Category Archives: heavy metals

The toxic waterways

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I had heard this report was out but hadn’t seen it until now–about our toxic waterways.  Indiana, unfortunately, heads the list for toxic load.  It’s worse than I first read about–the number now is 17 million pounds of toxins into our waterways.  43 million pounds released into the Ohio river, THE most toxic river.  Good Grief.

And Joe Donnelly, Dan Coats, and Jackie Walorski, paid by their bosses (in the form of campaign $$, and God knows what else), are fighting for the industries’ right to poison us.    Some of them are so bold to say they’re fighting for us and our families….seriously.  17 million pounds of toxins.  Whom is irresponsible, Mr. Coats?

NY Times has a page up on fines and violations…and how nobody takes responsibility.

The Sierra Club’s take on the Indiana Dept. of Environmental Mis-Management, including a dog boiled alive by hot water discharge, and a coal industry lobbyist being appointed to…wait for it…the IDEM–for prosecuting the polluters.  If this wasn’t so serious, I would be laughing my arse off.

 

 

Progress

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So…you all might recall I blogged about the vulnerability of the Irish to heavy metal poisoning due to a genetic factor…

…my other sister dropped a bombshell last week at the funeral dinner–she had her daughter tested because of health issues…and….drum roll please….she has the double gene responsible for the inability to detox heavy metals.

I knew it….but I couldn’t convince my siblings that because we were Irish, we were more susceptible.

They had a hard time believing that my stupid amalgams had made me so ill.  My sis was a dental hygienist in another life, so she was brainwashed into believing that stuff was perfectly safe.  She was exposed to it eight hours a day, five days a week.  I won’t go into her health issues, but there’s plenty to point towards mercury poisoning.

And yet, it’s still hard for her to wrap her brain around–because she just noticed the red spots on my arms–that have been there for over ten years–probably closer to fifteen years.  She thinks that’s a sign of allergies.  Yes and no.  Allergies are worse with mercury poisoning and many on the support group have some sort of skin issue like mine.

I explained to my sister (she lives out of state, so I don’t get to see her that often), that my red spots got much worse when I worked at the state mental hospital that was located near a cement plant that burns hazardous waste.  I found out a couple years ago that it was spewing mercury into the air.  This just clicked for me that my red spots got worse when I worked there, and then started to disappear when I moved out of town after losing my house.  The thing is–when I chelate, the red spots itch like crazy and become an angry red.  And when they do go away, there is a pink scar left on my forearm.

I’ve passed another milestone that indicates I am progressing, however slowly–my long time readers might recall I mentioned warts on my thumb and middle finger.  The warts on my thumb began to disappear a year or two into chelation.  The middle finger, however, was still there.  Until now.

It was getting itchy and red during chelation, but still remained until this week–where the body finally dealt with it and tada! I no longer have the wart.  Incredible how the body is such a miracle.  I knew that viruses cause warts, so I was waiting for the immune system to take care of it.  Doctors, of course, want to just remove the warts without thinking about why the wart is there and if there is something gone wrong with the immune system…?

So…yeah…a little progress, but a giant leap as far as I’m concerned.

And knowing that I was right all along about the Irish genetics is just wonderful.  Validated.

Now if they’ll only listen to me about Dr. Cutler’s protocol and start chelation before things get really bad…

…and following a grain free organic diet…but yeah, that’s probably not going to happen–lots of resistance, but I can hope, can’t I?

 

 

Fracking wastewater being pumped into wells

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Have these people completely lost their minds?

One New York state study found radioactivity in fracking waste water at 267 times the level considered safe for human consumption. Other studies found several cancer-causing contaminants in fracking waste water. The report cites arsenic, lead, hexavalent chromium, barium, chloride, sodium, sulfates, boron, benzene and radioactive agents.

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You might remember hexavalent chromium…it was the stuff used by PG & E featured in the movie, Erin Brockovich. 

It, as well as benzene, are known cancer causing agents.  Arsenic and lead, of course, are heavy metals that cause neurological damage and in enough amounts–death.

