Latest Updates on Health Scare Vote

House and Senate GOP Leaders Continue Hard Fight with Cards They Were Dealt!

• Obama postpones overseas trip until June.
• GOP Whip Cantor introduces resolution [with video] condemning "malfeasant manner" of House Dem Leadership.
• House Reconciliation Bill now posted.
• Family of Congressman Stupak gets abusive calls.
• Follow latest with House GOP Leader Boehner on Twitter.
• Check Code Red updates on Twitter.
• Latest Trends in House Vote Count. Check Your Rep.
• Contact Info to call Wavering Dems.

Four More Dem Yes Votes Switch to NO!

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), a key Pelosi ally and asst. whip is now a firm "no" vote and is refusing telephone calls from the White House. Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), a sophomore Dem who had a tougher-than-expected re-election bid in '08, has told the Dem caucus he will vote against the bill. He joins Reps. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who have switched from supporting the first bill, in Nov., to opposing the Senate version. This in addition to the switch by Rep. Costello (D-IL) yesterday make the hill Pelosi must climb to pass this bad bill even higher.

House and Senate GOP Leaders United in Strategic Opposition in Final Push

MARCH 18: Congressional Republican leadership (L-R) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) lead a bicameral group of Republicans into the House of Representatives Chamber ahead of a strategy meeting at the U.S. Capitol March 18, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Senate GOP to Veto House Vote Bribes

News of some of the backroom deals and bribes offered by Pelosi and Obama continue to surface. From Human Events:

Buying the Blue Dog Democrats?

Most interesting rumor from the Hill yesterday: Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) who announced his retirement from Congress has been promised the job of NASA administrator in exchange for his vote, and Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), another retiring Democrat, has been promised an appointment as U.S. Ambassador to NATO in exchange for his vote.

It will be interesting to note any job announcements from this Tennessee duo post-House retirement. Both voted against passage of the House bill back in November.

Track more House bribes here.

The following response from Senator Tom Coburn makes it clear that the Senate GOP will do whatever it takes to block these deals and expose those taking the bribes:

Wow! Don't tell me our Senate Leaders aren't fighting back!

• Senate GOP leaders are also working behind the scenes on a strategy to block the House reconciliation package if it comes to the Senate.
• Dem Senator Conrad suggests House reconciliation package will face severe challenge in the Senate.

CBO Numbers are "Preliminary" And Do Not Include Latest Changes

Dems did a lot of crowing Thursday about the CBO report they claimed would put the pricetag of this bill under $1 trillion and shave billions from the deficit. As usual, they are twisting the truth. The letter from CBO Director Doug Elmendorf makes it clear that this estimate is:

A preliminary review of legislative language prior to its release, the agency has not thoroughly examined the reconciliation proposal to verify its consistency with the previous draft. This estimate is therefore preliminary, pending a review of the language of the reconciliation proposal, as well as further review and refinement of the budgetary projections.

Got that? And as it almost always is with these projections, the later estimate is bound to be higher. In this case MUCH HIGHER! Does anyone really believe this bill will be a budget saver?

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) Ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, the man whose command of the facts stumped Obama at the Blair House summit had this reaction:

“The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that there is currently no official cost estimate. Yet House Democrats are touting to the press — and spinning for partisan gain — numbers that have not been released and are impossible to confirm. Rep. James Clyburn stated he was 'giddy' about these unsubstantiated numbers. This is the latest outrageous exploitation by the Majority — in this case abusing the confidentiality of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office — to pass their massive health care overhaul at any cost.”

House Rejects Open Vote Resolution

House Republicans forced a vote on a resolution which would have barred use of the "deem and pass" rule sought by Democrats to avoid casting an up or down vote on the Senate bill which the Constitution requires they must pass before a reconciliation package is voted on. With so much public opposition to this trick it was thought the vote would be an early test of opposition to the bill in general.

Sadly, the resolution was defeated by 222 to 203. Many Dems who claimed to be disturbed by the rule voted against the resoultion which would have nullified it.

Still, the move by House Republicans casts more light on the unprecedented tactics Dems are using to get their way. Kudos to House GOP leaders for putthing this resolution forward and forcing a vote!

Confused and Overwhelmed?

Do you find the whole process a bit too confusing? You're not alone. Perhaps this 90 second primer on the history to reach this point will help:

Did that help explain things? Probably not!

Support Code Red!

The video above is one of the productions from the Code Red project of the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee which has also been running hard hitting ads in the distrcits of vulnerable Democrats. They've made an extraordinary effort to develop media, track votes and keep up with the news of Dem corruption throughout the final stages of this process.

Once this health care battle is over they will need your help to push forward with aggressive campaigns against the Dems who have sold out to Obama and Pelosi corruption. Won't you help fund this vital effort that may lead to unseating Nancy Pelosi from the Speaker's Chair?

Obama and the Dems Pulling Out All the Stops for Health Care Takeover

CODE RED: Make your voice heard NOW!

UPDATE: Forget Kucinch Switch! Costello (D-IL) a former YES vote switches to NO !

Follow the latest at Code Red Twitter.

Good news: Obama and Pelosi don't have the votes.
Bad news: They will stop at nothing to get them.

Don't be discouraged by the news that liberal Dennis Kucinich changed his stand from a no vote on the previous bill to a promise to vote yes this time around. A liberal is a liberal and Kucinich knows that the current bill is the foundation to a complete government takeover of health care. Kucinich's switch is actually good news because it signals to Blue Dog Democrats just exactly what this bill is all about.

