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Sen. Harry Reid – The Martha Stewart of the Senate, but with No Jail Time
Here’s a question: Why are bribes, kickbacks, payoffs, and insider trading illegal everywhere but in the U.S. Congress?
It’s been well-publicized that Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid is cutting backroom deals to his Senate colleagues, plying them with billions of our tax dollars (and debt to future generations) to get to the 60 votes needed to push Obamacare on the nation.
Among the 11 Senate bribes made by Reid are $100 million to a university in Connecticut for Sen. Chris Dodd and $300 million for Medicaid to Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. The latter seems like a steal, it cost twice as much – $600 million in Medicaid payments – to buy the vote of Socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
For a more comprehensive list of how our tax dollars are being used for Obamacare bribes, click here.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for any indictments. This is Washington, D.C. after all.
Poor Martha Stewart, she had to make pot holders in an orange jumpsuit for months because of her insider trading activity. Now the taxes she pays (and ALL of us pay) are being used to pay for kickbacks and insider deals to buy a ‘yea’ vote for Obamacare.
Exactly what is the difference here?
A stock market works with the understanding that all participants are on an equal playing field with regard to the rules and available information. The U.S. Senate works under the pretense that each member has a vote worth exactly 1% of the entire body, no more no less.
And it’s not just legislators who are getting payoffs to support the President’s nationalized healthcare legislation. Labor unions have traded their support for a payoff that spares their members from paying $60 billion in proposed health insurance taxes.
Ironically, in 1995, Congress passed the Medicare Fraud Statute to prosecute kickbacks in the healthcare industry, preventing referrals and sweetheart arrangements.
So, regardless of what you may think of Martha Stewart, she was convicted of breaking the rules, and she paid the price.
While Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats cut deals to benefit one group of Americans at the expense of others, the only ones paying the price for their scheme of bribes and kickbacks will be us, the American people, the taxpayers.
60 Plus in the News
60 Plus is keeping the pressure on our lawmakers to vote ‘No’ on Obamacare or face the wrath of the voters come November. While 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin travels the country, holds rallies in places like St. Petersburg, Florida and speaks on national news outlets, we continue to make waves on the air with a hefty television campaign.
Over the last month, we completed a $1.7 million ad buy in four more states demanding that Senators restore the more than $500 billion cut in Medicare proposed by President Obama. 60 Plus allocated more than $10 million to TV ads in a dozen states chastising Senators and House Members who failed to vote against the massive cuts to Medicare and thanking those, Democrats and Republicans alike, who voted to oppose the cuts.
Read more here:
Said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin upon the bill’s first passage through the U.S. Senate:
“It’s shocking and irresponsible that Senators – many of them senior citizens themselves – would force the nation’s greatest generation to shoulder the burden of healthcare reform and put their health at risk. Haven’t America’s senior citizens sacrificed enough already? We are calling on all Members of Congress, both the Senate and House of Representatives, as they develop a final bill, to strengthen Medicare, not weaken it, and to not only restore funding to Medicare but to increase it to ensure that America’s seniors have the quality of medical care they need and deserve.”
And now, C. Everett Koop
60 Plus announced a new advertising campaign this week featuring Dr. C. Everett Koop. The ad, which targets Congress, asks people to call their Representatives and Senators and urge them to “Start Over – Get Healthcare Right”.
The ad highlights former U.S. Surgeon General Koop telling viewers he is 93 years old and “I’m here with 2 artificial joints, 2 pacemakers to keep my heart in rhythm, as well as a stint to keep my coronaries open.” He goes on to say seniors might not get the care they need at advanced ages under the new plans, and asserts that the discussions over a final plan should NOT be held in secret.
You Read it Here First
As you’ve been reading in our updates and emails for nearly six months, it was 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin who first went public demanding that President Obama keep his campaign promise that he would have televised meetings on C-SPAN regarding any healthcare proposals.
Of course the President did no such thing, and is now demanding that Congress “fast track” his plan to nationalize healthcare with no public hearings whatsoever.
Byron York of the Washington Examiner ran a recent piece where the White House admits it not only broke its promise to debate all legislation in public before the American people, but that it frankly does not care.
