April 29, 2009

Statement on FY 2010 Budget Resolution

“I like this budget.  I support many of the policies that the President’s budget embraces – including middle-class tax relief, and badly needed investments in our nation’s infrastructure – but I cannot, and I will not, vote to authorize the use of the reconciliation process to expedite passage of health care reform legislation or any other legislative proposal that ought to be debated at length by this body.”

“Using reconciliation to ram through complicated, far-reaching legislation is an abuse of the budget process.  The writers of the Budget Act, and I am one, never intended for its reconciliation’s expedited procedures to be used this way.  These procedures were narrowly tailored for deficit reduction.  They were never intended to be used to pass tax cuts, or to create new Federal regimes.  Additionally, reconciliation measures must comply with Section 313 of the Budget Act, known as the Byrd Rule, which means that whatever health legislation is reported from the Finance Committee or legislation from any other Committee that is shoe-horned into reconciliation will sunset after five years.  Additionally, numerous other non-budgetary provisions of any such legislation will have to be omitted under reconciliation.  This is a very messy way to achieve a goal like health care reform, and one that will make crafting the legislation more difficult.”

“Whatever abuses of the budget reconciliation process which have occurred in the past, or however many times the process has been twisted to achieve partisan ends does not justify the egregious violation done to the Senate’s Constitutional purpose.  The Senate has a unique institutional role.”

“It is the one place in all of government where the rights of the numerical minority are protected.  As long as the Senate preserves the right to debate and the right to amend we hold true to our role as the Framers envisioned.  We were to be the cooling off place where proposals could be examined carefully and debated extensively, so that flaws might be discovered and changes might be made.  Remember, Democrats will not always control this chamber, the House of Representatives or the White House.  The worm will turn.  Some day the other party will again be in the majority, and we will want minority rights to be shielded from the bear trap of the reconciliation process.”

“Under reconciliation’s gag rule there are twenty hours of debate or less if time is yielded back, and little or no opportunity to amend.  Those restrictions mean that whatever is nailed into reconciliation by the majority will likely emerge as the final product.  With critical matters such as a massive revamping of our health care system which will impact the lives of every citizen of our great land, the Senate has a duty to debate and amend and explain in the full light of day, however long that may take, what it is we propose, and why we propose it.  The citizens who sent us here deserve that explanation and they should demand it.  We must not run roughshod over minority views.  A minority can be right.  An amendment can vastly improve legislation.  Debate can expose serious flaws.  Ramrodding and railroading have no place when it comes to such matters as our people’s healthcare.  The President came to the White House promising a bipartisan government because he knew how sick and tired the American public is of scorched earth politics.  I daresay President Obama should not be in favor of the destruction of the institutional purpose of this Senate in which he served any more than he would bless a rigged psuedo-debate on healthcare, completely absent minority input.”

“While I support the admirable budget priorities outlined in this resolution, I cannot and will not condone legislation that puts political expediency ahead of the time-honored purpose of this institution.”

Lamar Smith held his town hall meeting in Schertz on Monday.  It was a jam packed event.

Here are the links to the news stories about the event and some pictures.

http://www.kabb.com/news/   its under Health Care Reform Town Hall

http://www.mysa.com   look in the slideshows Charles Gonzalez health care town hall and Lamar Smith health care town hall

http://www.kens5.com/latestnews/stories/KENS20090824-lamarsmithtownhall.111b9bbab.html

http://www.ksat.com/video/20537133/index.html

http://sanantonioteaparty.org/event-pictures/?album=1&gallery=9

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Take Action on Health Care Reform!

Please take immediate action. Call the bipartisan “gang of six” and tell them not to cave in to the pressures. Let these 6 know your feelings on the Health Care Reform.

Listed are both their district and DC office numbers. Thanks for your continue work.

Sen. Max Baucus
406-657-6790
202-224-2651

Sen. Jeff Bingaman
505-988-6647
202-224-5521

Sen. Kent Conrad
701-258-4648
202-224-2043

Sen. Charles Grassley
515-288-1145
202-224-3744

Sen. Mike Enzi
307-682-6268
202-224-3424

Sen. Olympia Snowe
207-786-2451
202-224-5344

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) (AP Photo)

The proposed law does not say, however, exactly how or with what authority a grant recipient would go around measuring weight loss of community residents, or their use of “proper nutrition” or whether they had increased their physical activity, among other mandates in the bill.

Further, the Kennedy health care bill does not say which “national network of community-based organizations” is eligible to participate.  Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said that it is possible that the controversial group ACORN could qualify for the available grants.

“I don’t believe so, but they could be,” Dodd told CNSNews.com, in an earlier interview. “I just don’t want to say categorically it’s the case.”

“I’m not saying yes or no, I just don’t know. I don’t think it’s a blanket thing that anyone applies necessarily,” he said. “There would have to be criteria by which an organization qualifies to receive those grants.”

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is a national network of community-based organizations. It has been scrutinized in recent years over allegations of  voter registration fraud. In Nevada, criminal charges were filed against the group in May that said ACORN illegally paid for the registration of voters before the 2008 election.  ACORN has denied the allegations.

ACORN has also been criticized because of its partnership agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau to help in the 2010 Census count.

Devon Herrick, a senior fellow at the conservative National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), in an e-mail to CNSNews.com, speculated that grants for “Creating Healthier Communities” could be misused by organizations that do not promote healthy living.

“I’m only speculating, because the bill does not make it clear,” Herrick said. “You will have to ask the Senate HELP Committee staff for a definitive answer. [But] my concern is the grants would be misused to reward political organizations whose mission has never been to promote healthier lifestyles.”

Herrick said he doubts that efforts by community-based organizations will result in healthier neighborhoods, adding that he expects entities such as schools and non-profits to use the grants if the Senate provision is included in the final bill.

“I’m not convinced community-based initiatives will result in healthier communities,” he said.

“But if provisions for healthy community grants ultimately pass, I would like to think the funds would be used by schools [to create new after-school programs] and by non-profits, such as YMCA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etcetera,” Herrick said, “and for actual programs that encourage physical activity and teach healthy living.”

The NCPA’s senior fellow’s comments were in response to CNSNews.com’s inquiry to provide an interpretation of the “community transformation grants provision” and whether organizations like ACORN would benefit. He was also asked to provide examples of which organizations would qualify.

“My hope is that the funds would go to organizations who have been promoting healthy lifestyles all along,” Herrick told CNSNews.com.

Michael W. Chapman contributed to this report.