I am sending this eblast in the hope that you will attend your precinct convention at your polling place after the polls close, and to ask if you would please consider offering the following resolution for adoption by your precinct. I wrote this resolution to work with federal legislation I have authored to restore our individual freedom and State sovereignty under the long neglected 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If you and your fellow precinct delegates adopt this resolution, and can help see that it is adopted again at the Senate District and State and National Conventions, it will strengthen our Party platform and the effectiveness of my legislation by making it difficult for the federal courts to overturn or interfere with our mutual intent: To get the federal government out of our lives and out of our pockets and truly let Texans run Texas.

The legal research, litigation, and legislative experience I gained  first through my successful lawsuit to end federal Judge William Wayne Justice’s 25 year rule over Texas prisons, and now through my work in Congress have convinced me that a resolution like this one adopted at the precinct level coupled with federal legislation designed to achieve the same purpose can create an impenetrable barrier protecting our personal freedom and the autonomous sovereign authority of our State government, as the Founders intended.

To understand why this will work, remember that our individual freedom and the independent sovereign authority of our State governments have been obliterated by federal statutes enacted by Congress and enforced by the Chief Executive and the Courts. What Congress has destroyed by statute can be restored by statute. Now is the ideal moment to push for new federal laws designed to restore freedom and State sovereignty.

Precinct, district, and state conventions are the closest modern analogy to the original Conventions that created the American Republic and the Republic of Texas, so I sincerely hope that you will offer this resolution at your precinct convention. It is important we get it adopted in as many precinct and district conventions as possible, and then press to win its adoption at the State convention.

Please send this email and the resolution to friends and family around Texas, as I am, and encourage them to help.

 I am confident we can restore the individual freedom our Founders meant for us to have, and the prosperity they dreamed we would have, because fiscal conservatives are going to turn out in record numbers this year to vote. We must also be sure that the conservative candidate who earns our vote takes an iron clad oath, as I do every election, to keep their word to represent you as a true fiscal conservative and work relentlessly to cut spending and cut taxes to balance the budget and to honor the Constitution by getting the federal government out of our lives so that Texans will run Texas.

Thank you entrusting me to represent you in Congress, and for taking the time to consider my request.

Sincerely,

John Culberson

Member of Congress

Texas

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The president’s latest plan for health care reform includes more spending, more taxes, and more government control – ideas the American people have repeatedly rejected.  Unfortunately it seems that President Obama has not been listening.  Yesterday the president said he wanted to sit down with Republicans and Democrats at a health care summit to discuss their ideas.  All the president needed to do was listen to the millions of Americans who have said no to a government takeover of health care.

The president and Congressional Democrats should also listen to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) whose Director on Monday indicated he does not have the information necessary to provide adequate or timely estimates of the potentially enormous costs of the president’s plan.  How can we have an honest discussion about a health care plan when no one knows how much it will cost?  After the summit, Congressional Democrats indicated that they would like to ram a bill through by the end of March. I would urge these Members to postpone any floor action on another  health care bill at least until CBO can provide a complete cost estimate for the legislation.

Sadly, the president isn’t even listening to himself. In 2005, when asked about the use of  reconciliation to jam a bill through the Senate Barack Obama said, “[W]hat I worry about would be you essentially still have two chambers – the House and the Senate – but you have simply majoritarian, absolute power on either side.  And that’s just not what the Founders intended.” Given that the American people have repeatedly said “no” to a government takeover of health care and the costs of this plan are unknown, I was disappointed the president failed to commit to not jamming a bill through the Senate under reconciliation.  As the president previously noted, using reconciliation is a tacit acknowledgement that the bill lacks bipartisan support and not what our Founders intended.

I was pleased to see Members sit down together yesterday. Conservatives have repeatedly been shut out of the process and finally were given a chance to present our ideas to the president and Speaker Pelosi. I am confident that these fiscally conservative policies can lower health care costs without adding to our already unsustainable debt burden and raising taxes on Americans who are struggling from the recession.

President Obama should listen to the millions of Americans who have said no to a government takeover of health care.

