Senator Baker sponsored the Health Care Freedom Act last session, which was ultimately struck down by the Florida Supreme Court

A message from Senator Carey Baker on the Florida Health Care Freedom Act

March 16th, 2011

Dear Friends,

I am reaching out to those who believe in Medical Freedom and thank you for all the efforts you made last year when we first passed the Florida Health Care Freedom Act. I know that you believe that individuals should make the health care decisions that are best for you and your family. Unfortunately, the liberal Florida Supreme Court threw off the ballot our state constitutional Health Care Freedom amendment and denied Floridians the right to vote on this incredibly important issue. Once again we need your support to insure we protect our health care rights. Please consider becoming a citizen co-sponsor and contacting your state elected officials to let them know how you feel about this issue. To add your name as a Citizen Co-Sponsor, simply visit Citizen2Citizen.us and add your electronic signature.

Thankfully, the Senate President Mike Haridopolos, has personally filed this important amendment (SJR-2) and it has sailed through the Senate committees and is now poised for final passage before it is sent to the Florida House. We are hoping the House will soon begin the process of hearing this issue (known as HJR-1 in the House). Good news has been found in Florida’s lawsuit against the Obama administration’s National Health Care Bill but the fight is far from over.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, once said “The Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for medical freedom. To restrict the art of healing to one class will constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic. Unless we put medical freedom into the constitution the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship and force people who wish doctors and treatment of their own choice to submit to only what the dictating outfit offers.”

There have been few greater threats to our individual medical freedom and state sovereignty than ObamaCare. The fight against this unconstitutional act requires action on many levels in our courts and both on the state and federal level. Please consider what you can do to further the fight, write your friends and neighbors, become a citizen co-sponsor, and most importantly write your local state representative and state Senator letting them know you support SJR-2, the Florida Health Care Freedom, sponsored by Senate President Mike Haridopolos and State Rep. Scott Plakon.

Warmest regards,
Senator Carey Baker

Union protests in Wisconsin

In Florida and Wisconsin, some very important battles are being fought.

During the last election, much of the attention was put on the US Congress and how many seats conservatives would gain.

Less attention was put on the governors races and the gains made by conservatives in the state legislatures throughout the country. It is in these state houses and governors mansions, however, that the battle to turn our country around has been raging over the last week.

Governors are trying to address the real problems facing our nation. Predictably, they are being opposed by special interests groups who are more interested in preserving their entitlements.

In Florida, Governor Rick Scott turned down the High Speed Rail project which would have been funded in part by the federal government, and in part by Florida tax payers. It was too expensive, and Rick Scott canceled it.

In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker and the Republican party are trying to fix an immense budget crisis by asking the unions to contribute to their health care and retirement plans. The outrage over such a simple request is frightening.

If America is going to make real progress, men like Rick Scott and Scott Walker must have our support. If the unions are able to win these early battles, it could cripple the attempts of conservatives nationwide. If our elected representatives win, we could see a domino effect in other states who are also attempting some of these same solutions.

Please join us THIS MONDAY, in Orlando at the “Governors Saving America Rally” at Senator Bill Nelson’s office, as we show our support for Rick Scott and men like Scott Walker.

Doing nothing is no longer an option.

Monday, February 21st, 5:30 PM
Outside Bill Nelson’s office
Landmark Two
225 East Robinson Street, Suite 410
Orlando, FL 32801

Support John Stemberger

A young woman from Ohio named Rifqa Bary was invited by one of her friends to attend church. She had been Muslim, but secretly converted to Christianity. The leaders of the mosque her parents attended discovered that she was a Christian and she fled to Orlando after her parents threatened her life.

Here in Florida, John Stemberger graciously agreed to defend her in the lawsuits that followed. After Rifqas case was won, her parents’ lawyer retaliated by filing two separate lawsuits against John, one of them a $10 million defamation case in Ohio federal court.

John is a good friend of mine who needs your help raising the necessary money to fight this shameless act of retaliation. Men like Newt Gingrich and David Barton are helping raise awareness. We need your help as well.

If any of us can be subjected to crippling legal attacks for the simple act of defending someone from persecution, then all of our religious freedoms are in doubt.

