Boehner Endorses States’ Rebellion Against a Gov’t Takeover of Health Care

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today expressed strong support for an effort gaining momentum in state legislatures nationwide to oppose Washington Democrats’ government takeover of health care and opt-out of its burdensome mandates.

Lawmakers in 26 states already have, or will, introduce legislation to outlaw any mandate that individuals must pay a new tax if they don’t have “government-approved” health insurance. This endeavor is being spearheaded by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a non-partisan organization made up of reform-minded state legislators. More states are expected to follow suit and introduce similar bills in the days and weeks ahead – all part of a grassroots effort to defeat this bill before it harms our economy and undermines the health care of every American.

“With our focus squarely on defeating a government takeover of health care, this growing rebellion in the states is yet another indication of strong grassroots opposition to Washington Democrats’ plans,” Boehner said. “All the burdensome mandates, tax hikes, and new layers of red tape Democrats are devising behind closed doors would wreak havoc on the states, so it’s no surprise a majority of them are already fighting back.”

The 26 states where opt-out legislation has been introduced include Boehner’s home state of Ohio, in addition to Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

“When we see so many reform-minded state legislators standing with the American people against Democrats’ government takeover of health care, we’re even more convinced that fighting this bill with everything we’ve got is the right thing to do,” Boehner added. “Congressional Republicans will continue to lend our full support to this effort and look forward to having additional states come on board.”

Last year, Leader Boehner joined Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) in establishing the GOP State Solutions project as part of an ongoing effort to partner with reform-minded governors, state officials, and legislators and promote better solutions to the challenges facing the American people.

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Healthcare Town Hall Meeting at the North Cobb Senior Center

Congressman Phil Gingrey is holding a healthcare town hall meeting this Friday,
November 13th. The public is invited to attend.

November 13, 2009
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
North Cobb Senior Center
4100 Hwy. 293 (Old 41 Hwy.)
Acworth, GA 30101

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Congressman Joe Wilson Tells the Neal Asbury Show that Incident during President Obama Congressional Address was a “Town Hall Moment”

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Participating in his first full length radio interview since his famously shouted “You Lie” remark during President Obama’s address to Congress propelled him into the media spotlight, Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) appeared on the nationally syndicated Neal Asbury Show on WZAB-AM. Congressman Wilson attributed his dramatic vocal response to a “town hall moment,” a visceral reaction to what he inherently knew was Obama’s misrepresentation of the citizenship immigration policy. Congressman Wilson likened his response to the kind of spontaneous reaction he is seeing during full capacity town hall meetings he is holding in his congressional district.

“I respect President Obama, but we have the right to disagree, especially when he promotes an immigration policy related to health insurance that I knew was meaningless. The proof is that two days after the joint session, the citizen verification policy was overhauled,” said Congressman Wilson, who was elected to the United States Congress in 2001. He was grateful that President Obama and other Democratic leaders accepted his apologies, and was particularly grateful that the Republican Conference supported him, as did his staff and constituency.

Congressman Wilson is convinced that the Democrats don’t want the American people to understand the issues related to healthcare, and is angry that consumers are being treated as if “they are stupid – which they are not; they’re just looking for answers and explanations.”

“At least 95 percent of my constituents support what Republicans are trying to do. Our HR 3400 is a good bill, and a logical alternative to the proposed HR3200 being promoted by the Democrats, which is a Trojan Horse for a government option that would create bizarre rules and regulations likely to be controlled by a ‘Health Czar’ with the power to interpret these regulations. Our bill really reflects the power and potential of free enterprise,” said Congressman Wilson, who outlined some of the provisions of HR 3400: choice of affordable private options; consumers can keep their current coverage; tax incentives will be created for the insured; coverage will be allowed to cross state lines; and the bill will promote tort and medical liability reform.

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Seniors' Bill of Rights

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On NBC's Meet the Press, Boehner Discusses Health Care, Dems' Push for Bigger Government, War in Afghanistan

In an appearance this morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) discussed health care, the War in Afghanistan, and the dramatic expansion of the size of government under the current Administration. Leader Boehner highlighted House Republicans’ better solutions on health care – including allowing the American people to buy insurance across state lines and enacting medical liability reform – and called on the President to scrap his costly government takeover of health care and hit the “reset” button so Republicans and Democrats can work together on a bipartisan bill that reduces health care costs, expands coverage, and doesn’t break the bank. Following are highlights of Boehner’s appearance and video of the interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-wppn6_hiQ&feature=player_profilepage