But the White House is applying enormous pressure on wavering Dems who voted no last time around. Even going so far as to call the big donors to these Dem Congressmen and asking them to call the Congressman and threaten a cut off in funds. Combine that with the other Chicago shenanigans (and here) we know are going on behind the scenes and wavering Dems must know the risk they take in daring to vote against Pelsoi and Obama.

But these Congressmen and women need to be reminded that they owe a higher loyalty to their constitutents and the Constitution. CALL THEM! Can't get through at the main U.S. Capital number: 877-762-8762 or 202-224-3121? Call your House member's local offices. Check the contact info here for key wavering Representatives:

Can't get through to the local office? Make a sign and stand outside the office. Take a few friends with you and call your local newspaper, radio and TV station to let them know you are there. They may cover your participation at this key moment in our history!

Obama and the Dems do Comedy

Their own words are funnier than any sitcom!

I especially like the part starting at the 32 second mark where Obama insists he's been listening to Republican ideas for months!

Is he delusional or does he think we are stupid? Or is it both?

Obama Not a "Happy" President?

A new twist on the "what went wrong" series of articles about Obama!

Obama's problem with alcohol and smoking may be symptomatic of a larger problem: he's unhappy in the role of President. A role his ego craved for years now seems to suit him ill. Pictures of Obama waving an angry finger reveal that all is not well in Obama land.

Even writers at the Washington Post have noticed:

Obama's happiness deficit
By Fred Hiatt
Washington Post
Monday, March 15, 2010; A15

Here's a theory about why President Obama is having a tough political time right now: He doesn't seem all that happy being president.

I know, it's the world's hardest job, and between war and the world economy collapsing, he didn't have the first year he might have wished for. And, yes, he's damned either way: With thousands of Americans risking their lives overseas and millions losing their jobs at home, we'd slam him if he acted carefree.

Still, I think Americans want a president who seems, despite everything, to relish the challenge. They don't want to have to feel grateful to him for taking on the burden.

I started thinking about this a few weeks ago when Obama confidant David Axelrod, noting that the president always makes time for his daughters' recitals and soccer games, told the New York Times, "I think that's part of how he sustains himself through all this."

Really? Is the presidency something to sustain yourself through?

He did ask for this job; we didn't make him take it. And so it seems fair to ask: What part of it does he enjoy? Formulating rational solutions to complex problems, for sure.

But schmoozing with foreign leaders, like President George H.W. Bush? In a column last week, Jackson Diehl pointed out that Obama's relations with just about every counterpart are prickly.
...
It's hard to remember so far back, but the administration didn't come to town with the sense of weariness and duty that it now projects. Unlike the Bush crowd, which never stopped kvetching about having to leave Texas, the Obamas and their circle spoke about the honor of service and the excitement of being in the nation's capital.

A year later, here's how they came across to People Magazine:

"It was their first interview of the New Year on Jan. 8 in the rose-colored library on the ground floor of the White House. President Obama spoke in such a hush about the loneliness of his decisions on war and terrorism that one could hear between his words the tick of an old lighthouse clock across the room."

Do Americans really want to hear the tick of the old lighthouse clock? Or would they prefer the good cheer that we associate with FDR or JFK, the jauntiness with which they took over the White House and made it theirs?

Less lugubriousness wouldn't necessarily buy him a health-care bill. But in the long run, Americans might find it easier to root for or with Obama if he'd show us, despite everything, that he's happy we hired him.

Oh boo hoo! Cry me a river you babies! We all said Obama and his kiddie korps couldn't handle the weight of responsibility that the White House demands!

Is it any wonder another Washington Post column suggested Obama might be better off quitting and going to the Supreme Court?

Are "Al Queda 7" Lawyers Among Those Who Violated Rules at Gitmo

And possibly incited released terrorists to kill again?

Gitmo Attorneys shared photos of CIA covert agents with terrorists. Why no media outrage? Gitmo Attorney's violated the rules and passed along anti-U.S. propaganda inciting terrorists to kill again? Are these lawyers now working in Obama's Dept. of Justice?

Keep America Safe asks the question:

In an op-ed in Monday's Wall Street Journal Debra Burlingame, sister of "Chic" Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, describes how attorneys representing the terrorists at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba violated the rules and undermined U.S. national security.

Burlingame also describes how terrorists represented by these attorneys were released and went on to conduct further terrorist operations targeting innocent civilians. Are these the same attorneys who now have access to classified information while working in Obama's Dept. of Justice?

Former Asst. U.S. Attorney, Andrew McCarthy, who prosecuted the 1993 bombers of the World Trade Center has this take on the information:

The Gitmo Bar — in gross violation of the conditions of access to the enemy combatants — provided al Qaeda detainees with a propaganda brochure that instructed them on how falsely to claim that they had been tortured and abused. As the Gitmo commander put it, "The very nature of this document gives tremendous moral support to those who would strike out against our country.... It is not a factual report. Instead it is filled with second and third hand accounts, photos of protests that were staged, inflammatory photos from Iraq and provocative story captions."

The Gitmo Bar fomented a detainee hunger strike that disrupted security at the camp and set the stage for fabricated reports that the detainees were being tortured and force-fed.

The Gitmo Bar provided the detainees with virulently anti-American rhetoric that compared military physicians to Nazi Josef Mengele, labeled DOJ lawyers "desk torturers," and informed the detainees about the Abu Ghraib abuses and the potential for framing President Bush as a war criminal.

