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.

Madame Speaker is full of tidbits today from her interview with Elizabeth Vargas on “This Week”.

Speaker Pelosi, in a tacit admission that she knows this bill is wildly unpopular with the American people, called for her Democrat colleagues to sacrifice their careers to get the ObamaScare disaster passed. I suppose this would be a call to legislative kamikaze tactics, which should worry the American people. It also clarifies what we have known all along that this bill is ideologically driven, and not driven by the needs of our country or the desires of the citizenry.

Thanks for clarifying Nan… check out her own words (skip ahead to the 2:50 mark if you cannot stomach the entire interview)

From the AP

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleagues to back a major overhaul of U.S. health care even if it threatens their political careers, a call to arms that underscores the issue’s massive role in this election year.

Lawmakers sometimes must enact policies that, even if unpopular at the moment, will help the public, Pelosi said in an interview being broadcast Sunday the ABC News program “This Week.”
“We’re not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress,” she said. “We’re here to do the job for the American people.”

It took courage for Congress to pass Social Security and Medicare, which eventually became highly popular, she said, “and many of the same forces that were at work decades ago are at work again against this bill.”

Flip Flop

I guess this is what happens when you get that sweet taste of absolute power on your lips. Your beliefs no longer matter when it fits your own purposes, and that is what we have here. President Obama back in 2005 (along with many other Senate Dem’s at the forefront of the healthcare debate) brought strong language against the Senate Republicans (the majority at the time) who had threatened to use reconciliation as a means to pass their agenda.

NO NO NO…you can’t do that!!!

Oh my what a difference a few years makes. Here is the blatant hypocrisy from the lips of Dear Leader Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer among others. Watch this all the way through. It’s precious material.

From Breitbart.tv

Joe Biden had by far one of the best quotes of them all.

Biden: “I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don’t make the kind of naked power grab you are doing

Like I say, in just a few short years..the leaders of this administration have sold their soul for a naked power grab of 1/6 of the US economy.

Shameless tyrants.

Well, I can’t fault the guy for being creative in spouting his rhetoric and propaganda concerning the healthcare boondoggle that he plans on forcing down the throats of an American public who does not want it.

Since no one ever watches these useless propagandizing weekly addresses, I’ll put it out there for you, if you can stomach it.

From WhiteHouse.gov

As the Winter Olympics draw to a close this weekend, I just want to take a minute to congratulate all the athletes who competed in these games.  And I especially want to say how proud I am of all the American men and women have achieved over the last few weeks. 

Whether it was the men’s hockey team’s stunning upset of the Canadians on their way to the gold-medal game, Lindsey Vonn’s heroic gold-medal comeback from a shin injury, or Apolo Ohno becoming the most decorated American winter Olympian of all time, you can’t help but be inspired by the sheer grit and athletic prowess on display in Vancouver.

And it’s not just the medal count that’s inspiring – though we’ve certainly done great on that score.  What’s truly inspiring is the character of the men and women who have won those medals.  The sacrifices they’ve made.  The integrity they’ve shown.  The indomitable Olympic spirit that says no matter who you are or where you come from or what difficulties you may face, you can work hard and train hard and still triumph in the end.  That is why we watch.  That is why we cheer.  That is why in the middle of an extremely challenging time for America, we’ve been able to come together as one nation for a few weeks in February and swell with pride at what our citizens have achieved. 

Now, when it comes to meeting the larger challenges we face as a nation, I realize that finding this unity is easier said than done – especially in Washington.  But if we want to compete on the world stage as well as we’ve competed in the world’s games, we need to find common ground.  We need to move past the bickering and the game-playing that holds us back and blocks progress for the American people. 

We know it’s possible to do this.  And we were reminded of that last week when Democrats and Republicans in the Senate came together to pass a jobs bill that will give small businesses tax credits to hire more workers.  We also saw it when Democrats and Republicans in the House came together to pass a bill that will force insurance companies to abide by common-sense rules that prevent price-fixing and other practices that drive up health care costs. 

We need that same spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship when it comes to finally passing reform that will bring down the cost of health care and give Americans more control over their insurance.  On Thursday, we brought both parties together for a frank and productive discussion about this issue.  In that discussion, we heard many areas of agreement.  Both sides agreed that the rising cost of health care is a serious problem that plagues families, small businesses, and our federal budget.  Many on both sides agreed that we should give small businesses and individuals the ability to participate in a new insurance marketplace – which members of Congress would also use – that would allow them to pool their purchasing power and get a better deal from insurance companies.  And I heard some ideas from our Republican friends that I believe are very worthy of consideration. 

