I want to send a thank you card to State Rep John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins).

In a press release bragging about the House Health and Human Services Committee passing his “Transparency Trojan Horse” bill, a.k.a. HB 1330 The Health Care Cost Transparency Act, Kefalas said, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”  In other words, Kefalas needs to measure the quality of my health care so that he can manage it for me and my family.  Thank Goodness!  I’ve been waiting for someone to take care of me and my children.  What a relief!

HB 1330, the All-Payer Database,  is dangerous because it creates a database with all your personal health care transactions.  It grants unlimited power to the state’s Executive Director of Health Care Policy and Financing to mandate the collection of any health care data, to conduct audits, to give the data to third parties without seeking permission and to impose unlimited fines for refusing to provide data to the database.

Just think…all your personal health care information forced to be made available to the state so it can “manage” it for you!

Independence Institute Health Care Policy Center Director Linda Gorman warns the state may have access to individual information on physical functioning, medical treatment, supposed mental stability, marital problems, family structure, sexual habits, addictions, adherence to government health recommendations, and individual financial arrangements.

Remember it’s for your own good.  How else can the state “manage” your health care for you?

Also troubling, transparency means citizens get to see inside government, and NOT the other way around.  Funny, some Democrat lawmakers were so worried about privacy issues when Rep BJ Nikkel presented her Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act that required the state to provide detailed spending information.  No such concern from them with HB 1330.

Check out Linda Gorman’s excellent analysis of the “Trojan Horse Transparency.”  Also call John Kefalas and thank him for being willing to “manage” your health care.

At the end of last year Congresswoman Betsy Markey (CO 4) joined the Blue Dog Coalition, a self described group of 54 conservative and moderate Democrats that focus on fiscal issues including a balanced budget and the national debt.   A review of Markey’s voting record leaves one to wonder if her support for fiscal reform is all bark and no bite.

Markey is a freshman democrat lawmaker from a conservative district (voter registration favors republicans by nearly10 percent) that voted for John McCain in 2008.  She is the first democrat to represent the 4th CD since Wayne Aspinall in 1973.  The Cook Political Report calls the 4th CD a “toss up” for 2010, which is why Markey has tried so hard recently to appear as a fiscal conservative.

Early in 2009 she voted for or supported unpopular legislation such as the stimulus package, card check, and cap and trade.  My friend and fellow blogger Randy Ketner did an excellent job of highlighting Markey’s short legislative tenure.  His lengthy “Colorado Political Analysis 2010” appeared on Red State.

It seems that Markey is reading the tea leaves, which are telling her to move to the right or at least look like she is moving to the right.  Recently Markey has voted “against” her party on both health care and raising the debt limit, but in reality she voted with party leadership on all procedural and amendment votes only voting against leadership on the final vote.  That way she can position herself as independent of the democrat leadership without upsetting them.

Take health care for instance. Markey says she voted against H.R. 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act because she claimed it did not do enough to “cut health care costs that crushing our businesses and families.”  She claims to support health care reform just not this specific piece of legislation. 

If that is true, then why did she vote no on a motion to recommit the bill?  According to GovTrack, Markey voted no on House Vote #866 which was “a final opportunity to revise” it before passage.  A motion to recommit sends legislation back to committee with instructions on how to fix the bill.  It can be used constructively or can be used to kill a “bill before it moves to a final up-or-down vote in the House.”  If Markey is serious about health care reform but not this bill, why vote to move it along instead of fixing it in such a way that she can support it?

Another example of Markey voting with democrat party leadership on rules and procedures for unpopular legislation then voting against them on the final tally is H.J. Res. 45 to increase the statutory limit on public debt.  This one is interesting because 38 Democrats voted not to raise the debt limit, 22 are freshman lawmakers facing competitive races in the fall, 17 are Blue Dogs.  Of the 17 Blue Dogs, only four enabled party leadership with procedural votes that allowed the debt limit resolution to go to the floor of the House.  Markey was one of those four. 

Markey voted yes on Roll Call Vote #45, which ordered the question: “Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 45) increasing the statutory limit on the public debt.”  She then voted no on Roll Call Vote #46 on “agreeing” to an increase. 

Markey played the same game with H.R. 1106: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which allows bankruptcy courts to modify mortgage contracts.  She enabled democrat leadership when she voted no to recommit and yes to proceed.  On the final vote she said no. 

