Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

REAL Reform “YES�, Government Takeover “NO�

I write and speak as a conservative, a conservative that would completely support REAL Healthcare Reform, not Government Healthcare takeover.

Because of this I know that the current battle for REAL reform is not lost, no not at all, it has only just begun.

As a Patriot I look back on many battles that have been fought for the price of freedom and a few come to mind to bring home my point;

Take for instance the battle of Lexington; the Minute men were forced to leave the field by the British. The great victory was amply called the “Shot heard Round the World� by famous poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This victory galvanized the Patriots. Then there’s the battle of Bunker Hill, as the Americans, out of shot and powder, were leaving the field, an aid to the British General Clinton said “It appears Sir that we have won the day� The General remarked “I am afraid that if we win another battle such as this one we shall lose the war�. The Victory was in the fact that the British had 800 wounded and 257 dead and lost lots of officers. Fully 1/3 of their attacking force was destroyed. The American Colonials proved they could hold their own in a big fight. And who could forget General George Washington, in the Battle of Long Island, where he was able to save the entire Continental Army by escaping through Brooklyn as the Old Maryland Line held the British advance. That very same army that George saved managed to come back later to beat Cornwallis at the Battle of Saratoga and win the war eight years later.

So as you see, Victory and defeat, like beauty, are in the “eyes of the beholder�…..
Look at how well we as Conservative Patriots have done as of November 7th 2009:
• We came within 4 votes of defeating the mighty Democratic Party. They were better funded, had greater numbers, and had a seasoned battle hardened organization. They who heretofore did not give us the chance of a snowball in Hell to make such a stand had to have been shocked. The Tea Party came within 4 votes of defeating the Bill.
• We turned 39 Democrats to vote our way. By the way, take the time to thank them….we still need their support.
• We forced them to shoot down the abortion funding portion of the bill.
• We learned we can organize and show our power 9/12.
• We showed we can rally on short notice 11/5.
• We now are battle hardened and seasoned troops….We know how to adjust our tactics and organize effective rallies, pickets, e-mail, - fax, - letter, and phone campaigns, because that is what grassroots organizations do, as small communities they ban together to fight against any attack on their freedoms.
Recently Heritage.org put into perspective just what we are fighting for and against. In a recent article in which they pointed out the analysis obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Centers are a non-partisan and independent agency in charge of running Medicare and Medicaid, and with this report they blew the lid off of every one of President Obama’s claims. They analyzed and pointed to the following to show us what will really happen if the House Bill in its current version passes thru the Senate.

Health Care Costs will INCREASE
Millions will LOSE their Existing Private Coverage
Millions will PAY FINES Yet Remain Uncovered
Millions will LOSE Medicare Advantage
Millions will be placed on WELFARE
Seniors Access to Care will be JEOPARDIZED
Access for the poor will be EXACERBATED, not relieved

Your can read the details at
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/11/16/morning-bell-a-deathblow-for-obamacare/#more-19878

I ask you, based on this report, is the House Bill really “Reform�, I think not, true reform in my opinion and many conservative’s opinions is as follows:
• No reform is acceptable that doesn’t put patients in charge
• What we call .health insurance. is actually prepaid medical care.
• Personal Health Savings Accounts put patients in control.
• Reform the tax code to create a level playing
• Reform private health insurance with 5 common sense changes
• Affordability, Portability, Availability, Accountability and Insurability
• Require all health care providers. Doctors, hospitals, laboratories, etc. .to post the price of every service.
• Create financial incentives for hospitals and physicians to provide integrated patient care
• Reform tort liability laws to discourage frivolous lawsuits.
• Make routine primary care more available and less expensive.
• Eliminate state permitting requirements that prevent the construction of new health care facilities.
• Increase medical school enrollment for primary care physicians of all kinds.
• Medicare and Medicaid fraud cost at least $100 billion a year, yet government does little to curtail this abuse.
• Overhaul Medicaid to improve program quality and reduce costs.
• Extend health insurance coverage to the medically indigent.
• Expand Community Health Care Centers to serve more of the medically indigent

I can almost guarantee you the aforementioned will not cost a trillion dollars, is actually budget negative and or deficit neutral and precludes the need to rip off Medicare and abandon our Senior Citizens.

These real reform options are outlined in more detail at the following link:
http://www.healthcareupdate.info/RealReformPage.html and are from Robin Lumb, Health Care policy analyst in Duval County and the organizer of a recent forum on health care reform.

Here’s the Link to The Republicans Healthcare Plan, it’s not perfect, it needs work, but it is a step in the right direction.
http://republicanleader.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=34771-3932247
Recently I found a powerful New Tool at: http://www.direct2congress.org
This site gives you the name and contact information for your representative based on your Zip Code, so please use this tool and contact your representative and tell him or her how you feel about the current house bill.

