Barack's BULLSHIT Bingo!!!

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR FULL SIZE PRINTABLE IMAGE

Rules for Bullshit Bingo

1. Before Barrack Obama's next televised speech, print your "Bullshit Bingo".

2. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.

3. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout, "BULLSHIT!"


Testimonials from past satisfied "Bullshit Bingo" players:

"I had been listening to the speech for only five minutes when I won." - Jack W., Boston

"My attention span during speeches has improved dramatically." - David D., Florida

"What a gas! Speeches will never be the same for me after my first win." - Bill R., New York City

"The atmosphere was tense in the last speech as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." - Ben G., Denver

"The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed "BULLSHIT!" for the third time in two hours." - Mike, Burlington, Co

You can also go to BullshitBingo.net and play online. Refreshing the page will bring up a different card with different catch phrases on the Bingo cards.

-----------


Click this link, http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/Jokes, for more of my "Jokes" blogs or the Jokes - Political link under the Labels sectioin on the left side.


You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments. I invite them and will answer most.

Lenny Vasbinder For President (My First Nomination Back In 2002, Thanks To Dennis Hirstius)

NOTE - This is a re-post from an old GeoCities website since Yahoo shut down GeoCities and for some reason, this page did not get archived by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. The original URL was http://www.GeoCities.com/LennyVasbinderForPresident.

Lenny Vasbinder for President!!!!

Congratulations Lenny! You beat me to the punch. When I read the insulting post that Mr. Brown wrote I was livid. He must think we all just fell off the turnip truck.

After I read the post I saved it because I didn't want to respond in the heated mood I was in. I'm sick and tired of being thought of as "stupid" (quoting Charlene Mora when referring to licensees) by this group.

My message to the board is.... You can screw us but we don't have to like it! It's my estimation that the ones that are lacking in intelligence are the ones that take themselves seriously enough to believe that they are necessary and doing the public a service. Give me a break!

Mr. Brown's letter was quite eloquent. It was one of the finest examples of rhetorical nepotism I've ever read!

Jim....can I call you Jim? I aint buying.

Dennis Hirstius

From the Co-Moderator [of P-I Talk Yahoo Group]: And Steve Divine as Vice President!

On that political ticket we would begin to see the end to the [LA P.I.] Board's misteatment of us, their walking ATM's....... thanks for your post!

--------------

HERE IS HOW IT ALL STARTED:

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:20:00 -0600
From: "Jim Brown"
Subject: Response from JIM BROWN

I put forth a concerted effort to read every posting that goes on the PI-Talk site. Some postings are informative; some are thought-provoking and some are so very unprofessional. I suppose it gives the authors a chance to vent their frustrations and to be heard by their peers.

I take personal exception to a recent posting whereas the author stated emphatically that the Board office was simply another bureaucratic governmental entity that was poorly run. I challenge any reader to find another governmental office that has gone through 3 consecutive audits conducted or sanctioned by the Louisiana Legislative Auditors and that has had absolutely NO exceptions reported. That is 6 years of conducting and doing business as it should be done. I could go on and on and give many positive examples as to how the Board office conducts business. I have an idea that most private investigators already know this, so, I will not bore the readers with any further information in this regard.

I was not here when the Private Investigator Statute was enacted by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Edwards. I cannot speak with any intelligence or facts as to why the statute was created. BUT!!!! The law is on the books and I am convinced that the law was created so that the citizens of Louisiana could/would be protected from unscrupulous and unethical men and women working as private investigators.

The industry, in my opinion, needs oversight by someone so that action can be taken against those that choose to fleece and bilk the public out of their hard-earned money. Does this mean that ALL private investigators are dishonest, unscrupulous, unethical or otherwise bad people? NO, indeed.........absolutely not....BUT!!! there are those among you that are and they give people in YOUR industry a bad name. This is where the Board and Board office plays a vital role in making certain that those "bad" people in the industry are made to play by the rules and conduct themselves as professionals.

There are, as I write this, a total of 44 states, including the District of Columbia, that regulates the private investigator industry. That means that only 7 states do not regulate private investigators, statewide. I believe some are regulated in cities and counties rather than by the state.

In those 44 states, the regulating authority, by statute, charges fees to become licensed and a fees to renew that license. Please be assured that some states charge higher fees and some charge lower fees. It is my belief that Louisiana falls somewhere in the middle.

Those fees that are charged by the various and sundry states are used by the regulating authority to conduct their business. All private investigators, regardless of the state in which they reside and work, pay those fees so that they have the right, authority and privilege of working as a private investigator. You pay a fee for a drivers license, a marriage license, a concealed weapons permit, a hunting license and various and sundry other licensing fees so that you may participate. YOU have the choice and the right NOT to participate.

Much to the surprise of some of you, those fees become a part of the regulating authority and no longer belong to you. I know that some of you become disgruntled has to how those fees are spent. Understood!!! Please be advised that the Board was not created for YOU, the private investigator and is not here to assist you, help you or otherwise support you. Brutal but honest!!!!

Some of you have been going on and on about the situation in New Orleans and the fact that if you reside and work in Orleans Parish, you are required to be licensed there, TOO. I may be wrong, but it is my belief that if you reside and work as a private investigator in Orleans Parish, it is a requirement that you must get a Parish Occupational License, NOT a private investigators license. Please keep in mind that New Orleans is under a Home Rule Charter and has the right and authority to do what they do in this regard. NOW!!! It is not a Board responsibility or duty to get into a long, drawn-out legal fight with New Orleans on the behalf of private investigators. Can you just imagine what that would cost???. Perhaps the three or four professional private investigator organizations operating within the state could address this issue with the authorities in Orleans Parish. Regardless of your opinions or thoughts in this matter, it is simply not a function of the Board.

It is also NOT a function of the Board to order or tell a police agency how they should conduct their business. If the police authority or agency has a reporting policy for private investigators when working within that jurisdiction, it seems to me that you will just have to comply or take the necessary steps to change that UNWRITTEN policy. NOT a Board function simply because you think it is.

