Senate Democrats are working overtime to get an Obamacare bill passed before Christmas. They no longer even pretend to be doing it to reform healthcare. Now they’re just doing whatever it takes to get a bill passed, even if it costs somewhere between $848 billion and $2.1 trillion, depending on which math you use.
Never mind that the Realclearpolitics.com average of polls shows that Americans oppose the Democrat’s healthcare bill by a 54.2 percent to 39.7 percent margin. Democrats have gone all in, as the saying goes, and nothing is going to stop them.
As an unnamed Democratic strategist told Byron York of The Washington Examiner, “Once you’ve gone this far, what is the cost of failure?”
Comparing Democrats to bank robbers—how appropriate—who have gone past the point of no return, the strategist said, “They’re in the bank, they’ve got their guns out. They can run outside with no money, or they can stick it out, go through the gunfight, and get away with the money.”
Of course, money is what it’s all about. Not saving it mind you, but stealing yours.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D.-Ill.) told The Hill that Democrats will have the 60 votes needed to pass a bill this week. They’re buying off reluctant Democrats left and right.
For Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu the price was $300 million in federal aid to her state. As columnist Charles Krauthammer said on Fox News, if Landrieu got $300 million, Sen. Ben Nelson (D.-Neb.)—said to be holding out for removal of a provision in the bill that allows federal funding to pay for abortions—gets a Caribbean island, or two. Or, if some news reports are correct, a threat to close a military base in his state if he doesn’t join in.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I.-Conn.) is back on board. We don’t yet know what he got in return, aside from a lot of face time on television. In an effort to get one or more Republicans to sign on so the bill can be cast as bi-partisan, Maine Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are being courted as well. Look for Maine to get a bundle of cash for snow plows or something.
Meanwhile, Joe and Jane Citizen only get dunned. If you are a family with an annual income above $88,200 and your employer doesn’t provide coverage, prepare to fork out $15,200 a year for a federally-mandated insurance fee, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as reported by CNSNews.com. And few employers are going to provide coverage for their employees once the plan kicks in.
Why? There is an incentive not to. If employers don’t pay their share of their employees’ premiums they’ll have to pay $750 per employee fine. That’s much less than the employer contribution on a complete health plan.
What’s more, there are tax increases in the bill. Lots of them. According to the Heritage Foundation, Medicare taxes increase from 2.9 percent to 3.4 percent, the top marginal tax rate goes from 35 percent to 39.6 percent and, in the House version of the bill, a surtax of 5.4 percent is put on incomes above $500,000.
Following is a list from the Heritage Foundation of other tax increases currently in either the House or Senate bill or proposed by the Barack Obama administration to “pay” for healthcare reform:
- An excise tax on high-cost "Cadillac" health insurance plans that cost more than $8,500 a year for individuals or $23,000 for families.
- An excise tax on medical devices such as wheelchairs, breast pumps and syringes used by diabetics for insulin injections.
- A cap on the exclusion of employer-provided health insurance without offsetting tax cuts.
- A limit on itemized deductions for taxpayers with a top income tax rate greater than 28 percent.
- A windfall profits tax on health insurance companies.
- A value-added tax, which would tax the value added to a product at each stage of production.
- An excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages including non-diet soda and sports drinks.
- Higher taxes on alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and spirits.
- A limit on contributions to health savings accounts.
- An 8 percent tax on all wages paid by employers that do not provide their employees health insurance that satisfies the requirements defined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
- A limit on contributions to flexible spending arrangements.
- Elimination of the deduction for expenses associated with Medicare Part D subsidies.
- An increase in taxes on international businesses.
- Elimination of the tax credits paper companies take for biofuels they create in their production process—the so-called “Black Liquor credit.”
- Fees on insured and self-insured health plans.
- A limit or repeal of the itemized deduction for medical expenses.
- A limit on the Qualified Medical Expense definition.
- An increase in the payroll taxes on students.
- An extension of the Medicare payroll tax to all state and local government employees.
- An increase in taxes on hospitals.
- An increase in the estate tax.
- Increased efforts to close the mythical “tax gap.”
- A 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgery and similar procedures such as Botox treatments, tummy tucks and face lifts.
- A tax on drug companies.
- An increase in the corporate tax on providers of health insurance.
- A $500,000 deduction limitation for the compensation paid by health insurance companies to their officers, employees and directors.
All the taxes are designed to confiscate the wealth of Mr. and Mrs. Citizen and drive them into a public option—even as Senate Democrats say the bill doesn’t include one, yet.
On Dec. 16 the president went on television and said if Congress doesn’t pass a healthcare bill the Federal government will go bankrupt. Poppycock. If a healthcare bill is passed it’s Mr. and Mrs. Citizen that go belly up.
The spend-and-tax policies of Obama and the Democrats—stimulus bills, TARP bill, healthcare bill, etc.—are what is pushing us toward economic collapse.
Face it. The healthcare reform plan Democrats are ramming through is nothing more than the greatest transfer of wealth and most massive power grab in the history of the world.
Frankly, I don’t consider that much of a Christmas present.
This Congress and Administration as A WHOLE could give a RATS ass about Citizens of this Country! How can a Senator SELL is VOTE on Health Care and too BOOT have ALL other STATES pick up Nebraskas TAB for Medicade? Nelson should BE Ashamed BUT true LIBS have NONE!
