WE DID IT!

Thank you, everyone!

When we started out all those months ago, no one thought we’d get anywhere. However, with unending hard work, a dedicated campaign team, and the finest crew of volunteers anyone could ask for, we went from an obscure campaign making the rounds in the dead of winter, to upstart contender, to the chosen nominee of three parties, to Young Gun, and finally to Congresswoman-elect!

To those who pitched in, in any capacity, I cannot thank you enough for your time, your trust, and your friendship. No candidate can ever win alone, and you all were instrumental in this victory: it belongs to all of us. To those who supported my opponent, rest assured I will be listening to all of my constituents, yourselves included. That is one of the most important duties a Representative has, and I won’t forget it.

Now, however, is truly the time to roll up our sleeves, because now the real hard work starts! Our country urgently needs our help, and I intend to do my part to make sure she gets it. I expect to hear from all of you, both in Washington and at home. I promise you that I’m up to the challenge, and I’m ready and eager to take it on.

Let’s get started!

As fog lifts, view’s not encouraging

During the roughly six months since the federal takeover of health care was passed, some of the “fog of confusion” so memorably described by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – whose talent for obfuscation gives new meaning to her hometown’s nickname, the “Fog City” – has indeed lifted, as she predicted.  Unfortunately, the picture that’s forming isn’t reassuring.  Let’s take a look at some specifics:

Has the heath care takeover lowered costs for families and for businesses?

No.  According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, “insurers have asked [state regulators] for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators. [Insurers] say Congress’s landmark refashioning of U.S. health coverage, which passed in March after a brutal fight, is causing them to pass on more costs to consumers than Democrats predicted.” – “Health Insurers Plan Hikes”, Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2010.

Will the health care takeover improve access to health care for children?

No.  According to the Los Angeles Times, many health insurance companies are dropping child-only policies, “because the new federal requirement could create huge and unexpected costs for covering children.” – “Big health insurers to stop selling new child-only policies”, Los Angeles Times, September 21, 2010.

Will the health care takeover lower health care costs?

No.  In fact, the new health care law will actually increase costs. The Obama Administration’s own Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a report that stated that the health care bill “will have negligible effects on total national health spending in the next 10 years.” In fact the report went on to say that health care spending will actually increase at a faster rate. – “Health Outlays Still Seen Rising”, Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2010.

(The new government report released by HHS says President Obama’s health care law will have negligible effects on total national health spending in the next 10 years, neither slowing nor fueling the explosive growth of medical costs.)

What seems clear as we learn ever more about the health care takeover is that the very premises for passing the law – to increase access and reduce costs – are not being honored as it begins to take effect.  And this is just the beginning.  America needs a plan that works, and on November 2, your vote for Nan Hayworth will be a step towards achieving that.  The choice, too, is clear.

Thank you all! Now for Phase Two.

The primary season is over, and Republicans have done me the immense honor of electing me their nominee for U.S. Congress by a 40-point margin! I will officially be on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party ballot lines in November, and with your continued support, I will bring the same strength of purpose and clarity of message to John Hall this fall!

(Click the following links to see countywide results for Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, Westchester, and Rockland.)

Now comes the really hard work.  We have to get our message out — not just to Republicans, but to everyone in the 19th District — about reviving the American economy through shrinking the size and scope of the federal government and getting Congress and the White House off the backs of American workers and employers. We know how that’s going to happen. For starters:

• Cut taxes on individuals (to stimulate commerce) and businesses (to spur job creation).
• Slash federal spending, starting with suspending the various failed “stimulus” packages and refusing any more bailouts.
• Repeal/replace/defund the unconstitutional federal takeover of health care.

If we can return to a government that the Founders, in their wisdom, envisioned for us, we can return to a government that will allow our economy to thrive again, and our people to live in liberty.

I cannot thank you enough for your unfailing energy, enthusiasm, and faith this past year on the trail. Now we’ve got a scant seven weeks to build this momentum to an intensity that even Rep. Hall can’t ignore.  Our work is cut out for us; if we can all hold together through November, I’m ready to be your next Congresswoman!

Onward to victory, and once again: thank you!

We will always remember.

Nine years on, say a prayer with us.  For the honored dead, and for the survivors.

More of the same is not what we need

The following is a statement from Nan Hayworth on the unveiling of President Obama’s new $50 billion stimulus package.

Wrong direction, Mr. President!

 
“Remain calm!  All is well!”

When Chip Diller was famously trampled by the mob at the parade in the movie Animal House, he was yelling desperately in hopes of saving a Homecoming parade.  And that was funny.  But when the people supporting our Administration and Congress’s failed fiscal policy continually flail about in denial very much like Chip, as we’ve discussed on my Facebook page, it’s not funny anymore.

2010 Summer Sprint Fundraising Drive!

 
(Note: This post is bumped to the top of the blog until after our Summer Sprint ends on August 25. Scroll down for our newest blog posts!)

You’ve been reading it here, on our website, on our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and all over the media: even now, with their backs against the wall, the President and Congressional Democrats don’t get it.  John Hall doesn’t get it.  Against the express will of the American public, President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and John Hall — who has voted with Nancy Pelosi 98% of the time — insist on expanding the federal government’s influence ever more, smothering our private sector and threatening not only our financial future but our unique Constitutional freedoms.

The “summer of recovery” has turned into a summer of stagnation, and those responsible for it are scrambling to avoid consequences, deflecting attention, or pretending that things are fine.  Nancy Pelosi talks of investigating Americans who’ve simply spoken their minds; President Obama has decided that the definition of the word “tax” can be changed according to political convenience; John Hall hides behind a colleague to answer questions on those rare occasions when he actually meets with constituents.

Treating reality and accountability as optional may have worked in the election of 2008, but in 2010 our voters are about to render a hard reckoning on what really works and what absolutely doesn’t work.  Those of us old enough to remember the new morning in America when we elected President Reagan after the disastrous Carter years are ready to repeat that triumph and get the government off our backs.

That’s why I’m running–to renew America’s promise just as President Reagan did:  to renew our faith in the Constitution; to renew our economy and create jobs by relieving our citizens of punishing taxation and suffocating regulation.  My simple mission is to liberate you to spend and invest and renew the economy right here at home, and renew the opportunities that our friends and neighbors here so urgently need.

And, as much as my team and I pour every ounce of energy into the quest we all share, we can’t do it without you.  Please join our Summer Sprint Drive by contributing as generously as you can before this Wednesday, August 25, to power us over the summer towards Election Day.  And, after you contribute what you can spare, please call 10 friends (or 25 friends!) and ask them to do the same.  With your support, we cannot fail.  Onward together, and thank you!

If you drive into a wall, don’t blame the wall

 
Some observers from the left side of the political spectrum have been bending themselves into pretzels trying to explain why President Obama isn’t making headway with the American public in the midterm election campaign push.  Their efforts would be comical if they didn’t reflect a political philosophy that has cost us so dearly.

Bad medicine

 
In December, 1799, President George Washington contracted a severe throat infection.  His doctors–distinguished experts all–treated him with calomel, to induce vomiting, and bloodletting.  When their patient’s condition deteriorated, they treated even more vigorously, giving more calomel and taking more blood in the hopes that this time they’d succeed.

George Washington died of dehydration, blood loss, and choking from the uncontrolled infection.  His very well-meaning physicians had actually hastened his death.

Investigations, Madame Speaker?

 
The following is a press release from the Hayworth campaign, dated and distributed 18 Aug 2010.

Statement from Dr. Nan Hayworth regarding Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments: