[Please note: links to news articles and accompanying headlines and text were valid and accurate at the time of posting but content often changes or is deleted by the original publishers for reasons they feel are warranted…ed]
Is Health Care Reform A Sure Thing?
David Dayen over at FireDogLake has a clip of Emanuel Cleaver giving a less-than-bullish account of the prospects of health care reform in the House:
As Dayen notes, the math is not a slam dunk for House leadership. Consider the following. The bill earned 220 votes the first time around. Yet Robert Wexler has resigned. That puts the total support at 219. Let’s assume that the new bill will lack Stupak language on abortion – a reasonable one, I think. That would lose them Joseph Cao, the sole Republican supporter. Bart Stupak claims that he has 10 to 12 Democrats who would walk away then, too. Assuming Stupak’s number is correct, that puts the bill at 206 to 208, with 218 needed for support. The House leadership would have to find 10 to 12 supporters among the 38 Democrats who voted against it late last year. [If this was such a terrific deal for the American people why are the Democrats having such a hard time getting THEIR OWN members on board? If this is such a terrific deal for the American people why did Congress exempt THEMSELVES from ObamaCare?…ed]
President Obama pushes for a deal on health bill
After an unusual day-long negotiating session, President Barack Obama and top Democratic congressional leaders said late Wednesday that they were making “significant progress” towards reconciling the House and Senate health care reform bills. Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid issued a statement at the close of more than eight hours of White House talks – by far the most significant, high-level negotiations undertaken during the yearlong push for health care reform. [Democrats exclusively, behind closed doors plotting to ram ObamaCare down our throats even though the American people have very vocally told these people we are not the least interested in their scheme to take over 1/6 of our economy and put it in the hands of government bureaucrats…ed]
The nation’s labor unions, according to Congress Daily, have cut a deal with House Democrats: Labor will drop its opposition to the so-called Cadillac tax — an excise tax on high-cost employer-provided health-care plans — if Congress will carve out an exemption for plans provided under collective-bargaining agreements. Even after all the unsavory bargains and rotten deals that have characterized the rush to get this thing passed (the “Louisiana Purchase,” the “Cornhusker Kickback,” etc.) the “Labor Loophole” surely takes the prize. A few Democrats in the Senate already tried this trick and were laughed out of the smoke-filled room, so nakedly obvious was the special-interest favoritism at work. That the Democratic party is seriously reconsidering this deal is a sign of how desperate it has become to pass a bill — any bill — that shoves the federal foot through the waiting-room door. [So much for the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law. Get ready for the lawsuits all you ObamaCare proponents…ed]
Majority Would Vote Against Obama
A year into his tenure, a majority of Americans would already vote against Pres. Obama if the ’12 elections were held today, according to a new survey. The Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll shows 50% say they would probably or definitely vote for someone else. Fully 37% say they would definitely cast a ballot against Obama. Meanwhile, just 39% would vote to re-elect the pres. to a 2nd term, and only 23% say they definitely would do so. Obama’s first year in office has been marked by an unemployment rate that surged to 10%, an increased commitment of troops to Afghanistan and a health care battle that has taken a serious political toll on the WH. Obama’s approval rating is down to 47%, the poll showed, a 14-point drop since the April survey. 45% disapprove, up 17 points from April. [Gee, I wonder why he wouldn’t be president if the election was held today? Could it be that we now know what a disaster it is for this country to hire a no name nobody with zero experience for the top job?…ed]
GOP: We’ll take back the House
GOP leaders have privately settled on a strategy to win back the House by putting the vast majority of their money and energy into attacking Democrats — and turning this election into a national referendum on the party in power. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, one of 10 leaders who attended a strategy session in Annapolis, Md., this week, said the party will attack Democrats relentlessly for the stimulus, health care and cap-and-trade bills. Internally, Republicans call it the “80-20 strategy,” which, loosely interpreted, means spending 80 percent of the time whacking Democrats and the remainder talking up their own ideas. [40 more willow kneed Republicans will do this country absolutely no good. What we need are real conservatives kicking ass and taking names in Congress. Enough of this civility crap, it’s hammer time!…ed]
Scott Brown: Obama not invited to this party
Surging GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown yesterday warned President Obama to “stay away” from the Bay State during his roiling race against Democratic rival Martha Coakley and not to interfere with their intensifying battle in the campaign’s final days. “He should stay away and let Martha and I discuss the issues one on one,” Brown said. “The machine is coming out of the woodwork to get her elected. They’re bringing in outsiders, and we don’t need them.” Coakley’s campaign showed signs of panic as they scrambled to get a last-minute appearance by Obama to bolster their effort before Tuesday’s election. [I say have the light skinned guy with no discernible Negro dialect unless he wants to use it show up in Massachusetts like he did three time during the New Jersey governors race last year. We all know how that turned out…ed]
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Bay State Jobs Threatened By A Coakley Win
f elected to the United States Senate, it’s no secret that Martha Coakley would become the deciding, 60th vote in favor of the Reid-Obama-Pelosi government-run health care bill. To pay for this expansion of state power, the bill relies on 18 new tax hikes (a detailed list can be found on Americans for Tax Reform’s Web site, www.atr.org). One tax hike that is causing heartburn for bill supporters is a new levy on medical device manufacturers. The scuttlebutt on the Hill is that, next to the “Cadillac plan” excise tax, this new tax on medical device makers is causing the most consternation among vulnerable Democrats. What hasn’t been fully explored yet in the Massachusetts Senate race is how much this new tax impacts the Bay State. [A Coakley victory would in fact spell disaster for the entire country. Let’s hope the people in Massachusetts have figured this out and pull the lever for Scott Brown on the 19th…ed]
Erroll Southers, who President Barack Obama has nominated to head the Transportation Security Administration, described groups that were a domestic security threat as being “anti-abortion” and “Christian-identity oriented.” The TSA, an element of the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for the security of the nation’s transportation systems, including commercial air travel. Southers made the remarks in question in a 2008 video interview with the Videojug.com Web site.
