President Obama famously cancelled his planned trip to Asia to stay in DC for today’s health care vote. Canceling long-standing diplomatic missions should not be done lightly. In this video clip, Obama responds to gentle grilling from a reporter from Indonesian TV about his decision to scuttle the trip. His answers reveal a lot about what is happening on the Hill today.

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Over the last several days, old friends and family around the country have contacted me with the same questions: ‘Do they have the votes? What is going to happen?’ Maybe they think that, living inside the Beltway, I get some secret newsletter that can divine what Congress will do. To all of them and you, let me be clear: I have no idea what is going to happen tonight. We have slipped well beyond any rational political thought or calculation. By any traditional analysis, this bill would have been buried long ago. So, while I don’t know what is going to happen, it is worth thinking a bit about what is going on. On that I have something to say.

The Democrats and the White House are lost in a legislative “fog of war” right now. They are focused on twisting enough arms, offering jobs and negotiating specific “deals” (bribes) to get them to 216 votes. Their attention and energy is focused exclusively on a final vote in the House tonight. No one is looking even one minute beyond that horizon. They are like a general who pours all his reserves into taking a symbolic bridge, never realizing that his lines have already collapsed and his flanks have been turned. They may take the bridge and get to 216 votes. (I’ve learned to never bet against Congressional leadership and an Administration united for a single legislative victory. ) But, they have already lost the war. They have deluded themselves that if they can…just…get…this…bill…passed, the public’s anger and attention will subside, they can put health care ‘behind them’ and they can focus on other ‘popular’ measures that will shore up their election prospects in November.

What they don’t realize is that today’s vote isn’t the end, but just a new beginning in the debate over health care. Buckle up, because if they manage to cobble together enough votes to pass the Senate Health Bill today, we’re set for weeks and perhaps months of a constitutional and political crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in our lifetimes.

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According to AP reports, “Catholic nuns are urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama’s health care plan, in an unusual public break with bishops who say it would subsidize abortion.”  Reportedly, 60 leaders of religious orders sent lawmakers a letter pleading with them to pass the Senate healthcare bill.

The AP clearly has not noticed the virtual ongoing war within the Catholic Church, especially with regards to government responsibility as opposed to private/church responsibility.  In no sphere is this internal war more evident than when it comes to matters involving the Church’s Doctrine on Social Justice.

The Doctrines on Social Justice are, perhaps, the most misunderstood and lied-about facets of the Catholic faith.  Just about everyone in public life, including even the majority of Catholics themselves, completely ignore the fundamentals of Social Justice teaching.  They summarily conclude that Social Justice is a synonym for socialist redistributive policies, which seek to equalize material outcomes for all.  I call this the Kumbayah Fallacy.

These nuns have fallen hook, line and sinker for the Kumbayah Fallacy.  Right along with all the liberation theologians, who have shamefully wrapped Marxist doctrine around the cross of Christ for decades.

This mingling of socialism with Christianity makes a diabolical mockery of the Church’s genuine Social Doctrine, as delineated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  In fact, the Catholic Church explicitly rebukes all forms of “communism” and “socialism” right there in plain sight in the Catechism.  While the Church also condemns completely unfettered capitalism, with no regulations whatsoever, She saves most condemnation for the Marxist doctrines, which attempt to regulate the economy “solely by centralized planners,” as this “perverts the basis of social bonds” between human beings.

While President Obama has made wide use of his claim to fighting for Social Justice, especially with his zeal towards a government takeover of our healthcare system, he has utterly ignored the natural – fully predictable – unintended consequences of his attempt to reorder the best medical delivery system the world has ever created.

In fact, this reordering of the American medical delivery system to suit the whims of socialist reformers, President Obama is ensuring a genuine Social Justice nightmare for the whole world.

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Pro-life leaders, including a top representative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB,) discussed on Friday the prospects of the Senate health care bill, warning that the present version will ban conscientious exemptions among private health care plans while making “billions” of dollars available for federally funded abortion.

They urged pro-life Democrats to “stand firm” until better legislation can be written and prevent the bill from passing on Sunday.

Speaking in a Friday press conference Tom McClusky, the senior vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC), characterized the legislation as “the biggest expansion of government-funded abortion since Roe v. Wade.”

Also addressing the conference was Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities.

The Catholic bishops, supporters of universal health care since 1919, wanted to support the bill, he commented. They did not seek an explicitly pro-life bill, but only a “neutral bill.”

