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in an otherwise gloomy spot of news!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge of Senate rule procedure and insider knowledge as this horrible monostrosity of a misnamed “health care” bill stalks once more like a zombie to and fro around the halls of Congress. I’d be bumming if it weren’t for you!

So will someone please shoot this thing with a legislative silver bullet and make this undead abominable creature die?!?

- Obama and his friends are still out talking about the Republicans being the Party of No.
- Obama/Pelosi/Reid are crafting their third bill in secret in a back room with Republicans locked out.
- And now Reid makes it even clearer that he doesn’t care about having any GOP support.

Tell me again what the point of this summit is? Surely it’s not to get any Republican input. The Democrat version of the summit results is already being writeed: “Despite our welcoming them into the process with open arms, they refused to offer any ideas of any merit and did nothing but criticize our proposal.”

Will this be a new bill or an amendment package designed to address House objections to the Senate bill? If it’s a new bill, then it might just as easily be reversed with 51 votes should the Republicans retake the Senate in November or in 2012. And failing that, it would still expire after five years–unless renewed by Congress–a renewal not likely to happen if Republicans regain power. So it would all be a huge come-down for Democrats to try this–and I suspect they already know it–those not already crazed by a lust to pass this thing by hook or crook. I doubt the rank and file would find the effort worthwhile, however, measured against the price to be paid at the polls. Passage would infuriate the country and totally destroy the Democrat brand for a generation to come.

Thanks Dan for the kind words. Thank you for your excellent work in educating the American People about the efforts of special interests, the Obama Administration and lefties in Congress to ram ObamaCare through the Congress. They just don’t get it. Mike Hammond of Gun Owners of America has been saying for months about ObamaCare that “It is not over. It is not over. It is not over. It is not over. Finally, its not over.”
Mark Levin mentioned on air my Op Ed (check out the 40 minute mark of http://rope.zmle.fimc.net/player/player.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpodloc%2Eandomedia%2Ecom%2FdloadTrack%2Emp3%3Fprm%3D2069xhttp%3A%2F%2Fpodfuse%2Ddl%2Eandomedia%2Ecom%2F800185%2Fpodfuse%2Dorigin%2Eandomedia%2Ecom%2Fcitadel%5Forigin%2Fpods%2Fmarklevin%2FLevin02192010%2Emp3 ). Levin made an excellent point that this is an effort by the Administration to disenfranchise the American voter. Last November the voters of NJ and VA rejected this Admin’s big govt. policies and in January the voters of the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts voted for a candidate that pledged to block ObamaCare. This Administration and liberals in Congress know that the American people reject ObamaCare, therefore they are trying to pass this legislation and get it signed into law before the November elections using the ObamaCare Nuclear Option — reconciliation. This is fundamentally undemocratic and an affront to participatory democracy.
Great work on this comprehensive piece Dan.

that a man would lay down his (political) life for a dying presidency.

Meanwhile, today the Hill is reporting that the GOP says the Dems do not have the votes on the Senate floor. This intelligence is accurate

Because, given the mood of the country, I have a hunch it would take nothing but a word for our side to recreate Chicago, 1968, right there on the Capitol steps. I’m serious.

Dems didn’t have the vote to pass ObamaCare when they rolled it out on the Senate floor, but added votes during the Amendment process. The Dems may not have the votes, but we don’t know what is in the Obama drafted reconciliation package. Maybe it is loaded with new Cornhusker Kickbacks and Louisiana Purchase style earmarks so that they can buy just enough votes to get it through the House. Yet again, this Administration is participating in the drafting of legislation in secret.

With all that Botox Nancy Pelosi will go up like a Roman candle.
Harry Reid will flash fire like dried up newspapers
Obama will just smolder, hubris doesn’t burn

This situation is ripe to have some RINO, or RINOs come riding to the rescue at the last minute.

I’ve seen it too many times before to not fear it…Here’s one scenario.

Ried sits down with George Voinovich.

“George…this is it…this is your last chance at the big Hurrah…you’re retiring in November anyway. What if we were to conced that YOU had convinced us to strip out the medicare cuts and to back off any future attempt to have a public option? You can break the log jam on the biggest piece of legislation in American history. You could go down in history as the guy that gave the American people affordable health care legislation.

