As the Clock Struck Midnight the Left Rejoiced
Monte Kuligowski
H.R. 3200 didn’t make it to a House vote. So the Democrats doubled the size of the bill by adding another thousand pages of bureaucratic madness, imposed a mandate on purchasing insurance, cut $400 billion in Medicare to partially pay for it, and passed it at the midnight hour on a Saturday. Here are the results (220-215) for the roll call vote on H.R. 3962.
Regardless of whether H.R. 3962 survives and merges with the Senate’s proposal, I believe the clock has struck midnight for the Dems. The Democrats and their colleagues in the news media are misreading the will of the American people in a major way.
The cry, “Read the bill!” obviously has not resonated with 219 members of the ruling Democrat Party. The average citizen wanted the bill to be read and debated prior to voting. And some are wondering if they missed the promised C-Span debates.
On the morning after its passage, Chris Mathews, revealing the tone of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid coalition, dismissed the Bachmann protesters as “wing nuts” several times. I have a feeling the protests in this country have only just begun.
What about Obama’s “red line” cost limit of $900 billion? Or will the Dems have us believe the $1.2 trillion behemoth will cut the deficit?
The AP storyline is that the unread bill extends coverage to tens of millions of Americans and places strict restrictions on the insurance companies.
Too bad the news media will not report that coverage could be added to tens of millions of Americans for a fraction of the cost and without transforming the entire industry and taking control of the health decisions of all Americans.
Currently, the poor and elderly are covered by Medicaid and Medicare. For people that fall between the cracks state-run-with-federal-dollars programs cover children who need health care coverage.
I wonder how much it would cost to cover the uninsured parents of FAMIS children and others who don’t meet Medicaid requirements? I would be willing to bet that the money not yet spent from the failed “stimulus” plan would be enough to cover everyone for years to come. How about a CBO study on that question?
Napolitano's terrorist radar screen
Joseph Finlay
What kind of behavior and characteristics trigger scrutiny from The Department of Homeland Security and its head, Janet Napolitano? It seems that Major Hasan's behavior raised no official eyebrows despite his outspoken views and possible links to radical extremism. In a world of political correctness and irrational fear of even the appearance of profiling, did concern for not offending Hasan's Muslim faith trump the numerous red flags that are littered in his deadly wake?
Despite subsequent apologies and denials to the contrary, The Dept of Homeland Security led by Janet Napolitano profiled conservative Americans as potential domestic terrorists: "This was an assessment, not an accusation," Napolitano continued. "It was limited to extremists those who seek to commit violence within the United States. And all this was meant to do was to give law enforcement what we call 'situational awareness.'"
"The last thing I want to do is offend or castigate all veterans. To the contrary, let's meet and clear the air," she said.
A footnote in the report, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," said that while there is no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are planning acts of violence, such acts could come from unnamed "rightwing extremists" concerned about illegal immigration, abortion, increasing federal power and restrictions on firearms -- and singled out returning war veterans as susceptible to recruitment.
As we learned six months ago, the US government was willing to paint with a broad stroke in profiling American soldiers cycling in and out of Fort Hood and similar military installations as potential domestic terrorists. Were they performing equal due diligence with Maj. Nadil Malik Hasan at the same time? Seems that the "situational awareness" was tragically misplaced in this case. Who was the more likely terrorist?
How Now Blue Cao?
Ralph Alter
It didn't take long for Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana to oust Dede Scozzafava from the top ranking as most reprehensible turncoat posing as a Republican. Cao's dunderheaded vote in support of the Pelosi-Care bill undoubtedly garnered some ear-marks for his district and who-knows-what other promises from the desperate-not-to-fail Democrats. It is not likely a co-incidence that Pelosi and Obama's wranglers targeted Cao, as he is reportedly ".. the poorest member of Louisiana's delegation (including the state's two senators) in Congress: as of 2009 his assets were no greater than $195,000 and his potential liabilities mounting to $215,000."
Cao, who defeated convicted felon, William Jefferson for his seat, would be well advised not to be seen shopping for freezers anytime soon.
Rep. Cao visited the White House in April and has invited Michelle to come to New Orleans and visit. Cao was one of only 7 Republicans to vote in favor of Joe Wilson's disapproval after the South Carolinian's outburst against Obama's SoTU speech.
Cao appears to be broadcasting on the All Katrina All the Time network, as Democrats have figured out that if they can include a Katrina ear-mark in a bill, they can count on Katrina Joe, regardless of what other legislation it includes. 5 to 1 says Cao begins consulting with his weasels-in-arms Arlen Specter and Jim Jeffords before November 2010.