There is an ample supply of postings about the amount of money that the Board has on deposit. Perhaps I can address some of your questions, concerns and consternation. The Board, to my understanding, at one time was conducting business with an extreme low fund balance. When I reported to work in September 1997, the Board had about $85,000.00 in a checking account. Fairly soon after that, the fund balance began to creep up and up. On demand and authority of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, the Board was under an obligation to place some funds in an interest-bearing account, which we did. There are many reasons why the fund balance reached the amounts that it did. Those can be explained BUT not in this format.

If you are one of those people that is paying attention to the Board's budget, you will surely take notice that the fund is slowly going down. There are many reasons for this BUT will not be explained in this format. If you will simply have patience, your wish will certainly come true and the Board's funds will quickly go down. A slush fund......????? Give me a break...No Board money can be spent, ILLEGALLY. A. Edward Hardin, Board Chairman and Financial Officer for the Board, pays extreme close attention, as I do, as to how the funds are expended. Needless to say, someone is watching and the Louisiana Legislative Auditor also watches. I wonder where all the complainers were when the Board had NO money and I wonder if they will complain when the money is all gone???. What is a happy medium??? What will make the complainers happy??? Please don't get me wrong..I know where you are coming from when you see funds expended for reasons that seems ludicrous. Bottom Line.....a concerted effort is made to make certain that this business is operated in a professional and ethical manner.

You may be interested to know that NOT one complainer and griper has made an effort to walk into the Board office and to sit down, one-on one and discuss the issues that seem so irritating to many people. I tend to believe that I could make a difference in some negative attitudes. Give it a try. Perhaps some want to continue "raising cane" and using this format to instigate those that are easily instigated.

You may be interested in knowing that the Board office receives very very few complaints concerning UNLICENSED activity. I tend to believe that we have made an impact in this regard. NO, I do not believe it is nonexistent. I believe is less prevalent that it was. You may also be interested in knowing that the Board office aggressively investigates all complaints received from citizens concerning activity by licensed and unlicensed investigators.

There is posting after posting complaining about the Board's travel habits. The Board considers and approves all Board travel, including mine. A majority of my official travel is attending the conference held twice a year by the International Association of Security and Investigative Regulators. Starting in 2003 only one confernce will be held. Through the Board's membership in IASIR, we have signed eight LIMITED reciprocity agreements and two FULL reciprocity agreements. Other good things have come as a result of the Board's membership in IASIR. Please keep in mind, ALL Board travel is closely scrutinized by the State Auditors.

I am SO aware that this posting will not stop the complainers. I am simply making an attempt to educate some of the readers and to invite those people who have questions to make an effort to find the answers.

I will say this: Be extremely careful what you ask for and make absolutely certain that you actually want what you are seeking. Asking to abolish the Board and the PI Statute has extreme ramifications. There is a professional way to proceed and there is an unprofessional and unethical way to get things done.

A large majority of the 1468 licensed private investigators in Louisiana are very nice, professional and ethical people. At least, the ones I personally know are in that category.

I personally wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous 2003. Working and pulling together, in the same direction, makes the task so much easier to attain. Take a close look at and around you and see if you "own" some of the things that are wrong within your industry. Kind words tend to go a long way. Vicious attacks are supported by very very few of your comrades.

Jim Brown
Executive Director
Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners


AND NOW... LENNY VASBINDER'S PARAGRAPH BY PARAGRAPH REPLY TO JIM BROWN.

Dear Jim Brown and PI-Talk,

I am sure most of you, just like me are glad to hear that Jim Brown does indeed read and consider our complaints and concerns about the Board. I don't think that most of us ever actually complained about Jim or his staff. In fact, when it came to "our" attention that some Board Members were trying to oust him, we wrote vigilantly in his favor. It is a shame that he had to throw himself on the sword on behalf of the spineless Board Members. It is the Board Members who ignore our complaints and concerns and waste so much of our money. I am not sure if the actual Board Office is cost effective and efficient, but I do know that for hundreds of years prior to 1993, we did not have to fund another Government office that does not care what the people that fund it think. Jim made it clear several times that his office is there to serve the public, not the P.I.'s, yet it is the P.I.'s that pay the bills! Just another of the typical things that Government does WRONG compared to the private sector.

AFTER ANALYZING HIS COMMENTS AND ATTITUDE, I BECAME MORE AND MORE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM. I will discuss his comments paragraph by paragraph.

Paragraph One - His comment about giving us a chance to "vent" is typical. If the Board had let P.I.'s "vent" in what were supposed to be open meetings, we would not have had to resort to forming forums like this. Our being able to "vent" is one of the big reasons that PI-Talk was formed. Government offices just don't get it!

Paragraph Two - Just because a Government office makes it through an audit is not something to be congratulated.. it is expected! When a Government office does things to lower its costs and reduce the fees/taxes that it charges.. that is to be congratulated! That has not happened in the ten years that the P.I. Board has been around. Suzanne Haik Terrell is one of the few "Politicians" or Government Offices that has actually done this task.

Paragraph Three - He talks of the "unscrupulous and unethical men and women working as private investigators." yet never mentions the "unscrupulous and unethical Board members". There are only seven Board Members and several of them have been indicted and/or sued for their behavior. There are thousands of P.I.'s and I bet as a percentage, our indictment/lawsuit rate is far lower! The reason the Board was formed is the same as so many other "Public Safety Laws"... painted as a picture to protect the Public but then merely used for Revenue Enhancement and Political Appointments in the years and decades following.

Paragraph Four - Of course he feels the industry needs oversight. He would not have his job if he did not feel that way. There were and still are hundreds of laws on the books in every City and Parish that already protected the citizens from someone who tried to "bilk" them out of their "hard earned money". Too bad he does not care about OUR "hard earned money" and how we have been "bilked" also. He complains about the "few" in our industry that give "us" a bad name. I wonder if he ever looks in the mirror of his "industry" (Government) to see how many in his "industry" give them a far worse name! I WILL PUT "OUR" INDUSTRY'S RECORD AGAINST HIS ANY DAY!

