Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Mission Accomplished: Democrats Succeed in Building the Welfare State

Virtuous Republic on the stunning success of trickle-up economics:

How backwards is the economic policy of the Obama administration? 

Employment isn’t a priority, but welfare is, as I noted in a previous post with this graphic from Recovery.gov...

As you can see for yourself, Obama’s main emphasis is on “entitlements”, not shovel ready jobs.

As proof, employment in the Cincinnati area is now at 1999 levels...

Quite frankly, I now believe that is the objective of this far left administration.

The more people on welfare, the more people beholden to the government, and thus the more people the left has control over...

That is the hallmark of the left:

Control over your life, right down to how you think.

The Democrats' drive for dependency is best illustrated by the dire situation in which retiring baby boomers find themselves.

The minimum amount that insurance giant ING recommends a retiree have at hand is around $675,000.

43% of Americans have less than $10,000 in retirement savings. And 31% (nearly one in three) have nothing. Nada. Bupkis.

These Americans have paid tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars into Social Security over their careers.

And the federal government stole it right out of the "trust fund".

And, thanks to Obamanomics, Social Security is already running in the red this year, a decade sooner than predicted.

The federal government finds itself in a dire situation, with its bond rating threatened; massive amounts of debt that must be refinanced in the coming months; and a jobless non-recovery. In the midst of this debacle, Democrats continue trying to crap out a monstrous, crime-ridden "health care" bill that is certain to put a stake in the heart of the economy.

We don't have much room for error. Unless we crush these power-mad anti-American moonbats in November, the entire American experiment -- as beautiful as it was -- may be over.


Larwyn's Linx: Slaughter Rule” Strategy Unprecedented

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

“Slaughter Rule” Strategy Unprecedented: RedState
Obamacare: Unleashing a Constitutional Crisis: Smith
Felons in the White House?: RWN

This is why Dems fight to the death on health care: RWN
One job Dems shouldn't save or create: their pollster: RWN
Long Strange Trip; or, How a bill shouldn't become law: Pundette

Code Red on Capitol Hill: AmPower
Meet Goodwin Liu, radical appointee to the appeals court: Hot Air
Slaughter Rule: Corner

Economy

Going Private in New Jersey: Exam
The Keynesian Fraud: AT
MI Gov calls for boycott of her state's $1B industry: BMW

Obamacare's massive shortage of doctors: RWN
Conyers' wife declared indigent, taxpayers foot legal fees: Marathon
Obama's illusions of cost control: Samuelson

Climate & Energy

Al Gore Points To Local Weather Events As Evidence For Global Warming: BlogProf
Hugo Chavez Sends Army to Change All Lights in Venezuela to CFLs: Inhabitant
Suicidal: UAW urges Congress to let EPA set new emissions rules: BlogProf

Media

Doing the health care anecdote-vetting the Left won’t do: Malkin
Audio of Chuck Schumer Plotting to Illegally Eradicate the Filibuster: MagNote
Reflections on the Revolution in America: Hanson

Challenging the Slaughter Solution: RedState
I Will Not Comply: Hood
"I Won": Sultan Knish

Conspiracy: not a dirty word: Adrienne
Bachmann vs. Muckracker: MagNote
Tweet o' the Day: Malkin

World

Gitmo Lawyer Julia Tarver Mason: Aiding, Abetting ... and Not Talking: PJM
Explaining the U.S.-Israel Crisis: BRubin
Where’s Campbell and DeVore? Fiorina is clear.: Kesler

Obama to Israel: "Drop Dead": Baehr
White House Orders Army NOT To Fly U.S. Flag in Haiti?: BigGovt

SciTech

Bloodhound supersonic car's lift problem fixed: BBC
Why Google's Nexus One hasn't flopped (yet): CNet

Cornucopia

Obamafeld - the Sitcom: Ace
Optima Drops Barack Obama from White House PPO: Doswell

"If Congress can now decide that the House can vote for one bill and the Senate can vote for another, and the final result can be some arbitrary hybrid, then we have abandoned one of Madison's core checks and balances... Yes, self-executing rules have been used in the past, but as the Congressional Research Service put it in a 2006 paper, "Originally, this type of rule was used to expedite House action in disposing of Senate amendments to House-passed bills." They've also been used for amendments... but never before to elude a vote on the entire fundamental legislation.