“We’re going to do this anyway…we’ll do this through reconciliation. But you can go down in history as helping ‘IMPROVE’ the bill by convincing us to strip the medicare cuts out of it. We’ll get you a cushy new job at a lobbying group of your choice on K Street. We’ll give you anything you want to make your retirement as comfortable and profitable as possible.

What do you say George?

All it would take is for one RINO like Voinovich to break ranks…and the race to get on board as helping to “IMPROVE” the Democrat Health Care bill will begin…

The spin will be that the Democrats were going to pass it anyway…and by compromising…we were able to make it better and lessen the damage that could have been done without the compromise.

Let’s pray It won’t happen…and I’m only being paranoid…but I don’t think such a scenario or one like it is that far fetched…history has taught me it’s all too possible if not probable

The “Big Tent” analogy isn’t the correct one…the correct one is a MAGNET…we need to be a MAGNET that draws these independents in who are sick and tired of what’s going on in Washington—Fred Thompson

A part of me wants the loony-left d-crat socialists to exhibit their FULL CONTEMPT for voters and the democratic process and do the sleazy, dirty reconciliation deed for their socialist healthcare-rationing bill. That way, patriotic Americans will put them out of power for the rest of my life, and I won’t have to even think about them anymore.

So, this Congress will have spent its two years on: 1) Stimulus, and 2) a failure to pass healthcare?

I’m sort of conflicted about that – I’m happy if they get absolutely nothing done, but I’m stressed that they wasted nearly 900 billion dollars on Stimulus, and made me and every other rational person worry that they WOULD succeed in screwing over the country with ObamaCare.

The fact that Obama’s presidency will subsequently be a dead letter, and that Dems will be wiped out as a viable national party for a decade, is a bonus, but not worth the cost to the American economy and the stress on citizens while these doofuses ignore our actual problems.

For our experts on parliamentary procedure:

If the dems do pass some version of Obamacare this year using reconciliation, then assume if the Republicans gain control of both the Senate and House this November, could they, with merely a simple majority vote, using reconciliation, vote to repeal Obamacare, and by-pass a dem fillibuster?

Of course, even if they could, Obama would veto the legislation. In that event, could the republicans nullify Obamacare by refusing to appropriate any funds to enable it?

on Hannity’s show that healthcare is dead and this is all a show for the far left of the Democrat party. I hope she’s right but I have learned over many years to assume nothing until the fat lady is finished singing.

I guess I’ll make phone calls, write letters, donate to the opposition and double my tranquilizers until then.

I’m really very tired of being scared. I’ve been terrified of this monster for a year, and I can see it’s going to be a while longer before I can relax.

They just want the taxes that we pay starting immediately. Their crap/tax bill that was supposed to fund Obamacare will not happen. They need revenue desperately in order to continue building their Stalinist utopia. Obamacare taxes could have been stolen from the general fund just like the social security taxes were stolen from the lock box.

Now, since the Obamacare bill won’t happen either, they will be forced to steal directly what they hoped they could have stolen stealthily. The need to tax every American is what is forcing their hand. They are out of money and the administrative state can not give up trying to get this bill.

Now their so-called bipartisanship is cover so they can say after the plan fails, that Obama wrote this nifty compromise plan and the Republicans wouldn’t go along. This is how they will blame us for the continued slide to bannana republicanism. The meeting sham, as well as the commission scam were concocted to absolve The One (termer).

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Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots

The bill does not have 51 votes in the Senate or 51% in the House. Blue Dogs will run with their tails tucked between their legs as they know this is political suicide. Here in Louisiana Charlie Melancon is running for Senate with the Obamatross hanging around his neck. If he votes for the reconciliation he will not only find unemployment in November but possible relocation to another state as he will not be welcomed in the Third District, Louisiana.

that if they decide to go this route, then that opens up the option of the Republicans of doing the same thing when they get back in power.

That Obama doesn’t care about them. He doesn’t even care about his fellow dems. They are a means to an end. Just like the independets that voted for his Hope and Change.

This is heartbreaking. We have fought so hard.

…that I’ve told you to stop trying to handicap the Dems based on rational behavior. You don’t seem to get that they don’t give a **** about anything except getting this passed. They think it will help them. You are coming from an entirely different POV than they are.

