Quote Of The Day January 8, 2010

Gibbs: About that C-SPAN Pledge.  NRO.

RealClearPolitics tweets the question even better: “if public isn’t lacking for any info on health care bills, why are a majority…opposed to obama/dem hc plans?”

See:

• http://www.nationalreview.com/doctor/post/?q=NWEwMTlhNjQ3OGMxYzQxZGNjZTkzYzU3MWZkZTk1ODA=

Scary Details In Senate Health Care Bill

 The Health Bill Is Scary.  WSJ. 

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is also a physician.  As such, his interpretation of the current Senate health care bill is a salient explanation of the hidden dangers that belie current legislation that is being categorized as emergent in need of passage.  He exposes the truth behind the Democrat supported bill that was passed in December 2009.  The bill which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)  is insistent must now be reconciled with the House version delivered by Madam Nancy Pelosi, both fueled by President Barack Obama.  No sense in letting the details emerge from behind closed doors. 

Why let the public know the  frightening details this early?  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  

the Reid bill (in sections 3403 and 2021) explicitly empowers Medicare to deny treatment based on cost. An Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the bill—composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members—will greatly expand the rationing practices that already occur in the program.

Section 6301 of the Reid bill creates new comparative effectiveness research (CER) programs. CER panels have been used as rationing commissions in other countries such as the U.K., where 15,000 cancer patients die prematurely every year according to the National Cancer Intelligence Network.

the Reid bill depends on the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in no fewer than 14 places. This task force was responsible for advising women under 50 to not undergo annual mammograms. The administration claims the task force recommendations do not carry the force of law, but the Reid bill itself contradicts them in section 2713. The bill explicitly states, on page 17, that health insurance plans “shall provide coverage for” services approved by the task force. This chilling provision represents the government stepping between doctors and patients. When the government asserts the power to provide care, it also asserts the power to deny care.

the bill expands Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the poverty level, that too will lead to rationing. Because Washington bureaucrats have created a system that underpays doctors, 40% of doctors already restrict access to Medicaid patients, and therefore ration care.

will produce skyrocketing premiums and reduced care for everyone. My state’s own insurance commissioner, a Democrat, recently confirmed this concern to me in a letter noting that “the result will be higher insurance rates due to a higher percentage of insured being higher risk/expense individuals.”

The call to Repeal the Health Bill seems then quite reasonable after all. 

See:

• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514404574588842779569168.html 
• http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/01/repeal_the_health_bill.html

Keep Off The Ice And Health Care Bill Transparency

Some might think this sign is only for local drivers and pedestrians. 

“Keep off the ice.”
Image courtesy of http://www.signpictures.net/pictures/Keep_Off_The_Ice.htm/.

Democrats should also pay heed to the thin ice all around them.

52 per cent public disapproval of health care.  January 4, 2010.  Rasmussen.

Obama Reneges on Health Care Transparency.  CBS. 

The C-SPAN Lie?  See Eight Clips of Obama Promising Televised Healthcare Negotiations.  Breitbart.

“Transparency.  White House: Keep out!  health-care reform negotiations.  C-SPAN: Is this what you call being transparent?”
Image courtesy of Gary Varvel January 5, 2010 via http://blogs.indystar.com/varvelblog/archives/2010/01/transparency.html.

And now Nebraska Democratic Senator Ben Nelson: Obama Made a ‘Mistake’ by Tackling Health Care Reform Last Year.  Fox.  Having second thoughts, trying to sway attention away from his hand in the debacle.

Front and center lamely trying to defend the indefensible.  Press corps grills Gibbs: Um, didn’t Obama totally shamelessly lie about C-SPAN?  Hot Air. 

In fact, the best he can do by way of an answer is to mumble that The One wants a bill on his desk as soon as possible, an implicit admission that the White House is prepared to sacrifice all its gauzy promises about transparency on the altar of finally ramming this travesty through. But then, we already knew that.

