October 30 rally photos
Here is a gallery of photos taken at this afternoon’s Say Not To Government Health Care rally in SW Roanoke County. They were taken by Mickey Mixon.
We were surprised, but very pleased, to find Congressman Bob Goodlatte in our midst. He stayed for some time, answered questions from those in attendance and spoke to anyone who approached him. No one had contacted his office about attending – he just showed up.
The police came out several times, each in response to a complaint from Walgreens. They thought that we would take up all their parking (we didn’t), or that Walgreens would somehow be seen as “endorsing” our position. Not sure what the police told the store manager, but they never asked us to move or disperse.
We hope to have more photos soon.
Thank you Roanoke
…and Franklin County for participating in today’s Say No To Government Health Care rally!
We had a great turnout – including Congressman Goodlate who spent an hour or so at the rally. The response from commuters who passed us at Cave Spring Corner was overwhelmingly positive, with hundreds of honks and waves sent our way.
One unhappy motorist did shout “Move to Mexico if you don’t like Obama” in our direction, which none of us quite understood.
We’ll have photos and video soon.
Say No To Government Health Care rally on October 30
Thanks to everyone who has participated in The Roanoke Tea Party’s Week Of Health Care Action (October 26-30). When a group visited Senator Warner’s office this afternoon, his staff mentioned that they had been receiving a lot of calls and visits this week.
Keep it up – this is the time when our Senators are deciding whether to support the proposed health reform legislation!
Our Say No To Government Health Care rally is scheduled for this Friday (10/30) from 4:00-6:00 p.m. We will meet at Cave Spring Corner, at the intersection of Rt. 419 and Brambleton Avenue in SW Roanoke County, and start by occupying the grassy area in the northwestern quadrant of the intersection (just near Walgreens). As more people arrive, we will spread along the right of ways of 419 and Brambleton.
See the areas in red on the map below:
If this area is completely filled when you arrive, please move down to another intersection such as 419 and Chapparall, 419 and Ogden Road (Republican Headquarters), or the Oak Grove intersection (419 and Grandin extension). Just be creative and find a nearby spot to start a new gathering.
The Roanoke Tea Party is running an advertisement this week on WFIR to promote this rally.
Here are a few very important things to keep in mind:
- Stay in the grassy areas along the side of the road.
- Stay out of the road – do not impede traffic in any way.
- Bring signs about health care reforms – and be positive as well as negative.
- This is not about President Obama – we are trying to influence our local Senators.
- Understand that our presence could be a hindrance to nearby businesses. Please try to keep that to a minimum, and consider patronizing merchants where you may park or set up.
- Bring your still and video cameras to capture the spirit of our rally. We would love to get any images or video you may capture to display on the Roanoke Tea Party web site.
Here are a few suggestions you might consider as positive reform proposals:
- Allow insurance companies to sell across state lines
- Allow the sale of ‘no frills’ catastrophic coverage policies
- Expand the use of Health Savings Accounts
- Tort reform to limit malpractice liability abuse
- Allow taxpayers to deduct individual premium costs without itemized deductions
- Allow individuals, small business and states to form voluntary pools to negotaite insurance rates
- Use refundable and advanceable tax credits to allow low income workers to purchase health insurance
We have arranged for an aerial photographs to be taken of the rally site, so please join us for an hour or so on Friday afternoon to help us make a strong showing!
Tell your friends… bring a neighbor… take a stand.
We depend on your participation to make this work!
Visit to the Senators’ offices
Members of the Roanoke and Franklin County Tea Party groups paid a visit today to the local offices of Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb. We were graciously received as we shared our thoughts about pending health care reform legislation.
Many members voice their passionate opposition to the bills that have been reported out of committee in Congress, and our concerns were noted by the Senators’ staff. They also accepted letters for the Senators.
Please keep up the pressure this week, writing, faxing, emailing, calling and visiting their Roanoke offices.
| Senator Mark Warner 540-857-2676 |
Senator Jim Webb 540-772-4236 |
During the visits, we heard from Senator Warner’s representative that he has formally come out in favor of tort reform as a part of needed health care reform.
Senator Webb’s representative told us that the Senator has not yet declared his intentions on the Senate health care bills, but that he would be doing so in the next few days. Once his position is declared, you will be able to get details by calling his DC office at 866-507-1570.
Roanoke Week Of Health Care Action
The Roanoke Tea Party is holding a Week Of Health Care Action to let our two Virginia Senators know that a great many citizens and voters object to the notion of an increased government role in health care. As you may know, the US Senate is expected to vote soon on a health care reform bill, cobbled together from the two massive bills that have been voted out of committe.
The first aspect of our Week Of Health Care Action involves contacting Senators Webb and Warner to express our concerns. We are asking everyone to dedicate an hour or so during the week to call, write, fax and visit the Senators’ offices to explain why you object to the proposals now before the Senate.
| Senator Mark Warner 540-857-2676 |
Senator Jim Webb 540-772-4236 |
Senator Warner’s office is in downtown Roanoke and Senator Webb’s just off Rt. 419, near Tanglewood. If your travels will take you near either office this week, won’t you stop in for just a moment to share your thoughts with their staff?
In addition, will you compose a letter to each of them to be delivered this week? Our goal is to have a strong showing of opposition, so we ask you to mail the letters and also send a copy by Fax and email.
