We Awake in a Different Country
Justin Katz
For almost a year, the people of the United States have taken every opportunity to tell their "representatives" not to absorb our healthcare system into the government. Tea Parties, town halls, elections (even unto taking a Massachusetts Senate seat out of Democrat hands), and poll after poll after poll. They didn't care. They've lied. They've gamed every internal analytical system, such that the Congressional Budget Office had to find falsely a deficit reduction. They've taken key votes on hidden days, even Christmas Eve. They've overtly bribed members. They've manipulated the legislative process. And now, like it or not, America, they've forced the costly, detrimental lemon down our throats:
A bloc of pro-life Democrats turned out to be the linchpin to passage of the Senate's massive health insurance overhaul Sunday night, as President Obama cemented a 219-212 victory with a pledge to issue an executive order "clarifying" abortion language in the Senate bill.
The House also voted 220-211 to support a "reconciliation" bill aimed to "fix" provisions in the Senate bill that many House Democrats opposed but viewed as better than nothing.
The one monomaniacal call that must now replace every objection that the American people have raised over the past year is: Repeal.
ADDENDUM:
Here's the vote list. Consult it before you ever vote for an incumbent of this Congress for so much as town garbage sorter.
It was like watching the RI General Assembly on steroids!
Well said, Justin. This is what socialism feels like. Yesterday was a win for the bureaucrats.
I've said before and will say it again: This is only one battle, we have not lost the war against the Obamofascists. and we will not.
This is a law and it can be repealed as early as January, 2011 if conservatives can recapture veto-proof majorities in both houses of Congress. That's a big job, and we are just the sort of people who can do it.
Many of our friends before last night have awakened. Now it is time to act. Remember Churchill, who was at risk of losing his entire country to real, armed Fascists: "We will fight them...never give up". Every morning when you get up, ask yourself "What will I do to advance the cause of Liberty today?" and make it a priority.
One last point: We cannot "vote the bastards out" if we don't have good candidates to vote IN. Elections are funny like that - you don't get to vote against someone, you only get to vote for someone else. Especially you in MA and RI, far too many liberal Democrats have run unopposed in their local elections, guaranteeing their election.
The first step is to find, recruit, and support with your money and your time good people whom you want to see represent you, both in the State House and in Washington.
The second step is to overcome your shyness, get out of the comfort zone of talking only to your like-minded friends on AR, and get out in your communities and agitate. Talk to your neighbors and friends about politics, and get them to think about it and take action. We the People must mobilize against the fascists and the corrupt special interest groups who support them. And never again assume that someone else will do it for you.
Don't bother trying to talk sense into stooges and tools like Stuart, Russ, Lefty, Phil, Thomas and Tara. They are like drug addicts. They will not hear you until they reach their "bottoms" and realize for themselves the existential choice they have to make. But do make the effort to drown them out in the public square.
Well said Justin. Right you are Mike. Away from Washington DC this is not a Democrat vs Republican issue. This is a beaurocracy vs mainstreet issue and it will have a profoundly negative impact on every citizen and on this economy.
The ultimate irony?
"Pro-life" Democrats (talk about the ultimate oxymoron) selling out their supposed moral principles is what put this destructive plan into law.
A little advice for Bart Stupak and friends. Buy some double locks and sleep with one eye open.
Justin, do you just cut and paste your commentary from a Fox News website? You really are mailing it in these days. Your repetition of Republican talking points is masterful. And nice job in avoiding the substance again. You wouldn't want to confuse your readers, most of whom have little patience for such things, what with Rush coming on the air in a few hours and Glen Beck this evening.
"They've manipulated the legislative process." Really? How? The bill passed with majority votes in both chambers. Since when do majority votes in a legislative body constitute "manipulation"?
And now the CBO is a partisan tool manipulating data? Ugh. You know, when your only defense is that the entire world is scheming a grand conspiracy against you (e.g., climate change, CBO estimates, the United Nations, the financial system bailout, etc.), perhaps it's not really a conspiracy. Perhaps you're unhinged.