Paragraph Five - Unfortunately, State Governments around this great country saw "our" industry as a way of "Revenue Enhancement" which led 44 of them to dipping into our pockets. Fortunately, there are still 7 states that have let their P.I.'s keep "their" money!

Paragraph Six - That is another typical Government attitude. Instead of trying to have the lowest fees/taxes, they are happy with themselves to ride somewhere "in the middle".

Paragraph Seven - All of those "Licenses" that he seems to hold in high regard are just some more of the "Revenue Enhancements" that Government started under the guise of "Public Safety". He did not mention the "Brake Tag/Inspection Sticker" which is one of the worse. I pay my $10.00 a year and haven't had an actual "Inspection" in so long, I don't know what one would actually look like. Same as "Mandatory Insurance" which he does not mention.. started under our MANY CONVICTED INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS.. the latest being Jim Brown (no relation to "our" Jim Brown, of course!). Our Insurance rates are still higher than any other Southern State of similar socio-economic conditions and much higher than the States without "Mandatory Insurance", yet the States without "Mandatory Insurance" actually have a higher percentage of their drivers insured because their rates are almost half of Louisiana's rates. Thank God, "our" Jim Brown says we have the "choice" to keep our jobs as long as we pay the extorted fees/taxes to the Board. I guess he forgot about the two hundred years that we were able to have our jobs without having to pay these extorted fees/taxes. Typical Government attitude. They think it is their good graces that allow us to live, rather than recognizing that they are actually inhibiting our rights to live. Just like with taxes.. it is OUR money, NOT YOURS!

Paragraph Eight - Just another typical Government attitude! HE THINKS IT IS NOT OUR MONEY. IT IS NOW THEIR'S AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT. "BRUTAL BUT HONEST!!!"

Paragraph Nine - Not only is he completely unaware of the "situation in New Orleans", he has the gall to say "Can you just imagine what that would cost???" as if that would be a waste of "our" money. At least that would be using "our" money to make things better for us, rather than worse! New Orleans is so messed up as far as P.I.'s are concerned that it is actually illegal, in some opinions, for a Metairie P.I. to work in New Orleans without a Occupational License and P.I. License from New Orleans. The problem with that is you cannot get an Occupational License without having an office there. I had to "beat" that system for years until the City finally gave up trying to get my money. I did end up establishing an "shell office" in New Orleans and got an Occupational License for $50.00 just so certain Police Agencies would not give me grief. I just got an Occupational License in my business name for "Court Run Service" and whoever decided to check my occupational license could not tell what it was actually for. LOL! The last time I checked with City Hall, P.I.'s were required to get a separate license, undergo a background check and get bonded. Another $500.00 plus in costs that the City is trying to extort from us, of course, in the guise of "Public Safety".

Paragraph Ten - Another typical Government attitude. "That's not my job!"

Paragraph Eleven - He talks about only having "$85,000.00" of "our" money in excess funds, yet Eddie and Steve have regularly stated that they have around $250,000.00 in excess funds. I tend to believe Eddie and Steve in this conflict. Of course, he says the "$85,000.00" was in 1997, which means that he could be agreeing and acknowledging that "we" have been overcharged another $165,000.00 in the past five years. Over $25,000.00 a year, yet when they wanted to cut something back, they cut back the "free" (not really since we already paid for it) Continuing Education Classes which cost "us" $10,000.00 a year (only $25.00 per investigator that utilized that service).

Paragraph Twelve - When did the Board have "NO money". I remember paying my $300.00 or more in 1992 to get my Agency License. Except for Board Actions which may have wasted "our" money in the beginning even worse than today, I don't remember the Board having "No money". Throughout the previous paragraphs and again here he says "...BUT will not be explained in this format." WHY NOT???? And if not here, WHERE???? He then alludes "... that this business is operated in a professional and ethical manner." but a real business does not take money from one person and then tell them it is going to be used for someone else and there is nothing you can do about it. That is a Government attitude!

Paragraph Thirteen - You are right that I am not going to drive to Baton Rouge to complain. My attitude about the worth of this Board, and so many other useless Government Offices, has been made abundantly clear in my postings. I don't think wasting your or my time would really change anything. We are obviously diametrically opposite in our beliefs about what this Government Office actually does.

Paragraph Fourteen - You are right about not receiving very many complaints about unlicensed investigators. I would never tell on the ones I know of and belive me... there are many out there. And the majority of the rest of the public does not even know that P.I.'s are licensed. In the nine years that I carried my "$200.00 plastic coated Dick" as I jokingly referred to my license, I never once had anyone ask me for it. Not in all of my depositions or Court Appearances either. As long as you do a good job, the overwhelming majority of the people do not bother to ask.

Paragraph Fifteen - Of course the Board considers and approves all Board travel... talk about the Fox guarding the Henhouse. Most of the Board Members are too spineless to challenge each other. We were fortunate for Charlene Mora's inadvertent post to PI-Talk where she and other Board Members were pre-determining how money would be spent. Do you really think they would not do the same for Board Travel???? And are you actually proud that in TEN YEARS, the Board has only been able to get into 10 of the 44 States that are Licensed??? If Mississippi had P.I. Laws, the Board would only have a 33% success rate with our bordering states, and then only with Arkansas which is good for the northernmost P.I.'s in the State, but what about all along the Western edge.. Ten years later and still no limited or full reciprocity agreement with Texas. How many tens, or hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on this 33% success rate with neighboring States and 23% success rate with the rest of the country??? And I still say that prior to all of your beloved Boards all over the country, P.I.'s were able to go into all 50 states. 100% reciprocity without Boards... 23-33% with Boards... HMMMMMMMMM.

