You’re THINKING while I have been spending much of day pissed off……….I’M WITH YOU

I just saw a Unicorn run past my window.

I loathe the idea of an unconstitutional public option as much as I loathe my forced social security and medicare taxes but I’m open to proposing a very well defined public option that is a) 100% optional, b) is only paid for by those who opt in, c) is forbidden from undercutting private insurers, d) is run by an independent body free from politics (possible?), and e) the plan has to pay for all those without insurance that the Left is always whining about out of plan premiums with no taxpayer subsidies.

If the Left really wants a public option because of their irrational hatred for capitalism then let them have it. What I strongly object to is being forced to participate in and fund such a plan myself when I’m quite satisfied with the private plan I have myself.

I’m sick of being treated as a member of a commune but don’t care if the communists want to form their own commune as long as they leave me, and my money, out of it.

I think of the two congressmen from TN who announced their retirement and will have nothing to lose by voting against this monster now.

So, Bart Gordon, you will hear phone calls from me this week and next, urging you to please do the right thing this time and vote, “No.” I keep hearing you lauded in the state press as an honorable and accomplished legislator.

So now you can prove it.

Tell us what we need to do…

Der, I was thinking we ought to split USA into two nations: one for the far left progressives and the other for everybody else!

I really cannot believe that they made it this far.

and waiting for direction. Tweet me @political_pro

I think you are on to something here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/20/senate-democrats-warn-house-alter-health/

But despite the tenuous support on the Senate side, liberal Democrats continue to call for major revisions in the conference committee.

The White House has made clear that passage of a health care reform bill is far more important than the survival of any one provision in it.

BECAUSE:

Joe Biden says:

“If the bill passes the Senate this week, there will be more chances to make changes to it before it becomes law.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20biden.html?ref=opinion

And yes I am a Conservative I just like to spend my money and help people that need help and not have my money stolen by the bandits in Washington DC. and given to the freeloaders that want to drink wild turkey and smoke obama cigarettes. God Bless America

Your first step is absolutely key – preventing formation of a conference – for anything else to work; otherwise, the leadership will slice and dice out of sight to get enough votes to rush it through without meaningful debate.

On the other hand, if no conference, then we get public visibility and more floor votes and the opportunity for amendments.

Regarding the Vermont and Nebraska (and Louisiana Purchase): now that this has been exposed, is this a poison pill on the House side that will increase House opposition (if they get to vote; see previous sentence)? Thus I wonder if killing these provisions may have the effect of making the bill easier to pass.

Meanwhile, killing these provisions won’t change the votes of Nelson and Sander; they can’t change course if these get pulled without becoming the source of public ridicule and full discredit from all sides. Having sold themselves, there’s no going back. So we don’t gain votes against the bill by killing these provisions.

On the other hand, if the bill passes in the end, then letting these bribes stand is being a party to a morally offensive act. I’m torn.

One question that Moe frequently asks; do the netroots on the left actually have any power over Democratic legislators? Even if we enter into an alliance of converging interests on this bill, can the left deliver any Democratic legislator’s vote?

Put an amendment in the bill that NONE of it goes into effect unless a majority of the voters vote in favor of the HCR bill in November 2010.

What Ben Nelson, Nebraska and Bill Nelson, Florida got for their states should be deemed unconstitutional per Article 1, Section 8.

“The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

If you make less than $250,000/yr and you don’t have health insurance YOUR TAXES SHOULD not got up.

If you make less than $250,000/yr and you pay taxes on buying drugs or medical supplies, you should get a tax credit on your 1040 for all the taxes you paid for drugs and medical supplies.

Why? BECAUSE BARACK OBAMA PROMISED THIS – he said that if he was elected people who make less than $250,000/yr would not pay more taxes.

informed. You’ve had patience and extraordinary consideration for all of us who are unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the legislative world, let alone the HC bill.

As you are mine and redneck_hippie’s glass half full person, we really want to send you a case of good wine, if our side can pull this off. You deserve it even if we lose, but I’m afraid redneck and I will have finished it all off to dull the pain.

I love it!

…I have more faith in Santa Claus stopping the bill than any of our elected officials. They couldn’t even see the writing on the wall with the Stupak amendment.

Should we all with GOP Senators call and ask them to object to the appointment of the conferees? I’m in Tennessee so that would mean calling Corker and Alexander…neither of which are super conservative.

But should all do it for our own senators or should we call DeMint and Coburn and ask them to do it?

When do they do this? Immediately or after a certain point?

Does it just take one objection? Does McConnell have to approve?

As I recall, they said they’d do anything to stop this thing so I wouldn’t be too surprised if they were open to out of the box ideas.

BTW…what about reading the whole thing? Is that still on the table?

