Even the New York Daily News wants Obama and the Congress to stop trying to pass, or “deem” Obamacare: Pull The Plug Barack: It’s A Mistake to Try to Ram Through Health Care Reform
New York Daily News to Obama — Stop!
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 10: 26 PM by TeeJawThe Illusionist — Great Movie
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 10: 11 PM by TeeJawThis movie is simply wonderful. It is romance, mystery, fantasy, adventure, and you’ll love the ending. If you’ve seen it you already know this. If not, get it. You’ll thank me.
Whip Count on Obamacare by Stealth
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 12: 52 PM by TeeJawFrom The Hill, as of Noon Eastern today:
All Republicans firm No.
35 Democrats firm no, leaning no, or likely no (includes 8 who voted yes the first time).
2 Democrats firm yes.
4 Democrats leaning yes.
72 Democrats undecided (includes 9 who voted no the first time).
I assume all the rest of the Democrats are an extra firm yes. I don’t know why The Hill counts only 2 Democrats as firm yes but it might be that the others simply refused to say anything at all. I would take that to mean firm yes. So change the firm yes above from 2 to “all other Democrats.”
The Hill does not have Dennis Kucinich in the no column and he has announced publicly that he is a firm no (Obamacare is not socialist enough for him). That would raise the no’s to 36. The most Pelosi can lose and still pass the bill (by the unconstitutional Slaughter rule) is 37. If the Democrat no’s reach 38 it does not pass (assuming no Republican defections).
Besty Markey of Colorado is counted as undecided and she was a “late” no the first time. Being late means she was really in favor but waited to be sure it would pass before casting her “no” vote. That enabled her to have it both ways, the bill passed but she can tell her constituents she voted against it. She shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that this time and needs to hear from her constituents. Tell her you will send money to her Republican opponent in November if the bill passes no matter how she votes because you know she’s trying to straddle the vote.
On Kucinich, it might be the The Hill is not counting him as a no even though he has said he will vote no is that they know he is a flake and will vote yes when school marme Pelosi pinches his ear.
Liberal Hypocrisy On Display At The Failing New York Times Company
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 9: 29 AM by TeeJawIn a New York Post story this morning carrying the headline Sulzberger Pinches Double the Pay we learn that,
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Top executives at the beleaguered New York Times Company reaped hefty rewards last year, with Chairman Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger more than doubling his total compensation to $6 million.
CEO Janet Robinson got even more, reaping $6.3 million, a 31.9 percent hike.
The pay numbers were disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings yesterday.
The increases come against a backdrop of declining ad revenue, layoffs, frozen pension plans, unpaid vacations and a 5 percent pay cut for most of the rank-and-file workers last year.
“Our members are really unhappy with what is happening,” said Bill O’Meara, president of the Newspaper Guild of New York. “They made a voluntary sacrifice to give up some of their pay to help the company out. People are losing their jobs still.”
So, we have a failing company being looted by the executives while the rank and file are either laid off or take pay cuts. The Times editorial page has been raising hell about this sort of thing for years, but I predict we will see no mention of the Pinch-Robinson caper in their pages.
It’s a shining example of sanctimonious liberals not following the moral precepts they seek to enforce upon everyone else, many more examples of which are given by Peter Schweizer in this book:
Obama is going to propose a bailout of the New York Times. Will anyone remember this then? Will it matter? Not to Obama, I bet.
Scott Brown Delivers GOP Weekly Address And Hits It Out Of The Park
Saturday, March 13, 2010, 9: 45 PM by TeeJawI was frantic for Scott Brown to win the special Massachusetts election for U.S. Senate, and I was elated when it happened. I had told myself not to be disappointed if he didn’t live up to my conservative ideals since he is after all from Massachusetts. When he voted for the idiotic job bills I was disappointed, but had to remind myself again that he might the best that one can hope for because, after all, he is from Massachusetts.
But he gave the weekly GOP address today with a devastating critique of Obama and the Democrats. The money quote is, “We wasted an entire year…” on a health care plan that the American people don’t want. That wasted year just happens to be Obama’s first year as president. If you go the distance on this video, it’s a little over 5 minutes, I think you’ll find it worth every one of them.
