Showing posts with label Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reid. Show all posts

Saturday, March 20, 2010

RED ALERT: Obama Will Sign Senate Bill First; House Democrats Be Warned - Your 'Fixes' Will Likely Never See the Light of Day

11:46am ET: A stark admission was just made in the Rules Committee. President Obama will sign a Senate Bill that was "deemed passed" in the House, but has never been voted on. The House fixes will likely be picked apart and destroyed, one by one, in the Senate during this outrageous abuse of the reconciliation process.

As an aside, the idiotic Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) just said that using the Slaughter Rule Is "like buying a house on contingency and you find it has a leaky roof".

Update: Mark Levin on Cavuto -- this has never been done before.

Update II: Michelle Malkin: Reports: Deem and Pass is dead; keep the no-mentum going.


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Obamacare Protest Sign o' the Day


Hat tip: Soylent Green.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Get Yer 'Call Congress Now' Blog Widget

Don't bother calling the power-mad oligarchs like Hoyer and Pelosi. Instead, call the NRCC's Code Red Targets. Now.

And, if you have a blog, add the widget.

200 pels wide by 138 pels high

Dial:  877-762-8762 or 202-224-3121 ... Code Red - click for the NRCC List of Targeted Congressmen


Update - Join me on the Impeach & Convict Tour of 2011:

Dear Democrats,

I don't think you have any idea how angry we are.

So you would institute an authoritarian bureaucracy like the one our founders despised and revolted against? You would completely disregard public opinion? You would saddle generations yet unborn with trillions in debt? And redistribute trillions of American wealth in futile central planning schemes? So you would destroy the greatest health care system in the world?

And, to top it all off, you would blatantly violate your oath to uphold the Constitution?

November will come. And paybacks are hell.

And we promise to pursue you and your ilk to the ends of the Earth. To unearth your crimes. To impeach those in power and to prosecute the rest. To unwind your Marxist schemes. To politically crush the Democrat Party and leave it as much of a force as the Whigs.

What you are doing is nothing less than child abuse. Punishing the next generation and generations yet unborn. Which seems to be the only skill the Democrat Party possesses.

Be warned. We will pursue you. And you will be punished.




Image credit: Excellence in Broadcasting.

InTrade on Obamacare

InTrade's been wrong on occasion, but this chart isn't encouraging.

Call now -- make your voice heard.

Top 10 Reasons We Can Trust Democrats to Run Health Care as Well as They Run the Economy

10 New home sales hit the lowest level on record in January.

9The percentage of delinquent mortgages hit 5.1%, another high.

8Nearly one out of four mortages are underwater. It's another Obama miracle!

7A huge wave of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are about to reset, many from ultra-low "teaser" rates. I think you can guess where the housing market is headed.

6And, thanks to Democrats' laser-like focus on the economy, consumer confidence hit another ten-month low.

5The picture for commercial real estate (CRE) is just as dire as residential; CRE values are down 40% from the high and nearly one-fifth of all commercial property stands vacant today.

4Experts report that CRE is only now hitting the "danger zone" -- losses could total more than a quarter of a trillion dollars.

3For these reasons, CRE lending is almost non-existent today.

2Small- and mid-size banks are in deep trouble; the FDIC's problem list of banks was at 702 at the beginning of the year. In September of 2009, the figure was 552. And the year before, the number was only 252. Banks aren't out of the woods... not by a long shot.

1The "on-the-books" U.S. national debt is now over 12 trillion dollars and is rising at about $3.8 billion a day. Who will buy all the new debt that needs to be rolled over? And what about Social Security, Medicare and other "off-the-books" entitlement programs that are underfunded by $100 trillion?

Yes, it's Democrat Obamanomics in action! With a track record like this, I suggest we let these n00bz run one-sixth of the private sector: the entire health care system. I really don't see how their plans could fail.


Adapted from: 15 Reasons Why Obama’s Claim That “A Second Depression Is No Longer A Possibility” Is Dead Wrong.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Fourteen Months of Hell: A Brief, Illustrated History of the Ill-Fated Democrat Health Care Nationalization Efforts of 2009-10

Possessing a treasure trove of political capital -- and fresh from narrow legislative victories over Republicans in passing a Stimulus program; an Omnibus spending bill; auto company takeovers; housing recovery programs and cap-and-trade -- Democrats decided it was time to target the health care industry.

