Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator on Cavuto today

Mark Meckler (One of our National Coordinators for the Tea Party Patriots) will be on Neil Cavuto's TV show today (1pm - 2pm on FOX) discussing efforts to REPEAL AB32!

AB32 is the most far-reaching, intrusive piece of legislation that will absolutely DESTROY our already suffering economy once it is fully implemented, in addition to telling us where to live, what to eat and what to drive.

You can click here for the Face Book link of -- Stop AB 32! Defeat California's job-killing global warming law! Go there sign up and sign the petition.

If you haven't already make sure you go to the National Tea Party Patriots (www.teapartypatriots.org) site where you can sign up, create a profile and track all the calls, faxes, emails you have made. Plus you can join the TPP Google Groups, follow the TPP Blogs and a whole bunch of other fun and informative Tea Party Patriot stuff.

My reality: Big Government vs. Small Business

A couple of months ago I went back to work. Not the kind of work from home work, but physically being a presence in the business my husband and I started 13 years ago. Our years of dedication in its early years afforded me the ability to stay at home once we had kids. But now the honeymoon was clearly over. The economy is on life-support, and we knew we had to audit every facet of our business to make it profitable again.

When a small group of us started the Cleveland Tea Party, I knew that taxes and big government were out of control. That's what fueled me. I knew government had become a beast you don’t tangle with. I’ve seen how suffocating they can become to a small business. When we had a business in another state, I watched that state come in, tear apart my conference room, audit me, threaten me, and scare the crap out of me. The scary man said we owed them over 300K. He wanted us so sign a note saying so and set up payment arrangements. Two phone calls to my attorney ended it right there, and we proved that we had done everything legal, and guess what? We owed them nothing. Nada, Zero, Zip. But that day I learned about the power of big government. By damn they wanted to show me who was boss, and I’m afraid at that, they succeeded.

So after examining every aspect of our business, why am I so surprised that the number one headache I have right now is the government? I think seeing it all sitting there, all the paperwork, tax bills, tax notice increases, and licensing fees has had a way of waking me up from my Mommy coma. The melody of “The Sound of Music” is no longer playing in my head. Now it’s more like the chorus of “I will survive”. It simply gets overwhelming.

I’d love for some liberal to come to my office so I can show them what it takes to “comply” with our Great state of Ohio. How insane the accounting is when you sell products in different counties and the sales tax rates are all different. How much work it takes to “comply” with Ohio BWC. Or, let me show you how our city business income tax just doubled. How about my bill for my corporate accountant that is enormous because the tax laws are enormous. Yesterday I got a notice from the city informing me that the withholding rates were going up and to notify my payroll company. Today I got a notice from Unemployment that those rates are going up. While we’re trying to keep our doors open, I now must pay an increase to cover the multitudes that couldn’t. Then there’s the child support enforcement paperwork that comes through weekly that says I must collect from my subcontractors and forward to the state. And this wouldn’t be complete without giving a “shout out” to payroll taxes. Until you see an amount every week get automatically withdrawn from your checking account to cover the payroll taxes, you just can’t get it.

And just when you think this blog couldn’t get any more depressing, I must tell you about Total Merchant Services in Colorado. They have been one of our merchants for Visa/MasterCard processing. Everything is fine, we process a transaction, and the money shows up in our account in a couple days. Well, on Friday, an $8000.00 deposit was supposed to be there. I was told it was a “glitch” and it would be in my bank on Monday. On Monday I’m informed that they are reviewing us for fraud. After I picked myself off the floor I promptly faxed over the customer contracts with signatures figuring that would be the end of it. Not so fast. Now they admit that no “fraud” is occurring but because we did too much business with them in a week, they will hold the money for 60 days and then review us again to see if we’re worthy to have our own money. And yes folks, this is legal. In fact, I’ve been informed that they can hold any businesses credit card funds for up to 6 months if you sneeze wrong. I suppose this is what happens when the banks and the government are in bed together. They can and will do whatever, whenever they choose. Some quick googling tells me that this practice with merchants is becoming quite common. They call it “stepping out of the parameters of your contract”. Meaning, that if you estimate to them initially that you’ll do 35K a month with them and you have the audacity to give them more business, you’ve stepped out of the parameters of the contract.
Think about it, if you’re a bank you can collect money for a client, charge them a fee to do so and then decide you’re going to keep it for a while and sorry about your luck. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Last night I was warned that if I continued to argue with them on this matter they would put me on a “list” that would prohibit me from being able to process credit cards for 7 years. Why? Because I had the audacity to question them, that’s why.

