ED and Brett Discussion Blog

[Gene Clem]

Many people are not aware that we have another of our members running for congress in the 6th congressional district.  He is Mel Valkner.

Mel needs help with his campaign.  His web site is www.thecommanman.org  You can go there to send a donation or sign up to help with campaign activities.

Mel is one of the original Kalamazoo Tea Party folks and was, in fact, the first Treasurer.  He decided early on that he would sacrifice his time and treasure to help right the ship of state.  He is a worthy candidate and can really use your help in his campaign, so please contribute and/or volunteer at his web page.

[Brett Pepper]

Ed R said:

If Mel Valkner wins the Republican Primary in two years I might vote for him then. I played four years of Semi Professional football and I am a team player and sometimes we simply need to continue building the team until we have the right players to win. Maybe I have mistaken the Tea party for people concerned about this country and getting back to the Constitution. That is the playbook I am playing from; do y'all have a different playbook; are y'all playing from a different playbook?! I don't care who you are; you are not going to win as a third party candidate; you must win the primary; this competition still has rules and we must play by them or we are going to get beaten every time and I hate to lose. The more we win the closer we get back to the Constitution. You can be a purest if you like, but the reality is that your strategy of running a third party candidate is not going to work and in fact make it harder to win anything at all. Do you purest believe we have time for more distruction? I believe we should take what we can get right now and get the rest next time.

This sounds like a "football mentality" to me....I'm sorry but this isn't a game...Movements take time and right now the TEA party is still in the beginning stages. I've been to several TEA parties and the atmosphere has been very canrnival-esque and fun. There are always good patriots waving flags and people who remind me of why I love this country. Every day I look at my children and see how innocent and good they are and how their whole future is being robbed by the central bankers and how the central banks created a derivities bubble with fraudulant mortgages to destroy our ecocnomy by design. After 9/11 they created a police state because they knew the bubble economy based on credit default swaps and leveraging tactics by Wall Street would end poorly. This gets to my point....Once austerity measures kick in and people begin to loose their 401k investments and teachers begin loosing their pensions...Social security gets cut.....and etc...this will be the true test of our Country...and I believe we will come through with flying colors in a peaceful, Intelectual revolution unlike this country has ever seen. But first we have to cut the cancer from the body by taking a stand on our principles and not compromising them....EVER!!!!

We are winning but the quickening is upon us...The globalist know the sleeping giant that is LIBERTY is rising!!!!

Liberty doesn't die here....not now. Hold firm patriots there is rough seas ahead!!!! Pray for our land and pray for the lands of others!!!!

In Liberty....

[Ed R]

I cannot disagree with anything you said other than this is a game in the sense of it being a stategic competition. The Tea Party has just begun and is going exponential and will only get stronger as time progresses; up to and beyond this upcoming election. Mel is not going to win; if he does I owe you a beer. In this congretional district, however; Upton can't lose, so the risk isn't high having Mel on the Ballot. We must be stategically smarter than the oposition. We don't disagree. I do not know if Mel was in a primary race against Upton or not, but if he was and lost then he needs to try again in two years. We will win nothing from the sidelines; we must be in the game. We will be on the sidelines if we split the party. Have a nice day my fellow Patriot. I'm sure we will cross paths at some point; until then, God bless you and your family.

[Melvin Valkner]

Hello everyone. This is Mel Valkner. Thought I would take a minute and join the discussion.

Ed, if you were on my football team and said we could not win because we were smaller than the other team, how would you look?

Susan, I have an analysis of elections from 2002 - 2010 that I am more than happy to share with you that proves I can beat Rep. Upton while he still beats Professor Cooney.

My B.S. at WMU is in Political Science and Philosophy with two more years of classes in accounting and business core. From there I went on to become a CPA, consultant and business owner. I was nominated by the U.S. Taxpayers Party on June 26 at their State Convention in Lansing.

After attending Gene's April 15, 2009 Tea Party downtown Kalamazoo marching around the courthouse, I threw myself into studying where the nation went wrong. After having put 2,000 hours into studying the Constitution and the philosophy of the Founding Fathers since then I have a pretty good understanding of original intent.

