A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

[godraz]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

FRED, EJ for all that is holy, leave this defense of the republic up on the front page section.

Rest of you, please do SOMETHING. The only thing I could do was write my elected representatives and my mom and everyone else I could think of. It's not much, but it is not nothing. 100,000 not nothings make SOMETHING.

So please do SOMETHING and write you elected representatives and everyone you know and have them write their representatives.

I wrote my Congress critters, and to my friends to do the same. From what I've been reading on other forum, blog, and activist sites, we can hope that Congress is hearing from more than 100,000 of us!

[jtabeb]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

That's a nice sentiment, but face it: right to bear arms or not, the US Government will never fear its citizens. The technology and power at their disposal dwarfs anything an individual might have. Politicians fear getting voted out, corporations fear losing customers & profits, but Uncle Sam ain't afraid of nobody (private citizens, that is).

You lost dude. People are governed by means of their own consent.

[nathanhulick]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

Ive emailed and called both Senators and my Rep. I am sure that it will have no effect, but I guess I am a glutton for punishment.

As Franklin once said, "A republic, if you can keep it." Well, sorry Ben, we couldn't.

[roxtar]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

I also want to stay off the "naughty list".

You're probably already there. Don't fret though, in the past few years it's not all that exclusive a club. Pretty much everyone's on it now I think.

[Spartacus]

your response is fine - the FUNNY response is from

mister deflation, who claimed in the past the government COULD NOT prevent deflation.

Now he's heavily promoting the mailbombing of congresscritters - why? If there's going to ge a deflationary crash NONE of what's happening now will matter. That's the substance of what he wrote that himself.

[Kimmons]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

Fitting for my first post, nice to meet you guys and gals, please write.
Here's mine:

Dear, so and so, you are selling your constituents souls, and those of their families. You are socializing these companies and capitalizing their losses. This is absurd and we will not stand for it. You are elected by us to protect our interests.
Make the companies and owners of the failed companies pay. Do not bail them out.
We'll take our medicine now.
Do not pass this on to my children and my children’s, children because these guys made bets they can't back up.
Blame the SEC for this, up until 2003, all investment banks were allowed only 12 to 1 leverage. Then in 2004, the SEC basically gave five banks (and only five banks) the ability to lever up 30 or even 40 to 1. Bet you can guess the five banks. Bear, Lehman, Merrill, Morgan and Goldman. Three down.
If you want to help repeal FASB 157 now. FASB 157 needs to be amended this week. If Congress can create a new Resolution Trust Corp in a week, the surely the accounting board, with the suggestion of Treasury, can figure out a better way to price illiquid securities.

[pwcmba]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

Here is my letter sent to all my representatives in various formats:


Honorable …,


PLEASE - TELL THE BANKERS ENOUGH!!!! NO MORE STEALING FROM THE AMERICAN CITIZENRY / TAXPAYER. ENOUGH, ENOUGH, ENOUGH!!! NO MORE BAILOUTS FOR THE BANKSTERS. PLEASE!!!!!


Help us - stop this madness. Is congress really going to give almost $1,000,000,000,000.00 uncontrolled to the people that caused this economic collapse??????


Please, please I beg for you to defend the Republic. This is the same Republic I pledged elegance to through my school years. The same Republic that so many veterans have died and sacrificed for over the centuries. Please do not let them take it all away. Enough!!!


Respectfully yours,

[bpr]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

Does it not scare you enough to shat your pants to think what the world would look like if we just gutted the financial system and hit the reset button?
No, not for an instant. And here is why, this contrived failure (it's a real failure mind you, but one that I believe was nurtured, planned, allowed, I'm not sure what the correct description is) was destined to do one thing.

Force People to make a choice, it's that simple.

The choice is between Freedom (literally, look at the connection between debt slavery and all other wonderful sorts of social ills) and Fear.

The people who stand to benefit from this action harnessed the two strongest forces in the world human GREED (to get people to put the noose around their neck VOLUNTARILY) and human FEAR (to get people to do what ever some powerful person says is "required" so that they feel safe).

People like safety and regularity and stability and the quickest way history has shown us to circumvent people's own conscious desires and rational will is to go back to the primordial and force them to use their medulla oblongata against themselves.

