Freedom Line Blog

The New York Times has an interesting chart on the 39 Democrats who voted “No” on Speaker Pelosi’s version of health care “reform.”

The bill, H.R. 3962, passed 220 to 215 on Saturday night.

Click here for more on health care.

Tonight, the House of Representatives voted 220-215 to narrowly pass Speaker Pelosi’s 2,000-page, trillion-dollar-plus health care “reform” bill.

Just one Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao (Louisiana) voted “Yea.” Thirty-nine Democrats joined with all other House Republicans in opposition.

From Politico.com:

With just hours remaining until an historic vote on a sweeping health-care reform measure Saturday evening, at least 31 Democrats have said they will vote against the bill as of 6:00 p.m., according to a POLITICO analysis. 

Just nine more ‘no’ votes would be enough to sink the bill if Republicans maintain, as expected, a solid front of opposition.

UPDATE:

Politico.com just updated it’s count.  The number of House Democrats committed to voting “No” is now 32.

UPDATE – 9:35 p.m.:

“At least 34 Democrats have said they will vote against the bill as of 8:45 p.m.,” according to Politico.com.  That is just six shy of the 40 needed to defeat the bill.

See the list Dem “No” votes here.

The vote on Speaker Pelosi’s 2,000-page, $1 trillion-plus plan for government-run health care – still scheduled for later today – is coming down to the wire.  Several Members of Congress are saying and the media is reporting that the Speaker still doesn’t have the necessary 218 votes for passage – despite her working through the night to strike backroom deals with so-called moderate Democrats.

The vote, whether it happens tonight or is delayed for a day or two, is going to be close.  As many as 23 House Democrats have vowed to join with all Republicans to vote against the bill.  There are several Democrats still on the fence.

The Hill has this updated whip count of key Dems and their positions on the bill. 

The American people must keep the pressure on their Representatives in Congress to vote “No” on the Pelosi-Obama government-run health care scheme.  We can defeat it!

CFIF staff is heading down to the U.S. Capitol now to join with thousands of Americans to rally against the bill.  If you live in the Washington, D.C.-area, please join us at the event, the details of which can be found here.

Keep calling, writing and faxing your Representatives in opposition to the House bill.  Ask your neighbors, friends and family members to do the same.  We are winning.  We can win.  And, we will win if we all do our part to turn up the heat in opposition to government-run health care.

• To be patched through to your Member of Congress, call 202-224-3121.
• Find your Representative and his or her direct contact information here.
• Send an e-mail to your Representative here. 

Following the huge turnout for and success of Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s “House Call” yesterday, Congressman Steve King (R-IA) is calling on the American people to make a second “House Call” tomorrow by joining him and other Members of Congress to once again rally against Nancy Pelosi’s health care “reform” bill. 

In a statement released earlier today, King said:

Nancy Pelosi and Washington liberals cannot ignore what transpired yesterday in Washington. Americans from every state stormed Capitol Hill. They took over the Hill. And they loudly chanted ‘Kill this bill!’

“We can kill this bill and stop the government takeover of health care. We need the help of every American willing to stand up for freedom and liberty. I urge all Americans who oppose this bill to come to Washington tomorrow morning and join us to stop this bill.”

The rally will take place at the U.S. Capitol at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, November 7, 2009.

CFIF is calling on its Washington D.C.-area activists and all others who can make it to attend this important rally.

Pelosi has scheduled a floor vote on her “reform” legislation for tomorrow at approximately 6:00 p.m.  News reports are suggesting that the Speaker is still scrambling for votes.

Someone in Congress really wants to keep their job.  Representative John Adler, a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, just announced that he will be voting against H.R. 3962, the government takeover of health care.

This comes as a bit of a surprise since rarely are New Jersey Democrats of the moderate “Blue Dog” variety.  Then again, President Obama won Adler’s district last year, but only with 52 percent of the vote.

Call Representative Adler at 202-225-4765 to thank him for standing up for taxpayers and freedom.  Or if you live in his district, you can reach his local offices at 856-985-2777 or 732-608-7235.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are publicly predicting that the House health care “reform” bill, which is scheduled to be voted on tomorrow, will pass.  But several news reports indicate that both are scrambling today to find the votes.

