Rust Belt Catholics.
Spoke the Herculean Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, re the Whip count in PA, OH, IN, and learn that there is no change in the last hours: that Altmire PA-4 (above) is a No; that Dahlkemper PA-3 is a No, that Ellsworth IN-8 is a No ("What's he have to lose? He's not going back, and he wants to be Senator from Indiana!"); and that Tim Ryan of OH-17 is a likely Yes, because he is afeared of Nancy Pelosi. Co-hosts Margaret Hoover and John Avlon spoke up to say that Youngstown was a devastation zone and needed everything, not healthcare. Salena Zito said that Youngstown is conservative Rust Belt Catholics who voted for Obama out of duty and with disgust for Bush and McCain, but that they do not like what is going on in the White House. "These are Hillary Democrats," Zito said.
Deem and Pass.
Spoke to Edward Epstein, CQ, who leaned into emphasizing, from his conversations on the Hill, that Pelosi will call the vote when she has the votes. By this, I learned that Pelosi's office is not confident of the count. Salena Zito relates that her sources in the Speaker's and Leader's digs both tell her that they do not have 200 votes. David Drucker, Roll Call, relates that he does believe Mrs. Pelosi will find the votes in order to vote out the reconciliation revenue bill and to avoid voting on the Senate bill, which can then be "deemed and passed" by legislative wonder. There is balking at this "deem and pass" because it triggers contempt in the purple districts, where many of the Democratic conservatives must run. It also makes the White House uncomfortable and introduces yet another layer of explanation that POTUS must attempt. He tried "up or down," but now he must try "deem and pass." Thaddeus McCotter comments that many legal foundations will likely rush out a Constitutional challenge that would go the the Supreme Court swiftly. Scramble Scalia. Also mention that the CBO score is not going well, and the White House pulled in Big Pharma this day to threaten them unless they offered more cash give-backs to help the score. Trouble?
Kucinich just went off The Hill's "Firm No or Likely No" list to YES as of his 10 AM presser. I had a feeling this would happen. What happened on Air Force One that caused him to change? Power corrupts. Why are US tax dollars being used to lobby individual Congressmen? Scalia might have to end up saving us.
The only reason I'm not panicking and thinking "How many other 'No' votes on The Hill will end up voting 'Yes'?" is that Kucinich was the only one on the NO list, to my knowledge, who was NO because the bill wasn't liberal enough for him. It's much easier to convince someone that this is just a first step, that the Rusted Wheel of Things will work in your favor over time, than it is to convince somebody to support something they categorically oppose. I hope.
All the healthcare segments on the show have been great lately, with the sole exception that the guy from CQ on the first segment last night was objectionable. He had an obvious liberal bias, pedantically explained things we've all known for weeks, and took up valuable time that would have been better spent listening to Hoover or Avlon. Thumbs down on that guy.
The legislative process on display in Washington this week seems like an echo of the very same process that elected Barack Hussein Obama over a year ago. The big story here – as then – is the American media which views the whole thing as a horserace between the evil Republicans and the saintly Democrats, refusing to examine the broader issues of viability and consequence. The difference is that between then and now the American people appear to have awakened. They have come to recognize that a Trojan horse sits in the White House, but find themselves powerless to act. Their own soldiers are under siege, held at political gunpoint and forced to commit unspeakable acts of betrayal.
While still too many of us see this as a contest between skins and shirts, there is no doubt that if the current health care tussle on The Hill – now beginning to resemble the Afghan (national) sport of Buzkashi (in which the object is to get a goat carcass across the goal line) – were subjected to a direct popular vote, it would go to the skins by a considerable margin. It is the margin that is troubling here. It ought to be 100% against – not some version of 50 -50.
