These remarks from the House Republicans Conference Chair Mike Pence and Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers discuss the passage of Democratcare and how Republicans will continue to stand up against this bill and for the American people.
We need to send more people to Congress like Mike Pence and Cathy Rogers. Please help Fire Nancy Pelosi from the Speaker's Office by supporting the Republican Takeover of Congress at the polls on 2 November 2010.
In the days ahead we will be spotlighting the candidates who have stepped forward to oppose Democrat Representatives in the effort to Take Back the House led by NRCC Chair, Cong Pete Sessions (R-TX) and the leadership of Republicans in Congress John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Mike Pence.
I wanted to take a brief moment to give you an update on what's happening in Washington, D.C. As you know, Capitol Hill is full of anticipation as we prepare to vote on the unconstitutional Obama/Pelosi health care bill.
As of this e-mail, it appears Democrats are still short of the votes needed to pass the bill but there's a lot of talk of backroom deals and parliamentary sleight of hand to get it passed. Republicans in the House and Senate are united in our opposition to the "ObamaCare" bill and we're doing all we can to keep it from being passed.
The vote could come any time this weekend so we need your help NOW! Help keep the phones ringing off the hook in congressional offices. Please ask your family and friends - especially those in other states - to call their congressmen and tell them to vote "NO" on ObamaCare. The main House switchboard number is (202) 224-3121 or you can look up House members online at http://click.maryfallin.org/t/509280/31082111/7445/0/.
Also, there will be a huge anti-ObamaCare rally in Washington tomorrow and I'll be there to make sure Oklahoma's opposition to this bill is heard loud and clear.
And I want to keep you updated on what's happening so I'll be posting updates regularly on my Facebook page. Make sure you're a Facebook fan so you can stay informed! You can reach my Facebook page from my Web site, www.maryfallin.org. Just click on the Facebook icon on the right side of the page.
Thanks and God bless,
Mary
NOTE: Let the Progressive Democrats in the House know what Oklahomans think of their tactics in trying to take over Healthcare!
Ryan: ‘They Still Aren’t There Yet’ [Robert Costa]
“It’s a coin toss,” says Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) to National Review Online. “We were just on the floor going through whip-check. They still aren’t there yet. It’s narrowed down, from what we can tell, to four or five. Obviously, the numbers favor them, if you compare the pool of undecided votes to how many they need to come over. They only need about 50 percent of the remaining undecideds to break their way. On our side, we need seven votes to defeat this. At this point, we’re really only talking about a handful of votes. It’s such a close situation, and very, very fluid. They don’t want to win by just one vote — with everyone cast as the tiebreaking vote — they want to win by two or three votes. That’ll be hard to do, as will muscling votes in these final hours, since everyone is watching.”
When the people of Massachusetts elected Scott Brown, they did America a huge favor as we have someone in the Senate with integrity, is articulate, and has Common Sense.
There are two Republican candidates in the Florida primary -- Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio and Governor Charlie Crist. What seemed like an insurmountable mountain when Rubio announced he was running against the Florida Governor, began to look like a smaller mountain as he campaigned around the state.
Rubio set out to visit every county in the state and was available to speak to any group. His support began to increase as he visited the various county party organizations and attended events around Florida. People were able to hear him speak and liked what they liked what they were hearing. They knew Marco as the young Speaker of the Florida House but now they got to talk with him in person and learn about Marco Rubio who was running for the United States Senate.
Rubio has been running the same type of grassroots effort that Senator Tom Coburn, MD, ran in Oklahoma in 2004 which sent him to the Senate. Right alongside Rubio is Club for Growth who was there for Dr. Coburn. When you have the grassroots behind you as a candidate, you may not have the dollars but you have the people who are going to go door to door, make the phone calls, and assist you in ways that paid staff may not. You cannot buy loyalty of your supporters.
With the grassroots supporters, eventually will come the dollars which had already started when two of Florida's favorite people, Jeb Jr., and George P. Bush teamed up to do a fundraiser for Rubio. It is common knowledge throughout FL that former Governor Jeb Bush and current Governor Crist are not the best of friends. Jeb's sons throwing this fundraising sent a further message to donors looking for a candidate -- take a long hard look at Rubio. By this time Rubio was leading Crist in the polls. Jeb has not 'officially' endorsed but there is no mistaking the fact that he is supporting Rubio in his run for Senate.
