WA4ZKO – 2011 ARRL Sept VHF Contest wrap up

Yeah I’m a little late, but since I’m stuck inside working today I figured I’d catch up on some VHF+ postings and calendar updates. I’ll try to get a wrap up for the June/July contests posted when I have time to go through the logs and notes.

Not much to report on the 2011 Sept VHF Contest. My results 0 QSO’s, 0 Grids (duh), and 0 points. Admittedly I was distracted working on other projects Saturday and gave up on Sunday as I was feeling ill. Saturday the bands were dead and I frankly did not hear any locals on and no sign of any Rovers. I was in the shop most of the time and within ear shot of the receiver. When outside I came in several times to check the bands and frequently gave the rotor a serious workout.

There was no sign of a 6m opening, but that was not surprising given the time of year. I gather activity levels were somewhat better in the northeast and around the great lakes.

After the great conditions we had during late spring and early to mid-summer…I’m really not complaining. It was a great year for VHF DXing, one of the best in several years. With the improving solar conditions I suspect 2012 will be even better.

Lately the SSN and Flux are starting to get up there pretty high at times. I wouldn’t be too surprised if we see some weak/brief 6m DX this fall. So I wouldn’t pack the 6m rig away just yet. Even if this fall disappoints, I’d venture to say Fall 2012 will get interesting ;-)

The ARRL sent me some wallpaper this week where I won Kentucky in the Single Op/Low Power class on 6, 2, & 432 during the 2010 Sept VHF Contest. I sort of had to chuckle at it. Looking at my 2010 logs for that contest I see 22 QSOs and a score of 546. Something tells me I might of been the only KY station on if I won the state on all 3 bands with that meager score ;-)

There was an interesting paragraph in the ARRL cover letter that came with my Sept 2010 Award. It pertains to the 2010 contest, so keep that in mind. I’ll quote the paragraph below:

“In general, band conditions were not all that great with the exception of some nice “tropo” in the Midwest. As it turned out, activity decreased in virtually all operating categories with 488 log submissions this year versus 595 in 2009. Most importantly, the number of Rover logs was down significantly with a major impact on the number of contacts and grids available to all operators.“

IMHO 2009′s Sept VHF Contest was a pretty good one, at least compared to recent years. Seems like the Sept VHF Contest is on a declining trend lately. That said, VHF activity during the June and July contests seems to be doing really well.

I’ve always felt that they should move the ARRL Sept VHF Contest up into early August for a much better shot at 6m openings. Then put the ARRL UHF contest in September. I suspect many ops just get out of the “mood” for VHF DXing by the time mid-September arrives and the number of 6m openings have faded away.

Rover activity levels? Well we’ve all noticed the big decline in rovers around here. I’ve worked a few out west lately on 6m openings, but that’s about it if Dan (K9ZF) is not out locally in IN/KY for us. I honestly can’t recall the last time I worked a rover down on the VA or E. TN mountains. Years ago there would be several of them out and about down that way. I will occasionally hear a rover up around the Chicago area, but never have any luck getting their attention. I don’t think they listen this way much ;-)

Reasons for the Rover decline? The obvious guess would be the economy and gas prices. Best I can tell (looking at my work mileage logs) gas prices were just under $3/gallon in Sept 2010. This year gas prices were dancing up against $4/gallon. Guess we’ll have to wait till the economy turns around and we get a clue about an energy policy before we can expect the Rover levels of the 1990′s/early 2000′s to return.

Don’t forget to try and work the Fall Sprints. I missed reminding folks of the 2m spring last week…oops. I’ll get an updated calendar and some reminders out in the coming days/weeks.

I’m in the midst of working on the tower and the VHF/UHF array is impacted by the work. As such, I’m off the air for a few weeks. I hope to be back up and running for the 6m Fall Sprint. Work schedule and weather will determine if that happens on schedule or not ;-)

WA4ZKO

Jeff’s Take #4 – DC “Debt Limit” Logic

Let me make this real simple ;-)

Washington DC “Debt Limit” logic:

1.  Max ALL your credit cards out.

2.  Keep them ALL maxed out month after month, year after year.

3. Rather than cut spending while paying your essential bills, go buy even more non-essentials.

4. Demand the bank REPEATEDLY give you credit line increases.

5. Scream crisis and “disastrous consequences” if they don’t give you the credit line increase.

Ever notice how when this “crew” in DC wants to spend more money, it’s always a crisis?  Just like TARP….how much of that money remains unspent? Money they just had to have and had to have immediately or the world would end.

Do I need to say more?  I didn’t think so.

WSJ OpEd “Can Taxing the Rich Erase the Deficit?”