The Gitmo Bar provided the enemy combatant terrorists with a hand-drawn map of the detention camp's lay-out, including guard towers.

The Gitmo Bar incited the detainees against the military guards.

The Gitmo Bar posted photos of Guantanamo security badges on the Internet in a transparent effort to identify U.S. security personnel.

The Gitmo Bar facilitated enemy combatants in communicating messages and interviews to their confederates and the outside world.

The Gitmo Bar provided a detainee with a list identifying all the other detainees in custody.

The Gitmo Bar provided the detainees with news accounts about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, including reports that U.S. forces were sustaining devastating casualties from IED attacks. (Again, it was a court-ordered condition of the lawyers' access to these war prisoners that they not be given information relating to military operations, intelligence, arrests, political news and current events, and the names of U.S. government personnel.)

The Gitmo Bar provided KSM and the 9/11 plotters — i.e., the murderers of 3000 Americans — with photographs of covert CIA officers in an effort to identify them as interrogators. (Leftist lawyers are attempting to have these interrogators indicted for torture and war crimes.)

The Gitmo Bar brags about its role in the release of enemy combatants who have returned to the jihad against American troops and the American people.

With all those references to "The Gitmo Bar" readers might be forgiven if they ask what time happy hour starts? But this is too serious for such levity. Besides, happy hour at this bar features patrons who would sell out American security in a heartbeat.

Another Valerie Plame CIA Covert Firestorm? Don't Bet on It

Remember the brouhaha that erupted when it was falsely claimed that Karl Rove had outted covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame to the news media? That story lasted for YEARS even after it was learned that the leak occurred elsewhere.

But here, we have lawyers for Gitmo terrorists apparently giving detainees the photographs of CIA agents for the purpose of identification and possible prosecution. (Video of Fox News story on the subject is here.)

Does it strike readers as odd that the focus of the nation's media and political class could focus enormous attention on the phony Valerie Plame story and yet not a peep when the photos of actual covert agents (Valerie Plame no longer met that definition at the time of her outting) is disclosed to terrorists?

Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to reveal the names of all attorneys working in his department who worked on Gitmo cases and may have been involved in activities which damaged national security.

Do we need a Special Prosecutor to investigate whether lawyers who currently work in the Dept. of Justice engaged in professional misconduct damaging to our security?

Rep. Paul Ryan's Wash. Post Op-Ed on Health Care

This impressive GOP rising star continues to earn the title I conferred on him last month: "The Conservative Antidote to Obama!"

As the health care farce on Capitol Hill enters it's final hours, it's good to hear that common sense, honesty and workable alternatives are still alive in the GOP. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has an op-ed in the Washington Post in which he describes the failures in the current Dem plan and goes on to remind readers that there is a better way. You're encouraged to read the entire op-ed here.

A brief excerpt:

Rep. Paul Ryan on what real health reform should look like

... The debacle of the past year's "debate" has been a missed opportunity for real reform. Democrats and Republicans alike have put forward proposals that address the drivers of health-care costs, yet they have been ignored in this sharply partisan crusade. House Republicans continue to offer common-sense solutions, with specific legislation. Last May, Sens. Tom Coburn and Richard Burr and Rep. Devin Nunes and I collaborated to address rising costs while securing access to quality, affordable health coverage for all Americans. The Patients' Choice Act takes on the discriminatory and inflationary tax exclusion, delinking the tax benefit from employers and attaching it to individuals through universal tax credits. The tax exclusion for employer-provided health coverage subsidizes insurance instead of health care, hides the true cost of coverage and disproportionately favors the wealthy at the expense of the self-employed, the unemployed and small businesses. Health-care economists across the political spectrum and reform-minded Democrats such as Sen. Ron Wyden identify the backward tax treatment of health care as a problem that must be addressed.

The Patients' Choice Act includes additional reforms -- such as an emphasis on preventive care, medical malpractice reform and interstate shopping -- that could be advanced one at a time in a bipartisan fashion to fix what's broken in health care without breaking what is working.

This year I re-introduced my own proposals to tackle our entitlement crisis head-on. My plan, "A Roadmap for America's Future," fulfills the mission of health and retirement security, lifts our crushing burden of debt, and spurs economic growth and job creation. In stark contrast to the vision being pushed by the majority in Congress, my plan unapologetically seeks to apply our nation's timeless principles -- our Founders' commitment to individual liberty, limited government and free enterprise -- to today's challenges. It does so in a way that honors our historic commitment to strengthening the social safety net for those who need it most.

If this debate had actually been about health care, we could have worked together to get a grip on costs, make quality care more accessible, address exclusions for preexisting conditions and realign the incentives of insurance companies with those of patients and doctors. Yet this process -- including its embarrassing conclusion -- demonstrates that the debate has never been about health-care policy but, instead, paternalistic ideology.

Should the Democrats' health-care train wreck make it to the president's desk, it will be a pyrrhic victory, and its devastating consequences will take their toll on our health-care system, our budget and our economy.

Fascist Notewriting Goon Tags Mike's America

This illiterati has trouble spelling "thoroughly" yet wants to lecture me?

(large size suitable for printing and display in your back window here)

I've had the above bumper sticker sitting in a drawer for 25 years and recently decided it's time to show it off. I get a lot of thumbs up from drivers on the roads here in South Carolina, but obviously one angry Dem in the parking lot of the Hilton Head Wal-Mart was so offended they took pen to hand and left the following note on the windshield of my Chevy Tahoe:

Clearly this lib would like to control what kind of car I can drive and cannot even spell "thoroughly" yet seems to suggest they read more than a blogger who reads dozens of news stories and policy analyses by day and hefty volumes of history by night.