It is just mindboggling that the fracking proponents look the other way at the damage caused by the fracking process.  All that matters to them is getting the gas out of the ground, no matter the consequences.  Well, it has a way of coming back on you…quality of life goes down…healthcare costs go up…and each generation suffers more DNA damage.

Helping bees

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On to lighter subjects…

A member on the organic farmers’ list posted a message about helping a bee that is on the ground.  If they’re on the ground, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are dead or dying–it probably means they are dead tired from gathering pollen and are resting.  You can help it by mixing up a little sugar water to help it regain its strength.

Just thought I’d pass this along–

The shootings in Santa Barbara

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(Side note~Migraine is gone…weird.  I felt like I was getting one Tuesday, and then it went away.  Probably due to the new stress of job and getting away from all grains and chocolate….it’s going to be interesting to see how my body re-adjusts, if my migraines are any clue.)

I got the rare chance of watching Melissa Harris-Perry this morning.  I don’t always agree with her conclusions, but do enjoy the stimulating program.  She talked about the Santa Barbara shootings and the gender bias of the shooter, Elliott Rodger.  She mentioned a video by him, but refused to play it, so I went looking for it on youtube:

 

Wow. Just Wow.  Two minutes into this video, and you can see why women rejected this guy.  Narcissistic. Self-absorbed. Playing the victim. Shallow. Entitled.

Over and over again, he claims rejection by women and doesn’t understand why.  Over and over again he says “these beautiful blonde women” are out with “douchebags”….when they should be out with “wonderful” him.  Women have great intuition (which they don’t always listen to) and probably could see this guy’s warped view of himself and the world and his negative energy towards them…as is now known by his murdering people.

MHP’s guest stated that this guy had a sense of entitlement.  I can see that in the video.  By his view, he was such a “terrific” guy, and was entitled to the beautiful women, but couldn’t get them….so he killed them.

There are so many things tied to Elliott Rodger’s view –one of which is the society’s rape/violence culture against women.

Rodger focuses on rejection by beautiful women.  I would lay bets that there were women who liked Elliott…but they weren’t “beautiful” on the outside.  He probably treated them badly…as he claims he was treated.  It’s okay, you see, to treat women who are “ugly” by society’s standards in a disrespectful and dismissive tone.  This makes me so angry I could spit nails right now.

They brought up that Elliott was autistic.  Okay, you all know what I’m going to say next…he was a high functioning autistic, with apparent aggression and rage — both tied to mercury poisoning.  Will anyone explore that possibility while investigating this case?  Probably not.  And another chance at recognizing mercury/heavy metal poisoning/toxicity’s influence in crime is ignored.

From the first link:

Studies involving a large sample of autistic and schizophrenic patients found that over 90 % of those tested had high levels of the milk protein beta-casomorphine-7 in their blood and urine and defective enzymatic processes for digesting milk protein(92,93,83), and similarly for the corresponding enzyme needed to digest wheat gluten(92,94)

Due to the large number of vaccinations that are now containing mercury thimerosal, most children have been documented to receive mercury exposure far above the government health guideline for mercury, and the number of causes of autism has increased over 600% in the last decade[81,A,43b].

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[…]

A group of violent criminals had signif. higher levels of hair lead and cadmium levels than non violent controls(62b)

[…]

Studies at the Argonne National Laboratory found that the majority of delinquents and criminals had high metals levels such as cadmium and lead, and to fall into 2 categories. One group with high copper and low zinc, sodium potassium tended to have extreme tempers, while another group with low zinc and copper, but high sodium and potassium tended to be sociopathic(115). But it was found that treatment of delinquent or violent prone individuals for metals related problems including nutritional therapy usually produced significant improvements in mood, violent behavior, and functionality- with complete cure in the majority of cases (115,119,120).

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A note here about hair analysis–Dr. Cutler is of the belief that hair levels are helpful, but not 100% indicators of toxicity.  Time and again, mercury poisoned folks have tested low mercury on hair tests — NOT because they are not poisoned, but rather, because their bodies are not secreting mercury.  They lack the ability to efficiently rid the body of mercury.  Once they began to chelate, and their poor bodies were able to function half-way decently, their hair tests have changed to high mercury levels.

