Congratulations Washington, DC and the rest of our nation!!! We are one step closer to the 21st century! The HealthCare Reform is finally passed. Well, still a little bit of legwork left.

Our Senate approved landmark legislation this morning at 7:00 a.m. EST that would extend healthcare for tens of millions of our uninsured citizens. Our Senators voted for the Bill along party lines – 60-39 – ensuring passage for the upper chamber’s version of the historic reform.

Of course, our President hailed the Bill, describing it as the most important piece of social legislation for the country since the 1930s. I watched him on CNN. Before you read the rest of my post, here is healthcare reform rational for dummies:

Here is what I don’t understand about many of our people here at home mainly the red states – particularly the ones opposed the reform. I remember them cheering to send our troops to a very wrong War back in 2003. It was ok for them to spend trillions of dollars for that War, but not to spend trillions of dollars saving lives at home! What’s the matter with you guys? It is time to pull your head out of your ass and think straight as supposed to following your senators or congressmen who work for the insurance companies.

I lived in Europe for four years, Although there are many flaws with the whole EU thing, but for sure their public healthcare system has had a great success since it was created in most of their countries right after World War II .

If you think their existing public healthcare system is such a disaster, where are the town hall meetings demanding that it is scrapped?

Those of you keep bringing up the bankruptcy thing, we’ve been at the brink before and we’ve always found a way back. I just heard on CNN that 75% of the bail out money we gave to the Banks last year, are paid back.

So, chill guys, keep calm and carry on!

I feel like we are the only country where provision of healthcare for citizens is seen as a matter of national mourning for some people.

It is a regret not a single Republican supported the Bill. Oh well, they will eventually grow up. They have been wrong in most of their decisions, this one included.

Anyway, Well done, Washington and welcome to the 21st century!

The Dems voted against an amendment that said you can’t bribe someone with earmarks.  This is what the Dems stand for.  Corruption, buying votes, lies.

Democrats voted down the DeMint Amendment tonight 53-46. The amendment would have prohibited the practice of trading votes for pork and pet projects.  Jim DeMint reported:

Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint R-South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, made the following statement after the Senate defeated his amendment to prohibit the practice of trading votes for earmarks in the United States Senate. Senator DeMint’s motion was defeated on a 53-46 vote.

via Gateway Pundit.

The Senate finally found its 60 votes to pass the Health Care Reform Bill onto its next phase after a midnight vote, after prayers for the death or ill-health of former Klansman and current Democratic Senator Robert Byrd seem to have fallen on God’s deaf ears. Unfortunately, this isn’t a victory for anyone; not for Republicans, not for Democrats, not for conservatives, not for liberals, not for the President, and certainly not for the American people.

In the aftermath of its passage, the President’s approval ratings have once again fallen to their lowest level ever among the pollsters who most accurately predicted the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections:

For the second straight day, the update shows the highest level of Strong Disapproval yet recorded for this President. That negative rating had never topped 42% before yesterday. [Note: It now stands at 46%] However, it has risen dramatically since the Senate found 60 votes to move forward with the proposed health care reform legislation. Most voters (55%) oppose the health care legislation and senior citizens are even more likely than younger voters to dislike the plan.

* * * * * *

Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. Fifty-six percent (56%) now disapprove.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Democrats approve while 88% of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated voters disapprove. See recent demographic highlightsfrom the tracking poll.

One Democratic Representative has seen the writing on the wall. In light of an upcoming slaughtering of the Democrats in November 2010, Alabama Democrat Parker Griffith has announced plans to switch from the Democratic party to the Republican party:

“I take this step because I believe our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt.”

Rasmussen’s generic congressional ballot also shows that Republicans, after holding the lead for four months, have posted an 8-point lead over Democrats–44% to 36%.

Meanwhile, Republicans in office are showing no backbone and have essentially thrown in the towel. This does not endear them to angry Americans who would vote for a “Tea Party” candidate before they would vote a Republican.

Harry Reid managed to slip in a little provision that seems to be questionable in terms of its Constitutionality, in that it effectively changes the rules of the Senate (a procedure which is supposed to require a 2/3 senate vote). Says Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC):

There’s one provision that I found particularly troubling and it’s under Section C, titled “Limitations On Changes To This Subsection.”

And I quote — “It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.”

This is not legislation. It’s not law. This is a rule change. It’s a pretty big deal. We will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a Senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law.

I’m not even sure that it’s constitutional, but if it is, it most certainly is a Senate rule. I don’t see why the majority party wouldn’t put this in every bill. if you like your law, you most certainly would want it to have force for future Senates.

I mean, we want to bind future Congresses. This goes to the fundamental purpose of Senate rules: to prevent a tyrannical majority from trampling the rights of the minority or of future Congresses.

