key” off our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the sum of all the goods and services we produce in a year, with 81% of the GDP in personal consumption, some big things happen with the numbers and with the revenue. Q: So one can avoid paying this FairTax if they don’t buy any new product or service; or if what they buy is used? A: Exactly. Would the FairTax generate the revenue we need? Yes. To begin with, it would bring in $676 Billion more than what we’re bringing in today. In 2011 total Federal Revenue from all sources was $2.1 Trillion. Our GDP is approximately $15 Trillion. 81% of our GDP is personal consumption, which equates to $12.15 Trillion, on which the FairTax would be assessed. 22.85% of this (which is the percentage after the seller of the product/service and the state take their one fourth of one percent) comes to $2.776 Trillion. That works out to be $676 Billion more than what we take in now! But revenue would significantly increase thereafter! Why? Because there would be no payroll taxes (Medicare and Social Security) for business, no Corporate Income Taxes, no Federal Excise Taxes and no other Federal taxes. Business in America would boom. Businesses from around the world would stand in line to do business here. We wouldn’t have to worry about our balance of trade. Exports would far exceed imports. We wouldn’t have enough people for the jobs it would create. Instead of our economy (GDP) growing at the anemic levels it has of an annual rate of less than 2%, try plugging in a FairTax of 22.85% on 81% of our GDP with a 3% growth rate, 4% growth rate, or even a 5% or more growth rate. A 5% increase in GDP of $15 Trillion would bring in more than $2.9 Trillion in revenue. A sustained 5% growth rate in GDP could bring in more than $5 Trillion…annually. This would be real revenue…and a HOT and vibrant economy. Why would we want to help business? For not only the reasons that are listed above, but as business thrives, more and more people would make more and more money…owners and employees alike. The more money they would make, the more they would spend. The more they would spend, the more FairTax revenue. People who make the most in business, like owners and upper management, would pay a 23% FairTax on every new product/service they buy, with no exemptions. There would be no more “biggies” that escape paying taxes. This is the progressive tax people have looked for. People who make more spend more and would pay more in taxes. People who make less spend less and would pay less in taxes. But since most people, including the very poor, do not pay any income taxes now, how would they be able to afford an additional 23% consumption tax? First, to those employed, no one would have any more Federal Tax deductions on their paycheck. They would receive gross pay instead of net pay after these deductions. If the current, take-home, household income of a family of four is $50,000, this alone would put nearly $18,000 back into their hands (enough to pay the FairTax on more than $78,000 worth of new products and services purchased during the year), which is more than what they would have to spend in the first place. Second, there are the monthly pre-bate payments based solely on household size. The Federal Poverty Level Spending for a family four in a household, for the essentials is approximately $22,000. 23% of this is $5,060. To those who are on a lower amount of take-home, household income…say for instance the $22,000, the monthly pre-bate payment they will be sent will pay the 23% FairTax on all of the new products and services they purchase in a year. Remember, no one pays the FairTax on the used products they purchase. This monthly pre-bate payment program would cost the country approximately $460 Billion per year. I will tell you how it would be paid for in just a bit. What would we do about cutting spending? After observing Washington for the past dozen years or more, I am now convinced, a balanced budget amendment will not work. We must go further. You see, a balanced budget amendment will never get us out of the problems we’re in, as it would limit spending to what we take in, and Washington would spend all we take in. With all of the revenue this FairTax would bring in, we don’t need to spend it all. We must have a surplus to pay down the debt and regain the confidence of our foreign creditors as well as those Americans who hold US Debt. We would therefore advocate a “Spending Cap Amendment,” of 17% of the GDP. As this FairTax would begin to blossom, we would be able to spend more, because 17% of a bigger number is a bigger number to spend, but we would hold to the 17% cap of GDP. This one move would restore our global credit rating over night; put lobbyists to work doing something to affect our GDP instead of what they are doing, not to say anything of wiping out the deficit; and the building of a surplus to pay down the national debt in an accelerated fashion from this point forward. What about all of the tax attorneys, CPAs and IRS agents that will no longer be needed for what they were doing, or primarily doing? Some of them are going to have to find something else to do, or something else to do in addition to what they do. We have this taken care of too. Every existing tax attorney, CPA, Income Tax Preparer and IRS agent, who opts-in during a limited and defined registration period, would be given full access to all of the information on every dime that is being spent and planned to be spent by the Federal Government. Each of these could apply their unique talents and skills to stopping waste, fraud and abuse. It has been estimated by those on the right, left and in the middle, including our President, that 20% of what we spend goes to waste, fraud and abuse. This is in excess of $700 Billion per year. If there are 100,000 tax attorneys, 50,000 CPA and Income Tax Preparers, and 100,000 IRS agents that opt in (and that would all of them there are opting in); and we would give them each 25% of what they are able to save out of our coffers out of the waste, fraud and abuse we no longer have to pay for; each would easily earn more than $500,000 per year. This