The Political Fish

A disturbing memo circulating among the Democrat leadership was leaked this past weekend by Politico detailing a timeline for the ObamaCare bill, as well as the fact that the American public should not be privy to how the bill gets passed.

Shut up and deal with it America. We will pass it by any means necessary, including subverting the processes put in place.

This type of behavior is telling of the Democrat majorities motivation to remake this Republic at all cost. Its not the crown jewel of ObamaCare…its the power to do what they will no matter what. Its a tempting treat for the majority party and one that cannot and will not be allowed by the American people. We still love our freedom no matter how many freebies you think you can throw at us. Here is the memo published from Politico. You must read it. You must understand what these people are all about. Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) everyone.

The Van Hollen memo also advised members to avoid talking about the process.

“At this point, we have to just rip the band-aid off and have a vote — up or down; yes or no? Things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL,” the memo says. “People who try and start arguments about process on this are almost always against the actual policy substance too, often times for purely political reasons.”

Leadership expects a CBO score on the reconciliation package by today or Monday. No decisions have been made on how the final process will unfold on the House floor, the memo says. So it appears Democrats are still grappling with whether they can use the process to pass the Senate bill without voting directly on the bill. Many Democrats view the Senate bill’s deals and policies as a toxic political mix that they would rather not endorse without first making changes to it.

Finally, the memo recommends staffers put together in-district events during the Easter recess where their lawmakers can highlight all the immediate benefits reform would provide.

Full memo after the jump.

UPDATE: A Van Hollen aide says that the memo went out to the district directors of freshmen and sophomore members who were fielding questions about timing and procedure and were looking for scheduling guidance.

Hi all –

Attached and below are some good resources to get through the health care push next week.

Here is my best guess on timeline but as always this is Congress so it could all change very quickly:

TODAY or MONDAY: CBO will publish final scores on legislative language

THEN: House Budget Committee must approve using the reconciliation process to pass this

THEN: The bill will go to the Rules Committee, rule will be constructed for consideration on the floor, and language will be posted online (on the Rules website) and the 72-hour clock will start. When this happens, we will start to have a better idea on what the process will be.

THEN: A Manager’s Amendment will be constructed that will make some final changes

THEN: The Manager’s Amendment will be posted online and the 72-hour clock will start (this may overlap with the 72-hour clock on the reconciliation language). When Manager’s Amendment is done final process decisions will be locked in.

THIS MEANS: We will likely vote Friday or Saturday. (As you probably saw, POTUS pushed back the departure for his Asian trip from Thursday the 18th to Sunday the 21st; this was not a coincidence.) The Speaker has publically committed to trying to get a vote on both the reconciliation bill and the Senate bill on the same day. They are still trying to work out the final process on this and much of what we do depends on what the Senate Parliamentarian decides. You may be receiving calls about the “Slaughter Rule” and other rumors about what the process will be. Again, please understand: no decision has yet been made on the process for consideration on the House floor.

Key points:

1. I would have your Member’s schedule pretty clear for next weekend. They will either be here or exhausted (or both).

2. I continue to encourage all of you not to get into debates about process and to try and persuade your Member not to get into process arguments either. At this point, we have to just rip the band-aid off and have a vote — up or down; yes or no? Things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL. People who try and start arguments about process on this are almost always against the actual policy substance too, often times for purely political reasons.

3. Finally, I encourage you to study the final attached slide (#14) and give some thought to what your plan is post-vote, especially during Easter Work Period. If your Member is a yes, or might be a yes, I would lay the groundwork for some events to highlight the reforms that will quickly become law – no more donut hole, dependent children covered until 26, insurance access for those with pre-existing conditions, etc.

It was a private memo. It got leaked. And for that, Mr. Van Hollen should be removed from office immediately for openly calling for subversion tactics, and tactics to force legislation without the consent of the governed.

The definition of sleaze in Washington. Representative Chris Van Hollen.

Contact Rep. Van Hollen here. Let your voice be heard. We WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS.

It’s the Chicago strong armed thuggery in the White House that we have become so accustomed to seeing. More of it on display at yesterdays health care summit.

President Obama declares that the Democrat caucus will be moving forward on a socialist takeover of the United States healthcare system, with or without the GOP support. Apparently that also means with or without the support of the American people, who have been stating their case overwhelmingly against this bill.

That’s what we have elections for he says…well Mr. President, thats also what we have revolutions for. Roll the tape.

