» Harry Reid - Big Government

Hope and Change: Had Enough?

by Paul A. Rahe

Back in 1946, an ingenious advertising executive named Karl Frost suggested a simple, straightforward political slogan to the Massachusetts Republican Committee: “Had Enough? Vote Republican,” it read. This slogan was soon found on billboards all across the country, and in November of that year the Republicans picked up fifty-five seats in the House and twelve in the Senate, seizing control in both chambers.

By that November, the country had suffered under the New Deal for fourteen years, and Americans, understandably, were fed up. Moreover, as Michael Barone pointed out last May, “After World War II Democrats wanted to retain wartime high taxes, pro-union labor laws, and wage and price controls, all manipulatable for political benefit by political insiders. Republicans . . . won big enough majorities to lower taxes, revise labor laws and abolish controls.”

Were I in the shoes of Michael Steele, I would buy up billboard space all over the country and slap up the same slogan – for something similar should be possible this November. The healthcare debate was over some time ago. When Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat in January, it was made abundantly clear that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party had lost that debate decisively. Now, in the face of fierce public opposition, they have jammed the bill through Congress, and they have done so without the cover of a single Republican vote. For this – as William Daley, the mastermind of the Chicago machine, warned in an op-ed that appeared in The Washington Post on Christmas eve – they will pay dearly and not just this coming November.

Abraham Lincoln once observed, “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.” It is possible, of course, that events will intervene between now and November. It is conceivable that the healthcare bill and the manner in which it was passed in both the Senate and the House will be forgotten. But this is not likely. If the Republicans stick together, mount a principled opposition to the Obama administration on all fronts, and recruit first-rate candidates to run in every district at both the state and the federal levels in November, it is highly likely that there will be a political earthquake in this country on a scale not seen since 1932.

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Tags: Abraham Lincoln, alexander hamilton, FDR, federalists, had enough
Posted Mar 22nd 2010 at 5:27 am in Congress, Economics, Featured Story, Healthcare, History, Obama, Politics, Tax Reform, federal spending | 9345485 CommentsHope+and+Change%3A+Had+Enough%3F2010-03-22+12%3A27%3A28Paul+A.++Rahe

ObamaCare: The Slaughter House Three

by Dr. David Janda

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.

dresdengermany

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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Tags: deem and pass, government health care, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, ObamaCare
Posted Mar 20th 2010 at 9:29 am in Congress, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics, federal spending | 9293074 Comments2010-03-20+16%3A29%3A38Dr.+David+Janda

‘Schoolhouse Barack’

by John K. Herr

Remember Schoolhouse Rock, that civic-minded Saturday morning cartoon short from the 1970s? It’s time to update it for the Obama Era.

I__m_just_a_Bill_by_kilroyart

”I’m Just a Law”

LAW (singing): I’m just a law, yes I’m only a law,
And I don’t know why they passed me at all.
Cause — no — one — knows what is in me
No one’s read a darn word,
I was typed up last night
By a 20-year-old nerd,
But Pelosi twisted elbows all day.
How I hoped and prayed they would stall
But today, all in all, I’m a law.

BOY: Hello, Law, why so glum?

(more…)

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Tags: government health care, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, ObamaCare, Pelosicare
Posted Mar 14th 2010 at 3:01 pm in Congress, Healthcare, Obama, Political Humor, Politics | 8274686 Comments%27Schoolhouse+Barack%272010-03-14+22%3A01%3A50John+K.+Herr

Financial Regulation, Health Care, and Could Insurers Demand the Next Bailout?

by The New Ledger

It’s time for your weekly dose of Coffee and Markets, featuring The New Ledger’s Francis Cianfrocca, a podcast brought to you by the fine folks at Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com and LibertyPundits.com, your home for conservative podcasts. In this week’s edition, we’ll talk about the fallout from a failed attempt by Senators Dodd and Corker to make new financial regulations bipartisan, the latest activity on the bond markets, and what’s next for Obamacare.

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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.

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Tags: bailouts, Bob Corker, Chris Dodd, Coffee and Markets, financial regulations
Posted Mar 12th 2010 at 9:14 am in Coffee and Markets | 881105 Comments2010-03-12+17%3A14%3A37The+New+Ledger

Senate Parliamentarian Rules Obama Must Sign Senate Bill BEFORE Reconciliation

by SusanAnne Hiller

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Via Roll Call

The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.

Information Republicans say they have received from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office eliminates that option. House Democratic leaders last week began looking at crafting a legislative rule that would allow the House to approve the Senate health care bill, but not forward it to Obama for his signature until the Senate clears the reconciliation package.

