It’s been a busy few weeks in Michiana and around the State. I have had the privilege of touring the State with several grass roots groups, vigorously fighting a government take-over of our health care system. I have been involved in 5 town hall mtgs locally, 3 rallies from Indianapolis to Bloomington to Columbus, Indiana. I’ve been to DC to lobby Sens. Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar and Rep. Joe Donnelly and ask them to vote “NO” on the public option/government run health care program. And, the good news is that WE, the American people, are winning this issue! We’re NOT winning because big organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA) and the AARP are helping with their powerful organizations and countless dollars. We’re winning this battle because of you!

From coast to coast, Americans are showing up in an absolute “ground swell” of spontaneous opposition to a takeover of our entire health system by big government. I saw it happen in Kansas a few weeks ago when 1,500 people packed an auditorium to express their disdain for their US Senator. I’ve seen it happen all over Indiana. And, while in DC, the Halls of Capitol Hill were packed with Americans who took time and spent their OWN money to fly-in and encourage their Representatives to vote NO.

As President Obama declared this morning that HE will now “engage” on this issue and push even harder…that is a signal to all of us across the State to “re-engage”. Every Congressman that was brave enough to hold town hall meetings when they were back in their districts heard loud and clear that Americans want the US Government to take their hands off of their health care. Now that members of Congress are returning to DC, they have to answer to their other bosses, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama. They need to keep hearing from us…by phone, email or written letter. Liberty and freedom reign when the American people stay engaged and let their voices ring!

There is another issue to watch closely at the Federal Level. A Senate bill is quietly moving along that would transfer the power and authority of Internet regulation from Homeland Security to the White House…need I say more? This is being billed as a “cyber safety” issue but it is clear in the bill that the President, at his discretion, can shut down the entire Internet system that every residential, business, private customer uses if there is an “emergency”. It’s a fairly scary concept because the word, “emergency” isn’t defined. I’m keeping my eyes on that one.

I have been named to the Summer Study Committee of the Legislature to study the topic of Alcohol and all issues relating to alcohol bills. We begin next week and are looking at the issue of whether or not to overturn the Sunday sales concept of alcohol in Indiana, selling cold beer in convenience stores/gas stations, liquor permits, etc. It should be an interesting issue and one that will definitely result in legislation in the January session.

I am continuing to work on bills that I will file or co-sponsor in the next session. If there is an issue you want addressed in the upcoming session…now is the time to act. Call or email me and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for staying plugged into the process.

You can also follow me on Twitter: jackiewalorski or connect with me on Facebook!

Elkhart's Dometic Corporation

Today’s announcement of “new jobs” at Elkhart’s Dometic Corporation, by Governor Mitch Daniels, was quite an interesting one.  I was sitting on the front row flanked by media behind.  As the Governor began speaking about the importance of “in-sourcing” jobs from Sweden, Mexico and China he boldly declared, “this proves my point that you bet we are competitive and that’s how we’ll rebuild America’s economy…bring those jobs back here to our soil.”   OK, I’m paraphrasing a bit, but that was the point. It struck me that the Governor sounded like he was addressing a national audience, a national press corps and that he was confident in his approach to fixing an ailing national economy and that today was proof that it can be done…yes, it can be done, Gov.    I commented to a friend of mine, “Sounds like the Gov is running for President”! Ironically, the sitting President is coming here tomorrow…I wonder how boldly and confidently he’ll be declaring the economic turnaround with proof that his plan is working or will work? Could we actually be looking at a Presidential ticket with our Gov on it? Anything’s possible in Indiana…we may have just seen a sneak peek of that today.  Could our Gov actually run for President?  Yes, he can…..if he wants to.  

Rally During Barack Obama's Visit

Barack Obama is coming to town! Let your voice be heard! This will be the ONE and ONLY opportunity for Michiana to respond to the President's visit.

A rally will be held to refute three nationalized issues that will affect our area greatly; Cap & Trade, Card Check and Government takeover of your PRIVATE HEALTH CARE.

The rally will be at Nelson's Golden Glow Headquarters at 607 Nelson's Pkwy, Wakarusa, IN 46573 at 1:00PM, BUT you MUST be there between 10:30-11:00! After 11:00 Barack Obama's secret service will be barricading the streets and you will NOT be able to get in. The press conference will be outside and it will take place REGARDLESS of the weather, make sure you come prepared rain or shine. This will be our chance to gain NATIONAL MEDIA EXPOSURE.

If you are OPPOSED to these critical issues, then this will be YOUR ONE opportunity to stand up, voice your opinion and get your message across to DC.

