Save the Date

There is still some hope that mistakes from last year can be undone. Pay attention to what's going on in the House on January 12th!

Equal "Health Care" for All - Inluding the Politicians!

One of the most ridiculous things about the passage of Obamacare is that the politicians will still get their awesome health care coverage, even while they try to force the rest of us on the much smaller government plan. Camie forwarded me an email from Congressman John Fleming of Maryland, who has authored a resolution that would make Congress have the same plan as the rest of us. Check out the email, posted below; it's definitely something worth supporting!!

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As the author of H Res 615, a resolution calling on Members of Congress to enroll in the public Health Care plan, I have an important update.

Due to an overwhelming response from Americans across the country to my office, the health bill recently signed into law will indeed require members of Congress to abandon their federal health benefits and enroll in the newly created exchanges.

While those of us who supported this important requirement have won the first round, we have not won the war.There is a move afoot to “fix” the language of this provision.

That's why it is important for me to communicate with you and provide you with information as it is available to me.

A great way to do this is to follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/repjohnfleming Just click the 'Like' button at the top of my Facebook page.

Please sign up today....let’s be sure this provision isn’t undone! www.facebook.com/repjohnfleming

Together, we can make sure the people’s voice is heard.

Sincerely,

JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress

P.S. If you’d like more information, please take a minute to visit my newly redesigned website at www.fleming.house.gov or follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/repfleming

The Primaries Are Upon Us!

Hello everyone, I wanted first of all to remind you that the primaries are next Tuesday, May 18th, so be sure you head to the voting booth that day! I also have been thinking maybe it's time for another meeting. We were able to do a lot with health care, but since there's not much more we can do about that right now, maybe it's time to branch out and try to find other ways of helping the country get back on track. Sarah's recent post about the Fed is a great example, and I think it would be beneficial to get together and discuss some of the things we, as a group, would like to focus on.

Another huge part of helping the country is getting the right people in office this November, and I think with our group we could have a good impact in Pennsylvania. I have some contacts who could get us get involved in volunteering for the campaigns, so if you're interested in helping (either with a campaign itself or by babysitting so others can help), please send me an email or leave a comment so I know you're interested. We'll try to have a meeting sometime soon and discuss what direction we would like to go.

Until then, be sure to vote next Tuesday! :0)

What a surprise...

So it turns out that major corporations would rather pay a big fine than give health care benefits to their workers! I know this is a huge shock to all of us, so take a deep breath and read the full article about how Obamacare is going to affect workers in the next few years. For an interesting analysis of the article, check out what Ed Morrisey has to say - his comments are right on the dot.

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.)

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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.