53 Days to Defund Obamacare : and Sen. Tom Coburn needs to hear from you

If you have not yet signed the online petition Don’tFundIt, go here.  You will receive an email to confirm that you intended to sign the petition. As of 2 pm on Thursday, Aug. 8, there were nearly 275,000 signatures, and counting.

53 Days to Defund Obamacare

The Washington Free Beacon identifies two prominent Senators who oppose the defund-Obamacare-in-the-continuing-resolution strategy, but offering no viable alternatives. And it is especially unfortunate that Tom Coburn, a physician, is one of them: 

Several Republican senators have come out against the effort to defund.

“The strategy that has been laid out is a good way for Republicans to lose the House,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) has said.

Coburn said the idea “will not work,” while Sen. Richard Burr (R., N.C.) has called the idea “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.” 

“The public is not supportive of shutting down the government in order to defund the law,” Roy said of what he believes are political liabilities in the plan. [emphases added]

GET WITH THE PROGRAM: The whole point of Sen. Cruz’s strategy is to NOT shut down the government, but instead to defund Obamacare as a provision of passing the Continuing Resolution that keeps the government funded.

Click here for previous CTPP blogs with contact details for Sen. Rob Portman and Speaker John Boehner. Other legislators you can add to your list to call/ mail / fax are

Sen. Tom Coburn
Washington D.C.:
Main: 202-224-5754
Fax: 202-224-6008

1800 South Baltimore
Suite 800
Tulsa, OK 74119
Main: 918-581-7651
Fax: 918-581-7195

100 North Broadway, Suite 1820
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Main: 405-231-4941
Fax: 405-231-5051

Sen. Richard Burr
Federal Building
151 Patton Avenue, Suite 204
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone: (828) 350-2437
Fax: (828) 350-2439

100 Coast Line Street, Room 210
Rocky Mount, NC 27804
Phone: (252) 977-9522
Fax: (252) 977-7902

Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-3154
Fax: (202) 228-2981

2000 West First Street,  Suite 508
Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Phone: (800) 685-8916
Phone: (336) 631-5125
Fax: (336) 725-4493

City Hall
181 South Street, Room 222
Gastonia, NC 28052
Phone: (704) 833-0854
Fax: (704) 833-1467

201 North Front Street
Suite 809
Wilmington, NC 28401
Phone: (888) 848-1833
Phone: (910) 251-1058
Fax: (910) 251-7975

Rep. Paul Ryan
20 South Main Street, Suite 10
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 752-4050

5455 Sheridan Road, Suite 125 
Kenosha, WI 53140 
Phone: (262) 654-1901 
Fax: (262) 654-2156

216 6th Street 
Racine, WI 53403 
Phone: (262) 637-0510 
Fax: (262) 637-5689

Melt those phones and stuff those mailboxes!

55 Days to Obamacare -- Waivers Galore - Action Plans

If you have not yet signed the online petition Don’tFundIt hosted by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), go here. You will receive an email to confirm that you intended to sign the petition. As of 2 pm on Tuesday, Aug. 6, there were over 214,800 signatures. We need to get that number into the millions.

Obamacare Waivers Galore

Big Corporations: Exempt R

Big Unions: Exempt R   and here  and here

The IRS: Exempt  R 

The state of Maine: Exempt R 

And now Congress and their staff: Exempt R 

From PJ Media a few days ago:

Republicans in the House and Senate are on fire over the news that the White House will exempt members of Congress and their staff from Obamacare’s exchanges. 

One pair of congressmen even have a constitutional amendment that would require members to live under the same laws as every other American, though they said Thursday’s introduction coinciding with the exemption report was just good timing. “Well, on the very day that Matt Salmon and I introduce a constitutional amendment prohibiting Congress from exempting themselves from the laws that they pass, we get word that the Obama Administration has created an administrative rule that will relieve members of Congress and their staffs from the higher health care costs that the rest of America will bear under the 2010 health care law,” Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) wrote on his Facebook page. [emphasis added]

This gets more and more outrageous. And why should we need an amendment to ensure equal protection when we already have the 14th amendment? 

Here’s the August and September plan: after you sign the online petition, start calling your congresspersons. And start sending postcards. We recommend postcards for several reasons: 1) they are cheap - 33¢ postage  2) you can buy a stack at the post office pre-stamped; saves time  3) you can type up (once) Avery labels addressed to your senators and congressperson, as well as any other members of Congress of your choice (such as Paul Ryan) and once you've done that, print out as many sheets as you need; it then takes only a few seconds to stick the label on and write out your message  4) your handwritten messages can be short and sweet; sign your postcard and affix a return address label, and off it goes. Also, postcards mailed to Ohio offices instead of DC offices arrive sooner – fewer security delays.

