Well, Ain't That a Daisy.... White House can still Afford to Smell the Roses!

From Tea Party Patriots --

From Politico, the pain of sequestration doesn’t appear to extend to the White House gardens  today and tomorrow:

Tours of the White House itself remained canceled because the cuts have left Secret Service short on manpower to staff them. But there will be enough agents to staff the garden tours, the official said.

The tours are slated to happen this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guests will be able to view the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Rose Garden and South Lawn of the White House, as well as the White House Kitchen Garden.

The tours are free and open to members of the public who can pick up tickets starting at 8 a.m. both days. The National Park Service will distribute them on a first-come-first-served basis, one per person, at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion at 15th and E streets.

Of course, nothing is “free” in government. The gardens are maintained from a budget, the National Park Service is distributing tickets, and Secret Service agents are on hand. Despite this, while the White House continues to cut tuition assistance for the Army and Marines, as well as tours of the White House itself – but not  President Obama’s golf game – its most important occupant seems to think garden tours are worth keeping.

Priorities.

"Kasich Veering Left" and Medicaid

John Fund’s column at National Review Online reports on Gov. Kasich’s efforts to expand Medicaid in Ohio: 

Most political observers in Ohio believe Governor John Kasich wants to run for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. If that’s true, he’s approaching it in an odd way, alienating much of his conservative base by making controversial tax proposals and proposing to expand Medicaid — although he now appears to have given up on the latter.. . .  

This week, the GOP-controlled state house stripped Kasich’s Medicaid expansion out of the budget, rewrote his school-funding formula, canceled all of his tax increases, and reduced his income-tax cut to 7 percent for all taxpayers.. . .  

In reality, giving in to the lure of “free” federal dollars to broaden Medicaid isn’t compassionate. Over half of physicians no longer accept Medicaid patients because it is a failed program with bargain-basement reimbursement payments and bureaucratic regulations that lower the quality of overall care. “Medicaid patients often give up trying to find a doctor and wind up in hospital emergency rooms, where they wait three to six hours for non-urgent care,” John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis told me.  

Representative Chris Collins, the chairman of the House’s Small Business subcommittee on health, told me, “The false promise of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is that it will trap millions of Americans in a program that needs urgent reform first.” Recent studies by the University of Virginia have shown that surgical patients on Medicaid are 13 percent more likely to die than those without insurance of any kind.  

But hospitals — among the biggest employers in Ohio — lust after the $13 billion in federal Medicaid dollars that would flow to Ohio over the next seven years. Hospitals helped bring 2,500 liberal protesters to the state capital of Columbus yesterday to argue for Medicaid expansion. With Kasich insisting he “profoundly disagrees” with the legislature’s refusal to expand Medicaid, he may well ratchet up pressure on the legislature. 

That’s what worries many Republicans. “We are dividing ourselves on a core issue,” says Tom Zawistowski, a Tea Party leader, who is running against the governor’s choice for Republican-party state chairman later this month. He notes that 65 percent of Ohio voters supported an anti-Obamacare initiative in 2011 and at least two-thirds of Republican primary voters oppose Medicaid expansion. “Political analysts like Charlie Cook say Obamacare’s failures could be the big issue in the 2014 midterm election, and we are just fracturing our coalition here,” he told me. 

On policy grounds, GOP house speaker Bill Batchelder says that Medicaid expansion would be a leap into the dark. “This is so screwed up,” he told the OhioCapitalBlog. “We have all these regulations that have to come out. . . . We also have to know what it means if they don’t have the money in Washington.”

 If they don’t have the money in Washington? As the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said: “The trouble with socialists is that they always run out of other people's money.”

Update: Ohio Medicaid Expansion and HB 59

From Marianne (Mansfield / Ohio TPP):

What's Going on with Medicaid Expansion One Small Step in the Right Direction Yesterday afternoon a substitute House Bill (HB 59) that removed Medicaid expansion completely from the Governor's proposed budget, was presented to the House Finance and Appropriations Committee. While this is definitely a step in the right direction, the fight is far from over. The projected timeline for HB 59 is as follows: * Hearings will be held all this week * These hearings will likely produce amendments, which must be submitted by Friday * Amendments will be taken up in the Finance Committee by next Tuesday, which will likely amend the bill * The bill will be taken up on the House floor next Thursday During this hearing process, testimony will be given by persistent proponents of Medicaid expansion, and it is important that our voices are also heard.

