"Government regulation and subsidy constitutes a threat to both the quality and availability of patient-oriented health care and treatment. Hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers should be accountable to patients--not to politicians, insurance bureaucrats, or HMO Administrators. If the supply of medical care is controlled by the federal government, then officers of that government will determine which demand is satisfied. The result will be the rationing of services, higher costs, poorer results--and the power of life and death transferred from caring physicians to unaccountable political overseers..." "I also oppose any legislation, such as Homeland Security Bill, H.R. 5005, which seeks to authorize the forced vaccination of American citizens against small pox. The government should not have the power to force people to receive immunizations or vaccinations. " http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Chuck_Baldwin_Health_Care.htm Bruce K - show me a developed country with socialized healthcare that isn't losing money... EVERY single country that has instituted "free healthcare" has eventually had to make cutbacks in services in order to pay for everything. (I lived in Sweden - the so-called shining star of socialized medicine... )

CCAGW posted a letter petitioning that the House NOT pass this bill. Is it pork or necessary? CCAGW Asks House to Oppose EESA Bailout Monday, September 29, 2008 By: Tom Schatz U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative, You will soon vote on H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and it will be a difficult vote. The more than 1.2 million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) are angry about this financial crisis because most of it can be blamed on Washington. Taxpayers are now being asked to provide up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy failed mortgages and other troubled credit assets as a result of government meddling in the housing market. While the bill is much improved since the original draft that was circulating late last week, the bill is still too troublesome for CCAGW to support. On behalf of our members, I ask that you vote against H.R. 3997. Starting in 1993, the rules governing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were re-written to force banks to establish new quotas for writing mortgages in low-income neighborhoods and to enter the subprime loan markets. The changes drove up the price of homes and the easy money was carried right into Wall Street where shaky loans were packaged and sold. While efforts were made several times to get a handle on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the implosion of the housing market, these efforts were stopped in Congress by the companies’ political allies. CCAGW appreciates the efforts of several members of Congress that have improved the bill. Removing the 20 percent slush fund for groups like ACORN is an important policy change. The bill gives the Security and Exchange Commission the ability to suspend mark-to-market accounting. The bill will not give the $700 billion in one step but instead will require the President to certify that additional funds are needed. By establishing an advisory board, power is not left with one individual. But these changes are not enough to overcome the opposition to H.R. 3997 that has been expressed by CCAGW members and taxpayers across the county. Government created these programs, and CCAGW is not confident that government can correct them. I urge you to vote against H.R. 3997. All votes on H.R. 3997 will be among those considered for CCAGW’s 2008 Congressional Ratings. Sincerely, Tom Schatz http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=11622 It's a rather simply worded letter, easy to read, kids. You don't need to be afraid of it.

Do they not understand the consequences and need of this action? A letter from CCAGW Dated Sept. 29, 2008 Dear Representative, You will soon vote on H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and it will be a difficult vote. The more than 1.2 million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) are angry about this financial crisis because most of it can be blamed on Washington. Taxpayers are now being asked to provide up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy failed mortgages and other troubled credit assets as a result of government meddling in the housing market. While the bill is much improved since the original draft that was circulating late last week, the bill is still too troublesome for CCAGW to support. On behalf of our members, I ask that you vote against H.R. 3997. Starting in 1993, the rules governing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were re-written to force banks to establish new quotas for writing mortgages in low-income neighborhoods and to enter the subprime loan markets. The changes drove up the price of homes and the easy money was carried right into Wall Street where shaky loans were packaged and sold. While efforts were made several times to get a handle on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the implosion of the housing market, these efforts were stopped in Congress by the companies’ political allies. CCAGW appreciates the efforts of several members of Congress that have improved the bill. Removing the 20 percent slush fund for groups like ACORN is an important policy change. The bill gives the Security and Exchange Commission the ability to suspend mark-to-market accounting. The bill will not give the $700 billion in one step but instead will require the President to certify that additional funds are needed. By establishing an advisory board, power is not left with one individual. But these changes are not enough to overcome the opposition to H.R. 3997 that has been expressed by CCAGW members and taxpayers across the county. Government created these programs, and CCAGW is not confident that government can correct them. I urge you to vote against H.R. 3997. All votes on H.R. 3997 will be among those considered for CCAGW’s 2008 Congressional Ratings. Sincerely, Tom Schatz http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=11622

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091102841.html The administration did not accept half-measures. In 2005, Republican Mike Oxley, then chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, brought up a reform bill (H.R. 1461), and Fannie and Freddie's lobbyists set out to weaken it. The bill was rendered so toothless that Card called Oxley the night before markup and promised to oppose it. Oxley pulled the bill instead. During this period, Sen. Richard Shelby led a small group of legislators favoring reform, including fellow Republican Sens. John Sununu, Chuck Hagel and Elizabeth Dole. Meanwhile, Dodd -- who along with Democratic Sens. John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were the top four recipients of Fannie and Freddie campaign contributions from 1988 to 2008 -- actively opposed such measures and further weakened existing regulation.

