For citizens concerned with the direction of our political policies, the August Congressional recess is a great opportunity to talk to representatives at home.  But what do you do when your representatives refuse to speak to their constituents?  Such is the case in North Carolina where Mike McIntyre, Kay Hagan and Richard Burr have all said they are not holding any town halls while on recess.  They have each claimed that they will have other opportunities to speak to those they serve, yet they will not disclose what those opportunities are.  Now we are half-way through the August recess and our North Carolina representatives are still MIA.

One of the hottest topics we’d like to discuss with them is Obamacare.  This wildly unpopular and unconstitutional law is meeting with overwhelming bipartisan opposition.  The unions and Democrats are catching up with the rest of America who have objected to government-run healthcare from the get-go.  As I wrote earlier this month, Obamacare is “vastly more expensive than we were told; it doesn’t cover more people; it puts more restrictions and regulations on care givers; and rather than reducing the costs of healthcare, it vastly increases the costs while vastly reducing the quality and timeliness of care.”

Having passed the “Affordable Care Act” without reading it, Washington and America alike are discovering all of the above.  Now we are left with one option – defunding.  Yet representatives on both sides of the isle, including Republicans who voted for repeal, seem determined to let it pass unobstructed.  Senator Burr called defunding Obamacare “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard of,” claiming, wrongly, that Conservatives are threatening to shut down the government over it.  This is a big, fat, red herring.  Defunding Obamacare needs not affect military pay, social security, etc.  But Burr himself is not short on dumb ideas: he has been the epitome of the RINO (Republican in name only), voting to proceed on Harry Reid’s gun control legislation in April, signing onto the Gang of 8’s Amnesty bill, not to mention watching the VA backlog expand exponentially under his watch as a ranking member of the VA.

Meanwhile on the other side of the isle Mike McIntyre is hosting the North Carolina Business and Economic Development Summit in September while ignoring the biggest negative impact to businesses, the new healthcare law.  He himself voted against Obamacare, though he had nothing to lose by it since by the time he voted there were already enough votes to pass.  Even so, defunding Obamacare would help both healthcare and the economy, both of which would be benefits for which he could take credit if he got on board to defund.  And at the moment comrade Hagan is supporting Amnesty for illegal aliens, opposing Voter ID, and working on lowering student interest rates.

These representatives, who, along with their staffs, will be free of the Obamacare burden as they’re either granted waivers of exemption or the government subsidizes about 70%, are ignoring the very people who are paying for Obamacare and will feel its ill effects the most.  This is prompting everyday citizens all across the country to stand up and make their voices heard.

HOLD CONGRESS ACCOUNTABLE

Defund Obamacare town halls are popping up all over the place, including here in Wilmington on Tuesday, August 27^th from 6-8pm at the New Hanover County Library NE, Live Oak Room.  Though invited via all formats with plenty of notice, McIntyre, Hagan and Burr have all refused.  That’s par for the course.  We will proceed without them and hold them to account.  Anyone in North Carolina who does not sign on to defund Obamacare is putting their political career in jeopardy, leaving the rest of us to hang.

We have an excellent lineup of speakers:  Dr. Tony Maglione, M.D. is a cardiologist, who trained at the Cleveland clinic and has been a physician for over 33 years. He authored two books, Obamacare and How to Vote to Save This Country and is a local talk radio host on 106.7 FM discussing healthcare and political issues.  Dr. Greg Brannon, OBGYN with 18 years experience, and is running for senate.  Both doctors will share their first-hand knowledge of the negative impacts they are already seeing with the implementation of Obamacare.  Pattie Curran, whose chronically ill children require special and constant care, has a compelling story showing the brutal reality of what her family is facing under this law.  Jason Thigpen, whose credentials include the NHC Veterans Council, NC Military and Veterans Council, the Student Veterans Advocacy Group and Disabled American Veterans, will speak to the special impact of Obamacare on veterans and military members.  We also have Francis De Luca, president of the Civitas Institute, which advocates liberty, prosperity, personality responsibility, and the implementation of Conservative principles in North Carolina.  Finally, Claude Pope, entrepreneur and Chair of the NC GOP will discuss the NC GOP’s Resolution to Defund Obamacare.

This Town Hall will be both educational and empowering as we close in on the last opportunity to avoid this catastrophic law.  See you there!