Big government IS against small business. You can’t be for something while your force our heads under water. And every day, it gets harder and harder to come up for air. That, my friends, is the reality of small business these days. While our president pardons turkeys and throws lavish parties for Hollywood, while our Congress keeps getting fatter, Main Street cries out for help.. Problem is, nobody is listening.

The more big government strangles small business, the freedom of owning a business is eroded. My family is filled with small business owners, and is one reason that motivated us to join our musical forces, and write and record the album “Freedom”. It’s a story in and of itself. Soon I’ll blog about how my dad and I wrote “Give it to me Nation”. And I’ll tell you the true story about the day I wrote the song “Freedom” and the slippery lawmaker who inspired me to write it.
Listen here...

Lieberman: "Nobody thinks that this Bill will Pass"

Talkin' Turkey about Health Care

Below are some great points about the Senate version of the health care bill put out by Take Back Medicine.

Click here for the one page PDF handout that you can hand out to relatives and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday.

From Take Back Medicine --

SENATE HEALTH CARE BILLS ARE THE REAL TURKEYS THIS THANKSGIVING

Reid’s Senate version of ObamaCare calls for:

• Hiding the $1.8 Trillion price tag by not accounting for actual costs.

• Major reductions in Medicare benefits to seniors.

• Major Tax Increases on every American to pay for it all.

• Reid called for increasing the Medicare payroll tax.

THE AAPS SURVEYS SHOWS THAT 70% OF DOCTORS WOULD REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PUBLIC PLAN IN THIS BILL

“TALKING TURKEY” (Courtesy: www.PatientsFirst.com)

1. Harry Reid has had his bill for 6 weeks – shouldn’t the American people have the same time period to review it and know what the bill contains? After all, 2,074 pages isn’t exactly light reading.

2. Some treatments could be deemed unnecessary – A government task force recently declared that mammograms for women younger than 50 were not recommended. The Health and Human Services Secretary quickly backed away from her task force’s declaration, but under these bills unaccountable bureaucracies would have vast new powers to coerce doctors to follow their recommendations.

3. Young people would be required to pay higher premiums – A study by actuarial firm Oliver Wyman found the restrictive new insurance regulations in both the House and Senate bills would increase premiums for young people by 69 percent.

4. Everyone would be forced to purchase costly plans – Requiring everyone to purchase expensive health care plans with high premiums – and not allowing people to choose affordable options that meet their budgets and needs – would mean lower-cost high-deductible plans would no longer be available.

5. Loads of new taxes – Nonpartisan experts at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have concluded that new excise taxes on medical devices would be passed on to patients, increasing insurance premiums and increasing prices on everything from wheelchairs to pacemakers. The tax increases in the Senate bill add up to almost $500 billion.

6. Expands Medicaid and shifts costs – The Senate bill would force 15 million Americans into the flawed Medicaid program, which 4 in 10 doctors won’t accept because the program underpays providers. Studies show that expanding the program directly increases costs for everyone else, since doctors and hospitals must make up for their losses under Medicaid by shifting costs to other patients.

7. Taxes “Cadillac” and union plans – The new 40 percent tax on high-end “Cadillac” health insurance plans (any plan over $8,500 for an individual or $23,000 for a family) would force companies to shift costs to employees or to reduce the value of the health benefits they provide.

8. Government-forced health care mandates on employers would require employers to pay up to 8% higher payroll taxes in the House bill and $750 per employee in the Senate bill. This will result in lower pay and job losses, especially for low-income workers.

