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A Democratic fundraising video on President Obama's political Web site shows an American flag mural being covered in graffiti and desecrated with slogans about health care reform. As a heart monitor beeps ominously in the background, a graffiti artist paints over the Stars and Stripes with phrases criticizing opposition to the Democratic legislation, including "profit over life" and the crossed-out words "death panel." The whole flag is eventually smeared with paint and blacked out. One of 20 finalists in the Democratic National Committee's "Health Reform Video Challenge," the video shows the Los Angeles-based graffiti artist "Saber" at work, according to...

A "hate crimes" plan that opponents have warned will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, is poised to be signed by President Obama, a longtime proponent of the plan to give homosexuals and those with other alternative lifestyles special protections not provided other classes of citizens. The Senate approved the "hate crimes" plan 68-29 today after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations plan. Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the plan. "The inclusion of the controversial language of the hate crimes legislation,...

Sen. Thune highlighted the difficulty the Democrats may have in convincing enough of their own members to vote for a huge, expensive new entitlement on top of tax increases and Medicare cuts. He laid out how he thought the Dems would try to push it through the Senate. 1. First, they will merge the Finance and HELP Committee bills and include a clear public option. They will then try to get the bill through in regular order, meaning with a normal cloture vote requiring 60 votes. This is obviously subject to a filibuster by the Republicans if they can peel...

Sending Anita Dunn—who is probably not enjoying her proverbial 15 minutes of fame—out onto the north lawn of the White House to attack Fox News is serving its purpose. The responsibility for determining which of the national news networks are legitimate and which ones are not is something the founders did not include in the executive powers section of the Constitution. One might even argue that the inclusion of the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights is a pretty clear sign they thought that giving any part of the federal government the power to do so would not, to...

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren’t present. Towns’ action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), over Towns’s failure to launch an investigation into Countrywide Mortgage’s reported sweetheart deals to VIPs. For months Towns has refused Republican requests to subpoena records in the case. Last Thursday Committee Republicans, led by Issa, were poised to force an open vote on the subpoenas at a Committee mark-up meeting. The mark-up was abruptly canceled. Only Republicans...

According to Fox, Pelosi has directed the House to ignore the cost of ObamaCare for years 2-10. She will insist that the only cost is for the first year (2013). Costs for years 2-10 will be "redistributed to other accounts" so as to be made invisible to Obamacare. CBO now saying cost of ObamaCare for the first ten years will be $ 1.2 trillion, at least, with years 11-20 at least $ 2 trillion, and the national debt to surpass $ 13 trillion.

(CNSNews.com) -- A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CNSNews.com that it is “likely� that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a “shell� for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.

Is Virginia denying military voters the chance to vote in its state election this November? That’s what I gather from this post from the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder and this post from Republican blogger Soren Dayton. There’s some shabby history here. In 1944 Republicans and Southern Democrats in Congress ganged up to make it difficult for military personnel—about 12 million men at the time—to vote; Republicans believed that most G.I.s would vote for Franklin Roosevelt, and Southern Democrats feared that black G.I.s would vote and get into the habit of voting. In 2000 some Democrats in Florida tried to prevent military...

Last year, we covered some of the problems in the counting of military absentee ballots in Virginia, as did others. This problem has not gone away. It has just moved. The day before election day 2008, the McCain campaign filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia to force Virginia to count military absentee ballots that came in after election day. McCain lost Virginia by more than enough votes, but the case went on with the Department of Justice replacing the McCain campaign.There were filings last month and will likely be a hearing this month. So what? The Virginia...

The State of Virginia has argued in a federal court filing that they can legally send out absentee ballots to active duty soldiers the day before an election. Restated again, the Democratic Chairwoman of the Virginia State Board of Election (appointed by the Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine, in his capacity as Virginia Governor) Jean Cunningham just claimed a legal basis for massively raising the barrier to voting for soldiers at war.

As the town hall meetings on health care started in early August, the Democratic Party's talking points accused the attending citizens of being "demonstrators hired by K Street lobbyists." Then they started calling them a "mob." Getting into the spirit of his party, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called those who oppose Obamacare "evil." Then House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the dissenters "un-American." For good measure, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused them of being Nazis. Former Democratic President Jimmy Carter followed with the assertion that "racism" motivates President Barack Obama's health care opponents. The culmination --...

Facing the increasing likelihood of losses in the 2010 midterm congressional and gubernatorial elections, President Obama and his fellow Democrats are returning to a tried-and-true campaign strategy - run against former President George W. Bush. In speech after speech since taking office, Mr. Obama has pointed back to the problems he inherited from the Bush administration when he took office. And earlier this month, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine catalogued a slew of perceived Bush failures to the delight of supporters. Already, Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey are testing the strategy - so far, however, unsuccessfully....

