UPDATE: March 12, 2010 4:00 p.m. (CST)
Another frenetic day of meetings behind closed doors, with some “traditional” Democratic constituencies now saying they are disappointed with the health care bill provisions. Some very bizarre turns today.
216 NO votes are needed to kill the health care bill, NRCC Code Red website counts 201 NO’s at this hour.
One of the most freakish examples of how determined this administration is to pass a health care ”something-anything” comes from National Review Online, whose Robert Costa caught up with pro-life Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak, heading home to Michigan at the airport.
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) says he will remain a Democrat, but describes a very chilling discussions with Democratic leadership in which he was told federal funding for abortions need to be allowed under the health care bill because it is “too expensive” to have all these babies. ( Remember, House Speaker Pelosi is a Roman Catholic with five of her own children but is pro-abortion)
“What are Democratic leaders saying? “If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That’s one of the arguments I’ve been hearing,” Stupak says. “Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue — come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life we’re talking about.”
If Obamacare passes, Stupak says, it could signal the end of any meaningful role for pro-life Democrats within their own party. “It would be very, very hard for someone who is a right-to-life Democrat to run for office,” he says. “I won’t leave the party. I’m more comfortable here and still believe in a role within it for the right-to-life cause, but this bill will make being a pro-life Democrat much more difficult. They don’t even want to debate this issue. We’ll probably have to wait until the Republicans take back the majority to fix this.”
HOW can Stupak remain a Democrat under these circumstances and with this type of moral “disconnect” in his party?
Meanwhile, Mona Charen of National Review Online says Democrats definitely do not want the public to understand that the national health care bill contains language which will mandate broad new racial “quotas” for medical schools.
Hispanics like Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) tell Politico.com they are now going sour on the health care bill because the Senate version doesn’t give illegal aliens enough access to national health care. ( the bill isn’t “liberal” enough for Gutierrez who is co-sponsoring, BTW, a huge new amnesty bill just in time to flood the country with illegals before the fall elections (should it pass.)
Here are more headlines from the National Republican Congressional Committee Code Red website:
Two More Dems to Vote ‘No’ on Healthcare Takeover
Number of ‘No’ votes now at 201.Chandler Finally Speaks Up with a ‘NO,’ Guitierrez Reiterates Opposition
Dem Rep Ben Chandler of Kentucky, a prominent Blue Dog who voted No last time but has since been undecided, will vote against the Senate bill.If Dems Government Healthcare Takeover Is As Important As They Say, Why Are Their Candidates So Quiet About It?
Hardly any Democrat running for Congress seems to want to talk about healthcare.Wall Street Journal Highlights Project Code Red/Pomeroy Billboard In Bismarck
With a final vote drawing near on President Barack Obama’s health overhaul, Republicans’ latest strategy can be neatly summarized: scare the daylights out of House Democrats.Pelosi Says Stupak Is “Wrong” And Will Vote For Final Legislation (VIDEO)
Garden State Thumbs Down – 68% Of New Jersey Voters Want Congress To Start Over
Most New Jerseyans say the nation’s health care system needs to be reformed, but a new poll finds they’ve soured on the proposal now before Congress.Stupak Doesn’t See How Dems Get The Votes By March 18th
“‘I don’t see how they’re going to get the votes to pass healthcare, no matter what procedure they use, if they want to do it by March 18th,’ Stupak said during an appearance Thursday evening on Fox News.”No Surprise Here – Retiring Rep. Vic Snyder A ‘YES’
Retiring Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) said Thursday he’s inclined to vote to advance healthcare reform in the House.Hoyer Says He Doesn’t Need Stupak
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday he believes House leaders can get the votes for President Barack Obama’s health care reform package without changing the abortion language in the Senate bill.
UPDATE: March 11, 2010 7:30 p.m. (PST)
The National Republican Congressional Committee has set up a special website to help voters monitor the health care voting, to help with phone-calling, and to provide all the latest news on what kinds of procedural approaches are being used to subvert the standard progression of bills in Congress.
