FREEDOMWORKS 12/23/2014

1. Replace ObamaCare by The Rule of Law - by Ted Abram A government with moral and legal authority promulgates written rules and universally, impartially and uniformly enforces the rules, which provides a predictable and stable legal order on which to base economic and personal decisions. The law prevails, not the proclamation or arbitrary decision of a ruler, government bureaucrat, the enforcer (e.g., policeman) or judge. Anytime now, the Supreme Court will hear the case of King vs. Burwell, where an adverse ruling could deny IRS-ordered subsidies in 36 states that are without state exchanges. Additionally, it would destroy the employer-mandate since employers are only mandated when the state has exchanges for their employees. Such an outcome would substantially destroy ObamaCare. Read more here... 2. ObamaCare and the Medicrats Part 2 In Part 2 of his interview with FreedomWorks, Ralph Weber continues his discussion on the immediate and future implications of the Affordable Care Act. Watch here... 3. Vermont Nixes Single-Payer Health Care, Because Socialism is Ridiculously Expensive - by Jason Pye The outrageous tax increases that would have been required to make Vermont's proposed single-payer healthcare program a reality forced Gov. Peter Shumlin to pull the plug after years of planning. In May 2011, Shumlin, a Democrat, signed legislation into law that established a government-run, taxpayer-financed healthcare system that would provide coverage to all residents of Vermont. "In Vermont we are pursuing a plan that we think will control healthcare costs, not just by cutting fees to doctors and hospitals, but by fundamentally changing the state's healthcare system. I have launched an ambitious effort, with support from the Vermont legislature, to implement a single payer system in Vermont,"Shumlin wrote in an August 2011 editorial at the Huffington Post. "Under the plan, single payer coverage will be a right and not a privilege, and will not be connected to employment." Read more here... 4. Why the Individual Mandate is Still Super Unpopular - by Julie Borowski A new Kaiser poll finds that 64 percent of Americans unfavorably view the individual mandate—the provision that requires nearly every American to purchase health insurance or else pay a fine. This is no surprise because the individual mandate has always been one of the most politically toxic parts of ObamaCare. You’ll notice that the Obama administration has stayed silent about the unpopular provision in their enrollment push to avoid backlash. Read more here... 5. Liberty Christmas List What do you want for Christmas? Watch the Liberty Christmas List where Julie Borowski and her fellow FreedomWorks staffers ask for what they want. Watch here... 6. CBO Warns Lawmakers that Social Security is Still Going Broke - by Jason Pye The Congressional Budget Office issued another dire warning last week on the ominous state of the Social Security, the social retirement and disability programs created by Congress in 1935 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal." Though the financial state of the "trust funds" -- divided into two parts, the Old-Age Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) -- has long been a concern for policy wonks and some lawmakers (though not nearly enough of them), the report released on Thursday notes that Social Security, which, in 2010, began paying out more in benefits than taxes collected, isn't too far off from running out of money, owing more in benefits than it can legally pay out. Read more here... 7. "Right to Try" Laws Give Terminal Patients a Fighting Chance - by Logan Albright The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for determining which prescription drugs are legal to sell in the United States, with all new products forced to undergo a lengthy and expensive approval process before patients can access their benefits. But in many cases, the FDA is actively standing in the way of patients with debilitating or terminal illnesses being allowed to choose their own treatment, denying them the chance to fight for their survival. Read more here... In Liberty, Jackie Bodnar Director of Communications, FreedomWorks