You want some brie with that whine?
The new health care plan will be written by a committee whose Chairman says he doesn’t understand it,
passed by a Congress which hasn’t read it,
signed by a President who smokes,
funded by a Treasury Chief who did not pay his taxes,
overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese,
and financed by a country that is broke.
What could possibly go wrong?
If what America has been forced to witness in Congress the last two months wasn’t enough to convince those still willing to give them even the slimmest benefit of the doubt, what’s going on during this holiday break should be enough to demonstrate once and for all that almost to a man (and to a woman), those we send to Washington to (not) represent us are nothing more than walking poster children for entitlement derangement-syndrome.
Everyone knows that the House had a huge fight over the Stupak amendent and that it finally passed and was included in their nasty little version of health care “reform” legislation. Blue Dog Democrats defied the Queen of the Nuthouse in support of the Stupak amendment; with much jumping up and down and great thumpings of their chests many claimed to agree with the vast majority of Americans that they could never, ever consider voting for any kind of health care “reform” that didn’t contain such proper constraints to prevent the use of taxpayer money to fund abortions.
Oh, it was quite a sight. Do you remember? Such weeping and wailing in defense of what is right in the face of so much angry Botox-enhanced “feminist” opposition, it almost brought a tear to my own cynical eyes.
Almost.
The Senate then rammed through their version of a health care “reform” bill on Christmas Eve. It most visibly differed from the House bill by counting alleged savings from cutting Medicare payments to doctors twice, by not including a so-called “public option”, and by adding in a very last-minute, very lame, very loopholed section that, effectively, will allow taxpayer monies to fund abortions through government health insurance premium subsidies so that Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska would, along with his 100% Medicare expansion subsidy-in-perpetuity, become Harry Reid’s 60th and deciding vote for the monstrosity. The Senate version also changes the standing rules in the Senate so that there may never be a repeal of the bill’s main unelected panel of bureaucrats. You know, those beancounters who will set regulations imposed on doctors and patients, the Independent Medicare Advisory Boards a/k/a the Death Panels. The Democrats want to keep them in unconstitutional control of your health care forever.
The next step is reconcilation of these two differing, green-be-damned-ceiling-high stacks of paper and then final passage of the same version of a bill in both the Nuthouse and the Senate. But word is already out on the street that principle, not to mention adherence to their oath to uphold the Constitution, remains a foreign paradigm to Nuthouse Democrats and reconciliation is not really going to happen. The Senate version, in all of its inalienable Rights-killing glory, is going to be swallowed basically its entirety by House Democrats. Some may hold their noses just for show, but it’s going down in one, basically unchanged gulp.
How do we know this? These Sunday morning talk show statements don’t exactly sound like statements made by anyone who’s had any recent contact with their spine, do they?
“We’re not going to rubber-stamp the Senate bill. On the other hand, we recognize the realities in the Senate.” Before the House was to give up the public option, we would want to be persuaded that there are other mechanisms in whatever bill comes out that will keep down premiums. We’ve got to make sure that the final product is affordable.” (Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)
“Well, I’m sure the conference will yield some changes, but the reality is, having served in the House and its leadership, I understand sometimes its frustrations with the Senate, but if we are going to have a final law, it will look a lot more like the Senate version than the House version.” (Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J)
“We want a public option to do basically three things: Create more choice for insurers, create more competition for insurance companies, and to contain costs. So if we can come up with a process by which these three things can be done, then I’m all for it. Whether or not we label it a public option or not is of no consequence.” (House Democratic Whip James Clyburn; who had previously personally appealed to the President not to yield on a “public option”)
