Obama fails to see America as a land of opportunity, rejects wealth creation, and intends to “grow the middle,” not by lifting the poor, but by shrinking the top. This explains his obsession with health care-the “keystone” is in reach.
via American Thinker Blog: Why Obama won’t stop pushing health care reform.
Democratic congressional leaders confronted the reality Tuesday that they may not be able to pass the comprehensive health care overhaul sought by President Barack Obama. Republican leaders prepared to do everything in their power to make sure they cant.
Democrats saw the sweeping health bill that Obama unveiled ahead of a bipartisan health care summit Thursday as their last, best chance at a top-to-bottom remake of the nations health care system that would usher in near-universal health coverage. But some were clear-eyed about the difficulties after a year of corrosive debate and the loss of their filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate.
via My Way News – Hoyer: Comprehensive health bill may be no go.
Here’s the dirty pool that we’ve come to understand as Chicago corruption politics. The Democrats don’t have the votes and don’t have anything but an extremely horrible plan, so they’re openly forcing a dirty corrupt procedure against the will of the people. They need to be removed.
President Barack Obama is expected to publish his healthcare plan as early as Sunday or Monday, combining features of the two Democratic bills passed by the Senate and House of Representatives, congressional aides and healthcare advocates said on Friday.
The administration’s bill will aim to jump-start the stalled healthcare overhaul and comes just days ahead of a planned televised White House summit with congressional Republicans, who are calling on Democrats to scrap the bills and start over with a far less sweeping proposal.
Democrats are struggling to push healthcare legislation over the finish line in the face of sagging public support and solid Republican opposition bolstered by recent election victories in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey.
The legislation the White House will post on its website is expected to reflect common ground negotiated over the past several weeks by House and Senate Democratic leaders.
Those agreements are likely to be combined as a privileged budget reconciliation bill, which only needs a simple 51-vote majority to pass the 100-member Senate instead of the 60-vote supermajority that has become routine in the Senate and gives Republicans power to block the healthcare bill.”I believe that’s the path we are going to take,” a senior congressional Democratic aide said.
The White House has agreed to concessions in its health care legislation aimed at sparing union workers the bulk of a new tax.
We have seen tremendous progress over the last couple of days,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, signaling an easier path for the legislation in the union-friendly House.
read the rest here… Obama, Dems cut deal to exempt union health care from taxes | Washington Examiner.
I’ll start with the least likely…
#6–Union blues
The left is nearly as angry as the Right, calling the Reid bill a bailout for the insurance industry. The unions are upset about the tax on their so-called “Cadillac” health care plans and want that removed. The Left has held the coalition together with a “live together, die alone” motto, but politics changes with the wind. And the Left knows the winds are changing. I list this first because it is the least likely. But it is still possible.
#5–One Democrat Senator can’t make it to the floor to vote.
Despite the backroom deals and dirty tricks, as we understand it there will be one more final cloture vote in the Senate. Rules require 60 votes to invoke cloture. If one Democrat Senator can’t make it to the floor, for any reason (health, accident, death etc.) they don’t have 60 votes.
#4–The Cornhusker Kickback kicks back.
Arnold Schwarzenegger told California’s members of Congress to vote NO unless their state also gets the Cornhusker Kickback. Now Dems are scrambling to give every state a kickback. The more talk about kickbacks and the more uncomfortable everyone is with this entire fiasco.
#3–Abortion issue divides Democrats.
Rep. Bart Stupak has already voiced his opposition to Nelson’s compromise and says he has the votes to stop any abortion-funding ObamaCare bill. An equal number of House Democrats have vowed to torpedo any final bill that includes Stupak’s amendment. One group must blink for ObamaCare to pass.
#2–Three House Democrats change their votes.
Abortion is just one of the issues dividing Democrats. Rep. Cantor has identified 34 House Democrats who are facing a very difficult vote based on three issues: abortion, Medicare Advantage, and state budget crises. It is now an election year. The pressure is building. If three members feel enough heat to switch their votes, ObamaCare fails.
#1–The Massachusetts Miracle.
The Bay State’s special election next week to fill the late Sen. Kennedy’s seat is now a tossup in some polls, and Republican candidate Scott Brown has pledged to be the 41st vote to block ObamaCare. If Brown is seated before the final ObamaCare vote, game over. There is already talk that if Brown wins, Democrats will stall his election certification in order to keep him from casting the deciding vote.
The special election is next Tuesday (1/19), before any final votes will be cast on ObamaCare. If a Republican takes Teddy Kennedy’s seat, I say all bets are off. Democrats from coast-to-coast will suddenly get a lot more nervous about voting for ObamaCare. Unlike old king Belshazzar in the book of Daniel, they won’t need a prophet to interpret the “handwriting on the wall” — vote now for ObamaCare and get defeated in November.
read the rest here… SIX WAYS TO DEFEAT OBAMACARE…. OBAMA’S DIRTY BACKROOM DEAL THIS WEEK… ELECTION ON THE 19TH – Patriotic Resistance.
…So Obama’s plan amounts to this: partial coverage of the uninsured; modest improvements (possibly) in their health; sizable budgetary costs worsening a bleak outlook; significant, unpredictable changes in insurance markets; weak spending control. This is a bad bargain. Health benefits are overstated, long-term economic costs understated. The country would be the worse for this legislation’s passage. What it’s become is an exercise in political symbolism: Obama’s self-indulgent crusade to seize the liberal holy grail of “universal coverage.” What it’s not is leadership.
read the rest here… Passing Health Reform Could Be a Nightmare for Obama
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.
Completely Reckless, Completely Irresponsible
from the Office of Senator Mitch McConnellThursday, 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.”
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.
Senate Democrats’ health care bill would create a new marriage penalty by imposing a tax on individuals who make $200,000 annually but hitting married couples making just $50,000 more.
That’s one of 17 new taxes imposed by the bill, which also creates a levy on elective plastic surgery – some call it “botax” – and places a 40 percent excise tax on those who have generous health care plans.
“If you have insurance, you get taxed. If you don’t have insurance, you get taxed. If you need a life-saving medical device, you get taxed. If you need prescription medicines, you get taxed,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, who is leading the fight against the bill.
read the rest here… Senate health care bill creates new marriage penalty – Washington Times.