This just confirms what I’ve been saying all along: the House vote is the final vote.

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Tags: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, ObamaCare, reconciliation, senate health care
Posted Mar 11th 2010 at 6:39 pm in Congress, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics | 87902188 Comments2010-03-12+02%3A39%3A01SusanAnne+++Hiller

Reconciliation Is a Deceptive Distraction from the True Intentions

by SusanAnne Hiller

Building on a previous post exposing that Harry Reid took the existing House-passed bill, H.R. 3590, entitled the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 and replaced the existing bill language, via an amendment, with the Senate’s version of the healthcare bill–creating a new H.R. 3590–the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate).

I stand by my assertion that Reid took H.R. 3590–knowing that all bills that raise revenue must originate in the House per the Constitution–as evidenced by the actual bill text dated December 24, 2009 seen here in a screen shot and his trick:

This further confirms that the March 18th House healthcare vote is the final vote for passage; however, there are still many pundits who just don’t comprehend this fact.

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Tags: government health care, Harry Reid, health care reform, HR 3590, Nancy Pelosi
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 7:59 am in Congress, Healthcare, News, Politics | 8565085 Comments2010-03-08+15%3A59%3A26SusanAnne+++Hiller

The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: Bunning Throws Reid the High Hard One

by Jeffrey Jena

I grew up in Kentucky where every boy who ever played baseball knew the name of Jim Bunning. He is the Hall of Fame pitcher who threw a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies and knew how to play hardball long before the tingly-legged Chris Matthews co-opted the name for his decidedly softball show.

jim-bunning-hof

If you are anywhere near being a fiscal conservative you have to absolutely love what Senator Jim Bunning did this week. This week Senator Bunning showed Senator Harry Reid, and a few Senate Republicans how to throw one high and tight. His one man play at fiscal responsibility has the Washington “in” crowd crying foul and showing their hypocrisy.

In case you missed it here is a brief rundown. A few weeks ago the Congress passed a bill known as “Pay-Go,” a fluffy piece of nonsense posturing. On its surface Pay-Go seems to be fiscally responsibly, if you want to spend some money you need to show where it is going to come from. Senator Bunning knew the bill was hogwash because any spending could avoid being subject to Pay Go if it was “an emergency.” He didn’t vote for the bill for that reason. He also saw another flaw in the bill, a single Senator could hold up the whole Senate if they wanted to.

This week when Senator Reid tried to push through an extension to unemployment benefits Senator Bunning played a little chin music for the Majority leader and put the breaks on the additional 10 billion in spending. Senator Bunning invoked his right to stop the bill and call for the application of the Pay Go rule. When members of the media hounded Senator Bunning for a comment he showed them the door, of the elevator he was taking. Nice added touch!

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Tags: bernie sanders, Chris Matthews, Harry Reid, Jim Bunning, pay go rules
Posted Mar 4th 2010 at 12:59 pm in Congress, News, Politics, federal spending | 84310141 Comments2010-03-04+20%3A59%3A13Jeffrey+Jena

The Constitution Matters: It Means What It Says

by Danny Tarkanian

The Constitution and the Second Amendment are in the spotlight this week on two fronts. First is that oral arguments are being held in the McDonald v Chicago case to possibly apply the holding in Heller to the states.

us-supremecourt

In addition, Senators are beginning their evaluation of the judicial nomination of Berkeley professor Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a vote that will tell a great deal about Senator Reid’s adherence to Constitutional principles such as those specified in the Second Amendment.

Senator Reid has a terrible record on judicial nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. In DC v Heller, there were four dissenters from the holding that the right to bear arms is an individual right. Harry Reid had a chance to vote on three and he voted for each one – Breyer, Souter and Ginsburg. Harry Reid has a chance to vote on four of the majority justices, and he voted against three of them – Thomas, Alito and Roberts. If Harry Reid had been successful in defeating any of these three, Heller would have been in jeopardy. That’s six out of seven bad votes on the Supreme Court.

Four of those bad votes were cast in his very first term, when my primary opponent Sue Lowden was his loyal contributor.

There will be hearings on professor Liu, but I am specifically interested in a particular book he co-authored on jurisprudence entitled “Keeping Faith with the Constitution.”

