LaptopAmerica.net - Power Letter

"As Members of LaptopAmerica.net, we propose not just to change the policies of the Senate Republican leadership, but even more important, to restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives. That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print."

Welcome to the first-ever ...

LAPTOP AMERICA CONTRACT WITH CONGRESS!

Dear Laptop American,

Let's face it: There is no Senate Republican leadership.

None.

Not on foreign policy. Not on domestic policy. Not on deficit spending. Not on the crushing middle-class tax burden. Not on judicial reform. Not even on talking straight with the American people.

And that's why I am asking you as one of America 's leading grassroots opinion makers to join me in telling the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate to: Lead, follow -- or get out of the way.

Now!

I don't know if you saw the recent GOP love-in last weekend in Memphis . But, if you did, I have a feeling you were just as disgusted as I was by all the cheesy smiles, phony pandering, and feigned sincerity. With the 2008 presidential nomination at stake, the politicians were all back pats and bald promises.

Unfortunately, there was one thing they weren't -- and that's completely honest about their miserable failure to keep their promises to the American people.

I'm sure you'll recall that 12 years ago, many of these same politicians came to us, hat in hand, asking that we support their " Contract With America ." They promised lower taxes ... judicial reform ... limited government ... more freedom -- and a return to a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Well, we signed on ... and they signed off.

Since 1984 -- with the Republicans in charge ...

... the overall tax burden has gotten more onerous and oppressive than ever -- with hard-working middle-income Americans now working nearly one-third of the year just to pay their rising taxes ...

... judicial activism has only gotten worse -- as criminals walk off with light sentences and early paroles, or strut away scott free ...

... government spending has skyrocketed -- with massive deficits in 11 out of the past 12 years, and a projected 2006 budget of a staggering $400 billion ...

... the Washington elite is further out of touch than ever -- with the U.S. Senate fast becoming nothing more than a plush, posh "Millionaires Club."

Make no mistake about it: Under the Republicans, the Contract With America has degenerated into nothing more than politics as usual.

First, they ran on it -- then, they ran from it.

And now, every good, decent, hardworking American is paying a daily price for their duplicity. And their pathetic lack of leadership.

That's why I'm asking you to join me in sending every single member of the Senate Republican majority our very own Laptop America Contract With Congress. Now, it's our turn to tell them what we want done. And this time, there won't be any leeway for them to pat us on the head -- and stab us in the back.

Sorry to be so rough. I know those are strong words. But, the truth is: Washington is in complete disarray. And it's the total lack of leadership in the United States Senate that has left our country in the lurch.

Hence the Laptop America Contract With Congress ... Hence this letter asking you to join me in this vital effort ... Hence our strongest ever ActiFax Blasts serving notice on every single member of the Senate Republican majority that the time has come for real leadership.

In short: It's time for us to take control!

Action To Take:

Click here to send your ActiFax Blasts to every member of the Senate Republican majority telling them to commit now to the Laptop America Contract With Congress (that’s 56 ActiFaxes for just $20). The Senate Republicans have failed to lead for far too long. We need real tax reform ... fair share congressional pay ... complete border protection ... sweeping judicial reform ... binding term limits ... and honest, open communications. And we need them NOW! They broke their Contract With America. Now, it’s time to demand they keep our Contract With Congress!

Now, you can help change the direction of the United States Senate ...

In just a moment, I'll give you the full details about our exciting new Laptop America Contract With Congress. Then, you'll see for yourself why this simple, straightforward document is so important to our country's future.

Nothing like it has ever before been done. That's because no nationwide force like Laptop America has ever before been assembled. You have changed the rules of the game and the lay of the land.

And now, you can change the direction of the United States Senate.

Why am I so confident of your success?

Well, I want you to think for just a second about the impact you have had over the past three years. Time and again, you have taken the lead in the most crucial battles our country has faced. And time and again, your lead has carried the day.

Sometimes, you have stood alone "until those who were hitherto half blind were now half ready."

In fact, that's what happened in the first battle we ever fought together: the fight for the ban on partial birth abortion. Everyone else had given up on even getting it out of the Senate-House Conference Committee.

But you ActiFaxed every member of the Senate and House involved -- and you blasted it onto the President's desk. You stood alone. And you saved lives.

You stood alone again when Michael Eisner's Disney put out the vulgar, obscene Bad Santa movie desecrating Christmas. One of the nation's top morning shock jocks actually ridiculed you on the air for taking on the "lost cause of the year."

But, you Actifaxed every board member of the Motion Picture Academy -- and you blasted that scourge right off the screen (even getting credit from a Variety magazine editor). Thank you.

At other times, you have been the first to lead a growing nationwide protest. And because you acted, others joined in the fray.

That's what happened just a few short months ago when the nation's leading retailers decided to wage war on our most sacred traditions by replacing the word "Christmas" with a meaningless, mush-mouth "Holiday Greeting."

