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WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats proposed a 5% surtax on people earning more than $1 million a year to pay for the $447 billion cost of President Barack Obama's job-creation bill, in a move designed to shore up their party's support for the measure. The proposal would replace the range of tax deductions for wealthy people, oil companies and other businesses that the president had proposed to end to offset the cost of the job-creation initiatives in his plan. WSJ Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray and Evan Newmark discuss the politics of the proposed 5% surtax on millionaires put forth by Senate democrats....

The co-chairwoman of the Blue Dog Coalition says that using a controversial "deem and pass" mechanism to pass healthcare reform would be "poison."In a conference call with reporters today, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), who is a "firm no" on the bill itself, said the process Democrats are considering would spell disaster for the climate in Congress."While deeming, like reconciliation, has been used by Republicans and Democrats in the past, the context in which it would be used in this case leads me to conclude that it would poison an already terribly partisan atmosphere and leave the Congress even less...

In a curious development given the fact that the overwhelming majority of voters oppose the government takeover of healthcare, Democrats are now mocking voters who protest ObamaCare. Ben Smith at Politico is reporting that the Democratic National Committee mocked the Tea Party protesters in Washington as they gathered to confront Congressmen and Senators personally, in their offices, on the 2-trillion-dollar dismantling of the U.S. Healthcare System. At issue is the number of attendees.

Self-execution rule is right! The latest Fox News Poll was just released and it reflects the degree of anger and disenfranchisement Americans feel about their federal government, spurred on by the Obamcare poll that very few want. And the closer we get to the final vote that anger accelerates. Below are some key findings:

The two pending health bills are about health care and expanding health insurance coverage. They’re not about fiscal stimulus, nor about building highways, hiring teachers, or cutting State taxes. Right? Then why does the second health care bill provide sixteen States and DC with billions of dollars in unrestricted funding, spending which would produce no change in health insurance enrollment? According to the description of the new second health bill just released by Congressional Democratic Leaders, sixteen States and DC will receive billions of new dollars that they will be able to use for any purpose. This funding is, in...

I'll be honest. I had started to wonder whether this Slaughter Rule business was a bait-and-switch. I couldn't imagine that, with the pounding Democratic leadership have taken over the deem-and-pass strategy, there was any profit left in pushing it. After all, the point was to provide Democrats with political cover, via procedural obscurity, for a vote in favor of the Senate bill. But the procedure is no longer obscure and the cover is now a fig leaf. That's why I find it genuinely amazing that the House just defeated a Republican measure to block the Slaughter Rule by a vote...

SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: I want to send a couple of messages to my colleagues in the House. If you voted no and you vote yes, and you lose your election, and you think any nomination to a federal position isn't going to be held in the Senate, I've got news for you. It's going to be held. Number two is, if you get a deal, a parochial deal for you or your district, I've already instructed my staff and the staff of seven other senators that we will look at every appropriations bill, at every level, at every...

Not so fast. Democrats poised to use the so-called "deem and pass" strategy to force through a health care bill will have to deal with Mark Levin first. Levin, known to his fans as one of the most popular talk show hosts in the country, is also both a legal scholar and longtime president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a nonprofit, public interest law firm A former chief of staff to Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese III, Levin is the author of two New York Times bestselling books on the Constitution and the judiciary, the last, Liberty and Tyranny, at...

Enough is enough! If these CRAZIES in the majority can DEEM a BILL passed, we should just DEEM our taxes paid.

Howard Stern finally realizes that RATS are red -- and says he'll never, never, never vote for one again. Really.

Obama et al. refuse to give up the fight to pass health care “reform” even though they have lost the battle in the public square in what has become a year- long war between Tea Party Patriots and Washington D.C. Delaying a planned trip overseas this weekend, the President will wait for Congress to “vote” on Obamacare and has demanded an end to debate on the issue. “The time for talking is over, let the bill have a vote” the President begs. But this isn’t about an up or down vote anymore, so determined to pass the bill, it doesn’t...

Under budget rules, any reconciliation bill must reduce the deficit by at least $1 billion. According to the CBO, the reconciliation bill reduces deficits by $19.8 billion over 10 years. However, as the final page of the CBO report notes, higher education spending changes — student loan subsidies — account for $19.4 billion. Which means that the reconciliation changes related to health care only reduce the deficit by $0.4 billion.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday asked Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, to take a fresh look at the language on abortion in the Senate health care bill to see whether he could, in good conscience, support landmark health care legislation now days from a final vote. Cao, the only Republican to vote for the health care bill in either the House or Senate, said he would take another look. "He's asked if I would restudy the Senate language and that I would approach it with an open mind. And I promised that I would go back and study the...

