Big money campaigns and attack politics have seen their day. They are going the way of the dinosaur mainstream media. Why waste $20,000 on a TV ad in the modern world of the DVR, when few watch live TV...let alone the commercials? Talk radio is king and an informed electorate using the internet, Facebook and Twitter for ‘real’ news is the new reality.
Grabb for Congress has ‘kept it real’ as they say by not getting involved with the heavy hitters in this race using each other as punching bags. There is enough bickering in DC, and frankly, the American public is tired of hearing it.
Instead of telegraphing handshakes to the public, we are out there every day meeting with voters and engaging them one on one. We put our positions on the ‘Issues that Matter’ blogs every few days on our website and Facebook. They are an expression of our positions in a more personalized fashion, instead of one-liner static statements. Whether you agree or disagree, the point is not for debate, but for you to decide on the broader spectrum of the issues does Clayton Grabb deserve your vote...and I hope I do.
For candidates to take pot shots at each other takes time away from expressing their own views to the voters. The more time a candidate spends telling everyone how bad his opponent is, the less time the candidate is spending telling the voter why he or she is better for the job.
Grabb for Congress will ride this election out in style through the Primary and all the way to November. When you stick to your values and principles and stay above the fray, the better the taste of victory on Election Day!
Please vote for Clayton Grabb on May 18.....#1 on the Ballot
Grabb for Freedom....Grabb for Liberty......Clayton Grabb for Congress
Posted @ 5/10/2010 8:37 AM By
Jim
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2 Comments
How many drug commercials or doctor’s recommendations always preface their claims with...”along with proper diet and exercise...”?
Barring those of us with serious pre-existing or congenital issues, health care is more about personal responsibility than it is about insurance coverage.
Insurance is based on risk, and your personal health is based on the risks you take....whether it is your driving habits or how many times you hit the drive thru.
Likewise, health care is all a part of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Sometimes that juicy burger and fries just tastes so good, or that beer is so refreshing, or that chocolate ice cream cone in summer hits the spot. These are the salty and sweet joys of life that we all deserve to indulge.
It’s only when the price of over-indulgence affects our health and ultimately our insurance costs.....everyone’s insurance costs....does the perspective change.
I have no problem with people who choose to eat or take care of themselves the way they do, as long as the price of their risks are duly paid by them to their insurance provider.
It is along the same lines as why I really don’t wish to pay for the insurance risk of those whose personal choice it is to continue living in the path of hurricanes.
The problem with insurance costs might be that there are not large enough pools to cover all the different risk levels, so to keep costs down across the board...the number of pools gets limited. This is the proprietary trade of the insurance industry, and frankly the federal government has no business trying to regulate that cost.
Markets regulate cost. Markets determine winners and losers in business. The size of the insurance pool and the costs that they bear are better determined by market pressures. The more industry players, the larger the pools that can be covered at the lowest average cost.
The purpose of health insurance is about doctors and patients and distributing the risks in treating illness.
Lawyers have no place in this equation, and have co-opted the entire relationship with the pure goal of making money off the situation. Lawyers have done nothing to further progress in health care, only to line their pockets. Lawyers are the basis for the explosion in patient testing, rising malpractice insurance, and those costs being passed on to the patient.
No one should be denied health insurance coverage. The costs of high-risk patients with pre-existing conditions needs to be addressed with special market pools run by the insurance industry and not the government. The government can legislate the requirement for such a pool, but not get involved in the operation or cost structuring.
For those without insurance, who just wish to show up at emergency rooms for treatment and walk away from the bill....we take cash, credit or debit card. This is a business, and not a Peace Corps operation.
Four of the six Candidates attended the PA-3rd District Congressional Candidate Forum in Butler, PA on May 2nd in a Town Hall format that was less about debate between candidates and more about very challenging questions from the voters. It was no holds barred in Alameda Park, with voices raised at times with candidates and voters almost nose-to-nose. Issues were covered from health care to abortion, from Goldman Sachs to the Fair Tax and the Flat Tax. In the end it was a lesson in civics and civility, when nose-to-nose ended up heart-to-heart.
Questions even went so far as to which candidate would or would not vote for another candidate. There were no Tea Party signs, but signs of promise and challenge to whichever candidate wins the May 18 Primary.
It was a beautiful rainy day, and a day where people left with pride knowing that they spoke up in public for what they believe in and what they object to, as well. You just had to be there to know.
This would have been a great lesson to some of the blogger ...
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Every time someone enters the country through the normal channels, they must present documents for entry...U.S. Citizen or otherwise. In fact, Green Card holders are advised to carry their documents on them at all times while here in the U.S., in case they are questioned regarding their status. This is a very prescient argument against those disputing the legality of the AZ law recently passed.
There is only one form of immigration, and that is legal immigration...anything else is in violation of the law.
If you arrive at the airport from a trip overseas and refuse to present your passport, you will be denied entry into the country.
These examples could go on ad nauseum to demonstrate that a system is in place for legal entry into the country, and those that choose to bypass this system are in violation of the law.
Violators create dilemmas for themselves and our nation. ‘Anchor Babies’ appear protected under the 14th Amendment, even when delivered by parents who are here illegally. Illegal immigration i ...
