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Obama’s address to Congress and the nation tonight will be a brazen attempt to seize the moral high ground in the health care debate. Why? Obama will play the “Morality Card” because he is losing the other key arguments for health care reform: The American people are coming to the realization that PelosiObamaReidCare (PORC) would result in increased, not decreased costs (CBO estimates are staggering); bring about lower, not higher quality of care (“government” does not connote “quality” or “care”); limit, not increase choice and competition; threaten, not strengthen our foundering economy; violate, not protect our personal privacy; raid, remedy Medicare; and violate, not protect our unalienable rights. Obama and liberal Democrats, seeing their increasingly dismal poll numbers and knowing (if they are intellectually honest) that PORC is meeting defeat after defeat on all of these fronts, must be desperate. Liberals are facing mounting opposition from Conservatives, Libertarians, Independents, and many Moderates — all of whom are against a Godzilla-sized government solution to our health care problems. They get bitter, they cling to “O” or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-conservative sentiment or anti-media sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist Bidenizing Obama.) So now they “come to Jesus” to help them win the battle on the moral front of this war between freedom and statism in medicine. So what we hear from Obama tonight? We will bear witness to the ultimate fusion of “The-Doctor-in-Chief,” “The-Preacher-in-Chief,” “The-Community-Organizer-in-Chief,” and “The Orator-in-Chief.” We will hear the eloquence of Martin Luther King and the cadence of JFK. If we listen closely, we may discern the harsh demands for social justice of Father Pfleger and Reverend Wright. We will almost certainly hear the moral imperative of carrying on the liberal legacy of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. What we certainly will not hear are the words of Obama’s mentor, Saul Alinsky, advising Obama to use religion and morality to sell us on massive government intervention into health care: “The third rule of ethics of means and ends is that in war the end justifies almost any means . . .” “The tenth rule . . . is you do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments. . .” So what will exactly will Obama say? We can get a glimpse by looking at what he said in the keynote speech at the 1996 Democratic convention — the one that launched his national political career: “It’s that fundamental belief — I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper — that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one.” We can get another hint at what Obama will say by looking at what he said more recently (August 19, 2009) in conference call with the “progressive people of faith.” Obama framed the need to tackle health reform as a “moral conviction” that “no one in America should be denied basic health care because he or she lacks health insurance.” Paraphrasing Genesis, he said that reform would address “what I consider to be a core ethical and moral obligation that we look out for one another, that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper.” He said reform was about the fight to “promote justice.” Obama has the heart of an altruist, the mind of a collectivist, and the soul of a statist. Obama’s vision for this country is governed by the memetic code of an altruist-collectivist-statist — the philosophy that we have the moral obligation to sacrifice and live selflessly for others; that the individual has value only insofar as he or she serves society; that the interests of society take priority over the interests of each individual in it; that the proper role of government is to subjugate the individual to the will of the collective; that the government is entitled to own, use, and dispose of the land, the means of production, personal property — even the lives of individuals, as necessary, to promote the welfare of the collective. Obama’s vision for this country is at odds with the vision of our Founding Fathers. The United States was founded on the idea of individual rights and individualism — the theory that individuals are ends-in-themselves; that we have the right to exist for our own sake; that no one has the right to force anyone to live for the sake of others; that we have the right to be left alone to pursue our own ends in life as long as we don’t infringe on the liberty of others to do the same; that the proper role of government is to protect our rights by legislating, adjudicating, and enforcing laws that prohibit other individuals or groups — foreign and domestic — from initiating force against us. The incompatibility of Obama’s vision with our Founding Fathers‘ vision for America was captured by the 19th century French philosopher, Auguste Comte, who coined the term ”altruism” to describe the ethical doctrine that individuals have a moral obligation to renounce self-interest and live for others. Comte wrote: “[The] social point of view cannot tolerate the notion of rights, for such notion rests on individualism. We are born under a load of obligations of every kind, to our predecessors, to our successors, to our contemporaries. After our birth these obligations increase or accumulate, for it is some time before we can return any service . . . . This ["to live for