Democrats Aim to Pass Obamacare By Stealth
Friday, March 12, 2010, 9: 11 PM by TeeJawRemember when Obama kept saying government healthcare deserves an up or down vote? That was before they realized they don’t have the votes for it. Obamacare in the form of the Senate Bill currently up for consideration in the House would lose in an up or down vote in that body. How can I be so sure of that? Because nothing that is happening now would be happening if it were not so.
Now that it appears the votes to pass the Senate Bill in the House are not there, the new strategy is to do something that can be made to look like it was passed when it actually was not put to a vote standing on its own. So the plan now is to craft a package that will consist of a “reconciliation” bill containing a bunch of add-ons to the Senate Bill. The so-called add-ons won’t be made a part of the Senate Bill, however. The two bills will simply be shrink wrapped into one package and voted on together. Get it? Two separate and distinct bills, one vote. Then, assuming the package passes, the Senate Bill will be presented to Obama for his signature into law, and the add-on bill sent to the Senate for it to act upon. But at that point, the Senate Bill will become the law of the land. The add-on bill will then die in the Senate when the senate refuses to act on it. That’s my prediction, and I’d bet that’s just what the Democrat leaders want and expect.
This is unconstitutional because the Senate Bill is not being voted on as a separate bill, and Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution requires the identical bill be passed by both Senate and House before being presented to the President. If the House made any change at all in the Senate Bill it would have to go to conference between the two bodies before and the conference bill passed by both houses before presentation to the President. Passing a completely different bill with the Senate Bill “deemed” to have been passed at the same time, is not passing the identical bill that was passed by the Senate. It’s different in both substance and form. Here the Senate Bill was passed by the Senate but will not be passed by the House, except as part of a package with another bill. So both houses are not passing the identical bill. The Democrats hope this is too complicated for the American people to figure it out. Pelosi is said to have scheduled the vote for next week.
In the last 8 hours Obamacare has surged over 20 points into the high 60’s on Intrade [It’s at 65 as of 9:00 am MTN Saturday morning]. Those betting their own money think the Democrats are going to get away with this outrage. I suppose they will get away with it in the sense of getting the Senate Bill to Obama for him to sign. But that’s like saying a bank robber got away with it because he got the money and made his getaway. It’s still an open question as whether he will get away with robbing the bank.
I hear that the members of Congress will go back home and tell their constituents that they never voted for the Senate Bill, they only voted for the add-ons that were supposed to fix the worst parts of it. If so, that shows just how stupid they believe their constituents to be.
We could say it will be a pyrrhic victory for the Democrats because a lot of them are going to fall into the pit they are preparing for us. But a massive new entitlement program in the middle of uncertain economic times will be a drag on the economic growth that is needed to move the country out of recession. The Senate Bill makes all the new taxes and increases in existing taxes effective immediately, even though the substantive provisions for changing the health system don’t start to kick in for at least three years, and more even later. A pyrrhic victory for them yes, but also a very bad result for America.
This will be the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such a major and fundamental change will be forced down the throats of the American people against their will. Heretofore, the American people have generally gotten what they have wanted. Social Security, Medicare, and every other major entitlement had majority support at the time they were enacted. This is new, but not improved.
From, Constitution Butchers: Stop Pelosi’s Slaughterhouse
Go to Free Our Health Care Now for a quick and easy way to email your congressman, who will be identified by your zip code, as well as the 39 blue dogs who voted against the House Bill.
Pelosi Agrees That Senate Bill Must Be Passed and Signed Into Law Before Reconciliation
Friday, March 12, 2010, 2: 21 PM by TeeJawSo Pelosi now agrees with what we’ve said all along…
She says, “Otherwise we’d have to start from scratch.” All the polls show that is exactly what a clear majority of the American people want them to do. But hey, they are our betters. They know what’s best.
Dana Carvey Does Obama On Leno
Friday, March 12, 2010, 9: 13 AM by TeeJawDana Carvey debuts his Obama impression. There is a short commercial at the start and the Obama impression is in the last two and one-half minutes of this 6-minute video. The audience reaction is notable. All of Carvey’s impressions are quite good.
New Television Ad Against Harry Reid
Friday, March 12, 2010, 8: 57 AM by TeeJawA conservative free market organization named America’s Future Fund is running this 60-second TV ad against Harry Reid in Nevada:
Dems Take A Hit On Reconciliation; Slaughter Solution is Unconstitutional; Pelosi Lacks Votes For Senate Bill; Obama Approval At a New Low; What Could Go wrong?