Paragraph Sixteen - You are right! You merely gave us additional information which legitimizes our complaints. I know you mean well, but you are fighting for the wrong side.

Paragraph Seventeen - I would much rather go back to where all 50 States were open for us to do business, rather than 23-33% of them.

Paragraph Eighteen - So now the majority are very nice, professional and ethical. It took you Eighteen paragraphs to finally say what should have been the focus of your post. Well, I'm sure I don't fall into that category... in your opinion. And I won't lose a bit of sleep because of it!

Paragraph Nineteen - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND ALL THE OTHER POSTERS AND READERS OF PI-TALK. THERE ARE MY KIND WORDS. LET'S SEE HOW FAR THEY GO WITH THE BOARD. BUT REMEMBER, FOR EVERY COMPLAINT YOU READ ABOUT HERE, THERE ARE TEN TIMES AS MANY THAT DO NOT VOICE THEIR COMPLAINTS. I KNOW THAT FROM THE MANY PRIVATE E-MAIL "DITTO'S" THAT I GET.

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Lenny Vasbinder, P.I.
LNVPI@hotmail.com
http://www.GeoCities.com/LennyVasbinderPI

P.S. - Jim Brown's post and my reply were sent via e-mail to Governor Foster through his e-mail service on his website. I know PI-Talk cannot be programmed to do this but maybe Eddie or Steve can do this manually so that the Governor will continually get our complaints. Here is the URL for his e-mail service. Unfortunately, he does not have a regular e-mail address that I've been able to find so you have to cut and paste baby! http://www.gov.state.la.us/gov_email.html

The TRUTH About ObamaCare That You Won't Find In The Lame-Stream Media

From: National Center for Policy Analysis

Dear Policy Patriots,

With every week that passes, we learn more about ObamaCare and it just gets worse. The recent report on the practical effects of ObamaCare from the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is devastating.

Here are the salient findings of this report:

* Health care costs will go up, not down. National health expenditures will increase from 17 percent of GDP now to 21 percent under the new law and will be higher than without the legislation. Net federal spending on health care will also increase.

* Health care shortages are "plausible and even probable." Because of the increased demand for health care, "supply constraints might initially interfere with providing the services desired by the additional 34 million insured persons."

* 14 million employees will lose their employer coverage. Employees of small firms are especially at risk (despite small employer tax credit subsidies).

* 2 million employees who lose coverage will have to enroll in Medicaid.

* A Medicaid insurance card is not a guarantee of care. An estimated 18 million people will be added to Medicaid. However, because there is no corresponding increase in the supply of caregivers, "it is reasonable to expect that a significant portion of the increased demand for Medicaid would be difficult to meet, particularly over the first few years."

* One in ten insured workers will see their health benefits taxed. By 2019, more than 10% of insured workers will "be in employer plans with benefit values in excess of the thresholds (before changes to reduce benefits) and this percentage would increase rapidly thereafter."

* Higher taxes will lead to higher premiums. The new taxes on medical devices, prescription drugs, and insurance plans "would generally be passed on through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and device prices and higher insurance premiums."

* There are more than one-half trillion in Medicare cuts. The new health law cuts "$575 billion" from Medicare.

* Medicare cuts would threaten almost one in every seven hospitals. About "15 percent of Part A providers would become unprofitable within the 10-year projection period."

* Overall access to care for seniors would go down. Because of the law's payment reductions, "providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative intervention, might end their participation in the program.

* 7.4 million people will lose access to Medicare Advantage plans. Enrollment in MA plans will be cut in half (from its projected level of 14.8 million under the current law to 7.4 million under the new law).

* False advertising: The new "Medicare Tax" doesn't go to Medicare. "Despite the title of this tax, this provision is unrelated to Medicare; in particular, the revenues generated by the tax on unearned income are not allocated to the Medicare trust funds."

* False advertising: Budgetary double-counting does not improve Medicare's solvency. Medicare cuts "cannot be simultaneously used to finance other federal outlays (such as the coverage expansions) and to extend the [life of the Medicare] trust fund, despite the appearance of this result from the respective accounting conventions."

* The new long-term care insurance plan (CLASS Act) is unsound. The program faces "a significant risk of failure" because the high costs will attract sicker people and lead to low participation.

* The promise to those with pre-existing conditions is unfunded. "By 2011 and 2012 the initial $5 billion in Federal funding for [high risk pools] would be exhausted, resulting in substantial premium increases to sustain the program."

* The law does almost nothing to limit actual fraud and abuse. The fraud provisions in the law will save only about two percent of $47 billion in suspect claims.

The National Center for Policy Analysis is committed to leading the fight against ObamaCare and in favor of patient-centered health policy reforms. Our policy solutions are only possible with your support. Please consider donating to the National Center for Policy Analysis. You can donate online or mail a check to:

National Center for Policy Analysis
P.O. Box 650098
Dallas, Texas 75265-0098

Thanks for your continued support!

Jeanette Nordstrom
National Center for Policy Analysis

Quite Contrary Mary: The Arrogance Of Louisiana's U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu

This email has been going viral on the net for the past week. I got it on the first day that it started circulating but I wanted to verify the information so I contacted the author of the original email and Mr. Greg Hamer replied that indeed, the content of the email was accurate.

I have also forwarded this email to ALL of my politicians using the FREE and easy to use Tea Party Citizen Action Center.

So... here it is folks!!!

From: Greg Hamer

Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 5:34 PM

To: All Employees

Subject: FW: Read it and show it to your kids.

It matters not if you are liberal or conservative… We all had better start to pay attention to this lesson.

I was in Washington DC yesterday. With 20 other restaurateurs we visited with the Louisiana congressional delegation. We had an enlightening talk with United States Senator Mary Landrieu, if you’re interested in what a member of the Democratic leadership of the Senate had to say to her constituents, then read on.

