The Institute of Medicine has recommended the FDA should regulate and systematically reduce the levels of salt in our food. Or in other words, control our lives. Over the next 10 years the plan is to reduce the levels of salt to approximately 2,300 mg & 1,500 mg per day and set maximum levels of salt in food at restaurants.

This unprecedented move, if successful, will only be the first.

A professor of epidemiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Michael Alderman, said “[O]ver the past generation, while sodium intake in the United States appears to be increasing, deaths from heart attacks and strokes have declined by half,” Alderman wrote. “It is also possible that a change in this single dietary element might disturb unknown nutritional interactions and thus generate other as yet unrecognized effects, good or bad.”

The issue isn’t that reducing salt levels will necessarily make us healthier but instead to set a precedent that the Federal government can control our lives.

It seems the executive branch of the government and the agencies that are accountable to it feel it’s in our best interest to control everything.  Again, in an unprecedented move the FCC determined they would take control of the Internet to solve a problem that has been proven to have occurred only once, ever.

The propaganda and deceit is absurd.  They ignore the will of the people and rule by oppression.  How do they do this?  They create precedence through small means that will allow larger changes come to fruition in the future when they seek to regulate more and more of our lives.

ABC News reported him saying “For the second time in 24 hours, Senate Republicans unanimously blocked efforts to debate the bill…I’m not even asking them to vote for the bill. I just want to let them debate it. “

Mr. Obama told the crowd that Republicans “won’t even let it get on the floor to be debated. It’s one thing to oppose reform, but to oppose just talking about reform in front of the American people — to have legitimate debate — that’s not right.”

Certainly we’ve become the party of “no” in the past months considering Obama and his cronies in Congress want to regulate every aspect of our lives, but these accusations are mere rhetoric meant to build democratic sympathy in a state where Chet Culver has virtually no chance of winning.  Anyways, the point is this: why are Senate Republicans refusing to debate?

Many of you have heard my stump and frequently hear me say that when I read a bill, if it’s unconstitutional or bad for America after the first few pages, I’m going to just say no.  Why debate something that’s bad?  It doesn’t make any sense.  Bring something worthwhile to the table and then let’s have some real debate.

Mark Calabria of the CATO Institute was kind enough to point out why this bill is filled with special interests.  While Democrats accuse the right of lending their ears to Wall Street, Democrats have in fact, done nothing but help big businesses at the expense of small ones.  Here are some of those exemptions Mark found in a bill where Senator Dodd says it increases regulation of all “too big to fail” companies:

• This bill only provides additional regulation for companies with bank-charters.  So those companies like AIG who required a massive multi-billion dollar bailout who operate under a “thrift-charter” will not be held accountable.  (Just so happens most of these firms operate in Connecticut where Dodd is Senator.)
• The bill rolls back some consumer protections such as RESPA.  If this bill passes, you’re real estate agent and attorney can get financial kickbacks by pushing you towards specific title companies, inspectors and other closing-services when purchasing a home.  Well, Congress has functioned fine getting kickbacks (aka. Senator Dodd), why shouldn’t other people as well?
• The Farm Credit system that competes directly with banks will not see increased regulation while, of course, banks do.  So this is how the government competes with the private sector.  They eliminate any good chance of the private sector to be profitable.  Now we learn the true purpose of government under Obama: To protect the government from the people.
• This also includes no increase in regulation of….FREDDIE and FANNIE MAE!  Who just happened to be at the epi-center of the economic meltdown.
• Calabria also reported that “Worse yet is that Wall Street is exempted from the reach of the proposed consumer-protection agency — its regulation will remain with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” who were “busy” during the last meltdown.
• They have selected a handful of manufacturers who have financial divisions within their companies who will be exempt from only being able to trade derivatives through an exchange and clearinghouse.  Naturally, this includes the auto-makers.

I think it’s more than obvious why Republicans and some Democrats are not allowing debate.  This bill is BAD FOR AMERICA and there is no point in debating on a bill so slanted for special interests.  Government should NEVER be in the business of picking winners and losers.  This bill does just that.

It really is that simple.  Right now President Obama and Senate Democrats plan to fix the environment via cap and trade (C&T).  Well, C&T is not nearly as “honorable” as the left makes it out to be.

The economic crises we are now experiencing is largely due to the irresponsible use of mortgage-backed securities.  These securities were in fact highly regulated and we know how well the hokey pokey between Wall Street and Washington worked out.