We are truly in a constitutional crisis. The NRCC website is a great resource to stay connected to the very latest throughout the day and over the weekend. I have placed a "Code Red" Twitter Box on the right panel of my website front page...so you can check there for new items...I will leave this Code Red headline story at the top of the front page so that you can look for updates here too. Our California Congressional Democrats from the bay area may be in "motion": Jerry McNerney in District 11, a former YES vote, is waffling and may vote no. Lynn Woolsey in Marin District 6 is indicating she may switch to a NO vote. Pressure our California Democrats.
Here are some articles on the latest "moves" from Code Red.
Gabby Giffords is WRONG on healthcare
Check out the latest Code Red ad targeting Demcorat Rep. Giffords (AZ-08)
Ruling Kills Effort to Ram-Through Goverment Takeover of Healthcare
The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.
New ‘NO’ Votes? Oberstar, Dahlkemper, Driehaus, And Berry Cited As Opposed To Senate Bill
Other Democratic representatives who voted yes on the House bill but are a no vote if the Senate language remains are Reps. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania, Steve Driehaus of Ohio and Marion Berry of Arkansas.
Holden Remains A ‘NO’ Due To Medicare Cuts, Pro-Abortion Language
About 30 Schuylkill County conservatives came to U.S. Rep. Tim Holden's Pottsville office Wednesday night with a simple message about the health care reform debate.
After Expressing Concern For Senate Bill, Gabby Giffords (AZ-08) Finds Herself On The Receiving End Of Project Code Red
Expect to get a little health care with your basketball today.
Plans For More Code Red TV Ads Noted
The NRCC will run the same spot — a version of which targeted Earl Pomeroy — in multiple other districts of Dems who voted Yes last time and are now wavering ...
Michael Barone Asks Whether Speaker Pelosi Can Get The Votes, And Concludes The Math “Doesn’t Add Up”
Are there enough votes in the House to pass the Senate's health-care bill?
Is Pelosi Rigging Committees to Win Votes for a Government Takeover of Healthcare?
Speaker Nancy Pelosi removed Charlie Melancon (LA-03), who voted against the House healthcare bill and is retiring to run for the U.S. Senate, from the House Budget Committee and replaced him with Dennis Moore (KS-03), a known supporter of a government takeover of healthcare who is also retiring.
Joe Donnelly (IN-02) Runs from Record, Now a ‘NO’
Donnelly feels the heat from previous ‘YES’ vote, announces switch to ‘NO’ due to abortion funding
March 11, 2010 7 a.m. (PST)
It is the ultimate hijack of the political process. Heads should roll over this, but will they?
So the 2700-page health care bill that noone read before voting on it, is now going to be passed into law with no vote?
Behind closed doors, the "transparent" administration is figuring out the Parliamentary "tricks" that can be used to pass a national health care plan WITHOUT another vote. Yes, no reconciliation, no counting who's voting which way....there is a way (not constitutional or legal, but that will have to be fought LATER and will the GOP have the gumption to fight and fight and fight?)
Brian Darling of Red State.com explains the intricacies.
In the meantime, Democrats are crowing that with this power play and a few more, Democrats will lose seats but will NOT lose control of the House and Senate this fall. Read Brent Budowsky at the Hill.
In the meantime, Barack Obama has no support for his health care bill from a voice of reason in his own family.
Dr. Milton R. Wolf is a radiologist in Kansas and is Barack Obama's second cousin. He wrote a scathing editorial in today's Washington Times criticizing the Obama's proposed national health care plan. Dr. Wolf says the national health care plan as proposed, will cost taxpayers more and will COST LIVES. Here are excerpts:
"Obamacare proponents would have us believe that we will add 30 million patients to the system without adding providers, we will see no decline in the quality of care for the millions of Americans currently happy with the system, and -if you act now!- we will save money in the process. But why stop there? Why not promise it will no longer rain on weekends and every day will be a great hair day?