others"], the definitive formula of human morality, gives a direct sanction exclusively to our instincts of benevolence, the common source of happiness and duty. [Man must serve] Humanity, whose we are entirely.” (Catéchisme Positiviste) Obama’s vision for this country cannot tolerate the notion that individuals have unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our unalienable rights are firewalls that inhibit and prevent the greedy, the needy, and the greedy-needy — and their vote-hungry, power-thirsty elected officials — from infringing on our liberties. Our rights protect us from the initiation of force, that is, murder, assault, theft, fraud, and involuntary servitude. Our rights — our “do not tread on me” zones — annoy the living hell out of the altruist-collectivist-statist who is hell-bent on burdening us with a load of unchosen altruistic obligations to serve others so we do not resist the expropriation of our time, effort, money, or even our lives. We are at a crossroads. The road to the right leads to a free society in which the initiation of force is banned from all relationships and the right to free trade — making voluntary exchanges to mutual benefit — is protected. The road to the left leads to a coercive society in which the government collectivism a society of va coercive society against inexorably leads to predatory and sacrificial relationships between masters and servants. He is someone who is all too clueless about what it takes for producers to create wealth, but all too eager to loot it and spread it around. In the wake of Obama’s speech, we are going to see a crew of his collectivist cronies in Congress appear as talking heads on TV, opportunistically barraging us with altruist-collectivist bromides, such as “we need to spread the wealth around,” “we are all in this together,” “serve something higher than self,” “paying taxes is the patriotic thing to do,” and “you are your brother’s keeper” — all to rationalize a massive seizure of power to expropriate and redistribute the wealth of the most productive to the least productive members of society for the “moral” purpose of protecting everyone’s “right to health care.” Americans are not stupid. We will see through the emperor’s efforts to disguise this power grab in moral clothes. What we will witness in Obama’s address and hear in the left-leaning media’s echoes of his message in the weeks ahead is a crudely miscalculated, Alinsky-inspired attempt to use “morality” to disguise the immoral and corrupt political process that encourages a cabal of “do-good-in-the-hood” altruist-collectivists from the far left to get a jolt of self-righteous pseudo-self-esteem by voting into power a vote-grubbing thugocracy with the mission of using the power of the government to violate the individual rights of doctors, patients, and business owners by forcing these people to provide for the health care needs of others — the truly needy and the truly not so needy — on terms and conditions dictated by the thugocracy — all with the political goal of turning these needy people into an entitlement group of the greedy-needy — a grateful and therefore reliable voting bloc — that will — in a truly vicious cycle — guarantee the reelection of the vote-grubbing thugocracy, who will predictably (a) find it necessary to fix the problems caused by government intervention with more government regulation and control and ( B) find other opportunities to use the power of government to do “good-in-the-hood” for other groups of the greedy-needy in exchange for their votes. This is amorality dressed as morality. This is lipstick on a fraudulent, flatulent, fascist pig. This is the Alinsky way. We must make damn sure that any donkeys and pink elephants who support “PORC, The Fascist Pig” have their collectivist arses larded and grassed in 2010! Dr. Gregory Garamoni
 Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine
http://www.doctorsonstrike.com

Doctors Publish "Inalienable Rights Infringement Statement" on Health Care Reform Bills Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine today issued an "Inalienable Rights Infringement Statement" on the health care bills now brewing in Washington, finding 10 violations of the individual rights recognized in The Declaration of Independence. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Aug 01, 2009 – Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine today issued an "Inalienable Rights Infringement Statement" ("IRIS") on the health care bills now brewing in Washington--bills they dubbed "PelosiObamaReidCare" ("PORC"). The IRIS, posted on the homepage of Doctors on Strike's website at http://www.doctorsonstrike.com,'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com, cites PORC for the following 10 violations of individual rights: 1. Forcing people to buy health insurance. 2. Forcing employers to provide health insurance for employees. 3. Forcing one group (wealthy, soda-drinkers, etc.) to pay for the health insurance of another group. 4. Forcing future generations to pay for the healthcare of the present generation. 5. Forcing patients to participate in a government-run plan. 6. Forcing doctors to participate in a government-run plan. 7. Forcing hospitals and other healthcare providers to participate in a government-run plan. 8. Forcing insurance companies to compete with a government-run plan. 9. Forcing insurance companies to write policies that offer coverage for specific conditions. 