Well now we move on to Carbon, or frankly, ANY emission’s exchange.  There is a Chicago based company called the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc.  This company was originally funded by seed capital from the city’s Joyce Foundation where President Obama was a board member of at the time of its funding.  Now, the Chicago Climate Exchange is trading about $10 billion a month worldwide according to an interview by its founder (and patent holder) Richard Sandor.  Former Chief of Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulsen was also key in the founding of this company and exchange.

Rewind two years from the time their patent was approved and our very own Fannie Mae received approval for their patent of a residential emission exchange.  Which, by the way, was approved the same day the political right sealed their fate, November 7^th, 2006.

Richard Sandor claims this exchange will be global and will become a $10 trillion market.  So the question is what cunning schemes Washington and other global leaders devise to create a market that will have artificial value?  In an interview with Bloomberg Sandor said that there is no risk of the emissions market ever crashing because it’s “regulated” and not open like mortgage-backed securities.  Mortgage-backed securities WERE highly regulated.  So you likely understand my concern with the SEC regulating an industry that according to Sandor doesn’t have the “opaque” value mortgage-backed securities had when that same agency doesn’t have a stellar record when it comes to securities trading.

Furthemore, Goldman Sachs, a favorite of President Obama and many other Democrats in Congress, just happens to own 19% of the parent company of this Chicago based emissions exchange company called Climate Exchange Plc.

Barbara Hollingsworth described it best saying,

“But passage of the legislation would create an artificial, government-mandated, trillion-dollar carbon trading market that would drive up the price of energy, indirectly making housing more expensive.

“If the proprietary emissions trading system functions like other exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, which makes most of its revenue on listing and trading fees, its owners could see extremely generous profits, especially with a patent that keeps out competition for two decades.”

Not to scream conspiracy or anything but here are our concerns.

What special interests are behind the actual language and writing of current energy policies and C&T that will be debated?  After seeing the corruption and special interest slant behind the stimulus package, healthcare bill and current financial reform bill Obama wants to debate, we’re curious to see what other sweetheart deals Fannie Mae is going to walk away with.  Will there be some sort of residential carbon tax?  Will C&T just be another Ponzi scheme created to give special interests more power?

They are essentially creating an enormous emissions exchange that will make all involved rich, really quick.  That is Chicago politics at its best.  Create a law that will make special interests even more money.  We saw the housing bubble burst; imagine a $10 trillion market crash and its impact on the world.  Based on the distrust that the actions of those in Congress have built with the American people I can only imagine how long it would take for this Ponzi scheme to meltdown.  After all, an artificial market with artificial value could only last so long.

You can see Chicago Climate Exchange patent by clicking here.
You can see Fannie Mae’s patent by clicking here.

You can also watch Richard Sandor’s first Bloomberg interview by clicking here and his second Bloomberg interview by clicking here.

As Dave has said for years, find the money and you’ll find the motive.

Robert A. Heinlein said it best, “Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, ‘This you may not read, this you must not know,’ the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man who has been hoodwinked in this fashion; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, whose mind is free. No, not the rack nor the atomic bomb, not anything. You can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.”

The US Congress has destroyed all trust with the American people.  All they can do is sit behind closed doors and cunningly see who can justify the highest tax rates possible, plotting more power grabs and ways of eliminating the freedom of the American people.  This type of behavior is destructive at best.

President Obama and his Congressional cronies have disregarded the voice of the people.  They have promised no new taxes yet on the eve of some holiday, just like healthcare, Senator Reid is likely to force a vote on more destructive taxes while most of us sleep.

The New York Times even reported back in March that “As they craft their bill, Kerry, Graham and Lieberman are holding a marathon series of meetings this week with senators and interest groups in a bid to win votes and avoid costly ad campaigns against potential opponents.”

We cannot let this happen.  Promises of no new taxes and transparency will not be fulfilled and it’s time to force them into keeping their promises.  I know its exhausting having to constantly battle the government that is supposed to be for the people.  I know we are all weary after a long fight against healthcare with the constant faxes, phone calls and emails to our Congressional representatives.  But, through sacrifice we will reap blessings.

Call your House representatives and Senators.  Call those that aren’t even in your district and state.  Go make 50 phone calls and let everyone know that you will ensure they lose re-election with either a vote or contribution because a compromise on principle and integrity are unacceptable.  Continue your pleas to God that their hearts will be softened and that they will realize where the true path is to restoring our Constitutional Republic.