Do NOT underestimate their ability to pull together their people.

There is one thing you do have right – they’ll self-destruct if they do it.

Reconciliation can only be done on a “budget” bill, which means that some sort of bill would have to be passed in the house first. This was done for the previous Senate healthcare bill (the one that is currently back in the House, awaiting their vote).

If I am reading this right, they are planning to do the same thing – pass some innocuous “budget” bill in the House, send it to the Senate, and they will do what they did before – vote to eliminate the wording of the budget bill and substitute the new “reconciliation” bill.

However, wouldn’t they need to go through cloture to do that in the first place? They don’t have the votes for that, so this whole thing would be a non-starter in the first place. Am I understanding that correctly, or am I wrong on this point? The Republicans in the Senate could stop this in its tracks before it ever got started.

If the initial budget bill doesn’t make it through the cloture vote to bring it up for debate, it won’t be able to have the wording substituted in the first place. Even if the first budget bill comes up for debate, voting to eliminate the wording and replace it with new wording would ALSO have to meet cloture to stop a filibuster and then get a 3/5 majority vote after that (just to replace the language, not to pass the actual bill), wouldn’t it?

The 51 votes needed are just for PASSAGE of the bill, if I’m not mistaken – everything else has to meet the cloture requirements. Someone with more knowledge of the Senate rules, please chime in – I have an Engineering education, not a legal background…..

is mutual.

If passed, this bill will be next to impossible to get rid of. They know that, that’s why they are willing to run over the cliff to get it. It will turn political conversation in this country to the left, as it has in every country that has tried it.

The political sociopaths running Washington are giving the American people ulcers worrying what new outrage will be inflicted upon them..

Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.

Kyle Reese, Freedom Fighter

The Senate has the votes. Those 18 Democrats only opposed this maneuver last year. They have said they’ve changed their minds. Republicans knew it and only wanted to “expose hypocrisy,” which is not going to help anyone.

I can assure you the votes are there no matter what is in it or no matter what future electoral prospects, which Democrats do not care about, are like.

I feel like crying “uncle!”. This has been exhausting. I gave generously ( for my circstances) to the Dick Morris ads and S. Brown’s election as well as Rubio, DeMints PAC. I am running out of money stashes that hubby doesn’t know about.

Should we all just grab our ankles and wait for November? I have R Senators and R Congresswoman.

If they should pass Obamanationcare by reconciliation, millions should desced on DC with baseball bats and ring the Capitol like the storming of the Bastille.

But I don’t think any Reps. are going to break ranks. They haven’t so far in the Sen., and they know what’s at stake in the fall, maybe more than the House.

Reps. smell blood in the water and won’t give up the feeding fest to pollute the kill.

The more nothing the Cong. does the better, because the tax code is already three-feet thick, the stimulus was nearly trillion, and the budget deficit is nearly 2 trillion, so it’s better if no votes and no legislation is ever passed again.

for the American people, as are their little lib supporters, former champions of Privacy and Choice. Small solace I know but at last the Beast has been exposed.
I hope the Repubs have some deft moves up their sleeves just in case the Dems don’t destroy one another.

1. I don’t think the problem for Obama is located in the Senate. I think Reid has the votes he needs. I think the problem is with the House. I think they are short there by quite a lot. The revival of the public option in the Senate is probably an attempt to sweeten the deal for reluctant House members. The Senate is saying, “You vote for our bill and we’ll amend our bill by voting for this additional goody through reconciliation.”

2. That would only win over some liberals in the House, however. There are still pro-lifers who object. And there are a lot of terrified blue dogs who took Massachusetts to heart. They can see the adverse political landscape. Nor is Obama strong enough in the polls to sway them to risk their own necks by voting for a bill it knows the public despises. So it’s still a stalemate. Which is why Obama is calling for a “summit.” After all, if he had the votes, why bother to do this? In fact, he hasn’t.