Ralph Alter blogs at Right on Target
Update:
For what it is worth, here is the cheap price the Democrats paid for Cao's vote: Louisiana Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao on Sunday morning released a statement after he voted as the only Republican in favor of the Democratic health care reform bill.
The health care reform bill, dubbed the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962), passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a 220 - 215 vote.
"Tonight, I voted to keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion and to deliver access to affordable health care to the people of Louisiana," Cao said in a statement released by his office. "I read the versions of the House [health reform] bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding - if they are able to obtain health care at all. Louisianans needs real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children."
Cao wrote he obtained commitment from President Obama that he would work together to address the health care issues of Louisiana, including the FMAP crisis and community disaster loan forgiveness, as well as issues related to Charity and Methodist Hospitals. "I call on all my constituents to support me as I work with him on these issues."
He obtained a "commitment from President Obama."
You know what that's worth: Nothing.
A voice from the past predicts the future
Lee Cary
Friedrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, warned us about last night's vote for national healthcare "reform".
F.A. Hayek was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics (1974) in 1974, an award not polticized in the manner of the Peace Prize. As America slides into socialism, his works become more relevant. Consider these words in light of last night's House of Representatives vote on nationalizing healthcare.
"In many fields persuasive arguments based on considerations of efficiency and economy can be advanced in favor of the state's taking sole charge of a particular service; but when the state does so, the result is usually not only that those advantages soon prove illusory but that the character of the services becomes entirely different from that which they would have had if they had been provided by competing agencies. If, instead of administering limited resources put under its control for a specific service, government uses its coercive powers to insure that men are given what some expert thinks they need; if people thus can no longer exercise any choice in some of the most important matters of their lives, such as health, employment, housing, and provision for old age, but must accept the decisions made for them by appointed authority on the basis of its evaluation of their need; if certain services become the exclusive domain of the state, and whole professions - be it medicine, education, or insurance - come to exist only as unitary bureaucratic hierarchies, it will no longer be competitive experimentation but solely the decisions of authority that will determine what men shall get...
It is sheer illusion to think that when certain needs of the citizens have become the exclusive concern of a single bureaucratic machine, democratic control of that machine can then effectively guard the liberty of the citizen. So far as the preservation of personal liberty is concerned, the division of labor between a legislature which merely says that this or that should be done and an administrative apparatus which is given exclusive power to carry out these instructions is the most dangerous arrangement possible." The Constitution Of Liberty, 1960, p. 261
The GOP lacks a clear statement of its ideological principles. Meanwhile, Democrats, through their majority of elected officials, enact their ideology. Republicans are incapable of articulating a compelling counter argument. The 11th hour entry of a Republican healthcare reform plan merely illustrated the GOP's ineptness. Consequently, the GOP today merely exists as the "other party."
34,000 more troops for Afghanistan?
Rick Moran
It appears that President Obama is finally - finally - getting around to deciding what to do about the situation in Afghanistan.
It has taken far too long, of course, But the prospect of the president sending more troops to Afghanistan is almost a reality. Peter Baker and Helene Cooper of the New York Times are reporting that all remaining options the president is looking at involve sending more boots on the ground:
The options include Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's request for roughly another 40,000 troops; a middle scenario sending about 30,000 more troops; and a lower alternative involving 20,000 to 25,000 reinforcements, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Officials hope to present the options to Mr. Obama this week before he leaves on a trip to Asia.While some civilian and military officials believe Mr. Obama is seeking a middle ground in the debate over Afghanistan, aides denied he has made any decision or is leaning toward any of the options. Still, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates appears to be supportive of the middle option, some officials said, and his view is thought to be pivotal because of Mr. Obama's respect for him and his status as a holdover from a Republican administration. Meanwhile, Jonathan S. Landay, John Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef of McClatchy are pegging the number at 34,000: President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it until after he consults with key allies and completes a trip to Asia later this month, administration and military officials have told McClatchy.As it now stands, the administration's plan calls for sending three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. and a Marine brigade, for a total of as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops. Another 7,000 troops would man and support a new division headquarters for the international force's Regional Command (RC) South in Kandahar, the Taliban birthplace where the U.S. is due to take command in 2010. Some 4,000 additional U.S. trainers are likely to be sent as well, the officials said. The first additional combat brigade probably would arrive in Afghanistan next March, the officials said, with the other three following at roughly three-month intervals, meaning that all the additional U.S. troops probably wouldn't be deployed until the end of next year. Army brigades number 3,500 to 5,000 soldiers; a Marine brigade has about 8,000 troops. I realize you just can't load troops on to an airplane and drop them into a combat zone but a year to get what amounts to a Corps into battle? What's with that? If the situation is as bad as McChrystal has been saying, shouldn't just a little more urgency be shown to get those troops to the war zone? Just asking. At any rate, while falling short of McChrystal's recommendation, it far surpasses what members of his own party have been recommending. For that, we should be grateful. Supporting McChrystal as vigorously as possible seems the best policy at this point.