But still, there were differences.  We disagreed over whether insurance companies should be held accountable when they deny people care or arbitrarily raise premiums.  I believe they should.  We disagreed over giving tax credits to small businesses and individuals that would make health care affordable for those who don’t have it.  This would be the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, and I believe we should do it.  And while we agreed that Americans with pre-existing conditions should be able to get coverage, we disagreed on how to do that. 

Some of these disagreements we may be able to resolve.  Some we may not.  And no final bill will include everything that everyone wants.  That’s what compromise is.  I said at the end of Thursday’s summit that I am eager and willing to move forward with members of both parties on health care if the other side is serious about coming together to resolve our differences and get this done.  But I also believe that we cannot lose the opportunity to meet this challenge.  The tens of millions of men and women who cannot afford their health insurance cannot wait another generation for us to act.  Small businesses cannot wait.  Americans with pre-existing conditions cannot wait.  State and federal budgets cannot sustain these rising costs. 

It is time for us to come together.  It is time for us to act.  It is time for those of us in Washington to live up to our responsibilities to the American people and to future generations.  So let’s get this done. 

Thanks for listening. 

Strange, but I don’t think the Olympic spirit and the dedication of American athletes has anything at all to do with an arrogant executive forcing his will against the will of the people he works for…call me crazy.

Maybe next week you will have a better comparison Mr. President.

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.

Talk about setting the tone right from the start.

This one phrase and snitty remark thrown out by the President really summed up the entire sham of a summit yesterday. Ironically, the President throughout the day kept accusing Republicans of grandstanding and playing politics, when in fact the entire excercise at Blair House was nothing more than a political grandstand for the President, throwing out some faux bipartisanship in order to slap down all GOP ideas and move forward anyways.

Roll the tape, and see if you can’t put your finger on the irritation and argumentative spirit that Obama came to the table with.

I love John McCains response “I am reminded of that every day Mr. President”

I wonder if it is the shocking deficits that act as a reminder for him??

Just a thought.

Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) wins the award for the lamest story of the day, as well as the most incoherent comparison of the day. This of course all took place yesterday in the Obama-led healthcare summit at the Blair House in Washington DC. Watch this video, and no one should ever claim this isn’t a humorous blog!!

No, I didn’t gloss over the story she told about the woman wearing her dead sisters dentures. That was just such an extremely lame story, it barely is worth mentioning. But, I suppose if we get our socialist ObamaCare bill passed, we will all get shiny new dentures with a hope and change symbol right on the front! I know i can’t wait.

But seriously now, Slaughter paints this picture that we are now a third world manufacturing country (not true), we have lost our technological edge in the world (ridiculously not true) all because….the healthcare industry hasn’t been taken over by the government.

This woman makes 6 figures a year of taxpayer money to spew this stupidity. No wonder Congress has the lowest approval rating EVER.

UPDATE: Glenn Beck Mocks the liberal bleeding heart stories, this is hilarious.

Can’t wait to hear the next letter from Obama, or from Louise Slaughter for that matter.

These guys don’t seem to get it. This is some of the better spin I have heard recently as a reaction to the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts. Believe it or not, Howard Dean is suggesting that had Obama been more of a leftist than he already is, he would have won…not the Republican centrist brown. It’s a laughable argument at best, but Dean was able to sit there with a straight face and peddle this garbage.

I suppose the Democrat Party needs to try and spin this any way they can so it does not turn into a full-blown party implosion but this…this is some priceless stuff.

Socialist Labor union leader Andy Stern, a frequent visitor to the White House, issued a veiled threat to Washington this week. Stern, the head of the SEIU labor union, stated that the unions might “have some difficulty staying focused on national politics” if the Obama administration does not ram through the health care bill as is, including of course the sweetheart deal for the unions and their “Cadillac plans“.

PlumLine reports:

SEIU chief Andy Stern took a hard shot at Dem leaders just now for considering a scaled-down health care bill, strongly hinting that labor might not work as hard for Dem candidates in 2010 if they failed to deliver real and comprehensive reform.