(SNIP) Southers was then asked: “Which home-grown terrorist groups pose the greatest danger to the U.S.?” “Most of the domestic groups that we have to pay attention to here are white supremacist groups. They’re anti-government and in most cases anti-abortion,” he said. “They are usually survivalist-type in nature, identity orientated. [Hmmm, no mention at all about the thousands of anti American muslims living within our borders…ed]
Clifton boy, 8, on terrorism watch list
Travel is a hassle for an 8-year-old Cub Scout from New Jersey. That’s because Mikey Hicks shares the same name of a person who has drawn the suspicion of the Homeland Security Department. His mother tells The New York Times she sensed trouble when her son was a baby and she couldn’t get a seat for him at a Florida airport. She says airline officials explained his name “was on the list.” He was patted down as a 2-years-old at Newark Liberty International Airport. [A muslim with his underwear full of high explosives not only gets a visa from the Obama state department while his name is on a watch list but is able to get on an airplane and damn near kill nearly 300 people on Christmas Day yet the TSA is spending time patting down little two year old kids. F’n brilliant…ed]
House panel rejects Panther resolution
The Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday rejected by a 15-14 vote a resolution of inquiry that would have forced the Justice Department to tell Congress why it dismissed a civil complaint against members of the New Black Panther Party who disrupted a Philadelphia polling place in the November 2008 election. The party-line vote had been sought by Rep. Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican, who, along with Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said they have been unable to get information from the department on the complaint’s dismissal. [Wait. WHAT? Democrats vote AGAINST forcing the Justice Department to tell Congress why they dropped the case against the billy club wielding Black Panthers outside a polling location during last year’s presidential election? What’s that tell ya folks?…ed]
Martha’s Greatest Hits: The Things the Democrats Would Like You to Forget About Candidate Coakley
In researching the ever-intensifying Massachusetts Senate race between Democrat Martha Coakley and her Republican challenger Scott Brown, it only takes a few keystrokes to unearth her ongoing history of questionable judgment and puzzling prosecutorial decisions. Even though the election has been effectively nationalized, with some polls showing the underdog Brown within two points or so of the colorless Coakley, she remains largely unknown outside New England. So as a public service to the voters of the Bay State, during the run-up to the special election on Jan. 19, Big Journalism will be offering some of the Martha’s Greatest Hits, so that they can fully make up their minds whether she would make a suitable successor to the late Edward Moore Kennedy – who, as you recall, began his illustrious career by being expelled from Harvard for cheating, went on to drown Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick, and then turned to a life of drinking and debauchery, including the infamous “waitress sandwich” with soon-to-be-retired Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, before attempting to inflict “universal health care” on the country shortly before his death last year. [The New Media continues to do the type of work for the American people the state run left wing media gave up on long ago…ed]
Obama: $100 million in U.S. aid for Haiti
President Barack Obama, signaling “one of the largest relief efforts in history” for victims of the Haitian earthquake, said today that he has ordered an immediate investment of $100 million in U.S. aid. “This investment will grow over the coming year,” said the president, standing with several of the Cabinet members and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom he said he has ordered to make the Haitian crisis the No. 1 priority of all their agencies. (SNIP) “Finally, I want to speak directly to the people of Haiti,” Obama said. “Few in the world have endured the hardships that you have known… After suffering for so long, to face this new horror, must cause some to look up and say, ‘Have we been forsaken?’ [Hey, Obama’s got to do something to bump up his crappy ass poll numbers so he’ll pretend to show “strong leadership” by funneling 100 million + dollars we don’t have into left wing Obama supporting organizations for years to come. Interesting how it took this guy FOUR days to say anything about the airline panty bomber but he’s all over this Haiti mess in a heartbeat…ed]
US cult of greed is now a global environmental threat
The average American consumes more than his or her weight in products each day, fuelling a global culture of excess that is emerging as the biggest threat to the planet, according to a report published today. In its annual report, Worldwatch Institute says the cult of consumption and greed could wipe out any gains from government action on climate change or a shift to a clean energy economy. Erik Assadourian, the project director who led a team of 35 behind the report, said: “Until we recognise that our environmental problems, from climate change to deforestation to species loss, are driven by unsustainable habits, we will not be able to solve the ecological crises that threaten to wash over civilisation.” [The game plan of these lunatics plan is to stifle as much growth and consumption in this country as possible as “punishment” for Americans having such a high standard of living compared to socialist and third world countries and hopefully yank us all back to the stone age in the name of allegedly “saving the planet”…ed]
Foreclosures hit a record in 2009. This year could be worse.
