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Response from Congressman Charles Gonzalez 20th Congressional District San Antonio Tx. To Concerns of Stimulus Spending

RodZ — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:32:20 +0000

Dear Mr. Zagala:

I want you to know that I understand why the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1) concern you, and I hope I can offer some reassurance.

The idea of borrowing more money, when our national debt has double in recent years, is counterintuitive at the least, but it’s a necessary move in our present situation. The best way to get our country out the red is to get Americans out of the red. That means putting Americans back to work, not just trimming wasteful government spending. The private sector is too frightened to hire people or begin projects, so cutting corporate taxes will just put millions into big companies that aren’t willing to spend it. By cutting individual taxes, from income tax to sales tax, for 95% of workers, we are giving the American people the money to buy necessities and creating consumer demand to spur private company spending. By providing contracts for construction companies, we not only get new roads and an updated electric grid, but we create business for those companies, all of their suppliers, and all of their workers, who can then go out and buy from other private companies, so the cycle builds on itself.

There have been plenty of rumors about wasteful projects supposedly hidden in HR 1, from the misleading claims about a $30 million dollar program for a mouse to baseless talk of honeybee insurance, but the bill is actually pretty well targeted and transparent. Much of the spending will go to the states, through established formulae, to keep teachers teaching and firemen on the job. The big projects will be under constant review – not only from Congress and government, but from you on the website www.Recovery.gov – and could lose their money if it isn’t spent within 90-days or if they’re wasteful.Putting money in the hands of Americans, through unemployment benefits or social security bonuses, will help mitigate the suffering of people innocent of causing this crisis. By getting our economy going again, we’ll be able to protect our citizens and pay down our debt in time. With HR 1, we have put a down-payment on our future. That’s a mortgage I’m ok with.

Sincerely,

Charles A. Gonzalez

Member of Congress

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Honorable Charles Gonzalez, 20th Congressional District

RodZ — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 23:20:54 +0000

To the Honorable Charles Gonzalez:
Sir I am writing this message to implore you to make every effort to reinstate one thing into the health care reform bill during the reconciliation process. The one thing is to remove the exemptions the insurance companies enjoy from our anti-trust laws.
I believe this single change will do more to lower costs and improve coverages than any other provision in the bill.
The fact that one Senator sold his vote to remove this important section is appalling to me. It appears that one person has affected all of us to gain favor from the insurance companies. I don’t know if it is the case, but it certainly appears that way. Regardless this section must be reinstated.

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Addressing Members of Congress and Finding Their Addresses

Lady Kathleen — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:35:01 +0000

Political Parties

Addressing Members of Congress

To Your Senator:

The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

To Your Representative:

The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

The above addresses should be used in email messages, as well as those sent through the Postal Service.

Finding Their Addresses
Senate and House of Representatives

U.S. Senators (web sites and mailing addresses)

Write Your U.S. Representative (A service of the House that will assist you by identifying your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives and providing contact information.

U.S. Supreme Court
The Justices do not have email addresses, but they do read letters from citizens.

U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Bldg.
Washington, DC 20543
(202) 479-3000

Court Officials

Clerk: William K. Suter
     (202)479-3014
Marshal: Dale E. Bosley
     (202)479-3200
Reporter of Decisions: Frank D. Wagner
     (202)479-3390
Librarian: Shelley L. Dowling
     (202)479-3037
Attorney Admissions:(202)479-3018
Public Information Officer: Toni House
     (202)479-3211

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Letter to Obama by Ms Kathleen Lyday, a 4th grade teacher

Lady Kathleen — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 16:12:47 +0000

This letter you are about to read was written by a 4th grade teacher.

April 27, 2009

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington , DC 20500

Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally. You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America . You are responsible to the citizens of the United States .

You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth. I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe ? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about?

Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century? Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States ? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this?

Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia . You don’t show Great Britain , our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia . How dare you, sir! How dare you!

You can’t find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don’t want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey . You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What’s the matter with you?

I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you. You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.

What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members — on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer.

You haven’t said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn’t! Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that’s $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million — not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven’t you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now.

I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you. I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.