The president’s latest plan for health care reform includes more spending, more taxes, and more government control – ideas the American people have repeatedly rejected.  Unfortunately it seems that President Obama has not been listening.  The president said he wants to sit down with Republicans and Democrats at today’s health care summit to discuss their ideas.  First, President Obama should listen to the millions of Americans who have said no to a government takeover of health care.

The president and House Democrats should also listen to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) whose Director on Monday indicated he does not have the information necessary to provide adequate or timely estimates of the potentially enormous costs of the president’s plan.  How can we have an honest discussion about a health care plan when no one knows how much it will cost?  I would urge the House and Senate to postpone any floor action on a health care reform bill at least until CBO can provide a complete cost estimate for the legislation.

Sadly, the president isn’t even listening to himself. In 2005, when asked about the use of  reconciliation to jam a bill through the Senate Barak Obama said, “[W]hat I worry about would be you essentially still have two chambers – the House and the Senate – but you have simply majoritarian, absolute power on either side.  And that’s just not what the Founders intended.” Given that the American people have repeatedly said “no” to a government takeover of health care and the costs of this plan are unknown, I hope the president will commit today to not jamming the bill through the Senate under reconciliation.  As the president previously noted, using reconciliation is a tacit acknowledgement that the bill lacks bipartisan support and not what our Founders intended.

I look forward to hearing from the president and my colleagues today.  I am confident that we can lower health care costs without adding to our already unsustainable debt burden and raising taxes on Americans who are struggling from the recession.

One year after President Obama’s stimulus package passed, we have higher unemployment, record high deficits and record high spending levels.

A year ago today, President Obama signed a $787 billion spending bill into law.  This massive piece of legislation was crammed through Congress with zero transparency and was brought to a vote just 15 hours after being drafted in the dead of night – hardly enough time for anyone to read the bill.  President Obama and Speaker Pelosi told us the so-called “stimulus” package was intended to create jobs and keep the unemployment rate below 8%.  A year later, unemployment stands at nearly 10%, we have record high deficits, record high spending levels and our national debt currently stands at $12.3 trillion. Americans are demanding to know:  Are we better off?

So here we are, one year later, and I join my fellow citizens in asking:  Where are the jobs President Obama promised?  It’s time to get serious about job creation by cutting income taxes and payroll taxes, and removing barriers to domestic productivity.  Most importantly, we need to stop spending money we don’t have and leaving our children and grandchildren holding the bill.

This one year anniversary of the failed stimulus package is a fitting reminder of the liberal majority’s allegiance to deficit spending.  Despite all the evidence to the contrary, they still seem to think that throwing money at a problem will make it go away. 

The United States is on a path to become Argentina.

Today Congressional Democrats are set to raise the debt limit again by $1.9 trillion to $14.3 trillion – roughly the size of the entire U.S. economy.  This will be the largest one-time debt limit increase in history and the fifth increase in less than two years from the Democrats.  If all this borrowing weren’t enough, President Obama’s budget would force Congress to raise the limit once again in just nine months.

The United States is facing an urgent fiscal crisis. Our national debt currently stands at $12.3 trillion, which is a $3.7 trillion or 42% increase since the Democrats took over Congress in January 2007.  In three years Congressional Democrats have accumulated more federal debt than in our nation’s first 200 years. Yesterday, Moody’s Investors Service Inc said the U.S. government’s Aaa bond rating will be jeopardized unless strict measures are taken to reduce our budget deficits.

Americans across the country do not budget their finances this way and neither should the federal government.  Congress has to start living within its means or we will end up like Argentina – fiscally insolvent.  Instead of raising the debt limit and charging more on our credit card, we should use repaid TARP funds and unspent stimulus money for deficit reduction.  We should also amend House rules to require that any increase in the statutory debt limit be considered as a stand-alone bill and pass with a supermajority two-thirds vote.  I believe by taking these small steps, we can put our country back on a path to fiscal stability.

Last week President Obama spoke of fiscal discipline and promised to pay “for what we spent on my watch.”  He went on to note correctly that “if we don’t take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it could damage our markets, increase the cost of borrowing, and jeopardize our recovery -– all of which would have an even worse effect on our job growth and family incomes.”  I was impressed and encouraged by the president’s remarks.  Unfortunately, his actions did not match his words.