Talking directly to me because of a question I asked her, concerning the fact that we will be forced to shrink our workforce and lay off several hundred employees if Obamacare takes effect she put me in my place. She said the following:

· We are paying for your employees health insurance now, if you cannot stay in business and pay for them, then we will just continue to pay for them after you are out of business. I think she really believes she is paying for it…she forgets that we…you and I are paying for it.

· We believe people need insurance more than jobs. I seriously doubt the folks I will have to terminate will agree with that, especially since I pointed out to her that many employees in hospitality are otherwise unemployable since they are unskilled and their alternative is welfare.

· The law does not differentiate between companies in industries with single digit profit margins like hospitality and industries with much higher profit margins... you have to learn to deal with it.

· If you don’t like the bills we are passing then elect others.

· The bill is law, I do not want to discuss it, deal with it.

As God be my witness that is what she told us… of course I am not quoting her, we were all in too much shock to remember her exact words. But this is from a Senator with 5 more years in office, and the arrogance was unbelievable.

Everyone is for Health Reform, but if the cost is putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work, surely we can find a better way. Everyone is for helping our environment, but if the cost is putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work, surely we can find a better way. If you believe the cost being forced on businesses by our current regime in power is not going to be passed on to the consumers--- and that is you and I--- then you need to stop and take another look.

When government action causes the things I buy to go up, they may not call it increasing taxes…but the effect is just the same.

I hope you will find the item below informative…because you had better believe that is where the Democratic Party is trying to take us. And if you believe as I believe that what they are doing is going against what America stands for, then you have one final chance to stop this madness and it comes in November. Go out and vote for a Conservative so they can first STOP the madness and then begin to curb it.


Greg

And now my email to Mr. Greg Hamer and his reply...

-----Original Message-----

From: LNVTM1-Lenny Vasbinder

Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 8:58 AM

To: Greg Hamer

Subject: FW: A note from Greg Hamer on visit to Mary Landrieu in D.C.

Mr. Greg Hamer,

I got the below email as part of a Yahoo Group and while this email should not have been forwarded to the particular group since it is way off topic, since I live in the metro New Orleans area and I am stuck with Quite Contrary Mary, I would like to verify if this is true or not. You may not have intended for your email to potentially go viral on the net but it seems to be out there and forwarded to LOTS of people. I do not forward or publish things on my blog without checking them out first so I wanted to drop you this short email.

Lenny Vasbinder, Editor
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/

----------------------------

From: Greg Hamer [mailto:ghamer@bgfood.com]

Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 11:39 PM

To: LNVTM1-Lenny Vasbinder

Subject: RE: A note from Greg Hamer on visit to Mary Landrieu in D.C.

I thank you for verifying the message. I have attached the original message I sent to my employees after our visit with the Senator. I have no idea how this thing took off as it has. I send a lot of messages to my employees, I have never known one to take off like this.


Greg

---------------

I will be adding any replies that I receive from my *esteemed* (cough, cough) politicians.

Here is the confirmation email from the Tea Party Citizen Action Center

-----Original Message-----
From: donotreply@votervoice.net [mailto:donotreply@votervoice.net]
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 12:21 PM
To: Leonard Vasbinder
Subject: Confirmation of: Quite Contrary Mary: The Arrogance Of Louisiana's U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu

***Please do not reply to this email--this confirmation simply lets you know that your message was sent.***

Leonard Vasbinder:

Your message has been sent to the following recipients:

* President Barack Obama
* Vice President Joe Biden
* Senator Mary Landrieu
* Senator David Vitter
* Representative Steve Scalise
* Governor Bobby Jindal
* Lt. Governor Mitchell Landrieu
* Secretary of State Jay Dardenne
* Attorney General Buddy Caldwell
* Senator Conrad Appel
* Representative Kirk Talbot


The content of your message is as follows:

Dear [The message(s) you sent had each recipient's name here]:

CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THE ARROGANCE OF SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU???? THE FOLLOWING EMAIL IS SELF EXPLANATORY AND I HAVE VERIFIED THIS EMAIL TO BE ACCURATE AND NOT AN INTERNET HOAX!!!

From: Greg Hamer

Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 5:34 PM

To: All Employees

Subject: FW: Read it and show it to your kids.

It matters not if you are liberal or conservative... We all had better start to pay attention to this lesson.

I was in Washington DC yesterday. With 20 other restaurateurs we visited with the Louisiana congressional delegation. We had an enlightening talk with United States Senator Mary Landrieu, if you're interested in what a member of the Democratic leadership of the Senate had to say to her constituents, then read on.

Talking directly to me because of a question I asked her, concerning the fact that we will be forced to shrink our workforce and lay off several hundred employees if Obamacare takes effect she put me in my place. She said the following:

- We are paying for your employees health insurance now, if you cannot stay in business and pay for them, then we will just continue to pay for them after you are out of business. I think she really believes she is paying for it...she forgets that we...you and I are paying for it.

- We believe people need insurance more than jobs. I seriously doubt the folks I will have to terminate will agree with that, especially since I pointed out to her that many employees in hospitality are otherwise unemployable since they are unskilled and their alternative is welfare.

- The law does not differentiate between companies in industries with single digit profit margins like hospitality and industries with much higher profit margins... you have to learn to deal with it.

- If you don't like the bills we are passing then elect others.

- The bill is law, I do not want to discuss it, deal with it.

As God be my witness that is what she told us... of course I am not quoting her, we were all in too much shock to remember her exact words. But this is from a Senator with 5 more years in office, and the arrogance was unbelievable.

Everyone is for Health Reform, but if the cost is putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work, surely we can find a better way....

(continued at blog - http://LennyVasbinder.blogspot.com which also includes verification and confirmation emails between Mr. Greg Hamer and I.)

Sincerely,

Leonard Vasbinder

-------------------

It took a while but I finally got a reply from Quite Contrary Mary... I couldn't include the attachment that was sent along with the reply email but I did create three images, of the three page PDF file, which I've embedded at the bottom of this blog post.

