PoliticalAction.com Blog

Dear Friend,

Budgets are statements of priorities, and it is clear from this week’s state budget proposal that Governor Corbett’s priorities are simply not aligned with middle-class Pennsylvania families.

Each year in Pennsylvania, uninsured patients receive nearly $1 billion in uncompensated medical care. Without coverage, their care is delayed, their conditions become more severe, and they turn to emergency rooms, where care is more expensive and the cost is ultimately borne by the taxpayers.
Under the Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania has the opportunity to reduce its uninsured population by 41% with the federal government absorbing the greatest share of costs by contributing $37.8 billion over the next decade (Source: The Kaiser Family Foundation). This would have dramatically expanded access to coverage for these hard-working citizens. Health care reform took great steps to control health care costs while expanding access and strengthening benefits for all Americans.

Walking away from reducing Pennsylvania’s uninsured population by 41% is short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible.

Although the Governor failed to create certainty for a half-million of our fellow Pennsylvanians, just this week the number of states that have adopted this Medicaid expansion opportunity climbed to 20, including our neighbors in New York, Delaware, Maryland and Ohio.

This was a missed opportunity.

Sincerely,

Allyson Y. Schwartz
Member of Congress

Be sure to send me an email and let me know what your thoughts are on expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania?

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz with State Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, Vincent Hughes, healthcare providers, policy experts and others to calling on Governor Corbett to join other Republican and Democratic governors around the nation and support Medicaid expansion (January 24, 2013)

PENNSYLVANIA —

Your vote is your voice and your right. That’s why our efforts to protect the right to vote did not end with the Oct. 2 court decision that put a hold on the voter ID law for this election.

We have been working hard to educate voters about the fact the voter ID law is not in effect for now — a challenging task with the commonwealth’s misleading “Show it!” campaign and misinformation circulated by the state and several townships. We fought in court, unfortunately unsuccessfully, to force the state to clarify the state of the law to the public. Make sure you know your rights on Election Day by reading our voters’ rights brochure (in pdf).

ACLU of PA is part of a large coalition of groups who are working to identify and respond to problems on Election Day. Around the sate, we have lawyers on the ground, ready to go to court if needed to defend the right to vote. Call the Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) to report any problems.

Thank you for supporting us throughout this crucial fight to make sure every eligible voter gets to cast a ballot.

Sincerely,

Reginald T. Shuford Executive Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania

From an email today from John Dennis:

We took a major step on the road to defeating Nancy Pelosi. Thanks to your support I am the official Republican nominee taking on Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat this November. I am honored to be one of the few Liberty candidates to have won a Republican primary.

Our opponent couldn’t be more infamous, reviled or polarizing. Nancy Pelosi has become the symbol of unconstitutional stimulus schemes, baliouts, nationalized healthcare programs, and now an ever growing undeclared war in Afghanistan.

With your support I continue to stand against these policies and will take the debate directly to and against the current Speaker of the House. Together we can retire Nancy Pelosi this November and begin restoring our Constitution.

We have made great strides since winning the Primary! Our campaign has hired a campaign manager and a communications director, we have taken on new fundraisers and this week we are opening a brand new Headquarters. Our team is also putting the finishing touches on new branding, web and advertising campaigns.

In order to stock up Headquarters with yard signs, push cards, t-shirts, bumper stickers and other volunteer materials we are having a Money Blast TODAY!

Can you make a contribution of $20 in order to help us purchase these promotional materials?

As Pelosi’s approval rating continues to plummet our political capital and momentum is on the rise. Nancy Pelosi must be retired; now is the time, I am the candidate, you are the resistance!

Stay tuned to our campaign as we continue to roll out new and exciting initiatives. I look forward to working with you over the next three months.

In Liberty,
John Dennis

Texas Straight Talk – A Weekly Column
Rep. Ron Paul (R) – TX 14

Last week I introduced a very important piece of legislation that I hope will gain as much or more support as my Audit the Fed bill. HR 4995, the End the Mandate Act will repeal provisions of the newly passed health insurance reform bill that gives the government the power to force Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance.

The whole bill is rotten, but this provision especially is a blatant violation of the Constitution. Defenders claim the Congress’s constitutional authority to regulate “interstate commerce” gives it the power to do this. However, as Judge Andrew Napolitano and other distinguished legal scholars and commentators have pointed out, even the broadest definition of “regulating interstate commerce” cannot reasonably encompass forcing Americans to engage in commerce by purchasing health insurance. Not only is it unconstitutional; it is a violation of the basic freedom to make our own decisions regarding how best to meet the health care needs of ourselves and our families.

The new law requires Americans to have what is defined as “minimum essential coverage.” Some people may claim that the requirement to have “minimal essential coverage” does not impose an unreasonable burden on Americans. There are two problems with this claim. First, the very imposition of a health insurance mandate, no matter how “minimal,” violates the principles of individual liberty upon which this country was founded.