Since the most heated debate came over the Stupak amendment, which effectively replaced the House’s original lax verbiage with Hyde amendment assurance of no federal funding of abortions, let’s take a look at the Democrats that voted for it:
| Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania | Steve Driehaus of Ohio | James Oberstar of Minnesota |
| Joe Baca of California | Brad Ellsworth of Indiana | David Obey of Wisconsin |
| John Barrow of Georgia | Bobby Etheridge of North Carolina | Solomon Ortiz of Texas |
| Marion Berry of Arkansas | Bart Gordon of Tennessee | Tom Perriello of Virginia |
| Sanford Bishop of Georgia | Parker Griffith of Alabama | Collin Peterson of Minnesota |
| John Boccieri of Ohio | Baron Hill of Indiana | Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota |
| Dan Boren of Oklahoma | Tim Holden of Pennsylvania | Nick Rahall of West Virginia |
| Bobby Bright of Alabama | Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania | Silvestre Reyes of Texas |
| Dennis Cardoza of California | Marcy Kaptur of Ohio | Ciro Rodriguez of Texas |
| Christopher Carney of Pennsylvania | Dale Kildee of Michigan | Mike Ross of Arkansas |
| Ben Chandler of Kentucky | James Langevin of Rhode Island | Timothy Ryan of Ohio |
| Travis Childers of Mississippi | Dan Lipinski of Illinois | John Salazar of Colorado |
| Jim Cooper of Tennessee | Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts | Heath Shuler of North Carolina |
| Jim Costa of California | Jim Marshall of Georgia | Ike Skelton of Missouri |
| Jerry Costello of Illinois | James Matheson of Utah | Vic Snyder of Arkansas |
| Henry Cuellar of Texas | Mike McIntyre of North Carolina | Zack Space of Ohio |
| Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania | Charlie Melancon of Louisiana | John Spratt of South Carolina |
| Artur Davis of Alabama | Mike Michaud of Maine | Bart Stupak of Michigan |
| Lincoln Davis of Tennessee | Alan Mollohan of West Virginia | John Tanner of Tennessee |
| Joe Donnelly of Indiana | John Murtha of Pennsylvania | Gene Taylor of Mississippi |
| Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania | Richard Neal of Massachusetts | Harry Teague of New Mexico |
| Charlie Wilson of Ohio
|
One would rightly expect that if asked to vote on “reconciled” health care legislation that fails to include the proper ban on the use of taxpayer money to fund abortions, they will vote no. But the fate of the largest single federal usurpation of individual liberty is now at stake.
Cue the flying pigs.
Dear Senators,
You may think that because you somehow managed to pull the wool over a majority of eyes and were therefore elected to represent a segment of the American citizenry in Washington that somehow makes you “special”. But let me put it to you in no uncertain terms: YOU WORK FOR US. All of us. And the majority of Americans are hard-working, fair-minded and, when all is said and done, rather conservative in their beliefs.
That you fail to recognize this and have used closed doors and the cover of night to bully forward some progressive, banana-republic idea of “health care reform” for this country shows only one of two things. You are incredibly stupid or you are egotistical beyond belief. Either way, you are not worth what we pay you. You weren’t sent to Washington to heap further destruction on an already tenuously-balanced economy (a teetering that is entirely your own fault, I might add); you weren’t sent to Washington to burden our children, our grandchildren and their children with crushing debt. You were sent to provide a semblance of oversight to protect this country and, according to the United States Constitution, your ability to do so is extremely limited. Yet like an untrained dog on a malfunctioning retractable leash, you ignore your master’s wishes and race forward to chase short-term re-election gains at the expense of the long-term welfare of the country.
Many of us watched Saturday’s gyrations in the Senate and listened to the reading of the “manager’s amendment” to the health care “reform” bill. Unlike you, Senators, many of us actually read both bill and amendments as well, and the evil it contains is crystal clear. At the tip of the iceberg stand unprecedented numbers of unelected bureaucrats waiting to be sent forth like hounds from the bowels of Hell itself to dictate when, where, and how Americans will receive their health care and in what beancounter-driven measure. You intend to deliberately create criminals out of Americans who will not or cannot pay the tax penalties for not going along with your little freedom-stealing games and purchase health insurance, using the IRS as a means to jail them. You intend to force every American who is pro-life to subsidize the abortions of those who would use it as a form of birth control.