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 10: 41 PM by TeeJawWe are living in interesting times. The Democrats are cracking up. They are starting to look like Wiley Coyote with everything blowing up in their face. But unlike Wiley Coyote they may not regain their composure and strength in the next frame of the cartoon.
The Senate parliamentarian has made the ruling that anyone who can read a few paragraphs of a Senate rule could have easily predicted. Reconciliation of the Senate Bill on Obamacare cannot begin unless and until it is passed by the House and signed into law by the President. The reconciliation process in the Senate is solely to reconcile budget matters on a law that has already been passed and presented to the President, and signed into law. Of course, when it comes to Obamacare once the Senate has its version of Obamacare enacted it will have little interest in any reconciliation. Neither will Obama. And besides, the changes being promised to House members to get their votes are not budget matters and can’t be done with reconciliation. So it won’t happen. But Pelosi, Reid and Obama will continue the charade until Obama signs the bill, and then move on to something else and forget they ever heard of anything called reconciliation.
Then there is the Slaughter solution, bearing the name of the genius who thought of it, Louise Slaughter, Democrat House member from New York and chairman of the House Rules Committee. Her idea is to pass the Senate Bill by not voting on it. She says they can just change the rules and “deem” it to have been passed by the House. No need to actually have a vote. Getting the bill passed is too important and there isn’t time to waste with voting. Well, they pass bills without reading them, why not pass them without voting on them as well? Just one little problem with that. The United States Constitution. Specifically, Article I, Section 7, which states as follows:
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Darn those founding fathers! They must have thought that someone like Louise Slaughter would come along someday and try this little trick. So they made sure to insert language into the Constitution that specifically covers it and forbids it. If the Dems continue with the Slaughter solution, and they will, the Republicans will petition the Supreme Court and my guess is that the Supreme Court will act quickly and say it is unconstitutional. It’s just too easy a question for them to pass it up. Especially after the Democrats dissed them so unfairly and with so little class at the State of the Union Speech.
That Pelosi is having trouble getting the votes to pass the Senate Bill becomes more obvious with every passing day. The Slaughter solution is so clear an act of desperation that would not be necessary if the votes were there.
Obama’s approval is at it lowest in all the polls. He’s at 43% in Rasmussen, not much higher in Gallup. His bus tour to garner support for government health care is plagued with “nomentum.” He is giving speeches to audiences consisting of invited guests only, the public not allowed in. That smacks of preaching to the choir, and fear of hecklers.
As of the time this was posted Obamacare was trading at 47 on Intrade, down 5. The means that 53% of the people betting their own money believe Obamacare will not be enacted into law by June 30, and 47% believe it will be. Just a week ago Obamacare had surged to over 60.
The Democrats are in a mess of their own making. Oh, what a tangled web they weave when they first strive to deceive. And in the fields of destiny they are reaping what they have sown. [Apologies to John Greenleaf Whittier and Sir Walter Scott.]
Update on CCW Reciprocity in Wyoming
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 2: 19 PM by TeeJaw
Wyoming Governor Freudenthal signed SF26 on March 4, 2010 and it was made effective immediately. It was originally not to become effective until July 1, 2010. The new law is Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) No. 5 and amends W.S. 6-8-104(a)(iii) to provide that anyone who holds a valid statewide CCW permit from another state that recognizes Wyoming permits may carry a concealed firearm in Wyoming. A copy of SEA No. 5 can be found here.
Non-residents (and residents) must be aware of the eleven places where they are prohibited from carrying regardless of their permit. Those are set forth in W.S. 6-8-104(t), as follows:
Michael Barone On Whether Pelosi Can Corral The Votes To Pass Obamacare
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 8: 39 AM by TeeJaw
In today’s Wall Street Journal Michael Barone analyzes the chances that Pelosi will have the votes in the House to pass the Senate version of Obamacare. Barone first notes that as of today she does not have the votes. [See the video in the post below of Pelosi’s mendacious performance for Charlie Rose] Then he gives a thorough review, as only Michael Barone can do, of the many problems and hurdles she will have to poll vault, high jump, sprint, crawl, slither, squirm and parachute in, out, and through in order to round up the votes.
