Top Ten Reasons Why Congress Hates the Tea Party & Patriot groups (and why you should register for the Oct. 8-9 Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention at www.vateapartyconvention.com):
10. Most Tea Party & Patriot group supporters actually work for a living, and it’s human nature not to like people who are so very different from you.
9. One word: emails.
8. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters won’t shut up and eat their cake.
7. Qualifying for a lifetime pension the day they take office apparently isn’t enough for members of Congress.
6. Two other words: phone calls.
5. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters APPARENTLY ARE NOT READING THE FORM LETTERS THAT THEIR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE SENDING THEM.
4. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters are crazy lunatics obsessed with things like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
3. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters act like Congress works for them. What’s up with that?
2. How can anyone who doesn’t have a personal driver know anything about how the country should be run?
1. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters seem to think that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Want to really aggravate Congress?
Come to the first annual Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention on Oct. 8-9 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center! REGISTER NOW at www.vatteapartyconvention.com.
- See nationally known keynote speakers like Lou Dobbs, Dick Morris, John Fund, Herman Cain, JennyBeth Martin, Ginni Thomas and Bishop E.W. Jackson.
- Attend Seminars on Constitution, Public Policy and Grassroots Training.
- During the National Policy Forum, hear from policy experts such as Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Steve King, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia governor and U.S. Senator George Allen, and others.
- Take part in the first Presidential Straw Poll of the 2012 campaign – WHO DO YOU WANT TO GET A JUMP START ON UNSEATING THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION? MAKE IT HAPPEN HERE!!
- Party hard at the Friday Night Freedom Lovers Extravaganza (only $20/ticket)!
REGISTER NOW at www.vatteapartyconvention.com
The Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention is being presented by the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation. For more information, go to www.virginiateapartypatriots.com.
For general information: info@vateapartyconvention.com
For sponsor / vendor information: sponsors@vateapartyconvention.com
To leave us a message via phone, please call: (888) 567-6896.
REGISTER NOW at www.vatteapartyconvention.com.
From Real Clear Politics, this article shows us our future under ObamaCare, if we fail to repeal it. This has already been tried before with disastrous results, both in Canada and Massachusetts. The author writes
With health care now effectively “free” — that is, paid for by other taxpayers — Canadians began visiting the doctor twice as much. Exploding demand drove up costs. To keep spending under control, the federal government simply reduced how much it sent to provinces to run the system. Provinces in turn cut payments to doctors and covered fewer services and cutting-edge treatments.
At first, doctors responded by billing patients directly for amounts greater than the government reimbursements. But in 1984, the federal government outlawed such practices — thereby banning private delivery of services covered under the Canada Health Act. At this point, the Canadian government effectively controlled health care in the country.
The Canadian experience offers a preview of what Obamacare has in store for the United States.
As more facts and analyses are provided on ObamaCare, Americans are quickly catching on that they’ve been had. And now they want it to go away.
It’s critical we find and support candidates this November who are committed to fully repealing ObamaCare and preventing the future destruction of our great health care system. Once that’s done, then we can set to work on actually fixing the broken pieces of our system with commonsense (i.e., non-government based) solutions.
We received the following update from Attorney General Cuccinelli today on the status of the health care lawsuit. Pay careful attention to the credit he gives to the Virginia Tea Party movement at the end!
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August 8, 2010
Dear Friends,
Okay folks, last week was a busy week with the health care ruling (which we were expecting, without knowing the outcome) and the immigration explosion (which we were not really expecting).
To sum up re immigration, the only people really surprised by my legal opinion on the subject were people unfamiliar with law enforcement’s authority. Of course, that includes the press, so they went nuts. Let’s leave this topic for another day because the health care suit is so important, that it warrants discussion before all other current topics.
Last Monday – The End of Round 1
On July 1st, we had oral argument in Virginia’s health care lawsuit against the federal government. The feds had filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the case without deciding the constitutionality of the health care bill.
In the morning of August 2nd, the Judge denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case – rejecting every single argument advanced by the feds in support of their motion.
Virginia had to win on every argument at this stage, because if the court found that there was even one reason that the case should not go forward, it would have ended right there.
Every constitutional law case includes at least two rounds. Round 1 is the motion to dismiss, typically including claims by the government that the plaintiff is not injured or that their injury is not “ripe,” i.e., it hasn’t happened yet.
Our case included both of those arguments, plus two more.