That's why Gene endorsed me...and that's why just about everybody who hears my presentation is voting for me: Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

As Gene can testify, while the Tea Party supported Jack Hoogendyk I sat quietly waiting in the wings. As soon as Rep. Upton beat Jack I immediately stepped up and now have an articulate, powerful message based on Constitutional Principles.

Nothing is impossible with God. David beat Goliath with a slingshot.

Like David, I am not trying to beat Rep. Upton on his terms. But one thing is for sure. He has got to go!

He and just about every other career politician have led us to the brink of ruin. We have trusted him for a quarter of a century while the National Debt increased $10 trillion. He voted for NAFTA costing hundreds of thousand of good-paying jobs, Cash for Clunkers, TARP, etc. all accelerating our decline. He says nothing about the devaluation of our currency which is probably the most serious issue of our time.

Besides he is violating the spirit of Article 2, Section 10 of the Michigan Constitution. How can you vote for someone with such a disregard of the wishes of the People of Michigan?

Somehow another two years of him serving in Congress is supposed to change things when he doesn't even know what to do? If he knew wouldn't he have already done it?

Last night. Dr. Davis was kind enough to give me a whole hour at the Cass County Tea Party for my presentation and Q&A. When finished the Tea Party gave me a resounding round of applause and many expressed their willingness to vote and campaign for me. They now have a much better understanding of Constitutional Solutions that will turn things around if we vote for principles instead of the "lesser of two evils."

I am speaking tomorrow morning (10/23/10) at the Music Barn in Allegan at 10:00, Tuesday, 10/26/10 at 1:00 at the Oshtemo Library and Thursday, 10/28/10 at the next meeting of the Kalamazoo Tea Party.

[Ed R]

Hi Mel,

Have you ever played football?

Ed.

[Melvin Valkner]

Ed,

You ever supported the Constitution?

Mel

[Diane Konneck]

Now that was unrepresentativelike! I was at that meeting at Cass County, Mr. Valkner and I cannot disagree with any of the things you said. I think you are a good man and would be a wonderful representative for the people. I have complained for years on end about how far we have gotten away from what our founding fathers intended, BUT. I put about as much faith in some COLLEGE study about politics as I do in our lame-stream news media, or in our current Congress. I put my faith in what I have lived through in my own experiences and that tells me one thing only, 3rd party just does not do much of anything other than be a spoiler for what I consider the "better guys". In your talking points you state you would repeal the 16th and 17th amendments..never in a gazillion years will you ever get the US Senate to repeal the 17th! You also speak of applying huge tariffs on imports to replace what would go away with repealing the 16th amendment but make no mention whatsoever of what conflicts would arise with existing trade agreements and treaties. Seems to me there would be some pretty huge court battles ahead over that one, speaking of which you also make no mention of that "other" branch of government. the Supreme Court. How will they react when court cases reach them concerning, among other things,the COMMERCE CLAUSE, when you take back State's rights? (we had the civil war over state's rights and that is when we lost them) All of what you say sounds really good to the ears of those who are hungry for a return to our roots, but to actually make them happen? Highly doubtful.

[Ed R]

To answer your question Mel; yes; I have and do support the Constitution of the United States of America. I served over 4 years in the Strategic Air Command in the United States Air Force along with my fellow Airmen and Officer's; we were a team and we all put the United States of America first. But; I am not here to compare resume. I am willing to argue my point of view without becoming emotionally engaged. I have opinions; and at this point in time I have a right to express those opinions. It must be noted that I do "not" have a right to be heard; no one has to believe my opinions are correct, and no one even has to read or listen to my opinions. You have a right to run for a public office. I got into the football analogy for a reason and that reason is that I know football. I had two reasons for asking if you played football. The first reason is of a personal nature and that is that I seem to have a bond with football players, almost as much as a bond I have with fellow Military personnel; we all shared some things that we have in common; I must add that I also have a bond with those that believe this United States is the greatest Nation on Earth. The second reason for asking if you played football is that it would do no good using football analogies if you never played; no frame of reference; I would have looked for some other common ground where we could begin an honest debate. God Bless you and your family.

