Tom Perriello: Foe to the American People

Last week, I took my daughter into Washington DC to experience something I've never done before. We went to a Press Conference held on the steps of the Capitol Building, then went to pay our Congressman a visit.

My daughter was very excited about riding a train (the Metro) into DC, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the company we kept on the way in: other freedom-loving patriots disgusted with the HR 3962 Health Care Bill being considered by the House of Representatives.

We ducked out of the Press Conference a little early to get a head start on the tens of thousands of other folks wishing to speak to their congressman face to face about this horrific bill being jammed down our throats. Along with about 20 other folks we were able to congregate in Mr. Perriello's office and share our disdain for this bill. (We were the first batch of folks to make his acquaintance that afternoon.)

I was impressed with the civility of some of the gentlemen speaking about the devastation to the small businesses this legislation would bring. My friend videotaped the entire exchange. Seizing the opportunity to follow up on my question to him at the town hall meeting held here this summer, I asked him regarding the constitutionality of this bill why he indicated he was willing to "let the courts fight it out". I enlightened him on the pending lawsuit in the Virginia Supreme Court that a citizen brought against the County of Fluvanna on behalf of the residents in Fluvanna County for the failure to recognize two petitions for a referendum. The BOS knew there were well over 10% of the voting population who wanted a referendum on the Joint Water Authority (on two separate occasions), but they were willing to ignore the law and "let the courts fight it out". Now, the taxpayers are not only paying for the JWA, but we're paying for the defense of the lawsuit being waged on our own behalf.

After all my ranting and my questioning as to why he would let the courts fight it out when he knew this bill was unconstitutional considering he swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, he gave his response: He didn't believe this bill was unconstitutional.

Oh, I couldn't dig fast enough to pull out my copy of the US Constitution before someone else had a crack at him. Needless to say, it got a bit heated in that room. When all was said and done, he promised he would not vote for this bill if it included taxpayer-funded abortions. However, he would not commit to voting "no" on the bill even if the abortion provision was stripped. He said he considered himself "undecided". Then, he had to rush out of his office (after giving us about 10 minutes) to get down to the house floor for a vote.

I made sure I left a copy of the US Constitution on his desk along with a letter I wrote him following his Town Hall meeting held in Fluvanna County a few months ago.

I'm sorry, but I think the man is a liar...his mind was made up. He defended portions of the bill to us, claiming they were needed, yet failed to recognize the points that we each were making. He "listened" in that he kept his mouth shut so we could speak, but he didn't engage in conversation with us about our concerns. Instead he defended the bill and thanked us for coming in.

I left there knowing in the pit of my stomach he was going to vote for this thing...and he did.

Tom Perriello is a smooth talker, but he's no friend to the Fifth District.

He voted for the Stimulus Package, claiming he was kept up to date on all that was in it through text messages, understanding we would have to print money in order to pay for it, and in light of the fact that the majority of the American public did not want this.

He voted for the Cap & Trade, without possibly ever reading the bill, going totally against the will of the people, and hid from us when we came to let him know how we felt about his vote.

And now, after a landslide victory for Republicans in Virginia's elections last Tuesday, a grassroots-driven 1,000,000+ patriot march on Washington on September 12th, and another grassroots-driven last minute 20,000 - 40,000 patriot onslaught on Washington this past Thursday, he voted for the Health Care Bill last night.

This man must be run out of office...starting today.

Rob Bell Gets Results in Fluvanna County

Rob Bell is my current delegate in the VA State Legislature and he is up for re-election next month. Several years ago when I was experiencing difficulty with the DMV, my father suggested I call Rob Bell. I had never called an elected official's office before and wasn't sure what to expect. Well a member of his staff helped me get in touch with someone at the Richmond DMV who helped me right away. I couldn't believe how quickly my problem was resolved.



Also, I have seen Rob on many, many occasions at local events (when he was not campaigning for re-election), and he has always been open to talk about any concerns I might have, and he has thoughtfully replied to every letter/email I have every sent him over the years. For example, I was concerned about State Sovereignty and exercising our 10th amendment. I brought this up in an email to him during the last session. He responded rather quickly...and then again several weeks later when something new happened concerning the bill that was in the legislature concerning this issue. He remembered my concern and made a point to keep me abreast of what was happening with that issue in Richmond. I so appreciate this in a public servant.

If you live in the 58th district, I encourage you to check him out.

