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At the origin of America, our Founding Fathers built this country on 28 powerful principles. These principles were culled from all over the world and from centuries of great thinkers. The original 28 principles are in print in The Five Thousand Year Leap. These principles have been distilled down to the 9 basic principles.
The formation of Constitutional TEA Party is based on these principles. The TEA parties held from coast-to-coast are based on these principles of our Founding Fathers.
So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Read The 9 Principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common. Join with us at Constitutional TEA Party to spread these principles, one person at a time.
1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”
from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty“I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”
George Washington
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.”
Thomas Jefferson
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.”
Thomas Jefferson
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.”
Thomas Jefferson
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.”
George Washington
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.”
George Washington
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.”
Thomas Jefferson
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude
Information Provided by:
John Taylor,
President,
Tertium Quids
email: J. Taylor
http://tertiumquids.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/JnoTaylor
www.TertiumQuids.org
Health care reform is very far away from being a done deal, but we must act now. Senator Harry Reid is planning for a vote in the Senate this coming Saturday. Below are talking points (kudos to FreedomWorks) regarding the Reid bill. Please read this, and call, fax, or e-mail Senator Warner and Senator Webb today! Then please forward this e-mail to your e-mail lists, your data base, your family members, your friends, and your neighbors. Striking a blow for Liberty -- Contact your Senators
Top-Line Facts:
Budget Gimmicks: Whereas the taxes associated with the Reid (Senate) health care reform bill would start in 2010, the provision of health care benefits would not begin until 2014. In a ruse to make it appear that the tax revenues and costs associated with the bill balance, the government plans to collect taxes for each of the first ten years, but only provide services for the last six of those years.
Spending: The cost of the bill is $2.5 trillion over 10 years of full implementation (2014-2023).
Taxes Increases: Taxes will go up $493.6 billion—nearly half a trillion dollars.
Medicare Cuts: Medicare will be cut $464.6 billion—another half a trillion dollars.
Total Number of Pages: 2074
Abortion: The bill permits the use of accounting gimmicks that will, for the first time, allow federal dollars to go to plans covering abortion. The bill does not include the Stupak language, and as a result, National Right to Life describes the Reid bill language as “completely unacceptable” and said it would “result in coverage of abortion on demand in two big new federal government programs.”
Government Plan: The bill includes a government run plan and provides states with the possibility of opting out of participating in that plan. According to CBO, the government run plan “would typically have premiums that were somewhat higher than the average premiums for the private plans in the exchanges.”
Employer Mandate: The bill will impose $28 billion in new taxes on employers that do not provide government approved health plans. These new taxes will ultimately be paid by American workers in the form of reduced wages and lost jobs.
Additional CBO Background:
The bill would bend the federal cost-curve up. CBO says, “Under the legislation, federal outlays for health care would increase during the 2010–2019 period, as would the federal budgetary commitment to health care.” The coverage expansion would drive a net increase in government spending on health by $160 billion over 10 years.
- CBO scored the bill as reducing the deficit by $130 billion over FYs 2010-2019.
- However, CBO notes that the bill includes two budget gimmicks that hide the true cost of the bill. Doctors are assumed to get a 23 percent cut in 2011 which would carry into subsequent years. Fixing the SGR would cost $247 billion. Additionally, the CLASS Act generates $72 billion over the budget window, but later turns to deficits. Eliminating these two gimmicks means the bill would be $189 billion in the red. It would also put the real cost of the bill over a trillion dollars.
- The start dates for the individual mandate, exchanges, and employer penalties were all moved from July 1, 2013, to January 1, 2014.
- This is another budget gimmick to hide the true cost of the bill.
- 24 million people would be left without insurance.
- Unfunded mandates on the states: The bill mandates that states spend an additional $25 billion in Medicaid expenditures.
- Taxes on uninsured individuals would total $8 billion.
- Taxes on employers from the “free-rider” penalty would total $28 billion.
- 5 million Americans would lose their employer coverage.
- Cuts to Medicare include: Permanent reductions in the annual updates to Medicare’s payment rates for most services in the fee-for-service sector of $192 billion; $118 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage; $43 billion in DSH cuts; $23 billion in unspecified cuts by the Medicare Advisory Board.
- Only 19 million people will get a subsidy to help them buy health insurance.
- None of the 162 million people with employer-based care will even be eligible for a subsidy.
- The government plan would have higher premiums than private plans. CBO said the government plan would “typically have premiums that were somewhat higher than the average premiums for the private plans in the exchanges.”
- With the opt-out provision, two-thirds of Americans are expected to have a government plan available in their state.
- Co-ops are included but would have “very little effect.”
- The CLASS Act would reduce deficits by $72 billion in the 10 year budget window, but “would begin to increase budget deficits” in the decade following 2029.
- The IRS would need $5-$10 billion to expand and implement the provisions in the bill.
- The costs of the subsidies in the exchange would grow at 8 percent a year.
- The tax on high value plans will quickly be applied to almost all plans. CBO expects the revenues from the Cadillac plan tax to grow at 10-15 percent per year outside the budget window.
- Includes a $15 billion “Prevention and Public Health Fund” slush fund.
- CBO says it would be “difficult” to maintain the predicted savings over a long period of time—meaning that the plan will likely run deficits when savings do not materialize.
Summary of Tax Provisions
|
Baucus Bill |
Reid Bill |
Cadillac plan tax |
$201.4 |
$149.1 |
Employer W-2 reporting of health benefits |
Negligible |
Negligible |
Conform definition of medical expenses |
$5.4 |
$5 |
Increase penalty for nonqualified HSA deductions |
$1.3 |
$1.3 |
Limit FSAs to $2,500 |
$14.6 |
$14.6 |
Corporate information reporting |
$17.1 |
$17.1 |
Requirements for non-profit hospitals |
Negligible |
Negligible |
Pharma fee, effective 2010 |
$22.2 |
$22.2 |
Device manufacturer fee, effective 2010 |
$38.6 |
$19.3 |
Health insurer fee, effective 2010 |
$60.4 |
$60.4 |
Eliminate subsidy related to Part D |
$5.4 |
$5.4 |
Raise 7.5 percent AGI floor to 10 percent |
$15.2 |
$15.2 |
$500k deduction cap on pay for health insurers |
$600 million |
$600 million |
0.5% HI payroll tax over $200single/$250married |
Not included |
$53.8 |
Section 833 treatment of certain insurers (the Blues) |
Not included |
$400 million |
Cosmetic surgery tax |
Not included |
$5.8 billion |
Individual and employer mandate penalties |
$27 billion |
$36 billion |
Effects of coverage provisions on revenues *This number is not directly comparable in both scores |
$83 billion |
$70 billion |
Other changes in revenue |
$16.3 billion |
$14.8 billion |
TOTAL |
$508 billion |
$493.6 billion |