Remarkably, Betsy Russell of the Spokesman Review authored an article, “Sali Charts Own Course in Congress which gives Rep. Bill Sali a fair assessment (hat tip to Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance).

Russell says Sali finds the Congressional system quite different from the Idaho legislature. He’s found that floor debate is meaningless, bills are “all or nothing” (no matter how many unrelated topics are included), and hearings nothing more than photo ops, with testimony by invitation only. Bill says most meaningful information is discussed “in committee work” and personal conversations.

Sali’s learning fast. While 85% of his votes have been along party lines, he has not hesitated to stray when he disagrees with GOP leadership. Sali says he’s “trying to keep us from spending our grandkids into bankruptcy”, a motivation that rings true with many voters.

Though he often breaks rank with veteran Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, Sali has found a number of like-minded congressmen. And while I tire of the reliance of many Idaho journalists on supposedly unbiased political science professors at state colleges and universities. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Jim Weatherby of Boise State admits that many view Sali “as a principled maverick whose positions are gaining respect.”

We knew Bill Sali as a stand-firm conservative in the Idaho House, and should not be surprised that he is growing into a force to be reckoned with in Congress.

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Some of my biggest fans and most avid readers have pointed out that the jury may not yet be in on the theory that our solar system originated in the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy.

Nevertheless, the fact that the Milky Way has been and continues to pull apart the Sagittarius Galaxy is rather novel, and not widely appreciated.

Do your own research and draw your own conclusions at Space.com, News In Science and here, the Cure Zone, and Bad Astronomy.

The jury is still out, but one thing is clear – we don’t know everything there is to know about our universe.

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“Hi! I’m Fred from the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy!”

Think Fred is crazy?

Actually, our entire solar system, including planet Earth, is from the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy – we just never knew it. (Hat tip to David Hay.)

A big thanks goes to ViewZone for focusing attention on a study published in Astrophysical Journal which shows the overlapping orbits of two galaxies.

We once thought Earth and her Sun belonged to the Milky Way. Now we know we have been “stolen” from the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy by the greater forces of the much larger Milky Way.

And it appears that we are approaching a critical moment in that process, when the Sagittarius Galaxy will finally be ripped apart. As might be expected, this phenomena is causing many observable changes in our solar system, including temperature increases on every planet (not just Earth) and growing atmospheres on Mars and our Moon. (So much for “man-made” global warming.)

The phase we are entering may actually be the reason for the discontinuation of the Mayan Calendar, long held to be the most accurate on Earth. Apparently it could not advance past the point where the Pleiades Star Cluster ceases to be a constant, which will take place during this apocalyptic transformation.

Be sure to check out the ViewZone article and click on the animation links to get a better idea of how two galaxies interact.

And get used to your new place in the universe!

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Statement from Rep. Bill Sali

“Congress needs to pass a workable Farm Bill. H.R. 2419 is not a workable
Farm Bill in its current form.

“The Senior Democratic leadership injected a tax increase behind closed
doors and at the last minute before it came to the floor. This $7.8 billion
tax increase over 10 years goes directly to fund an increase in the food
stamp section of the Farm Bill. The Democrats did this so that I would have
to make a choice between farmers and the middle class. I will not support
any bill that forces me to make a choice between American farmers and
American manufacturers. This bill would raise taxes for businesses
employing 12,900 Idahoans and now threatens to jeopardize our country’s
strong economy by punishing manufacturers who employ 5.1 million American
workers and pay $325 billion in wages.

“I have never voted for a tax increase and I cannot support this bill in its
current form. However, I hope that the partisan differences in this bill
will be ironed out by the time that this bill goes to conference. I believe
that the other chamber will remove this costly and politically motivated
mistake.”

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As unbelievable as it may seem, an income tax protester has actually won the day before a 12-member jury in US District court in Louisiana, as reported by WorldNetDaily.com. Tom Cryer was exonerated on charges of non-payment of income taxes to the IRS.

Cryer offered repeatedly to pay his back taxes if and when the IRS could show him the constitutional basis for income tax. They could not.

Cryer argued that income is not necessarily wages exchanged for work, but rather profit or interest. He points out that Wal-Mart has billions in income every year, but is allowed to deduct the cost of their goods before paying taxes. However, the IRS views 100% of the earnings of a Wal-Mart employee as profit. And you begin to see his position.

Cryer maintains that the writers of the Constitution intended that the size of government be limited by the short list of sources of revenue it allowed. He correctly asserts that there is no constitutional basis for the federal government to regulate agriculture, education and employment. If the federal government eliminated all programs, departments and bureaucracies not allowed by the Constitution, it would more than make up for the loss of personal income tax.

It remains to be seen whether the IRS and Justice Department will pursue the case.

Be sure to read the full article to more fully appreciate the ramifications of this legal victory. Visit Cryer’s websites at Truth Attack and Lie Free Zone, and affiliated sites, Save a Patriot, Free Enterprise Society, and Live Free Now.

And while we’re looking for an end to the income tax, how about a full refund for taxes already paid?

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Due to scheduling problems with the Boise Fox affiliate, Bryan Fischer’s appearance on the O’Reilly Factor has been postponed.

I subscribe to the Patriot Post Founders Quote Daily and very much enjoy pondering the words of wisdom that have come down to us from our founding fathers. Today this gem appeared in my in-box:

“An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over
his fellow citizens….There has never been a moment of my life
in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my
family, my farm, my friends & books.”

