Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

While we are certainly disappointed in this morning’s Supreme Court decision upholding Obamacare, it should serve as a rallying cry for all Americans that cherish individual freedom and responsibility. Elections have consequences! This health insurance law (it is anything but a healthcare law) was passed in March of 2010, little over a year after voters in the U.S. handed complete control of our federal government over to the Democrat party — the presidency, majority control of the House, and filibuster-proof control of the Senate. Frankly, it’s remarkable that the 2009-2010 Congress didn’t implement a number of other laws further extending government control over our lives and limiting our personal freedoms. The Democrats are claiming victory, with little regard (and frankly zero concern) for the fiscal calamity that Obamacare will cause. How anyone can believe that adding 30 million uninsured people to the healthcare system will somehow reduce costs is living in the same economic fantasyland in which our president has lived his entire life.
 
We have the opportunity and the obligation to do something about it. We can do everything in our power to elect Mitt Romney as our next president. We can retain and expand our majority in the House, and we can take back the Senate. It’ll be difficult to secure a filibuster-proof majority (60 seats) in the Senate, but we can certainly halt the path toward statism on which the progressives are taking us. We’ll need volunteers for our fair booth; we need riders and walkers for our July 4th parade entry; we need donors so that we can better market our philosophy to Nevada County voters, and we need HQ volunteers to register voters, make phone calls and get out the Republican vote this November. Send an e-mail to John Fuller — fuller5@aol.com, and sign up for HQ duties. But even more importantly, recruit your neighbors and friends to help us in “Taking Back America with Boots on the Ground”!  I know that we can do it!

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I received this email from Jim Reed’s campaign:

Today, the Supreme Court issued its decision on the Affordable Care Act. It is truly a historic moment for the health of our friends and families, our children and our most vulnerable.

The decision ensures that health care will be more accessible than ever before. For our young Americans, who will be able to stay covered on their parent’s plans until age 26; and those who are ill or who have longstanding age-related health issues, who now cannot be denied coverage or charged unreasonably more due to pre-existing conditions.

Neither will citizens lose coverage at their most vulnerable moments, as lifetime or yearly limits (caps) on medical expenses cannot be imposed. Everyone already covered can keep their insurance and doctors as they currently are.

Going forward, it will be possible for everyone to obtain affordable coverage and millions of additional citizens will be insured, including preventive care and savings on prescription medications, all necessary to lead healthier lives.

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, we will be able to make adjustments as needed in the law to improve it further.

In addition, Congress will be free to move forward and focus on the future. Americans need and deserve leadership that will now turn their attention toward jobs and the economy, reducing the deficit responsibly, and maintaining important investments in education, clean energy, innovation and infrastructure.

Jim Reed is an attorney and ranch owner in Fall River Mills who was nominated in June for California’s Congressional District 1. Jim Reed is committed to ending the gridlock in Washington, creating jobs and solving the daunting debt dilemma. Jim will fight to make our tax system fair for everybody, not just the wealthy, while preserving Social Security and Medicare for our seniors.

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Editor’s note: I quietly subscribed to FreedomWorks email blasts to get an “insider’s” look at how the political hard-right, which includes our Congressman Tom McClintock, is organizing. Here’s their email blast in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to largely uphold Obamacare. They are not happy campers.

Dear Patriot,

In a shocking and disappointing verdict, the Supreme Court upheld ObamaCare and it’s individual mandate as a tax, ushering in an unprecedented expansion of government power and handing a huge victory in Obama’s Progressive plan to “fundamentally transform America.”

One thing is now clear; the ONLY way to beat ObamaCare is to FIRE OBAMA.

I’m counting on you to FIRE OBAMA.

Chip-in at least $20.12 right now and I’ll send you a complimentary FIRE OBAMA bumper sticker with my sincere thanks.

Your donation today goes immediately to work in the field, replicating the grassroots model we used in 2010 to elect a huge freshman class of Tea Party legislators. How successful were we exactly?

Multiple independent studies show that no other Tea Party organization’s endorsement actually made a real difference in the elections.

Only our endorsement actually led to a candidate getting more votes. A lot more, actually — our involvement added 2.7% of the vote!

And why was our work so valuable last go-round?

Because of our grassroots-focused battle plans. We do the real, on-the-ground politicking that ultimately makes the difference between win or lose.
T.V. ads may be flashy — but they’re expensive, and in the end, don’t change the hearts and minds of voters. We know face-to-face grassroots work DOES.
If you want to defeat Barack Obama in 2012, FreedomWorks for America is the very best organization to support.

So please, I ask you to consider the most generous contribution you can afford today. With FreedomWorks for America, your investment will go further than any other group, so please give generously — $20.12, $50, $100 or more if you can.

We CAN fight back and FIRE OBAMA with our unique brand of grassroots politics, but only with your generous financial support. The good news is — thanks to our door-to-door, person-to-person approach — every one dollar of ours pulls the weight of many more of his.

Remember, for a symbolic gift of just $20.12, we’ll send you a complimentary FIRE OBAMA bumper sticker. Of course, if you can make a larger gift — $50, $100, $250 or more, for instance — you will still receive the bumper sticker, and you’ll also help us make an even larger impact.

Obama plans to raise $1 BILLION to stay in the White House, and he’s well on his way with millions flowing into his coffers from Hollywood elites, Big Labor bosses, and radical progressive special interests.

I fear what will happen to America if Obama is re-elected, but I’m hopeful that — with your support — we can defeat him. But we must never forget how serious the threat is.

No more Obama, no more ObamaCare. Please donate today.

Thank you very much.

In Liberty,

Matt Kibbe

Details on the decision are here.

Meanwhile, here’s an image being circulated by Courage Campaign (a statewide progressive alliance) on Facebook:

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“The Supreme Court upheld the health care law’s individual mandate Thursday, ruling that Congress did not overstep its power by requiring nearly all Americans to buy health insurance,” as Politico is reporting.

“Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court’s four liberal justices in the ruling, which says Congress had the authority for the mandate under Congress’s taxing power.

“There was one rebuke to the Obama administration: The court ruled that the states can reject the law’s Medicaid expansion.

“Still, the ruling is a surprise victory for the Obama administration, which faced tough questions from the court during the oral arguments in March.

The rest of the article is here.

Highlights:
-The Supreme Court’s decision upholds the health care law.
-The requirement to have health insurance by 2014 remains in place.
-Insurance companies must cover people with pre-existing conditions.
-Small business owners and medical groups disagree over the impacts of the law.

•You can read the U.S. Supreme Court decision here.

•”What the healthcare ruling means to you” is here.

The Washington Post version is here.

The L.A. Times version is here.

The N.Y. Times article is here.

The USA Today article is here.

Exit question: Will Obamacare now be renamed “Supreme Court Care” or “Justice Roberts Care”? LOL.

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