KILL THE BILL!! – House Vote Expected on Health Care Tomorrow

If you have not yet called any members of congress to express your disgust concerning this uber-expensive monstrosity of a bill known as H.R. 3962, the time is now! Nancy Pelosi has pressed to get a vote by this Saturday. There are rumors that it may not happen. Any delay is a small victory for conservatives. It means they don’t have the votes, otherwise they’d force it to the floor. Delay also means that the members of congress will go home and face their angry constituents again, and that’s something Pelosi can’t afford.

Some H.R. 3962 so-called Affordable Health Care for America Act quick facts:

• Weighs in at a whopping 1990+ pages
• 10 year cost estimate at least $1.4 TRILLION, some estimate $1.8T despite previous claims that it would be deficit neutral)
• Benefits don’t begin until 2013 so that cost is actually for only 7 years of implementation
• Vastly expands the federal government by adding DOZENS of new bureaucracies (one count was at 110!)
• Includes a public option – the beginning of the end for private coverage
• Includes job-killing employer mandates
• Cuts benefit payments for Medicare by hundreds of billions
• Individual and employer taxes, fines and penalties are all included, more are imminent
• Does not contain clear language to forbid federal funding of abortion
• Does bar illegal immigrants from getting coverage, but no ID verification is required
• Does not open up insurance markets to sell across state line
• Does not include any tort reform
• Does not require members of congress to hold the same insurance it will implement on their constituents
• Republican are unanimously opposed to it
• Only 218 of the 258 Democrats need to vote yes for it to pass

Polls have shown that a majority of Americans are opposed to this Health Care Reform. Town Howlers and Tea Partiers have done much to discourage the bill and delay the vote. In fact some 25,000 folks attended an impromptu rally yesterday at the capitol. People left their work places, many traveled long distance to make their voices know heard in person to KILL THIS BILL. The least that you and I can do is to take a few minutes to call some representatives from the comfort of our own homes and and at no cost. Join the national outcry and help defeat this bill. If it goes down in defeat now it will be at least another 8-10 years until it will raises it’s ugly head again. Just think of the trillions of dollars that will be saved in the meantime.

At this point calling will be the most effective. Since all Republican are opposing it I would recommend calling Democrats to make your opposition known. You need not be from the their district to let your opinion be known, but many will refuse to hear you if you are not. Below is a list of the Blue Dog Democrats (50 or so), a fiscally conservative (or moderate) group of Democrats that are the most likely to be persuaded to vote against the bill. Many are in a rock and a hard place with the decision to stand up against their constituents or their party leadership. Nancy Pelosi is effectively asking them to walk the plank if they vote yes on this bill, because most will surely be fired in next years elections if they do. Call them up to convince them they should be more afraid of you than Nancy Pelosi!

~Nate Gunderson

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

I’ve been calling and only getting a busy tone. I’m working on making a table with their direct numbers and I will update this post as soon as I do.

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UPDATE: Blue Dog Democrats contact info