I will be in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to fight against the socialist takeover of our healthcare system. Hope to have video of the events by Friday. This rally may well attract thousands of activists and there should be plenty of press coverage. For those of you reading this, please chip in by calling your member of Congress and telling them to oppose this terrible legislation.
Earlier today I posted about the ‘Congressional House Call’ day being planned by Americans for Prosperity. This event is growing by the minute. I just got off a phone call with Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, AFP’s Tim Phillips and Steve Lonegan. In just a day and a half, Steve Lonegan has 20 buses ready to go from New Jersey area alone to DC. If this is any inkling, we could be on the cusp of witnessing an unprecedented event on Thursday – with thousands of activists prepared to go to Washington, go to the Capitol, and tell their representatives face-to-face that we do not want this!
So, if you haven’t yet joined up and wish to, there is still time. Here is the specific info on buses that will be leaving from the New Jersey area.
To join the New Jersey Delegation Bus to Washington, DC with Rep. Scott Garrett, Steve Lonegan and your fellow activists, click here.
New Jersey Transportation:
*6:30am- Blue Heron Park and Ride
(located off of Rte 15 at the Blue Heron Exit in Sparta)*7:00am- Ridgewood Park and Ride
(located on Rte 17 south in Ridgewood)*7:00am- Shore Mall (behind Value City)
6725 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Twp, NJ 08234-3904Philadelphia Transportation:
*Rockledge/NE Philadelphia- 8:00am
Huntingdon Valley Mall
Huntingdon Pike and Rockledge Avenues ( Abington, PA)* Center City ( Philadelphia)- 8:30am
On 3rd Street between Chestnut and Walnut
(outside Independence National Park Living History Museum)* South Philadelphia-9:00 am
Oregon Diner, 3rd and Oregon StreetsPlease email infonj@afphq.org or call 201-487-8844 with any questions.
If you cannot come to DC, I would also suggest that you go to AFP’s web site and see what you can do to do something locally at your representative’s office.
Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!
When you are done voting, it will be no time to rest on your laurels. The healthcare battle will begin in earnest this week, with the House ready to vote on a bill by the end of this week. As I have posted time and again, we the people need to stand up NOW to try to stop this.
There are a number of things you can do this week to contribute. First and foremost, Mayor Lonegan is organizing bus trips to Washington, D.C. that will leave on Thursday morning. Here is Steve’s message:
This Thursday, I will be joining Congressman Scott Garrett, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman and dozens of other national leaders on the steps of our Nation’s capitol and I need you to join me.
Together, we can stop the Obama-Palosi-Reed attack on our health care, but only if you act now.
We beat them at Town Hall meetings, we outnumbered them in phone calls and letters and every poll in America tells them the vast majority of Americans are opposed to their radical agenda. THEY JUST DON’T CARE! They have a plan for your future and you will have no say, no control, no other opportunity to fight back unless you act now.
To stop this radical attack on our nation’s future and our individual liberty I am sending buses of freedom loving Americans to Washington DC this Thursday morning for the Hands Off our Health Care rally and for meetings with House of Representatives members in the afternoon.
For departures and information go to taxpayerminute.com
We are going to flood the Congressional office building with great Americans like you and I need you there, your children need you there and your country needs you there.Buses are now leaving from locations in Bergen County, Sussex County and Atlantic County as well as Philadelphia. I need volunteers to help organize buses, get fliers out and help in organizing this historic and challenging effort.
This is crunch time, folks. Now let’s see what we are made of.
If you can help in any way, contact me at 201 487-8844 or email steven.lonegan@afphq.org
If you can not come to D.C., Americans for Prosperity is urging people to go to the local offices of the representatives. This from AFP’s Tim Phillips:
This Thursday join our “Congressional House Call” day. It’s easy. Just go to your closest House or Senate local office at 12 Noon your local time to make sure they hear your voice one last time before the House vote. To find your closest office and to let us know you will take a stand Click Here: http://americansforprosperity.org/cong.php
We’ve got to show them they’re wrong. Join the “Congressional House Call” day this Thursday by going to your member’s district office this Thursday at 12 Noon your time. Take pictures of your visit and send them to me at TimPhillips@afp-mail.com or post them on my Facebook by clicking here http://www.facebook.com/timphillipsafp
If you cannot go in person use the link to call your member of the House and Senate at 12 Noon this Thursday and tell them you’re making a “Congressional House Call” by phone.