So, I’d invite you to do two things:

1. Visit the Defense Fund website that has been set up for him and consider what you can give, however small the amount

2. Help spread the word via email and Facebook. Invite people to join the Facebook page we have set up for him, so they can stay up to date as things progress

Much more information is available on the website if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for your vigilance,
Jesse Phillips
Citizen2Citizen, Founder

Stop Legalized Gambling in Seminole County

URGENT:
Contact Seminole County Commissioners
to Vote YES and ban
“Simulated Gambling Devices”
on Tuesday, January 11th at 1:30pm

Call and E-mail County Commissioners Today and attend the Meeting January 11th

At the January 11, 2011 meeting of the Seminole Board of County Commissioners there will be a Public Hearing on a proposed ordinance to prohibit “Simulated Gambling Devices.” According to a Commission memo, “…gambling or gambling-like establishments have opened throughout the County under the guise of ‘Internet Cafes’ – which provide sweepstakes entries that are then played on simulated gambling devices….For all practical purposes, the simulated gambling devices are indistinguishable from illegal conventional gambling devices.”

These Internet Cafes that offer simulated gambling devices under the guise of Sweepstakes Games have been popping up all over the state. This local ordinance in Seminole County will set a precedent and send a clear signal that these type of games are illegal in most of the state under Florida law. These establishments are preying on the elderly and financially vulnerable in Florida and their presence brings a negative impact to the communities in which they are found.

You are urged to take 2 Action Steps in support of this local ordinance:

1. Attend the Public Hearing in support of the ordinance on January 11, 2011 in the Commission Chamber located at the County Services Complex – 1101 E 1st Street, Sanford, Florida 32771 (CLICK HERE for Directions). The Public Hearing portion of the meeting will convene at 1:30pm and this is the 2nd item on the agenda. You are encouraged to arrive early. You can either sit in the chamber to simply observe in support or sign a yellow Speaker’s Form when you arrive and give it to the Clerk. Indicate that you Support the ordinance and your name will be called to stand and speak in favor of the ordinance. You will be allowed 3 minutes to talk. Should you choose to offer a comment in support, we have provided links to further details below to help you prepare your brief and respectful remarks.
2. Contact the members of the Seminole County Commission today and urge them to pass the ordinance that will ban “Simulated Gambling Devices.” You can contact the Commissioners below:

• District 1 Bob Dallari  (407) 665-7215 Click HERE to Email
• District 2 John Horan (407) 665-7205 Click HERE to Email
• District 3 Dick Van Der Weide (407) 665-7207 Click HERE to Email
• District 4 Carlton D. Henley (407) 665-7201 Click HERE to Email
• District 5 Brenda Carey (407) 665-7209 Click HERE to Email

Sample email message or phone script: “As a citizen in this area, I respectfully ask that you support the proposed county ordinance to prohibit ‘simulated gambling devices.’ These machines will bring all of the same negative effects to our community that traditional illegal gambling devices would. So I urge your support and I appreciate your consideration.”

Additional Information:

• Memo Explaining the need for the Ordinance
• Text of the proposed ordinance
• Report from the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling
• Economic Impact Statement

November 11, 2010

Dear Governor-Elect Scott,

The elections last week sent shockwaves across the nation as the electorate overwhelmingly rejected tax and spend candidates in favor of candidates espousing fiscal responsibility and government restraint. Florida was no exception. Gov. Scott, you are a Republican outsider that prevailed with an agenda that promoted both a reduction in spending and taxation. We trust you will fight to reduce government spending as you are sworn in this January. We can think of no better symbol of wasteful and unnecessary spending than passenger rail in all its forms.

You were rightly skeptical of the cost-benefit ratio of high speed rail. You could take notes from New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie who potentially saved New Jersey over $5 billion dollars in escalating cost overruns when he shut down an expensive tunnel project and returned $350 million in funds already received from the federal government. Both governors-elect from Ohio and Wisconsin have signaled they would prefer to shift federal money allocated to building high-speed passenger rail lines in their states to more critical infrastructure projects such as road and bridge projects.

Despite Florida voters rejecting high speed rail in 2004, the Obama Administration has promised over $2 billion dollars of our nation’s treasure to fund a high speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando. Even if the feds agreed to pay all the remaining capital costs, thought to exceed $300 million dollars, Florida would be required to pay for any cost overruns which average 40% or more. This factor would likely add an additional $1 billion dollars or more to our state debt just for the Tampa to Orlando leg of the route! The cost of the “Big Dig” in Boston grew three times the original forecast from $5 billion to more than $15 billion with the state picking up that increase at the expense of completing critical road improvements.

Also consider that once rail is in place, Florida would be on the hook for yearly Operating and Maintenance costs. This annual cost would be staggering as ticket revenues for passenger rail typically account for a mere 20-30% of the operating and maintenance costs. Where in the state budget will we find such a sizeable recurring revenue stream? It would most assuredly necessitate a new tax on Floridians.

