8th Congressional District - Missouri - Next week, my conservative colleagues and I will vote to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) in Obamacare, often called the “Death Panel,” and to preserve Medicare for America’s seniors. This panel, hand-selected by the president, is tasked with recommending cuts to Medicare without congressional input. If health care spending gets too high, IPAB is charged with deciding which care to prioritize and which care to cut. Obamacare gave IPAB unprecedented power with no accountability, no judicial review, and no transparency requirements.
This panel moves America away from a patient-centered health care model and replaces it with the views of unelected bureaucrats. The panel’s recommendations automatically become law unless a super majority of Congress agrees to make cuts elsewhere. This process alone raises constitutional questions. Obamacare created a panel to push a one-size-fits-all solution from Washington, instead of giving you and your doctor the freedom to make these deeply personal decisions.
If IPAB cuts Medicare, seniors will have a more difficult time getting access to care. It is unacceptable to decrease benefits to individuals who have worked so hard and paid into Medicare for so long. I am not going to let IPAB ration care, trample the Constitution, and disregard the well-being of America’s seniors. The time to act is now, before the panel is selected and care is impacted. That’s why I support repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board before it comes to fruition.
I am still working toward a full repeal of Obamacare, but President Obama will never admit what a complete failure this law has been since its inception. In the meantime, repealing Obama’s Death Panel is a way to protect America’s seniors.
Dear 151st District Constituents,
Greetings! I hope this Capitol Report finds you and your family doing well! I apologize for the lengthy Capitol Report this week, I have combined last week’s report into this one due to not being able to send last week’s report due to internet issues.
I have been very busy these past two weeks since trying to reconnect with everyone. I have attended several meetings locally of various groups and organizations. I have been blessed with the privilege of being able to eat or volunteer at most of our local senior centers, I will hopefully be able to be at them all again soon!
I have attended several policy related meetings including one in Columbia regarding healthcare data sharing. This meeting was very informative and the discussion has actually led to much more discussion.
The big question that I have from this meeting is “What type of policies do we need to have in place and how do these policies need to be worded or structured to protect a person’s right to privacy while also using the available technology to allow healthcare information to be shared when needed for healthcare purposes of the person?”.
I hope to have an answer to this question, or at least some thoughts toward an answer by the end of this year so that this question may be addressed during the next session.
Later this month I will be attending a meeting in Washington DC regarding Medicaid Health Policy. I have several questions that I am preparing to ask at this meeting. There are so many changes happening currently in healthcare and with the Supreme Court decision regarding Obamacare, I feel that we will see even more changes in our healthcare. I hope this meeting will help to prepare me as we plan to meet the challenges ahead of us.
There are many issues that myself and my office are looking at regarding education. We have been reviewing the teacher and student testing issues. Currently I am comparing the “old” competencies with the “new”. There have been so many changes recently but I am not sure that our teachers have been consulted. I would like to find a way to return to more local decisions being made regarding curriculum. I do not agree with the way the decisions are currently being made from “higher up” and then being passed down without input from our teachers and local school boards.
I will keep you posted as work continues on this. I am looking forward to this next week, I will be able to attend my first meeting of the Joint Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect. We will be hearing from the Juvenile Office regarding how this office works, scope of practice and authority. I have many questions and hope to learn the process of how a child enters the juvenile system and exactly what a normal progression looks like as one would go through this process. I am most interested in learning what the progression looks like from the eyes of a child and the eyes of the parent.
I will close for now but please feel free to call my office or my cell number if I can be of service to you!
Until next week, Tila
Enough is enough and I am demanding answers. Last week, I wrote the Department of Justice along with my fellow Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee to again push for criminal prosecution of this bad actor. It's no surprise folks are scared of the IRS – they can make life miserable even without injecting personal politics into the equation.
Initially, Lerner's potentially incriminating emails were lost when her hard drive had crashed along with those of six other IRS employees. Miraculously though, the IRS Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found more than 30,000 of her emails on a back-up server. The IRS investigation found words like “tea party” or “patriot” were flagged for additional examination when groups applied for tax-exempt status, and hardworking, patriotic Americans were singled out for their political beliefs in direct violation of the Constitution. Lois Lerner has denied targeting conservative organizations for increased scrutiny and simultaneously apologized for the IRS's actions.
There have been Congressional hearings and an FBI probe. President Obama called the actions “intolerable and inexcusable,” and in the next breath said there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” at the IRS. Despite the hypocrisy, it's clear that taxpayers were violated and their trust in government was compromised, and still, Lerner has not been charged with a crime. Moreover, the Department of Justice has not even responded to Congress's call for prosecution.
An agency with as much power to destroy citizens as the IRS must be above reproach, and Congress won't be finished until Lois Lerner is held accountable.
As we go into this Memorial Day weekend, I have to stop for a minute and think about all the sacrifices that have been made for us. Sacrifices that we will never know about in many cases. I cannot thank those that willingly risk their lives for our freedom enough. I am forever indebted to them and what they have given or were willing to give.
I know from my own experience, when my husband was deployed, I worried all the time while he was in the combat zone. We were lucky with the modern technology that I was able to hear from him frequently. In war’s past, that was not the case, months would go by without hearing from the loved one.
Also in war’s past, many more people were deployed to the combat zones and almost everyone knew someone firsthand that was serving or had served. Now very few actually deploy to a combat zone with all of the new modern warfare technology. Many people do not know anyone that has or is serving. This is causing many to not understand the importance of a strong military nor understand the sacrifice that comes with serving in the military.
America is a great nation, we have so much to be thankful for. Please remember this during the weekend and if you see a veteran, thank him or her for their sacrifice. Don’t forget the service Monday at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Bloomfield at 1pm.
Until Next Week,
Tila
Last week, I voted to be a voice for those that cannot yet speak. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which I cosponsored and has passed the House of Representatives, is one of the most significant pieces of pro-life legislation to ever come before the House. This bill defends life and provides protection for babies that have already reached five months in the womb. At this stage, babies can feel pain and are developed enough that in many cases they can go on to live outside the womb with proper medical care.
This bill reflects the compassionate and caring feelings of the American people to protect the life of the unborn. In poll after poll, folks across the country agree with us here southeast and southern Missouri that it is our obligation to protect babies from painful late-term abortions. In a CNN poll last year, 58 percent of respondents opposed abortions with “few” or “no” exceptions. A CBS News poll found 59 percent of respondents thought abortions should have stricter limits or not be permitted at all. A Quinnipiac poll found that 60 percent of adults, including 59 percent of women, support restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks. Our message of protection for every precious life resonates far beyond just our community.
The fight to protect life at all stages is a fight I am passionately leading in Washington. I will continue to be a voice for the children that deserve our protection and continue to share our message of compassion, because life is truly a gift from God.