While Senator Cornyn, NRSC Chairman, endorsed Crist early at the request of FL GOP Chairman Greer (who resigned under pressure), and Cornyn has just reaffirmed that endorsement, Senators DeMint (R-SC) and Inhofe (R-OK) endorsed Rubio. If you ask us, those two endorsements from DeMint and Inhofe carry much more weight. NRSC has seen the last dime of any of our money with this reaffirmed endorsement of Crist as the NRSC doesn't seem to get it even after Marco Rubio's speech at CPAC:
People from outside of Florida keep asking what happened, why was Crist going down in the polls and why did NRSC endorse Crist? We have been asking that question of NRSC from Day One since this is a contested primary with no incumbent. Why didn't Cornyn and the NRSC stay neutral in the primary. We can answer reasons for Crist to start gong down in the polls but we have no clue why the NRSC endorsed.
Everything started going south for Gov Crist when Sen Mel Martinez decided to retire early from the Senate and Crist had to choose a replacement. He had some very good candidates to choose from including former Representative Mike Bilarakis. Governor Crist called all the County Chairs to get their opinions and then did the opposite of what they recommended by choosing George LeMieux in Sep 09 who was the central figure in the negotiation of the Indian Gambling compact between Florida and the Seminole Indian Tribe which granted the Indians card-games not allowed by state law. From the Palm Beach Post:
Well, it's being reported that George LeMieux, Fort Lauderdale lawyer and GOP operator, is Crist's pick for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. This was actually pretty predictable. Crist, of course, is running for the seat in 2010, and LeMieux is Crist's boy. He definitely won't take the seat like Gollum and try to run off with it. With Shaw and some of the others, there was always that chance. With LeMieux, he'll just keep it warm with his loyal fanny.
But it reveals Crist's character. How can you put any man or woman in a U.S. Senate seat who has never been elected to anything? LeMieux is a political operative, not a statesman.
This set off a firestorm among the County Chairs, but then what happened next sent Republicans and Independents to Marco Rubio's camp who were on the fence. You could say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this instance you would be correct. As the Miami Herald so aptly put it: "Republican Senate Nomination May Come Down to a Hug"
The Miami Herald had this to say about the picture of Gov Crist hugging President Obama last October 25th:
Only time will tell but one thing is certain. Rubio is not the only republican who believes Crist is a closet liberal. The hug only seemed to cement that sentiment.
"I was horrified," Rubio said, adding that Crist canceled lunch at the governor's mansion with former Gov. Jeb Bush and other former governors to be with Obama.
"This was more than just a courtesy greeting, this was an embrace and a support of $800 billion of deficit spending."
Crist says he has no regrets about appearing with Obama.
"I was happy and delighted to do so. I'm a civil guy. The president of the United States is the president of the United States," Crist said. "Especially when it's the first visit to Florida and I'm invited to be there. I have that kind of respect in my soul."
The embrace of the Obama and his stimulus continued the poll numbers going south for Governor Crist after his appointment of LeMieux but what happened next with Marco Rubio's poll numbers rising and Crist falling, is almost too funny for words as the credit card dirty trick has backfired.
Rumor has it the FL GOP credit card record release for Rubio came from the Crist camp and was shopped to the media by Democrats. We need to note here that Crist was never was given a FL GOP credit card because he expects his aides to pick up the bills for him as he doesn't pay for his own meals or items. Maybe they should release the credit card records of his aides as we have heard rumors that Rubio spent less in several years then Crist aides have done in a year. We expect the dirty tricks to continue out of the Crist Camp although he is already starting to lose staffers from his Governor's campaign.
After the story broke about credit cards provided by FL GOP for use by FL Republicans in office, the article from the Miami Herald looked into the personal use of the American Express card by Marco Rubio. As the facts began to emerge, you realized that this was backfiring on the Crist camp:
Rubio said Wednesday that he paid for all personal expenses billed to an American Express card given to him by the party to use from 2005 to 2008 when he left public office. The rest of the charges, he said, were legitimate party expenses.
With the articles from around the State showing that Rubio had paid for his own personal expenses and explained the rest of the charges as legitimate party expenses, this became a non-issue.
