HR 3200: Somethin’s fishy on page 16!

When thinking about government run health care you are considering it a good thing or giving it a second thought…think again.  If you believed the line uttered by the POTUS comforting us all with the assurance that you can keep your Dr…”period”.  Or if the idea of expanding the federal government by the size of several large corporations, or the concept of having the equivalent of the Department of Homeland Security as the gold standard for health care is not enough to convince you this is beyond a bad idea…..then I encourage you to do what EVERY Congressman should do. 

READ THE BILL!

You might find page 16 interesting, where it says your current health insurance company cannot enroll any new clients and if they make ANY changes to your current policy…well, they can’t or it is kaput. 

So much for that.

Who’s Professionally Organizing Exactly?

A friend who signed up at www.my.barackobama.com awhile ago, recently received this letter, of which I copied for you here, removing her name, respecting privacy. As my friend joined just to keep up to date with liberal ideas and the Administration’s side, she thought this was an interesting letter. As she said in her note to me: “Gayle, Who’s doing the organizing here?”

Here is the e-mail she received regarding the John Shadegg townhall.  I especially love how the professionals promote oppositional attendance, like a wayward teen gets another to take a first drag of a cigarette.  All that’s missing, is ‘Come on, all the cool guys are doing it!’

“From: info@barackobama.com
Sent: 8/9/2009 2:01:04 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time
Subj: Visit Rep. Shadegg's office in Phoenix

All throughout August, our members of Congress are back in town. Insurance companies and partisan attack groups are stirring up fear with false rumors about the President’s plan, and it’s extremely important that folks like you speak up now.

So we’ve cooked up an easy, powerful way for you to make a big impression: Office Visits for Health Reform.

All this week, OFA members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform. You can have a quick conversation with the local staff, tell your personal story, or even just drop off a customized flyer and say that reform matters to you.

We’ll provide everything you need: the address, phone number, and open hours for the office, information about how the health care crisis affects your state for you to drop off (with the option of adding your personal story), and a step-by-step guide for your visit.

According to our records, you live near Rep. John Shadegg’s office in Phoenix, AZ.

Sign up now to visit Rep. John Shadegg’s office in Phoenix this week.

(Not your representative, or think there might be another office that’s easier for you to get to? Click here to find a different office.)

As you’ve probably seen in the news, special interest attack groups are stirring up partisan mobs with lies about health reform, and it’s getting ugly. Across the country, members of Congress who support reform are being shouted down, physically assaulted, hung in effigy, and receiving death threats. We can’t let extremists hijack this debate, or confuse Congress about where the people stand.

Office Visits for Health Reform are our chance to show that the vast majority of American voters know that the cost of inaction is too high to bear, and strongly support passing health reform in 2009.

Don’t worry if you’ve never done anything like this before. The congressional staff is there to listen, and your opinion as a constituent matters a lot. And if you bring a friend, you’ll have more fun and make an even greater impact.

Click below to sign up for an Office Visit for Health Reform:

http://my.barackobama.com/OfficeVisit

Wherever you live, these visits matter: Many representatives are pushing hard toward reform, and they are taking a lot of heat from special interests. They deserve our thanks and need our support to continue the fight. But those who are still putting insurance companies and partisan point-scoring ahead of their constituents must know that voters are watching — and that we expect better.

Earlier this week, the President wrote that “this is the moment our movement was built for” and asked us all to commit to join at least one event this month. This is the way to answer that call, and rise to the challenge of this moment together.

Thank you for going the extra mile when it matters the most,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America


Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”

Blog aggregator Cactus Alliance launches its own blog

The prolife folks at CactusAlliance.org have launched their own blog at CactusAlliance.com. They’ve posted the original letter Rep. McComish sent to Maricopa County Chair Rob Haney explaining why he voted against the bill to ban sanctuary cities.

Where Was The Republic?

I’ve been scouring the Arizona Republic and AZCentral website to read their coverage of the mass protest at Congressman Harry Mitchell’s office in Scottsdale – NOTHING.

Did I miss something or did the good folks down at the Republic just not show up? Maybe they were carbon copied by the DNC and told to ignore all those angry mobs of senior citizens and citizen activists? Seriously, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but I cannot find any coverage of the event on their website(s). Were they short on staff yesterday? Was a decision made not to cover the story because they couldn’t pay a reporter? I’m really throwing them a lifeline here.