The people have told their representatives that they don't want health care reform? Please. Elections mean something, Justin. When the Democrats gained control of Congress, after campaigning on a platform that included health care reform, that was the only message that voters needed to send. Elections matter; Fox News polls don't. We don't govern by rallies. A conservative should know this much at least.
Of course, we know that there really is no such thing as a conservative in the historical sense in the Unites States anymore. There certainly isn't on this site. Sure, there are populists who pander to the lowest-common denominator and there are theocrats who would govern based on their fundamentalist beliefs in revealed scripture. And you, Justin, seem to be crafting a perfect melding of the two strains. Bravo.
Pragmatist you can't be that ignorant and naive or can you? All the CBO does is crunch numbers that are presented to them. If Congress wants an analysis from the CBO on how much it will cost to provide every American citizen (300 million) with one apple and they tell the CBO that the cost of each apple is $1 then the CBO will tell Congress their plan will cost $300,000.000.
What the CBO does not consider, because it's not their function, is how the REAL cost of a single apple is $2 and therefore the REAL cost of the program is actually $600,000,000.
CBO answers are only as legitimate as the numbers they're given to work with.
Garbage In = Garbage Out!
Try again Prag!
But I must say Pragmatist that it does warm my heart to know you and your family, friends et al will suffer just as much as the rest of us under ObamaNonCare. You and your loved ones will face rationed healthcare, job losses as businesses scale down to pay for this burden, tax increases because of the hundreds of millions of dollars in unfunded mandates that will crush already bankrupt states like Rhode Island.....etc....etc.....etc....UNLESS of the course the Supreme Court rules this UNConstitutional just before the disasterous for the Democratic party November elections and shoves this piece of marxist crap right up Obama's very wide marxist anal canal.
Stay tuned!!
Somebody get Justin a paper bag. I think he's hyperventilating. My take is that you "conservatives" have short memories...
RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say [the Iraq War is] not worth fighting.
CHENEY: So?
RADDATZ: So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.
The Faux News talking points wouldn't ring so hollow if you actually stood by those principles in Republican administrations.
Thank the Tea Partiers, whose behavior this weekend reminded people why they voted for Obama.
And thank the good folks at Anthem out in California, who stuck their customers with a 39 percent rate hike.
Those two issues probably changed a few minds.
I'm most bothered by the health insurance mandate. It's like a state forcing every person (driver or not) to get car insurance. I think the mandate runs counter to individual freedoms and i'm actually surprised liberals haven't talked about that...at all.
I'm really not looking forward to this legislation.
Rhody, that has already been exposed with conclusive videotape evidence as a lie. Do try to keep up.
"All the CBO does is crunch numbers that are presented to them. If Congress wants an analysis from the CBO on how much it will cost to provide every American citizen (300 million) with one apple and they tell the CBO that the cost of each apple is $1 then the CBO will tell Congress their plan will cost $300,000.000.
What the CBO does not consider, because it's not their function, is how the REAL cost of a single apple is $2 and therefore the REAL cost of the program is actually $600,000,000."
... or that revenue from the sale of the apple is being counted twice. Exactly right, Tim.
"I'm actually surprised liberals haven't talked about that...at all."
They haven't? That's a pretty good indication that you're not reading anything written by actual liberals.
Don-car insurance is mandatory only if you CHOOSE to get a car.This mandated insurance is dictated to you as long as you breathe.Huge difference.
Don sez...
"I'm most bothered by the health insurance mandate. It's like a state forcing every person (driver or not) to get car insurance. I think the mandate runs counter to individual freedoms and i'm actually surprised liberals haven't talked about that...at all."
Don, states mandating (differ from state to state) auto liabilty insurance is completely different from a federal mandate requiring health insurance for every citizen. It's troubling that you see them in the same light.
And why would libs talk about individual freedoms? They're so weak and ineffectual they want da guvment to tell 'em when to have a bowel movement.
Yeah, it was different today - it rained.
You guys are funny! The bill that went through is more toward the right or right-center than the left.
Heck, BILL FRIST said it was a good start! Do you know who he is? Yes, the GOP head of the Senate under GW Bush, and a doctor and also whose family owned a billion dollar health care company!