If all the many problems Barone identifies become reality she could be as many as 40 votes short. With just one or two of those difficulties she could get close but still fall short. He allows that she could make it, but says the arithmetic doesn’t add up. He concludes with this:
Mrs. Pelosi, whom I have known for almost 30 years, may turn out to be even shrewder than I think. But she may be facing a moment as flummoxing as the one when Democratic Speaker Thomas Foley lost the vote on the rule to consider the crime and gun control bill in August 1994, or when Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert saw the Mark Foley scandal explode on the last day of the session in September 2006. Both were moments when highly competent and dedicated House speakers saw their majorities shattered beyond repair.
That moment, if it comes, will occur some time between now and the Easter recess. The Democrats’ struggle to get 216 votes is high stakes poker.
I don’t think Pelosi should play poker anytime soon. That she is lying on Charlie Rose is not shocking, House speakers always lie about how many votes they have so other members will want to get on the train. But she doesn’t do it convincingly enough to fool anyone.
At the end of the video below:
Rose: “When will healthcare pass?”
Pelosi: “Today. If we took it up today…” [phoney grin]
That’s a howler.
I don’t think she is shrewder than Michael Barone thinks she is.
How The Legislative Sausage Factory Works
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 3: 49 PM by TeeJawHow do you know when a liberal Democrat Speaker of the House does not have the votes to pass a bill? Easy, when she goes on Charlie Rose and claims she has the votes:
Of course, there is even a better way to know when she doesn’t have the votes. If the vote has not yet been held that can only be for one reason. They votes are not there. At least, not yet. As soon as the votes are there, the vote is held quickly, before anyone can change their mind. CBO score or not, she will wait for nothing the minute she knows she has the votes. We’re talking Democrats here.
But to lie so blatantly on the Charlie Rose show [Rose himself is not naive enough to believe her] means she has very little respect for the political savvy of the audience. Well, she knows they’re all liberals.
Besides, if she did have the votes why would she and House Rules Chairman Louise Slaughter be trying to do this?
Traffic Enforcement In Hard Times
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 12: 40 PM by TeeJawGlenn Reynolds gets it. Turning cops into armed tax collectors.
Argument — Good For The Brain
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 12: 08 PM by TeeJawArgument, as opposed to mere squabbles, are a path to greater understanding. We’re talking about the good sort of argument, a premise that leads to a conclusion. That would be the deductive kind that flows from the general to the specific. Inductive arguments, from the specific to the general, are the more enlightening, but not as easy to make because experience, data gathering, and testing of hypothesis takes more time and effort than pontification. Not as much fun either. Most arguments we have ever been exposed to are of the deductive kind, someone saying that a conclusion just naturally and logically flows from a stated premise.
A good argument of this nature is the one made by James Ftizjames Stephen in his book Liberty, Equality, Fraternity in which he argued that John Stuart Mill was wrong when he wrote in his book On LIberty, that private morality is of no public concern. Another great argument is that which separates Plato, who counseled that the power of decision making should be in the hands of the few, specifically the philosopher kings and guardians, from Aristotle who believed in the virtue and wisdom of the polity, with power dispersed among the many. One could continue without end, to Jefferson and Hamilton, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and so on.
A current argument in world affairs involves Geert Wilders (pronounced “Gared Veelder”) whose Dutch Freedom Party just won the elections in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders’ film Fitna has been supressed, banned and vilified but is now available on the internet. Wilders was banned from entering the U.K. last year but has now been allowed entry and made a speech before the House of Lords on March 5th.
Below I reproduce the words of Charles Krauthammer taking exception to Wilders’ speech in the House of Lords, followed by Mark Steyn’s defense of Wilders against Krauthammer’s criticism. Then you will find a video of the BBC television production Newsnight in which news presenter Emily Maitlis reports on Wilders’ visit to London and then interviews him. Her dripping, visceral contempt for the man is palpable. After that I give you the full text of Wilders’ speech in the House of Lords. [I think he made a great speech but hey, I report you decide.] Finally, at the very bottom of this post I offer the full 16-minute video of Wilders’ film Fitna. I hope you read and view as much of this as you can, and then decide for yourself what to think.
Obamacare is for Thee — But Not For Me
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 2: 36 PM by TeeJawOne of the worst things about Obamacare is that while you and I will be stuck with it, all Federal and State employees, including all of Congress, will be exempt from it. If it so good for us, why isn’t it good for them?