Their goal -- using accounting gimmickry, outright fabrications and straw villains (doctors who do too many amputations, health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, etc.) -- convince the public that a government takeover of the entire health system would result in higher quality and lower costs while insuring between 30 and 50 million more individuals.

The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Democrats kowtowed to the SEIU and the trial lawyers while shutting Republican ideas completely out of the discussion.

During the August recess of 2009, Democrats either avoided town hall meetings altogether or faced a barrage of criticism from concerned citizens. Democrats ignored their constituents, preferring the tender mercies of their caucus leaders.

The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Democrats labeled us Nazis, and racists, and obscene names galore, though people of every race, religion, creed and color had joined us.

Democrats even dispatched their brown shirts: SEIU and ACORN thugs to shout down -- and beat down -- ordinary American citizens.

Obama and a compliant legacy media decided their message wasn't clear: more speeches, more network specials, more vilification of doctors, insurers and pharma companies.

The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Democrats accused Republicans of being the "Party of No" (intentionally ignoring the obscurely named healthcare.gop.gov website)... of being obstructionists (though Republicans did not have the numbers to block anything).

But in the purple state of Virginia -- which had been trending Democrat -- the citizenry swept the board, erasing Democrats in every key race and voting in a new, conservative governor.

And in the deep blue state of New Jersey, and against all odds, a landslide prevented the theft of another election by ACORN's voter registration-and-absentee ballot scams. And a fiscally conservative Republican governor was elected.

The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Democrats plowed ahead with a Senate health care overhaul anyhow. Using armtwisting and outright bribery -- the Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker Kickback, and other outrageous payoffs -- the Senate was finally able to pass a bill by a single vote. On December 24th, when most Americans were traveling, or celebrating Christmas, or thinking of their loved ones, Democrats were passing one of the sleaziest bills in history on purely partisan lines.

In the bluest of blue states, the people spoke. They elected Scott Brown, a fiscally conservative Republican to the Senate, to occupy the so-called "Kennedy Seat". He ran on a platform that included an explicit promise to stop Obamacare in its tracks.

The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Then Democrats plotted to delay the seating of Scott Brown in order to get their bill passed.

Once this diabolical tactic was exposed, they denied they'd ever have thought of such a thing.

And at his State of the Union address, the President publicly rebuked the Supreme Court for upholding the rights of any corporation (not just media companies) to free speech.

Democrats surrounded the Justices, spittle flying from their lips onto black robes, as they screamed their approval of the President's divisive words.

With 60 votes out of the question and 216 questionable at best, Democrats decided to break Congressional rules and jam a bill using a controversial "reconciliation" process -- by claiming that nationalizing one-sixth of the economy was a "budgetary" matter.

The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Now the questionable 216 Democrats were wavering; the possibility of the House passing the Senate bill had faded.

So Democrats invented a novel -- and completely unconstitutional -- method of passing the Senate bill. They would use the "Slaughter Solution", a procedural ruling that would 'deem' that the House had passed the Senate bill, when in fact it never had. Put simply, the House would pretend that they'd voted on the bill, but never truly vote on it, presumably to spare their members the stain of supporting such a disastrous piece of legislation.

Tomorrow, in the Capitol Building, the people say again: No. This is the people's house. And we say: a thousand times: no. A trillion times: no.

Where are the Democrats of courage who will stand up to this despicable charade and say hell, no?

If the Republic is to survive, we must crush this despotic scheme.

We must say, hell, no, now and forever. And these petty bureaucrats, these would-be oligarchs, who have forgotten that the Constitution exists (or never read it in the first place) must be reminded of the highest law in the land.

That which is unconstitutional must be treated as a cancer and surgically removed. Those who advocate this dangerous and destructive lawlessness must be removed from office and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.


Inspired by: If you try the Slaughter Rule, you will lose the country. Not in November. In March. (by E Pluribus Unum).

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Pelosi to House Democrats: Don't Listen To Your Constituents, They Really Do Want ObamaCare, Even If They Tar and Feather You During Recess

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has explicitly told House Democrats to sacrifice their own reelection efforts -- in other words, defy their constituents -- in order to pass a massive new entitlement program at a time when Americans and America can least afford it. Since when did Democrats owe fealty to a House Speaker and not their own constituents?