Not too many times will you see Pence get heated on the House floor. Pence: "The Democrats are prepared to ram through a one trillion dollar government takeover of health care...Ignoring the will of the American people, twisting the rules of the House and the Senate into a pretzel, we're headed for a showdown this weekend, but I got to tell you, I like our chances. The reason House Democrats don't have the votes is because the American people know this is a government takeover of health care, mandating that every American purchase health care whether they want it or...

Even one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s floor whips, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, says a proposed parliamentary move to pass health-care reform would be “disingenuous” and harm the credibility of Congress. In a sign of how tough it’s been for Pelosi to round up votes for the massive bill, Lynch - a South Boston Democrat who supported a House reform package last year - said he’ll probably vote against a key Senate version of the legislation, unless unexpected major changes are made soon. Lynch, who serves as one of Pelosi’s key vote counters, said he also can’t support a proposed...

Forget “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” All Mrs. Martin had to do was stay in her seat, and she landed another blow against Obamacare. Mrs. Martin, aka Ingrid, is an unemployed health care professional from Ohio. A friend took her along to see President Barack Obama’s “Health Care Hallelujah” speech in Strongsville Monday, where she wound up in the front row, listening in disbelief. “I crossed my hand and bit my lips a couple of time, and when he made his Medicare claim I said ‘no, no, no,’ As he shook hands after the speech, he asked her, “Are you...

Remember when Democrats mocked Jim DeMint for calling ObamaCare the President’s “Waterloo”? Apparently, that’s stopped being a bug and is now a feature, at least according to Barack Obama. In a pitch aimed at convincing skeptical members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to back the Senate version of the bill, Obama told them that the “fate of his presidency” depended on winning this vote: President Barack Obama had exhausted most of his health care reform arguments with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during a White House meeting last Thursday when he made a more personal pitch that resonated with...

Talking Points Memo for Democrats, living up to its name, is providing the White House’s talking points on health care. Obamacare is to be voted on amid a final orgy of distortions and misinformation. Talking point: The plan gives Americans, rather than government or health insurers, more control over their health insurance. Reality: While you may want to go without insurance - especially once the government is done remaking it - the government will make you fork over cash to the insurance companies. If you want to buy a cheap catastrophic policy, the government will tell insurance companies not to...

Post 'em here.

The unconstitutional process taking place in Washington DC has most Americans feeling like they are living in the Twilight Zone. Since when is wiping out private health care a method of “reforming” private health care, and on what basis is Obama “gaining supporters” for his plan when the bill hasn’t even been written or reported on by the CBO yet? There is NO honest open debate happening on a piece of legislation that nobody has seen yet. But that hasn’t stopped Obama & Co. from twisting arms to gain support for a bill that doesn’t exist, despite the fact that...

Landmark Legal Foundation president and Talk Radio powerhouse Mark Levin promised today that his foundation will file suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare if it is approved in the House using the Slaughter Solution. “Landmark has already prepared a lawsuit that will be filed in federal court the moment the House acts. Such a brazen violation of the core functions of Congress simply cannot be ignored. Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution is clear respecting the manner in which a bill becomes law. Members are required to vote on this bill, not claim they did when...

... Thirty-eight percent rated Obama good at improving the economy, compared to 61 percent a year ago. "The declines are understandable, given the high expectations for Obama when he took office and the erosion in his overall job approval rating over the past year," Gallup officials said in a release. Gallup polled 1,014 U.S. adults between March 4-7. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percent.

Where is the CBO score? There were hints the score would come last week. The by the weekend. Then Monday. Then Tuesday. Earlier today, Talking Points Memo reported that "multiple sources in the House and Senate" said to expect a score by "late today." NBC's Luke Russert just tweeted that the score would be out by 7:30 p.m. today.

The gall! The nerve! The rank incompetence and unmitigated mendacity of this goat rodeo called Congress! No supply of adjectives will do the Obamacare injustice justice – but one word that must not be left out is cowardice. Watch the Trifecta team and comment here: http://pjtv.com/v/3253

Unconstitutional Health Care Solution? Law professor breaks down the legality of Dems pushing through reform without a vote

Members of the Shasta Cascade Progressive Democrats were vastly outnumbered at their own Redding rally today by members of the conservative Redding Tea Party Patriots. The Democrats had planned a noon “Healthcare not Warfare Brown Bag Lunch Vigil” today in front of Rep. Wally Herger’s office today. But 18 Tea Party members showed up before any Democrats arrived. By the time the shouting and debating was over, it was four Democrats to 36 Tea Party members. Democrat Melita Bena of Redding said that even though her group was outnumbered, she felt it was a success. “We’re not outnumbered. We’re all...

