The president was at it again today, ignoring the will of the people and insisting on shoving his health care plan down the throats of the American public. In his latest plea, President Obama called for an “up or down” vote on his plan, claiming all the best ideas from both sides of the aisle have been incorporated and that the debate is now over.

In reality, the president’s plan is essentially the Senate-passed bill with a few minor tweaks to appease House Democrats. Right now the only bipartisan agreement that exists on health care is opposition to the current plan. Someone should tell the president you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

As for an “up or down vote” — well, that’s just a cynical euphemism that the president is using to describe a parliamentary trick known as reconciliation that numerous Democratic senators (including then-Senator Obama) denounced only a few years ago as an “arrogant power grab against the Founders’ intent.”

Call your Congressman now and tell them to oppose this arrogant power grab!

Both as a candidate and as president, Barack Obama has acknowledged the necessity of gathering 60 votes to pass major legislation, specifically condemning the 50-plus-1 strategy of governing.

Ultimately, though, the president’s push for reconciliation is a distraction from the bigger picture. Before the Senate can act, the House must first pass the Senate’s bill exactly as it was passed on Christmas Eve, with all its pork-barrel deals for Nebraska, Louisiana, Connecticut and others. With everything the American people have already made clear they hate.

We can stop this government takeover of health care and all it’s cynical Washington politics in one fell swoop by stopping the House from passing the Senate health care bill. Call your Congressman now and tell them we need to start over and get health care right.

Sincerely,

Patients First Team