We have entered a political wonderland, where the rules are whatever Democrats say they are. Mrs. Pelosi and the White House are resorting to these abuses because their bill is so unpopular that a majority even of their own party doesn't want to vote for it."   -- "Slaughter House Rules", WSJ, 3/16/2010


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Foreclosure worries cramping your style? President Obama's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) lets taxpayers foot the bill!

The invaluable Market Ticker pulls a troubling snippet of news out of Hanson Advisors' latest missive. Put simply, President Obama's HAMP program is a complete failure; it seemingly encourages fraud, harms banks and isn't finished yet. Consider the profile of the average consumer with a new, "affordable" mortgage:

Gross debt-to-income ratios of 59.8% after modification?

Folks, do you understand what this means? The average gross income of these folks is $2,702, or $32,433 annually. But their debt-service ratio, or amount of debt post-modification, is 59.8%.

That means they're spending almost as much on their other debts as they are on their house payment, even after modification.

[A] person with a $2,702 monthly income has the following "come out" of their check:

* Their debt service of $1,616, of which half, roughly, is their (modified) house payment.
* FICA and Medicare tax of... $206.70.
* Federal withholding of... $300.

This "average person" has $579.30 once their mandatory debt service and withheld taxes are deducted, and from this they must pay:

* Electrical, water, sewer, and garbage disposal services.
* Health costs, if any (including deductions from their paycheck, co-pays, etc)
* Automobile insurance for their car, along with gasoline.
* Food
* Hazard insurance on the house.
* Any other expenses (e.g. clothing, school supplies if there are kids in the home, any sort of recreational activities, etc.)

All on $600 a month for a family of four? You're joking, right? ...Good luck just buying your food and paying the electric bill on what's left!

HAMP is a complete failure (only the 703rd consecutive big-government failure related to the housing market, but who's counting?). These individuals can't possibly afford their new, "affordable" mortgages.

As the Ticker points out, lawmakers are intentionally avoiding the bankruptcy route for both the consumer and the lender. Note that this is the same approach the Obama administration tried with the auto companies and the UAW.

In short, the unions and the bankers were paid off -- courtesy of you, the taxpayer -- but the salve is only a temporary remedy. The bill will come due someday soon. And because this administration can't deal with economic realities, the fall will be far swifter and far more painful than it ever needed to be.

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.

Democrats: We're so proud of our awesome takeover of health care that we won't go on record as actually having voted for it

House Majority Leader Stenky Hoyer and Speaker Nancy "Stretch" Pelosi hit the press circuit earlier today to defend the so-called Slaughter Solution, an unprecedented method for enacting government-run health care. This last-gasp Democrat attempt to squeeze out a health care bill would "deem" the Senate health care bill as passed without a direct vote.

Legal experts believe such a maneuver contravenes Article I, Section 7 of the U.S Constitution.

It also compounds a callous disregard for the truth and American traditions:

Democrats have already hidden 60 percent of the cost of the Senate bill, effected an obscenely partisan change in Massachusetts law to keep the bill moving, pledged more than a billion taxpayer dollars to buy votes for the bill, and packed the bill with an unconstitutional individual mandate and provisions that violate the First Amendment. It’s almost as if, to paraphrase comedian Lewis Black, Democrats spent a whole year, umm, desecrating the Constitution and at the last minute went, “Oh! Missed a spot!”

In other words, this health care overhaul is so crazy good the leadership can't even convince Democrats to openly vote on it.

Hoyer attempted to deflect criticism by citing cases where Republicans used a "self-executing" rule.

Oh, the Republicans used it, right? Well, Stenky, could we please have the list of bills and laws passed using this method? There aren't any. It's been used to add and remove amendments, not pass entire bills without a vote. And certainly not for a giant, new and unaffordable entitlement program. And certainly not one that has zero bipartisan support.

Some have argued that the "Gephardt Rule" (House Rule XXVII) -in which a similar "self-executing rule" "deemed" the house to have voted on a new debt ceiling, is valid precedent. Wrong. That rule was for a joint resolution--not a bill. A joint resolution is a guide to the house. It is not a bill under the constitution, and has no force of law. Because a president has nothing to do with a resolution, a self-executing rule is valid for a resolution, but not for a bill.