Take Action Support the Rejection of Medicaid Expansion in HB 59 From 1989 to 2009 Ohio's Medicaid costs increased by 240%. Even without expansion, Medicaid is projected to cost an additional $1/2 billion more in this budget.  A further expansion is financially unsustainable.  Ohio's Medicaid program covers parents anywhere from 90 to 96% of the Federal Poverty Level.  This extension is directed towards a completely different population - able-bodied adults, most of whom do not have dependents.  They will be relatively young (19 - 34 years old) and will be more male than female. Medicaid patients receive inferior care (if any at all), with the highest risk of death. They are almost twice as likely to die in the hospital while uninsured patients are about 25% less likely than those with Medicaid to die in the hospital. Hospitals and physicians will have to shift financial burdens carried due to low reimbursement rates, to people carrying private insurance.  A study done in 2008 showed that the average family's private health insurance cost $1,800 more due to this cost shift, which is only going to increase.  As private insurance becomes more and more expensive, employers will drop the benefit altogether, or reduce full time employees to part-time, which many companies are already doing.  This will throw even more people into the Medicaid program.     Call the Members of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee Let them know that you support the rejection of Medicaid Expansion in HB 59.   Click Here for a Complete List of all the Finance Committee Members

Action Alert: Stop Medicaid Expansion in Ohio

With the Ohio House going back into session, we have been informed that the House Finance & Appropriations Committee will be meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 to discuss Governor Kasich's Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.

Besides using misleading information, Governor Kasich has stooped to new lows and has shown he is morally bankrupt in the manner and tactics he is using to expand Obamacare in Ohio.  

In tactics that bring reminders of the way President Obama & Nancy Pelosi rammed Obamacare down America's throat - after having an Obamacare supporting political appointee of his attack the Tea Party movement in Ohio - Governor Kasich's, argument for expanding Medicaid has went from being for financial reasons, to pro-life reasons, religious reasons and he even pulled the progressive card of "fairness".

The only way we can stop this expansion of Medicaid in Ohio under Obamacare is for you to speak up and speak out.

Take Action Now

Senate President Faber & OH Rep. Matt Huffman have recently spoke on the perils of expanding Medicaid in Ohio under Obamacare -- sadly, the OH Representative from the Cleveland area who serves on the Finance Committee, Rep. Marlene Anielski, is leaning towards Medicaid expansion and refuses to even return constituent phone calls

Representative Marlene Anielski 
PH#: (614)644-6041
Email: Click Here

You can find contact info for House Finance Committee members by clicking here.

We are also taking the unprecedented action of asking you to call members of the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee (ORP SCC).  While some will claim the ORP SCC shouldn't get involved, this is a flawed argument as we are trying to sway members of the Ohio Republican Party.

Furthermore, some of the ORP SCC members ran as so-called "Tea Party" candidates in the last State Central Committee race. Claiming they would be the voice of the Tea Party in these backroom meetings, many have lost their voice and have quickly forgotten why they were elected and who they were elected to represent. And as we posted then - many of these so-called Tea Party candidates were not Tea Party at all!

Below are members of the ORP SCC for Senate Districts covering Cuyahoga County and surrounding counties.  The ones denoted with *** claimed to be Tea Party or sent out literature with Tea Party logos during their campaign for ORP SCC.

Please contact as many of the ORP SCC members listed below as you can, and ask that they come out publicly against Medicaid expansion in Ohio. 

Senate District 21 / (Cuyahoga County)

Sue Rodman 

PH #: (216)381-5861

Email: rodmanreal@aol.com

Senate District 23 / (Cuyahoga County)

Bob Bennett ***

PH #: (216)961-8400

Email: bennett@ohiogop.com

Diane Stover ***

PH #: (440)888-8170

Email: dianestover@aol.com

Senate District 24 / (Cuyahoga County)

Jeff Dean ***

PH #: (440)247-2888

Email: dean@en.com

Nancy Suhadolnik ***

PH #: (440)846-6666

Email: nancegop@roadrunner.com

Senate District 25 (Cuyahoga / Lake County)

Dan Carter ***

PH #: (216)392-4509

Email: carter@buckleyking.com

Brittany Williams

PH #: (440)781-9038

Email: bwilliams@cuyahogacountygop.com 

Surrounding Counties

Senate District 22 / (Medina)

Jim Woods ***

PH #: (330)241-5228

Email: jimwoods@mcfan.org

Sharon Ray ***

PH #: (330)461-3599

Email: sharonray2002@yahoo.com

Senate District 13 (Lorain / Huron County)

Bob Rousseau

PH #:(440)288-2739

Email: seau@roadrunner.com

Joyce Houck

PH #: (419)935-8549

Email: rhouck@willard-oh.com

Senate District 18 (Portage / Geauga & Lake)

Andy Manning ***

PH #: (330)678-1403

Email: ohioandy@aol.com

Amy Sabath

PH #: (440)796-8802

Email: aesabath@aol.com

Senate District 27 (Summit / Wayne Counties)

Roy Ray

PH #: (239)947-2981

Email: royleeray@hotmail.com

Lauren LaRose

PH #: N/A

Email: laurenkappa@hotmail.com

# # #

Russian Bomber's Make Practice Runs On U.S. Missile Defense in Asia

In what President Obama defines as a "reset in relations" -- Russia views as weakness, indecisiveness and a Benghazi-type incompetence....

