And now we as Americans have to decide if this is how we want the business of the United States of America to be handled by greedy self-serving politicians who prostitute their votes and lack principals. Or, do we want to kick all of the bums out – Democrat or Republican – and replace them with people who will actually protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

This article from The Washington Post is the best example for the reason to have term limits on Elected officials in Washington and hold their feet to the fire when they trample on the Constitution. I don’t know about you, but it makes me sick!

American Dad

On Monday, Rep. Cooper had a guest commentary in the local free newspaper that was 700 words long and said a whole bunch of nothing. The title is “The problem with the status quo” and he says some great things that has some actual facts in it with some bashing of those evil insurance companies. I especially like how he says the fault lies that Congress back in WWII did not get the opportunity to vote for any of it and did not intend it as if they are the be all, end all. Here is what he had to say about the beginnings of the flawed, but best healthcare system in the world:

Most of today’s non-system is the result of a World War II fluke. Congress never voted on it, and never intended it. Instead, it grew like kudzu from seeds that were planted by companies whose goal was not to keep people healthy, but to fill hospitals and doctors’ offices with patients. It grew faster when an IRS clerk in the 1950s decided that fringe benefits should be treated better than cash pay, skewing our entire medical industry toward unsustainable growth rates that have been crowding out other national needs. If current trends continue, it will take all of federal revenues just to treat our own bodies. There will be no money left over for such priorities as national defense or education.

He starts with some facts and then goes off into another bashing that says the only reason to fill hospitals and doctors offices with patients. Are there flaws with the current system? Yes, there are some flaws, but it is not just the private health insurance companies that are a part of it but the government insurance plans are contributers as well. 

He also makes some good points about the overmedication of Tennesseans, but the idea that a government option is going to somehow solve this issue is absurd to say the least. There is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING in the health care bill that he voted for on November 7th that solves these issues that he talks about in his commentary this week.

Rep. Cooper’s bait and switch vote for this bill has shown once and for all that he is nothing but a Washington Politician who will say one thing to the people who voted him to his office and then goes back to Washington to drop his “Blue Dog” label when Speaker Pelosi tells him too because they feel that his seat is comfortably Democrat. Hopefully with the work of fellow Americans in the 5th District, we can show them that they are beatable. Here is the link to the commentary from Cooper to read for yourself and see if what he says matches up with what he voted for in HR 3962.

We have to show these politicians that they need to listen to us or they will find themselves out of office in 2010 and beyond. Maybe Rep. Cooper should read the U.S. Constitution and let us know where it says that the Federal Government has the authority to fundamentally change healthcare in this country by requiring us to buy insurance from the government.

God Bless,

American Dad

Here are two examples alone that have helped me come to this conclusion.

The first is something I read on Monday here where the Louisianna Representative Anh “Joseph” Cao voted yes to this bill because Obama gave him assurances he would help Cao’s district with economic recovery. So, when Cao says the following, ”My vote was a vote of conscience, whether or not it was a popular vote for the party is of little relevance to me.”, he is actually saying that the President was trading his yes vote for extra federal money to “help” economic recovery in Cao’s district and had nothing to do with conscience. You can see that with the next comment by Cao in the story:

“We were able to sit down to talk about recovery, to talk about the needs of the district,” Cao told Fox News, though he said no “promises” were made. “The administration and I, we have a very great relationship.”

You can see from the comments by the Republican party leadership in the story that they understand why he voted for the bill because:

The Republican won in an upset election last December, ousting embattled Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has since been convicted on federal corruption charges. 

But Cao’s victory also immediately made him one of the most vulnerable GOP members in the House. Cao was keenly aware of how the health care reform vote could affect his political future. 

According to The Times-Picayune, he said over the summer that “voting against the health care bill will probably be the death of my political career.” 

With the “yes” vote, Cao may give himself a fighting chance. 

The Republican gave a twofold explanation for his decision late Saturday, saying in a written statement that he was standing against taxpayer funding for abortion as much as he was standing for health care reform.