Your message to Senator Rob Portman could be something like

Vote FOR the CR to prevent a government shut-down.

DE-FUND Obamacare in the CR.

Contact info for Senator Portman:

448 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-3353

1240 East 9th Street

Room 3061

Cleveland, OH 44199

Phone: 216-522-7095

312 Walnut St.

Suite 3075

Cincinnati, OH 45202

Phone: 513-684-3265

Contact info for wobbly GOP Speaker Speaker John Boehner:

Butler County Office  PH (513) 779-5400

Miami County Office PH (937) 339-1524

Clark County Office   PH (937) 322-1120

D.C. Office

PH  (202) 225-6205

FAX (202) 225-0704

And his mailbox (more postcards):

Speaker John Boehner

7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B

West Chester, OH 45069

Melt the phones and stuff the mailboxes! More to come. 

56 Days Left to Delay Obamacare ~ Paul Ryan: What are you thinking?

If you have not yet signed the online petition Don’tFundIt, go here. You will receive an email to confirm that you intended to sign the petition. As of 6:45 pm on Monday, Aug. 5, there were over 202,400 signatures. We need to get that number into the millions.

According to the first paragraph in the Politico report below, Paul Ryan is already muddying the water. 

Hey Rep. Ryan: Sen. Ted Cruz’s plan to delay Obamacare is to NOT shut down the government but instead to pass the Continuing Resolution as long as funding for Obamacare is eliminated entirely. We might expect this sort of thing from the usual RINOs, but what a shame Paul Ryan is taking this position. Here’s the report at Politico:

The chairman of the House Budget Committee says there's a better way of repealing President Barack Obama's health care law than shutting down the government this fall — a path some Republican conservatives are backing. 

“We, all Republicans, want to repeal and replace Obamacare. … We’re having a debate about the best way of achieving that goal, the best strategy,” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Sunday on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” 

Ryan, who was the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2012, pointed out that a government shutdown wouldn't impact entitlements, including Obamacare.“Rather than sort of-swinging for the fences and take this entire law out … I think there are more effective ways of achieving that goal,” Ryan said. “We think we can do better by delaying this law. … I think there is going to be a better strategy to actually achieve our goal of ultimately delaying and ultimately replacing Obamacare.”

Congress is on recess. Not too soon to start to call your congress critters. 

57 Days to Obamacare : Counting Down

Congress is now on recess. This month is the time to use that recess to delay implementation of Obamacare. If you have not yet signed the online petition Don’tFundIt, go here. After you enter your name and e-address, you will receive an email (from "Senate Conservative" - and no, you do not have to make a contribution!) to confirm that you intended to sign the petition. As of 12:50 pm on Sunday, Aug. 4, there were over 192,000 signatures. We need to get that number into the millions.

So what is the plan? Below is the report of the Tele-Town Hall meeting last Thursday with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), Jenny Beth Martin, and thousands of Tea Party Patriots. If you missed the conference call, click on the embed link on the TPP page to hear the whole thing. 

From Tea Party Patriots:

Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator Jenny Beth Martin stood with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and other opponents of Obamacare to call upon Congress and the President to delay implementation of the troubled law. Last night, Senator Cruz, Jenny Beth, and Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) spoke to nearly 50,000 Tea Party activists in a tele-town hall, explaining how to force Washington to give the American people the same relief from Obamacare the President unilaterally gave Congress and its staff.

The tele-town hall can be heard in full and is embedded on the TPP website here:

Senator Cruz started the conversation frankly, admitting right now he and his allies don’t have the votes necessary to delay Obamacare. He told listeners that he needs all of us to join over 150,000 Americans in urging Congress to delay implementation by signing up at www.dontfundit.com. He also urged everyone to call, e-mail, and otherwise tell their Members of Congress to support delaying Obamacare, and then tell 10 friends and family members to do the same.

The Senator reminded everyone that things are changing in Washington. Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) filibuster earlier this year and the gun debate that took place shortly after that totally reversed the Beltway’s course of action. Rather than ignore the will of the people, both President Obama (on drones) and Congress (on guns) listened to your loud, principled voices.

Representative Bridenstine opened his comments by addressing some of the falsehoods opponents of the delay effort have promoted:

First, they claim Obamacare is largely mandatory spending, and thus can’t be stopped with a Continuing Resolutions (CR). However, so-called “riders” have been attached to CRs for decades. It’s a common practice and can be used in this case.

Second, the narrative from many establishment Republicans, Democrats, and the media is that Senator Cruz and his allies are trying to shut down the government. This is demonstrably false – the goal is to fund the government except for Obamacare. Furthermore, even if the government shuts down, mandatory spending still continues.

