Published! (again)

My letter to the Beloit Daily News was published today - the one I posted as

Townhall meetings? Not for Beloit!

What's interesting is that yesterday, their editor had an editorial that had almost the identical sentiments.

I feel like we're making a bit of headway on these idiots. I hope I am not just daydreaming...

Chuck

Email form MoveOn.org

I got this email from MoveOn.Org - an outfit I 'joined' to keep an eye on the bad guys:

----------------------------

Right-wing health care lies are making their way into mainstream news coverage. We need to set the record straight. Can you write a letter to the editor of The Rockford Register Star about the need for health care reform with a real public option, now? Click Here

Dear MoveOn member,

Right-wing mobs aren't just disrupting congressional town halls—their outlandish lies are now making their way into mainstream news coverage, too.

We need to set the record straight. The majority of Americans support real health care reform. And no wonder, given the incredible cost of inaction.

In Wisconsin alone, 230 people lose their coverage every day. And for those with insurance, yearly premiums will hit $22,986 in a few years if we don't act.

We can't let right-wing extremists ruin the biggest opportunity in a generation to get real reform. Can you send a quick letter to the editor of The Rockford Register Star—or another local paper—about the urgent need in Wisconsin for Congress to pass health care reform with a real public option?

Click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/lte?campaign_id=116&id=16803-10080683-D0Zaw8x&t=3

Our tool makes writing a letter really simple. You can send the letter right from our website—it only takes a few minutes.

If you've never written a letter to the editor before, now is the time to send your first. The letters page is one of the most widely read—and most important—in local newspapers. Members of Congress and their staffs read it to understand how their constituents are feeling. And since members are all home in the district this month—and paying close attention to the health care debate in particular—your letter will make an even bigger impact.

Here are some talking points specific to Wisconsin you can use in your letter:

• We can't afford to wait for reform: Each day, 230 people in Wisconsin lose their health care coverage. And without reform, those who still have insurance will see their yearly premiums go up by $9,515 in the next decade—to a staggering $22,986.


• Reform with a real public option is key to expanding coverage: Under current legislation, which includes a strong public health insurance option, 375,000 people in Wisconsin—and 37 million Americans nationwide¹—will gain coverage by 2019.


• A real public health insurance option is crucial to lowering costs: With premiums projected to hit $22,986, we need to get costs down. By spurring competition, a public plan will help bring down out-of-control costs² for individuals, families, and small businesses.

Can you send a letter to the editor of The Rockford Register Star, or another local newspaper, as part of our "Real Voices for Change" campaign? Just click here to get started:

http://pol.moveon.org/lte?campaign_id=116&id=16803-10080683-D0Zaw8x&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Kat, Eli, Wes, and the rest of the team

Sources:

All state-specific figures: "Why We Need Health Reform," Center for American Progress, July 31, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51750&id=16803-10080683-D0Zaw8x&t=5

1. "Coverage for America: We All Stand to Gain," Families USA, July 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51751&id=16803-10080683-D0Zaw8x&t=6

2. "Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan," The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51737&id=16803-10080683-D0Zaw8x&t=7

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

---

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Charles Kuecker on August 13, 2009. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
Here's my 'letter' to the Rockford Register Star:

----------------------------

MoveOn.org asked me to write you about the proposed health care bill, so here are my comments:

I think that the important thing to remember about anything the government gets involved in is exactly how efficient and sensible they are at what they have already put into action.

As President Obama says - just look at the US Post Office - and think how great the same management would make our health care!

We sure as heck can wait for everyone to completely understand this monstrous bill, and all that goes into it before we allow our representatives and senators to vote 'yea'. Any congress member who votes on a bill of this magnitude without personally reading and fully understanding it is a traitor, and deserves what traitors deserve.

Mr. Obama has already established quite a track record for outright lies and distortions about his pet legislation. How can we expect anything different in this bill?

----------------------------

I wonder if they will even see the text of that - I need to watch that paper...