It is almost a rule that on the mercury support group, that we are gluten and dairy intolerant–lack of enzymes since mercury interferes with it.

It will be interesting to see the developing story.  God Bless the parents and loved ones who lost someone.

The pharmacy in your yard… **edited

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(I want to preface this with:  I am not a health professional.  Please consult with your health care provider before breathing, er I mean, before trying anything outside of Big Pharma, er I mean, before trying anything I suggest here.  You are responsible for your own health decisions. Which is why you should run, not walk, away from American medicine.)

I wanted to explore the link between dandelions and cancer, and found this. 

It supports my own intuition that this plant that we categorized as a bothersome weed could be our lifeline.

It’s just amazing that we’re pouring toxic chemicals–those same chemicals linked to cancer –on a plant that could very well cure that cancer.  (I’m not pointing fingers, mind you, because I am guilty of doing this in my past life, before becoming informed and aware.)

Breast cancer is especially of interest to me because my grandmother died from breast cancer…at least we think it was breast cancer–by the time it was discovered, it had metastasized all over her body, but the concentration was in her breasts.

I still have my two breast lumps, discovered nearly two years ago, but they shrunk after upping my iodine.  And in the last couple of years–drinking dandelion tea every day. Part of the reason for the lumps is the messed up hormones from mercury poisoning…so I am hopeful that they will disappear once I get this horrible poison gone from my system.

I also drink rose hip tea every day–loaded with natural Vitamin C….after reading that synthesized vitamins, such as “C”, are not really that good for us.  The body doesn’t recognize the synthetic version as it does the natural version–which makes sense to me.

Dr. Horner’s list begins with what I’ve been saying all along–eating organic food is the best medicine for your body to do its miracle work of healing itself. Unfortunately, she also recommends grains–which I now see as poison, as well.

A minor quibble with the good fats suggestion–butter from cows allowed to eat naturally–grass, without hormones and antibiotics–is good for us, too.

**edited to add:  she recommends flaxseeds every day — you should be aware that those of us of Irish heritage lack the necessary enzyme to digest flaxseeds.  I was taking flaxseed oil every day thinking it was a good thing, but I started having such nausea with it that I stopped.  It was only later that I found out about the lacking enzymes.

Teas are okay, but Dr. Campbell-McBride (GAPS), allows only loose leaf tea–not processed.   Tea  is high in salicylates, which can cause some severe issues, such as bladder pain and urgency, even blood in the urine. I guess it’s what you call too much of a good thing.

I’ve tried turmeric, too, but didn’t have results with it.  I guess that is one of the individual aspects of “food medicine.”  One size does not fit all.  Listen to your body, and learn to recognize when it is telling you to “stop”.

I wouldn’t recommend stevia, either, as I’ve read of issues with it.  Honey or maple syrup are preferred sweeteners–naturally offering benefits. I might note that royal jelly–from bees–has been touted as energizing–but if you’re allergic, it can have the opposite effect.  I began taking it before I knew I was mercury toxic, and I felt pretty good the first couple of weeks I took it.  Then, I began to feel more tired and developed a sore throat.  When I discontinued the royal jelly, I felt better.  In the interest of science, I took the royal jelly again, and again felt worse with a sore throat after just a few days.  I don’t know if this is a result of the mercury, because it does cause one to be allergic to everything, or whether it was just too high a concentration for my body.

I also disagree with soy–it is a known to impact the thyroid negatively.

So, yeah, nature has provided for us…we just need to value it.

 

 

 

Eating the weeds…

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…continuing to explore the weeds-are-a-figment-of-your-upbringing theme…

I found this podcast of EarthEats on public radio talking about the redbuds.  It has special significance being here in Indiana.

Who knew that the redbuds were edible?  Not I.

Also, Trader’s Point Creamery of Indiana, sells excellent milk products with their grassfed cows.  Good stuff.