You Actifaxed the top 50 CEOs telling them in no uncertain terms: "If we don't see Christmas in your stores -- you won't see us there either." And suddenly, it was "Ho, ho, ho, and a Merry Christmas to all." You can be proud of that.

Then, just last week, you took on the media over their false claims of a "civil war" in Iraq . You saw what it was doing to the morale of our soldiers and the support of the American people.

You ActiFaxed 70 of the top media mavens in the country demanding that they end their steady drumbeat of defeatism -- that they "Stop distorting and stop reporting." And just yesterday the White House press office noted an ever-so-subtle shift in the barrage of negativism. And that can save lives.

The point I'm making is that when you talk, leaders listen. Not only because so many of you strike hard with such force. But, because they have seen your track record of success.

So, they know that if you're first, others will soon follow. If you're among the many, yours is the voice that stands out most. And even if you are alone, you are still speaking for a "Silent Majority" with which they will one day have to reckon.

That's why your voice now is so important in presenting every single member of the Republican Senate Majority with the Laptop America Contract With Congress.

They need to know that their days of wiggling and weaseling have come to an end. They need to know that there's a new sheriff in town -- and your name is one of those emblazoned on the badge.

We have six specific demands -- not "requests" ... demands. And unlike their Contract With America, our Contract With Congress is not negotiable, debatable -- or disposable:

• We want Real Tax Reform -- As economist Walter Williams has written: "If 10% is good enough for God, it's good enough for government. We'll accept a little more than that -- but not much.

• We want Congressional Pay Cuts -- Let me ask you: Can someone raking in more than $160,000 a year (plus a million dollars more in perks) really "represent" an average worker eking out a living on less than 1/5 that much?

• We want Strict Border Protection -- Every day, more and more illegal aliens invade America and tax our social system. And how does the Senate respond? By proposing to hand out free "Gold Cards."

• We want Sweeping Judicial Reform -- Congress has the Constitutional power to rein in the Tyrants in Black. So, it's time for them to stop passing the buck and start passing some bills!

• We want Absolute Term Limits -- Under their Contract With America, they promised to enact term limits as a top priority -- then swept it aside with a single vote. Under our Contract With Congress, we're going to teach them to say goodbye.

• We want Open Constituent Communications -- More and more often, the members of Congress go to Washington to find out what they can get away with -- and who they can get away from. It's time to tell them that if they want to run, they can't hide!

If you agree with those six pillars of our platform, I urge you to join me in clicking below to send our Laptop America Contract With Congress to the Republican Senate majority now. No one has ever done it before. And, I'm not sure anyone else even could. So, thank God that we can.

In one of my favorite speeches (you may have seen it), Ronald Reagan looked straight into the camera and asked, "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

As Laptop Leaders, we know the answer to both of those questions. So, please click below to give your response now!

Action To Take:

Click here or on the Eagle below to send your ActiFax Blasts to every member of the Senate Republican majority telling them to commit now to the Laptop America Contract With Congress (that’s 56 ActiFaxes for just $20). The Senate Republicans have failed to lead for far too long. We need real tax reform ... fair share congressional pay ... complete border protection ... sweeping judicial reform ... binding term limits ... and honest, open communications. And we need them NOW! They broke their Contract With America. Now, it’s time to demand they keep our Contract With Congress!

"The Laptop America Contract With Congress" -- a revolution whose time has come ...

Now, once again, this letter is getting a little long. And I apologize. But, your input -- and your impact -- are so important that I want you to see for yourself the actual Laptop America Contract With Congress that I would like you to join me in ActiFaxing the members of Senate. Then, you'll know how revolutionary it actually is.

Again, no one has ever before made such a bold -- and unequivocal -- move. But critical times require courageous actions. No one over the past two and a half years has shown more courage than you. And now it's time to act again.

So, here is the revolutionary Laptop America Contract With Congress -- fashioned exactly as the original Contract With America, with much of its actual wording -- that you and I will soon have sitting on every Republican senators' desk:

_____________________________________________

THE LAPTOP AMERICA CONTRACT
WITH CONGRESS

As Members of LaptopAmerica.net, we propose not just to change the policies of the Senate Republican leadership, but even more important, to restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives. That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.

This year's election offers the chance, after nearly 11 years of tepid leadership, to instill in the members of the Senate majority the type of courage and commitment that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.

Like Lincoln, America 's first Republican president, we hereby encourage the Senate majority to begin acting "with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right." To restore accountability. To end the Republican leadership's cycle of surrender, ambivalence, dissembling, and disgrace. To make us all proud again of the way free people govern themselves.