After hitting 'send', this came up:

----------------------------

Thanks for taking the time to act. Your letter has been sent!

Also, in about a week, you'll receive a followup email, checking in to see if your letter was published.

As you can imagine, most papers receive plenty of letters and can only publish a few. However, even those that don't get printed are very important -- they make it clear what issues and positions are on people's minds, and in turn influence what letters are selected.

-----------------------------
Feel free to emulate me.

Standing By: Incompetence or Malice

http://beloitballistics.blogspot.com/2009/08/link-you-should-follow.html

My first link - so I am learning...see the post below it...

A link you should follow...

Read this: http://polykahr-standingby.blogspot.com/2009/08/incompetence-of-malice.html

Make the necessary calls / emails / letters...

Correspondence with Russ Feingold

I sent the esteemed senator a message via his web site, telling him not to vote to extend CARS, among other things. Here is what I wrote:

Hello,

A few reminders for you.

First: Sonia Sotomayor is not to be approved for the Supreme Court. Anyone so often reversed is thinking wrong. and her racist comments show her to have the wrong 'stuff' for the job.

Second: No more bailouts - for any reason. The current 'stimulus is an unmitigated disaster,
and throwing more money at problems will just make them worse.

Third: No 'cap and tax'. Glowbull worming is being shown to be a fantasy of Al Gore and his one-world would be dictators. Do the right thing and reject this idiocy.

Fourth: It's redundant to mention, but the 'cash for clunkers' program is another disaster, with unintended consequences that will cause untold pain to our citizens in the future. No more money there, either.

And last, but most important. The federal government has shown it's ineptitude over and over again in the realm of heath care, and ObamaCare is totally out of the question.

Remember who pays YOUR salary - and health care benefits - and will pay for your quite ample retirement.

And remember who you work for. Hint: it's NOT Obama.

Regards,

Chuck Kuecker

Here's his reply, in it's entirety.

Dear Mr. Kuecker,

Thank you for contacting me regarding "cash for clunkers" legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) was created by the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act that was signed into law on June 24, 2009. This program provides a voucher worth either $3,500 or $4,500 for car owners whose present car gets 18 miles per gallon (mpg), or less, in fuel efficiency when they trade it in for a new, more fuel efficient alternative.

Dealers began applying for the vouchers on July 28th, and because of extreme interest, the program's $1 billion in funding was being used up quickly. On July 31, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2435, to provide $2 billion to continue the CARS program. The Senate passed H.R. 3435 on August 6, 2009, by a vote of 65-37. It was signed into law by the President on August 7, 2009.

I supported the extension of the CARS program, which is better known as "cash for clunkers" because, while not perfect, CARS has encouraged Americans to trade in their older and less fuel efficient vehicles while boosting new car sales and helping to revive local economies in Wisconsin and around the country. As a leading advocate for increased fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction, I am pleased that this bill utilizes $2 billion in existing funds made available previously with the enactment of the economic stimulus legislation earlier this year, rather than utilizing new funds and contributing to our growing national debt.

I am also pleased that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has fixed one problem it created in implementing CARS. When Congress created the CARS program, it fully intended to ensure that consumers across the country who are in compliance with the statute's requirements, including provisions related to car insurance, be allowed to participate in the CARS program. The DOT issued a final rule on July 24, 2009, that set the guidelines for the CARS program, including a requirement that individuals who wanted to trade in their vehicles had to demonstrate proof of car insurance for at least one year prior to the trade-in. This provision conflicted with statutory language stating that a trade-in vehicle be "continuously insured consistent with the applicable State law." Currently, Wisconsin and New Hampshire do not require individuals to purchase car insurance.

I was joined by members of the Wisconsin and New Hampshire delegations, as well as some of the leading authors of the CARS legislation, in a letter to the DOT urging the correction of this misinterpretation of the law. I also spoke with DOT Secretary Ray LaHood about this problem and was pleased that the guidelines were quickly corrected. Trade-in vehicles in Wisconsin are now exempt from the one-year insurance requirement, thereby ensuring that Wisconsinites who meet the CARS program's other eligibility requirements can participate in the program. While all Wisconsin drivers will be required to have car insurance beginning in June 2010, this action by the DOT is a sensible fix for Wisconsinites who are in compliance with state law and who seek to participate in this temporary program.