You asked the Congressional Budget Office to give you an accounting and you crow over its response, yet you conveniently ignore their wise caveats that unless your nefarious legislation is implemented exactly as stated (like the hundreds of billions in cuts from Medicare that have never yet happened), there will be no cost savings but instead a significant increase in our national debt. And based on your reckless history of spending money you have not earned, including this inherently unconstitutional bill’s enormous pork payoffs in direct violation of Article 4, Section 2 of the United States Constitution simply to secure the votes of your hypocritical brothers and sisters, anyone who still believes a government that refuses to operate in broad daylight, let alone one who has bankrupted Medicare, Social Security, and even screwed up Cash for Clunkers is welcome to make an offer on a bridge I have for sale. And speaking of those never-ending pork bribes so despised by Americans, it is time for it to become common knowledge that your overall day-to-day modus operandi of granting them continually violates Title 18, Part I, Chapter 11, Section 201 of the United States Code.
Listen carefully, Senators. What you are proposing as a Christmas gift to the American people is a gift we can do without. Like the Pentagon, we are not asking you for something we don’t need and we are extremely angry that you refuse to heed our wishes. In fact, we see your behavior as bordering on treason. You took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. We, the people, pledge our allegiance to the Republic of these United States – not to you or any other person – and if you continue to refuse to do your job and don’t put a bullet in the brain of this bastard of a bill, then rest assured we will do ours. You are by no means indispensible and we will find a replacement for you in short enough order. (And when – not if – that happens, you might want to bless the compassionate wisdom of our Founding Fathers for the fact you won’t find yourself hanging at the end of a piece of piano wire on the Mall like your much-admired Il Duce found his own progressive self hanging in a square in Milan.)
Trust me. We don’t need you. And let me remind you that the latest polls show only 9% of Americans even want you.
The choice is simple. The bill or your alleged career.
Regards,
A Responsible American
As the Senate continues their tired, long-winded debate over health care reform, yours truly has reached a Twitter tweet limit so will continue the observations here. Enjoy.
1:17 a.m. 58 Democrats and 2 Independents vote “yes”; 40 Republicans vote “no”. May God have mercy on America.
1:15 a.m. Reading tweets. From TheBlogshevik “If someone had duct taped Harry Reid to a shopping cart and pushed him down a hill years ago, we wouldn’t be having any of this shit…” Touche.
1:08 a.m. Vote for cloture begins.
1:07 a.m. Reid invokes rule S480 to have Senators vote from their desks.
103 a.m. Reid shares stories of people with health problems, problems with insurance. Claims these heartbreaking stories will be solved by his legislation.
1:54 a.m. Reid gets the final word and starts out by claiming it’s a lack of health insurance that is causing people to die. He makes the claim that “this landmark legislation” will fix all kinds of problems, including keeping Medicare solvent for another 10 years. He points out his numbers are from the CBO, but like the rest ignores the caveats and the realities. “We are reshaping the nation.” Gets in a dig about being in the Senate at this hour, blaming GOP (for wanting to follow process).
12:47 a.m. McConnell reiterates Obama’s promises about health care costs and transparency and bi-partisanship on the campaign trail. Well, that was then. And this is now. But reality is premiums will go up, taxes will go up on 10s of millions of Americans and plunders Medicare by 1/2 million. Allows the federal government to use taxpayer funds for abortions. So President voted in on a promise of change – all his promises changed. Twelve months and $2.3 trillion later, Dems are ready to vote for something that won’t bend down the cost curve and will be even harder to fix down the road. The impact of this vote will long outlive this one long, snowy weekend in Washington. This legislation will reshape our nation and Americans have already issued their verdict: they don’t want it. They don’t like this bill. And they don’t like lawmakers playing with their health care to get votes for it. But the bill’s writers won’t let the 300 million affected time to read the details of the bill. When we woke up yesterday morning we still hadn’t seen the details of the bill we’re going to vote on tonight. How can this be justified in the face of such widespread opposition by the American people? All it takes is just one (Dem) to stop it or everyone will own it. It is not too late. (Bravo, Senator. Bravo.)