ReplyDeleteLibs Goal is for OUR Great Nation to JOIN the World Community and the ONLY way to do that is to BANKRUPT us and thats what they appear to be DOING!
Next will be Tax and Trade followed by Amnesty for Illeagals!
Tax and Trade is a JOB killer!
Amnesty assures LIBS of NEW Voting Block and thats all the LIBS are about Power and Control.Our Nation NEVER figures into their Agendas and the Constitution is just a piece of PAPER that can be TRAMPLED on!
The ONLY thing LIBS have Misjudged is American People and they will FIND out Citizens Feelings in November. Politicans Vote in Dark of NIGHT, Citizen will VOTE in the Light of DAY!
Even SEIU bailed on the healthcare bill. And 35 million people still wont be covered. As a SEIU member it will add a tax to my insurance. I'm not paying for someone elses insurance. That is why I pay union dues. I'll tell you right now that if the unions get taxed on their health insurance there will be riots. If it wasn't for the unions these Dems wouldn't even be in office.
ReplyDeleteA bill people WILL NOT FORGET and the dems OWN IT lock,stock and barrel. 2010 wil be a political tsunami in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteBefore we start bitching, let's see how the House/Senate conference final bill comes out. Hopefully it will be better than the bill the Senate produced.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans and conservatives will be against anything the Democrats do anyway, so I hope the Democrats don't do ANY negotiating with ANY Republican.
All they want is for the President and the Democratic Congress to fail so they can use it as a campaign issue. That's the way they take care of the American voters, just vote NO ON EVERYTHING.
From what I've seen it's not a good bill. In fact if it's anything like they've been pushing I've be f%%king pi$$ed. If there isn't a public option Obama will be done. He promised a public option and he better do it or else. And SEIU will make ELF look like kids play if they get screwed over. Do or Die with the public option.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy for a group of mere mortals to try to design 15 percent of the U.S. economy. It's even crazier to do it by August.
ReplyDeleteYet that is what some members of Congress presume to do. They intend, as the New York Times puts it, "to reinvent the nation's health care system."
Let that sink in. A handful of people who probably never even ran a small business actually think they can reinvent the health care system.
Politicians and bureaucrats clearly have no idea how complicated markets are. Every day people make countless tradeoffs, in all areas of life, based on subjective value judgments and personal information as they delicately balance their interests, needs and wants. Who is in a better position than they to tailor those choices to best serve their purposes? Yet the politicians believe they can plan the medical market the way you plan a birthday party.
Leave aside how much power the state would have to exercise over us to run the medical system. Suffice it say that if government attempts to control our total medical spending, sooner or later, it will have to control us.
Also leave aside the inevitable huge cost of any such program. The administration estimates $1.5 trillion over 10 years with no increase in the deficit. But no one should take that seriously. When it comes to projecting future costs, these guys may as well be reading chicken entrails. In 1965, hospitalization coverage under Medicare was projected to cost $9 billion by 1990. The actual price tag was $66 billion.
The sober Congressional Budget Office debunked the reformers' cost projections. Trust us, Obama says. "At the end of the day, we'll have significant cost controls," presidential adviser David Axelrod said. Give me a break.
Now focus on the spectacle of that handful of men and women daring to think they can design the medical marketplace. They would empower an even smaller group to determine—for millions of diverse Americans—which medical treatments are worthy and at what price.
How do these arrogant, presumptuous politicians believe they can know enough to plan for the rest of us? Who do they think they are? Under cover of helping uninsured people get medical care, they live out their megalomaniacal social-engineering fantasies—putting our physical and economic health at risk in the process.
Will the American people say "Enough!"?
I fear not, based on the comments on my blog. When I argued last week that medical insurance makes people indifferent to costs, I got comments like: "I guess the 47 million people who don't have health care should just die, right, John?" "You will always be a shill for corporate America."
Like the politicians, most people are oblivious to F.A. Hayek's insight that the critical information needed to run an economy—or even 15 percent of one—doesn't exist in any one place where it is accessible to central planners. Instead, it is scattered piecemeal among millions of people. All those people put together are far wiser and better informed than Congress could ever be. Only markets—private property, free exchange, and the price system—can put this knowledge at the disposal of entrepreneurs and consumers, ensuring the system will serve the people and not just the political class.
This is no less true for medical care than for food, clothing, and shelter. It is profit-seeking entrepreneurship that gave us birth control pills, robot limbs, Lasik surgery, and so many other good things that make our lives longer and more pain free.
ReplyDeleteTo the extent the politicians ignore this, they are the enemy of our well-being. The belief that they can take care of us is rank superstition.
Who will save us from these despots? What Adam Smith said about the economic planner applies here, too: The politician who tries to design the medical marketplace would "assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it."
You cannot make make a pile of manure better.
ReplyDeleteAll the conference committee will produce is a mixture of pig manure with donkey manure which neither one alone anybody wants let alone together.
Congress is operated by corrupt democrats so when you put shit in,you get shit out.
Not one Republican voted for obamacare but they have the 60 votes needed to pass it. I bet it will be a bad bill and the Democrats are going to be holding the bag on it.
