You are one committed patriot – posting from 32,000 feet up! In my diary “Slaughter: Prevention”, I too was trying to rally the troops to kill Obamacare. I was trying to shine a light on the despicable process of the “Slaughter Solution”. However we accomplish it, Obamacare must not pass! Thanks again for your steadfastness on this issue!

Others have said it before, so I’ll just say it again here. You are the only reason I’ve gotten any sleep in the last several weeks. Every time passage starts to look inevitable and unstoppable, you give us all the boost we need to continue the fight.

I’ve just called my congressman’s offices (Scott Murphy – NY), left him another e-mail, and then called 8 of the ‘Stupak 12′ trying to leave them some encouragement to hold strong. Not sure what else I can do. Thanks again for the boost you provide.

or kind of gut the Senate bill and pass a shell of a bill and fill it with administrative nun-chuks later? Kind of submarine the issue. Save Face,They are lying about virtually everything anyway so they will just declare victory and move on.
This ties in to the Daschle plan that I heard sketched an idea that Hillary care failed because the American people knew too much about it.

through Slaughter Rule, or some other trick?

There’s lots of chatter in the MSM and blogosphere, but it’s hard to get a clear understanding of whether there’s a real chance of the Dems actually getting this bill through Congress, by hook or crook or whatever. Or, are they just bluffing?

Thanks for the encouraging update, Dan. I’ll continue to make phone calls, take nothing for granted, and make sure we’re heard. You sure earned your wings tonight.

Let The World KNOW YOU are AWARE of what is happening and this ideological crusade is dead for generations to come.

And We’ll Win This Thing. Victory (Maybe Forever) Is Within Week a Way.

Call. Call. Call….Call.

All of you loud mouthed thinkers, all of you arm chaired warriors, and all of you who are one of RedState, get on the horn and make this week HAPPEN.

I haven’t heard anybody answer this seemingly very important question:

If the Senate can’t do a reconciliation bill based on the Senate bill until the Senate bill is signed by the president, then how can the house do a reconciliation bill on the senate bill before passing the senate bill?

Because as I understand it, it sounds like they want to vote on a reconciliation bill that includes the ‘slaughter rule’ to pass the senate bill. Which would mean they’re voting on a bill that modifies a non-existent bill.

But just in case, I too have called and written. Uselessly, perhaps, because I’m calling and writing McCaskill and Cleaver. I’m doing it, though, because I feel the weight of future generations pressing down on me.

And isn’t this just all the craziest stuff you’ve ever heard – bill, no bill, reconciliation, slaughter rule, ad nauseum?

38 states have or will pass legislation nullifying Obamacare. 10th Amendment activity is heating up. So, what are the nation’s governors saying? Several GOP governors have been open about states rights so why aren’t they saying that their states will ignore any unconstitutional laws passed by Congress? The states will ultimately prevail and if enough states tell the Democrats to go pound sand Obamacare, and maybe the welfare state edifice, will collapse due to lack of participation.

Right now the Dem leadership is trying to create a sense of momentum. So everything it says should be taken with a grain of salt.

. . .to God’s ears! May it be so.

Is it something that people in the House will vote for or is this something they’re proposing to do in her committee and then the congresscritters will simply go with the flow and take advantage of what her committee is doing?

…I have absolutely no idea how the Slaughter strategy would work, but if I had to guess, the House would “deem” the Senate bill passed only as a way to begin writing the reconciliation bill. That way they can vote on it quickly after they pass the Senate version. I hope to god they don’t pass it, of course, but regardless, I think that’s what the Slaughter strategy would be. Am I way off base?
As an aside, that witch Slaughter is actually my Congresswoman! I have no idea who is running against her, but I seriously hope she somehow gets booted out. I very much doubt it though. I can’t vote anyway…I’m Canadian and I can’t apply for citizenship until 2012!!!

Bob Cusack, The Hill (Saturday, March 13):

Pelosi is clearly down in the vote count. Thirty-four House Democrats are either firm no votes or leaning no, according to The Hill’s whip list.

According to James Rosen, McClatchy Newspapers (Sunday, March 14):

Obama, who’s set a Thursday deadline for final passage of his top legislative priority, postponed a trip to Asia by three days to pressure or cajole wavering Democrats. Clyburn expressed doubt that the House would vote by Thursday. He said lawmakers might have to stay in Washington right up to Easter Sunday, wrangling over their differences, and he wasn’t certain the showdown vote would take place by then.

I think it was Krauthammer who said if they had the votes it would already be done.

Pelosi is trying to create an aura of support.

It’s no different than saying “Unicorns exist because we say they do.”

-Mike

They would have passed it already, the minute the last vote was in Nancy’s pocket.