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Candidates for office struggle with the same basic problem on many contentious issues, and that is always their belief system juxtaposed against the court of public opinion. Some issues are clear to answer unequivocally, while others need to be qualified.
On the issue of marriage, which has its underpinnings in biology, anthropology and the consensus of many world religions..... the definition is quite clear and defined by the union of one man and one woman.
Acceptance and respect for the freedom of two consensual adults of the same sex to form a civil union is not at issue in this debate.
The issue at stake is the infringement upon the freedom of those who conform to the traditional definition of marriage, by those who wish to redefine the sanctity of that union to garner ‘more’ acceptance for themselves into an already free society.
The point of acceptance in a free society, whether it is related to color, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation always narrows down to a state of mind.
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No matter how many times one reads the Constitution, the grand design of the document is unmatched to this day when it comes to conveying the ‘will’ of the people. After all, these were people finally freed from the bonds of tyranny that had beaten down their ancestors for centuries.
In a modest building in 1776, the collective of the greatest minds and purest thoughts of that day gathered together to get it right the first time. Theirs was a conviction tempered by battle and a dedication to those fallen comrades who would never taste this new found freedom.
To begin, they realized that by God’s divine providence and the gift of free will...We shall all speak, and no one shall silence any of us....ever again.
Second, they realized that this ‘right’ needs to be enforced and protected by the people themselves.
The Right to Bear Arms has always been the right to defend and not offend. It is primarily a right to protect and defend personal sovereignty not national sovereignty.
War has always been historically waged by governments... not the ‘people’.
If and when the ‘people’ wage war it has historically been against their own government.
Fast forward to the complexities of the modern world....and some would say the rules have changed or need changed. After all, we have grown more civilized.
If that be the case, feel free to leave your doors unlocked, keys in the car, and travel freely without fear...and of course express your right to free speech to whomever and wherever you wish. These are many of the things that government wishes for its citizens but cannot guarantee....because power is meant to be disperse and not concentrated. This is the epiphany of the Founding Fathers that could only come after what they had just achieved in the Revolution.
Government is a mirage. It is never government charging up that hill in battle, it is the ‘people’. Government is not standing guard in front of your home, or walking with you on dark streets at night. Government is only a promise that the ‘people’ are obligated to keep. When government starts getting a mind of its own, the slide begins again down the slippery slope of tyranny.
The Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms was meant as a deterrent to potential offenders or oppressors. It must be respected and protected itself.
It is the ‘big stick’ deterrent and reminder to elected leadership to never forget that it is subordinate to the ‘will’ of the people. It is a reminder that when leadership feels its rights are greater than the masses, the masses will exercise their individual sovereign right.
Abraham Lincoln’s first attempt at financing his own campaign for his 1858 Senate run bankrupted him. However, he knew the power of the media which propelled him to his Presidential win. After the Civil War, it was parties and individuals counting on the wealthy writing checks to support their campaigns. It is now 2010, and the wealthy are now running and writing their own checks. In a free market, capitalist society where free speech is upheld as the right of every citizen to put their money where their passion is...no one should argue. However, if that money is used to paint a media picture to connect with voters at one end of Main Street, while a wealthy candidate lives on the other end of Main Street...let the voter beware. The biggest problem in DC is the connection between candidates and money, whether from wealthy lobbyists or the personal wealth of the elected officials themselves...which are oft times connected. There is a disparity of wealth among the Republican Primary Candidates in the 3 ...
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As in life, the further the distance between your needs and the resources to meet those needs…. the greater the risk of failure to meet those needs. Whether it be the inverse nature of federal tax dollars to local tax dollars, foreign grown versus local grown farm produce, or energy controlled by a valve thousands of miles away…the American Backyard holds promise to fixing what has ailed us for decades now. America’s energy game of using up everyone else’s resources, before tapping our own abundance has seen its day. The game was over the day we invested the bulk of our manufacturing in creating the lower cost economies of China and India. We created our own dilemma, so now we need to create our own unique solution. We sit on centuries-worth of coal, have off-shore oil to merely tap and utilize, and we have regionalized energy reserves in the form of solar and wind to round out a robust portfolio for energy independence. This portfolio can only be complete with a greater foundation in safe nuclear power to ...
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Many in the Mainstream Media choose to marginalize the voice of dissent, by characterizing the ‘angry’ citizenry as confrontational, belligerent and out of control. This is an easy target to create and promulgate against the backdrop of a cool and methodical Beltway elite of lawmakers and leadership, who seductively are leading the nation on a path of economic and geo-political annihilation. In many respects, this is easy because being ‘cool’ is always viewed as cool. Cooler heads will always prevail, whether in politics or on the field of battle. Anger is nature, but anger channeled by discipline and effective planning and communication is a thing of beauty. Anger in this year’s critical election cycle is simply a four letter word….’vote’. Engage, inform, promote your conservative beliefs and principles with passion not anger and the votes will come. Use humor and not ridicule, and those who listen might endear themselves to your guiding principles. We need leaders to guide us in this Conservative Renaissan ...
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Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness was captured by the Founders as the key elements of a free society and the just rewards to those who respect and honor freedom. The boundaries of freedom are only dictated by the boundaries of individual freedom, so long as these key elements are not encroached upon for any individual.
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