9. Medicare benefits would be slashed by over $400 billion, reducing benefits for seniors and jeopardizing access to care for millions of others. If these cuts do not materialize, then the bills will dramatically increase deficits.

10. Millions will still be uninsured. Even though the whole health care system will be turned upside-down, the CBO says at the end of 10 years there will still be 24 million uninsured Americans under the Senate bill.

SENATE DEMOCRATS BILL “BY THE NUMBERS”
From Sen. Tom Coburn, MD (OK)

0 — provisions guaranteeing taxpayers do not finance abortion
0 — provisions prohibiting the rationing of health care
0 — number of senators required to enroll in the new government-run plan
8 — number of new taxes created in the bill, according to JCT analysis
13 — pages in the bill’s table of contents
20.8 – pounds the bill weighs printed out
36 — pages in the CBO estimate of the price tag
70 — government programs authorized by the bill
1,697 — times the Secy. of HHS is given authority to create, determine, or define things in the bill
2,074 — pages in the bill

3,607 — uses of the word "shall" in the bill
$6.8 million — cost to taxpayers per word
24 million — people left without health insurance
$1.2 billion — cost to taxpayers per page
$5-$10 billion — additional funding needed for the IRS to implement the bill
$8 billion —taxes levied on uninsured individuals
$25 billion —additional Medicaid mandates placed on states
$28 billion —new taxes on employers not providing government approved plans
$100 billion — estimated annual fraud in Medicare and Medicaid $118 billion —cuts to Medicare Advantage
$465 billion — total cuts to Medicare
$494 billion — revenue from new taxes/fees levied on American families and businesses
$2.5 trillion — cost for full implementation of the legislation
$12 trillion — total U.S. national debt

What is Cloture?

We want to thank Amy & Jeff of the Medina Tea Party Patriots for forwarding over the link for the website Take Back Medicine.

A Dr. David Lowther sent this email into www.takebackmedicine.com --

What is Cloture?

According to this Reference:

"By 1915 (under President Woodrow Wilson), the Senate had become a breeding ground for filibusters. In the final weeks of the Congress that ended on March 4, one administration measure related to the war in Europe tied the Senate up for 33 days and blocked passage of 3 major appropriations bills. Two years later, as pressure increased for American entry into that war, a 23-day, end-of-session filibuster against the president's proposal to arm merchant ships also failed, taking with it much other essential legislation.

For the previous 40 years, efforts in the Senate to pass a debate-limiting rule had come to nothing. Now, in the wartime crisis environment, President Wilson lost his patience. Calling the situation unparalleled, he stormed that the "Senate of the United States is the only legislative body in the world which cannot act when its majority is ready for action. A little group of willful men, representing no opinion but their own (that would be the minority), have rendered the great government of the United States helpless and contemptible." The Senate, he demanded, must adopt a cloture rule.

On March 8, 1917, in a specially called session of the 65th Congress, the Senate agreed to a rule that essentially preserved its tradition of unlimited debate. The rule required a 2/3rds majority to end debate and permitted each member to speak for an additional hour after that before voting on final passage. Over the next 46 years, the Senate managed to invoke cloture on only 5 occasions.

In 1975*****, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds (67) to three-fifths (60) of the current 100 senators."

***** Interesting little side notes I noted trolling the web:

#1: Guess how many Democratic Senators there were in 1975? 60 (the same number needed for cloture as mentioned above).

#2: During the 35 years from 1945 through 1981, the Democrats were the majority in Senate save for 8 years (1st 2 years of Eisenhower's first term and the 1st 6 years of Reagan). During late Eisenhower years through JFK and LBJ, the Democratic Senate majority numbers were as follows: 65, 64, 66, 68, and 64 (ie - total dominance).

When Nixon was elected, their majority slipped to 57, 54, and 56. Once Ford was in place, they regained numbers to 60. So after ceding their 2/3rds control of the Senate during Nixon, they changed the rules while still in the majority and suddenly 60 was the magic number for cloture.