[Todd White]

Diane: Stop making excuses. Oh ye of little faith. Stand up and fight. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! Stop the "we'll never be able too... and "Oh but the conflicts that will arise". If our founding Fathers had that attitude, we'd still be bowing to the King & Queen. November is coming and it's time to start leading like "We the People" were meant to! Fred works for you & I. If this were a regular 9-5 job and he were your employee, would you not have fired him by now? Being our Representative is the same thing, yet somehow we view it differently, like they are in control. I've been guilty of it too. They've been getting away with it for too long. Time to put the hammer down. Do the job right or we will find someone who will! That someone is Mr. Valkner. We may not have another chance. Now is the time to act!

Ed: Your credentials are honorable! Thank you for your service. However, whether Mel played football or not means nothing. This is much more important than a football game. Our freedom is under attack! I love football as much as anyone and have also played. Just cause I'm in the game doesn't mean I'm helping the team. I have to follow the playbook and techniques taught to me in practice or I'm a liability. Mr. Upton has not been following the playbook (Constitution) so it's time we benched him and many others like him. When Mr. Valkner gets elected he has a chance to do the job right. If he doesn't then we will bench him until we finally find someone who will.

[Ed R]

With a Republican representitive that is not a flaming Liberal left wing socialist and liar we may have a majority of the votes going in our direction, but if we lose to a Democrat you can forget what I just said about getting a Republican representive. I have no idea what is going to happen with Mel in the race, but I do know it is terrible strategy. You cannot move the country in the correct direction if you don't win, and having Mel in the race "will" take votes away from the one guy that can win.

[Ed R]

We the people elect representatives to uphold a set of rules set forth over two centuries ago that were created to allow the citizens of this great Nation to freely pursue happiness and prosperity with the greatest safety possible with the least infringement upon individual freedom.

We elect representatives because we do not have time to pursue happiness and prosperity and enforce the rules at the same time efficiently and effectively. There is a word I hold dear and that word is integrity. The dictionary definition of that word is "Being true to one's own morals and principles, honesty". Get to know your representative on a personal level to determine their integrity.

At this moment in time we the people have elected representatives that are "not" upholding the set of rules set forth over two centuries ago that were created to allow the citizens of this great Nation to freely pursue happiness and prosperity with the greatest safety possible with the least infringement upon individual freedom. This is where we are right now.

The debate we are having right now is how do we get back to the first paragraph.

Todd; we agree on where we need to go, but we disagree on how to get there.

Fracturing the parties into many groups will lead to mob rule and that does not work. We need a clear distinction between good and evil; two parties and only two parties; splintering makes us weak. If we divide we will be conquered. We cannot allow evil to win by being divided.

I see the Tea Party as we the people. There are many that have already engaged themselves in the process by becoming involved with the Tea Party and the Tea Party is growing exponentially. Have faith, be patient, keep the pressure on the representatives, and keep growing with one purpose; getting back to the Constitution.

Keeping with my football analogy; don't hit the hole before the blockers make their block; we need to continue getting first downs and eventually we will score.

We live during the information revolution. We are able to communicate and gather information faster and in more detail than ever in the history of mankind. Keep in mind that the system is not broken (yet); it's only being abused. We merely need to stop the abuse. Education is how we stop the abuse. In this age of instant access to information, misinformation is not stopped merely by having the instant access to the information. We need to inform against the misinformation and more importantly we need to educate with the truth.

The solutions to "all" of our challenges we face as a Nation exists. We need to win the political battle before we can implement the solutions. Let's all get on the same page and work on a strategy to win and bring our Nation back online as intended by the framers. I love y'all and keep up the good work.

P.S. I will address the varied personality types and how we educate them at a later date; believe me when I say that this effort is going to be the biggest and most powerful effort we encounter; there are a lot of forces working against us and we cannot infringe on anyone's freedom to believe anything they want.

[Melvin Valkner]

Ed,

I appreciate your articulated response. However..."mob" rule will not be the result, but the re-creation of a vibrant Republic.

Rep. Upton has been in Congress for a quarter century now, a clear violation of the spirit of Article 2, Section 10 of the Michigan Constitution. During his 24 years in Congress the National Debt increased $10 trillion with a Republican controlled House 50% of the time and a Republican President 58% of the time. He cast many votes contributing to that increase: TARP, Cash for Clunkers, Medicare Part D and endless wars. And during this time the $2.5 trillion Social Security Fund Balance was plundered and left only with IOUs. He never said a word.