However, the Senate legislation is “morally unacceptable,” with billions in community funding appropriated outside of the Hyde Amendment abortion funding restrictions and not covered “by any limitation.”

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It’s come to this…

The state-run media is now pushing their anti-tea party propaganda from sources at the Huffington Post. And, they’re reporting this propaganda without a single piece of evidence.

On Saturday the media reported without a shred of evidence that tea party protesters were shouting obscenities and “n***er” at black Representatives on Capitol Hill. The representatives said it happened as they walked from the Longworth office building to the Rayburn office building.

The Huffington Post is concerned that those conservative, church-going, taxpaying tea party protesters are using words like “slaughter” on their signs.

This McClatchy News story was one of the top articles on Yahoo on Saturday Night:

Tea party protesters use racial epithet against Georgia’s John Lewis

Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol , angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted “nigger” Saturday at U.S. Rep. John Lewis , a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s.

The protesters also shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus , lawmakers said.

“They were shouting, sort of harassing,” Lewis said. “But, it’s okay, I’ve faced this before. It reminded me of the 60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean.”

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver , D- Mo. , said he was a few yards behind Lewis and distinctly heard “nigger.”

“It was a chorus,” Cleaver said. “In a way, I feel sorry for those people who are doing this nasty stuff – they’re being whipped up. I decided I wouldn’t be angry with any of them.”

Protestors also used a slur as they confronted Rep. Barney Frank , D- Mass. , an openly gay member of Congress . A writer for Huffington Post said the crowd called Frank a “faggot.”

But, look at this…

Here’s video proof that these horrible leftists are liars:

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Today, in 1413, Henry V became King of England. Hmmm…interesting considering what we’re facing today on the Hill. Good excuse to revisit this:

Several hours into last month’s marathon health care summit, President Obama became exasperated.  Republican lawmakers Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Jon Kyl had plainly laid out their party’s objections to his massive legislation by emphasizing a major philosophical point of departure between the two parties.   Democrats place a great deal of faith in the effectiveness and wisdom of the federal government in handling complex social and fiscal issues, they said, whereas Republicans view centralized planning and onerous regulation with a jaundiced and skeptical eye.  This virtuosic issue-framing wouldn’t do, Obama concluded:  “Any time the question is phrased as, ‘Does Washington know better?’ I think we’re, kind of, tipping the scales a little bit there—since we all know that everybody is angry at Washington right now,” he griped.

Indeed.  Ryan and Kyl were stating the obvious: The American people don’t trust big government.  Reinforcing those insecurities and applying them to the health care debate was precisely the point of raising the issue, and the president knew it.  In fairness, negative perceptions of government bureaucracy certainly pre-date the Obama administration and the current “reform” battle.  Cracks about the DMV’s inefficiencies and the Post Office’s red ink have long been political punch lines.  (Oddly, Obama once unfavorably cited the Post Office while advocating increased federal involvement in health care).  Those warmed-over bromides notwithstanding, much of today’s scorn for big government can be laid at the feet of policies proposed and instituted by President Obama and his party.  Americans’ skepticism toward government intervention has grown more acute after a series of recent high-profile federal flops.

“Making Home Affordable” was the federal program introduced in February 2009 that touched-off Rick Santelli’s infamous Tea Party-catalyzing rant.  It was a $75 Billion mortgage program devised to protect homeowners from foreclosure.  Nobody relished the thought of fellow citizens being forced from their homes, but critics of the plan argued it would reinforce foolish bank lending practices, reward individuals for living far beyond their means, and punish responsible taxpayers with current mortgage payments.  Epitomizing the program’s backwardness was the case of bus driver Minta Garcia.  According to CNN, Garcia had managed to “buy” an $800,000 home that her family couldn’t remotely afford.  Inevitably, she soon fell hopelessly behind on her payments.  Thanks to Obama’s tax-funded munificence and empathy, she and others like her could qualify for personalized government bailouts.

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Hundreds rallied today outside of Russ Carnahan’s office in St. Louis.

500 protesters met today at Carnahan’s Brentwood office. The rally was called late yesterday afternoon. Missouri protesters wanted to let “Rubber Stamp Russ” know that he will pay in November for being Pelosi’s puppet all year long.

Angry protesters chucked shoes at radical Russ Carnahan on a can:

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From The Hill:

Top Democrats confirmed Saturday that the House would hold separate votes on the Senate healthcare bill and the reconciliation bill, making fixes to it.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the chief deputy whips, Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), all of whom said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won’t use the tactic of deem and pass for healthcare reform.