The Congressman also noted that he would not normally support a CR of the kind that’s likely to be debated, but Obamacare is important enough to make it the issue to address. He advised the House to pass a CR and then leave Washington, putting significant pressure on President Obama and Senate Democrats to either go along with the House or be responsible for shutting down the government.

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin spoke on labor unions and businesses that have received special treatment and waivers from The Obama Administration. Even with those favors, three major unions have publicly withdrawn their support of  Obamacare. Incredibly, less than an hour after the tele-town hall ended, the Administration unilaterally exempted Members of Congress and their staffs from Obamacare, thus saving Members of Congress money while continuing to bill their health insurance costs to you the taxpayer.

Jenny Beth reminded everyone of Tea Party Patriots’ message to Washington and America: We want to fund the government, but Obamacare needs to be delayed. Anything to the contrary is demonstrably false.

Senator Cruz was asked about why Republicans are so afraid to stand with him. He explained that many of them fear being blamed for a government shutdown, as happened in 1995. However, he also explained that the “shutdown” is no such thing.

It’s a partial shutdown, with many areas of the federal government funded by mandatory spending – as well as interest payments – exempt from being shut down. And while the 1995 shutdown was bad for the GOP, it was good for the country, as it helped lead the nation to lower spending for several subsequent years.

There are significant differences between now and then that should help with the success of our effort, the Senator pointed out:

First, today there are better communicators for the message.

Second, there is the ability to get hundreds of thousands of Americans behind the effort.

Congressman Bridenstine noted that even Democrats want the health care law overturned, as he sees every day in constituent communication.

Both Tea Party-minded Members gave some insights into how the GOP leadership works when it comes to prioritization of policy. Senator Cruz shared how a Senator wanted to force a CR stand-off with sequestration while ignoring the much bigger (and easier to gather support regarding) problem of Obamacare.

Congressman Bridenstine pointed out that the GOP keeps saying continuing the spending reductions in sequester is a major victory. He’s been in office for seven months, and this is at least the third time he has been told holding to the sequester will be a victory. He nailed his colleagues by pointing out Obamacare is far more important because once the subsidies start flowing in 2014, they are highly unlike to stop. Senator Cruz agreed, and noted that’s why it’s so important to get the facts right. For example, the goal is not to shut a government shutdown. The goal is to stand strong with the American people against a law from which many special interests have been exempted.

Jenny Beth Martin brought up $684 million in funding for Obamacare marketing included in the law. This is enough money to cover two presidential campaigns worth of advertising. It will have a tremendous ability to sway hearts and minds for elections. Senator Cruz urged listeners to call politically vulnerable Democrats as well as Republicans, to mobilize as large a coalition for delay as possible. Congressman Bridenstine explained that the goal should be to make it more politically dangerous to do the wrong thing.

The right thing is to delay Obamacare now, before its damage can’t be undone.

- See more at TPP. 

Up next: action plans for Cleveland Tea Party Patriots.

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots in the news

Ralph King

August 4, 2013 – Excerpts from the AP today, via The Hill e-alert

TEA PARTY PLANS TO 

ABANDON GOP STARS

BY MICHAEL J. MISHAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI (AP) -- This wasn't the revolution the tea party had in mind.
Four years ago, the movement and its potent mix of anger and populism persuaded thousands of costumed and sign-waving conservatives to protest the ballooning deficit and President Obama's health care law. It swept a crop of no-compromise lawmakers into Congress and governor's offices and transformed political up-and-comers, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, into household names.

But as many tea party stars seek re-election next year and Rubio considers a 2016 presidential run, conservative activists are finding themselves at a crossroads. Many of their standard-bearers have embraced more moderate positions on bedrock issues such as immigration and health care, broadening their appeal in swing states but dampening grass-roots passion.

"They keep sticking their finger in the eyes of the guys who got them elected," said Ralph King, a co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots. "A lot of people are feeling betrayed."

The tea party is a loosely knit web of activists, and some are hoping to rekindle the fire with 2014 primary challenges to wayward Republicans. But many more say they plan to sit out high-profile races in some important swing states next year, a move that GOP leaders fear could imperil the re-election prospects of former tea party luminaries, including the governors of Florida and Ohio.

"It changes the playing field for us," said Tom Gaitens, former Florida director of FreedomWorks, a political action committee that has spent millions of dollars to help tea party candidates. "The most powerful thing we have as a movement is our feet and our vote."