-----Original Message-----

From: Bruckner, Caroline (SBC) [mailto:Caroline_Bruckner@sbc.senate.gov]
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 6:11 PM
To: lnvtm1@gmail.com
Subject:

Hello. I thought you may be interested to read Senator Landrieu’s letter to the Louisiana Restaurant Association and a news release from the National Restaurant Association thanking the Senator for her leadership on small businesses issues during the health care debate.

You may also be interested to read the Times-Picayune story on the Senator’s recent meeting with the Louisiana Restaurant Association. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/04/sen_mary_landrieu_stands_firm.html . This passage, including the quote from Louisiana Restaurant Association President, Jim Funk, is particularly insightful:

The focus of the conversation with the restaurant owners, and of Landrieu's efforts in the crafting of the health care bill, was on the impact on small businesses. Landrieu chairs the Senate Small Business Committee, and Louisiana Restaurant Association President Jim Funk gave her credit for improving the bill -- "the senator was very helpful in making it not as difficult for us" -- even though the association, like its national parent organization, opposed passage.

Funk said he left the meeting delighted by word from Landrieu that she felt that the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as "card check," which is backed by labor unions to facilitate organizing efforts, was not going anywhere this Congress and "she hasn't signed on as a co-sponsor. We were very, very pleased."

All in all, Funk said, "it was a good meeting -- a good, open, frank conversation."

Please pass this correspondence along to anyone who may be interested.

Kind regards,

Caroline Bruckner
Counsel
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
United States Senate
Sen. Mary Landrieu, Chair
428A Russell Senate Office
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202.224.5175
Email: Caroline_Bruckner@sbc.senate.gov

---------------

My reply to Sen. Landrieu's office...

-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder [mailto:lnvtm1@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 7:25 PM
To: 'Bruckner, Caroline (SBC)'
Subject: RE:

Ummmm... you can try to spin this any way you want but I have personally been in touch with Mr. Greg Hamer and I believe him over a lying assed politician any day. Here's my blog article on the subject.

http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/04/quite-contrary-mary-arrogance-of.html

The Landrieu's have been a political hack machine family for WAY TOO LONG in Louisiana and it's time to put them out to pasture. Unfortunately, New Orleans didn't have a NOTA (NONE OF THE ABOVE) choice on the Mayoral election or Mitch wouldn't have won that either.

I only wish that Quite Contrary Mary was up for re-election in November so we could vote her Obama-ass-kissing ass out of office sooner.

At least she'll be off the public teat in five years!!!!

I'm glad you gave me the heads up about them two associations that back her. I'll make sure that any restaurants I go to are not members... and if they are, the owner will hear about where their association dues are going... into Mary's pocket... or maybe her freezer???

Lenny Vasbinder, Editor
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/

---------------

YOU CAN CLICK ON THE BELOW IMAGES TO SEE THEM LARGER AND AT A READABLE SIZE

My "Illegal Immigration" email To ALL Policians And Especially Sen. Lindsey Graham, About Border-Immigration Issues

Using Senator Lindsey Graham's website, I sent the following email to him. I also sent the same email to ALL of my politicians using the Tea Party Citizen Action Center.

Dear Sen. Graham (and ALL of my elected politicians):

While I live in LA now, I was born in Beaufort, SC, when my dad was stationed at Parris Island Marine Corps base. [While I realize you are elected by the voters of SC, once you are a U.S. Senator, your actions affect ALL Americans and based on the fact that I AM a S. Carolinian and an American, I think you should represent me and respond to my email]

Now, to my issue...

Why are you supporting amnesty for the 12 MILLION illegal aliens that have broken into our country?

I use this analogy when I confront my local politicians.

If some people broke into your attic and lived there for a month or a year or even a few years and never bothered you, but then one day, you find out they are living there [and have been using your home's resources the entire time].... would you grant them amnesty to continue to live in your attic forever?

OF COURSE NOT..... YOU WOULD CALL THE POLICE AND HAVE THEM ALL HAULED OFF TO JAIL JUST LIKE ALL OF THE ILLEGAL ALIENS SHOULD BE PUT IN JAIL FOR BREAKING INTO OUR COUNTRY AND CONTINUING TO TRESPASS ON OUR LAND WHILE THEY ARE HERE ILLEGALLY. IF NOT JAILED, THEN DEPORTED BACK TO THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN!!!

Sincerely,

Leonard Vasbinder

And the replies coming pouring in...

-----Original Message-----
From: Senator@lgraham.senate.gov [mailto:Senator@lgraham.senate.gov]
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:53 PM
To: lnvtm1@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Your Message

Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you.

Due to the large volume of mail I receive, I regret that I am only able to respond personally to inquiries from South Carolinians.

As we continue our work in the 111th Congress, I look forward to supporting our troops in the War on Terror, repairing our economy and creating jobs, strengthening Social Security, lowering the tax burden on American families, and making the federal government more accountable and efficient.

If your correspondence pertains to a scheduling request, please fax your request to (202) 224-3808.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Graham

----------------

My "Please NUKE WASHINGTON, D.C." Email To All Politicians

Using the Tea Party Citizen Action Center website, I sent the following email to ALL of my elected crooks in one simple step. Folks should try this!!!! The site automatically addresses all of the emails to your proper elected official based on your address.

Message Recipients:
Your President
Your Vice President
Your US Senators
Your US Representative
Your Governor
Your Lt. Governor
Your Secretary of State
Your Attorney General
Your State Senator
Your State Representative

Subject:
STOP BANKRUPTING AMERICA.... AND AMERICANS!!!

Salutation:
Dear [Recipient's name will be automatically inserted here]

Stop Obamacare and the socializing of America!

Stop deficit spending by Washington, D.C. and any states that are doing it and expecting a bailout.

Balance the budget like everyone else has to do.

Seriously cut back the federal budget which is has grown more than 10 times as much as wages in the past 20 years.