Even the ultra-liberal Moveon.org, which is pulling out all the stops in support of government-run health care, is worried.  In an e-mail sent out to liberal activists earlier today, the group was panicked.  The e-mail reads:

Dear MoveOn member,

After months of build-up, tomorrow is THE big House vote on landmark health care reform. But according to news reports, Democrats don’t yet have the votes to win!

This is crunch time. … Right now, it’s all coming down to a key group of moderate Democrats who are on the fence — and we hear they’re getting inundated with calls from health care opponents. …

There you have it.  The phone calls, letters, faxes and e-mails against ObamaCare are working.  Pelosi and Hoyer are scrambling for votes.  Their ultra-liberal allies are panicked.  An overwhelming majority of Americans are making their voice heard AGAINST House Democrats’ plan for a government takeover of health care.

Keep it up!  Pelosi’s 2,000-page “reform” bill can be defeated.  But the Americans people must continue to “inundate” Congressional offices between now and tomorrow.

• To be patched through to your Member of Congress, call 202-224-3121.
• Find your Representative and his or her direct contact information here.
• Send an e-mail to your Representative here. 

There are a lot of awful provisions in Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990 page stab at health care “reform.”  For millions of small businesses across the country, a 5.4 percent surtax is high on the list of undesirable provisions.

The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released an estimate that determined one-third of small businesses will be hit with the new 5.4 percent surtax.  Roughly speaking, small businesses can look forward to forking over another $150 billion next year in new taxes to feed Washington’s spending binge.

The lesson: Small businesses must trust Congress.  Only Congress knows that the best way to bring down a 10.2 percent unemployment rate is to tax small businesses, raise utility rates through Cap-and-Trade legislation, take over $2 trillion from the private sector through taxes and determine corporate pay scales… Congress knows best.

Here is the JCT cost estimate.  To read more on health care, click here.

During his nationally televised address on health care to a joint session of Congress in September, President Obama stated:

There are also those who claim that our [health care] reform effort will insure illegal immigrants.  This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

Well, either the President wasn’t being totally honest when he made that statement or Nancy Pelosi wasn’t paying attention or just flat out ignored it.  H.R. 3962, the 2,000-plus-page (and growing), $1.3 trillion (and growing) “reform” proposal that the House will be voting on tomorrow – and for which President Obama has pledged his support – in fact does enable illegal immigrants to receive health care.

According to a November 2, 2009 Congressional Research Service report, “The House bill contains no express restrictions on noncitizens – whether legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently – accessing and paying for coverage available through the health insurance exchange.”

Just a few days earlier, the Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) noted in its preliminary cost estimate of H.R. 3962 that in 2019 there would be “about 18 million nonelderly residents uninsured (nearly one third of whom would be unauthorized immigrants).”  In other words, CBO projects that six million illegals – nearly half of all illegal immigrants currently living in the United States, according to official government estimates – would be provided health care under the legislation by 2019.

Repeated attempts to amend the underlying legislation upon which H.R. 3962 was drafted to provide for adequate verification of U.S. citizenship and to explicitly exclude illegal immigrants from receiving health benefits under the bill have all failed. 

Rep. Tom Price, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, has a more thorough analysis of the issue here.

This afternoon, thousands of protesters and activists marched on Capitol Hill yelling “Kill the Bill,” urging Representatives to vote against Speaker Pelosi’s massive $1 trillion government takeover of health care.  There are some reports that entrances to the Capitol are clogged with taxpayers waiting to get their chance to lobby Congress directly.

The rally was prompted by Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), who labeled this week the “Super Bowl of Freedom” and called on the American people to join her in making a “House Call” to Members of Congress in opposition to ObamaCare.  With House Democrats set to vote on Pelosi’s 1,990 bill on Saturday, the turnout today for Bachmann’s “House Call” was phenomenal.

Hat tip to FreedomWorks, the staff of which took some great pictures of the event seen below.  