Obama knows full well that if this ever gets passed, it will be next to impossible to undo it, hence the high intensity energetic push to get it done in a “few weeks”. Dont worry about getting it right, just get it done. Mr. President, scoring a political victory by passing a disasterous bill will not work out well for you. The American people have spoken, and should you continue to not listen…well, who knows what happens next.

Ronald Reagan once said “the closest thing to eternal life on this earth is a government program”. Obama knows this.

And he does not care what you think.

One of the reasons why our Founding Fathers opposed term limits was because they wanted the Representatives to always be accountable to the people.  They argued that a “lame-duck” Congressman would act in his own best interests, and not those of his constituents, while he waited for his term to expire.  Now, I am in favor of term limits, but I see the point the Founding Fathers were trying to make.

That being said, I was a little disappointed to see that two Democrat Senators, Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Byron Dorgan (D- North Dakota) have decided that they do not want to face the wrath of the voters in 2010.  Pity.

According to the independent pollster Scott Rasmussen, the Obama approval disaster continues its free fall, with the latest report showing the approval index at -15. The Presidential Approval Index (PAI) is of course the number of people who strongly approve of the job being done minus the number of people who strongly disapprove.

The number who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s performance inched up a point to 41% in December. The number who Strongly Approved fell two more points to 26%. That leads to a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15, a new low for Obama.

Rasmussen notes the free-fall in his numbers equate to a 38 point swing in the Presidents first year. 

Of course this is bad news for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. So into full fledged damage control they have gone. Their strategy you ask??  Shoot the messenger.

From Politico:

Democrats are turning their fire on Scott Rasmussen, the prolific independent pollster whose surveys on elections, President Obama’s popularity and a host of other issues are surfacing in the media with increasing frequency.

The pointed attacks reflect a hardening conventional wisdom among prominent liberal bloggers and many Democrats that Rasmussen Reports polls are, at best, the result of a flawed polling model and, at worst, designed to undermine Democratic politicians and the party’s national agenda. 

On progressive-oriented websites, anti-Rasmussen sentiment is an article of faith. “Rasmussen Caught With Their Thumb on the Scale,” blared the Daily Kos this summer. “Rasmussen Reports, You Decide,” the blog Swing State Project recently headlined in a play on the Fox News motto.

“I don’t think there are Republican polling firms that get as good a result as Rasmussen does,” said Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow with Media Matters, a progressive research center. “His data looks like it all comes out of the RNC [Republican National Committee].”

The Democrat detachment from reality continues. They apparently do not realize that popularity is so low for the President because Americans enjoy freedom. They don’t appreciate those who attempt to chisel away at their freedoms. The American people are not stupid and can see clearly that the choice that was made in 2008 is having unintended consequences. The message of hope and change was a joke.

Understanding Healthcare Reform

With efforts underway to reconcile the Senate’s healthcare plan with that passed in the House, it seems appropriate to outline briefly the purpose of the bill and what it will mean for America.

President Obama campaigned on a promise to provide universal healthcare coverage to “47 million uninsured Americans.” Shortly after being elected, he amended that number to “31 million,” upon learning that the overwhelming majority of Americans did not consider illegal immigrants to be Americans , as apparently he did. 

Of the remaining 31 million Americans, 9 million earn $75,000 or more; 10 million are already eligible for a government sponsored program (such as Medicare, Medicaid, or SCHIP); and 3 million are in American prisons.  That leaves 9 million Americans without affordable insurance options, or about 3 percent of the population. 

Rather than simply buy private insurance for this 3 percent (a Nixonian idea that fell victim to Watergate), President Obama and company decided it better to overhaul the entire healthcare industry, and with it a full one sixth of the American economy, all in the name of progress.

Obamacare seeks to achieve universal coverage by adding 15 million people to Medicare’s already overburdened rolls, and, in a stroke of genius, forcing the remaining 16 million to either buy insurance or face penalties including fines and even imprisonment.  Additionally, the bill places greater economic burdens on health insurance companies, which will result in a rise in premiums.  Worse yet, the bill does nothing to meet the increased demand for medical care by increasing the amount of providers (doctors, nurses, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, etc.), meaning that rationing of healthcare resources is inevitable. 

But if nothing else, congressional Democrats report that this bill will be deficit neutral.  Unfortunately, that claim is nothing more than fiscal sleight of hand. 

