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Written by Alan
Reasin
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Friday, 08 May 2009 15:15 |
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 The ACP stands for smaller government and control of spending by said institutions, however this applies to state and local governments as well as the federal government. The federal government's uncontrolled spending has been a major news item for the past 8 months, but with California and New York effectively bankrupt, our party and citizens need to look closer to home as well.
In Maryland, we presently have a Democratic governor and a overwhelming Democratic General Assembly (legislature) with few blue dog Democrats; the House of Delegates has 104 Democrats and 37 Republicans; the Senate has 33 Democrats and 14 Republicans. As one can see, even a conservative to moderate Democrat would have difficulty challenging the tax and spend tendencies of our liberal Democratic Assembly. Maryland has no term limits for the Assembly, however, as everyone knows the voters are responsible for this arrangement; they are now seeing the cost of that voting record come home to roost in a major way. Maryland's constitution requires a balanced budget, but as most know politicians have a knack of finding loop holes in that requirement, but it looks like our General Assembly has exhausted that remedy. Marylanders are facing increased taxation this year and a sales tax increase of 1 cent, from 5% to 6%, is one that was enacted. Since there have been no major cuts in spending programs and with the tax receipts having decreased by more than $1.5 billion, there needed to be additional efforts made to balance the budget. Therefore the government has been laying off workers and has required the cutting of hours for some state workers. These efforts are noticeably in the Department of Transportation and the social services. I am always suspicious of such cuts since they are very obvious to the citizenry and allow the politicians to say, "see the impact, we need a tax increase." |
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Written by C.Domino
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Saturday, 24 October 2009 15:50 |
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The American Conservative Party recommendation list for the 2009 Texas constitutional amendment ballot is out! There are eleven amendments on a variety of important subjects, such as eminent domain, sneaky government seizures, stealth entrenchment of officeholders, and fairness in property taxation. Please see the forum post for both a brief summary and in-depth examination. You can download a one page summary here. |
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Written by Erich
Barlow
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Tuesday, 11 August 2009 06:55 |
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The Congress is now in recess and the sales campaign begins. Tonight Congressmen David Wu (D-OR) got a taste of what it is going to be like to try to sell Mr. Obama’s health care plan to the American people. While Mr. Wu has the courage to face his constituents, many of his colleagues do not. Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) has canceled many of his scheduled town hall meetings due to the death threats that he has received. Most of these due to an appearance on a national news show where he talked down those he purports to be representing. He might have forgot who he works for: us, the American people. Those in Congress seem to forget this fight over health care is not such a trivial thing for the average American. This is a matter of life and death; our lives will be at stake not theirs. They can have any insurance “money can buy” but the average American will be forced by the Obama administration to participate in the plan of face a penalty, not to mention they are going to have to pay for more bureaucracy that we cannot afford. I’m proud to say that in Oregon we are open minded to a lot of different things. We are open to an open discourse and a presentation of all the facts so that we can make a decision that is best for us. With the health care reform issue it’s not that way. It is stated that this is what is going to happen and how we plan to implement it.If you want a fair discussion on the subject Congressmen, come to every little town and city and talk to the people no matter what their views. How about listening to the people who elected you to the Congress? Is that too much to ask? We elected you there; we can sure enough take you out of office as well. Oregon, like most of the country, will have this debate. We are at a major changing point for our country. Will we turn to socialism as a savior like those European countries or even Canada? http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/stories/NW_081009ORN-health-town-hall-TP.ca952100.html |
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Written by Lee
Anderson
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Monday, 09 November 2009 20:44 |
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Here are a list of Democratic Senators that have expressed an undecided or no public position to the government Health Care Bill. Please start your calling and writing campaign TODAY asking them to vote "NO". For info on how to contact click here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_i ... rs_cfm.cfm
Openly opposed to the public option: (2)
*Mary Landrieu, D-LA
*Joe Leiberman, D/I-CT
Can't make up their minds or no firm public position: (20)
*Ben Nelson, D-NE
*Bill Nelson, D-FL
*Blanche Lincoln, D-AR
*Byron Dorgan, D-ND
*Diane Feinstein, D-CA
*Evan Bayh, D-IN
*Harry Reid, D-NV
*John Tester, D-MT
*Kay Hagan, D-NC (though she recently said she would support the public option)
*Kent Conrad, D-ND
*Maria Cantwell, D-WA
*Mark Begich, D-AK
*Mark Pryor, D-AR
*Mark Udall, D-CO
*Mark Warner, D-VA
*Max Baucus, D-MT
*Michael Bennett, D-CO
*Robert Byrd, D-WV
*Ron Wyden, D-OR
*Tom Carper, D-DE SAMPLE LETTER I used:
Dear Senator X,
I am asking you to vote "NO" on 3962, Health Care Reform, as presently presented to the US Senate. The reasons for my opposition are many, but please allow me to make a few relevant points from our President and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
President Obama told a New Hampshire town-hall meeting in September that "if we're able to get something right like Medicare, then there should be a little more confidence that maybe the government can have a role." A transcript of the President's speech can be found here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washing... .
So, did the government really get Medicare right? Here is what the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons had to say: 1. "...[flaws with the reimbursement]formula have been so pronounced that Congress has been forced to pass annual temporary measures to keep the system from completely falling apart."
2. "Provisions in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) mandated that CMS increase the conversion factor by at least 1.5 percent in both 2004 and 2005, but did not provide for additional funds to pay for this temporary fix. As a result, the money used to fund the increase must be paid back to the Medicare program, with interest, over the next 10 years."
3. "The Deficit Reduction Act repealed a 4.4 percent cut that went into effect on January 1, 2006, and froze the conversion factor at the 2005 level. The freeze was paid for by cutting reimbursements for other physician services, mainly imaging services."
4. "Decreases in reimbursements will likely prompt many physicians, especially specialty physicians, to reconsider their participation in the Medicare program."
5. "...the present system inadequately accounts for costs and savings from new technologies ..."
6. "... physicians will continue to receive negative updates of approximately 5 percent each year. Regardless of inflation and increases in practice costs, physicians will receive less reimbursement in 2013 than they did in 2002 for the exact same procedure."
7. "The passage of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (HR 6331) halted the 10.6 percent cut in payments to physicians, scheduled to take effect July 1, but guaranteed a 21 percent reduction in 2010."
8. "The true cost of the drug entitlement expansion is still unknown, and the cost projections could be understating the real cost. In 2003, Congressional and White House analysts estimated that the 10-year cost of the program would be in the range of $500 billion to $600 billion; who can say what it will cost when the baby-boomer generation becomes eligible?"
9. "[Reform programs like] HR 6331 [supported by President Obama] would place 2.3 million seniors at risk of losing the health plan coverage of their choice."
10. "... the Medicare program is projected to consume more than half of federal income taxes by 2042."
I have no confidence that the federal government can reform health care if Medicare is held up by the President as the model of hope. The AMA is also a minority group of physicians, representing less than 30% of medical practitioners.
Please vote "No", and let's begin to have a real debate on reform that will make a difference.
Regards,
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