12:44 a.m. McConnell states GOP wanted to tackle health care by going at costs incrementally but the other side went in the opposite direction and we ended up with this mess. Any challenge of this size and scope has always been dealt with on a bi-partisan basis. Previous, large-scale bills had very few dissenting Senators; Americans believe that with something this size, one party should not force their views on the country. What Dems have done was so bad it required convincing the Democrats; it was a “blind call to make history, even it if was a mistake, which is exactly what this bill will be if it is passed.” This bill isn’t about 2 parties, it’s about a 2,000+ page bill that makes the price of health care go up.
12:41 a.m. McConnell takes the podium. Tonight will help determine if our children can afford the nation they will inherit. If the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn’t be forcing this vote in the dead of night. $100 million for an unnamed health care at an unnamed university somewhere in the United States. No one will even step forward to claim it. One state out of 50 gets to expand Medicaid at no cost to itself while taxpayers in the other 49 pick up the tab. That same Senator swung a deal for a single insurance company in his state. Do (my colleagues) think that’s fair? What about the rest of the country? Few people would have imagined a year ago it would end with a couple of cheap deals and a rush vote at 1 o’clock in the morning. Americans are wondering, how did this happen?
12:40 a.m. Dodd thinks history will judge the Dems well based on tonight.
12:35 a.m. Dodd now speakinjg about FDR and fear; claims Dems want to address the fears of the loss of health care, regardless what’s really in it.
12:33 a.m. Cornyn brings up Rule 44 again and asks if earmark list is available as required. Chair cannot answer.
12:30 a.m. Harkin calls health care a “moral imperative”. (But what if no one wanted to be a doctor any more? What would happen? A doctor draft? The Constitution provides only the freedom to choose.)
12:29 a.m. Harkin berates the U.S. for not being like the EU on health care. (The same socialists that are turning away from it. Good job, Tom.)
12:22 a.m. Harkin now at the podium saying “All we’ve heard from the other side is ‘attack, attack, attack’. ‘No, no, no’.” Coburn amendment only has 7 sponsors; they have no “comprehensive bill like we’ve come up with”. Sorry the GOP is all split up, haven’t done their homework to present something positive so come together to oppose. Claims numerous bipartisan meetings, then GOP voted against everything. Claims GOP in “total disarray” but Dems have their supermajority.
12:20 a.m. McCain vows to not commit “generational theft”; “we will stand up for the American people. We have just begun to fight.”
12:14 a.m. McCain takes the podium to explain how it all started – back during the campaign. Restates candidate Obama’s promises for transparency. There were never serious negotiations between Republicans and Democrats; only with special interests. Pharma got a sweetheart deal by eliminating importing prescription drugs; AMA signed up for promise of a doctor fix. Should have set up a tent out front and sold Persian rugs. New words in the lexicon: Louisiana Purchase, Cornhusker Kickback, Florida Flimflam; compromise is treating a number of states differently according to the Dems. That is in direct contradiction to candidate Obama’s words. McConnell couldn’t even tell anyone what was in the bill before yesterday. Bill doesn’t represent 61% of the American people; 61% want it stopped. You go against the American people and you will pay a heavy price, and you should. We will not give up after this vote; for the first time in history there will be a major reform passed on a single party vote.
12:08 a.m. Alexander quotes Dem letter requesting the bill be on the internet for 72 hours before it’s brought to a vote in the Senate. “It’s our duty to listen and respond to proposals that will impact their lives.” But it’s being rushed, during a snowstorm, in the middle of the night, despite not going into full effect for 4 years because $587 billion in new taxes can’t be explained during high unemployment. Chief Actuary for Medicare says the bill will cause national health care to increase faster. Dems don’t want to explain why they will now use federal money to fund abortions. They don’t want to explain the CLASS Act and it’s negative effects. Obvious why the majority has cooked up this amendment in secret, scheduled a vote for 1:00 a.m. and want to pass it before Christmas. Political kamikaze mission for Dems, worse for the country.
12:05 a.m. Alexander explains why the Senate is in session. Because of Reid’s spending the last 6 weeks behind closed doors writing his manager’s amendment and throwing it on the table only yesterday. Governor of Tennessee calls it “the mother of all mandates” but Dems insist it must be done in the middle of a snowstorm in the middle of the night before the American people find out what’s in it.