Leonard Boswell and the Democrats in Washington have force fed the American people more unconstitutional legislation that is bad for Iowa. This takeover of our health insurance system is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of citizens by mandating the purchase of a service. This legislation as been pushed through behind closed doors and it violates the public trust of each and every citizen, who deserves the chance to see it in the full light of day. The taxes which will start immediately will do more harm to an already weakened economy and do further damage to businesses everywhere.

“I call on each and every elected Republican to lead the charge to repeal this bill before it can fully take effect in 2013. I will press for legislation which returns every dollar, with interest, that has been unconstitutionally taken from the people and businesses of our country.” Dave said “If we want to establish our credibility as limited government conservatives once again we need candidates leading the charge who will fight for you and I will go to Washington to return that power to the people.”

The people of the 3rd District are looking for transparency and even after many Iowans showed up to tell Lock-Step Leonard this bill was unacceptable he chose to ignore them. Today we know the price of our politicians all over the country, unfortunately these bribes come directly out of your pocket and the pockets of future generations. We applaud Steve King and Tom Latham who are standing strong for Iowans, so I’m asking for your vote to send reinforcements to Washington who will fight for you in congress.

For more information contact Ryan at Ryan@FunkforCongress.com or 515.441.0173

www.CongressNeedsFunk.com

Paid for by Funk for Congress

Two assumptions here: The first is that once an airliner leaves the gate, no delays are caused by anything government does, from airport capacity limitations to air traffic control delays, when in fact the entire process is government controlled. The second assumption is; how does a passenger rely on the airlines to get them anywhere when under threats of fines, the airlines cancel every flight that might come close to being delayed three or more hours. The question becomes how long can the airline industry survive if it cannot provide reliable, safe and on time transportation, not because it’s not trying, but because the US Government fined the airlines into oblivion for things that are beyond their control as a business, like severe weather or government imposed system capacity limitations.

There are good answers to our airport capacity, airline profitability and air traffic control system limitations and you can read a white paper I published sometime ago about these issues here.

This Federal Regulation is another example of not just Congressional Stupidity, but more proof of the laws of unintended consequences. To make matters worse, it adds more credibility to my recent article about the Obama Administration throwing the airline unions under the bus.

Do Congress and our Administration really want the airline industry to fail? If they do, then they should just stay on the current flight plan.

What’s wrong with all this?  Serious Materials is the only window manufacturer that received these tax credits.  Pella Windows and others, who make equally energy-efficient windows, were not included.  Nor did they win the public endorsement of the President and Vice-President of the United States.  So while the great window manufacturers in the US are cutting labor and working hard to get by during this recession, Serious Materials is capitalizing on their millions in free marketing from the government to build a company now featured in Inc. Magazine and Fortune Magazine.

Where is Leonard Boswell during all of this? Why is he not fighting against this?  Serious Materials, previously one of the smaller windows manufacturers, does not deserve this type of treatment anymore than our very own Pella Windows does here in Iowa.  As a matter of fact, Stossel also points out that Serious Materials VP for Projects & Policy is married to Kathy Zoi, who oversees the government’s weatherization program.  This is absurd and I find it shocking that Leonard Boswell has just sat on the bench watching all of this happen.  Watching the government at the highest level, picking winners and losers with tax credits and public endorsements.

This isn’t representation at all.  This is, as Stossel put it, “Crony Capitalism.”  The government has no business picking winners and losers and giving out free marketing worth millions of dollars.  Boswell should have spoken out against this behavior and fought to protect the interest of the people he allegedly represents.  Rather, he’ll sit back with a ball and chain called Nancy Pelosi and forget about the people that sent him there in the first place.  You can watch the video below.

The housing market crashed.  The derivative market that traded toxic assets helped obliterate our economy.  The question is why and what do we do now?

Throughout history going back a century, the value of real estate has only seen growth equal to inflation which basically puts home values flat for most of the 1900′s relative to your personal income.  The only reason you would make little money back from selling your house and moving is because you lived there for so long you had enough equity that inflation did compensate you some.  Some are going as far back as the Carter administration to place blame while others go to their “fail-safe” mode of blaming the Bush administration.  After all, even our President keeps using that card over one year later.  While I’m not going to point blame on any one administration, what I do know is that government regulation and policy caused this crash.