In the year of our Lord 2006, we respectfully ask that the Senate Republican majority immediately take the following major actions, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:

PASS FAIR SHARE TAX REFORM -- We ask that you reduce the federal tax rate on earned income to a maximum of no more than 17% ... as proposed by Rep. Dick Armey nearly a decade ago ... as opposed to the current 40%. This will lift the onerous tax burden off the shoulders of the middle class where it now resides. We further propose that you simplify the tax form so that it requires no more than an 8" by 12" sheet of paper. This will eliminate the 5.4 billion work hours and $900 Americans now spend each year futilely attempting to comply with the current unseemly code.
PASS FAIR SHARE PAY CUTS -- We ask that you reduce your own pay in order to better understand the financial burdens of those you claim to represent. The average wage earner in this country makes just $28,000 a year -- yet you pay yourselves more than $160,000. In 1988, you nearly doubled your own salary -- giving yourselves your 11th pay raise in 15 years. We propose that in order to truly represent your own constituents, you immediately reduce your pay to the average income of workers in your state -- and not one penny more. Fair is fair, and it's time you begin sharing the burdens you help create.
FENCE THE BORDER -- Currently some 1 million illegal aliens invade America each year. We now have an estimated 11 million within our borders at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $40 billion annually. And yet, you have given this critical issue little but lip service. We ask that you immediately begin impeding the flow of illegal immigration by erecting a border fence between the United States and Mexico . You have taken an oath to protect America 's sovereignty. Please do so.
ACT BOLDLY TO END JUDICIAL TYRANNY -- Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution clearly states: "the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make." In other words, you have the power to remove from the federal court's jurisdiction any issue at any time. In centuries passed, this power was exercised frequently. You have been too timid to use it at all -- even in such areas as abortion, school prayer, and eminent domain. Exercise that power. You also have the power to impeach judges who let criminals go free. We are waiting.
ENACT TERM LIMITS -- In your 1994 Contract With America , you promised the American people "a first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators." You hastily pushed that vote through -- and then made certain term limits were soundly defeated, and you never brought them up again. So, now, we're bringing them up. Career politicians are an anathema. They inevitably contract what Harry Truman called "Potomac Fever": their heads swell, their minds wander, and they soon disappear from their constituents' view. You suggested 12-year limits for both senators and representatives. Please act on that suggestion now.
OPEN UP COMMUNICATIONS WITH ALL OF YOUR CONSTITUTENTS NATIONWIDE -- It's time to end the myth that members of the Senate represent only those within their states. Every vote you cast affects every citizen of this country. That's inordinately and disproportionately true if you sit on any committees or subcommittees. So, every citizen of this country is entitled to contact you about every vote you cast. That is why we call upon you now to stop trying to isolate yourselves from all of those you impact by erecting offensive email template barricades and refusing to answer mail or phone calls. In the 21 st Century, you impact everyone. So, you are answerable to everyone. Either start responding -- or stop voting.

Respecting the judgment of our fellow citizens and asking only that you live up to your own sworn duties as members of the United States Senate, we hereby ask you to commit yourself to this Laptop America Contract With Congress.

___________________________________________

I think you will agree that's pretty reasonable, rational -- and well-warranted -- isn't it? If our public employees won't measure up to those work rules, then they need to know that we fully intend to search around for their replacements. That's life in the real world. And it's time they adjust to it.

The alternative is the continued malfeasance of a do-nothing Senate majority that shuns our wants and spurns our needs. And that's not acceptable.

That's why I am asking you to join me now in ActiFaxing every member of the Senate Republican majority the Laptop America Contract With Congress -- and asking them to commit to it now.

If they won't lead, at least they can agree to follow. And if they won't agree to follow, then they need to be prepared to get out of the way!

Action To Take:

Now is the time to act ... for the sake of the next election -- and the next generation ...

Now is the time to put our Laptop America Contract With Congress squarely on the desk of every Republican Senator. As you may have noticed at the Memphis love-in, politicians are never more ingratiating than when they want something from you.

And they're never more willing to listen than when an election is looming on the near horizon. That's why we need to call on them now to commit to our Contract With Congress. It's all a matter of sending them the message -- and then driving it home.

So, here's is what I propose: If you will take the lead in ActiFaxing the Laptop America Contract With Congress to each member of the Republican Senate majority, Bryan and I will follow up your ActiFaxes with personal calls to every office. We'll make sure they got your message -- and we'll ask them point blank exactly when they intend to respond. That's a promise.

In short: If you'll put them on the hook, we won't let them off.

Twelve years ago, the Republicans in Washington asked us to give them a vote of confidence by electing them to the majorities in both Houses of Congress. We did as they asked. They haven't done as they promised. And now, for all practical purposes, there simply is no Senate Republican leadership.

My experience in Washington over the past 35 years tells me that if the Republicans are ever going to lead, it is going to be in the next eight months, with a critical election staring them right in the face.

And my experience with you over the past two and a half years, tells me that if anyone is ever going to force their hand, it is going to be you in the next several days.

Frankly, our country needs your Laptop leadership now -- because after November, it may be too late.

So, please, take just a moment now to send your ActiFax Blast containing the Laptop America Contract With Congress to every Republican member of the United States Senate.

We need to do it now not only for the sake of the next election ... but for the sake of the next generation, as well.

look forward to hearing from you.

Action To Take:

Faithfully,

Carter L. Clews

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