Conservative Movement Throws Full Weight Against Sebelius

Several key conservative movement leaders, in an attempt to jack up pressure against Kathleen Sebelius Wednesday, sent a memo to the Senate urging members of both parties to oppose her Health and Human Services Secretary nomination. Sebelius cleared a key Senate committee yesterday by a comfortable 15-8 margin and her nomination is expected to come up for a vote shortly.

Calling themselves "leaders of a citizen based conservative movement," the letter-writers followed up on an eleventh-hour effort by a group of Sarah Palin supporters to derail Sebelius' nomination. The push against Sebelius is unusual for how long it took to gather steam after her nomination was announced in late February, nearly two months ago.

The letter is signed by Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist and other leaders of the conservative movement. The opposition flags Sebelius for tax problems, but their major concern with the Kansas governor is her pro-choice stance on abortion.

The full letter:

To Members of the United States Senate:

We, as concerned Americans and leaders of a citizen based conservative movement, call on you to oppose the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius's lack of integrity during the nomination process, together with her extreme pro-abortion record clearly demonstrate that she is unfit to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Americans want and deserve better than a health care system run by a politician with serious lapses of conscience and integrity. We call on all senators who claim to uphold the sanctity of life and the responsibility of the office of HHS to oppose her confirmation.

Twice during her nomination Governor Sebelius has had to change her testimony to conform to the facts. First, it was disclosed that she had to correct three years worth of her personal tax returns, and second it was disclosed that she had received large sums - much more than she had initially told the Senate - from late-term abortion providers. Both of these unfortunate incidents have cast serious doubts on her integrity.

Governor Sebelius is also an abortion radical. She is one of the most fervent advocates for taxpayer-funded and late-term abortions in American politics. Americans do not want an uncompromising and anti-life partisan politicizing one of the most important offices in the United States government.

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* Failed to pay taxes. Governor Sebelius found it necessary to correct three years worth of tax returns, inform the Senate of this serious financial oversight and subsequently paid, some $7000 in back taxes.

* Failed to disclose campaign contributions. Gov. Sebelius initially failed to disclose to senators the $35,000 in personal and PAC contributions she received from notorious late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller and another $200,000 that Tiller donated to ProKanDo, a political action committee (PAC) dedicated to defeating her pro-life gubernatorial opponent.

* Built her political career on abortion money. Not only did Governor Sebelius receive significant money from Kansas abortion and late-term abortion clinics, but she also vetoed every piece of legislation that would have provided even the most minimal oversight over these providers, putting the health of thousands of Kansas women at risk.

* Advocates taxpayer funded abortions. Gov. Sebelius favors publicly-funded abortion at home and abroad -- a stance that places her far outside the mainstream. In doing so she also makes a mockery of the millions of struggling working families who will scrape and save to pay their taxes during this recession, only to see their hard-earned dollars pay for abortions on demand.

* Takes a position far outside the mainstream in support of late-term abortions. Although 80% of Americans disapprove of late-term abortion, Gov. Sebelius advocates it relentlessly. Wichita is known as the late-term abortion capital of the Midwest despite its fairly restrictive laws, thanks to Gov. Sebelius's refusal to enforce the will of the people. With such an utter disregard for the position of an overwhelming majority of Americans, Gov. Sebelius is clearly too ideological and partisan to oversee the health care of 300 million people.

If confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Governor Sebelius would be in charge of one of the largest government cabinet departments, with one of the largest budgets, and which affects virtually every American citizen. Given her propensity for abortion radicalism, her failure to pay her own taxes and her demonstrated lack of integrity, she will be a divisive force in this important office.

We call on Senators of both parties to oppose the nomination of Gov. Sebelius.

Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council

Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America

James Dobson, Focus on the Family

Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

Brent Bozell, President, Media Research Center

Alfred Regnery, Publisher, American Spectator

Don Wildmon, President, American Family Association

Majorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List

Richard Viguerie

David McIntosh, former U.S, Representative, Indiana

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Comments

[Rmtns]

Nice to see the right wing a$$hats going down in flames, AGAIN!!

[DianeGhil]

I do believe the insurance giants are terrified of a health care plan that will cut into their profits. It think they are in back of this movement - not the numb-nut right wing conservatives who could not think for themselves if you paid them gold. They are run by the intollerant churches.
I think the churches are becoming frightened too - they may lose their tax excemption status - I don't believe in the sincereity of one of these people in the right- to life groups who have nothing better to do than to try to tell people how to live their lives.

[RedStateCenterLeft]

Why don't you numbnuts just grab ol' Kathleen and take 'er out back and stone her for heresy or something. Burn her for witchcraft. Just quit playing games. Sheesh.