You folks are nutso!
I know it pains you to actually show respect for the lives and health of fellow Americans - especially when you feel it takes a bite out of Wall Streets corporate profits - but, please, see if you can get over it.
Remember, you same retards didn't want Medicare either. Yet somehow I think you and your family will take it and then fight to protect it.
Hypocrites all. No, this was not a perfect bill. A perfect bill would establish universal health care for all Americans- period.
This is, by my definition, a bill the GOP probably would have advanced and backed had they been in power (but only if forced to by economic realities). After all, they believe only in helping corporations screw people.
Watch carefully now how the Conservatives fight regulation of Wall Street. They would prefer to see some more screwing of the American people.
Don-sorry-I missed "(driver or not)"-my comment was therefore superfluous.
"Retards"??
The politically correct scum sucker Stuart shows his true colors-it doesn't take long for the hate to surface with these pukes.
Oh,and I am not commenting on the bill,this is about Stuie.
C'mon, Stuart, you can't say the R-word. You should know better.
Besides, your name's not Rush Limbaugh.
Rhody-I don't know if you're being sarcastic admonishing Stuart,but there's nothing comical about people born without normal intelligence.I have seen plenty of them do pretty well,since society stopped warehousing them.I don't resent my tax dollars going to the care of severely disabled people.Good care,where they can enjoy life to the extent possible.
I think people who have normal intelligence and just act stupid are schmucks.
Rhody -one more thing-if that guy had done to one of your children what he did to someone else's(God forbid)you'd have been glad I did what I did.You,lacking the discipline I had by training and practice,would likely have killed the guy.And I wouldn't have blamed you.
I'm not saying you are necessarily undisciplined,but just not in the same skills I am.
My daughter suggested I shouldn't be so "schoolyard"with you.She says"relax,Dad,it's a BLOG".I have to say she's not wrong.
Well, Joe, sounds like at least someone in your family has some sense and is a reasonable person.
Glory be!
The funny thing is this - I support my tax money going to even the joes of this country! Whether their pain and suffering is self-inflicted or the bad luck of the draw or simply old age, I support basic health care - given in a civil and modern fashion - to ALL Americans.
On the other hand, the republicans shout "moral hazard" as if going bankrupt, being foreclosed upon and dying in pain is what we each need to make us ethical human beings.
As to the fat tub Opiate Addict Limbaugh, no...I would not have wanted to pay for his Cochlear Implants after he deafened himself with excess opiate abuse. That is where I draw the line - he can afford it himself.
Now you've brought up something that irks me.
Why does Warren Buffet need a social security check?
I paid into Social Security when i was in the service and in various non-Federal jobs I had.While I was in Federal civil service I wes on the old retirement system where we didn't pay into Social Security.In any event I was supposed to get 800 something a month at 62.Turns out I'm getting 324 a month brcause of something called a "windfall elimination provision".What bullsh*t that is.I paid in to the extent of being qualified for the larger amount.I bet Congressional types are exempt.
Also as a Federal retiree I pay the same health premiums as active employees,but theirs are not counted in taxable income while retirees'is.That doesn't seem right.
I frankly don't want to pay for self-inflicted damage done to themselves by junkies,be they Limbaugh or the guy nodding out on the corner.
The bottom line with the health care bill is that they tried to do reform all at once instead of addressing each problem piecemeal where people would have a clear idea of the legislation and its potential consequences.
Also,I don't think mandatory purchasing of coverage will pass a Constitutional challenge.Some of Roosevelt's more ambitious programs were overturned by the Supreme Court.
I doubt Limbaugh took public funds for his treatment.
If you don't like him,don't listen to him.I don't.But a lot of people must,or he wouldn't be making so much money.
Liberals always preach about how dumb we are as a country-Bill maher is about the worst in this regard-well,it wasn't the clown faced parasites like Bill Maher who built and defended this country.
Liberls would rather listen to Rachel Madcow or Chris "Tingling Leg"Matthews I guess.Or even a raving lunatic like Mike Malloy or Keith Olbermann.
