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Congressman Childers Releases Statement on Upcoming Health Care Reform Vote
Supports Reform, But Will Vote “No” Due to Cost to Mississippi Taxpayers, Federal Funding of Abortion, Not Tough Enough on Insurance Companies
Washington, DC – Congressman Travis Childers (MS-01) released the following statement regarding his upcoming vote on health care reform legislation:
“Today, too many hard-working North Mississippians are struggling in the face of soaring premiums and unemployment that leaves them without coverage. I know how important health care reform is to the millions of people who can’t afford rising costs or simply don’t have access to quality care. But I also know how important it is to get health care reform right.
“After months of debate, I still don’t believe we’ve gotten it right, and I will not be able to support this legislation when it comes to the House floor for a vote. Some disagree with this decision, and I respect that. I want them to know that this has never been about political pressure from any party, organization, or special interest – for me, this has always been about doing what’s best for the people North Mississippi. Since the beginning of this debate, I’ve met and talked with thousands of constituents throughout the district. Their thoughts and concerns have been fundamental to my decision-making and I take them to heart.
“I have reviewed the bill and I remain deeply concerned about the legislation’s large price tag and the absence of sufficiently strong language to prohibit federal funding of abortion. While I voted against the last House health care reform bill, I supported the Stupak Amendment to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion. The current legislation lacks equally strong language.
“In addition, insurance companies, which are a large part of the problem, need to be a bigger part of the solution. Last month, I was proud to join an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority of my colleagues in voting to repeal the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies. I would like to see similar bipartisan efforts to increase competition and lower costs for hard-working families.
“I hope that when the bill does come to the floor, it’s done so in the most democratic and transparent way possible. The legislative process is intended to support constructive debate and promote accountability. While certain processes may be acceptable for some issues, they don’t work for an issue with the wide-reaching implications of health care reform.
“Mississippians need a health care system that offers affordable premiums, ensures coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions, and provides equal access to care for individuals in rural communities. While I cannot vote for current House legislation, I remain committed to effective, fiscally responsible health care reform that makes sense for North Mississippi, and I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to that end.”
I consider myself among the lesser-known royalty of good, ole Southern bread pudding makers.
Here’s what I do. Enjoy:
CREOLE BREAD PUDDING
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C sugar
5 lrg eggs, room temp
1/4 C brown sugar
3 C whipping cream
grated nutmeg
1 T vanilla
cinnamon
1 t salt
3/4 C raisins
loaf french bread
2 baking pans, one must fit inside the other
Beat butter, med. speed with mixer. Gradually add sugars, salt, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at time, beating well after each. Gradually add cream, mix well. Stir in vanilla, nutmeg. Cut bread into 1-inch slices or cubes. Place bread into large mixing bowl, pour mixture over.
Cover, refrig at least an hour. Overnight is better. Take out of refrig about an hour before cooking, if you can. (Otherwise, add a little time to first baking with foil on.)
After bread mixture soaks, pour 1/2 into smaller baking pan that’s been buttered. Sprinkle with raisins, little more brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour rest on top and repeat raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon.
Start some water boiling. Preheat oven to 350.
Cover pan with foil, place in larger pan. When oven’s ready, place 2 pans on middle shelf and pour water bath into outside pan about half-way up inside pan. (Waiting to pour hot water until your pans are on the oven shelf will help prevent the water from spilling out onto you or the kitchen floor. Be careful when you slide shelf into place.)
Bake 40 mins. Remove foil and bake another 10-15 mins until top golden.
BOURBON SAUCE
1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1 lrg egg, room temp
1/4 C bourbon
Melt butter in heavy small saucepan over med. heat. In med. bowl, mix sugar, egg.
Gradually pour in butter until blended. Do this slowly so you don’t “cook” the egg. Return mixture to saucepan. Over low heat, stir until mixture thickens, about 2 mins. Do not boil. Add bourbon, continue cooking until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly, stirring constantly about 3 mins.
Spoon sauce over pudding servings. May also want to sprinkle powdered sugar.