Whatever the situation, we did our best to cover the event by posting video coverage and interviews here on Sonoran Alliance. But we would like to know what really happened with the Republic and their coverage before we come to conclusions of our own.

(And if I missed something online, I’ll be the first to acknowledge it. Send me a link!)

Harry Mitchell – No Show for Citizens in CD-5

Thank you to all the fine people who showed up today at the office of Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell in Scottsdale to protest the Obama Healthcare Takeover.

The video is now going up at our YouTube account but in the meantime, here are two sample clips:

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If anyone else shot footage of the event today, please post your link in the comments.

“Cincinnatus” Not Alexander

I don’t normally confirm or deny the identities of my pseudonym bloggers here on Sonoran Alliance but seeing a defamation lawsuit in the works, the only thing I will say is that Rachel Alexander does not post on Sonoran Alliance under the pseudonym “Cincinnatus.” Rachel has her own excellent blog at Intellectual Conservative and does quite well with her own postings there.

That settles that.

Gould and Gorman holding out on tax increase for principled reasons

I respectfully disagree with AZ Insider’s post below. While anti-tax organizations like Americans for Tax Reform and Americans for Prosperity have backed off on their criticism of the tax increase referral, because of all the tax cuts, tax credits, etc. that have been added to it lessening the blow, it is still the most principled position to oppose ANY tax increase referral. Years down the road, when people have forgotten this budget bill, all that most of them will hear about is whether a particular representative voted for or against Brewer’s tax increase referral. Legislators like Gould and Gorman represent the conservative, principled base of the party, and perhaps they would like a future in politics. They can run on a record of consistently opposing taxes WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

So while it is understandable why other conservative legislators have finally caved, it is still much more impressive as a principled conservative legislator to hold out against the tax referral. The Goldwater Institute still has not come out and said it’s ok to vote for the tax increase referral. Their last article on the proposed budget deal and tax referral was highly critical of the referral. I doubt legislators who vote for the tax increase referral will be getting as high of scores in the Goldwater Institute’s next legislative rankings compared to the legislators who held out against voting for it.  Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Tax Reform finally agreed that the tax increase referral could be neutral, ONLY if every tax cut that has been added to sweeten the deal actually gets added. (see article here and AFP chart here)

Although conservatives are optimistic that a tax referral will be voted down at the ballot, they underestimate the power of special interests. Prop. 400, the Phoenix blight rail initiative, passed easily at the ballot in 2004 because it was masqueraded as a transportation initiative that would improve our roads. Chuck Coughlin’s High Ground is the primary entity pushing Brewer’s tax increase referral, hoping to benefit his construction and infrastructure clients like the Associated General Contractors. The tax referral will be masked as “Vote Yes to Improve Arizona’s Roads” or something similar.  Proponents will probably even find some crazy way to claim it won’t actually raise taxes, by claiming whatever infrastructure projects they fund will generate their own revenues or some other hare-brained scheme.  With the millions Coughlin’s wealthy clients can throw in to fund glossy flyers touting the initiative, it won’t be too hard to fool the voters. Furthermore, if the tax increase is bundled in an initiative with the tax cuts, there is no way to enact the tax cuts without voting for the tax increase!

While it is understandable why some conservative legislators have caved in on the tax increase referral in hopes that the tax reduction package will be included and the voters will vote against the tax increase (and no doubt due to tremendous pressure by leadership, Brewer, and Coughlin who is reportedly at the Capitol constantly harassing them) ultimately the most principled stance would be to hold out against the tax increase referral.

Is Bob Robb’s Audience Listening?

Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb’s latest column lays out a number of reason why the Legislature should be feeling good about the progress it has made in its negotiations with Governor Brewer over the State’s budget.  It also makes it clear why the Democrats will not be supporting it.  Given that three Republican Senators remain holdouts – Carolyn Allen, Pamela Gorman, and Ron Gould – and only two of them are even remotely interested in shrinking government, cutting taxes, and cutting spending, we have to believe that Robb’s real audience likely consists of two people, and two alone.

His position concludes thusly: “Frankly, these tax cuts would be worth a permanent increase in the sales tax. For fiscal conservatives, a referendum on a temporary increase should be a no-brainer.”

You can add Robb’s voice to the numerous other conservative voices calling for a Yes vote on the long overdue budget bill, including the Arizona Free Enterprise Fund, the Arizona Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, and the PAChyderm Coalition.  We can also add the dozens of conservative lawmakers who have already voiced their support for the package.