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Also, I subscribe to a farmer’s forum and one of the members talked about the “weeds” they harvest.

One of them is plantain.  When I first read that, I thought of the banana-like fruit.  Nope.  It’s that weed that you can’t seem to kill that sprouts all over the place…and after reading this, one wonders what are we thinking–spraying them with poison to eradicate them?

The writer makes a good point about our lack of knowledge and how folks lining up for food banks had an abundance of good food that was free in the form of plantains scattered about.  It’s depressing that we have been brainwashed against the natural world and good nutrition is available at no cost.  The only problem is that unless they know if the plant has been sprayed with chemicals, they could make themselves ill.  In poor neighborhoods, it’s probably a safe bet that those “weeds” have not been sprayed, as keeping up with the Joneses with manicured lawns is not on the top of their list of survival.  But it’s always good to ask if you wish to eat the plant.

On a positive note~it’s also highly likely that they are GMO free, as Monsanto, Dow, et al, would not have a $$ profit incentive since they grow like…weeds.  Heh.

 

Diet and Health, via Weston Price **edited

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A member of the mercury support group posted this link to the Spring Caustic Commentary on the Weston Price Foundation website.

It’s pretty informative for those who are unfamiliar with Weston Price’s work.  He was a dentist who traveled the world, observing the indigenous tribes.  He discovered that they had perfect teeth–no dental decay.  When they became industrialized, and ate a more Western diet, their dental health began to suffer.  Price also observed the changes in mouth structure–before the Western diet, the parents had bright, wide smiles….but the generations afterward had more narrow smiles and misshapened teeth by overcrowding the mouth.  And yet, Western doctors refuse to see the connection between diet and overall health and wellbeing.

**edited to add the link. Geesh.

Eye Candy

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This week’s photos of lovely Canada is hit or miss.  Some gorgeous…some…well, not so much.

Like I said before, Canadians get more than their fair share of beautiful rainbows. 🙂

Love the last photo–the beleaguered dandelion spreading its seeds.  They are full of Vitamin C and Vitamin A, among other things, like detoxing you…we really need to rethink the classification of “weeds”.  According to this post, they’ve alleged that dandelion does cure cancer.

 

Kochs: Getting Taxpayers to pay for their lobbyists…

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This just in…the utmost in hubris–the $$ Kochs $$ don’t even want to pay for their own lobbying efforts against public education, pollution control, unions, poor people, elderly, dogs and cats…(okay, I added the dogs and cats.)

August 28, 2013
CONTACT: Nikolina Lazic, nikolina@prwatch.org

WISCONSIN PREPARES TO HAND HALF-MILLION IN TAXPAYER FUNDS TO KOCH-TIED GOP LOBBY SHOP

A small GOP lobby shop tied to the Tea Party and David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity, and which was active in the state’s recent recall elections, was awarded $500,000 in taxpayer dollars in what some are calling a backdoor, sweetheart deal cooked up by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) State Chair, outgoing Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder.

Send an email to the commission which will review the sweetheart deal tomorrow:
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/632/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14195

The United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation was the only applicant for a newly-created grant to promote hunting, fishing, and trapping in the state, despite the organization having no record in outdoors training. The grant was slipped into the budget bill by Suder and barely advertised, and other outdoors groups with more experience in the area were largely excluded. Suder has ties to United Sportsmen, and announced last week he would be leaving the Assembly for a higher-paying job in the Walker administration.

The organization’s record, thus far, appears to be that of a lobbying organization for an array of Republican priorities, from mining to the “Castle Doctrine” — neither of which has anything to do with hunting or fishing — and working with Americans for Prosperity to organize events and support Republicans in the 2011 recall elections. The Foundation wing of the group, which has received the grant, only incorporated in January.Although United Sportsmen describes itself as a membership organization, there is little indication it has a wide membership list; its Facebook page, for example, only has 290 followers, many of whom are politicians or right-wing leaders.

The grant, if approved by a panel reviewing the application on Thursday, will go almost entirely towards paying the salaries of United Sportsmen’s staff and consultants.