Nancy Pelosi is a coward, a bully and a hypocrite -- and Barack Obama is hiding behind her skirts. So what does that make him? Pelosi obviously can't find enough votes in her own party for ObamaCare, so the House speaker is preparing to approve the president's health-care bill by legislative legerdemain -- that is, by not voting on it. And to hell with the Constitution. Not to mention President Obama's long-abandoned vow that the health-care-reform process would be "completely open and transparent." Indeed, Pelosi has just the opposite in mind: She intends to employ an arcane bit of backroom...

Let us consider the following from our President: "And the truth is, what's at stake in this debate, it's not just our ability to solve this problem; it's about our ability to solve any problem." Pondering this statement, I began to wonder who determines the problems needing to be solved? According to recent surveys it would most certainly not be the American People, as the most recent Gallup survey clearly illustrates both Unemployment and the Economy weigh heavier on the collective consciousness. So, why then is our President so singularly focused on the Healthcare initiative? Being obvious now whom is...

Obama On House Health Vote: A Vote's A Vote WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama indicated Wednesday that he does not oppose plans by House Democrats to pass his much-challenged health care overhaul without a direct vote. "I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or Senate. What I can tell you is that the vote that's taken in the House will be a vote for health care reform," Obama said in an interview with Fox News. "If people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote...

CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told House Appropriations Legislative subcommittee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) that his staff has been working “100-hour weeks” and cannot keep up with the budgetary and economic impact queries lawmakers have about health care.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday traded fire with Republicans over a procedural rule that would allow House members to pass sweeping health care changes without a direct up-or-down vote on the Senate-passed version of the legislation. Republicans are riveting their fire on the maneuver - which could marry Senate health care legislation that some of her members don't like with "fixes" that they do - as possibly their last chance to stop the nearly $1 trillion, 10-year plan as it nears a make-or-break vote as soon as this weekend. The vote promises to be extremely close, and Pelosi has...

I see only one of two options to stop this hideous, onerous, and unconstitutional bill masquerading as healthcare reform. Know this, there is nothing, and I mean nothing in this bill that will reform, improve, or expand healthcare. If you’re naïve enough to think otherwise, then you’re beyond help and do not have the ability to think rationally nor do you understand the Constitution. Not only is the mandate in this bill unconstitutional to force FREE citizens (for now) to buy healthcare, so is the process they’re trying to use to ram this up our butt. What they are planning...

New Poll Finds Americans Really, Really Don’t Like Obamacare …Update: 46% of Doctors Consider Quitting Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Jim Hoft It’s beyond sleazy. A new poll shows that Obamacare is very unpopular with the majority of Americans. Pajamas Media reported: Today, the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest Advance (CMPI-A), in partnership with Pajamas Media, is releasing national survey data on Americans’ views of the proposed health care reform legislation before Congress… The CMPI-A/PJM poll demonstrates an extremely high level of concern with the current bill: · Six in ten Americans (60%) agree that a current Democrat proposal...

"For the first time in eight months the president is finally getting his hands dirty, and now he's going to hop on the plane? Please," said a Democratic congressman, who requested anonymity. ...Another Democrat told POLITICO that "this trip is really getting in the way of things."

Obviously all the Liberals "Protected Classes" will be covered and get their health care...but will certain people be deamed second or third class citizens? Could the bill be struck down for this reason as well as the other reasons it's unconstitutional?? I see a "Class System" because the Gov't will use HC to tell people how to live...but they won't stop their "Protected" classes from engaging in RISKY behavior...Such as Homosexuals engaging in multiple partners or unprotected encounters. However, a White Republican Straight Male like myself will probably be told there isn't enough money for a knee surgery....(Gotta save money...For...

President Obama is not worried about the "procedural" debate over whether House Democratic leaders should go ahead with a plan to approve health care reform without a traditional vote, he told Fox News on Wednesday. The president, in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, was responding for the first time to the controversy over a plan to use a parliamentary trick to allow the House to pass the Senate's health care bill without forcing members to vote for it directly. The esoteric procedure has drawn fierce protest from Republicans who say Democrats are trying to avoid accountability, but the...

America Held Hostage- the Obama Files... With a hattip to Rush ( His idea during the Clinton plague upon America ) I am starting a file on “The One,” mostly starting from the election date. Older stuff- links, quotes, quips, and sometimes pointed graphics can be found by scrolling back from these two posts: -Hillary Clinton- archives, comments, and opposition research---Sarah Palin- links, from the beginning--There is some good material in those posts that raises a lot of uncomfortable questions that everyone ought to be asking, and probably will once the “new” wears off, and we are stuck with four...