BOEHNER ON DEMOCRATS’ GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE AND GOP BETTER SOLUTIONS:

“We’ve outlined a number of ideas to make the current system better. Why not allow small employers to group together through national associations so they can buy health insurance for their employees like big companies and unions can today? Why not allow the American people to buy health care plans across state lines? Why not get serious about medical malpractice reform and more importantly the defensive medicine that doctors practice because we haven't reformed our tort system? There are ideas I outlined some of these ideas in a letter to the President back in may, asked to sit down with him and his Administration, and we got a nice polite letter back that says thank you for your ideas, we'll see you at the end. I’ve not been to the White House since late April, early may. There’s been no bipartisan conversation on Capitol Hill about health care, at some point when these big-government plans fail, and they will, the congress will not pass this, it's really time for the President to hit the reset button and stop all of this and sit down and start over in a bipartisan way to build a plan that Americans will support.”

BOEHNER ON RADICAL GROWTH IN SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT UNDER DEMOCRATIC-CONTROLLED WASHINGTON:

“Let's remember something. The debate that we're in here is not just about health care. It’s about the trillion dollar stimulus bill that was supposed to be about jobs and turned into nothing more than spending, spending and more spending. It’s about a budget with a nearly $2 trillion deficit this year and trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. It’s a cap-and-trade system, this big giant tax on the American people that this week we just find out the Treasury Department said will cost the average family $1,700 per year. You add to that this whole question of health care and the government option and the government involvement, and Americans today are getting more news about what's happening in their government than they have ever gotten before, and Americans are generally scared to death…

“What’s going on here is unsustainable. Our nation is broke, and at a time when we've got the serious economic problem and near 10 unemployment, we ought to be looking to create jobs in America, not kill jobs in America. Their cap-and-trade proposal, all this spending, all of this debt and now their health care plan will make it more difficult for employers to hire people, more difficult, more expensive to have employees which means we're going to have less jobs in America - but Americans are scared and that's why they are speaking up and that's why they are engaging in their government.”

BOEHNER COMMENTS ON WAR IN AFGHANISTAN, CALLS ON GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS:

“I said during the year, if the President listened to our commanders on the ground and to our diplomats, that I’d be there by his side, and I supported his strategy in Iraq. I’ve supported his strategy in Afghanistan, but it's pretty clear based on what I heard this morning that the President is changing the goals here. All he talked about was going after al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What happened to the statement earlier this year when the President said we cannot allow the Taliban and al Qaeda to have a safe haven from which to train, operate and organize to go after Americans? That is a very big change, and so I’m really concerned. We’ve been asking for general McChrystal to come to Capitol Hill and testify. The request -- we haven't heard anything. There's reports out all last week that the White House has asked general McChrystal to wait four to six weeks before sending his request in, and so there's something -- there's something amiss here, and I am highly skeptical of the debate that we're going to have here over the next couple of months.”

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Nathan Deal: Don't Lie. Verify

On Tuesday, I was honored to stand up for Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina on the floor of the U.S. House.

Joe has apologized to the President for his remarks and the President has accepted. But the liberal, national Democrats are trying to silence anyone who stands in the way of their government-run healthcare program.

Joe Wilson is a good friend of mine. He has four sons who all wear the uniform of our Armed Forces, just as their father did.

I also have proudly worn the uniform of the U.S. Army. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I would have to stand up and oppose the Commander-in-Chief. But in this Administration, I have and I will.

For years, I've been leading the fight in Congress to stop illegal immigrants from getting taxpayer-funded health care benefits. In fact, I wrote the law requiring every state to verify identity and citizenship prior to enrolling anyone in Medicaid. No one has been more aggressive about ensuring precious health care funds go only to those here legally.

Just last month, I offered an amendment to the Democrat government-run health care scheme that would prevent illegal aliens from getting taxpayer funded Medicaid benefits by simply requiring verification that an individual is a U.S. Citizen, or in this country legally. Unfortunately, my amendment was defeated on a mostly party-line vote.

However, the buzz on Capitol Hill is that liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is forcing through her government-run health care scheme--without a provision to verify U.S. Citizenship or legal status--to the House floor for a vote as early as this afternoon. And you can help make sure this important taxpayer protection gets an up-or-down vote.

Nathan Deal

Deal for Governor

Call the Speaker's office to tell her to require citizen verification. Her number is 202-225-0100.

