Democrats are considering using a complicated process to avoid a direct vote on the Senate-passed bill, which is unpopular with House Democrats. Instead, they would declare the Senate bill passed once the House votes to approve changes it wants.
Republicans said the strategy was designed to protect Democrats in November’s congressional elections by camouflaging their vote. “There is no way to hide from this vote,” House leader John Boehner said. “You can run but you can’t hide.”
Democrats noted Republicans used the process when they controlled the House and accused them of trying to change the subject. “If you don’t want to talk about substance, talk about process,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Republicans.
Let me ask you something, Nance. Can I call you Nance? If the substance is so utterly, wildly, madly awesome, then why are you having to go through this process? Why not just call for an actual vote, as “deemed” by the Constitution? What’s that? You don’t have the votes, and you want attempt to protect elected Democrats from the backlash? Strange.
Representative Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic House campaign committee, said the procedure was “perfectly appropriate” and he was not concerned about a political backlash.
“At the end of the day, what the American people are going to look at is what this bill does to affect their daily lives,” he told reporters.
If that was the case, Chris, Democrat House leaders would just call for an up or down vote. But, you are correct: what the American People are going to do is look at how badly this legislation affects their lives. Sucks to be you.
Here are your St. Patrick’s Day Patriotic Pinups
I’m not sure who created the first one. There are about 5 different pinup painters it could be. The second is by Peter Dribben. For those not aware, every Sunday for years now I have been posting a Patriotic Pinup post, plus on special holidays, at my personal site, Pirate’s Cove.
Big payoffs to unions, free healthcare to illegal aliens, death panels for Americans, limits and rationing to Americans… it’s ALL in the bill (HR 3200).
And remember, folks. We get taxed immediately but none of these wonderful “benefits” actually kick in for FOUR YEARS! So even if you liked this communist paradise you won’t get it for almost half the decade. It makes you wonder… how many dead people will Democrats be responsible for since this bill doesn’t kick in for so long, eh?
These are the things that Democrats want in a nationalized healthcare bill. These are the things that WILL end up passed if ANY part of Obamacare is passed.
This will materially alter the relationship between citizen and government and will put a tombstone over what was the United States of America. If Obamcare passes, the U.S.A. is dead.
Brace yourself. If President Obama rams through health care with tactics that circumvent the Constitution, obliterates checks and balances and ignores the will of the majority of the American people, be prepared for the same bully tactics to be used in other critical upcoming legislation. If voters think the health care debacle is ugly, expect it to get uglier based on the President’s planned agenda. Health care reform is not the ultimate objective. Devising “the formula” needed to get it passed is. Unlocking the formula to open the floodgates to enact whatever future legislation Obama wants, is the goal. Once the formula is in place, then the Obama administration has the key to do to America and Americans whatever it wants. It won’t matter how Americans vote in the mid-term.
Senate leader Harry Reid revealed that legislative checks and balances were neutered when he said the reason he is pushing so hard for Obamacare is because, “the President wants it.” Democrats supporting a Democrat President is expected, but to do so to the point of rewriting rules and ignoring Constitutional guidelines in order for the President to get his way, eviscerates the legislative branch and empowers the executive branch with unchecked powers. It is dangerous. Our founding fathers warned of its dangers.
The President desperately needs to ram through health care to allow him to use the same tactics to ram through Cap-and-Trade, nationalizing illegal immigrants, education reform, takeover of the airwaves, and more, in a blitzkrieg of legislation. The President’s plan has been laid-out in his own words or in the words and actions by his administration.
Trial balloons were first sent up to gauge the sentiment of the American people so Obama’s team could refine its strategy. Upon receiving negative blowback after demeaning Town Hall attendees, describing returning military as a danger to society, suggesting Americans spy on their neighbors and report “fishy speech,” attacking conservative media, seeking to separate Americans on issues of “clinging to their guns and religion” (implying that doing either was a negative), devaluing the unborn and seniors as dispensable, team Obama stopped wasting their time with an unsupportive public and decided to play hard ball.