10. Forcing one group (older Americans on Medicare) to accept reduced benefits in order to fund other public health care plans. Dr. Gregory Garamoni, Founder and Executive Director of Doctors on Strike, said, "Doctors, patients, and business owners all have the same inalienable individual rights recognized by the Declaration of Independence - the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The purpose of government is to secure our rights, not violate them. Our rights impose limitations on government." Dr. Garamoni said, "PORC's unprecedented intrusiveness into the doctor-patient relationship and other aspects of our health care would violate our rights on a massive scale unknown in the history of America." Doctors on Strike urges doctors, patients, and business owners to work together to put intense political pressure on Washington politicians to make sure they protect individual rights while reforming the healthcare system. Dr. Garamoni said people need to send the following message to our elected officials: "Earth to politicians: Healthcare is not a right, doctors are not your slaves, businesses are not your banks, the wealthy are not your wet nurses, and patients are not your pawns." The website for Doctors on Strike (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com) provides doctors, patients, and business owners with the "intellectual and political ammunition necessary to win the war against statism in medicine." Activists will find links to an online "Petition to Protect Doctor-Patient Rights" and other petitions with similar messages. They will also find links to elected officials, including the influential "The Blue Dog Coalition," and sample messages of varying length. # # # Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com) has the mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting freedom in healthcare. Our organization’s most pressing goal is to defeat HR3200 and other statist healthcare reform proposals now circulating in Washington. To this end, we are encouraging doctors and patients to put intense political pressure on legislators during their deliberations on healthcare reform. We supply doctors and patients with the intellectual and political ammunition to do this. We are calling on doctors to be prepared to go on strike against more government-run healthcare. We want doctors to let the country know - now - that if the President signs any legislation that establishes another government healthcare plan, they will "go on strike": Doctors will refuse to participate in any new government healthcare plan, and they will resign from all government healthcare programs, including, but not limited to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.

Press Release Doctors Support Proposed Florida Amendment to Protect Rights of Doctors and Patients Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine today applauded the Florida State legislators who proposed an amendment to the State Constitution that would thwart Washington’s plans to impose socialized medicine. Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni, Founder of Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 29, 2009 – Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine, a private organization that champions individual rights and freedom in medicine, today applauded the several Florida State legislators who on Monday proposed an amendment to the State Constitution intended to stop the federal government from taking over medicine. “Washington politicians are poised to inject a massive, lethal dose of statism into the heart of healthcare--one that would violate the rights of doctors and patients to make personal, private, and independent healthcare decisions,” said Dr. Gregory Garamoni, founder of Doctors on Strike. “This 'statist medicine' would induce grave waves of arrhythmia - inflation, price controls, lower quality, doctor shortages, waiting periods, and rationing.” “Doctors, patients, and law makers must stand together now to bring a halt to this leftist-led, lemming-like leap into healthcare hell,” Garamoni said. “We urge legislators all over the country to follow Florida’s lead by creating political firewalls in every state to protect us from any further federal infringement on states’ rights and individual liberty. ” State Senator Carey Baker (R-Eustis) and State Representative Scott Plakon (R-Longwood) filed legislation (HJR 37- Health Care Services) on Monday to amend Florida's Constitution “to prohibit laws or rules from compelling any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system; permit person or employer to purchase lawful health care services directly from health care provider; permit health care provider to accept direct payment from person or employer for lawful health care services; exempt persons, employers, and health care providers from penalties and fines for paying or accepting direct payment for lawful health care services; permit purchase or sale of health insurance in private health care systems; and specifies what amendment does not affect or prohibit.” "Today, we're drawing the line in the sand. It is bad enough that our federal government wants to choose your doctor and ration your treatment," Senator Baker said. "But to do so virtually in secret and in such a rush proves that the goal is not to get better health care but to get socialized health care." “The federal government and its bureaucracies dictating who, when and