Blog Bug - All better now

The Cleveland Tea Party Patriot blog was out of commission for about a week - it had a very nasty virus. All better now. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Stop Medicaid Expansion in Ohio! Sign the Petition!

Stop Medicaid Expansion in Ohio!

Sign the Petition Now!

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As you probably know, Governor Kasich caved to pressure to expand Medicaid, in direct defiance of the Ohio's voters. Please sign the petition to Governor Kasich immediately and share it with everyone you know! We will deliver the petition to the Governor on Friday to remind him that we the people of Ohio reject Obamacare in its entirety.

Text of the petition:

Dear Governor Kasich,

We the undersigned residents of Ohio stand firmly and strongly against the expansion of Medicaid in Ohio under the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

In the current structure, Medicaid spending in Ohio is already an unsustainable fiscal liability to our state. The fiscal liability of expanding Medicaid in Ohio will compound this burden and will quickly outgrow any promised funds from the Federal Government.

Any expansion of Medicaid in Ohio will further increase the financial burden for future generations of Ohio residents.

We strongly believe that continuing the proposed expansion of Medicaid is not only fiscally irresponsible, but does not solve the issue of quality, affordable care through a balanced free market approach.

Please be advised that the undersigned Ohio residents will remain engaged and active in the legislative process to do our part to stop any expansion of Medicaid in Ohio under, or in conjunction with, the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

We request that you please reconsider your proposed expansion of Medicaid so we can all concentrate our efforts in moving our state forward rather than saddling us with further financially unsustainable entitlements.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW!

Call your rep in Columbus: NO Medicaid expansion in Ohio

NO to Medicaid expansion in Ohio

Last night, Mansfield and Cleveland Tea Party Patriots held a conference call with tea party and liberty minded leaders to discuss Governor Kasich's decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio. Joining us were experts from the Buckeye Institute, State Budget Solutions, and Tea Party Patriots.

We strongly believe that this proposed expansion of Medicaid is not only fiscally unsustainable, but also does not solve the issue of quality, affordable care through a balanced free market approach. These tea party leaders will be signing an official statement to the Governor, which will be released next week.

Not only does the expansion of this entitlement program further burden Ohio taxpayers without any long-term solution, studies show that because Medicaid pays Ohio doctors roughly half of what private insurers pay - which will only decline over time - patients receiving treatment through Medicaid receive care that is inferior to those who are uninsured.

Please continue to call your state Representative and express your opposition to the Governor's decision to expand Medicaid.

Click here for your Ohio representative contact information.

More on healthcare: Wheels Coming Off

More on Healthcare(and a reminder to sign up for the Feb. 13 conference call)

In news related to current efforts to stop the expansion of Medicaid in Ohio, here is Betsy McCaughey, in a recent New York Post piece ("Wheels Coming Off"), on  a few of the ugly realities of ObamaCare coming to light as provisions begin to kick in:

the biggest setback is that most states are refusing to set up insurance exchanges. The exchanges are supposed to sell the government-mandated plans and hand out taxpayer-funded subsidies to most enrollees. 

Here’s the glitch. The law says that in states that refuse, the federal government can set up an exchange. But the law empowers only state exchanges, not federal ones, to hand out subsidies. The Obama administration says it will disregard the law and offer subsidies in all 50 states anyway, but the case will likely go to the Supreme Court. 

If the courts uphold the clear language of the law, then some 8 million people in the affected states won’t be eligible for subsidies to cover that $20,000 (or more) insurance bill. That’s another 8 million without coverage. 

All in all, at least 40 million people could be uninsured in 2016, only 9 million fewer than before the law was passed. 

Expect the momentum for repealing this law to grow as its flaws, perverse incentives and faulty predictions come to light.

Keep some of this in mind during tomorrow evening's conference call (8 pm) discussing how to STOP Medicaid expansion in Ohio. Sign up for the call here. 

Stop the Expansion of Medicaid in Ohio

Calling all Ohio Tea Party Patriots: Conference Call update

Marianne (Mansfield Tea Party) and Ralph (Cleveland Tea Party Patriots) are organizing a conference call next week

WHEN: Wednesday, February 13th, 8:00 p.m.

WHERE: Comfort of your own home

The purpose of the call is to discuss a unified plan of action to address Governor Kasich's "deal with the Devil" on Medicaid expansion in Ohio. Joining us on the call will be:

Bob Williams, President of State Budget Solutions - "Kasich makes it sound like the federal money that will come to the state to support this Medicaid is free money. It comes from us the taxpayers and we can't afford it anymore. Bottom line is that states need to stand up to the federal government."

Bill Pasco, Executive V.P. Citizens for the Republic - Bill joins Tea Party Patriots weekly on national conference calls as Tea Party Patriots' Legislative Coordinator. He provides a wealth of legislative knowledge and the inside scoop. "Kasich's betrayal is not going down well among conservatives in DC. Talk for the last 48 hours has been focused on him throwing away any chance he might have had for the GOP nomination in 2016."

Based on the information provided and ideas shared, the hope is that we can create a unified plan of action to address our legislature, and stop the financially disastrous plan to expand Medicaid.

If you have not registered for this call, please click here. Once registered, you will receive a "reminder" email with the call in # and access code.