ReplyDeleteYou will NOT have to FEAR those LIBS asking Republicans for INPUT. They have NOT up to this POINT and WHY start NOW!
ReplyDeleteYes Conservatives DO want Nobamas Policies to FAIL,including Health Care! LIB Agenda is taking us down the road of Socialism with GOVERNMENT taking away OUR Freedom of Choice and giving it to POLITICANS! Look at what the SENATE did(OUT and OUT Bribery to Members) to get the VOTES just to PASS the Bill ,should concern EVERY Citizen unless Cradle to Grave Government Control is WHAT YOU WANT!
This Administration and LIBS have done NOTHING to get the Economy Moving. This should have been their FIRST Priority and what they ATTEMPTED Failed! All that Occurred was MORE DEBT to China and wonder HOW that will work out.
Nobama Care is not Policy yet and between the Conservatives and the LIBS in the House,Still aint a DONE deal.
November will COME and Elections will take back the Government from these Socialist,Marxist and Communist that DO surround and Advise this President!
this horror may pass with or without us..sigh..
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should read the title again.
ReplyDeleteFrom the floor of the United States Senate, today Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse proclaimed as much about opponents of health care, including his Republican colleagues inside the United States Senate.
The President of the Senate let him get away with it.
Senator Whitehouse specifically said, “They are desperate to break this president. They have ardent supporters who are nearly hysterical at the very election of President Barack Obama. The birthers, the fanatics, the people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups, it is unbearable to them that President Barack Obama should exist. That is one powerful reason. It is not the only one.”
There you have it — gone are the days when Democrats compared American soldiers to Nazis on the floor of the Senate. Today, Democrats condone one of their own calling, from the floor of the Senate, the majority of American citizens Aryan hate mongers rooting for the assassination of the President of the United States.
And yes, Whitehouse was referring to the majority of American citizens. How do I know? Because every single poll is showing the majority of Americans opposed to this health care deform legislation. Whitehouse labeled everyone opposed to the legislation as racist hatemongers rooting for bullets against the President.
That is sad, sick, pathetic, and should be condemned by every other Senator.
In fact, you should call your Senator at 202-224-3121 and ask if he condemns Senator Whitehouse for saying, from the floor of the Senate, that opponents of the Democrats health care legislation want Barack Obama to be assassinated — the only clear interpretation of his remarks.
That's an interesting analysis, Chet. However, if you put the public option or Medicare buy-in back in the bill, which hopefully will get done in conference, the majority of Americans approve of the bill.
ReplyDeleteThe public option or Medicare buy-in, changes everything. What people oppose, but a pretty big majority, is being required to buy private health insurance without a public option to hold down premium increases.
NO THEY WON'T
ReplyDeleteNo, Christopher, you are wrong. The polls already show that if the public option or Medicare buy-in is included in the bill, the public supports the health care reform.
ReplyDeleteJoeC, what is your blog address? I haven't seen it posted here.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't the Democrats make this public option and buy-in happen? I think it is pathetic that the Democrats can't make a bill the public want. The only party stopping a public option and the Medicare buy-in is the Democrats. To blame Republicans sounds retarded when the Democrats do it. If this bill is a mess it is 100% the Democrats fault. Bruce sorry to say but the polls show over 60% of Americans want Congress to do nothing with health care. I don't think polls matter but promises do. If the Democrats don't give us what they promised then we will vote them out.
ReplyDeleteWho is JoeC?
ReplyDeleteseems we might actually be changing health care in America this time around. One way we could go would be to adopt what's called a "single-payer" system like Canada has. Under a single-payer system we would do away with the health insurance companies and one payer (the government) would cover everyone's medical bills.
ReplyDeleteAdvocates of a single-payer system cite many benefits: The government covers everyone so we wouldn't have insurance companies cherry-picking the healthiest people to cover, doctors wouldn't have the same crazy incentive to avoid preventative care because it isn't covered, we'd have lower administrative costs, and we'd eliminate medical bankruptcy (like other industrial countries already have).
But when Obama convened his 150-person summit on health care last Thursday, there were only two advocates of a single payer system in attendance: the Columbia Medical School professor Oliver Fein and Congressman John Conyers.
The idea of a single-payer system hasn't gotten much traction in the media either. A recent study from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting details how, even though a majority of Americans now wants the government to provide national health insurance, the idea has been shut out of the debate as it's played out in the major media.
So it's been left to a passionate grassroots movement to promote the idea. A new group called Single Payer Action formed recently to lobby for the policy. They staged a demonstration outside of a meeting of the health insurance trade group Americas Health Insurance Plans yesterday. There was a symbolic burning of health insurance bills (photo above and Flickr set here).
There are some political and philosophical objections to single-payer. The health insurance industry is a powerful lobby and single-payer health care would doom them to extinction. But insurance companies also employ thousands of regular Americans. Eliminating those jobs would be yet another shock to the economy (that was Obama's reason for ruling it out in the short term). Conservative commentators, meanwhile, oppose it with a kneejerk ideological aversion to big government.
But none of those objections really challenges the assertion that a single-payer system would actually be the best way of keeping Americans healthy (and financially solvent). If our current broken health care system is too big to fail and/or too corrupt to change, then that's the problem.