On the heels of the release of American Express records Gov Crist gave an interview on Feb 27, 2010, with the Palm Coast Editorial Board which shocked not only Floridians but people across America. It appears that Gov Crist is still playing up to Obama when he was interviewed by saying "the Democrats shouldn't scrap their healthcare plans" but it gets better in the interview as he can think of nothing good about them.
Not one good idea?
“There may be. There may be. You know, I’m pretty focused on Florida right now. I mean, after the session I’ll be more focused on the issues in Washington. But I’ve got to do my first job first.”
Crist wants to focus on Florida which is fine except the Democrat healthcare bills contain portions about Medicaid and Medicare which will have an adverse impact on senior citizens of Florida along with the Medicaid program for families with little income and no healthcare who depend on the state.
Bottom line on the credit card/healthcare issues is that one candidate (Rubio) paid for all of his personal expenses on the GOP credit card and is against Obamacare and the other candidate (Crist) didn't use a FL GOP credit card because as Governor, he expects his aides to pick up the tab, but he supports Obamacare but doesn't know why.
We believe that Marco Rubio has shown why he deserves the Republican nomination for Senator and to become the next United States Senator from Florida. Three words describe Marco Rubio -- honesty, integrity, and conservative.
The article below from Bryon York of the Washington Examiner gives more reasons to support Rubio over Crist.
Marco Rubio and the Republicans who love himBy: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent March 9, 2010
(AP) Palm Beach, Fla.
Marco Rubio laughs at the idea, heard from some pundits recently, that he's the "Republican Obama." "I'm not sure people even want to be the Democrat Obama these days," he says. For Rubio, the unlikely front-runner in the Florida Republican Senate primary race, the label is a measure of the unhappiness many people feel with their political choices at any given moment. "There's always this constant desire for new people to enter the process," he explains. Now, he's the new guy.
Challenging the head of your own party is not necessarily the path to political glory, but that's what Rubio has done in the race against Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Last May, when Rubio, the former speaker of the state House, announced his candidacy, the first three polls done in the race showed him trailing Crist by 35, 37, and 31 points, respectively.
Now, the most recent poll, done by Rasmussen Reports in mid-February, shows Rubio up by 18 points. In a conversation before a speech to the conservative Club for Growth here in Palm Beach, Rubio downplays his lead. He didn't get upset when the polls showed him behind, he says, so he's "not going to get too excited about them with six months to go and we're up by a few points." But Rubio knows the numbers reflect something happening with the voters.
People are scared by the Obama agenda. "I do not believe the president fully supports the free-enterprise system that I support," Rubio says. Florida Republicans, Rubio believes, know in their hearts that Crist "is not going to go to Washington and stand up to this agenda and be part of offering an alternative -- he's just not going to do it." Crist's recent praise for the stimulus and tendency to accommodate Obamacare suggest Rubio is right.
Rubio watched closely as Republican Scott Brown pulled off a political miracle in Massachusetts. First, Rubio learned how incredibly intense a high-profile race can become down the stretch -- he better be ready for that. But more importantly, he saw how critical it is to "focus like a laser on a couple of key issues."
"In that campaign, [Brown] was often tempted to get involved in side issues, he was invited to join [Democrat Martha Coakley] in the weeds and talk about things that didn't matter," Rubio says. "But the fact that he focused on the important issues, the things that mattered to real people in the real world, is ultimately what got him over the top, and it's what we're going to strive to do in our election as well." For Rubio, that means the economic issues -- "national debt, job creation, how our tax code and government spending are discouraging job creation, and entitlement reform. Those are the central issues of the moment."
(snip)
Rubio, born in Miami to Cuban exiles in 1971, is about as fresh a face as you get in a Senate race. He gives a tremendous speech about his love for American free enterprise and opportunity. Politically savvy Republicans across the country are falling in love with him, but they're also realizing they don't really know a lot about him. That's what campaigns are for. By the time Election Day comes around, they're hoping Marco Rubio will turn out to be every bit as good as he seems.
Yesterday I visited with the folks at the Middletown, Monroe and Trenton Chamber of Commerce to give a legislative update and answer questions from 8th District Constituents. Without a doubt, job creation continues to be a top concern. But with the Majority in Congress pushing a government takeover of health care, a “cap and trade” national energy tax, along with more spending and more debt, it’s no wonder employers large and small are holding off on hiring.Our economy will ultimately recover, but only through the hard work and entrepreneurship of the American people. That’s why, as I told Cincinnati’s WLWT-TV, my fight is for a smaller, less costly and more accountable government.