The following list of wavering Democrats, courtesy of AmeriPAC, contains the contact info you need to make your voice heard. Be polite, but be firm: a vote for ObamaCare is a vote against representative government, against the Constitution and against our families.

PLEASE CALL!DC OFFICELOCAL OFFICEStateDistrict
Harry Mitchell(202) 225-2190(480) 946-2411AZ5th District
Gabrielle Giffords(202) 225-2542(520) 881-3588AZ8th District
Ann Kirkpatrick(202) 225-2315(928) 226-6914AZ1st District
Jerry McNerney(202) 225-1947925-833-0643CA11th District
John Salazar202-225-4761970-245-7107CO3rd District
Jim Himes(202) 225-5541(866) 453-0028CT4th District
Alan Grayson(202) 225-2176(407) 841-1757FL8th District
Bill Foster(202) 225-2976630-406-1114IL14th District
Baron Hill202 225 5315812 288 3999IN9th District
Mark Schauer(202) 225-6276(517) 780-9075MI7th District
Gary Peters(202) 225-5802(248) 273-4227MI9th District
Dina Titus(202) 225-3252702-256-DINA (3462)NV3rd District
Carol Shea-Porter(202) 225-5456(603) 743-4813NH1st District
Tim Bishop(202) 225-3869(631) 696-6500NY1st District
John Hall(202) 225-5441(845) 225-3641 x49371NY19th District
Bill Owens(202) 225-4611(315) 782-3150NY23rd District
Mike Arcuri(202)225-3665(315)793-8146NY24th District
Dan Maffei(202) 225-3701(315) 423-5657NY25th District
Earl Pomeroy(202) 225-2611(701) 224-0355NDAt-Large District
Steven Driehaus(202) 225-2216(513) 684-2723OH1st District
Mary Jo Kilroy(202) 225-2015(614) 294-2196OH15th District
Zach Space(202) 225-6265(330) 364-4300OH18th District
Kathy Dahlkemper(202) 225-5406(814) 456-2038PA3rd District
Patrick Murphy(202) 225-4276(215) 826-1963PA8th District
Christopher Carney(202) 225-3731(570) 585-9988PA10th District
Paul Kanjorski(202) 225-6511(570) 825-2200PA11th District
John Spratt(202) 225-5501(803)327-1114SC5th District
Tom Perriello(202) 225-4711(276) 656-2291VA5th District
Alan Mollohan(202) 225-4172(304) 623-4422WVA1st District
Nick Rahall(202) 225-3452(304) 252-5000WVA3rd District
Steve Kagen(202) 225-5665(920) 437-1954WI8th District

It's up to us -- the last line of defense -- to prevent this abomination of a bill from proceeding.

Update: March 16th in Washington: Stop the Constitution Butchers... Stop Pelosi’s Slaughter House.


Saturday, March 13, 2010

Friendly Reminder for the Congressional Easter Recess

Remember, folks: tarring and feathering has a long and proud history in these United States.

Not that I'm recommending it, mind you. But that history part is true.


Image Credit: Protestors Tar and Feather a Tax Collector during the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania, c.1790 (Art.com).

Friday, March 12, 2010

RED ALERT: We Are Now Living Under Martial Law -- House Democrats Appear Set to Pass Senate Bill Without Voting On It

The Washington Examiner reports that House Democrats appear poised to adopt a rule that would pass the Senate health care bill without actually voting on it.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is preparing to pass the health care overhaul through the House of Representatives without a vote, as was originally reported by the National Journal's Congress Daily. Mark Tapscott observes that such a maneuver would be the penultimate refutation of the people's will.

In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House "deems" the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but they would then be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.

Thus, Slaughter is preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill "passed" once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes. Democrats would thereby avoid a direct vote on the health care bill while allowing it to become law!

Constitutional attorney Mark R. Levin asks, "They're going to present a rule, issued by her committee as chairman, that says that the House already adopted the Senate bill when we know it didn't?"

U.S Constitution, Article I, Section VII, Clause II.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively...

According to Levin, James Madison himself gave special care and attention to this clause in the Constitution.

Levin: And do you want to know why? Because this clause goes to the heart of this Republic.

This clause goes to the heart of how our representative body, that is Congress, makes laws. And so I want you to [observe] how particular the Framers were... They have to pass a Bill to present it to the President...

This is one of the most exacting clauses in the Constitution.