3. The whole charade this Thursday seems designed to nudge reluctant House members into voting yes for the Senate bill by changing the public’s perception of it. This administration knows as long as polls keep showing the public to be negative, the House remains the stumbling block to passage. Obama is trying his damnedest therefore to appear open and bipartisan. He will also use the opportunity to advertise some changes that undo the more scandalous aspects of the Senate bill such as the Nebraska deal. All this would be an effort to build some momentum, get the media talking, and thus create a mood for legislative resolve and action.

www.jeannie-ology.com

“What is really going on? Are the Dems that crazy to think that their attempt at using reconciliation will help them politically? Or are they just delusional, and cannot accept it is over for ObamaCare, and do not have the discipline to turn to something the public actually wants, like deficit reduction?”

Neither. They realize that is IS over, and they intend to follow a scorched-earth policy. Every Senator who faces certain defeat or who already has announced retirement has already come to grips with the truth reflected in multiple polls. They have the “luxury” of not caring. They can vote for this abomination with no further consequences.

The only slender hope of defeating this bill is that enough Democratic Senators in the Classes of 2010 and 2012 still hold to the illusion that they can get re-elected. I can’t find enough, by any count.

Others have noted valid points:
- There is nothing as permanent as a temporary tax or temporary federal program
- Democrats need the tax hike now, to allow Obama to offer the illusion that he can balance the budget while acting like a spendthrift Hollywood starlet.
- Democrats believe that, once passed, the government insurance program will avoid repeal because the private industry and private options will be gone by 2013.
- Democrats believe that a GOP House can refuse to fund the administration needed to run the program, but that Obama can bypass Congress by using Executive Orders and administrative rulemaking. They gamble that Congress either cannot defeat proposed rulemaking or that Obama can veto any legislative repeals and have his veto upheld. It will take time to challenge this under a separation of powers analysis.

I am convinced that we will recapture the House this year. I am 50-50 on whether we will retake the Senate. Neither scenario would allow for repeal of the monstrosity until 2013, because there won’t be enough votes to override Obama’s veto.

Republicans DO need to attend the “summit,” if for no other reason than public perception. They must go armed with two lists: provisions in the current bill that are unacceptable (with clear, concise reasons) and a few provisions that are not in the current bill that are essential (such as tort reform). The GOP must present its alternative bill and be prepared to articulate why it is both necessary and better. Public opinion polls on these issues back the GOP position. Democrats will ignore all of the GOP requests for deletion, saying that the requests are “partisan.” Democrats may add one or two innocuous provisions advocated by the GOP to say that they are being “bipartisan.” The GOP needs to keep score and take it to the public. Public opinion matters, even if not to Democrats. To set the stage for the budget showdown that must follow, the GOP needs the solid backing of American voters. To get this backing, the GOP needs to be both the party of “no, and here’s why” and the party of “here’s a better alternative.”

Notwithstanding all of these efforts, the bill will pass the Senate on a reconciliation vote and will also pass the House, though narrowly.

That leaves a three-fold last, best hope. It isn’t for the weak of heart.
(1) Immediately challenge key provisions in friendly courts, where the appeal is to circuits having significant numbers of federalist judges.
(2) Meanwhile, refuse to pass a budget bill in 2011 unless all funding for the administrative mechanisms to operate this monstrosity are eliminated. this may necessitate eliminating significant sub-agencies within the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Commerce, and Treasury. Obama certainly would veto such a budget, and there aren’t votes to override the veto.
(3) Finally, and only if unavoidable, refuse to pass continuing resolutions other than defense and homeland security, and force a government shutdown. This is just as heavy-handed as the reconciliation vote, but MAY garner the support of American voters if ALL other avenues have been exhausted. this is why it is essential to attend the sham summit and to propose alternatives in good faith. A government shutdown in 2011-2012 would prevent implementing any of the operational provisions of the bill, although the tax increases would still exist. This could buy enough time to set the stage for actual repeal in 2013.

Enough Dems know they are screwed weather they pass this or don’t pass this. Enough know that once passed, regardless how it’s passed, undoing it will be hard if not impossible. They will die on this hill, but they will have pushed the boulder over the other side. All for the cause, because enough Dems are dyed in the wool Socialists.

McConnel said today that he doesn’t have the votes in the Senate to stop the abuse of reconciliation and therefore there is zero reason for the House Dems to block passage of the Senate version of the bill as any issue they have will fixed. But what of the Pro Life Dems, you ask? They never really existed in the first place.

They will get everything they want.

Game Over.