On the other end of the spectrum, fringe-liberals from the Daily Kos are actually speaking sensibly. Says Markos Moulitas of the Kos on Meet the Press:

Yeah, I don’t think this is a reform bill.  I mean, I think it’s very clear, this is not insurance or healthcare reform.  What it is, it’s allowing more people, 30 million people, to buy into the existing broken system.  It’s very important to keep in mind that healthcare insurance is not the same as health care.  Insurance, not the same as care.

If you go up to Massachusetts, they have a, a mandate as well, and last year 21 percent of people in Massachusetts could not get health care because they could not afford it.  Even though they had insurance, the premiums—not the premiums, the deductibles, copays and out-of-pocket expenses were too high.  So really, this isn’t reform.  It’s expanding the system, it’s almost rewarding the existing system.

2010 is going to be one interesting year.

I heard about it on the radio, this morning as Michelle Bachmann informed Glenn Becks’s sub, Chris Baker about the ACORN provision, one of the eleventh hour additions made behind closed doors. These Dems are absolutely brazen. Roland Burris is claiming credit:

The provision he cites, found on pages 240 through 248 of the manager’s amendment, requires that six different agencies each establish an “Office of Minority Health.” The agencies are the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.”…

According to a Senate legislative aide, the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now could qualify for grants under this provision. ACORN would also qualify for funding on page 150 of the underlying Reid bill, which says that “community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups” may receive grants to “conduct public education activities to raise awareness of the availability of qualified health plans.”

Earlier this year, Congress passed and the president signed into law a ban on federal funding for ACORN, but a judge ruled that that law was unconstitutional. If a higher court reverses that ruling, ACORN may be prohibited from receiving funds through the Office of Minority Health earmark. But according to the Senate legislative aide, ACORN would still “absolutely” qualify for federal funding through the provision in the underlying Reid bill because the anti-ACORN appropriations amendment would not apply to funds provided through the health care exchanges.

According to The Weekly Standard:

A spokesman for Sen. Harkin, chairman of the HELP committee, wrote in an email that he “will look into” which organizations qualify for funding under these provisions. Spokesmen for Senators Reid and Dodd did not immediately reply to emails.

No doubt the Dems are thinking about the 2010 elections which are shaping up to be a blood-bath for them. Time to activate the ground troops.

RELATED:

Oh. Would you take a look at this:

We Are No Longer a Nation of Laws. Senate Sets Up Requirement for Super-Majority to Ever Repeal Obamacare

If ever the people of the United States rise up and fight over passage of Obamacare, Harry Reid must be remembered as the man who sacrificed the dignity of his office for a few pieces of silver. The rules of fair play that have kept the basic integrity of the Republic alive have died with Harry Reid. Reid has slipped in a provision into the health care legislation prohibiting future Congresses from changing any regulations imposed on Americans by the Independent Medicare [note: originally referred to as "medical"] Advisory Boards, which are commonly called the “Death Panels.”

It was Reid leading the Democrats who ignored 200 years of Senate precedents to rule that Senator Sanders could withdraw his amendment while it was being read.

It was Reid leading the Democrats who has determined again and again over the past few days that hundreds of years of accumulated Senate parliamentary rulings have no bearing on the health care vote.

On December 21, 2009, however, Harry Reid sold out the Republic in toto.

Upon examination of Senator Harry Reid’s amendment to the health care legislation, Senators discovered section 3403. That section changes the rules of the United States Senate.

To change the rules of the United States Senate, there must be sixty-seven votes.

Read the rest at RedState.

What were the American people thinking in November 2008, when we gave these maniacs full power to inflict their will on us all?

Speaker Pelosi wanted to have a health care bill passed by Christmas, as a “Christmas Present to the American people”. She managed to narrowly  pass a bill with a public option, although a clear majority of Americans oppose a public option.

Senator Reid rushed a vote in the dead of night in the middle of a snowstorm to close debate on the most important piece of legislation of our time — the nationalization of the U.S. health care system, 1/6th of the economy, before most Senators had even had a chance to read it,  so he could pass the unpopular Senate bill by Christmas.

Let’s bring this long and vigorous debate to an end. Happy Holidays.

Inspired by iOWNTHEWORLD: Remember This in November

Dump this idiot next November.

Tea Party Express have dedicated themselves towards defeating Harry  Reid in the upcoming 2010 congressional campaign.

To help get this ad broadcast on every Nevada TV station morning, noon and night, you can make a donation to the “Defeat Harry Reid” campaign – HERE.

The vote for cloture which occurred shortly after 1:00 am passed by a 60/40 vote, guaranteeing that the wretched bill will be passed before Christmas (putting a damper on the holidays for a majority of Americans, right, left and center). Why did Reid choose the middle of the night, less than a week before Christmas to force a vote on this unpopular P.O.S. bill?