Facing the increasing likelihood of losses in the 2010 midterm congressional and gubernatorial elections, President Obama and his fellow Democrats are returning to a tried-and-true campaign strategy — run against former President George W. Bush. In speech after speech since taking office, Mr. Obama has pointed back to the problems he inherited from the Bush administration when he took office. And earlier this month, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine catalogued a slew of perceived Bush failures to the delight of supporters. Already, Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey are testing the strategy — so far, however, unsuccessfully....

Michelle Obama: When The Race Card Stalls, Trump With Gender For The Win haystack September 18th Via Drudge we learn that the First Lady believes the current healthcare system is ‘crushing’ women and is, therefore, unacceptable. Apparently, according to the FIRST woman, just being a woman requires that you suffer an undue burden for your family in attending to their collective need for healthcare. Not to worry, ladies, her husband means to deliver you from this evil: [W]omen play a unique and increasingly significant role in our families. We know the pain, because we are usually the ones dealing with...

The increasingly aggressive Democratic National Committee on Friday launched a new “Call ’Em Out” website targeting prominent Republicans for statements they have made about President Barack Obama’s health reform plans. “Help debunk the outrageous lies and misinformation about health reform,” the site says. DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said: “The message to opponents of change who would lie or misrepresent the truth should be clear. We are going to respond forcefully and consistently with the facts, and you will no longer be able to peddle your lies with impunity. Through tools like 'Call 'Em Out,' you will be met with a...

A sign of desperation? Can't see it any other way. The idea that Obama's political opponents are motivated by racism will apparently now be "mainstreamed" into the Democratic party's talking points against conservatives. It's one thing for liberal bloggers and pundits to casually drop the "R" word in trying to smear administration opponents. But it appears that the race card will become an official meme of the Democrats when attacking their opponents.

The House Democrat campaign operation is using an outburst during President Obama's health speech to a joint session of Congress to make at least $100,000 in donations in the next 48 hours. As Obama delivered his Sept. 9 health-care speech and claimed his plan would not be provided to illegal aliens, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted, "You lie!" A video of the incident follows:

It’s only Clyburn’s plan right now, but Clyburn’s number three in the House. And besides, they’re running out of alternatives. The comeback for Democrats — if there is one — will begin in an all-important closed-door caucus meeting next week in the basement of the Capitol, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her top lieutenants will try to undo the damage of the August recess and convince their wobbly members that a vote for health care reform will not cost them their jobs in 2010. Leaders say their strategy is to convince members that nothing is set in stone...

Scammers pumping out emails that try to trick recipients into parting with large sums of cash are getting a helping hand from the Democratic National Committee. According to a researcher with anti-spam company Cloudmark, 419 fraudsters have been relaying a "significant" amount of messages through the democrats.org domain name. The abuse, which dates back at least to the beginning of this month, helps evade filters that internet service providers employ to block the messages."Unfortunately, because they're able to relay mail through the Democratic Party server, it does affect the Democratic Party's IP reputation, as well as their domain sending reputation,"...

From an extremely well-placed source in congress: It's game-on against the "Bluedogs".

Democrats plan hundreds of reform rallies Tags:Health Care Reform, Democrats, Organizing For America Back to top Listen Print Comment Email Recommend Subscribe By CHRIS FRATES | 8/25/09 12:43 PM EDT Text Size- + reset Faced with a souring public mood on health care reform, Democrats and their supporters are launching a national grassroots push Wednesday to show lawmakers that the majority of Americans still support overhauling the system. Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds...

ObamaCare’s popularity is plummeting to earth like the Hindenburg at Lakehurst. Last Friday, the administration released another terrifying budget estimate in which they somehow "misunderestimated" the deficit by $2 trillion. Yes, that’s trillion with a T. Very confidence-inspiring, no? So, with bad news all around, it's time for the administration to mount a distraction campaign on multiple fronts. On the first front, Attorney General Eric Holder threatens prosecution of the Bush-era CIA. On the second front – swine flu is going to kill us all. We will focus on that second front. ON Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, between interminable...

Dear MoveOn member, Every day we hear new arguments that America should just put off health care reform. But millions of Americans can't afford to wait. Like Joe B., a MoveOn member whose family is facing over $20,000 in costs for their autistic son's treatment because his insurance company won't cover what the doctor prescribed. And Nicole T.'s mother, who lost her insurance coverage after being diagnosed with cancer. With just 14 days until Congress heads back to D.C. to vote on health care, we need to bring the health care debate back to what matters. To do that, we're...