The Feds’ Attacks
The federal government made four separate attacks on our complaint:
1) That Virginia was not injured by the health care law (“HC law”);
2) That even if Virginia was injured, such injury was not ripe because the individual mandate does not come into effect until January 1, 2014;
3) The Anti-Injunction Act bars Virginia’s suit; and
4) That Virginia has not stated a claim on which relief could be granted. This is the one that begins to touch on the substance of the constitutional claims, and it has three sub-parts in which the feds claimed that the HC law was constitutional under the commerce clause, the taxing power, and the necessary and proper clause.
Virginia’s Responses
Not surprisingly, we resisted the feds’ motion to dismiss. In summary fashion, here is what Virginia argued in defense of the legitimacy of its lawsuit:
1) Virginia was injured because our own Health Care Freedom Act (“HCFA”) protects Virginians from a health insurance mandate, and absent action by the courts, the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution would have the HC law trumping our HCFA. That would be fine under our constitutional system, except for the fact that the HC law is unconstitutional. So, because Virginia would lose the right to maintain its own law because of the HC law, Virginia is injured. The court agreed.
2) Virginia argued that the case is ripe under the law because the Supreme Court has generally said that if the only thing that needs to happen between now and a legal collision is the passage of time, then the case is ripe. There are no contingencies left. Virginia’s HCFA is in effect. The federal HC law is in effect. They will collide on January 1, 2014 absent a ruling favorable to Virginia, thus the case is ripe. The court agreed.
A funny item that happened here … as you know, the Florida case is going on at the same time as Virginia’s. And on June 16th the feds filed their motion to dismiss in that case. In their Florida brief, the made three different statements that were helpful to us in our case. One of them was their citation of case law that says exactly what I said in the paragraph before this one. So, to their surprise, we cited their Florida brief in our oral argument!
3) The Anti-Injunction Act (“AIA”) says that before you can sue on a tax law, you have to pay the tax. Needless to say, Virginia’s position is that the ‘penalty’ is not a tax, AND Virginia would never, under any circumstances, have to pay the penalty! So, the AIA does not apply in this case. The court agreed.
4) The big one… because it’s more than one. Basically, the feds claimed that even if the court accepted our complaint in its entirety, we still couldn’t win. Often said by lawyers as ‘not stating a claim upon which relief may be granted.’
The judge’s comments here were looked at most closely for hints about what he may do in his summary judgment ruling later, as all of these subjects will be the focus of that round.
Regarding the claim by the feds that the commerce clause provides them the authority to enact the HC law, the judge said that that may be true (he didn’t decide it yet), but if so, it will be the new outer limit of commerce clause jurisprudence. He said the HC law goes farther than anything that has been found constitutional ever before. So, we’re in constitutional never, never land re the commerce clause. Such a state of affairs needs to be addressed according to the judge, so the case will go on.
The judge proceeded to say basically the same thing about the taxing power. Again, we’re in “never, never land” regarding the taxing power.
The judge didn’t really say much about the necessary and proper clause. This clause is used to ‘fill in’ the power provided to the federal government under the other clauses, though it’s not supposed to extend that power.
Of special interest was the judge focusing on our characterization of what was (or was not) going on re the individual mandate in the HC law. He talked a bit about the fact that what was being regulated (or an attempt was being made to regulate) was inactivity. I liked the word he chose: “repose.” A state of repose – i.e., doing nothing.
So, what’s next?
What’s Next
How’s that for a transition?
From early September to early October, both sides will file motions for summary judgment and oppositions and replies (3 briefs per side). Additionally, amici will file their briefs by early October.
Then, on October 18th we will have oral argument on the constitutionality of the HC law.
If the judge does what he did at oral argument on the motion to dismiss, he’ll tell us at that time about how long he expects to take to decide and issue an opinion. Best guess now? Around Thanksgiving, but we’ll see. Maybe longer, probably not shorter.
Whichever side loses will undoubtedly appeal, and whoever loses there will appeal the Supreme Court. I would be shocked if they didn’t take this case, so that’s who is ultimately going to decide the outcome.
Regardless, I’d always rather go to round two having already won round one! And this week, we survived by winning round one.
I want to remind all of you that haven’t already done so, please go to our web site at www.Cuccinelli.com, and watch the video discussion on the case. It’s very educational and it will help prepare you to discuss the case with your friends and neighbors.
While it would be nice if we didn’t have to worry about such an unconstitutional bill, it is an opportunity to explain first principles to folks, so please take advantage of this educational moment!
Finally, on a side note, and as sort of a distant reminder… the Virginia HCFA is a big part of our case. It is what distinguishes our case from the Florida case, and because of it, you may see very different courses for the two cases. The Virginia HCFA was the major legislative effort of the Tea Parties in Virginia last year, so all of you Tea Party types that helped get Virginia’s HCFA – thank you – as it was an important element in the motion to dismiss. Specifically, it provided a sovereign injury – the trumping of Virginia’s law under the supremacy clause – that was an important part of why we survived the motion to dismiss. Again, thanks to all that supported that effort!