#3: From the moment Cloture was first instituted during Wilson until the Cloture rules were changed from 67 votes necessary to 60 (1975), Cloture was invoked only 21 times. In 1975 alone, it was used 17 times by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

#4: During Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II it was invoked an average of 12 times a session (6 times a year) and ranged from 3 (Carter) to 34 (Bush II).

#5: Since Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, it has been used 90 times.
90.

QUESTION:

So, how do you feel about Harry Reid using a rule that was originally designed as a means of funding WWI by expediting war appropriations bills NOW being used to force Universal Health Care upon the public?

Keep in mind the following:

1. Obama's approval rating is only 47%, his lowest since taking office when he was at 65%. While his approval rating has dropped 18%, his disapproval rating has climbed from 30% to 52% in only 10 months.

2. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's approval rating in her own state of California is only 34%.

3. Senator Harry Reid is behind in his re-election campaign in NV by 10% ("Sue Lowden beating Reid by 10%, 50% to 40%. Lowden is chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and the preferred candidate of the Republican party establishment. GOP hopeful Danny Tarkanian beats Reid by seven points, 50% to 43%").

4. In the race for California's next governor in 2010, Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown are tied at 41% each.

5. After Pelosi's bill passed the House, the public was against the bill 54% v. 42%. Even CA comes in at 51%, down 4% since last week.

To pull a cloture vote on one of the largest entitlement programs in US history, federalize 17% of the economy, and to do it on a Saturday, off the regular news cycle, is an atrocity.

Click Here for the "Health Care Turkey" handout you can give to your family & friends while the Senate is on recess during Thanksgiving.

Senator Voinovich Where Are You?

In the Democrat hijacking of the Vote for Cloture on the health care bill this past Saturday the vote was 60 - 39. That totals 99 Senators. As is still true in what we were taught in Government Class -- our country has 100 Senators -- two for every state.

One Republican senator did not do his job. That one senator would be the State of Ohio's own Senator George Voinovich.

Even though Voinovich's vote would not have stopped the motion for cloture, it would have been a show of solidarity against this country killing version of health care reform. It would have shown that Senator Voinovich has not only heard the voices of the over 54% of Ohioans who do not agree with the health care reform being rammed down our throats but that Senator Voinovich is acting on their wishes.

Up until now Voinovich or his staff would tell all the Tea Party Patriots and 9.12er's contacting them that the Senator is against this health care reform. Really? Then why didn't he show this with action and vote against the Motion for Cloture?

Being a known social conservative who is very much against abortion, and the Senate Bill allowing for federal dollars to be used for abortions -- Voinovich not voting against the Motion for Cloture is a serious cause for concern and shows he may be wavering.

Regardless of whatever reason Senator Voinovich comes up with for not even voting on the Motion for Cloture until his vote is cast -- nothing can be certain. We must take action to hold his vote against the Senate Health Care Bill.

With that we are asking everyone in OH that is against this country-killing health care reform to do the following items:

Contact Senator Voinovich's offices

Washington, D.C. Office Phone: (202) 224-3353 Fax: (202) 228-1382

Columbus Office: Phone: (614) 469-6697 Fax: (614) 469-7733

Cleveland Office: Phone: (216) 522-7095 Fax: (216) 522-7097

Cincinnati Office: Phone: (513) 684-3265 Fax: (513) 684-3269

Toledo Office: Phone: (419) 259-3895 Fax: (419) 259-3899

Reinforce your message that he vote against any further measures advancing the Senate Health Care Bill.Senator Voinovich is retiring at the end of this term, ask if he really wants to end his long political career knowing he turned his back on the Ohio voters and conservatives - again?

• Call OH GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine (614)228-2481

• Call your Republican Party County Chairman (See list below).

• E-mail members of the Republican State Central Committee. (See list below).

Inform these individuals that with his actions, Senator Voinovich is showing that he is NOT listening and is dangerously ignoring the voices of the voters in OH. Ask that as the leaders of the Republican Party in Ohio that they also contact Senator Voinovich (R) and hold him accountable in acting as the voice for the conservative voters in Ohio.