Sincerely,

Every Real American

Ms Kathleen Lyday
Fourth Grade Teacher
Grandview Elementary School

Snopes says the letter actually was written by Franklin T. Bell of Columbia Mayland. But no matter who wrote it, it was a good subjuct of discussion.

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How to Send a Letter to a Congressman

Lady Kathleen — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:19:22 +0000

Writing your congressman is an important right you have as a citizen of the United States. If you have an issue or petition you would like to bring up to him, sending a letter is a great way to do that. It is important to recognize that your congressman gets tons of mail each day and may not get to each letter for days if not weeks. That is why we recommend you do more than just write them, but also post your letters here!

Step 1)
Find the name and address of your congressman. It may be easier for you to write your congressman an email than mailing a letter.

Step 2)
Determine the main point of your letter. Get to the point in your letter fast and explain yourself clearly.

Step 3)
Write about only one issue in your letter.

Step 4)
Include detailed information about your situation.

Step 5)
Include your real contact.

Step 6)
Be pleasant.

Step 7)
Be patient for a response, and don’t get discouraged if the response isn’t what you hoped. Just keep writing other representatives if your cause is that important to you.

Step
Post your letter to Yes-23.com so that you can get some added attention to your situation or concern.

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Civic Duty, Write a Rep

RodZ — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:57:21 +0000

No matter what your position on the issues, write your REP

Post it here, share your opinion!

Don’t let your letters just be filed away by the Reps, post them here too!

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Letter to Charles Gonzales, 20th Congressional District, TX

RodZ — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:35:38 +0000

The Honorable Charles Gonzalez

Dear Representative, it has been reported by Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC in the Huffington Post that health insurance companies are exempt from the Sherman anti-trust laws.

If this report is accurate and true why is this the case? You have stated you want fair and open competition but I fail to see how this can be accomplished if the insurance companies enjoy protection under the law from competing insurance companies.

I also understand from the report that Texas is one of the states that allows this to occur. Why aren’t you trying to have this law changed in order to lower the costs.

Are you so bent on a government option that you cannot support fair and open competition?

I think that Tort Reform and eliminating the exemption from the anti-trust laws would go along way to reforming health care and not cost us billions of dollars.

What is your position on this?

Thank you for your time

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Prevent Fraud When Writing

Lady Kathleen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:27:27 +0000

Did you know that anything you write with a normal pen can be used for fraud? Mostly the fraud is used when writing a check. This fraud called “Check Washing” is a growing form of fraud.
The reason it is called “Check Washing” is because criminals take your check, generally out of your mail box, and put your check into chemicals to wash off what you have written leaving your signature then make the check out to them self and cash your check.
In 2006 the government said this was an $800,000,000.00 fraud and in 3 year this amount would double. The reason it because it is such an easy fraud to perform. Unlike any form of electronic indemnity theft they don’t need to know anything about computers to perform this fraud. And even more the chemical they use is a readily available at most grocery stores. It is a common form of acetone, which is paint thinner or remover. The acetone does not harm your check at all but in 3 minutes it will clear who you made the check out to. The other thing about acetone is it dries so quickly that takes about 20 seconds for the check to dry so the check is not wet long enough to damage the fibers of the check.
So how can you stop this happening to you?
Most pens use a dye based ink. What you need is a gel pigment ink to write your checks. That is the reason so many pen manufactures suddenly came out with the “Gel” pens. Uni-ball 207 was one of the first popular “Gel” pens, and then Pentel and others soon followed.

Now your probally asking yourself, how does this relate to politics?

Well check out my next post called “Did I really elect the Preisdent” to find out!