But what really strikes me is the angry tone of the note writing nut. I guess I should be glad this person didn't smash the window or key the side of the car as such tactics are common among angry liberals who despite winning the White House, Senate and House won't be happy until they can tell all of us how to live!

I'm really tempted to add to my solitary bumper sticker with this graphic in the back window:

Obama: "The Campaign" and "The Time for Talk is Over" on Health Care

Yet here he is giving yet ANOTHER campaign style rally on health care!

It was just February 25th when Obama told McCain at the Blair House summit setup on health care that "we're not campaigning anymore. The election's over." And Obama declared the "time for talk is over" regarding health care in July, again on March 8th and March 11th.

But here he is again in Ohio, this time in Strongsville, on March 15 waving that angry finger in the air and telling us all we don't know what is good for us if we don't buy his snake oil!

President Barack Obama speaks on healthcare insurance reform at the Walter F. Ehrnelt Recreation and Senior Center in Strongsville, Ohio, on March 15, 2010. Obama pleaded with lawmakers to pass his health reform bill, relating the heart-rending plight of a cancer victim at the 11th hour of a bitter debate.

Doesn't this egomaniac know that we are getting sick and tired of him telling us to shut up and do as we are told? On a related matter, in September the Iranians were told that the time for talking about nukes was just about over. Obama seems to have more patience for the mad Mullahs than he does for the American people. And at the rate Obama wags his finger and demands an end to discussion, the Iranians will have a dozen nukes all targeted on the U.S. by the time Obama's done campaigning!

This man is SUCH an ASS!

Congress to Vote by Saturday on Health Care

Do the Dems have the votes to pass Obama's seizure of our health care?

It would seem that many of those who cast a vote in last Thursday's poll may want a do over. 65% of those responding suggested that they thought Obama Care would die a slow lingering death in Congress.

The news on Friday that House Speaker Pelosi intends to bring the measure to a final vote next this coming Friday or Saturday means there may finally be a vote on health care. It may not be the "up or down" vote Obama demands as the House still hasn't made it clear they will vote on the Senate bill, but instead a bizarre rule which pretends the bill has passed so they can amend it with reconciliation.

Also in the works is a plan to lump in the federal takeover of the student loan program. In Facebook post on the coming vote Sarah Palin asks: "Is there any other wildly unpopular legislation they’d also like to sneak in? Perhaps the anti-energy-independence policy “Cap and Tax” (aka Cap and Trade) is next?"

It also appears that Dems will go for the vote without the support of Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and a deal on abortion. But it looks like the number of "Stupak Democrats" is less than the dozen predicted.

Still, Pelosi is a few votes short of the number required to pass the bill. But don't underestimate the Chicago style promises and threats that will be directed at wavering House Democrats in the coming days.

Scott Brown: "an entire year has gone to waste"

The final days will see an all out push by both sides. On Tuesday, Tea Partiers from the 9/12 March on Washington will gather outside Congressional offices to make their voice heard. The kickoff to the final week began with the Saturday GOP address by Senator Scott Brown, the newly elected REPUBLICAN Senator from Massachusetts:

Scott Brown Delivers GOP Weekly Address
March 13, 2010
Transcript

When the people of my state elected me in January, they sent more than a senator to Washington – they sent a message. Across party lines, the voters told politicians in Washington to get its priorities right.

And from my travels and conversation with people throughout this country, they told me that they want their president and Congress to focus on creating jobs and reviving America's economy. Instead, for more than a year now, we have seen a bitter, destructive and endless drive to completely transform America's healthcare system.
...
Nearly one in 10 Americans are still out of work. And still, the president and Congress are focused on ramming through their healthcare bill, whatever it takes, whatever the cost.

Maybe you remember what President Obama promised in his State of the Union address. He said he was going to finally focus on jobs and the economy for the remainder of this year. I applauded him for that. Well, here it is, it's almost spring. And what is he out there talking about again? That same 2,700-page, multi-trillion dollar healthcare legislation.

So, an entire year has gone to waste. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and many more jobs are in danger. Even now, the president still hasn't gotten the message.

Somehow, the greater the public opposition to the healthcare bill, the more determined they seem to force it on us anyway. Their attitude shows Washington at its very worst – the presumption that they know best, and they're going to get their way whether the American people like it or not.
...
Nothing has distracted the attention and energy of the nation’s capital more than this disastrous detour. And, the surest way to return to the people’s business is to listen to the people themselves: We need to drop this whole scheme of federally controlled health care, start over, and work together on real reforms at the state level that will contain costs and won’t leave America trillions of dollars deeper in debt.

This, above all, was the message that the people of my state sent to the President and the Congress in the election over a month ago.

You know some of my Democratic colleagues, you know, are being leaned on mighty hard right now. Speaker Pelosi and others are handing down their marching orders, telling them to vote for this bill no matter what. Rarely have elected leaders been so intent on defying the public will. For many members of Congress, the time for choosing is near – do what the party leadership demands, or do what the people have asked you to do. If my colleagues don’t mind some advice from a newcomer, I’d suggest going with the will of the people.

If your Representative is still on the fence regarding health care, contact him or her NOW and let them know you do not want them to vote for this bill but start over and do this job RIGHT! Unlike the straw men argument Obama is putting out, starting over doesn't mean doing nothing!

