Tag Archives: Politics

Obama's Pan American Health Care

Last Friday, Democrats in Washington were forced to show their hand when it comes to providing taxpayer-funded health care to millions of Mexican citizens, PG 50 Section 152 of H.R.3200. The House Ways and Means Committee nixed a Republican-backed amendment that would insure that whatever health care legislation comes out of Washington will not include health care for citizens of Mexico or any other country.

On Friday, Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized health care under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Barack Obama.

The House Ways and Means Committee nixed the Heller amendment by a 26-to-15 vote along straight party lines, and followed this action by passing the 1,018-page bill early Friday morning by a 23-to-18 margin, with three Democrats voting against the plan.

Additionally, the Democrats are exempting illegals from paying the same penalty that would be assessed on US citizens for not participating in the government-run health care system. Short of amnesty, I can’t think of a better illegal alien magnet. Instead of removing incentives to illegals, they are supplying them.

Thanks to Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev) for introducing the legislation that forced Democrats to show their hand when it comes to illegal aliens.

As usual, the media gives this action little attention, paying more attention instead to what Obama and his administration is saying rather than to what it is actually doing.

The fact that Mexicans, if and when they are allowed to vote in the US, would be a solid Democrat voting block has not been overlooked by the Obama administration. Doing that is not an unintended consequence of ‘health care reform.’ It is, by design, politics by the numbers.

link: Citizenship Verification Should be Used for Government-Run Health Plan

Obama, Republicans Just Don't Care

There will always be people that just collapse at the mention of  Barack Obama, a few Democrats in Washington excepted. But tonight’s performance of President Obama’s fourth press conference to sell his health care plan was, thank you Dick Gebhardt, a dismal failure.  He rambled on to obfuscate answering questions to the point beyond which he came off as knowing what he was talking about. It was embarrassing to watch.

But he did make one thing clear. That if you don’t like his health care plan, then you’re not for improving health care. You know, when Bush told the world’s leaders that where the war on terror is concerned, you’re either with us or against us, that was laying out the line to defend us as well as the rest of the world. The Obama version of this is not directed at terrorists or world leaders, but rather right-wing extremists, otherwise known as Republicans. So much for all that ‘working together’ malarkey.

Don’t know why it didn’t occur to him that most Republicans and right-thinking Democrats can’t seem to swallow the whole socialized health-care idea that the President has in mind. Key word is ‘idea.’ This health care plan isn’t totally written yet, and Obama wants it voted on before Congress takes a vacation in two weeks.

Last I knew, lowering the cost of health care was a bi-partisan issue of serious concern. Normal Americans, as opposed to people like Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky, and Barack Obama, believe that lowering health care costs can be done within the private sector and without socializing the industry and twenty percent of the economy.

Today's Special, Taking Power

Today’s Special is about the administration’s power grab in ways that are extra-constitutional. Their full court press against business and industry through ‘bailouts’ and ‘takeovers’ is evident. In fact, these two words have now become synonymous in Washington.

What comes next is right out of the Hugo Chavez playbook. Taking control of those responsible for government oversight like the Office of Inspectors General, and control of the census completes the task.

“Requiring the Census director to report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a shamefully transparent attempt by your administration to politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)

Who knew that the census bureau was in such bad shape that it needs to be taken under the wing of Rahm Emanual  and the executive branch? Since its inception, Congress has the oversight of the census. Why does it now need to be in the executive branch? Can you say ACORN?

related links:

Has Palin Changed The Game?

From a perspective of politics as usual, one could easily call her decision to pass the baton to her Lt. Governor a ‘misunderstanding‘ about governing.

What we know is, like it or not, Palin doesn’t do politics ‘as usual.’

I’ll go out on a limb and say what no media person has said yet. That, being driven by her love of country and her State, she is stepping out of political office so that she can get her message out without being a burden on Alaska in dealing with endless lawsuits.  Which, by the way, is what she said. The tide of media opinion suggests she can’t take the heat and is getting out of the kitchen. Fact is, her message resonates with conservatives, which is a smaller, less intrusive government, where capitalism and free markets, personal freedom and liberty will once again prevail. Her core beliefs are what is driving her. Not conventional politics. Her priorities are faith, family, and then her State, in that order. Essentially, it is all the things that the Obama administration, which only believes in an all powerful and controlling federal government, does not believe in.

There’s no reason to not believe the reason she gave for leaving, nor to doubt the sincerity with which she gave it. (Anyone see a teleprompter?) And I’d wager a guess that her not playing ‘politics as usual’ will give David Axelrod  Excedrin headache number 13 trillion. All the speculation from pundits of her cutting and running is misplaced, wishful thinking.

She hasn’t given up. She has changed the game.

