Journal Date: Oct. 13, 2021

As I write today, I am on a plane bound for Las Vegas for a business meeting/ convention.

It is a sad day back home. I got a call from Liz, on my way to the airport telling me that our beloved dog, Gracie, had reached the end.

I mention Gracie here because my experience with her parallels my experience with Unity Above Self in America (U.a.S.i.A.).

I wasn’t looking for another dog when Gracie came into my life.

Our youngest son, Sam, had been asking for a puppy. But, we had a dog already.

I was content for Sam to interact with other people’s puppies on a brief, intermittent basis, with no ongoing responsibility or burden for me.

But then one day, Gracie just kind of showed up at the lumberyard. Sam wanted Gracie.

Gracie was a handful. But I felt from the beginning that although Gracie was an additional burden; she was a burden God wanted me to take.

In time, of course, Gracie became much more of a blessing than a burden.

You see, what I had to do was embrace the opportunity God had given me and Sam had encouraged me to take.

Unity above Self in America is much the same as Gracie.

The difference is it was Tom Coburn, not my son Sam, encouraging me to embrace the burden. By embracing burdens, we find meaning, strength, and support we did not know we had.

Yes, when God gives us a burden, He wants us to embrace it.

After Cynthia Lummis, we decided to move to Kelly Loeffler in Georgia.

Loeffler was a unique lady in a unique position.

She was the wealthiest member of the U.S. Senate. She lives in an enormous mansion in a suburb of Atlanta full of big mansions.

She is a former big-time women’s basketball player and the owner of a WNBA basketball team.

She had been appointed to fill a vacant Senate seat by the Georgia governor in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.

Now she was facing an election to keep the seat.

In the special election, she was facing Raphael Warnock, who is the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (where MLK was pastor).

Not only was she facing election, but Georgia’s other senator, David Perdue, was already a co-sponsor of the “No Budget, No Pay” act, which just strengthens our leverage.

I flew to Atlanta. I pre sented our case in person to her office.

It didn’t take long. Approximately one week later, we had her as an official co-sponsor.

This was big news; this was real validation of our efforts.

For the first time we had traveled out of state and had tangible impact on an out-of-state U.S. Senator.

Folks, that ain’t easy! God is Good!

Problem was, time was up, it was now November 2020, election time.

Federal elections happen every two years. A new cast of characters is set. A new Congress is formed.

It is always a time of change and upheaval; this time would be that and more.

I don’t like to set idle. I believe there is always productive work to be done if we just look for it.

One of the things that happened in the November 2020 elections in Oklahoma is that Republican Stephanie Bice unseated Democrat Kendra Horn.

We had decided to concentrate our out-of-state efforts on the Senate, but in Oklahoma we had everyone in both houses of Congress on record in support of the “No Budget, No Pay” act, except Stephanie Bice.

I decided this interim period (between the November election and the inauguration/swearing in of the new Congress) would make a good time to approach Stephanie Bice.

I tried to track Stephanie down with an in-person visit to her office at the Oklahoma state Capitol. No luck.

I tried to track her down at her campaign office. No luck.

Finally, after a second trip to the Capitol, I was able to get a name and email of someone on her transition team.

I knew who I was looking for, Amy Albo, as she was announced as Bice’s chief of staff on Dec. 18, 2020, in “The Oklahoman.”

Now armed with Amy’s email, I began in earnest.

Amy was not happy to hear from me.

She gave me every reason why she thought I was out of line. Stephanie had not been sworn in. The new 117th Congress had not been convened. The bill had not been re-introduced, so on and so forth.

I wasn’t having it.

Friends, if you are going to accept excuses in an effort like this, you may as well not even begin, because everybody has an excuse.

I explained to Amy that I well understand all her reasons/excuses to not act, but we would accept a simple, verbal commitment from Stephanie.

The commitment would simply be that once Stephanie was sworn in, the new Congress was seated and the bill was re-introduced, that she would then co-sponsor.

She would not agree. Our ads began. She was not a happy camper.

Finally, about three weeks and three ads into our campaign, Amy and I spoke by phone.

Again, I stress, she was not happy. She stated, again, all her excuses.

I stated, again, our desire for some type of commitment, if nothing more than a commitment to review the bill in a specified time upon its re-introduction.

She did everything short of calling me bad names, but ultimately, she agreed that Stephanie would review the bill and give us an answer within 12 weeks of the bill’s re-introduction.

It was a hard-fought battle for a weak commitment, but it was something.

A big part of what we do is simply communicate to Congress that we the people are watching.

We have a debt problem, you need to take a position, virtue matters and you do answer to “we the people.”

We had done that.

Journal Date: Oct. 19, 2021

Jan. 6, 2021, arrived.

It was the day the Electoral College votes were to be cast in Congress and what a day it was.

This of course was the day when rioters, domestic terrorists, or true American patriots stormed the U.S. Capitol in support of outgoing President Donald Trump.

Whether you refer to the people involved in derogatory terms, or terms of understanding and even complimentary terms, says a great deal about your political views.

Our effort does its very best to stand on principles, not politics.

We take no stand on the events that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.

What it did show, though, that is very relevant to our effort, is that both the emotions and stakes are at fever pitch in our country.

People are upset with Washington, D.C.

People are mad, real mad.

The system is broken.