And, to the best of my knowledge, which extends over three decades, no Congress has previously tried to institute policies without actual statutes.

Here we have the President of the United States and Congressional leaders actually talking about the possibility of a brazen and open violation of one of the most fundamental aspects of our Constitution and Republic! How we actually make laws!

Let me be as clear as I know how. If this is done, this will create the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War. It would be 100 times worse than Watergate.

...It would be government by fiat... meaning there would be no law... the mere discussion by officials in this government is such a grotesque violation of the actual legislative function of Congress [that it] puts us... at the brink. At the brink.

This is why we conservatives revere the Constitution. This is why we stress the Constitution's words have meaning and historical context and must be complied with. Because otherwise we have anarchy, which leads to tyranny.

This is a crucial lesson for those of you who... aren't sure what your beliefs are, or if you have any beliefs. Or aren't sure if you even care. We have an effort underway by the one of the most powerful chairmen in Congress, the woman who heads the Rules Committee, ...openly discussing gutting Congress. Gutting Congress.

And if this is done, this is about as close to martial law as you'll ever get... So Louise Slaughter, a Representative from New York, is discussing, in essence, martial law. Now I can tell you, if they pursue this process, and try to impose this kind of a law, without actually passing a statute, that I will be in a race -- with scores of others -- to the courthouse to stop this.

I can't think of a more blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution than this. And the liberal media has essentially ignored it!

...It's not only absurd on its face -- that these power-hungry ideologues, party-first-country-second types, would make the claim that the House voted on something it never voted on... that's not only absurd on its face, it's blatantly unconstitutional!

Please stay tuned for updates to this post as we will provide additional insight from Levin and other Constitutional experts.

Update 11-March-2010 21:03 ET:

Levin: I wanted to bring additional firepower on this subject, my buddy Arthur Fergenson, who is a Constitutional expert and who has argued cases in front of the Supreme Court, including Buckley vs. Valeo...

What do you make of this unbelievable -- that they're even talking about, this chairman of the Rules Committee -- acting as if members of the House voted on something when they didn't actually vote on it?

Fergenson: It's preposterous. It's ludicrous. But it's also dangerous. It's dangerous because, first, ...because [the U.S. Constitution's] Article I Section VII says every bill -- and it capitalized "bill" -- ...it is common sense that the bill is the same item, it can't be multiple bills, it can't be mashups of bills. And, in fact, in 1986, Gene Gressman, no conservative, and one of the experts -- the expert -- on Supreme Court practice... was writing an article that was dealing with a less problematic attempt to get around this section of the Constitution... [Ed: the line-item veto] and he wrote, "By long usage and plain meaning, 'Bill' means any singular and entire piece of legislation in the form it was approved by the two houses."

...the bills have to be revoted until they are identical. Both chambers have to vote on the bill.

If this cockamamie proposal were to be followed by the House and there were to be a bill presented to the President for his signature, that was a bill that had not been voted on -- identically by the two Houses of Congress -- that bill would be a nullity. It is not law. That is chaos.

I cannot recall any circumstance in which that has happened.

...What we have here is a measure, that if Obama signed it, would immediately affect taxation, it would change rules of practice in the insurance industry, it would regulate 17% of the nation's economy, and it would be done without any legal basis whatsoever!

Update 11-March-2010 21:12 ET:

Fergenson: It's like, the closest I can think of is martial law! The President would have no authority -- there would be no law! It's not like it would be constitutional or not. There would be. No. Law.

Levin: What do you make of people who sit around and even think of things like this? To me, they are absolutely unfit to even be in high office!

Fergenson: You're right, Mark. And I would go back to what caused Gressman to write this... he was asked for his comments by the Senate... because the Senate was trying to do the equivalent of a line-item veto. And, in 1986, you were in the Justice Department under Attorney General Meese... there was a proposal... to take a bill and divide it into little pieces and.. then the President would sign each one or veto each one. That was unconstitutional. A Senate Rules Committee reported it unfavorably.

Update 11-March-2010 21:36 ET:

Levin: You know what's interesting about this... Attorney General Ed Meese considered it unconstitutional even though President Reagan had wanted a line-item veto. And President Reagan agreed that it was unconstitutional without an amendment to the Constitution...