what kind of treatment you receive is not reform at all,” said Representative Plakon. “We believe this unprecedented power-grab by President Obama and Congress is clearly not in the best interests of the citizens of Florida.” “The proposed constitutional amendment may be the only way left to prevent the destruction of the independent practice of medicine that has served us so well for so many centuries,” said Dr. Garamoni. # # # Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine has the mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting freedom in healthcare. Our organization’s most pressing goal is to defeat HR3200 and other statist healthcare reform proposals now circulating in Washington. To this end, we are actively encouraging doctors and patients to put intense political pressure on legislators during their deliberations on healthcare reform. We supply doctors and patients with the intellectual and political ammunition to do this. We are calling on doctors to be prepared to go on strike against more government-run healthcare. We want doctors to let the country know - now - that if the President signs any legislation that establishes another government healthcare plan, they will "go on strike": Doctors will refuse to participate in any new government healthcare plan, and they will resign from all government healthcare programs, including, but not limited to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. # # # + Share This Article

Greg: Nice job. Nice activity. Love the thermometer! It is being passed along to everyone in my circle of influence which has some significant reach. Adam The little feedback I get like this is fuel for me to keep on going!!!!!!!!! Thanks. DrGreg

I've totally redone the homepage for "Doctors on Strike" (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com). I hope that all you cats, however impossible you are to herd, will take a peak, be inspirationally inspired, and take some time now out of your precious time (only a few minutes!) to act in your own self-interest! Please check it out. Positive feedback is welcome, negative . . . at your own risk! Greg

An Open Letter to The Blue Dog Coalition Dear Honorable Leaders and Members of The Blue Dog Coalition: As a healthcare professional and the leader of a national campaign to protect the rights of doctors and patients, I urge you to vote against HR3200: America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. On July 4, 2009, I founded a new organization, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine to take on the mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting freedom in healthcare. We simultaneously issued a Declaration of Independence for Doctors and declared a philosophical and political war against more governmental intrusion into healthcare. Doctors on Strike is establishing a rapidly growing national audience through our internet presence at www.doctorsonstrike.com, where we supply doctors and patients with the philosophical and political ammunition to fight for their rights. Launched three weeks ago, our website has been visited by people from 756 cities in 40 countries around the world, including all 50 states in America. Our message is getting through to people interested in protecting individual rights in healthcare. We hope this communication will get our message through to each member of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Doctors on Strike is based on the principles that: • Doctors and patients have the same inalienable individual rights that all human beings have — the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; • The purpose of government is to secure these rights, not violate them; • Rights impose limitations on government; • Government intrusion into healthcare violates these rights; • HR3200 would violate these rights, be fiscally irresponsible, and gravely threaten the viability of the healthcare system; and • Doctors, patients, and elected officials need to act — now — to preserve, protect, and promote individual rights and freedom in medicine. Our most pressing goal for 2009 is to help defeat HR3200 and other statist healthcare reform proposals now circulating in Washington. To this end, Doctors on Strike is actively encouraging doctors and patients to put intense political pressure on legislators during your deliberations on healthcare reform. We supply our national audience with the intellectual and political ammunition to do this. We provide links to the contact information on every senator and representative. You should know that we just added a special website page devoted to the 51 members of the Blue Dog Coalition, which provides the names, pictures, and contact information on each Blue Dog. We are encouraging doctors and patients to urge the Blue Dogs to reform healthcare in a fiscally responsible manner and with due respect for the right of doctors and patients. As the 2010 election cycle approaches, we will identify and publicly support those candidates for elected offices at the state and federal level who champion individual rights in healthcare. We hope you will be one of them. We will also unhesitatingly identify and publicly target for defeat any candidates who support legislation that violates individual rights. We just created a page on our website, “Targeted for Defeat in 2010,” with this goal in mind. We recently created a Petition to Protect Doctor-Patient Rights, which will be submitted to