Almost one year ago, one person threw the first local tea party in Spencer on April 15 (tax day) and over 300 people came. Without any planning or organizing, people began filling area town hall meetings last summer. Serious issues were brought to the attention of communities and media, and politicians who didn’t keep their word or trampled on freedom faced angry citizens.
David and Paul used their fantastic 1939 truck all decked out in flags and banners for town parades last summer while Dennis rigged up his sound system for a full-fledged heart swell of patriotism! People spent countless hours listening and talking to area residents about legislation affecting their families and regulations beyond belief impeding the success of their businesses and schools.
It wasn’t long before two people arranged a meeting in Sheldon for like-minded citizens hoping to stop the government freight train of business, bank and health care takeovers. Since then, these two groups have hosted forums with state legislators, gubernatorial candidates, connected with other tea party groups, traveled to Des Moines to talk with state legislators, traveled to Washington, D.C., written countless emails, letters to politicians and to editors, and made countless phone calls.
Is there anything worthwhile of the time and the work involved? Maybe to answer this we need to ask how many times within the past year have Pelosi, Reid or Obama set a deadline that health care would be voted on? Democrats control the House, the Senate and the Presidency so why hasn’t it happened? It appears that the people are doing what “We the people” of America need to be doing to hold government power in check and the answer would be a resounding “Yes! It is worthwhile.”
Did you get how it has been working? It’s Kris who acts on an idea, David who leads a meeting, Paul who constructs a flag stand, Mike who knows what it takes to keep his gun and his flag, Larry who writes a check, Ken who leads in prayer, Tammy who leads a class on the Constitution, Cindy who patiently visits with Senator Harkin’s assistant, Mark who tells us what he learned, Bruce sharing information, Alyda setting up the information table, Sarah who emails, Lonnie who manages a website and people who pick up the phone again and again. That is to name just a few local people. There are many, many more! This is how grassroots works. You contribute in apparently small way and collectively make a huge impact.
America needs you. Your children and your grandchildren need you to take the time, to be brave stepping out of your comfort zone and to do the little things that pool together with millions of other’s that makes a difference in their future.
Let’s celebrate! It’s the tea party’s birthday next month so go find a tea party near you! Don’t expect grandiose things to be happening at the meeting and don’t expect gifted leaders or perfect people. Expect to be vigilant, meeting after meeting, phone call after phone call. And don’t be surprised if your idea is something that mushrooms into a plan of action, or if your help Saturday morning fills a need that would have gone undone. Thank you! We look forward to seeing you!
The National Health Insururer Report Card for 2008 ( http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/368/reportcard.pdf ) on page 5 shows the government run health insurance Medicare with percentage of denied medical claims nearly double the average for private insurance claims.
Medicare denied 6.85%; Aetna 6.8%; Anthem 4.62% and the average by private insurance at 3.88%.
The report card for 2009 showed improvement for all.
Medicare 4%; Aetna 1.81% and the average was at 2.79%.
Government run insurance still in top percentage of medical claim denied.
At what point should a free people give up? How many times should we continue to voice our opinions that something is bad for us, personally and as a country? For those of us who enjoy history, we’ve seen George Washington’s Army on the verge of collapse, only to fight a battle that turned the war in the American’s favor. Maybe we remember the continued Southern victories to be suddenly changed at the small Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg. The Union would be preserved, but only because those weary soldiers and their commanders continued fighting. Normandy Beach was yet another example of persevering against incredible odds to fight the evil that was winning the day.
We are also in a battle. While we are not wielding guns, sacrificing human life or rationing food, the battle is nonetheless significant. Will you continue the fight against government take-over of our health care? These continued assaults on our freedoms are not as seemingly terrifying as the previous battles mentioned, but they have every bit as much significance to the America we all know and love and hope to pass onto our posterity.
MARCH 18TH, or sooner, the Congress is going to again try to pass the Health Care Bill (H.R. 3590): Here are a few details: (for further review, go to RPC Health Care Facts)
LOSS OF DOCTOR CHOICE and INSURANCE CHOICE: This will be the case in these bills.
COSTS: The proposed bill would raise, not lower, health care costs by hundreds of billions in its first 10 years alone.