Furthermore, accepting these federal funds for rail is a lot like checking into Hotel California because once you “check-in” by accepting federal dollars, you can never “check-out” without repaying the billions of dollars previously accepted and already spent. Gov. Christie found this out recently, but realized the $350 million cost to exit what was turning into a boondoggle, was preferable to losing billions in the future. If we act swiftly, we can escape this financial trap with minimal cost.

Governor-elect Scott, we are concerned that you may be influenced on this issue by incoming leadership who supports high speed rail and commuter rail. Paula Dockery is on your transition team and has been an outspoken advocate of high speed rail as well. We implore you to meet with members of the tea party movement to seek an alternative viewpoint on this subject. We can point you to policy experts from CATO Institute and Heritage Foundation whom we have been working with on this issue. We can tell you that high speed rail will not result in congestion relief for our roads. We will show you that 100% of passenger rail systems in the US are on the public dole and require new dedicated funding streams to sustain them. We can tell you that private solutions to transportation between Tampa and Orlando already exist that don’t require any investment by citizens of Florida nor will they grow the size of our government.

We would like you to reject the high speed rail project and we look forward to the opportunity to speak to you on this and other important matters affecting our great state.

Sincerely,

Karen Jaroch & Tim Curtis	Tampa 912 Project
Sharon Calvert & John Hendrix	Tampa Tea Party
Tom Tillison & Jason Hoyt	Central Florida Tea Party Council
Clyde Fabretti	West Orlando Tea Party
Don Hensarling	The 912 Project
Pat Wayman	Venice area 912
Karin Hoffman	DC Works For US
Billie Tucker & Carole McManus	First Coast Tea Party
Robin Stublen	Punta Gorda Tea Party
Thomas Gaitens	FreedomWorks Florida
Paula Helton & Alan Berkelhammer	Gainesville Tea Party
Don Forward	Titusville Patriots
Kathy Gibson	CWA-Orlando
Pam Evans	DC Works For Us-Aventura
Jesse Phillips	Citizen2Citizen
Bill Landes	Florida Minuteman
Maureen Siebold	Lakeland 912
Steve O’Neal	Winter Haven 912
Kim Irvine	Pasco 912 (Tampa 912)
Barb Haseldon	South Pinellas 912
Cheryl Couture	SW Florida 912
Tina Woode	Seminole County 912 Project
Nancy Meinhardt	Miami 912 Project
Elaine Laffey

Thank you for your help!

Yesterday I sent out an email with an urgent request to help Christian Coalition deliver voter guides to churches in Seminole County. These guides were delivered to my office on Friday for the primary vote on Tuesday.

Well, you guys responded and Citizen2Citizen delivered more than 30,000 voter guides to 75 churches, in the Sanford, Lake Mary, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Casselberry and Goldenrod areas. Not bad for a project that lasted less than 24 hours total.

Your response and volunteerism truly benefits the faith community. Thank you so much for your help! We recieved many expressions of gratitude from the pastors of these churches who anticipate these guides.

I will be sending out some alerts in preparation for the November voter guides. I hope we will have a bit more notice then. In the mean time, please hear my gratitude for your involvement today.

Thank you,

Jesse Phillips
Citizen2Citizen

Protect our health care freedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2010

Contact: Erin VanSickle
erin@flhealthcarefreedom.com

(Orlando, FL – June 18, 2010) The YES ON 9 Campaign announced today that it is launching a statewide campaign to educate voters on and promote passage of Amendment 9, the Healthcare Freedom Act. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Carey Baker (R-Eustis) and Representative Scott Plakon (R-Longwood) will appear on the November ballot and seeks to protect Floridians’ right to choose their own healthcare instead of being forced into a government mandate.

“Amendment 9 will protect Floridians from a Massachusetts-style design that forces them to participate in a healthcare plan under the threat of penalties and heavy fines,” said Senator Baker. “Our goal is to educate voters about what could happen to them without the protections that Amendment 9 would put in place.”

Amendment 9, which will appear on the November 2010 ballot, unequivocally states that no government can mandate a Floridian’s participation in a government healthcare scheme against his or her will. Under the leadership of Sen. Baker and Rep. Plakon, the Florida Legislature approved the amendment and over 4,000 citizens have signed on as co-sponsors. The Yes On 9 website, FLHealthcareFreedom.com, will serve as a web portal to keep voters informed and engaged, as well as providing up-to-the-minute information on town hall events and activities across the state.

