The House Republican Conference voted today to ban the use of earmarks by its members. Americans for Prosperity has been educating and mobilizing the public to fight against pork-barrel earmarks for years, including a nationwide RV tour called the Ending Earmarks Express that traveled more than 15,000 miles in 2006 visiting the 50 most egregious earmarks in 38 states.

Today AFP sent a letter to Congressman Jeff Flake and Senator Jim DeMint commending them and offering our support in their efforts to ban earmarks. Congressman Flake is urging the House Republican Caucus to enact a earmark moratorium in next year's budget while Senator DeMint is supporting Speaker Pelosi's effort to stop congressional earmarks.

Tonight, Wednesday, at 8 p.m. ET we're holding a national tele-town hall meeting with the 3rd ranking Republican in the House and a leading free-market champion - Congressman Mike Pence. I hope you'll join us. Call (888) 356-3090 Ext.14326#.

We'll brief you on key undecided House members, detail the likely timeline to be used by Speaker Pelosi, and Congressman Pence will walk through conservative alternatives along with his exchanges in recent weeks with President Obama. 

by Phil Kerpen

One of the more extreme proposals floated early in the national health care debate was the idea of taxing soda and other sugary beverages. That trial balloon was almost immediately shot down by the American public, but the Obama administration is attempting to achieve, by subterfuge, soda taxes and a lot of other ways to micromanage our lives in the name of public health—whether or not ObamaCare passes. The mechanism is buried in last year’s $862-billion-and-counting stimulus bill, and works by diverting hundreds of millions of dollars that should be promoting economic growth to instead pay lobbyists to push for higher taxes and nanny-state controls over our lives.

Read the rest at BigGovernment.com.

Listen to a related 2-minute KerpenCast.

AFP is pleased to announce the establishment of its newest state chapter in Washington, and welcome aboard Kirby Wilbur, Seattle native and prominent local politico, as the new chapter’s state director. AFP now has 30 chapters and affiliates and members in all 50 states.

“Kirby is a seasoned veteran in grassroots activism and is well-equipped to lead the charge for free-market issues in the state of Washington,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. “We’re proud to welcome him as the leader of AFP’s newest state chapter.”

While it would appear that the health care bill is constantly changing, it's actually not. The big upcoming House vote will be on the Senate bill (H.R. 3590), exactly as it passed the Senate on Christmas Eve. It still includes dozens of corrupt special-interest deals like the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, Chris Dodd's $100M University of Connecticut Hospital earmark, etc. There are a lot of promises being made right now that the bill will be fixed or improved in various ways after it passes, possibly via reconciliation.

CBN Link

President Obama finally made it official yesterday: he wants Congress to ignore Senate rules - and the American people - and use a parliamentary trick called "reconciliation" to pass his health care takeover legislation. Fortunately, there's a catch: before the Senate can use reconciliation to force through Obama's tweaks, the House would have to pass the Senate health care bill. And we must stop them. 

Statement of AFP VP for Policy Phil Kerpen on the potential recess appointment of Craig Becker:

The suggestion from Obama's Labor Secretary Hilda Solis that former SEIU General Counsel Craig Becker will be recess-appointed to the National Labor Relations Board is the latest evidence of the Obama administration's astonishing disregard for Congress, the American people, and the legislative process.

If the House passes the Christmas Eve version of the Senate health care reform bill, the game is up and the American people lose. If, on the other hand, the House rejects the original Senate bill, it’s all over.

By Phil Kerpen - FOXNews.com

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether or not the Senate passes changes to its health care bill via reconciliation. That’s because the reconciliation process cannot even begin until after the House passes the Senate bill exactly as it passed the Senate on Christmas Eve. That means it must pass with the abortion language already rejected by Rep. Bart Stupak and others still intact. It also must pass with the outrageous pork barrel spending deals cut for Nebraska, Louisiana, Connecticut, and others. In other words, the bill must pass the House with everything in it that the American people have already made clear they hate.

Read the rest at FOX Forum.

Listen to a related two-minute KerpenCast here.

A new study released today by Americans for Prosperity Foundation indicates that Washington politicians use taxpayer-funded earmarks to bolster their reelection efforts, with a real effect on voters.

The president’s attempt to rally support for his health care overhaul has come and gone and it’s unlikely the summit shifted the political landscape. The intended targets were moderate House Democrats who have elections in eight months and don’t want to sacrifice their political careers on the altar of Progressive ideology. Democrats have only two choices moving forward: use reconciliation to impose their policies on the country or heed the American people and scrap this legislative monstrosity. Unfortunately, it appears they are opting for the former.

...

The next few weeks may bring an end to the health care saga that has stretched on for more than a year. If President Obama decides to allow a parliamentary trick to decide one of the most contentious debates of our time, he will only deepen our country’s partisan wound and worsen the Washington infection he was elected to cure.

If you missed our Patients' Summit webcast, you can watch it below:

Critical Care: The Patients' Summit Webcast from AFPhq on Vimeo.

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