First, to achieve “deficit neutrality,” half a trillion dollars will be cut from Medicare, even though it was already expected to go bankrupt by 2019, and 15 million people will be added to it.  This will destroy Medicare, a program currently relied upon by 45 million Americans. 

Second, half a trillion dollars will be added in new taxes on the rich: which is to say, the very people who provide the jobs that our economy now so sorely lacks.  In other words, the private sector will be expected to provide more jobs with less money. 

And don’t think the middle class and the poor won’t get soaked.  Obamacare pretends to be less expensive than it really is by shifting a greater burden onto state governments to fund Medicaid.  California, for example, which is already running a $20 billion deficit, will have to add approximately $1.4 billion in new spending.  Pennsylvania will had to add about $1.5 billion, and Texas nearly $3 billion, to name a few.  (Nebraska, conversely, will not have to pay anything after Senator Ben Nelson (D) took the courageous position that he simply could not support any bill that funds abortions… unless his state received $80 million per year in kickbacks.  Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D), not quite as adept as Nelson, accepted $100 million in federal bribe money, but the increased cost to her state is expected to be $400 million per year). 

To meet these increases, states will have to cut services (which tend to be for the benefit of the poor), and/or raise taxes.  And because states receive a disproportionate share of revenue from sales and property taxes, these tax increases will affect anyone who wants to buy anything or own real property.  So much for Obama’s pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class. 

Even then, the bill is only deficit neutral for the first ten years.  During that time the federal government will collect the new taxes every year, but only pay benefits for the last six years.  At no point are the expected annual revenues generated from the new taxes expected to exceed the benefits paid out, meaning that immediately after the first decade of this bill’s existence it will begin to add to our already crippling national debt.  As it stands, our national debt is already at approximately $12 trillion (which is four times our annual revenue), and is expected to reach $18 trillion in just five years, or about $60,000 per citizen.  Regrettably, it seems the only realistic way for this debt to be satisfied is to effectively wage economic warfare on ourselves: i.e., printing more money to intentionally devalue the dollar, thereby inflating away the debt (and, incidentally, our savings).  Our largest creditors, such as China, have been buying American dollars in order to prevent this, and along with it the total collapse of our currency.  But they can only do that for so long. 

And so, after nearly a year of campaigning, deliberating, negotiating, and late night talk show politicking, this is what the Democrats have given us: healthcare reform wherein half of the uninsured are placed into a Medicare program whose insolvency has been hastened, the remaining uninsured will be forced to buy their own insurance or be penalized, insurance premiums will rise, state budgets will be compromised, and everyone’s taxes will be increased.  Plus, the greatest economic superpower in world history will be even deeper into an insuperable debt, on a crash course with hyperinflation, at the mercy of a communist nation.  No wonder the most recent Quinnipiac poll shows 36 percent of Americans favor the plan, and 53% oppose it.  In their zeal to improve national health, the Democrats have given us a cure worse than the disease.

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Breaking from Fox News:

Republican state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava has suspended her campaign for upstate New York’s 23rd Congressional seat, giving a possible boost to Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman against Democrat Bill Owens, Fox News has confirmed. 

The move comes on the heels of a new poll that showed Scozzafava had fallen behind her two competitors in a race too close.

The special election is Tuesday and political analysts believe upstate New York is a preview of the races in 2010 and 2012 as Republican leaders struggle to rebuild, redefine and regain control of Washington.

The Siena College poll has Owens picking up 36 percent of the vote, while Hoffman has 35 percent. Scozzafava has 20 percent, with nine percent of voters undecided.

Chalk this one up to a victory for conservatives nationwide. And shame on Newt Gingrich for backing a woman who was clearly a center-left Republican and not representative of the conservative district that she was tapped to represent.

It will now be a two-horse race in the NY-23 district run-off election. Doug Hoffman, the Conservative party candidate, and Bill Owens the Democrat. Most recent polling with Scozzafava still in the race showed a neck and neck affair with Owens at 36%, Hoffman 35% and Scozzafava checking in with 20%.

Doug Hoffman garnered national attention for jumping into the race as a third party candidate after he was passed over in the selection process of the district. He attracted endorsements of many high-profile Republicans nationwide, as well as the teaparty activists who flocked towards upstate New York to lend their support.