Everyone should have the right to free health-care,food,water and shelter. And the Rich should pay for it.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Senate Democratic leadership and the White House may be celebrating Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson's decision to vote for the health reform bill, the National Right to Life Committee says it will continue to fight for greater restrictions on federal funding for abortions.
ReplyDeleteNelson has been a problem for his fellow Democrats in recent days because of his stated desire to ensure the bill would not allow federal dollars to pay for abortions.
The Senate Democrats needed 60 votes to get their bill passed and have been working hard to achieve their goal before Christmas.
After some intense negotiations late Friday, Nelson finally agreed to a compromise.
According to press reports, the changes include further restrictions on abortion coverage in policies sold inside the exchanges.
States would be permitted to ban insurance coverage of abortions in policies sold in the exchange, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy. In states where such coverage is permitted, consumers must notify their insurance company they want it, and pay for it separately.
The Nebraskan also won increased federal funds to cover his state's cost of covering an expanded Medicaid population at a cost that one Democratic official put at $45 million over a decade, and took credit for easing the bill's impact as well as other, smaller changes.
When he finally announced his decision, Nelson did so at a news conference in a Capitol corridor, rather than from his Senate desk as Democrats had preferred. Noting the bruising negotiations over abortion, he said, "I know this is hard for some of my colleagues to accept and I appreciate their right to disagree. But I would not have voted for this bill without these provisions."
Senators who support abortion rights accepted the changes reluctantly, but conservative Republicans and the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) criticized them as a step backward from the equivalent part of the House bill.
In a press release on Saturday, the NRLC stated the amendment is "light years removed from the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that was approved by the House of Representatives on November 8 by a bipartisan vote of 240-194. The new abortion language solves none of the fundamental abortion-related problems with the Senate bill, and it actually creates some new abortion-related problems."
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who pushed through the restrictions in the House-passed bill, also rejected Nelson's deal. He called it "not acceptable" because it "would allow the federal government to subsidize insurance policies with abortion coverage." He said he intends to keep working to find a solution that would allow him to ultimately vote for the health care bill.
WTF!?!? Who the F**K is still talking about single-payer?!?! It ain't gonna happen, so why are you wasting time talking about it?!!? Gosh, you know what would be great? Free F**KING ice cream for everybody on earth, but guess what? All this bill does is poke everybody in the F**KING eye.
ReplyDeleteBruce, you are the biggest dumbass I have ever seen. The Senate barely got 60 votes, and only by bribing a few Senators with OUR tax dollars. I guess it's easy to bribe people if you're using other people's money. But the point is, the House version is going to have to hew quite close to the Senate plan to pass, so you know the Hypocrats will stick with giving Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Trial Lawyers our $$$$$$.
Look at this, even the ultra-liberal firedoglake is apoplectic over this POS bill that is being pushed down our throats. Look at that, the Hypocrats HAVE brought everyone together, left AND right, in total hatred of the Hypocrat party and their cockamamie plans!!
10 Reasons to Kill the Senate Bill
By: Jane Hamsher Monday December 21, 2009
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/21/10-reasons-to-kill-the-senate-bill/
FDL has become the go-to place for coverage of the health care bill due to the work of our incredible team. So, I asked them to help make it simple: how do we let people know what's going to happen to them if the Senate bill passes? Everyone put their heads together and came up with a list: Top 10 Reasons to Kill Senate Health Care Bill
Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not.
If you refuse to buy the insurance, you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.
Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can't afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.
Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.
Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.
Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins.
Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.
Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.
No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.
The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, your family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.
Yeah, Bruce brings up an excellent point. All these senators said that a public option was what was needed to keep the insurance companies honest. Now it's gone, and yet the Hypocrats say that magically the health insurance companies will keep themselves honest, that a public option is NOT required! So which one is it FAILk??!?! Do we need the public option to keep the health insurance companies honest, or don't we?!? Which is the lie and which is the truth you F**K?!?!
ReplyDeleteI think these Hypocrat senators should be thrown in jail. If they know how to get $500 billion in waste and fraud out of Medicare they should do that NOW. Not tie it to tax increases and forced coercion. That's quite a party you back FAILk. This F**KING guy is worried about some wiretaps on some calls overseas, but forcing people to buy health insurance, which FAILK admits is a scam of the highest order, under threat of JAIL time, and he's all for it. What a POS.
ReplyDeleteUnited States Senators use TAX PAYERS money to BUY Votes and then have the GALL to tell all that its a VICTORY for Citizens! This Bill goes through the Senate in the DARK of NIGHT with Bribes to get it Through and these KNOT HEADS say its a VICTORY. What it is, is a SAD day for ALL Citizens and shows what THIS Administration WILL do to CHANGE this COUNTRY and its FORM of Government FOREVER!
ReplyDeleteIf this was Private Sector there would be BRIBERY Charges FILED, in the Senate IMPEACHMENT SHOULD be a THOUGHT but with the LIB Criminals running the SHOW aint going to HAPPEN!
Chicago Politics plane and SIMPLE!
Bruce If this Bill gets Passed and I refuse to get Insurance am I Fined and/or Jailed?
ReplyDeleteIf I am ONLY Fined and DO not have Insurance, DOWN the Road if I get some Terrible Illness am I entitled to Medical Coverage and by WHO?
