Reid Rule Makes No Changes Possible In Future To Health Care Bill

Reid Bill Says Future Congresses Cannot Repeal Parts of Reid Bill.  The Weekly Standard. 

Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate health care bill during floor remarks tonight. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill–and it’s supposed to take a 2/3 vote to change the rules. And then he pointed out that the Reid bill declares on page 1020 that the Independent Medicare Advisory Board cannot be repealed by future Congresses:

More here.  Harry Reid certainly wants to make an indelible mark in history.  He does not want to allow for any attempt at changing the Democrat passed bill that he was critical in fashioning and ramming onto America. 

H.R. 3590 PDF.

LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THE BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS IN OTHER LEGISLATION.—It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report (other than pursuant to this section) that would repeal or otherwise change the recommendations of the Board if that change would fail to satisfy the requirements of subparagraphs (A)(i) and (C) of subsection (c)(2).

See:

• http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/12/reid_bill_declares_future_cong_1.asp
• http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/Reid%20bill%20language.pdf

The Ruse Behind Democrats And Health Care Reform

Change Nobody Believes In.  ”A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve.”  WSJ.

And tidings of comfort and joy from Harry Reid too. The Senate Majority Leader has decided that the last few days before Christmas are the opportune moment for a narrow majority of Democrats to stuff ObamaCare through the Senate to meet an arbitrary White House deadline. Barring some extraordinary reversal, it now seems as if they have the 60 votes they need to jump off this cliff, with one-seventh of the economy in tow.

Mr. Obama promised a new era of transparent good government, yet on Saturday morning Mr. Reid threw out the 2,100-page bill that the world’s greatest deliberative body spent just 17 days debating and replaced it with a new “manager’s amendment” that was stapled together in covert partisan negotiations. Democrats are barely even bothering to pretend to care what’s in it, not that any Senator had the chance to digest it in the 38 hours before the first cloture vote at 1 a.m. this morning. After procedural motions that allow for no amendments, the final vote could come at 9 p.m. on December 24.

Even in World War I there was a Christmas truce.

The rushed, secretive way that a bill this destructive and unpopular is being forced on the country shows that “reform” has devolved into the raw exercise of political power for the single purpose of permanently expanding the American entitlement state. An increasing roll of leaders in health care and business are looking on aghast at a bill that is so large and convoluted that no one can truly understand it, as Finance Chairman Max Baucus admitted on the floor last week. The only goal is to ram it into law while the political window is still open, and clean up the mess later.

Keep reading.

Just as well, Failure was the plan.  Myiq2xu at The Confluence shines the spotlight on the rigged machinery and the veiled attempts by the Democrats to bring forth purchased payback legislation for Big Pharma and corporate  insurance companies,  at the expense of meaningful reform.   Why?

… “follow the money.”  That is where the truth is.

As Uppity Woman said so plainly.

There is no profit in helping regular Americans. The profit comes from doing just the opposite.

See:

• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704398304574598130440164954.html
• http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/failure-was-the-plan/
• http://www.free-animations.co.uk/money/money_1.html

Cocaine Tainted With Dewormer

Large Percentage of Cocaine Coming into America Being Cut With Veterinary Dewormer.  Chattahbox.

Looks like drug users may want to reconsider their next high with cocaine.  It may be mixed with  Levamisole, a common dewormer for farm animals like cattle.  It was previously used as  a human antitumor agent, as well as for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.  Increased risk of agranulocytosis was found and the FDA took it off the market in 2000.  Only to be found cut in cocaine finding its way into the country recently.

Agranulocytosis results from failure of the bone marrow to make enough white blood cells, resulting in severe weakening of immune function.   White blood cells are a body’s defense against infection.  Bad.  Very bad.  

Moral of the story: do not use cocaine.   

See:

• http://chattahbox.com/us/2009/12/20/large-percentage-of-cocaine-coming-into-america-being-cut-with-veterinary-dewormer/

Democrats Massively Expand Government Reach Into Health Care

The Illusion of Design.  Hot Air’s The Green Room.

A great read on the demise of health care as we know it today.  The Democrats have calculatingly parlayed faux attempts to reform health care intobackroom deals for selfish gains, in the name of providing everyone health care, that will cost America money, and bureaucratic nightmares of socialized, government-run health care for everyone else.

So, in summary, the case for nationalizing health insurance is that health care cannot be entrusted to the unpredictability and greed of the free market. The individual purchasing decisions of free men and women are too chaotic. The only way to ensure access to health care for everyone is for the State to install a massive, strictly enforced system, complete with huge fines and jail time for those who fail to comply. This system would be superior to the free market, because it would be carefully designed by brilliant minds… engineered to deliver an incredibly complex, ever-changing service to hundreds of millions of Americans.

Is anyone stupid enough to think a “carefully designed system” is what the Democrats are about to drop on us?

A must read.  Click here for more.  

See:

• http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2009/12/20/the-illusion-of-design/

Quote Of The Day December 21, 2009

One certain President of the United States appears to be keeping a nemesis in line.

“Don’t think we’re not keeping score, brother,” Obama told DeFazio during a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, according to members afterward.

U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) remains unfathomed on  Pelosi, Rahm do not scare Rep. DeFazio.  The Hill. 

Image courtesy of http://www.electronic-scoreboard.com/.

