Author: Campaign For Liberty Blog

By Tim Shoemaker

From this morning’s front page of the Washington Post:

Not five minutes after President Obama signed health-care legislation into law Tuesday, top staff members for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II made their way out of his office, court papers in hand and TV cameras in pursuit, and headed to Richmond’s federal courthouse to sue to stop the measure.

Thirteen other state attorneys general also sought to stop the health-care law Tuesday, jointly suing in Florida. But Cuccinelli (R) went his own way, arguing that a Virginia law enacted this month that prohibits the government from requiring people to buy health insurance creates an “immediate, actual controversy” between state and federal law that gives the state unique standing on which to sue.

The move was classic Cuccinelli — bold, defiant and in-your-face, an effort to use any means at his disposal to stop what he sees as a federal government gone wild. That approach has transformed him in just a few months from being a fairly obscure state senator into a national conservative folk hero — a tea partier with conviction and, more importantly, power.

Since vowing last week to sue to stop health-care reform, Cuccinelli has become a fixture on national cable TV news shows. A conservative blog posted a cartoon of his head atop Superman’s body, with the caption: “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape . . . and you don’t mess around with Ken.” His Facebook page is full of messages of support from across the country, some next to the yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, which Cuccinelli has embraced — one sits next to the Virginia flag in his office.

Be sure to read the rest.

It will certainly be interesting watching this all play out in federal courts.  I’ll leave you with this great Cuccinelli quote included in the article…

“It’s time for people like you all to step up and to draw the lines that our Founding Fathers thought they drew very clearly,” Cuccinelli told the crowd. “We need to reemphasize that there are sovereigns in America. One of those is the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

By Matt Hawes

Congressman Paul has made it to the regional seminfinals in the Houston Chronicle’s poll of Texas’ most effective legislator.  Voting for this round runs through Thursday.

Vote here!

(Due to the page’s setup, clicking the link may bring up a page that looks like you’ve already voted.  Just refresh the site.)

By Matt Hawes

During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Congressman Paul questioned Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Austrian economic theory and government’s creation of moral hazard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghs5KBXofSQ

By Tim Shoemaker

Today is the 235th Anniversary of Patrick Henry’s infamous “Give me Liberty” speech calling for the dissolution of the political bonds between the colonies and Great Britain.  It is highly appropriate to remember his words at this time in our history.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received?

His final phrase has been immortalized, yet it is rarely quoted in its full context…

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace–but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

The full text of this speech may be found here, included as one of our pillars of liberty.

By brandonwbarrios

A supporter proposed our “Audit the Fed” to be included in the Contract from America initiative.  From over 1,000 ideas submitted and commented on by several hundred thousand people and several ensuing surveys, the “Audit the Fed” proposal was accepted and has made it within the top 21.  Now it really needs our support.

The Contract from America serves as a clarion call for those who recognize the importance of free market principles, limited government, and individual liberty.  It is the natural extension of a movement that began in the local communities and quickly spread across America in response to unprecedented government expansion, reckless spending and blatant disregard by our leaders of the nation’s founding principles.  

The goal of the initiative is to create a grassroots, bottom-up, crowd-sourced 2010 legislative agenda for the economic conservative cause.  During the past several months, hundreds of thousands of Americans have debated thousands of ideas to solve our nation’s most pressing problems.  At CPAC the online vote phase of the project was launched to narrow the field to the top 8-10 ideas.

Over 300,000 votes have been cast in the last few weeks and the voting window to help draft the final version of the Contract from America is set to close on April 2nd.  

Currently “Audit the Fed” is ranked 17th.

Once the top 8-10 issues have been chosen they will be presented to candidates and elected officials as such.  Here is one of the many opportunities for our members to engage and influence political agenda.   

So get to what we do best and continue pushing for “Audit the Fed.”

Vote “Audit the Fed” on Contract From America

By Matt Holdridge

This is an interesting column at the Daily Caller by Robert Laurie:

For the past hundred years, citizens of the United States shared one common holiday, regardless of faith, race, or sex. Though it has never appeared on any calendar, we marked a day upon which we managed to slip free of our shackles and buy our way out of indentured servitude. In 1900, it fell on Jan. 22. By 2009, the last year President George W. Bush scheduled the event, it had been pushed back to the first week of May. This year, most expected it to be held during the first week of August. It was, of course, Tax Freedom Day—the day when American workers stopped toiling to pay their government, and began working for themselves. Sadly, barring Constitutional challenges, we’ll never see another one.

True freedom, thanks to Obama’s health care reform, no longer exists in the United States.