From The Washington Free Beacon --

A Russian bomber recently carried out simulated cruise missile attacks on U.S. missile defenses in Asia, raising new questions about Moscow's goal in future U.S.-Russian defense talks.

According to U.S. officials, a Russian Tu-22M Backfire bomber on Feb. 26 simulated firing air-launched cruise missiles at an Aegis ship deployed near Japan as part of U.S. missile defenses.

A second mock attack was conducted Feb. 27 against a ground-based missile defense site in Japan that officials did not identify further.

The bomber targeting comes as Russia is building up forces in the Pacific by modernizing submarines and building a spy ship specifically for intelligence-gathering against U.S. missile defenses. 

Officials said it was not clear why the Russians conducted the practice strikes. However, the simulations may indicate Moscow has targeted its offensive ballistic missiles on Japan or U.S. military bases in the region. More...

House Starts Talks on Debt Ceiling & 2014 Budget

From Tea Party Patriots --

Next week, the House Committee on Ways & Means is having two important hearings. Below are some basic details to be aware of:

First, on Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing for Members of Congress who have submitted or cosponsored bills in the 112^th and 113^th Congress that address spending prioritization if the debt ceiling is breached. From the Committee’s website:

Congressman Charles W. Boustany Jr., M.D. (R-LA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced the Subcommittee will hold a hearing examining the government’s ability to prioritize its obligations and continue operations should the U.S. Treasury reach its statutory debt limit. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M.

Oral testimony at this hearing will be limited to Members of Congress who have introduced or co-sponsored legislation related to the government’s ability to continue operating when the debt limit has been reached during the 112^th or 113^th Congresses. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Subcommittee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

While it is unlikely the debt ceiling will be breached, this could be a very informative hearing to see which Members of Congress have various ideas to prioritize spending.

On Thursday, another hearing is scheduled – the annual Ways & Means hearing with the Secretary of the Treasury. With the President’s budget scheduled to arrive on April 10, the hearing is being held the next day:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today announced that the Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on President Obama’s budget proposals for fiscal year 2014.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, April 11, 2013, in 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M.

BACKGROUND:

On April 10, 2013, the President is expected to submit his fiscal year 2014 budget proposal to Congress.  The proposed budget will detail his tax proposals for the coming year as well as provide an overview of the budget for the Treasury Department and other activities of the Federal government.  The Treasury plays a key role in many areas of the Committee’s jurisdiction.

In announcing this hearing, Chairman Camp said, “The Ways and Means Committee is committed to comprehensive tax reform that eliminates tax loopholes, simplifies the code, and lowers rates.  Tax reform that accomplishes these goals can strengthen our economy, create more jobs and allow American workers to start seeing an increase in their paychecks again.  This hearing will provide both the Committee an opportunity to review the President’s tax proposals and Treasury Secretary Lew the opportunity to describe how the Administration intends to work with the Committee and Congress to pass and enact comprehensive tax reform.”

While the President’s budget is mostly a formality in general, and especially since it’s over two months late, the hearing should be very informative as to whether or not we’ll actually have normal order for the budget process in Fiscal Year 2014. (I think it’s highly unlikely, given the major differences between the House and Senate budget resolutions, but it’s always possible.)

The function of these hearings is mostly to give Members the ability to create soundbytes for constituents and the media.  However, occasionally, good things come out of these hearings – Senator Cruz’s recent hammering of Attorney General Eric Holder is one example of this. Hopefully, the two hearings will be more like the latter, and less like the former.

OH Senate President Kieth Faber & Rep. Matt Huffman question Governor John "I Love Obamacare" Kasich's Medicaid Expansion

As Governor Kasich continues criss-crossing the state trying to sell his shameful, untruthful and morally bankrupt argument for expanding an unsustainable Medicaid expansion in Ohio under Obamacare, Ohio Senate President Kieth Faber and OH Rep Matt Huffman speak out on the perils of this fiscally irresponsible and financially unsustainable proposal.

While Faber & Huffman should be applauded for speaking out, the OH Representative from the Cleveland area who serves on the Finance Committee, Rep. Marlene Anielski (614)644-6041 (click here to email), is leaning towards Medicaid expansion and refuses to even return constituent phone calls.

From Lima Ohio.com --

LIMA — On the same day that two powerful state legislators — Senate President Keith Faber and state Rep. Matt Huffman — laid out a case why the state needs to move cautiously before accepting federal funds for Medicaid, Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills extolling his proposal to expand the coverage.

Such is the battle that continues to play out among fellow Republicans over Medicaid, a tug-of-war that is soon to come to a head. It pits lawmakers who are trying to rein in government spending against the leader of their party who is on a crusade to help the poor with money provided under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

The battle is becoming so intense that a core of Republicans spent part of last week’s “spring break” in Columbus trying to figure out a deal that would convince the governor to alter his push.