While there are not many incumbents I'm happy about these days, Rob Bell is one I'd like to keep in office. He's attentive, accessible and is more in line with my values and concerns than his opponent. As for me and my household, we are voting for Delegate Rob Bell.

Fluvanna Fire Station Gets Stimulus Funds

In a press release dated September 24th, 2009 Congressman Tom Perriello announced over $1.4 million in Federal Stimulus money has been granted to Fluvanna County to construct a new Fire Station in Fork Union.

While the headline "Construction of New Fire Station Will Employ 100 People, Benefit Numerous Area Businesses" sounds wonderful, I feel very sick over the whole thing. How can we in good conscience take this money?

I fought hard against the Stimulus bill and I believe passing that legislation was absolutely reckless.

Perriello indicated at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the Ashlawn Grille in Lake Monticello shortly after his vote for this horrendous pork-filled package that our taxes would not go up. Instead, he confessed that we would have to print money in order to pay for this bill. He evidently did not have a problem with this.

However, I did. I thought "printing money" was a crime. I mean, I'm not allowed to do that, so why is the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank allowed to do so?

My sister then asked the Congressman, "Well, wouldn't that lead to inflation?" His reply? "Yes, but not right away."

What!? Oh, I can't tell you how many shades of red I saw at that moment. I kept quiet because I was trying to refrain from exploding at the man, but I was livid. He saw nothing wrong with this!

But this is so wrong. The value of the dollar diminishes every time the printing presses fire up. We work hard to earn a living, but the cost of living goes up whenever inflation comes into play, so what we earned (and saved) yesterday can no longer pay for tomorrow. Whatever the difference is has been stolen from us. So someone please explain to me why our Congressman thinks this is okay.

It's not. Unfortunately though, it's the way of the world...we've accepted it in the past and for some odd reason most folks are content with just accepting it going forward. I say, NO!

Printing money (with nothing to back it up) leads to deflating dollars, which essentially is stealing and that is morally wrong.

So this brings me to...if we know that we are having to print money on the federal level in order to pay for this grant, then how on earth can we in Fluvanna County accept these funds in good faith?

"Oh, but it's for a new fire station," you might say.

It shouldn't matter what the money is for. The fact is we (at the local level, state level and federal level) don't have the money to pay for it, and we don't have the right to steal it from anyone else in order to satisfy our own needs/desires...no matter how noble the cause.

It looks like I will be paying my local Board of Supervisors a visit in the next few weeks to discuss my concern with them. If you feel the same and you reside here in Fluvanna County, join me at the New County Courthouse in Palmyra on Wednesday, October 7th at 2PM and share your thoughts as well.

Fluvanna BOS: Public Prayer vs Moment of Silence

I spoke during the initial public comments section of this afternoon's (9/2/09) BOS meeting. Here's what I had to say:

My name is Carrie Wigal. I live at [edited for privacy purposes].

About a month or so ago there was an article in the Central Virginian that featured my plea to you to put prayer back into your public meetings. To be honest it surprised me that it received media coverage that long after my comments were made. But I read that piece and could hardly believe Attorney Tom Paine’s response. It was reported that he advised you a moment of silence would be more appropriate than prayer because he was afraid of litigation that might come as a result of public prayer in your meetings.

I have to tell you, I laughed out loud when I read this. Because as you know, my father, Doug Johnson is currently suing you for your failure to order a referendum over the formation of the Joint Water Authority. Your very own Mr. Ott warned you all at the public hearing in March that litigation might ensue if you didn’t act on the petitions of the people. Your attorney obviously didn’t fear that litigation when he advised you to disregard the two sets of petitions. So, needless to say, that particular statement struck me as rather funny.

But after my chuckle subsided, I thought to myself why does this man fear men over God? Wouldn’t God’s wrath cause more harm than some disgruntled citizen? Why are we more concerned about offending people than we are of offending the Almighty? Where are the priorities here?

Shortly after this article hit the newsstands I discovered that you all voted unanimously to include a moment of silence in your public agendas – and some thought I should be proud of my participation in getting this issue to the forefront. But I have to tell you, I was more proud of getting my concerns on the front page of the paper.

A moment of silence? My initial response…You all actually voted to have a moment of silence in your meetings? You already have a multitude of moments of silence in your meetings – everybody just needs to stop talking for a minute at the same time, and voila! There’s your moment of silence – you didn’t have to vote on it! This is crazy.

