T-Day, Minus 1

There are now 16 confirmed Tax Day Tea Parties scheduled around Louisiana!

Tiedye Judy has some great pre-Tax Day Tea Party ruminations on her blog HERE. My favorite is her idea to call Congress and the White House from your TEA Party to "share the wealth" of support out there for smaller, smarter government. A great idea, no? The phone number for Congress is 202-224-3121 and the White House is 202-456-1414.

I've come up with a few protest sign slogans. We've been advised to keep the signs relevant and family-friendly. One of mine treads the line, but I live in New Orleans, for crying out loud! We'll see if I take it along or not. How do you vote?

"Turn ON the Lights, the (political) Parties are OVER"

"The Tenth Amendment Rocks!"

"Size DOES Matter -- re: Government, Smaller is Better!"

Yesterday's Times-Picayune ran a nice article about our TEA Party tomorrow. The posts on the e-version are predictably volatile; most of the againsters are typically clueless about the purpose of these protests, choosing to Bush-bash rather than accept the fact that D.C. is out of control.

My purpose is to be part of a message -- a mass message -- to our federal government, enlightening our elected officials that our Constitution and our very form of government are being transformed, at breakneck speed, into European statism. And we will not stand for it.

I will not stand idly by as Congress enacts Bills of Attainder, using the Tax Code to punish a small group of American citizens. I will not stand idly by as both Democrats and Republicans race like giggling schoolchildren to enact a behemoth spending Bill that has already mortgaged our children's future. I will not stand idly by as medical decisions are removed from my hands and the hands of my personal physicians, only to be given to a bureau of the federal government. I will not stand idly by watching the first step in the demise of the secret ballot while American workers have no choice but to submit to union goon thuggery, and more jobs pour out of the country. I will not stand idly by as the federal government wrests more and more control over education from the states. I will not stand idly by as volunteerism is corrupted into nothing more than government service. I will not stand idly by as the Second Amendment is shot full of holes.

I will not stand idly by and merely observe as my Republic erodes into an intrusive nanny state.

The Tenth Amendment still lives -- let's pump a little life into it before the federal government suffocates it.

Geithner's Got My Doctor's Attention and Now I'm Really Getting Scared

Treasury Secretary Geithner addressed the nation this morning to give us details about the pending financial recovery plan being hammered out and tortured by Congress as I type.

He's going to spend $500 Billion and "expand" his bail-out program up to a Trillion "based on what works." Among other things. Really.

In his first televised press conference last night, our young president declined to answer questions about details on the implementation of the stimulus plan because he didn't "want to steal [Geithner's] thunder." What I heard this morning was more akin to a spring shower than a thunderstorm, but you can bet that the thunder is on the way -- picture Geithner as Thor, hammer and all. Really.

I heard very few details this morning from Secretary Geithner, and precious little that differed much from the Henry Paulson effort last fall -- other than G's idea of "transparency" (setting up a website, http://www.financialstability.gov/. Not yet available. Probably not available until after the YP signs this anathema into law.) and spending much more money. And telling us that the spending will be Painful. That's re-assuring. Oh, and the administration will also be wiping out any level of privacy we have regarding personal health issues under the guise of making medical records "more accessible." Really.

The young president and his minions have dramatically expanded the federal bureaucracy in less than a month -- except for the administrative office that hasn't gotten off the ground yet because the nominee to head it up got bounced for failure to pay taxes. Way too much is being way too centralized in way too few "insiders," along with way too much power. The healthcare initiatives, alone, are terrifying. (For a good discussion on the improbability of successfully transitioning to interstate electronic records, see "You Thought Hillary Was Scary?" http://www.southerngirl30.blogspot.com/) Where are all the HIPAA fanatics? Why aren't they screaming bloody murder?! Who in Congress has the foresight and the cajones to help us?! We've now heard about the coming forfeiture of our individual freedom to maintain privacy in medical matters -- better hide your guns 'cause they're probably next. Really.