Kansas Healthcare "Freedom" Amendment fails in the Senate but there's One more hill to climb

Thanks to all of you who called, wrote letters, and spoke with your Legislators, the Kansas Health care "Freedom" Amendment (or as I like to call it, the "we-don't-need-health-care-reform-in-Kansas-according-to-what-I-read-on-the-Internet Act") was DEFEATED in the Senate! It failed on Thursday with a 4-4 vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee (a majority vote is needed to move a bill out of committee). The bill was brought back again on Friday and failed once more on a 5-5 vote!

But today, the House heard an identical version of the bill on the floor (HCR5032). A floor vote was taken and the measure passed favorably with a 76-44 vote. However, this is not a proposed statute, but a proposed Constitutional Amendment, meaning for passage it must receive a vote of 2/3rds of the Legislature (they need 84 of 125 possible votes in the House)

The measure, as confirmed by the Associated Press, is designed to give the state grounds for a legal challenge against any part of the federal health overhaul that officials don't like.

The Kansas House is expected to bring it back for final action TOMORROW. They would need to pick up 8 additional votes to pass it and send it Back over to the Senate.

So once again, we are calling on you to let your voices be heard. We need you to contact your Representatives in the House and tell them to VOTE NO on HCR5032 (The Kansas Health Care "Freedom" Amendment). Let them know loud and clear that we are not interested in playing these types of partisan games. America is on the cusp of real Health Care reform and 300,000 uninsured Kansas will directly benefit. 65,000 Kansas small businesses will soon see a tax cut that will allow them to provide health care for their employees and 44,000 Seniors will see the doughnut hole in Medicare Part "D" closed. If the opponents of Health Care reform are so Hot on Tort Reform, let them begin by scuttling this effort to set up a frivolous lawsuit with these trite obstruction tactics.

HERE is the complete list of all of the members of the Kansas House of Representatives with links to their email accounts. Please send them an email or preferably, pick up the phone and give them a call... Tell them your name, your address, and your story. And most importantly, tell them to VOTE NO on HCR 5032 (the Kansas Health Care "Freedom" Amendment)

• Let them know that we ARE the people, and that we are in need of serious Reform, NOT political gamesmanship.
• Let them know that being a 'good soldier' for the party won't do a thing for those suffering with pre-existing conditions.
• Let them know that political grandstanding and rhetorical 'odes to freedom' might move the party loyalists, but it does nothing to help seniors trying to afford their prescriptions.
• Let them know that "Tea-Party style" rants against the Government might help position them for their next big election or appointment, but it does nothing to help the 4,100 Kansas Families who declare bankruptcy every year due to medical debt.
• And let them know that the Status Quo simply won't work anymore. We can no longer afford the cost of doing nothing, and that's a fact that all the patriotic prose in the world can not hide.

And when they tell you that we here in Kansas should work out our own Health Care reform plan, gently remind them that Kansas is the Reddest of Red States, and that if our legislators were serious about reform, they could have accomplished it at any time: BUT THEY HAVE NEVER TAKEN UP THE CAUSE. To come along now, on the cusp of real reform, to say nothing but 'Stop, lets try and figure out a different way', when you could have addressed the problem anytime you wanted, is disingenuous and nonsensical.

Enough with the games.
Enough with the grandstanding.
Enough with the rhetoric.
We need reform now.
We need them to VOTE NO on HCR5032