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Monday, November 9, 2009
Obamacare opponents: "Narrowness of the House vote (shows) momentum is on our side"
By Matt Kibbe @ 6:17 PM :: 6659 Views :: National News, Ethics

After the 220-215 house vote on Obamacare, a bold and positive message from www.Freedomworks.org

Thank you for all your hard work over the past few weeks. This is an important battle with much to discuss, so please take the time to read all of this essential email.

If you are like me, you are deeply disappointed that we lost, by an inch, the vote to stop Nancy Pelosi's trillion dollar takeover of health care in America.  You might even be thinking that the fight is over.  Not true. As Winston Churchill said, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps the end of the beginning.”

And, in fact, the narrowness of the House vote tells me the momentum is on our side .  To win this fight, we need your support and continued activism today!

We have made so much progress since President Obama was sworn into office, that I believe we are on a path to victory, against all expectations and seemingly insurmountable odds.  Remember that Democrats control all levers of power in Washington DC, including an 81 seat advantage in the House and a functional 60 vote, filibuster proof majority in the Senate. But the legislation they have pushed on us is so far outside the mainstream they can’t even get their own guys to vote for it.

President Obama expected to have a government-run takeover of healthcare on his desk BEFORE the August recess.  Instead, the amazing grassroots uprising against this audacious power grab has been unprecedented and continues to grow daily.  Public opinion continues to sour on the idea of a trillion dollar government grab of our health care system, and declining support for the President and the Democrats on the issue has followed suit.  Passing the bill in the House was supposed to be a walk in the park for Pelosi, given her commanding majority of Democrats (258) over Republicans (177).  And yet we came so close on Saturday, with broad bipartisan opposition to the bill, including 39 Democrats voting with 176 Republicans to oppose Pelosi’s take over.

That's remarkable, and it would not have happened without all of your hard work. In addition to organizing and attending rallies, participating in town hall meetings, and making trips to Washington, DC on 9/12 and 11/05, FreedomWorks members have sent over 250,000 emails to Congress on health care this year and put in an incredible 4,351 phone calls to our 21 target Democrats in just the 24 hours before the vote. Because of your dedication, there is still a chance we can stop this Washington power grab and instead pass reform that empowers the individual.

Pelosi only passing a bill by the slimmest of margins late on a Saturday night lays the groundwork for a defeat of the bill in the Senate.  The Pelosi bill is a non-starter in the Senate, with Sen. Joe Lieberman promising to join the Republicans in a filibuster of the government option. In fact, Sunday morning on Face the Nation Sen. Lindsay Graham said the Pelosi bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had already indicated a belief that he cannot get a vote this year on ObamaCare, but is now claiming that House passage gives him new momentum to pass legislation in the Senate, probably in December.  This Senate battle will indeed be Waterloo for the Obama-Pelosi-Reid government takeover of health care, but you and your neighbors are the ground troops that will defeat this arrogant power grab.

So here is what we need to do:

1. Redouble our efforts to hold all House members accountable for their votes.  We must demonstrate a clear political price for ignoring the will of the people to keep government out of our health care.  This will send a signal to key Senators that they should not make the same mistake. If your Representative voted for the bill, make sure you let him or her know you know and that you’ll be reminding all your friends of his or her vote, too.

2. Thank all House members who voted against the bill, and ask them to redouble their efforts should the bill ever come back in conference.

3. Focus on the swing votes in the Senate that will defeat ObamaCare.

We can do this.   We are far ahead of where we should be given the power Democrats have over America.  But as we like to say at FreedomWorks: Government goes to those who show up.  You have run to the sound of the guns, time and again in this most important fight over the future of America.  Let's finish the battle, and bury the idea of government-run health care once and for all.

If you have any doubt that we can stop this, remember:

We kept them from passing the bill in July before anyone could read it.

We let them know what we thought about Washington all month long in August.

We marched on the Capitol by the hundreds of thousands on September 12 and kept them from passing a bill for another month.

We spent October calling, writing, and visiting our Congressmen to tell them to say no to ObamaCare and stopped them for another month.

And on Saturday we forced Pelosi to claim passing a bill with broad bi-partisan opposition was victory. It was not.

We can not afford to let up now.  In addition to making your voice heard, I ask that you consider making a contribution to help fund the next wave of attack as we  try to reach a million freedom loving citizens to take action in the coming weeks. Please click here if you are in a position to help us.

We fight because we know that no matter how many times the power grabbers in Washington deny it, a trillion dollar health care entitlement means health care will cost us more and will increase the deficit. And we know Washington controlled health care means poorer quality health care.

In fact, we don’t need to speculate how the government would handle health care—we’re getting a sneak peek with the swine flu vaccine. Aside from the shortages and long waits for the government-funded vaccine, there is the fact that the well connected get access to the vaccine first. The same is always true when politicians are in charge. After already taking billions in bailouts, GoldmanSachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley all got early access to vaccines while regular Americans waited. At least Morgan Stanley had the decency to donate their 1,000 privileged vaccines to local hospitals when it learned it received shipments before some area hospitals.

Do we really want to rely on the benevolence of Wall Street bankers for our access to health care?

I don’t, and I don’t think you do either. That’s why we why we set up our Health Care War Room, to provide you with some of the tools you will need to continue to be effective fight and win the battle:

1. Click here for our “Call Congress” page where you can find out who your Congressmen are, see who our top targets are, and be connected to their office in few easy clicks.

2. Click here to send an email telling your Congressman to say ObamaCare is not the reform we want. 

3. Click here to see a list of ideas of how you can make a difference, including how to visit you Congressman’s local office and a map of events in your area. 

4. Click here to read the latest news and thoughts on the health care plans. 

5. Be sure to forward this email to at least 5 of others who might join our fight.

6. And, please click here to make a donation to our grassroots campaign to help us help more Americans have their voices heard by a Congress so determined not to listen. Everyone must speak up!

I know you understand that freedom is hard to earn but easy to lose. I know that is why you have put so much time and effort into fighting this unprecedented intrusion by the government into one of the most private aspects of our lives—our health, and our relationship with our doctors.

Thank you for taking action now to fight for liberty.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President, FreedomWorks.org

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