Is it me, or has Senator Hatch (who I’ve supported for years) lost it?

His most recent slap to the face of the American People, is warning Congressman Chaffetz to be careful about fighting earmarks. Grrr!

When you’re not happy with your representatives, be it State, or in Washington, LET THEM KNOW!

Dear Senator Hatch:

I’m writing you to let you know that I am angry with you.

I just read a report on KSL.com about you warning Congressman Chaffetz to be careful about fighting earmarks. I read the whole thing, and I can see your point, but seriously, with the raging anger this country has over government thievery, you’re seriously going to take that position?!?

Senator, we are fed up with tax and spend. And honestly, I am fed up with you: I am angry about your efforts to get a pardon for convicted drug dealer John Forte, I am mad about the love song your wrote about Ted Kennedy, I am mad that you supported the nomination of Eric Holder, and Tim Geithner. I am angry that you seem to be working so hard to get along with the people who are destroying this country that it appears you have turned into one of them! And now this!

Jason Chaffetz is a congressman today because the people who put him in office believe he will be uncompromising. We are SICK to DEATH of compromise! We want our country back! We don’t want deals, we don’t want give and take, we want action! We want a fighter.

Unfortunately, I can’t vote for Chaffetz, because I don’t live in his district, but I support him 100%.

I DO get to vote for you, however.

And I want earmarks GONE! Here’s an idea, give us our money back, and we’ll spend it on what WE want, rather than what the government tells us we do.

What I would really like is for everyone in Washington to STOP! Stop writing bills, stop passing laws, stop regulating EVERYTHING on God’s green earth! For the love of Pete, we’ve got enough laws to last another 200 years if everyone in Washington was in a coma!

I am tired of being financially ravaged by the IRS and getting nothing but government incompetence and stupidity in return for it! Washington has become nothing more than a huge government operated extortion ring. I am absolutely sick of it, and so are millions of Americans like me.

The Tea Parties, the Town Hall Meetings, the 9/12 project, the 2nd Amendment March (currently being organized), and other citizen movements to oppose big government and illegal regulation are not unimportant anomalies. They represent a huge dissatisfaction over government abuse. Ignore them at your political peril.

I want you to remember that you, as a United States Senator, are a representative of The People. You are NOT a leader. You are not in office to lead. The People lead YOU.

You are in office to represent us. Right now I want my representatives to be mean and aggressive. I want you to resist the acid that is corroding the shining heart of this country with absolute resolve. We don’t want puppies, we want pit bulls.

Today, you lost my vote, Senator. That’s the bottom line. I’ve supported you for years, but today, I’m done.

While you’ve done many good things over the years, lately it appears that you’ve lost touch. We want representatives who stand up for us. We as Americans have compromised ourselves almost to the point of losing our liberty. That is over. On election day, I will be supporting people who will FIGHT to get my freedom back.

Thanks for your time, and your service!

Sincerely,

And that’s it. I have written to Senator Hatch before about other issues. In the past my letters have been positive and supportive. I hope this one clearly signals the dramatic change in my sentiment towards his office.

Why don’t YOU take the time to write to your representatives. Let them know if they’re doing a good job. Let them know if they aren’t. But don’t only write on rare occasions when you’re mad. It’s important to give them props when they deserve it. If they frequently get positive correspondence from you and recognize you as someone who frequently encourages and supports their projects, it will have a much greater impact when you have to write them a scathing letter like this one.

Go fourth with honor and have a great day!

Today is my first day off in 19 days. I have been working hard digging out of the hole left by several months of virtual, and then official, unemployment.

I come back to this blog humbled and filled with a new appreciation for the things that I have and my ability to earn a living for myself and my family.

It’s been a rough and punishing trip, but I’ve learned a few things, and I intend to go forward with a new sense of purpose, and to live my life with greater intention and direction. No more waste. No more indecision. No more fear. No more procrastination.

6 months ago I prayed that God would make me a stronger and better person. Practically the next day, work dried up, and life got really, really hard. I was thrown, so to speak, into a financial and emotional meat grinder.

For a time my confidence and pride kept me from admitting that I could fail. But as the weeks passed by without success, my faith in myself began to crack and break away, and at some point I realized with terrifying clarity that I am not invincible. I am, in fact, a mere speck in the universe and that my existence is preserved only through the grace of God.

Each day that we live is a gift from God, and something that we have no power to create ourselves.

Today, I realize that though I don’t always deserve it, God blesses and takes care of me (his undeserving and rebellious child). I also know that the last 6 months of soul crushing hardship was an answer to a prayer. It was a tough pill to swallow but it had the desired effect. It has made me a better person!

And the prayers for help that I cried out out on those dark nights he answered too. And through hard work and with God’s help, I am nearly out — out of that great pit. But I needed God to line things up and make a path for me. I still do.

Sorry if I’m sounding preachy. But looking around at the world today, it’s seems like maybe a little more preaching is needed. You can get your fix of mindless crap on “The Family Guy” later if that’s what you think you need.

I know God hears and answers prayers. He knows what you need. He knew that what I needed was a good solid butt kicking, and he loved me enough to give it to me when I asked for it. And when I couldn’t take it any more, I cried out to him for relief, and he gave it to me, but only after I relented in my stubborn pride and admitted that I couldn’t do it myself — that I needed his help.

I needed to be shown that I am capable of failure. (Not that I have never failed at anything — I have; but I always thought that my failures were simply due to not giving 100 percent, a personal choice which I could change if I wanted.)

I had to be forced down to the floor despite all my efforts before I could see that I can’t always win every battle on my own. Intellectually I knew it, but I never really believed it in my heart.

Now I do.

Going forward I am and will be more grateful for the blessings in my life, and I know that I need to prepare for the future and have a relationship with God, who is the only one who can truly save me. Nothing I have ever done has been by my own hand, but by his hand, because were it not for him, I wouldn’t have a hand at all. He has given it to me.

No doubt, times will get tough again. Rough roads lie ahead. Don’t be like me and think it can’t happen to you. Prepare for it, and be ready.

Get to know God. He loves you, and will help you when you need it.

It’s new year — 2010 — lets do this one right!

-Paul