We also hope that you will take the time to contact the Senators’ offices in Washington.
| Senator Mark Warner
202-224-2023 |
Senator Jim Webb
202-224-4024 |
Perhaps you could call one day, email the next, and write another? If this bill is passed, rescinding it will be extremely difficult, even if the majority of the people oppose it. Now is the time to voice your opposition!
Remember to be positive as well as negative – don’t just holler “no.” A few suggestions you might consider as reform proposals:
- Allow insurance companies to sell across state lines
- Allow the sale of ‘no frills’ catastrophic coverage policies
- Expand the use of Health Savings Accounts
- Tort reform to limit malpractice liability abuse
- Allow taxpayers to deduct individual premium costs without itemized deductions
- Allow individuals, small business and states to form voluntary pools to negotaite insurance rates
- Use refundable and advanceable tax credits to allow low income workers to purchase health insurance
Our Week Of Health Care Action will culminate in a public protest on Friday (10/30), between 4:00-6:00 p.m. in SW Roanoke County. We will announce the exact location in the next few days. Please plan to join us and help make a visible statement that Virginians do not want government mandated health insurance.
Bring the kids in their Halloween costumes, and come in costume yourself if you like. Save the date and time, get your signs ready, and exercise your rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly!
We depend on your participation to make this work!
Webb, Warner refuse meeting with Richmond Tea Party
Our friends with the Richmond Tea Party collected 6,000 signatures on a petition rejecting a greater federal government role in health care. The wording of the petition was simple:
We the People of Virginia demand that the Federal Government remain within its Constitutional boundaries on health care. We reject any of the following: Government-run health insurance; One-size government-dictated package of health benefits; New job-killing mandates on employers; Federal medical mandates that violate State Sovereignty; Requirement on individuals to buy medical insurance coverage; Federal institution that controls private health insurance; Government intrusion into our medical privacy; Taxpayer dollars for euthanasia, or life ending services; Medical coverage for illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense.
When they requested brief meetings with their representative and Senators, the request was denied. Wonder what 6,000 signatures look like end-to-end? Watch the video.
Hands Off Our Health Care Express
The Hands Off Our Health Care bus tour will be stopping in Salem this Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. This is a project of Patients First and Americans For Prosperity, a very worthy group.
Former Governor George Allen will speak, and Patients First have invited the members and supporters of The Roanoke Tea Party to take part in this event. Local media will be present and we are requested to bring our signs and posters and be ready to make some noise.
Please consider meeting the bus on Thursday morning in Salem, in front of City Hall. The weather may not be terrific, but we need to be as visible and as vocal as we can in opposition to these health care bills. Don’t let people think the Tea Party movement has gone away!
Bring your signs, your ponchos and your umbrellas and help us welcome George Allen back to the Roanoke Valley.
Health care bill action coming soon
With the “Baucus bill” being passed out of the Senate Finance Committee today, work is expected to begin to reconcile it with the bill passed earlier from the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Majority Leader Harry Reid has indicated that he expects the full Senate to take up these two bills by October 26.
The Roanoke Tea Party will be holding a number of events during the month of October to demonstrate to Senators Warner and Webb that residents of southwestern Virginia are opposed to top down implementation of government health care.
If you are not already on our mailing list, please sign up if you would like to be notified as our plans develop.
The VAT – Don’t even think about it!
The following commentary comes from Roanoke Tea Party member Donald Koop, and the advocacy for the FairTax is his. The Roanoke Tea Party takes no official position on that proposal.
The dirty little secret is beginning to seep out. Your federal government, ever watchful for new ways to take your money from you in order to (in part) use it to compel you to adopt certain behaviors, is thinking about the socialist European Value Added Tax (VAT). Even Speaker of the House Pelosi admitted, in a recent PBS interview with Charlie Rose, that some form of VAT will need to be considered as part of the mix. This is frightening news, as it would provide an almost limitless source of money to pay for gross overspending on projects that (in part) we don’t want. And, it would be in addition to the income tax!
The VAT taxes the value added to each step of production of every good or service. For example, the addition of a windshield to a work-in-progress new car would require a tax on the increase in value of the car. Providers of goods and services will, of course, pass these taxes along to consumers as costs of production; i.e., as higher prices. In effect, the VAT is a sales tax imposed on all goods and services deemed to be subject to the tax. Further, the complexity of keeping track of all these mini-taxes is such that the VAT is only cost-effective if the tax is high enough. This could result in the tax rate being set at 10-15% and it is further subject to the whims of Congress when it comes to raising the rate.
The VAT, as a flat-rate tax on most of what we buy or consume, is extremely regressive. Unlike the income tax, which has been twisted and contorted in order to give a break to this group or that person, the VAT hits everyone with the same bat. The poor will pay a greater percentage of their expenditures in tax than those of higher income. Only a further set of contortions can relieve this certainty. Bring on thousands more pages of tax regulations!
Fortunately, many of us in the Roanoke Valley are served by a Congressman, Bob Goodlatte, who can be counted upon to vote against a VAT proposal as often as it comes up. Other Congressmen serving our region are not so certain, nor are our two Senators. We need to contact our wavering representatives often and with a simple message: The VAT – Don’t even think about it! Read more
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