(It would raise individual health insurance premiums by an average $2,100 for every family and the President’s proposal would likely raise that number even higher.)
SECRET DEALS: If this is such a necessary and wanted bill, why are the politicians bribing States in order to get the votes? I.e., Cornhusker Kickback, Gator Aid and Louisiana Purchase, just to mention a few.
MANDATES: These bills mandate that Americans buy health care. This is unconstitutional.
MORE BUREAUCRACY: New Federal bureaucracy of an unelected board to impose government price controls and micro-manage health insurance premiums.
ABORTION: Is still covered by Federal funding.
JOB KILLER: The President’s proposal nearly triples the “fair share” penalty for employers from $750 to $2,000 creating an even higher tax on jobs for companies that cannot afford to offer health coverage.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: ASK THEM WHY THEY AREN’T GOING TO BE UNDER THESE MANDATES
At our Tea Party Meeting the other night, a man lamented that he had not taken the abortion issue seriously enough when Roe v. Wade was decided and regrets to this day that he had not done more. Do we want to be voicing the same regrets to our children when we still have the ability to stop this travesty of our freedoms?
Call often and respectfully to Rep. Steve King: 202.225.4426
Senator Chuck Grassley: 202.224.3744
Senator Tom Harkin: 202.224.3254
The American public knows that if anyone needs a doctor, it is our own Congress…. to clean out their earwax so they can hear us for the last time…..KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OUR HEALTH CARE!
To quote one of the staunchest fighters for freedom: “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!” Winston Churchill.
Make the phone calls, write the letters, send the emails, drive to their offices! Do whatever it takes. Get your friends and family to do it. Courage, persistence, vigilance. Is it really that difficult? No and I promise you, you will not regret it.
TK
We received an email asking if our tea party members are open to criticism. It’s time for you to comment.
“ Two questions for members of the so-called “Tea Party” movement:
First, where do you even get off using that name? To identify yourselves with the Boston Tea Party is delusional. That demonstration protested taxation without representation. You have representation. In the 2008 election each of you had the same vote I did. And after having it your way for eight disastrous years, you lost.
Secondly, in the midst of raving hysterically against “big government,” have you ever stopped to think who else is going to defend you against corporate plutocracy? Case in point: If you actually informed yourselves, you’d support health care reform instead of spreading paranoid fantasies about “government takeover of health care.” If one day you suffer a catastrophic illness and lose your home and life savings after being ripped off by your health insurance company, you’ll be getting what’s coming to you.”
3/6/10 – We do not have representation when senators like Harkin do not respond to our calls, letters or emails and will not hold a town hall meeting in our area. When politicians take from us our money, our choices in services we buy and run our businesses by stringent regulations, while these laws do not apply to themselves – then they are not one of us and they do not represent us.
We did not have our way for eight years although there is some truth to the disastrous aspect.
Corporate plutocracy does not concern me nearly as much as socialism and the lack of recognizing Natural Law in our country.
Do you believe the government will protect your home and life savings more than these corporations will? At least the corporations realize their survival depends on citizens being able to buy and spend. The government realizes it grows when citizen’s are oppressed. When you turn over your right of pursuit of happiness to the government for the sake of a little security, then you will get what’s coming to you. You and your children’s children. dvm
This stinks no matter what you call it. Congress’ health care takeover will tell private health insurance plans they must cover abortion but they call the killing of unborn babies different names. It’s been called “choice”; “right to privacy” “women’s rights issue” ”reproductive health care”; “in-clinic procedures” and an amendment approved by Senate could now classify abortion as “preventative health services” for women. Planned Parenthood calls the RU486 / abortion pill “medication” . Really? A pill that aborts a baby is called medication? Worldnetweb defines medication as something that treats or prevents or alleviates the symptoms of a disease. What really is the disease here? The baby?? Or is it the evil that seeks to destroy life, a deliberate disobedience to the will of God.