As Michael McConnell -- director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School -- explained yesterday, the Slaughter Solution is clearly unconsitutional.

So, yes, let's create the largest entitlement program in history, but not require any House Democrat to actually vote on it.

Let's require everyone in the country to purchase a product (health insurance), but exempt Congress, without having an actual vote on the matter.

Maybe they'll pass a rule that says midterm elections aren't necessary either. After all, that's clearly in the Constitution as well -- along with how bills become laws.

I guess this is the "fundamental change" we were promised.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Key Democrat blogger tells us how to direct fire

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Key Democrat blogger tells us how to direct fire: Hewitt
Ryan: this entire process has been a disgrace: Hot Air
Obama Comes to Ohio (Again), Nobody Shows Up: Corner

Liveblogging the Wreckonciliation Mark-up: Malkin
Think Washington is partisan now?: Exam
Dems abusing the Process and the Constitution: Riehl

'We aren't governing, we're greasing the skids': RWN
Hiding Holder's True Intentions: Strata-Sphere
Deep-sixing the Filibuster: Times

Economy

Social Security starts cashing in US debt: Hot Air
US receives warnings of losing its AAA credit rating: Green Room
Cuomo, mortgage meltdown and a shady tycoon: PJM

Keynesian Economics and Godwin’s Law: Vodkapundit
Soros' Deal: AT

Climate & Energy

Because We Say So, That’s Why!!!: CBullitt

Media

Recognize this photo? Some professional journalists don't.: NewEd
The Plague of Locusts Presidency: American Digest
Is the Jewish love affair with the Democratic Party about to end?: Simon

Five Offensive Attacks on Republican Women: BigGovt
Leonard Pitts: don't give into GOP fear-mongering or you will all die!: BlogProf
NYT: Millions spent to sway... Democrats?: RWN

MSM, gone fishing while U.S. bond rating sinks: BigJournalism
Cleveland Public Schools get a mention on Big Government: HillBuzz

World

The Supreme Leader Tries to Put Out the Fire: Ledeen
Behind Obama's Dangerous Overreaction on Israel: Daily News
100 million 'missing' girls: Jacoby

Obama instigates Hamas; 'Day of Rage' announced in Jerusalem: GWP
Is Boxer boxed in by Obama?: Kesler
Christianity winning converts over Islam: Kesler

Might we juxtapose a moment?: Wizbang
Child marriage still a problem in Saudi Arabia: 7th Rangers (Mech)

SciTech

Forever Young: Reprogramming the Cellular Clock: PJM
Twitter CEO unveils '@Anywhere' platform: CNet

Cornucopia

Is this an Easter Miracle?: Mirror
My Stomach is Rielle-ing. Edwards Sex Tape Exists: RWN
Nancy Pelosi' Lunch: Parkway Rest Stop

Image Credit: Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner.


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).

Condemn the peaceful, befriend the barbarians

Anon:

...It took a while -- about fourteen months to be exact -- but both the ADL and AIPAC have issued strong condemnations of the President's war on Israel. Both have asked for the administration to curtail its public berating of its supposed ally. Both request that the White House work with Israel in a more diplomatic fashion -- on both the peace process and Iran.

What is truly disgraceful is that, so far, exactly one (1) elected Democrat in Congress has done the same - Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada. Sadly, Democrats seem to care far more about passing health care legislation this week than protecting the US-Israel relationship from Obama's assault.

It is interesting that David Axelrod, who blasted Israel on network news programs on Sunday, is a proud standard bearer of the Millard Fillmore label when it comes to the history and politics of the Middle East conflict. For the record, Fillmore headed the Know Nothing Party back in the 1850s. Axelrod will be honored by the NJDC (National Jewish Democratic Council) at a coming event. Axelrod has pretty much a perfect record of having avoided any connection with any pro-Israel or Jewish communal activity in his long political career, with the notable exception of raising money from Jews for Democratic candidates. This Obama does well too.

In Obama's case, the handwriting , as to his sympathies in the Middle East conflict (not to be confused with his lies delivered to AIPAC conferences), were pretty well documented well before he was elected -- the 20 years he listened enraptured to the sermons of Reverend Wright; all those dinners, babysitting and chit chats with Rashid Khalidi and Ali Abunimah; the close friendship with Samantha Power (who sought an international force to invade the West Bank and liberate it from Israel); the years spent in the most anti-Israel hothouses in America -- the neighborhoods where elite colleges are located.