How many other Citizens will DO the same thing,just Pay the FINE and WAIT until Illness Strikes and then get Insurance CAUSE you CAN NOT be turned DOWN!
Great points John. There are a lot of people both from the right,left and middle that are just as pissed about this POS bill. It doesn't fix one thing. This will be the straw.
ReplyDeleteLeave it to they Hypocrats. Create a faux "crisis" so they can give literally BILLIONS to insurance, expand the size and power of government (yeah, THOSE are some jobs that increase the wealth of this country ... all they are is a DRAIN on ALL Americans), while not only making Americans less healthy and providing them with "new and improved RATIONING", it STILL doesn't cover 24 million people?!? It ONLY COVERS AN ADDITIONAL 6 MILLION PEOPLE THAN IF THEY DID NOTHING!! WTF?!?! THIS IS THE HYPOCRAT'S PLAN!?!?
ReplyDeleteHey Bruce, what cost controls does this PIECE OF SHIT BILL have?! Because last I checked, it was hospitals that were charging $50 for two aspirin, not HEALTH INSURANCE, and yet here is a bunch of money to build a hospital in Dodd's state?! Doesn't sound like cost control to ME. So where is it!? And here's a hint, just refusing to pay a doctor who accepts Medicare (and there will be fewer and fewer of those I GUARANTEE) the going rate is NOT cost control. So think about what you write before you write it DIPSHIT.
ReplyDeleteWell, once again A Conservative Teacher lays it all out. Witness again the utter stupidity of OUR Representatives:
ReplyDeletehttp://aconservativeteacher.blogspot.com/2009/12/michigan-senators-fail-to-game-corrupt.html
Michigan Senators Fail to Game Corrupt Healthcare Bill
The Democrats made a lot of corrupt insider deals in order to get the 60 votes needed to shut off debate on the issue of 1/6 of our economy and jam through without a single vote from the other major party in our nation a bill that will in the end increase the cost of healthcare with dozens of new taxes and government agencies and lower the number of people covered by private healthcare by bankrupting insurance companies and jobs-providers. And Michigan, as usual with our our inept representation in the Senate, got nothing.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson traded his vote on this issue for an estimated $45 million in federal Medicaid funds funneled to his state, enough to completely cover his state's costs of complying with an expansion of the program mandated by the bill. This money was taken from residents all around the country and is now being sent to Nebraska simply because that Senator held out the longest and was able to game the system for increased kick-backs and bribes. But he wasn't the only one.
The Senators in Vermont (1 Democrat and 1 Socialist) and Massachusetts (2 Democrats) also won additional Medicaid funds in exchange for promising to vote for the bill. Senators in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana also managed to find ways to make insider deals and game the corrupt system of passing legislation under Democratic leadership, scamming additional Medicare funds for their states, and also the good Senators from Hawaii (2 Democrats) exchanged their votes for additional taxpayer money funneled to their state.
Read the story here.
Michigan received no additional money and was not able to scavenge a piece of the dying carcass of the United States taxpayers because Michigan's two Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabmenow, are so extremely liberal, so partisan, and so far to the left that their determined ambitions to expand the size of government blinded them to the opportunity that existed with the passage of this 'healthcare bill' to funnel kick backs and bribes to the residents of our good state.
This is not to say that I endorse this process or applaud the actions of Senators who, in what I feel is a violation of the Constitution, took bribes in exchange for their votes. I'm just saying that Michigan Senators continue their record on turning the residents of Michigan into a donor state that transfers wealth from our citizens to the citizens of other states purely because of their representation is better at the political game than ours. If our Senators did this out of principle or because they rejected bribes, that would be one thing, but the real reason that our state didn't get any corrupt kick backs is pure incompetence.
As this year ends, we are witnessing some pretty shocking behavior by the Democrats. If you know anyone who is a voter, they need to vote Republican for every single race next election. Republicans aren't perfect, but at least when they were in charge they never engaged in this irresponsible one-sided orgy of spending funded by corrupt bribes and kickbacks.
If you want, you can call Senators Levin and Stabmenow, but it won't have much of an effect- they don't care a bit what you think about this issue, otherwise they'd be listening to the opinion polls that show over 60% of the people reject what they are trying to do. Your Michigan Senators don't care about you, don't care what you think, and would sooner kick you in the face than talk to you about healthcare debate. Senator Stabmenow doesn't owe you anything anyways- she has long been bought off by special interest groups from California- and has spent her time in office figuring out ways to funnel money to her campaign coffers, not to Michigan residents.
Al, here's hoping you refuse to get insurance.
ReplyDeleteAl's question to you Bruce was "What happens if he refuses to buy insurance?"
ReplyDeleteWow, you really are an idiot Bruce. You can't answer one simple question. What a true LOSER you are.
Chris -
ReplyDeleteHere's a great video piece on Detroit, and the Hypocrat's vision of the future of America.
Is This the Future of America (Detroit)?
by Steven Crowder
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/scrowder/2009/12/21/is-this-the-future-of-america-detroit/
I know that some of you may think that the last thing Detroit needs is another hit piece. Granted, some could consider this video as THE hit piece. Detroit however, can serve as a valuable lesson to the rest of the country. It has been the perfect laboratory for leftist policies at work. The more you examine the policies of Detroit’s politicians, the more strikingly similar to this administration they become. The results… are shocking. Notice how I added the “…” for dramatic effect? I’m thoughtful like that.