What purpose does this moment serve? Are you honoring fallen soldiers or mourning the loss of a loved one? – Or are you just trying to gather your thoughts for the next subject at hand? Maybe your honest intention was to allow individuals to pray if they chose to do so before you proceeded with your agendas. And I believe it was your honest intention. But, individuals can pray whenever they want – they don’t need a public “moment of silence” to permit that.

So many thoughts raced through my mind upon my hearing this news, but the most significant one was how much of a slap in the face to God this was.

Who do you think you’re fooling? Why are you afraid to talk to Him in public? Oh, it’s okay to publicly pledge allegiance to our nation – under God…and tender money publicly claiming we put our trust in God, but we just can’t publicly talk to Him. Can you see the lunacy in this?

He is the Creator of the Universe! When the sun goes down and you gaze up into the sky, marveling at the blanket of lights visible to the naked eye, know that he breathed them into existence…and the size of this little planet here pales in comparison to many of the stars flying around out there. Yet he knows each and every one of us. He knows the number of hairs on our head at any given moment of the day, and He knows our innermost thoughts, desires and fears. He designed us – and He loves us – even when we screw up!

God wants good things for us – He wants to help us. We have so much evidence in our nation’s history of his divine intervention. The Revolutionary War was won because He stepped in as a result of prayer. The huge success in the birth and life of our nation is a direct result of His providence and our recognition of Him and obedience to His laws. The Abolition of Slavery was realized because He intervened on the hearts of men.

God is real – He is all-knowing, all-powerful and willing to give wisdom to those who ask Him. He sees the big picture. He knows what goes on in the homes and hearts of every citizen in this county, and He not only knows what’s best for us, He wants it.

Quit ignoring Him. Quit dismissing Him. Quit offending Him.

Please, throw away your “moment of silence” – get a backbone when it comes to standing up for God in this county and exercise some humility by calling on His wisdom and direction through public prayer.

Thank you.

Perriello Fluvanna Town Hall Meeting Speech

Last night, August 17th, Congressman Perriello held a Town Hall Meeting at the Fluvanna Middle School in Fork Union. I along with hundreds of citizens from the area attended. After waiting over an hour in line to speak, I had my turn at the podium.

The full text of my prepared speech is below. While I believe everything I had to say was important, I felt the need to cut out some of it in order to save time and be effective in what I was trying to ultimately convey. The sections I cut are included below but the words in red are what I chose to say while standing at the microphone.

The person who spoke directly ahead of me was the first in a long line to mention that this bill was unconstitutional and the 1oth amendment confirmed it. He was surprised that this had not come up yet. Perriello responded to his comments stating that this had come up in other Town Halls and that while there was definitely an issue concerning its constitutionality, that was something that could be fought out in the courts and ultimately taken to the Supreme Court.

I did a little research on your background and found you are a Yale graduate of Law, and you have been involved in community organizing because of your concerns over social injustices. It is to that experience I would like to make my appeal.

First I appreciate your concerns for social injustice. I agree we need to get more involved in our communities as a whole. As Christians, we are called to "Love our neighbor as ourselves"...I believe it is our Christian duty to help those in need.

The problem we've seen over the years is the transition from individuals voluntarily working in an organized fashion to help their fellow citizens to federal government agencies providing these services, mandating all law-abiding, income-producing citizens to pay for these services. While we thought we were doing a good thing by collectively pooling tax dollars to fund such noble causes as social services, we have created a monster. We have not only created generations dependent on the state, but we also have burdened the American people through taxation without representation (with all of these bureaucratic agencies, created by the federal legislative branch, unaccountable to the American people) and less-than-stellar, barely-surviving services (such as Social Security and Medicare). This is a huge disservice to our communities.

We are all created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible. God is our source, sir...not the federal government. Our charitable work must begin in our own homes and in our own communities, not dictated to us from top levels of government.

Getting back to "health care reform"...I admit we have issues in our current health care industry that need addressing, but the solutions are not found in the charitable contributions of Congress.

Upon taking office you swore an oath to uphold the United States Constitution. Therefore, if you are presented with a piece of legislation that falls outside of the jurisdiction of the powers identified in the Constitution, then you are compelled by your oath to vote "no" regardless of how we feel about it on the simple grounds that it is unconstitutional.

While we may have personal convictions to serve our communities who are lacking in need, it is not the role of the federal government to assure affordable, quality health care coverage for every person living within our borders. This power is nowhere to be found within the United States Constitution, specifically it is not listed in Article 1 Section 8 where your Congressional Powers are laid out. And the 10th Amendment confirms this when it addresses the powers that are not delegated to the United States (meaning the Federal Government) by the Constitution, as being reserved to the states.