The 'true' cost of health care reform; $2.6 trillion
Rick Moran
Fudging numbers is a game everyone plays on Capitol Hill but not to the extent the Democrats have been lying about the true cost of Obamacare.
Greg D'Angelo at Heritage's Foundry blog pulls back the curtain:
As Heritage analysts noted earlier in the week, the Congressional Budget Office released its preliminary score of the bill (H.R. 3962) but too many in the media have not been reporting its true cost. The true cost is not the net spending on only the coverage related provisions ($897 billion) but rather the total gross spending for the coverage provisions ($1.05 trillion) as well as any additional spending in the bill (approximately $217 billion). That would raise the plan's price tag to about $1.5 trillion when including the roughly $210 billion cost of the "doc fix" is included. The "doc fix" refers to the undoing of the flawed Medicare payment update formula, which Congress created but has routinely stopped from being enforced. Under current law, that formula would result in a 20 percent reduction in doctors' pay under the Medicare program.The real story about the true cost is even more dramatic. The bill is front loaded with taxes, and back-loaded with spending in the first ten years. Since most of the spending in the House bill does not fully go into effect until 2014, the 10-year cost estimates based on the preliminary CBO score (for years 2010 through 2019) only account for six years of new spending under the plan. Once it is implemented (over a full 10-year window from years 2014 to 2023), the giant House health bill carries a price tag of $2.4 trillion, or as much as $2.6 trillion with the "doc fix." The delay in implementing the plan is so that Obama can look into the cameras and swear that over the next 10 years (20110-19), the plan is revenue neutral (or at least on paper it is). As D'Angelo points out, that is extraordinarily dishonest. The actual cost during the first 10 years when the program is fully implemented is more than twice what the Democrats say it is. Is there such a thing as "transparent lying?"
Tea Party Express II Tour: A Great Day in Texas!
Lloyd Marcus
He hates it when we call him "cheese head". Forty something year old white male, Hustusa has been following the Tea Party Express tour across America. He wears a triangle hat shaped like the cheese head hats wore by Green Bay Packers football team fans. Hustusa's hat reads "I didn't vote for this Obamanation" on all three sides. He also carries a tall sign and sells buttons at every rally. A general contractor by trade, Hustusa said his phone stopped ringing the day after Obama was elected. He lost his home earlier this year.
In Amarillo TX, I met a grandmother who is raising a little boy, not her own, on a widow's income. She proudly told me, "I never asked nobody for a bailout!" This feisty grandmother is not infected with the entitlement mindset being spread by liberal Democrats. The crowds love it when I (a black man) say I am not a hyphenated American. In Beaumont, TX, a white cowboy approached me at the rally pushing a stroller with two black babies. He said, "My babies are hyphenated Americans until we get their citizenship a week from today". He explained that he and his wife (also white) wanted children who really needed them. They adopted two black babies from Ethiopia. Today they are Ethiopian-Americans. Next week, they will be Americans! But how could such a "color blind" act of love happen? The Left says only racists attend the tea parties. Also in Texas, a woman with her husband asked me to let America know about the plight of our truckers. She said her husband, along with hundreds of thousands of other truckers across America, are out of work. She lamented that trucking companies who have been in business for a hundred years have closed their doors. Truck stops which used to be full are empty. In case anyone thinks the Tea Party Movement is winding down, think again. At a whistle stop rally in Brenham, TX, our Tea Party Express bus was greeted by 600 cheering patriots; extremely grateful we stopped in their town. We are 14 days, several states, two and three rallies per day into the national Tea Party Express II tour. We hear and feel the same emotions at every rally. The American people are frustrated, angry and terrified of the Obama administration's agenda. We (Tea Party Express) give them hope that "We The People" can and will save the America we know and love. Lloyd Marcus, (black) Unhyphenated American
Graph of the Day for November 8, 2009
Randall Hoven
"I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition."
