An excerpt from candidate Susan Kniep
Susan Kniep
April 15, 2009
Hartford Tea Party
I’m delighted to be here today. I stood on these very same steps with Susette Kelo, the patriot of our time. We pleaded with the State to allow Susette and her neighbors to keep their homes. We spoke out against the abuse of Eminent Domain. But our elected officials would not listen. Susette and her neighbors lost their homes.
I stood on the steps in front of this Capitol during the anti-income tax rally to plead with our State legislators not to impose a State income tax. Again, they would not listen and ignored our pleas.
Today, we can begin to change of the course of history and reinstate a government of, for and by the people.
And now I ask you – Are you mad as hell, and you’re not going to take it any more. If your answer is yes, then join with me in sending a clear message to Washington – JAIL NO BAIL!
Our so called leaders in Washington and their special interests are bankrupting us, taking our homes, depleting our savings and forcing our children into insurmountable debt.
And they call it democracy. I call it criminal!
Nationally, our economy is in a free fall and spiraling out of control. Our country is in crisis. The blood on Wall Street is flowing down to Main Street as deteriorating stock prices and a troubled housing market have reduced a family’s net worth by 30% or more.
We’ve just witnessed the biggest bank robbery in our country, leaving American taxpayers and their children burdened with a legacy of insurmountable debt which has grown to $10.7 trillion. This translates to $36,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. Interest payments on this debt are $500 billion for one year.
With each dollar in debt we incur, our country loses control to foreign creditors such as China, Japan, Britain, and Saudi Arabia.
Being bailed instead of jailed, some U. S. robber barons, such as AIG executives, had their pockets stuffed with millions of U. S. taxpayer dollars guised as bonuses, as hard working Americans are losing their jobs, their savings and their homes.
Some predict the government’s data is fatally flawed and the real jobless rate has hit 19.8% when factoring in the unemployed who have lost their benefits.
Mortgage foreclosures rose 81% from 2007 to 2008 and continue to climb, with an increase of 67% from Jan, 09.
With lost jobs and few job prospects, the next tsunami to play havoc on the lives of Americans and their families will be the result of Tax Lien Sales as municipalities force families from their homes who cannot afford to pay their property taxes.
In Connecticut we pay one of the highest property taxes in the nation, second to New Jersey. Approximately 85% of our property taxes pay for personnel related expenses driven by public sector union contracts. Last month, the Democrat-controlled State legislature handed over $86 million more of our tax dollars to give some state employees wage increases of 6%. This contract set the basis for future state and municipal contracts which follow.
Some retired town employees are receiving annual pensions exceeding $90,000 and $100,000 with full health benefits.
The only recourse taxpayers have is to unite in solidarity to keep what little we have left as more economic storms brew on the horizon.
Instead bailing out the crooks, we should be jailing them.
And that just might happen, although a little too late. Yesterday, we learned and I quote from the Financial Times …. the Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing whether Bank of America broke the law by not telling shareholders about Merrill Lynch’s plan to pay out $3.6 billion in bonuses before they voted for the government-backed merger of these two banks.
Broke the law? – well, maybe they didn’t brake the law because what we have in this country is legalized corruption – our politicians construct laws on which they can put their own interpretation.
But today we rejoice in solidarity. Our numbers will grow, and our success will be great. But the path will be long with many stumbling blocks which we will have to overcome.
Our country can only survive with an empowered, educated voter, and candidates who will reject the status quo form of government which has long been controlled by special interests. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is an issue of survival both for us and our families and for our country as a whole.
You have a job to do. When you leave here today, be a spokesperson for the cause. Tell others that they must spread the word to take our country back. Write articles in the newspaper denouncing what they are doing in Washington as it relates to the bailouts and the debt we are incurring. Write to your congressmen, to your local elected officials, and to your state representatives.
Tell them you will not pay more in taxes and they must control their spending. Tell them no more corruption and to jail those who are corrupt. Tell them you will be watching them. And you will speak out against them when they work against you.
Your voice may be weak in the beginning. But you will be amazed how much stronger it will grow. Because you know you can no longer stand at the back of the train. You can no longer let others speak for you. You must take control of the conversation and let those in Washington know that you will no longer stand for the special interests and power brokers who have for too long controlled our country and our lives.
And remember, you can make the effects of activism felt this year, 2009. Attend your local town council meetings and State legislative hearings.
Speak out on issues which concern you. And more importantly, run for public office or find candidates to run who will challenge the status. Support and work for those candidates. Through effective grassroots campaigns, changes will be felt at all levels of government.
Thank you for being here today and uniting in solidarity.
VICTORY WILL BE OURS!