This is what the Republican party needs. The big-tent philosophy of this party is what has gotten them into trouble in national elections recently. The base is motivated, and they are conservative.  Conservatives nationwide want to keep this country true to the principles it was founded upon, and this will be the start in retaking what has become an out of control governmental machine.

Now its time to watch the Governors races in New Jersey and Virginia.

Update:

From Newt Gingrich on Twitter:

newtgingrich Scozzafava dropping out leaves hoffman as only anti-tax anti-pelosi vote in ny 23 Every voter opposed to tax increases support doug hoffman11 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

Scozzafava’s statement:

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Throughout the course of my campaign for Congress, I have made the people of the 23rd District and the issues that affect them the focal point of my campaign. As a life long resident of this District, I care deeply and passionately about its people and our way of life. Whether as a candidate for Congress, a State Assemblywoman or a small town Mayor, I have always sought to act with the best interest of our District and its residents in mind—and today I again seek to act for the good of our community.

The opportunity to run as the Republican and Independence Party candidate to represent the 23rd District has been and remains one of the greatest honors of my life. During the past several months, as I’ve traveled the district, meeting and talking with voters about the issues that matter most to them, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received as I sought to serve as their voice in Washington. However, as Winston Churchill once said, Democracy can be a fickle employer, and the road to public office is not always a smooth one.

In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this District. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

On Election Day my name will appear on the ballot, but victory is unlikely. To those who support me – and to those who choose not to – I offer my sincerest thanks.

Dede

Failed Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has once again amazed the residents of the state that she “leads” and I use that term loosely. Apparently, life in Lansing is not a whole lot different from life inside the DC beltway. She is completely detached from the reality of life in her state.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granhlom, a Democrat, whose state’s unemployment is the nation’s highest at 15.2 percent, said the $3.7 billion in stimulus funds Michigan has already used were instrumental in capping the damage of the crumbling auto industry.
“Clearly the stimulus helped although unemployment is at a ridiculously high level,” Granholm said on “Fox News Sunday.” “What has been really helpful for us has been the stimulus’ efforts to really help us diversify our economy.”

You will remember that Michigan’s unemployment rate is up over 15%, by far the highest in the nation. You would think that after being snubbed for all of the Cabinet positions within the Obama administration she would have ceased being an Obama shill. The reality of the situation Ms. Grahholm is the failed Democrat policies that you have forced upon this state have been a failure. The stimulus has not helped out the state of Michigan one bit. Your lack of leadership has shut down state government twice in the last 3 years due to inability to balance your budget.  Detroit, the largest city in the state has become a third-world cesspool of violent crime, corruption, poverty and a hapless citizenry dependent on the government for its very survival. The unemployment rate inside the city proper is a staggering 28.9%. Yes, that is almost 1 of every 3 residents of Detroit without a job. Those are the people on the rolls, lets not forget those in the city who have quit looking or actually took a part time job. Just the other day, we have seen just how successful the stimulus was in Michigan. Roll the tape.

The stimulus plan that would help roughly 3500 of the estimated 40,000 that showed up in downtown Detroit for help. These people have falled victim to a system that has handicapped them into believing the government is the only way out. They have been handicapped by an school system in Detroit which would rival the education one might receive deep in the Amazon rain forest. Check out this clip for a little bit of light shining on that statement.

It is sad really what has become of this once great manufacturing city, which now is shedding population (now around 800K from its peak of over 1.5 million) and becoming a society almost completely dependent on the state and federal government. Its largest employer General Motors has been taken over by the feds, Chrysler Corporation forced by the federal government into a marriage that surely will not last. Unsurprisingly, the only one of the Big Three, or what used to be the Big Three, is Ford who did not take federal money or the big stick that came with it.

Ms. Granholm, while the stimulus money may have acted as a backstop for your failing state budget this year, what happens next year when that money is long gone? Oh wait, your term limited so what does it matter to you.

From Townhall.com

House Republican leader John Boehner says nationwide protests known as “tea parties” are the result of pushback against Democrats’ spending.

Boehner says his Democratic colleagues are “bankrupting” the country.

People are demonstrating and attending town hall meetings because, Boehner says, “we’re in the midst of a political rebellion in America.”

Sorry John, the teaparties are more than just an opportunity for you to play political games against your Democrat opponents.

I like John Boehner, he is truly one of the few conservatives left, but he is dead wrong with that statement. He clearly has missed the entire point.