.

But I prefer letting this monstrosity collapse under it’s own weight. It would look really hypocritical to publicly promote the hated Public Option. I will e-mail Senator Cantwell asking her if she would vote for this without the Publick Option. Let her be the hypocrite.

but if the lefties won’t participate, can we still kill it without them using the methods you describe?

I personally think Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have already worked out what will stay in and what will be removed, what can get the majority of votes in the house and in the senate. Since all it takes is 50 votes in the senate, Ben Nelson and the other pro-lifers get screwed. Even if they lose 11, Biden would vote as the 50th.

But I’m willing to play – what’s next?

I don’t think I can THANK YOU enough for your plan however I find the actual Republicans ie: McConnell doing anything to help We The People as he hasn’t thus far! BRILLIANT thoughts though and it does give us REAL HOPE

Dear Senator Cantwell:

As I have e-mailed you before, I am concerned that this Healthcare bill will raise the cost of insuring my family. In response you sent an e-mailed response stating your position. Considering what you said in your e-mail (see below) are you still planning on voting for this bill. I hope you wouldn’t.

“I am convinced that a robust public option would provide Americans with increased choice and competition in the private insurance market and would drive down costs for every American. Currently, 94 percent of America’s insurance markets are dominated by just one or two insurance companies and do not have the competition we need to lower costs and improve coverage. During the Finance Committee debate, I was a cosponsor of an amendment to include a robust public option as part of America’s Healthy Future Act and voted twice to add a public option to the bill. While neither of these amendments passed in committee, I will continue to support reasonably constructed public plan options to ensure that the insurance companies stay honest and accountable.”

Thank-You, and I wish you have a very Merry Christmas with your family.

First off, let’s not be fooled here. Does anybody think that the libs are going to think independently about this? Hell, no. libs do what they’re told.

This is how it will go down: After much wrangling and bribery, the bill(!) will get its 60 in the Senate. Reid and Pelosi then will jointly declare victory and announce that the House and Senate will commence to fixing the bill in joint conference.

There will NOT be a single Republican anywhere near where this gets discussed. Not a one. While in conference, they’ll rip out any and all abortion protections and put the public option back in. Oh, and likely a bunch more tax increases with a topping of even more pork.

Then this new bill, resembling nothing like what was voted on already, will be shoved through the House in the dead of night and in a similar fashion in the Senate.

The hard left doesn’t really want to kill the bill.

The left is only posturing now to put themselves in a position to push for more AFTER the bill passes.

If they acted all happy with what is going to pass, they would have no support to go further in the future.

However, by talking down the bill now, they will be in a position to say “now let’s finish the job” after the bill passes.

They’ve ignored the phone calls,
They’ve ignored the emails,
They’ve ignored the letters,
They’ve ignored the people marching by the thousands on Washington.

The only thing left is to vote them out of office unless they find a way to circumvent that as well.

I suspect that Rahm is telling them that down the line they get the Public Option and permanent power.

Come on. You know this is happening. Power is the Opiate of Washington. Not even principled Leftists like Markos and Jane Hamsher can avoid buckling in the long run. It’s like the One Ring to them.

…for continuing to keep hope alive when all hope seems to have been exhausted; for offering real plans of action when certain senators I could mention publicly shrug and state there’s nothing they can do; for flatly rejecting the fatalistic pessimism saturating so many other conservative sites and reminding us, even when things look darkest, that we are Americans, dammit.

Yes, this sounds like a definite plan. I’ll be writing some rather pointed letters to Joseph Cao and that sorry bastard Charlie Melancon.

I think Dan deserves a very big thanks for having thought this through and come up with an offensive game plan. It may not work, but then again, stranger things have happened. I’m reminded of Calhoun (don’t let this go to your head, Dan ), the great conciliator. This certainly is better than just giving up and getting drunk.

Of course, Dan’s strategy depends upon collaboration with the progressives. Of note, over at firedog she has a piece in a somewhat similar vein, citing as an example the left and right joining against Bernanke’s appointment. But if an effort like Dan’s is going to be mostly met with derisive remarks about the left, then Dan’s idea dies right here. Personally, I think the stakes are too high not to try everything we possibly we can.

to conferees occur prior to the hearing of amendments? Reid has vowed to allow ZERO amendments to his manager’s bill, thus the question. I am trying oh so hard to understand these procedures, but, I am not even sure I asked this correctly.

and tell him I’m giving him a mulligan and he better make use of it.

The Democrats in Congress do not care what anyone else thinks. They would not care if opposition was 90 percent. Huge crowds of protesters don’t matter one iota to them.

No one can do anything to stop it.