Byron York examines that question:

By the way, when the 1 a.m. vote took place, the Reid Amendment had been public for about 36 hours, and the public had not had a single business day to examine it. “Make no mistake,” said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a few minutes before the vote. “If the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn’t be forcing this vote in the dead of night.” Referring to the Nelson buy-off and other special arrangements in the bill, McConnell said few people would have imagined that the health care debate would have ended “with a couple of cheap deals and a rushed vote at one o’clock in the morning.”

To add insult to injury, (and why not? They’re on a roll) the Dems blame Republicans for this outrage:

“Everyone knows we’re here at one in the morning because of my friends on the other side of the aisle,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said moments before the vote.

By “friends”, Reid means those “evilmongering” rethuglicans. The bought-off Mary Landrieu regurgitated the talking points on CBS Sunday:

“We don’t have to vote in the middle of the night, but [Republican Sen. Tom Coburn] is the one making us do it — not Harry Reid, not the Democrats. It is a Republican obstructionist that is making us vote in the middle of the night.”

I have a question for Mary Landrieu, and Harry Reid.

Who the freak does the scheduling on the Senate floor? The friggen’ minority?

No?

Reid is determined to pass the national health care bill by Christmas, and to do so he has to get the cloture vote on his amendment done at the earliest moment. The timeline is Reid’s and Reid’s alone. “The bottom line is, Sen. Reid schedules the floor,” says one well-connected GOP aide. “He is the only one who can schedule the floor.” If Reid had scheduled the vote during business hours on, say, Tuesday, a final vote would not have taken place until the day after Christmas — an outcome Reid apparently found unacceptable.

Of course. The final vote has to take place before Christmas so these evil—mongers can ruin everybody’s Christmas.

UPDATE:

A visibly disgusted Senator McCain’s scorching speech on the Senate floor:

“We have just begun to fight”.

See Also:

The American Thinker:

Reid gets his 60 votes – the Chicago Way by James Simpson

TownHall:

Hope & Change, Gangsta Style by Kevin McCullough

Michelle Malkin:

Sneaky Sunday Senate liveblog, open thread; the building backlash against Ben Nelson; Harkin: Do it for Teddy K!; McConnell: “It is not too late” to kill it; Reid: People are dyyyying! “We are reshaping the nation;” cloture motion passes, 60-40

Legal Insurrection:

Dems Break It, They Own It

AoSHQ by Gabe:

ReidCare Managers Amendment Vote

Red State:

The Democrats’ Health Care Hari-Kari

If you oppose health care deform, you are a racist, hate-spouting, Aryan who roots for the assassination of Barack Obama

Contentions:

A Political Earthquake by Rick Richman

Ace

Liberals Add Fresh, New Arugment to Health Care Debate: If You Oppose It, You’re a Nazi Klansman

Michelle Malkin:

Cash for Cloture: Demcare bribe list, Pt. II

More Nebraska voters call out Cornhuckster Ben Nelson

Karl at Hot Air:

ObamaCare: How the Senate GOP blew its chance

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has come out with a report with statistics and facts about the spending of the stimulus money based on information gathered from recovery.gov. The report shows that Democratic districts received twice as much stimulus money as Republican districts.

Democratic districts also received 1.89 times more stimulus dollars than Republican districts. The average dollars awarded per Republican district is $232,047,857, while the average dollars awarded per Democratic district is $439,200,100. In total, Democratic districts received 73.47 percent of the total stimulus funds awarded. In terms of numbers of awards, Republican districts received 29.77 percent of the total, while Democratic districts received 70.22 percent.

Some may argue, however, that this can be owed to the fact that Democratic voters are typically poorer and need more help. Even if that were true, that would not account for the 40 point difference between the two. However, that is simply not the case. The study found “no correlation between economic indicators and stimulus funding. Preliminary results find no effect of unemployment, median income, or mean income on stimulus funds allocation.”

“You would think, right, that if the administration believes in its theory that government money can create jobs, they would spend a lot of money in districts that have high unemployment,” said Veronique de Rugy, one of the study’s co-authors. “We found absolutely no relationship.”

All this serves to prove is what I knew all along: The stimulus package wasn’t about helping the economy out; it was about exploiting a recession in order to establish a little extra government control and to pay back Pelosi, Obama, and Reid’s Democratic cohorts and provide them with an election slush fund.

Despicable.

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Via Ace,

After marathon talks, the Obama administration and Democratic leaders appeared near agreement with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson late Friday night to provide the crucial 60th vote needed for Senate passage of health care legislation.

Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to unveil a final package of changes in the long-debated legislation on Saturday “and is confident that it will prevail,” his spokesman, Jim Manley, said in a late-night statement.

Dick Morris is raising funds  to run an ad in Nebraska warning Nelson off voting for the bill.

If this thing passes, Republicans will be running next year on promises to repeal the more damaging aspects of the bill. That may be our only hope at this point.