...Speaking for myself, I would tell the people who listen to this program that you are under absolutely no obligation to comply with it [this health care bill] because it is not, in fact, law. Do you agree with me?

Fergenson: I agree with you. I believe it would be tested by the Supreme Court. I believe that, under these circumstances, chaos would reign. There is no obligation to obey an unconstitutional law. The courts are empowered to determine whether it's unconstitutional... it's not a law.

Under this scenario, the various arms of the federal government will be acting under a law that does not exist.

Update: March 16th in Washington: Stop the Constitution Butchers... Stop Pelosi’s Slaughter House.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin, Protein Wisdom, iOwnTheWorld, Theo Spark and VikingPundit. Thanks!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The only 'Green Jobs' this President will save or create are in the rice fields

Item 1: "The federal government racked up its largest monthly deficit in history in February – a record $220.9 billion in red ink, according to... the U.S. Treasury Department."

Item 2: "...in his budget address, [Illinois] Governor Pat Quinn will unveil how he plans to make up a huge shortfall [of] $13 billion... The state of Illinois meets the classic definition of insolvency. That is, it is unable to pay its bills as they come due... Budget observers also expect him to push for some kind of tax increase... And they're watching to see what, if any reforms, he comes up with to fix the state's broken public pension system. It's now more than $60 billion in the red."

Item 3: "California is facing a political and financial crisis of epic proportions... Rumors of default are gaining momentum and the continued ineffectiveness of the elected class in Sacramento has done nothing to allay the concerns of investors... There are bonds in California that will exhibit the challenge of debt service and wherein bankruptcy will be a real option."

Item 4: "New York state governor David Paterson has said the state is on the verge of a depression... The state is currently considering a raft of drastic measures to narrow its ballooning $9.2bn budget deficit... The governor admitted [that the state is considering] enforced, unpaid holidays for state workers and issuing IOU's for payments."

The modern Democrat Party is little more than a slightly evolved pack of locusts, moving from one state to another, destroying everything they touch. By 2020, the U.S. debt -- even without socialized medicine -- will exceed $20 trillion. This means the annual interest payments will hit nearly $1 trillion, or about one-third of the entire U.S. budget.

The President and his Democrat sycophants in Congress are literally eradicating the economic fabric of the United States. All we've worked for. What our parents and grandparents fought to defend. It doesn't matter what industry you work in -- coal, gas, electric, insurance, finance, pharma, telecommunications, health care -- it doesn't matter whether you're in a union or not -- the Democrats are targeting your jobs. They've said so: they relentlessly condemn the very profits that pay your salaries. Because they despise free enterprise and individual liberty. They want control; and your business stands in the way of their bureaucrats taking the reins. Orchestrating the economy, doling out favors, punishing enemies, rewarding friends and stealing more and more of your private property in the form of extra-constitutional taxes. They want Chicago-style Democracy, only across the entire United States.

It's happening right before our eyes.

80 years of Democrat Ponzi schemes are unraveling. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the "Great Society" Welfare State, Chain Migration of Illegal Aliens -- schemes so outrageous, so catastrophic in scope, that they would make Bernard Madoff blush.


Pass the popcorn, Nahanni: Schumer and Durbin Fight to Replace Senate Majority Leader Reid, Since Voters Plan on Forcibly Retiring Him in November

When you've lost Time Magazine, Harry, you've just flat out lost.

No one remembers exactly when they started, but there is no doubt that the campaigns for Senate majority leader are raging on Capitol Hill. They have not been formally declared, of course, and for good reason — the position is still filled. But as Harry Reid's November re-election has looked increasingly imperiled, his two top deputies in the Senate have become more overt in their quests for his job. And in a Senate that is already near paralyzed by partisan rancor, the two Democrats' maneuverings are threatening to further gum up the works.

Well, if by "gum up", you mean prevent this rogue Congress from further screwing up the country with its unconstitutional power-grabs, well then, I'm all for it.

Either one -- Schmucky Schumer or Little Dick Durbin -- would make a fine leader of the minority Democrats next year; Schumer with his cornrow-style hair-plugs and the other with his infamous halitosis.

And don't you love the smell of virtual napalm on the Democrat side of the aisle?


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A simple point: why health care is not, and can never be, a "right"

Health care is a set of goods and services that are procured through payments.