Obama's sympathies lie with the Palestinians. He is, after all, a re-distributionist on all issues. The attacks by Hillary Clinton, other State Department officials, and Axelrod will do nothing to advance the peace process, ostensibly the goal of the Administration. Since Oslo and for fifteen years since, the Palestinians spoke directly to the Israelis, without intermediaries, even during the intifada.

When Obama launched his Presidency with a call for for a 100% settlement freeze on all land beyond the green line, including natural growth of settlements, he enabled the Palestinians to avoid coming back for talks without those conditions being met. Why would the Palestinians be more pro-Israel than the White House, and accept less than the White House was demanding of Israel? Now the PA can hang back some more... honor some more mass murderers of Israelis while they wait for Obama to deliver more Israeli concessions before talks begin... including prisoner releases, extending the settlement freeze to Jerusalem, eliminating more roadblocks, easing the blockade of Gaza, etc.

Netanyahu is right to let the Americans know that Israel will continue to build in its capital. To please the Americans, and not establish facts on the ground, only new housing for Palestinians would be allowed.

Of course, when the ten month freeze on new settlements in the West Bank was agreed to, Bibi came in for high praise. Bibi specifically excluded Jerusalem from that freeze. The announcement of the 1,600 units in a neighborhood where 16,000 Jews already live, was step 4 in a 7 step approval process, with no construction for 3 more years. Yes, perhaps it was an ill=timed announcement, with Joe Biden in town, given how everyone needs to walk on hot coals to avoid giving the PA another excuse to not negotiate even indirectly with Israel.

For the Administration to blow up over this, as some grave insult, is ridiculous, but telling. This is a real and deliberate provocation... but by Obama, not Israel. This was an opportunity for the Administration, to let Israel know which side Obama backs. Sad to say, even J-Street has been better than Obama this week. The White House had nothing to say (no condemnation to be sure) for the PA honoring a terrorist mass murderer of Israeli Jews last week. Even J-Street said this was a provocation and condemned it.

Murdered Jews and Jewish apartments: Obama finds one more repellent than the other.

Then again, Obama was silent on the mass murder of hundreds of Christians in Nigeria by Muslim marauders. Never will an unkind word be said about Muslim murderers, or Palestinian killers, that might deter from his charm offensive to the Arab Street. So far it has accomplished only this: a projection of weakness, and cowardice, and a loss of any ability to weigh competing claims fairly.

It's called moral equivalence and it's a common trait among the denizens of the Left. They see good and evil as equals; secularism the same as faith; and statism equivalent to individual liberty.

History refutes their every instinct, and still they persist in their fruitless pursuits of a Utopian state that inevitably descends into tyranny.


Great News: Your Refund Check Is In the Mail, But Since the States and the Post Office are Bankrupt, You'll Get Your Check in, say, mid-2011

Man, I can't get me enough of this hope and change.

If you're due a state tax refund this year, you should probably prepare to wait awhile for that check to arrive. Four cash-strapped states, including Alabama, Hawaii, New York and North Carolina are planning to delay refund payments this year in order to cover budgetary shortfalls. And it's possible that more states may follow suit, in particular Idaho and Kansas.

...at least 41 states face budget shortfalls for fiscal 2010, which in most states ends June 30. Nine states have budget gaps that are more than 10% of their 2010 budget, including Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Virgina.

Delayed tax refunds may not end up being a one-year phenomena. The Center expects the states' budget shortfalls to be as large or larger in fiscal 2011.

A couple of more years on the Democrat glide-path and we'll resemble North Korea. Come to think of it, the iconography used by the state-run media is already similar.


Hat tip: Bern.

Sources: "Budget Committee is all smoke and mirrors" -- Slaughter Solution Will Be Used "Likely Wednesday"

Operative 'Deep Tort' sent us this update at 5:31pm from his sources inside the House. This information jibes with late-breaking reports that Pelosi has several options on the table.

I am still hearing the scenario I circulated earlier (listed below as Scenario 2, "Slaughter Solution 1") is the most likely. But here are the 5 possible scenarios for moving health care through the House.