MORE:

Hot Air:

Breaking: Nelson will vote for cloture

Every man has his price…

Nelson caved on abortion and sold out for an extra year of federal Medicaid subsidies.

Sooo disappointing.

Michelle Malkin:

Update: Nelson caves…but says he “reserves the right” to change his mind

RedState:

Dems schedule unpopular Obamacare vote for dead of night

The Left, the Right and the American Public Couldn’t Stop 60 Votes

The Other McCain:

Ben Nelson: Profiles In Cowardice

The Heritage Foundation:

An Analysis of the Senate Democrats’ Health Care Bill

Abstract: The Senate health care bill would overhaul the entire health care sector of the U.S. economy by erecting massive federal controls over private health insurance, dictating the content of insurance benefit packages and the use of medical treatments, procedures, and medical devices. It would alter the relationship between the federal government and the states, transferring massive regulatory power to the federal government. The bill would also restrict the personal and economic freedom of American citizens by imposing controversial and unprecedented mandates on businesses and individuals, including an individual mandate to buy insurance.

Gateway Pundit:

Cornhusker Kickback: Dems Give Nebraska Special “Lifetime” Medicaid Break For Nelson’s Vote (Video)

Pro-Abortion Senators hail the Reid-Nelson compromise on abortion funding in the health care bill.

RCP:

The Health Care Bill Is Political Suicide

Fire Andrea Mitchell:

Obama courting Olympia Snowe again

LifeNews:

Pro-Life Advocates Blast Reid-Nelson Health Care Abortion Funding Compromise

HMMMMM:

The Politico

Stupak, working with GOP, trying to sink abortion compromise

An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) coordinated opposition to a Senate compromise on the place of abortion in health care legislation this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, the Conference Catholic Bishops, and other anti-abortion groups, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO.

The emails show that Stupak — who has so far remained silent on language accepted by Senator Ben Nelson (D. Neb.) and faces intense pressure from the White House to accept it — is already working behind the scenes to oppose the compromise.

They also demonstrate a previously unseen degree of coordination between Stupak and the office of Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Nelson supports health bill

By DAVID ESPO AND RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR AP

A holdout no more, Democratic Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson agreed Saturday to provide the 60th and deciding vote for Senate passage of sweeping health care legislation, capping a year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining.

Nelson had a brief response — “Yeah” — when asked whether he would support the measure as he strode into a private caucus of fellow Democrats.

With that vote, President Barack Obama’s Senate allies appear on track to pass the legislation by Christmas, overcoming Republican opposition and a swirling early winter snowstorm.

Nelson disclosed his decision as Majority leader Harry Reid unveiled a final series of changes to the measure, including concessions to Nelson on abortion, funding for his state and more.

The legislation includes new limits designed to limit insurance company profits and overhead, by requiring them to spend 80 percent of their premium income on medical care for individual insurance policies, and 85 percent for group policies.

On abortion, the measure would let states disallow coverage in new insurance exchanges.

The developments occurred as Republicans dug in to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. They objected when Reid sought permission for Nelson to announce his decision in a speech on the Senate floor, then forced Senate clerks to read aloud the text of the 383-page package of changes in the legislation, a process expected to consume hours.

The student has learned from the master.

That sounds almost too far fetched to be true, doesn’t it? Yet it’s happening.

The Politico reports:

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), prone for throwing his own political bombs at Republicans, has threatened a local critic with five years in jail for creating the website “mycongressmanisnuts.com,”

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Grayson wrote a letter this week to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding that the federal government imprison Republican activist Angie Langley for five years because of her website criticizing him.

The website, designed to raise money against Grayson, catalogues videos and news clippings that portray the provocative congressman in an unfavorable light. It courts donors to donate money to help elect his Republican challenger next year – collecting $3,725 to date.

Grayson accuses the activist of misrepresenting the fact that she’s a constituent of his (she lives outside his district).

Grayson’s complete letter to Holder here.

The My Congressman is Nuts website is here.

Now that they have to lawyer up, they might want to start a legal defense fund, as well.

I swear to God, the Dem leadership must be possessed. Virtually NOBODY wants this stupid bill, and they are determined to sneak it through next week while the country is focused on Christmas festivities. This is downright evil.

Senate sources say that  the most important vote on health care does not occur on Christmas Eve…

If Senator Reid gets a bill and files cloture before tomorrow night, the first cloture vote would probably come at around 1 a.m. on Monday. THIS is the vote we need to be focused on. We’ve only got THIS weekend to convince  Senators to stop this health care bill.

We have to watch this bunch like hawks.

Tabitha Hale has an urgent health care vote message for you:

Also stay on top of:

Blanche Lincoln
Ben Nelson
Roland Burris
Claire McCaskill
Jim Webb
Russ Feingold

RELATED:

Finally! A Republican embraces  “the party of no” label.