This Case-Shiller index chart from NewObservations.net should help illustrate my point below.

You can see what happened starting 1999.  Property prices stopped following the historical trend, which is based on data from 1987 through 2000.  Other charts dating back decades follow the same trend.  While I’m not blaming this recession on the Clinton administration, this was a time that there was a big push in the government to get every American in a home (think; Government Interference in Our Economy).  Fannie and Freddie were told by government officials to start lending and loosening their credit standards.  This created a very lucrative derivative market that was ENCOURAGED and SUPPORTED by GOVERNMENT POLICY.  Regulation and government backing caused all of our homes to see incredible gains in value that we’ve never experienced in the US.  During the Bush administration, there were plenty of warnings that this artificial increase was wavering.  Individuals called for change in regulation but Congressional leadership (both Republican and Democrat) refused.  It was just a year or so prior to the crash that Maxine Waters and Barney Frank saw nothing wrong with Freddie and Fannie while the problems were blatantly obvious.

The minute the government got involved things went wrong.  That’s why those yelling “Re-regulation!” are wrong.  That’s why we need the government out of our lives and they should just start doing ONLY what the Constitution has outlined for them to do.  Another recent example that isn’t quite as severe as this would be the biodiesel industry here in Iowa.  The Congress has been offering tax credits and subsidies that made it possible for these companies to be profitable and produce a service.  Now that Congress has not extended the tax credit, these companies are facing financial ruin.  Government is NEVER the answer in our financial lives.  They have over-stepped the boundaries.  So when you’re sitting at home having lost a significant portion of your home’s equity look no further than the hand that’s trying to force feed you higher taxes, higher energy costs and terrible healthcare.  When I get to Washington I will never support policy that oversteps Congressional Constitutional powers.  They’ve been doing it for years and it’s time we put them in their place and told them – “Know Your Role!”

Dave Funk, Candidate for Congress; Iowa-03 On Federal Government Intrusion and Failed Economic Policy

The US Government has invested billions into “job creating” activities.  They’ve done a terrible job and have by-far cost us more than the tiny gains we may have made.  I’ve noticed everyone running for office has been talking about jobs and job creation and I have yet to see anyone offer actual solutions. I’ve tried to offer some valuable ideas which still hold true but we need to look at the root of the problem because if we don’t, even things like eliminating the corporate income tax won’t bring jobs back.

Those of you who I have met on the campaign trail have heard me talk about how our current Congressman has failed to learn one of the most glaring lessons of the New Deal as pointed out by economist Thomas Sowell in his recent book, The Housing Boom and Bust, and I quote; “is that massive and unpredictable government interventions in the economy creates uncertainties as to what government is going to do next- as well as uncertainties as to what the actual economic consequences of government policies will turn out to be.”

We are all keenly aware of the lack of consumer confidence right now and the unpredictability of government policy.  I’ve read people blaming the banks for hoarding cash.  I’ve read about biodiesel industry unsure of their future because of certain tax credits that Congress has yet to extend.  We still see the New York Stock Exchange having record gains in the last two years followed by record losses shortly thereafter.  While I’m still pushing that private investment incentives, eliminating corporate income taxes and other solutions I’ve discussed in the past will boost the economy and promote job growth, it is secondary to this one, big thing – No one knows what our President is going to do next.

The only thing consistent about current policy is that it’s failing over and over again.  It’s failing because it lacks consistency.  Businesses and investors have no confidence in the system because they don’t know what kind of tax burden they’ll fall under the following year.  They don’t know if the government is going to bully their companies around like we’ve seen in the financial industry.  When we can no longer predict the actions of our leaders, we are no longer willing to take risk.  President Obama, Congress and many of the leftist drive-by media keep talking about how banks shouldn’t be allowed to take on much risk.  Well, based on current policy, they won’t.  Not because Obama forced them to but because they don’t know what he’s going to do next which makes mitigating risk nearly impossible to do.

Our government has been unconstitutionally interfering in the private sector, Congress has over-stepped their powers and the economic consequence of this complete disregard for the Constitution has destroyed our economy.  I know, almost guaranteed, I can get a 5% return on my money in a high yield savings account with most banks here in Des Moines, IA.  Why would I put my money anywhere else if I can’t effectively mitigate risk because the government may step in and raise my tax burden, or that of my bank which, in turn, becomes a trickle-down tax and financially impacts me.