Is the right to life, or liberty, or the pursuit of happiness facilitated by the transfer of funds? Of course not. Our country's founders would never have countenanced the mandated delivery of services compelled by an authoritarian, centralized government. That was precisely the type of system they were trying to escape in the British Crown.

Thought Experiment: If Health Care Is a Right

If you live in the village of Curmudgeon, Montana, where there are no doctors, will the government compel a doctor to move to the area?

If you've received multiple heart bypass operations, chemotherapy and dialysis, yet you still won't stop smoking three packs and eating a dozen Twinkies a day, will the government guarantee care for your "preexisting" conditions?

If you're a health insurance company's CEO and the government mandates premiums, who you must cover, what kind of coverage you must offer, and the margins you are permitted to make, do you really think you can stay in business? Hint: in all of recorded history, find a place or time where price controls worked. Don't worry, I'll wait here while you check.

If you're a doctor in a specialty area and you decide that the government's reimbursements no longer pay enough for you to stay in business (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, etc.), what happens when there are no longer enough specialists in your field to handle the demand? Will the government forcibly require you to practice?

If you're a drug company's CEO and the government sets limits on the prices you can charge and dictate where your research money goes through its reimbursement schedules, how will new, unproven and cutting-edge drugs -- which require massive risk-taking -- get developed? (This may explain why roughly 75% of all pharmaceuticals are invented in the United States, not the faux Utopias of England or Canada).

What is health care?

Health care is an infinitely complex series of transactions facilitated by doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical companies, insurers, hospital systems, brokers, third-party networks, caregivers, volunteers and others.

The Democrats want to nationalize this entire system, and set up small committees of central planners who will formulate all of the rules, set prices, dictate treatments, and proscribe the activities of every kind of market participant, including patients.

Can a tiny group of Harvard-educated elites, serving as central planners similar to the Politburo, replace millions of decisions based upon free will?

Health care consists of goods and services, which must be paid for like any other. And goods and services simply cannot be a "right", unless you are willing to relive the horrors of the Soviet Union's gulags, Pol Pot's killing fields or Hitler's brand of medicine.

Because when you replace voluntary transactions with central planning, you are replacing liberty with tyranny.


Related: Canada's health care system is a poor model for the U.S..

Harry Reid: 'Though I'll be working as a lobbyist and Democrats will be in the minority, I solemnly pledge to reform the filibuster rule next year'

History will record that Harry Reid was among the dumbest men ever to serve in the United States Senate, barring Joe Biden. And those studying American history will find themselves mystified that, despite Nevada's population of roughly 2.6 million, Reid was somehow elected to an elite position of power though his IQ was locked solidly in the bottom 10% of that population.

With the gift of gaffe and a nose for savvy real estate deals, Reid was not without talents.

Prescience, however, was never one of his skills, as evidenced by today's report that Reid intends to consider modifying the Senate's filibuster rules "at the beginning of the next Congress, in 2011."

In a discussion with liberal bloggers, Reid [said], "The filibuster has been abused. I believe that the Senate should be different than the House and will continue to be different than the House... But we're going to take a look at the filibuster. Next Congress, we're going to take a look at it. We are likely to have to make some changes in it, because the Republicans have abused that just like the spitball was abused in baseball and the four-corner offense was abused in basketball."

..."I'm totally familiar with his idea," Reid said of colleague Sen. Tom Harkin's (D-Iowa) filibuster reform proposals in February. "It takes 67 votes, and that, kind of, answers the question."

But Democrats have pressed forward with exploring options to change filibuster rules, including by having Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, hold hearings into potential changes to filibuster rules.

The Senate, unlike the House, is governed by rules that are in continuous rules, meaning that a 67-vote supermajority would be needed to change filibuster rules, which only require 60 votes to end debate.

Don't put it past the National Socialist Democrat Party to attempt to reform the filibuster with less than 67 votes. After all, this is the same crew of radical leftists that would gladly destroy one-sixth of the economy by nationalizing health care using a "budget reconciliation" process.

Just one more reason I'm manufacturing easy-to-use Tar and Feather Kits™, which should be available at your local Wal-Mart store and other fine retailers by September.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Sunday, March 07, 2010

'Greg, who is the worst Senator in this Congress?' 'Well that would be hard to say, sir. They're each outstanding in their own way.'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid certainly has a way with words. Reid's authored such classics as "This war is lost"... "Obama is a light-skinned black with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one"... and who could forget "You could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol"?