Say it. Live it. Love it.

And Byron York has been exploring the motives for this seemingly self destructive behavior on the part of the Dem leadership.

Readers question Dems’ motives on health care

It’s really not rocket science.

MORE:

See Also Smitty at The Other McCain for some contact info.

Excertps from article By: Chris Stirewalt

The defeat of Al Gore was a pivot point for Democratic psychology and the myth about being the party of virtue.

Part of the shift came because Democrats had so fully convinced themselves that Bush had stolen the White House and that they would be entitled to use any trick or tactic in the name of righting that wrong.

The 2008 movie “Recount” about the Bush/Gore battle was a Democratic allegory on the dangers of virtue in politics. In the film, honest, naive Democrats get steamrolled by scheming, cheating Republicans.

Actor John Hurd portrayed Gore’s lead counsel, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, as an old fool who didn’t expect Republican consigliere James Baker to be so ruthless about trying to win the presidency.

The hero of the inverted morality play is Democratic lawyer Ron Klain, played by Kevin Spacey, whose frustrated pleas for Gore’s team to get tough fall on deaf ears.

Naturally hammy Spacey really lets loose in the scene in which Gore admits that they could win the battle, but that it was more important to be honorable.

The movie dramatized what had already become an article of faith for a generation of young liberals: The war in Iraq, the devastation of Katrina, global warming, the corporate stranglehold on government, and every other evil attributed to Bush and his partner, the manifestation of all evil, Dick Cheney, could be traced to Democrats being too decent and principled.

Now, Klain is the lawyer to Vice President Biden and Democrats find themselves in a position of greater power in Washington than at any time in a generation.

And certainly no one can say that they are allowing decency and principle to get in the way of beating Republicans

MORE…...washingtonexaminer.com/

Last night, I read a story in the NYT which reported that NYC “officials announced Thursday that they had stopped issuing new federal rent subsidy vouchers and were terminating the vouchers of 3,000 families who had yet to fully use them.” What’s the Reason? O, simple: In 2008 and 2009, reports the Times “Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), instructed the agencies that administer Section 8 vouchers nationwide to use money in their reserves to fill shortfalls in federal financing.”

In an era of TARP, Stimulus, Omnibus spending bills 8%-12% higher than just a year ago, how can there be a shortfall in federal housing financing? Worse, the FY 2008 budget was written in 2007 by the “pro-poor” Majority on Capitol Hill, led by Pelosi and Reid. Why didn’t THEY make sure that the program is well-funded? Since I was 5 years old, I, like all Jews and other minorities, was told that the Dems care for use, vs. the racist, angry, white guys of the Republican Party who want to expel us from the USA. Therefore, I am baffled that the all-caring, pro-poor, who-take the Jewish/minority voters for granted, Dem-Congress didn’t finance the section eight program.

What hurts me most is the fact that “Obama’s Stash” was not used to avoid cuts in the program.

Who gave Al Franken the gavel?

The left is gleeful that Franken “punked” the loathed Liebermann, who is actually onboard this stinkbomb. The excuse for this rudeness is that  Reid has imposed a deadline to get this thing done by Christmas, so everybody has to hurry, hurry hurry…because the Dems know that the longer people have to look at the bill, the more unpopular it will become.

Meanwhile,as Michelle Malkin reports, Reid showed up more than hour late to the floor to make a motion to adjourn:

Apologizes and says “other business” prevented him from being on time. Moves to recess Senate until 12:01am. This will clear the way to hold the cloture vote on the defense authorization bill as early as 1 hour after the Senate convenes, so the Dems can rush into health care.

Republicans are not amused.

7:00pm Eastern: McConnell on the floor talking about how Demcare has become a “literal political nightmare.” And “they want to rush this bill through by Christmas?” And “here’s the most outrageous part: They want us to vote on a bill that no one outside majority leader’s conference room has seen. No one has seen it…This entire process is a complete charade.”

McCain says he doesn’t know what’s happening here….in this body…

He’d better get up to speed. He and the other Senate  Republicans need have some tricks up their sleeves to gum up these works.

Hat tip: Gateway Pundit

 Excerpts from  article by George Will, townhall

A person can only be a novelty once, and only briefly, and charm, like any commodity, when used uneconomically becomes a wasting asset. All this is pertinent to the Senate health care debate, now coming to a curious climax amid another glut of careless grandiosity.

Supporters of the Senate bill say it will insure the uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office says 24 million of the 46.3 million uninsured will remain so. Supporters say it will lower aggregate and individual health care spending. The government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the nation’s health care spending and insurance premium costs will increase.

Today there are more independents than Democrats, more independents than Republicans, and according to a recent Gallup poll, independents’ approval of the Democratic-controlled Congress (14 percent) is lower than Republicans’ approval (17 percent). This is partly a function of the majority party’s health care monomania. Consider what happened recently in Kentucky.