Senate Bill (Senate Amendment to H.R. 3950)
Reconciliation "Sidecar" (yet to be reported by Budget Committee
Scenario 1: "Play it Straight" Rule provides for an up or down vote Rule provides for an up or down vote
Scenario 2: "Slaughter Solution 1" Rule "deems" the Senate bill passed immediately and sends the bill to the President Rule provides for an up or down vote
Scenario 3: "Slaughter Solution 2"
Rule "deems" the Senate bill passed upon House adoption of reconciliation sidecar Rule provides for an up or down vote
Scenario 4: "Slaughter Solution 3" Rule "deems" the Senate bill passed when the Senate passes the reconciliation sidecar Rule provides for an up or down vote
Scenario 5: "The Double Whammy"
Rule #2 "deems the Senate bill passed immediately and sends the bill to the resident Rule #1 allows the Rules Committee to turn off the motion to recommit Rule #2 "deems" the sidecar bill passed immediately and sends the bill to the Senate


Later (6:30pm ET):

The budget committee is all smoke and mirrors. They are required to pass out a budget reconciliation bill in order to start the process. They just dressed up an old version of the House bill in reconciliation clothes so Pelosi and the rules committee have a vehicle they can completely amend with their own reconciliation instructions.

Likely Wednesday, the rules committee will report a rule which essentially does 3 things. 1) sets the time for debate; 2) makes 1 substitute amendment in order; and 3) deems the Senate bill passed.

The House will proceed on 3 votes on health care.

1) approval of the rule (this will be the big vote since it passes the Senate bill by default)
2) approval of the leadership/rules Amendment in the nature of the substitute (strip the budget committee text with the leadership text)
3) final passage

Thoughts appreciated.

Related:
Fourteen Months of Hell: A Brief, Illustrated History of the Ill-Fated Democrat Health Care Nationalization Efforts of 2009-10
The 'Slaughter Solution' -- the Legislative Equivalent of Martial Law

Larwyn's Linx: Axelrod threatens GOP: 'Make my day'

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

The 2,309-page Obamacare-Student Loan Burrito: Malkin
Axelrod threatens GOP: 'Make my day': York
Does the 'Shell' bill have any teeth?: Red State

Public Option: In; School Loans: In; Democracy: Out: RWN
Time for the Senate GOP to show some spine: Red State
What Democrats Do Best: BloodLib

Economy

The $3 trillion tax increase and other stories: Mish
The Coming Greek Debt Bubble: Baseline
It’s Déjà Voodoo Economics... All Over Again: Zero Hedge

They packed up and moved to Muskogee: Driscoll
No taxation with misrepresentation?: AT
Chart of the Day: Ace

Progressive Competition: Newsmark's Door
Pelosi and Marx on Freedom: AT
The $2 Trillion Public Pension Hole; How to Take Action: Mish

Climate & Energy

UK warming kids' propaganda banned: TAB

Media

Ryan on what real health reform should look like: WaPo
The Legacy Media's War on Conservatives: Corner
One Afternoon in Washington: IowaHawk

Some of our finest hours: LegalIns
When will Hollywood learn -- just because they hate America does not mean we hate America?: GWP
Stonewalling the Sestak Bribe: Hindenblog

Happy-Ass Chart of the Day: Vodkapundit

World

Is the Gitmo Bar Pro-Islamist?: Corner
Terror Suspects Had Jobs at British Airways and … U.S. Nuclear Facilities: PJM
Zimbabwe's Redistribution of Wealth Reaches Its Logical Conclusion: Starvation: Gina Cobb

Obama's War on Israel: ShayneBlog
Mark Perry, Hezbollah Flunky, Writes Petraeus Hit Piece at Foreign Policy: AmPower
Hugo's Balloon Deflates: Times

What 600 Tons of Cocaine Bought: Fausta
The Attack on Netanyahu: AT
Shall We Also Go the Way of Europe?: Diogenes

SciTech

Ex-TSA Employee Indicted For Tampering With Database Of Terrorist Suspects: Dark Reading
Injection Proof'd: DailyWTF

Cornucopia

Today's Fashion Clash: SondraK
Reagan: the Foundation of Freedom: LegalIns
Attaboy: Wyoming fines Feds over gun rules: BlogProf