Boehner (R-OH) is correct on one hand, we are definetely in the midst of a political rebellion in this country, but sorry to say it sir, this has nothing to do with Democrat vs.  Republican and everything to do with out of control government. That would be Democrat AND Republican.  It has everything to do with liberty and freedom from an oppressive government bent on ruling the lives of each American individual.

The discontent (although much quieter) started during the Clinton and Bush years. It has reached a boiling point now, as the American public made the grave mistake of electing a progressive (aka socialist) in 2008. I stood shoulder to shoulder for many hours with a life-long Democrat in DC on 9/12 , who was there voicing his discontent at the government. All of it.

The Constitution is the law that rules our land. Our government has abandoned it as a guide. The GOP and the Democrats are both to blame, plenty to go around John.

Do not use the people to play political games. Your gamesmanship is no longer going unnoticed.

HOUSE VOTES TO DEFUND ACORN

From BigGovernment.com, the House passed the “Defund ACORN act” today by a vote of 345-75. See the text of the ammendment above. Not surprisingly, all 75 votes to continue funding came from Democrats. This bill would effectively cut off ALL federal funding of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN). This in response to all of the controversy surrounding the organization in recent days after Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe released their investigation of the group on BigGovernment.com.

Here is the list of 75 Democrat Representatives who opposed the measure. It might be interesting to look into their ties with ACORN, because even the ACORN CEO admits that the actions the world has seen in the last few days are indefensible. For some reason, this group of 75 would like to defend them. Interesting.

NOES    75 —

Baldwin Becerra Brady (PA) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capuano Carson (IN) Castor (FL) Cleaver Clyburn Crowley Cummings Davis (IL) DeGette Delahunt Doyle Edwards (MD) Ellison Engel Fattah Filner Fudge Green, Al Grijalva Hinchey

Hirono Holt Honda Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Johnson, E. B. Kilpatrick (MI) Kucinich Larsen (WA) Lee (CA) Lewis (GA) Lynch Markey (MA) McCollum McDermott McGovern Meeks (NY) Mollohan Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Nadler (NY) Neal (MA) Olver Pallone Pascrell

Payne Polis (CO) Price (NC) Rahall Rangel Roybal-Allard Rush Sánchez, Linda T. Schakowsky Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sherman Sires Slaughter Stark Thompson (MS) Towns Tsongas Velázquez Waters Watson Waxman Wexler Woolsey

Los Angeles California Representative Diane Watson (D) at a townhall meeting heaped praise on the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara, and the allegedly wonderful Cuban healthcare system (wondering why they try to float to Florida on cars). Oh yeah, and in the process towed the Democratic party line of race-baiting anyone who disagrees with the President.

Apparently Los Angeles talk radio station KABC AM-790 was the only news outlet to cover this astonishingly irresponsible comments…take a listen.

Makes you wonder why Cubans do whatever they can to get to South Florida doesn’t it? I mean, in this womans shockingly naive worldview, Cubans got it made!!

This statement is chocked full of stuff to pick through. All the birthers out there can have her statement about “electing a President from Kenya and Kansas”. I thought it was Hawaii?

Thanks to Michelle Malkin for typing out the transcripts to this poor womans idiotic statement. Maybe it will sink in better if you can read it.

WATSON: You might have heard their philosophical leader. I think his name is Rush Limbaugh. And he said early on, “I hope that he fails.”

Do you know what that means? If the president, your commander-in-chief, fails, America fails.

Now, when a senator says that this will be his Waterloo, and we all know what happened at Waterloo, then we have him and he fails. Do we want a failed state called the United States?

And remember: They are spreading fear and they are trying to see that the first president that looks likes me fails.

Now just understand what’s at the bottom line.

And you know we just got, 48 hours ago, we just go back, we were in Beijing, China, Hong Kong, China, we were in Taiwan, we were in Guam, we were all over the Far East.

I just want you to know: People look at the United States as a country that has changed its way and has elected someone from Kenya and Kansas, I’ll put it like that.

And they’re saying, “We thought you would never do that.”

So we don’t want to have this young man, and he just turned 48 — we want him to succeed, because when he succeeds, we regain our status. We regain our status.

It was just mentioned to me by our esteemed speaker, “Did anyone say anything about the Cuban health system?”