Trade-in vehicles must be less than 25 years old and have been continuously registered for the full year preceding the trade-in. Trade-in vehicles must get 18 mpg or less in fuel efficiency, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mileage criteria. The EPA worked to update the fuel economy data for possible trade-in vehicles, and issued the new data on July 24, 2009 - the same day that the CARS final guidelines were issued. According to the EPA, "of the 300,000 vehicle model types spanning 25 years, 78 cars no longer qualify, but 86 new vehicles are now eligible."

Trade-in vehicles are required to be crushed or shredded so that they may not be resold for use as an automobile. However, the entity destroying the vehicle is allowed to sell any part of the vehicle, other than the engine block or drive train, and retain the proceeds from such transactions. For more information on the program and how you can obtain the rebate, please visit http://www.cars.gov/. I hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you again for contacting me. For more information about my work on behalf of Wisconsin, you can subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter by visiting http://feingold.senate.gov/newsletter.cfm. I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Notice how he ignored most of my points, and just told me how great CARS is? Not one word about OsamaCare, or 'cap and tax'. Ignore it, and maybe I will be stupid enough to not notice that he did so?

I wonder how much the aide that wrote this 'personal reply' is paid hourly.

UPDATE: Just sent him this:

Hi, Russ,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, you forgot to answer most of my points.

I still want you to NOT spend any more of my descendant's future in a futile scheme to prop up our dying economy. The only way out of the mess is to STOP spending, STOP borrowing, and STOP destroying our business basis with pie-in-the-sky stuff like the 'cap and tax' Al Gore enrichment bill, the ObamaCare health care destruction bill, and ever more money for destroying cars that morally should have been made available to needy people.

As far as your comment about the 'destroyer' being allowed to sell any part of the car except those parts that have value, this just proves to me that you have no common sense.

When is your term in the Senate up? I want to be sure to get as many of my friends and neighbors out to vote for your opponent. Maybe we will get someone with a true concern for Wisconsin, and America.

Chuck

Townhall meetings? Not for Beloit!

Letter to the Beloit Daily News editor:

I see in today's Beloit Daily News that our Congressional representative, Tammy Baldwin, is going to use "high tech" to conduct "townhall meetings" on the proposed federal health care takeover bill..

Dan Manzullo for Northern Illinois, and Paul Ryan from Janesville are also holding meetings - where they stand up in front of interested people and field questions about the proposed health care bill. They get a true feeling for the desires and fears of their constituents.

Ms. Baldwin, on the other hand, has elected to hide behind the shield of the Internet. She invites people to "register" for her talks, and has total control over who actually can speak, or be heard by other participants. She has the comfort of knowing she won't have to come face-to-face with any possibly irritating or passionate constituent, and she won't have to put up with any questions she does not want to field.

People without Internet access, or those who missed the times published, or those who cannot get on-line at the prescribed times will be ignored.

What exactly is Tammy afraid of? Perhaps she thinks if she shows up in person, she won't be able to ignore the true feelings of the people she supposedly represents. Perhaps she's just scared she won't be able to put lipstick on this pig of a bill.

I also note that our senators Kohl and Feingold are conspicuously absent from the "townhall meeting" circuit, so far. Do these people truly represent us and our best interests?

Chuck Kuecker

Letter to my state senator

Ms. Robson,

We in Wisconsin need much less government, not more. We should eliminate redundant government agencies, reduce the number of people on the state payroll, and lower state taxes to encourage businesses to settle here.