WARNING: Not for the squeamish.
Spend and Spend, Elect and Elect
ReplyDeletePosted by Gregory of Yardale at December 21, 2009
Harry Reid has a message for all the senators that went along with the health care takeover without selling prostituting their votes for massive amounts of pork: Suckers!
Reid said. "If they don't have something in it important to them then it doesn't speak well of them."
He likened the legislation to the defense bill, which is thick with earmarks and other provisions benefitting individual members and even private corporations. "That's what legislations all about," Reid said of the compromises bribes.
I guess the real question is, can we ever beat this beast back? I think there's always hope. If the bill is as horrible as we think it will be ... and we have some serious analysis to support that conclusion ... there's always a chance it can be dismantled piece by piece over time. There's also the fact that our country is fiscally insolvent and the Democrats have only two choices. 1. Keep spending like there's no tomorrow in which case there won't be. 2. Undertake very unpopular measures to close the gap, which, because they are Democrats, means raising taxes which will make the economy worse and make them even less popular. They are not in an ideal political position.
They are also deluded. They actually think a bill that hikes taxes immediately and raises the cost of insurance is going to be popular with the American people.
Bruce Like any Lib you have NO answers to ANY Common Sense Questions that are Easy to Answer by JUST telling the TRUTH. Problem You and the TRUTH are like a VAMPIRE and the LIGHT, BOTH You and the Vampire turn to SHIT!
ReplyDeleteAlways remember BRUCE this COUNTRY was Built and Nurtured by Patriots. LIBS will COME and GO,True Patriots are here to STAY!
Al, Liberals are patriots. You Moron! Liberals built this country, fought for this country and will long after you are gone.
ReplyDeleteLiberals love their country just as much as whatever you consider yourself. I'd call you a traitor, but that's just me.
John and Al, here's a link to the bill.
ReplyDeleteShow me the exact language that says you can be jailed if you don't purchase insurance.
http://stabenow.senate.gov/healthcare/Patient_Protection_Affordable.pdf
I searched the entire bill and could not find one occurrence of the words jail or imprison.
Bruce you said,"Al, Liberals are patriots. You Moron! Liberals built this country, fought for this country and will long after you are gone." What great thing have the liberals done? What have they built that lasted and was good? Liberals are the destroyers not builders. And thats not just this country but every country. Look at the most liberal countries and you will see a country about to go bankrupt.Greec,Italy and all the communist countries you liberals love so much.
ReplyDeleteChris, thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteContained within this missive is a list of the great things liberals have done for America.
A Day in the Life of Joe Republican
A story floating around the internet...
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.
If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteThe house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."
Bruce you are so full of crap. You went through all 2000 pgs of the bill and because you didn't find the words jailed or imprioned that means it doesn't exist? First off you didn;t read the bill as you are on these blogs all day and night. And second just because they didn't use you words doesn't mean its not in their. The bill will never have a punishment in it. It will have a mandate for insurance,and it does,but it is not the job of the bill to give a sentance for not following the law. So stop trying to bullshit us with your lies about reading the bill and your stupid spines on everything the Democrats do. I don't know why you are so happy. The bill doesn't do one thing it promised to do for you either. A lot of people are going to get screwed because of the Democrats bill. This Bill is 100% Democrat. The Dems hold the bag on this bad bill and now they can't blame the Republicans for effing up our healthcare. Not one, NOT ONE Republican voted for this bill. Don't forget it.
ReplyDeleteBruce I Heard your HERO Olbermann SAY that the PLAN was SO BAD he would in fact go to JAIL Rather than PAY the Fine for NOT having Nobama Health Care!s you say if YOU cannot Believe Dobermann who CAN you Believe!
ReplyDeleteIf Liberals LOVE this Country why are they ATTEMPTING to Change us to a Member of the WORLD COMMUNITY Bruce and actualy bring us DOWN to their Levels!
If Liberals Love this Country WHY have they ALLOWED their Policies to TAKE Large once Great Cities and Destroy them to the POINT you cannot TELL them from Bagadad! At least IRAQ is a Declared Area of War. Large Cities in OUR Country are NOT unless YOU Count the LIB Policies that got them there!Look Bruce at ANY Large City and YOU see what AWAITS the COUNTRY if the LIBS are ALLOWED to GO on there Merry WAY! If LIBS loved there COUNTRY How would they let POLITICS/Agenda be more IMPORTANT than the Citizens they say they are CONCERNED about.LOOK what LIBS have DONE to the Minorities/Poor Bruce,if you think thats Exceptable you SIR are a BLAZING MORON!
Bruce What Military Branch did you serve in,JUST Wondering?
Isn't that great Bruce you give all credit to liberals. Sorry little buddy but I think you need to give facts and not anicdotal evidance for your belief. Nice try though.
ReplyDeleteChris, I read your blog often and for the first time I am posting out of sheer frustration. I called Harry Reid's office this morning and asked of his aide the following questions:
ReplyDelete1. I heard Senator Reid in a speech yesterday say that every 10 minutes two people die in the U.S. for lack of proper health care. Where did he get that information?