By the way, the Republican Party Platform supports repeal of the 16th Amendment - as long as it is replaced with a Value Added Tax (VAT) or National Sales Tax. In other words a big federal government will continue. The 16th and 17th Amendments took power from the People and the States and congregated power in Washington D.C. This was no accident.

And that’s not even the worst of it. From 1800 to 1900 there was zero inflation. Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913 the dollar has declined 95%. The Fed is getting ready to inject another $1 trillion into the economy to purposely create inflation. This is not hype; it’s all over the news.) For example, in 1964 a quarter bought a gallon of gas, now it does not. The government took the silver out of our quarters (it was not theirs to take). Today, the value of that silver is $3.75 which is still enough to buy a gallon of gas but our own government has devalued our currency.

Neither the Democrat nor Republican ever mentions their role in the devaluing of our currency, which is of the utmost concern. What do we do when our currency is worthless?

The three most pressing issues are jobs, taxes and maintaining the value of our currency.
First, the cycle of losing good-paying jobs must be reversed. The Founding Fathers made the income tax illegal. It was made legal by the 16th Amendment in 1913. Restoring a vibrant economy is really quite simple.
1) We must eliminate federal income taxes through repealing the 16th Amendment. The Wall St Journal concurs in its 9/16/10 edition, page A23.
2) Then we must protect American jobs through tariffs (Founders inserted into Duties into the Constitution, as they wanted others to rise to our level, not us sink to theirs),
3) The result will be that Americans will have more money to spend on higher-priced products made in the U.S.
4) As manufacturing returns to produce American made goods, higher-paying jobs will be created,
5) With higher-paying jobs, everyone will have more money to meet their needs.
6) Then, we must restore the value of our currency by gradually backing it with gold and silver again as we pay off the National Debt.

We must act now. My concepts are those espoused by the U.S. Constitution. They are time-tested. They work.

Unfortunately, Rep. Upton’s “5-Point Jobs Plan” gives tax breaks only to special interests. Democrat Don Cooney promotes more government intervention, which will only lead to higher taxes, taking even more money from the average guy. He believes he knows better than us what is good for us.

I am determined to return Power to the People and the States. I believe this pressure can only come from a third party. Remember, the Republican Party surfaced in 1856 in Jackson, Michigan giving rise four years later to Abraham Lincoln.

The Taxpayers Party is Michigan’s affiliate of the national Constitution Party; the nation’s third largest and fastest growing political party. FYI, Tom Tancredo a five-term GOP Congressman from Colorado has switched to the Constitution Party and he might be the next Governor of Colorado as he is in a dead heat with the Democratic candidate.

Another thing…I will not merely “split the vote” as the Taxpayers Party draws fairly equally from both big parties due to our constitutional positions on strong military yet anti-war, pro-business yet protect American workers and the proper role of individual rights, states rights and federal government, etc.

I have an analysis of the last five elections that show Rep. Upton is trending the wrong way, that is, he is beating his opponent by a lesser margin each time.

Jack Hoogendyk captured 43% of the Republican vote, thanks in large measure to the Tea Party. If the Tea Party and disgruntled Democrats will give me that same percentage of support I will win this race with Rep. Upton still beating Professor Cooney.

If I still haven’t persuaded you to vote for me, that’s okay…that’s what a free country is all about.

[Brett Pepper]

Mel....Thanks for your sacrafice for our country...If your anything like me you hear the Country calling and your heeding the call. I thank you for that and your courage and sacrafice is to be commended.Your views on the monetary system are spot on and echo the intent of the founders. Lets show Upton that career politicans are about to feel what it's like to have to worry about loosing your job and finding a new one. I'm assuming you support auditing the Federal Reserve? I've been a supporter of H.R.1207 and believe that Ron Paul is the only member of Congress that is a TRUE statesman. I believe the issuing of currency and credit must be returned to "WE THE PEOPLE" at least this way we can have a debate on the currency instead of an out of control Federal Reserve printing money out of thin air and lending that money to the Government and central bankers at near zero percent interest and then loan it back to us for a higher interest rate!...It's criminal. Bernie Madoff would be proud!

You got my vote Mel! I'll sleep better at night knowing I voted my concious and not the lesser of two evils!

In Liberty...