should provide each of them with a pretty good living while directly contributing to our country’s bottom line with the 75% we don’t pay out to them as savings (reclaimed). Can’t you just see those people and entities that these folks go after for this waste, fraud and abuse? Once they see them coming…holding up their handkerchiefs and saying, “I’m sorry. I will give it all back.” They might be able to reclaim all of the $700 Billion. These folks would only be added to the unemployed if they do not have the skills and talents we and they thought they did, or if they do not want to work. This reclamation, plus the immediate increase in revenue from the FairTax of $676 Billion, plus all of the savings of what experts say it costs to collect, manage and enforce our current tax system of $462 Billion per year, would more than pay the $460 Billion for the monthly pre-bate payment to every household in America described earlier, plus our entire national defense budget, and all of the interest on our national debt. Keep in mind this is at the onset…before we experience the dynamic growth in our GDP and the increased revenue that will occur because of it. By the way, isn’t it a shame that we spend $462 Billion a year to manage, collect and enforce our taxes on our current system, and have absolutely nothing to show for it to ourselves and the rest of the world? Do you know that the 22nd largest economy in the world is Sweden, and their entire GDP is $457 Billion! We waste more on managing, collecting and enforcing our taxes than Sweden produces. Pro-Life I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this. I just want each of you to take this test. First for Christians…imagine the time immediately after your death. You find yourself in front of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is getting ready to pronounce an eternal sentence of Heaven or Hell on you, based upon all you did throughout your life, and the condition of your soul when you took your last breath. Would you really stop Him and say, “Oh, by the way Lord, before you go any further, I want You to know that I have always thought, and still think, it is okay to end the life of the unborn.” If you wouldn’t do it then, don’t do it now. Although our Lord is going to judge each and every person who has ever lived, some may not think so. Perhaps to those of you who are Non-Christians, Atheists, Agnostics or Pagans…this may appeal to you more. You hold firm to the belief that the reason why people should do what is right in society is because all of society benefits. Your test is to ask yourself these two questions: One, are we as humans any different than any other creatures on this earth? And two, if you believe that we are, shouldn’t this life be preserved and respected more than any other life of any other creature? What right do you…or anyone else…have to take it? If you believe a human life is no more special than a frog, a chicken or a goat…then the WIP Party may not be for you. Stop the Hate, Racism and Greed Every member, candidate and elected official of this new WIP Party would get three strikes in violation of promulgating hate, racism and/or greed, before they’re out for good. The test for talking about someone would be that the person getting ready to do the talking, asks himself/herself, “Is what I am getting ready to say true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” If he/she could answer, “Yes” to each, it is okay to say whatever he/she was going to say. If not, he/she keeps his/her “pie” closed. Use the same analogy on the Pro-Life position above. If you wouldn’t say you support hate and racism before our Lord is getting to judge you for all eternity, don’t do it now. Greed is the “mother” of all sins. Each member would know our credo, “Just do what’s right.” This means if you are getting ready to do or say something, imagine a person (such as your mother) to be a little bitty person standing on your shoulder, watching and listening to all you do and say. If you wouldn’t do or say what you’re getting ready to do or say, it’s not right so don’t do it. If you would go ahead and do it or say it, knowing that person is watching, it is right. All you have to do…is just do what’s right. Think about it. How hard could this really be? The first time you would infract this, you would get a warning from the Party. The second time you would get your final warning. The third time, you would be out of the Party. If it’s an outright serious breach of ethics, morals or legalities, there would be no first two warnings. You’re “Gone City, Oklahoma.” Everyone would turn in everyone…just like the programs, “Turn in a pusher,” …and “Neighborhood Watch.” It wouldn’t be long before this nonsense stops. 100% Full Support for the Constitution The Constitution is the way it is and the way it would be…until it is changed. That means each and every sentence…and each and every amendment…is the way it is. It will be respected by all. Laws are made by the Legislative Branch. These laws are interpreted and applied by the Judicial Branch, and executed and enforced by the Executive Branch. If the laws on the books are not going to be enforced, unilaterally for all, they would be abolished or changed…but until this would be done…this is the way it is…end of story. Illegal Immigration No one in their right mind, with a thimble full of compassion, would send 14 million illegal immigrants back to the country from which they came. Yes, it wasn’t right that they came here in violation of the way they were supposed to come here; but who committed the bigger sin? If a child isn’t supposed to push a chair over to the cookie jar, climb up and get a cookie, and one time Mom dusts the child’s britches when she sees the child do this, and the next time, when on the phone, she shakes her finger at the child…mouthing “No,”…the child is confused. How is the child supposed to react? The messaging was inconsistent. Both the government and the companies that employed the illegal immigrants were wrong for not enforcing the laws on the books and failing to comply with them. What were the illegal immigrants supposed to do? The messaging