GOA had managed to win some minor victories in the fight over this legislation last year. At that time, the very-liberal Slate magazine lamented that GOA had won a skirmish over ObamaCare:
Score one for the Gun Owners of America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle Association…. [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [has inserted into the health care bill] a section titled “Protecting 2nd Amendment Gun Rights” [which prevents the] disclosure or collection of any information relating to gun ownership. (Slate, December 20, 2009.)
But even after being “cleaned up” for some of its anti-gun problems, the ATF can still use ObamaCare to troll a federal database for your medical information. It can identify people with common ailments such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — and take away their guns by sending their names to the FBI as “prohibited persons.”
For these and other reasons, GOA is still committed to repealing the anti-gun ObamaCare law.
So GOA was not particularly thrilled when Republican leaders went on the Sunday talk shows right before the election to explain why they could not repeal ObamaCare because of the threat of a presidential veto.
In fact, some have speculated that these cowardly pronouncements could have cost Republicans control of the Senate.
But, never mind, say the Republicans. If they can’t repeal it, they can just “defund” ObamaCare.
So it came as a bit of a shock to us that Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl appeared on the Greta Van Susteren program December 2 to announce that he would prefer to pass a stripped-down funding bill (a so-called Continuing Resolution) to fund the government until October 1, 2011.
In other words, money would flow for the next ten months — without ANY EFFORT WHATSOEVER TO DEFUND OBAMACARE. This would take the pressure off Congress to act on ObamaCare for almost a year.
Do you want proof that Congress doesn’t like to act unless they have a “gun” put to their collective heads? Consider a hot topic that’s been in the news lately: tax cuts. Congress has had almost 10 years to deal with this issue, but they’re only dealing with it now — as the time limit on the Bush tax cuts are about to expire on December 31.
We don’t want this to happen in our efforts to repeal the anti-gun health care law. Putting off this issue would undermine the efforts of incoming congressmen who campaigned on getting rid of ObamaCare! The will of the American people was made clear in the November elections. If Congress extends the funding of the government beyond the first few weeks of 2011, it will pull the rug out from under the newly elected members and be a slap in the face to millions of voters.
Moreover, if Congress puts off dealing with ObamaCare until next fall, momentum for repeal will wane and the President will have won a significant public relations battle. This may all sound a little like “inside baseball,” but if Congress passes another Continuing Resolution next October 1 — as they probably will — then it’s very possible that there will be no impetus to deal with repealing or defunding ObamaCare until after the 2012 elections.
This would allow Obama to run for reelection without the stain of public repudiation for his socialist policies.
The time to act is sooner, rather than later. If Senate Republicans are serious about defunding ObamaCare, they need to fight to prevent a bill that funds the government beyond January or February. If the funding measure is only for the short-term, then the new Congress can come to town and deal with nixing ObamaCare right away.
ACTION: Please urge your Senators to take action on repealing ObamaCare sooner, rather than later! There are two different pre-written letters for this alert — one for Republicans and one for Democrats.
If you go to GOA’s Legislative Action Center to contact your Senators, the correct pre-written letter will AUTOMATICALLY be chosen. If you choose to contact your Senators without going through the GOA website, then please make sure you choose the correct letter below for the correct Senator.
—– Pre-written letter to Republican Senators —–
Dear Senator:
Without question, repealing the anti-gun and anti-freedom ObamaCare legislation should be one of Congress’ top priorities next year.
Polls continue to show that an overwhelming percentage of the American people want to see this law repealed.
And this is why I was shocked to learn that Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl appeared on the Greta Van Susteren program December 2 to announce that he would prefer to pass a stripped-down Continuing Resolution to fund the government until October 1, 2011.
Even worse, it would undermine the efforts of incoming congressmen who campaigned on getting rid of ObamaCare! The will of the American people was made clear in the November elections. If Congress extends the funding of the government beyond the first few weeks of 2011, it will pull the rug out from under the newly elected members and be a slap in the face to millions of voters.
Furthermore, if Congress puts off dealing with ObamaCare until next fall, momentum for repeal will wane and the President will have won a significant public relations battle. And, if Congress passes another Continuing Resolution next October 1 — as they probably will — then it’s very possible that there will be no impetus to deal with repealing or defunding ObamaCare until after the 2012 elections.
This would allow Obama to run for reelection without the stain of public repudiation for his socialist policies.
The time to act is sooner, rather than later. If Senate Republicans are serious about defunding ObamaCare, they need to fight to prevent a bill that funds the government beyond January or February. If the funding measure is only for the short-term, then the new Congress can come to town and deal with nixing ObamaCare right away.
Sincerely,
—– Pre-written letter to Democrat and Independent Senators —–
Dear Senator:
Without question, repealing the anti-gun and anti-freedom ObamaCare legislation should be one of Congress’ top priorities next year.
Polls continue to show that an overwhelming percentage of the American people want to see this law repealed.
Please do everything in your power to defund or repeal this law.
Sincerely,
Sign the Petition!
Please remember to stop by http://readtheusconstitution.org to encourage Congress to read the U.S. Constitution, out loud, upon convening in January. Way too often our elected officials act without even considering the source of their authority.
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