2. Why does Senator Reid call a bribe a "compromise"?
At this point, his aide said "Maam, maam, I'm not here to go back and forth with you. If you have a comment, I will write it down and let the senator know (in a very smartass tone).
So I said "Okay, here is the message I would like you to give to the senator."
And as I started to talk, this progressive, little piece of **** aide started talking over me, saying "Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, yup, that's right, uh huh, uh huh, uh, yup that's right, uh huh, uh huh." He kept saying this nonstop, as I was speaking making his point that he wasn't listening.
At one point, I stopped for about 10 seconds, and he kept on "uh huh, uh huh, uh huh ........"
I had to stop because it was useless. I ended by saying "It's not a surprise that Harry Reid would have someone responding like this in his office. His response? "Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh."
When I got off, I just sat there, confirming what I have known for the last year. We the People have lost our country to these so-called "progressives." There is no listening to us anymore. The tyrants are here.....
These are the people who have set themselves up to be our lords and masters. We have to stop them.
Chris, so where is the language that says anyone will go to jail if they don't buy health insurance?
ReplyDeleteYou say it's in there. Show it to me.
Chris, I do agree with you about one thing, the Dems own health care now. So, if it turns out well, then they get all the credit, right?
ReplyDeleteIf it turns out badly, which I'm sure Republicans will do their best to make sure it does, Republicans get all the blame for doing nothing when they could have gotten on board.
Bruce it might take me a while since there is 2,700 pages to go thru and read. But you knew that and that is why you ask for it. And that is why the bill is 2,700 pages so they can hide everything in it for a while. And don't worry Bruce I'm sure you will find a way to blame Republicans for this dumbass bill. But the Dems own it lock,stock and barrel.
ReplyDeleteAnon, thank you for your comment and for calling Reid. You are a great American. I wish there were more people that would post their comments. Keep us informed with what happens when he calls you back if you would?
ReplyDeleteBruce The Voters are Going to punish Republicans in November. Alot of the Republicans will get Elected and have to FIX this LIBERAL lead Congress! Now thats PUNISHMENT!~
ReplyDeleteActually, Chris, I assumed since you made the claim that people would go to jail for not getting insurance you already knew the answer to your own question.
ReplyDeleteAs a former court reporter, I heard attorneys say many times, don't ask a question you don't already know the answer to.
This is the problem with people like you, Chris. You run around making claims like this and you don't even know for sure if they're true. You are in the same category as Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin.
You just say shit because you think it sounds good to you. You don't know and don't care if it's the truth.
Bruce Court Reporter Is that a Government Job or Private Sector which you seem to HATE so Much? You KNOW Profit,Wages,Bennies and all that Capitolism!
ReplyDeleteHey Bruce you LISTEN to Olbermann and dont worry about the TRUTH you know when its NOT a LIE! Feel like I got to Explain that part to YA!
A congressional analyst says the Founding Fathers would be appalled to learn that for the first time in history, the federal government was going to mandate that all Americans purchase health insurance.
ReplyDeleteThe "individual responsibility" provision in Section 1501 of the Senate healthcare bill (H.R. 3590) requires anyone who fails to buy a "qualifying" health insurance plan to pay an annual tax penalty of $750 per adult family member and $375 per child, or up to a maximum penalty of $2,250 per family.
Brian Darling, director of Senate relations at The Heritage Foundation, says the individual mandate may violate the U.S. Constitution.
"The insurance industry now will have a federal mandate that everybody has to use their product, so you can look at the insurance industry as a whole as a beneficiary of this bill because all Americans will be mandated to buy that product, to be a service, which is unprecedented in our country," he contends. "And it may be unconstitutional to allow the federal government to mandate that people buy a certain product. I can't imagine our Founding Fathers wanted to empower a limited federal government to do what they're doing right now."
The House version of the healthcare bill also requires all Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. Under that legislation, if American citizens fail to pay that penalty, they could face up to a year in jail.
In your opinion, what is the most troublesome aspect of proposed healthcare reform coming from Capitol Hill?
In a legal memorandum published earlier this month, The Heritage Foundation charges that the individual mandate outlined in the legislation "takes congressional power and control to a striking new level."
"Its defenders have struggled to justify the mandate by analogizing it to existing federal laws and court decisions," says that memorandum, "but their efforts do not withstand serious scrutiny. An individual mandate to enter into a contract with or buy a particular product from a private party, with tax penalties to enforce it, is unprecedented -- not just in scope but in kind -- and unconstitutional as a matter of first principles and under any reasonable reading of judicial precedents."
Heritage suggests that if the constitutionality of the individual mandate is put to the test, it is "very unlikely" that the Supreme Court would either extend current constitutional doctrines, or devise new ones, to uphold "this new and unprecedented claim of federal power." The memo also accuses sponsors of the current healthcare bills of using a "gimmick" to make the personal mandate appear to revenue-enhancing instead of an unconstitutional tax.