There a Republican candidate succeeded in nationalizing a state Senate race. Hugely outspent in a district in which Democrats have a lopsided registration advantage, the Republican won by 12 points a seat in Frankfort by running against Washington — against Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their health care legislation.

A CNN poll shows 36 percent of the public in favor of what the Democratic Senate is trying to do to health care, 61 percent opposed. It is clear what the public wants Congress to do: Take a mulligan and start over.

So Republicans can win in 2009 by stopping the bill, or in 2010 by saying: Unpopular health legislation passed because of a 60-40 party-line decision to bring it to a Senate vote. Therefore each incumbent Democrat is responsible for everything in the law.

MORE…..townhall.com/

…of something. The status of the bill is changing by the hour…

The Senate bill is still running into roadblocks against the goal of passage  before Christmas.

I was hearing last night that Reid had all Dem Senators but one, (Burris), but now I hear that Senators Feingold and Sanders are following suit. Ben Nelson is apparently considered a foregone conclusion. *(or not!)

Dan Perrin, at RedState thinks the left is making a shrewd decision:

…on one hand this bill is so unpopular that it will hurt the cause of health care reform and their push for a single payer system if it passes, and on the other hand, the bill is so bad that it is better to leave the status quo and use the health system’s existing problems as a pole vault to pass a single payer system. From their point of view, it may take longer, but in the end, it is a much smarter strategic decision.

My guess is that the progressives will post more than one NO vote from within the Democratic Senate caucus, and ObamaCare will die.

I hesitate to say this…because I don’t want to give away the secret, but, psssst – hey progressives: your man is in the White House. He wouldn’t be going full throttle, no quarter,  no holds barred,  mowing down all opposition to this watered down hodgepodge in the most ruthless and disgusting ways imaginable, if the end game wasn’t exactly the same thing you desire.

As Mike over at Cold Fury says:

Health-care “reform” is no more about actually reforming anything than the “stimulus” scam was about stimulating the economy, or cap-and-tax is about Climate Change (formerly Global Warming, formerly Global Cooling, formerly “the weather”). It is a naked power-grab, the Grand Prize for years of socialist scheming and dreaming. Once they have that, they have it all– and they know it.

Like the EPA’s recent Declaration of Despotism, asserting regulatory control over the very air we breathe, it is about, as an Obama regime goon recently put it, “command and control.” Period, full stop, end of story. They know they have to pass something, anything, now; they can finish filling in the blanks over the course of the next couple of generations if necessary, until they have the kind of absolute power over formerly free individuals they desire.

Take it from the Communist Party USA writing in today’s edition of the Communist Party USA’s People’s World:

We have a lot to do going forward, so let’s celebrate our struggles and future victories: the struggle to fund education and health care, to bring Obama’s health plan to fruition as a big step forward on the road to a national health service, for jobs and housing for all, against racism and sexism, and for a more just, democratic and peaceful nation and world.

It’s nice to know that the gift the left wants to give the American people for Christmas is fully endorsed by the Communist Party USA.

Luckily for us, the gift may not end up under the tree.

This year, anyway.

Related:

Dang it! Precipice is what I meant to say, not brink….precipice!

UPDATE:

Finally, Senate Republicans are taking defensive actions, forcing the Sanders health care amendment to be read in full.

Hot Air on the latest shenanigans:

Coburn fires warning shot across Senate Democrats’ bow; Update: DeMint joins Coburn, video statement added; Update: DeMint threatens to do the same to entire bill

Good for them. The Dems don’t even care what’s in the bill at this point. They just want to pass something by Christmas. Think again, Dems.

UPDATE II:

Republican Senate.Gov fact checks the Washington Post:

FACT CHECK: “That Would Leave Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) As The Only Known Holdout Among The 60 Lawmakers Who Caucus With Democrats.” – Washington Post, 12/16/09

“But Even Though Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) — The Highest-Profile Holdout In The Democratic Conference — Signaled That The Scaled-Back Package Would Earn His Vote, Intraparty Differences Persisted And A 60-Vote Coalition Remained Elusive.” (“Senate Closes In On Health Care Deal,” Roll Call, 12/16/09)

Democrats Reiterate Concerns With The Bill
SEN. JIM WEBB (D-VA): “Like All Of My Colleagues In The Democratic Party, I Voted In Favor Of Proceeding To Debate The Proposed Health-Care Reform Legislation. I Have Yet To Decide Whether I Will Support Final Passage Of The Bill.” (Sen. Jim Webb, Op-Ed, “Still Undecided,” The Winchester [VA] Star, 12/15/09)

