Friday, March 26, 2010

op ed review 3/28

OBAMACARE

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 to socialize health care in the United States, making the government the paymaster of, and giving it sweeping regulatory authority over, the U.S. health care industry which represents one-sixth of the U.S. economy. The legislation also enacts a dramatic and unprecedented diminution in the individual liberty of citizens.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/63118

It took a seedy campaign of intimidation, bribery, and back-room deal-making worthy of Tammany Hall, but Democrats have nearly pulled off the radical transformation of the American health care system that they – if not the rest of America – so desperately desire. With the 219-to-212 party-line House vote, made possible by the last-minute collapse of a holdout block of anti-abortion Democrats led by Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak, the federal government’s intrusion into one-sixth of the economy is one step closer to becoming a reality.

http://frontpagemag.com/2010/03/22/obamacare-on-the-march/

President Obama declared that the new health care law "is going to be affecting every American family." Except his own, of course. The new health care law exempts the president from having to participate in it. Leadership and committee staffers in the House and Senate who wrote the bill are exempted as well.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/23/obamacare-for-everyone-but-obama/

The legislation allocates $10 billion to pay for 16,500 new IRS agents who will collect and enforce mandatory "premiums."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg23-2010mar23,0,6611246.column

Americans are angry: A rash of vandalism and attacks directed at politicians, with at least 10 House Democrats reporting death threats or incidents of harassment or vandalism at their district offices over the past week.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032402122_pf.html

Here’s our hope now: "The health care reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last night clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican, said in a prepared statement announcing a news conference. "On behalf of the State of Florida and of the Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, Colorado, South Dakota and Alabama if the President signs this bill into law, we will file a lawsuit to protect the rights and the interests of American citizens.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2215987420100322

Rep. Jay Inslee attacks Washington AG McKenna for joining the suit.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/88791-why-is-ag-rob-mckenna-suing-the-federal-government-to-stop-health-care-rep-jay-inslee

Make them pay: House Republicans have targeted vulnerable Democrats, such as the health care reform plan's "flip-flop five" and "Stupak sellouts," who they think will lead them to victories in this fall's midterm elections. Both parties are furiously raising cash for a November showdown.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/24/gop-targets-health-bill-flip-floppers-sellouts/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_must-read-stories-today

Republicans have set their sights on a new goal: Nancy Pelosi's job as Speaker of the House. The GOP's official Web site has been replaced by firenancypelosi.com, boasting a goal to knock the Democratic leader from her post by winning 40 seats in the House of Representatives in November's elections. "It is time to fire Nancy Pelosi and send a message to President Obama that it's time to stop their partisan liberal agenda of

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/03/22/2010-03-22_fire_nancy_pelosi_gop_website_aims_to_raise_400g_to_oust_speaker.html

Pelosi's favorable rating in the polls now stands at 11 percent.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000937-503544.html

The battle over President Obama's health care overhaul has produced an unexpected beneficiary: the pro-life movement, which is summoning support and gathering contributions at a rate not seen since the partial-birth abortion debates of the mid-1990s. Leaders of the movement are not only promising an electoral showdown in November but they've chosen a new villain: Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan. The pro-life Democrat's last-minute switch in favor of the legislation passed Sunday has infuriated movement partisans. Mr. Stupak is already paying the price: The Susan B. Anthony List immediately stripped him of a Defender of Life award it was planning to bestow on him Wednesday at its third annual Campaign for Life gala at the Willard InterContinental in downtown Washington.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/23/health-care-reform-energizes-pro-life-movement/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_must-read-stories-today

Sen. John McCain said Monday morning that Democrats have not heard the last of the health care debate, and said he was repulsed by "all this euphoria going on…..outside the Beltway, the American people are very angry. They don't like it, and we're going to repeal this.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35982527/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

You've probably never heard of Dan Benishek, but he's a Republican running against Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who struck a deal with Nancy Pelosi that is believed to be the decisive vote to pass ObamaCare. More than 1,700 people have already joined Benishek's Facebook page. Liberty First PAC has added Stupak to its target list, and Stupak is probably going to be on a lot of other lists pretty soon.

http://spectator.org/blog/2010/03/21/dan-benishek-just-became-the-m

Sarah Palin is rallying the base on her Facebook page in a pitch to raise money to oust Democrats from 20 House seats across the nation. "With the President signing this unwanted and 'transformative' government takeover of our health care system with promises impossible to keep, let's not get discouraged," she wrote yesterday. "Don't get demoralized," her statement said. "Get organized!"