Friday, Reid tried to top all of his past gaffes in one swell foop stating, "Today is a big day in America -- only, only 36,000 people lost their jobs in America, which is... really... good."

Yes, the excellent economic news continues apace, dampened only by the delay in nationalizing one-sixth of the economy. And, dammit, I can prove it.

At first blush, unemployment appears to be stabilizing. The February 2010 Unemployment number remained at 9.7% with an under-employment (or U6) rate of 16.8% and 36,000 more jobs lost, "which is really... good".

Total non-farm payrolls appear to be in a trough as well. Is this good? Well, no, as The Economic Populist points out. Good would be 200,000 jobs added to the non-farm payroll. Good would be anything [over] 100,000 jobs added to the non-farm payroll. It's pretty clear many out there are trying to make less bad the new good. Uh, no, good is not on a relative scale, it's an absolute folks. We need anywhere from 85,000 to 145,000 jobs created each month just to keep up with the population rate. That's reality.

But have things really stabilized?

A record high number of people -- 40% of the officially unemployed -- have been seeking work for 27 weeks or more. And part-time employment (in situations where full-time work is desired) increased to 8.8 million from 8.3 million.

The ratio of the employed to the civilian population continues to plummet, and is now at a record low of 58.5%.

As for workers in high-tech, contrary to the press releases of the offshore outsourcing industry, there's no shortage of available talent here in the states.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I'll tell you what, Barack. We'll tell John Q. Public you were doing a great job taking care of the economy, but you parked it out back last night... and this morning it was gone!


Hat tip: Economic Populist.

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Two articles to forward to Democrat acquaintances (probably not your friends) who favor government-run health care

I'll be polite, like Mish, and ask you to please consider:

From the UK: 1,200 Needless Deaths: Up to 1,200 people lost their lives needlessly because Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust [Hospital] put government targets and cost-cutting ahead of patient care... But none of the doctors, nurses and managers who failed them has suffered any formal sanction... Indeed, some have either retired on lucrative pensions or have swiftly found new jobs...

• Patients were left unwashed in their own filth for up to a month as nurses ignored their requests to use the toilet or change their sheets;

• Four members of one family. including a new-born baby girl. died within 18 months after of blunders at the hospital;

•  Medics discharged patients hastily out of fear they risked being sacked for delaying;

•  Wards were left filthy with blood, discarded needles and used dressings while bullying managers made whistleblowers too frightened to come forward.

From Canada: Canadian Legislator Goes to Miami for Heart Surgery: An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision...

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla... "I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage... Williams said [U.S. doctors could make] an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage [unlike the procedures required in Canada].

..."I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said... "(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."

Not to worry, citizens. Democrats promise that government-run health care will work as flawlessly as their $840 billion Stimulus program.


Hat tip: Zero Hedge.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Senate to House: 'You can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f***ed up... you trusted us!'

William Jacobson was among the first to point out that reconciliation doesn't matter when it comes to Democrats ramming Obamacare through Congress.

Probably the single biggest obstacle to Obamacare is House Democrats who do not like the Senate health care bill, but whose votes are needed to move the budget reconciliation process along... The strategy appears to be for the House to pass the Senate bill as is, based on the promise of the budget reconciliation process being successful in the Senate to implement changes.

But what if the Senate does not or cannot pass the changes through the reconciliation process?

Obama then has to power to sign the bill as passed by the House and Senate, meaning the Senate bill... Has Obama promised not to do so? ...Here's a list of Obama promises to the left-wing of the Democratic Party which have been broken, courtesy of Firedoglake: Senate Health Care Bill Is Built On Obama’s Broken Promises.

Here are some others, all from the left:

The Senate's reaction to the House echoes Otter's missive to Flounder:

"You can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f***ed up... you trusted us!"

Anyone who trusts Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and President Andy Stern needs their head examined (after it is oh-so-carefully extracted from their posterior).


Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Commercial Real Estate Continues Tanking, But Economic Effects Are Offset By Residential Real Estate, Which Is Crashing Even Faster

Realpoint's latest report on commercial real estate is a doozy (PDF). You couldn't get a more sobering readout with a shower and a quart of hot coffee.

