Key Vote Yes: Sen. DeMint’s Health Care Freedom Amendment

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On behalf of hundreds of thousands of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to vote “Yes” on the Health Care Freedom amendment to the budget resolution being offered by Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.).  It reinforces the mandate voters gave to President Obama and respects the right of the Senate minority to have their constituents’ opinions heard in the Senate on one of the most important debates of our time—health care reform.

President Obama was elected running a campaign that promised to protect the ability of Americans to keep their health plans and choose their doctor.  This idea resonated so powerfully because our health, and our ability to freely choose how we care for it, are of the ultimate importance.  When he said, “No government bureaucrat will second-guess decisions about your care,” the American people noticed.

There is broad bipartisan agreement that we need to improve the health care market, or lack thereof, in America.  The debate is over how to fix it.  This is one of the most important debates of our time.  Sen. DeMint’s amendment would ensure that the U.S. Senate would prove once again that it is the world’s greatest deliberative body and hold meaningful debate on this critical issue.

By requiring the support of 60 Senators for any bill that would take away an American’s ability to keep their health plan and choice of doctor, Sen. DeMint’s amendment would ensure the voices of the Americans represented by the minority party would be heard.  This is important both for ensuring a meaningful debate and for our democracy.

To consider major health care reform under rules that would not require legislation to clear the standard 60 vote threshold would be the equivalent of using the “nuclear option” in judicial nominations.  Fortunately, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said, “There is no way that I would be part of using the nuclear option. I want every Republican to hear that.”  Unfortunately, it was a few years ago on and about justices.

On behalf of our FreedomWorks activists, I again urge you to vote “Yes” on the Health Care Freedom amendment from Sen. DeMint and will count your vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2009.  The FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.