The move effectively kills the “deem and pass” strategy Democrats had been eyeing to make changes to the Senate bill through a rule on the bill, which at the same time would have deemed the original Senate healthcare bill to have passed the House.

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The indispensable Jake Tapper of ABC News took an interview with Vice President Joe “Foot in Mouth” Biden that contains a nugget of information that tends to prove that Barack Obama intends to destroy America’s insurance industry and place it under the full control of the federal government.

Tapper asked VP Biden what he’d been hearing from the members of the Democrat Congress that are vulnerable over this healthcare debate and Biden’s reply let slip the administrations ultimate goal; full government control of the insurance industry. (My bold)

BIDEN: Well, I yes. Some of them I say they say, well, Joe, look, man, I mean, you know, you guys haven’t massaged this very well. And, you know, this thing has gone on so long, I don’t know. And my response is, hey, man, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I’m telling you, you know, pre-existing, they’re going to be covered. You know we’re going to control the insurance companies.

Granted Joe Biden is the court jester of the Obama Administration. He is a fool of the highest order. It would be easy to dismisshis words. However, the idea that Obama wants to take full federal control of the insurance industry fits quite nicely with Obama’s claims as a candidate — that he was for a single payer plan all along.

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If anyone has ever wondered why Michigan has had the worst unemployment rate in the country for nearly 50 months, or why its state government repeatedly spends more than it brings in, here’s a reason: we have morons for leaders.  We really do.

I swear other governors look at Michigan’s policies and do the polar opposition, with good reason.

Adding insult to the ailing meat industry, Governor Jennifer Granholm proclaimed today, Saturday, March 20, “Michigan Meatout Day.”  Apparently the Tofu Lobby got to the governor and she sided with them, instead of the farmers and meat producers of Michigan.

Now, Therefore, be it Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, governor of the state of Michigan, do hereby proclaim March 20, 2010, Michigan Meatout Day in Michigan. In observance of this day, I encourage the residents of this state to choose not to eat meat.  Eating a healthy diet can be fun. Explore the different recipes that can be created by using fresh ingredients and by having a sense of adventure.

From Michigan Information and Research Service, a daily state capitol newsletter:

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In Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel, Slaughterhouse Five, the main character, Billy Pilgrim, is an American POW who hides in a meat cellar as Dresden is being fire bombed.

In 2010, the Slaughterhouse Three, Obama, Pelosi and Reid, shove every American in a meat cellar as they fire bomb America with their rationing-based health care plan. ObamaCare is a plan designed to strip Freedom and Liberty from every American.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid now have decided to avoid an up/down House vote on the Senate Bill and to enforce the “Slaughter House Rule”. In other words, when you do not have the votes, just change the rules, pass the changes to the bill and pretend you passed the “real” bill. Previously, the public was outraged that members of Congress did not read the bill prior to voting. This is even worse. With this latest charade, Obama, Pelosi and Reid are forcing House members to pass the bill without voting on the bill. …So much for a democratic republic and The Constitution.

The latest version of ObamaCare is troubling on many fronts. ObamaCare takes control of every American’s health care life. This plan would not improve the current system, and is fatally flawed because it:

• Rations and denies access to healthcare. Denying access to healthcare is the most inhumane and unethical means of cutting costs;
• Costs $1 TRILLION ( $100 Billion more than The Senate Bill) ;
• Creates over 110 Federal Agencies, commissions and boards;
• Creates The Health Insurance Rate Authority….a direct violation of States’ Rights;
• Establishes a “ Comprehensive Database” on Americans;

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Those of you eager to listen to this week’s Coffee & Markets will have to wait til Sunday (we want to see how things turn out on Capitol Hill), so here’s a brief podcast from TNL Editor Benjamin Domenech with a few thoughts on the eve of health care reform’s final vote, including: “Obama’s dedication to passing this spectacularly flawed and unpopular health care bill appears to be based on the assumption that the American people like a winner even if the victory comes at their expense.”