You see, it is all about getting re-elected and “pay or play” Chicago style deals and not about the bill they are voting on.

Here is the second example of why there needs to be term limits put in place for the House and Senate. This example comes that to my friend Ken with his story here.

Jim Cooper is my “Representative” in the 5th District in Tennessee. He spent weeks claiming to not support the different versions of the bills before congress because they were not “budget neutral” and blah, blah, blah. Even last week he stated that he would not vote for this bill. Well, on Saturday this “Blue Dog” Democrat became a “Lying Dog” Democrat and voted yes to pass the H.R. 3962 bill. I was already not happy with the vote, but then read Ken’s post where Cooper testified in the Senate yesterday to say “… that the country’s huge debt is a “fiscal cancer.” three days after voting for the largest entitlement program in U.S. history.

I cannot believe he could say that with a straight face after voting yes on the stimulus plan, the 2009 budget and H.R. 3962. He went on to say the following:

“So, how can we fix it? The best course is more direct spending cuts, but we all know how likely those are. The second-best solution is a top-level commission to force congressional action.”

Ken did a great job in translating Rep. Cooper’s stated with the following:

“Senators, our country is in a huge amount of trouble because we have spent money we do not have for years.  This behavior is like a cancer that is killing us and it’s getting worse. I should know. Just 3 days ago I added over $2 trillion dollars to the $55 to $60 trillion dollars of unfunded mandates in the area of health care alone that threaten to cripple our Economy. The President and Congress all understand that it is precisely that sort of health care spending that has put us in this mess and so we’re going to fix it.  Yessirree … we’re going to reduce that pesky deficit spending.  We all know the best and most effective way to do that would be to reduce deficit spending.  So, we’re not going to push for that because it might be hard on our chances to get re-elected.  What we should, therefore, do as a fall back position is to have another Congressional panel to make non-binding recommendations to Congress telling them they should cut spending while not actually insisting that they do.  That way everyone acknowledges the problem, we are all seen as doing something about it and nothing really has to change.  And by the time the country implodes, we’ll all be out of office.  Any questions?  Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.”

These two members of Congress are the last straw that has made me determine that we need to give these members of Congress term limits. I support any conservative grass roots effort to replace the current members of congress that have become entrenched in the Washington elite with citizens who only care about the constitution and equal protection under the law and not special protection. They also need to pledge to pass legislation to set term limits for themselves, so we do not have another problem with career politicians who use taxpayer money as their personal credit card.

I support the American Liberty Alliance and their efforts to replace Congress with citizen politicians and not establishment hacks who are part of the problem with both parties. 73wire is a new site they recently launched that is a great place to get information and they also have a place for Campaign trail updates here. Help show Washington that we are the people with the power and not them!

God Bless,

American Dad

UPDATE:

I just read something on 73wire.com/wire that is disgusting on so many levels that words fail me. Here is what he said on Saturday afternoon:

I will vote yes on H.R. 3962. My vote is not an endorsement of all the provisions of the bill because I find much of the bill to be deeply flawed. There is little chance that H.R. 3962 will become law due to the long legislative process. My reason for voting yes is to advance the cause of health care reform by forcing the Senate to act. Without passage of this House bill, the Senate could delay reform indefinitely. That would be the worst possible outcome because our current health-care system is not sustainable. Congress needs to pass good health legislation in the next few months for the good of the country.

Unbelievable is all I can say, this is a perfect example of the need for term limits.