•    SEN. JIM WEBB (D-VA): “I voted five times against proposed cuts to Medicare due to my concerns about taking half a trillion dollars out of that system at a time when the pool for Medicare is about to expand with the retirement of those in the Baby Boom generation. I am a long-time supporter of Medicare Advantage programs which have, in my view, greatly improved services in rural areas of Virginia, and I did not want to see cuts to benefits or services.” (Sen. Jim Webb, Op-Ed, “Still Undecided,” The Winchester [VA] Star, 12/15/09)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): “I Have Not Yet Decided How I Will Vote.” (“Sanders’s Vote Still Up In The Air On Health Care,” The Atlantic’s Politics Blog, 12/16/09)

SEN. ROLAND BURRIS (D-IL): “My Colleagues May Have Forged A Compromise Bill That Can Achieve The 60 Votes That Will Be Needed For Its Passage, But Until This Bill Addresses Cost, Competition, And Accountability In A Meaningful Way, It Will Not Win My Vote. The American people most in need of help know we can do better, and we must do better.” (Sen. Burris, Congressional Record, S.13178, 12/14/09)

SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D-WI): “I Am Not Making A Judgment Until I See The CBO Numbers And That’s Only The Beginning.” (Feingold: I would Have Liked A Stronger Healthcare Bill, The Hill, 12/15/09)

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D-MO): “If We’re Not Saving More Money For Our Government Than We’re Spending, Then Not Only Will I Not Support It.” Q: “No, you’re saying if this doesn’t bend the cost curve, you go back to the drawing board, start all over?” SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D-MO): “My statement all along is it has to slow down the increase of health care costs over time, and that is bending the cost curve, and secondly, that it has to be deficit neutral. We have to be saving more money for our government than we’re spending. And if we’re not saving more money for our government than we’re spending, then not only will I not support it…” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 12/13/09)

BLANCHE LINCOLN (D-AR): “There are a lot of things on the table still and until, you know, we hear back from CBO it’s going to be hard to see whatever I can support, for sure.” (“Landrieu, Lincoln: No ‘Compromise’ Made On Health Bill,” The Hill, 12/9/09)

SEN. BEN NELSON (D-NE): “I’m Not On The Bill … I have spoken with the president and he knows they are not wrapped up today. I think everybody understands they are not wrapped up today and that impression will not be given.” (“Nelson: ‘I’m Not On The Bill’,” Politico, 12/15/09)

Just so you know.

*UPDATE III:

As of December 18, Nelson is the lone Dem hold out on the Senate bill.

The latest twists and turns in the health care bill were discussed on Fox’s Special Report, this afternoon. It looks like they’re going to pass  some watered down, but still hideous monstrosity by Christmas. Without a single Republican vote. With 55-60% of the American people opposed to it. The Dems are gunning for control of 1/6th of the US economy, and ain’t nothin’ or nobody gonna stand in their way:

Perhaps the most galling aspect of this farce is this pretense that they’re doing this “for the American people”:

The American public is “waiting for us to act,” Obama said, “and I don’t intend to let them down.”

The American people want you to kill the bill, and start over.

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN, NEWYORKTIMES

The question is inescapable: by going on national television and threatening to join Republicans to defeat President Obama’s top domestic priority, did Senator Joseph I. Lieberman actually save the Democrats’ big health care bill?

There is no evidence that Mr. Lieberman’s role was scripted. His television comments on Sunday clearly surprised the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada. The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and other top officials rushed to the Capitol for a meeting.

And yet when Democrats emerged from a tense, 90-minute huddle behind closed doors on Monday night, they seemed more determined than ever to pass the health care legislation. Some expressed confidence that it could still be adopted by Christmas.

A sentiment among some lawmakers present seemed to be that if they were intent on not letting Republicans defeat the health care legislation, they certainly were not going to let it fail at the hands of Mr. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent whom many Democrats regard as a traitor.

On some level, Mr. Lieberman appears to accomplish a goal that has eluded party leaders for months: settling a sharp dispute between liberal and centrist Democrats over whether to create a government-run health insurance plan, or public option.

MORE…...nytimes.com/

By: Byron York

To some observers, the Democrats’ race to pass national health care seems irrational — even suicidal. Don’t party leaders understand how much the public opposes the bills currently on the table? Don’t they know that voters are likely to take their revenge at the polls next year? Given that, why do they keep rushing ahead?

Just look at the RealClearPolitics average of polls, which shows that Americans oppose the national health care bills currently on the table by a margin of 53 percent to 38 percent. That’s not just one poll that might tilt right or left, it’s an average of several polls by several pollsters. And the margin of opposition seems to be growing, not diminishing. And yet Democrats seem determined to defy public opinion. Why?

I put the question to a Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous. Yes, Democrats certainly understand that voters don’t like the current bills, he told me, and they are fully aware they will probably pay a price next year. But they have found a way to view going ahead anyway as the logical thing to do, at least in their eyes.