Poll: Last Hurdle or Last Gasp for Obama Care?

The mountain big government socialists must climb is getting higher. Will they succeed?

Remember this? On January 28th House Speaker Nutty Nancy said (video @1:12)

PELOSI: "We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed for the American people."

That statement won't surprise many readers here as it has been clear for a while that Democrats will do ANYTHING to get their way and grab power over 1/6th of the nation's economy and make us all dependent on Washington for our health care.

The latest moves in this coup against constitutional government came today with the idea that the House would vote on a rule to reconcile a Senate bill that it had never voted on. How absurd is that? It trumps the already unprecedented use of the reconciliation tactic for health care look tame by comparison.

What's next? An actual constitutional coup where Democrats just declare their health bill passed by themselves and have Obama sign it into law?

Or, are we witnessing the final death throes of the overreaching of Democrats who long ago failed to find majority support among the American people for their big government power grab?

Place Your Bets!





Is this the "change" America voted for when it elected Obama to tame the way Washington works?

Democrats to Bypass Vote on Senate Bill

It's another declaration of war against the Constitution, the Democratic Process and the American People!


UPDATE: Senate Parliamentarian Kills Possiblity of Slaughter Surprise?

From Roll Call:

The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

This would appear to end the fraud suggested by House Democrats detailed below. But rest assured, if they can't use that tactic they'll think of something equally underhanded.

end update.

As if the secret backroom deals weren't bad enough. As if the near total shutout of Republicans wasn't bad enough. As if the bribes and special favors for Obama supporters wasn't bad enough. Now, House Democrats are preparing to put forward a rule which pretends they already voted to approve the Senate version of health care so they can then proceed with another highly partisan vote on reconciling the health bill.

The rule is called the "Slaughter Solution" named after Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the Democratic chair of the powerful House Rules Committee and a key ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Readers will recall that Slaughter's big contribution to the health care summit at Blair House was the story that one of her constituents had to wear her dead sister's dentures.

Now, with this rule, Slaughter appears ready to chomp down once again on what little common sense and civility remain in the House of Representatives.

Voters who are already fed up to the eyeballs with the shenanigans Democrats undertook to advance a bill that a clear majority of the American people DO NOT WANT must act NOW to let the few wavering House Democrats know that the price for supporting this idiocy will be defeat in November.

Is your Representative on this list? Or this one? If so, CALL THEM NOW. Organize protests outside their offices Write letters to the editor at your local newspaper!

Dan Rather: Obama Couldn't Sell Watermelons

O.K. but what about fried chicken?

Can you imagine the howling if a Republican had said this?

RATHER: Obama "Couldn't sell watermelons even if you gave him a State Trooper to flag down traffic!"

Iraq Election Turnout Heavy

Q: Who do Iraqis have to thank for their freedom?
hint: it's not Obama!

Iraqis held a referendum on their future today with an election that was marred by violence but still saw the highest turnout yet which in itself speaks to the optimism of the Iraqi people. Two images from Sunday's election illustrate Iraq's past and future:

A young Iraqi girl, who accompanied her family to the polling station, asked for her finger to be inked, even though she was too young to vote, shows her inked finger as she leaves the polling station in Karbala, Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2010. Iraqis voted Sunday in an election testing the mettle of the country's still-fragile democracy as insurgents killed 25 people across the country, unleashing a barrage of mortars intent on disrupting the historic day.

An elderly man with an inked finger flashes a victory sign after he voted at a polling station in Sadr City, northeastern Baghdad, March 7, 2010. Explosions killed 24 people as Iraqis voted on Sunday in an election that Sunni Islamist militants have vowed to disrupt, in one of many challenges to efforts to stabilise Iraq before U.S. troops leave.

Who do Iraqis have to thank for their freedom? Here are two reminders from 2003:

The Evolution of Peggy Noonan

From Obama lover to this?

The New York Times today adds yet another installment in my series "what went wrong" with the Obama presidency by focusing the blame on chief strategist David Axelrod. Good old David, who just loves Obama a little too much is under fire for not doing a better job directing the President. Axelrod's response was combative and so typical of the denial of reality which grips the Obama White House:

In an interview in his office, Mr. Axelrod was often defiant, saying he did not give a “flying” expletive “about what the peanut gallery thinks” and did not live for the approval “of the political community.”

That "peanut gallery" includes the many wise and experienced sages who have watched with horror as the promise of Obama's campaign turned into the sour train wreck we see daily. One of those sages, who got caught up in Obama hype was former Reagan speechwriter and columnist Peggy Noonan.

Peggy went from praising Obama early on to this:

What a Disaster Looks Like
ObamaCare will have been a colossal waste of time—if we’re lucky.
The Wall Street Journal
March 4, 2010

It is now exactly a year since President Obama unveiled his health care push and his decision to devote his inaugural year to it—his branding year, his first, vivid year.

What a disaster it has been.

At best it was a waste of history’s time, a struggle that will not in the end yield something big and helpful but will in fact make future progress more difficult. At worst it may prove to have fatally undermined a new presidency at a time when America desperately needs a successful one.

In terms of policy, his essential mistake was to choose health-care expansion over health-care reform. This at the exact moment voters were growing more anxious about the cost and reach of government. The practical mistake was that he did not include or envelop congressional Republicans from the outset, but handed the bill’s creation over to a Democratic Congress that was becoming a runaway train. This at the exact moment Americans were coming to be concerned that Washington was broken, incapable of progress, frozen in partisanship.
...
Why, in 2009, create a new crisis over an important but secondary issue when we already have the Great Recession and two wars? Prudence and soundness of judgment are more greatly needed at the moment.