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Honorable Charles Gonzalez 20th District Replies, More Spin

RodZ — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:02:54 +0000

They honorable Charles Gonzalez once again responds with spin and a sales pitch. Once again he does not address the issue I posed to him about removing the exemptions the insurance companies enjoy regarding the anti-trust laws nor answer the question, “will he fight to get this law repealed?” I am so tired of being treated like a blind following sheep that will believe whatever a politician has to say. Come on San Antonio 20th district voters lets end his time in office and vote someone in who has respect for our concerns and not just the party line.
I am posting his response to me so you can see the sales job of how wonderful a job he is doing for us.
Glad to Hear From You
Wed, January 6, 2010 10:58:42 AM
From:
Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez

Dear Mr. Zagala:

Thank you for sharing your concerns with me about efforts to reform our healthcare system. As you may be aware, on October 29, 2009, the Congressional leadership unveiled the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962.
Our healthcare system is failing too many Americans. In the 20th Congressional District, one in four people I represent do not have health insurance coverage. These folks can not access appropriate healthcare, so they end up putting off proper care until small problems become too big to ignore. Not only does this put lives at risk, but it is a great contributor to the high cost of healthcare that impacts the insured and the uninsured alike. Healthcare costs are too high and will only continue to skyrocket if we don’t do something now. Currently, they consume 18% of our gross domestic product, but if we don’t make substantial changes to the healthcare system, health care costs will consume 34% of our GDP by 2040.
Since costs are so high, even those with insurance are often underinsured. So, when life happens and medical care is needed, it is difficult for families to pay. In fact, 62% of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills. It is upsetting to know that 78% of the people with a medically-related bankruptcy had health insurance, but there were gaps in their coverage due to co-payments, deductibles, and uncovered services. The epidemic levels of uninsurance, the ever-increasing cost of care, and the inadequate coverage even for those with insurance is a formula for the economic ruin for our country and must be fixed now.
The Obama Administration and Congressional leadership have answered the call for reform and have rightly made healthcare reform a top priority. Since February, leaders in the House and the Senate have been working to develop healthcare reform proposals. Throughout this process, policymakers have taken input from constituents and other stakeholders to aid in the development of healthcare reform legislation. Thousands of townhalls have been held, over 100 witnesses have testified at multiple congressional hearings and H.R. 3200, the underlying bill, was debated in 3 committees. The House of Representatives has developed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which combines the efforts of the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor, as well as legislation considered in the Senate and other House Committees.
H.R. 3962 is a work in progress and is no small undertaking. However, it includes some very substantial reform efforts that are expected to provide affordable access to quality care for all Americans. It creates a Health Insurance Exchange that will give individuals and small businesses the opportunity to comparison shop for the insurance plan that works best for them. With the Exchange’s transparency requirements, one will be able to compare various plans’ costs, deductibles, co-pays, and covered services easily. Sliding scale affordability credits will be provided to low income individuals and families to help with the purchase of health insurance. H.R. 3962 also creates a public health insurance option that will be sold through the Exchange alongside privately-offered plans. There are many misconceptions about this proposal which I would like to clear up. No one will be forced into this plan. It is simply another insurance plan from which consumers can choose. Also, this plan is not funded by the government. It will be financed only through premiums, just like traditional private insurance plans.
H.R. 3962 will create a number of necessary consumer protections. For example, insurance companies will no longer be able deny coverage for treatments of a pre-existing condition or charge higher rates due to health status, gender, or other factors. It requires that minimum standards be set for all insurance plans which will include preventive and mental health services, oral health and vision services for children, and will cap the amount of money a person or family spends on covered services in a year (which will help prevent bankruptcies).
It also improves Medicare by helping to fill the “donut hole” over time in the Part D drug program. This problem has been of great detriment to many seniors and disabled folks in our community. The bill also extends the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by improving payment accuracy and encouraging delivery system reforms. H.R. 3962 also makes significant investments in the healthcare workforce. In particular, the bill aims to increase the number of folks who choose to be primary care physicians or nurses. There is significant investment in the recruitment, training, and retention of these valuable healthcare workers in medically underserved communities.
One issue of great concern to many folks I have spoken to is the cost of this proposal. This is a costly proposition but as someone recently observed: “The cost of failure far exceeds the cost of progress.” Our economy can not sustain the consequences of escalating healthcare costs and unavailable or inadequate health insurance coverage. While the upfront costs are daunting, policymakers are determined to develop a bill that will create overall savings for families and businesses. In fact, the House of Representatives is not even allowed to pass a bill unless it meets pay-go rules, which require bills to be paid for. H.R. 3962 will be paid for through a surcharge on the top 0.3% of wage earners, a surcharge on businesses that choose to not provide coverage for their employees (with an exemption that will apply to 98.8% of small businesses), improving payment accuracy in Medicare, and preventing waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the healthcare system. It will also reduce the growth in health care spending through stronger prevention and wellness measures and increasing access to primary care.
As you may be aware, on November 7th, 2009, I along with 219 members of the House of Representatives voiced our support by approving H.R. 3962. While the House has approved this landmark piece of legislation, H.R. 3962 will continue through the legislative process as it is considered in the Senate.
The healthcare debate has created very strong feelings from Americans of every persuasion. This is because every single one of us has a very real, very direct stake in this debate. People’s beliefs on this matter are also incredibly divergent. My offices in San Antonio and Washington, DC have received thousands of calls, letters, emails, and faxes. While balancing these very divergent opinions is an enormous challenge, I am very heartened that the people I represent in Congress are so engaged. I hope that you will continue to involve yourself in the debate as the legislative process continues on this historic effort.