Call Congressman Donnelly and Senator Bayh

Call Congressman Joe Donnelly and Senator Evan Bayh and urge them to vote NO on Barack Obama's Socialized Medicine bill!
Joe Donnelly: 202.225.3915
Evan Bayh: 202.224.5623

2 Day DC Trip to Stand up Against Socialized Medicine

Here is a brief summary of the 2-day “fly-in” to Capitol Hill yesterday, asking our US Representatives and Senators to vote “NO” on Socialized Medicine/National Health Care. Contrary to what the President said last night on TV, the reality on the Hill is that there is virtually no chance of killing this bill only slight modifications they are willing to make to it. The most devastating part of this bill is the issue called, “public option”. The public option is the absolute CORE of National Health Care. This option will force small employers and a great deal of larger employers to cut employees, go out of business, or force their employees into the “public option” when in reality there will be no option at all.

My husband and I lived in this type of health care in the European Union and it is a first class disaster. The most vulnerable people in a government run system are the people that get sick! The young and old or people in the middle with chronic or incurable conditions quickly lose access. That’s the reason why people in other countries will sell their houses and make life-altering adjustments to get the money to come to the US to access state-of-the-art health care.

The second issue I learned about yesterday is the issue that is pure socialism and NEVER works; it is called “price-fixing”. The Government would set the price at which reimbursement would be paid for a patient’s care. For example, the bureaucrats in Washington, DC would decide how much you will pay for an office call to your doctor, for a CT scan if you need one, an MRI, or a hospital stay. As a legislator, I can tell you that the government has been up to $10 million dollars in default to our local hospitals right here in Michiana and our entire coalition of elected officials go and fight to get their money, and that’s ONLY to pay for the back log in Medicaid payments. Forcing all Americans on to a government run system that has not adequately run ANY health program efficiently is an impending nightmare.

Thirdly, we all know there is no such thing as “free” health care….nothing is free. This program has a price tag of more than $1.5 trillion dollars. One Congressman told me yesterday that he was excited about trimming $1 billion dollars off of that $1 trillion dollar price tag…sorry, but there is a long way to go between a billion and a trillion and it will have to be paid for in tax dollars. We cannot afford “free” health care.

I left there yesterday with a sense that, unless the American people rise up and say, “no way”…this is going to pass in some type of modified form. This certainly isn’t a partisan, political issue, this is about our families and our own lives. I implore you to pass this email around, call Rep. Joe Donnelly and Senator Evan Bayh and tell them to vote NO…not to modify the bill but to vote NO and start over.

If you have questions about this issue for me, email me back and I will get you an answer. I don’t want to see the lives of Hoosiers and Americans jeopardized over an “experiment” that hasn’t worked in any country…let alone the greatest country on the face of the earth!

Please call today and keep calling.

Thank you!

Jackie Walorski
State Rep., Dist. 21

Thanks to those of you that called or emailed me about the issue of printing same sex marriage photos in The Truth. I did an interview yesterday morning on WFRN and it sounds like hundreds of people responded. You might want to check out The Truth’s editorial today, it seems as though they are rock solid in their decision and are amused at the response of those that disagree with their decision. You can still call and give your opinion; it seems as though they are tracking the responses.

I spoke with Managing Editor, Greg Halling, to express concern as to why they would publish something that isn’t legal here and in today’s editorial they equate this decision with printing birth announcements even if the babies are born “out of wedlock” but being born out of wedlock isn’t illegal and the birth is still recognized by the State as legitimate. It’s the voters in Indiana that choose the laws and the community standard by which we live and are governed. Mr. Halling’s number is 574-294-1661, the CEO of Federated Media which owns The Truth is Mr. John Dille 111, and he can be reached at 574-295-2500.

On another issue, PLEASE take another minute and again, call your Congressman, either Joe Donnelly or Mark Souder and express your NO vote on the Nationalized Health Care issue. The President declared last night that he wants this program on the fast track and on his desk by August….that means a vote in less than three weeks. This issue will probably be decided by the Blue Dog Democrats, of which Joe Donnelly, is one. It is critical that we don’t let the best health care system in the world be dismantled by a government takeover.

My husband and I know, first hand, what it’s like to live in a country with socialized medicine and it’s horrific. When we were missionaries in Eastern Europe, nearly every nation used the same, broken model of socialized medicine and the only way they could contain cost, was to limit access. Therefore, the minute a citizen went from the “asset” side to the “liability” side, getting health care was nearly impossible. Doctors quit working because they made no money, conditions rapidly deteriorate in hospitals when no new ones are built and equipment isn’t replaced because of lack of funds. “Important people or VIP’s” will have connections to move to the front of the line, if there is a special need, while others wait for months. The actual “value” we place on life in this country will completely deteriorate.