The whole debate over the “Slaughter Rule” strategy misses one point: it’s a special rule, and the House would have to vote to pass it. Nobody is going to be able to claim they didn’t know what they were voting for, no matter how it is structured.

Despite some positive recent data, the economic outlook for the summer is for a drop in GDP as a result of the huge tax increase caused by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. This probably means the unemployment rate either rises or at least doesn’t fall, leaving Obama vulnerable to the charge he neglected the economy to force health care down America’s throat.

The striking thing is the number of Democrats, both in House and Senate, who seem willing to risk their seats to perpetrate this travesty. Even Obama can’t guarantee them all a cushy federal job, not for longer than January of 2013. Are so many of them so committed to socialized medicine that they will give up their cushy and prestigious jobs to pass it?

1) We thought Brown’s election was a game-changer, when in fact this bunch of crooks has used that to make it EASIER to get it through the Senate. Now they have switched from:
“If we think we can’t get 60 votes again, we might have to look at bending the rules a little.”
to:
“We KNOW we can’t get 60 votes again, so we WILL make the rules up as we go.”
So there’s no doubt it will pass the Senate, regardless of whatever McConnell might do to stop it. Nelson, Bayh, Lincoln, Landrieu, and a couple others have a pass to vote nay this time.

2) There WILL be some votes that change from “nay” to “aye”, even though none have been stated. Someone like Kucinich can huff and puff all he wants, but he and the other liberals who voted against the original bill a) once it had the votes and b) knowing they’d get another chance will now be more realistic and know this is their last shot. I can’t see ANY liberal voting nay this time around. I haven’t run through the list to see how many fall into this category, but I can’t believe Kucinich was the only one. There must be a few others.

3) Has Brown’s election spooked anyone in the House? It’s hard to tell – a lot have gone from “aye” to “not sure”, but it could be that a large number of them are just afraid to say they are ayes until they get to the floor for the actual vote. Other than for abortion, I have a hard time seeing why someone who voted aye originally would vote nay now. If they’re liberal they’ll want “something” (i.e. “anything”) to pass; if they’re truly moderate they would have voted nay the first time and so also want something/anything to pass.

4) Supak’s block of 10-12 “was aye/now nay” votes is good news, and Pelosi blowing them off is better news (in a twisted way). Stupak has indicated he’d accept some sort of tie-in that prevented it from becoming law without the fixes, but without abortion language in there that becomes moot from his point of view. BUT the bad news is that from what I’ve read he’s only got 7 commitments so far. If true, then Pelosi only needs to swing a few blue dogs if the Kucinich types flip.

5) So even if Stupak holds, it comes down to the abortion-neutral blue dogs who voted nay the first time. What are the odds that a few of them will flip? They are going to be under unrelenting pressure and told that they can forget having any campaign cash this fall, so they might as well resign now if they are not going to vote aye. Will a few of them chicken out (as the House blue dogs often do)? I would think so. If Pelosi needed to get 10 or 15 it might be a much tougher call, but if she only needs 4-5 then I think it will happen.

6) This is all being rushed before the Easter break to keep the members away from their constituents (or more like the other way around). For the next week they’ll be hearing 90% in person from Pelosi, Obama, Stern, etc. in person, and 10% from staffers reporting about upset constituents. Pelosi won’t take any chance that they get back home where they might get mobbed and will have a chance to think clearly away from the din of Washington. Sure that’s a sign of desperation on her part, but she controls their lives for now and only needs to get a few to crack under that pressure.

I sure hope the third time is the charm, because you thought it had no chance to pass the House originally and no chance to pass the Senate originally. I’m sure you’d agree that if it makes it out of the House now it will pass the Senate, so this upcoming vote is the end of the game one way or another.

We must continue to make our voice heard because if we do not then it will take decades to undo this travesty and waste trillions of our tax dollars setting up and then dismantling this behemoth. Keep the pressure on and keep burning up those phone lines and inboxes.

We need health care reform, but we don’t need this!!!

I have been in a FUNK this past week while watching the SLEAZY goings on via Pelosi, Reid and Obama and to see that YOU still carry the FAITH that this thing is dead in the water based on a REAL vote means a lot to me and mine!

I have notified my rep that if the Slaughter Trick is not actively and agressively opposed I will aggressively work for their defeat in November for violating the oath of office.

I would recommend everyone do the same no matter the party or position of your representative.

Thanks for keeping on top of this and thanks for explaining it so it is understandable.

To quote my 14 year old – “You rock”.

I read that James Clyburn today openly said on TV they currently lack the votes but “will” get them in the next week. But then again, he also said he thinks Stupak will vote for it.

With all the sob stories, dealmaking, and rule-breaking that’s been going on, I’m terrified to imagine what’s left.

What is it, 37 or 38 no needed to kill the thing?