(more…)

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Tags: Goodwin liu, gun control, gun rights, Harry Reid, judicial nominations
Posted Mar 4th 2010 at 9:46 am in Congress, Culture, Justice/Legal, News, Politics, State Politics | 84014125 Comments2010-03-04+17%3A46%3A12Danny+Tarkanian

Obama’s Continued War on the Market

by Andrew Mellon

obama

In a further attack on the housing market, the New York Times recently reported that President Obama may be amending his loan modification program to make it even more difficult for defaulting homeowners to be foreclosed upon. The Times states:

The Obama administration, under intense pressure to help millions of people in danger of losing their homes, is considering a ban on foreclosures unless they have first been examined for potential modification, according to a set of draft proposals.

That would raise the stakes from the current practice, which strongly encourages lenders to evaluate defaulting borrowers for a modification but does not make it mandatory.

Meg Reilly, a Treasury Department spokeswoman, said Thursday that the proposed foreclosure ban was “one of the many ideas under consideration in the administration’s ongoing housing stabilization efforts.” The proposal was first reported by Bloomberg News.

To be fair, the effects of this program may be minimal, with some interpreting the ban to be more about PR than anything substantive:

Laurie Goodman, a senior managing director at the Amherst Securities Group who has been highly critical of the government’s modification program, said even if the proposal came to pass, it would not be “a major change. We think there is a large public relations element to this.”

…The Mortgage Bankers Association said its members were already doing what the administration was considering.

“Lenders generally go to foreclosure as a measure of last resort, after all other options, including loan modification, are exhausted,” said John Mechem, the trade group’s vice president for public affairs.

Any enhancements the government made to the modification program would be unlikely to stem many foreclosures, said Howard Glaser, a prominent housing consultant.

Regardless of the impact however, this potential loan modification addendum adds insult to the injury of an already wrongheaded and destructive policy, and will only prolong the pain in the housing market.

The reasons for the woes in housing are quite simple. Banks extended mortgages to borrowers that were poor credit risks, and many borrowers took out mortgages that they shouldn’t have either out of speculation or profligacy. That the depression is throwing people out of work and keeping many jobless exacerbates the problem, in that unfortunately many who could have reasonably expected to afford their homes now cannot given their lack of sufficient cash flow. Of course, truly prudent buyers might have saved to purchase their homes outright with cash.

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Tags: Barack Obama, CRA, Federal Reserve, Harry Reid, Jeremiah Wright
Posted Mar 2nd 2010 at 8:37 am in Congress, Economics, News, Obama, Uncategorized | 8173476 CommentsObama%27s+Continued+War+on+the+Market2010-03-02+16%3A37%3A22Andrew+Mellon

Needed: An English-Democratic Party Dictionary?

by Lurita Doan

This past week in Washington, DC has seen the GOP actively engaged in discussions and strategizing about taking back the House of Representatives and taking back the Senate. But before the GOP, Tea Party, or anyone else, can take back the House or Senate, they will face a more difficult and important battle–taking back our language.

bruegel-tower-of-babel-ruins-big

Democrats have made an art form of mis-speak, consistently showing only a passing familiarity with good, old Merriam-Webster. Think Kafka and Orwell, where words are elastic, and plain-speaking is all but abandoned.

Understanding what President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are saying is difficult; for, though the language may seem to be English, in reality, they speak a different language, the language of the Democrats in DC. To understand exactly what they are saying, Americans need an “English –Democratic Party Dictionary. Here is a sampler of some of the most important words and phrases that cause confusion:

INVESTMENT: President Obama and Speaker Pelosi frequently talk about the need for “investments”. For example, ” President Obama recently identified a need to invest in American infrastructure (and education) What Mr. Obama and Nancy Pelosi really seem to mean when they talk about “investments” is that government needs to spend more. Democrats have learned from extensive polling that disguising calls for more government spending, and even greater national debt, are more palatable (to those that have not yet figured out the scam) if, they talk about spending as “investments”. As most Americans know, making an investment implies a return worthy of the risk. Investors always want their money back and a profit to boot. Fat chance of that! According to the Democrat-version, “investments” are just spending by another name. There will never be a return, and taxpayers putting their money are risk will never get their funds back, nor is there any chance of a decent return.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, critical infrastructure, entitlements, federal spending
Posted Feb 22nd 2010 at 8:57 am in Congress, Culture, Earmarks, Healthcare, Obama, Politics, Tea Party, Uncategorized, federal spending | 7851490 Comments2010-02-22+16%3A57%3A37Lurita+Doan

Health Care Summit Conflicts with Constitution

by Joel B. Pollak

Republicans ought politely to decline President Barack Obama’s invitation to a summit on health care reform. It’s not just a potential “trap,” as House Minority Leader John Boehner suspects, aimed at fast-forwarding a modified health care reform bill through Congress under a smokescreen of superficial “bipartisanship.” It’s also a violation of the spirit of our Constitution’s separation of powers.