State Central Committee Members

E-mail them as a group by copying / pasting their e-addresses:

1val@sbcglobal.net; acoughlin@neo.rr.com; Aesabath@aol.com; Bennett@ohiogop.org; betkitchen@aol.com; bjbinkley@msn.com; bryancwilliams@verizon.net; Burkeamb@hotmail.com; casey524@aol.com; cetodd1@aol.com; chairman@starkgop.org; christa.criddle@fuse.net; christim@fuse.net; cscal81@zoominternet.net; Curt3638_2000@yahoo.com; cwing@lakewoodrepublicans.org; dalefellows@sbcglobal.net; davebaileybadco@yahoo.com; dean@en.com; DGunning@ralaw.com; dhtalmage@voyager.net; djbjsherman@gmail.com; dmehaffie@woh.rr.com; doug@franklincountygop.org; dwjohnson@summitville.com; edonsim@aol.com; jadavidson@ameritech.net; JBecker@Fuse.net; jeantwinoaks@voyager.net; jowac@aim.com; kay1@zoomnet.net; kjohnston@insight.rr.com; lauragroux@hotmail.com; ledicesae@roppe.com; llf@bright.net; mark@compcoind.com; Montgomery@aol.com; nancegop@adelphia.net; NCLaria@gmail.com; nuts2u2@earthlink.net; Ohioandy@aol.com; owenhall@owenhall.com; payne@ohiogop.org; pflanaga@aol.com; ph@putnamtruckload.net; philbow@roadrunner.com; phog@northcoastwindandpower.com; phyllismosley1234@yahoo.com; randylaw4ohio@aol.com; rexdamschroder@yahoo.com; rhouck@willard-oh.com; seau@adelphia.net; Spaethchair@aol.com; srjones5@sbcglobal.net; Stewartd@mcohio.org; swain5030@yahoo.com; tmorgan@gradyhospital.com; mauk@ohiogop.org; gormley@ohiogop.org; chairman@ohiogop.org

Republican Party County Chairmen

Find your county Chair & call him/her:

Allen Keith Cheney 419-228-7040 / 419-331-5655

Ashland Bob DeSanto 419-289-1710 / 419-289-1454

Ashtabula Richard Hornstein 440-992-4008 / 440-576-6925

Athens Pete Couladis 740-589-9914

Belmont Kent Moore 740-676-0206

Brown Paul Hall 800-525-4255

Butler Joseph Schwarz 513-893-5292

Carroll David Jones 330-735-2200

Champaign Ron Coder 937-653-6073 / 937-653-1477

Clark Dan Harkins 937-324-8482 / 937-307-0607

Clermont Tim Rudd 513-876-3466 / 513-732-1611

Clinton Roger Bennett 937-382-3778 / 937-382-3444

Columbiana David Johnson 330-223-1511

Coshocton David Burns 740-622-8960 / 740-622-2011

Crawford Don Long 419-562-8739

Cuyahoga Robert Frost 216-621-5415

Darke Gerg Fraley 937-548-0313

Defiance Jeffrey Strausbaugh 419-782-2625 / 419-784-3700

Delaware Teri Morgan 614-888-6085

Erie Jude Hammond 419-433-3031 / 419-627-6650

Fairfield Steve David 740-689-1746

Fayette Robin Beekman 740-426-6273

Fulton Sandra Barber 419-335-4428 / 419-337-9282

Gallia Lawrence Tawney 740-446-1856

Geauga 440-834-0680

Greene Marilyn Reid 937-431-5000

Guernsey Donald Brown 740-439-3443 / 740-432-5638

Hamilton Alex Triantafilou 513-381-5454

Hancock Rick White 419-422-3824

Hardin James Crates 419-675-7272 / 419-673-1129

Harrison Dennis Watson 740-968-0112

Henry David Grahn 419-592-5520 / 419-592-3503

Highland Kay Ayers 937-393-6512

Hocking Rod Hedges 740-385-6044 / 740-385-5392

Holmes Robin Hovis 330-674-3763 / 330-674-5000

Huron David Kniffen 419-668-4622 / 419-668-7576

Jackson Alan Stockmeister 740-286-2122

Jefferson Rick Desmar 740-283-3981

Knox Ken Lane 740-397-2462 / 800-307-8038

Lake Dale Fellows 440-352-0704

Lawrence Ray Dutey 740-532-1760 / 740-533-4308

Licking Richard Salvage 740-973-5440

Logan Robert Erwin 937-593-7120 / 937-593-9065

Lorain Robert Rousseau 440-235-6298

Lucas Bernadette Noe 419-842-1777

Madison Pete Kitchen 614-879-7044 / 614-879-6400

Mahoning Mike Smith 330-482-0200

Marion Karyle Mumper 740-389-4329 / 740-244-4344

Medina Ralph Berry 330-723-0415

Meigs Charles Barrett 740-742-2578 / 740-992-2911

Mercer Owen Hall 419-586-4078 / 419-586-7728

Miami John O'Brien 937-339-1112 / 937-332-6912

Monroe Roger Clause 740-567-3168

Montgomery Patrick Flanagan 937-434-0734 / 937-223-5200

Morgan Dean Cain 740-559-2248

Morrow Dan Osborne 419-947-3435

Muskingum Pat Hennessey 740-454-2841 / 740-454-1221

Ottawa Terry Lowe 419-898-0628 / 419-898-6874

Paulding Tony Langham 419-399-4933

Perry Dave Freriks 740-342-4130 / 740-605-0647

Pickaway Jeffrey Call 740-869-3884

Portage Norm Sandvoss 330-297-5718

Pike Doug Miller 740-493-2459 / 740-493-3199

Preble Hal Yoder 937-456-8148

Putnam Gary Grant 419-596-3327 / 419-596-3848

Richland Mike Smith 419-524-1808

Ross Ron Fields 740-775-2323

Sandusky Lee Shaffer 419-665-2316 / 419-332-1527

Scioto Dr. Terry Johnson Tjohnson@somc.org

Seneca Charles Knight 419-435-4000

Shelby Ralph Bauer 937-295-3714 / 937-497-7222

Stark 330-456-6333

Summit Alex Arshinkoff 216-650-5055 / 330-434-9151

Trumbull Craig Bonar 330-638-3251 / 330-392-2511

Tuscarawas Doug Wills 330-343-6131

Union Jim Westfall 937-642-0869

Van Wert Martin Burchfield 419-238-5198 / 419-238-6553

Vinton Patricia Napier 740-385-5898

Warren Tom Grossmann 513-357-9384 /513-754-8660

Washington Marilyn Ashcraft 740-373-6830 / 740-732-2331

Wayne Jim Carmichael 330-264-4744 / 330-466-1474

Williams Bob Winzeler 419-485-3543 / 419-485-3147

Wood John Miller 419-354-5927

Wyandot Sherman Stansberry 419-294-3237

Go Get 'em Patriots!

Cloture Vote on Health Care was a Historical Hijacking of the Political Process

By this time we are all aware of the shenanigans with the health care bill in the Senate yesterday

"We the People" -- not just conservatives, Tea Party Patriots and 9.12 members, but the American public as a whole should be outraged by the way the votes for this procedural motion took place. This wasn't a legitimate vote on moving the Senate Bill forward -- this was an unmatched historical highjacking of the political process!

Notice how not only did they "buy" the votes from another elected idiot from Louisiana, the deciding vote was from Kennedy's old seat. The same seat they changed the rules so they could give it to a democrat -- former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk -- anticipating the need for every vote they could muster for this health care chicanery.

So by buying off Rep. Cao in the House, Landrieu in the Senate and stealing the appointment of the MA Senate seat for the 60th vote they got the bill on the Floor. Was this a transparent victory on good policy and political partisanship? Not hardly.... this mockery was more like a move out of the Politboro.

Keeping in step with parliamentary procedure maybe "We the People" should 'move' that the White House be temporarily renamed -- The Red Shed on the Hill.

Can I get a "Second"?