“It’s gonna be incredibly difficult to stay focused on national politics if by the end of 2010 we have minimal health care and minimal changes on what’s important to our members,” he said in an interview, ridiculing the emerging Dem approach as “fear masquerading as a strategy.”

Stern unloaded on Dem leaders in resonse to reports today that they’re mulling either a scaled down bill to win GOPers or a broken up bill passed in pieces. His anger suggests Dems risk paying a big price with labor if they fail to figure out how to pass the Senate bill and fix it later, as labor wants.

Stern hinted that if House and Senate members don’t move forward with the Senate bill and some kind of fix, they could see union members spending more time on races for governor, perhaps at the expense of their reelection campaigns. “If something significant doesn’t happen in Congress, I hope the legislators appreciate that there are 37 governors races important to our members,” Stern said suggestively.

Ahh, the scorned lover. We have long known that Obama and his secretive administration have been in bed with the SEIU and other labor unions, but now the it seems the Unions have found themselves in the position of the jilted lover. They have been let down by the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, and can see the writing on the wall that they will not get their big government socialist bill that they had hoped for all along.

Will Obama continue to cave to the Unions?? We will have to wait and see, but it appears we have gotten a preview yesterday in Ohio.

Yes…Obama is tone deaf.

There are a few classy Democrats left out there. Senator Jim Webb’s office tonight released a statement in the wake of the upset in Boston. From Ben Smith.

In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.

A wonderful political play by Mr. Webb. I just have to wonder if the majority leader, as well as the President feels the same way. So far no response has been seen on these comments.

It is however the right thing to do. Paul Kirk, who has been occupying the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy since his death, is no longer a player in the debate. He had his moment to cast the 60th vote, and he rubber stamped the Obama agenda as everyone expected. Scott Brown has declared that he will not.

What oh what will you do Majority Leader Reid?

Healthcare reform (the Obama takeover plan that is) is now officially on life-support. Maybe we can have a Senate that will work as one to come up with real reform. It can still be considered the greatest deliberative body in the world. Lately it has become a disgrace.

In the words of Scott Brown tonight, we can do better. Maybe Senator Webb’s statement is a start.

UPDATE:

Barney Frank agrees??? Wow, this one took me back a step. From USA Today.

Democratic leaders now must consider whether to push for final approval of the health care bill. They have been trying to negotiate a compromise bill that would reconcile the differences between bills approved in the House and Senate.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a strong supporter of the health care legislation, said Brown’s victory means Congress will have to “start over on health care.” He said he will vote against any bill rushed to the floor before Brown can be sworn in.

 

In an effort to open up the transparency of the federal government, President Obama hammered out a deal behind closed doors with the labor unions over the issue of the so-called “Cadillac tax” on expensive health insurance plans. It seems if you can show your union card, you will be exempt from that tax. Its quite a deal. From the NY Post.

The sweetheart deal, hammered out behind closed doors, will save union employees at least $60 billion over the years involved, while others won’t be as lucky — they’ll have to cough up almost $90 billion.

The 40 percent excise tax on what have come to be called “Cadillac” health-care plans would exempt collective-bargaining contracts covering government employees and other union members until Jan. 1, 2018.

But wait….there’s more.

In another major concession to labor, the value of dental and vision plans would be exempt from the tax even after the deal expires in eight years, negotiators said.

Under the plan to help fund health-care reform, the tax would kick in for plans valued at $8,900 or more for individuals and $24,000 or more for families.

That’s slightly higher than the $8,500 and $23,000 thresholds in the bill passed by the Senate last month.

The threshold will be even higher for certain plans with many older workers and women — a move to benefit unions with a high proportion of female membership, sources said.

This sort of deal should soften some of the hardest dissenters within the Democrat party, we all know that the Dems live in the bed with big labor.  WIth their largest backer on board, they will probably be able to force this bill through the conference and back into a vote.

Looks like more cronyism, sweetheart deals, and shady back room dealings from the President who promised to us all that he would change the way business was done in Washington. How’s that hopenchange working out for ya?

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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It was late at night. The stress of the impending doom that is the healthcare bill was weighing heavy on the minds of the United States Senators. Maybe Senator Baucus just couldn’t take it anymore. We will never know, but watch this CSPAN video from that Christmas Eve morning and see for yourself. You decide.

Drunk with Power maybe??