And da Big Fur Hat winner is...: Atlas
It's only the greatest commercial evah: Anchoress
After hiatus, Blonde goes back to work: NE Republican

Alert: Important. Do It: RWN

QOTD:

"I believe that the Easter Congressional Recess would be an excellent time to visit your Democrat representative, to have an open and candid conversation, to express your deep reservations over their party's extra-constitutional behavior, and to waterboard him or her." -- Papa B


Sunday, March 14, 2010

Michael McConnell of Stanford Law: 'Slaughter solution cannot be squared with Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution'

Excerpted from tomorrow's Wall Street Journal (apologies, Rupert, but this one is way too important to keep completely behind the pay-wall):

Democratic congressional leaders have floated a plan to enact health-care reform by a procedure dubbed “the Slaughter solution.” ...Democrats would pass a rule that deems the Senate’s health-care bill to have passed the House, without the House actually voting on the bill. This would enable Congress to vote on legislation that fixes flaws in the Senate health-care bill without facing a Senate filibuster, and without requiring House members to vote in favor of a Senate bill that is now politically toxic.

The Slaughter solution cannot be squared with Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution.

...Last Christmas Eve, the Senate approved a health-care bill by 60 votes, overcoming a Republican filibuster. This is the bill that contains the so-called Cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana purchase, taxes on high-cost health insurance plans and coverage for abortions. Virtually no one now supports that version of the bill, but Senate Democrats no longer have enough votes to pass an alternative bill under ordinary procedures.

That is where reconciliation fits in. If the House passes the Senate bill and the president then signs it into law, reconciliation would permit Congress to pass new legislation making changes to that law. Reconciliation might not solve the abortion coverage problem or other nonbudgetary issues, but it would allow Democrats to correct most of the Senate bill’s offensive features.

The rub is that, according to the Senate parliamentarian, reconciliation is permitted only for bills that amend existing law, not for amendments to bills that have yet to be enacted. This means that, for the Senate to be able to avoid a filibuster, House Democrats first have to vote for the identical bill that passed the Senate last Christmas Eve. That means voting aye on the special deals, aye on abortion coverage, and aye on high taxes on expensive health-insurance plans. Challengers are salivating at the prospect of running against incumbents who vote for these provisions.

Enter the Slaughter solution. It may be clever, but it is not constitutional. To become law—hence eligible for amendment via reconciliation—the Senate health-care bill must actually be signed into law. The Constitution speaks directly to how that is done. According to Article I, Section 7, in order for a “Bill” to “become a Law,” it “shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate” and be “presented to the President of the United States” for signature or veto. Unless a bill actually has “passed” both Houses, it cannot be presented to the president and cannot become a law.

To be sure, each House of Congress has power to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” ...But House and Senate rules cannot dispense with the bare-bones requirements of the Constitution. Under Article I, Section 7, passage of one bill cannot be deemed to be enactment of another.

The Slaughter solution attempts to allow the House to pass the Senate bill, plus a bill amending it, with a single vote. The senators would then vote only on the amendatory bill. But this means that no single bill will have passed both houses in the same form. As the Supreme Court wrote in Clinton v. City of New York (1998), a bill containing the “exact text” must be approved by one house; the other house must approve “precisely the same text.”

These constitutional rules set forth in Article I are not mere exercises in formalism. They ensure the democratic accountability of our representatives. Under Section 7, no bill can become law unless it is put up for public vote by both houses of Congress, and under Section 5 “the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question . . . shall be entered on the Journal.” These requirements enable the people to evaluate whether their representatives are promoting their interests and the public good. Democratic leaders have not announced whether they will pursue the Slaughter solution. But the very purpose of it is to enable members of the House to vote for something without appearing to do so. The Constitution was drafted to prevent that.

Mr. McConnell is a professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He formerly served as a judge for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

McConnell's assessment squares with those of other Constitutional experts who believe that the use of the "Slaughter Solution" is "preposterous" and "dangerous".

Democrats are holding a match to the very fabric of our society.


Robert Gibbs: Even if I have to personally break into the Smithsonian with a blowtorch and burn the Constitution, we will pass health care this week

Memo to Democrats: you'll get the Constitution from us when you pry it from our cold, dead hands. The Hill reports:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the healthcare bill will pass by next weekend.