12:04 a.m. Senate recites the Pledge of Allegiance. Would be funny if it weren’t such a pathetic travesty.
12:01 a.m. Monday: The chaplain asks God to give the Senators wisdom and courage to do the right thing. Personally, I would put my money on their continued failing the American people.
midnight: C-SPAN caller from Canada says, “I just want to tell you that you have no idea how terrible your health care will be if you pass this bill.”
11:31 p.m. Senate now stands in recess for 30 minutes. Thank goodness. It’s really hard listening to lies for hours on end.
11:09 p.m. Ok, I lied. Nelson takes the podium and claims he wouldn’t recognize one side of the floor tonight based on “everything” that occurred last summer. “It is a typical tactic…to go after a specific item in order to obfuscate, which then misses the whole point of the piece of legislation.” Point of it is to make health care affordable, efficient, and available. Now I can take a break.
11:07 p.m. Cardin thinks this is the right decision. Thinks otherwise we’ll be dealing with a “worse crisis” in 10 years. Then Harkin takes the floor. Good time for a break.
11:05 p.m. Cardin touts his including education loans, including 77 for Alaska (is it wise to flaunt your pork in public?)
11:04 p.m. Cardin says Medicare Advantage isn’t used by 99% of Alaskans but Alaska pays $90 each (huh?)
10:59 p.m. Cardin states the immediate benefits: no dropping, high-risk pools; new program for early retirees to reduce their premiums, insurance companies posting their overhead on the internet; dependents covered up to age of 26 (but we can send them off to war, they are legal adults and can drink…wtf?) No denial of pre-existing conditions for children, preventative services for seniors. Claims this bill “adds 10 more years to Medicare” (what, it can rise from the dead?) Reviews the benefits to his Alaskan constituents.
10:54 p.m. Cardin reviews the strangulation on private insurance companies, including exclusion from the Exchange (like that’s really a bad thing?), forcing them to return profits to policy holders, etc. Mentions there are 4 million federal employees (getting their own special plans, of course).
10:51 p.m. Begich takes the podium and promptly talks about not seeing a blizzard like the one of “disinformation about this bill”. Calls the bill “not perfect but a significant step in the right direction”. Does another review of CBO’s numbers without their caveat; ignoring the Medicare cuts that won’t ever happen.
10:47 p.m. Cardin reviews a litany of “minority health” issues, such as longevity, and claims justification expansion of another government bureaucracy. Discusses need for community centers then launches into a rant about evil insurance companies.
10:44 p.m. Cardin reviews his patients bill of rights and its further limitations on the private sector. (Though a few of the protections are actually sensible, however, IMNSHO simply allowing cross-state purchase of plans would take care of many of them.)
10:40 p.m. Cardin launches into the financial implications from the Dem’s perspective. Claims the CBO says it will reduce the deficit in the first 1o years but the following 10 years will be even more, while reducing the growth rate. Claims CBO can’t account for preventive services results but they are going to be huge. Then he talks about strangling private insurance companies by dictating how they can run their business.
10:34 p.m. Cardin states CBO says 31 million more people will have coverage with the Dem bill. (Or is that “damn bill”?) Calls this a “giant step forward” towards universal coverage. Claims reduction in costs of premiums and a better insurance plan for everyone. Claims this will be because of preventive and screening services and requirements for children’s health. Uses colon cancer screening as an example (hundreds of dollars vs. thousands for surgery); claims disease management will be more effective. Reducing number of insured by keeping them out of the emergency rooms. Claims bill will increase competition because of the Exchanges.
10:30 p.m. Cardin takes the podium and states that shortly “we’ll be able to clear the way for the U.S. to join at last every other industrial nation and declare that health care is a right.” Reminds us he’s been in Congress for 23 years (and therefore past his expiration date). Then begins the stereotypical litany about people making decisions about their health care.
10:27 p.m. Brownback: all of this seems so odd to me. Final days of Advent season, we should be home with our families; missing celebrations of Christmas, the birth of a child; this is the season we are in and how sad we might see the end of lives of children in this bill. It shouldn’t have to be this way, but it is the central issue. The House will not support this bill. Asks Dems to take it out; harmful, hurtful to the country.