Second, the mandate is unlikely to remain “minimal” for long. The experience of states that allow their legislatures to mandate what benefits health insurance plans must cover has shown that politicizing health insurance inevitably makes it more expensive. As the cost of government-mandated health insurance rises, Congress will likely respond by increasing subsidies for more and more Americans, adding astronomically to our debt burden. An insurance mandate undermines the entire principle of what insurance is supposed to measure – risk.

Another likely response to rising costs is the imposition of price controls on medical treatments, and limits on what procedures and treatments mandatory insurance will have to reimburse. This is happening in other countries where government is intrinsically involved in these decisions and people suffer and die because of it.

This will only increase the bottom line of the very insurers the legislation was supposed to control. Meanwhile, alternate methods of healthcare delivery and financing, such as concierge doctors, alternative medicine, or physician owned hospitals will be greatly harmed, if not put out of business altogether, when the entire country is forced into the insurance model. It will be difficult for families to come up with extra money to pay for alternate healthcare of their choice when their budget has been squeezed by this mandate to buy insurance. This will in turn reduce competition for healthcare dollars. Health insurers, like many other corporations in other industries, have now used the legislative process anti-competitively to corner the healthcare market. Instead of calling this socialized medicine, we should call it corporatized medicine, since the reform is to force us all into being customers of these corporations, whether we like it or not.

Congress made a grave error by forcing all Americans to purchase health insurance. The mandate violates fundamental principles of individual liberty, and will lead to further government involvement in health care. It is time for legislation that fights back for the freedom of the people on this issue. It is time to End the Mandate.

Peter Schiff Youtube: Why Obamacare is unconstitutional. Why the war on drugs is illegal.

Ron Paul on CNBC’s Squwak Box Part 1 – Feb 22

Run, Ron, Run!

Part 1

Part 2

Schiff for Senate

Dear Supporter,

One year ago today President Obama signed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” popularly known as the Stimulus Act, into law. The President and Democrats in Congress promised that this economic stimulus program would create jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy. But a year later we still haven’t seen the results.

Obama insists that the stimulus is working, but we just haven’t seen proof of that in the economic data. But we have seen signs that the stimulus money is being spent… that is, large green highway signs proclaiming that funding for whatever construction project has you sitting in traffic was secured by the federal stimulus package.

The stimulus package was an egregious waste of our tax dollars, and now Democrats in Congress want to pass another jobs bill! I can only imagine how much of our tax dollars will be wasted in this bill, and that, my friend, is why I’m running for the U.S. Senate.

It’s time to get our country’s fiscal house in order, and I’m ready to lead the charge. Our government cannot borrow and spend our way to economic prosperity. The past year has been challenging for all of us. We’ve had to tighten our purse strings, and it’s time for Washington to do the same.

I’m turning to you as one of my strongest supporters, because I need your financial assistance to get my message of fiscal responsibility out to voters. Will you follow this link and make a contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more today? Your immediate contribution will bring me closer to Washington where I’ll fight for the conservative economic principles that have brought Americans prosperity for so many generations.

Government is the least efficient and most expensive means of job creation. In fact, we’re paying $160,000 for each job created. Can you believe it? Just imagine all the jobs that were destroyed or that never were created because $160,000 that otherwise would have been invested by the private sector was spent by the government instead. In addition, Americans continue to lose jobs everyday despite the Obama Administration’s failed efforts. We cannot afford to waste another several hundred billion dollars on a job killing “jobs bill” with our national debt nearly $12.4 trillion and Congress’ recent decision to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.9 trillion. It’s time to force Washington to play a limited role in governing, but we can only do that by electing leaders who will absolutely fight for fiscally conservative values.

As Senator, I will make sure that the government is spending your tax dollars wisely. I will not vote for a bill that funds frivolous projects like highway signs promoting the stimulus bill – New York alone has spent a million dollars on these signs – and I will not support another government bailout of a business, a bank, or an entire industry.

I need your immediate support to get to Washington to fight for our shared values. That’s why I hope I can count on you to follow this link today and make the most generous contribution you can to my campaign.

Thank you in advance for your support. Please stay tuned for updates from the campaign trail.

Sincerely,

Peter Schiff
Republican US Senate Candidate

P.S. Today is the anniversary of President Obama and his fellow Democrats’ failed economic stimulus plan. Instead of allowing the Democrats to pass a jobs bill that will cost hundreds of billions more of our tax dollars, we must act to elect leaders who will fight for economic responsibility and fiscal conservative principles. That’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate and I hope I can count on you to follow this link and make a generous contribution to support my campaign. Thank you.

Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPA)
3915 Union Deposit Road #223
Harrisburg, PA 17109
www.lppa.org

For Immediate Release: February 17, 2010

Contact: Doug Leard (Media Relations) at Media-Relations@lppa.org or
Michael Robertson (Chair) at 1-800-R-RIGHTS / chair@lppa.org

Harrisburg – If our state government in Harrisburg were a household, its kitchen and its budget wouldn’t pass home economics. The cafeteria in Pennsylvania’s Capitol, the Capitol Cafe, failed a Department of Agriculture inspection. According to the Pennsylvania Independent (www.paindependent.com), the cafe was sited for “13 violations including the presence of rodents, improper storage of food, and contamination during food preparation, storage and display.” The café had already been closed in December due to a series of violations.

The Capitol Cafe is just the tip of the iceberg lettuce when it comes to
the woes of Harrisburg politicians. In his annual budget address, Governor Rendell warned of the approaching “fiscal tsunami” facing Pennsylvania.

Rendell indicated that in fiscal year 2011-12, Pennsylvania will lose $2.3
billion that is currently coming from federal tax dollars. In fiscal year
2012 – 13, Pennsylvania faces a $5.6 billion shortfall in public employee
pension plan liabilities. Meanwhile, General Fund revenues for the 2009-10 fiscal year are $374 million below estimate.

“How can we trust politicians in the Capitol to effectively manage an
impending crisis when they can’t run their day-to-day household? asked LPPA Media Relations Chair, S. Douglas Leard. “Now they’re talking about taking even more money from our households to pay for theirs. All this points to the need for new leadership in Harrisburg who can run the state household as well as Pennsylvanians run theirs.”

According to the Commonwealth Foundation, since 2003 when Governor Rendell took office, “Pennsylvania’s burden of state and local taxes has increased from the 17th heaviest in the nation to the 11th. State spending has increased by $3600 per family of four (in inflation-adjusted dollars). State debt has increased by $18 billion to a whopping $41 billion – a 78 percent increase – or $5,600 per family of four.”

“If Pennsylvanians are interested in getting our Commonwealth cleaned up, I encourage them to enlist the aid of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania.” remarked LPPA Chair Michael Robertson. “The Libertarian Party is dedicated to focusing on the rights of the individual and responsible, limited government. We need this focus if we are to get our legislative houses in order.”

The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in Pennsylvania
and the United States . More than 200,000 people across the country are registered Libertarians, and Libertarians serve in hundreds of elected offices. Please visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org for more information.

Texas Straight Talk – A Weekly Column
Rep. Ron Paul (R) – TX 14

Last week, the House approved another increase in the national debt ceiling. This means the government can borrow $1.9 trillion more to stay afloat and avoid default. It has been little more than a year since the last debt limit increase, and graphs showing the debt limit over time show a steep, almost vertical trend. It is not likely to be very long before this new ceiling is met and the government is back on the brink between default and borrowing us further into oblivion. Congressional leaders and the administration acknowledge that the debt limit will need to be increased again next year. They are crossing their fingers that the forecasts are correct and they will not need another increase sooner, even before the 2010 midterm elections.

Continually increasing the debt is one of the logical outcomes of Keynesianism, since more government spending is always their answer. It is claimed that government must not stop spending when the economy is so fragile. Government must act. Yet, when times are good, government also increases in size and scope, because we can afford it, it is claimed. There is never a good time to rein in government spending according to Keynesian economists and the proponents of big government.

Free market Austrian economists on the other hand know that times are bad because of the size and scope of government. The economy is fragile because of the overwhelming stranglehold of bureaucracy and taxation of Washington. Any jobs Washington might create through these endless spending programs are paid for through more taxation and debt put on the productive sectors of the economy. Just as insidious is the hidden tax of inflation caused by the Fed and its ever-expanding credit bubble. When the Fed steps in with its solutions, it only devalues the dollars in everyone’s pocket while encouraging more reckless waste on Wall Street. All of this leads to a worsening economy, not an improved one.

And so the downward spiral continues. The worse things get, the more politicians want to spend. The more they spend, the heavier the debt load becomes and the more we have to spend just to maintain our interest payments. As our debt load becomes unsustainable, the alarm of our creditors increases. It is becoming so serious that our credit rating, as a nation, could be downgraded. If this happens, interest on the national debt will increase even more, leading to even higher taxes on Americans and inevitably, price inflation.

Still, Washington is full of talk of more regulation, more taxation and more spending. The Senate is still struggling to pass a massive regulatory increase on the financial sector, even as the stock market suffers more shockwaves. Pay-as-you-go rules give the appearance of fiscal responsibility, but in truth these rules are only used as a justification to raise taxes. Spending programs like healthcare reform, increased military spending, and a recent doubling of destructive foreign aid are viewed by Washington as necessary and reasonable, instead of foolishness we absolutely cannot afford.

The people understand this, which is why there is so much anger directed at politicians. Washington needs to change its thinking and adopt some common sense priorities. The Constitution gives some excellent limitations that would get us back on the right path if we would simply abide by them. The framers of the Constitution understood that only the ingenuity of the American people, free from government interference, could get us through hard times, yet Washington seems bent only on prolonging the agony.