For one simply reason. Federal and State employees, including Congress and the executive branch, currently enjoy the finest health insurance in the country, courtesy of you and me. They don’t want to give it up. We might not want to give up whatever it is that we have, either. Even if what we have isn’t the limousine health care plan they have, we still might like to keep it. Too Bad. Obama, Pelosi and Reid are determined.
This article at Pajamas Media is spot on: ObamaCare Means a Two-Tier System:
This is the key test for the Medi-Grab bill. Any member of Congress who votes against it reveals his or her true stand on America’s founding principles. Anyone who votes for it shows that he or she actually gets it. There are many terrifying parts of this Medi-Grab bill, but this is the simplest litmus test.
It’s so simple that everyone in the country can understand it. It’s do-or-die in terms of the integrity and honesty of the takeover of one-sixth of the economy that Obama is so determined to drive through Congress.
and,
Socialist regimes reveal their true nature by the special treatment they give to their permanent ruling class; they deny such treatment for ordinary schlubs like you and me. The worst corruption in socialist regimes flows from that simple two-caste system. In Europe, the ruling class hardly bothers with elections any more. The same people just turn over in their lifelong careers, or they just stay in the tenured bureaucracy.
That’s Obama’s future for us and our children. It has to be stopped. It can be stopped.
At this point Pelosi does not have the votes to pass it. If she did the vote would already have been held. The minute she has the votes the vote will be held, even if it’s 3:00 A.M. If you hear the vote has been scheduled or if is being held, you won’t need to wait for the count. You will know then and there that our goose has been cooked.
But Steny Hoyer said today they are going to meet Obama’s deadline of March 18. That means they don’t have the votes today, and don’t expect to have them in the next 9 days. Call, write and telephone your Congressperson if you live in a Democrat district. Tell them you will give as much money as you can to their opponent in the next election if they vote for this nightmare.
We The People — Free, Independent, Self Reliant, Self Actualized
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 8: 58 AM by TeeJawWell, I’d have to post this video. I mean, it’s about what this blog stands for: Truth, Justice and The American Way. The “American Way” is many things not least of which is liberty and justice for all. The pursuit of happiness is closely related to independence and self reliance. “Self Actualization” is at the top of the hierarchy of the innate needs of every human being, according to Abraham Maslow. America is where “We The People” have instituted a government to secure those blessings. We’d like to keep it.
Air Quality Has Never Been Better
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 8: 38 AM by TeeJaw
What is the Toyota Takedown All About?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 7: 45 AM by TeeJawHint: It has very little, perhaps nothing to do with gas pedals or sudden acceleration of vehicles.
From Breitbart’s Big Government:
As a gloomy, snowy February came to a close in the nation’s capital, so did the most recent circus attraction on Capitol Hill. Several days of congressional hearings on the Toyota recalls didn’t exactly deliver many more facts for Americans but they did leave behind a plethora of speculation and opinion to feast upon. While the saga now known as GasPedalGate flailed around quietly for several years, it’s suddenly taken center stage and today plays out like a bad made-for-TV-movie, complete with its villain, its victims, and most telling, a very long list of opportunists.
To see the full picture, the story begins in California with the history of General Motors and the United Auto Workers in the 1980’s, and GM’s rescue by Toyota through a little venture called NUMMI. Today, in 2010, the NUMMI chapter nears its close. But before it does, the Fremont, California plant and its rank and file workers will serve as unwilling pawns in what could turn out to be an orchestrated blueprint for incapacitating the strongest competitor to Government Motors and one of the most significant threats to labor unions here and around the globe.
Today’s rendition has been so manipulated and so propagandized, the facts have all but been removed from the storyline. The bread crumb trail of truth has been trampled upon and so broadly scattered about, the trail is almost beyond the point of recognition.
The story that emerges is the collusion of forces in Big Labor, Big Government, Big Journalism, Big Litigators and Big Progressive Philanthropy. And no, I’m not talking Breitbart sites.
Real the rest of the story here.
225 Million Opposed to Obamacare
Monday, March 8, 2010, 3: 58 PM by TeeJaw225 Million Americans are opposed to Obamacare. But 75 Million are in favor. Hey, that’s only a 150 Million deficit.
At the Corner: “As Magic Johnson used to say before a game’s final moments — during which its outcome would be decided — “It’s winnin’ time.”