Bruce why would you lie about reading the 2,700 page bill? I hope that proves to you that you are a liar and that it is in the bill. The verbage doesn't have to say that you will go to jail. That is the job of the courts to decide the punishment. But we know that it will be illegal to not buy coverage. So Bruce how long did it take you to read the bill? BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA
ReplyDeleteBruce Heres a Thought, What if a Large Number of Citizens refuse to get Health Care through the Government, what happens to NOBAMA Health Care? What happens to the Citizens who DO NOT want to Pay? Something has GOT to Happen to them Bruce, or if ENOUGH dont get the Government Insurance, WHO Pays for it? Trust me Bruce SOMETHING will Happen to Citizens who have LOST their Freedom to Choose and REFUSE to PAY!
ReplyDeleteDid not OUR Nation at its Birth have a Boston Tea Party to Protest OUR being TAXED by the British. Just a Thought.
Al, there is a fine in teh bill, but no imprisonment that I can find.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Al, it isn't government insurance in the current iteration of the bill. The insurance is being purchased in the private market, Al.
I suppose if enough people don't pay, the IRS will get a bonanza or fees into the federal coffers.
Really, you think there's going to be a revolution over health care? I guess it could happen, but I wouldn't count on it.
So, Chris, I guess you didn't read the bill. The only punishment I could find is if you don't purchase insurance from the private market, there is a fine that can be levied against your tax payment.
ReplyDeleteNow, you should retract your lie about anyone going to prison for not purchasing insurance.
Bruce now you are putting words into my mouth again you kliar. Now you say I said they will go to Prison? It is a mandate by the Fed that everyone buy insurance. Read what I posted Dec.22 at 6pm. Bruce one question, what if the fine isn't paid? Oh then it is a IRS problem and yes you will go to jail/fed prison if you refuse to pay your taxes. That is what they do to people that refuse to pay their taxes. Unless you are in the Obama admin that is. You don't have a clue how the real world works do you Bruce? How much pot did you smoke as a kid again? Or are you still smoking it you LIAR. And I wasn't the one that said they looked through the whole bill. You were the liar on that one two little buddy. Go back to playing scratch and sniff with yourself.
ReplyDeletePosted by Erick Erickson
ReplyDeleteThe Senate Republicans failed to ever make a fuss about the individual mandate. If I had to guess, it would be because Bob Bennett of Utah, who whispers in Mitch McConnell’s ear more than any other Senator, is a huge proponent of the individual mandate and, as luck would have it, is about to get a Democratic health care bill that looks almost identical to his own Wyden-Bennett compromise plan. As an added bonus, he can vote against it and still see it pass.
Nonetheless, there are serious issues about the constitutionality of the individual mandate. The federal constitution sets forth the limited powers of the federal government and not one of those powers seems to suggest that the Congress of the United States can compel the citizens of the nation to buy certain products.
Jim DeMint and John Ensign are going to force a vote on the issue. Democrats will be forced to take a position on whether or not the federal government can force individuals to buy products on pain of criminal penalty.
“I am incredibly concerned that the Democrats’ proposed individual mandate provision takes away too much freedom and choice from Americans across the country,” said Senator Ensign. “As an American, I felt the obligation to stand up for the individual freedom of every citizen to make their own decision on this issue. I don’t believe Congress has the legal authority to force this mandate on its citizens.”
“Forcing every American to purchase a product is absolutely inconsistent with our Constitution and the freedoms our Founding Fathers hoped to protect,” said Senator DeMint. “This is not at all like car insurance, you can choose not to drive but Americans will have no choice whether to buy government-approved insurance. This is nothing more than a bailout and takeover of insurance companies. We’re forcing Americans to buy insurance under penalty of law and then Washington bureaucrats will then dictate what these companies can sell to Americans. This is not liberty, it is tyranny of good intentions by elites in Washington who think they can plan our lives better than we can.”
Are you really that dumb Bruce or is this your liberal magic trick? Just keep telling us that we don't see what is in the bill or calling Chris a liar when it is you that lied about reading the bill. Go back to your own failed blog.
Bruce Libs did not think Tea Partys were a BIG Deal and to you they still aint,BUT, Bruce Free Citizens Do Not like being told by ANYBODY,including Government what they MUST DO with their Personnel Incomes or LIFES. Thats why this NATION was formed and its called FREEDOM Bruce. Nobama Care is not to Socialize Medicene Bruce it is to Socialize Insurance and a COUPLE years down the ROAD when the CRAP in this BILL comes into the LIGHT,Freedom will take ONE BIG step Backwards!
ReplyDeleteThis Bill had to be Passed in the DARK of Night with Literally Bribing members of the Senate. Why is it SO crutial to this Congress and ADMINISTRATION to Pass this Bill NOW just before Christmas. Could be cause Citizens have much on there mind NOW and once again this is just GET it Through while Citizens are BUSY! When all is said and done the way the LIBS have and are HANDELING this Procedure,the BILL wont PASS the STINK test with Citizens,BRUCE and thats a FACT!
Obama already has his union job when he gets out of office. The dems are doing all the wrong things and we the people are getting pissed. The left wing ain't too happy either. This bill is no good for we the people. It's for the unions and big gov't/big business. If the Republicans did this shit the country would be in flames from the riots
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, what has the right done for "we the people?"
ReplyDeleteI can't name one damn thing.
The right wing built this great nation inspite of you liberals. You libs gave us baby killings,dead babies are a commodity because of you libs. Riots are all libs,ELF,Cap and Tax,....
ReplyDelete