Date: October 21, 2010

To: Concerned American Patriots

From: Ed Stanley – GOOOH – Georgia’s 7th District

Re: Every Other Thursday Memo – Term Limits (“Limits” being the operative)

It seems everyone has a desire to limit the time our politicians spend in their elected office. Most would agree that time is the enemy of effective citizen representation. Why should there be term limits? Would it make a difference?

TERM LIMITS PAST & PRESENT – Currently our laws do not provide for specific term limits for Congress, but the idea of limiting terms for government officials is not new. In Ancient Greece (about 500 B.C.), the Council of 500 (The Boule) were limited to 2, one-year terms within 10 years so that.. “a large number of Athenians held some political position in their lifetime” (see “The Athenian Origins of Direct Democracy” by Steven Kreis). The Constitution defines the Terms of the offices of Congress but no limit. Only the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution addresses term limits (Executive Branch only). So if our Founders and 234 years of practice haven’t produced an Amendment of the Constitution calling for Term Limits in Congress, why now? The answer is simple: Congress has obviously become a glorified “Good ‘Ole Boys & Girls Club” with benefits & bonus packages that can rarely be matched in the private sector. They have set up a lifestyle for themselves equal to that enjoyed by royalty, such as Pelosi’s air travel services furnished by the military for both she and members of her family.

We Have Met The Enemy, And .......

Older readers of this blog are already smiling, because they know where the ....is going. Below is a brief explanation for the younger readers so they will get the full impact of how this applies to GOOOH.

In days of yore, there was a cartoon strip that was intended for adults as well as kids, because of the underlying political messages from the cartoonist. The cartoon was "POGO", and Pogo was an opossum that, along with his various animal friends, lived in the Okefenokee Swamp.

A famous general is often quoted regarding a statement he made to his leader and people after a huge victory on the battlefield. "We Have Met The Enemy, And He Is Ours!"

Pogo, when discussing the failure of the common folk to pull out of a political quagmire facing them at the moment, quoted the same general....with a twist. "We Have Met The Enemy, And He Is......

US!"

Party Failures---Tennessee Example

     Party failures are painfully evident in the current TN 03 House Race. TN 03 is a disgustingly gerrymandered district with the GOP having long held power in one area. This area contains 46% of the voters. All previous Representatives have been from that area.

     An Independent now stands a great chance of winning for two reasons.

     First, the GOP shot itself in the foot. The incumbent (16 years) vacated his seat to run for Governor. He lost. Eleven GOP candidates ran in the primaries for his seat. The winner took it with 30% of the vote! People are not happy.

     Second, "We The People" are finally waking up in TN, and are rallying behind this Independent. Party "loyalties" are disappearing.

     Now, "We The People" suddenly want to elect a person who truly represents their views in this district. He has been campaigning since 15 April 2009 (announcing his candidacy at a Tax Day Rally). Although a GOOOH candidate can't be implemented in TN this cycle, he answered the 100 questions and has posted them online for all to see. He has also set himself apart from the party candidates by signing a contract to pay $1M to a TN charity if he does not come home after the term limits promoted. He has signed a National Pledge to support the 10th amendment, and posted a pledge on downsizeDC.com to Write and Read the bills, and limit them to One Subject At a Time.

     GOOOOOOH Independent!

     Learn more about the complete GOOOH answer to the career politician problem. Go to GOOOH.com to learn more.

Wow, what a snowfall.

Living in central Texas I see snow fall every 3^rd year or so. Last year was that year for us. It snowed one day and the accumulation was just enough for the kids to get out into the yard and make a really small snowman with blades of dead grass stuck to it. Why? Because there wasn’t enough snow to fully transform central Texas into the winter wonderland that is often thought about. That is where we are today, politically. There is a movement afoot that will restore the House of Representatives to the people, but there isn’t a large enough group of people behind it yet. Why? Because they don’t know it exists by and large. What am I talking about? GOOOH, (pronounced Go) Get Out Of Our House. It is a bold initiative to remove all 435 members of the House of Representatives and replace them with true citizen legislators that will do the will of the people and not the will of the party bosses or the special interest groups.