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/03/24/2010-03-24_sarah_palin_aims_to_take_back_the_20_in_wake_of_health_care_reform.html

“There is a fundamental right being denied 55% of all Americans. This denial costs over 16,000 lives per year, meaning more than 44 of our fellow Americans will die every day that we delay. What should be done in light of these shocking figures? Using the example set by President Obama and the Congressional Democrats, there is only one answer: Universal Gun Care for every American. Surely a right outlined in the Bill of Rights (2d Amendment) is just as important as a right NOT found the Constitution (Health Care).”

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/03/the_shocking_truth_about_a_fun.html

Follow the money:: “Non-union workers and private companies could be forced into absorbing the financial liabilities of underfunded union pension plans, thanks to pending health care mandates.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/25/unions-eye-new-pools-for-pensions/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_must-read-stories-today

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IN OTHER NEWS

The mother of a Ballard High School student is fuming after the health center on campus helped facilitate her daughter's abortion during school hours.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/417276_abortion23.html?source=rss

This year, the Social Security system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/business/economy/25social.html?sudsredirect=true

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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN

David E. Smith 3/24

Like many Americans across the nation, I watched intensely as Congress debated and ultimately passed the onerous healthcare "reform" bill Sunday evening. One main point of contention is the idea -- affirmed by some radically "progressive" lawmakers -- that healthcare is a "right." This is nothing short of socialistic propaganda.

The implicit claim in the assertion that healthcare is a "right" is that it is a constitutionally protected right. All experts agree that healthcare is neither a constitutional nor a legal right. In America we understand that our rights to the free exercise of religion, to speak freely, to bear arms, and to be secure from unwarranted search and seizure come from God.

To see the difference in government-mandated healthcare and real rights, look at how they are exercised. Historically, American citizens have been free to exercise their real, constitutionally protected rights -- or not -- as they see fit. For example, the government does not compel citizens to attend church in the name of religious freedom. The government does not compel citizens to own a gun in the name of the Second Amendment. And the government does not force citizens to engage in the political process in the name of free speech.

In contrast, our radically "progressive" friends are eager to compel every American using the heavy hand of government to exercise their so-called "right" to healthcare. Should we celebrate the passage of a bill that in the service of non-existent rights actually diminishes our liberty?

What is really at issue is not whether healthcare is a "right," but whether citizens have a right to taxpayer-funded healthcare. What other cherished American "right" has ever required that we diminish another's liberty? Does the right to free speech require newspaper owners to print every op-ed and editorial? Does the right to bear arms require the government to arm its citizenry? Does the freedom of religion require government-funding of churches, mosques, and synagogues? Of course not!

Why then, does this "right" to healthcare require the government to take from some to give to others? When in the history of our country have we had to secure a right by trampling on the liberties of others? Make no mistake...that is exactly what is happening with this government takeover of the healthcare industry. This new healthcare "right" will be forced on every American; and it will be made possible -- in the words of Karl Marx -- by taking from citizens "according to their ability" and giving to others "according to their needs."

According to U.S. Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio), this legislation will create 160 new governmental boards, commissions, and mandates, and will require $500 billion in tax increases to pay for it. Of course, that will be only the beginning, as additional taxpayer funds will most certainly be needed.

Healthcare lawyer and policy analyst John S. Hoff illuminates the troubling questions left unanswered by the phrase "right to healthcare," which he argues "does not address the relevant issues that must be considered in considering taxpayer subsidies for healthcare":

How much healthcare is to be paid for by the taxpayer, for what beneficiaries, and under what circumstances? Does it include the most advanced or experimental treatment? Indeed, what is healthcare? Long-term care? What are the parameters of self-responsibility? Should there be taxpayer subsidies for smokers, drug abusers, and dare-devils? And which taxpayers should be paying? Should the working young and low-income workers subsidize the healthcare costs of those who are wealthier and sicker?

These are political judgments that we have barely addressed, and they are camouflaged by invocation of a broad principle of a "right" to healthcare. President Obama and many in Congress are celebrating the passage of this ominous legislation -- legislation that forces American citizens into the newly created, socialized healthcare system. Sadly, the costs of this new government program are much higher than we think. Although the financial cost to taxpayers is substantial, the cost to personal liberty is incalculable.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=948956

Another good read: “Madam Pelosi's House Of Ill Repute” “Conned by the promise of an ephemeral executive order, the last holdouts cave and ObamaCare advances. It doesn't add a single doctor or hospital room, but needs 17,000 new IRS agents to enforce it. Congressman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., spent months spelling out in minute detail how the Senate version of the health care overhaul permitted federal funding of abortion through its failure to expressly prohibit it. In the end, he cashed in his principles for an unenforceable executive order that is trumped by the Senate bill he voted to pass.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=528098

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MORE OPINIONS ON OBAMACARE

“Opponents recognize that this bill violates the most important principles of American government, and as such, is immoral. In a free society, does one individual's needs constitute another individual's obligation to provide? The answer is no; rather, it is the duty of free individuals to decide what and whose needs appear most important to them.”