Here’s what math teacher Les Green said today in Hernando as he launched his bid as an independent candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, District 1:
DeSoto County Independent Les Green Declares Candidacy for U.S. Congress in Mississippi 1 “Its Time to Start Electing Public Servants, Not Career Politicians” Hernando, MS- March 11, 2010…Saying that “the numbers coming out of Washington no longer add up,” DeSoto County math teacher and political independent Les Green today announced his reform candidacy for U.S. Congress in Mississippi’s 1st district. The Mississippi native made his announcement at the Gale Community Center in Hernando before dozens of supporters and family members. Mr. Green cited partisan leaders in Washington focused more on politics than on job creation and debt reduction as fundamental reasons for his stepping into the race. His speech in full is below. I want to thank ya’ll so much for coming here today. It means a lot to me and Kristie and our kids that you’re here. A lot of you are like family to us… And some of you we’re just meeting for the first time… But we’re all here for the same reason – our country is in trouble and she needs us. I promise not to keep you long. I only have a few things to say, and then y’all can be on your way. But I do want to talk to you about some important things; foundational things – Things I know to be true. This country’s in real trouble… We’re struggling. And as much as we’d all like to point the finger at someone else – me included — we’ve been electing the same people to Washington year after year, and they keep letting us down. It happens all the time… They promise they’re going to do their jobs, and then they make it a career. It becomes all about reelection. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Democrats or Republicans… They tend to look the same. Back and forth the power shifts. Power becomes more important… Than what is best for America. The cost to the country has been great. And who pays the bill? We do, of course. Maybe we’ve trusted them too much… Maybe it’s just Washington… But whatever it is, it’s not working, and that’s point number one: Things aren’t working with the people in office TODAY. ———— Point number two is that we need to start doing something different. And we need to start doing it now. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Well that’s what’s been happening. It has to stop. This nation has problems, and we need to get busy fixing them. If we don’t, we’re going to leave a mess to our children. The Republicans and Democrats aren’t fixing a thing. As far as I can tell, they’re not doing anything, except arguing. And that’s making it worse. So I figure it’s time we started giving regular people a try in government. People with a little common sense, some integrity, and a good work ethic. That’s how our forefathers intended it to be. But somewhere along the way, politicians became professionals. Politics became more important than Public Service. We got career politicians instead of citizen legislators. And the only thing that mattered was getting re-elected. Well that has to change. And it has to start this year. If America is to get better… If it’s really going to start moving forward again… It’s going take real people – whose only motive is to do some good and come home – to step forward to run for office. Well, that’s what I’m doing here today. My name is Les Green. I’m a math teacher from Hernando, Mississippi… I’m a husband and a father … And today I’m a candidate for the United States Congress. ———- I’m running as an independent… I am running as an American… An ordinary American citizen who wants to do some good and come home. I won’t become a career politician in Washington. I love Mississippi. It is my home. It’s where my friends and family are. My church home is here. It’s where I’m teaching my kids to fish and hunt and serve their fellow man - At a place where my family has lived for over 100 years. So today I am making a vow to the folks of the First Congressional District. The most I’ll serve in Congress is three terms. Six years is enough to make a difference. And then I am coming home. This commitment will keep me focused. ———— Some ask what one man can do in Congress. I say, we have to start somewhere. Why not here? Why not now? William Faulkner once said, “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” And on that, he was right. W e must begin. This year can be the beginning. Not just here in Mississippi, but across America. This country is at a crossroads. The challenges facing us are big ones… But we can face them head-on… Making the future better for this and the next generation of children. I have children, you have children and grandchildren. We cannot waste anymore time. Why? Because we all want what’s best for our families. We want our children to grow up in a country where its best days are ahead. Where the opportunities for our children are as numerous as their collective hopes and dreams. But that’s not the road we’re on. Here in Mississippi we’ve seen so many jobs and small businesses chased away. Where have they gone? Overseas is where. Where it’s cheaper to do business. The craziest thing is that the people we elect to Washington keep making it worse and not better. Every day we hear they’re spending more money. Money we don’t have. They’re borrowing from the Chinese… They’re borrowing from the Japanese… They’re borrowing from the Saudi Arabians… …You don’t have to be a student of history to know that’s a bad idea. You do the math. Sooner or later, that bill’s gonna come due. And someone’s going to own you. I may be a simple math teacher, but I can tell when things don’t add up. And what these folks are doing in Washington sure doesn’t add up. Anybody with a little common sense knows it. Yet they keep on spending – and