Good food for thought piece here on the Wall Street Journal:

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2011/04/11/can-taxing-the-rich-erase-the-deficit/tab/print/

Here’s what few will tell you. The math is what it is. No amount of spin (from either side) can get past an honest examination of the math of our tax revenue, potential tax revenue, current spending, and interest on our debt. Taxing the “rich” into oblivion will not cure our nation’s debt problem. It will barely make a dent and will do a lot of harm in many other areas.

Does our tax code need serious review?  Sure it does, but don’t fall prey to the politicians playing to your emotions and envy versus taking a honest look at the problem by simply looking at the math. You’re going to have to be tough and savvy about this. The politicians don’t want you looking at the math, they want to distract you from the real problem. It’s like dealing with an alcoholic that doesn’t want to admit he’s an alcoholic. In this case the alcohol is spending.

The only viable fix is for us to realize that government spending MUST be REDUCED and DRASTICALLY.  The cuts are coming sooner or later. The only question is will we stop the childishness we heard from our Campaigner in Chief this afternoon and get serious now?  Or will gutless politicians (more scared of loosing an election than their children’s future) keep kicking the can ever so closer to the cliff.

Think of it this way….

Suppose our economic mess is a plane on it’s last drop or two of fuel. We have two choices. We can make a hard emergency landing in a swamp and maybe walk away from it. Or we can let it smash it into the side of the mountain just past the swamp. At this point, this far in, there are no other choices. Don’t kid yourself otherwise.

The brutal reality is that the math is what it is.

JARL/ARRL Update on post-quake EMCOMM in Japan

From the March 23, 2011 ARRL posting here:

http://www.arrl.org/news/radio-amateurs-in-japan-still-providing-communications-support

Amateur Radio operators became involved in the rescue effort soon after the March 11 8.9 earthquake and devastating tsunami that hit northern Japan, and that effort continues nearly two weeks later. “In the early stage following the earthquake and tsunami, several radio amateurs were able to activate their stations with car batteries or small engine generators, despite the electric power outages,” IARU Region 3 Secretary Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP, told the ARRL. “They transmitted rescue requests and information on the disaster situation — including refugee centers and their needs — and the availability of basic infrastructures, such as electricity, water and gas supplies.” After the earthquake and tsunami, there was no electricity, water or gas service in many of the affected areas.

In his report to the ARRL, Yamamoto said that the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) quickly activated JA1RL, its headquarters station in Tokyo, to assist in the rescue effort. With the help of many other amateurs, it also activated its regional headquarters station JA3RL in Osaka to communicate with amateurs in the areas devastated by the tsunami, including its Tohoku headquarters station JA7RL in Sendai. “The communications were mostly on the 7 MHz band in daytime and the 3.5 MHz band at night,” Yamamoto explained. “Short range communications were also made on the 144 and 430 MHz bands. The information gathered through Amateur Radio communications was reported to the rescue and disaster relief organizations for their appropriate deployment. Some other amateurs accepted health-and-welfare inquiries from the [impacted] areas and then posted the information on the Internet.”

Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications — that country’s equivalent of the FCC — approved the use of an additional 300 UHF/VHF transceivers in the affected areas.

With gasoline and natural gas in short supply, Yamamoto said that the fuel shortage was “a very serious problem in the cold climate. Calls for fuel were received over radio from many disaster areas, but delivery remained very difficult at least for the first week as the access roads were hacked up everywhere. Several days later, some Amateur Radio clubs reached the affected areas with their radio equipment and established communications for supporting disaster relief.”

Yamamoto told the ARRL that several radio equipment manufacturers offered “hundreds of VHF/UHF transceivers to JARL for the use at refugee centers and local disaster relief centers. These transceivers should help to establish mutual communications between refugee and disaster relief centers, and to facilitate smooth and appropriate delivery of disaster relief goods.”

As of noon JST on March 23 (0300 UTC), Japanese authorities announced that 9408 people have been killed and another 14,716 people have been reported missing in the earthquake and tsunami.

—— end ——-

Lessons I draw from this?  Assume you may not have utility power for several days and plan accordingly.

1.  Battery power is great, but batteries only last so long.

2.  If your batteries are rechargeable….how will you charge them?

3.  Can your HF rig run off battery power? Many will have issues with the lower supply voltage of a battery. Test/know your equipment.

4.  A small generator can be a really nice.

5.  Obviously you’ll need fuel for the generator ;-)

6.  80m/40m NVIS capabilities may not be optional.

Bottom line?

If you can’t stay on the airwaves for a few days (off grid) then your value in a major EMCOMM situation may be pretty limited or zilch.