10:25 p.m. Brownback notes 300,000 abortions were funded by the taxpayers before the Hyde amendment from 1973-1976.
10:18 p.m. Brownback notes for 30 years there has been no discussion about federal funding of abortion. Now that has changed; “no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions and federal conscience laws will remain in place” (Obama) but the manager’s amendment does fund abortions. Quotes Bart Stupak, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (who want a health reform bill), National Right to Life Committee, all against the current legislation. Quotes Ben Nelson, “Taxpayers shouldn’t be required to pay for abortions.” Abortion isn’t even health care, why is it in the bill at all?
10:17 p.m. Brownback now on the floor, discusses effect on his constituents in Kansas. All of them just to start a new entitlement program and raise taxes; like writing a big fat check on an overdrawn bank account.
10:15 p.m. Thune: the American people know better, know it will add to the deficit. These bills as they stand are budget busters. Bill needs to be voted down tonight and hopes there’s a courageous Democrat or two.
10:10 p.m. Thune reviews Obama’s promise that nothing will change in your plan and if you like it you can keep it, but the Reid amendment will cut Medicare Advantage and therefore all those people (11 million) won’t be keeping what they have. Another 10 million will lose their employer-provided plan, too. Review of numerous Medicare cuts that will affect people’s plans, all based on independent reviews.
Arguments will be televised on C-SPAN, said Obama. But almost the entire bill has been written behind closed doors. The near-400 page amendment was dropped on their desks yesterday, even Dem leaders were in the dark. Then the under cover deal with Nebraska to have all their Medicaid expansion paid for by all other states.
Won’t add a dime to the deficit but the included Medicare cuts to physicians for payments won’t hold. CBO calls the CLASS Act a “huge and growing” financial burden and a gimmick to look like health care is paid for.
10:04 p.m. Thune reviews list of Obama’s broken promises: no tax increase on those making less than $250,000. But actuaries show 42 million will see a tax increase. Bill will control costs and be paid for, premiums will go down and everyone will be covered. But bill leaves 23 million without coverage. Typical family that pays $13,300 today (employer-type plan) will see their cost go over $20,000. Bill doesn’t pass the truth test according to the CBO.
Dems should attack CBO and actuaries because they all show the cost curve bends up, not down, as Obama promised. Cost of doing nothing would be less than if Reid bill passes, even though costs will increase. With amendment, the gap becomes even larger.
10:00 p.m. Thune does some weight-lifting by presenting a print out of the Senate bill and Reid’s amendment. “Recurring pattern” in the Senate is GOP coming down and talking about the impact the bill would have on the economy, the CBO report describing cost of the bill, costs to the people, the CMS actuary report. But the Dems aren’t offering “full-throated defense” of their bill, just talking about how bad the system is and how they’ll fix it and accusing GOP of telling lies.
9:57 p.m. Cornyn reviews reasons why Americans want Washington to start over. Calls out Nebraska’s sweetheart deal and the lame abortion wording. “Sheer irresponsibility of the way this is being done”, “closed doors, special interests” and “jammed down the throats of the American people”.
9:33 p.m. Enzi quotes Foster that bill will cost “234 billion more than if we did nothing.” Calls the budget gimmicks used by Dems “inconvenient truths”. Asks if Dems believe Congress will really cut Medicare payments by 21% in 2 months. Truth is that Congress has never allowed that. Bill requires over 40% in Medicare payment cuts in 10 years. Latest CBO had a $600 billion error (and not in the Dems favor).
9:19 p.m. Harkin again toddles up to the podium to rehash the Dems small business credits and their congenital heart disease program. Expresses gratefulness to Durbin for including the heart disease program. Personally thanks Durbin for all his hard work. Calls the the upcoming vote, “THE defining vote”. (Defining next year’s clearing out of Congress by the American people, methinks.)
9:18 p.m. Durbin speaks of 7 previous presidents and cajoles the Senate to do their “historic duty”. After conjuring up the ghost of Dead Kennedy. He’s calling it “Kennedy Car