In 1854, patriots founded the Republican Party to advance freedom and end the ability of one person to own another, or lay claim to his labor. They believed that we are free to work hard, profit from our efforts and rise as high as our talent takes us. Each of us is unique, has value and is born free. These ideas are timeless. They are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, codified in our Constitution and validated by the broad sweep of history. Abraham Lincoln believed this and lived it. He was born poor and was illiterate. He taught himself to read and write, became a successful lawyer and our greatest president. But these ideas are now under assault. In the 19th century, freedom’s challenge was slavery; in the 21st century, it is servitude. Will the Republican Party be true to the heritage of Lincoln and Reagan? Will it rise to meet freedom’s challenge?

The Democrat Party, as in the mid-19th century, is a ruling elite, leeching the work of others. The most frequent visitor to the Obama White House is Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Public sector union members now make up 51% of all union membership. As the ranks of bureaucrats swell, Democrats reap cash and votes from grateful union members. It is not in their interest to meet freedom’s challenge. Congress has spent freely for years. Now, Democrats are spending wildly. Their spending will crush us, reducing our standard of living and that of our children. Here are the trends.

As of 2004, the average federal employee earned $100,178 compared to the average private sector employee, who earned $51,876. Between 1990 and 2004, federal employee compensation exploded 115%, versus private sector compensation’s growth of 69%. At the state and local level, government employees grew from 13.9 million to 15.7 million as of 2004. We are now in servitude to the government that is supposed to serve us. Sadly, Republicans were in charge of the federal government during much of that time. They betrayed the principles of their party, lost the confidence of the people and were thrashed in two elections.

We’ve been here before, and always for the same reasons. In the 1930’s President Hoover tried to tinker and spend his way out of the Great Depression. President Bush spent freely, added entitlements and extended federal control of education. Each time, in the ensuing elections Democrats seized control. They are now poised to scrap freedom, control our lives and shackle us in permanent servitude.

There is reason to hope. An answer to freedom’s challenge and a road map to victory exists, and it works. In Ronald Reagan’s speech entitled “Let them go their way,” he said, “I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is, at the same time, the very basis of conservativism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view.” Let the raising begin. Here are some proposals to reverse the free-fall to servitude.

ONE. Local activism is critical. Stay informed. Use the internet. Write letters to the editor and columns for the newspaper. Run for local office – city council, school board, etc.

TWO. Congress disregards the Constitution with willful contempt. We must pass the Enumerated Powers Act, which requires legislators to cite the Constitutional authority to enact what they propose. This will force Congress to reconnect with the document that gives them the authority to govern. It will only pass if Congress is hearing from the American people – call and write your legislators.

THREE. We must support charter schools, school choice and home schooling. Parents pay for public education. They should be treated like customers. Their money should follow their children to the schools of their choice.

FOUR. Support a flat tax or a national sales tax. The current tax code punishes hard work. It is a magnet for special interest abuse and social engineering. It’s incomprehensible,sapping billions of dollars from the economy in compliance costs.

FIVE. Free market principles should be applied to health care reform. It should be consumer-centered. Expanding Health Savings Accounts is one way to accomplish this.

Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction… it must be fought for, protected and handed on to {the next generation} to do the same.” If the Republican Party returns to its roots, it will restore itself and save the country.

Last Year, the collapse of the banking caught some off guard. It certainly did to Barney Frank, who testified that there was no problem. Congressman Frank’s “spouse” is the Herb Moses who is in charge of Fannie Mae. He was encouraging people to invest while Rome burned. By the way, Barney Frank is pretty close to Representative Eric Massa. He has given him a pretty hefty sum of money ($5000 total so far) and has thrown a pretty big fundraiser as well.

However, we are here because of Congressman Massa’s foolish comments about the solution to the banking collapse. He indicates in his announcement speech that if we had unionized Wall Street the collapse would not have happened. Seriously?!

So was there any questions on exactly how to perform this unionization of Wall Street. Or maybe how such a unionization would have stopped people.

At the announcement of Congressman Eric Massa, one of the Young Republicans was there to hear what the Congressman had to say. We’ve posted one video so far on a quote that he had to say about the stimulus. We feel that he’s proved in the past that he’s way off the mark on many of his comments.

In simplicity lies clarity. In complexity lie great opportunities for mischief. This is the story of the massive 1900-page House bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR3962. Like all the Democrat health care bills it’s huge, complicated and expensive. It hikes taxes, is coercive and is likely to insert bureaucrats into the doctor-patient relationship.