was inconsistent. The child is confused. The illegal immigrants are confused. They are already here. We would get them an ID card and let them stay and work. Their ID number would put them in the back of the line with all of those waiting to become citizens, but they would continue to stay here and work until their number came up. There would be plenty of work to go around. This country is going to be great again. They would know that if they violate the law, they would be sent back to where they came from and never be allowed back. This would work for most of those contemplating such a violation. The rest are all good people to begin with. We would enforce the border so no more would come in without doing it the way our laws on the books state they have to do it, but we would take care of those already here. In regards to social benefits for them, we would let the WIP platform work and we would be able to afford it. We wouldn’t have to worry about it. After all, if there are 14 million illegal immigrants here now, that’s only a 4% increase in our population. What would we do with a 4% increase if it came from within our borders over a 10 year period? Would we tell them there is no room or benefits for them? Would we load them up and ship them to the Outback Area of Australia or some other country that would take them? Most all of these people who came here illegally are good people. God made them just like He made you and me. We need them. They did what anyone would do in their situation. They looked for something better than what they had. No one stopped them. They have put roots down here. They have families now. We would put them to work and let them provide for their families, while being placed on a pathway to citizenship. National Defense We would adopt and adapt a national defense policy that would work in synch with our credo, God and our resources: 1. We believe in peace through strength. Don’t mess with us and any of our allies…including Israel. If you mess with them you mess with us. 2. Respect those citizens of and residing in your country, and those of other countries. Consider us like the reformed “bully” on the playground. While we could whip any one of the kids, we have chosen for now not to do so. But if someone messes with one of them, we will do whatever it takes so it wouldn’t happen again. 3. We’re not into nation building. This is where our involvement in the business of those we assist…ends. We would make things so you could rebuild your own nation. Foreign Aid We would recognize what countries can do and cannot do in their own countries. We wouldn’t ask them to do something they cannot do. But we would expect them to do everything they can do. We would be there to assist, but don’t jack with us. Take care of business and we would be there for you. We would only provide aid to countries who always have the best interests of the USA in mind. Play both sides of the table and you would “color us gone”…immediately. We would take the aid we were giving you and use it to pay down our national debt…and we would send you a big “thank you” along with our “good-bye.” Energy We would stand for energy independence. Far too many decisions of our blood and treasure have been made over the past 50 years based upon getting our energy from somewhere other than own resources. If we have shoddy practices in place while going after this energy, kick those companies to the curb and get on with being energy independent for those that know how to do it right. We wouldn’t let someone without manners sit at our table at 4 H Camp. We wouldn’t let someone work in the energy business who is messy and has no “manners” either. Abundant and affordable energy will always be a centerpiece of our economy. Get out of the way and let it happen…domestically. Help The Poor and Disenfranchised We would see a brand new and vibrant economy. There would be aid for all of those who could not help themselves. But if they could work, or if they could do work in the community, they would be required to do what they could do or they wouldn’t receive the aid. If they are on welfare, they will do what they can…whether at home licking stamps…or in their neighborhood working on a project for the betterment of society. If they are on unemployment, while they are seeking employment, they would do community work until they could find a job, all the while attending a business-led training program to teach them the skills they need to get re-employed. If they don’t…and they don’t…they don’t receive unemployment. We have lots of things to do, work to be done, people to be taken care of, and all kinds of things to be painted, cleaned and weed-eated. The time for doing nothing…is over…if you can do anything. It would be like WWII. We would all be united in a common cause. There would be something for everyone to do. Find what it is you can do and do it. Let The Free Market Work Entrepreneurism and the free market have made happen what we all enjoy in America today. Yes, greed has crept into much of it too and this is unacceptable in anyone’s book, but the original statement is true. Products and services that survive the test of consumers, that continue to cater to the needs of consumers, that are priced affordably and competitively…will flourish. Those that are not will be tossed aside. That’s the way it’s been since our country began. This is how it always must be. Health insurance is a big part of this. Obamacare has little to do with health insurance. Rather it is a massive, 2,300 page, redistribution of wealth program packed full of more regulations than anyone has been able to count. It will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. It will not save anything. The bureaucracy required to run it will make every other program in the country seem like a local chapter of FFA. The WIP Party would endorse the complete repeal of Obamacare. We do not want to wait to see if the Supreme Court strikes it down first as being unconstitutional. We would have a solution for health insurance in place that works for every other product and service in every other segment of our society. Disregard state boundaries. Let