An Open Letter To Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur

Redstate ^ | June 30, 2012 | R. Clayton Strang

[rockrr]

Dear Mr. Chairman:

On Thursday June 28, 2012 the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the monstrous legislation known as “Obamacare.” As I am sure you are aware, the Washington State Attorney General and a Republican candidate for Washington State Governor, Rob McKenna, has said that he opposes a repeal of any portion of the Affordable Care Act and is ready to implement it if elected Governor of Washington. This statement by a Republican candidate is both shocking and offensive.

I had the honor and privilege of representing my congressional district as delegate to the 2012 WSRP Convention. As such, I helped to pass the 2012 WSRP Platform which clearly states in Section 9 “Physicians, healthcare providers, and healthcare organizations must retain the right to practice in a manner they believe is ethical and to exercise freedom of conscience. We call for the repeal of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.” Mr. McKenna has blatantly decided to ignore our platform by calling for the full implementation of this act. This is not the first plank in our platform that Mr. McKenna has trod on, and if past behavior is an indicator of his future actions, it will not be the last. Our Grand Old Party is not well served by candidates who flagrantly violate our platform. When such violations are tolerated by the party or party leadership, the great integrity and strong conservative principles of our party are rightly brought into question.

As a dedicated conservative Republican and Precinct Committee Officer Elect for Legislative District 32 – Lynnwood 2, I respectfully request and urge you, in your capacity as the Chairman of the Washington State Republican Party, to publically denounce Mr. McKenna’s comments regarding this matter. Due to the egregious nature of his statements, I further request that both you and the WSRP cut off any and all support that may exist for Mr. McKenna’s gubernatorial campaign.

Respectfully,

R. Clayton Strang, PCO Elect Lynnwood 2

[rockrr]

The blow-back from a repugnant SCOTUS decision continues to reverberate. McKenna argued before the court and was (past tense) a champion to repeal Øbamacare. Now he's decided to roll over.

Washington State FReepers contact the McKenna campaign and tell him to rethink abandoning us (if he wants our vote)!

[rockrr]

Here is McKenna’s statement post-decision:

McKenna: We won on Commerce Clause argument
June 28, 2012 11:37 a.m. • 0 comments

Attorney General Rob McKenna did his best to count victories this morning after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the lawsuit he joined to overturn the Affordable Care Act. And he said other Republicans should drop talk of a wholesale repeal of the law because “that’s not going to happen.”

At a late morning press conference, McKenna insisted the ruling was good for Washington because the court ruled Congress doesn’t have the authority under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to order people to buy health care insurance. “We achieved our goal” of finding that out, he said.

But he was surprised by the decision of five members of the court to rule the mandate is allowable under Congress’s taxing authority, adding that Chief Justice John Roberts’ determination that the tax isn’t subject to the restrictions of some other taxes was “a bracket buster.”

The state should move ahead with its work to meet provisions of the law, such as the Health Insurance Exchange which will allow individuals to shop for insurance more easilly, he said, and to look for more ways to reform health care.

But other Republicans should stop talking about repealing the law, and instead focus on specific provisions that prove unworkable, he said.

Democrats passed a massive bill with many controversial provisions by pushing it through Congress. “To completely blow it up means we’re essentially doing the same thing, in reverse,” he said.

Besides, the Democratically controlled Senate isn’t going to repeal the law, and Obama isn’t going to sign a repeal, he said.

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spincontrol/2012/jun/28/mckenna-we-won-commerce-clause-argument/

[rockrr]

Washington state Ping

[dainbramaged]

I thought McKenna had some stones - apparently not.

[ebersole]

This is a great example of why GOP-e’s can't be trusted to over turn Obamacare. I image many of them are in complete agreement with the SCOTUS ruling and out of camera and microphone range are jubilant and celebratory. Now due to the ruling, they feel they are free to embrace the take over of healthcare and the massive tax increase to the US populace. It will be interesting to see how many other Republicans come out in favor of this monstrosity and based on recent polling data. The question I've asked of my representative and senators and the Speaker of the House is who is representing me and other conservatives and the constitution of the United States of America. Yes, I know it is rhetorical, but I will stay in their faces as much as I'm capable of doing.

[jonrick46]

Time to start working to get Democrats out of the U.S. Senate. And, of course, getting Zer0 out of office. That's the practical thing of the matter.

For those who are Constitutional legal scholars, we should work of challenging the “tax” notion in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The Constitution recognizes four types of taxes: 1) “Duties, Imposts and Excises,” generally called indirect taxes, which must be uniform throughout the United States (Art. I, sec. 8, cl. 1); 2) capitation, or other direct taxes, which may only be imposed “in Proportion to the Census” among the states (Art 1, sec. 2, cl. 3; Art. 1, sec. 9, cl. 4); export taxes, which are prohibited (Art. 1, sec. 9, cl. 4); and the income tax, permitted by the 16th Amendment, which can be imposed without apportionment among the states. The Constitution does set limits on what can be taxed. I think the Obamacare decision failed to consider those limits. Those who are Constitutional scholars should chew on the Constitutions definitions of tax and the idea that Congress cannot invent new taxes outside of the Constitution's definitions.

Of course, having Congress, the Senate and the Presidency would move things along in the right direction.