To balance the state budget, the first thing to do is repeal all the expensive social engineering that has been enacted under Governor Doyle. Once all the entitlements are removed, then look at money being spent on boondoggles like 'high speed' rail to be provided by a Spanish company, for a rail line no one will use unless Illinois' Emperor Daley succeeds in suckering the International Olympic Committee to put the 2016 Olympics there.

If you want to do a real service to our citizens, you will introduce or offer to sponsor a bill reaffirming Wisconsin's sovereign status as an independent state and reject further attempts to federalize us.

Letter to CONgresscritters

Just finished watching the whole "Obama Deception" video.

Here's what I sent to Tammy Baldwin. Herb Kohl, and Russ Feingold, for whatever good it did:

My Desires:

First off - here's what I would like you to do for me:

1. Vote NO on any and all further bailout schemes, regardless of for who or for what reason.
2. Vote NO on any and all taxes or schemes based on the bogus theme of "climate change".
3. Vote NO on any and all schemes to join America with other nations under any kind of global central bank or other oversight organization.
4. Vote NO on any form of federalized health care.
5. Introduce a bill to get rid of the Federal Reserve's immunity to congressional oversight and audit.

If you have a couple of hours, watch this video. Very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw&feature=related


If I get any coherent response, or any response at all, I shall post it.

Chuck

The Obama Deception

Verry interesting. Two parts, long, but verry interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw&feature=related

Real health care reform

Karl Denninger has a good take on how to fix the 'mess' the government has gotten us into, without resorting to OsamaCare:

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1310-Fixing-Health-Care-A-Real-Solution.html

Good read. Too bad our elected officials either can't read or won't be bothered.

Blockleiters - report in here!

Here's my contribution to Osama's invitation to rat out anyone trash-talking the garbage he calls OsamaCare, sent to

flag@whitehouse.gov

Hello,

Just wanted to let you know that I and many of my co-workers are on to the president’s little game – about how he’s going to allow us free choice and all that in choosing doctors and everything will be just peachy keen.

Anyone with half a wit remaining can see that any program run by the federal government that purports to ‘fix’ a social ill has been an unmitigated disaster.

Need a list?

Minimum wage laws that put low-skilled people out of work.

The VA’s hospitals and administration. Kudos to the doctors and nurses who work there and try to cope with the mess the gov’t. gives them.

School lunch programs.

Social security.

Welfare / food stamps.

Any program started under FDR in response to the Great Depression, with possibly the exception of some parts of the TVA and REA.

The “war on poverty”.

The “war on drugs”.

The NRC.

The EPA.

OSHA.

The FDA.

Medicaid.

Medicare.

The BATFE.

Extortion of state governments to force ‘nanny state’ law enactment.

The IRS.

Enforcement of our immigration laws and securing our borders.

Interpreting the Constitution.

With this kind of track record, we should trust in a man who has NO experience in business and less experience in elected positions than the average dog-catcher to assure us that all is well? Especially since he has gone on record a number of times saying he is in favor of ‘single payer’ – read: government-controlled – health care, and has also admitted that, like most members of Congress, that he’s got no idea of the contents of the health bill – except the certain knowledge that like Nancy ‘get-er-done NOW’ Pelosi and Harry ‘duh?’ Reid, it must be passed especially quickly so no one can find the hidden gotchas that are just now coming to light in the media.

As long as elected officials in Congress are not forced to give up their present gold-plated insurance and stand in line with the rest of us peons, this health care issue should not even be considered as a possibility.

Be aware that this email will be posted on my blog tonight.

Enjoy!

Chuck Kuecker

I forgot to add in a bunch. I'll save that for my next email. Got to do my duty!

Chuck

Letter to my CONgresscritters

One basic requirement for a good representative of the People of Wisconsin is to know intimately what is in a proposed bill and how it will affect the people of our state.

I fervently hope that you will vote NO on any bill that you have not had time to personally read and fully understand.

Recently, we have seen what happens when Congress is stampeded by panic-mongers like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to pass legislation without reading and understanding it. Billions of dollars of our tax money is wasted, and our economy is forced further into a depression.