When Pres Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004, Dr. Coburn was also elected to his first term in the Senate. Since Dr. Coburn had been in the House before, he befriended this young Senator to help show him the ropes. We would have thought since Senator Coburn is also a doctor, Obama would have sought out his advice but no he didn't bother to even seek out a man who had been his friend in the Senate on such on important issue.
What we witnessed yesterday was Obama being condenscending toward the Republicans and to two men Senator McCain and Senator Coburn who had reached out to him to offer help after he was elected. The arrogance from Obama knew no bounds yesterday as the looks he shot Republicans said it all. This President is not used to being questioned, but used to hearing himself talk which he did yesterday more then the Democrats with their sob stories or the Republicans with their facts. If you take all the Democrat time including Obama it was 3-1 over Republicans.
It was enlightening yesterday to see not only Obama but most of the Democrats speaking didn't understand what was in their own healthcare bills. The Republicans on the other hand came well prepared and understood what the Democrats were trying to push through with their huge healthcare bills and had the facts on their side.
Yet in the end, Obama wants to do reconciliation which he fought against as a Senator to pass this takeover of 1/6th of our economy with only 51 votes in the Senate. This will harm the rules of the Senate for years to come for what? So Obama can say he passed a Healthcare bill he doesn't understand?
How many Democrats will walk the plank for Obama/Reid/Pelosi? Only time will tell if Democrats in the House grow a backbone to stop this madness and actually for once listen to the American people who want the bill scrapped and a reset to start over.
Coburn rebuts Obama on medmal and health care reform
Oklahoma Republican senator Tom Coburn says he had a "pretty positive attitude" leaving today's health care summit at the Blair House in Washington. He had even suggested Obama and lawmakers have another such meeting on health care. But now, after reading news reports saying that Democrats are set on using reconciliation to ram the Senate bill through Congress, Coburn is wondering if today's summit was pointless.
"It's fairly disappointing," Dr. Coburn told THE WEEKLY STANDARD this evening. "If the Dems are just going to run the bill anyway, why’d we just do it?"
Coburn's remarks today focused on waste in the health care system, which totals one-third of all health care costs. Due to time constraints, Coburn didn't get a chance to correct some of President Obama's misconceptions about what causes waste and how to reduce it.
Obama said during his closing remarks that "if we're serious about delivery system reform, if we're serious about squeezing out the waste that Tom Coburn referred to, you should embrace those mechanisms that are in this bill" such as Medpac, an independent board that would recommend Medicare cuts.
But Coburn wants to control costs by creating a transparent health care market that is "patient-centered," not a "government-centered" plan that uses MedPac to cut Medicare. "The whole idea at the time of Medpac is to ration care," Coburn said. "The way you change behaviors is to incentivize them. You don't come down with a rule and a hammer. What you need is a scalpel not a hammer."
Obama said today that tort reform would only save $5 billion a year, but Coburn replied this evening that tort reform would, in fact, do the most to save consumers money.
"The biggest cost driver that accounts for this 33% [of health care waste] is defensive medicine," Coburn said. Obama's figure, based on a CBO report, doesn't take into account all the tests doctors needlessly order to avoid lawsuits.
"You fix the tort system in this country and you’ll cut costs like crazy. It’s $250 billion a year in defensive medicine costs," Coburn said. "If you just got rid of half of that, in one year you’d cut everyone’s cost of health care five percent."
Coburn's final word for the president on health care: "The last thing in the world he ought to do is divide this country further over this issue."
A new day has dawned as we launch the first article on this new site to bring you the facts not spin about Republicans and what they are doing in Congress and across America for "We The People!" They have heard our voices and are now taking the fight to the Democrats with this Declaration of Health Care Independence.
January 27, 2010 King Unveils Declaration of Health Care Independence
Congressman Steve King, along with House Republicans, today unveiled the Declaration of Health Care Independence, a commitment to protect the rights of the American people to make their own health decisions, reduce bureaucratic red-tape, decrease intergenerational debt and includes ten common-sense principles that must be included in future health care reforms.