[Parmy]

I just sent his site an email which will probably not be read. Stated that since he reversed his Obamacare ideology both my wife and I will not be voting for him.

[bigfootbob]

Smart move! /sarcasm

Who are you voting for Hadian? Inslee?

[rockrr]

My incentive for posting this thread wasn’t to encourage people not to vote any particular way but it was to encourage people to contact McKenna and urge him not to give up the fight.

What Judas Roberts did was reprehensible but the fight to kill Øbamacare isn’t over - not unless we give up. Frankly I’m a little dismayed at the lack of interest or concern shown by Washington FReepers.

[Parmy]

I wrote to him as I did to try and get a message across. That is not to say that I, in reality, would vote for one of the other two. I don't know Hadian, but I do know Inslee, who was a rep. in Yakima and a doofuss.

If someone has a better idea on how to get a politician to change their direction or mind, let me know. Please!

[rockrr]

I wrote to Clayton even though I’m not in his district and encouraged him to continue to reach out. I wrote to McKenna himself and urged him to reconsider his foolish position. I wrote to Kirby Wilbur and encouraged him to talk sense to McKenna. I wrote to the Precinct Committee Chairman for my district and my state rep.

I alerted the Washington state FReepers to spread the word. If I can think of anything else that might help I’ll try that as well. I was proud of McKennas leadership on the ØbamaTaxCare issue and frankly distraught when I read his statement. I can think of very few things that are more important that killing this damned thing.

More important than anything else he’s likely to do as governor. I can’t support him if he won’t support us. It’s just that simple.

[bigfootbob]

“Frankly I’m a little dismayed at the lack of interest or concern shown by Washington FReepers.”

Not me, rockrr. We act like neutered puppies, we can’t get WA Freeper’s to support one of our own when they run for office. It is a sad state of affairs, really. Gone are the days of Freeper activism...sigh.

FreeRepublic has become as meaningful as the comment sections at on-line news stories.

Just yesterday it was pointed out this forum was quiet for over a month!!!

[rockrr]

Thanks for an honest reply. What I believe I’m seeking is that people in the real world (just like the cyber-communities) are hunkering down and waiting for the next hit.

I’m not sure what/who you are referring to about supporting our own, other than Cybercowboy’s campaign. Was there another?

I spent a bunch of time working on the campaigns to elect pubbies in a state senate race and a state representative. We “won” the senate race (Joe Fein) and then the bastard turned around and voted for homo “marriage”.

I’m more than a little disillusioned and disconsolate right now. I’ve always been a reliable voter, even if it was voting for the “lesser of two evils” but it’s hard not to see that my vote is being taken for granted. At this writing I haven’t heard from anyone except Clayton Strang (not that a reply is required but it would go a long way toward calming the waters).

Again, thanks for your response.

[rockrr]

seeking=seeing

Doh!

[bigfootbob]

Our own, Cybercowboy was one of the first but not nearly the last. baynative ran, as did another gentleman from Fall City I believe, I can’t remember all right now.

I too have been depressed since this ruling, actually it started about 1/20/09. I have been active in my local GOP for well over a dozen years and they too are doing all the wrong things. Seems like we R’s here in Washington are roaming around clueless sorta like Moses’s people from way back.

McKenna lead this charge and after the ruling, I would have expected a bit more resolve, especially from a guy running for guv. I’ve never really liked Rob all that much, known him for 10 years, he has always seemed less than capable of fighting the hard battles and follows the path of least resistance, but I at least thought he’d fight harder for his signature case.

[Baynative]

WA Ping

Missed this earlier, sorry.

My comment from the local page:
An information intensive all day seminar on the impact of Obamacare was held today in Seattle by the Washington Policy Center.

A wide array of experts (Doctors, Insurance Professionals Economists, Lawyers, Health Care administrators, etc.) conducted several educational panel discussion forums and debates.

The focus was financial impact to Washington State and the implementation of mandated Insurance Exchanges.

The unanimous sentiment was that the state cannot possibly fund the mandated national plan. As expected, no one in government has really taken the time to read the 2,800 page bill written by lobbyists for Obama and submitted to congress with no committee scrutiny. Additionally there are now almost 31,000 (Yes, 31 THOUSAND) pages of Exchange directives to be complied with that will create at least 26 new federal bureaucracies. There is no estimate of how many local and state agencies will be necessary.

The selected representatives from Washington State who are doing the work for Gregoire to develop a draft for creating the state exchange agency and program were not able to answer a single question about what the law entails or what they plan to do to address it if Washington does not opt out. In general, they have no clue about what they are supposed to do or how they will do it.

If Washington does not opt out the state will be bankrupt. There is no debate. In addition to Rob McKenna’s pledge to kill this monster state reps Matt Shea and Jason Overstreet are leading the effort to make sure we are not subjected to this socialist poison pill.

[LibertarianLiz]

I was shocked when I heard that he wanted to begin implementation.

[Eva]

My suggestion is that Congress take away ALL exemptions and waivers to the Obamacare bill prior to the election and then have Mitt Romney issue new exemptions to every state that signed a law suit against Obamacare.

It would be easier than repealing and would make it impossible to implement the law.

[LibertarianLiz]

I found this article, The Ballor Box is not the Only Way to Stop Obamacare interesting as it points out that what some of the governors are doing is a good way to stop this horrible piece of legislation from being implemented.