Liberty is Free Not Cheap

by Gayle Plato

 

When we were all kids, teenagers wanting to gulp down the cup of life, we all longed for love.  Hearts beat with a passion for the unknown and a sense of self. We want to find love because there’s a moral imperative to know who we are.  Love is a shining light peering in to the holy alliance of a higher power, personal moral righting, and one’s earthly purpose.

 

Hopefully God blesses each of us with Love’s window into the soul.  As we mature, there is realism that Love is more than a desire for a significant other. Love’s beam of light through the window splits into a fractal of prismatic color. We learn to love in the abstract.  Soldiers talk of the moment, when on foreign soil, a deep ache, a want for America swells. There’s no place like home, and that love of one’s country is a mature love. Our love of God twinkles like a star on any given day, but can super nova in bursting awe as we see our newborn, during a personal epiphany, or even in quiet prayer.

 

Love of Liberty comes to each American, with Godspeed and deep regard. Sadly, it takes her threatened fate to awaken a protective love for Liberty.  So are we organizing at these rallies, tea party protests, town halls, and coffee chats with like minds because some big head told us so? NO.  Passion of this level cannot be conjured or bought. Whoring feigned devotion does not play with conservative souls.  When we give of our time, our hearts, our good names, we know what we give.  Our word means something.

 

Liberty is not for sale no more than love can be bought.  You can manufacture mourners, or pay goons for a beat down. You can buy trophy tarts or roll cause-induced celebrity cheerleaders on the liberal Astroturf.  Liberty is free for all true of heart, but she is not cheap.

 

Our Child Liberty is at-risk and the conservative souls feel you coming like registered predators released from the slammer.  Get this straight- our Child Liberty stands safely behind every single parent of freedom.  We owe it to our forefathers, who passed custodial rights of Liberty on, to stand beside her, and guide through the night with the light from above.

 

Raul Grijalva: Supports ObamaCare

I guess we know where Congressman Raul Grijalva stands on Obama’s Health Care plan. That would explain why he won’t be conducting any town hall meetings and listening to his constituents.

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Incidental Note: If you really want to get rid of this guy, you need to get out and work for Ruth McClung. The campaign needs volunteers and donations. Please join me in working on Ruth’s campaign by contacting the campaign at www.Ruth4AZ.com. Let’s make it our mission to get rid of those who won’t listen to the people they’re supposed to serve!

Ann Kirkpatrick Bails on Holbrook, Arizona; Talks on the Corner in Payson

Here is the latest video from a gathering in Holbrook waiting to ask Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick about the Obama Health Care plan. Looks like all the evil insurance companies called these folks and paid them to show up as a mob to threaten Kirkpatrick.

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We’ve been told this meeting last an entire 15 minutes before Kirkpatrick grabbed her things and abruptly bailed for the white jeep with California plates.

Here is another meeting with constituents in Payson.

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In this meeting she followed the same meeting model of Gabrielle Giffords. According to PaysonVIP,

A meeting on August 5, 2009 of 1st District Arizona US Representative Ann Kirkpatrick and some of her constituents in Payson, Arizona. We discovered a new talking point. It’s called “Talking on the Corner.” Instead of addressing the entire group. the Congresswoman opted to meet one-on-one with concerned citizens. We were unable to locate any citizens who were bussed in, were representative of insurance companies, or wearing Brooks Brothers suits. We did not find any manufactured anger.

He Hears You Amerika (and doesn’t like it)

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag(at)whitehouse(dot)gov. www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

he's listening to you Indeed, facts are stubborn things Mr. President.  However, here’s my question; If few if any in the Congress bothered to read this bill beforehand, and Mr. Obama has only been “briefed” as to its provisions, how can he call well researched facts reported by various groups who ARE reading the bill “disinformation” and “rumors”?

It seems Mr. Obama’s biggest mistake was not to ram this legislation through as he did the Stimulus debacle.  By providing the delay needed, whether they know it or not, the Blue Dog Democrats provided enough time for interested parties to begin actually reading the Trojan Horse called “Health Care Reform”.

Another curious thing that has been avoided is this question:  If 80 something percent of the population has good health care insurance but less than 20 or so percent are less than covered (although that isn’t the case in Arizona and we’ll ask that in a minute), how is this a “national crisis”?  And what does SEIU or ACORN have to do with this public debate?  (whoops, that’s yet another question for later)

Ok, so much to digest.  But here’s the most disturbing line of that entire White House quote I opened with: “If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to…” [Big Brother and the Thought Police]

That should disturb you … a lot in fact.