We’re at a crucial time in this health care battle. Please take action!
Personally, I would suggest to all of you to start contacting your representatives tomorrow. We need to put as much pressure on as possible. We can not wait around for tomorrow’s election results to pour in. And even if Chris Christie wins, it is no time to become complacent. Tomorrow’s elections are important but the most important thing going on this week is going to be taking place in the halls of Congress – where the freedoms we hold dear are going to be under a full-blown assault. As, Congressman Pence tells us here, ‘Make your voice heard!’
Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!
I just got off a brief phone call with Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. I can’t emphasize enough that we are at a tipping point in the healthcare debate. House Democrats led by Nancy Pelousy are primed to pass a 1990 page monstrosity of a bill that, make no mistake, will take over our healthcare system. It is up to us now to stop them.
Rep Bachmann said the House bill will cut $500B from Medicare. On average, people will pay $4000 a year more for health insurance. If you are under 30, 8%-12% of your income will go to health insurance. Ameerican businesses would be made to pay at least 8% more in payroll tax. And 5.5 million jobs could be lost.
On Monday, the House will actually post the final version of the bill. Rep. Bachmann said the bill released today is incomplete and that other items will likely be added to this destructive measure at the last minute with the final version, again, coming out on Monday. Thereafter, the House will have 3 days of *debate* with a vote scheduled for next Friday.
Rep. Bachmann pointed out that if this passes the federal government will ‘own or control’ almost 50% of private sector wealth. Currently, in this bailpout era, 30% of the private sector is in the hands of the federal government. A takeover of the healthcare industry would bring us to an outrageous 48%.
The Congresswoman pleaded for all of us to start calling our Senators and Representatives and to join in the AFP ‘House Call’ scheduled for next Thursday. In fact, she went so far as to say to ‘get here [to Washington] next week,’ go to the offices of our legislators and put as much pressure on possible for them to stop. She believes that they have forgotten the town hall meetings and they think the rest of us have likewise forgotten.
Summing it up, Rep. Bachmann said, ‘This is it. There is no going back.’
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Left-wing kook Alan Grayson is surely making a name for himself. First the nutcase accused Republicans of wanting fellow Americans to die. But Grayson wasn’t done. Next, he insulted every American, as well as Jews everywhere, when he actually compared the Republican healthcare plan to the Holocaust and 9/11. He’s personally and viciously attacked Dick Cheney. All of these offenses are bad enough. But today’s revelation may take the cake.
Last month Grayson appeared on a radio program and to discuss Congressional oversight of the Fed. In the course of the discussion Grayson had these kind words for Ben Bernanke adviser, Linda Robertson.
Not that I expect much in the way of civility from many members of Congress, but this is beyond the pale. Grayson should have been taken to task already for his other hideous comments but has been shielded by hypocritical Democrats in the House, starting at the top with Nancy Pelousy.
You don’t need me to tell you what a firestorm this would have created if anything remotely close to this had been uttered by a Republican Congressman. Pelousy would have been first in line calling for a rebuke. The NOW gang and other so-called feminists would be on the rampage calling for a resignation.
Quite frankly, I hope this nut Grayson keeps talking. I think it only helps Republicans. But a line also needs to be drawn. His rhetoric has gone too far and, in my opinion, Grayson deserves now to be censured.
What say you, Nancy Pelosi?
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Nancy Pelousy is on quite the roll the past few days. Yesterday she mustered up her best Orwellian newspeak to claim that letting the Bush tax cuts expire wasn’t a tax increase.
Ah, yes. It’s not a tax cut but ‘eliminating a tax decrease that was there.’ Mmmm….Okay!