Medicaid Expansion is Unsustainable

PRESS RELEASE
February 4, 2013

For Immediate Release
Contact: Marianne Gasiecki
State Co-coordinator (OH) - Tea Party Patriots
(419) 961-4439

Medicaid Expansion is Unsustainable
Tea Party Patriots (OH) Oppose Medicaid Expansion

Ohio - February 4, 2013 - Governor Kasich has been under a lot of pressure from progressive organizations, as well as lobbyists from the medical/hospital industry, to expand Medicaid in Ohio, and today announced that he will be doing just that.

"Since taking office and erasing an $8 billion hole in our budget, Governor Kasich's fiscally conservative approach to governing Ohio has brought our state a budget surplus. It's very disappointing that Governor Kasich has decided to expand Medicaid in Ohio under Obamacare, and abandon his fiscally conservative policies that have served our state well," said Ralph King, Co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots and State Co-coordinator for Tea Party Patriots (OH).

The Governor's office recently expressed concern over the ability of the state to cope with the increased costs that occur when Ohioans currently eligible for Medicaid begin enrolling to comply with the Affordable Care Act's individual mandates. Medicaid benefits for these individuals are subject to Ohio's normal federal Medicaid formula and will cost the state nearly $700 million in the first two years alone. 

The Medicaid expansion would apply to all eligible Ohioans at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level and would create a significant fiscal liability for the state beginning in 2017. The federal government has said it will pay 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion in the first three years, with the subsidy phasing down after that.

"Considering the financial crisis the federal government is currently facing, I expect that promise to be reneged upon, and Ohio to be left holding the bag. Aside from the fact that Ohio would still have to incur the expense of covering 50% of the administrative costs to run the new program, expanding entitlements will make more people more dependent on government, rather creating a stronger more independent citizenry through economic growth" stated Marianne Gasiecki, Founder of the Mansfield Tea Party and fellow State Co-coordinator.

Tea Party Patriots is organized as a 501(c)(4). Our three core principles are fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and a free market society.

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When is your Town Hall?

Dear Cleveland Patriots,

Here's this week's alert from national Tea Party Patriots on Town Halls. When we last checked, the only Ohio representative holding Town Halls was Steve Chabot from District 1. So if you live in northeast Ohio, please consider what you can do to put pressure on your Representative. - CTPP

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Getting your Congressman to hold a town hall this week – and showing up big – is the action item this week! Below are some tips to help make it happen and make it a success!

Find Your Representative's Town Hall This Week Here

Last Wednesday we held a tele-town hall with Representatives Louie Gohmert from Texas and Tim Huelskamp from Kansas. They reminded us about the importance of showing up to the in-person town halls, and calling your Congressman’s office. We need to be able to get our message across face-to-face whenever possible.

Here are some tips from local coordinators across the country.

1. Call. Call your Representative’s local district office
2. Say the following: “When will the Representative be holding a townhall this week?” Note: It’s important to say “when” instead of asking “will you.”
3. Answer is yes. If the Congressman is holding a town hall, get the information about where and when, and spread the word! Also let us know at Tea Party Patriots because we are compiling town hall information. And remember to take your camera and film it!
   Answer is no. If the Congressman isn’t holding a townhall, here are some tips from other grassroots coordinators on how to handle this situation.
   - Ask or demand. If your Rep. isn’t holding a town hall, at that point you can ask them to please hold one. You can try demanding that he/she hold one, but that doesn’t work with every Rep. You probably know the situation best, so if playing nice works best, do that. If playing tough works best, do that.
   - Schedule an appointment. See if you can schedule a personal appointment with a small group of your friends and the Rep.
   - Crowd the office. Have dozens of people calling the local office and a handful of people showing up at the office together, all in the same day. You can call first to see if the Rep. is in the office if you’d like, and feel free to show up without an appointment. Make sure to bring a letter or something written with you, with your message on it, and make sure to be reasonable and polite.
   - Call them out publicly. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or send a press release to local news organizations to put public pressure on them, and make it known to the entire district that your Rep. refuses to see his/her constituents. You can also post things on Facebook and Twitter.
   - Prove a point. In the past, coordinators have held their own town halls, invited the Rep. (who refused to show), and signified the absent Rep. with a cardboard cutout, or empty chair, etc. Constituents show up to ask questions to the missing Congressman, while you film the entire thing. A couple of local coordinators also made large milk cartons and put the Rep.’s face on the side with a, “Missing: Have you seen this man?” sort of thing. Have fun with it!
4. FILM EVERYTHING!! Above all else, film everything! If you go to the office to try and see the Rep. and they refuse, you’ll want that on film! If you hold a people’s town hall where the Rep. rejected your invitation, you’ll want to film the voters in his/her district simply trying to get answers from their supposed Representative, but not succeeding because the Rep. couldn’t be bothered to show up. And finally, if your Rep. does hold a town hall, go there and film it all! Especially film the people that are demanding that Congress cut spending!! All of this footage can help you when the election comes, if you’d like to replace your Rep.
5. Keep making calls. We know it seems like the calls do not make a difference but they do. We hear it repeatedly when we are in DC from staffers that the calls and especially the local office visits make a difference.
6. GET YOUR PEOPLE THERE! The left is already making their own plans to attend these town halls, to get their message out. DO NOT LET THEM STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT. If there is a townhall, make it your priority to get as many patriots there as possible!!

Remember – we want Congress to:
STOP THE OVERSPENDING
STOP STEALING FROM OUR CHILDREN
SOLVE THE PROBLEM NOW

Good luck!