Doesn’t matter how fancy your gear or protocol/mode is, no power = no talkie ;-)

WA4ZKO

Steve Forbes on our idiotic energy policy.

Politico (far from a far right organization) has recently posted an excellent opinion piece by Steve Forbes titled “Will Mideast strife spark new energy crisis?”

If I was Mr. Forbes I’d rename that piece “The Mideast and America’s idiotic energy policy.”

It’s a good read. First off, let me answer the headline question.  Most likely it will. I think we’re looking at a looming energy driven economic disaster even if things stay relatively contained in the Middle East.

Rather than using our own abundant natural resources, we (Americans) seem just heck bent on making ourselves more and more dependent upon foreign suppliers. It has worked!  We seem heck bent on making plentiful sources of energy falsely scarce and increasingly expensive….all to the continuing trashing of our economy. All while way too many clueless folks are more worried about who will be on the next Dancing with the Stars episode, Lindsy Lohan’s or Charlie Sheen’s latest meltdown, and other pop culture silliness while their country borders on collapse around them.

It’s both terrifying and breathtaking to watch. America’s enemies sit on the sidelines rubbing their hands. They don’t need to fire a shot, we’re doing an incredible job of  destroying ourselves.

Simply put  if we desire a vibrant and competitive economy, then we must have cheap and plentiful energy.  Energy drives everything. Yes it’s really just that simple! Unfortunately it looks like we’ll have to learn this the hard way after we drive our economy into the 2nd Great Depression.  Sorry, don’t kid yourself otherwise….on our current course this is right around the corner.

The car is no longer “in the ditch.” Instead of the car being pushed back onto the road, it’s been pushed to the edge of a cliff.

Jeff’s Take #3 – US National Debt

Please don’t ready any further if you suffer from depression or you are a recovering alcoholic.

Just  a little “food for thought” tidbit….

June 2010 US National Debt had topped $13 trillion.

December 31st 2010 US National Debt tops $14 trillion. Folks, that’s a “T” not a “B” in there.  For those “zero” challenged folks out there that’s $14,025,215,218,708.52 on December 31st 2010.

About 7 months and they racked up another $1 trillion in debt.

Kind of just sucks the wind out of your lungs does it not?

I think I’m going to need a large adult beverage now.

WINMOR V4Chat – Common Frequencies

V4Chat is a new HF digital keyboard-to-keyboard mode under development by the authors of  the WINMOR Winlink messaging protocol. The mode is an implementation of Viterbi encoded 4FSK modulation and about 200 Hz wide.

Software is currently under initial development and very “alpha” in nature. For those feeling adventurous and willing to tolerate “alpha” software, you can find it here. Previous experience with the Winlink WINMOR protocol (RMS WINMOR, RMS Express, etc) will be a big plus.

Some common “gathering spot” frequencies for WINMOR v4Chat are listed below. All are USB dial, CF would be 1500 Hz higher. Frequencies in bold are probably the most common spots in N. America.  Some EU freq’s are noted too.

80 METERS:  3.583 MHz USB, 3.590 MHz USB (EU)

40 METERS:  7.073 MHz USB, 7.040 MHz USB (EU)

30 METERS:  10.131 MHz USB, 10.136 MHz USB

20 METERS:  14.073 MHz USB

17 METERS:  18.085 MHz USB, 18.103 MHz USB

15 METERS:  21.073 MHz USB

There doesn’t seem to be much activity on the other bands yet. I would imagine that will slowly change as the solar cycle progresses. 

3.583, 7.073, and 14.073 are probably the most active spots.

WA4ZKO

Jeff’s Take #2: Gays in the US Military?

Well as usual this stuff has a way of becoming a this mess of politics and political correctness. The lack of real journalism also plays into things, but I’ll stay off that soapbox.

Since we have activists and politicians on both sides of the issue playing to their respective bases – here’s my suggestion.  I suggest we let EVERY active duty service member vote on whether we keep “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” or not. Prior to the vote, we as a nation agree to accept the results PERIOD. Also Congress would agree to immediately adopt the results of the vote, no moaning, no groaning, and no whipping their “base” into a frenzy. I know, easier said than done.

My hunch is the repeal would not survive the vote above.  My friends and family in the military think the DADT rule might need some refinements, but a flat repeal will create a mess. As one said,just watch what happens with the retention rates…especially for those serving in combat roles. As a whole it might sound all PC and wonderful to flat repeal it, but it does create a lot of practical problems too.