In January 2010, the delinquent unpaid balance for CMBS [Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities] increased by another $4.3 billion, up to $45.94 billion from $41.64 billion a month prior. The overall delinquent unpaid balance is up 326% from one-year ago (when only $10.79 billion of delinquent unpaid balance was reported for January 2009), and is now over 20 times the low point of $2.21 billion in March 2007.

Overall, the total unpaid balance... for the January 2010 remittance was $797.3 billion... Both the delinquent unpaid balance and delinquency percentage over the trailing twelve months are... clearly trending upward.

The total balance of loans in Foreclosure and REO increased for the 27th straight month to $9.64 billion in January 2010 from $9.34 billion in December 2009 and $8.78 billion in November, despite ongoing liquidation activity. The chart [above] also shows the rapid growth of loans reflecting 90-day delinquency in the past 12 months, transitioning swiftly from 30-day defaults into more distressed levels on a monthly basis in 2009, thus supporting our use of such as an early indicator of workouts to come for 2010.

Put simply: brace for more pain in the commercial real estate space.

Well, residential real estate must be improving, right? Not exactly. The following Blytic graphs depict the real estate price index (RPX) in various metro areas since the year 2000.

Here's the graph of home prices in Phoenix, Arizona. Gee, that home-buyer tax credit didn't really work, but at least he was historic, right, Melvin?

Say, Las Vegas is hopping.

Gun-free Chicago -- my kind of town. Except for the hundreds of murders each year, thanks to the insane policies of Mayor Daley and the rest of the Democrat machine.

Miami - whyamee?

Mayor Kilpatrick (D-umb) and Governor Granholm (D-umber) certainly worked wonders in Detroit.

At least the masterful leadership in its city and surrounding counties -- as well as ultra-careful land use policies -- saved Atlanta from... oops.

Thankfully, the Obama administration has created or saved over ninety million green collar jobs. Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner's behavior has been beyond reproach. And the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has brought much-needed tax relief for small businesses and 95 percent of all working families.

Thank heavens for President Obama and his crack staff of economic advisers who have brought so much real world experience to their current roles. If it weren't for them, I'm not sure what kind of shape this country would be in.


Hat tip: Mish.

Non-partisan MarketWatch reports: Economy is Dying, Thanks to Leno Cancellation and Marxist-Democrat Policies, But Mostly Marxist-Democrat Policies

Irwin Kellner at MarketWatch reports that the economy isn't getting better. In fact, it's getting worse. Much worse.

Commentary: Recent data paint a picture of an economy slowing -- sharply

The fledgling economic recovery appears to be running out of gas... The recent run of economic data is most compelling. Just about all of them paint a picture of an economy slowing -- and sharply, at that...

-- both consumer confidence and sentiment have fallen unexpectedly;

-- after-tax personal incomes adjusted for inflation have flattened;

-- sales of both new and existing homes took a surprising stumble;

-- orders for most durable goods are down;

-- manufacturing has slowed;

-- jobless claims are up;

-- fourth-quarter GDP growth came largely from a slower pace of inventory liquidation, not from an increase in consumer spending;

-- and as a matter of fact, consumer spending weakened last quarter.

Understand that the changes in the data above were not insignificant:

-- consumer confidence fell to a 27-year low;

-- new-home sales fell to record lows and they are likely to fall even further, since mortgage applications are down to 13-year lows;

-- existing-home sales are down two months in a row to a seven-month low;

-- first-time claims for unemployment benefits have risen in six of this year's first eight weeks;

-- and new orders excluding transportation fell 0.6%; orders for capital goods fell 2.5%, while capital spending itself was down a thumping 3.5%.

...the magnitude of the declines noted above suggests a message that should not be ignored... Are there any solutions to this mess?

...In my view, the best solution is a cost-free one: remove the uncertainties facing business such as regulations, costs for health care, energy and the environment, not to mention what their own tax rates will be.

You'd be surprised what this will do for hiring and thus for the economy...

Hey, Irwin: news flash -- everyone knows this. Everyone. Including the President and his sycophants in Congress. They don't care. They're committed, hard left ideologues trying to reshape our country and destroy the few remaining firewalls in the Constitution.

They're forcing Democrats to walk the plank on yet another unfunded entitlement.

In fact, the more they crush the life out of the economy with taxes, regulations and uncertainty, the greater the crisis they can precipitate. And that's what they will exploit to confiscate more and more of your private property while exercising increasing control over every aspect of your life.