Month: December 2009

More than 150 years since such significant but unpopular legislation was passed through a partisan Congress. – Rasmussen Reports™

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Expectations that Congress will pass health care reform in the coming year soared following the Senate’s Christmas Eve vote. Sixty-seven percent 67% now expect it to pass. Still, most voters continue to oppose the health care plan and 63% believe it will raise the cost of care. Most voters 54% also believe they personally will be worse off if the health care plan passes. Just 25% think they will be better off. A commentary by Michael Barone notes that it been more than 150 years since such significant but unpopular legislation was passed through Congress on a partisan basis.

Thirty-eight percent 38% now believe the economic stimulus plan passed earlier this year has hurt the economy. Just 30% believe it helped. That’s the first time since the legislation passed that a plurality offered a negative assessment.

read the rest here… Daily Presidential Tracking Poll – Rasmussen Reports™.

A Reckless Health Care Bill That Nobody Believes In – WSJ.com

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The best and most rigorous cost analysis was recently released by the insurer WellPoint, which mined its actuarial data in various regional markets to model the Senate bill. WellPoint found that a healthy 25-year-old in Milwaukee buying coverage on the individual market will see his costs rise by 178%. A small business based in Richmond with eight employees in average health will see a 23% increase. Insurance costs for a 40-year-old family with two kids living in Indianapolis will pay 106% more.

read the rest here… A Reckless Health Care Bill That Nobody Believes In – WSJ.com.

Do As I Say – Film on Some of Liberalism’s Biggest Hypocrites

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ABOUT THE FILM

Hypocrites come in all shapes and sizes. And when it comes to politics, hypocrisy is just part of the game. But the press only tends to cover half the story. For decades, the American people have benefited from the media’s meticulous investigation of hypocrisy among conservative leaders. Meanwhile, liberal hypocrisy gets a free pass.

But not any more.

These days, you can’t turn on the television or open a newspaper without finding liberal politicians, professors, pop stars, and pundits blaming the world’s problems on America’s free enterprise system, its democratic tradition, and its core values of individualism and self-reliance. But how sincere are they about their beliefs? How do they live? The answers will shock you.

In a film that will forever change how we see America and its leaders, filmmakers Nicholas Tucker and Lucas Abel take us on an unforgettable journey through a political landscape filled with hypocrites and humbugs. Along the way, they reveal a disturbing national truth: that the two-faced mantra “do as I say, not as I do” has become the unwritten golden rule of some of our most prominent liberal leaders.

  • Former vice president Al Gore has won an Academy Award and a Nobel Peace Prize for his crusade against global warming. But while he insists that average Americans must slash their carbon footprint or face a planetary catastrophe, Gore still flies around the world in a private jet—and burns thirty thousand dollars’ worth of electricity and natural gas each year in his Nashville mansion.
  • During her presidential campaign, Senator Hillary Clinton declared war on mortgage lending abuses. But she didn’t remind voters that she and her husband were once involved in a predatory lending scheme that took advantage of teachers, farmers, laborers, and other ordinary Americans, leaving them with no equity and nothing to show for the money they invested. In fact, more than half the people who spent their savings buying land from the Clintons in Whitewater never received a property deed.
  • Filmmaker Michael Moore, a self-styled “working-class boy from Flint, Michigan,” claims never to have owned a single share of stock. But don’t be fooled by his scruffy jeans and baseball cap. Moore, who lives in a lavish lakeside mansion with Eminem and Kid Rock as neighbors, owns a sizable investment portfolio through his foundation—including stock in Halliburton, Pfizer, Merck, Tenet Healthcare, and other companies he vilifies in his films.
  • Senator Ted Kennedy, enemy of tax shelters and vocal advocate of the estate tax, maintains an elaborate network of trusts and foundations to ensure that his own wealth will pass on to his heirs largely tax-free. Kennedy is also an avid environmentalist—as long as he doesn’t have to make any personal sacrifices. He strongly opposes the nation’s first offshore wind-energy project because it would interfere with his sailing hobby.
  • MIT professor Noam Chomsky is famed for denouncing free markets, private enterprise, and the American government. But he doesn’t come cheap—he charges $12,000 for each speaking engagement. His books berating capitalism have become hot commodities in their own right. And despite his oft-stated opposition to the U.S. military, property rights, and tax havens for the wealthy, he has turned a tidy profit as a Defense Department consultant, owns two million-dollar homes, and has set up an irrevocable trust to protect his sizable fortune for his heirs.

Do As I Say – Home.

Completely Reckless, Completely Irresponsible – Senator Mitch McConnell – Press Releases

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Completely Reckless, Completely Irresponsible
from the Office of Senator Mitch McConnell

Thursday, December 17, 2009

‘And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen. That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Thursday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform:

“Senators on both sides acknowledge that the health care bill we’re considering is among the most significant pieces of legislation any of us will ever consider.

“So it stands to reason that we’d devote significant time and attention to it.

“Indeed, some would argue that we should spend more time and attention on this bill than most — if not every — previous bill we’ve considered.

“The Majority disagrees.

“Why? Because this bill has become a political nightmare for them.

“They know Americans overwhelmingly oppose it, so they want to get it over with.

“Americans are already outraged at the fact that Democrat leaders took their eyes off the ball. Rushing the process on a partisan line makes the situation even worse.

“Americans were told the purpose of reform was to reduce the cost of health care.

“Instead, Democrat leaders produced a $2.5 trillion, 2,074-page monstrosity that vastly expands government, raises taxes, raises premiums, and wrecks Medicare.