My personal stance toward gays?  As long as they don’t go wanting to redefine marriage I really don’t care. It’s not a choice or lifestyle I would choose, but (here’s my Libertarian side) it’s not my place to tell them how to live their lives. That said, I do have the right to have my opinion on it.  As long as what they do doesn’t impact me, I could care the least what two consenting adults do in PRIVATE.

As a Christian I obviously think gays are in for a very rude surprise come judgment day, but that’s their choice.  Leviticus makes it pretty darn clear it’ is an abomination:

“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.”  Leviticus 18:20 

Now some like to play spin/interpretation games with other verses, I think that one is pretty darn clear.  That said, sooner or later we’re going to find out whose ‘interpretation” is correct.  We all make life choices and sooner or later we all have to live with the consequences of those choices. Granted we have a current generation that doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of “consequences.”  They will be the ones in for the rudest surprises in the coming years.

I guess it helps that I have some gay friends and clients that are either openly gay or I suspect they are.  I may not agree with their choice of sexual orientation, but I respect their free will to make such choices.  One I suspect is only gay as a means of “getting attention.”  The others seem to be okay people, but without exception I detect many hints that there is ongoing discontent and trouble in their lives.

Needless to say,I’ve had some interesting conversations with my gay friends/clients on this topic. They are often appalled by a lot of the talk/actions that the gay “activists” engage in.  EVERY SINGLE ONE of them has said they would be perfectly content with “civil unions” and prefer to just be left alone to live their own lives. EVERY SINGLE ONE of them has concerns that too often the gay activist groups are asking others to be tolerant and understanding, yet they don’t really want to be tolerant of the other side. You’ll often notice it’s all about “me, me, me” and anyone that doesn’t agree has to be a  homophobe.

Tolerance and respect is a 2-way street. Simple enough?

We are  told that we need to be really careful about not “offending” other religions and/or giving the  terrorists more recruiting material. Okay, but I find it interesting how no one wants to talk about how the Islamic extremists are going to react to this. Talk about giving the other side recruiting material, wow.  For those unaware of how Islam feels towards gays, you might want to do a bit of research.

Humor: A message from your boss “To all my valued employees”

For those employees out there that have allowed slick talking Washington politicians and a joke of a national news media to convince you that these big businesses and their overpaid, greedy, “evil” CEO’s are the cause of all your problems….

First pull your head out of your backside and realize they are just distracting you from looking where most of your problems really originate….WITH THEM!

Second, yeah there’s been a few big corporations and CEO’s that have done some greedy, stupid, and illegal things. What else is new? They are a minority and the reality checks of the free market will eventually catch up with them. We had plenty of laws and regulations to deal with the corporate corruption we’ve seen over the last few years. The question you need to be asking is why were those laws/regulations not enforced. Good questions isn’t it. The folks up in Congress don’t want you asking that one though.  Go back and read those last four sentences again.

Third, take a read over the message below that’s floating around on the internet. Have a laugh, it’s good humor with a lot of truth in it. If you’re an “employee” I hope that it will give you some food for thought.

—————————————————————————————–

TO ALL MY VALUED EMPLOYEES:

There have been some  rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and  more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed  for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news  is this: The economy doesn’t pose a threat to your job. What does  threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in  this country.

However,  let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you  decide what is in your best interests.

First, while  it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against  employees, you have to understand that for every business owner  there is a Back Story. This back story is often neglected and  overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You’ve seen my big home at last yearʼs Christmas  party. I’m sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don’t  see is the BACK STORY:

I started this company 28 years  ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment  for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an  office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company,  which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went  back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn’t have time  to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business — hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they  earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and  wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom’s for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the  discount store extracting any clothing item that didn’t look like it was birthed in the 70′s. My friends refinanced their mortgages  and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my  money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don’t. There is no “off” button for me. When you leave the  office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I  unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of  course, only see the fruits of that garden — the nice house, the  Mercedes, the vacations… you never realize the Back Story and  the sacrifices I’ve made.

Now, the economy is falling  apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved  his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately,  the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you  why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don’t pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property  taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time.  On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my “stimulus” check was? Zero..Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the  economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don’t understand … to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn’t need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of  that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don’t defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of  America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could  be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?

It’s quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I’ll fire you. I’ll fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child’s future. Frankly, it isn’t my problem any more.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I’m done. I’m done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the  unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the economy; it  will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about….

Signed,  THE  BOSS

Jeff’s Take #1: Alan Grayson on Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck

Guess I should just title this one “Memo to Florida Rep’ Alan Grayson”

I’m sitting here this morning listening to the idiot loud mouth Florida Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) moaning and groaning over how much money Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh make.  It’s both comical and sad at the same time. This is a textbook example of the games they play with race/class warfare. It’s sad that so many will fall for this game and how many in the mainstream media will not call him on his hypocrisy and factually incorrect statements.