No rational persons chooses slavery of one's self. No rational person chooses Fascism (unless one is a beneficiary). Maslow's hierarchy of needs proves this. It was the first thing I learned in Survival/Resistance training in the military. The enemy (captor, torturer, banker, what have you) tries to "pull the rug out" from you, thereby disrupting your equilibrium. Then you are easier prey because you are REACTING TO INSTINCT not THINKING. Their success depends on you becoming dependent on them for every basic need that you have. And they will try to exploit this to the maximal extent possible. Eventually one of two things happens. You break, or they break.

"How can that be?", you ask. It's quite simple really. Even thought they can kill, torture, and starve you, the prision is only successful if YOU choose to accept the illusion of reality that they create around you. No one can be FORCED to accept this, yes no matter what. People have to will it upon them selves. (Don't believe me, ask John McCain, Despite what I think about him as a potential commander in chief, he did not make the choice to give up). You loose battles, even the toughest do, but it's the war that you have to win. And the winning or loosing of the war is based on one thing, Individual Choice, that's it.

Am I scared because people don't seem to react, understand, or care? No, because they have been LIED to. The people that I've been able to talk to explain the present situation, don't act scared either. They get FREAKING PISSED_OFF! Which is EXACTLY the reaction a rational person would have.

Am I scared because there are no good solutions to fix the predicament that we are in? No because there ARE MANY solutions as to how this could work out for the better. ( I'll give you as many as you like but that is a different post).

Am I scared because we don't have the technical capabilities to overcome the challenges of resource depletion? No, because the capabilities we possess at this present day are sufficient to meet this challenge. (Again, I'll give you as many as you would like , but that is a different post).

Am I scared because I will be broke and poor and won't be able to provide for my family? No, because society is not supposed to ignore the helpless and punish the weak and because I have food and water and guns and gold and silver and a brain that works remarkably well, thank god. (As do you by asking this question).

Am I scared that it will be painful, that people will be hurt, that bad things will happen, that there will be fear? No, because I see the potential of what lies at the end of this process vs. what WILL happen if nothing changes.

Am I scared when I accept that there will be pain and hurt and bad things, as a father of three and a husband and a friend who cares about the lives of many? No, because I see what their lives WOULD be LIKE IF THIS change does not to occur.

Am I scared that people won't act when the truth stares them in the face? Am I scared that people won't do the right thing?
Am I scared that people won't be able to do anything about it, or enough about it?
Am I scared about the potential for bad things to happen to me and the ones I care about?
Am I scared that the world would not be a better place because of this change?
Am I scared that I am not ready for the world to change in this way?
Am I scared that people won't choose for them selves what is best (Free or Not free. We are, we exist, that is fact. What will we be, that is the only question.)

Am I scared that I can't make this choice?

No, because I've made my choice. I choose to Live. I do not choose to FEAR!

V/R
JT

Brilliant answer. Thank you.

I am so tired of the politics of fear that have ruled for the past seven years. The language here is the same used when the Patriot Act was being pushed... "must act quickly..." "...immediate danger..." It's the caling card of bad legislation.

I mailed a bullet and a dollar bill to each one and wrote "your choice"....

lol just kidding i don't have the gonads or the crazies to do that but it would have been funny

Well, at least you admit it.;) Fantastic idea, though. I may buy my first box of bullets this week.

BTW, glad I found this place. I remember reading EJ's article in Harper's and thinking, "Wow, the guy's not a socialist. Harpers is slipping."

EDIT: Oh, yeah, contact your people, I sent my emails earlier today, as well as last week (after the AIG blowup) and the prior week (After the GSE nationalization). I'm probably on the list.

[raja]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

Fitting for my first post, nice to meet you guys and gals, please write.
Here's mine:

Dear, so and so, you are selling your constituents souls, and those of their families. You are socializing these companies and capitalizing their losses. This is absurd and we will not stand for it. You are elected by us to protect our interests.
Make the companies and owners of the failed companies pay. Do not bail them out.
We'll take our medicine now.
Do not pass this on to my children and my children’s, children because these guys made bets they can't back up.
Blame the SEC for this, up until 2003, all investment banks were allowed only 12 to 1 leverage. Then in 2004, the SEC basically gave five banks (and only five banks) the ability to lever up 30 or even 40 to 1. Bet you can guess the five banks. Bear, Lehman, Merrill, Morgan and Goldman. Three down.
If you want to help repeal FASB 157 now. FASB 157 needs to be amended this week. If Congress can create a new Resolution Trust Corp in a week, the surely the accounting board, with the suggestion of Treasury, can figure out a better way to price illiquid securities.