The president’s budget released today contains more spending, more taxes, and more debt.  According to news sources, White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said yesterday that the White House would really like “to draw a line in the sand and enforce some discipline in the spending process.”  If that is true, why is the Administration proposing a budget that more than doubles the debt, drives spending to a new record of $3.8 trillion in FY2011, pushes the deficit to a new record of $1.6 trillion in FY2010, and raises taxes by over $2 trillion through 2020?

Our nation is facing an urgent financial crisis.  Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870.  This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest.  I believe it is time to stop spending our children’s future.  As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, “Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible.”

Elected officials in Washington must start doing what they say.  If they promise to cut spending, then they need to cut spending. Common sense tells you that spending more to save more is not a logical fiscal policy.  The president has said he will “continue to go through the budget, line by line, page by page, to eliminate programs that we can’t afford and don’t work.”  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I would urge the president to include Republicans in that process.  Hopefully we can move beyond the rhetoric and achieve real savings for the American people.

On Wednesday evening, President Obama spoke to the nation in his first State of the Union address. Unfortunately the president demonstrated that he and the Democrat leaders in Congress are still not listening to the American people.  The American people have stood up repeatedly and said “no” to a government take over of health care and more spending.  Yet on Wednesday night, the president once again urged Congress to pass his health care takeover and proposed another billion dollar stimulus plan, which is exactly what the American people have been asking the president and Congress not to do.

To make matters worse, a day after the president rightfully noted that “families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions.  The federal government should do the same” Senate Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion increase in the national debt limit.  Since taking control of Congress, Democrats have expanded our national debt by 42% and raised the debt limit six times since September 2007.  They have also increased non-defense spending by 85% in just two years.

We cannot balance the budget while advancing a multi-trillion dollar government takeover of health care and another multi-billion dollar stimulus plan that will place us deeper in debt.  Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870.  This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest.  I believe it is time to stop spending our children’s future.  As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, “Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible.”

As a staunch fiscal conservative, I have consistently opposed spending increases regardless of who occupied the Oval Office and will continue to do so again this year.  The federal government must learn to live within its means – just like American families.  It is time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less.  I believe that in taking these steps, our economy will experience the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations.

Tonight, I look forward to hearing President Obama’s plan for a spending freeze in Washington.  Unfortunately, at the same time he is touting his newfound fiscal conservatism, he is also pushing Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion increase in the national debt limit.  Since taking control of Congress, Democrats have expanded our national debt by 42% and raised the debt limit five times since September 2007.

Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870.  This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest.  I believe it is time to stop spending our children’s future.  As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, “Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible.”

As a staunch fiscal conservative, I have consistently opposed spending increases regardless of who occupied the Oval Office and will continue to do so again this year.  The federal government must learn to live within its means – just like American families.  It is time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less.  I believe that in taking these steps, our economy will experience the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations.

Today news reports indicate that the Obama administration is considering a criminal trial in Washington for a Guantanamo Bay detainee suspected of bombing a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people.  This would bring one of the most notorious terrorists to U.S. soil and would allow him the opportunity to be tried steps away from our nation’s Capitol.  This man committed a crime outside of the United States, yet President Obama thinks it would be in our best interest to bring him to epicenter of our country and government.

I do not believe terrorists who kill innocent people should be housed on U.S. soil and granted the same rights as American citizens.  President Obama and House Democrats support the idea of bringing terrorists onto U.S. soil as a way to honor the Constitution.  Affording terrorists constitutional protections does just the opposite – it weakens our judicial system and undermines our Constitution.

Yesterday the President said, “We are at war. We are at war against al Qaeda, a far-reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9/11, that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, and that is plotting to strike us again.”  If we are at war, then why is an al Qaeda terrorist who tried to blow up a plane on Christmas Day being arraigned in a federal court today?  Why is he not being treated as a prisoner of war?  I call on the president to explain clearly his definition of “war against al Qaeda.”

I do not believe terrorists who kill or attempt to kill innocent people should be housed on U.S. soil and granted the same rights as American citizens.  President Obama and House Democrats support the idea of bringing terrorists onto U.S. soil as a way to honor the Constitution.  Affording terrorists constitutional protections does just the opposite – it weakens our judicial system and undermines our Constitution.