Attorneys have pointed out that the White House “is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act”.  This simply means that they never have to tell you if someone has snitched you out to Big Brother!

It gets worse.  Legal opinions suggest that any emails collected by this means may be addressed by the Presidential Records Act.  This Act requires the White House to preserve and maintain its records for permanent storage in a government database. (you can read more at the Washington Examiner link below)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obamas-dissident-database-could-be-secret—-and-permanent-52571822.html

Bottom Line: A secret and permanent database of dissidents(or Americans exercising their First Amendment Rights) will be around for the balance of this administration and those to come.

Decision Time … as they say in the marriage vows;  If there’s anyone here that feels this administration’s actions should not be allowed to stand, let them speak now … or forever hold their piece.

A Failed Experiment in Just 200 Days

The RNC is fighting back.

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Giffords Following the DNC Memo – Avoid the Peasants!

The Arizona Daily Star is reporting that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords bailed on an anticipated appearance in downtown Tucson last night. Giffords had commited to sponsorship of Cinema La Placita movie week but avoided the event upon learning that conservative community organizers were also planning to attend.

Hat tip to Gila Courier/Arizona 8th for the video clip!

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Obama’s Thugs Begin Shutting Down Citizen Activists

You didn’t expect the Administration to take our community organizing laying down did you? Barack Obama’s protectorate are now fighting back. The memo has gone out to activate all ACORN affiliates and union activists to attend and pack the Democratic town hall meetings in order to place a wall of separation around the congressman and drive regular citizens out of the meeting by blockading or shouting them down.

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It’s getting ugly folks. The citizens are not going to take this.

If anyone attends any of the Arizona town hall meetings, make sure you bring your video camera.

The whole world’s watching!

A REAL Town Hall on Health Care

If you are taking part in the ”astroturf” protest at Harry Mitchell’s office on Saturday, here is an event to follow-up with, get out of the heat and have some iced tea! 

 Shadegg Hosts Health Care Town

Please join me for a Health Care Town Hall on Saturday, August 8, 2009.

National health care reform has prompted intense debates in the U.S. Congress as well as at  many kitchen tables around the country.  As we continue to discuss the future of health care in America, I encourage everyone to voice their thoughts on the legislation under consideration.

I would like to hear your recommendations on how we can improve health care in America.  Your input will play a vital role as I consider each and every provision in this legislation.

Please share this invitation widely with family, friends, and anyone who may be interested in attending my Health Care Town Hall on Saturday.  I would be honored if you would join me.

Date:                Saturday, August 8, 2009

Time:                11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Location:          Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center
                       4330 N. 62nd St.
                       Scottsdale, AZ 85251
The event will be held in the cafeteria

If you have any questions, or if you require special assistance, please contact my staff at (602) 263-5300 so that proper accommodations can be made. 

I look forward to seeing you on August 8.

 

 

DNC’s New Strategy for Town Halls?

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There must be a new memo from the DNC floating around urging Democrat members of Congress to avoid “the angry mobs” when they return home to their districts.

We see this in the video below in which CD-8 Democrat, Gabrielle Giffords decided to hold her Douglas town hall by lining up members and meeting them one-on-one. How excruciating.

CD-7 Raul Grijalva is also getting hammered by constituents asking when he will be holding a town hall. It appears that he won’t be anytime soon.

I haven’t seen anything on Harry Mitchell’s website announcing an upcoming town hall. That’s all right. The citizens will be taking their grievances to his office this Saturday (They’ll do the same in Tucson with Giffords.)

In Arkansas, Congressmen Mike Ross and Vic Snyder conducted a town hall in a children’s hospital. They must have thought they could use sick little children as a human shield against angry citizens. Those in attendance were still mad as hell. 

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So the new strategy by the DNC is avoid “those angry mobs” at all costs, hide in your bunkers and hope “the storm” passes quickly. Citizen activists are now viewed as uneducated, informed peasants with torches and pitchforks. Conservative community organizers like myself are cast as agitators because our politics are correct.

If this continues and citizen activists are ignored or even worse, insulted or labeled, it’s gonna get ugly. And it doesn’t matter which party is in power. The people won’t be ignored.