You have to speak in the words they understand:

Dear Congressperson,

If you support a Wall Street bailout that does not include severe restrictions and penalties on the Wall Street profiteers and the bankers, I will never vote for you or anyone associated with you.
I will write to all my contacts and urge them to do the same, as well as to the media.

Your choice . . . .

Don't bother to tell them your reasoning . . . they know by now.

[nathanhulick]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

You have to speak in the words they understand:

Dear Congressperson,

If you support a Wall Street bailout that does not include severe restrictions and penalties on the Wall Street profiteers and the bankers, I will never vote for you or anyone associated with you.
I will write to all my contacts and urge them to do the same, as well as to the media.

Your choice . . . .

Don't bother to tell them your reasoning . . . they know by now.

Exactly. Congresscritters are interested in hearing from their constituents for two reasons only. Votes and money. Anything else is just noise to them.

[sn1p3r]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

I believe the original post asked for us to post what we sent, this is what I sent to my senators:

I strongly to urge you to vote against a bailout in any form. We would not be so afraid of economic failure if we had been more responsible. What we see now are the throws of behavioral extinction. Right before change is achieved you see the strongest resistance to it, you hear all sorts of excuses. Please do not give in to this pleading, we will be a stronger country if we go through this and learn from it.

[jimmygu3]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

I believe the original post asked for us to post what we sent

Here is what I sent to my contacts, with my senator letter at the bottom:

Hey folks. This is important. We have to make sure this blank check for Treasury Secretary Paulson does not go through as he has proposed. Congress appears to be pushing back (for a change) which is encouraging, but we need to let them know how many of us are paying attention and are not going to allow corporate welfare while homeowners go bankrupt.

If you didn’t know, Paulson is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, one of the 2 surviving large investment banks (the other is Morgan Stanley), which were recently allowed to become bank holding companies, ready swallow up all the distressed banks on the cheap. The 32-word “Section 8” of Paulson’s proposal would give him and the executive branch total carte blanche to give taxpayer money to any bank or institution they see fit, with no oversight or accountability whatsoever. It is tantamount to an economic coup. There is a word for corporate-government control benefiting the elite at the expense of the people: Fascism. That may sound extreme, but I assure you we are heading there.

Some people do fantasy football or play golf in their spare time. I study economics. It’s my thing, and I’m telling you WE HAVE TO STAND UP TO THIS! It’s honestly a chance to make those who created this mess pay for it rather than getting a golden parachute while we, our children and grandchildren pick up the tab.

Please use the links below to write your congresspeople, write a letter to the editor of your local paper, and learn more about the situation. Forward this to others and let’s make our voices heard!

Thanks,

-Jimmy


SENATORS: http://www.senate.gov/general/contac...nators_cfm.cfm

CONGRESSPERSON: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

HUFFINGTON POST ARTICLE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0..._n_128294.html

WATCH RON PAUL DISCUSS THE CRISIS WITH GLENN (yecchhh) BECK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrIFkNispMk

READ JOHN HUSSMAN’S OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESS: http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc080922.htm

Here’s my letter:

Senator ---,

Please deny Treasury Secretary Paulson's request for $700 billion in Wall Street bailouts that do not benefit average Americans, or provide adequate congressional oversight.

John Hussman, Ph. D. (http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc080922.htm) says it well: "While it is certainly in the public interest to avoid the dislocations that would result from a disorderly failure of highly interconnected financial institutions, there are better ways for public funds to accomplish this, other than by protecting corporate bondholders while homeowners remain in distress.

"The stockholders and bondholders of the company itself should be the first to bear losses, not the public. That is the essence of what a free and fair market, and a responsible government would enforce. The investors in the companies that produced the losses should be accountable for them.

"In summary, the Treasury proposal to address current financial difficulties places corporate bondholders ahead of the public, rewards irresponsible risk-taking, and sets a precedent for future bailouts."

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

[sn1p3r]

Re: A call to ARMS! Write your elected officials.

I would like to keep this thread alive, sent this today:

Please do not vote for the bailout! As you can see from the polls support is an ANEMIC 7%...if this is not clear enough then let me clarify. WE DO NOT WANT THIS! If you want this bailout, we do not want you.