“This last minute, half million dollar raid on the public treasury ought to be rescinded immediately,” says Jay Heck of Common Cause Wisconsin. “To award this huge chunk of scarce, taxpayer money to a new group with no track record or experience in hunting, trapping and fishing and with obvious partisan, special-interest ties appears, at the very least to be a quid pro quo conflict of interest.”

Taxpayer Dollars Funding the Tea Party?

United Sportsmen was incorporated in June 2011, just weeks before the hotly-contested Senate recall elections when, apparently in coordination with Koch’s Americans for Prosperity, it sent misleading absentee ballot applications with the incorrect date for the elections.

At the time, minimal information was available about the organization, but readers of the Brad Blog uncovered how United Sportsmen’s website was purchased by John W. Connors, an Americans for Prosperity staffer and former Walker campaign volunteer.

This was not Connors’ first foray into the dark money arts. Earlier in 2011, the Center for Media and Democracy uncovered how Connors had also purchased the domain name for a mysterious group called “Citizens for a Strong America,” which subsequently spent hundreds of thousands on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. (That election, between Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and challenger Joanne Kloppenburg, was being treated as a referendum on Governor Scott Walker’s controversial anti-union legislation). The street address for the domain name registry was the same as that of AFP.

United Sportsmen of Wisconsin received $235,000 from Citizens for a Strong America in 2011, according to the latter group’s tax filings. That same year, Citizens for a Strong America funnelled a stunning $916,045 to a pro-life organization called Wisconsin Family Action, which also appeared to have been involved in Americans for Prosperity’s absentee mailing scheme: its address was the same as the “Absentee Ballot Application Processing Center” listed as the destination for AFP’s absentee ballot submissions.

Unlike Citizens for a Strong America, United Sportsmen continued its political activities after the recall elections. It aso maintained its AFP ties. In October of 2012, for example, the group worked with AFP and the National Rifle Association to sponsor “Freedom Fest,” a party at the Kalahari Resort featuring politicians like U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, right-wing talk show host Vicki McKenna, and Brian Fraley of the MacIver Institute, as well as the head of Governor Walker’s Department of Natural Resources. Activities included a “Freedom Phone Bank” and presentations titled “Rules for Radicals” and “Grassroots Lobbying.”

United Sportsmen presents itself as an organization focused on hunting and fishing, but its lobbying efforts suggest a broader agenda. The main legislative priority for the group this session in terms of lobbying hours was the promotion of a bill to ease the way for a controversial open-pit iron mine that environmentalists and tribal groups fear will contaminate groundwater. That bill was a top priority for Governor Walker and legislative Republicans (as well as Americans for Prosperity), who promoted it as a jobs measure.

“Conservation only happens when people have jobs,” United Wisconsin said in a statement at the time.

Narrowly-Tailored Sweetheart Deal Involves Suder’s Former Chief of Staff

The sportsmen’s grant was slipped into the Wisconsin budget with minimal debate by then-Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, who has close ties to many of those involved with United Sportsmen.

For example, one of the educators listed in the United Sportsmen grant is Luke Hilgemann, Suder’s former Chief of Staff and now Chief Operating Officer of the national Americans for Prosperity in Washington DC After leaving Suder’s office in 2011, Hilgemann led the Wisconsin chapter of AFP; he was promoted to the national group earlier this month. (AFP-Wisconsin is now led by David Fladeboe, who was also a Suder staffer.) Other educators include Darren LaSorte, a longtime Washington DC lobbyist for the NRA. United Sportsmen board members and their families gave Suder $2,500 last year.

Send an email to the commission which will review the sweetheart deal tomorrow: http://org.salsalabs.com/o/632/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14195

And, the grant requirements were narrowly drawn to make few organizations eligible besides United Sportsmen, and was opened for bidding with essentially no public notice. According to Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

The motion said the grant can be given only to groups that are “not an affiliate of a national federation or organization.” That meant conservation groups such as the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and state chapters of Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation were prevented from applying for the grant.