What we have now is a system where, each month for the rest of his or her life, each American will purchase their freedom by writing a check to a federally approved insurance company. The size of that check remains to be seen, but there’s not a single estimate that shows it declining.

He goes on…

If they fail to pay the mandated bill, they’ll face investigation at the hands of the IRS. If the government decides they’re unable to cover the cost, someone else will be forced to pick up their slack. The more the population grows, the more there will be people who will be unable to pay. The cost to those who are footing the bill will increase in perpetuity. If Obama’s plan stands, our formerly inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness will never be less expensive than they are right now.

If a citizen refuses to pay, they’ll face the consequences. So far, we’ve been told those penalties will be financial in nature. However, mere months ago, both Obama and Pelosi suggested they’d be fine with seeing jail time imposed. Is America really willing to trust that the concept of such punishment has been abandoned? That the United States has become a country where failure to buy a commercial product could even conceivably result in the loss of freedom simply boggles the mind.

Moreover…

In an instant, Obama’s legislation has paved the way for government involvement in every conceivable corner of our lives. From what we eat to where we live, from where we travel to how we get there, every single thing we do has some impact on our health. Our environment, our homes, our clothes – all of it – will now be subject to federal scrutiny. Should they decide that your diet, your lifestyle, or firearm ownership leads to increased health care costs, what’s to keep them from taxing you into submission or banning the offending practice?

This is not a battle to take lightly. 

By Tim Shoemaker

Last night, while most of America was still trying to understand the repercussions of the newly passed health care legislation, the Senate Banking Committee passed Dodd’s regulatory reform bill on to the full Senate by a party line vote.

From the Huffington Post:

In a surprise move, the Senate Banking Committee met briefly to approve the bill 13-10, but not before Republicans jettisoned more than 300 amendments they had planned that could have put their imprint on the measure. Senators had been expecting a long week of votes and debate, only to find themselves voting as they were still easing into their seats.

Despite a conciliatory tone struck by the committee’s Democratic and Republican leaders, the development did nothing to mend the partisan divide over the legislation and adds even more uncertainty to Congress’ ability to pass a sweeping rewrite of financial regulations this year.

The Senate would not take up the bill until April at the earliest.

As the article explains,

The legislation would give the government unprecedented powers to split up firms considered a threat to the economy, put together a council of regulators to watch for risks in the financial system and create an independent consumer watchdog.

Contact your Senators and demand they do not give the Federal Reserve new authority until we have complete audit of the Fed!

By Heather D

The health care reform fight isn’t over. It’s just changing venues. 

Now that the House, in a historic vote, has passed the Senate’s bill and sent it to the president’s desk, state lawmakers and attorneys general already are lining up to challenge its constitutionality and wage an outside-the-Beltway war against it in the courts. 

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was the first to announce Monday that he will file a legal challenge — as soon as Obama signs the bill. 

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum also plans to announce Monday morning that he and top prosecutors from nine other states are filing a lawsuit to “protect the rights” of the American people from the bill. 

They are expected to sue over the bill’s mandate that requires everyone to buy health insurance.

Read the rest here.

Don’t back down; we are not finished with this battle! Don’t forget to let your legislator know how you feel about their vote. Click here to see how your representative voted. Click here to find your representative’s contact information.

By Matt Holdridge

From the Daily Caller:

Top IRS officials have been working with Democrats on Capitol Hill to determine how the agency will enforce President Obama’s new health care law. Republican lawmakers estimate the legislation will require the hiring of many thousands of new (and armed) tax enforcement agents.

While it’s still not known exactly how many will be hired, here’s what’s clear: Under the new law, the IRS is required to fine taxpayers thousands of dollars if they do not purchase health insurance. In order for the government to enforce compliance, tax authorities will need information, for the first time, about people’s health care. Collecting that data will require more IRS personnel.

Consider what has happened in Massachusetts, which passed a similar health care bill in 2006. To enforce the individual mandate, the state’s Department of Revenue asks filers what kind of insurance they have, as well as details like whether their “sincerely held religious beliefs” are moving them to petition for an exemption from the requirement.

The form also asks workers whether their employer gives them “affordable” coverage, forcing some employees to decide between tattling on their workplace and submitting false information to tax agents.

If you thought the Census was too personal, just wait till the Federal Government begins to assess your health care coverage. 

By Andrew Ward

By Matt Hawes

Campaign for Liberty’s Kevin Brett interviewed journalist and Obamanomics author Tim Carney during this year’s CPAC activities.