Another key to being a good senator or representative is to understand the history of our country, and to avoid making the same mistakes your predecessors made by reading their bills and knowing what the outcome of that lawmaking ended up as. I highly recommend Amity Shlaes' book 'The Forgotten Man', a good telling of the problems and lasting damage caused by similar panic-induced lawmaking during the Great Depression.

Please do not succumb to panic. Nothing that comes across your desk from any congressional committee is so important that it must be passed without you having the time to read and understand it fully. If for some reason you do not understand a bill, please have the integrity to at least vote 'present', rather than follow the sheep into the shearing shed.

Cash for Clunkers

Wonderful proof that governments cannot create, only destroy.

Osama pushed this "cash for clunkers" program that gives $4500 of tax money to anyone who agrees to turn in their probably still useful vehicle, if it meets standards that vary seemingly by the hour, to be destroyed. The engine will be ceremonially ruined by replacing the oil with a sodium silicate solution, which effectively prevents any of the internal engine parts from ever being used in another car.

This program has the effect of driving up immediate demand for new cars - small, high-mileage cars that have the least profit margin for the makers, of course. In a couple of years when the present depression is approaching its' nadir, there will be a lot less demand for new cars, because many who would be looking then will still have the one they bought this year.

Don't be concerned about the effects on salvage yards, auto repair shops, and used-car dealers - all these people's jobs will be replaced by 'green' jobs, jobs that at present average 40 hours or less in TOTAL.

Of course, with the usual efficiency we've come to love in Washington, the program is already out of money, and CONgress now wants to stiff us for another couple billion.

The new bureaucracy

Look at this chart:

http://www.ourcountrydeservesbetter.com/campaigns/democratshealthplan.html

Direct from Der Gov:

http://docs.house.gov/gopleader/House-Democrats-Health-Plan.pdf

If that does not frighten you, you are already dead and this won't hurt you.

Tax the rich, feed the poor...

OK. Finally back to the blog. It takes some time to get used to the idea of writing stuff from scratch instead of reacting to things.

Been busy working and trying to get my head bolted on straight enough to write useful stuff. I couldn't sleep, so this is a good excuse to write.

There's been a lot of talk about the new 'Obamacare' system The One wants to impose on us. Here's a link to check out:

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/14/an-american-government-health-care-system-you-should-know/

Here's another:

http://www.barking-moonbat.com/index.php/weblog/crowder_on_health_care/

Anyone who follows current events knows that socialized 'universal' health care in Canada and Great Britain is a disaster, causing rationing and increasing suffering. Just a couple of weeks ago, Canada's health system sent a child down to the USA for treatment because their system was not equipped to handle the situation. What is going to happen when our health care is as bad as theirs?

Osama wants to apply a 5.4% 'surtax' on 'rich people' to pay for this Obamanation. How is he intending to pay for it when the old socialist sentiment "tax the rich, feed the poor - 'til there are no rich no more" finally results in everyone being nice and poor?

If we don't stop this madman's schemes, were are going to find out, methinks.

What next?

Well, Osama has signed the "credit card" bill, that allows the card companies to do whatever they want, as long as they don't just spring it on us.

An amendment was added that repeals Osama's repeal of Bush's rule allowing people to carry their birthright in national parks - starting next February. Until then, I guess we just have to put up with people being at the mercy of wild animals - natural and man-made for a few months more.

Osama has flip-flopped on almost everything so far. Close Gitmo - no, wait a minute, let it run. Prosecute people who used extreme interrogation - on second thought, no. Release pictures of 'abuse' - no, better not.

Here in Wisconsin, our dear governor is bound and determined to make Wisconsin 'California East' or die trying. We've got raging unemployment and all he can think to do is encourage a huge decrease in local business by banning smoking.

What's with all this socialist stuff, anyway?

Secretaries of State

We've gone from an elegant, intelligent woman as Secretary of State, to a shrill, stupid lawyer who appears to have partaken of the Hollywood fountain of youth - the face lift. She still reminds me of some kind of small yap-dog. Her grasp of international politics is non-existent.