[I paraphrased these two paragraphs above and interjected some other thoughts since the person ahead of me had just addressed this. I specifically questioned why the Congressman felt it was okay to vote for something unconstitutional, leaving it up to the courts to fight it out especially since he swore the oath to uphold the Constitution in the first place.]

For your convenience here is a copy of the Constitution along with a copy of Federalist Paper #41 written by James Madison where he discusses these particular powers and explains that the often-misrepresented "common Defence and general Welfare" clause is a general phrase that is clearly defined by the detailed phrases following it in the Constitution. Congress is limited to those powers listed in that document. I encourage you to read both of these documents and pass them along to your colleagues in DC...I promise these are much shorter than this health care bill.

Now since you are holding these Town Hall meetings for the sole purpose of hearing the concerns/questions of your constituents on this particular bill, I would like to share just a few of mine:

I am a 40-year-old wife, mother of four (ages 14, 5,4 & 2) and a tax-paying small business owner. I'm a college graduate and in the past have worked for temporary employment agencies as well as small, mid-size and large corporations. During that time I have been insured, uninsured and uninsurable (due to becoming pregnant). Presently I have a Health Savings Account along with a low premium, high deductible Health insurance policy to cover my family.

While I choose to have this current plan vs. no insurance at all, I am disgusted with the idea that this bill will rob me of my choice. Section 401.59B on Page 167 indicates that I as an individual will be required to have "acceptable" health care coverage or else the federal government is going to fine me. If I choose to pay all of my medical expenses out of pocket without the assistance of anyone else (whether it be the government or some insurance company), I am going to be penalized by my own government?

Also, Section 313 on Pages 149-150 indicates that I as an employer must provide all of my employees regardless of whether they are full or part-time workers with the public option or else I'll be fined a certain percentage. And if I am successful in my business and hire more employees, creating new jobs, pushing me up to the next bracket, then I'll be fined at a higher rate.

So, not only am I being punished for paying my own bills, I am also being punished for not paying someone else's?

[Congressman Perriello had already indicated several times he had an issue with the mandates on individuals and small businesses. I wanted to make sure he knew I had an issue with it as well.]

Concerning my family, my husband and I are adamantly opposed to injecting our children with unnatural vaccinations. However, if we were to participate in this public option, then the vaccinations that the government deems necessary will be REQUIRED according to Section 1711 on Page 764. If we choose not to participate, we still have to pay to force others to get these shots regardless of their personal convictions.

My husband and I are even more adamantly opposed to killing innocent babies whether they are still in their mothers' womb or not. Yet according to Section 1713 on page 768 there is a "nurse home visitation service" which will cater to those who seek "improving maternal or child health and pregnancy outcomes or increasing birth intervals between pregnancies". Increasing birth intervals between pregnancies? Sounds like birth control to me...it also sounds like an open door to abortion.

[I omitted the above paragraph because Perriello already indicated he would not vote in favor of taxpayer-funded abortions. And I omitted the next paragraph because I wanted to drive home my main point without going all over the place.]

While these items I have just mentioned are just a few that really bother me personally about this bill (a few others include the rationing of health care, end-of-life planning, national health ID card, government committees and task forces, Federal government mandated school-based health clinics integrated into the school environment, surcharges for high income individuals, and government involvement in marriage & family therapy) the absolute number one biggest problem I have with all of this combined with the bailouts & federal acquisitions of private industry is that this whole scheme wreaks of socialism. In this particular case the US Congress is proposing to tax a portion of its people in order to exercise mandatory health care coverage, establish more government bureacracy, and ration health care as it deems necessary amongst the entire population...including non-US citizens! You and your colleagues are seriously considering nationalized health care, forcing the American people to succomb to the government for its health needs.

I understand we need health care reform, but the idea of the federal government taking over the health care industry in America is absolutely obscene. [Many people cheered at this statement.]

My question to you, Congressman is, "Knowing that this legislation without a shadow of a doubt is in violation of the US Constitution, who and/or what gives you the power to take away our God-given rights to life and liberty by casting anything but a "no" vote concerning this bill?"

One local FoxNews affiliate captured a portion of my question on her news report (the underlined text above). Unfortunately she failed to recognize my whole point that this bill is unconstitutional. Also, it would have been nice to include the statement before my question since it was so widely received. But I'm just glad it received some attention.