Author Archives: Ann Becker

Ohio Senate Not Planning to Put Medicaid Expansion Back in the Budget

From Ohio Liberty Coalition

In a press conference earlier today, Senate President Faber announced that Medicaid expansion as proposed by Governor Kasich would not be included in the Senate version of the biennial budget.

While we are encouraged by this development, Senator Faber did leave open the possibility for expansion to occur by other means, either through a stand alone bill being pursued in the Ohio House of Representatives or through a Medicaid reform work group led by Senator Burke and operating in conjunction with the Ohio House and the Governor.  Senator Faber characterized the work group’s mission as developing “a reform that allows us to provide more services to more individuals for less money.”

The Ohio Liberty Coalition will remain engaged in this battle to ensure that any Medicaid reforms or expansion proposals are based on free market principles and do not rely on the capricious promise of more federal dollars.

Read More and watch the Senate's press conference- Click Here

April Meeting – Citizen’s Activism

The West Chester Tea Party will hold its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, April 16th at the West Chester Volunteer Center – 5430 West Chester Road, West Chester, Ohio 45069.

Registration and networking begins at 6:30 P.M., the meeting begins at 7:00 P.M. There is no charge for attendance. All are welcome.

The meeting will be focused on "citizen activism" with Scott Landreth, the Ohio Director of the 10th Amendment Center and Chris Finney from COAST.

The Tenth Amendment Center focuses on the Tenth Amendment, which was written to emphasize the limited nature of the powers delegated to the federal government. In delegating just specific powers to the federal government, the states and the people, with some small exceptions, were free to continue exercising their sovereign powers.

When states and local communities take the lead on policy, the people are that much closer to the policymakers, and policymakers are that much more accountable to the people.

Mr. Finney is a shareholder in a firm that concentrates in commercial and constitutional litigation as well as real estate law.

Some of his associations include the Board of Directors for Constitutional Law and Board of Directors of COAST (Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes. COAST’s slogan “Our mission is to limit increases in taxes and spending to within the rate of inflation and to stop the abuse of power by government officials throughout Ohio.”

 He was named one of eight "Ohio Lawyers of the Year" for 1998 by Ohio Lawyer Weekly and has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and on Fox News.

Ohio Medicaid/Obamacare Expansion Update

From Ted Stevenot, President Ohio Liberty Coalition

Late Monday afternoon news services in Ohio began reporting that statehouse leadership was planning to remove the $13 billion Medicaid expansion from the governor's proposed biennial budget. Further indicated were the removals of sweeping professional service taxes and the severance tax increases on oil and gas extraction.

While it appears we may have gained some momentum, we are waiting to see the actual proposals. Technically, this fight does not end until the final budget is passed in June. Consider as evidence for caution these remarks from Governor Kasich in the Cleveland Plain Dealer this past Sunday, read here.

"C'mon, there's all kinds of legislative maneuvers that go on," he said. "You get something out. You get a piece of what you want. You keep it alive. You move it in the other body. You expand it out. You get it into conference committee. It's just a long process."

And,

"I don't think we're anywhere close to the home stretch. I think we're just basically getting out of the gate," he said. "You know when the home stretch will be? Probably when we enter conference committee."

Notable in these circumstances also is the press frenzy to shred anyone who would dare choose fiscal responsibility over greater debt, or who would seek expanded opportunity in our state versus greater dependence on government. If they act this unhinged over losing the possibility of these federal dollars, just imagine how they would act in the future if Ohio ever had to initiate Kasich's so called "rollback" mechanism.

Let us remember that by 66% of the vote and passing in all of Ohio's 88 counties, a bipartisan majority of voters said "NO" to Obamacare by saying "YES" to the Healthcare Freedom Amendment. Though the media and John Kasich may try to ignore this fact, the reality of this victory will continue to motivate us in our battle against Obamacare in Ohio.

For the moment, we remain cautiously optimistic. As the governor says, we are "just basically getting out of the gate." As such, we will stay vigilant and ready for the coming rounds in this fight.

Please stay tuned for further updates should we need your support in contacting your State Reps. Your efforts have brought us to this important turning point and we will need your continued resolve to put us over the finish line.

