U.S. Separate from the U.N. The Marriage Bill. Right to Contraception. The CHIPS Bailout. Build Back *How*? PBMs.

Take what you want, and leave the rest. Sorry for the TMI.

HR 7806, American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2022 is to repeal the United Nations Participation Act of 1945. Just introduced on 5/17/2022.

Russ Payne in Get Us Out of UN makes excellent points. Here’s an excerpt:
’Concerned citizens would do well to inform themselves about all the tentacles of UN controls that have become “assumed powers” that illegally supersede constitutional domestic law at jbs.org. For since its origin in 1958 The John Birch Society has aimed its educational war against this UN “fifth column” that is strangling American liberty at the American electorate to send constitutionalists to office. Apparently, they are slow learners, for it is so obvious that the superiority of the historical foundation of Americanism over the UN peace by force, is another way of saying that freedom is superior to slavery. Help build a fire of truth under the feet of your Senator and Congressmen to be a cosponsor with a true friend of American Independence and liberty, Rep. Mike Lee of Alabama whose bill H.R. 7806 will completely withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations. Be a friend to liberty. Don’t be one of those Americans who think they know the UN is for peace. It ain’t so!’

HR 8404, Respect for Marriage Act - This bill, as so many are, is named the opposite of what it does. It is the Democrats trying to send a message about gay marriage, but gay marriage rights were determined with the Supreme Court ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015. What the bill could do, if it isn’t stopped, is allow one state’s marriage laws to affect other states’ marriage laws. If one state allowed polygamy, the way this bill reads, all states would then have to allow polygamy. That seems to me to open a huge can of worms because states would be suing each other all over the place because of states’ sovereignty. Of course, the bill may change, but the bottom line is that it is a distraction, a posturing, and a waste of legislators’ time and taxpayers’ money. Call or write your representative and urge him or her to oppose this bill.

HR 8373, Right to Contraception Act - Just the first few sentences include the following 'The term “government” includes each branch, department, agency, instrumentality, and official of the United States or a State... contraception - an action taken to prevent pregnancy... any drug, device, or biological product intended for use in the prevention of pregnancy, whether specifically intended to prevent pregnancy or for other health needs, that is legally marketed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, such as oral contraceptives, long-acting reversible contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, internal and external condoms, injectables, vaginal barrier methods, transdermal patches, and vaginal rings, or other contraceptives.' Their definition of government is super broad, virtually any person or organization, and appears to override religious/conscientious objections. The definition of contraceptive includes abortifacients (substances which will cause a miscarriage). This may or may not be okay with you, and that’s totally your decision, and it should be an informed decision.

HR 4346, CHIPS Act - Late Tuesday morning (July 26), the Senate voted on the CHIPS Act, a $250 billion package that blends corporate welfare with industrial policy. (The company line is that it helps with semiconductors.) The cloture vote passed 64-32. The final vote, which only requires a simple majority (51 votes), can be held after 30 hours of “post-cloture” debate.

So the Senate could vote on final passage as soon as Wednesday night—possibly sooner if the entire Senate agrees by unanimous consent to speed up the process. The CHIPS Act will then go to the House for consideration.

This bad bill will authorize hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending and corporate bailouts to big tech companies with little to no accountability to how they use the funding. Much of this funding will ultimately just pass through to their Chinese business interests. This means that U.S. taxpayer dollars will directly subsidize and support the Chinese economy.

This bill will do little to address the multitude of threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and would create more spending at a time when consumers face a staggering 9.1% inflation rate. Heritage Action has proposed conservative solutions to the China threat. This bill misses the mark, and will be a key vote NO on Heritage Action’s scorecard.

For a conservative view (where I am on this one), CHIPS Act distracts from bigger China challenge.

Build Back *How*? - While the “Build Back Better” deal has shrunk considerably in the last year, conservatives must oppose the BBB package by any name. The most recent draft is a TRILLION-dollar disaster in wasteful spending, and it’s currently going through the “Byrd Bath,” determining whether all provisions meet the criteria to pass via the reconciliation process (more on how it works), before it can be considered for a vote in the Senate.
Under the reconciliation process, a bill is not subject to the filibuster and only needs 51 votes. So there is a real chance this bill could pass if Democrats stay united and Vice President Harris casts the 51st vote.
Here are some of the current problems with the bill:

• Spends billions to prop up a failed Obamacare system. Extending Obamacare subsidies is a blatant attempt to dole out cash to politically favored constituencies ahead of an election. The crisis is one of Democrats’ own creation: they added extra subsidies to Obamacare plans as part of the trillions of COVID spending dollars. Now voters will see the true cost of their healthcare.

• Imposes soviet-style price-controls on prescription medications. This is just the first step in imposing price controls across the entire health care sector, pushing the country closer to a full-blown government-run health care system and government rationing, and limiting access to care.

• It’s more inflationary spending at a time of record inflation.

This bill raises health care costs for the 82% of Americans not on Medicare, and increases and prolongs the inflation crisis with more government spending. Call your representative and two senators and urge them to oppose the so-called Build Back Better bill.

If I understand this correctly, today it’s about $500 billion. Here’s CNN’s take.

S. 4293, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022 - The Pharmacy Benefit Manager system needs improvement. Currently, it operates in an anti-competitive way, hiding how prices are determined and who benefits. Without transparency, there is no accountability. These articles., one from AMAC, AMAC Supports the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act, and one from The Cannon, Pulling Back the Curtain on Pharmacy Benefit Managers will give you more details. Please call, or email, or use this form to tell your Senator to support S. 4293 to help bring competition, fairness, and transparency to the outpatient prescription drug supply chain. 

Do you know? No One Left Behind is the leading national organization dedicated to ensuring that America keeps its promise to U.S. interpreters and employees in Iraq and Afghanistan through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs.

Until next time…

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Or email me, and let’s have a problem-solving conversation. I welcome ‘letters to the editor’ type emails and may publish yours. I hope we can create a caucus with positive, back-to-the-founders’-dream-for-America results. Have a topic you want to know more about?

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