Then, yesterday the Speakerette was asked by a CNS News reporter where in the constitution the Congress had the power to force people to by health insurance. Here’s how that went down according to CNS News (h/t Gateway Pundit):
CNSNews.com: “Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?”
Pelosi: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”
CNSNews.com: “Yes, yes I am.”
Pelosi then shook her head before taking a question from another reporter.
(Click here for the audio of this exchange)
Afterwards, Pelousy’s office justified the mandate by – what else – invoking the Interstate Commerce Clause; liberals’ favorite part of the constitution to pervert and abuse in their undying quest to expand the federal government.
Pelosi’s press secretary later responded to written follow-up questions from CNSNews.com by emailing CNSNews.com a press release on the “Constitutionality of Health Insurance Reform,” that argues that Congress derives the authority to mandate that people purchase health insurance from its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce.
Not too long ago, I posted regarding the constitutionality of healthcare. Embedded in that post was this quote form The Heritage Foundation on this very issue:
Lastly, proponents might argue that national health insurance is part of Congress power “to regulate commerce…among the several states.” While progressives have often used this clause to expand the federal government, it does not apply especially to the creation of a national health insurance, because to create and engage in commerce is not the same thing as regulating commerce among the several states.
Nobody during the framing generation expected the commerce clause to expand the federal government’s authority to anything relating to or resembling commerce. James Madison wrote that it is a power “which few oppose, and from which no apprehensions are entertained.” The clause was designed to prevent some states from taxing goods that passed through their boundaries as those goods proceeded to market.
In Mark Levin’s book, Men In Black (pp. 131), Mark also highlights how the commerce clause was undermined by the Supreme Court and, in turn, used to expand government.
Under the Articles of Confederation, each state had been free to issue its own currency and set its own tariffs. The purpose of the commerce clause was to promote commerce and trade by breaking down these barriers. But over the years, the Supreme Court has adopted an expansive definition of ‘commerce’ to justify virtually unfettered federal intrusion into the conduct of state and local governments, and to defend the establishment of massive bureaucracies and their imposition of seemingly endless regulations on private enterprise. As a result, the government has become increasingly centralized, and the economy is lurching toward socialism.
In this sense, Pelousy’s views are just symptomatic of years of abuse and wrong-headed decisions. This is the logical end when the clear intent of the constitution has been tossed aside, its limits on federal power ignored and the rights of the individual have been disregarded. And that end result is essentially tyranny.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Senator John Thune of South Dakota held a conference call this morning to discuss healthcare. The news out of Washington remains bleak. While Senate Republicans will do everything in their power to stop the Democrats from ramming through Obamacare, without the votes it will be hard to stop.
One of the tricks the Democrats are attempting right now pertains to the so-called ‘Doc Fix.’ This is the nickname for the Medicare doctor reimbursement. Democrats have separated this from the larger healthcare bill in order to hide the overall costs. In January, the Doc Fix is due for a 21.5% cut. But word broke late last week and was widely reported this week that Democrats are trying to get doctors to support healthcare by paying them off and not implementing the cut. The Doc Fix would add $250B to the debt and not be included in the cost of the larger bill. Senator Thune indicated, though, that a number of Senate Democrats were uneasy about this and might not go along with it.
Right now, the Senate appears headed for a potential vote on a healthcare bill this week or next week. There are currently 3 House bills and 2 Senate bills out there. These will ultimately be merged in some way, shape or form and then moved to conference.
Senator Thune said all of these bills shared a couple of common characteristsics. Both would 1) result in higher costs and 2) higher taxes. The Senate bill (I believe the Baucus version) includes a 40% excise tax on Cadillac plans and, of course, then there is the individual mandate forcing people to get insurance or be fined.
Thune said, according to the CBO, 90% of the taxes in the Senate Finance Committee bill would fall on those making under $200k a year. And another scoring of the bill showed that over 50% of the taxes would be burdened by those making under $100k or more. Obama’s promise not to raise taxes on the middle class? Out the window.