Congress and calls on legislators to oppose legislation that provides for any: • Public plan option, • Mandates that force individuals to buy insurance coverage, • Mandates that force employers to provide insurance coverage, • Surcharges that force some groups to pay for the healthcare of other groups, and • Mandates that force doctors to participate in public plans. We are also encouraging doctors to prepare themselves to go on strike against government-run healthcare programs. We want doctors to let the country know now that, if the President signs legislation to establish a new government healthcare plan, they will refuse to participate in any such plan and will also stop participating in all other government healthcare programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and SCHIP. Our blog, Doctors on Strike, regularly posts news and opinions on healthcare reform. This week we posted the news that the House Ways and Means Committee, marking up the Health bill: • Rejected 25-15 an amendment from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would have eliminated the public plan option; • Rejected 22-19 amendment from Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) that would have prevented providers from being forced to participate in the public plan; • Rejected 21-18 an amendment from Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required members of Congress and their dependents to enroll in the public plan option; • Rejected 21-19 an amendment from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) that would have based payment rates on the private market, rather than on Medicare; • Rejected 26-15 an amendment by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) that would have prevented comparative effectiveness research from being used to deny care based on cost. (Source: John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog) This information made it absolutely clear to our audience that those Democrats in Congress who support HR3200 are poised to inject a massive, lethal dose of statism into the brain of our healthcare system--the independent practice of medicine--a long-established, well-tested tradition in which doctors and patients exercise their right to make personal and private healthcare decisions that are informed by the professional training and experience of the doctor and tailored to the unique needs of the patient--without the forceful intrusion of government bureaucrats. We fear that this massive dose of statism will induce a wave of “seizures” in the healthcare economy — inflation, price controls, doctor shortages, waiting periods, and rationing. This is clearly the wrong medicine at the wrong time for the faltering economy, in general, and the over-regulated healthcare sector, in particular. In your deliberations on healthcare reform, we respectfully ask you to demonstrate your respect for the rights of doctors and patients by opposing any government option, mandates for individual insurance coverage, mandates for employer coverage, tax surcharges, and requirement for doctors to participate in a public option. These provisions are immoral, unconstitutional violations of our rights as doctors and patients. These provisions are also fiscally irresponsible. We urge you instead to support and vote for legislation to decrease the federal regulation of the entire healthcare industry. The burdens of federal and state control are stifling competition and innovation among insurance companies and other healthcare providers. They are a major cause of inflation in healthcare goods and services. We understand that many of you are considering running for reelection. If your vote(s) reflect fiscal responsibility and respect the rights of doctors and patients, we will openly and vigorously support your reelection. If your vote(s) are fiscally irresponsible and violate the rights and doctors and patients, we may have no choice but to support your opponent. We hope you make the right choice for freedom in America. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Respectfully, Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni Founder & Executive Director, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine 2304 Sawgrass Village Drive Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 904-631-3939 www.doctorsonstrike.com garamoni@gmail.com July 25, 2009

Do A Quickie So You Really Don't Get Royally Screwed One quick thing you can do today is "sign" the Petition to Protect Doctor-Patient Rights Here are the results so far: Signatures (First and Last Names) Total number 32 Total number today 10 Total number within last week 32 Answers to questions Should doctors "go on strike" by refusing to participate in any new government-run healthcare plan? 32 Yes No 31 1 96.9% 3.1% If ObamaCare is approved, should doctors "go on strike" by stopping their participation in other government-run healthcare plans (Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, SCHIP)? 31 Yes No 30 1 96.8% 3.2% Please take a minute, go to this website, "sign" the petition, and email your family and friends to get them to participate in this campaign to tell Congress to reform healthcare without violating the rights of doctors and patients to make private healthcare decisions.

Oh, and here is a seventh thing you can do for extra self-esteem credit: Communicate your message to the media (op-eds, blogs, comments at the end of online articles, discussion forums).