A record 2.8 million US properties were served with foreclosure filings in 2009. This year, it could be even worse as a new wave of homeowners falls into delinquency. Already, 1 in 45 homes in the US received at least one foreclosure filing last year; in troubled Nevada, it was 1 in 10, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosed properties, based in Irvine, Calif. The numbers “are bad, but in all likelihood they should have been worse,” says Rick Sharga, senior vice president with RealtyTrac. “We’ve seen a lot of artificial slowing of foreclosure proceedings that are intended to help the homeowner. But realistically, the [Obama] administration has come to realize how difficult this problem is to solve.” [Perhaps there wouldn’t be so many foreclosures if millions of people weren’t losing their jobs due to the deliberate economic policies of the Chicago thugs roosting in the White House. It’s time we scrap their stupid green jobs crap and allow the private sector to create hundreds of thousands of high paying jobs in the domestic energy field NOW…ed]
Obama’s efforts don’t match those of other peace prize winners
Afew weeks ago, President Obama traveled to Oslo, Norway, to claim the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009, which included a commemorative medallion and $1.4 million. When the announcement of the award was first made, the White House was described as “stunned” and Obama as “surprised.” The Norway Nobel Committee reported that Obama was chosen unanimously “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and industrialist, founded the Nobel prizes in 1901 to recognize achievement in literature, medicine and physiology, economics, chemistry, physics and peace. Unlike the others, the Peace Prize can be awarded to organizations as well as individuals. For example, the International Red Cross has been awarded the prize three times. [Obama was on the job for ONE WEEK when he was nominated for the “You’re Not George W. Bush” Nobel Peace Prize. A flippin’ WEEK! At least the vast majority of previous Nobel recipients actually DID SOMETHING to earn theirs. By the way Obama, how about donating that 1.4 MILLION DOLLARS you received with this unearned prize to some Americans families affected by your disastrous economic polices?…ed]
To Lead Schools, Christie Picks Voucher Advocate
The man once described by teachers’ union leaders as “the antithesis of everything we hold sacred about public education” was chosen to serve as state education commissioner by Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie on Wednesday. The nomination of Bret D. Schundler to the post underscored the governor’s determination to press ahead with his push for school vouchers, more charter schools and merit pay for teachers. It was the first selection by Mr. Christie to suggest even the possibility of a confirmation battle with Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature. Thus far, the governor-elect has chosen nominees heavy on managerial experience, if lacking in drama or outsized personalities, and drawn bipartisan praise for his selections. [OMG! The incoming Republican governor of the liberal New Jersey selects someone who actually expects our public schools to perform, teach kids and hold “teachers” accountable? How can this be? By the way have you heard about one of Obama’s “educational” appointments to his administration?…ed]
Former Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter Nabbed in Teen Sex Sting
Former chief United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter was arrested in a Pennsylvania sex sting in November on a litany of charges involving a lewd Internet conversation with a person he thought was a 15-year-old girl. Ritter, 48, allegedly masturbated in front of a Web camera while he was engaged in conversation in an Internet chat room with an undercover cop posing as the teenage girl. He declined to discuss the charges Thursday when reporters visited his New York residence. [Third time around for this jerk? This might explain why this dirtbag became such an anti Iraq war zealot. I’m thinking his buddy Saddam Hussein may have supplied him with a whole room full of underaged girls…ed]
Floor collapses at Swedish Weight Watchers clinic
The floor of a Weight Watchers clinic in Växjö in south central Sweden collapsed on Wednesday night beneath a group of about 20 participants in the weight-loss programme. The Weight Watchers participants had gathered in the group’s facilities to see how much weight they had lost. As it turned out, however, people’s weight was not the only thing to fall. [Sorry, I just couldn’t leave this one alone…ed]
Quote of the day.
The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party.
-Barack Obama [calling for the head of Senate Leader Republican Trent Lott in 2002 after his endorsement of Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1948 segregationist presidential campaign at the South Carolina senator’s 100th birthday party.]
As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.
-Barack Obama [giving Senate Leader Democrat Harry Reid a free pass after Reid’s comment that saying Obama should seek and could become president because Obama was a “light skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”]