Thune said this would result (if it passes) in a $1.8T expansion of the federal government.
Regarding the public option, Senator Thune said that a month ago he thought it was dead in the Senate but now the public option was ‘being resurrected.’ The public option, the Senator said, is what ‘most Democrats in Congress want’ and they ’see this as their window of opportunity’ to get this done.
One of the things the Republicans will push for is a full and lengthy debate, as well as posting the final bill for the public to see for 72 hours before a final vote. As a point of comparison, Senator Thune mentioned that debate for ‘No Child Left Behind’ took 7 weeks and debate on the farm bill lasted for 4 weeks. Certainly, the healthcare bill, which affects 1/6th of our economy, merits a debate just as lengthy as these bills.
Senator Thune took a few questions from callers. First, the Senator was asked if there were any studies that showed what impact this would have on the inurance industry. He mentioned that there were estimates that 83M-120M people would move off of private insurance and that, presumably, the industry would also ‘lose a whole lot of jobs.’
The Senator was also asked about what the Republicans’ plans were to oppose this. Without trying to sound too pessimistic, the Senator flatly said ‘they (the Democrats) have the votes.’ The Senator also said the Republicans will ’use all of the tools and procedures’ at their disposal but, again, acknowledged that the minority is in a tough spot with respect to stopping the bill – particularly considering the Democrats will likely try everything to get this passed.
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Personally, this is my third conference call with lawmakers on The Hill in the past week or so. In each of these calls, the underlying tone has been one of pessimism and the need for us to re-energize and pressure key legislators to oppose this bill which would utterly destroy our healthcare system.
We need to re-double our efforts NOW and bombard Congress with e-mails and phone. And we simply can’t let up or we will definitely lose this battle.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Rep. John Shadegg just wrapped up a conference call with bloggers on healthcare. Coming away from the call, I can’t help be very anxious and apprehensive about what is going on in Congress. The news right now is sobering to say the least.
While the Democrats still face some obstacles in the House – about 30 Democrats will not vote for a public option while 57 will not vote for a bill without it – Congressman Shadegg said in no uncertain terms that “this bill will pass…unless the American people rise up again like they did in August…and say ‘NO.’”
Here are some specifics from the call:
Congressman Shadegg took aim at the Baucus bill in the Senate which has a price tag of $829B. The Baucus bill would raise taxes starting in 2010 while healthcare services would not change until 2013. As such, the CBO scoring of the Baucus bill is completely flawed. It’s numbers are based on 10 years of revenue but only 7 years of benefits.
Additionally, Congressman Shadegg pointed to some of the shenanigans that are going on in the Senate - calling it a ‘Soviet Gulag style’ of politics.
For instance, Harry Reid (who is in trouble in Nevada) is using his position to have the federal government pick up that state’s share of its Medicare expenses. To cover himself on this, 3 other states (blue states mind you) will receive the same exception. So, the rest of the states would still have to subsidize Medicare, while Nevada will not in order to boost Reid’s chances of re-election.
Senator Schumer is also using his power to thwart a luxury tax on so-called Gold-plated insurance plans. The bill calls for a tax on anyone with a plan of $21k or more. Schumer has included language that would raise this threshold to $24k in New York (in Masssachusetts it would be $25k).
Senators Stabenow and Kerry have inserted language that would provide $5B to underwrite policies for unions.
And Senator Menendez - ah, yes, our very own - is pushing for $1B in tax credits for R&D work for the pharma companies.
I also had a chance to ask both Representatives about Harry Reid’s scheme to attach a Senate bill to a House bill that has nothing to do with healthcare. they provided some interesting responses. First off, Rep. McMorris-Rodgers said that the Republicans could “make the majority’s life difficult” and “grind this place to a halt” if the Democrats attempted such a maneuver. Secondly – and this gets a bit technical – there is the question of whether the bill is treated as a tax bill or not, which would impact what Republicans in the House could do. Congressman Shadegg said quite emphatically, “Our procedural rights are stunningly limited.” Because of the way Pelosi is running the House, the minority has been virtually shut out. They might not be allowed to propose amendments or motions to recommit the bill.