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Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

TNL: How Obamacare Will Reshape the Workforce
DC Examiner: Pro Reform Liberals Admit This Wasn’t a Battle Against Special Interests
Heritage: More Bad News in the House Health Care Bill
Keith Hennessey: Understanding the Health Care Bill
Jane Hamsher: 18 Myths About HCR Debunked
The Note: Rep. Frank Says HCR Could Still Fail
NRO: Obamacare’s IRS Connection
NEMJ: 46% of Family Doctors Forced Out of Medicine Under Obamacare
Fred Barnes: Health Care Wars Only Beginning
HCN: 10 Disasters in Obamacare, 10 Solutions for Real Reform

We were elected to make tough choices, not run from them.  On Thursday, House Democrats sparked widespread outrage by voting to authorize the use of the controversial “Slaughter Solution” to force amassive government takeover of health care through the House without voting on it.  They voted to protect themselves instead of their constituents, who are fed up with the lack of accountability and transparency in Washington.  But there is no hiding from this vote.

That’s one reason why I sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) requesting that she hold a special “call of the roll” for the final health care vote this weekend.  Under this procedure, each lawmaker will be required to stand up and declare how he or she is voting on this bill.  This weekend’s votes will be among the most consequential votes we will ever cast as Members of Congress. I believe the stakes are too high, and this bill too controversial, for anything less than complete transparency and accountability.  It’s time to stand up and be counted.  I discuss the letter and the vote this weekend in the weekly GOP address you can view here:

Democratic leaders keep telling their Members that once this bill passes, it will be more popular.  They’re dead wrong.  Seniors will be furious about the Medicare cuts.  Small businesses will be furious about thejob-killing new taxes and mandates.  Veterans will be furious that it doesn’t protect Tricare.  And EVERYONE will be furious about the army of new IRS agents.

That’s why the only responsible course of action is to scrap this health care bill.  Let’s start over with a clean sheet of paper.

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Yesterday, we attended an impromptu Tea Party outside the Evanston, IL office of Democrat Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Below are some photos and our in-depth video report documenting the event.

Very few people turned out, but that didn’t prevent the scene from turning dramatic as a couple of Obama supporters tossed around accusations of racism, called everyone idiots, and asked the absurd question: “What’s wrong with a little bit of Socialism?”

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A pretty stunning late-Friday news dump in the New York Times:

The community organizing group Acorn, battered politically from the right and suffering from mismanagement along with a severe loss of government and other funds, is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, officials of the group said Friday.

Acorn is holding a teleconference this weekend to discuss plans for a bankruptcy filing, two officials of the group said. They asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.

Over the last six months, at least 15 of the group’s 30 state chapters have disbanded and have no plans of re-forming, Acorn officials said. The California and New York chapters, two of the largest, have severed their ties to the national group and have independently reconstituted themselves with new names. Several other state groups are also re-forming outside the Acorn umbrella, and will not be affected if the national organization files for bankruptcy.

This week, the Maryland chapter announced that it would not reopen its offices, which were shuttered in September in the wake of a widely publicized series of video recordings made by two conservative activists, posing as a prostitute and a pimp, who secretly filmed Acorn workers providing them tax advice. In the videos, Acorn workers told one of the activists, James E. O’Keefe III, how to hide prostitution activities from the authorities and avoid taxes, raising no objections to his proposed criminal activities.

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Tomorrow, the Democrat Leadership plans to to pass their plan to forever change America. They may cobble together the votes, but they have no idea what they’ve unleashed. In November, the democrats will lose power for a generation.

After a successful video town hall in Pennsylvania, various members of congress will once again gather to video conference another area: Fresno, California.

Led by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Congressman Todd Akin, Congressman Steve King and various other members of congress. Members of the audience will have the opportunity to interact and ask questions with all of the elected officials from our nations capitol.

If you are in central California, we encourage you to join this event by coming down to the Radisson Hotel and Convention Center in Fresno.

Invitation below:

CA20 Video Conference

Before you ask what kind of self-medication I’ve discovered, let me preface this by reminding people I, among other things, am a political tactician. I lived in dark blue Massachusetts where Democrats not only made sport of standing on the necks of the super-minority Republicans, but attempting to squeeze the remaining life out of them. I know how they think and I know what will happen if health care reform is defeated.

The GOP has the cover of being 100% against this bill, so they are relatively safe come November.

Should health care reform be defeated, Democrats will first blame an out-of-power Republican minority, attempt a few faux mea culpas, tell the American people they “get it” and will hope the majority of Americans forgive-and-forget come November. The primary energy of Democrats will go towards keeping control of the House and Senate.

Let’s be real; if they maintain control, do you really think they won’t have learned the errors of their ways and attempt health care again (with a new “mandate”), this time quicker and more forceful with a fresh two years of pad?

I say let the Democrats have this victory.

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