New presidents should never, ever, court any problem that isn’t already banging at the door. They should never summon trouble. Mr. Obama did, boldly, perhaps even madly. And this is perhaps the oddest thing about No Drama Obama: In his first year as president he created unneeded political drama, and wound up seen by many Americans not as the hero but the villain.

In Washington among sympathetic political hands (actually, most of them sound formerly sympathetic) you hear the word “intervention,” as in: “So-and-so tried an intervention with the president and it didn’t work.” So-and-so tried to tell him he’s in trouble with the public and must moderate, recalibrate, back off from health care. The end of the story is always that so-and-so got nowhere. David Gergen a few weeks ago told the Financial Times the administration puts him in mind of the old joke: “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? Only one. But the lightbulb must want to change. I don’t think President Obama wants to make any changes.”
...

What accounts for Mr. Obama’s confidence and certainty?

Well, if you were a young progressive who’d won the presidency by a comfortable margin in a center-right country, you just might think you were a genius. You might not be surprised to find yourself surrounded by a cultish admiration: “They see him as a fabled figure,” said a frequent White House visitor of some on the president’s staff.
...
The president can’t be a hope purveyor while he’s a doom merchant, and he appears to believe he has to be a doom merchant to justify ramming through his legislation. This particular legislation is not worth that particular price.

All this contributes to a second problem, which is a growing credibility gap. In his speech Wednesday, demanding an “up or down” vote, the president seemed convinced and committed—but nothing he said sounded true. His bill will “bring down the cost of health care for millions,” it is “fully paid for,” it will lower the long term deficit by a trillion dollars.

Does anyone believe this? Does anyone who knows the ways of government, the compulsions of Congress, and how history has played out in the past, believe this? Even a little?
...
The only thing that might make his assertions sound believable now is if a group of congressional Republicans were standing next to him on the podium and putting forward a bill right along with him. Which, obviously, won’t happen, for three reasons. First, they enjoy his discomfort. Second, they believe the bill is not worth saving, that at this point no matter what it contains—and at this point most people can no longer retain in their heads what it contains—it has been fatally tainted by the past year of mistakes and inadequacies.

And the third reason is that the past decade has taught them what a disaster looks like, and they’ve lost their taste for standing next to one.

Peggy, I'd say there was a fourth reason Republican won't be standing next to Obama while he tries to ram this through. The past year he has spurned every appeal from GOP leaders for a fair process that would incorporate their ideas. Remember when he told one GOP congressman early in his Administration "I won?" All he offered in his latest proposal was a window dressing of compromise. Every large legislative change, such as Medicare and Social Security were accomplished with broad bipartisan support. But Obama has made it clear it's largely his way or the highway.

And one last point: Peggy asks if anyone believes Obama Care will be the fiscally responsible program Obama claims it will. There were plenty of people who were willing to believe the promises Obama made during the campaign. They've now had over a year to see who and what Obama really is. Like Peggy, many of them have had their eyes opened. That's why his approval rating continues to drop and why a majority in a recent CNN poll say they wouldn't vote to re-elect him.

What a shame they didn't see through the charade before they voted for this train wreck of a presidency!

Sarah Palin Does Standup on the Tonight Show

And she's FUNNY!

The Palin rehabilitation tour rolls on....

Cue to the 4:00 mark on the player as Jay sets it up:

"Alaska is so different than Los Angeles. Here, when people have a frozen look on their face, it's Botox."

Here it's so beautiful... Back home, it was five degrees below Congress' approval rating."

"Shaun White on the show... I watched him do a Double McTwist 1260, and the only other people who can do a Double McTwist 1260 was last week. The White House. On Health Care."

"Last time I was this close to the Flying Tomato was when someone threw one at me at a book signing. And they did, it's true! It's not funny, it's true."

"I watched the Winter Olympics. Skiing, fighting on the ice, bobsledding, skating. In Alaska, that's our morning commute."

"How about that amazing closing ceremonies? As soon as I saw that giant moose, I remembered: I hadn't cooked anything for the kids dinner!"

"I picked up a gig in Las Vegas at the Legends show. Playing Tina Fey."

“And next I get to headline: I’ll be the speaker at the NRA convention. So be there, or else!”

"I'm glad I'm not Vice President... I would not know what to do with all that free time!"

“Jay, thank you so much for inviting me. I saw where it’s been a few weeks of unfair, nonstop criticism (from) people who don’t know the real story. And I say: Welcome to my world!”

If you would like to see the first part of the interview, it is here.

Did you know she's planning a second book and a possible Alaska reality show?

Obama STILL Campaigning for Govt. Takeover of Health Care

Whatever happened to:

Obama: "We're not campaigning anymore. The election's over" spoken to John McCain at the health care summit/setup.

or

Obama: "Jobs must be our No. 1 focus in 2010." State of the Union Address.

President Barack Obama, surounded by health care personnel, speaks about healthcare reform from the East Room of the White House in Washington March 3, 2010. President Obama on Wednesday said it is time to pass his healthcare overhaul using only a slim Democratic majority in Congress if necessary.

So, here he is again using the White House for another campaign speech pushing health care. Note that he did not invite one doctor to attend the big health care summit but instead used them as props for this campaign appearance where he urged supporters of his dangerous scheme to "make your voice heard."