Representative McMorris-Rodgers pointed out that the Republicans have stood firm against both the stimulus bill and now the healthcare bills. The only bi-partisanship has been in opposition to the bills in the house committees. Note: 3 House committees have passed bills.
At the end of the day, Congressman Shadegg made it clear: “This bill will destroy the healthcare you have now.” He said, “Within 5 years every policy in America must meet the criteria in the bill.” He also said he actually hoped Pelosi would bring a bill to the floor before the Senate and that, hopefully, with public pressure and not enough votes, she would have to pull it. This, in turn, would send a signal to those in the Senate now considering voting in favor of a bill. If this were to happen, he said the Senate would “back away…and run like scared mice.”
But it is worth repeating: Congressman McMorris-Rodgers and Congressman Shadegg are now looking to us to put the same kind of pressure on our legislators that we did back in August. If we want to stop this, then we have no choice.
{UPDATE: Here is the audio link of the call. I come in at the 13:30 mark}
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Senator Olympia Snowe has once again sold Republicans down the river. Snowe already betrayed us by going along with the Porkulous Bill, now she has voted in committee for the destructive Baucus bill.
For all the dissent, for all the protesting, and despite public opinion firmly against the Democrat’s socialist healthcare proposals – I hate to say it – but right now we are losing this fight.
WASHINGTON – Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter Tuesday and cleared a key Senate hurdle, a double-barreled triumph that propelled President Barack Obama’s signature issue toward votes this fall in both houses of Congress.
“When history calls, history calls,” said Maine Republican Olympia Snowe, whose declaration of support ended weeks of suspense and provided the only drama of a 14-9 vote in the Senate Finance Committee. With her decision, the 62-year-old lawmaker bucked her own leadership on the most high-profile issue of the year in Congress, and gave the drive to remake health care at least a hint of the bipartisanship that Obama seeks.
Obama, speaking to reporters at the White House, said, “I never count chickens before they hatch, but this is obviously another step forward in bringing about a better deal for the American people.”
Snowe, too, said there were problems with the bill, but on balance, the risks of doing nothing were too great.
“We should also contemplate the decades of inaction that have brought us to this crossroads,” she said. “The status quo approach has produced one glaring common denominator, that is that we have a problem that is growing worse, not better.”
This is the last of 5 bills to pass Senate committees. Now, Harry Reid will have a free hand to cherry pick whatever he wants from each and bring it to the floor for a vote.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Last week I reported on Harry Reid’s scheme to pass Obamacare by tying the Senate measure to a House bill with nothing to do with healthcare. Further, during my trip to D.C. for the AFP Summit, our group met with a Lautenberg spokesperson who did not deny this was this case.
Well, to no surprise, this story has been confirmed by CNS News. Here is the update from The Foundry @ Heritage:
Leaders in the House and Senate have a plan to pass President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care plan by Thanksgiving without any significant participation by the American public. CNS News has confirmed the details in our September 22nd titled “Passing a Shell of A Bill: Congress’ Secret Plan to Ram Through Health Care Reform.” Nicholas Ballasy reports “a senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told CNSNews.com that it is ‘likely’ that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a ‘shell’ for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.”
This story confirms the four part scenario that would railroad the bill through the Senate using a very unusual closed door procedure to craft the bill with no input from the American people.
The four stage plan to pass Obamacare has been publicly confirmed and is ready to be implemented. The following is a comprehensive update:
Step One: “The Senate Finance Committee will finish work on the marking up of Senator Max Baucus’ (D-MT) conceptual framework for legislation by this Friday.” Progress on this had been stalled and the bill was not passed by the end of last week. Foxnews.com is reporting that the Congressional Budget Office score of the bill will be released later today and a high score may further stall progress on the Committee’s Vapor Bill. Senate Finance Committee’s progress on passing something out of committee – INCOMPLETE.