So what’s the answer?  To the Whitehouse and Congress – Get OUT of our system!  Leave us alone! This one thing would build consistency in policy and give consumers the confidence they need to start investing again.  There are many successful businesses out there and many opportunities for successful investments.  Let us take advantage of these without having to worry about what Big Brother is going to do next to pay for their $1.4 trillion deficit.  Once the government can prove consistency to consumers and we can effectively mitigate financial risk we can start promoting job growth in the PRIVATE sector that will reap great benefits, increase personal income, increase tax revenue and rebuild our economy.

Thus far, the only predictable thing Congress has going for them is that we know our representatives like Leonard Boswell are sure enough going to be voting with Pelosi and Democratic leadership which is not in our best interest.  That’s NOT the kind of consistency we need.  We need consistent representation that supports economic growth.  Not public sector investments.  Not higher taxes.  Stop the Stupid Spending and give the American people a chance.

One of the most frustrating things I’ve seen lately is government’s inability to see that we the people can fix this economy if they would just give us a chance.  If they would get out of the way, we American’s can fix this economy because we are an innovative, intelligent and productive people that have worked through difficult circumstances in the past.  We don’t need the government other than providing consistent economic policy that keeps themselves out of our way.  President Obama and Congressional leadership are a stumbling block for our economy right now. Either they need to step out of the way or we’ll move them out of the way.

www.CongressNeedsFunk.com

This is, IN FACT, not the case.  What does the SCOTUS ruling mean and what is the result of the decision?

SCOTUS ruled that corporations had the right to free speech and could (1) run political ads up through the end of elections and (2) run ads specifically targeting candidates.  First, let’s get over this leftist-born phenomenon that this implies SCOTUS just murdered democracy.  Corporations include Large Enterprises, Medium Enterprises, Small Businesses and NON-PROFITS!  In fact, this case was about a NON-PROFIT, Citizens United.

Here’s why this is not and never was about big business.  Big business will see little to no change from the ruling.  The only difference now is they can be more explicit and direct in their ads.  Oh no!  In other words, rather than utilizing a PAC you will actually know who really funded these ads.  While the information is available about who funds these PACs, the average person is too busy to look into that.  AKA.  Transparency. Furthermore, these ads can now target specific candidates rather than just issues.  Now candidates and current officer holders have even more eyes watching them and their voting record to ensure they are practicing what they preach and representing the interests of their constituency because if they don’t and they bend on certain issues, a multi-million dollar (or larger) corporation that is concerned can easily call them out.  AKA.  Accountability.

Long story short, it does make the process more transparent because these businesses were doing it anyways through PACs.  Now they can and will do it openly so you know exactly where these messages are coming from.  Further, it brings back the fear of the people.  As an individual most of us don’t have the buying power to call out our representatives when they go back on their word or vote for something when they’ve openly said it’s bad for their constituency (Leonard Boswell & Cap and Trade).  Now, companies and non-profits of any size can attack them in a matter of hours to call them out and demand a change.  What is not democratic about that?

The alleged democracy destroying abuse here is being manufactured by the far left and the media (is there a difference?).  Why?  Because they understand the benefits this offers the big labor unions are negligible and this ruling opens up a floodgate of activist small businesses, many of which they have not given the time of day.  By passing a Constitutional Amendment, they retain the voice of the Union through PACs while shutting you and everyone else down.

How have they neglected the small businessperson who now has a voice?  Let’s look at recent history.

• Ignoring simple healthcare solutions like increased competition by eliminating state line regulations on insurance companies and rather focusing on taxpayer funded abortions and a public option.
• Ignoring the higher costs of energy and the cost burden of Cap and Trade and rather focusing on manipulated science for the fabricated betterment of the world.
• Ignoring the high taxes you are already paying and voting to tax you if you don’t have healthcare.
• Implementing restrictive trade laws that place a huge cost burden on the small business, which consist of 97.3% of all US exporters.

I could go on and on and would if I felt it necessary, but now you have a voice.  Now Iowans have a voice.  Your employer who has had to cut your pay, order furloughs from work, eliminate bonuses or cut back on benefits can now fight on your behalf.  You now have companies that want a stronger economy with a voice.  You now have companies that want you to have more money so you can buy their products and services with a voice.  You now have companies that want a strong America for yours and their future with a voice.  That is power.  That is democracy.  That is NOT selling out to big business.