Thank you Ken for this great post:

http://conservablogs.com/bluecollarmuse/2009/11/08/barack-obama-a-black-man-is-now-the-most-grotesque-slave-owner-in-history/

God Bless,

American Dad

In order to assist people seeking to read and review the health “reform” legislation (H.R. 3962) introduced by House Democrats, the Republican Conference has compiled a list of important page numbers and provisions in the 1,990-page “Affordable Health Care for America Act:”

Page 94—Section 202(c) prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government

Page 110—Section 222(e) requires the use of federal dollars to fund abortions through the government-run health plan—and, if the Hyde Amendment were ever not renewed, would require the plan to fund elective abortions

Page 111—Section 223 establishes a new board of federal bureaucrats (the “Health Benefits Advisory Committee”) to dictate the health plans that all individuals must purchase—and would likely require all Americans to subsidize and purchase plans that cover any abortion

Page 211—Section 321 establishes a new government-run health plan that, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group, would cause as many as 114 million Americans to lose their existing coverage  Page 225—Section 330 permits—but does not require—Members of Congress to enroll in government-run health care

Page 255—Section 345 includes language requiring verification of income for individuals wishing to receive federal health care subsidies under the bill—while the bill includes a requirement for applicants to verify their citizenship, it does not include a similar requirement to verify applicants’ identity, thus encouraging identity fraud for undocumented immigrants and others wishing to receive taxpayer-subsidized health benefits

Page 297—Section 501 imposes a 2.5 percent tax on all individuals who do not purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health insurance—the tax would apply on individuals with incomes under $250,000, thus breaking a central promise of then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign

Page 313—Section 512 imposes an 8 percent “tax on jobs” for firms that cannot afford to purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health coverage; according to an analysis by Harvard Professor Kate Baicker, such a tax would place millions “at substantial risk of unemployment”—Uwith minority workers losing their jobs at twice the rate of their white counterparts

Page 336—Section 551 imposes additional job-killing taxes, in the form of a half-trillion dollar “surcharge,” more than half of which will hit small businesses; according to a model developed by President Obama’s senior economic advisor, such taxes could cost up to 5.5 million jobs

Page 520—Section 1161 cuts more than $150 billion from Medicare Advantage plans, potentially jeopardizing millions of seniors’ existing coverage

Page 733—Section 1401 establishes a new Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research; the bill includes no provisions preventing the government-run health plan from using such research to deny access to life-saving treatments on cost grounds, similar to Britain’s National Health Service, which denies patient treatments costing more than £35,000

Page 1174—Section 1802(b) includes provisions entitled “TAXES ON CERTAIN INSURANCE POLICIES” to fund comparative effectiveness research, breaking Speaker Pelosi’s promise that “UWe will not be taxing [health] benefits in any bill that passes the HouseU,” and the President’s promise not to raise taxes on families with incomes under $250,000

Top Ten Tax Increases Included In H.R. 3962

TOTAL TAX INCREASE . . . . . . . . . . $729.5 Billion
*[Violates President Obama's pledge to avoid tax increases on Americas earning less than $250,000]

Should be helpful to activists, pass it on.

These are the Democrats who MUST be called every day from now until the vote, which may be as early as Saturday now. Here’s the Target 92 list on the House side to all vulnerable and Blue Dog Democrats.  Blue Dogs are in blue. Here’s the .xls and .pdf versions.  Of note, the first 40 on the list are the Blue Dogs that signed the “deficit-neutral” letter mentioned above.  Everything you need to email their staff, write letters, make phone calls and send faxes, both to their district and Capitol Hill offices.

Keep calling out to the House and to the Senate in general. Of course, you can also reach them via the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.  And of course, here is the CapWiz alert so you can contact your own members directly.

As you can see from the information above, this is possibly the worst healthcare bill they have created yet with over $729,000,000,000 in new taxes (and yes penalties by the government are a tax). I work around the healthcare industry and while there are some things that I dislike about private insurance companies, it is nothing compared to the dislike I have about our other government run healthcare plans (Medicare, Medicaid and Tenncare). We have to keep the pressure on the people in Washington to not pass any version of healthcare “reform” that is currently being sent through Congress.

One other reason to oppose this, there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that allows any level of government to force its people to purchase insurance or any other item. Here is what Nancy Pelosi said to a reporter when asked that question. That response should concern every American. Keep up the pressure on our elected “leaders” to stop this from getting to the Presidents desk.

God Bless,

American Dad