buyers of health insurance shop for the best plan there is for them in the country, their families and their situations. Remove pre-existing conditions, and the dollar and time limits of benefits. If you are an insurance company and in the insurance business, you take it all…both those with “hiccups” in their health and the healthy ones. The principle of insurance works best for all when the risk pool is large. Let companies market their plans nationally. Companies that control their costs and take care of their insureds will prosper. Those who don’t and don’t will fall by the wayside. Individual and corporate greed is bad…but no worse than it is for the Federal Government to get in middle of everything we do. There would be no room for any of this in the WIP Party. Entrepreneurism and the free enterprise system are good. If you can’t agree with this…there is no room for you in the WIP Party. Further, the WIP party would promise all…it doesn’t matter what you occupy…you will not be changing America into a third world country. Get out. Go occupy a cave in Africa, Indonesia, Finland or Norway, or wherever, and roast the porcupine you caught two days ago over a wood fire for dinner. There’s a better world out there for all of us than the one you are trying to espouse. We’re going to make it happen…with or without you. Do Your Job as a WIP Party Elected Official Yes, the above would be our platform, but we are also a democracy where the majority rules. The test for you would always be, “Did you do what you thought was right?” This “hooey” about you banding together and holding our process down and hostage would not work for you in this Party. Do your job! As a member of the WIP Party…you’re going to have to do your part…but it would not be that difficult. If you are one who could support all of the above, you’re in the new WIP Party. You wouldn’t have to sign anything. We do not have time. Rather, you would need to email others about joining. They wouldn’t need to sign anything either. We have made the process very easy. The email you send is all ready written and will tell them to go to our new website, www.theqandatimes.com. They can pull up this publication and read this article in its entirety from the “Recent Issues” page, February 2012 Issue. Hopefully they will support that for which we stand and email others. Here is how we would propagate this, but first a tip. Do you know why most email prayer chains fail to go any further than a dozen or so? The initiator always wants you to send it to 10 people. Most of us don’t know that many people we could trust with the color of our underwear. All you would have to do to make this propagation work is click the big link on the home page at www.theqandatimes.com titled Send this email to two people. When the email pops up, send it to two people. They are blind copies. No one will know who you sent your emails to. They would do the same, and those they send it to would do the same, etc. The person who sent it to you would be copied on the emails that you send so they would know their part is complete, but they would not know who you sent it to. (here is a copy of that email that pops on our home page, that you and they would send to two people, one who resides in the state in which you reside, and the other who resides in any other state) Dear Concerned Citizen of the USA, I felt you may be as interested as am I in the health and future of our country. If so, here is an opportunity to be a part of something big and necessary for the same. Go to www.theqandatimes.com. Once there, click on the “Recent Issues” tab. Click on the “February 2012 Issue” for either of the editions listed. Read and digest the article that begins on the front page titled, “What if we made this happen?” If you can support what is written, the WIP Platform, and the method of propagation described in the article, click the big link in the middle of the site’s home page titled, “WIP Email To Send To Two People.” When it pops us, complete the blanks. You will type in the email address of one person who resides in the state in which you reside, and one person who resides in any other state. Neither will know of the other as these are “blind” copies. Your name will be automatically added to the bottom of the email. Then, check back to this same site prior to the November elections, for a state-by-state listing of all of the candidates endorsed by the WIP for each position in the House, Senate and President of the United States, as well as the candidates for your own state offices. All you will have to do at that time is click the link and print a listing of these candidates and take this list with you when you vote, writing in the WIP candidate for each position. If you are not interested in participating in this effort, please reply back so I can send this email to another person who might be. Thank you for your consideration. (your name will automatically be included here) No one would quit his/her efforts until they have assurances from two people they are going to participate. If, as we move forward, one quits, the person who got them involved initially must replace them. This is all you have to do…for now. Yes…it is a pyramid…but the prize in this pyramid is saving our country from what is taking place. How fast would it work? The Q & A Times touches more than 100,000 households and businesses each month. If each would do his/her part in the next few days, and everyone they send it to would do the same, and everyone they send it to would do the same, etc., we would have run out of households in America before the 8th level, and we would have built a network that would dwarf all of the other networks out there…added together…for the delivery of news, information and education. You read correctly. Add all of their audiences together…CNBC, CNN, HLN, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS…and they have only a fraction of the audience we would have. You would not have to worry whether those you send the email to are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or any persuasion in between. This would not be a Democratic, Republican or Libertarian platform. It