Part of the so-called “cost savings” in the House version of health care reform are premised on large cuts to Medicare, a typical sore spot for senior citizens.

One area that is scheduled to be on the chopping block is reimbursement payments to physicians participating in the Medicare program.  Current reimbursement rates are insultingly low, and as a result, some doctors refuse to even participate in Medicare.

The House health care bill calls for an additional 21 percent reduction in payments to physicians, to begin in 2010. Judging from this CBO statement, even the green eyeshade folks don’t believe Congress will allow doctors to take another hit to reimbursement rates:

The bill would put into effect (or leave in effect) a number of procedures that might be difficult to maintain over a long period of time. It would leave in place the 21 percent reduction in the payment rates for physicians currently scheduled for 2010. At the same time, the bill includes a number of provisions that would constrain payment rates for other providers of Medicare services.”

Any failure to contain Medicare costs, despite the surge of new beneficiaries over the next decade, will surely turn health care reform into another budget-breaker.

Last week, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) called on the American people to join her in making a “House Call” against the passage of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 1,990-page government-run health care plan. 

The event, which is intended to emulate the effective August tea parties, takes place tomorrow at noon.  It will begin with a rally featuring actor Jon Voight and Mark Levin on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.  Following the rally, participants will descend on Congressional offices to lobby against the legislation.

Appearing yesterday on Fox and Friends, Bachmann labeled this week the “Super Bowl of Freedom.” 

“The American people need to stand up again and make sure that Congress hears them this time. Speaker Pelosi is putting her bill on fast track to a vote…” said the Congresswoman.  “The people need to make a House Call on Washington this week and tell their Representatives to vote no to a government take-over of one-fifth of our economy. This is gangster government at its worst.”

Watch the full Fox and Friends interview below:

It’s crunch time, folks.  House Democrats have scheduled a vote on Pelosi’s government-run health care bill for this Saturday.  Join Rep. Bachmann and thousands of concerned Americans in making a “House Call” against ObamaCare.

If you are not in the Washington, D.C.-area and are not able to attend this important event, please be sure to call your Representative in Congress and demand he or she vote “No!”  Call today, call tomorrow, then call again on Friday and Saturday.  Get your friends and family to do the same.  We must light up the telephone switchboards in Congressional offices in opposition to ObamaCare.

• To be patched through to your Member of Congress, call 202-224-3121.
• Or, click here to find your Representative and his or her direct contact information.

House Democrats announced today that a vote on Speaker Pelosi’s version of health care “reform” will be held on Saturday night at 6:00, likely when few people are watching.  It is, after all, still college football season.

If the vote succeeds, the House will recess next week and then the ball will be in Senator Harry Reid’s court to pass the Senate’s version of reform. If Reid succeeds, the House and the Senate would meet in conference to reconcile the different provisions in each bill.

During the vote this weekend, the House will also likely vote on a new Republican alternative to ObamaCare.  The Republican bill, 971 pages shorter than ObamaCare, contains provisions that allow consumers to shop across state lines for health insurance.  The Republican alternative also allows small businesses to pool their health plans with other businesses, in an effort to drive down costs.  You can read the alternative to ObamaCare here.

Make sure to call your representative this week at 202-224-3121 and tell them to vote “No” on H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi’s government-takeover of our health care system.

H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi’s attempt at a government takeover of health care weighs in at 1,990 pages.  However, there are a few reading guides available to save your eyes, and your sanity.

The House Republican Conference has done the dirty work and compiled a list of all the new boards, bureaucracies, commissions and programs created in the House health care bill.  There are over 111.  Here are a few highlights:

• Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)

• Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138)

• Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155)

• “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321, p. 211)

• Ombudsman for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321(d), p. 213)

• Demonstration program providing reimbursement for “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” (Section 1222, p. 617)

• Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734)

• Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198)

• Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398)

• Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722)

• Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873)

The Hill, a Washington-area newspaper, has a handy whip count of House members who are undecided on Speaker Pelosi’s attempt to takeover your health care.  All of the members listed are Democrats but if you live in their district, please call 202-224-3121 and tell them to get off the fence and oppose ObamaCare.