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It was like watching the RI General Assembly on steroids!
Posted by: John at March 22, 2010 6:53 AMWell said, Justin. This is what socialism feels like. Yesterday was a win for the bureaucrats.
Posted by: mikeinri at March 22, 2010 7:24 AMI've said before and will say it again: This is only one battle, we have not lost the war against the Obamofascists. and we will not.
This is a law and it can be repealed as early as January, 2011 if conservatives can recapture veto-proof majorities in both houses of Congress. That's a big job, and we are just the sort of people who can do it.
Many of our friends before last night have awakened. Now it is time to act. Remember Churchill, who was at risk of losing his entire country to real, armed Fascists: "We will fight them...never give up". Every morning when you get up, ask yourself "What will I do to advance the cause of Liberty today?" and make it a priority.
One last point: We cannot "vote the bastards out" if we don't have good candidates to vote IN. Elections are funny like that - you don't get to vote against someone, you only get to vote for someone else. Especially you in MA and RI, far too many liberal Democrats have run unopposed in their local elections, guaranteeing their election.
The first step is to find, recruit, and support with your money and your time good people whom you want to see represent you, both in the State House and in Washington.
The second step is to overcome your shyness, get out of the comfort zone of talking only to your like-minded friends on AR, and get out in your communities and agitate. Talk to your neighbors and friends about politics, and get them to think about it and take action. We the People must mobilize against the fascists and the corrupt special interest groups who support them. And never again assume that someone else will do it for you.
Don't bother trying to talk sense into stooges and tools like Stuart, Russ, Lefty, Phil, Thomas and Tara. They are like drug addicts. They will not hear you until they reach their "bottoms" and realize for themselves the existential choice they have to make. But do make the effort to drown them out in the public square.
Posted by: BobN at March 22, 2010 8:29 AMWell said Justin. Right you are Mike. Away from Washington DC this is not a Democrat vs Republican issue. This is a beaurocracy vs mainstreet issue and it will have a profoundly negative impact on every citizen and on this economy.
The ultimate irony?
Posted by: Tim at March 22, 2010 8:44 AM"Pro-life" Democrats (talk about the ultimate oxymoron) selling out their supposed moral principles is what put this destructive plan into law.
A little advice for Bart Stupak and friends. Buy some double locks and sleep with one eye open.
Justin, do you just cut and paste your commentary from a Fox News website? You really are mailing it in these days. Your repetition of Republican talking points is masterful. And nice job in avoiding the substance again. You wouldn't want to confuse your readers, most of whom have little patience for such things, what with Rush coming on the air in a few hours and Glen Beck this evening.
"They've manipulated the legislative process." Really? How? The bill passed with majority votes in both chambers. Since when do majority votes in a legislative body constitute "manipulation"?
And now the CBO is a partisan tool manipulating data? Ugh. You know, when your only defense is that the entire world is scheming a grand conspiracy against you (e.g., climate change, CBO estimates, the United Nations, the financial system bailout, etc.), perhaps it's not really a conspiracy. Perhaps you're unhinged.
The people have told their representatives that they don't want health care reform? Please. Elections mean something, Justin. When the Democrats gained control of Congress, after campaigning on a platform that included health care reform, that was the only message that voters needed to send. Elections matter; Fox News polls don't. We don't govern by rallies. A conservative should know this much at least.
Of course, we know that there really is no such thing as a conservative in the historical sense in the Unites States anymore. There certainly isn't on this site. Sure, there are populists who pander to the lowest-common denominator and there are theocrats who would govern based on their fundamentalist beliefs in revealed scripture. And you, Justin, seem to be crafting a perfect melding of the two strains. Bravo.
Posted by: Pragmatist at March 22, 2010 9:52 AMPragmatist you can't be that ignorant and naive or can you? All the CBO does is crunch numbers that are presented to them. If Congress wants an analysis from the CBO on how much it will cost to provide every American citizen (300 million) with one apple and they tell the CBO that the cost of each apple is $1 then the CBO will tell Congress their plan will cost $300,000.000.