America has the finest health care delivery system in the world. Let's not forget that and put it at risk in the name of reform. Desperate souls across the globe flock to our shores and cross our borders every day to seek our care. Why? Our system provides cures while the government-run systems from which they flee do not. Compare Europe's common cancer mortality rates to America's: breast cancer - 52 percent higher in Germany and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom; prostate cancer - a staggering 604 percent higher in the United Kingdom and 457 percent higher in Norway; colon cancer - 40 percent higher in the United Kingdom.
Look closer at the United Kingdom. Britain's higher cancer mortality rate results in 25,000 more cancer deaths per year compared to a similar population size in the United States. But because the U.S. population is roughly five times larger than the United Kingdom's, that would translate into 125,000 unnecessary American cancer deaths every year. This is more than all the mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, cousins and children in Topeka, Kan. And keep in mind, these numbers are for cancer alone. America also has better survival rates for other major killers, such as heart attacks and strokes. Whatever we do, let us not surrender the great gains we have made. First, do no harm. Lives are at stake.
The justification for Obamacare has been to control costs, but the problem is there is little in Obamacare that will do that. Instead, there are provisions that will ration care and artificially set price. This is a confusion of costs and price.
As one example, consider the implications of Obamacare's financial penalty aimed at your doctor if he seeks the expert care he has determined you need. If your doctor is in the top 10 percent of primary care physicians who refer patients to specialists most frequently - no matter how valid the reasons - he will face a 5 percent penalty on all their Medicare reimbursements for the entire year. This scheme is specifically designed to deny you the chance to see a specialist. Each year, the insidious nature of that arbitrary 10 percent rule will make things even worse as 100 percent of doctors try to stay off that list. Many doctors will try to avoid the sickest patients, and others will simply refuse to accept Medicare. Already, 42 percent of doctors have chosen that route, and it will get worse. Your mother's shiny government-issued Medicare health card is meaningless without doctors who will accept it.
Obamacare will further diminish access to health care by lowering reimbursements for medical care without regard to the costs of that care. Price controls have failed spectacularly wherever they've been tried. They have turned neighborhoods into slums and have caused supply chains to dry up when producers can no longer profit from providing their goods. Remember the Carter-era gas lines? Medical care is not immune from this economic reality. We cannot hope that our best and brightest will pursue a career in medicine, setting aside years of their lives - for me, 13 years of school and training - to enter a field that might not even pay for the student loans it took to get there."
Dr. Wolf's entire article is here.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
For an educated man, Brent Budowsky doesn’t impress me much. Jane, I suggest you save his prediction and then mop the floor with him come November. He’s WAY out to lunch with wishful thinking, rather than reasoned, learned political predictions.
I’m no trained expert, but I’d bet a Ben Franklin that my prediction will come a LOT closer than his.
He’s a Democrat Party shill – and what would you expect from a former long time employee of Lloyd Bentson?
I agree with you Dell….I included his comments because I wanted everyone to see what scenario some Democrats are drawing for the fall…..Karl Rove has also said that the House may not be won back. Michele Bachmann said today on Sean Hannity show that she has a target on her back. Dems are raising huge sums to take her out. Pelosi has said her main election goal is to get rid of Michele B. So I put Brent’s stuff out there to be an inspiration…to WORK HARDER.
James Joseph Enright
These tricks the Demos. are trotting out to pass Health Care without a vote are unconstitutional. All patriots should express outrage at these tactics. Rep. Slaughter of NY, who is pushing for these tricks should be run out of Congress for clearly not upholding the Constitution.
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Santo Lippo commented on your status:
“The Stupak Seven will be the only ones able to Stop the BILL.
Let us see if they want to stay in office or end their Political careers.”
Gregory Shirk commented on your status:
“I don’t think they can pass it!”
James Harrington commented on your link:
“How about self respect. How can you resect anything if you don’t have that?”
Susan Musselman Fink commented on your link:
“Responsibilities? The Government can’t allow us to have those… then we wouldn’t need THEM.”
Vicki L Newton-Carter commented on your link:
“what ever happened to birth control and responsiblity?”
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