"They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?" "More than 820 million people in the world suffer from hunger; and 790 million of them live in the Third World." 
Hoven's Index for November 8, 2009 For Algeria (North Africa): 56.6. For Bolivia (Latin America): 53.6 For Angola (Sub-Saharan Africa): 47.0 For Cuba (Caribbean, communist): 27.9 For North Korea (Asia, communist): 2.0.
Hasan attended same mosque as two 9/11 hijackers
Thomas Lifson
Philip Sherwell and Alex Spillius of the London Telegraph report:
Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year.
The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday's horrific shooting spree.
But obviously, it would jumping to conclusions to infer that Islam had anything to do with his attack. A thought experiment: Someone who attended a church led by a preacher who was known for his verbal attacks on abortion providers bombs an abortion clinic. Two other members of the congregation previously bombed abortion clinics. Would the media be downplaying the bomber's connection to the church and preacher? Hat tip: Ed Lasky
'Bloodless' Obama making Americans pine for Bush?
Rick Moran
Tony Harnden's excellent piece in today's Telegraph may be stretching a point but what people miss about Bush was his directness and the fact that he (and Clinton before him) wore their emotions on their sleeve.
More serious perhaps was Mr Obama's strange disconnectedness over the Fort Hood massacre of 13 soldiers by an Army major and devout Muslim who opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, had praised suicide bombing and shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire.Maybe Mr Obama had been reading the American press, much of which somehow contrived to present the atrocity as a result of combat stress due to soldiers going on repeated war deployments (though Major Nadal Hasan had not been on any) and therefore, no doubt, Mr Bush's fault. When the television networks cut to the President, viewers listened to him spend more than two surreal minutes talking to a gathering of Native Americans about their "extraordinary" and "extremely productive" conference, pausing to give a cheery "shout out" to a man named Dr Joe Medicine Crow. Only then did he briefly and mechanically address what had happened in Texas. On Friday, when most of the basic facts were available, Mr Obama tried again. It was scarcely any better. He began by offering "an update on the tragedy that took place" - as if it was an earthquake and not a terrorist attack from an enemy within - and ended with a promise for more "updates in the coming days and weeks".
Harnden also remarks, "Completely missing was the eloquence that Mr Obama employs when talking about himself." This may be key to understanding Obama's reaction to the election last Tuesday as well as the Fort Hood massacre. His narcissism allows for a detachment from events unless he is the total focus of attention. And, of course, anything bad that happens is totally outside of anything relating to him personally. Strange - and not a little frightening.
Low key visit to Fort Hood by President and Mrs. Bush
Ethel C. Fenig
No photo ops, no grandstanding, no comments--just a quiet comforting visit from former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura to Fort Hood, Texas.
After traveling to the base, which is about 30 miles from their ranch, the former first couple spent about two hours visiting the wounded before slipping away as unobtrusively as they arrived, specifically telling the base commander no press coverage according to Bill Sammon of Fox News.
A fine example to set. Except President Obama decided to take a break from passing health care reform and holiday at Camp David.
The worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11 and Obama can't even make it to Fort Hood to visit his wounded troops?
An interesting contrast, don't you think?
National Health Care reform narrowly passes 220-215
Rick Moran
Interesting reactions from left and right to the passage in the House of health care reform. Carl Hulse and Robert Pear of the New York Times:
Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage for abortions to attract the final votes to secure passage, a wrenching compromise for the numerous abortion-rights advocates in their ranks.Many of them hope to make changes to the amendment during negotiations with the Senate, which will now become the main battleground in the health care fight as Democrats there ready their own bill for what is likely to be extensive floor debate. Democrats say the House measure - paid for through new fees and taxes, along with cuts in Medicare - would extend coverage to 36 million people now without insurance while creating a government health insurance program. It would end insurance company practices like not covering pre-existing conditions or dropping people when they become ill. Republicans condemned the vote and said they would oppose the measure as it proceeds on its legislative route. "This government takeover has got a long way to go before it gets to the president's desk, and I'll continue to fight it tooth and nail at every turn," said Representative Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas. "Health care is too important to get it wrong." On the House floor, Democrats exchanged high-fives and cheered wildly - and Republicans sat quietly - when the tally display showed the 218th and decisive vote, after the leadership spent countless hours in recent days wringing commitments out of House members.