Still, it would not be fair to call those who support the bill ‘stupid’. You’re not stupid if you don’t know. Access to information has been so bifurcated in our country as to make a bridging of the chasm improbable, if not impossible. Whereas you and I have learned of the outright fraud and misapplication of science in order to affect social engineering, the readers of The New York Times and The Washington Post know none of it. Mainstream broadcast news and print still tout ‘global warming’ as a serious issue. They still tout Obama as a ‘savior’ figure. They still tout Republicans, industry and capitalism as essentially evil. They ignore fiscal debt and deficits. They refuse to delve into the reason for why so many jobs have disappeared from the American scene. They discount the dangers of continued fiscal mismanagement.
Ditto, our schools and universities...
They’re not stupid if they don’t know. How can they know? Listening to talk radio, they’ve been taught, is stupid. It merely represents the rantings of a dying breed of greedy men and earth destroyers. They’ve been assured that theirs is a higher purpose. They’ve been meticulously groomed to pursue ‘social justice’.
Our kids have been commandeered into a kind of jihad. Our schools and universities are madrassahs where they are fed a steady diet of socialist propaganda. Not unlike the Arabs who have been taught to hate Jews, our kids hate us. They hate our jobs, our religions, our way of life. Is it working? Will familial ties snap? Unknown. Will they inform on us when the time comes. Unknown. Will they turn against us when the mob attacks? Unknown.
The latest drive in teaching American history is to start with Woodrow Wilson while ignoring the founders and framers and even the Civil War. The rationale is that an understanding of modern American history is more immediate and pertinent to current times. Coincidentally, Woodrow Wilson’s presidency marks the beginning of progressivism in America. I often hear Wilson and especially FDR lumped in with Obama lately. While it is true that progressives of the past also envisioned global state control (socialism), early progressives differ from Obama as night differs from day. Wilson and FDR were patriots. True, they envisioned a single (benign) authority ruling the world, but they took it for granted that this authority would be American. Obama on the other hand so hates the supposed county of his birth, he would quite happily cede control elsewhere. In fact, I maintain that he undestands his personal mission as sacrificing America and handing its sacrificial scalp to whoever steps forward to accept it.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
I'd throw in Teddy Roosevelt, which is when the Feds started interfering with the choppy but effective way the House of Morgan ran the country prior to that time. Also Teddy Roosevelt spawned Gifford Pinchot and expanded the National Park system, which marked the advent of an era when we believe that the rights of the gnat-catcher exceed those of the lawful owner of the land. It is frequently maintained that the public employee unions have gotten California to where it is today. The blame must be shared with the environmentalists in large measure.
I don't think TR envisioned or anticipated the eco-terorists. Some might say he didn't use forethought on a lot of things.
I also want to add, wasn't the case with the 16th amendment such that it was NOT ratified by all the states? It wouldn't be the first time congress and the government tried a fast one.
If 1600 is expecting a SCOTUS challenge, and several of the Liberal Justices have health or age issues, I expect 1600 to gently persuade several justices to announce their retirement while they are still able to work and wait for a replacement.
1600 and the Far left are so desperate for HCR, they have sacrificed the EPA over California water, and put purple Dems in Jeopardy. All or nothing and all chips are in with this bet. Political capital is flowing like the Red River these days, sweeping everything in its path.
Loooooking Baaaddddd!!!
Gutierrez just flew the coop. Back down to 36 No's. Just yesterday I watched an interview with Gutierrez from the last 48 hours or so promising that he would vote NO unless immigration reform language were added to the list of fixes. Now he's announced a YES vote in return for only a promise from Obama for his support of future immigration reform. There are hookers on Ventura Blvd. that would cut a harder deal than that.
It seems to me that when assessing the No votes, you have to ignore the ones who are just saying "No, unless I get assurances that _____". You have to assume that these people will switch to YES either because they get the assurance or get enough of a nod that they can claim they got the assurance.
There are exceptions. The Stupak 12 (+/-) have some hardcores, Stupak himself, that look like they're going to ride the bomb down like Slim Pickens and end up voting NO as promised. Bart Stupak for President! If Stupak ends up voting YES I swear I'll never EVER trust another politician again as long as I live.
Loooooooking Mighty Baaaaadddddd!!!!
Friday morning: the patient has stabilized, but is still in critical condition. Looking Bad!