And due to the lack of public notice, several eligible groups weren’t aware of the grant until after application deadline. Reached last week, Don Kirby, executive director of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, said he had no knowledge of the grant.

“Our organization would have been interested to pursue this,” Kirby said. “I’m more than a little disappointed to find out now.” The Wisconsin Waterfowl Association has a long history of running Learn To Hunt and other training events.

George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, praised the purpose of the grant but questioned the narrowly-drawn criteria. “We aren’t criticizing the purpose of this at all,” said Meyer. “We think its purpose is important. But clearly it looks like it was put together for one group.”

In contrast with United Sportsmen, the Wisconsin Wildlife Foundation lobbied against the mining bill, expressing concern about mining’s impact on lakes, wetlands, and groundwater.

Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine), who was part of the budget committee, told the Journal-Sentinel he hadn’t realized how uncompetitive the grant really was. “In hindsight, it seems like a sweetheart deal for one group that has ties to Scott Suder,” Mason said. “That was not how it was described.”

Led by Right-Wing Apparatchicks

United Sportsmen’s Tea Party and right-wing ties are well established. For example, United Sportsmen boardmember John Meegan is president of the Sauk County Tea Party, and worked with the political training group American Majority to train Tea Party activists and organize pro-Walker rallies at the height of anti-Walker protests. In addition to training Tea Party activists and grooming candidates, American Majority sponsors the Media Trackers website. Meegan is also on the board of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families, which promotes for-profit virtual schools like those operated by ALEC member K12 Inc.

Also working with the group is Annette Olson, who makes the vast majority of posts on the group’s Facebook page and has testified on behalf of United Sportsmen. Olson leads the Tea Party groups Women United for Liberty (which appears to have an association with Freedomworks) and the pro-gun Tea Party group Uninfringed Liberty. Uninfringed Liberty describes itself as having “a strong emphasis on the second amendment because it protects all liberties and freedom,” and says it works to “participate in vetting and promoting conservative candidates that best exemplify the basic principles of liberty.” The group boasts of its lifetime membership in the NRA and Gun Owners of America, and supports “open carry.” Both Uninfringed Liberty and Women United for Liberty have also held activist trainings with American Majority.

At the state Republican Party convention in 2012, Olson was peeved that the convention hall didn’t allow concealed carry, and sponsored a motion urging the party to only hold its events on properties that do.

Those extreme views on guns are reflected in United Sportsmen’s lobbying efforts. It was one of just a handful of groups to lobby in favor of Wisconsin’s “Castle Doctrine Act,” which mimics the infamous ALEC “Stand Your Ground” law implicated in the Trayvon Martin case. No other group purporting to focus on hunting, fishing, and conservation is listed as lobbying on the bill.

Olson and two other United Sportsmen representatives stood behind Governor Walker as he signed the “Castle Doctrine Act.”

Will Wisconsin Fund Tea Partier Salaries, in Perpetuity?

The grant will pay United Sportsmen $200,000 this year and $300,000 in 2014. According to the group’s grant application, $370,000 will be spent on staff salaries and $20,000 on staff benefits, plus $56,000 on consultants, the Journal-Sentinel reports.

A five-member committee dominated by Republicans will review the grant on Thursday, and then disband. The committee will include Scott Gunderson, DNR executive assistant and a former Republican legislator; Sen. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn), chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee; Rep. Al Ott (R-Forest Junction), chairman of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee; and two both appointed to the committee by the DNR.

If the grant is approved, United Sportsmen will receive $450,000 in every two-year budget for perpetuity.

Many have noticed how odd it is for a Tea Party-connected group opposed to government spending to turn around and use their political connections to ask for a handout.
[bolds mine]
“How ironic that this phony front group, with such close ties to Americans for Prosperity — which professes to be in favor of cutting government spending — would burden Wisconsin taxpayers in this manner,” says Common Cause Wisconsin’s Heck. “They should have asked the Koch Brothers — who finance AFP — for the handout instead.”

TAKE ACTION! SEND AN EMAIL TODAY AT: http://org.salsalabs.com/o/632/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14195

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