Show Us The Bill

Update: The Pressure Is Working

In a townhall forum last Friday, Russ Carnahan was prepared with an answer when asked if he had read the bill.  He claimed he had read three summaries of the three Democratic House Bills, and would be reading the full bill when it was posted this week (he said Monday, but it's already Wednesday).

The first step is making them sensitive to charges of not reading what they voted on.  That Congressman Carnahan is fully prepped with an answer suggests that these politicians are starting to understand that they are being watched, and will be judged according to their actions.

It's a start.  Sad that it has to be done, but it's a start.

Blunt, Graves Take Let Freedom Ring Pledge To Read HealthCare Bill

Missouri Representatives Roy Blunt and Sam Graves have signed on to the Let Freedom Ring pledge to personally read health care legislation before voting on it, and also to not vote for legislation that hasn't been posted up on line at least 72 hours prior to the vote for the public to read.

Congratulations to the only two Missouri Congressman to stand up and actually do their jobs.

The next question is where are the other seven Congressman on this?

On the Republican side, Emerson, Luetkemeyer, and Akin need to step up to the plate.
On the Democratic site, Clay, Cleaver, Carnahan, and Skelton need to be asked why they would vote for legislation they haven't read in full.

Get to the phones.

Photos From The Show Us The Bill Rally

450 people turned out for the ShowUsTheBill/PatientsFirst Rally this weekend, despite the threat of rain (and a few drops that did indeed mar the opening).

Mark from Keyboard Militia took some photographs, and Jim Hoft from GatewayPundit has a roundup. The indispensable RebootCongress has videos and pictures of some speakers, as well as after interviews of Dr. Randy Tobler and of course, the folks from Americans for Prosperity helped promote the event through the PatientsFirst project.

Thanks go out to Fred Sauer, who came up with the idea, and asked others to help.  This event was the first of many grassroots events springing up around the country demanding our legislators read the legislation before they vote on it.

If you want to do a little citizen activism yourself, consider calling Claire McCaskill and politely asking she promise to read the healthcare legislation before she votes on it.  If her staff tells you it hasn't been written, ask them if they'll pledge to actually post it online and read it before agreeing to vote on it. 

Remind them they did not read the stimulus bill, and the House members didn't read cap and trade.

Her St Louis office number is (314)-367-1364

Rally This Saturday, Show Us The Bill And Join Patients First

More information on the rally this Saturday.   

What: Show Us THE Bill - Patients First Tour - CLAYTON
Where: 7900 Carondelet Ave, Clayton, MO
When: Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 10AM

This is the event sign-up for Join Patients First, which has been supported by American For Prosperity. 

And if you need some fuel, check out the remarks Steny Hoyer, the Democratic Majority Leader has on reading legislation.

“If every member pledged to not vote for it if they hadn’t read it in its entirety, I think we would have very few votes,” Hoyer told CNSNews.com at his regular weekly news conference.

Hoyer was responding to a question from CNSNews.com on whether he supported a pledge that asks members of the Congress to read the entire bill before voting on it and also make the full text of the bill available to the public for 72 hours before a vote.

In fact, Hoyer found the idea of the pledge humorous, laughing as he responded to the question. “I’m laughing because a) I don’t know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill,” he said.

This is the strategy of bureaucrats so caught up in their power they don't see anything wrong with mocking the voters.  Hoyer acknowledges that no one would vote for the bill if they had to read it first.  Now, presumably he's saying that the members won't read it, but we're also aware that if all legislation was read, pork like the $3 million bailout for Captain Morgan we found in the TARP funds wouldn't get enacted.

This is the reality of Washington today.  They don't care what you think, and think it's funny that anyone would ask them to do their job.

It's time to stand up.  We'll see you Saturday.

Obama Supports Single Payer Healthcare System, But Doesn't Want You To Know

A video by Patients United Now, arguing that the public option is really single payer masked in wolf's clothing.

Harry Reid Refuses To Make Healthcare Bill Open To Public

CNS News is reporting today that Harry Reid  is refusing to commit to give the public one week to read the healthcare bill before the Senate holds a vote on it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.) will not commit to giving senators and the public a full week to read and review the final version of a health-care reform bill before he holds a final vote on it.

Reid confessed at his Thursday news briefing that he did not have “a lot of time” to read the 1,071-page stimulus bill before voting on it in February.

The Senate rushed the stimulus bill through on the basis of urgent economic help, voting on the bill with not a single member of the Senate able to read the final text.  President Obama left for a Chicago date that weekend, and waited a full five days to sign the bill.  In other words, the Senate rushed a bill through that no one read, even though there was an additional five days to consider it.

The Cap and Trade bill was rushed through the House with a 300 page amendment dropped into the bill at 3:00 in the morning - where was that urgency?  Now we find out that everything from home sales to washer and dryers to light bulbs is being regulated and taxed.  What is going to be in the healthcare bill?

Will you stand silent as 20% of the economy is fundamentally altered by an elitist group of Senators who can't be bothered to read what they are voting on?

The time for action is now.  This is not democracy.  Do not let this stand.

Are We Democrats Or Republicans?

Show Us The Bill is not a formal organization.  It's currently a group of Missourians who are shocked to find out that no one in Congress reads what they vote on. 

We are members of all parties and none, but this effort is designed with one goal in mind - get our elected representatives to show us the bills they vote on and to pledge to read them prior to voting on them.

It is the height of arrogance to argue on debate on important national issues when you don't even know the text of the bills you're arguing about. We're convinced that if more regular citizens from both parties demanded this simple task, the laws would be better and the lawmakers would be held accountable.

We support any politician who pledges to read the bill, regardless of party.  We support Democrat Brian Baird's bill in the house to post all legislation online 72 hours prior to it being discussed on the House floor.  And we expect President Obama, and all future presidents to honor the commitment to post the full text of completed bills on a government website prior to the president signing the legislation.

The technology is there and the process is simple. We only need the willpower.

July 11th Read The Healthcare Bill Rally In Clayton

 

Show Us The Bill!   Hands Off our Healthcare!

Congress is rushing to radically alter the finest health care system in the world. 

If health care ‘reform’ is so great, why can’t we see the text of the bill?

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost to be in the trillions of dollars.

Will government seize control of another 18% of the United States economy?

Will politicians and bureaucrats make our health care decisions?

We Americans demand to see the bill!

Bring your friends and family and join us for a public meeting
Saturday, July 11, at 10 AM
Memorial Park in downtown Clayton
S. Central & Carondelet (map link)

 

Wear Red, White, and Blue!   To RSVP, email us at showusthebill@gmail.com

Transparency

Do you sign loan papers without reading them?  Wills?  Business contracts?  No one who plans to be successful signs anything blindly, but this is exactly what our Congressional Representatives do on nearly every bill they vote on.

Despite paid staff who presumably are tasked with reading bills and making notes, bills aren't read before they're voted on.

The Stimulus bill, a $787 billion boondoggle, was released to the House and Senate mere hours before they voted on it - and yet President Obama didn't sign the bill until five days later.

What kind of nuthouse are they running on Capitol Hill? 

This site is the clearinghouse for Show Us The Bill, where everyday citizens step forward and demand our elected officials read the laws they enact.

Starting with healthcare.