“We agree with the need for meaningful health care reform, but not on the backs of Florida taxpayers, and not at the expense of one of our most fundamental liberties,” concluded Representative Plakon. “The people of Florida deserve the right to decide the amount and kind of health care they want. YES ON 9 will ensure that this right is protected and that bureaucrats won’t come between patients and their doctors.” Visit www.FLHealthcareFreedom.com.

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On Crist's Desk

An Urgent Message From John Stemberger:

June 7, 2010

This is breaking news. Just moments ago, I learned that the legislature hand delivered to Gov. Crist’s desk the landmark piece of pro-life legislation that everyone has been talking about, HB 1143. The governor now has 15 days in which to sign it into law or veto it. The clock is ticking and we need to ask you to make an online gift now (www.FLfamily.org) because we have to complete our campaign to see this historic bill signed into law.

This bill HB 1143, bans federal and state taxpayer dollars from funding abortions in Florida and requires Ultrasound pictures and information be provided to women seeking abortions. The result can be saving thousands of babies once their mothers realize they are carrying a living, healthy baby.

We have been aggressively educating people all across the state and are pulling out all the stops using every resource we have to lobby for this bill. The ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Abortion Industry are aggressively opposing this bill and pressuring Gov. Crist to veto it. This is the plan unfolding right now that we need help funding:

• Our Supporters Have Sent Over 4,950 E-mails and dialed thousands of phone calls to the Governor’s office.
• Tens of Thousands of Bulletin Inserts for churches are being printed and distributed.
• Press Conferences and Special Events are being planned to ask Gov. Crist to sign this important bill.
• Hundreds of Automated Calls are being transferred by Florida voters directly to the Governor’s office.
• We Have Sent more than 5,000 faxes into Churches around the state alerting them to this bill and to distribute flyers.
• I Have Been Quoted in Major News Articles about the bill in virtually every major newspaper in Florida.
• We Created a Facebook page which has more than 730 members. “Ask Gov Crist to sign HB 1143!”
• We are Leading a Coalition of other Pro-Life and Pro-Family Groups around the state and across the country to coordinate the activities promoting this bill.

Gov. Crist has indicated that he has “concerns” about the bill but he has said he is listening to the people and we need to keep the pressure up and show him that the people in Florida really do support this bill in overwhelming numbers.

Would you make your best gift and financial contribution today to help support our plan of getting this bill signed into law? Go to www.FLfamily.org to make a donation.

Our total expenses on this campaign which will culminate over the next two weeks will reach about $8,000.

• Would you be one of 2 major investors with a gift of $1,000 toward this effort?
• Would you be one of 4 people to partner with us by giving $500 to cover this need?
• Or would you be one of 20 people that can provide $100 to meet this expense?
• Maybe you can be one of 80 supporters to send a gift of $25 now to help us pay for this campaign?

Any amount will go toward furthering our efforts to promote the Ultrasound Bill HB 1143. Your support is so critical and we need to hear from you now. Thank you!

Sincerely,
John Stemberger
President and General Counsel

P.S.–I believe with all my heart this bill will save untold thousands of babies. Please send us your most generous donation because this issue will be decided in a matter of the next several days. Give online at www.FLfamily.org.

Additional Action and Information:

1) If you have not contacted the governor yet, please call his office at (850) 488-7146 or (850) 488-4441, e-mail him at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com or to send a pre-written message visit our Citizen Action Center at www.FLfamily.org.

2) If you would like to download a bulletin insert to pass out at your church it is available on our website at www.FLfamily.org.

Vote Yes on 9!

I am happy to announce that the Florida Health Care Freedom Act, which recently passed the Florida legislature, will be placed on the November ballot as Amendment 9. If 60% of Floridians vote Yes on 9 in November, we will take a giant step toward protecting against the enforcement of Obamacare in Florida.

I’m also pleased to announce that Citizen2Citizen will be coordinating with Liberty 4 Florida to work toward getting this amendment passed. I am a county chairman for the statewide effort, and am calling on all of Citizen2Citizen to volunteer to help out with this endeavor.

Some of you have already volunteered. I will be in touch with you shortly. If you have not volunteered, pleased visit the Florida Freedom Project volunteer page. Our goal is to have 100 volunteers in Orange and Seminole counties. If you are in another county, please contact me and I will put you in touch with activities in your county.

If you are on Facebook, please join the Florida Freedom Project group and share it with all of your friends to help us spread the word and recruit volunteers.

Thank you,
Jesse Phillips
Citizen2Citizen, Founder