In the summer of 2009, tea party supporters stormed congressional town hall meetings, shouting down lawmakers who had voted for the bank bailout and the stimulus package. The movement's voice grew louder after Democrats passed the health care overhaul, and voters took their outrage to the polls in 2010. The tea party wave stunned Democrats and many moderate Republicans, sweeping the GOP into control of the House and changing the balance of power in many statehouses.
. . .

Fla. Gov. Rick Scott, a former health care company executive who won office by attacking the health law and calling for deep cuts to state spending, has embraced the health law and signed one of the largest budgets in state history, complete with pay raises for teachers. Similarly, Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, and Rick Snyder, R-Mich., are battling their GOP-dominated legislatures to expand Medicaid, a big part of the health law.

Tea party supporters were most struck by Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants. His personal story and unlikely rise to power made him perhaps the most prominent figure in the movement.

As a Senate candidate in 2010, he denounced as "amnesty" any plan that would offer a path to citizenship for those who were in the country illegally. Yet in recent months, he has emerged as a leader of a bipartisan Senate group that developed a plan that includes such a provision. The plan has been panned by conservatives but ultimately could bolster Rubio's standing with Hispanics, a growing demographic group that has voted overwhelmingly Democratic in recent years.
. . .
The movement's top strategists acknowledge the tea party is quieter today, by design. It has matured, they said, from a protest movement to a political movement. Large-scale rallies have given way to strategic letter-writing and phone-banking campaigns to push or oppose legislative agendas in Washington and state capitals. In Michigan and Ohio, for example, leaders have battled the implementation of the president's health law and the adoption of "Common Core" state school standards.

Local activists say they have focused largely on their own communities since Obama's re-election and the ideological drift of some tea party-backed politicians. Many are running for school boards, county commissions and city councils, focusing on issues such as unfunded pension liabilities and sewer system repairs.

"The positions that people are filling at the local levels are more important for the future of the movement and the future of the country," said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, a national umbrella organization. "It's creating a farm team for the future."
. . . 

Read the rest of the article here.

Ted Cruz: 61 Days to Defund Obamacare

The conference call with Senator Ted Cruz (TX), Congressman Jim Bridenstine (OK) last night started to map out the strategy for August. Jeffrey Lord at American Spectator ran this report  ("Conservative base fights Washington elites: Reagan’s tigers or Establishment rabbit") yesterday:

The fight is on.

A growing — and furious — fight between the conservative base of the Republican Party and its Establishment elites in Washington is rapidly taking shape.

Senator Ted Cruz took to Sean Hannity’s television show Tuesday night and took on Karl Rove, who had immediately preceded him on the show. In response to Rove’s strategy (Rove compared the defunding strategy to the famous — and losing — Pickett’s Charge of the Battle of Gettysburg). Cruz immediately countered by saying that while he wasn’t a military strategist he was pretty sure 100% of battles were lost if one surrendered before the battle began. 

The next morning Cruz was at the Heritage Foundation (seen here at Right Scoop) explaining how the defeat of gun control earlier this year can be used as a template to defeat ObamaCare.

As was discussed earlier this week in this space, this has become a battle between what Ronald Reagan once called “rabbits” and “tigers.” Reagan, a tiger himself on these matters, was furious with House Republicans when they abandoned him on a veto of a pork-laden “Clean Water Bill” out of fear of being labeled “anti-environment.” Reagan himself was targeted by Democrats over this veto and he never flinched, angry that House Republicans had abandoned principle. 

Reagan is gone, but his political heirs — his tigers — are very much in evidence in the fight to defund Obamacare.

Sign the online petition  here.

Delay the Funding for Obamacare: preliminary report

Preliminary report on the Tele Town Hall - August 1, 2013

9:30PM - This evening, thousands of Tea Party Patriots got on a conference call with Senator Ted Cruz (TX), Congressman Jim Bridenstine (OK), and Tea Party Patriots Co-Founder, Jenny Beth Martin to strategize how Congressional GOP leaders plan to use the upcoming Continuing Resolution (needing renewal in 60 days) to DEFUND Obamacare -- and how WE will help them do it. This strategy will delay Obamacare until a repeal can be proposed. 

It was a wonderful conference call -- and inspiring to be part of the process. This is how government is supposed to work. Engaged congressional leaders with moral clarity and an energized and active citizenry - working together. August WILL be busy!

Full details will be relayed tomorrow, but for now, you will want to sign (and get everyone you know to sign) the online petition started by Sen. Ted Cruz. The link to his Ramparts page is here  and it in turn links to the Don'tFundIt.com website here. We'll be keeping this link visible throughout August -- and our plan is to be a part of veritable tsunami of phone calls, letters, office visits, and of course whatever you can contribute to Tea Party Patriots.