“We’ll have the votes when the House votes, I think, within the next week,” Gibbs said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Gibbs added that those on next week’s Sunday talk shows “will be talking about healthcare not as a presidential proposal but I think as the law of the land.”

President Barack Obama will look to campaign on the new healthcare law in midterm elections, Gibbs said.

“We believe healthcare reform is going to pass, and once it passes we’re happy to have the 2010 elections be about the achievement of healthcare reform,” Gibbs said.

I never, in my wildest imagination, thought that the Democrat Party would take it this far. That they would move so far to the left that even Hugo Chavez is stunned.

If you have any way to get to the Capitol Building, join the march on Tuesday to stop the slaughter of the U.S. Constitution.


Chris van Hollen's memo to Democrats describes how the U.S. Constitution will be shredded this week; the "Slaughter Rule" is a go

The detestable menace Chris van Hollen (D-MD) sent out the following memo to House Democrats earlier today.

TODAY or MONDAY: CBO will publish final scores on legislative language

THEN: House Budget Committee must approve using the reconciliation process to pass this

THEN: The bill will go to the Rules Committee, rule will be constructed for consideration on the floor, and language will be posted online (on the Rules website) and the 72-hour clock will start. When this happens, we will start to have a better idea on what the process will be.

THEN: A Manager’s Amendment will be constructed that will make some final changes

THEN: The Manager’s Amendment will be posted online and the 72-hour clock will start (this may overlap with the 72-hour clock on the reconciliation language). When Manager’s Amendment is done final process decisions will be locked in.

THIS MEANS: We will likely vote Friday or Saturday. (As you probably saw, POTUS pushed back the departure for his Asian trip from Thursday the 18th to Sunday the 21st; this was not a coincidence.) The Speaker has publically committed to trying to get a vote on both the reconciliation bill and the Senate bill on the same day. They are still trying to work out the final process on this and much of what we do depends on what the Senate Parliamentarian decides. You may be receiving calls about the “Slaughter Rule” and other rumors about what the process will be. Again, please understand: no decision has yet been made on the process for consideration on the House floor.

Of course a decision has been made. We're hours away from Slaughter revealing the strategy and Democrats have no other mechanism to pass a bill other than using an extra-Constitutional procedure. They don't have the votes to pass the Senate Bill, so they are -- for the first time in U.S. history -- about to rule that they actually passed a bill they never voted on.

On Fox News Sunday, van Hollen suggested that the Slaughter Rule was still a major component of the Democrats' plans.

Van Hollen responded to [Rep. Eric] Cantor by saying that “we are going to have an up or down vote, whether it is going to be on the Senate bill or a procedure that will include passage of the Senate bill recognizing that we are amending the Senate bill.” An up or down vote on a procedure is not an up or down vote on a bill. Van Hollen was quick to attempt a shift away from this procedural debate, but Cantor brought the discussion back to this questionable procedure.

Earlier today, the Heritage Foundation reported the aptly-named "Slaughter Rule" is a done deal.

The Budget Committee will meet Monday to start marking up a shell of a Reconciliation Bill. The Rules Committee will then meet as early as Wednesday to hollow out whatever the Budget Committee passed and then insert a new bill from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office. The Majority is still planning to use the “Slaughter Rule” that would allow the House to pass the Senate health care bill without voting on it. Final votes are expected to stretch into the weekend.

That is why Tuesday is such an important milestone. If you have any way to get to the Capitol Building, join the march to stop the slaughter of the U.S. Constitution.


Hat tip: Heartland.

Your Daily Dose of Deification Iconography, Courtesy of Your Friends at The New York Times

iOwnTheWorld alerts us to the last, Goebbels-like gasps of The New York Times as it races desperately to salvage Obamacare and -- by extension -- Barack Obama's presidency.

Consider the headline and the photograph in today's weekly review of the news.

Let's first examine the headline: "As Health Vote Awaits, Future of a Presidency Waits, Too."

The Times' concern, laughably, is for the Obama legacy, not the hundreds of millions of citizens whose very lives will be impacted by a Rube Goldberg-esque, certain-to-fail, country-bankrupting, Soviet central-planner's wet dream. The Times, of course, has yet to report on the outrageous and illegal attempt to surreptitiously pass the Senate's health care bill. This effort, orchestrated by the House Rules Committee and known as the "Slaughter Rule", threatens to light the fuse on a full-blown Constitutional crisis.