 See:

• http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform
• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/06/eveningnews/main6064298.shtml
• http://www.breitbart.tv/the-c-span-lie-did-obama-really-promise-televised-healthcare-negotiations/
• http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/06/nelson-obama-mistake-tackling-health-care-reformlast-year/
• http://hotair.com/archives/2010/01/06/press-corps-grills-gibbs-um-didnt-obama-totally-shamelessly-lie-about-c-span/

Letter To God From Elderly Widow

Joke of the day.

Christmas.  The time of giving.  Read about how some Postal Service employees open up their hearts this season.  Also at Cowboy Junkies.

There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses.

One day, a letter came addressed in a shaky handwriting to God with no actual address. He thought he should open it to see what it was about.

The letter read:

Dear God,

I am an 83 year old widow, living on a very small pension.

Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension payment.

Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner.. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with, have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?

Sincerely, Edna

The postal worker was touched. He showed the letter to all the other workers. Each one dug into his or her wallet and came up with a few dollars.

By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman..

The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of Edna and the dinner she would be able to share with her friends.

Christmas came and went.

A few days later, another letter came from the same old lady to God.

All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened.

It read:

Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?

Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift.

By the way, there was $4 missing.

I think it might have been those bastards at the post office.

Sincerely,

Edna

“Letters to God.”
Image courtesy of http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/21121.

See:

• http://www.cowboyjunkies.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=020883
• http://www.123gifs.eu/clowns/
• http://freegif.123gifs.eu/clowns/clown-0009.gif

Epiphany And The Three Kings 2010

Meaning of Epiphany.  Catholic Culture.  More detail here and here.

A layman’s review of the feast of Manifestation.  Also known as Epiphany or Three King’s Day.  Traditionally celebrated as the twelfth day of Christmas on January 6. 

Joy to all!

Divine manifestation – the visit of a god to earth.  The feast unites three events in the life of Christ when His divinity, as it were, shines through His humanity: the adoration of the Magi; the baptism of Christ in the Jordan; and the first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana.

Royal kingship – calling of all nations to Christianity.

Your Light is Come – “The Gentiles shall walk in Thy light, and kings in the brightness of Thy rising.”

 The royal nuptials – wedding of Christ with humanity.

“Epiphany.”
Image courtesy of http://traditionalcatholicmedia.org/HolyCards/Jesus/.

Epiphany is also the start to the Carnival (Mardi Gras) season in Louisiana.  Part of the celebration may include a king cake.  A colorfully decorated tasty pastry treat that can come in a variety of different flavors or fillings.   A tiny plastic baby some say represents the baby Jesus, is placed in the cake, and tradition has it that the person who gets it is the king or queen of the party, and will provide the next king cake or party for all to enjoy. 

Hispanics also celebrate Three King’s Day with king cake called “la rosca de reyes,” typically with a dry bean instead of the plastic baby inside, and dried or candied fruits on the outside.   The finder of the bean, “has the responsibility to take the family as well to church and celebrate the presentation of Jesus in the Temple.”  They may also provide the next rosca, tamales, or atole drink at the next party.

If one is so inclined to make their own, this king cake recipe at nola.com is great, and will leave the guests asking for more. 

“New Orleans king cake.”
Image courtesy of http://www.nola.com/mardigras/index.ssf/2009/02/cant_make_it_to_new_orleans_br.html.

See:

• http://www.cksinfo.com/holidays/christmas/religious/index.html
• http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=442
• http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=4325
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_cake

White House Offered Top Ten Issues To Avoid

The Sibyl has proffered words of wisdom once again!

Drumroll please…

#10 Cool Pubic Image

#9 I’m SO in love with The Man in the Mirror!

#8 No Lobbyists in My Administration.

#7 Most Transparent White House Evah!

#6, #5, #4, #3, #2, and #1….

Don’t miss out on the rest of the top ten list and the excellent post here!

See:

• http://thesibylspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/thats-our-barry/

C-SPAN Calls Congress Out On Transparency Claim To Televise Health Care Negotiations

C-SPAN pleads with Reid, Pelosi to open final drafting sessions for Obama’s healthcare bill.  LAT.

A valid request considering the Democrats incessantly pounced on the election mantra they would run the government transparently.  So befitting of the campaign promise, C-SPAN correspondent Brian Lamb sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting to televise the entire health care bill negotiations to enable America to see exactly the Democrat-promised legislative process in the House and Senate. 