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In Case You Missed It - Senator Bob Dole in The Washington Post: Starting Over on Health Care

/PRNewswire-/ -- In today's Washington Post, Senator Bob Dole urges a 'fresh start' on the issue of health care reform and said it is "the vital issue of our time, and Obama should be out front with his specific plan on this make-or-break issue." In June, Senator Dole, along with other former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker and Tom Daschle, all members of the Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) Advisory Board and Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care, released their comprehensive bipartisan health care proposal, entitled: "Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System."

Quotes from today's Washington Post editorial:

"If I were a White House adviser, I would suggest that the day Congress reconvenes, President Obama's version of reform should be introduced by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Health-care reform is the vital issue of our time, and Obama should be out front with his specific plan on this make-or-break issue."

"Along with former senators Howard Baker and Tom Daschle, I serve on the advisory board of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a group searching for common ground on health care, energy, agriculture, transportation and national security . . . Out of Congress now, we have no votes and no power -- but we have our credibility. It is pleasing that many lawmakers, particularly the Senate Finance Committee leaders, Democrat Max Baucus and the GOP's Chuck Grassley, have looked favorably upon some of our recommendations."

"A bipartisan ending will have more credibility with the American people. Indeed, most important legislation in U.S. history has had broad bipartisan support. As a supporter of bipartisan health reform, I hope the president has gotten some rest in the past week. I also hope he puts the final touches on his own health bill. I'd bet a bottle of aspirin that it would cure many of his headaches."

The Leaders' Project report, released in June, was authored by Senators Baker, Daschle and Dole, and was co-chaired by Chris Jennings, a veteran of the Clinton White House, and Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of Medicare and Medicaid Services under President George W. Bush. It offers politically-viable policy recommendations to address the delivery, cost, coverage and financing challenges facing the nation's health care system. For more information or to download a full copy of the report, please visit: http://bipartisanpolicy.org/projects/leaders-project.

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Boehner Previews House GOP Plan on Healthcare

OEHNER PREVIEWS HOUSE GOP’S PLAN TO EXPAND AMERICANS’ ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE:
“We’re going to make sure that all Americans have access to high-quality health insurance. Part of the way of doing that is to make sure they get the same tax treatment as companies do today so insurance premiums are deductible for people, whether they get their insurance from their company or not. Bigger risk pools in states for those people who have pre-existing conditions. Help for those who can’t afford health insurance, in the private market. But we want to take the current system and improve it, to cover almost all Americans. We don’t want the government to come in and bigfoot this like they’ve done other things.”

BOEHNER CONTRASTS HOUSE GOP PLAN WITH DEMOCRATS’ COSTLY GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE:
“We agree with the President and want to work with the President, to make sure that all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable, health insurance. But we’re not for the government taking control of our health system. And if you look at the leading Democrat proposals in the House and Senate, they have this giant government bureaucracy that literally is going to take over private health insurance in America. And if you think the post office is the model of efficiency, can you imagine what they’re going to do to America’s health care? We’re going to unveil our plan today that will bring down costs, insure most Americans, and improve the quality of care that we have in our country.”

BOEHNER WARNS ADMINISTRATION’S FINANCIAL REGULATORY PROPOSAL MAY SLOW JOB GROWTH EVEN FURTHER:
“If you look deeply into some of what the President’s calling for, we’ll have the federal government deciding what interest ought to be charged on credit cards. We’ll have the President’s proposal having to decide what kind of financial products are available. And I just think that the government involvement in the financial industry is going to be too big of a foot, on an industry that’s already having problems. I think at the end of the day, what the American people want is they want to know, how do I get my job back? How do I hold on to my job? And these kinds of policies that we’re seeing out of the Administration are going to work to slow down job growth and prevent the private sector from growing and bringing people back to work."

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Boehner: White House Health Care Report More Smoke & Mirrors

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement on the health care report released today by the President’s Council of Economic Advisors:


“This report is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Everyone agrees that reducing the cost of health care would benefit our economy, but the Administration hasn’t offered a credible plan to do so without raising taxes or rationing care. Republicans want to work with the President and Democrats in Congress to ensure that every American has access to affordable, high-quality health coverage. But this 56-page press release lacks any real answers about how the Administration will deliver promised savings and improve Americans’ health care.

“One thing is clear: We don’t need a government takeover of health care that raises taxes, rations care, and puts government bureaucrats in control of decisions that should be made by families and doctors. The American people are asking for common sense solutions, not more photo-ops that produce a good headline but make no real difference to the millions of Americans struggling to pay for their health care coverage. Congress should be working together to improve access to quality health care, reduce skyrocketing costs, and fix what’s broken.”

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