Meeting Pat Toomey

I had a really great opportunity last night to attend a fundraiser with Pat Toomey, who is currently running for Arlen Specter's seat in the Senate. I was able to ask him specifically what he feels needs to be done now that health care has passed, and was very happy with his answer. Perhaps the most important thing he said was that he firmly believes we need to do everything possible to repeal it. There are a lot of republicans in office right now who say it would be great to repeal it, but it can't happen. Toomey stands strong and wants to do everything possible to get it repealed.

He also said something else very important. He pointed out that the House of Representatives is in charge of the budget, so if we can have a great election this November and take over the House, then the congressmen can block financing new health care bureaucracies. He pointed out that things are looking really great for taking back the House this election cycle, but who knows what might happen in the next six months, so we can't be complacent.

Later, during a group Q&A period, someone else asked Toomey what he would do differently to better reform health care. I think you will all agree that his answer was exactly what we have discussed together. He said three specific things that are he cited as the most important:

1. Give regular people the same tax benefits that companies get for buying insurance in order to stop insurance being connected to jobs.
2. Open up the markets so there's more competition in insurance companies, especially between states.
3. Tort reform.

He, of course, went into more detail on each of those, and everything he said was right on. A funny comment he made about the second one was something along the lines of, "It's amazing to me that I can buy car insurance nationwide from a little green lizard, but I can't get health insurance from another state." (That's not an exact quote, but you get the gist.) He got a good laugh on that one.

At this point, the best thing we can do to is to get good, solid people in the House and the Senate that will do everything they can to undue what has been done. After studying Pat Toomey's record and meeting him last night, I feel confident that he will do everything he can to get that done. If you would like to find ways of supporting him in his campaign against Sen. Specter, let me know and I can send you some more information!

One last note, he discussed many other things than just health care, and he especially focused on getting our country out of debt. I was very impressed with all of his answers, but because we started the blog to focus on health care, I stuck to that in my post. If you want to know more about other things he said, however, let me know and I'd be happy to send you more information via email. :0)

Audit the Fed

Senator Specter needs a little encouragement. If you're not familiar with Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" bill and Senator Dodd's "Fed Empowerment Act", keep reading for John Tate's (president of Campaign for Liberty) explanation. If you are already knowledgeable and want to encourage Senator Specter to use a little common sense, click this link:

http://www.chooseliberty.org/auditfed_PA.aspx?pid=pe1
(Note: It will ask for a donation after you submit the form but you don't have to do it.)

*****************************************

After nearly wrecking the U.S. economy with its backroom deals and hundreds of billions of worthless fiat currency, you would think Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve would be on every politician's target list.
But shockingly, Fed-loving senators, led by Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and backed by the Obama White House, are pushing legislation to give the Fed more power ... while stripping out Ron Paul's Audit the Fed.
Dodd's Fed Empowerment Act is now on the fast track in the Senate, but there is still time for liberty activists to expose and stop this powergrab.
More on that in a moment. Here's what is going on.
Having rushed ObamaCare through Congress, a confident White House has now set its sights on trying to ram through a so-called "financial regulatory reform" package that would continue and even expand the same practices that created this latest economic crisis.
But Congress is still reeling from the health care battle, giving the freedom movement a terrific opportunity to stop this plan to enhance the federal government's power by turning up the heat on politicians who are ever-more worried about their upcoming fate at the ballot box.
Crafted by Senator Christopher Dodd, the Senate version would create a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be housed at the Fed and funded by it.
And the Connecticut senator would have us believe this agency would be "independent."
Read on to get contact information for your senators so you can take action to stop this Fed Empowerment Act.
The legislation also includes a new Financial Stability Oversight Council to "monitor" companies that supposedly could become "too big to fail."
The Council will have the ability to require nonbank financial companies to be under the Federal Reserve's supervision if the government deems they pose a "risk" to financial stability.
Showing his utter contempt for the nearly 80% of Americans who think it's time to thoroughly audit the Federal Reserve, Chris Dodd's bill also strips out the complete audit of the Fed that passed in the House financial reform bill in favor of a watered-down version that even allows the Fed to decline to disclose certain information.
To make matters worse, supposed "conservatives" like Senator Richard Shelby appear willing and ready to cave to political pressure, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that Senator Shelby's staff has proposed a plan for its own independent consumer finance protection agency to Dodd.
And in a move that is absolutely no surprise to anyone who knows his track record, Politico also reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has also told Dodd he can expect more Republican support if he can get Senators Shelby, Crapo, Corker and Judd Gregg to go along with his legislation.
With certain Senate Republicans once again preparing to play their usual game of hide-and-go compromise, it's up to us to advocate for an end to government intervention in the economy and fight to prevent the statists from gaining more authority.
For far too long, the Federal Reserve has wielded its control over our money with disastrous results for the value of the dollar and the security of our economic future.
Enough is enough.
Contact Senator Bob Casey at (202) 224-6324 and Senator Arlen Specter at (202) 224-4254 today and urge them to reject Christopher Dodd's Fed Empowerment Act.
Tell them that if they are serious about financial reform, they will take every opportunity to push for a standalone, up or down vote on Audit the Fed, S. 604.
It's time to finally bring the Federal Reserve's practices into the daylight - not throw on additional layers of bureaucracy!
We can prevent further government meddling in our economy, but only if we take immediate action.
Call your senators Today!
In Liberty, John Tate
President

Pop-Up Video

This would be hilarious if it weren't all so true! Brought to us by the NRCC, a "pop-up video" about health care.

Pennsylvania Liberty March

Tomorrow there is a rally on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg at 11 am - PA Liberty March. Jade N. just let me know about this.

http://www.healthcareforpafamilies.com/freedomrally.aspx

Take A Minute To Sign!

UPDATE: Camie and I just realized that this is an old email from about 6-7 months ago and it just took us a while to get it. So it might not be as useful as we thought, but nonetheless it can't hurt to get a few more votes for making Congress go on the plan they just enacted. So even though it's a bit old, go ahead and sign the petition anyway.

On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan.

It took me less than a minute to sign up to require our congressmen and senators to drink at the same trough! Three cheers for Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana !

Congressman John Fleming ( Louisiana physician) has proposed an amendment that would require congressmen and senators to take the same healthcare plan they force on us (under proposed legislation they are curiously exempt).

Congressman Fleming is encouraging people to go on his Website and Sign his petition (very simple - just email). I have just done just that at:
http://fleming.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=55


Please urge as many people as you can to do the same!

If Congress forces this on the American people, the Congress should have to accept the same level of health care for themselves and their families.

To do otherwise is the height of hypocrisy! Please pass this on!!

Clear and Concise Arguments

I just finished reading Ann Coulter's latest article. It was an excellent article, and she has some great explanations of why we don't like the new bill. My favorite is at the end when she compares cell phones to health care - it makes the argument very clear and powerful. Take the time to read it at anncoulter.com, because it's definitely worth it. If you liked that one, try also her article entitled "My Health Care Plan" from a couple of weeks ago where she describes her own, one page health care reform idea.