H.R. 1424 (Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 ) A bill to provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00213

Or, more specifically, where exactly would the money come from? Because the new bailout plan originates from the Senate, it cannot be a revenue bill. Therefore, the money will not be directly taxed from citizens. I know that the Senate is using H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, as the "vehicle for the economic rescue legislation," but what does that mean in simple terms? Sorry if the question is confusing; what I really want to know is basically two things: 1) What exactly is the proposed bill amending, and 2) Where will the 700 billion dollars come from?

During this past week, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) worked tirelessly to have the House take up H.R. 1328, a bill to reauthorize and amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA). The NIHB pursued several legislative strategies but at the 11th hour our efforts were shut down because Congress could not find funding to pay for the bill. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored the bill at $9 million for the first year, $53 million over five years, and $129 million over ten years. Yet, Congress was able to find $700 billion dollars to “bail out” Wall Street?? and you think YOU'VE been screwed... http://www.nihb.org/index.php?mode=forumblock&order=views Spacekitty and bullofbama show supreme ignorance... why am i not surprised? Indians on the reservation are the poorest people in the nation, but they are out of sight and out of mind. And just how do you think they got that way? The casino gig that a FEW indian reservations have only serves to make them look more like heathens when it is not the case. There are many health very serious health issues that face american indians. How do you think those came about? You know.. the house apologized to blacks for slavery recently. When are they going to apologize to the american indians? Those people whose forefathers were here first, many of whom took your ancestors under their wings and helped them. I would like to see these types of people have to live on a reservation with few natural resources. Or to live at Pine Ridge, the poorest places in America, and have to stare up every day at the Mt. Rushmore, amongst all the other atrocities committed against indians. You know what...? You might just get your chance if our dollar is devalued because of this bail out. You might have to sew some moccasins and sell them on the street, competing with chinese knockoffs.. then you morons might just have a clue...

In 2005, Barack Obama Joined With President Bush To Pass The Bush-Cheney Energy Bill Giving The Oil Companies $2.8 Billion In Taxpayer Money: Barack Obama Voted For The 2005 Energy Bill. (H.R. 6, CQ Vote #152: Motion Agreed To 92-4: R 53-1; D 38-3; I 1-0, 6/23/05, Obama Voted Yea; H.R. 6, CQ Vote #158: Passed 85-12: R 49-5; D 35-7; I 1-0, 6/28/05, Obama Voted Yea; H.R. 6, CQ Vote #213: Adopted 74-26: R 49-6; D 25-19; I 0-1, 7/29/05, Obama Voted Yea) The 2005 Energy Bill Included $2.8 Billion In Subsidies For Oil And Natural Gas Production. "The conference agreement provides for $14.6 billion in tax breaks and credits between 2005 and 2015, including: -- $2.8 billion for fossil fuel production..." (Toni Johnson, "CQ Bill Analysis: HR 6," Congressional Quarterly's "CQ Bill Analysis," www.cq.com, Accessed 7/14/08) John McCain Voted Against The 2005 Energy Bill. ( http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainreport/

I would like to know what the H.R. number so I can look and see who voted for/against it on votesmart.org... I just don't know the H.R. number that it goes by. Thanks.

is that why congress tried to pass this last week? House Judiciary Com. to Vote Today on Foreign-Worker Bills Updated Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 10:00 AM Public Notice for Markup Given in Dead of Night Yesterday The House Judiciary Committee will take up two foreign-worker bills today: H.R. 5882, which would add an additional 550,000 permanent green cards; and H.R. 5924, which would add 20,000 additional foreign nurses per year for three years (plus their families). Please contact your U.S. Representative through the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask him/her to do everything possible to stop the passage of these bills. The Committee waited until late last night to give notice for the markup, presumably in an effort to avoid public scrutiny. H.R. 5882 – "Recapturing Unused Employer-Sponsored Visas" This legislation is similar to the measure that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is using to hijack debate on E-Verify reauthorization in the Senate. The bill’s sponsor, Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif), claims it would “recapture unused employer-sponsored visas” from as far back as 1991 and then add them to the current numerical cap of 140,000 employer-sponsored visas that are available each year. Current law, however, clearly states that any employer-sponsored visas not used in one year are allocated to the family-preference categories in the following year. That means that there are no “unused” visas from past years to “recapture http://www.numbersusa.com/content/news/s... People, you're not getting my point Congress tried to pass a guest worker bill last week!!! Why did they do that if we're going into a depression????