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Fear Factor

Fear has always been a powerful political tool, even before the days of Machiavelli. Frightening peopleby enumerating consequences of your opponent's policies is almost always effective. However, many people who use this tactic seem to have little regard for the truth.

The Constitution Party (August 12 issue) tries to frighten us with the possibility of "mandatory vaccinations" during a pandemic, basing theirobjection on the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which they quote out of context.The Fourth Amendment actually protects us from "unreasonable searches and seizures." Whether avaccination is asearch or a seizure at all is debatable, but the operative word is "unreasonable."Does the Constitution Party know what a "pandemic" is?

I visited one of the websites cited in the Constitution Party article, the one that supposedly stated that the government would allow "international law to override the United States Constitution to justify American martial law." I could find nothing in the document allowing international law to override the Constitution.

Also, several letters in the August 12 issue skirt reality. For example, Dick Hourigan (August 12) insists that the Cap and Trade Bill will "prevent us from selling our homes unless we comply with Federal Energy standards on appliances and windows to ensure that our old homes are energy efficient." Now, I admit I did not read a 1200 page bill, but I did read a summary and could find nothing that would prevent people from selling homes that are not energy efficient. If Mr. Hourigan knows otherwise, he should present the page and section of the bill where this is spelled out.

In another letter, Richard O'Connor states that Rep. Don Manzullo knows that President Obama's Health Care Bill would require "euthanasia for the elderly." This is a lie perpetrated, in part, by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and has been debunked as false by newspapers, internet factcheck lists and members of both parties. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/health/policy/14panel.html?_r=1&hp The bill provides for "end-of-life counseling," a common phrase for support for terminally ill patients, not a review for a panel to decide whether to knock them off. I would also like to read Mr. Manzullo's statement that the bill demands, or could support, euthanasia for anyone. As one of his constituents, I have emailed Don Manzullo and asked if his views are accurately stated in this letter, notably that he believes the Health Care Bill would result in government-supported euthanasia. I have not yet received a reply.

I would caution readers to make sure that websites given by letter writers or articles to support their statements are legitimate. One can find a website supporting just about anything. Check the credentials of the organization or individual maintaining the site. At the very least, be aware of the bias and credentials of the site source. For President Obama's answers to misleading charges on his Health Care plan, try www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/

Don't be misled by people or organizations who are trying to throw the public into a panic to advance their own agenda.

Pat Wemstrom

Mount Carroll, IL

Presidency In Disarray

President Obama is in disarray and heading in many directions, thereby diluting our efforts, our energies, and our resources needed to move this country forward.

It seems like President Obama is continuously hovering over us on TV, radio and the internet in campaign mode to promote his agenda of large scale social programs, big government, government control of domestic programs, and the appeasement and enabling of our adversaries.

Obama's concurrent policies and programs include the following:

- A stimulus plan that has created on the order of a few hundred thousand jobs, because the recovery plan was poorly designed and concentrated on social welfare programs. Obama predicted the creation of 3.5 million new jobs by the end of 2010. We will be lucky if 1 to 1.5 million new jobs are created by December 2010.

- A $2 trillion deficit in FY 2010 and annual deficits of $1 trillion for many years thereafter. Our national debt will go from $11.5 trillion now to $24 trillion by 2019.

- Government involvement in private industry with huge bailouts of the automobile manufacturers, AIG, and major banks.

- A government run healthcare program with more government interference and control. It could cost $1 trillion, and to help pay for it Obama proposes to significantly raise taxes on successful individuals and small businesses. The crushing costs could force many small businesses into bankruptcy. And Obama's healthcare opponents are being labeled by the Administration as right wing extremists.

- A $12 billion program for community colleges.

- A cap and trade policy which will hurt the U.S. economy.

- Alternative energy programs which will only provide 10% to 20% of our energy requirements. We need domestic oil and natural gas production and nuclear power plants.

- Financial regulatory reforms generating government control of private industry, and some economically unsound programs. Example: The Administration wants the net asset value of money market funds to float up and down from $1 in response to economic conditions. This will kill money market funds and the safe havens investors seek in times of financial uncertainty.

- Completely exiting Iraq by 2010. This could lead to civil war and more instability in the Middle East.

