YOU Changed Sen. Mitch McConnell's Mind on Repeal Vote Inbox X
show details 9:19 PM (19 minutes ago) |
 McConnell vows "Repeal ObamaCare" Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) switched strategies after Repeal It NOW confronted him, and now says he is committed to repeal ObamaCare votes in the Senate this month. I am proud to report that respect for YOUR clout is such that McConnell's office called US to work out a Repeal ObamaCare approach as soon as we went public with calls for him to resign or be removed from leadership! JOIN THE 2.3 MILLION "REPEAL IT NOW" ACTIVISTS – DEMAND NEW SENATE VOTES TODAY!
According to the Washington press, we threatened to go for McConnell's scalp over the issue, and he changed course. Fair enough.
In response, Restore America's Voice Foundation immediately tackled McConnell's office head on, notifying them we would "unleash" our 2.3 million activists to call for McConnell's resignation if he didn't retract his comments and change course, committing to move Senate votes forward. The Senate leadership is obliged to fulfill the promises of the 2010 elections – and REPEAL IT NOW. JOIN THE 2.3 MILLION "REPEAL IT NOW" ACTIVISTS – DEMAND NEW SENATE VOTES TODAY!
"This fight isn't over," McConnell said last year in the wake of the Senate vote. Yet Republicans in both the House and Senate have FAILED to seek new votes on repeal, or on what would replace Obama's massive, government run healthcare overhaul. They have instead adopted a shotgun approach, attempting to dismantle the law in bits and pieces. Restore America's Voice Foundation, through its REPEAL IT NOW campaign, has made it clear to Congress, both the House and Senate, that this weak political strategy is nowhere near good enough to achieve victory. And many other key groups agree. "We should have a vote on repealing ObamaCare every week," said Andrew Roth, vice president of government affairs at the Club for Growth, the conservative advocacy group. "Ahead of the Supreme Court decision, we need to routinely make the case that ObamaCare needs to be repealed." One lawmaker who had spoken to the press on background said McConnell is concerned that repeated efforts to force votes on amendments to repeal healthcare reform will lead to procedural stalemate with the Democrats. McConnell's staff, however, worked to impress the press with his anti-ObamaCare credentials: "Leader McConnell not only is an unapologetic advocate for the complete repeal of ObamaCare, he authored the repeal amendment and forced a vote on it at the beginning of this Congress," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart told The Hill after the Restore America's Voice Foundation said he should resign his leadership post if he doesn't have "the will or the backbone to force a floor vote" on repeal. "The Leader is discussing with his colleagues how best to raise the profile of this unconstitutional law as the nation turns its focus to the anniversary of the law and the Supreme Court case later this month," Stewart was quoted as saying. But profile-raising exercises just are not good enough, and McConnell's office clearly knows it. I am Ken Hoagland, the chairman of the RAV Foundation, and McConnell's chief of staff spoke with me for 20 minutes by phone after our press release was issued. In consequence of our taking a hard line, McConnell vowed to make March "Repeal ObamaCare Month" and we are meeting next week to hammer out concrete steps for making Senate votes happen. And with YOUR support, we will be working day and night on Capitol Hill for VICTORY! For now, like Ronald Reagan, we are assuming a "trust but verify" approach toward promises made. We will unleash TV ads and petitions demanding that McConnell step down as minority leader unless he shows he's serious about repeal. As I told The Hill: "He has to look for opportunities to bring amendments to the floor." Our mission is urgent. Our beleaguered nation is facing the two-year anniversary of Congress passing ObamaCare and the damage it is wreaking on our economy, on our rights and on our healthcare is a calamity. The Supreme Court will hold a hearing in late March prior to ruling on various questions of ObamaCare's constitutionality, but Obama's appointee Elena Kagan shows no willingness to properly recuse herself so the legislation is likely to upheld in a partisan fashion. Meanwhile, House Republicans told The Hill last week that they were teeing up bills to repeal parts of the law this month, including its birth-control mandate and the IPAB cost-cutting panel that amount to a "rationing board" – if not a "death panel." JOIN THE 2.3 MILLION "REPEAL IT NOW" ACTIVISTS – DEMAND NEW SENATE VOTES TODAY!
We say that's a minor risk easily answered by their prior record of ObamaCare support – and one well worth taking. Breaking the 50 vote simple majority on REPEAL in the Senate would break the back of ObamaCare and springboard a total overturn of the law. It would demonstrate that Obama is forcing upon America a law that a majority of citizens, Congressmen and Senators reject. "They might be gaining cover but they'd be exposing Harry Reid and Barack Obama," I told The Hill. "It makes it clear to voters in November that they're being ignored." And it PROVES We the People can prevail, and WIN REPEAL!
Copyright 2011 Restore America's Voice Foundation |
News stories and reports from Hill allies that McConnell was refusing to bring another vote on repeal of ObamaCare until after the November elections kicked our Washington advocacy team into overdrive. Within an hour of our press release demanding he step down if he would not push at every opportunity for a vote this year, McConnell's chief of staff was on the phone to us.
The Hill reported early on Thursday that McConnell told the Republican conference he does not want to vote again on repealing the law until after the November elections because some Democrats running for reelection might vote for it to gain political cover!
Senate Republicans vowed in February of 2011 to seek additional REPEAL votes while emphasizing they also wanted to REPLACE certain needed reforms in the law. All 47 members of the Senate Republican Conference voted to repeal the law. Not a single Democrat voted for it, and REPEAL failed to pass.
Before hearing from YOU, McConnell had suggested that the Senate voting again on repeal will give vulnerable Democrats an opportunity to "fake" votes against the unpopular statute. That arguably would give them some political cover before the November election, while avoiding the super-majority 60-vote threshold.
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