These aren’t the only examples.  I’ll highlight more as we get closer to the November vote.

The 4th CD is the heart of Ag country in Colorado.  Weld County is the 8th largest Ag producing county in the United States.  While Congresswoman Markey can claim to be a fiscal conservative, our sensitive olfactory receptors can detect a load of manure when we smell it.

Hell No! We Won’t Go…to Obama Care.  Make Colorado a “sanctuary state” for free choice in health care. 

Jon Caldara, my boss at the Independence Institute, is calling for an amendment to the Colorado constitution that would opt our state out of the onerous health insurance mandates being forced upon us by the federal government.   Check out the Colorado Right to Health Care Choice Initiative ballot language.

Concerned citizens are rallying today (Tuesday, January 19) on the west steps of the Colorado state capitol in Denver from noon to 1 pm.   For more information visit Free Our Health Care Rally!

If you cannot attend but want to make your voice heard, visit my friend and fellow transparency activist Natalie Menten’s Web site where she has contact information for both the state house and senate, as well as our congressional delegation.

Politico reports that the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill is 1502 pages long.  Don’t worry about reading it, no one in Congress will either.  Key to this bill is a 40 percent tax on “high-end” or “cadillac” health care plans.  Why does government think it deserves 40 percent of a compensation package that workers have negotiated with their employers? 

I think it is time for more tea parties to remind Congress how we feel about health care “reform.”

According the Pew Hispanic Center 15 percent of the nation’s 47 million uninsured are illegal immigrants as reported in USA Today.  That means over 7 million uninsured are illegal immigrants.  That’s no news flash. The Left loves to toss around the number of uninsured in United States as a reason for health care “reform,” but with that number comes a lot of illegal immigrants.

Congresswoman Betsy Markey wants health care for EVERYONE, which by definition must include illegal aliens.  In a letter asking for physician support during her 2008 campaign against incumbent Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, Markey wrote:

The United States spends approximately 15% of our GDP on healthcare, and yet 45 million Americans are uninsured and many more underinsured.  The current system of coverage is expensive, unsustainable and highly inefficient. We must address how to provide healthcare to everyone in the most efficient and equitable way.

Doctors who endorsed Markey did so because “Markey believes that the most efficient and equitable solution to health-care reform is basic health-care benefits for everyone…”

From my experience, health care coverage for illegal aliens is not a popular position in the 4th CD.  Markey responded to a constituent who challenged her about coverage for illegals.  According to the Greeley Tribune Markey said “the current [health care] proposals don’t include federal funding for illegal immigrants…”  Then she expressed her “hope” that everyone would “take a look at the bill for themselves.”

However, H.R. 3200, the health care legislation currently available for everyone to read on Markey’s Web site, does not exclude coverage for illegal aliens, despite her statement to the contrary.

To be fair, a quick document search reveals that on page 143, section 246, line 3, H.R. 3200 says “NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.”  The language immediately following then clarifies, “Nothing in this subtitle shall all Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

That’s just affordability credits.  Other parts of the bill can be interpreted either way.  On page 50, section 152, line 21, “PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE,” the bill states:

Except as otherwise explicitly permitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this Act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.

The public has little reason to trust Congresswoman Markey’s interpretation of the legislation given the pressure put on Congress by special interest groups.  Just before the August recess, the House Ways and Means Committee rejected an amendment to require verification of immigration status in order to enroll in a public plan. 

La Raza and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) have urged that illegal aliens be included in the legislation.  One member of the CHC, recognizing the politics of bill drafting, said:

the organization’s leaders are not asking Speaker Pelosi to “specifically spell something out” in the bill, but instead to seek to ensure that the bill does not actually prohibit illegal aliens from receiving benefits. “We’re pushing to include everyone in the health care bill. Everyone,” the CHC member who asked not to be identified said. “Sometimes if you don’t say something, something happens.”

In other words, make the language vague enough that it can be interpreted either way.  Maybe that’s how Markey wants it since she believes we must fund health care for all.