But then, Mr. Brown goes to Washington
Well, almost.
For six months now, our Chairman, Jim Martin, has been warning that a senior citizen tsunami is headed toward Capitol Hill and unless it subsides a lot of politicians will be looking for a new line of work in November.
That tsunami just started coming ashore in liberal Massachusetts with the stunning victory of state Senator Scott Brown to fill the unexpired term of Senator Ted Kennedy.
Scott Brown sought the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts opposing the “health care reform” currently on Congress’ front burner — and made it a prominent part of his campaign. Aside from the shock of his big win in this special election, all of Washington was reassessing whether Obama’s health care reform bill would actually pass, when it seemed like a foregone conclusion just weeks ago.
Yet, no sooner was Brown’s win announced that speculation went rampant about the possibility of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dragging his feet in seating Senator-Elect Brown, ramming through the health care votes prior to Brown taking office to a position that the voters of Massachusetts elected him to assume immediately.
“No more political games. The people have spoken. I was starting my career as a reporter on Capitol Hill in 1962 when Senator-Elect Ted Kennedy was seated just after his special election victory. This is no different, Senator-Elect Brown should be seated immediately,” said Jim Martin, Chairman of 60 Plus.
To that end, 60 Plus immediately launched a new website and petition urging Senator Reid to seat Senator Brown. Click here to visit the website and sign the petition.
Surveys Holding Steady: The People Do NOT Want Obamacare
If you want to know why President Obama does NOT want to have public hearings on his healthcare legislation but instead wants to “fast track” it as quickly as he can through Congress, look no further than the numerous polls that show that Americans oppose the plan and want their legislators to oppose it.
A recent CNN poll shows that most think Obamacare will cost more, and bring lower quality to healthcare. The people have spoken, but is Washington listening? No matter, we can always turn up the volume!
Amy Frederick Named New President of 60Plus
For nearly a decade, she has worked behind the scenes, helping advance a more free market, lower tax approach to senior’s issues on the national stage.
60 Plus (now) former Executive Vice President Amy Frederick is front and center as the new President of 60 Plus, having been selected with the unanimous consent of the 60 Plus Board of Directors.
As Vice President, Amy helped 60 Plus increase its membership more than ten-fold, with more than 5 million people now proudly counting themselves as active 60 Plus supporters. Her hard work and vision over the past 10 years has been indispensable in making 60 Plus into THE conservative alternative to the liberal agenda of AARP. A testament to her hard work and devotion to seniors issues and how she will lead 60 Plus into the next decade is exemplified by these comments that appeared in the Chicago Tribune recently.
In accepting her new role Mrs. Frederick said: “It has been incredible to work and learn under one of Washington’s best political gurus, Jim Martin, over the last decade — and it is an honor to now be able to lead 60 Plus into the next decade to continue Jim’s great work. We will continue our aggressive efforts to build an organization that truly represents America’s seniors and to expose to them who in Washington is working for them and who is working against them.”
She is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, with a degree in Government. Amy and her husband, Jeff, reside in Montclair, Virginia with daughters Grace Amira, 3 and Isabel Mary, 1.
Former President Jim Martin takes on the role of Chairman, where he will take a more active role working with the national press and members of Congress on seniors issues.
Join the Fight!
60 Plus has been spreading the message on behalf of our nation’s seniors and conservative values for almost two decades, but we can’t remember a time when so much was at stake both for our families and the future of America.
Big-government liberal activists have never had more power over our lives, our freedoms, and yes, our healthcare than they do now, and as they’ve shown since the moment they took power in Washington 11 months ago, they plan to use it for all its worth!
Now is NOT the time to stand on the sidelines. The direction of the greatest nation on the face of the earth is in YOUR hands, and what America looks like ten, twenty, thirty years down the road will be determined by what we do TODAY!
We at 60 Plus urge you to join the fight, make your voice heard, and strengthen our hand as we battle the horrendous and misguided policies of the liberal elite. Join 60 Plus today, become a member, make a contribution, and send a message to Washington they can’t take our freedom – and the freedom of future generations – away!