What the CBO does not consider, because it's not their function, is how the REAL cost of a single apple is $2 and therefore the REAL cost of the program is actually $600,000,000.
CBO answers are only as legitimate as the numbers they're given to work with.
Garbage In = Garbage Out!
Try again Prag!
But I must say Pragmatist that it does warm my heart to know you and your family, friends et al will suffer just as much as the rest of us under ObamaNonCare. You and your loved ones will face rationed healthcare, job losses as businesses scale down to pay for this burden, tax increases because of the hundreds of millions of dollars in unfunded mandates that will crush already bankrupt states like Rhode Island.....etc....etc.....etc....UNLESS of the course the Supreme Court rules this UNConstitutional just before the disasterous for the Democratic party November elections and shoves this piece of marxist crap right up Obama's very wide marxist anal canal.
Posted by: Tim at March 22, 2010 10:35 AMStay tuned!!
Somebody get Justin a paper bag. I think he's hyperventilating. My take is that you "conservatives" have short memories...
The Faux News talking points wouldn't ring so hollow if you actually stood by those principles in Republican administrations.
Posted by: Russ at March 22, 2010 11:21 AMThank the Tea Partiers, whose behavior this weekend reminded people why they voted for Obama.
Posted by: rhody at March 22, 2010 12:37 PMAnd thank the good folks at Anthem out in California, who stuck their customers with a 39 percent rate hike.
Those two issues probably changed a few minds.
I'm most bothered by the health insurance mandate. It's like a state forcing every person (driver or not) to get car insurance. I think the mandate runs counter to individual freedoms and i'm actually surprised liberals haven't talked about that...at all.
I'm really not looking forward to this legislation.
Posted by: don roach at March 22, 2010 12:47 PMRhody, that has already been exposed with conclusive videotape evidence as a lie. Do try to keep up.
Posted by: BobN at March 22, 2010 1:35 PM"All the CBO does is crunch numbers that are presented to them. If Congress wants an analysis from the CBO on how much it will cost to provide every American citizen (300 million) with one apple and they tell the CBO that the cost of each apple is $1 then the CBO will tell Congress their plan will cost $300,000.000.
What the CBO does not consider, because it's not their function, is how the REAL cost of a single apple is $2 and therefore the REAL cost of the program is actually $600,000,000."
... or that revenue from the sale of the apple is being counted twice. Exactly right, Tim.
Posted by: Monique at March 22, 2010 2:05 PM"I'm actually surprised liberals haven't talked about that...at all."
They haven't? That's a pretty good indication that you're not reading anything written by actual liberals.
Posted by: Russ at March 22, 2010 3:04 PMDon-car insurance is mandatory only if you CHOOSE to get a car.This mandated insurance is dictated to you as long as you breathe.Huge difference.
Posted by: joe bernstein at March 22, 2010 4:18 PMDon sez...
"I'm most bothered by the health insurance mandate. It's like a state forcing every person (driver or not) to get car insurance. I think the mandate runs counter to individual freedoms and i'm actually surprised liberals haven't talked about that...at all."
Don, states mandating (differ from state to state) auto liabilty insurance is completely different from a federal mandate requiring health insurance for every citizen. It's troubling that you see them in the same light.
Posted by: Tim at March 22, 2010 6:04 PMAnd why would libs talk about individual freedoms? They're so weak and ineffectual they want da guvment to tell 'em when to have a bowel movement.
Yeah, it was different today - it rained.
You guys are funny! The bill that went through is more toward the right or right-center than the left.
Heck, BILL FRIST said it was a good start! Do you know who he is? Yes, the GOP head of the Senate under GW Bush, and a doctor and also whose family owned a billion dollar health care company!
You folks are nutso!
I know it pains you to actually show respect for the lives and health of fellow Americans - especially when you feel it takes a bite out of Wall Streets corporate profits - but, please, see if you can get over it.
Remember, you same retards didn't want Medicare either. Yet somehow I think you and your family will take it and then fight to protect it.
Hypocrites all. No, this was not a perfect bill. A perfect bill would establish universal health care for all Americans- period.
