Included here:
- Action Alert for TOMORROW, Wednesday, October 7
- “Pink Slip Campaign” – including links to printables, contact information
- Phone Calls
It appears that Senator Nelson, as always, is riding the fence on health care reform. His past history proves that he will wait until the last minute to commit to how he will vote, more often than not, voting for a repugnant piece of legislation.
Sen. Nelson is under tremendous pressure from the Left to vote for government-controlled health care.
It’s time to send a clear message to Senator Nelson that a “YES” vote on health care that means government is going further into health care is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
There are indications that Leftists in Congress are going to attempt to pass health care “reform” by stealth. (See links and an article at the bottom of this message.)
Many people in our group want to take action NOW on this stealth effort and specifically focus on Senator Nelson. They would like to personally deliver pink slips to Senator Nelson’s Lincoln office TOMORROW.
Pink slips are an idea that have been circulating for a while. We have our own version of these which were shown at the July 4 Tea Party at the Capitol in a large sign format and the forms were available at the sign-up tables.
They are intended to send a message to all politicians that they are to uphold and defend the Constitution or they will be voted out of office. They remind the office holder that failure to do so is a violation of the Constitution.
WHAT: Pink Slip Delivery
WHERE: Senator Nelson’s Lincoln Office
440 North 8th St. View Map
WHEN: Wednesday, October 7, 3:30pm
We will meet at The Mill at the corner of 8th & P, map link HERE, and walk down to Senator Nelson’s office together.
There are two printable versions of the pinks – one for people who have pink paper and one for those who do not.
Just click on one of the document titles below to access the printable PDF.
Pink Slip for White Paper (has pink background)
There will be a supply of pink slips on site if you cannot print your own.
We suggest we all also mail a pink slip to Senator Nelson’s Washington, D.C. office since that is where he is currently working.
Washington, D.C.
720 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
IF YOU CANNOT MAKE THE GROUP DELIVERY TOMORROW:
Print out your slip and mail it to Senator Nelson’s office.
Lincoln
440 North 8th Street
Suite 120
Lincoln, NE 68508
Omaha
7602 Pacific St.
Ste 205
Omaha, NE 68114
**PINK SLIP YARD SIGNS**
In addition to the PINK SLIP mailing and delivery effort, many of us would like to put a PINK SLIP sign in our yards.
We will be sending more information on putting in a group order on durable permanent signs, but in the meantime, we have come up with a couple of designs to make our own signs. Considering the amount of ink required, printing out multiple full sheets using pink ink is not feasible. If you plan to use the printouts, please plan accordingly.
Printable located here:
POLITICIANS Pink Slip Yard Sign Printable PDF
Printable located here:
SENATOR NELSON Pink Slip Yard Sign Printable PDF
*Instructions for assembling and temporary “weatherproofing” these will be added HERE and on the NING site later this evening*
***This is NOT the end of the “Pink Slip Campaign”***
NOTE: Another message with general updates will be sent tomorrow or Thursday regarding sending pink slips to other politicians. These obviously have a broader application. Included will be a link to a service that you can pay to send pink slips to all members of Congress.
Phone calls:
Although it may seem fruitless to make calls, pro-government controlled health care proponents are putting on the pressure. We need to keep up the pressure on in the opposite direction – that means personal visits, letters, and phone calls.
I have been advised by many people including former Congressional staffers of the most effective way to place your call:
Call the office closest to you and the D.C. office and give your zip code and name. Simply state you want Senator Nelson to vote “No” on any health care legislation unless it gets government OUT.
Washington, D.C.