Use your words not mine or anyone else’s and make your own decision based on your own research.

Don’t take my word for what is in the bill, do your research and make an informed decision, but make a decision, the future of America’s free market Health Care is in your hands, are you willing to save it or abandon it?

Until next time, stand proud, be passionate my fellow patriots and we will prevail.

BreeLee Johnston is the founder of United American Tea Party which is a Chapter of Just Patriots Inc in St. Johns County. She is a member of the National Leadership Council of Tea Party Patriots as well as the Florida Coordinator for ICaucus.org. She also works with the Paul Porter show daily on WFOY News Talk 1240 from 3-5 PM in addition to contributing a regular guest editorial to Historic City News.

 How can a private insurance company compete with a ‘Government run plan’?

A ‘Government run plan� will not pay taxes like private insurance companies do. CBO estimates taxes account for 1.2% of private insurer’s premium on the average. In addition to the fact that a ‘Government run plan’ will have access to bottomless pockets with taxpayer subsidized funding and bailouts. Case and point, Amtrak and USPS, they’ve been in the red for years and they still continue to get bailed out.
Look at the current ‘Government run plan�, AKA Medicare and the advantage plans. These plans were supposed to create a level playing field, but with all the Congressional interference and legislation it has never happened. (Source: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-613.pdf)

Will seniors be guaranteed joint replacements, life saving treatments like stents, and chemotherapy, or will they be forced to accept less-costly and less-effective alternatives? 

Or as President Obama puts it “If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half for the thing that’s going to make you well.” This is not the real world; because the Red Pill is the Generic and there is no Generic that is exactly the same as the original. “The active ingredients that helps control your seizures is the same in both ‘brand’ and ‘generic’ names but the substances that are used as fillers, dyes, or binders, sometimes differ. This can occasionally make a difference in how quickly they are absorbed from your stomach or processed by your body. This may
affect how much medicine you need.� (Source: http://bipolar.about.com/od/medications/a/genericdrugs.htm)
As far as the treatments, of course they aren’t going to get the best, most expensive treatments. Consider this, Medicare is already nearly broke and with this bill the President proposes, nearly $178.2 billion in legislative and administrative Medicare cuts will take place over the next five years, $556.4 billion over the next 10 years, and this will happen just when we are adding 20-30% more to the Medicare program as the “Baby boomersâ€� come of age. (Source: http://www.ncpssm.org/news/archive/vp_budget_seniors/)

Will seniors have to wait longer for their treatments than they do now?
Common sense tells us that you cannot add 46 Million (their number) to the system and not expect for waiting times to become longer. In Massachusetts under their failed healthcare system the wait time has  tripled. From 2000-2008 the average wait time in Massachusetts to see a specialist was 49.6% and has gotten worse. (Source: http://www.NCPA.org/pub/ba667)

Doesn’t Canada have long lines for important surgeries?
Yes, that is widely reported and verified. All total 827,429 people were waiting for a procedure in Canada, this from a study in 2007, and statistics tell us that number has not improved if anything it has gotten worse. (Source: http://www.NCPA.org/p;ub/BA649)

 

Will you oppose any healthcare reform bill that uses my tax dollars to pay for abortions?

Someone pointed out to me this morning the major difference between government health care and what we have now. Boy, did they make it simple for me to choose between the two.

I’ll be the first to admit that the HMO’s and the large variety of other type plans we have for health care far from perfect, but they all have one large advantage over the proposed government run health care plan. That is that the private sector allows YOU to chose.

With any private plan you have choices. Choices between the type of plan, who you want to buy it from, levels of coverage and more. But even more important, if they deny coverage of a procedure you decide you need, for whatever reason, YOU can still elect to have that procedure, you just have to pay for it out of pocket. YOU chose if you want it done.

With the proposed government plan, a government bureaucrat decides if you can have that procedure. If they say no, it will be illeagle to have that procedure done. No choice, period.

Weather you agree or disagree with the plan, you need to voice your opinion. My personal opinion is we need to keep the government out of everything. The recent history shows can’t seem to do anything right.

But I’m not the one making the choice for everone. Washington is.

Washington’s effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system has generated an intense debate among lawmakers, policy makers and health care providers. If you want to express your opinion too, here is a list of key players involved and how to contact them.

