WTHR Channel 13: Indiana's News Leader did a comprehensive investigation on a tax loophole that has given illegal aliens over $4 Billion of OUR money a year in illegal tax refunds.

IRS Tax Loophole:
http://www.wthr.com/video?clipId=7054149&autostart=true

House lawmakers debate tax loophole question
http://www.wthr.com/story/18272744/house-lawmakers-debate-tax-loophole-question

Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.

'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan.

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time...

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base.' His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.

'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.

A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane.

Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base.

I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base.

It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.

As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

Mr. Warner,

Thank you for contacting me. I would like to think it was a personal response, so I'll respond as if it were.

Unfortunately, the only thing signing the Health Care Reform Bill did was to insure that every American will have to purchase insurance, whether they can afford it or not, and the fact that it's a blanket promissory note to all insurance companies, guaranteeing them more business. I have read a good part of this bill, which is something I'm sure most of your colleges and constituents cannot say, but I stopped when it started making me sicker and sicker reading it.

My conclusion on who wins in this: Not the American people, but the insurance companies. Maybe you are familiar with the Former Medical College of Virginia, now the VCU Medical Center. They accept everyone, turning no one away, taking payment only if the admitted can afford it. They have done so forever. They help the homeless, destitute, and jobless. No matter the circumstances. There are thousands of "Free Clinics" around the nation, operating on grants but mostly the hard earned money of those who donate to them. People work in these hospitals and clinics, not to become wealthy, but to do their part helping people. Why not write a bill that support hospitals and clinics like this, rather than forcing insurance on those who cannot afford it so the Insurance companies can make more money?

I would like to express the fact that there was a time I wholeheartedly supported the Democratic party, and one of my proudest moments was being invited to Chuck Robb's house and meeting him. The "New" Democratic party (Post Clinton Progressives) now have big business and big insurance so deep in their pockets which makes them no better than a Republican. That's why our elections are mostly 51% to 49%. There is no distinct line separating the parties. It's a shame. Not saying I'm a Republican in any shape or Form, I am an American, I have served this country honorably in her military, and now I'm a civil servant because of my love to help people. This Bill has not helped the American people in need of insurance. It has helped the insurance companies by guaranteeing them business. Explain to me why insurance prices have increased significantly since the bill signing. Why have they gone up? Because now they will be guaranteed money.

What saddens me the most is this bill alone makes the administration and the congress that passed it no better than anything GW Bush and his cronies did because it will negatively effect our nation for many years to come. You Sir, being known as the "Business Governor" should know what the only "Business sense" this bill makes is for the Insurance companies, not the American's without insurance.

But, with the VITA/NG debacle that you and your administration created (with the blessing of the current administration in Virginia of course) costing Virginians and their the agencies more money than before, causing disruptions in service, poor service, taking months instead of days to get anything done, we should expect you to support the Insurance companies over the people. The cost for IT services for the average agency increased 4 fold. What does this mean? If an agency was paying 1 million dollars a month in IT services they are now paying 4 million a month. Maybe you are all about business and not the American people. Shamefully, what you did in Virginia alone makes one wonder.

I hope to remind you sir, you are working for Virginians and her people. The wool has many holes in it now, and the truth is starting to shine through. Too bad there are too many clouds blocking the beauty that was once a great nation and a great Commonwealth alike. We will either return to the beauty it once was, or we will fail, and the path we have been on for the past 4 years guarantee us that this great nation will fail! It's time to turn in a better direction for the sake of America.

In January you were all abuzz because you were introducing a bill that would cut trillions from our deficit. Smoke and Mirrors. You want to make a difference for the people of Virginia and the American people? Introduce a REAL bill to save the US trillions of dollars. Not some smoke and mirror act that tries to close up the holes in the wool.