– Thomas Jefferson (letter to John Melish, 13 January 1813)

Do we take Jefferson’s words at face value? If so, we must conclude that there are very few “honest men” or women in elected office or in the employment of government today. Everywhere we turn we see career politicians and bureaucrats who delight in exercising power over their fellow citizens.

From the school board to the city council, the county commission, the state legislature, congress and every bureaucracy in between, we find individuals who have maneuvered to increase their personal control over others, and by inference, their resources.

It is true that government employees are hired to carry out government functions. But so very many of them conspire to increase their own power by expanding their personal “kingdom” and their control over their neighbors.

Elected officials perhaps bear the greater guilt when they take delight in enlarging their power. So very many – in fact, almost all – forget that they were elected to represent the people to government, and instead begin to represent government to the people. There’s a big difference.
Some will say it’s for the best that most Americans do not stop to tally all the ways government officials have connived to place them in a veritable choke hold. They take their hard-earned money, over-regulate their business pursuits, and increasingly seek control over citizens’ personal behavior, religion, families and homes.

Many of those same individuals will say that the security gained from such government overreaching is worth every cent extracted from citizens, every liberty lost, each additional link in the confining chain.

A few disagree.

If citizens en masse ever “waken to their awful situation”, there will be a revolution, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the birth of our nation.

Certainly, complacent citizens bear responsibility when those who act in the name of government usurp power. No individual should be trusted with any control over others without keen oversight of the governed.

Have you done your civic duty by attending city council meetings? By paying attention to the legislature when it’s in session? Did you vote on the school bond?

It takes time, effort and vigilance to keep track of government and it’s workers. It’s not easy to search out and vote for honest men and women. And it is even more difficult to vote out the dishonest ones.

Government will continue to be run by dishonest men and women. Government will continue to fail to “govern” itself.

Someone must step forward.

Are you up for the fight?

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It’s confirmed: Bryan Fischer, executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance, appears tonight on the O’Reilly Factor.

Currently the plan includes a 5-6 minute segment with Mr. Fischer during which “Jessica’s Law” and Idaho sex offender laws will be discussed.

The O’Reilly Factor airs on the Fox News Channel at 6pm and 9pm, MDT.

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From the Office of Rep. Bill Sali

WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than two dozen congressmen have joined U.S. Rep. Bill Sali’s effort to reform Congress. They have signed on as original cosponsors of Sali’s bill that will make Congress accountable to citizens. Sali introduced the measure today.

“Today, dozens upon dozens of separate issues are crammed into a single bill. Oftentimes really bad ideas become law because to vote against the bad ideas requires voting against the really good ideas that should become law,” said Sali. “Worse, because so many topics are joined together in one bill, it’s hard to tell what your congressman supports and what he doesn’t. It’s almost dishonest the way Congress does business right now. The current system lacks accountability and transparency.”

The measure, which Sali calls “Honesty in Voting” legislation is the first Sali has introduced to reform the way Congress conducts business. The legislation would allow a bill’s multiple topics to be split apart so that Congressmen can vote on one subject at a time.

“Both parties are guilty of combining unrelated items into a single bill. For decades, Democrats and Republicans alike have added things together in such a way that you find yourself having to choose between voting for things that are vital and things that are unacceptable. How can Americans really determine what their representatives are thinking and doing when legislation is a tangled mess of unrelated topics?”

Original co-sponsors on Sali’s bill are: Steve Chabot (OH-01), Scott Garrett (NJ-05), Joseph Pitts (PA-16), Virgil Goode (VA-01), Todd Akin (MO-02), Wally Herger (CA-02), Tom Price (GA-06), John Linder (GA-07), Peter Hoekstra (MI-02), Roscoe Bartlett (MD-06), John Shadegg (AZ-03), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), John Doolittle (CA-04); Rob Bishop (UT-01), Steve Pearce (NM-02), Marsha Blackburn (TN-07), Michael Conaway (TX-11), Ron Paul (TX-14), David Weldon (FL-15), Tom Cole (OK-04), Phil Gingrey (GA-11), Luis Fortuno (PR), Tome Feeney (FL-24), Sue Myrick (NC-09), Thelma Drake (VA-02), Geoff Davis (KY-04) and Mike Pence (IN-06).

This is the first of a series of bills Idaho’s 1st District Congressman plans to introduce to change the way Congress conducts itself and to make it more accountable to all Americans.

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Don’t let the name scare you – it’s delicious people food! This recipe makes a large amount of refreshing fruit salad and if you don’t finish it off right away, it keeps for days in the refrigerator. It takes a little work, but it’s worth it –

3 cans mandarin oranges
2 – 20oz cans pineapple tidbits
1 pkg colored mini-marshmallows
1 – 20oz can crushed pineapple
2 – 8oz cartons Cool Whip
1 c shredded coconut

Drain the canned fruit, but reserve the pineapple juice. Set aside.

1 c sugar
2 T flour
2 ½ t salt
1 ¾ c pineapple juice
2 beaten eggs
1 T lemon juice
3 qts water
1 T oil
1 – 16oz pkg soup pasta (acine de pepe)

Combine sugar, flour, ½ t salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the pineapple juice and eggs. Cook over moderate heat, stirring until thickened. Add lemon juice. Cool mixture to room temperature. Bring water, 2 t salt and oil to a boil. Add soup pasta. Cook at a rolling boil until done. Drain, rinse, drain again, and cool to room temperature. Combine egg mixture and pasta. Mix lightly but thoroughly. Refrigerate overnight in airtight container. Add remaining ingredients, mixing lightly. May be refrigerated up to 1 week. Serves 25

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