• The White House: (202) 456-1111
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: (202) 225-4965
• House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio: (202) 225-6205
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: (202) 224-3542
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.: (202) 224-2541
• Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which canceled its vote this week on health care legislation because there was not enough support : (202) 225-3976
• Rep. Joe Barton, D-Texas, ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee: (202) 225-2002
• Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which passed its health care bill last week: (202) 224-2823
• Sen. Michael Enzi, ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: (202) 224-3424
• Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is still working on its version of a health care bill: (202) 224-2651
• Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee: (202) 224-3744
• Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which passed its health care bill last week: (202) 225-4365
• Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee: (202) 225-3561
• Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, which passed its health care bill last week: (202) 225-2095
• Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., ranking member on the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee: (202) 225-4501

3 Core Values of Tea Party Patriots Are:
�
Fiscal Responsibility
Limited Government
Free Markets

Socialized Health Care blatantly violates every single one of these core values. Fiscal Responsibility v. Spending, Spending, Spending
The current administration has spent trillions of dollars so far and we are setting new records for debt every day. Spending in 2009 has increased in excess of 25%, which is the largest non-war government expansion since the New Deal.  Government Run Healthcare is a multi-trillion dollar program, which will crush an already embattled private sector economy, while government continues to grow.

Limited Govt. v. Govt. Bureaucrat Decision Makers
Bureaucrats and politicians, not families, will control health care choices and decisions.   The horror stories of long waits and denied treatment in countries with government health care systems cannot be denied.  Government health care doesn’t work.

Free Markets v. Public Option
When the government begins offering programs that the private sector already offers, the government becomes competition for the private sector and stifles its ability to grow.�
Even the White House says the President’s rhetoric shouldn’t be taken “literally” when he promises you won’t lose your current plan.  They understand private insurers will be incentivized out of markets which will no longer be “free.”

There are countless other examples of how government run health care will negatively effect our core values.  You can learn more about how it will effect us by reading our
Health care updatespage and our latest Editorial at HistoricCity.com

BreeLee

What a smashing success our July 5th Reclamation of Freedom Tea Party/Rally was. Amazing turnout, we are still counting but we are looking at upwards of 3200 attendees.

Patriots came from as far west as Mississippi, as fart north as North Carolina and as far south as Sunrise, to show their support and be heard.

A variety of Guest speakers were in attendance to cover many key issues on the Current Tea Party Agenda.  Some of them included, Monte Bateman, Co-Founder of Icaucus.org , Robin Lumb,  Healthcare Policy Analyst of Duval County, Eric West with the National Federation of Small Business and Americans for Prosperity , Ray Sanchez of the Daytona 9-12 Project and Tom Graves reiterated key points from Mark Levin’s latest book “Liberty and Tyranny�.  United American Tea Party is fortunate to be a part of the National Group of Tea Party Patriots that shares many of the same objectives as other groups and we invited many of those to join us at our rally and many were represented by the preceding speakers and Fair Tax was in attendance as well.

The hottest topic on our Activism checklist right now is the Cap and Trade Bill. This bill recently passed in the House and is making its way to the Senate. With Global alarmism in full swing this bill will, under the guise of “Clean Energy�, affect every American.  Recently CBO Senior Advisor Terry Dinan wrote about how this bill would hit Consumers, not Corporate Profits.
“Under a cap-and-trade program, firms would not ultimately bear most of the costs of the allowances but instead would pass them along to their customers in the form of higher prices. Such price increases would stem from the restriction on emissions and would occur regardless of whether the government sold emission allowances or gave them away.” 

Earlier this year in an Institute for Energy report written by Analyst Thomas Pyle he stated,
“Cap-and-trade sounds pleasant in theory, but in practice it has been a failure. Europe has the largest cap-and-trade system in the world, and instead of leading to a decrease in emissions, Phase I, between 2005 and 2007, led to a 1.9 percent increase in greenhouse-gas emissions. What’s worse, electricity bills in much of Europe have substantially increased because of cap-and-trade policies�.

Albert Einstein once said that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results�.  So we really have to ask ourselves, If Europe has failed miserably with their Cap and Trade policy not to forget the mess that California is in with their version of Cap and Trade, why on earth would we want to go down the very same path of insanity.

Health Care is also at the top of our Activism Hot Sheet and our National movement is currently rallying troops for July 17th to meet at your local Representatives office. We need to make it absolutely clear that we oppose government health care. These protests will occur simultaneously across the country from Noon to 1:00PM Eastern time. You can get more information at our website, www.JustPatriots.com.

Many United American Tea Party Members are working closely with the 9-12 Project and are gearing up for the March on DC on 9-12.  You can find that information at  our website as well.

Our mission as proud, passionate patriots is to bring back our Constitution based America and the Republic for which it stands, one vote, one ballot, one office at a time, we will succeed and
we will bring back America for our Children and our Grandchildren.

Until next time, stand proud, be passionate, and as patriots we will prevail

Bio: BreeLee is the founder of United American Tea Party which is a Chapter of Just Patriots Inc in
St. Johns County. She is a member of the National Leadership Council of Tea Party Patriots
 as well as the Florida Coordinator for ICaucus.org and contributes a guest editorial to Old City.