All the News That's Fit to be Tied

I have an axe to grind, but unlike the New York Times, I freely admit it.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Citizenship for Sale

If America really wanted to solve all of its financial problems in one fell swoop, all the President would have to do is create a risk/reward program for American citizenship. If you accept the lowest illegal alien estimate of 11.5 million, which includes illegal aliens of all countries, then consider this: We sell fully-fledged American citizenship that takes affect immediately and provides an instant right to vote. It includes full participation in the American economic system. If we sold citizenship to 10 million illegal aliens it would generate $110 trillion and that is enough to payoff the entire $14 trillion national debt, provide full coverage of the $46 trillion in currently unfunded Medicare liabilities and almost a $60 trillion surplus for future needs. In order to encourage illegal aliens to sign up we establish a cash reward system for those that provide information about the location of other illegal aliens, who can then be encouraged to sign up or return to their native country. After all it usually cost several thousand just to get here and now we could get the money instead of it going to some loathsome border-crossing coyote. I know this may be distasteful to some. The ACLU might say that the selling of American citizenship is unseemly and certainly illegal or at least unconstitutional. Supporters of illegal immigration would be insulted that we would ask these poor folks who live in the shadows to come up with $10,000 each, completely ignoring how much they paid to get here in the first place. Selling citizenship could be a very profitable enterprise. People would have skin in the game. Maybe we could have a better country. All we have to do is sell it before it gets taken away.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Washington Healthcare Alert

The Democrats and their willing lackeys in the mainstream media are putting up a good fight for the Senate version of the Healthcare Bill. And make no mistake the Senate version is what they are voting for. The entire reconciliation process in the House is just a diversion. It is designed to keep the press busy so the Democratic leadership can strong arm members into voting for it. If the House passes this bill it will become law. It will include the Louisiana Purchase, The Cornhusker Kickback, The Senator Dodd Hospital in Connecticut, the Cadillac Plan payoff for the Unions and the other unappetizing deals Senator Reid made to get the bill through the first time. The provisions of the House “deem to pass” bill will be dismissed outright or ruled out of order by the Senate because there is no way another version of this bill is coming up for a vote. House members will never see the changes they are voting for. The Senate has the bill it wants and the betrayal of your member will be overlooked. The truth is that this bill is the foundation of single-payer. Once passed the mechanism for government controlled healthcare will be in place. Make sure your House member knows he or she is voting for Senate Bill as is.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Next To Last Stop

The Obama Traveling Medicine Show has been busy lately peddling the latest witches brew in his quest for universal healthcare. Yesterday's stop in Ohio was under-attended by his own standards. For a man who could draw 80,000 a mere 200 was a paltry effort. But at least it was a small hall. His audience of supporters was pushed to the walls to make it look crowded. His podium placed in the center like theatre in the round. He looked over his adoring audience. Not one enemy present. They were his cheerleaders. He could feel their admiration. Clapping and screaming at very cue. Even fainting is allowed in this moment of crisis. His pronouncements about Obamacare are being disproved and discredited; any method to turn the tide is acceptable. The staging of events for the consumption of a naive public is within the bounds of Obama's morality because, as Lincoln said, "you can fool some of the people some of the time." He just needs to fool enough to win.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Screw You America

The House leadership is busy trying to convince its members that they can trust the Senate to permit Reconciliation to go forward after the House approves the Senate version of health care reform. Pelosi and Clyburn are having a tough time. They do not have the votes and what is even worse; almost fifty Democrats are against the Bill. In addition, there is no love lost for members of the "other" body. If the House approves the Senate bill it can be signed by the President and become law. Why would the Senate amend a bill they have already passed? If they liked the original House version they would have approved it and there would be no debate. What’s more the Senate has not even agreed to consider reconciliation. If they do not take it up it's over. The House is stuck with a bill it hates. The Senate laughs until Election Day, the American people get screwed and the President gets his long-sought victory. After all it's all about him, isn't it?

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Can the Blue Dogs Save the Democrats?

That is the big question as we enter yet another “we almost have the votes” weekend in the nation’s Capitol. There is a whole lot of twisting of arms and gnashing of teeth in the offices of the House of Representatives. There is also a lot of rule changing being tried. For example, it has been reported that the White House wants the Louisiana Purchase and the Nebraska Corn Husker deals removed from the Senate Bill before the House votes on it. Pardon me. Don’t changes in the bill already passed by the Senate have to be voted on again? The House and Senate must agree and vote on the same bill before it goes to the President. If the House modifies the Senate bill both versions are not the same, so therefore there must be additional votes and discussion. So the only real path to passage is for the House to pass the current Senate bill and trust they will not be double-crossed by the President and the Senate. The question is whether or not the House leaders, in the names of Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn, are in the know on the double-dealing or are they in the dark also? It is widely believed that the if the House passes the Senate bill, the President will sign it and changes be damned. Obama will have his and the Congress will get theirs on Election Day 2010. Can the moderate Democrats and the Blue Dogs save the party’s hide? Can they stop the House from doing the inevitably stupid and prevent the passing of the Senate health care bill?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Will Reconciliation Be Skipped Over?

It is being suggested in some corners that if the House signs the Senate bill the President may skip reconciliation and just sign it. Does the President think that members of the House are as stupid as he and his administration think the American people are? Is the promise of reconciliation being held out as a ruse to trick the House into signing first? He has already asked them to put their re-election at risk. If he skips reconciliation he gets credit for putting single-payer in motion and the members are still at-risk. House members will have to be extra careful to not shoot themselves in the foot on this one. The Democrats do not have the votes to pass it, but the arm-twisting and deal-making may pull enough together to get it through. If they sign it before the reconciliation bill is agreed to, the President only needs to add his signature to make it the law of the land. Doing so eliminates the possibility of failure in the Reconciliation process. For Obama it is just another broken promise. Failing to keep them hasn’t bothered him so far so what’s one more broken promise?

Monday, March 1, 2010

Medicare for Everyone

New York junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's view of healthcare reform is "having a public option, similar to a Medicare-for-all program." This is what she included in an email response to a letter from one of her constituents. It is what conservatives have been saying for more than a year. The road to single-payer is paved with this kind of meaningless, cheap and unaccountable rhetoric. If you are one of those who believe that Medicare is free you had better wake up. The reason people on Medicare and Medicaid like it is because compared to commercial health insurance it is cheap. It's cheap because it is taxpayer funded. It's cheap because the people on it only pay a small portion of the real cost. It's cheap because it pays service providers less than other insurers. It's cheap because the cost is passed along to future generations. If you love America and your children you will tell your representatives and senators to vote "no" on healthcare reform.