At least according to the CATO Institute. It seems that Congress has pulled a few of their patented budget tricks to try and mask the actual cost of the healthcare bill. CATO analyst Michael Cannon hashes out the details here.

One gimmick makes the new entitlement spending appear smaller by not opening the spigot until late in the official 10-year budget window (2010–2019).  Correcting for that gimmick in the Senate version, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) estimates, “When all this new spending occurs” — i.e., from 2014 through 2023 — “this bill will cost $2.5 trillion over that ten-year period.”

Another gimmick pushes much of the legislation’s costs off the federal budget and onto the private sector by requiring individuals and employers to purchase health insurance.  When the bills force somebody to pay $10,000 to the government, the Congressional Budget Office treats that as a tax.  When the government then hands that $10,000 to private insurers, the CBO counts that as government spending.  But when the bills achieve the exact same outcome by forcing somebody to pay $10,000 directly to a private insurance company, it appears nowhere in the official CBO cost estimates — neither as federal revenues nor federal spending.  That’s a sharp departure from how the CBO treated similar mandates in the Clinton health plan.  And it hides maybe 60 percent of the legislation’s total costs.  When I correct for that gimmick, it brings total costs to roughly $2.5 trillion (i.e., $1 trillion/0.4).

Here’s where things get really ugly.  TPMDC’s Brian Beutler calls “the” $2.5-trillion cost estimate a “doozy” of a “hysterical Republican whopper.”  Not only is he incorrect, he doesn’t seem to realize that Gregg and I are correcting for different budget gimmicks; it’s just a coincidence that we happened to reach the same number.

When we correct for both gimmicks, counting both on- and off-budget costs over the first 10 years of implementation, the total cost of ObamaCare reaches — I’m so sorry about this — $6.25 trillion.  That’s not a precise estimate.  It’s just far closer to the truth than President Obama and congressional Democrats want the debate to be.

One way to limit this outrageous cost would be to limit any proposed healthcare reform to legal citizens and legal aliens. Sadly, the Senate bill as well as the House bill do nothing to safeguard against illegal aliens hoppin’ on board the taxpayer dole and receiving their very own shiny healthcare policy, courtesy of the American taxpayer. You might recall our good friend Joe Wilson shouting out above the crowd “You LIE” when President Obama stated in no uncertain terms that his proposals would not cover those here illegally. 

“This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” Mr. Obama said.

It seems Mr. Obama failed to consult with the runaway Congress on this proposal. Its bad politics you know to discriminate against those who knowingly break the laws and the sovereignty of the United States. Both bills that came out from behind closed doors, completed in secrecy by the Party leaders of the House and Senate, fail miserably in controlling the misuse and abuse of the system at the hands of illegals. One could even argue, that by controlling illegal immigration you could alleviate much of the cost burden that is currently draining the system…but that is for another time…

This time injecting his perverted view of race in America into the healthcare debate.

Just when you thought this guy was basically irrelevant, the good reverend (and I use that term loosely) forces himself back into the spotlight with a few well placed swipes at…get this…HIS OWN RACE.

Via Live Leak

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healt More..hcare and call yourself a black man.”

The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.

Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama.

He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month.

Davis referred to Jackson’s 1988 run for president in a statement, issued through his office, that said he would not engage Jackson on his criticism.

“One of the reasons that I like and admire Rev. Jesse Jackson is that 21 years ago he inspired the idea that a black politician would not be judged simply as a black leader,” Davis’s statement said. “The best way to honor Rev. Jackson’s legacy is to decline to engage in an argument with him that begins and ends with race.”

Davis’s Democratic primary opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, highlighted Davis’s status as the lone African-American vote against the bill.

He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month, a fact Sparks pointed out.

“He was the only Black Caucus member to vote against it. I don’t get it,” Sparks said last week, according to The Associated Press.

Davis has countered that Sparks’s position on healthcare has changed over time, saying he’s being “deliberately dishonest.”

 

So lets recap here. If you are black, you must be in favor of socialized government takeover of the health care bill. If you are black, and find yourself in opposition to the government running the most intimate details of our individual lives, you clearly are not black.

Now I get it.  Thanks Jesse. Please go back to your irrelevance. Your schtick of fighting for the civil rights of minorities and blacks has grown tiresome. You are nothing more than a political hack, who uses and manipulates your own race due to your incessant need to be in the spotlight. Your best days are behind you Sir.