Sincerely,
Ken Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General of Virginia
We’ve been tracking the meltdown of Greece and the European economy on this blog, which has all happened, of course, because of out of control government spending. And because our politicians are following the same path for America, all we have to do is look to Europe to see our future.
We have just passed a healthcare bill that issues massive regulations on private sector health insurance. How’s that going to work out for us? The Cypress Times shows us how Greece is doing with it:
In 1983, when the socialists were in power, Greece established “health care for all.” Today government spending is unsustainable and Greece is awash in red ink. Talks of budget cuts and program cutbacks are causing rioting and bloodshed.
The Greek system is employer- based but the Greek Ministry of Social Health and Cohesion has enacted strict regulations so that innovation cannot exist. Employers must choose from government-approved insurers, with rates and benefits packages clearly delineated. This sounds much like ObamaCare– private but heavily regulated insurance.
From the same article, even the International Monetary Fund, which is determined to bail out Europe with your money, said that
before any bailouts are considered, the Greek government must privatize transportation, energy and health care to rein in costs. The IMF recognizes that increased government involvement in health care does not save money. It also does not lead to better health care.
What is it we’re missing about this? How much more will it take for Americans to learn that high government spending and regulations never work?
Actually, I think most Americans have learned this. It is our politicians whose careers are spent coming up with creative ways to spend other people’s money and expanding their own power that continue to take us down the road to financial disaster. But with Europe collapsing before our eyes and a government focused health care approach playing a significant role, we must find a way to force our elected officials to repeal ObamaCare. As soon as possible.
I know I’ve been reporting a lot lately on how bad the numbers keep getting for ObamaCare, but what can I do? Just when you think they can’t sink any lower, we hear that
Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.
Prior to today, weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.
Currently, just 32% oppose repeal.
That’s another five to nine point shift in favor of repeal. I’ve stated before on this blog that Rasmussen polls likely voters, which typically skews more to the conservative side, but that simply can’t account for anywhere close to a 31 point gap in support. Further, that shift coupled with the nine point shift from last week’s Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicates a continuing trend against the legislation.
It’s pretty staggering when you think about it. It’s hard to get 63% of Americans to agree on anything, let alone something as substantial as full-scale repeal of a bill thousands of pages long that took a year to debate and pass.
But there’s something else in this same Rasmussen poll that tells you everything you need to know about why the Tea Party movement began and continues to grow:
The Political Class continues to be a strong supporter of the plan, however. While 67% of Mainstream voters believe the plan will be bad for America, 77% of the Political Class disagree and think it be good for the country.
Take a few moments to digest those numbers. You have two out three regular Americans believing one thing about the bill, while nearly four out of five in the political class believe the opposite. This explains why you don’t see any real movement from politicians to repeal what Americans have openly rejected. Can there be any doubt that Republicans and Democrats are completely out of touch with those who put them in power?
The good news is, we are finally waking up. And no matter how long it takes, we will ultimately replace those who won’t represent We the People with those who will.
If you haven’t already, register to vote this November. And get everyone you know to as well.
This will come as no surprise to the RTP audience, but the Wall Street Journal is reporting on how we’re already seeing the beginnings of ObamaCare’s forcing the retraction of health care options for patients:
The health-reform law caps how much insurers can spend on expenses and take for profits. Starting next year, health plans will have a regulated “floor” on their medical-loss ratios, which is the amount of revenue they spend on medical claims. Insurers can only spend 20% of their premiums on running their plans if they offer policies directly to consumers or to small employers. The spending cap is 15% for policies sold to large employers.
This regulation is going to have its biggest impact on insurance sold directly to consumers—what’s referred to as the “individual market.” These policies cost more to market. They also have higher medical costs, owing partly to selection by less healthy consumers.
Finally, individual policies have high start-up costs. If insurers cannot spend more of their revenue getting plans on track, fewer new policies will be offered.
But didn’t the President assure us we’d all be able to keep our plans? Check off another broken promise. Again, no surprise to us. Also, no surprise is that as more information and analysis of this bill is provided – which, of course, should have been done before its passage – support continues to drop:
Americans remain divided on health reform, with 41 percent holding favorable views of the law, 44 percent holding unfavorable views and 14 percent undecided or unsure. Most Democrats still approve of it and most Republicans still oppose it. Political independents are more likely to tilt against, as are people who describe themselves as likely voters in the midterm elections.
This comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation, whose same poll showed last month a 46/40 split in support of the bill. This was basically the one reputable poll that the Left could point to for support, while the others show clear majorities against. But now even it has shifted a full nine points in the other direction, putting ObamaCare underwater and indicating an overall trend in the negative direction.
A simple word comes to mind: Repeal! Yet there still is no serious effort underway to trash this horrible legislation Americans have rejected. Contact your representatives and tell them that either they sign on to repeal the bill, or you will repeal their employment.
I should have included this link in my post two days ago about repeal, because it might have headed off a response challenging the validity of my assertion that the public supports repeal of the health care legislation. (That’ll teach me to rush through my posts when my 4-year-old is clamoring to play Wii with me.) The commenter cited as evidence a USA Today poll from March 23rd stating, “By 49%-40% those surveyed say it was ‘a good thing’ rather than a bad one that Congress passed the bill.”
Fine. Let’s assume those numbers are accurate. But now that the public has had over a month to digest what happened since then, learning more every day about the horrors included in this bill, what is the current mood for repeal? Rasmussen has the answer:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% of likely voters nationwide favor repeal, while 38% are opposed.
Granted, Rasmussen polls likely voters, so that will naturally skew more toward repeal. But that can’t account for anywhere close to a 20% gap. Regardless, the voting public—those most engaged in and passionate about the issues and, therefore, most likely to be better informed—supports repeal in overwhelming numbers. This only makes my point stronger from a political strategy standpoint that Republicans should follow their lead, because those who end up voting are all politicians ultimately care about anyway.
By the way, I don’t focus on Republicans because I am one. I’m not. I’ve been an independent for years. But if repeal is to happen, Republicans will obviously have to be the ones to step up, as Democrats are the party that crammed the legislation through using every bribe and parliamentary trick they could think of.
I mention this because the commenter also accused Richmond Tea Party of being in the pocket of Republicans. That’s fine. If that’s what some have to believe to make themselves feel better about our movement, they’re welcome to. But the reality is that the day Richmond Tea Party becomes an arm of the Republican Party is the day I leave. And I can confidently say that’s the case for many other leaders and supporters in our organization as well.
The following is a post from RTP board member Susan Lascolette.
A patriot’s work is never done! Just because the gigantic overhaul of our health care system has been signed into law, many continue to fight against it.
Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) has introduced a bill in the US House – HR 4309 – to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. When this bill was voted on in the House, all five Virginia Republican Congressmen voted against it.
Now, Representative Bachmann has 53 co-sponsors for her bill and the only Virginia Republican Congressman who has joined as a co-sponsor is Bob Goodlatte (R-6th). Thank you, Bob!
If Rob Wittman (R-1st), Randy Forbes (R-4th), Eric Cantor (R-7th), and Frank Wolf (R-10th) were firm in their oppostion to the Health Care Bill, what on earth could be stopping them for becoming co-sponsors of Bachmann’s HR 4309 legislation?
We urge you to contact each of thse congressmen. Please thank Representative Goodlatte. And ask Representatives Wittman, Forbes, Cantor and Wolf what is stopping them from continuing the fight against a bill that the citizens of the Commonwealth dispise so much that they have filed suit against it in the Federal Courts.
Goodlatte 202-225-5431
Wittman 202-225-4261
Forbes 202-225-6365
Cantor 202-225-2815
Wolf 202-225-5136
Not that this is surprise, but Republicans aren’t supporting total repeal of the health care legislation that will (by design) ultimately morph into a single payer government health care system, giving them more direct control over our lives than ever. The public overwhelmingly supports repeal, providing Republicans a clear issue to run and win huge on this November, yet they (with some notable exceptions) can’t muster the courage to do it:
Hours after the House passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made good on a promise and introduced a short bill that would repeal the whole thing. The goal, she explained, was to get every Republican to co-sponsor it.
About one month later, neither Bachmann’s bill nor companion bills in the House and Senate have won majority support from their peers. Only 52 House Republicans have co-sponsored Bachmann’s repeal bill, H.R. 4903, and only 62 House Republicans have co-sponsored Rep. Steve King’s (Iowa) repeal bill, H.R. 4972. Most of the same people have co-sponsored both. Only 20 Republican senators have co-sponsored Sen. Jim DeMint’s (S.C.) repeal bill, S. 3152. That worries some Republicans who want to run hard on repeal in November.
“What I run into,” King told me recently, “is that you ask Republicans to support 100 percent full repeal, but there are a number of them that aren’t committed to full repeal. They have an equivocation that they would leave a piece there, a piece there, a piece there. If Republicans cannot unanimously come together and support 100 percent repeal of Obamacare and then start to rebuild, then we will not win this victory, because we’ll be divided by the Democrats and fighting on Obama’s turf.”