If this ultra-liberal attempt at health care “reform” fails in the House, then it’s likely dead for the foreseeable future.  Let’s keep it that way.

Call your representative at 202-224-3131 and tell them to vote “No” on H.R. 3962.

The Associated Press reports:

WASHINGTON – The health care bill headed for a vote in the House this week costs $1.2 trillion or more over a decade, according to numerous Democratic officials and figures contained in an analysis by congressional budget experts, far higher than the $900 billion cited by President Barack Obama as a price tag for his reform plan.

While the Congressional Budget Office has put the cost of expanding coverage in the legislation at roughly $1 trillion, Democrats added billions more on higher spending for public health, a reinsurance program to hold down retiree health costs, payments for preventive services and more. …

The officials who provided overall cost estimates did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them.

Earlier this week, the editorial staff of The Wall Street Journal informed its readers that, “Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told fellow Democrats that she’s prepared to lose seats in 2010 if that’s what it takes to pass ObamaCare.”

So Pelosi is forcing a vote without any significant debate in the House this week on the nearly 2,000-page bill, which was crafted behind closed doors without any public or bipartisan input and which appears to be expanding by the minute in terms of its price tag and assault on individual freedom.  It certainly would seem as though the Speaker is being true to her word of passage of ObamaCare at any cost, now doesn’t it.

1. $729.5 billion in new taxes and fees on small businesses and individuals.
2. $1.055 trillion in new federal spending over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
3. 114 million people could lose their current health care coverage, according to the Lewin Group.
4. 43 new entitlement programs that the bill creates, expands or extends.
5. 3,425 uses of the word “shall” in the legislation.

If you haven’t already done so, please call your representative at 202-224-3121 and tell them to vote “No” on Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill.  A vote is expected in the House this week.  Learn more about health care here and here.

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to read Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990 page monstrosity of a health care bill, CFIF has provided a few summaries here and here.

Today, a short one-page document was released covering the major provisions in the health care bill.  It is a brief overview organized by page and section.  You can read it here.

The Ways and Means Committee just sent out a summary of all the “revenue enhancements” (err … tax hikes) in the new Pelosi health care bill.

However, these revenue enhancements add up to only ~$565.5 billion, which falls far short of the bill’s $800-$900 billion price tag.  The list of “spending cuts” has not yet been released.

Here are some highlights from the summary:

• A $5 billion tax hike achieved through narrowing the definition of a qualified medical deduction.   Currently, individuals with medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of adjusted gross income can deduct those expenses for tax purposes, but the House bill severely limits this medical deduction, forcing taxpayers to pay more in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

• A $13.3 billion tax increase achieved through limiting Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).  Under current law, individuals may contribute money to tax-free FSA’s, but the new bill limits this amount, thereby taxing income used for medical expenses.

• $460 billion tax hike on “high-earners.”

• $20 billion tax on the sale or lease of medical devices … because taxing artificial limbs and pacemakers is the “American Way.”

Click here for the Ways and Means summary.

1. Sec. 345. Income determinations. To determine income, the Health Choices Commissioner uses income data from the individual’s most recent tax return.
2. Sec. 501. Tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage. Provides for a 2.5% additional tax on the modified adjusted gross income of an individual who does not obtain acceptable health coverage…
3. Sec. 511. This section also provides for an excise tax that applies to an offering employer if the employer fails to follow the rules governing an offer of coverage.
4. Sec. 512. Health care contributions of non-electing employers. Establishes a payroll tax of 8% of the wages that an employer pays to its employees for employers who choose not to offer coverage.
5. Sec.541. Disclosures to carryout health insurance exchange subsidies. Permits the Exchange to receive taxpayer return information from the Internal Revenue Service…
6. Sec. 551.  Surcharge on high income individuals. Establishes a 5.4 percent tax on modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million in the case of a joint return ($500,000 in the case of other returns).
7. Sec. 552. Excise tax on medical devices. Establishes a 2.5 percent excise tax on medical devices sold for use in the U.S.

Click here for the House health care bill.  Warning: it’s 1,990 pages.

Update: Here is a short 4-page propaganda summary from the House Ways and Means Committee.