JEFFERSON COUNTY

               REPUBLICAN PARTY

Longing for Liberty

March 21, 2010 will be remembered as the day when the U.S. Congress said “no, you do not have the inalienable right to Liberty as stated in the Declaration of Independence.”  On this date, against the will of greater than half of the nation’s voters*, Congress MANDATED that we must purchase health care insurance.

From the Well of the U.S. House, Speaker Pelosi declared this to be a “… right, not a privilege.”  If it’s a RIGHT, why does it affect us differently?  Are we not equal?

With 219 votes willingly provided by hard-core liberal Democrats and coerced from moderate Democrats, like Representative Stupak and his associates who gave up principles for pay-backs, our right to choose whether to purchase goods or services was usurped and the IRS was authorized to enforce penalties on citizens who moments earlier were free to choose.  Celebration ensued among the victorious lawmakers as Americans outside the U.S. House chanted “kill the bill”.

It cannot be denied that there is an overwhelming need to reform aspects of the U.S. Healthcare System.  Tort reform, regulatory reform and permissible interstate competition among insurance companies are but a few of the ways in which the system should be altered.  Had ruling Democrats been serious about seeking bipartisan support for health care reform, they might have broached these issues with Republicans and sought a compromise.  Instead, the bill was passed with bipartisan opposition and every Republican voting NO.

Enacting a requirement, under penalty of law, that all Americans MUST have an insurance policy is not a method that will change the system.  In fact, this method guarantees that MORE money will be spent to support a system that is in disrepair. This new requirement is a reprehensible intrusion into our personal privacy and goes against the grain of what our founding fathers stood for.

As this day dawns and we begin to wonder which of our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness still remain and which of these our government will seek to confiscate next, I long for the Liberty for which our forefathers fought and I urge the next generation of Conservative Leaders to restore the fundamental values upon which our nation was founded.  Let Liberty be our focus as we consider our vote in November 2010!

Don Ytterberg

Chairman, Jefferson Republican County Central Committee

March 22, 2010

* 59% per CNN Poll before the vote on 3/21/10

Don Ytterberg

Chairman

Jefferson County Republican Party