Iowa’s Right to Life Resolution – “We believe human life is a sacred gift from our Creator and is an inalienable right as outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence whereby its value cannot be decided by a legislative body or a judicial branch. This right is innately valuable from conception to natural death. This includes the unborn, the elderly, the terminally or chronically ill, and the mentally or physically handicapped. No human life should ever be diminished, or arbitrarily taken. Therefore, the government and its people must restore this right to life which was intended to protect all its citizens, including the child in the womb.”
Leading state sovereignty caucus strongly opposes the federal health care bill and supports lawsuits based on two violations of the U.S. Constitution.
The Patrick Henry Caucus adopted a unanimous position Wednesday, December 23, 2009, to oppose the Health Care Reform Bills, and to support a lawsuit against the federal government in order to stop the national health care bill from becoming law.
Calling the law unconstitutional, The Patrick Henry Caucus, which is comprised of legislators from both the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah Senate, vows to fight the federal law on multiple fronts.
The Patrick Henry Caucus has an opt-out provision drafted and ready for presentation to the Utah Legislature next month. The opt-out would make it illegal for Utah agencies to implement any portion of the new federal law. The Caucus is calling on the State of Utah to join in with other States and take the lead on filing a lawsuit to stop the bill, should it receive final approval.
The Caucus believes the law is unconstitutional in at least two respects. First, the law unfairly gives preferential treatment to residents of Nebraska as a result of efforts by Senate Democrats to court the vote of Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. The Caucus believes that this preferential treatment violates principles of due process and equal protection and is therefore unconstitutional under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Second, the law amounts to an excess of Congress’s enumerated powers inasmuch as it requires every American to acquire health insurance. This legislation marks the first time in history that Congress has required every single American to purchase a particular good or service, and cannot be reconciled with the notion that Congress possesses only those limited powers granted by the Constitution.
The Patrick Henry Caucus calls on the leaders from all States to join in the effort to file a lawsuit against the federal government in order to stop this wrongheaded piece of legislation. We must not allow Congress to commandeer one sixth of our nation’s fragile economy while simultaneously undermining the authority of the States.
God Bless,
Representative Carl Wimmer
The Patrick Henry Caucus
Co-Founder
There are many logical and relevant aspects that must be presented to the Congress and the American people as this health care bill’s debate is supposedly winding down this month. We must act now and be very vocal…continually vigilant for our own sake as well as our posterity’s.
1. Hypocrisy: Why aren’t all Americans asking the elites in Congress “if this is such a great health care plan, why aren’t you willing to sign onto it for yourselves and your staff members?” While the Republicans add this amendment, it is repeatedly shot down by the Democrats. Reid didn’t even let it see the light of day out of Committee.
2. Health care for who? Why are the unborn unprotected by this bill? If we don’t allow their births, who will pay for this monstrosity in the coming generations? How can we morally sit back and allow taxpayer money to fund aborting the unborn? Even if you aren’t appalled by abortion on a moral level, can’t you at least see the economic need for continued life so that this bill can be paid for…..
3. Fraud: The current stimulus package fraud of $6 million given to Clinton’s pollster for 3 jobs (let’s see that’s $2 million per job?????!!!!) is nothing but a warning siren as to what will happen to taxpayer’s money with this huge health care bill. The only ones to reap the benefits of the health care bill will be lawyers, politicians, high paid lobbyists and bureaucrats.
And finally, something that must seem “annoying” to so many in Washington, D.C.: the Constitution and its limits.
4. When a reporter asked Nancy Pelosi where in the Constitution it is written that Congress has the right to impose this health care bill on the American people, her response was: “Are you serious? Are you serious?” Yes, Nancy, we are serious. More serious about the Founding Father’s intents than you obviously are. We’re reading that document and we know what you’re trying to do is not in there. She needs to hear this as well as every other politician that is willing to run roughshod over that precious document.
Tammy
Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution allows taxing for the general welfare but nowhere does it even remotely state ”health care for everyone.” The Founding Fathers understood that charity of a moral people would be necessary to attend to the unmet needs of the citizens and they understood that a government that fell into thinking it’s role was to provide everything for its people also had the power to then take liberties away.
Thomas Jefferson warned again the welfare state where government endeavors to take care of everyone from the cradle to the grave. He wrote “If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.” (Bergh, Writing of Thomas Jefferson, 10:342)
Patriot Tammy