The interview covers topics including whether or not government regulations are effective, Green Inc., health care, and the political climate at CPAC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_WElRgdBjg

By Matt Hawes

At CPAC 2010, Campaign for Liberty’s Kevin Brett got a chance to interview Congressman Paul shortly before his address to the main CPAC audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OItoZxBssKc

After our success at this year’s CPAC, help C4L make another statement about the strength of our movement at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.  Click here to reserve your ticket today!

By Matt Holdridge

Former Bush speechwriter, David Frum, calls the healthcare bill’s passage the most crushing legislative defeat for conservatives and Republicans since the 1960s. Read the rest here. 

It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. Conservatives may cheer themselves that they’ll compensate for today’s expected vote with a big win in the November 2010 elections. But:

(1) It’s a good bet that conservatives are over-optimistic about November – by then the economy will have improved and the immediate goodies in the healthcare bill will be reaching key voting blocs.

(2) So what? Legislative majorities come and go. This healthcare bill is forever. A win in November is very poor compensation for this debacle now.

…We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat.

While I don’t agree with Frum’s general analysis on much of anything, what would have been his approach? More incremental government take-over followed by disingenuous rhetoric about how we’re, “reforming health care using the free market?” That was the Bush approach that helped give us left-leaning majorities in both houses plus the lose of the White House.

I don’t know if Frum wrote Bush’s line about abandoning the free market to save it, but that seems to be his strategy. 

He goes on:

Could a deal have been reached? Who knows? But we do know that the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big.

What does this say about his type of “traditional Republican ideas?”

David Frum doesn’t seem to believe that sometimes it is more noble to go down in defeat then to sell your soul. 

Frum might be correct on one front. If we don’t apply the proper pressure on any new majorities in Congress or properly convince our neighbors, there is no chance for the bill to be repealed. 

No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?

Now is not the time to back down!

By Matt Holdridge

From Dan McCarthy at the American Conservative:

Whether it’s called Obamacare or Romneycare, and whether it’s right-wing or left-wing, the further cartelization of the healthcare system is a very bad idea. In exchange for extending coverage to high-risk individuals, the insurance industry is promised guaranteed profits from a consumer base — that is, people like you and me — that is legally compelled to purchase its product. As with any massively centralized compulsory system, no one can no how it will all work out: perhaps the insurance companies really will lose money in the end. But as we move further away from a free market, the usual kinds of competitive pressures that keep costs down and quality high will be further attenuated; the only sure losers here are the consumers.

Although it doesn’t matter whether a bad idea is right-wing or left-wing, it might as well be pointed out that Obamacare has a great deal in common not only with what Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts but also with what George W. Bush wanted to do with the Social Security system.

…In short, it was a choice between an old-fashioned wealth transfer and a newfangled forced-savings scheme, one that would have involved the same cartelization risks as Obamacare does.

Read the rest here.

By Tim Shoemaker

Early Monday morning, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced legislation calling for repeal of ObamaCare, describing it as an “arrogant power grab.”

From Politico:

“Unless this trillion-dollar assault on our freedoms is repealed, it will force Americans to purchase Washington-approved health plans or face stiff penalties,” DeMint said in a release. “It will fund abortions, raise taxes and insurance premiums, while reducing health care choices and quality.”

DeMint is not the only one fighting back however.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed suit on Monday “against the federal government and its unconstitutional overreach of its authority with the passage of the federal health care bill.”

Cuccinelli’s suit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia.

In addition to Cuccinelli, GOP Attorneys General Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Bill McCollum of Florida are expected to file suits against health care reform on Monday, along with Michigan’s Mike Cox.

Virginia has become the first state to nullify the government mandate forcing individuals to purchase health insurance.

Finally, Mitt Romney criticized the President for betraying his oath of office.

“…rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.”

I’m not sure how Mitt was able to issue such a statement without noticing the glaring hypocrisy of his criticism.  Much of the recent ObamaCare legislation is the similar to the RomneyCare he forced through as Governor of Massachusetts (including the mandate for purchasing “government approved” insurance).

Learn why mandatory health insurance was wrong for Massachusetts and wrong for America!

By Matt Holdridge

From Politico:

The polarizing health care votes cast late Sunday will have a profound effect on reelection campaigns across the nation, leaving a host of House Democrats—and a few Republicans—to explain or defend a politically treacherous vote that could determine control of the House come November.

Some members of Congress will end up with primary challenges as a result. Others may have signed their own political death warrant.

Click here to see Politico’s rundown of lawmakers whose reelection prospects have been significantly imperiled by their announced support of health care reform.

Do any of them represent you? If so, do you think they’re re-election is in peril? 

