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POPSResponding to modern Marxism Every single Democrat in the current majority, including Barack Obama, swore an oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution. Yet, they absolutely ignore the limitation of power set forth in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. None of the 17 powers enumerated there authorizes the current health-care bills or the cap-and-trade bill, or the bailout, or the stimulus package – all recently passed by the House of Representatives. When asked by a reporter to identify the constitutional authority for the current health-care bills, Sen. Patrick Leahy said: "We have plenty of authority, why would you say we don't have authority?" Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reply to the same question was: "Are you serious? Are you serious?" Obviously, neither one is "preserving, protecting or defending" the Constitution when they ignore its limitation of congressional power.
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POPSObama and The Democrats Want You to Know They Had a Good Week
During his campaign, in effect, Mr Obama promised to be the constraint: to oversee Congress and guide it with a moderating hand. That was the difference he promised to make. There were always going to be limits to what he could do, but his failure so far even to try has been total. He has let nearly every agenda be set by the Democrats’ left-leaning congressional leadership. This comes in a country in which 40 per cent of voters call themselves conservatives, 36 per cent moderates and 20 per cent liberals. Voters are confused and concerned about the policies coming forward " above all by their mounting cost " but he has made little effort to explain or reassure, let alone influence. He has chosen to act as cheerleader for whatever congressional Democrats cook up. On healthcare, Mr Obama stood aside during months of chaotic haggling in Congress. By the summer, unsurprisingly, voters opposed to reform outnumbered voters in favour " again, above all, expressing worries . . .
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POPSPages, Costs, and Agencies Added To The Obama/Pelosi Health Care Behemoth “Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense " we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit. “If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.” And listen…this is what our government believes will be the cost. But look at programs our government has run historically and you find decades of added costs and overruns that our forced onto the taxpayer. Insanity http://www.bizzyblog.com/2009/11/07/how-to-go-from-1200-to-2000-pages/
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POPSOwens Breaks 4 Campaign Promises in First Hour in Congress Mr. Owens also indicated during his campaign that he was firmly opposed to cutting Medicare benefits, taxing health care benefits, and increased taxes on the middle class in any way as you can see clearly in the screenshot taken directly from Mr. Owens' campaign website. http://www.gouverneurtimes.com/images/stories/2009/11/06/oewns-screenshot.jpg The House Health reform bill contains sections that cut Medicare benefits, tax existing health care benefits, and increases taxes on the middle class, yet Mr. Owens stated today that he will now vote in favor of those things contrary to what he had promised the voters of NY's 23rd Congressional District that he would vote against. Mr. Owens indicated in his press release today that "This legislation will reform the insurance industry and provide increased access to affordable healthcare without taxing healthcare benefits, cutting Medicare benefits or raising taxes on the middle class, and that is exactly the direction.....
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POPSGibbs: Obama 'not watching returns' He's probably playing basketball. He can say what he wants but it was obvious to the political hounds that he was stumping for his guys. Now it's time to distance himself. Hypocrites, ALL!!!!
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POPSSo much for cutting PORK - $2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid. - $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla. - $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla. - $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades. - $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased. - $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn. - $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill. - $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota. - $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan. - $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money. - $1.5 million f
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POPSPublic Health Plan Covers FEW
"The public option is a significant issue, but its place in the debate is completely out of proportion to its actual importance to consumers," said Drew Altman, president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "It has sucked all the oxygen out of the room and diverted attention from bread-and-butter consumer issues, such as affordable coverage and comprehensive benefits." The Democratic health care bills would extend coverage to the uninsured by providing government help with premiums and prohibiting insurers from excluding people in poor health or charging them more. But to keep from piling more on the federal deficit, most of the uninsured will have to wait until 2013 for help. Even then, many will have to pay a significant share of their own health care costs. The latest look at the public option comes from the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan economic analysts for lawmakers. It found that the scaled back government plan in the House bill wouldn't overtake
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POPSPelosi Health Care Bill Blows a Kiss to Trial Lawyers While there is debate over the details, it is clear that medical malpractive lawsuits have some impact on driving health care costs higher. There are likely a number of procedures that are done simply as a defense against future possible litigation. Recall this from the Washington Post: “Lawmakers could save as much as $54 billion over the next decade by imposing an array of new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, congressional budget analysts said today " a substantial sum that could help cover the cost of President Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s health system. New research shows that legal reforms would not only lower malpractice insurance premiums for medical providers, but would also spur providers to save money by ordering fewer tests and procedures aimed primarily at defending their decisions in court, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, wrote in a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).”