Sincerely,

Charles A. Gonzalez
Member of Congress

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House Healthcare Bill Breakdown: Letter From Dr. Stephen E. Fraser, MD

RodZ — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:28:09 +0000

Dr. Fraser has put some time into this, it is accurate and a good read!!

An Indianapolis doctor’s letter to Sen. Bayh about the Bill (Note: Dr. Stephen E. Fraser, MD practices as an anesthesiologist in Indianapolis, IN ) Here is a letter I sent to Senator Bayh. Feel free to copy it And send it around to all other representatives.

– Stephen Fraser July 23, 2009 Senator Bayh, As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the Health care bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am Shocked by the brazenness of the government’s proposed involvement in the Patient-physician relationship. The very idea that the government will Dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in Designing a health care system that works for all. Every physician I work With agrees that we need to fix our health care system, but the proposed Bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if Passed. I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at The following troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot Possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the Country and our fellow citizens. Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit Books of all employers that self-insure!!

Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE That decides what treatments/benefits you get.

Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will Choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!

Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL Non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.

Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to Individuals”s finances & ; a ‘National ID Health card’ will be issued!

Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to Your bank accounts for elective funds transfer.

Page 65 Sec 164: Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and Their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN).

Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages For private HC plans in the ‘Exchange.’

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans — The Govt will ration your health care!

Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic Appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.)

Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members – your health care WILL be rationed!)

Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid eligible individuals Will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. (No choice.)

Page 12 4 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price Fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt monopoly.

Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association – The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.

Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees Into public option plan. (NO choice!)

Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time Employees AND their families. (Employees shouldn’t get excited about this As employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and Wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.)

Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above Who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! (See the Last comment in parenthesis.)

Page 150 Lines 9-13: A business with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn’t provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll.

Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn’t have Acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt From individual taxes. (Americans will pay.)

Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to ALL Americans’ finances and personal records.

Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” (Yes, it really says that!)

Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.)

Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: It doesn’t matter what specialty you have trained yourself in — you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that’s not Socialism!)

Page 253 Line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor’s time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally– the value of humans.)

Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for “private” HC industries.

Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer patients – welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e…re-admissions).

Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission — the Govt will penalize you.

Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!)

Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.)

Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?

Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of=2 outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want — rationing.)

Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan)

Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of ‘special needs people!’ Unbelievable!

Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a “Tele-Health Advisory Committee.” (Can you say HC by phone?)

Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates “Advance-Care Planning Consult.” (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)

Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it’s mandatory!)

Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an “approved” list of end-of-life resources; & nbsp;guiding you in death. (Also called ‘assisted suicide.’)

Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on “end-of-life.” (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!)

Page 429 Lines 1-9: An “advanced-care planning consultant” will be used frequently as a patient’s health deteriorates.

Page 429 Lines 10-12: An “advanced care consultation” may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)

Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. (I wouldn’t want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)

Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again — no choice!)

Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello? ACORN Medical Services here!?!)

Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy. (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.)

Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services. Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are debating. Furthermore, if you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the country and destroys the doctor-patient relationship, I will do everything in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election. Respectfully, Stephen E. Fraser, MD

Please also read part 2 of this post Healthcare Reform: Stephen Fraser Letter Controversy, More Truth Than Fiction?

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