Now consider the Times' choice of imagery to accompany the article.

Let's review the central attributes of the photograph:
  • Obama, in what has become a tradition for the media, is deified with lighting that resembles a halo (ever recall the use of similar lighting for George W. Bush?)
  • Deification is further emphasized through the use of a cross watermark, courtesy of a mosaic filter
  • The focus, however, is on Obama's single upraised finger, the digit pointing towards the heavens, as if to say "I am the one that can save us, as it was foretold by the ancients." Or something.
  • The White House, a tiny, nearly transparent reflection, is located below the President; it seemingly says that the man is bigger than the office. He is more real. He is more important. He is the One.
Of course, in real life, Barack Obama appears to be little more than a cigarette-puffing Chicago pol, trained in the Alinsky school, whose doctor recently requested cut down on his drinking.

Asked by the American people -- repeatedly -- to concentrate on the economy and job creation, Obama instead flogs a dead horse called socialized medicine that the citizenry detests.

Asked to stop violating the laws and traditions of this country, he instead nationalizes businesses, grows the size of government and creates new entitlements and payoffs for his union backers.

The Times -- and Obama -- are both anachronisms destined for the ash heaps of history. In the latter case, surpassing the detestable James Earl Carter for the title of worst president of all time. That much is already certain.


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

Linked by: Jammie Wearing Fool. Thanks!

My Amazing New Product Idea, Just in Time for the Easter Recess

This, I think you will admit, is entrepreneurial genius.




Update: "Doug Ross must be stopped."

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.


Larwyn's Linx: If you are reading this, you are the Resistance

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

If you are reading this, you are the Resistance: HillBuzz
The Constitution: Another Victim of Obamacare: Heritage
The End Game: JRubin

Monster Rally in Minnesota: Pundette
Scott Brown knocks it out of the park: Red State
The Sestak Stonewall: What's Obama So Guilty About?: Ace

Contract FROM America: AT
'Does all of this activism matter?': RSM
Short-Bus Shortshanks Short Circuit with Shortcuts: Cold Fury

Economy

Illinois State Lawmakers Receiving Eviction Notices: Wizbang
Michigan! Dem pushes worker's comp for illegals: BlogProf
A Quick Reminder: Here's The Real Problem: Insider

It's the Culture, Stupid: Cashill
The New Lies Replace the Old, Stale Lies: Ace
Public sector to taxpayers: hands off OUR money: iOTW

Climate & Energy

More AGW Hysteria: Harms Women, Causes STDs: RWN
Tennesee & Chumley Call On Professor Whoopie: CBullitt

Media

Obama By Proxy: Doc Zero
Another Reason Why Boys Fail: Zelnick
Kill it dead, now: Pruden

The Nation: When in doubt, Blame Bush: RWN
Helen Thomas: "Why Does America Support Israel?": Weasel Zippers
Charles Manson wants his L.A. Times: Franklin

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI): A principled pro-life Congressional Democrat: Toldjah
Silly blogger forgets that Death Panels are only for us pee-ons: Cold Fury (Rating: R)
Download the Defend Michael Behanna Brochure: BMW

World

Gee, I wonder who exposed the Jihad Janes?: Jawa
Is Tom Hanks Unhinged?: Hanson
Hugo Chavez, Hero Of The Left, Hammers Free Expression On The Internet...: Weasel Zippers

Islamists Respond to Terror Cases with Denial: AT
The Cuba I Saw: AT
Rep. Ted Poe Speaks Out in Support of Geert Wilders: GoV

US fumes over Israeli home building while Iran builds nukes: AT
Netanyahu is being Sharoned by the Obama Administration: Kesler
How Quick They Forget: A Short History of U.S. Policy and Israeli Construction in East Jerusalem: BRubin

SciTech

10,000 Microsoft Employees Secretly Use iPhones: Insider
All browsers are (not) created equal: Sophos

Cornucopia

Patrick Kennedy, Motivational Speaker: Ace
World's Laziest Predators: AWL
Special Offer From Grandpa John's Secret Laboratory: Grandpa John

The difference between good guys and bad guys: Wizbang
Manny beats Clottey to retain WBO crown: Maktoob

Image Credit: Michael Ramirez, Investors Business Daily