taxing. They’d rather bankrupt our country – sell our national sovereignty to the highest bidder - than make tough decisions. The reason is that they don’t trust us. They’re terrified to ask Americans to sacrifice anything, which leads me to believe they don’t understand the American people at all. And that’s point number three. Americans I know are willing to sacrifice for their country. Mississippians have always been willing to sacrifice. Let me ask for a show of hands… Who in this room is willing to sacrifice for this country? Who here is willing to do without a little more to get America back on track? That’s the point I’m making. The average citizen in this country is willing to do his or her part for this country. We understand what the stakes are. It has never been so clear. We’re ready and willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Every time America has been called upon to sacrifice, her citizens have responded. I believe that this time will be no different. But we need to be asked. ——- Over the next eight months, I will continue to travel the counties of Mississippi 1st congressional district talking about some of these things. I’m going to tell people the truth as I know it… About things like integrity and sacrifice. Things they seem to have been forgotten about in Washington… But that real Mississippians know all about. I’m a Christian man and a conservative man… And I’m not going to shy away from my values. I believe in a strong national defense, tighter borders, and the rule of law. I believe in balanced budgets, traditional marriage, and the sanctity of life. I believe in getting this country back to work – not by borrowing and spending more money – but by making it easier to start and grow small businesses…by investing in the next generation of Americans. By getting government out of the way of the American people. These are the things I believe in. These are the values I’ll support in Congress. In the course of this campaign, I’m going to answer questions from the heart. And I’m not making promises I can’t keep. That may make me a lousy politician, but it will keep me an honest man… A man that my wife and children can be proud of… And that’s far more important to me and my family. ——— I asked you to be here today because I can’t do this without you. So I am asking for your help. If you agree with me that: things aren’t working with the people we have in office today, Then you should be on my team. If you agree that: we need to do something different, Then you should be on my team. If you agree that: THERE’s STILL ROOM IN THIS COUNTRY FOR THE CITIZEN LEGISLATOR, Then you should be on my team. And if you agree that: AMERICANS ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR THE GOOD OF THIS COUNTRY-FOR OUR CHILDREN AND FOR OUR VERY SOVEREIGNTY… Then you should be on my team. So that what’s I am asking of y’all today. I’m asking you to join my team. The time to do this is now. It’s time to let the people in power know that this is a government by the people and for the people Congress belongs to us. If I am fortunate enough to win this seat, I promise not to stay in it a day over six years. You have my solemn word as a Mississippian. After that, one of you has to step forward. And I’ll support you. That’s the way it was supposed to be… In the end, no one man has all the answers But we do serve a God who does… And He is more than able to show us the steps we need to take… In the direction he desires us to go to live out the hopes and dreams of a nation. Collectively this is the way back for this country. It’s time for the good citizens of this country to step forward and take this country back. It belongs to us. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for all your help. Kristie and I are very grateful to you for coming. We hope you’ll join this campaign. It belongs to all of us. God bless all of you and your families. And my we bless God by the future choices we make. Thank you. ### For more information about Les, please visit www.lesgreenforcongress.com
DJ’s Chris Kiefer reports that Itawamba AHS has cancelled its spring prom, rather than let a gay student bring her girlfriend to it.
OK, OK, all you folks who think I’m some kind of leftist communist, you might as well get started with those comments because I think IAHS has proved that it forgot what it’s about – to provide a safe place for our kids to learn and to express themselves.
To learn and to express themselves. Yeh, that’s right.
What did they think would happen if two girls came to the prom together? That the place would explode as The Beast came forth in flames out of the pit?
I suspect virtually every kid who wanted to go to the prom, regardless of one same-sex couple, is pretty disappointed. They’ve probably bought dresses, rented tuxes, ordered corsages and limos – whatever they’d dreamed about through the bleak high school winter.
Now, it’s over. And all because the grownups freaked out.
Too bad. This could have been a nice lesson about getting along in the massive universe outside IAHS – where very little can be controlled and where lots of different kinds of people dwell, many in harmony with that universe despite leading non-traditional lives.
Shame. Shame.
Stop and think about this for one minute.
Who exactly created the distraction? The School Board. I'm going to say that there is a pretty good chance that most of us wouldn't have even known about this had they not made a big deal out of it. The only people that would have known are the people who attended.
Why not sell tickets and address issues as they come, not take action to resolve a problem that hasn't even evolved? It's almost like wiping your @#$ before you take a crap, just because you think you going crap, it doesn't do a lot of good to whip before it happens.... Sometimes things do take care of themselves.