I guess April First is now a continuous celebration - at least until we remove Osama from the White House.

At least our new first lady, so far, has had the sense to keep out of politics. As much as I disliked her pre-election remarks, she has shown a lot more class than that female Clinton.

Untraceable weapons

From this evening's Beloit Daily news. My comments interspersed:

http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2009/03/31/news/local_news/news01.txt

By Hillary Gavan
hgavan@beloitdailynews.com

Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:40 AM CDT

Police ask owners to keep record of serial numbers: 46 guns stolen so far in Beloit

Gun owners in Beloit need to be responsible by recording their weapons' serial numbers and storing them properly, which will help prevent thefts and help recover them after a burglary.

Exactly HOW does recording serial numbers help prevent thefts?
Proper storage is a no-brainer, if one is intelligent enough to be trusted with a weapon.

“It's hard to track weapons without serial numbers,” said Deputy Police Chief Norm Jacobs. “Most people would feel terrible if they had a weapon stolen from their home and a year or two later it came up used in a robbery or in an incident where someone got hurt.”

I suppose these people would be carefree if they had recorded the serial numbers, and later the gun was used in a crime. I love how officials try to work emotion into everything.

Why, exactly, do the police need to "trace" a weapon? If they can show it was used in a crime, it's evidence, obviously. If the possessor is not allowed to have that weapon, how is it important where he got it?

Jacobs said 46 weapons were reported stolen in Beloit so far in 2009, and several were taken in home burglaries. Others were taken out of automobiles when owners were illegally transporting them. Jacobs noted that in Wisconsin a gun must be unloaded, encased and located in a non-passenger area of the vehicle.

In other words, the only way to transport a weapon in Wisconsin is to make it unusable as a defensive device. Typical Democratic mindset - only the police and 'trained professionals' can carry ready to act - the rest of us need to call 911 and pray.

How does one who owns only a pickup with an open bed transport his legally possessed weapon?

Notice how the guns 'taken out of automobiles when owners were illegally transporting them' are rightly listed as 'stolen'. Nowhere in the Second Amendment do I see any requirements for enclosing an unloaded gun while transporting it.

Theft is still theft when a government official does it.

Or, did I misunderstand, and people illegally transporting weapons called the cops to report their illegally transported guns were stolen? I know crooks are generally stupid, but this is akin to the stoner calling the cops because his roomie smoked all the weed.

Of the weapons stolen only about half the owners were able to give police the serial numbers. Only 17 of 46 weapons were entered into a stolen gun database used by law enforcement across the country to identify stolen weapons.

Why were not all 46 entered into the stolen gun database at least by make and caliber?
I would like to have seen statistics on how many of those guns were returned to their rightful owners who DID have the serial numbers.

Jacobs said that weapons stolen so far this year include: .357 magnun Ruger revolvers, 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun, 6 shot Derringer, Winchester shotgun, and a Remington Arms 308 rifle with scope.

Interesting, but not pertinent. The thieves take what they find, and the cops recover what they find.

“These stolen weapons are untraceable with no serial number. As with any weapon, they never go away, sometimes bounding from thief to murderer until years later being used to hurt someone,” Jacobs said.

Again with the anthropomorphizing of an inanimate object. As if the guns would somehow refuse to jump into the arms of another crook if their numbers were written down in the cop's records, or even in the theft victim's records.

Actually, these weapons are eminently traceable if they were manufactured since the BATFE started requiring manufacturers to serialize and record the guns, and who they were shipped to. At least, in theory - IF the BATFE hasn't lost the records from closed gun shops, something they are legendary for doing...

Any modern firearm with an obliterated serial number is the tool of a criminal, plain and simple.

Gun serial numbers are located on various parts of the weapon depending on the make of the gun. Jacobs stressed that honest gun owners don't take the serial numbers off weapons.