President Obama said that he believes the U.S. Constitution, that protects Americans from government tyranny “is fundamentally flawed,” and essentially said in a 2001 Chicago NPR interview that the Constitution should not so much “protect” people, but “provide” for them, thereby turning it into a wealth redistribution welfare document. Obama created a vast shadow-government of Czars, reporting only to him, effectively diminishing the relevance of both the Cabinet and Congress. Media Czar Mark Lloyd opted out of the Fairness Doctrine for the more effective idea of “a 100% tax on operating cost” that could, if implemented, tax private conservative and religious radio out of existence. President Obama diminishes the nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage as laws are passed to legislate God out of society. The President is adamant that he wants control of the Internet during crisis and plans to establish a civilian militia as well funded and powerful as the U.S. military under the oversight of the White House. Some see it as an enforcement arm of the Presidency at the will of Obama to assure compliance to all of the above. Obama’s own words and actions have spurred the mistrust welling up in America.
The amount of damage that can be done to the country by executive order and “reformulated legislation” between now and the November elections may be insurmountable. Is that why Obama has said so cavalierly that the matter can be taken up at the ballot box — after the fact? Conscience is required for Congress to understand the ire of the American people and the cost of standing against this great nation. In this period of our nation’s history with leaders who have demonstrated a willingness to sell-out — the buck, this time, stops with the American people. The time is now, not tomorrow, to let Washington know there will be consequences for their actions.
Sharon Sebastian (DarwinsRacists.com) is an author, writer and contributor for various forms of media including broadcast, print and online websites. Her second book, Darwin’s Racists – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, addresses the global “evolution vs. creation” debate highlighting both the impact of Social Darwinism on America’s culture today and its influence on current policy coming out of Washington. Website: DarwinsRacists.com
The cat poop sandwich (surprisingly, no video of that scene from Anchorman) they are showing is not the same cat poop sandwich they will ask you to eat, as the American Spectator points out
Shortly before midnight on Sunday, Democrats released a 2,309 page health care bill that will start the process of reconciliation — but don’t let that fool you, it’s not the actual reconciliation bill with all the changes you’ve been reading about. Instead, as Rep. Paul Ryan, the ranking Republican member on the Budget Committee, explained to me last week, this is just the “shell” bill — the vehicle that Democrats need to get moving on health care. Once the bill gets approved (likely Monday), Democrats will send this phantom bill over to the Rules Committee, where it will be stripped, and then they’ll insert in all of the actual changes that they’ve negotiated.
Why all of the theatrics?
Well, under the reconciliation rules in last year’s budget, any reconciliation bill would have to have been submitted to the Budget Committee by October 15, 2009. It just so happens that earlier versions of health care legislation cleared the Ways and Means and Education and Labor Committees last year. So Democrats just dusted that legislation off, and are using that as the vehicle to begin the reconciliation process. That’s why, for instance, if you look through the 2,309 page bill that was released Sunday night, you’ll find a public option, which leadership has indicated would not actually be in the final bill. (Interestingly, the student loan bill is also tacked on at the end.)
Just a “simple up or down vote,” remember?
Constitutional democracy? We don’t need no stinkin’ Constitutional democracy.
Michelle Malkin has a taste of the table of contents, at least prior to the Democrats getting around to inserting in all the provisions not in the bill. The Democrats are expressly attempting to thwart the Will Of The People, as John Boehner points out
“Democrats may run Washington, but the American people are in charge of this country,” Boehner said. “The moment a majority forgets this, it is writing itself a ticket to minority status.”
How desperate is the Senate to force Obamacare down everyone’s throat? VERY. Now that it is clear pro-life Democrats won’t budge on their principles…the Senate is considering hoodwinking the American people with a deceptive move dubbed the Slaughter solution.
House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter is prepping to help usher the healthcare overhaul through the House and potentially avoid a direct vote on the Senate overhaul bill, the chairwoman said Tuesday.
Slaughter is weighing preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill passed once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes to the Senate version.
Each bill that comes before the House for a vote on final passage must be given a rule that determines things like whether the minority would be able to offer amendments to it from the floor.
In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House “deems” the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but House members would be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.
Democrats who think the Senate bill doesn’t sufficiently limit abortion rights would never have to be on record as having voted for it. (Because the Senate abortion language can’t be fixed in [the reconciliation bill] for procedural reasons, some Democratic aides say there is talk about a later bill that would handle these issues.)
What a transparent Congress we have. I’m glad they drained the swamp. On the bright side, if Democrats do this you can all but call it a Republican Congress next year.