Even tho’ I don’t live in Kentucky, he’s gotta hear this somewhere. I HOPE he already knows that this is possible, but he will undoubtedly need some prodding from the Right to get him off his butt and do something gutsy for once.

With the legislative framework already signed into law, and the spotlight a little dimmer, the Progressives will be able to placate the base with specific addenda that fundamentally transforms the nature of the original bill.

The left is full of gutless weenies who keep complaining about how they are not getting what they want, but dont have the guts to follow through …

What happened to Sanders’ threat? Burris? What about the others adamant over public option or nothing? Dean have back-pedalled, and so have the rest. Why? When it lacks even drug re-importation? When the mandates are abominable?

IT WAS ALL A CHARADE. As long as they get “A bill” It will be enough to shoehorn whatever regulations they want. The back and forth is all about liberals getting the most they can, but in the end they fall into line.

The 60 vote Senate threshold was the hardest part of the process, and it did take them longer than they thought to get here, but they are here.

One brilliant idea I’ve seen here: Sunset the bill. Some other thoughts: If this doesnt even come into full force in 2014, then we have several years to scale it back and defang the worse medicaid-medicare-budget-busting elements, and the mandates and the taxes and the rest.

We will need a new President in 2013 in order to do that. IT WILL BE A LONG HARD SLOG TO UNDO THE DAMAGE THE DEMOCRATS WILL CREATE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

argument….but …..I LOVE YOU!

Nelson, who received assurances of a “limited conference” to secure his vote for the Senate bill, has already laid down at least two deal breakers in the House bill that he can’t support: the inclusion of a government insurance plan and an income tax increase on wealthy individuals.

“That would break it,” Nelson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30844.html

“I would certainly not vote for this bill if this were the final product,” Dean said. “I would let this thing go to conference committee, and let’s see if we can fix it some more.”

Good write-up, and great job focusing on one simple task for activists to work on in the short term. You mention forming a coalition w/the netroots to kill the bill: any ideas for how to do that? I like the thought, and it could potentially work, but is there anything that we can do that could make it stick?

Or can any Senator object to sending the bill to Conference, whether Democrat, Republican, or “Independent”?

If so, and if McConnell won’t do this (I’m not implying that he won’t), as a backup is there a Senator out there who would bypass his/her leadership and be a hero?

Or is it still business as usual as tectonic plates moves and the ground shifts under us.

I’m sure the Senate will still be in session, but on the peripheries might this have an impact on the health care bill? – (i.e., attention to the issue itself, Senate staffers available, people working on the White House switchboard, etc?) One thing it will do is free up all the government employees who are conservatives to make calls to their Senators tomorrow. Putting this out there because I believe every bit of information is needed to kill this bill.

I commit to calling both my senators and Senators DeMint and Coburn this morning.

I have also posted your plan of action at other sites…although I see others have done that as well.

Hopefully one of them will take that step.

She could handle this band of murderous masked maniacs…

Uma could cut this disaster off at the knees!

www.jeannie-ology.com

If enough Republicans can slip away, the Democrats will have waste time rounding up their members to come up with a quorum,

Especially during a bill reading when most of the Senators are elsewhere minding their own business.

And meanwhile, everything grinds to a halt. It might upset Reid’s choreography.

And for those who liked the “messenging” approach, this way you can “send the message” for Senators to be present to listen to the bill they’re trying to pass.

“The corruption of using the public treasury as a check book to buy the votes of Senator Nelson and Senator Sanders. . . means that extraordinary measures are needed to kill ObamaCare.”

Linked at Bread Upon the Waters.

I sent an e-mail to my dem. Senator informing him that if he voted for this monstrous fiasco, he will never get another vote from me.

Dirty Harry is sticking it to the folks and they don’t appear to have any way to stop it. Keep up the pressure, it might have some effect.

What they are hoping for by getting it done now, perhaps the voters will forget about it by next May’s primaries or for certain, by next November election.

Don’t let that happen, they must be held accountable for thinking the voters are too stupid to think for themselves, or they don’t know what is best for them.

I like the strategy Dan. What worries me is that Pelosi would be able to round up all the votes to pass the Senate bill in this scenario. Stupak is key here in this scenario. Do you think he and his fellow lynchpin pro-life Democrats vote to torpedo this bill? Eric Cantor via NRO seems to be confident that Stupak will hold. If the conference is allowed, the liberals on the conference will try to put the public option back in, kill the abortion language so federal funding is allowed, and likely take out the provisions that Nelson was able to get. Senators are already warning the House not to mess with their bill. They are basically trying to intimidate the House into accepting their version. These conferences can drag on for months and the longer this drags out, the better. The people are going to digest this thing and approval ratings are going to plummet even further. Hence, whatever takes the most time, that is the option we should go with