Step Two: Next, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will take the final product of the Senate Finance Committee and merge it with the product of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. CNSnews.com has confirmed that “the actual final text of the legislation will be determined by Reid himself, who will consolidate the legislation approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the still-unapproved legislation from the Senate Finance Committee. Reid will be able to draft and insert textual language that was not expressly approved by either committee.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will write the final version of Obamacare to be considered in the Senate with no input from the American people. This is an extremely complex procedure that will not be done in public, or in the form of a hearing, or a public conference committee, and only Senator Harry Reid, some other Senators chosen by Reid and Obama Administration officials will be allowed to read the bill before the Senate debate starts. Merger of the bills – IN PROGRESS.
Step Three: Senator Reid will then move to proceed to H.R. 1586, a bill to impose a tax on bonuses received by certain TARP recipients. A senior aid to Senate Majority Leader Ried has confirmed that he will move to proceed to Senate Calendar Number 36, H.R. 1586, or another House passed tax measure, so the Senate can avoid the Constitutional mandate that tax bills originate in the House. Proceed to tax shell of a bill – CONFIRMED.
Step Four: This scenario would most likely be implemented after the Massachusetts state legislature gives Governor Deval Patrick the power to appoint a new Senator and that Senator is seated by the Senate. The Senate swore in new Massachusetts Senator Paul Kirk on September 25th. Change Law of Massachusetts to allow for interim Senator – COMPLETE.
The final step in this plan is for the House to take up Obama care, without amending the legislation, and then sending that bill directly to the President for his signature. Matt Cover at CNSnews.com reports “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) won’t rule out having the House vote on the Senate health-care bill without making any changes in it, which would allow the bill to go directly to President Barack Obama without having to pass through a House-Senate conference committee and another round of votes in the House and Senate–and a longer period of public scrutiny of what the text of the proposed law actually says.” This scenario is in the process of being implemented and, if successful, it will result in Obamacare being on the President’s desk in time for Thansgiving with minimal participation of the American public.
The San Francisco Examiner published an editorial today that exposed the fact that the American people can’t see the bill. “When then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama promised not to sign major legislation until it had been posted on the Internet for public reading at least five days, trusting voters took him at his word. Now they know better. Not only is the actual language of what is likely to become the main legislative vehicle for Obama’s signature health care reform not available on the Internet, it hasn’t been given to members of the key Senate committees or the Congressional Budget Office.” The procedure being used, in addition to the exclusion of the American people from the process, should be of grave concern to all who want to participate in democracy and have a say in Congress’ health care reforms that will touch 1/6th of the American economy.
Importantly, Reid’s scheme still requires breaking a filibuster. This is where healthcare opponents need to focus their attention and pressure. Per Dick Morris, the key Senators we need to persuade are Olympia Snowe and Blanche Lincoln.
Watch how Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln vote in the Senate Finance Committee on the Baucus version of the Obama healthcare plan. As Snowe and Lincoln go, so will the Congress.
The Democrats need Snowe’s vote desperately, to convince wavering moderate Democrats that they can offer a veneer, however thin, of bipartisanship to the health proposal. If Snowe, their last chance at a Republican vote, opposes the Obama/Baucus proposal, there is no hope of a bipartisan fig leaf for the package.
On the other hand, if Snowe backs the bill, it will send a signal to moderate Democrats that it’s OK to join in and the bill will probably attract the 60 votes it needs for Senate passage.
Lincoln’s vote becomes critical if Snowe votes no. Lincoln is probably the single most vulnerable Democrat running for reelection in 2010. She is the proverbial canary in the coalmine. If she makes it, so will all the Democrats. Hailing from a conservative Southern state, her poll numbers suggest that she would be in a heap of trouble with a stiff challenger.
If Lincoln defects and joins the Republicans in voting no (as she has done on a number of amendments), she will do a lot to cement her chances to remain a senator, but will open a wound in the Democratic Party. A domino effect will likely set in.
Here are the phone numbers of Snowe and Lincoln’s Senate offices. It’s time to start burning up the phone lines.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR) 202-224-4843
Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) 202-224-5344