And lemme tell ya, before you say “Oh, it’s a commu–”, you need to go down there and see what Fidel Castro put in place. And I want you to know, now, you can think whatever you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders I have ever met. [APPLAUSE]

And you know, the Cuban revolution that kicked out the wealthy, Che Guevara did that, and then, after they took over, they went out among the population to find someone who could lead this new nation, and they found…well, just leave it there (laughs), an attorney by the name of Fidel Castro…

One final question, who the heck were these people clapping for this woman? Is there really an element of society this dumb?

Again.

In 2004, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy orchestrated the set of rules for succession in the event that John Kerry won the Presidency. The rules stated that a special election would be held in no longer than 145 days from the seat being vacated. Seems reasonable right? Well, now apparently Mr. Kennedy sees these rules as being outdated.

Senator Kennedy wrote a letter this week to the Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick which basically stated that there needed to be a new set of rules, in the event that his seat comes open before his 8th term as Senator is over.

“I therefore am writing to urge you to work together to amend the law through the normal legislative process to provide for a temporary gubernatorial appointment until the special election occurs,” writes the Senator.

For the “rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say, Senator Kennedy pushed for and orchestrated the new set of rules in 2004, because at the time, Massachusetts had a Republican governor by the name of Mitt Romney, who likely would have appointed a Republican to fill John Kerry’s Senate seat, should Mr. Kerry had won the Presidential election. (What a horrible thought that is… President Kerry) From the Wall Street Journal…

“Prodded by a personal appeal from Senator Edward M. Kennedy,” reported the Boston Globe in 2004, “Democratic legislative leaders have agreed to take up a stalled bill creating a special election process to replace U.S. Senator John F. Kerry if he wins the presidency.”

With a Democrat in place as the CEO of Massachusetts, apparently the rule should be tweaked a bit to allow for a temporary appointment in the interim to a special election.

Senator Kennedys condition has deteriorated in the recent months. He is bravely battling brain cancer, and he is no doubt in this letter finally coming to grips with his mortality. His handlers insist that the letter is not a foreshadowing of his condition, and contend that Senator Kennedy would be available as is needed. With the looming vote on health care in the near future, one could only determine that his politically motivated letter was put out to ensure a Democrat in his Senate seat, seeking to ensure that the Democrats still hold their 60 vote filibuster proof majority. We will have to wait and see if the governor and state legislature in Massachusetts will listen to the Senator and take on a politically risky move, obviously transparent in its political motivation.

We continue to pray for Senator Kennedy. For all the political disagreements, Senator Kennedy has lived his life as a public servant to his state and to his country. For that we should honor and thank him.

Yes folks, that is the number 3 in line to the Presidency informing the world that ObamaCare protesters are carrying swastika’s. The inflammatory campaign of the Beltway elite continues. Defamation of concerned American citizens worried about the tyrannical takeover of the healthcare industry has reached a new low Apoint.

I attended the townhall meeting held by Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) today here in the Metro Detroit area. Oddly enough, of the thousand + people who showed up, there was not a single person carrying any Nazi propaganda. There were however, hundreds of angry AMERICAN CITIZENS out there to inform Mr. Dingell that the bill he sponsored (HR 3200) needs to be scrapped and started over.

We were lucky enough to have an ACORN operative walking through the crowd accusing the GOP of sending out us “thugs” to continue using Nazi tactics in order to get back at President Obama. Me, being the kind-hearted soul that I am, felt the need to question him on his sign. Of course, he was short on answers. I must have missed the headline where the GOP is allegedly telling senior citizens that we are going to execute them. That was his answer to me. I continued questioning this man all the way out to his car, never getting a logical answer. He was clearly recruited to do what he was doing, that was the conclusion that I came to.

More pictures and video on the Dingell townhall tommorow, as I am currently unable to upload pictures. It was quite an event. It was “Stacked deck” Democracy at its finest. Mr. Dingell stacked the crowd with the SEIU, ACORN, and UAW supporters, let in first (obviously they were informed of a much earlier time than us regular folks) and let around 200 more citizens into the back of the room. Questions were pre-screened, and they were softballs. However, the crowd that was let it decided they were going to get their point out to Mr. Dingell regardless of the Gestapo-like control that he held over the meeting. Chants of “Kill the Bill” rose up. Fantastic stuff. The crowd that was left outside, estimated at well over a thousand were left to converse with each other. My estimation was that it was probably a 90-10 split. 90% of the folks there were loudly against HR 3200.