This is, by my definition, a bill the GOP probably would have advanced and backed had they been in power (but only if forced to by economic realities). After all, they believe only in helping corporations screw people.
Watch carefully now how the Conservatives fight regulation of Wall Street. They would prefer to see some more screwing of the American people.
Posted by: Stuart at March 22, 2010 8:09 PMDon-sorry-I missed "(driver or not)"-my comment was therefore superfluous.
Posted by: joe bernstein at March 22, 2010 8:09 PM"Retards"??
Posted by: joe bernstein at March 22, 2010 9:31 PMThe politically correct scum sucker Stuart shows his true colors-it doesn't take long for the hate to surface with these pukes.
Oh,and I am not commenting on the bill,this is about Stuie.
C'mon, Stuart, you can't say the R-word. You should know better.
Posted by: rhody at March 23, 2010 12:26 PMBesides, your name's not Rush Limbaugh.
Rhody-I don't know if you're being sarcastic admonishing Stuart,but there's nothing comical about people born without normal intelligence.I have seen plenty of them do pretty well,since society stopped warehousing them.I don't resent my tax dollars going to the care of severely disabled people.Good care,where they can enjoy life to the extent possible.
Posted by: joe bernstein at March 23, 2010 3:06 PMI think people who have normal intelligence and just act stupid are schmucks.
Rhody -one more thing-if that guy had done to one of your children what he did to someone else's(God forbid)you'd have been glad I did what I did.You,lacking the discipline I had by training and practice,would likely have killed the guy.And I wouldn't have blamed you.
Posted by: joe bernstein at March 23, 2010 3:15 PMI'm not saying you are necessarily undisciplined,but just not in the same skills I am.
My daughter suggested I shouldn't be so "schoolyard"with you.She says"relax,Dad,it's a BLOG".I have to say she's not wrong.
Well, Joe, sounds like at least someone in your family has some sense and is a reasonable person.
Glory be!
The funny thing is this - I support my tax money going to even the joes of this country! Whether their pain and suffering is self-inflicted or the bad luck of the draw or simply old age, I support basic health care - given in a civil and modern fashion - to ALL Americans.
On the other hand, the republicans shout "moral hazard" as if going bankrupt, being foreclosed upon and dying in pain is what we each need to make us ethical human beings.
As to the fat tub Opiate Addict Limbaugh, no...I would not have wanted to pay for his Cochlear Implants after he deafened himself with excess opiate abuse. That is where I draw the line - he can afford it himself.
Posted by: Stuart at March 23, 2010 5:27 PMNow you've brought up something that irks me.
Posted by: joe bernstein at March 24, 2010 12:19 AMWhy does Warren Buffet need a social security check?
I paid into Social Security when i was in the service and in various non-Federal jobs I had.While I was in Federal civil service I wes on the old retirement system where we didn't pay into Social Security.In any event I was supposed to get 800 something a month at 62.Turns out I'm getting 324 a month brcause of something called a "windfall elimination provision".What bullsh*t that is.I paid in to the extent of being qualified for the larger amount.I bet Congressional types are exempt.
Also as a Federal retiree I pay the same health premiums as active employees,but theirs are not counted in taxable income while retirees'is.That doesn't seem right.
I frankly don't want to pay for self-inflicted damage done to themselves by junkies,be they Limbaugh or the guy nodding out on the corner.
The bottom line with the health care bill is that they tried to do reform all at once instead of addressing each problem piecemeal where people would have a clear idea of the legislation and its potential consequences.
Also,I don't think mandatory purchasing of coverage will pass a Constitutional challenge.Some of Roosevelt's more ambitious programs were overturned by the Supreme Court.
I doubt Limbaugh took public funds for his treatment.
If you don't like him,don't listen to him.I don't.But a lot of people must,or he wouldn't be making so much money.
Liberals always preach about how dumb we are as a country-Bill maher is about the worst in this regard-well,it wasn't the clown faced parasites like Bill Maher who built and defended this country.
Liberls would rather listen to Rachel Madcow or Chris "Tingling Leg"Matthews I guess.Or even a raving lunatic like Mike Malloy or Keith Olbermann.