In case you weren't paying attention...

The Obama Adminstration quietly made an administrative change in the organizational chart of the bureaucracies established to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The change moved the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, OCIIO, from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

I learned of this organizational change on Friday from a lobbyist colleague, and only after that did I find any news of this change. This description of the change is from National Underwriter Life & Health website:

The name of the OCIIO will be changed to the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), and the CCIIO will be under the oversight of CMS officials, rather than directly under Sebelius. 

The CCIIO will be led by CMS Principal Deputy Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

If you have gotten this far, you may be wondering why this matters.

The Republican leadership has vowed to de-fund the regulatory agencies that will implement health care reform. OCIIO is an agency that is a linchpin for establishing the framework and regulations necessary for creating the state-based health exchanges. Prior to the move, the GOP had to set its sites on de-funding the HHS. Now it must de-fund CMS. When the Republicans attempt to de-fund CMS, the howls from the supporters of the health care reform will be deafening. They will proclaim loudly and repetitively that the Republicans are trying to de-fund Medicare (to appeal to the elderly) and that they are trying to de-fund Medicaid (to appeal to the poor and the easily fooled compassionate).

Please share this with your friends and neighbors so they may also know the ruse that the Obama administration will play.

Do not fall prey to the rhetoric! The GOP is not trying to de-fund Medicare or Medicaid. At least not yet.

What will we fight for...?

The Texas legislative session begins on January 11, 2011.

I want to start a discussion about which issues the Rowlett TEA Party should get involved by lobbying our state reps, our state senator, and by educating our neighbors.

The key issues I believe we should focus our energy on include:

• School choice. Whether through an expanded charter school program or through educational vouchers, parents should have a choice in where and how their children are educated. And since it is critical to the democratic process for the citizens to be educated, we cannot continue to try and fix a system that is built on achieving mediocrity.
• Voter ID. Although I believe this issue will be fast tracked through the Legislature, it is important for the Rowlett TEA Party to voice its support for Voter ID legislation in order to preserve the integrity of our election process. Nothing is more damaging to a democratic process than a compromised election system.
• Health care. The Texas legislature will consider legislation very similar to voter approved constitutional amendments in many states, including Missouri, Arizona, and Oklahoma that deny the federal government the power to mandate we purchase health insurance. This legislation will be Texas' way to say, "Not in our state!" If there is a more important issue than this to keep the authority of the federal government at bay, I am not aware of it.

Other key issues we should lend our support to include:

• Immigration enforcement. 
• Opting out of Medicaid (through a statewide block grant)
• Redistricting
• Reforming laws that govern municipal pensions to allow cities greater flexibility.

What else? Post your thoughts in the comments.