would be a melded platform. How many people do you think would support a platform that increases everyone’s disposable income…creates a budget surplus…pays down our national debt…restores fiscal soundness…shores up the confidence in our creditors…strengthens our defense…stops waste, fraud and abuse…takes care of the illegal immigrant problem…fiscally controls our foreign aid…thwarts hate, racism and greed…gets our three branches of government working separately but as one like they were intended to work…allows the Constitution to be the way it is and the way it is going to be for everyone who chooses to lay his/her head down in this great country, until it is changed…stops the underhanded and sweetheart deals that politicians and their lobbyists have brewed up for themselves and their cronies…takes care of all of the social needs of our country…and puts us in synch with God for the only reason we are here to begin with? I believe I can promise…any sane, reasonable, logically-thinking individual, without regard to present party affiliation, absent of hate and a lover of America would not have a problem with it. Let me tell you why. At the core of the Democratic Party is its stance for an abiding faith in the judgment of hardworking American families, and a commitment to helping the excluded, the disenfranchised and the poor strengthen our nation by earning themselves a piece of the American Dream. At the core of the Republican Party is its stance for preserving a free society, free trade, the sanctity of human life, limited government, low taxes, a minimal bureaucracy, a strong national defense, protecting private property rights, and the concept that government should do for individuals only those things they cannot do for themselves. At the core of the Libertarian Party is its stance to seek a world of liberty, a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. Respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized, and that each person has the right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest. The WIP Party platform would handle each of these stances and more. Would there be there be conflicts? If you would want there to be conflicts there would be. If you are a sane, reasonable and logically-thinking individual, you would understand that this must be a melding of all stances, that would do all that each stance wants to accomplish. As soon as we would have our millions of WIP supporters connected, we would establish a way to draft those candidates who would support the WIP platform in its entirety, for each of the races in the states, as well as the 536 elected Federal positions (435 in the House, 100 in the Senate and 1 for President). I have a plan for that too, but it’s a moot point if we don’t get a lot of folks connected quickly. When the list of candidates is complete, all you would have to do is come back to the site (or a site we would build under www.write-in-party.org which I already have) prior to the election, print off a list of all of these WIP candidates and take it with you to the voting booth. One thing all would have to remember is that when he/she writes-in their names on the ballot, each must write it exactly as it appears on the list, with the middle initial, and WIP behind the name, or the election officials will not count it. For instance, if Sam Johnson is written in, since there are too many Sam Johnsons out there, the voting officials will not count a vote for the Sam P. Johnson WIP we are endorsing, if you merely put Sam Johnson. Do we have to accept what is happening to our country? I don’t think so. Most of us have been lulled to sleep thinking, the worst can’t happen here. But it is happening…right under our noses. If this WIP effort would be successful, it would be the biggest landslide election in the history of our country, for every elected position, from all parties, from all of us…all coming together and melding our stances, something our current elected officials are not doing and do not understand. There will have never been a louder and clearer message than the one we would deliver. I cannot do all that will need to be done by myself, nor can I afford it. I can however, ride shotgun over this project as much as I can to see if what we’ve been hearing is “big hat no cattle,” or if millions of Americans really want to do something about it. One big benefit of this WIP approach, is if we can get as many millions of voters connected as we should, from all parties, as quickly as we need to get them…we won’t need $500 Million to $1 Billion for traditional TV advertising. The vast majority of our communication would be handled through email. We would be the leanest, most powerful, political party in the history of the country. It all depends upon how many of us each do our part…as it should. Rather than continue to sit in your morning coffee group, at lunch, or with your buddies after a round of golf having a beer and just bad mouth the situation by saying things like, “Boy, it sure is getting bad isn’t it?”, and asking rhetorical questions like, “What are we to do?”, you can do something….right now. All that has to happen over the next few days is to see how many we can connect. If only a few participate, we will all know just how important these things are to the majority of us, and we will see what type of world awaits us. Regardless, I will be back in touch with you to let you know how it is going. Well…what do you think? Am I “Krazy Charlie” or does any of this make sense? One thing is certain…as opposed to the endless rhetoric we are getting from all of those who represent us, this is an idea…and a plan…full of solutions…that will work! How long has it been since we’ve gotten anything like this from Washington? Maybe you have an idea and a plan to implement it that will solve these same problems. Let me hear it. If not, and you are ready to do your part on this effort, you can go to our site, www.theqandatimes.com …click the big link for the email message that is waiting for you…enter your two email addresses…and press send. At the very least you will be able to say…you did something more than just gripe and complain.