ThumbNailGun.ashx

The President has no legislative authority. He can propose laws—indeed, we expect him to do so—that are then introduced by legislators in Congress. He can sign a bill or veto it once it has been passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He can mediate disputes among legislators to broker agreements. But the President cannot intervene directly in the legislative process until it is over.

The discussion that President Obama has proposed with Republicans for February 25th was, no doubt, inspired by his success at a question-and-answer session with the GOP last month. However, the new event is beginning to assume the trappings of a formal legislative session. Republicans will be asked to propose changes to the Senate version of the health care bill, and the President will offer compromises.

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Tags: Barack Obama, government health care, Harry Reid, health care summit, John Boehner
Posted Feb 16th 2010 at 1:46 pm in Congress, Healthcare, Justice/Legal, News, Obama, Politics | 76338250 Comments2010-02-16+21%3A46%3A10Joel+B.+Pollak

Why Obama Will Be Clinton Without The Comeback

by Thomas Del Beccaro

The retirement of Evan Bayh is the latest heralding of difficult 2010 election year for the Democrats. It is also a symptom of Obama’s mid 40s approval rating. Smart Democrats know that the average midterm election year losses for the President’s party, when his approval rating is below 50%, is 41 seats in the House. Three Presidents in the modern era suffered such a fate – Johnson, Ford and Bill Clinton. Of those three, only Clinton went on to win a second term. While it is likely Obama will suffer huge mid-term losses, it is more than unlikely that he will enjoy Clinton’s revival.

clinton_1017434c

Clinton suffered the loss of 54 House seats in his first midterm election, despite a growing economy, because he broke his middle class tax cut promise – and the Republicans were smart enough to unanimously oppose that and run on the Contract With America. Despite the loss of the House for the first time in 40 years, Clinton won reelection.

Clinton was able to win reelection in part because Bob Dole was not an effective candidate for the Republicans on the tax issue. Clinton also famously triangulated in 1995 and 1996 with the help of longtime strategist Dick Morris. Dropping ideology for practicality, in 1995 and 1996, Clinton pushed a national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy, issued an order clarifying the rights of religious expression in schools, supported uniforms for public schools, banned human cloning, signed Megan’s law and welfare reform to name a few less than ideological triangulations. Even before that, Clinton incurred the wrath of unions by pushing the ratification of NAFTA.

Of course, as the Governor of a swing state, Bill Clinton leaned an early lesson in pragmatism after he was defeated in his bid for a second term. After apologizing for the policies that led to his reelection defeat, he regained the governorship and went on to enact mandatory competency testing for teachers and granted tax breaks to businesses – again with triangulating guru Dick Morris by his side.

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Tags: Bill Clinton, bob dole, cap-and-trade, civilian terror trials, Contract with America
Posted Feb 16th 2010 at 5:45 am in Congress, Featured Story, History, News, Obama, Politics | 75802204 Comments2010-02-16+13%3A45%3A56Thomas+Del+Beccaro

The Democrat Strategy for 2010: Bye Bye, Bayh

by Pamela Geller

Senator Evan Bayh’s decision not to seek re-election this November makes him just the latest among numerous Democrats who announced they are quitting. They have looked at the Obamacare debacle, the crippling debt, the millions of lost jobs, and the looming national security disaster heralded by the increase in jihad terror attacks on American soil, and they’re getting out. They know that Americans are waking up to how the big government policies of the Democrats are continuing to hurt our economy, and are ruinous for America.

bayh

Swindling Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) will not seek re-election; the drug-addled Congressman Patrick Kennedy will not be seeking re-election in Rhode Island; Arkansas Congressman Marion Berry and Senator Byron Dorgan are leaving. Then there’s Michigan Democratic Lt. Governor John Cherry’s decision to end his floundering bid for governor. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is also retiring. Not to mention the stunning late December party switch by freshman Alabama Representative Parker Griffith — just to mention a few.

And in Bayh’s whiny withdrawal speech, he made sure to take parting shots at the Republicans under the guise of the well-worn canard of their “lack of bipartisanship.” As if the Democrats worked with Bush.