A reasonable request given the high public disapproval at 52 per cent, and the Democrats’ insistence to shut out formal House and Senate opposition.    

December 30, 2009

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader, United States Senate

The Honorable John Boehner, Minority Leader, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader, United States Senate

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

Representative Boehner:

Senator Reid:

Senator McConnell:

As your respective chambers work to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate health care bills, C-SPAN requests that you open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage.

The C-SPAN networks will commit the necessary resources to covering all of these sessions LIVE and in their entirety. We will also, as we willingly do each day, provide C-SPAN’s multi-camera coverage to any interested member of the Capitol Hill broadcast pool.

Since the initial introduction of the America’s Affordable Health Care Act of 2009 in the House and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the Senate

C-SPAN has televised literally hundreds of hours of committee hearings, mark ups and floor debate on these bills for the public to see. And importantly, we have archived all of this video for future generations to study in the C-SPAN Video Archives.

President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation’s editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation’s health care system. Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American.

We hope you will give serious consideration to this request. We are most willing to employ the latest digital technology to make the cameras, lights and microphones as unobtrusive as possible.

Please contact me if I can answer any questions.

Sincerely,

Brian Lamb

Will Congress cede to the request, as C-SPAN calls the Democrats on their bluff?  Or are they really governing with transparency?

See:

• http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/democrats-reid-pelosi-healthcare-cspan.html
• http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform

Secret Backroom Health Care Bill Maneuvers Planned

Democratic Leaders Plan Secret Health Reform Deliberations.  U.S. News & World Report. 

No surprise.  How else can anyone expect the Democrats to work?  Especially after the non-transparent manner in which the House and Senate health care bills were passed.  By almost near partisan majority.  Two Independents and one Republican supported it in the House, and no Republicans did in the Senate.  Bipartisan support is flagrantly absent.  And now the leadership plans on stifling questioning Democrats who have valid objections as well.

By blocking out the Republicans—not to mention House Democrats who object to what the Senate passed—Pelosi and Reid are setting up a protracted game of “ping-pong,” in which the legislation goes back and forth from the Senate to the House and back to the Senate again. They may be able to prevail as far as the legislation goes, ultimately, but at enormous cost to their majorities. And that may be the biggest secret of all as far as the healthcare debate is concerned, or at least the one Pelosi and Reid are most concerned about.

EXCLUSIVE: Dems ‘Almost Certain’ to Bypass Conference.  The New Republic.

Yes, Republicans are sure to complain that they’re being excluded from deliberations. But given their repeated efforts to block not just reform but even mere votes on reform, it’s not clear why Democrats are obligated to include them in discussions anymore.

The attitude is distressing.  Particularly because of the public’s disapproval of health care reform as it stands now. (Health Care Reform 42% Support Health Care Plan, 52% Oppose.  Rasmussen January 4, 2010).   And just as much because opposition in America is comprised of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. 

Astounding is the naive statement, “it’s not clear why Democrats are obligated to include them [Republicans] in discussions anymore.”  A rudimentary lesson in civics would serve to enlighten the TNR writer that elected governmental representatives are obligated to represent ALL the people, not just their own vested partisan interests.  And do recall, the House and Senate votes were clearly along partisan lines (Senate and House). 

Thus, the continued lack of transparency in this legislative process, and the pending backroom deals to avoid allowing due process in committee through bipartisan action, certainly continue to lower the historical accomplishments of the Democrats of today, into the dephths of self-serving partisan politicians for the history books of tomorrow. Fait accompli?  

“ICU, witch doctor.  Patient, ‘I was kind of hoping for a regular doctor.  Nurse, ‘We have to pay for this health care bill somehow.’”
Image courtesy of Michael Ramirez via http://www.usnews.com/usnews/php/galleries/gallery.php/healthcare-cartoons/69/41/41.html.