One has to wonder why Republicans don’t unite on a clear electoral (and moral) winner. I don’t have a good answer, but I do know it’s this type of non-leadership that got them voted out in massive numbers in 2006 and 2008.
I know it seems like the American people can’t do any more to demonstrate how much we oppose this bill, and now that it’s law, Republicans seem content to stop fighting it. We can’t let that happen. Somehow, we must pressure them even more to stand up and stop corrupt politicians from stealing liberty from the American soul. They must understand that if they don’t pledge a full repeal of this legislation, and then fulfill that pledge (I know, that’s asking a lot of politicians), we will replace them with representatives who will, regardless of which party they belong to.
It looks like PBS is going to do a documentary this week on Obama’s behind the scenes deals on Obamacare. It will be interesting to see the angles and perspectives that PBS presents.
The PBS press release states:
On March 23, after a bruising year of debate, negotiation and backlash, President Barack Obama finally signed the health reform bill that he had promised more than a year before. But at what cost to his popularity and to the ideals of bipartisanship and open government that he’d campaigned on?
In Obama’s Deal, airing Tuesday, April 13, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush’s War, Dreams of Obama) takes viewers behind the headlines to reveal the political maneuvering behind Barack Obama’s effort to remake the American health system and transform the way Washington works. Through interviews with administration officials, senators and Washington lobbyists, Obama’s Deal reveals the dramatic details of how an idealistic president pursued the health care fight—despite the warnings of many of his closest advisers—and how he ended up making deals with many of the powerful special interests he had campaigned against.
“The stakes couldn’t be much higher,” former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) tells FRONTLINE about what was involved in the landmark health care legislation. “We’re talking about almost 20 percent of our gross domestic product today, $2.5 trillion. Literally tens, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on lobbying. Every special interest has their oar in the water.”
To navigate the process of health reform, President Obama turned to his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a consummate deal maker, who helped stock the West Wing with an all-star lineup of congressional insiders. But almost immediately, a key member of the team was forced to step down, and the country’s greatest champion of health reform, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), was sidelined with incurable brain cancer. The administration’s hopes for reform rested with Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the powerful head of the Senate Finance Committee, who also happened to be one of the Senate’s top recipients of special interest money from the health care industry.
The White House encouraged Baucus to quietly negotiate deals with the insurance lobby, drug companies and other special interest groups, despite promises to run a different kind of White House. “The president said that having people at the table is better than having them throw stuff at the table,” White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer tells FRONTLINE.
But the deals were often controversial. FRONTLINE investigates how, near the start of the health care reform process, Baucus and the White House negotiated a secret $80 billion deal with Billy Tauzin, the former Louisiana congressman who had become the pharmaceutical industry’s top lobbyist.
“People who thought that the pharmaceutical industry was still reaping profits that were excessive were unhappy with that deal and were particularly unhappy that it got cut behind closed doors,” says the co-chair of Obama’s transition team, John Podesta.
The pact with Tauzin was only the beginning of a series of deals designed to win over potential opponents. The most notorious agreement, known as the “Cornhusker Kickback,” was concluded only days before a vote on the health care bill in the Senate. In exchange for the support of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the White House and Senate leaders agreed to spend $100 million to benefit Nebraska.
The administration argued the deals were necessary to secure health reform. But the deals backfired. “It’s not a pretty process,” says David Gergen, who’s been an adviser to four different presidents, both Republican and Democratic, over the last several decades. “There is deal making—that’s the way it’s been done for a long time. But those deals done in your front parlor can be pretty smelly. The public was already up to here with what they were seeing in Washington, and I think it just put them over the side.”
The backlash grew across the country. The president’s approval ratings sunk, the Democrats lost control of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, and the push for health care reform was suddenly in peril.
“The grassroots of America had turned against this,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) tells FRONTLINE. “Health care was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
At the White House, the president was forced to come to terms with what looked to be his most significant failure as president, before a last push this winter—and a last round of high-stakes, round-the-clock deal making—finally pushed the bill through.
“The process was messy, and so it turned people off,” says Communications Director Pfeiffer. “It ended up being behind closed doors. It was filled with partisan wrangling, people yelling at each other across the table. We ended up having a process that represented a lot of what the American people hated about Washington.”
“There is a realism that it has come with a cost,” veteran Washington Post reporter Dan Balz observes. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the November elections. We don’t know what’s going to happen in 2012. But there’s no question that this health care battle has put his party at risk. And how they deal with that is the next chapter. But this was a historic moment.”
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