Posted on 04/28/2009 3:44:51 AM PDT by Scanian
If President Obama believes so much in open government, why is he trying to block an honest, open debate in Congress over his health-care scheme?
Blocking debate is precisely what's behind the effort by the White House and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to fast-track health-care reform via a parliamentary trick called "reconciliation."
Such a process would drastically limit the ability by Republicans and other Democrats to slow down or amend legislation that could reshape one-sixth of the US economy.
And just maybe destroy the best health-care system on earth.
"Reconciliation" is a parliamentary device originally intended to limit Senate debate over the budget. Only 20 hours of debate are permitted; filibustering is not allowed, and the number of amendments is also limited.
Since the federal budget is supposed to become law by Oct. 1, it makes sense that this aspect of the legislative process be passed with a simple majority vote, rather than the 60-plus votes other bills often require if subject to filibuster.
So far, so good.
But Obama wants to include his $634 billion so-called "down-payment" on national health-care "reform" as part of this year's $3.5 trillion-plus budget -- using the reconciliation process as a dodge to avoid a full debate.
Given that Democrats now hold just 58 seats in the Senate, it's unlikely that a more open approach would work.
Recall that, back in 1993 and '94, it was a Democratic-controlled Senate that helped sink the Hillary Clinton-designed health-care "reforms."
Clintoncare collapsed because it was bad legislation in service to an even worse concept -- a nationalized health-care system.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Maybe? Perhaps the agenda behind the stated goals is just that: destroying health-care as we know it. All the 'rat talk now about reconciliation as a last resort is a maneuver to use it, while blaming opponents and even concerned "conservative" democrats.
It’s nothing short of a Socialist takeover. Yesterday GM basically offered to give their company to the Government and now the Government will force Doctors to accept people who don’t have the ability or just won’t pay. Companies will just drop their health insurance plans for employees because they know the Government (taxpayers) will pay the bills. This will cost every single Taxpaying American over $4,000 a year and the Government doesn’t seem to care.
There are absolutely no words..NONE...on this planet to demonstrate how enraged this makes me.
About ten years ago, my beloved sister was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s. She was married with two young kids at the time and of course, we were petrified. Thank God we were in Cleveland (the weather might suck but if you’re going to get sick, please get sick in Cleveland, gang!). I accompanied her to her treatment. What shocked me was how many Canadians were there. I must plead naivete here; I had no idea. While she was getting her chemo, I’d talk to them in the waiting rooms. I was stunned by the things they told me.
On NO day, will I ever come to FreeRepublic and advocate socialized medicine. You guys can write that down and tie it to my screenname. NEVER. And I was recently laid off. But I STILL do not favor it. I’m currently uninsured and I will not go down that road. That will be the cancer we will be unable to cure, I’m positive.
To finish the story, I am happy to report that my sister is alive and well, thanks to the Cleveland Clinic.
Her hair grew back, she’s as lovely as ever, but more importantly....full of peace, love, and rock n’ roll. She’s already been to the edge. She’s a changed woman. And better for it.
And quite honestly, so am I. :)
The average Democrat voter literally does not understand where the money comes from. Many Democrats have been on government support all their lives. Others have worked at government jobs with plush benefits all their lives. They view government as a bottomless pit of money and can't understand why we didn't spend that money sooner.
The taxpayers are now an unprotected minority in America. We will suffer greatly over the next few decades.
Yesterday I heard that the GOP senators can shut the Senate down by requiring that every line of every bill be read, then request it be re-read. They do this until Reid et al stop their gestapo techniques. Funny we never heard of “reconciliation” when Mr Nice Guy Frist was in charge, or Trent Lott, our favorite male cheerleader. When will the GOP learn to do battle?
The sine flu pandemic is playing right into socialist hands.
Without a global pandemic to strain the current healthcare system to its limits we can’t install a national government run healthcare and insurance system.
*pounding my head on monitor*
Please Lord, let this nightmare end. Any chance of a dinner of bad fish or something?
I’m not sure how you can force a doctor to take your case. If he is not taking new patients then he just won’t see you. If you won’t follow his advice he can drop you as a patient.
However if it turns out you can force them I am going in for a tummy tuck and boob job.;^)
I’m not going to force them but the Government will.
Atlas will shrug. Maybe not fully, but many of us will find creative ways of living at least partially below their radar.
I’m involved in agriculture, and I believe that most farmers are Republicans. And most farmers are recipients of large sums of federal money. Too many people are on the teat of government and we shall never be what we once were until we kill the sow and render the fat.
This is one of the prime reasons no debate is wanted. In essence the dem health care (in fact all socialized health care) is about who gets its and when. In short its about throttling/rationing care. The dems are a culture of death.
You mean like they wouldnt allow Newt to debate Al Gore?
The decision has already been made, they dont need no steenking debate.
I live in a farming community in rural Minnesota. Many of the local farmers are social and fiscal conservatives, but none of them turn down the government subsidies. The Democrat Party is known as the Democrat-Farm-Labor (DFL) Party in Minnesota. Many of those conservative farmers mindlessly vote for DFL candidates even though the DFL stands against their principles.
Our problem as conservatives is threefold. First, the mainstream media controls what Americans hear in the news and skew the content and perspective. In parallel, our public schools are liberal indoctrination centers. Secondly, as many DFL voters in Minnesota demonstrate, a substantial number of people stupidly vote against their own principles. And finally, the taxpayers are now outnumbered by those getting government payouts in the form of welfare, EIC, farm subsidies and so on.
For my part, I try to win people over to the conservative side one person at a time.
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