When will the Beltway elitists understand that we are not paid. We are not evil. We are not fascist. In fact, we are opposite of fascist. We want the government to stay out of such a personal thing as healthcare. This bill MUST NOT PASS.

The Democratic National Commitee has been pushing through the campaign to marginalize, intimidate, and demonize average American citizens who have been swarming the townhall meetings with Congressional leaders. Apparently, the  liberal loons out there are really buying into the idea that if you protest the President, you have obviously been paid off by Fox News, big insurance, or some other rich, white Republican to disrupt and intimidate the members of Congress. Just another Brooks Brothers Brigade is how Robert Gibbs dismissed Americans excercising their freedom of speech. What I am about to post, I am only posting because of how ridiculous this is…but it points to the lack of decency, and frankly the desire to stifle debate on an issue that will affect each and every American citizen. Check this out from talkingpointsmemo.com. This is only page 2 of 4. Read the rest at the site…its….amusing.

It appears as if Republican Senators in the Judiciary commitee hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor are going to be left alone to parse her lengthy judicial record. While I personally have been  unable to watch the hearings in its entirety (mercifully I might add) what I have seen has been nothing more than a love affair from the Democrat Senators who find Sotomayor’s story of growing up in the Bronx to be more relevant than how she has decided cases, including her obvious racial and ideological bias’ that she has shown numerous times. We all get it, she was born in the Bronx, the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants, lived in the projects…its great. But it should have no bearing on how she decides cases. She has shown that is not the case.

Its a disgrace that Democrat Senators have become so far entrenched in partisan bickering that they cannot even properly vet a candidate for the highest court in the land. Its being left to the seven Republicans on the commitee, likely in an effort to make them look bigoted or obstructionist. Junior Minnesota Senator Al Franken has been comical to watch, as he sits there like a silly kid amazed that he has this job. Wes Pruden in the Washington Times wrote an exceptionally harsh, but remarkably accurate piece on Franken today. See the whole thing here.

Al Franken’s vote is not likely to be the margin of victory for any of the schemes now being dreamed up by the Democrats, but the way he got to Washington, and the easy acceptance of fraud, will be remembered as typical of the times, an era when avarice reigned, and the clever swindle was a joke to be played by a clown.

Ahh, love is a wonderful thing. It would be nice if the United States Senate would spend less time being awestruck my Ms. Sotomayor, and spend more time doing their due diligence to ensure that America is not stuck with a judicial activist on the Supreme Court for the next 20 years. I won’t expect the in-over-his-head Al Franken to do this, but the rest of the Senators with a little experience should heed this call. I won’t hold my breath.

Its now been two weeks since the Honduran military removed Manuel Zelaya from his palace. Western leaders such as Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, Evo Morales and their dictatorial ilk have repeatedly blasted the legal removal of Zelaya as a “coup”, finding suprise support from their counterpart in Washington DC, President Barack Obama. The American presidents alignment with these men has caused alarm across the blogosphere and across the country. The Political Fish has repeatedly blasted this administrations ignorance on the rule of Honduran law here, here, and here.

After two weeks, some of the GOP have awaken to the reality of the Honduran situation, finally coming forward and taking a position on the issue, and siding with the Honduran governments legal removal. 

“By calling this a coup and by early statements insisting on the reinstatement of Mr Zelaya, the administration now stands with the likes of (Hugo) Chavez, (Evo) Morales and (Daniel) Ortega, and not with the Honduran people,” Republican Connie Mack said during a hearing by a panel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Zelaya was removed from office for his unconstitutional and illegal attempts to alter the constitution of Honduras for purely selfish reasons,” said Congressman Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey. The claim that the events that led to Zelaya’s ouster constituted a coup “melts under any serious scrutiny,” Smith added. “Rather, democracy and the rule of law triumphed over Mr Zelaya’s lawlessness”

In stark contrast, and not the least bit surprising…This from Democrat Eliot Engel, who chairs the House subcommitee on Western Hemisphere affairs:

“our hemisphere cannot tolerate what is essentially a military coup.” Zelaya, he admitted, “needed to listen. He did not,” when the Honduran political establishment expressed its concern over the proposed referendum, which was suspected as an attempt by the beleaguered leader to lift the one-term presidential term limit to seek re-election. But “this is not to say that those who deposed him were angels,” Engel said

As more and more of the Democratic Party and the establishment move towards this unbridled support of Socialist movements, We The People of the United States need to take notice and wonder what the future of this country may look like in ten years.