Email I received. Anyone else get one? Is it legal? Obama pushing for health care via DNC & Organizing for America What you're doing is working From: Barack Obama (democraticparty@democrats.org) Sent: Wed 3/17/10 6:08 PM I wanted to take a moment to thank you directly for the outstanding work you've been doing for health reform. I can tell you that your voice is heard in Washington every day. I see how your efforts are moving us toward victory. But I also know that with just days remaining, the final vote is shaping up to be extremely close. Everything we've worked...

The Judge on using the Slaughter Rule... the courts (including SCOTUS) will refuse to get involved, ruling that the bill can be changed only through additional congressional votes... Levin is wasting his time... bummer, man...

President Barack Obama, in an interview due to be broadcast at 6 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel's Special Report with Bret Baier: "I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or Senate. What I can tell you is that the vote that's taken in the House will be a vote for health care reform. And if people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote for health care reform. And I don't think we should pretend otherwise. "And if they don't -- if they vote...

Help me understand.

I managed to get through to Congressman John Barrow's Washington office to urge him to vote against both the Reconciliation Bill and the Slaughter Rule. The person I talked to said that the Slaughter Rule was dead. I asked when that happened, and he said "As of 15 minutes ago." That was about half an hour ago when I spoke with him. I searched Free Republic for news of this and found nothing. Also nothing on Google News. So was he mistaken? Has anyone else heard anything on this?

What Democrats Think of The American People Not Much. BY William Kristol March 16 Democratic leaders in the House are apparently moving towards the "Slaughter Solution" of avoiding a direct vote on the health care legislation and instead passing the Senate health care bill by voting to "deem" it passed. As they do so, they keep reassuring the media--and each other--that the American people don't care. A memo from a top aide to Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen late last week counseled other Democratic staffers to tell their bosses not to worry, that "things like reconciliation and what the rules...

They promise them FREEDOM, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 2 peter 2:19 Like an addicted gambler who is down 2 paychecks he goes double or nothing w/pocket deuces. After spending his entire presentsy chasing DeathCare losing election after election he puts off his South Pacific trip for the same old fix. This is all or nothing as he risks making a fool of himself worldwide becoming a complete Failure. He blows off some of our South Pacific allies like he was going next door for a spaghetti feed....

Unique to Parliamentary Democracies, a ‘Vote of Confidence’ can spell the end of any Prime Minister’s term. In the parliamentary system, the Prime Minister’s power depends upon his ability to hold a majority caucus – and the failure of any of his major initiatives to pass results in the loss of the confidence of his membership. In essence, when the Prime Minister can’t lead his party on his budget or main social initiatives, a Ministers time in office comes to a swift end. Had the Iraq War not passed the British parliament, Tony Blair’s days would have ended earlier. More...

Lawmakers in 34 states, from both major parties, have now either proposed, passed or are in the process of enacting laws that draw a line in the sand on states rights, preemptively nullifying at least parts of ObamaCare.

OH, GIVE ME A PHONE Oh, give me a phone Where the Democrats roam, In the land of the Bribe and the Spin, Where we never let up On the Blue Doggie pups, Cause we won't let Obamunists win. Phone, e-mail and yell, Whether doggies be Red, White or Blue, Then we'll barge through the dooor, And we'll sit on the floooor, Till they join the Tea Party too! TOLL-FREE PHONE CALLING When the Capitol operator comes on, just ask for your Rep or Senator’s office. 1-866-220-0044 Note: the Toll-Free number above will ONLY work to get you to...

know you're not going to listen to me. I'm going to say it anyway, because as a concerned citizen of The United States of America, I must. You are making a grave, perhaps nation-ending mistake. Attempting to "deem" the Health Care bill passed when it has not actually been voted on is not Constitutional. Article 1, Section 7: There are millions of Americans who are extraordinarily pissed off right now. Some of them, like me, write scathing columns on The Internet or we rant on Talk Radio and Television (such as Judge Napolitano) But some just smolder. Some remember the...

It is our firm belief that the way to prevent the Healthcare Rationing bill from passing is to put an intense fear of the public’s ire into the wealthy people and law firms who fund the campaigns of the following Democrats:.........You need to accept, as we do, that Democrats in Congress have stopped listening to their constituents and the American people. Nancy Pelosi, Tim Kaine, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama have built up a mental wall between Democrats in the House and reality. Whatever they are telling these people, it’s working, because they have taken their office phones off the...

Don’t you think, if the Democrats had the votes for Obamacare, it would be the law of the land right now? I have been telling friends for days that it doesn’t matter if Obamacare is somehow “passed” by the House and sent to the White House for the President’s signature. It is as dead as Marley’s ghost. The law will be challenged by law suits or possibly nullified because of the manner of passage and elements of its content that require citizens to buy health insurance. That is manifestly unconstitutional. I know the common wisdom among the Democrat denizens of...