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POPSParanormal Taxivity READ THE BILL Americans are fed up with Congress, and one of the things they’re most fed up with is the practice of rushing massive bills to a vote without reading them or giving the American people time to read them. H.Res.554, authored by Reps. John Culberson (R-TX) and Brian Baird (D-WA), would require all bills to be posted online for at least 72 hours before they are brought to a vote on the House floor. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH MEMBERS HAVE SIGNED THE DISCHARGE PETITION TO FORCE A VOTE ON H. RES. 554. http://clerk.house.gov/111/lrc/pd/petitions/Dis6.htm THE HOUSE GOP CONGRESSIONAL TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE http://gopleader.gov/readthebill/legislation.aspx
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POPSSenate Shot Down Czar-Defunding Amendment..But Good News… “It is unfortunate that a procedural tactic” was used to prevent an up-or-down vote on the amendment, Collins said. Under the amendment, no funds would have been provided for the White House policy coordinators unless the President allows them to appear before congressional panels and that they submit biannual reports to committees with jurisdiction over their policy issues. (CongressDaily, Sept. 25, 2009) But, Tapper reports that the Senate will hold hearings on the constitutionality and history of czars on October 6, thanks to Russ Feingold, who has been pushing for it. Earlier this month the liberal lawmaker asked the White House to identify the czars’ “roles and responsibilities, and provide the judgment(s) of your legal advisors as to whether and how these positions are consistent with the Appointments Clause” in Article II, section 2 of the Constitution, which states that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
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POPSVote Against Stimulus, Then Race For The Cash. White men speak with forked tongue. On top of that, ""I am writing to request your support for a number of projects in my home state of Utah that I believe merit your department's attention," Bennett wrote, adding that he would "greatly appreciate" any funding considerations for his state." "Utah's lawmakers sent these letters despite repeated promises from President Barack Obama that the stimulus bill wouldn't include pet projects and that the money wouldn't be awarded based on the desires of lobbyists or home-state politicians." Tsk, tsk, tsk.
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POPSThe Baucus Bill Is A TAX BILL which is much faster than the growth rate of the economy or tax revenues. This is the same growth rate as the House bill that Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.) deep-sixed by asking the CBO to tell the truth about its impact on health-care costs. To avoid the fate of the House bill and achieve a veneer of fiscal sensibility, the Senate did three things: It omitted inconvenient truths, it promised that future Congresses will make tough choices to slow entitlement spending, and it dropped the hammer on the middle class. One inconvenient truth is the fact that Congress will not allow doctors to suffer a 24% cut in their Medicare reimbursements. Senate Democrats chose to ignore this reality and rely on the promise of a cut to make their bill add up. Taking note of this fact pushes the total cost of the bill well over $1 trillion and destroys any pretense of budget balance. It is beyond fantastic to promise that future Congresses, for 10 straight years, will allow planned
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POPSMad Max Mandates: Mother Of All Unfunded Mandates State budgets would explode"by $37 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office"because they would no longer be allowed to set eligibility in line with their own decisions about taxes and spending. This is the mother"and father and crazy uncle"of unfunded mandates… Governors are not on board: The National Governors Association is furious about Mr. Baucus’s Medicaid expansion, and rightly so, given that governors and their legislatures will get stuck with the bill while losing the leeway to manage or reform their budget-busters. NGA President Jim Douglas of Vermont recently said at the National Press Club that the Baucus plan poses a “tremendous financial liability” and doesn’t “respect that no one size fits all at the state level.” He added: “Unlike the federal government, states can’t print money.”… What do the “beneficiaries” of this government largesse end up with?
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POPSNew Taxes on Universal Health Care "According to the JCT, this $180 billion in new taxes would include: A new tax on prescription drug makers that would account for $22.2 billion over 10 years; a new tax on medical device manufacturers that would bring in $38.6 billion; and a new annual tax on insurance companies would net the government $60.4 billion."
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POPSMere Sound and Fury Until Harry and Nancy Do Their Thing in The Dark Half of it will come from massive cuts in Medicare Advantage, while the other half will be generated by new taxes on high-end insurance, higher income taxes, and new levies on drugs and innovative medical devices. We will address these additional yellow flags on this page on Tuesday in Part 2. There is another reason why the CBO's preliminary analysis should be taken with a grain of salt, though this one wasn't mentioned in the report. Whatever the content of the Baucus bill once it is voted out of the finance committee, it will disappear into a legislative black hole as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and their key aides do what they did on the economic stimulus package back in February -- huddle together behind closed doors to write the final bill, which will then be presented as a fait accompli in the form of a conference report. Everything else is mere sound and fury signifying nothing until Harry and Nancy do their thing in the dark.
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POPSObamacare 'Wrap-Up' Guts Conservatives Amendments The wrap-up amendment expands powers granted to a brand new Medicare Commission endowing these bureaucrats with the ability to raise premiums on Medicare prescription drug coverage at will. Democrats had worked out a deal with hospitals in secret negotiations over the summer to exempt them from the extensive plans for cuts in Medicare rates. This “carve out” would exempt hospitals from these reductions but the CBO estimated the provision would add $11 billion to the overall cost of the bill. No problem for Dems, just rack up another $11 billion in stealth cuts to Medicare for an offset. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) offered an amendment that was agreed to in the committee markup without objection to shield veterans from increases in the cost of their medical care and reductions in access to treatment. In the wrap-up amendment, Democrats voted to gut the veteran protections, without the customary consultation to the amendment’s author, reducing the amendment to mere . . .
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POPS Things to Worry About in the CBO's Score That's a very bad thing, particularly in the first years of the plan. It means that, with no warning, subsidies will be cut by 15 percent, and insurance that families were able to afford the year before will become totally unaffordable. That needs to be changed. By Ezra Klein | October 7, 2009
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