See:

• http://www.usnews.com/blogs/peter-roff/2010/01/04/democratic-leaders-plan-secret-health-reform-deliberations.html
• http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/exclusive-dems-almost-certain-bypass-conference
• http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform
• http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/1/353
• http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/house/1/887

RIP Mary Daly Feminist Theologian

Mary Daly, radical feminist theologian, dead at 81.  National Catholic Reporter.

Mother of modern feminist theology.  Boston College professor.  January 3, 2010.

“Women who are pirates in a phallocratic society are involved in a complex operation. First, it is necessary to plunder–that is, righteously rip off gems of knowledge that the patriarchs have stolen from us. Second, we must smuggle back to other women our plundered treasures. In order to invent strategies that will be big and bold enough for the next millennium, it is crucial that women share our experiences: the chances we have taken and the choices that have kept us alive. They are my pirate’s battle cry and wake-up call for women who want to hear.”

Daly poured much energy into breaking down age-old boundaries of critical thought. Her work helped set the stage for other feminist theologians who rose up in the 20th century to offer critiques of male-dominated theology that would reshape Christian thought. Several of these groundbreaking women included Rosemary Radford Ruether, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, and Rosemary Haughton.

See:

• http://ncronline.org/news/women/mary-daly-radical-feminist-theologian-dead-81

National Security Blunder Playing Politics And Relying On Community Organizing Experience

The Politics of Incompetence.  The American Spectator.

“This White House doesn’t view the Northwest [Airlines] failure as one of national security, it’s a political issue,” says the White House source. “That’s why Axelrod and Emanuel are driving the issue.”

Interesting that an elected official to the highest office in America was unable to manage an immediate  response to a blatant terrorist attempt to bring down  a Northwest airlines jet by explosives hidden in underwear.   It took three days before President Barack Obama could make a statement addressing the systemic failure under his administration.  Notwithstanding, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s glaring claim that “the system worked.”  The context behind the statement remains mysteriously unclear. 

So when a problem lands in your court and you are incapable of dealing with it, just deflect blame.  Make someone else look bad.  And go back to being on vacation.  It is far easier to preen in front of cameras in the role of president, than actually working the job and its responsibilities.  Use nonelected personnel to do your work.

…it became clear internally that the Administration had suffered perhaps its most embarrassing failure in the area of national security, senior Obama White House aides, including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and new White House counsel Robert Bauer, ordered staff to begin researching similar breakdowns — if any — from the Bush Administration.

“The idea was that we’d show that the Bush Administration had had far worse missteps than we ever could,” says a staffer in the counsel’s office. “We were told that classified material involving anything related to al Qaeda operating in Yemen or Nigeria was fair game and that we’d declassify it if necessary.”

That’s right.  Blame someone else, even though the problem occurred on your watch.  Looks like all that “lengthy” and “complex” executive experience at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge really prepared Obama for the challenges of being POTUS. 

One unsettled question is how Mr. Obama, a former community organizer fresh out of law school, could vault to the top of a new foundation? …Mr. Ayers was one of a working group of five who assembled the initial board in 1994. Mr. Ayers founded CAC and was its guiding spirit. No one would have been appointed the CAC chairman without his approval.

The CAC’s agenda flowed from Mr. Ayers’s educational philosophy, which called for infusing students and their parents with a radical political commitment, and which downplayed achievement tests in favor of activism.

The Daley documents show that Mr. Ayers sat as an ex-officio member of the board Mr. Obama chaired through CAC’s first year. He also served on the board’s governance committee with Mr. Obama, and worked with him to craft CAC bylaws. Mr. Ayers made presentations to board meetings chaired by Mr. Obama. Mr. Ayers spoke for the Collaborative before the board. Likewise, Mr. Obama periodically spoke for the board at meetings of the Collaborative.

Now it is clear why it took Obama three days to respond to a national safety issue incited by a act of terrorism.  No experience.  Lots of meetings and talking.  And a Chicago thug mentality to ward off criticism onto a predecessor whenever problems arise.  Owning responsibility is above Obama’s pay grade.

See:

• http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/31/the-politics-of-incompetence
• http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/12/28/2009-12-28_the_system_worked__janet_li_homeland_security_boss_insists_travelers_very_safe_l.html
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212856075765367.html