1) End free rides around the county or the world for all members of congress. Make every member of congress pay their way back and forth to work, whether it's from their state to DC or around the world, just as every American has to do. (Travel tax write-off instead of US paying for it, just like all Americans).
2) Get rid of the Congressional retirement plan and afford them the same retirement as every other American. Social Security and retirement for the time spent in congress.
3) Limit Terms of members of congress (but this will only work if #2 is enacted)
4) The Health Care Reform Bill is so great? Get rid of the Congressional insurance plan and make every member of congress join in with the rest of the country in this "Great" health insurance reform. You could be one of the few to do so and that would REALLY show that you are thinking of the American people and the people of Virginia, and not for yourself.
5) Recall the disgrace that is the Health Care Reform Bill and write one that supports hospitals and medical facilities that are struggling to get supplies and medicine so they can continue to provide free services to those who need it. On top of that, manage it like HMO's do (maximum payments for services), and not the price gouging way Medicare is administered;
6) Pull us out of the 2 previous wars completely;
7) Admonish our current president for involving us in a 3rd war and finally pass a bill that takes the right from any president who thinks he can start a war wherever and whenever he wants without Congress' blessing, unless directly protecting an invasion of our borders or our allies borders, as promised in diplomatic treaties;
8) Close Gitmo as promised and stop the US once and for all from being the police of the world;
9) Close all the bases outside our nations borders;
10) Acknowledge that Illegals of all nationalities are in fact here illegally, and Deport them Immediately.
11) Deny any and all federal support for any state (i.e. California) that affords illegals services of any type. Fine states in which illegals receive better services than it's own residents (Californians).
12) Demand that Iraq give us 1.5 Trillion dollars worth of oil out of their 12+ Trillion dollars worth of oil for all our soldiers who lost their lives FOR THEM;
13) Allow any business that is destined to fail, to fail. (No more bailouts). You want to help "Spread the Wealth" you can do so by allowing a company to fail, rather than providing them with the means to give huge bonuses to those who drove them into the ground;
14) Consolidate programs across the nation. Don't give each state a separate chunk of money to do a program on it's own. Have a federal commission that makes a program, administers and allows every state to tap into one service. For example; A single police agency database that provide information to all, A single Unemployment Insurance applications for filing UI and Job Service claims and submissions, A single application for submitting Terror threats.
15) Put a 2 year hiatus on Foreign Aid. giving money to every country we are currently funding (i.e. India, Pakistan, Mexico, Russia)
16) Enact a Balanced Budget Agreement, stating that no lawmaker nor the president shall be paid as long as there is budget deficit. Have Congress and the President put their money where your mouth is, as they say.

I would like to reiterate something you said months ago... "Put up or Shut up"
I can only hope that your silence on the issue recently doesn't mean you have shut up.

Respectfully

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

We all notice those annoying Google Ads on just about every site we visit these days, including this one. They are all over the place. And you see them and if you even think about them, you think, "Who clicks on these things."

I do. Every time I see a Google ad on a site, I right mouse click a few and open them in a new browser.

I do this for several reasons.

1st, I'm on the web anyway, I may as well see if I'm missing something that's relevant to the site I am on. Quite a few times, I have found a "Better Deal" from the ad, and end up being better off in the end by getting my service from the site I got to from the ad. I can easily say that most of my bookmarks are from ad's I have clicked on.

Secondly, with Google ad's, I know I'm not going to be sent to a site that wants to make me larger, smarter, bulkier or more desirable, unless I actually wanted to. I also know that I'm not going to get a nasty disease from the site, like a virus, Trojan horse, worms, herpes, lice, bedbugs, banana fingers and such.

Lastly, the person put the ad's on their site to help support something. Maybe it's a few kids that they need to feed, maybe it's to pay a mortgage, cell phone, car payment, drug or alcohol habit, whatever. I can go to sleep at night, knowing I helped out as many people as I could to keep a flow of money from one of the few companies that are thriving in this messed up economy, and not having to supply that person with government support, because it's reported income, and the Government gets their share!

It's a win-win situation for all!

So, take 20 seconds out of your busy browsing time and the next time you see those "Annoying Google Ad's," do your part for the economy and open up a few, especially if it's a website you frequent often. They are providing you with something FREE, the least you could do is to help out in the little way you can! You may even find something that you didn't realize you were looking for.

From the Desk of the Chopperguy, That is all...
Chopperguy's Domain

All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The Chicago contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700."

The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?"

The Chicago contractor whispers back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence."

"Done!" replies the government official.

And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work.

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