Mr. Grayson, like so many of them, preach to us about tolerance and not being so divisive yet they are often the most intolerant and divisive folks around. They love to point fingers elsewhere so that hopefully you will not take a close look at  them. Until recently they’ve been getting away with it, but that’s coming to an end and they are running scared. Instead of openly debating their critics they can only go into attack mode.

It’s only comical in the sense that we have one of the wealthiest members of Congress, who just got handed his butt in the recent elections, complaining about what Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh earn. If there is something illegal with what Rush or Glenn makes then investigate and charge them. Otherwise it’s none of your concern what they make. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are not members of Congress or on any ballot out there so stop acting as if they are. Heck lets be glad that they work in one of the few remaining industries that you and your cohorts in Congress haven’t been able to destroy….yet.

Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are entertainers, pundits, commentators, whatever you wish to call them. You can agree or disagree with their stances, but they have the right to their opinions. Apparently both are good enough at what they do that they can earn millions in the private sector. Mr. Grayson is that what bothers you so much? Maybe when you peel back the egos, broad brushes, and media tweaks they use, you’ll find most of the time Limbaugh and Beck are often right on target? Mr. Grayson is that what bothers you so much?

Mr. Grayson, if Limbaugh and Beck are so wrong, then use your public microphones and correct them. Here’s an even better idea, go on their shows and debate them? If they are so wrong on everything it should be easy for you to set the record straight and educate them in the process?  Nope, you would rather turn them into some evil “straw man” and blame them so hopefully no one takes a close look at you and your fellow goons (I’m trying to be nice). You do this because you fear them, know they are usually right to some degree, and they would eat you alive in a debate.

Beck and Limbaugh didn’t go to Washington and waste trillions of tax payer dollars, most of  which we didn’t have to begin with.  Mr. Grayson you and your cohorts in Congress did that. They didn’t put us on a path to (at best) severe inflation, maybe even hyperinflation in the near future. Mr. Grayson you and your cohorts in Congress did that. They didn’t spend our grandchildren into a future of economic hell. Mr. Grayson you and your cohorts in Congress did that.

Mr. Grayson you’re a flippin’ joke. I can’t imagine why Florida voters fired your sorry butt. My hats off to the sensible folks down in Florida.

I’d venture to bet that Beck and Limbaugh take their money and do more for jobs and the economy than you do sir.  Both Limbaugh and Beck are part of their own private companies that employ many people and purchase lots of goods and services with all that money you seem so worried about them having. Does it ever dawn on your type that it’s THEIR money?

Mr. Grayson since you started it down this track…what have you done with all  your money? What “work” did you do to get it? How much did you pay in taxes last year? How much did you donate to charity?

Mr. Grayson it seems to me the only thing you’re good at is helping your cohorts in Congress spend other peoples money like drunken sailors. Then you seem more than willing to condemn and vilify the successful and productive in our society for not giving you even more of THEIR money to waste.

Mr. Grayson here’s a novel idea for you and your fellow jokers in Congress. Stop whining and playing games! Our economy is on the brink of going over a cliff that YOU ALL had a major role in creating. Mr. Grayson your party has been running the show since January 2007 and just where did you take us? Man up, take some responsibility. Bush and the GOP may of put the car in the ditch, but your crew has pushed it to the edge of the cliff at a record pace.In just a few years you’ve spent more money than your predecessors could of dreamed of spending.

How about enough of the distractions and finally getting down to this so called “laser like focus on jobs” that we hear so much about?  Where are the jobs? We can have the “gays in the military” and “climate changes’ debates later. Otherwise such “side issues” (aka distractions) are not going to matter much if we go into the 2nd Great Depression which we’re teetering on the edge of….don’t kid yourself otherwise.

Mr. Grayson, enough talk and blame. How about some friggin’ results for a change? Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh did not create this economic mess.  You guys/gals in Congress did with all your stupid spending and poorly thought out banking regulations.

Good Lord, you guys in Washington are so busy playing your class warfare political games while the friggin’ house is about to burn down around you. Too busy with petty nonsense to even notice the smoke filling the room. Our great Republic is on life support and you all are wasting what little time is left.

My hunch is that if our Founding Fathers were to come back today and see what you and your goons in Congress have done to this country they would be in tears today. Tomorrow they would be out to find you. Mr. Grayson something tells me you and your crew would not want to come face to face with George Washington, Ben Franklin, or especially Thomas Jefferson.

“A republic, if you can keep it” Ben Franklin