You go girl.

Fair Tax Advocates At Tea Party

Though not widely publicized, there was a ‘Tea Party’ at 9th Ave. & Creighton Road today. Lest there be any doubt, I am a supporter of the Fair Tax. It alone would begin a lasting economic recovery on into the future, without adding to or piling on the current national debt.

The crowd of somewhere between 300-400  people were all, at least the ones I saw and spoke to, well behaved and passionate about what they believe, that the country is going in the wrong direction, in so many ways. Trying to spend our way to prosperity and borrow our way out of debt, taking over private companies and industries all add up to economy killers. Markets pull back at the fear of being next on the hit list. Risk-taking and investment stop. Jobs end. Exactly what we are seeing happen right now.

That’s why most people were there, home-made signs and all. They sang patriotic songs along with a PA system that someone had set up. This is what grassroots looks like.

I, and a few other Fair Tax advocates were there to answer questions about the Fair Tax and to enlist Fair Tax supporters. I am happy to report that we picked up 41 new supporters in those two hours today.

Thanks to two of our newest members Mr. Brown and Mr. Doyel, and to Community Coordinator Jim Whatley, for their help and participation at our Fair Tax table. We handed out pamphlets and spoke to a lot of people. Everyone we spoke to that had questions or were just curious, liked the Fair Tax once they learned more about it.

Special thanks to Lee for the umbrella. We were offering FREE SHADE for people that signed up to join us.

Part of building our grassroots support includes recruiting Community Coordinators and County Coordinators. To learn more about the FFTEA and the above positions,  please check out our website.

I was interviewed by PNJ reporter Thyrie Bland for an article that will be in tomorrow’s paper.

Pictures will be posted here as well as on our FFTEA Panhandle website as soon as I get them.

Update 07/05/09: PNJ article, Protesters take aim at taxes, socialism

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Helen Thomas, The Point Is Control

‘It’s a pattern of controlling the press.’ The ‘events are pre-packaged.’ This is what Helen Thomas, the Grande Dame of The White House press briefing room, told White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the ‘town hall meeting’ that President Obama has planned. Another infomercial. ‘Yes, and if you act now (vote for everything that I think is good for you, you don’t have to read it), you’ll get a second one absolutely FREE.’ Emphasis on ‘free.’

Of course I have to agree with both Chip Reid and Helen Thomas that it is disingenuous to call it something that it is not, where questions solicited over the internet are screened in advance, and they pick and choose the ones they want to answer.

That is not any-one’s definition of a town hall meeting. This is a town hall show. I wonder if someone from Air America radio is advising David Axelrod on how to fool the American people? This is similar to the way that Air America radio host Mike Papantonio and Robert Kennedy Jr run their Ring of Fire radio show. That show is to talk radio as this ‘town hall’ event is to a town hall event.

Frankly, I’m glad to see the media standing up, instead of laying down, to Gibbs (the administration) on the willful deception going on in The White House. They have certainly come a long way since the presidential campaign season when they had enough ‘plants’ in ‘debates’ that were run by them to open up a roadside stand. In either case, it is the same deception. Is this the change you were expecting?

This video is noteworthy just for the sheer incompetence on display in the performance of the White House Press Secretary. This is a real gem.

In responding to Helen Thomas telling Gibbs that the White House screens the questions and calls reporters on the night before to tell them that they will call on them at the ‘town hall’ meeting, Gibbs responds to Thomas with ‘eh, we’ve had this discussion ad nauseum’ and then points to someone else to change the subject. But not before she responds with ‘of course you would, you don’t have any answers.’ Priceless.

See the entire exchange below. Get the kids and some popcorn, you will want to see this again and again.

Nothing Left To Give

It wasn’t a slip of the tongue when candidate Obama said something like ‘the United States is the greatest country in the world, that’s why we need to change it.’

To a socialist, the very fact that America has become as great as it is in under 200 years, while Europe and Asia go back thousands of years, just gets under their skin. So as not to miss the obvious question, why do you suppose that is? Two words, freedom and liberty.

Because of our freedom and generosity, Americans have become the greatest producer and contributor of foreign aid in the world, and by a long shot. Not only in terms of money given but in terms of the ability of American farmers and industry to feed the world and for our military to provide aid after natural disasters wherever they may occur. Right, we need to change that.

Click to enlarge. And read what the grandfather of Newsweek editor Evan Thomas, Norman Mattoon Thomas, said about socialism and the Democrat Party.

A look at the numbers of where we are going is in an article by Alan Aronoff at American Thinker entitled Stimulating America’s Decline and begs your reading.