Here are some specifics of the bill. Beginning in 2013, the sale of private health insurance is prohibited, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government (page 94, section 202c)

Page 111 (section 223) establishes a new board of federal bureaucrats, the Health Benefits Advisory Committee, to determine what insurance plans we must buy.

Page 297 (section 501) imposes a 2.5 percent tax on all individuals who do not buy government-approved insurance. The tax will apply to people making under $250,000, breaking an oft-repeated promise by President Obama and Congressman Massa.

Page 313 (section 512) imposes an 8% tax on businesses that cannot afford to buy bureaucrat-approved insurance.

Page 336 (section 551) imposes an income tax surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000 and couples making more than $1,000,000. This will hit small business owners especially hard, costing more than 5.5 million jobs, according to an analysis done by one of Obama’s economic advisers.

Health care reform is a deadly serious matter which demands an honest and careful approach. So far, the Democrat-controlled Congress and Senate, along with President Obama, have failed this crucial test. We all deserve better.

InsidePolitics, from the blog monroerising.com, posted a story on the Stimulus and Eric Massa. There was a great video with the story including an interview with Tom Reed who’s running against Rep. Massa. Even though Massa claims the bill was good for us I think we all know better.

Even the AP is reported that the stimulus jobs were way over inflated. There’s been reports of double counting and mis-counting. People have used the stimulus for things it shouldn’t have been.

This goes back to the ideas that government is not the answer. Government is the problem. The real solution is for government to focus on things like encouraging investments by eliminating capital gains taxes. China has done this and many other countries where our manufacturing jobs have been shipped to. When states have done this they have attracted jobs and people.

Another real stimulus effort would be to reduce business tax rates to 12.5%, which is the lowest tax rate of Ireland. We need to send the message to the world we want your business to be in the US. We need to spur job creation.

Finally, we need to have a balanced budget and eliminate earmarks. We have a society where we measure Congressman by how much they bring back to the district. It’s time we start measuring people that reprsent us by the quality of their decisions.

On October 10, 2009 at 10:00pm, Representative Eric Massa decided to announce in Centerway Sqaure Corning that he was running for Congress. We decided to go and see what he had to say. After his comments about not wanting to represent the interests of his districts, we’re not sure what to make of the announcement. I guess this means he wants to continue being a representative that doesn’t represent our interests.

On September 23, Congressmen Charlie Rangel and Barney Frank held a birthday party for Rep. Eric Massa at the home of a Washington lobbyist. Had you known about it, you could have attended as a “host” for $5,000, a “sponsor” for $2,500 or a “guest” for $1,500. Who are the men who hosted this gala?

John Brodigan, Lynn Krogh, and Bryon McKim all cohost an internet radio on blog talk radio online. The show is called Right Hook. Besides a catchy icon, it will have lots of talk about state and local issues and candidates. The show on Wednesday October 14th will have Tabith Hale of Smart Girl Politics and “Raising Hale”. Tabitha will be talking about ObamaCare and other issues. If you haven’t heard Tabitha before you need to listen in.

My father, Michael Salvatore Morrongiello, came to this country via Ellis Island with his family when he was eight years old. He loved this country deeply, and served with the War Department during World War II. He loved having family and friends gathered around the table sharing food, wine and a funny story.

He walked for miles, hauled heavy loads and read widely into his 90’s. He was forthright and generous. Dad shared the bounty of his amazing garden with friends and neighbors, and helped them with home repairs. Children were drawn to him; they knew a true heart when they saw one. Dad was always making friends, many half his age. Adults knew a true heart too.

Dad was diagnosed with cancer when he was 86. His strong body was beginning to betray him; it happens to us all. “Can he survive the surgery?” I asked his doctor, who replied, “He’s an ox. He’ll make it.” He made it, and lived nine more happy, productive years.

Dad’s great loves, besides my mother, were gardening and baseball. He was 88 when we took him to the Baseball Hall of Fame. “I faced Satchel Paige,” he said. “He threw so hard the ball looked like an aspirin.” When asked, “Did you hit the ball, Dad?” he grimaced: “Don’t ask.” “I saw Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb play,” he told anyone who would listen. “This guy is really old,” someone said, I replied, “Yeah, he’s great”.