“And they want to rush this bill through by Christmas — one of the most significant, far-reaching pieces of legislation in U.S. history. They want to rush it.

“And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen.

“That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private.

“That’s what they intend to bring to the floor and force a vote on before Christmas.

“So this entire process is essentially a charade.

“But let’s just compare the process so far with previous legislation for some perspective. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve done and where we stand:

• The Majority Leader intends to bring this debate to a close as early as this weekend — four days from now, on this $2.5 trillion dollar mistake

• No American who hasn’t been invited into the Majority Leader’s conference room knows what will be in that bill

• This bill has been the pending business of the Senate since the last week of November — less than four weeks ago.

• We started the amendment process two weeks ago.

• We’ve had 21 amendments and motions — less than two a day.

“Now let’s look at how the Senate has dealt with previous legislation.

“No Child Left Behind (2001):

• 21 session days or 7 weeks.

• Roll Call votes: 44

• Number of Amendments offered: 157

“9/11 Commission/Homeland Security Act (2002):

• 19 session days over 7 weeks.

• Roll Call votes: 20

• Number of Amendments offered: 30

“Energy Bill (2002):

• 21 session days over 8 weeks

• Number of Roll Call votes: 36

• Number of Amendments offered: 158

“This isn’t an energy bill. This is an attempt by a majority to take over one sixth of the U.S. economy — to vastly expand the reach and the role of government into the health care decisions of every single American — and they want to be done after one substantive amendment. This is absolutely inexcusable.

“I think Senator Snowe put it best on Tuesday:

‘Given the enormity and complexity,’ she said, ‘I don’t see anything magical about the Christmas deadline if this bill is going to become law in 2014.’

“And I think Senator Snowe’s comments on a lack of bipartisanship at the outset of this debate are also right on point.

“Here’s what she said in late November:

‘I am truly disappointed we are commencing our historic debate on one of the most significant and pressing domestic issues of our time with a process that has forestalled our ability to arrive at broader agreement on some of the most crucial elements of health care reform. The bottom line is, the most consequential health care legislation in the history of our country and the reordering of $33 trillion in health care spending over the coming decade shouldn’t be determined by one vote-margin strategies – surely we can and must do better.’

“The only conceivable justification for rushing this bill is the overwhelming opposition of the American people. Democrats know that the longer Americans see this bill the less they like it. Here’s the latest from Pew. It came out just yesterday.

“A majority (58 percent) of those who have heard a lot about the bills oppose them while only 32 percent favor them.”

“There is no justification for this blind rush — except a political one, and that’s not good enough for the American people.

“And there’s no justification for forcing the Senate to vote on a bill none of us has seen.

“Americans already oppose this bill. The process is just as bad.

“It’s completely reckless, completely irresponsible.”

Senator Mitch McConnell – Press Releases.

Investors.com – Making Nightmare Out Of Health Care

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Yet, a 2008 study by the British medical journal Lancet shows government-run health care systems in Germany, France, Britain and Canada have higher rates of death from breast, prostate and colon cancer than the U.S. — due largely to substandard government care.Americans have greater access to MRI, tomography and other sophisticated diagnostics — and more lifesaving drugs. The waiting list for surgery and other treatment runs to 800,000 people in Canada and 200,000 in Britain, notes health care analyst Sally Pipes. Thousands die each year from lack of care in Europe and Canada. The U.S. has virtually no waiting lists.

read the rest here… Investors.com – Making Nightmare Out Of Health Care.

FOXNews.com – Obamas Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders

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President Obamas “Safe Schools Czar,” already a target of social conservatives for his past drug abuse and what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, is under fresh attack after it was revealed that the pro-gay group he formerly headed recommends books his critics say are pornographic.The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network GLSEN, which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008.GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in schools, and that effort includes recommending books for students of all ages.

read the rest here… FOXNews.com – Obamas Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders.

Lieberman resists Medicare buy-in plan

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WASHINGTON (AP) – Risking the wrath of Democrats, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., threatened Sunday to join Republicans in opposing health care legislation if it permits uninsured individuals as young to 55 to purchase Medicare coverage.
Lieberman, whose vote is critical to the bill’s prospects, expressed his opposition twice during the day: first in an interview with CBS, and more strongly later, according to Democratic officials, in a private meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Lieberman resists Medicare buy-in plan.

Tom Shales – Preview of Matt Damon’s ‘The People Speak’ on History Channel – washingtonpost.com

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“The People Speak,” premiering on the History Channel on Sunday night, is based on a book called “A People’s History of the United States,” which might as reasonably have been titled “A Left-Wing Professor’s History of the United States” — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Tom Shales – Preview of Matt Damon’s ‘The People Speak’ on History Channel – washingtonpost.com.

Amir Taheri: Iran’s Democratic Moment – WSJ.com

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Most significantly, the movement that started as a protest against the alleged rigging of the election that gave a second term to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been evolving. The crowds’ initial slogan was “Where Is My Vote?” and the movement’s accidental leaders, including former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, tried hard to keep the protest confined to demands such as a recount of the votes and, ultimately, a runoff in accordance with the law.The slogans of the protestors are no longer about election fraud. Today they include “Death to the Dictator,” “Freedom Now,” and “Iranian Republic, Not Islamic Republic!” One slogan is a direct message to President Barack Obama: “Obama, Are You With Us or With Them?” In short, the protestors no longer regard the present regime as the legitimate government of the country.

read the rest here… Amir Taheri: Iran’s Democratic Moment – WSJ.com.