A bill nobody has read, that contains nobody knows what, that no one has a clue of what kind of impact it will have on the current health care system, with a cost known only to God, has been passed with no formal hearings, extraordinarily limited debate, and in a totally partisan manner (minus one Republican who doesn't have a prayer in 2010). And the Democrats are celebrating?
That's the "reality" I would say to my friends in the reality based community. Can you argue with any of those points above? Only if you spin so hard you are in danger of flying off into orbit.
If we had a rational government, any one of those realities would have derailed health care reform long ago. But rationality has left the building, as has common sense, proportionality, wisdom, and that fine old conservative virtue, prudence.
National Health Care Reform represents a new way of governing; the blind, leading the deaf and dumb, toward an unknowable future - driving the engine of government at full speed, and without any brakes. Can't see that break in the tracks up ahead? Ooops! My bad. We'll pick up the pieces later.
Of course, this is only the first step. Something approximating the House bill is going to have to pass the senate - by no means a foregone conclusion, but made more likely by last night's vote. And the conference committee to reconcile the two versions while hanging on to enough votes in both houses for passage will be something akin to trying to put a round peg in a fractal hole.
But the momentum appears to favor getting something passed before the end of the year. If the House vote proved anything, it is that the Democrats are fully capable of coming up with solutions that will allow their huge majorities to win the day regardless of the issues. They have proven adept at papering over their differences, finessing the insoluble, and coming up with imaginative gimmicks to make national health care reform a reality.
Expect the same kind of gaming the system in the senate.
The tens
Harold Witkov
1. Moses - Ten Commandments - good
2. Ten fingers - good 3. John Tyler - tenth president - good 4. Bill of Rights - first ten amendments in the US Constitution - good 5. Minyan - Jewish minimum of ten required for a religious service - good 6. Library Dewey Decimal System - ten classifications - good 7. Metric System - increments of ten - good 8. Ten Little Indians - good children's rhyme (but politically incorrect) 9. Bo Derek - movie: 10 - very good 10. Barack Obama - ten percent American unemployment - not so good
Blue Dog on a Short Leash
Joseph Ashby
In one of the most blatant cases of campaign promise betrayals in recent memory, NY-23’s Bill Owens has recanted on four of his more moderate positions on health care.
The first was his support of the “pubic option.” In summer’s dog days, when town hall meetings were scaring the daylights out of current and aspiring Democrat office holders, Owens came out against a government-run insurance company. On August 11, Politico reported :
Bill Owens, who hopes to replace Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), has come out against the public insurance option, saying it doesn't belong in the House health reform bill. Owens is actually a registered independent, another sign that some Democrats running in conservative districts may need a little distance from President Obama for the time being.
Politico’s Glenn Thrush proved prophetic by writing “for the time being.” Just over a week before the election, when the furor over the public option was off front pages and out of nightly newscasts, Owen said he generally supported a government-run insurance company.
Three other promises stood through Election Day, but died within one hour of Owens assuming office. Gouverneurtimes.com reports:
Mr. Owens also indicated during his campaign that he was firmly opposed to cutting Medicare benefits, taxing health care benefits, and increased taxes on the middle class in any way….
In sudden, soul-selling fashion, Owens has promised to vote for the House Health Care bill that runs counter to all of the above “firmly” held positions.
Politicians breaking campaign promises is not new. But making complete switches on four principal aspects of the most important (and potentially disastrous) domestic issue in a generation, all within about a week of an election, is low -- even for Washington D.C.
Obama snubs Ft. Hood to relax at Camp David (updated)
Clarice Feldman
Dan Riehl checks the President's schedule and learns that Obama's not going to Fort Hood, but rather to Camp David for the weekend. In an update, Dan notes that his predecessor is more sensitive to the situation.
Are you kidding me? Camp frickin' David? What, does he have a tee time close by? For heaven's sakes, he's the CIC. And he's taking the weekend off? This guy simply doesn't care. Unbelievable via Fox.
11:25AM THE PRESIDENT addresses the House Democratic Caucus - Cannon House Office Building
2:30PM THE PRESIDENT makes a statement to the press on Health Care - Rose Garden
2:45PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart The White House en route Camp David - South Lawn
That Dancing with the Indians conference must have really worn the poor guy out so much he can't spare time to comfort the survivors of the jihadi Major's massacre.
Update: Obama now plans to visit Ft. Hood Tuesday for the memorila service. We're glad he could squeeze it in sometime this week, just to show how much he cares.
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