It took over 200 years for the national debt to grow to nearly $10 TRILLION by the end of President Bush's second term and now Obama has grown that to over $12 TRILLION in his first year and the CBO estimates the national debt to be $18.5 TRILLION by the end of 2014 and will more than double under Obama's presidency if he gets re-elected in 2012.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOU POLITICIANS TO QUIT STEALING OUR FUTURE???

WILL IT TAKE CHINA, RUSSIA, N. KOREA OR IRAN TO NUKE THE BELTWAY TO KILL ALL OF YOU IN ONE FELL SWOOP SINCE WE VOTERS CAN'T SEEM TO STOP YOU ALL AT THE POLLS???

I hate to say it but I'm about to start praying that some foreign enemy will NUKE Washington, D.C. so America can start over and hopefully learn from our mistakes. You know the old saying... the enemy of my enemy is my friend so if it happens, I guess I have a lot of new friends in whichever country does the job that we the voters can't seem to do!!!

Signed:
Leonard Vasbinder
(included my address and phone numbers)

Here's the confirmation email that I got a minute later to show it was sent for me...

-----Original Message-----
From: donotreply@votervoice.net [mailto:donotreply@votervoice.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 10:27 AM
To: Leonard Vasbinder
Subject: Confirmation of: STOP BANKRUPTING AMERICA.... AND AMERICANS!!!

***Please do not reply to this email--this confirmation simply lets you know that your message was sent.***

Leonard Vasbinder:

Your message has been sent to the following recipients:

* President Barack Obama
* Vice President Joe Biden
* Senator Mary Landrieu
* Senator David Vitter
* Representative Steve Scalise
* Governor Bobby Jindal
* Lt. Governor Mitchell Landrieu
* Secretary of State Jay Dardenne
* Attorney General Buddy Caldwell
* Senator Conrad Appel
* Representative Kirk Talbot


The content of your message is as follows:

Dear [The message(s) you sent had each recipient's name here]:

Stop Obamacare and the socializing of America!

Stop deficit spending by Washington, D.C. and any states that are doing it and expecting a bailout.

Balance the budget like everyone else has to do.

Seriously cut back the federal budget which is has grown more than 10 times as much as wages in the past 20 years.

It took over 200 years for the national debt to grow to nearly $10 TRILLION by the end of President Bush's second term and now Obama has grown that to over $12 TRILLION in his first year and the CBO estimates the national debt to be $18.5 TRILLION by the end of 2014 and will more than double under Obama's presidency if he gets re-elected in 2012.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOU POLITICIANS TO QUIT STEALING OUR FUTURE???

WILL IT TAKE CHINA, RUSSIA, N. KOREA OR IRAN TO NUKE THE BELTWAY TO KILL ALL OF YOU IN ONE FELL SWOOP SINCE WE VOTERS CAN'T SEEM TO STOP YOU ALL AT THE POLLS???

I hate to say it but I'm about to start praying that some foreign enemy will NUKE Washington, D.C. so America can start over and hopefully learn from our mistakes. You know the old saying... the enemy of my enemy is my friend so if it happens, I guess I have a lot of new friends in whichever country does the job that we the voters can't seem to do!!!

Sincerely,

Leonard Vasbinder

And now the canned, automated replies from our un-hearing politicians...

-----Original Message-----
From: noreplycc@gov.state.la.us [mailto:noreplycc@gov.state.la.us]
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 4:59 PM
To: lnvtm1@gmail.com
Subject: A Message from Gov. Bobby Jindal



April 22, 2010


Dear Mr. Vasbinder,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the federal health care legislation that was recently signed into law. Please be assured that I take your concerns very seriously.

The massive health care mandate that recently came out of Washington, D.C. marked a sad day for democracy. Americans had expressed their opposition against this bill over and over again, but Washington ignored us. Not only did Washington miss a real opportunity to lower health care costs and improve our system, they could have also done it in a bipartisan manner with broad support. Instead Washington passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill at a time of economic challenges and record deficits, when government needs to cut spending and taxes, not dramatically increase them. This bill cuts more than a half trillion dollars from the Medicare program, imposes new taxes totaling $569.2 billion on Americans, and raises taxes on medical products. Indeed, the actual costs of the bill will be around $2.4 trillion because much of the spending in the bill kicks in after years of higher taxes.

This bill will also significantly cut our state's public hospital funding, following a previous federal $200 million cut to public and rural hospital funds. Early estimates from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals show that the bill will cost our state around $345 million a year, starting the first year of the full 10 percent state match. Our state will be forced to absorb this cost and will have to add 360,000 new Medicaid enrollees in the Medicaid program. These additional enrollees do not include the unknown number of people that are eligible for Medicaid today but not enrolled in the program. Under this new mandate, all of those individuals would also be required to join Medicaid.

Very importantly, I believe that the bill's mandate on all Americans to buy health insurance is in conflict with the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which preserves rights to individuals and states that are not prescribed to the federal government. We have already began working with our Louisiana Attorney General to join with other states in asserting the constitutional rights of our citizens under this amendment, which protects them against a federal requirement to purchase a certain

product. For the first time in our country's history, Congress is saying there would be a requirement to purchase a particular product, good or service as a requirement to be a citizen of the United States of America.

Additionally, this bill also paves the way for taxpayer funding of elective abortions, making an end-run around a law that has prevented this from happening for years. We have already started working to pass a law in the upcoming legislative session that will opt the state out of using Louisiana taxpayer money to fund elective abortions in the state's purchasing exchange, created under the bill.

I am strongly committed to improving Louisiana's health care system and ensuring quality health care for all of our citizens. As we continue to comb through the thousands of pages of this legislation, we will get a better idea of what it will cost our state and our people and what other strings are attached. My focus remains on taking whatever actions we can to protect our people from the harmful effects of this legislation. The bottom line is that this is a bad bill for Louisiana and a bad bill for America.

I truly appreciate you sharing your thoughts and concerns, and please continue to contact us in the future with any further questions.

