http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=322

* Why you should call and email the AMA leadership and tell them to "Do the Right Thing": No government run health care, no mandates, no rationing.
* Join the AMA Health Care Tea Party, 11/7/09, 2:30 pm Houston Texas, George R. Brown Convention Center. 1001 Avenida de las Americas.


AMA: (800) 621-8335

James Rohack, M.D. President,. AMA: james.rohack@ama-assn.org

Cecil Wilson, M.D. President-Elect, AMA: cecil.wilson@ama-assn.org

Nancy Nielsen, M.D., Immediate Past President: nancy.nielsen@ama-assn.org

Rebecca Patchin, M.D., Chairman of the Board of Trustees: rebecca.patchin@ama-assn.org

Michael Maves, M.D. Executive Vice President: michael.maves@ama-assn.org

Richard Deem, M.D., Senior Vice President Richard.deem@ama-assn.org

Full Board Members, Key Staff list (paste into "to" field of email):

Raj.Ambay@ama-assn.org; Joseph.Annis@ama-assn.org ; David.Barbe@ama-assn.org; Pete.Carmel@ama-assn.org; William.Dolan@ama-assn.org; Andrew.Gurman@ama-assn.org; William.Hazel@ama-assn.org; Cyril.Hetsko@ama-assn.org; Joseph.Heyman@ama-assn.org; Ardis.Hoven@ama-assn.org; Christopher.Kay@ama-assn.org ; Edward.Langston@ama-assn.org ; Jeremy.Lazarus@ama-assn.org; Mary.McCaffree@ama-assn.org ; Justin.Mahida@ama-assn.org ; Nancy.Nielsen@ama-assn.org ; Rebecca.Patchin@ama-assn.org; James.Rohack@ama-assn.org ; Steven.Stack@ama-assn.org ; Robert.Wah@ama-assn.org ; Cecil.Wilson@ama-assn.org; Richard.deem@ama-assn.org; michael.maves@ama-assn.org

The forces are assembled on the health care freedom battle field, battle lines have been drawn, and allies have aided their favored side. The outcome will determine what kind of health care you get, how much it costs and whether the politicians, special interests and large corporations gain or lose power. It will also be the first chance for a major victory in the fight to preserve freedom in America and the world. A fight to reverse decades of power in the hands of an arrogant elite class that reign over our lives. A fight to restore government back to its rightful place in America — kneeling before the American people. Ready to serve them only in the limited ways allowed by our constitution. In this fight, it is time for a traditional ally of freedom to return to the side of Americans who value individual liberty: The AMA. You can help by calling and emailing their leadership. In short, you can "call out" the AMA — away from their "seat at the table" and over to the side of freedom.

Right now the AMA is assembled on the side of powerful and arrogant elites that include: President Obama, Congress, large financial institutions, large insurance companies, large corporations, the Unions, special interests supporting big government like the AARP, Families USA Organizing for America and Moveon.org and the equivalent of state-run media: ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and the New York Times. The AMA should be assembled on the side of individual freedom with: individual American citizens, groups like Campaign for Liberty, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Patriots.org, Tea Party Express.org, Grassfire.org, Resistnet.org, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a few courageous and principled elected officials, Fox News, and the Wall Street Journal.

The most powerful of any of those on the battlefield are individual Americans who have risen up. The ones who have said "NO"! No to government run medicine. No to committees rationing care. No to increased insurance costs and mandated purchase of "government-approved" health care. No to massive deficits. They are ready to say yes to real reform, but can not even begin to have a serious discussion while they are engaged in a battle for the existence of their freedom and the futures of their children and grandchildren. They will consider how shrinking government, de-regulation, lower taxes and market-based approaches will increase quality and drive down costs. But only after they have demonstrated to their adversaries that they are in charge and will keep it that way.

In his speech to Congress at the end of last summer, the President said he will "call out" those he claims were deceiving Americans about health care. The problem is that the President and Congress need to look in the mirror. It is he, Congress and all the others who must be called out. They must explain why they would spread propaganda about the uninsured, medical bankruptcies, the quality of American health care and numbers who allegedly die without insurance. They must be called out for fear-mongering by claiming that failure to enact his plan will lead to more death — all while falsely claiming that others are using scare tactics. They must be called out for claiming that lowering costs is the same as simply giving people a government check to buy health insurance that actually costs more than it ever did. Especially when that check is spread from the wealth of others and writing those checks will devastate the economy. Congress must be called out for seeking to push millions of more Americans into a Medicaid program that is already failing the poor every day - a program that is a legitimate cause of overuse of the emergency rooms, prolonged suffering and early death. Our federal government must be called out for seeking to further burden our children who already are subject to servitude by the holders of American debt in China and elsewhere.

The current AMA leadership needs to be called out. They need to be called out to join on the side of freedom — while they still can. They have valued their "seat at the table" of the powerful elite for far too long (since 1965). They have exchanged their principles — principles that were legitimately voted on by physician representatives in the AMA "House of Delegates" and reinforced over this last decade. Those principles are that nothing should interfere in the patient-physician relationship. No government official or insurance company should seek to penalize a doctor that spends more money than "approved" on a patient or that practices based on their professional judgment instead of a cookbook. No government should deny the right of a Medicare patient to privately contract with their doctor such that they can spend more time with them if they wish to spend a little more of their own money to do so. No government should deny the right of the physician to set their own prices for their services or even to provide free care at no charge to a Medicare patient (a right now denied doctors). No government should drive up the cost of health insurance such that the poor can’t afford it.

In short, the AMA has policy that protects individual rights. But the current leadership charged with enforcing those rights refuse to stand on these principles. They have preferred playing the inside political game for too long. They have remained insulated from the American people for too long. As reported on Fox News, there is an effort by doctors like myself and others at the AMA to reverse AMA’s current direction and come out in opposition to Washington D.C.’s government takeover of medicine. Opposition by the AMA will win this battle for freedom quickly and then the AMA can join the freedom fighters by standing up for solutions that empower individuals — not governments, insurance companies and third parties.

Therefore, I give you their email addresses and introduce you to the very influential people you need to contact. Tell them to do the right thing and stop this government take over of medicine now. The AMA meeting will be in Houston on 11/7/2009-11/10/20009. In fact, there will be a tea party converging on the convention center on Saturday 11/7 at 2:30 pm. You can help those local patriots as they call for the AMA to "do the right thing" by softening up the AMA leadership with the voices of the American people who are counting on their leadership. When the AMA re-joins the forces of freedom, then it will earn back the trust it has lost for siding with government and corporations over the American people.

Dr. McKalip is a Solo Practice Neurosurgeon in St. Petersburg Florida and Immediate Past President of the Florida Neurosurgical Socie