A copy of the Declaration of Health Care Independence is below:
Declaration of Health Care Independence
In order to retain the Blessings of Liberty as secured to us by our Founding Fathers and as expressed in our Constitution, We the People reject the imposition upon us of a new, Washington-controlled system of government-run health care. We demand Constitutional protection of the right to make our own health decisions and our own health care choices free of government denials, bureaucratic red-tape, and greater intergenerational debt.
A Washington takeover of American health care will
1) Deny fundamental personal and economic liberties and indisputably violate the Principle of Limited Government as established by the Constitution; 2) Impose increased costs and taxes upon individuals, families, and businesses, as well as taxpayers at the federal, state, and local levels; 3) Irreparably cripple the American economy, at the cost of jobs, businesses, productivity, and quality of life; 4) Create an inescapable new tax by imposing individual and employer mandates; 5) Institutionalize a massive, ever-expanding federal bureaucracy that is impersonal and impractical; 6) Empower bureaucrats to interfere in the doctor-patient relationship, undermine the quality of care, limit choice, and increase the cost of health care.
We have appealed to the decency of the elected majority to respect the rights of all Americans, but their leaders have been deaf to the Voice of the People. We are appalled by their cavalier disregard of the Constitution and of the demands of the People. We are repulsed by their blatant political bribes and kickbacks.
We, therefore, the People and Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, do solemnly Publish and Declare that health care reform, as a matter of principle must
1) Protect as inviolate the vital doctor-patient relationship; 2) Reject any addition to the crushing national debt heaped upon all Americans; 3) Improve, rather than diminish, the quality of care that Americans enjoy; 4) Be negotiated publically, transparently, with genuine accountability and oversight, and be free from political favoritism; 5) Treat private citizens at least as well as political officials; 6) Protect taxpayers from funding of abortion and abortion coverage; 7) Reject all new mandates on patients, employers, individuals, or states; 8) Prohibit expansion of taxpayer funded health care to those unlawfully present in the United States; 9) Guarantee Equal Protection under the law and the Constitution; 10) Empower, rather than limit, an open and accessible marketplace of health care choice and opportunity.
Last week before the State of the Union, this document was released during a press conference. Ask most Americans if they heard about this from the so-called mainstream media and their answer will be 'NO!'
More of the same of what we have come to expect and why some people buy into the Obama and Democrat spin that Republicans are offering no ideas. This is an excellent idea and people across America need to hear about this Declaration of Health Care Independence. If it means Republicans take out ads to spread this message then we support the ads 100% to get out the truth. With the exception of a few news organizations, the mainstream media will continue to ignore Republican initiatives in favor of Democrat lies/spin until they can no longer hide the facts which is coming closer every day.
Conservatives sign 'Declaration' By: James Hohmann January 27, 2010 04:31 PM EST
The only thing missing was quills and powdered wigs.
Eleven House conservatives on Wednesday signed a “Declaration of Health Care Independence” at an event staged by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), and there was no shortage of Revolutionary War rhetoric and tea party references.
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) compared Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts last Tuesday to the battle of Lexington in April 1775. The congressmen signed their names at the bottom of the so-called declaration, which had been printed in a small font to mirror Thomas Jefferson’s calligraphy.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) noted that the signers of the original Declaration of Independence put their lives and property at stake. The Republicans who signed Wednesday afternoon appeared to be in no grave political danger, since they all have fairly safe seats.
“Last week Massachusetts fired another shot that was heard round the world,” Akin said. “Each of those shots were followed by various declarations. … The shot has been fired now twice in Massachusetts, and this is a declaration.”
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), proudly displayed the document the lawmakers signed.
“It looks like the Declaration of Independence on purpose,” he said. “It has language and phrases from the Declaration, as well as the Constitution, but it does lay out the principles of what went wrong, the violations of the Constitution. … (Those who have voted for the bill) simply had a cavalier attitude about the Constitution, even though they took an oath to uphold it.”
The first half of the document decries the government “takeover” of health care, and the second portion lists 10 Republican principles for reform, including restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortions and a prohibition on the expansion of health care to illegal immigrants.
Bachmann invited President Barack Obama to sign the document. She said that the group began preparing it back when passage of a health reform bill seemed “inevitable.”
“We put a lot of time and effort into this,” she said.
King said he thinks most, if not all, House Republicans will sign.