See:

• http://thehill.com/homenews/house/72889-pelosi-rahm-do-not-scare-rep-defazio
• http://www.defazio.house.gov/

Monthly Abortion Fee Part Of Democrat Health Care Plan

Sen. Reid’s Government-Run Health Plan STILL Requires a Monthly Abortion Fee.  House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH).

So much for trying to sweep that  provision away, and misleading people into believing they will not be paying for abortion coverage.

Leave it to the Democrats to camouflage abortion coverage YOU WILL BE PAYING FOR. 

Fixed it is not.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) latest health care “manager’s amendment” would STILL levy a new “abortion premium” fee on Americans under the Democrats’ health care plan.  Just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) and the last version of Senator Reid’s 2,074-page bill, this latest 383-page amendment levies an abortion premium and does not fix the problem of government funds being used to subsidize elective abortions.

Under Reid’s “manager’s amendment,” there is no prohibition on abortion coverage in federally subsidized plans participating in the Exchange.  Instead the amendment includes layers of accounting gimmicks that demand that plans participating in the Exchange or the new government-run plan that will be managed by the Office of Personnel Management must establish “allocation accounts” when elective abortion is a covered benefit (p. 41).  Everyone enrolled in these plans must pay a monthly abortion premium (p. 41, lines 5-8), and these funds will be used to pay for the elective abortion services.  The Reid amendment directs insurance companies to assess the cost of elective abortion coverage (p. 43), and charge a minimum of $1 per enrollee per month (p. 43, lines 20-22).

In short, the Reid bill continues to defy the will of the American people and contradict longstanding federal policy by providing federal subsidies to private health plans that cover elective abortions.  The new language does include a “state opt-out” provision if a state passes a law to prohibit insurance coverage of abortion, but it’s a sham because it does nothing to prevent one state’s tax dollars from paying for elective abortions in other states.

A majority of Americans believe that health care plans should not be mandated to provide elective abortion coverage, and a majority of Americans do not believe government health care plans should include abortion coverage. Currently, federal appropriations bills include language known as the Hyde Amendment that prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, while another provision, known as the Smith Amendment, prohibits federal funding of abortion under the federal employees’ health benefits plan.  Under the Reid “manager’s amendment” the new health care plan that will mirror the federal employees’ plan and be managed by the Office of Personnel Management will NOT be subject to the Smith Amendment.

Leader Reid’s latest health care proposal is an affront to the American people and drastically moves away from current policy.  In a statement released by National Right to Life Committee legislative director Douglas Johnson said, “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.”  The American people deserve more from their government than being forced to pay for abortion.  The pro-life Stupak/Pitts amendment passed the House by a vote of 240 to 194, enjoying the overwhelming support of 176 Republicans and 64 Democrats.  The Stupak/Pitts Amendment codifies current law by prohibiting federal funding of elective abortions under any government-run plan or plans available under the Exchange.  The Reid plan ignores the will of a bipartisan majority of the House, and indeed the American people, by rejecting this bipartisan amendment.

Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it – and the American people agree.  House Republicans have offered a common-sense, responsible solution that would reduce health care costs and expand access while protecting the dignity of all human life. The Republican plan, available at HealthCare.GOP.gov, would codify the Hyde Amendment and prohibit all authorized and appropriated federal funds from being used to pay for abortion. And under the Republican plan, any health plan that includes abortion coverage may not receive federal funds.

UPDATE: Here is a detailed critique of the new Reid abortion language from the National Right to Life committee.

See:

• http://republicanleader.house.gov/blog/?p=725
• http://bestanimations.com/Money/Cash/Cash.html

Wheel And Deal The Health Bill

Deal on health bill is reached.  WP.

Looks like a sell-out openly wheels and deals in the Senate. 

Each man for himself!

Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) secured the pivotal 60th vote after acceding to the demands of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) for tighter restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions, along with increased federal aid for his home state and breaks for favored health-care interests.

Republicans excoriated the bill as a threat to Medicare — cuts to the program for the elderly would offset much of the cost — and to the employer-based insurance system, which provides health coverage to most Americans.

Nelson also secured full and permanent federal funding for his state to extend Medicaid eligibility to everyone below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill would require all states to do so, but Nebraska alone would not be required to pay a portion of the additional cost after 2016. And he won concessions for some nonprofit insurers and for providers of supplemental Medicare coverage from a new insurance tax, and he was able to roll back cuts to health savings accounts.

Other Democrats also won important changes. Reid added $10 billion for community health centers to provide services to low-income people. That funding had been a top priority for Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), a liberal champion of the public option.

See:

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121900797_pf.html

Lack of Transparency By Democrats Who Campaigned For Most Transparent Administration

GOP threatens read-a-thon to slow health care bill.  My Way.  December 18, 2009.

“This massive piece of legislation that seeks to restructure one-sixth of our economy is being written behind closed doors without input from anyone in an effort to jam it past not only the Senate but the American people before Christmas,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

Will this be sufficient to send the message to the Senate that America is against their plans?

Keep reading.

See:

• http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091218/D9CM0SV00.html

Satirical Song Posits We Are Beginning To Look A Lot Like Marxists

We’re Beginning To Look A Lot Like Marxists.  The Fox Aand Rice Experience at Human Events. 

‘Tis the season of satire.

Click here for flash song.

See:

• http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34737

United Steaks In United States

 When you care to eat, only the very best.

“United Steaks.”
Image courtesy of http://www.hahastop.com/pictures/United_Steaks_Of_America.htm.

Image courtesy of http://www.animatedgif.net/flags/flagsusa/flagsusa.shtml