However, if people won’t stand together to be counted, we will be like the dirty, grass covered snow man in my front yard this last winter. You’ve seen it, just enough to snow to make a snowman but not enough to make it right. If people won’t go to www.goooh.com and join the movement, then we won’t have enough people to make the change necessary.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to look at the occupants of the House of Representatives with respect again instead of disdain, disrespect and distrust? Wouldn’t it be nice to know how your Representative is going to vote on every major issue of the day, because he/she has already documented how they believe on all of these issues? Won’t it be great to actually vote for someone because you believe the way they do, rather than “Well he isn’t the other guy so I guess I’ll vote for him?”

GOOOH brings all of these things to pass. Help bring the needed change to Washington. Let’s change the politicians. As the old saying goes, “Politicians and diapers need to be changed often and for the same reason, they are dirty.”

Go join www.goooh.com.

A Message from GOOOH Founder Tim Cox: The GOP Pledge

So now we have the GOP Pledge. I hope I’m completely wrong, but how soon do you think it will be before the Republicans begin breaking this new slate of promises? They will of course blame the Democrats, but that is an excuse. Worse, it is a card they are already scheming to play so they can demand even more power in 2012.

Have they not learned anything from this President who promised to close Guantanamo, to have open debates on C-Span, and to keep unemployment under 8%? Promises should not be made unless they will be kept. The Republicans will not have a veto proof Congress. They will certainly not have a filibuster proof Senate. Promises like this cannot possibly be guaranteed. Yet make them they do. Why? Because they know we will not hold them accountable.  Politicians will say whatever they feel they must to get elected.

They are promising to roll back spending to 2008 levels, which if anyone cares to remember, were the largest in the history of our nation, excluding the last two disastrous years. We were spending $600 billion more than we were collecting in 2008! Their out of control spending finalized the demise of their majority position. Now, they expect us to be excited about this promise of “restraint?” Why don’t they promise something bold, like 25% cuts each year until the budget is balanced?

They promise to “establish strict budget caps” but seem to have forgotten about the federal debt limit that is already in place. Do they think we do not remember they raised the limit in 2001, '02, '03, '05, '06, '07, and '08 to accommodate their out of control spending habits? Are we to trust they will not simply raise them again because of whatever crisis is happening?

They claim that every bill will have a "citation" of Constitutional authority. Hasn’t such authority been implicitly required since our nation was founded? If they have voted for even a single bill that did not have such authority, did they not violate their oath of office? Are they admitting they did so? Or, as they have done in the past, are they going to say the general welfare and commerce clauses authorize anything and everything?

The pledge accurately says, “An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many.” Are we to believe that only applies to Democrats? Was it not arrogance and horrendous results that led the country to vote out these very same Republicans - who had complete control from 2000 to 2006? The Democrats were voted in because the Republicans were arrogant and out of touch. Because they were self-appointed elites making decisions, issuing mandates and enacting laws.

People write me and say the Republicans have changed, ignoring Karl Rove’s attacks on O’Donnell, Gingrich’s support of Scozzafava in New York, and sore losers like Crist (FL), Murkowski (AK) and perhaps Castle (DE) who refuse to accept the primary vote.  I do not see change, merely a swing of the pendulum from one party back to the other as our dissatisfaction and problems increase.

I strongly favor preventing either party from having complete control of Congress and slowing down the madness, but I insist that the only solution is to address the root cause of the problem: politicians. We must break the death grip the two parties have on our system. We must take the money out of the process. We must remove all of the career politicians from OUR House.

The solution is to elect true citizen representatives. With your help, we will do so in 2012.

We urge you to get your family and friends to join us at GOOOH.com.