Congresswoman Betsy Markey released her Congress on Your Corner schedule.  According to a press release on her Web site, Markey will hold the following events to discuss health reform:

08/18     Congress on Your Corner      Ft Collins         9am – 12pm      
08/19     Congress on Your Corner      Greeley           11am – 1pm      
08/20     Congress on Your Corner      Longmont        3pm – 5pm      
08/21     Seniors Day Event                 Greeley            1pm – 3pm
08/22     Congress on Your Corner      Ft Lupton        10:00am – 12:00pm     
08/24     Tele-Town Hall Meeting         District-wide     7:30pm – 8:30pm
08/26     Congress on Your Corner      Ft Collins         10:30am – 12pm      
08/28     Congress on Your Corner      Ft Morgan        9am – 10:30am      
09/01     Congress on Your Corner      Johnstown        8:30am – 10am      
09/02     Congress on Your Corner      Windsor           1pm – 3pm      
09/03     Congress on Your Corner      Estes Park        3:30pm – 5pm

Note on Congress on Your Corner listening session format:
In order for as many 4th District residents as possible to speak directly with Rep. Markey, residents will join groups of 15 -20 people for public listening sessions. 4th District residents are asked to arrive no more than 30 minutes in advance of the meeting, to accommodate residents’ work and family schedules and so that everybody who would like to ask a question has an opportunity to do so.

A lot of details still are missing.  I will post those as soon as I get them.

On Saturday, Coloradans northof I-70 continued to show their displeasure with Obama Care.  According to Complete Colorado:

One day after Congressman Jared Polis was “mobbed”at a Boulder coffee shop by constituents wanting to talk health care issues, between two andthree hundred people showed up for a similar “Q & A” session with Representative Ed Perlmutter. Perlmutter held his meeting outside the King Soopers grocery store on Bromley Lane in Brighton.

Polis and Perlmutter are Democrats respectively representing the 2nd and 7th congressional districts. 

Residents of the 4th congressional district may wonder where their representative is during this August recess.   According to the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Congresswoman Betsy Markey is in Israel on a “fact-finding trip.”  After her return, residents anxious to speak with her will get their chance.

Markey’s office is finalizing plans for “Congress on Your Corner” events in August in Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Fort Morgan, Sterling and southeast Colorado. She also plans two town-hall style forums during the recess, one in Greeley focusing on the impact of health-care reform on Medicare and another on the Eastern Plains focusing on agriculture issues.

Face the State reports that Markey’s office is citing “’security concerns’ before setting any firm plans.’” That may explain why 4thCD residents don’t have any firm dates to meet with their congresswoman.  There is no question that No CO residents have been loud and clear about “hands off my health care,” and that Markey will face tough questions on the issue.

A note about press coverage on Markey and the 4th CD (and politics in general).  For good reporting, check out Coloradoan editor Bob Moore’s blog.  He does a thorough job with his research, is unafraid to admit when he has made a mistake and gets criticism and praise from all sides.  Agree or disagree, his blog is worth reading.

Health care rally participants have been described as swastika-carrying, well-dressed, astroturf mobs.  You decide for yourself.  Check out Ari Armstrong’s (FreeColorado.com) video for the Longmont rally and Jerry Long’s photos from the Greeley rally.

For the second time in as many weeks, opponents of ObamaCare rallied in Fort Collins.  The Loveland 9-12 Project and Tea Party of Northern Colorado organized the protest that saw some more 400 attendees according to the Coloradoan.   That’s an incredible number of people for a protest on a Wednesday afternoon that was organized in just a few days.

The rallies are meant as a very strong message to freshman Democrat Congresswoman Betsy Markey, who I already think is going to have a difficult time getting re-elected due to her horrific vote on the Waxman-Markey bill (a.k.a. Cap and Trade).

What’s funny is how the left is potraying these grassroots protest.  Michael Huttner of ProgressNow, in a press release available on Face the State, called the rally “about as grassroots as Kim Jong Il’s last birthday party.”  I give him credit for being humorous, but he’s also arrogant and misinformed.   A warning to the arrogant Left, you ridicule this movement at your own peril.  The Left, with all its money and power, has become the establishment, and now they must protect their turf.  They underestimate the passion and organization of the limited government movement.

Check out listener and photographer Jerry Long’s photos of the rally.  You’ll see men and women, old and young.  This is “hands off my health care No CO style.”

BTW — I was in Denver for the Hands Off My Health Care rally at the Capitol.  About 500 to 600 people attended.

Wondering what Obama Care actually is?  Me too.  This simple, but very funny, video from the Independence Institute helps explain why I don’t want it.