Tel: (202) 224-6551
Fax: (202) 228-0012
Lincoln
Tel: (402) 441-4600
Fax: (402) 476-8753
Omaha
Tel: (402) 391-3411
Fax: (402) 391-4725
Scottsbulf
Tel: (308) 631-7614
South Sioux City
Tel: (402) 209-3595
Kearney
Tel: (308) 293-5818
*** ADDITIONAL DETAILS – DEVELOPMENTS IN HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION ***
Current Status – *As usual, shifting by the minute* several wire stories indicate a potential delay in the vote, others that what has developed so far are very unpalatable additions to the bill. Here are links to a few wire stories from today and a full article that appeared very recently in Human Events:
CNN: Key Health Care Vote To Be Delayed Sources Say
Bloomberg: Deficit May Prove Obstacle for Senate Health Measure
NPR: Democrats Force Changes in Baccus Health Bill
New York Times: How Some Employees Could Lose Out Under Employer ‘Mandate’
Congress’s Secret Plan to Pass Obamacare
Brian Darling is director of U.S. Senate Relations at The Heritage Foundation.
First Appeared in Human Events
President Obama and liberals in Congress seems intent on passing comprehensive health care reform, even though polls suggest it is unpopular with the American people. And despite the potential political risks to moderate Democrats, the President and left-wing leadership in Congress are determined to pass the measure using a rare parliamentary procedure.
The Senate plans to attach Obamacare to a House-passed non-healthcare bill. Ironically, nobody knows what that legislation looks like, because it has not yet been written. Yet many members plan to rubber-stamp Obamacare without reading or understanding the bill.
The Senate Finance Committee worked furiously last week to mark up a “conceptual framework” of health care reform. The committee actually rejected an amendment by Sen. Jim Bunning (R.-Ky.) to mandate that the bill text and a final cost analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) be publicly available at least 72 hours before the Finance Committee votes on final passage.
The following four-step scenario describes one way liberals plan to work the rules in their favor to get Obamacare through the Senate:
Step 1: The Senate Finance Committee must first approve the marked-up version of Sen. Max Baucus’ (D.-Mont.) conceptual framework. Then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) can say that two Senate Committees have passed a health care bill, which will allow him to take extraordinary steps to get the bill on the Senate floor.
During the mark-up last week, members had difficulty offering amendments and trying to make constructive changes [sic] because they lacked actual legislative text and Baucus made unilateral last minute changes. For example, the AP reported that “under pressure from fellow Democrats, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee decided to commit an additional $50 billion over a decade toward making insurance more affordable for working-class families.”
Step 2: Sen. Reid will take the final product of the Senate Finance Committee and merge it with the product of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which passed on a party-line vote in July.
Usually, a bill is voted out of committee, and then the Senate takes up the final product of the committee so that all 100 senators can have a hand in the process. With some help from the Obama administration, Reid will decide what aspects of the HELP and Finance Committee bills to keep.
Step 3: Now, Obamacare will be ready to hitch a ride on an unrelated bill from the House. Sen. Reid will move to proceed to H.R. 1586, a bill to impose a tax on bonuses received by certain TARP recipients. This bill was passed by the House in the wake of the AIG bonus controversy and is currently sitting on the Senate Legislative Calendar.
The move to proceed needs 60 votes to start debate. After the motion is approved, Sen. Reid will offer Obamacare as a complete substitute to the unrelated House-passed bill. This means that the entire healthcare reform effort will be included as an amendment to a TARP bill that has been collecting dust in the Senate for months.
Step 4: For this strategy to work, the proponents would need to hold together the liberal caucus of 58 Democrats (including Paul Kirk who was named last Thursday to replace Sen. Kennedy), and the two Independent senators (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont). These members will have to all hold hands and vote against any filibuster. Once the Senate takes up the bill, only a simple majority of members will be needed for passage. It’s possible one of the endangered moderate Democrats, such as Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), could vote to stop a filibuster then vote against Obamacare so as not to offend angry constituents.
Once the Senate passes a bill and sends it to the House, all the House would have to do is pass the bill without changes and President Obama will be presented with his health care reform measure. If this plan does not work, the Senate and House leadership may go back to considering using reconciliation to pass the legislation.
Adopting this secret plan will not strike most Americans as a transparent, bipartisan, effective way to change how millions of Americans get their health care.