Cap and Trade can still be stopped

Gotta love the checks and balances. Especially in this case, since the Cap and Trade Bill passed in the House of Representatives.

For any and all Senators, look here. For Idaho:

Senator Crapo

Senator Risch

I called Senator Crapo's office this morning, and was informed that he has not yet decided on which way he will be voting. Please call and let him know what you think.

I was informed that Senator Risch is voting against it. I asked his staff to thank him. Please call and let him know that you are supporting him in his decision.

If you are wondering why I find this applicable to prepping, you are probably not alone, and may want to check out this post from last week. I really feel that this could have a negative effect on our abilities to prepare for emergencies, as well as hasten the need to use the supplies we (hopefully) already have on hand.

Your opinion does matter, and it can make a difference. Please contact as many Senators as you can to make your thoughts known. Our vote may not affect them, but there are only 100 of them, and their vote definitely affects us. Cap and Trade needs to end in the Senate.

A (really, really) brief update

Well, I sent off a thank you e-mail to Senator Risch.

However, when I tried to send a thank you e-mail to Congressman Chet Edwards, I was unable to do so because his website only accepts e-mail from Texas, and I had no Texas zipcode to enter.

No Texas zipcode=no e-mailing for you.

I am still grateful that he had legislation ready to protect the military benefits. Hope someone (or everyone :) who does have a Texas zipcode tells him thank you for me....

Always good to have a reason

Thinking about it, I guess my last post could be questioned in terms of how it actually relates to emergency preparedness---isn't just a matter of me asking people to make their voices heard on yet more legislation that I don't like? Kind of--I don't like it, and I am asking people to speak up--but that is not the entire reason that I wrote the post.

I've heard things along the lines of, "you can only keep what you can defend" when there are discussions of what might happen if a situation arose where the only resources available were what people had put away in terms of food/water/supplies storage. This post on PreparednessPro provides a lot of food for thought on the need to be prepared when it comes to defense. It's unfortunate but true that there may come a time when we have to defend either our storage, or ourselves/our family/loved ones. Legislation along the lines that I wrote about could inhibit our abilities to do so (or even hunt for food to sustain ourselves) by prohibitive costs or other restrictions that directly affect our ability to prepare ourselves for emergencies. That, and I love the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution, and don't want them messed with. At all.

Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. I just hope that we all will do what we can to make sure that our ability to prepare for the worst is not hampered in any way, including making our voices heard.

It seems like such a long time...

Basically because it has been. Turns out I had no access to the internet whatsoever while out of town, and no internet access=no posts. If you have come back after such a dearth of posts, thanks for checking back... :)

Went shopping yesterday to find that the local national chainstore had raised the prices on their canned soup that I like to store by $.18. Really disappointing--hope it goes back down soon, but really pretty unlikely considering at least one other store in the area already had astronomical prices on same said soup last time I checked. Here's hoping...

Also returned to find much e-mail to read. One e-mail reminded me of a response I left on Riverwalker's site, Stealth Survival, when he asked what people thought about gun bans. I wrote:

"When I think about gun bans, I think that it's a slippery slope and am concerned for the safety of the 2nd Amendment. I don't want legislation that negatively affects or changes the rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution."

In my opinion, the legislation discussed in said e-mail would negatively affect or change the rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, so I am most definitely and assuredly against it. Even though such legislation has not been introduced to my knowledge in the state of Idaho, it could come here as well, and if you are in a different state, you may want to speak your conscience on the issue if such legislation is up for consideration where you live. I present to you the majority of the e-mail that I received on the subject of "Ammunition Accountability Legislation":

Ammunition Accountability Legislation

Remember how Obama said that he wasn't going to take your guns? Well, it seems that his allies in the anti-gun world have no problem with taking your ammo!

The bill that is being pushed in 18 states (including Illinois and Indiana) requires all ammunition to be encoded by the manufacture a data base of all ammunition sales. So they will know how much you buy and what calibers. Nobody will be able to sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009 unless the ammunition is coded.

Any privately held uncoded ammunition must be destroyed by July 1, 2011. (Including hand loaded ammo.) They will also charge a .05 cent tax on every round so every box of ammo you buy will go up at least $2.50 or more!

If they can deprive you of ammo they do not need to take your gun! This legislation is currently pending in 18 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington.

Send to your friends in these states AND fight to dissolve this BILL!!

To find more about the anti-gun group that is sponsoring this legislation and the specific legislation for each state, go to:

http://ammunitionaccountability.org/Legislation.htm


As I said, you may not agree with me, but you have to know about legislation to make your voice heard on it, regardless of your position on the subject. If such legislation comes to Idaho, or reaches national levels, I will do my best to make my own views known.

Having seen some pretty unpleasant comments left on other blogs, at least one of which expressed the opinion that the blogger and/or commenter deserved an ugly consequence for his/her convictions, I would say this: even if I were to meet my end by firearm, the bullet, encoded or not, would not have shot itself. The person who pulled the trigger would be "accountable" for that...

This is for the hunters...

Found out today that they are considering changes in the hunting regulations in Idaho. I personally don't hunt, but think that it's a valuable skill and useful for feeding your family if you also have the skills to harvest the meat. Read here for more information--there's a meeting coming up and they are asking for public input. If you have something to add, you might want to speak up now....just a head's up!

Related articles can be found here and here.

Making our voices heard

There are a lot of things going on in government that could affect why we prepare for emergencies, what we put in our emergency supplies, and how long we may be able to continue emergency preparation ( for example, if the economy goes down to a point where supplies are no longer available because no one can afford the production costs, that will effectively cut off the timeline). Each of us has a voice, and it doesn't just stop at the ballot box--we can continue to make our voices heard by contacting our elected officials and letting them know what we think. Are you for or against further bailouts? Where do you stand on our Constitutional rights? Let those who speak for us hear what you have to say:

For a complete list of U.S. Senators and contact information, look here.

--For Idaho:

Senator Mike Crapo

Senator James E. Risch

For those serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and contact information, look here.

For Idaho:

Congressman Walt Minnick

Congressman Mike Simpson

When I have felt particularly strong about an issue, I have contacted not only Idaho's officials, but other representatives, sometimes many other representatives, as well. After all, while my vote may not affect them, their vote on any given issue definitely affects me. I have been very impressed with the responses that I have received. And let's face it, I feel better being able to do something when an issue is important to me.

Of course, the government is not the only factor there is when it comes to reasons to be prepared for emergencies, but it is one in which we have a say. It takes some effort, both in trying to keep up with what is going on--sometimes policies can move quite quickly and/or unheralded through our governmental process--and in making our voices heard so that we can have an effect on policies that are implemented in our country.

The effort is well worth it. Whatever our viewpoints, we can all make ourselves heard...