Thank you. A few weeks ago, I called a friend who is an attorney who referred me to another one: He quoted me $7,500-$10,000 to form a nonprofit organization and that did not include a few thousand dollars of government fees only to be gagged on saying what needs to be said. I told him about a wonderfully hot place he could go to with a one-way ticket!!!! (Gulp!) I still would like to know how I could form a legal, nonprofit, yet partisan, entity that could accept contributions even if they are not tax-deductible (I have limited free personal time and monetary resources). What tax/legal category does that fit? Is there an attorney out there who would advise me on this issue pro bono (i.e., pro self-interest)? Isn't this what political PACS are? I want to be able to say on our website, for example, vote for Ron Paul, but vote against Ted Kennedy on the basis of their positions on healthcare reform. Anybody? Back channel preferred.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday abandoned plans for a vote on health care before Congress' August recess, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's ambitious timetable to revamp the nation's $2.4 trillion system of medical care. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., delivered the official pronouncement on what had been expected for weeks, saying, "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through." We have won The Battle of The Deadline! Now that we have won “The Battle of The Deadline,” it is time to regroup and redouble our efforts to mobilize the American people to put even more pressure on the Congress to reform healthcare without violating the rights of doctors and patients to make private healthcare decisions. SEVEN STEP STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS Here are several steps (with links to useful resources) you can take to make a difference in the war against statism in medicine: 1. Compose your message. (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/samplemessages.html'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/samplemessages.html) 2. Communicate your message to your legislators in Congress. (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/projectvotesmart.html'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/projectvotesmart.html) 3. Communicate your message to the influential Blue Dog Coalition. (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/bluedogcoalition.html'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/bluedogcoalition.html) 4. Communicate your message to the media (op-eds, blogs, comments at the end of online articles, discussion forums). 5. Sign at least three online petitions: Protect Doctor-Patient Rights (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/petitiontoprotectdoctor-patientrights.html'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/petitiontoprotectdoctor-patientrights.html) Patients First (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/patientsfirst.html'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/patientsfirst.html) Free Our Health Care Now (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/freeourhealthcare.html'>http://www.doctorsonstrike.com/freeourhealthcare.html) 6. Record a YouTube message of “The Traders Oath” -- “I swear by my life, and my love of it, that as a doctor, as a patient, as a human being, I will forever defend the right of every doctor, every patient, every human being to be treated as a trader among traders, not a slave under masters, nor a master over slaves.” 7. Call or email your family and friends and ask them do the same by emailing a link to this page. Resources for doing these things are at Doctors on Strike (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com)

I just fixed it. I did not mean to say that others were making weird comments, although I can see now that someone might think that from my statement. Something was weird about how my original post was printed here. i've fixed it now--I hope.

I appreciate your support. I sent a message to www.DownsizeDC.com today. I saw the post at the Daily Paul site and felt refueled by this (even though something weird is going on with the redundant comments here and there!??) "This is war--one we can't afford to lose. We are all doctors and patients now. We are allies. I supply some ammo. Grab some and fire away." Thanks for firing away to the Ron Paul site. dr. greg garamoni I reposted my original comment here at Objectivist Living and now its free of all the really weird redundancies. Should you or I correct this at the Ron Paul site?

