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5 weeks left to locate 218 debt-revolt warriors in House

'We need to mobilize for the most important vote in Congress in decades'

WASHINGTON – There's good news for those who want to see a political revolt in Washington that can end Obamacare, send education back to the states, freeze entitlements, end subsidies to PBS and NPR, eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and other destructive programs and bring government spending in line with constitutional restraints, says the man directing a grass-roots lobbying effort to stop all further borrowing by the federal government in the next five weeks.

With the Treasury Department's forecast that the U.S. would not hit its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling until April 15, House Republicans have signaled they will not vote on raising the debt limit until then – giving Americans another five weeks to persuade 218 members of the House to hold the line on borrowing, forcing the government into major, unprecedented cuts in spending.

"This is a blessing from God," says WND's Joseph Farah, organizer of the "No More Red Ink" campaign that calls on all 241 House Republicans to oppose any more borrowing. "We need to mobilize for the most important vote in Congress in decades. This is it. This is the one vote totally under the control of House Republicans that can save America from bankruptcy, destroy countless federal government programs that are destructive to our welfare and bring us back in line with the uniquely American concept of limited constitutional government. There will be no second chance for us."

Shock the Washington establishment by participating in the "No More Red Ink" campaign and shut down all new plans for bailouts, "stimulus" spending and even the funding for Obamacare.

Farah's campaign is built around the political reality that House Republicans alone can stop the borrowing and spending that is bankrupting America.

"This is their big chance to demonstrate that they are different from the Democrats," he says. "All they have to do to stop the fiscal insanity is to say no to a hike in the debt limit – one vote! The rest takes care of itself. It will require massive cuts in the federal bureaucracy, which is what Republicans have said they want and what Americans still say they want."

Farah reminds that even Sen. Barack Obama said he was opposed to raising the debt limit back in 2006: "The fact we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. … Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren."

"Obama has clearly flipflopped," says Farah. "Are House Republicans going to flipflop, too?"

Somewhere around April 15, a bill will come to both houses of Congress requesting approval of a hike in the debt limit from $14.3 trillion, a sum already representing essentially 100 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and more than 14 percent of the world's wealth.

Republicans hold all the cards, Farah says. They can stop it with 218 votes in the House – and they control 241.

"Republicans can pull the plug on Obama's entire socialist agenda with one key vote in opposition to raising the debt limit. And you can provide House Republicans the backbone they need to do this in the next few weeks." The goal of the "No More Red Ink" campaign is to make that process simpler and more economical for every American.

The campaign is designed to mobilize and empower Americans to make their voices heard in Washington by sending individually addressed red letters to every Republican in the House of Representatives urging them to hold the line on borrowing.

The campaign also got another big boost by grabbing the simple domain name "NoMoreRedInk.com."

So far the campaign has sent nearly 1 million letters to the 241 Republican members in control of the House of Representatives who have the power to block any more borrowing and deficit spending this year. Already, the campaign has taxed the nation's supplies of red paper, forcing more production by the economically depressed paper mills.

"We are getting paper shipped to our Midwest fulfillment centers all the way from California right now as a result of this successful campaign," said Farah. "But that's just the beginning. We need to inundate House Republicans with millions of red letters to get them to do the right thing on the debt limit vote."

There's no mystery about how to avoid raising the debt limit, says Farah. All Congress has to do is cut $738 billion from the existing budget – a budget of $3.5 trillion.

"Republican members of the House, the people we just elected to take over last November, have all the power to make this happen – simply by voting against raising the debt limit," says Farah. "At that point, Democrats and Republicans have no choice but to cut back the federal government to where it should be – in line with its revenues. We do not need tax hikes. We do not need to miss Social Security payments. We do not need to default on our loan obligations. We just have to cut the bloated bureaucracies – many of which are unconstitutional to begin with."

Farah says when the "No More Red Ink" campaign began earlier this year, almost no one was talking seriously about not raising the debt limit. Today, he says, Republican presidential candidates, members of the Senate and an increasing number of House Republicans are joining the movement. Among those who have embraced the idea are Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sen. Jim DeMint, Rep. Ron Paul and many others. A vote last week related to the issue, a continuing resolution permitting the government to continue spending without a budget, met with widespread opposition despite being pushed by House leadership.

"All it takes now is 218 votes in the House – and it's all in the control of Republicans," says Farah. "Can we persuade Republicans not to borrow any more? If we can't, we may miss the last opportunity we have until 2012 to save this country from bankruptcy and disaster. The biggest vote, most important vote, they will cast this year is on the question of whether to raise the debt limit because the new majority in the lower house can, by inaction alone, force the most dramatic spending cuts in American history."

And that's what the "No More Red Ink" campaign is designed to do – flood House Republicans with hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions – of red letters making the case for an end to the borrow-and-spend cycle that everyone agrees is unsustainable.

While the latest poll shows 70 percent of Americans opposed to raising the debt limit, House Speaker John Boehner has signaled his intent to push for it – surrendering, Farah says, the only weapon Republicans have that can force cuts beyond those that will be accepted by the Democrat-dominated Senate and Barack Obama.

"This campaign is now getting help from tea party activists across the country," Farah said. "We're getting lots of support from Republicans in the House who don't approve of their leadership's concession on this issue. This is about to explode on the nation as the most important vote Congress will hold this year or any year – one that can completely break the chain of business as usual in Washington."

Farah's plan empowers American citizens to send messages to every member of the House Republican caucus inexpensively and efficiently – with guaranteed delivery by Fed Ex.

"Unfortunately, if the House Republicans do not hear from the American people in strength, they will vote for business-as-usual deficit spending for the next two years and surrender the power they have to force fiscal responsibility on Barack Obama and the Democrats in the Senate," says Farah. "House Speaker John Boehner says he wants to use the debt limit to wrangle concessions out of the Democrats, but when he signals, as he did last weekend, that Congress must raise the debt limit to keep the government solvent, he has already waved the white flag of surrender on the most important vote to be cast in Congress over the next two years."

The "No More Red Ink" campaign has two facets:

"This is a plan to separate the real economic conservatives from the pretenders," said Farah. "If you want to reduce the debt that is destroying this country's economy we have a chance right now to slam on the brakes. Once the debt limit is raised, it's back to business as usual."

Republicans in the House hold all the cards, Farah points out, because of their majority. They don't need a single Democratic vote to side with them to shut down borrowing.

"At that point, Barack Obama can't implement Obamacare," he said. "From that moment onward, there will be no more spending initiatives by Obama for the next two years. There will be no more bailouts, no more 'stimulus' spending. It's all over. In fact, the most significant budget cuts in modern American history will have to be made – and the Republican House will still have to approve them."

The "No More Red Ink" campaign allows Americans to send a "red ink" letter to every member of the House majority urging them to vote "no" on raising the debt limit. The letters are individually addressed to each member, with guaranteed delivery by Fed Ex for a cost of just $29.99. It would cost an individual more than $100 in postage alone to send the 241 letters with no guarantee of delivery and certainly nowhere near the impact.

A similar campaign organized by WND last year delivered more than 9 million "pink slips" to members of the House and Senate. Farah is hoping a similar response by Americans in the next few weeks will persuade House Republicans to oppose raising the debt limit.

Shock the Washington establishment by participating in the "No More Red Ink" campaign and shut down all new plans for bailouts, "stimulus" spending and even the funding for Obamacare.

www.wnd.com/

March 4, 2011

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