[Mike169]

This is nonsense! Perhaps the Republicans, if they really put on their thinking caps, may just see that we may be at the beginning of a serious health risk and they are the ones who are preventing the Health and Human Services Secretary from thaking her position. Why? Because of abortion! No one in this country is allowed to hold views that are not held by a party of gum-headed Republicans! These guys are a joke!

[snesich]

"Yeah, let's talk business. First of all, you're all done. The Corleone Family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore."

These bozos like James Dobson, Grover Norquist, and Brent Bozell don't understand what's happened. No one listens to them anymore, except, of course, for those people that already agree with them.

They used to have power. They used to have influence. They used to have their phone calls returned from the highest places. No more. And they just can't believe it's happening.

Like the other mobsters, referred to above, who had to flee their old stomping grounds and resort to threats, these miscreants will never stop trying to derail our democracy and the work of our elected leaders.

Their opposition meant something at one time. It means absolutely nothing now.

Their day is over. This little letter, in 2009, won't make a difference because "the Corleone Family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore."

And I'm so glad! He he!

[hotbytes]

The failures of the Republicans have stacked up so high they have nothing to feel good about themselves. So, the only thing they can do now is to become OBSTRUCTIONISTS.

They will block any one and any bill and any issue that would make the Democrats look good. In other words, the Republicans want the country to continue going backward - the direction G. W. B u s h has led the country to.

It would only be a true patriotic duty to get rid of the Republicans and the Republican party. They are worse than the comm unist party. They are poi sonous and corrosive.

[hotbytes]

The failures of the Republicans have stacked up so high they have nothing to feel good about themselves. So, the only they can do now is to become OBSTRUCTIONISTS.

They will block any one and any bill and any issue that would make the Democrats look good. In other words, the Republicans want the country to continue going backward - the direction G. W. Bush has led the country to.

It would only be a true patriotic duty to get rid of the Republicans and the Republican party. They are worse than the communist party. They are pois onous and corrosive.

[hotbytes]

The failures of the Republicans have stacked up so high they have nothing to feel good about themselves. So, the only they can do now is to become OBSTRUCTIONISTS.

They will block any one and any bill and any issue that would make the Democrats look good. In other words, the Republicans want the country to continue going backward - the direction G. W. Bush has led the country to.

It would only be a true patriotic duty to get rid of the Republicans and the Republican party. They are worse than the communist party. They are poisonous and corrosive.

[ResearchGirl]

OK, now i am a scientist; I'm an evolutionist; i don't actually believe in some stable end-point i can define called "God's Plan"; but I am a Christian. So here's a different Christian perspective: God has an individual relationship with each person which nobody can interrupt; if a foetus is a person (big IF) then even being aborted doesn't alter God's relationship with that "unborn person"; and women, being human beings, and therefore having free will, may choose to terminate a pregnancy and that decision is between them and God, full stop. If God hadn't wanted women to have a say in the survival of a pregnancy then we would have evolved to hatch out from eggs, not to be carried in a uterus and then requiring full-time nurture and protection for years afterwards. What women decide IS part of "God's plan".

If these no-brainers were capable of seeing women as human beings rather than as mobile incubators/work units, and if they could read any theology, and if they understood why we call them "private parts", meaning neither the state nor an individual interferes with them without express consent ...

oh, heck, that's too many "ifs" for them isn't it?

[trunk65]

So desperate for a victory of any kind, so incapable of creating one.

[huffingt]

For next Hallow'een, just wear a GOP mask.
Just say gop. It is scary Man.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

Miss Mitch McConnell is the Perez Hilton of the Senate....ripping the governor, just because he CAN, well Mitch sweetie, KISS GOODBYE to any Kansas votes the RNC hoped for in 2010.

[Justin Williams]

Unfortunately not true, Kansas is starting to lean a little more toward being open minded and centrist, but my cohabitors in this state have had their heads stuck up the right's bum for so many years that I'm afraid that our delegation won't change a whole lot for another decade or so. Unfortunately many younger folks here are stuck to their parents point of view, and will continue to embrace anti-intellectualism, it's become inbred in many.

[TishiJo]

The Conservative media attack machine have consistently opposed every move President Obama has made including his appointment of Sebiulus. Truth is they cant touch her! They are making themselves more irrelevant and extreme with every comment on a daily basis from Beck to Hannity to Limbaugh to Hasselbeck to Cheney ................................losers all!

[SoCalNick]

Yea and a BUG threw its FULL WEIGHT against my WINDSHIELD this morning while I was on the freeway.

GOP is OVER and running scared.

I LOVE THIS : )

[QuietLightTraveler]

These people just don't get it. Their side lost the election. Their support base has shrunk and is shrinking. They and their conservative values are becoming more and more irrelevent.