You have to look at the issue from three different Democratic perspectives: the House of Representatives, the White House and the Senate.

“In the House, the view of [California Rep. Henry] Waxman and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi is that we’ve waited two generations to get health care passed, and the 20 or 40 members of Congress who are going to lose their seats as a result are transitional players at best,” he said. “This is something the party has wanted since Franklin Roosevelt.” In this view, losses are just the price of doing something great and historic. (The strategist also noted that it’s easy for Waxman and Pelosi to say that, since they come from safely liberal districts.)

“At the White House, the picture is slightly different,” he continued. “Their view is, ‘We’re all in on this, totally committed, and we don’t have to run for re-election next year. There will never be a better time to do it than now.’”

MORE…...washingtonexaminer.com

Less than two days after I wrote here that “It IS a VERY good bet that the Dems will lose a combined more seats between both houses, than the total 62 they lost in ‘994,” news came that yet another Dem Congressman won’t seek re-election next November. This was the forth chip to fall in less than two weeks.

Some expect that the negative trend of Dems backing off will continue as more Dems see the hand-writing on the wall that ‘10 will be a bad one for the them.

2010 will certainly be bad for Dems if Repubs step up their attacks on the Dems, and point-out that the last time the Repubs ran Capital Hill (as of Dec. 2006), the economy gained monthly almost 200,000 jobs; the unemployment rate was below 4.5%, and the deficit was $163 billion, and continued flying downhill. Putting these numbers alongside the Dems’ record of the last three years, will harm the Dems.

Where things stand today in American Politics, we all may just forget about the 1994 “Republican Revolution,” because the 2010 election will likely be worse for the Dems than was 1994.

Back in 1994, the Repubs picked up 54 House Seats and eight Senate seats, gaining back the majority in both Houses. This time around, the Repubs need 41 House, and 11 Senate seats (10 if they win MA’s Jan. 19 special Senate election) to get back in the driver’s wheel.

It is early to make a clear prediction, but it IS a VERY good bet that the Dems will lose a combined more seats between both houses, than the total 62 they lost in ‘994.

I am not getting into details of each seat; others do that. However, if the Dems do or don’t pass a HCR plan, they are doomed on this issue. In addition, even IF (again, even IF) the US job market starts looking just somewhat decent in a half year from now, the jobs issue, in addition to issues such as budget deficits and taxes, are one that the Repubs have the upper hand, and thus also a much better standing in the upcoming election.

Let the battle begin.

FOX NATION

The Free Flow of Information Act passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday by a vote of 14-6, a measure that gives unprecedented protections to media outlets that leak classified information, like, say, the NSA’s terrorist surveillance program revealed by the New York Times or the CIA’s secret terrorist jails revealed by the Washington Post.  It also for the first time places some national security decisions under the purview of a federal judge.Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, again raised red flags about the so-called media shield law, warning that Democrats voted down in committee amendments specifically designed to protect our troops.
 
“As our troops prepare for a surge in Afghanistan, the majority blocked an amendment to protect the secrecy of troop movements and battle plans,” Sessions said.  “The rejection of these and other amendments recklessly imperils the security of our citizens and our soldiers, and leaves in place a bill that is deeply and fundamentally flawed.”
 
“This legislation will, for the first time in the history of our country, give a federal court privilege to those involved in the criminal leaking of classified information,” Sessions warned.  “It is an unprecedented measure that will further hamstring the government’s ability to keep its most vital operations confidential — even when the lives of innocent Americans are at stake.”
 
Top security and intelligence experts oppose the measure, including former Attorney General Mike Mukasey, Former CIA and NSA Director General Michael Hayden, as well President Obama’s own FBI Director and Secretary of Defense.

FULL ARTICLE….http://www.thefoxnation.com

Obama’s “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg has now targeted the  salaries of midlevel employees at bailed-out companies, with  hopes of having his salary caps adopted industry-wide.

The Obama administration’s pay czar announced on Friday new limits on the pay of middle-level executives at four firms that received government bailout assistance, capping base cash salaries for those employees at $500,000.

The new limits will cut pay for the 26th to 100th highest-paid employees at the four firms under his authority and mandate the form of the compensation and limit perks.

Kenneth Feinberg said he hopes the new pay guidelines will set the standard for U.S. compensation practices. The thrust of the guidelines is to tie executive compensation more closely to the performance of their firms.

The firms covered by the limits are American International Group (AIG 27.57, -1.36, -4.71%) , Citigroup (C 3.92, +0.05, +1.29%) , General Motors and GMAC (GMA 18.75, -0.10, -0.53%) . Chrysler and Chrysler Financial are not covered because they are not paying any employees at this level over $500,000.

In other news:

Feds to get a 2.0% raise, including locality pay

Hat tip: Michelle Malkin