One wonders if these "doctors" were the same bunch of quacks who showed up in the White House Rose Garden last October from Doctor's for America, an Obama front group and had to have white lab coats handed to them to make the picture Obama's perpetual campaign wanted to sell. With all the time these so-called health care professionals spend at the White House posing for campaign pictures it's no wonder people have trouble getting in to see a doctor when they need one.

Vulnerable House Dems Key to Stopping Obama Scare!

The reconciliation scam in the Senate is just a convenient sideshow; one where Obama would prefer you spend your energy. But ss Mata pointed out last week, the real fight in the final battle to defeat Obama Scare will come in the House of Representatives. House Democrats are being asked to put their careers on the line in a vote which will overturn decades of tradition with no guarantee that the Senate will even follow suit. Smarter House Dems may not be willing to walk off the plank for the sake of Obama's ego.

Slate has the details.

ACTION ALERT!!!

It is imperative that if your congressman is on the list of swing Dems you should do as Obama suggests and "make your voice heard" by demanding your representative vote against this monstrosity that the overwhelmingly majority of the American people want defeated.

We've come this far. Let's finish the job and defeat this bill!

The Ultimate Hypocrisy: Reconciliation to Pass Health Care

Obama resorts to the majoritarian tactics he once condemned!

"We are not going to pass universal healthcare with a 50 plus one strategy. We're not going to have a serious, bold energy policy of the sort I proposed yesterday unless you build a working majority." --Sen. Barack Obama, October 2007

But as we now know, the statements above were nothing but campaign promises. And as Obama told John McCain at last week's health care summit: "the election's over." Today we see the REAL Barack Hussein Obama. He's NOT the champion of unity, bipartisanship and sensible government that he campaigned on.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 President Obama declared the debate on health care over and announced his support to use reconciliation to pass health care. In a speech where he offered Republicans only window dressing compromise in a bill thousands of pages long, Republican ideas amounting to a few dozen pages will be inserted for show. Even the "compromise" on lawsuit reform, which is needed to control costs, is nothing more than a trial program in a few states which can easily be canceled with pressure from the Trial Lawyers who are heavy contributors to the Democrat Party.

You Lie Reid

And how about this whopper?

Reid tells attendees at last week's health care summit that "You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts...No one has talked about reconciliation."

Those "opinions" were facts and Reid knew it at the time. The man is liar!

The Truth About Reconciliation

The same people, like Reid above, who openly lie about plans to use reconciliation have been doing a lot of spinning to justify use of that tactic. Like everything else they say, it's all a lie.

This Wall Street Journal editorial lays it out perfectly:

Abuse of Power
'An undemocratic disservice to our people and to the Senate's institutional role' -- Senator Robert Byrd
Wall Street Journal
MARCH 3, 2010

..."They know that this will take courage," Nancy Pelosi said in an interview over the weekend, speaking of the Members she'll try to strong-arm. "It took courage to pass Social Security. It took courage to pass Medicare," the Speaker continued. "But the American people need it, why are we here? We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress."

Leave aside the irony of invoking "the American people" on behalf of a bill that consistently has been 10 to 15 points underwater in every poll since the fall, and is getting more unpopular by the day, particularly among independents. As Maine Republican Olympia Snowe pointed out in a speech last December, Social Security passed when Democrats controlled both Congress and the White House, yet 64% of Senate Republicans and 79% of the House GOP voted for it. More than half of the Senate Republican caucus voted for Medicare in 1965. Historically, major social legislation has always been bipartisan, because it reflects a durable political consensus.

Reconciliation is the last mathematical gasp for ObamaCare because Democrats can't sell their policy to Senator Snowe, any other Republican, or even dozens of Democrats. This raw exercise of political power is of a piece with the copious corruption and bribery—such as the Cornhusker kickbacks and special tax benefits for union members—that liberals had to use to get even this far.

Democrats often point to welfare reform in 1996 as a reconciliation precedent, yet that bill passed the Senate with 78 votes, including Joe Biden and half of the Democratic caucus. The children's health insurance program in 1997 was steered through Congress with reconciliation, but it, too, was built on strong (if misguided) bipartisan support. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 that created Schip passed 85-15, including 43 Republicans. Even President Bush's 2001 tax cuts, another case in reconciliation point, were endorsed by 12 Senate Democrats.
...
Regrets, they've got a few. Yet these Democratic Sinatras will still do it their way. President Obama is expected to endorse reconciliation in remarks this morning.

The goal is to permanently expand the American entitlement state with a vast apparatus of subsidies and regulations while the political window is still (barely) open, regardless of the consequences or the overwhelming popular condemnation. As Mr. Obama fatalistically said after his health summit, if voters don't like it, "then that's what elections are for."

In other words, he's volunteering Democrats in Congress to march into the fixed bayonets so he can claim an LBJ-level legacy like the Great Society that will be nearly impossible to repeal. This would be an unprecedented act of partisan arrogance that would further mark Democrats as the party of liberal extremism. If they think political passions are bitter now, wait until they pass ObamaCare.

Neal Boortz found this quote which sums up what we are witnessing today:

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it."

--Frederic Bastiat

Did Obama Attempt to Bribe a Congressman?

Why won't WH Press spokesman answer the question?

The Chicago way....

Here's the story, Rep Joe Sestak (D-PA) reports that the White House offered him a high ranking job if he would drop his primary bid against Arlen Specter in the Senate race in Pennsylvania.