Very Truly Yours,

/s/ Bobby Jindal
Governor Bobby Jindal
State of Louisiana


BJ/mm

ATTACHMENT: Governor Bobby Jindal's Wall Street Journal Editorial

Persistence Is The Key

By Bobby Jindal

After forcing through a massive health-care overhaul that the public does not want, the president and Democratic leaders in Congress are threatening us with yet another PR campaign to make us like it. Good luck with that.

Meanwhile, some level of hand- wringing has broken out among GOP strategists. Should we push for repeal? Will it work? Is there some danger in that strategy?

Well, let's see. We just spent 13 months arguing against the Democrats' top-down approach to health care, contending that it must be stopped for the good of our country, the health of our citizens, and the future of our nation's economy. So, should we try to repeal it? Only in Washington is this a hard question.

The arguments against repeal are the following:

1) It's next to impossible. Nothing of this magnitude has ever been repealed.

2) Even if Republicans take control of Congress this fall, the president would veto repeal.

3) It will be hard to take things away from people once the government starts giving them out.

4) There are parts of the bill that the public will like.

5) We don't want to be labeled the party of "no."

Let's take them one at a time.

1) It's impossible. Wrong. There is a first time for everything. It's similarly "impossible" for the son of Indian immigrants to get elected in the deep South. It's impossible for an African-American to get elected president. You get the picture.

2) President Obama would veto a repeal bill. Yes, he sure would. Do it anyway. And do it again after he is gone. (By the way, President Clinton vetoed welfare reform twice before he signed it into law.)

3) It will be hard to take things away. Probably so. But the reality is that growth of federal entitlements is strangling the economic engine of our country. Someone has to draw the line somewhere. Do we want to go the way of Western Europe? If not, we better get moving in the other direction immediately.

4) There are parts of the bill the public will like. No doubt about it. There are parts I like-though I have yet to read the fine print-such as allowing parents to keep kids on their policies until they are 26 years old. And there's bound to be more good policy in there: 2,409 pages can't be all bad. But the overall direction of the bill is to empower government, not patients.

5) We don't want to be labeled the party of "no." As it pertains to this bill, how about "hell no"? Newt Gingrich is saying we should "repeal and replace." That works.

Mr. Jindal, a Republican, is the governor of Louisiana.


This email account is intended only for outgoing purposes. You may email the Governor's Office at constituent@la.gov.

--------------

-----Original Message-----
From: ScaliseCorr@mail.house.gov [mailto:ScaliseCorr@mail.house.gov]
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 4:59 PM
To: lnvtm2@gmail.com
Subject: A Message from Congressman Scalise

April 22, 2010

Dear Mr. Vasbinder:

Thank you for your correspondence regarding our national debt. It is an honor to represent the First Congressional District of Louisiana, and your thoughts and concerns are very important to me.

I share your concerns about our skyrocketing national debt and unsustainable deficit spending. President Obama has proposed a budget that will double the national debt in just five years, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the debt will spike to nearly $20 trillion by 2019. If the liberals in Congress and the Obama Administration continue to spend money we do not have, our nation's strong credit rating and the value of the U.S. dollar will slip downward. Furthermore, to continue to borrow, spend, and leave the tab to our children and grandchildren would be nothing short of a moral travesty. This unprecedented level of debt continues to erode America's fiscal foundation, and we need to draw a line in the sand and say "enough is enough."

I recently introduced H.R. 4262, the "CAP the DEBT Act" (Control America's Purse-strings to Deliver a Better Tomorrow). With 75 cosponsors in Congress and endorsed by Citizens Against Government Waste, my bill would make it more difficult for Congress to raise the debt limit. Instead of allowing a debt limit increase to pass by a simple majority vote or as part of a larger bill, the CAP the DEBT Act requires a 2/3rds vote on a stand-alone bill in both the House and Senate to pass a debt limit increase. This bill forces Members of Congress to be accountable for their vote on the debt limit and will also protect the American people from reckless borrowing and spending.

In addition to easing the tax burden on American families and small businesses and cutting wasteful spending, I strongly support an Amendment to the United States Constitution to require a balanced federal budget. Due to my voting record in support of small and efficient government, I was named a "Taxpayer Hero" by Citizens Against Government Waste and ranked in the top 5 percent of that organization's rankings of Members of Congress who protect the American taxpayer. I firmly believe that reducing our national debt, eliminating deficits, cutting spending, and streamlining government are crucial to preserving the freedoms afforded to the people of our great nation. I will continue to work on behalf of this cause while serving you in Congress.

Thank you again for contacting me. I invite you to visit my website at www.scalise.house.gov for more information. You can also sign up for my e-newsletter, the "Scalise Capitol Report," by clicking here . Please do not hesitate to contact my office in the future on matters of importance to you.

-----------

-----Original Message-----
From: David_Vitter@vitter.senate.gov [mailto:David_Vitter@vitter.senate.gov]
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 9:24 AM
To: lnvtm1@gmail.com
Subject: Responding to your message

Dear Mr. Vasbinder,

Thank you for contacting me in support of repealing President Obama's health care bill. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue, and I completely agree with you.

Right after Obamacare became law, I introduced the Patient Choice Restoration Act to repeal it. Also, I offered an amendment to repeal it, but my amendment was unfortunately defeated in the Senate. I will keep fighting.

President Obama's bill will cost about $1 trillion, increases taxes by more than half a trillion dollars, cuts Medicare by more than half a trillion dollar, and adds to our country's already-skyrocketing debt. It includes job-killing tax increases and mandates, and it allows the government to come between the doctor-patient relationship. Also, its mandates are likely unconstitutional, and the process by which it passed disrespected not only the will of the American people but also our legislative process. Worst of all, it insults and disregards the traditions that have made our country great - limited government, personal responsibility, and individual freedom. Rest assured that I will continue working tirelessly to repeal it.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about other issues important to you.

Sincerely,

Senator David Vitter
United States Senator

P.S. Please visit my website to sign up for E-Updates and receive regular email updates from me on the issues important to Louisiana families.