I appreciate your support. I sent a message to www.DownsizeDC.com today. I saw the post at the Daily Paul site and felt refueled by this (even though something weird is going on with the redundant comments here and there!??) "This is war--one we can't afford to lose. We are all doctors and patients now. We are allies. I supply some ammo. Grab some and fire away." Thanks for firing away to the Ron Paul site. dr. greg garamoni

Obama is pushing Congress to have a bill out by July 28th--only 6 days from now! We need to push back and push back hard. What can we do at this point? I encourage everyone to DO SIX THINGS IN SIX DAYS to protect individual rights against the onslaught of statism: 1. Compose a message that reflects your position on the importance of protecting the rights of doctors and patients, freedom of choice, and fiscal responsibility in healthcare reform, in general, and objections to specific provisions, in particular, including the public option, mandates that force individuals to buy insurance coverage, mandates that force employers to provide insurance coverage, surcharges that force some groups to pay for the healthcare of other groups, mandates that force doctors to participate in public plans (examples of messages of varying length are provided here). 2. Call or email or fax your legislators to communicate your message by using Project Vote Smart to get the contact information on your legislators (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com...) 3. Call or email the the leadership or individual members of the Blue Dog Coalition (an influential group of fiscally conservative democrats who may have the power to defeat ObamaCare). 4. Sign these three online petitions (you can find others on the web): Protect Doctor-Patient Rights Patients First Free Our Health Care Now 5. Make a YouTube video of yourself reciting “The Trader’s Oath” that I included in the Doctors Declaration of Independence: 
 “I swear by my life, and my love of it, that as a doctor, as a patient, as a human being, I will forever defend the right of every doctor, every patient, every human being to be treated as a trader among traders, not a slave under masters, nor a master over slaves.” 6. Get as many of your friends, family, and acquaintances to do these same things (email them a copy of this). Our website (www.doctorsonstrike.com) provides resources to help you do these things. The KEY here is to have an "implementation intention" -- a plan as to when and where you are going to which of these things. A review of studies by Dr. Peter Gollwitzer shows that people who do this are much more likely to do what they intended when they had implementation intentions (e.g, breast self-exams were done more frequently by women who were asked to think through where and when they would do the exam than by women who simply intended to do a self-exam; extra credit projects over Christmas break were done more frequently by college students who decided where and when they would do the project than by students who just intended to do a project. ) So, yes, psychologists often demonstrate what is commonsense: The road to healthcare hell is paved with good intentions that don't have an implementation plan! So when and where are you going to do these SIX THINGS IN SIX DAYS to protect your rights as a patient and those of your doctors? PS. Just this week, the House Ways and Means Committee, marking up the Health bill: Rejected 25-15 an amendment from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would have eliminated the public plan option; Rejected 22-19 amendment from Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) that would have prevented providers from being forced to participate in the public plan; Rejected 21-18 an amendment from Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required members of Congress and their dependents to enroll in the public plan option; Rejected 21-19 an amendment from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) that would have based payment rates on the private market, rather than on Medicare; Rejected 26-15 an amendment by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) that would have prevented comparative effectiveness research from being used to deny care based on cost. (Source: John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog at http://www.john-goodman-blog.c....) This statist crap should convince you that we really are in a war--one we cannot afford to loose. We are all doctors and patients now. We can be allies. I supply intellectual and political ammunition. Grab some ammo, spread some around to your friends and family, and fire off your message to Congress. I am asking for your support by spreading the word about our organization, Doctors on Strike, and our message. I've now done six things in the last few days so I know you can do it, too. Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni Licensed Psychologist Founder & Executive Director, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 904-631-3939 www.doctorsonstrike.com www.drgaramoni.com garamoni@gmail.com

We have a shared interest in protecting the rights of doctors and patients as Washington politicians are poised to inject a lethal dose of statism into the heart of our healthcare system — an industry already clogged with more government control than any others. This massive dose of statism will induce grave waves of arrhythmia — inflation, price controls, doctor shortages, waiting periods, and rationing. Something has to be done soon halt to this leftist-led, lemming-like leap into the sordid sea of statism. Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine is a private, nonprofit, educational, and partisan-activist organization that I founded on July 4, 2009 to take on the mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting freedom in healthcare in the United States of America. Doctors on Strike is based on the principles recognized and published in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence for Doctors: That doctors and patients have the same inalienable individual rights that all citizens have — the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness; That the purpose of government is to secure individual rights, not violate them; That individual rights impose limitations on government; That statism in healthcare violates individual rights; That the statist healthcare proposals being advanced by the Administration and Congress would violate individual rights and gravely threaten the viability of the healthcare system; and That doctors, patients, and elected officials need to act — now — to preserve, protect, and promote individual rights and freedom in medicine. Our long-term educational objective is to supply doctors and healthcare providers with the intellectual ammunition required to win the “philosophical war” against statism in medicine. The "Intellectual Ammunition" page of our website (www.doctorsonstrike.com) provides doctors and other healthcare providers with a principled, vigorous defense of freedom in medicine based a philosophy of rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez faire capitalism. What sets Doctors on Strike apart from fine nonpartisan organizations is that we are an activist organization that can and will "take the gloves off" to take on public officials without having to worry about our tax-exempt status being revoked. This allows us the freedom to publish pointedly partisan pieces here that can't found elsewhere. We try to strike an acceptable balance between the need for objectivity in thought and the need for passion in action. Our ideal is to be passionately reasonable and reasonable passionate. Our most pressing goal for 2009 is to help defeat the statist healthcare reform proposals presently circulating through Washington. To this end, Doctors on Strike is actively encouraging doctors and patients to put intense political pressure on legislators during their deliberations on health care reform. And we provide the political ammunition to do this. The Political Ammunition of our website provides convenient ways to communicate our message to legislators. We provide links to the contact information on every senator and representative. We just added a special page devoted to the 51 members of the Blue Dog Coalition--a unique resource not found anywhere else on the web. We supply sample messages that can be copied, pasted, modified, and communicated to legislators over the phone or by email, fax, or mail. The messages vary in length from once sentence to several paragraphs to suit the preferences of a diverse group of doctors and patients. The core message is the same: We demand that Congress and the Administration respect the right of doctors and patients to make private healthcare decisions without any governmental interference. I invite participants in Objectivist Living to go to our "Political Ammunition" page see for yourself how easy we have made it for voters to tell Congress how important it is to protect freedom in healthcare. If you have not yet made your views known to your senators and representative, why not do this now? See just how easy it is and then let others know too. Doctors on Strike just created a Petition to Protect Doctor-Patient Rights, which will be submitted to Congress and calls on them to oppose and vote against legislation that provides for any: Public plan option, Mandates that force individuals to buy insurance coverage, Mandates that force employers to provide insurance coverage, Surcharges that force some groups to pay for the healthcare of other groups, Mandates that force doctors to participate in public plans. We are also calling on doctors to prepare themselves to go on strike against any more government-run healthcare programs. We are calling on doctors to let the country know now that if the President signs into law any legislation that establishes another government healthcare plan, doctors will refuse to participate in any such plan, and will stop participating in all other government healthcare programs, including, but not limited to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. As the 2010 election cycle approaches, we will identify and work openly to support those candidates for elected offices at the state and federal level who champion individual rights and liberty in healthcare. We will also unhesitatingly identify and publicly target for defeat any candidates for elected offices who support statist public policies that violate individual rights and infringe on liberty in healthcare. We just created a page on our website, “Targeted for Defeat in 2010,” with this goal in mind. Our blog, Doctors on Strike, regularly posts news, opinions, and humor concerning healthcare reform. Yesterday, for example, we posted the news that the fascists who dominate the House Ways and Means Committee, marking up the Health bill: Rejected 25-15 an amendment from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would have eliminated the public plan option; Rejected 22-19 amendment from Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) that would have prevented providers from being forced to participate in the public plan; Rejected 21-18 an amendment from Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required members of Congress and their dependents to enroll in the public plan option; Rejected 21-19 an amendment from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) that would have based payment rates on the private market, rather than on Medicare; Rejected 26-15 an amendment by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) that would have prevented comparative effectiveness research from being used to deny care based on cost. (Source: John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog at http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/all-in-a-...comment-43995.) I am pleased to report that since we launched our website on July 4th, we have been visited by people from 553 cities in 34 countries around the world, including all 50 states in America. Our message is getting through to people interested in protecting individual rights in healthcare. Of course, we have a lot more work to do to win the near-term battle in Congress and the long-term war against statism in healthcare. This is a war--one we cannot afford to loose. We can be allies. I am contributing intellectual and political ammunition. Grab some ammo, spread it around to friends and family, and fire off your messages to Congress. I am asking for your support by spreading the word about our organization and our message--your message. Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni Licensed Psychologist Founder & Executive Director, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 904-631-3939 www.doctorsonstrike.com www.drgaramoni.com garamoni@gmail.com