People want change.

Our nation is divided both evenly and passionately.

Our national politics have become so divided that it is dangerous.

Dangerous for our nation, dangerous for politicians and dangerous for individuals.

One side claims the other is pursuing fascism and wants a supreme, powerful leader a/k/a, a dictator.

This faction feels strongly the other side seeks Marxism, a/k/a, a communist state.

Again, we take no position, but we would hope that everyone would agree that both of these outcomes are terrible.

Division is bad. Unity is good.

President Lincoln spoke of the perils of a house divided.

The Bible speaks of the peril of division and the virtue of unity.

We believe strongly that facing our debt problem not only will bring about fiscal sanity, but will also unite our people.

Our nation made it through Jan. 6.

A new Congress was convened.

Regardless of what one thought of the turmoil and the people who were sworn in, Washington and Congress were returning to some version of normalcy.

It was time for us to get back to work.

Our problem at this point was the bill needed to be re-introduced.

This was step one.

If you have watched the YouTube video “Seeking Patriots to Solve the National Debt,” you know I talk about Senator Mike Braun of Indiana.

The “No Budget, No Pay” act is a bi-partisan bill introduced by Senator Braun of Indiana and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Robert Ordway is Senator Braun’s legislative director. He is our closest contact inside the U.S. Senate.

I reached out to Robert to see when the bill might be reintroduced.

Robert told me that Senator Braun was ready to re-introduce the bill, but wanted to do it as a bi-partisan bill and was waiting on Senator Manchin.

He went on to say that since Manchin was a senior Democrat in the Senate, Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidency and Democrats now also controlled the Senate (by a razor thin margin), Manchin had become such a big power player in the Senate, that they could not even get his attention.

Well, this is exactly what we do – we get their attention.

It was clear, Manchin would be our next step.

I identified his office in the West Virginia capital city of Charleston.

I called their office to ensure it was open in light of the COVID pandemic. It was. I boarded a flight to Charleston.

Charleston is a beautiful city located right on the Kanawha River, with lots of charm.

The capitol building itself has a gilded gold dome and sets right on the bank, facing the river.

When I think of our northeast states, I think of urban sprawl.

West Virginia is an exception; it has a very rural feeling to it. I recommend a visit if ever you have the chance.

My plane arrived just in time for me to get to the hotel and get to bed. Tomorrow would be a big day.

I was up early, read my Bible, said a prayer and headed off to his office.

When I arrived, the typical scene ensued.

They greeted me kindly and they asked me what I needed.

I explained our concerns, our request and our ads if our request was not met.

Their kind, friendly demeanor changed.

The lady helping me became as anxious and jittery as a cat on a hot tin roof. It was clear she wanted me to leave.

I finished my talk, had them make copies of our ads, left my contact information and exited.

One victory was they gave me the name and email of his legislative director in Washington.

His legislative director, Wes Kungel and I exchanged emails, starting on March 11, 2021.

His initial email came back to me the same day, mid-afternoon.

His first response was very easy-going and very non-committal, typical stuff.

I replied right back that I didn’t need a pat on the head and his vague response was unacceptable.

I explained, again, our intention to run full-page, full-color ads in the Charleston newspaper, calling out Senator Manchin for being unwilling to join Senator Braun.

Communication stopped – typical stuff.

Our ad was scheduled to run in 14 days. Thirteen days later, I received an email from Wes that our proposed ad made no sense because Senator Manchin had co-sponsored the bill with Senator Braun.

It was a curious way for him to communicate his willingness to meet our request.

But, praise be to God – mission accomplished!

Interestingly, Senator Braun’s legislative director, Robert Ordway, called me.

He wanted me to congratulate both Braun and Manchin in the Charleston newspaper ad. We were happy to do it.

Robert Ordway also went on to say he thought our group should set our sights on a constitutional amendment, not simply passage of a Congressional law.

He is right of course.

The problem is huge and the dysfunction is rampant.

We and others could go to all the trouble to get this law enacted, change could come about and then in an instant, some selfish lawmaker could include its repeal deeply imbedded in other legislation.

It could absolutely happen.

The long-term solution is truly a constitutional amendment.

Yes, he was right.

But what was interesting here is that a U.S. Senator, indeed the senator who introduced the bill, was asking U.a.S.i.A. in Kingfisher, Okla., to spearhead the effort to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reform our nation’s Congress.

Pretty cool in my opinion.

Now, does the fact that he said this make our job any easier?

No!

What would make it easier is if he would truly become a cheerleader with a 100%, absolutely all-in approach.

Would he commit to that? No!

Why? Because that would mean upsetting the apple cart of how things work in Washington.

That would be somewhat equivalent of Jesus upsetting the tables of the money changers in the Temple.

That would cause a stir! That would step on people’s toes! That would mean changing everything!

No, he doesn’t have that level of commitment!

Is his lack of commitment a problem? You bet it is.

Does it mean we should give up? No, it does not.

It means we just have to work that much harder.

Is it fair that a group of citizens based in a small town in Oklahoma should have to show true leadership when our elected federal leaders fail to?

No, it’s not fair!

Was it fair to Jesus to have to die for our sins?

No, it’s not fair! Life is not fair!

Get over it. Learn to serve and not expect anything in return. That is the Jesus example. That is our message.

R. Brian Walter