The fundamental change that the Obama administration has in mind will cripple the economy and suppress capitalism by suppressing risk taking and investment.  There is already a lengthy history of government involvement in private industry whether by ‘bailout’ (democrat-speak for ‘takeover’) or takeover, where this administration is concerned.

For years Democrats in Washington have been pre-occupied with our image in the world. I wonder what our image in the world will be when the ‘land of plenty’ has nothing left to give?

Supremes Overrule Sotomayor's Empathy

It comes as no surprise to many that the Supreme Court would overturn the decision made by Sonia Sotomayor. That’s what happened today.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

It is instructive to watch how the Supreme Court decision will be reported. Headlines like these should be a clue.

The storyline will be less about Sotomayer being overruled, less about the fact that the plaintiffs prevailed in getting equal protection under the law, and more about stoking the racial fire and accusations that the court wants to ‘wind back the clock.’

And, more importantly, less about the fact that the court’s solution to the case was only that. A solution of the case. Plaintiffs prevail, end of story. There was no constitutional question regarding racial preferences to be decided.

The constitutionality of racial preferences under the law will come before the Supreme Court some day. And you can bet that a court with Sotomayor and one more ‘sympathetic’ judge would codify government-approved racial discrimination once and for all.

related links: Sotomayor, Equality Or Pay-Back | It’s The Supreme Court, Not Oprah

Honduras Defends Its Democracy, The Nerve

While the Honduran government is trying to stabilize and preserve its democracy and its constitution, they are meeting with objections from the likes of Fidel Castro, the hemisphere’s idiot Hugo Chavez, who has already threatened to overthrow their government, as well as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. What?

Hugo Chávez’s coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation’s constitution. It seems that President Mel Zelaya miscalculated when he tried to emulate the success of his good friend Hugo in reshaping the Honduran Constitution to his liking.

So what happens when the people take a stand for law and order, and the support of their own constitution? For one thing, you can be sure this administration will be consistent and come down on the side of the dictators instead of the people. It has already happened to the people in Iran.

It remains to be seen what Mr. Zelaya’s next move will be. It’s not surprising that chavistas throughout the region are claiming that he was victim of a military coup. They want to hide the fact that the military was acting on a court order to defend the rule of law and the constitution, and that the Congress asserted itself for that purpose, too.

Mrs. Clinton has piled on as well. Yesterday she accused Honduras of violating “the precepts of the Interamerican Democratic Charter” and said it “should be condemned by all.” Fidel Castro did just that. Mr. Chávez pledged to overthrow the new government.

Where’s the next uprising against constitutional abuses going to come from? And how will the Obama administration react?

link: Honduras Defends Its Democracy, Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object.

Barnum & Bailey Congress

This is where the heated debate in Congress has gotten to. As usual for all of this administration’s emergencies, this bill called ‘Cap & Trade’ has to be voted on, TODAY. And the 1000 page bill grew to 1300+ pages around 3AM this morning. And, the 1000 or so pages were released last night. The members of the House don’t yet have the 300 page amendment that was slipped in it but are expected to debate and vote on. Huh?

Oh it gets better. Did you know that the Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) just said that providing representatives with physical copies of the bill is not her job. Digest that one for a moment.

When asked if she had a full copy of the bill, she wasn’t sure.  Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) asked to see for himself if the entire bill was physically at the Speaker’s desk. His request was objected to by a democrat and no physical verification occurred. But hey, we need to vote on this. It’s important. It’s so important that they can’t risk anyone knowing what is in it.They were told, it’s on a website. What?

Didn’t we just do this with the porkulus bill? Didn’t we just mortgage our grand children’s future on legislation that no body read or even had the time to read?

Can you appreciate the Democrat’s interpretation of ‘full disclosure? ‘ It goes along the line of, we’ll disclose what we want to disclose and when we want to disclose it. Shut up and lay down.

First we have to follow Rahm Emanual’s ‘Rule One.’ Not to let a crisis go to waste. Even if we have to create a crisis to do it. Any problems will be up to future generations to fix. Don’t worry, be happy.

Anyone that votes for this Cap and Trade bill should be shunned at the polls next time around. That your U.S. Representative needs to be a conservative next time goes without saying.

Tomorrow’s headline, if it passes the House today, ‘Obama administration advances energy bill to the Senate’ or something like that. This bill is more of an economy killer, at a time when we are in economic upheaval, than it is an energy bill. It won’t be reported as another railroad job same as the stimulus (porkulus) bill was not reported that way.

The bill gets ZERO new energy from fossil or nuclear sources. It does nothing to reduce our dependancy on foreign oil. Instead, it chokes the economic engine of the country in the name of catastrophic man-made global warming while killing jobs and raising prices of everything, especially electricity. Oh, and it also puts virtually all industry under the thumb of government by  taxation.