As a legislator, I am involved in this same situation, as I battle for constituents’ lives when they fall through the system of Medicaid. When it’s Friday at 5pm and some bureaucrat hasn’t filed a paper, or lost it on their desk, or an “I” isn’t dotted or a “T” crossed and an ill person is denied access to their doctor, their prescriptions…when those moments happen, you need an elected official whose willing to move mountains on behalf of helping people in need. Elected officials at the State and Federal level do this every day. We all have staffs who know how to intervene in these critical situations because they happen all the time. These situations will multiply by the millions with government making decisions about the lives of individual Americans.

Ask your Congressman to slow this train down, regroup and come up with a plan that maintains private insurance and protects individual choice. This is still the United States of America but if we sell out our own, individual futures to the government as the banks and auto industry have done there won’t be anyone left to “bail” us out when this program fails, it will cost actual lives…..that cost is too high.

Please call Congressman Joe Donnelly today at 202-225-3915 or locally at 574-288-2825 and call Congressman Mark Souder at 202-225-4436 or locally at 574-533-5802. We only have a small window of time to hold off a government takeover…this is by far the most important issue facing our fellow citizens today. Thank you!

Reminder to those of you walking with me in the Elkhart County 4H Fair Parade, we will be meeting at 12:30 in the LinWay Shopping Center parking lot and the parade begins at 1:30pm. Please feel free to bring a friend! It should be a beautiful day and there is usually 30,000 people on the parade route! See you on Sunday!

Thank you.

Jackie Walorski
State Representative

Write your US Congressman & Senator..Be a Voice!

Everywhere I have been this weekend, I am being asked the question, “What are we going to do about Obama completely taking over everything we are doing and everything we have? I tell them to call their US Congressman and US Senator and start rattling their cages over these concerns, such as: astronomical debt, never to be paid off in our lifetime; socialized medicine; nationalized companies and tax increases quickly approaching at every level. They look at me with almost blank stares and start talking about how powerless they feel.

In the meantime, the South Bend Tribune is reporting today that Obama’s team has “volunteers”, or perhaps paid ACORN employees, canvassing the West Side of South Bend….knocking on doors, just like a political campaign, “selling” Obama’s national health care to the neighborhood.

On the State side of “politics”, House Speaker Pat Bauer is in that same paper bashing the budget that was just passed in the Indiana General Assembly, complaining that it didn’t spend enough money even though, he, as House Speaker, controls every single bill that comes to the floor for a vote. The only way to “spend” more money in Indiana is to raise taxes so there is more money to spend and we said NO which protected taxpayers. So, today, Bauer is actively “selling” his opposition to a budget that he allowed to pass!

On the local side of politics this morning, there is the St. Joseph County Council and the City of South Bend using “scare tactics” to raise the Option Income Tax this upcoming week. South Bend is threatening to layoff and cut off their own vital first responders in order to get their residents to beg for another tax. Why is it that Mishawaka’s mayor just cut their budget, laid off 25 people, left 10 other positions empty and balanced their budget and didn’t touch one police officer or firefighter?

Why are these community leaders using scare tactics and running their tax increase campaigns like political campaigns? It’s interesting that at the National, State and Local level….there is a common thread running through all of the political rhetoric that is tied to either your health or your pocket through new, massive taxation….it seems to be fear and intimidation of working Hoosiers and Americans.

When rational discussions don’t produce the results that the other side wants, they resort to what they know best, winning elections through fear. So, while the other side is running campaigns on national health care, raising taxes at every level…it’s about time OUR side shakes off this “fear” and gets moving.

Instead of feeling powerless and overwhelmed, let’s grab ourselves by our bootstraps and engage in this battle before we lose it! I encourage every Hoosier to “wake up”, reach deep inside of your selves and emerge with a resolve like a pit bull that “enough is enough” and we’re taking our role seriously as a voter and a Hoosier. While the other side is knocking on doors, we should be doing the same. While the other side is filling up local newspapers with their “spin” and rhetoric…we should be sharing our opinions by the thousands! While the other side is raising money, gearing up for the 2010 elections….we should raise more…let’s embrace capitalism, not run from it! Let’s embrace the issues of today and confront them head on…not give into fear!

This week, write your US Congressman and US Senator and tell them to vote NO on National Health Care, Cap and Trade and massive tax increases…also write to your local papers and tell them the same thing! Show up at the Council meetings in St. Joseph County and express your opinion on raising taxes without budget cuts!! Rise up and be an active participant in this battle and engage the other side on the front line!