Patty Murray (Senator for my state) emailed me this morning saying the committee needed to “marshal every idea and resource” to get our deficit under control.  This is what I submitted as a reply.

If you’re interested in reducing Government spending, start by reading the Simpson/Bowles recommendation for getting the government’s wallet in order. That would be an excellent start. Obama ignored the report because it cut EVERYTHING and wasn’t what he wanted to hear, however necessary the cutting is.

Then start pulling the government out of those areas where the government has no constitutionally mandated place. Return control and funding of education to the states. Get the government out of the business of trying to control health care. It’s not in the constitution and the government has no place there. Get the government out of trying to manage finance. Return control of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae to private sector. The government has no place trying to manage mortgage risk as the entire housing crisis has graphically displayed. Audit the Fed. Better yet, shut down the Federal Bank. The government has ZERO business trying to be in any aspect of banking. Turn the Post Office over to the private sector. The government cannot manage it efficiently as proven by the necessity to again extend the credit limit to keep the Post Office operating.

Stop borrowing money. Stop printing money. Stop monetizing the debt. Stop trying to micromanage the economy. The more the government fiddles, the wider the ripples are and the more the citizens suffer as a result.

The EPA has gotten totally out of control. It needs to be stripped of 90% of its power, 90% of its budget. Any regulation it wants to put in place needs to be run through Congress. Our constitution does not include a provision by which agencies could be created to write regulation outside the legislative process. This is wrong on so many fronts it should be obvious.

Reduce regulation so businesses can afford to grow their businesses and hire people. Of everything, this is the single most important thing you can do to get our economy moving again. Connect the dots. Increasing business activity will increase the economy which will increase revenue to the government, this providing money to pay down our debt, assuming those in Washington DC can figure out how to stop wasting the people’s money.

And finally, accept that our founders meant “regular” as in “all states treated the same” when they spoke of interstate commerce, not that the government should regulate how and what could be traded/sold/bartered/swapped. According to the Constitution, all states have to be given exactly the same deal in trade. Reinterpreting what the founders meant by interstate commerce being “regular” between states is an enormous power grab which is continually biting the American public. This one item has caused endless problems, the current largest being with health care and the inability to buy insurance policies across state lines.

Big government is bad government. It intrudes on our liberty and is contrary to our Constitution. Make government smaller. Do it now.

One more thing. Take a lesson from Arkansas on how they handle their budget. It works. It’s not a rich state, it’s not a prosperous state, but those are unchanged historically. The budget mechanism they implemented in the 40′s after going bankrupt during the great depression has stood this state in good stead. They have a balanced budget, they don’t go into debt and the method they use will work on the federal level as well.

I don’t expect much to come from the select committee. It is, after all, governmental.

Heritage Foundation has a new spin-off that could prove to be powerful and vital to the health of our country.  Heritage Action is producing a grass-roots effort to “guide” (influence) legislators into doing the right thing for our country and its citizenry.   They integrated a PopVox app which allows those interested to provide feedback to their legislators.  I submitted two directives this morning and have heard back from Maria Cantwell so far.

On government spending I sent this.

Government overreach is crippling our country.  During the past decade, Washington has increased spending by more than 50%, building tentacles into areas in which it does not belong. In the 2010 election, voters like me told Congress to listen to the people and stop both spending and government overreach but the only cuts in spending occurring are illusory future “spend less” pretend cuts that aren’t actually cutting spending or reducing the size and role of government.  I, personally, expect more for you as my legislator.

I expect you to support actual spending cuts that include removing government agencies with inappropriate and/or ineffective government overreach.  A prime example, the government cannot cost-effectively move mail.  Why hasn’t the postal service been moved to the private sector where the free market can control the cost?  The government has no place in this area and cannot do it efficiently.  This is just ONE example of government overreach and the ineffectiveness of same.

I want wasteful programs cut.  I want my legislators to push for reduction in government overreach to cure our nation’s deficits.  Government has no place in health care, transportation, energy or education.  Government bloat has GOT to go.  I expect you to work toward that goal.

On the disaster fund and deficits I sent this:

Our deficit is high enough. Additional spending for disaster relief must be offset with other spending cuts.

The disaster relief fund is running dry but it should not be replenished through additional deficit spending.  Refunding our disaster relief fund via deficit spending is the wrong approach on many levels.  I do not support this legislation and I am asking you to JUST SAY NO.

Please don’t allow disaster spending to increase the deficit.

I’m doing my part to communicate my expectations to my legislators.  Are you?

I watched a ReasonTV interview by Nick Gillespie.  Penn Jillette was the interviewee and he is a very interesting man.  My quote of the week came from that interview and is “I don’t think there is anything you can do more insulting than acting like you know what’s best for someone else.”  I’ve always seen him as a very smart and informed libertarian.

I’ve downloaded Jillette’s new book “God No’ and have added it to my reading queue.

I’ve written about a number of issues I feel are vital to the health of our country and the furthering of the ideals of freedom fostered by our forefathers.  We are in a struggle for the very life of those principles.

The current big fight between freedom and bloated government is Congressman Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity budget.  The Ryan budget has garnered lots of Chicken Little “the sky is falling” rhetoric that is blatantly false.  Dubbed “Mediscare”, the tactics are working on those who get their news from the mainstream media and don’t look beyond the goal of the people advocating disaster.  I need you to look beyond that rhetoric and take the time to truly understand what Ryan’s budget is designed to accomplish.

We can save and strengthen Medicare but it requires getting the government out of the health care business.  Ryan’s plan puts Medicare on a sustainable path for those 55 and younger while preserving the benefits of current seniors.  I, personally, am on the cusp in the plan change from government coverage to vouchered health care.  I am praying I end up on the vouchered health care side so I can fully control my health care needs.  I watch the struggles my mother goes through to work within the government’s system and I truly want no part of it.

I am continually amazed at the overweening hubris of those who think the government can do anything better than the private sector.  History, even recent history, has proven the government is neither as thrifty nor as efficient and legislation can have the opposite of the intended effect when the government decides to intrude into the free market.

I am very concerned that some of our political representatives, while vociferously decrying Ryan’s plan in rhetoric that is both misleading and false, have failed to offer any alternative that will keep Medicare solvent.

Let’s get health care out of government control and back into the free market where market forces can reduce the cost and increase availability.  Government recycling of the taxpayers’ money in programs that are bloated, inefficient and misguided.  Let’s push to get us headed back to the nation our forefathers envisioned.

I’m asking you to support Congressman Ryan’s plan.  Let’s get government cropped back to those tasks the government was originally intended to perform.  Providing health care is not one of the jobs.