The Party of No? Hardly. It’s the Save-America party, it’s the Say No to Communism party. Bayh didn’t speak of the irreparable damage the Democrats are doing to this country. He whimpered that only the Republicans said no to a jobs bill (although the government doesn’t create jobs, the private sector does) and that the Republicans wouldn’t sign off on another bloated, useless, cost-prohibitive commission to investigate bloated, useless, cost-prohibitive government spending. Funny how even a Democrat who is thought of as honorable and measured showed no honor in his parting remarks. He went out like an ankle-biting Democrat, pathetic and small.

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Tags: bailout, Barack Obama, byron dorgan, Chris Dodd, collectivism
Posted Feb 15th 2010 at 2:39 pm in Congress, Culture, News, Obama, Politics | 75830217 Comments2010-02-15+22%3A39%3A35Pamela+Geller

Your Time Is Up, Chuck

by Michael Caputo

At the Washington Cathedral memorial service for conservative icon Jack Kemp last May, many of his loyalists asked the same question: with Kemp’s passing, would his infectious pro-growth optimism also depart our political stage? That profoundly sad day, it certainly seemed possible.

charles_schumer

Just eight months later, there is a remarkable potential candidate in the Kemp mold who may oppose – and defeat – uber liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). New York Republican, Conservative and Tea Party leaders are talking up the potential candidacy of CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow, a former advisor to Kemp and Ronald Reagan.

For decades, Chuck Schumer has bullied his way to victory at the polls. He’s a prodigious fundraiser, a tough campaigner, and has long been thought unbeatable. But as former New York Assembly Republican leader John Faso noted recently in the New York Post, Schumer’s “image of invincibility has been fed by the failure of Republicans in New York and Washington to aggressively attack his vulnerabilities.”

Many New Yorkers agree: it is difficult to find a federal legislator as odious as Schumer. He is personally responsible for much of the bad policy that led to the economic melt down of the United States. He stands firmly in favor of health care reform that is bad for New Yorkers and he supports a tax on banks that is poison for the Empire State.

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Tags: Al Qaeda, bank tax, Chuck Schumer, civilian terror trials, CNBC
Posted Feb 12th 2010 at 7:41 am in Congress, Economics, News, Politics, State Politics | 74074140 CommentsYour+Time+Is+Up%2C+Chuck2010-02-12+15%3A41%3A30Michael+Caputo

Funnies: Big Spending Edition

by Sergio Gor

Cartoon - Blow a Bunch of Cash - ALG (990)

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Tags: Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Sergio Gor, spending
Posted Feb 7th 2010 at 8:06 am in Political Humor | 7099862 CommentsFunnies%3A+Big+Spending+Edition2010-02-07+16%3A06%3A07Sergio+Gor

‘Tough’ Decisions on Spending Include $2.5M on Super Bowl Ad

by Greg Knapp

mean-joe

Where to cut the spending? Obama has told us we have to make some tough choices. Yup, it wasn’t easy, but they decided to keep in the $2.5 million for a Census ad during the Super Bowl. That’s just a part of the $132 million we will spend to tell people to fill out and mail in their census forms.

We’d get a better bang for our buck by gambling it in Vegas. No matter what Obama says about the town, at least there we would have a chance to win big.

I understand that our constitution requires a census every ten years, but it does not require we waste our money advertising for it. You don’t turn it in – you’re not counted. Next!

Here are some of the proposed cuts listed on the White House blog as ”tough choices” for 2011:

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Tags: Barack Obama, Big Government, Fox News, Harry Reid
Posted Feb 4th 2010 at 8:01 am in Economics, Obama, Politics, Tax Reform, federal spending | 6949447 Comments2010-02-04+16%3A01%3A00Greg+Knapp

Sen. Harkin and Rep. Charlie Rangel Both Have Same CBO Story; Healthcare Deal Was Done BEFORE MA Election

by SusanAnne Hiller

charlie-rangel

As reported in a previous article, Senator Harkin clearly contradicted President Obama when he stated:

Labor leaders had announced an agreement with White House and congressional representatives over an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans on the Thursday before the special election.

Harkin said “we had an agreement, with the House, the White House and the Senate. We sent it to [the Congressional Budget Office] to get scored and then Tuesday happened and we didn’t get it back.” He said negotiators had an agreement in hand on Friday, Jan. 15.

Harkin made clear that negotiators had reached a final deal on the entire bill, not just the excise plans, which had been reported the previous day, Jan. 14.

Harkin said the deal covered the prescription-drug “donut hole,” the level of federal insurance subsidies, national insurance exchanges and federal Medicaid assistance to states.