- Significantly ramping up the war in Afghanistan. We will probably have 100,000 troops there within a few years, which will continue a drain on our economy and military. This is Obama's war.

- A very timid response to the Iranian government crackdown on demonstrators, and a lackluster response to the development of Iranian nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems.

- A weak response to North Korean belligerence and its development and proliferation of nuclear weapons and long range missiles.

- A proposed new nuclear arms treaty with Russia which will significantly reduce the availability of nuclear weapons/missile delivery systems. This program is being promoted by the Obama Administration in the face of increased availability of nuclear missiles by Communist China, Communist North Korea, and Fascist Iran.

- Cozying up to and appeasing the dictators of the world. Barack Obama could be the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century.

President Obama has his fingers in many pies. He has to start prioritizing his policies and programs, and concentrate on focused and rational domestic and global initiatives most crucial to our economy and security. He has to extricate himself from all the gooey pies, overcome his reckless arrogance, and start being a chief executive.

Donald A. Moskowitz

Londonderry, NH

Let The Government Do It

Michael Hasting, President and CEO of Jo-Carroll Energy, wants us to think of the current Cap and Trade Bill in the U.S. Senate in regional terms. This is unrealistic. Every American and every region of the country is dependent on fossil fuel from around the world. America and every country in the developed and developing world are parts of an international system. Fuel and energy is seamlessly shipped across oceans, international boundaries and state lines. The consumption of fossil fuel is a global, not regional issue.

One of the goals of the Cap and Trade Bill is over time to wean us away from the dependence on cheap dirty coal. The more money, not less, that the Bill can generate the more funds that will be available us help us break our dependency on fuels that are

poisoning us and our children and have the potential to seriously harm the planet.

Mr. Hastings also says that he wants to make sure that "when they [goals] take effect, the technology needed to reduce carbon emissions should be commercially viable at each step of the way." Unfortunately that is impossible. The technology to sequester carbon dioxide is years away. It may even turn out to be wishful thinking that such a scheme is even possible, much less affordable.

Coal by its very nature is dirty. Rather than continuing to mine, ship and burn coal, we should be using a robust Cap and Trade Bill to eliminate our dependence on coal. The funds that the bill generates can be used to help us make the transition to green energy and even more important, give consumers the tools to institute more conservation practices and more energy efficiencies.

I too would like to urge folks to write their Senators and ask them to not only support the current bill, but fight to keep the special interests from watering down the bill even further.

Chuck Wemstrom

Mount Carroll

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

"Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstance" ­ those prophetic words are prominently displayed on the marquee of St. John's Lutheran Church in Pecatonica. What made that message truly resonate with me is the large number of honestly happy people I meet every week contrasted with the angry folks who contact me.

A recent angry letter from a lady admonished me for only taking twelve days without pay this fiscal year. What could I possibly know about hardship, she asked. She's right. I grew up one of ten children on a thirty-cow dairy farm. We always had enough to eat and lots of love. Back then I thought that was all there was, and it was plenty. When you're a kid, life is much simpler. It's a shame that with maturity, we lose that simplicity.

Another sign prominently displayed in the office of Nite Equipment reads "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." Again, words that are great food for thought. The noted televangelist Dr. Robert Schuller has a series of tapes that I cherish titled "Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do." There's no doubt that we are in tough times. I see it as my job to do as much as I possibly can to alleviate that pain. Sometimes the frustration is overwhelming to realize that I am only one of 177 legislators and I simply can't wave a magic wand. But it is always gratifying to work with each of them to attempt to accomplish a good end result.

With the battle over healthcare raging across our great nation, good folks on both sides of the issue are venting their anger and frustration at town hall meetings. No one wants anything forced upon them; especially something no one really understands. I can't count the number of times I have seen the unintended consequences of a well-meaning, but complicated bill ­ and this health care bill is 1000 pages long. I think this would be a very good time to slow things down and "study our lesson".

Finally, don't forget to mark your calendars for my Identity Theft & Scam Forum on September 4th, 11:00 AM at the Highland Community College, West Campus in Elizabeth. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at 815/232-0774 or e-mail us at jimsacia@aeroinc.net. You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

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