This is the second such allegation in the past few months. There is also a question as to whether such bribes constitute a violation of federal law.

The White House reaction? Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has been asked about the matter repeatedly and he sidesteps the question every time.

Cue the tape to the 1:10 mark:


There is nothing worse than an Administration that is both corrupt AND incompetent!

Blue States In the Red

Dem states less fiscally responsible? Duh!

No, this is not a story about red states turning blue and then back again as the voters in those states realized the mistake they made in voting for Obama.

This is a story about blue states being among the worst managed when it comes to finances. That won't surprise many readers who recall that the cities which have been controlled by Democrat machines are nearly all fiscal nightmares. The reason is easy: profligate spending, poor fiscal accountability and corruption.

Political Litmus Test: Bluest States Spilling The Most Red Ink
By Neil Weinberg
Forbes
Feb. 25 2010

Powerful unions, big spending put Democratic states in deepest fiscal holes.

Want to know which states are in the worst financial condition? One telling indicator that might not immediately come to mind is whether most of its citizens identify themselves as Democrats.

The five states in the worst financial condition--Illinois, New York, Connecticut, California and New Jersey--are all among the bluest of blue states. The five most fiscally fit states are more of a mix. Three--Utah, Nebraska and Texas--boast Republican majorities and two--New Hampshire and Virginia--skew Democratic.
...
Of the 10 states in the worst financial condition, eight are among a total of 23 defined by Gallup as "solidly Democratic," meaning the Democrats enjoy an advantage of 10 percentage points or greater in party affiliation. These states include the ones listed above as making up the bottom five, plus Massachusetts, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Not only are red states run in a more fiscally responsible manner, their residents rank highest in charitable giving. Apparently residents in blue states expect the government to meet every need and yet are consistently let down by the poor performance of the Democrats they elect to office.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI): The Conservative Antidote to Obama

He's about the only guy who can leave Obama speechless (well, almost)!

During the health care summit setup Obama arrogantly put down Sen. John McCain with his remark that "we're not campaigning anymore, the election is over." It was an attempt to paint all GOP criticism of Obama Care as nothing more than political talking points. Never mind that one Dem after another was in full campaign mode when they trotted out heart wrenching stories of people denied medical care. If a story about a woman who had to use her dead sister's dentures [video] isn't campaign posturing I don't know what is.

But the GOP did have one card up it's collective sleeve to which Obama had no answer: The factual integrity and sheer scope of knowledge demonstrated at the summit setup by Rep. Paul Ryan, Republican from Wisconsin. Rep. Ryan just turned 40 but is already serving his 6th term in Congress. Compared to some of the old gray heads in the room for the health setup he's a bright, fresh face and no pushover for Obama.

Here are two of his shining moments at the summit/setup:

RYAN: "Hiding spending doesnt reduce spending."

RYAN: "The difference in our approaches is clear. We don't think all the answers lie in Washington."

Investor's Business Daily noted that some "news" analysts were wowed by Obama's command of the room at the health summit/setup. But they point out that none of these so-called analysts bothered to note "Obama's conspicuous non-rebuttal to Rep. Paul Ryan."

Here are some of the points stressed by Ryan that Obama failed to address:

• "This bill does not control costs (or) reduce deficits. Instead, (it) adds a new health care entitlement when we have no idea how to pay for the entitlements we already have."

• "The bill has 10 years of tax increases, about half a trillion dollars, with 10 years of Medicare cuts, about half a trillion dollars, to pay for six years of spending. The true 10-year cost (is) $2.3 trillion."

• "The bill takes $52 billion in higher Social Security tax revenues and counts them as offsets. But that's really reserved for Social Security. So either we're double-counting them or we don't intend on paying those Social Security benefits."

• "The bill takes $72 billion from the CLASS Act (long-term care insurance) benefit premiums and claims them as offsets."

• "The bill treats Medicare like a piggy bank, (raiding) half a trillion dollars not to shore up Medicare solvency, but to spend on this new government program."

• "The chief actuary of Medicare (says) as much as 20% of Medicare providers will either go out of business or have to stop seeing Medicare beneficiaries."

• "Millions of seniors who have chosen Medicare Advantage (Medicare through a private insurer) will lose the coverage that they now enjoy."

• "When you strip out the double-counting and ... gimmicks, the full 10-year cost of the bill has a $460 billion deficit. The second 10-year cost of this bill has a $1.4 trillion deficit."

• "The 'doc fix' (restoring cuts in Medicare reimbursements) costs $371 billion ... a price tag (that) made the score look bad. (So) that provision was taken out, and (put) in stand-alone legislation. But ignoring these costs does not remove them from the backs of taxpayers. Hiding spending does not reduce spending."

• "Are we bending the cost curve down or are we bending the cost curve up? If you look at your own chief actuary at Medicare, we're bending it up. He's claiming that we're going up $222 billion, adding more to the unsustainable fiscal situation we have."

In response to all this, Obama basically talked up the benefits of Medicare Advantage. Call us sticklers, but we expected something a little more, uh, professorial.

Rep. Ryan also gave a strong performance on Fox News Sunday in an interview with Chris Wallace.

Readers should also note that if the GOP takes control of the U.S. House of Representatives Ryan will become the Chairman of the powerful Budget Committee. He's another of the rising stars of young GOP leaders we can all be proud of as a they take their place in leadership positions!

Don't tell me that Republicans are just as bad as Democrats. With young leaders like Paul Ryan the GOP future is bright!