Senator Harkin would know if a deal was done as he was in the marathon meeting at the White House on January 13, 2010. On the same day, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid put out a brief joint statement:

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Tags: Barack Obama, Charlie Rangel, conference committee, Harry Reid, health care
Posted Feb 2nd 2010 at 2:41 pm in Big Labor, Congress, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics | 6857473 Comments2010-02-02+22%3A41%3A40SusanAnne+++Hiller

Once Again, James O’Keefe Strips Away the MSM’s Mask of Neutrality, Revealing the Bias Below

by Hannah Giles

This past week marked one of the strangest periods of my life. And yes, the arrest of my friend and colleague James O’Keefe had a lot to do with it. James found himself, once again, in the middle of a raging media battle all because he wanted to shine a little light on public corruption. Let me tell you something, he certainly rang in the New Year with this one. As James said:

My goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions…

Target: Mary Landrieu. Why: she’s been taking legal “bribes” in the form of the “Louisiana Purchase” in exchange for her vote on Sen. Harry Reid’s healthcare bill, and ignoring phone calls from her outraged constituents. Bold, dirty, rude politics at its finest.

rt_landrieu_reid_091119_mn

Putting his head down, and plowing ahead, James was off to New Orleans working on a new project. A project that would hopefully raise questions, demand answers, and spur people to action. (more…)

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Tags: bias, corruption, Galileo, Harry Reid, health care
Posted Feb 2nd 2010 at 7:12 am in ACORN, Featured Story, Justice/Legal | 68294454 Comments2010-02-02+15%3A12%3A12Hannah+Giles

New Questions Surface About Bernanke’s Role In AIG Bailout

by Capitol Confidential

Sources on the Hill tell Big Government that the nomination of Ben Bernanke to remain Chairman of the Federal Reserve is in deep trouble. A Senior Capitol Hill Staffer said to Big Government, “if [Senate Majority Leader] Reid does not file for cloture tonight, I don’t think they have the votes to confirm him.” The Wall Street Journal thinks the vote will be “tight,” yet the White House is spinning that they have the votes. Hill sources say that this nomination is trending in the wrong direction for the Obama Administration and many on the Hill are stunned by the news that, according to CNBC, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has announced her opposition to the nomination. There is growing opposition to this nominee remaining in charge of the Federal Reserve for a second term.

Senators have made public statements indicating that there may be non-public information that is hurting this nominee. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) said that “the Fed continues to stonewall Congress and the public.” Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) referenced “ongoing examinations by Congress and the GAO of the Fed’s AIG bailout” and that there are “unpleasant facts for the Fed and Chairman Bernanke” that will come out after “full public disclosure of all information about the AIG bailout” that has only been shared with “select Congressional Committees and the GAO.” Senator David Vitter (R-LA) said, “it is vitally important that Congress has the ability and time to adequately review the Federal Reserve’s bailout of AIG. Although some of our offices have had time to review some of the documents, not all are available at this time and Congress should wait until GAO’s review before proceeding with his nomination vote.” (more…)

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Tags: AIG, AIG bailout, Barbara Boxer, Ben Bernanke, David Vitter
Posted Jan 22nd 2010 at 3:52 pm in Economics, Featured Story, Politics, federal spending | 6420661 Comments2010-01-22+23%3A52%3A25Capitol++Confidential

Massachusetts Voters Decided To Make A Stand, But Is It Enough To Save American Healthcare?

by Dr. Elaina George

It has become clear that health care reform in its present state has nothing to do with delivering quality healthcare to the American people.

Health Care Overhaul

The idea of universal coverage, with protection against insurance company wrongs (e.g., denying patients for pre-existing conditions and limiting the insurance company’s ability to deny coverage when you really need it) has been the sheep’s clothing cloaking a bill designed to destroy our healthcare system. In short, the proposed healthcare reform will doom us to a future that has the potential to make us sicker by limiting our access to screening exams such as mammograms, and limiting our access to physicians while making us pay more for the privilege.

The vote in Massachusetts was a stand against those in the government who are bent on telling us that they know what is best for us. I have been astounded by the complete contempt in which those in power hold the American people. A majority of the people in this country think the healthcare reform effort is going in the wrong direction. Although the vote in Massachusetts made it clear that there was major opposition to the current bill, I have doubts that the voices of the majority will be heard and this debacle will be stopped.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Harry Reid, health care reform, ObamaCare, Reid Health care
Posted Jan 22nd 2010 at 7:31 am in Congress, Healthcare, Obama, Politics | 6387042 Comments2010-01-22+15%3A31%3A54Dr.+Elaina+++George

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