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/the_moral_case_against_health.html

“Resisting ObamaCare, Gandhi Style: (Obama) might get more change than he hoped for. By foisting ObamaCare on a deeply unwilling country he might have set the stage for the largest civil disobedience movement since the civil rights era, which, if it plays its cards right, could undo his legislation and his legacy.

President Obama is betting that come November the bruising, yearlong battle that he has just dragged the country through will be a distant memory. But that profoundly underestimates the dismay of a large segment of the public that sees what he signed Tuesday as a fraudulent piece of legislation based on fraudulent thinking backed by fraudulent facts enacted through a fraudulent process…..Gandhi.said that "civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless and corrupt." Americans instinctively understand this which is why pockets of resistance to ObamaCare are already emerging. The question is only whether they can be constructively harnessed into a grassroots, Gandhi-style civil disobedience movement powerful enough to undo this monstrosity.”

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/23/obamacare-politics-united-states-reform-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html?boxes=opinionschannellighttop

Dennis Prager: “A terrible thing happened to America on Sunday, March 21, 2010”

The country took its biggest step ever down a road diametrically opposed to its original intent of keeping the state small so that the individual can be free and great. Therefore, in this unprecedented crisis of values, this is what needs to be done:

1. Know and teach America's core values.

2. Recognize that we are fighting the left, not liberals.

3. We must single-mindedly work to repeal the government health plan.

5. Our motto: "The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen."

6. Do not let other matters distract.

7. Acknowledge that we are in a non-violent civil war.

After Sunday's vote, for the first time in American history, one could no longer confidently believe that the American system will prevail. And if we don't fight for it, we don't deserve it.

http://townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2010/03/23/its_a_civil_war_what_we_do_now?page=full&comments=true

The vote is done and we have awakened to a new era. Under the guise of coverage for pre-existing conditions and the security of knowing that you can’t be kicked off your insurance when you really need it, the democrats have pushed through a bill which will lead to the end of health care as we know it.

http://biggovernment.com/egeorge/2010/03/23/depend-on-the-government-for-your-health-care-good-luck/

Newt Gingrich: “No one should be confused about the outcome of Sunday's vote. This is not the end of the fight it is the beginning of the fight….. The Obama-Pelosi-Reid machine combined the radicalism of Alinsky, the corruption of Springfield and the machine power politics of Chicago. Sunday was a pressured, bought, intimidated vote worthy of Hugo Chavez but unworthy of the United States of America.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=36142

The government takeover of health care will go down in history as the worst piece of legislation to emerge from a Congress held in general disdain by the American people. The only bipartisanship on the health bill was in the opposition…….Once voters have a chance to tell the most irresponsible government in American history that enough is enough, the Democrats' brief reign will expire, and be deemed death by suicide.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/21/editorial-democrats-death-suicide/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_must-read-stories-today

“It takes some ingenuity to add to the costs, inefficiency, and dysfunctions that government has already bequeathed to our health-care system, but the Democrats have proven themselves up to the challenge. Almost nothing about this legislation is free of dispute, but we are convinced that it will increase taxes, increase premiums, and increase debt, while decreasing economic growth, job growth, and the quality of health care. The Democrats have abused the system, ignoring both the Founders’ design and public opinion. The first step toward undoing that abuse is to make them pay a political price for it.”

http://article.nationalreview.com/428841/obamacare-isnt-inevitable/the-editors?page=2

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FROM OTHER COLUMNS

“Several states will file suit to block implementation of Obamacare, which they argue violates the Constitution by treating the states differently and infringes state sovereignty. This sounds arcane in the present day, where the doctrine of states' rights, so dear to the hearts of the Founding Fathers, was thought to have been relegated to an antique store. But so sweeping is the assault on the Constitution that the states joining the litigation are more than the usual suspects from the Deep South. The suit will be filed by Bill McCollum, the Republican attorney general of Florida, to be joined by South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North and South Dakota and Alabama. Virginia will sue separately over the provision in Obamacare, citing the constitutional power of the federal government to regulate interstate commerce, that anyone who declines to buy health insurance will be required to pay a fine. Asks Kenneth Cuccinelli, the attorney general of Virginia: "If a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person by definition is not engaging in commerce. If you are not engaging in commerce, how can the federal government regulate you?"