Why would ANY sane gun owner want to mutilate his property? The serial number is important not only to help a theft victim get his property back, but it allows the owner to reliably order parts or get the gun serviced - or be made aware of recalls or defects.

“People who aren't interested in a safe community won't record serial numbers or act responsibly. We are not asking anyone to register weapons, we are just asking to record the serial numbers in case they are stolen,” Jacobs said.

Idiots who don't care if they recover their property don't keep track of serial numbers.

People not interested in a 'safe community' are of two kinds - those who will not take responsibility for their own safety - i.e., 911 callers who would never own a gun, and criminals.

Jacobs said that police see these stolen weapons sold from city to city and then used in small time robberies and sometimes gang shootings.

Exactly how is this going to be helped by legal owners recording serial numbers? He's trying to put a guilt trip on the honest folk, possibly softening us up for that mandatory gun registration - so we can get 'em back if they are stolen.

Right...

“It might be time for Beloit to consider an ordinance requiring owners to supply a weapon serial number to report a theft if they expect their property to ever be returned,” Jacobs said.

OK. So what happens if you DON"T keep the numbers and report the gun stolen?

How about a lot of folk who got the guns through private trades now just don't bother to tell the cops about the theft, to avoid the penalty?

Guns without serial numbers can be destroyed by police.

Guns WITH serial numbers can be destroyed by police - and have been. They have also been stolen by police, from the evidence lockers, and returned to the streets - Chicago had a problem of 'crime guns' returning to the evidence lockers multiple times.

Karen Thorson, an identification technician at the Beloit Police Department, said she drives guns to the Wisconsin State Crime lab when they need to be destroyed properly. Thorson said there are two locked closets full of guns at the Beloit Police Department and the number of guns is increasing.

It's nice to know that those guns are being euthanized in the correct manner. Wouldn't it be even better for the City of Beloit to sell those guns to legitimate owners if their original owners cannot be found? At least this would add some cash to the coffers of a struggling city, and provide Beloit residents with a source of reasonably priced defensive weapons.

Of course, we can't do that! That would result in more guns out there, and the people certainly cannot be trusted with the means to defend themselves!

Open letter to Tammy Baldwin

Ms. Baldwin,

Evidently, you missed out in school when they discussed the
Constitution of the United States - you know, that thing you
swore to uphold and defend when you took office?

Article 1, Section 9, is explicit:

3 No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

The recent 'tax the bonuses' law you voted for is such a bill,
and therefore un-Constitutional.

Why don't you call for an investigation of Mr. Chris Dodd, who
wrote explicit language into the bailout bill to allow exactly
this kind of bonus payment - after he and your glorious leader
Mr. Obama both accepted generous campaign contributions from AIG?

We do not live in a democracy, and, God help us, we will not
live in a socialist / Communist state. Please take that and your
solemn oath to the People of Wisconsin into consideration the next
time you vote.

The GIVE Act is another issue that should not be supported. America
functions on voluntary volunteers - not drafted slaves. With an
economy like ours, the government should not be passing more
laws providing more spending - quite the opposite.

While I'm in the mood, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of
2009 - H.R.146 and the Federal Land Assistance, Management and
Enhancement Act - H.R.1404 are two more issues that the federal
government has no business exploring, either morally or from a
pragmatic financial basis.

Remember who you are - a part-time employee of the citizens from
your district - and begin to act accordingly, if you wish to keep
your job.

Taxing inalienable rights

So, Gov. Doyle has found a sure-fire way to balance the Wisconsin budget - he's going to charge law-abiding folk who wish to exercise their God-given Second Amendment right to self defense almost four times the current rate for a background check that wastefully duplicates the work of the FBI's NICS Instant Check system, that we already have paid for out of federal taxes.

Why am I not surprised?

In the meantime, Illinois seems closer than ever to becoming the 49th state to provide some form of concealed carry legislation for their citizens.

Wisconsin's 'leaders' seem to want to follow all the best that other states have done - like smoking bans and the like - but when it comes to legislation that could make our citizens actually safer, they run screaming.