“Our colleagues in the General Assembly could design a better system to take care of the people we all care about,” Faber said Wednesday during a meeting at The Lima News.

Kasich, meanwhile, was in Jackson County arguing a much simpler case.

The governor told a Republican gathering that by accepting Obama’s expansion of the Medicaid program, $13 billion in taxpayer money would come back to Ohio from Washington over seven years.

“This is money that residents have already paid in federal taxes,” Kasich said.

Faber bristles at such talk. He said the plan Obama has put forth feels like an ultimatum more than anything, and said long-term funding of the program is troublesome at best.

“They essentially loaded the revolver and pointed it at the states, and said do this or else,” Faber said. “Nobody really believes this is free money from heaven. You’re essentially borrowing it from China and giving our kids the bill. And then the question is, how sustainable is it? Is it going to stay? You can’t back out of it.”

Without flexibility, the Celina Republican said, “It’s fraught with peril, no matter which way you go.”

Huffman said the problem is that government thinks in “small bites” of time instead of 10 to 20 years in the future. He compared the proposed Medicaid expansion to the funding problems of Social Security, noting it “appeared to be OK and financially affordable at the time, but here we’re looking back now 45 years later, and the whole thing is a disaster.”

Huffman doesn’t want to make another two-year decision that ultimately will be a bad decision over time.

“It’s gotta stop. At some point, the system is going to collapse,” the Lima state representative said.

Local effects

The Medicaid expansion would help individuals who earn up to 138 percent of federal poverty, roughly $15,000 annual income for an individual and $32,000 for a family of four. Many of these individuals who aren’t insured are likely working low-wage jobs without benefits. They may have to limit working because of a mental health condition that isn’t severe enough to qualify for disability.

For local businesses and organizations, the expansion would assist in a variety of ways.

For the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Allen, Auglaize and Hardin counties, the expansion would help many of their clients by opening up their annual funds to programming beyond health care assistance.

“We’re very concerned for the overall health of our community. We are currently using resources to pay for some of these services. This [Medicaid expansion] would help us to restore some of our programming,” said Phil Atkins, associate director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board. “Many of our clients need services that even expanded Medicaid won’t pay for. … It won’t pay for things like housing. It won’t pay for things like getting people ready for jobs.”

Without the expansion, the board has to be more selective in what they can do for community members. Sometimes that even means rationing health treatments for clients.

At Baton Rouge Health Services Community in Lima, the Medicaid expansion would help about 10 percent of its workforce who work part time without benefits.

“Given that we’ve already endured quite a bit of Medicaid cuts on the reimbursement side, I think having some sort of a relief from the health insurance coverage would really help skilled nursing facilities,” said Georgiana Saffle, president at Baton Rouge.

Leaders from both local hospitals, Lima Memorial Health System and St. Rita’s Medical Center, expressed support for the Medicaid expansion in newspaper columns they wrote for The Lima News in February.

“We are already caring for people regardless of their ability to pay as part of our mission to improve the health of our communities,” wrote Bob Baxter, CEO of St. Rita’s Health Partners. “Expanded Medicaid Eligibility would allow our charity funds to go further and more equitably spread the cost of care.”

Alternative ideas

While Faber and Huffman agreed health care coverage is needed in certain situations, such as those who suffer from mental health problems or those who don’t have benefits through their low-wage jobs, not everyone should necessarily be included within the 138 percent of poverty threshold.

They said the program may not have the best incentives for people.

“The system has to have incentives for people to improve their lives, and not simply service what they want at the moment,” Huffman said. “And when you do that, it’s painful to people. When you say you can’t get this, unless you’re job training, unless you’re getting your education, unless you’re drug-free.”

Huffman also discussed the possibility of larger medical organizations using other monies to care for the poor. Some GOP members, such as Barbara Sears, of Toledo, have also discussed using more state funds than federal funds.

Kasich says state funding is off the table.

“Some in the legislature think we can spend state of Ohio money and reject the federal money. … I won’t tolerate it,” Kasich told the Columbus Dispatch. “We’re not going to make you pay twice. … That’s not acceptable.”

The Kasich administration has been negotiating with the White House since November to use federal funds to pay for some people to buy private insurance.

During the governor’s State of the State address in Lima in February, Kasich told legislators, “Our economy is stronger, our credit is up, we’re doing the right things. … The Lord would not want us to ignore those who are now vulnerable. These are people who played by the rules. They’re hurting.”

The next part of the process is coming soon.

Mike Dittoe, a spokesman for House Speaker William G. Batchelder, told the Dispatch that the Republican caucus has not achieved a consensus on what to do about Medicaid, but expects a bill from the House in two weeks that would show “which direction we’re pointed.”