-Wes Pruden

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GLOBALONEY

The (UK) Science Museum is revising the contents of its new climate science gallery to reflect the wave of scepticism that has engulfed the issue in recent months. The decision by the 100-year-old London museum reveals how deeply scientific institutions have been shaken by the public’s reaction to revelations of malpractice by climate scientists. The museum is abandoning its previous practice of trying to persuade visitors of the dangers of global warming. It is instead adopting a neutral position.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7073272.ece

Even Bill Clinton is now mocking Al Gore: “Elsewhere in his remarks, he noted he was speaking on the night before the start of spring, “otherwise known to Al Gore as proof of global warming.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/03/21/clinton-returns-to-washington-needling-himself-obama-and-the-press/

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ARTICLES

In November 2008, Americans elected a socialist as their president. In March 2010, they woke up stunned to find themselves living in a socialist country. Health insurers - once private companies - are now organs of the federal government. Every citizen is a ward of the state, which can now compel you to have insurance; punish you if you don't; determine if your insurance is acceptable; punish you if it isn't. Thousands of new federal bureaucrats will soon spill from the D.C. Beltway and flood the country.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/where_were_you_when_the_republ.html

20 ways Obamacare will take away your freedoms:

http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politicsinvesting/1563-20-ways-obamacare-will-take-away-our-freedoms

It is quite likely that the "individual mandate" in ObamaCare requiring all Americans to purchase health insurance against their will is unconstitutional. But after the State of the Union dust-up, the Court has more than just technical legal motives to take up the case. I'm hoping that Madison's understanding of human nature was correct, and that Justices Alito and Roberts are chomping at the bit for the chance to get back at Obama and his Congressional goons for the humiliation they inflicted on the Court. A decision striking down ObamaCare, authored by Justice Alito, would be the ultimate smackdown.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/03/is_obamacare_headed_for_a_supr.html

Ben Stein: “My Thoughts on Watching the Dems Stab the Constitution on the Congressional Floor……This is not how the U.S. government is supposed to work. This is how a South American junta does its work with a puppet legislature and a supreme Caudillo above law. This is, tragically, Barack Obama's America. It took a mere 14 months to get us from the government of Jefferson to the government of Trujillo.”

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/03/22/my-thoughts-on-watching-the-de

Mitt Romney: America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation….he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends….He calls his accomplishment “historic” — in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process.”

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzgyMzA1NWUwNjA5OTg2ZTUzMTliYzQyOTM1ZmIzNTI

Michael Steele: This weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ensured that the 111th Congress will live in infamy. Instead of listening to the people she used every procedural trick at her disposal to pass her health care legislation. She must be stopped…”

http://biggovernment.com/msteele/2010/03/22/obamacare-time-to-fire-speaker-pelosi/#more-93570

Lloyd Marcus: “Democrats say that their mission is to give all Americans health care. The Democrats are lying. Signing ObamaCare into law against our will and the Constitution is tyranny and step one of their hideous goal of having as many Americans as possible dependent on government, thus controlling our lives and fulfilling Obama's promise to fundamentally transform America……I keep asking myself: How did our government move so far from the normal procedures of getting things done? Could a white president have so successfully pulled off shredding the Constitution to further his agenda? I think not.  Ironically, proving that America is completely the opposite of the evil, racist country they relentlessly accuse her of being, progressives used America's goodness, guilt, and sense of fair play against her. In their quest to destroy America as we know it, progressives borrowed a brilliant scheme from Greek mythology. They offered America a modern-day Trojan Horse, a beautifully crafted, golden, shiny new black man as a presidential candidate.”

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/the_progressives_perfect_troja.html

Rush Limbaugh: “They won because they held Congress and the presidency, and therein lies the lesson: We need to defeat these bastards. We need to wipe them out. We need to chase them out of town. But we need to do more than that. We need to elect conservatives….”

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_032210/content/01125106.guest.html

Bill Kristol: “A One Word Agenda for Republicans: Repeal”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/special-editorial-repeal

Nile Gardiner: “It is yet another millstone round the necks of the American people, already faced with the highest levels of unemployment in a generation. It is also a great leap forward by the United States towards a European-style vision of universal health care, which will only lead to soaring costs, higher taxes, and a surge in red tape for small businesses. This reckless legislation dramatically expands the power of the state over the lives of individuals, and could not be further from the vision of America’s founding fathers.”

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100030793/a-dark-day-for-freedom-in-america/

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.

http://biggovernment.com/prahe/2010/03/22/hope-and-change-had-enough/

The Demcare bribe list, Pt. III

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/19/the-demcare-bribe-list-pt-iii/

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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES

Just what it says:

http://www.firenancypelosi.com/

How a bill really becomes law:

http://lucianne.com/article/?pageid=school_house_rap

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WISE WORDS

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents... If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one."

-James Madison

"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. "

-Thomas Jefferson

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