By John Tate

Late Sunday night, the U.S. House of Representatives abandoned the Constitution, made a mockery of the words of the Founders, and drew a line in the sand as it passed the Senate’s health care bill 219-212. The morning after the federal government acted yet again to increase its control over our lives, the freedom movement has two clear options.

Option #1 is to give President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid exactly what they want by throwing in the towel, surrendering any hopes of free market health care reform, and taking the pressure off an exhausted Congress.

Option #2 is to rededicate our efforts, work harder than ever to spread the message, turn up the heat, and give them the fight of their political careers.

You see, our elected officials are used to enduring knockdown, drag-out battles over controversial issues, and the one thing they always count on after a contentious vote is that the phone lines will go silent and their inboxes will slowly be whittled down. After all, they know our side lost, and the bill will soon be signed into law. That may have been true about the legislative fights of old, but our Revolution must not allow this dangerous relic of past political thinking to continue.

Read the roll call of the House vote here. Get contact information for your representative here.

If your congressman voted for Nancy Pelosi’s power grab, contact him right away today by phone and email and let him know what you think of his failure to uphold his oath to the Constitution. Remind him that you’re watching and will do everything in your power to hold him accountable for his vote and to make sure his constituents know he believes they should either carry government-approved insurance or answer to the IRS.  Tell him his actions have made you more committed than ever to fighting for free market health care reforms like those contained in C4L’s Operation Health Freedom. And make sure he knows this will be the first of many calls, emails, and faxes he can expect in the coming days and months.

If you are able, please help Campaign for Liberty spread the word, hold our elected officials accountable, and carry on the battle for health freedom by donating today. Only your continued support will keep us at the forefront of the fight to push back against the statists’ advances and reclaim our liberties.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of being lectured on responsibility and fairness by reckless politicians who think money can be generated out of thin air forever and who believe the Declaration’s statement concerning “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” means we have to bow the knee to their every whim. They’ve staked their claim and left no doubt about where they stand.

Now it’s our turn to prove we will never give up on our principles. Principles that don’t include forcing your neighbor to buy whatever good or service you think they should have under penalty of IRS action. Principles that reaffirm the fundamental right of each American to live their life and pursue their dreams without constant government interference.

Please, contact your representative today and clearly state your independence from politics as usual.

The statists think the fight is over.

Together, let’s show them they haven’t seen anything yet.

By Matt Hawes

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, details the case in The New York Times for why the House-passed legislation will deepen the debt and examines the tricks employed to make it look like this bill will save taxpayer dollars.

In reality, if you strip out all the gimmicks and budgetary games and rework the calculus, a wholly different picture emerges: The health care reform legislation would raise, not lower, federal deficits, by $562 billion….

Even worse, some costs are left out entirely. To operate the new programs over the first 10 years, future Congresses would need to vote for $114 billion in additional annual spending. But this so-called discretionary spending is excluded from the Congressional Budget Office’s tabulation….

Finally, in perhaps the most amazing bit of unrealistic accounting, the legislation proposes to trim $463 billion from Medicare spending and use it to finance insurance subsidies. But Medicare is already bleeding red ink, and the health care bill has no reforms that would enable the program to operate more cheaply in the future. Instead, Congress is likely to continue to regularly override scheduled cuts in payments to Medicare doctors and other providers….

Read the rest.

By Matt Hawes

It looks like Representative Bart Stupak is waffling now on opposing the bill, but calls from his constituents could determine the outcome.

If you live in Stupak’s district (find out here), contact him at (202) 225-4735.

Update:

More members still on the fence.

Luis Gutierrez, IL
Baron Hill, IN
Joseph Cao, LA
Bart Stupak, MI
Jim Oberstar, MN
Scott Murphy, NY
John Boccieri, OH
Dennis Kucinich, OH
Kathy Dahlkemper, PA
Jason Altmire, PA
Bart Gordon, TN
Brian Baird, WA
Steve Kagen, WI

Find their contact info here and call right away!

Update #2:

Looks like Stupak has caved, but keep the calls going and let him know what you think.

Update #3:

The main bill has passed 219-212.  See the roll call here.

By Heather D

Many people feel as if calling our legislators and demanding that they vote no on this health care reform package is futile. After all, we’ve called and emailed, attended Town Halls and rallies and passed out petitions – yet, a vote is still imminent. We’ve fought the good fight and helped to tip the balance of public opinion, and despite that, Congress continues to press on; is it time to accept defeat?

What if ONE more call or fax is all it will take to bring a representative into the no column?

What if ONE more comment on a local blog causes ONE more person to call their representative?

What if ONE quick trip to your representative’s local office makes the difference?

What if defeating the existing Health Care Reform bill relies on YOUR next move?

Please click here to find your representative’s contact information.