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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mph who wrote (78446)	3/20/2010 3:25:53 AM
From: Sully-	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

A Pyrrhic Passage? By: Victor Davis Hanson The Corner At an outdoor rally today, the president described the health-care debate as a referendum on the “character” of the country, and I do believe he was correct. The president is pushing legislation that a clear majority of the people dislike, and whose details neither he nor his supporters can explain in simple language. Its ends-justify-the-means passage will require legislative gymnastics that border on the unconstitutional, and in Orwellian fashion are designed to reassure its sheepish supporters that they can appear not to be voting for the bill they vote for. And to achieve a House majority, Obama must offer an array of personal favors, political payoffs, federal stipends, and open threats, which, if done in the private sector, would be actionable acts of felonious bribery or racketeering. So, yes, this is a reflection about character; and so far the president has throughout this entire shameful process been shown to be utterly wanting on that count, as he misrepresents both the bill’s contents and the opposition to it. All of his “let me be perfectly clear” and “make no mistake about it” and now-tired rhetoric and faux cadences simply cannot change that disturbing reality. That such chameleon legislation is the work of a supposedly healing, post-partisan, post-ideological politician makes it even more embarrassing. There will be lots of us -- Democrats, Republicans, Independents -- who simply will not vote this fall for any congressional representative who votes for this tawdry DMV-like take-over of health care. .

To: mph who wrote (78446)	3/20/2010 4:36:45 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Senate Dem Leader Promises Vote Soon on Public Option The Speaker's Lobby Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, in a letter sent Friday to two of the Senate’s strongest proponents of the so-called “public option”, has commits to holding a vote “in the coming months” on the proposal. This is no doubt to quell deep dissatisfaction among a number of more liberal members in the upper chamer who have said the health care reform bill moving through Congress, while making critical changes they support, does not do enough. In the letter, sent to Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-OR, and Bernie Sanders, I-VT, Reid notes, “I was very disappointed when it became clear that we did not have the votes to keep it in,” a reference to the original bill the Majority Leader introduced in the Senate. “I remain committed to pursuing the public option,” Reid promised, noting that while he thinks the current legislation will make the state of health care better, a public option “would provide additional competition to make insurance even more affordable.” Reid was unable to muster the necessary 60 votes to keep the public option in the original legislation, in part due to the opposition of a number of conservative members of his own Caucus. Any legislation Reid would bring forward, absent the protection of reconciliation, would still need 60 votes for passage, and Reid now has one less Democratic seat than he had in 2009. The Budget Committee is about to get started with a resolution for the new fiscal year. There could be a push to use the reconciliation fast track procedure once again to move the public option, but it is unclear if Reid could muster the 51 votes for final passage, even using the budgetary tactic that eliminates the possibility of a filibuster. .

To: mph who wrote (78446)	3/24/2010 12:08:44 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Social Justice My Ass Bumper sticker available here cafepress.com .

To: mph who wrote (78446)	3/27/2010 10:19:55 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

*** Tell me this wasn't always about "social Justice" & "spread the wealth" *** Democratic Senator: Health Care Law to Address 'Mal-Distribution of Income' FOXNews.com As Democrats tout the moral underpinnings of the federal health care system overhaul -- ensuring health care coverage for nearly all Americans -- one senator appeared to go off message when he said the legislation would address the "mal-distribution of income in America." After the Senate passed a "fix-it" bill Thursday to make changes to the new health care law, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the influential Finance Committee, said the overhaul was an "income shift" to help the poor. "Too often, much of late, the last couple three years, the mal-distribution of income in American is gone up way too much, the wealthy are getting way, way too wealthy and the middle income class is left behind," he said. "Wages have not kept up with increased income of the highest income in America. This legislation will have the effect of addressing that mal-distribution of income in America." That contrasted with the arguments Democrats have been making in the past year for reinventing the health care system: to expand health care coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans and tighten regulations on insurance companies while reducing the federal deficit. But some Republican critics have suggested the overhaul is taking the country down the path to socialism. The nearly $1 trillion legislation pays for itself in large part through new taxes on the wealthy -- Americans who make $250,000 and more. A spokeswoman for Baucus did not respond to an e-mail seeking more information on the statement. Baucus' statement could give Republicans ammunition as they seek to repeal the law and regain control of Congress in the November elections. Democrats have rejected Republican charges that they are trying to take over the health care system. In Iowa this week to trumpet the benefits of the legislation, President Obama said, "We made a promise. That promise has been kept." "From this day forward, all of the cynics, all the naysayers -- they're going to have to confront the reality of what this reform is and what it isn't," the president said. "They'll have to finally acknowledge this isn't a government takeover of our health care system." GOP strategist Matt Schlapp, the White House director to former President George. W. Bush, told FoxNews.com that Baucus' statement reflected the "duality" of a responsible Democrat who understands the ramifications of tax policy on Americans but has a "foot in the camp of the most radical and rabid big government activists that are advocating for some breathtaking policies." "It's interesting," he said. "He's not the senator I would use as the poster boy for radical and misunderstanding of market dynamics." But Schlapp said he's not surprised by anything said by a member of a political party that, he said, seeks "to take money away from people who are achieving and give it those who aren’t." .