Jane Sturm (available on Utube) told the story of her elderly mother who was denied, but eventually got, a pacemaker. She asked Obama, “Outside the medical criteria…is there consideration given for a certain spirit…and quality of life?” Obama coldly said, “Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkillers.”

Dr. Zeke Emanuel is an Obama health care adviser and an advocate of the “Complete Lives System” of health care distribution, in which people ages 15 to 40 get the most health care; if you’re younger or older, your chances are “attenuated.”

Denying health care to the old is justified, according to Emanuel, because “everyone who is 65 now was once twenty-five.” What a striking contrast to the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said, “The care of human life…is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” He understood that the old and the sick are gifts to us, deserving of our protection.

Under ObamaCare, would my dad have gotten the cancer surgery? I doubt it. Some Obama appointee would say, “take the pain killers.” In Britain they call it Quality Adjusted Life Years (QUALY). In their single payer plan, if you have too few QUALY’s left, take the pain killers. Under ObamaCare, as in Britain, the old, the very young and the sick are “attenuated.”

Lawyers say: when you have the facts, argue the facts; when you have the law, argue the law; when you have neither, throw food. On health care, they’re throwing food. By calling us “misinformed,” “angry,” “unruly,” and my personal favorite, “a mob,” Democrats are trying to change the subject. Don’t let them. Continue to focus on their failed ideas and their misery-making health care legislation. Here are more questions to ask your legislators at town hall meetings.

1. Free markets work because of the thinking, research and decisions of thousands of your fellow citizens. You said famously, or infamously, “I will vote adamantly against the interests of my district if I actually think what I am doing is going to be helpful.” Are you saying your judgment is superior to the individual and collective wisdom of your district?

2. The House health care bill creates a “Health Choices Commissioner” who will decide what private insurance companies must cover and what services they must offer. The commissioner will have the power to audit and fine anyone, employer or insurer. The audit target will be forced to pay for the cost of the audit. There is no trial or appeal. How will this encourage competition between private insurers and get costs down?

3. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 89 percent of Americans are satisfied with the health care they receive. Seventy percent of the uninsured report being satisfied or very satisfied with their health care. Given these numbers, why would you support such a radical overhaul of American health care?

4. In 1948, the UK began single-payer health care. The sytem’s founder, Aneurin Beven, said, “We now have the moral leadership of the world.” The BBC reports that the 2009 wait time for hip replacement is 11 months, cataract surgery is 8 months, knee replacement is 12 months, slipped disks and hernia surgery are 5 months. Since you favor single-payer, do you consider these waits for care to be “moral?”

5. Most American doctors say CT and MRI scans are the most important technical leap in patient care. The US has 34 CT scanners per million Americans; Canada has only 12 and Britain has 8. The US has 27 MRI machines per million people, compared to only 8 in Canada and Britain. Why should we accept the substandard level of care offered in counties with government-run heath care?

6. Canada has a single-payer health care system. The Vancouver Sun reported that 6,250 surgeries will be cancelled in Vancouver to close a budget shortfall of 200 million dollars. If this is how a single-payer system operates in a country of 33 million people, wouldn’t it be worse in a country of 300 million? Why would you support such a system here?

7. The UK has a population of about 59 million. Their health care bureaucracy, the National Health Service, employs 1.5 million Britons. In our country, with a population of 300 million, that works out to 7.5 million new Federal employees. Given our current enormous budget deficits, how can you justify a huge increase in the size of the Federal government?

8. Medical malpractice suits drive up the cost of health care. One study (Towers Perrin 2001) found that the tort liability system costs each US citizen $721 per year. The health care “reform” bills do nothing to reduce this cost. Why are you not insisting that this be addressed?

9. The top 5 US hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other developed country. In the past 34 years, Americans have won 29 Nobel prizes for medicine. Are you concerned in the least that if America adopts a single-payer system, we will lose our technological edge in health care, costing American lives?

10. The stimulus bill, which you voted for, created the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. This is modeled after Britain’s National Institute of Clinical Effectiveness, or NICE. In 2006 NICE denied the use of a drug to prevent macular degeneration until patients went blind in one eye. Why should we think this will never happen here?

Democrats have been beaten up, but they are not giving up their dream of government-controlled health care. They will roll out a new marketing strategy and 150 million dollars of advertising to back it up. Please consider giving to these organizations running health care ads to counter the Democrat ad blitz:
www.joinpatients.com
www.conservativesforpatientsrights.org