Urgent Calls Needed: “Republicans shouldn’t act like this”

“It just feels wrong.  Republicans shouldn't act like this.”  I was calling a Republican primary voter in Tim Derickson’s district in Butler County about Governor Kasich’s Medicaid expansion plan last week.  She told me how she supported Governor Kasich in 2010, but has really started to feel that he isn't making the right decisions.  “Real Republicans should stand-up to the Governor.”

I agree with her.  I hope you do too.

Governor Kasich’s attempt to expand Medicaid, implementing Obamacare in Ohio, is at a critical point in the Ohio House.  It can be stopped with your help.  Your phone calls and emails are needed.  Tuesday is a critical day. We have to melt the phone lines.  We have to fill the email boxes.  We cannot let Obamacare come to Ohio.

Take the time.  Make these six phone calls. Thirty minutes of your time could make the difference. The Republicans in the Ohio House must stand-up to the Governor and say no to Federal money expanding Medicaid in Ohio.

Yours in Liberty,

Ann Becker

President,  West Chester Tea Party

 

Who to Call and Email…..

Speaker Bill Batchelder – Speaker of the Ohio House
Phone: (614) 466-8140
Email:  rep69@ohiohouse.gov

Rep. Ron Amstutz – House Finance Committee Chair
Phone: (614) 466-1474
Email: rep1@ohiohouse.gov

Rep. Barbara Sears – Republican Majority Floor Leader, Finance Committee
Phone: (614) 466-1731
Email:  rep47@ohiohouse.gov

Rep. Tim Derickson – Butler County, Member of the House Finance Committee
Phone: (614) 644-5094
Email:  rep53@ohiohouse.gov

Rep. Peter Stautberg – Anderson, Eastern Hamilton County –House Finance Committee
Phone: (614) 644-6886
Email:  rep27@ohiohouse.gov

Rep. Pete Beck – Mason area – House Finance Committee
Phone:  (614) 644-6027
Email:  rep54@ohiohouse.gov

All the emails together in a list, if you want to send

one email to them all….. rep69@ohiohouse.govrep1@ohiohouse.govrep47@ohiohouse.govrep53@ohiohouse.gov;rep27@ohiohouse.govrep54@ohiohouse.gov

What to say…..

§  I do not want any Federal money coming to Ohio!  None!

§  66% of Ohioans supported the Health Care Freedom Amendment.  That is a mandate.  No Obamacare.

§  Slow down. We don’t have to rush into this Medicaid expansion.   Pass a last year biennium, it was fine last time it is fine this time.  Form a commission to create a plan that will overhaul Medicaid in a free market way.  Medicaid is a broken program, why would we want to put more people into a broken program.

More support that you are right!  Medicaid isn’t right for Ohio!

The House Finance and Appropriations Committee – which could put a stop to Governor Kasich's plan to voluntarily accept billions in Obamacare money – will vote whether or not to advance the proposal to the full House for a vote.

§  Recent polling indicates that 75% of Medicaid participants identify as Democrat voters. Voluntarily expanding Medicaid is projected to add anywhere from 275,000 to 1,000,000 new participants to Ohio's Medicaid rolls.

§  No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. If this money from Obamacare is accepted, not only will Ohio surrender to the federal government takeover of healthcare, our state will become solidly "blue".

§  Most stunning of all is that this issue is being aggressively pushed by Ohio's Republican governor John Kasich. His willful betrayal of his Party, conservatives, and liberty-minded people everywhere is, at this moment, beyond description.

Common Core in Schools, more to know

The past few months there has been a lot in the conservative media about the new Common Core education standards.  The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) together formed the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) to develop a set of academic standards to be used in common across all states.  The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a set of learning standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.  These standards, if adopted by a state, will replace existing state standards in these subject areas.   You can download the standards by visiting the Common Core State Standards Initiative website.

There is a great website here in Ohio teaching about the Common Core. http://ohioansagainstcommoncore.com/

Learn more about Common Core at a forum in Cincinnati.
Friday, April 12
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Anderson Government Center
7850 Five Mile Rd.
Reserve seats here

Learn more about the Common Core from Glenn Beck, on the Blaze video below.

Great information from Reality Check’s  Ben Swann, Channel 19 Cincinnati
http://www.fox19.com/story/21860678/reality-check-the-truth-behind-common-core

More information about Common Core.
http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/common-core-watch/

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/344519/truth-about-common-core-kathleen-porter-magee