Obama supporters gathered in Fairfax, Virgnia last night and met with an Organizing For America (OFA) representative at a local library to talk shop and brainstorm about how to help President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats pass health care reform. If there was any doubt the Obama administration is not in campaign mode, the OFA listening tour puts that notion to rest. In fact, the message seemed more about winning a campaign than anything else. Papers were handed out describing the meeting's agenda and Mr. Obama's health insurance reform guarantees. Canvassing sheets were also part of the handouts as...

n a deliciously ironic piece, Joanthan Weisman at the Wall Street Journal talks about how the Democrats spent literally years poll-testing and trying to find just the right words and phrases to sell nationalized health care. In other words, they wanted to know how to fool enough people into thinking it was not nationalized health care. The problem is that you can call something a warm, creamy treat, but that doesn't mean it isn't a still pile of crap.

Faced with a souring public mood on health care reform, Democrats and their supporters are launching a national grassroots push Wednesday to show lawmakers that the majority of Americans still support overhauling the system. Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26409.html#ixzz0P9U2QxUZ

Senate Democrats said Sunday that they were fleshing out plans to pass health legislation, particularly the option of a new government-run insurance program, with a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes that would ordinarily be needed to overcome a filibuster. After consulting experts in Senate rules and procedure, the Democrats said they were increasingly confident that they could legislate creation of a public plan in a way that would withstand challenges expected from Republicans. Appearing Sunday on the NBC News program “Meet the Press,” Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said a...

Yesterday, the Sunday papers announced that the White House is going to "retreat" on the so-called "public option" -- i.e., a government healthcare option to compete with the private insurers. Instead, they are getting bipartisan support for establishing a publicly funded healthcare "co-op." But this is no "retreat." The co-op arrangement is simply the public option by another name, and by a more circuitous, stealthy route -- with the same ultimate objective: nationalized healthcare. Understand that the "co-op" would be funded by the government (i.e., the taxpayers). More importantly, to get admission into the co-op, insurers would have to abide...

Oval Office Visit Hints at Daschle's Role President Consulting Man He Once Wanted as Czar on the Issue By Philip Rucker and Anne E. Kornblut Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, August 22, 2009 Former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle's visit to the Oval Office on Friday, at the invitation of President Obama, was more than just a meeting between two loyal friends and political allies. It also served as a reminder of what might have been. As Obama's health-care agenda teeters in Congress, the White House listed the private meeting on the president's public schedule, sending a signal that...

Americans are churchgoers, and religion has always played a large role in U.S. politics. Health reform is no different. A new IBD/TIPP Poll shows that, depending on their faith, Americans have differing opinions and differing intensity of opinion when it comes to including a public option in any overhaul plan.Protestants, for example, oppose a public option by a 43% to 33% margin, but Catholics favor it 42% to 35%. The biggest support for a public option comes from those who identify themselves as "another type of Christian," with 49% in support and 30% opposed. A majority (54%) of non-Christians support...

Per Fox, Obama is huddling with former senator Daschle, who was dropped as HHS secretary when it was discovered that Daschle is a tax cheat. According to Fox, Obamacare is hung-up on a House that insists upon the "public option" (i.e. destroying all private insurance companies) and the Senate's failure to have enough Dems supporting the "public option." Reportedly, Obama and Daschle have been in daily contact on passing Obamacare.

If President Obama has his way, you'll soon be hearing about his health care package when you go to your church or synagogue to pray. Thousands of religious leaders got a call from on high Wednesday when Obama reached out to Jewish and Christian clergy, urging them to push health care reform from the pulpit.

I'll give it to you in one word: Independents. If House Democrats want to avoid losing 20 seats in 2010, they know they will have to fight and hold on to as many Independents as possible, period. Lose them and they will lose the House, it's just that simple, and they know it. Thus the creation here of late in the mainstream press of the local militia and Nazi memes. It's an old political trick. Fanaticize the right with a bogus militia scare, throw in a couple of swastikas and watch the Independents stream back into the fold. So get...

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, terminally ill with brain cancer, has asked state legislative leaders to change the law and let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint a temporary replacement upon his death. Under current law, the seat would be empty until a special election could be held 145 to 160 days later. But Senator Kennedy, a 77-year-old Democrat, wrote in a letter to the governor that he wanted Massachusetts to have full representation in the Senate during that period. Although he did not mention it in the letter, it is becoming increasingly clear that Democratic votes will be crucial to...

Aides to Obama made clear Wednesday they will move ahead with health care legislation in the fall with or without Republican support - though later in the day, seemed to soften a bit...No matter which way they go, they face long odds, and no guarantee of a bill at the end of the process. Obama could sidestep one problem - a Republican filibuster in the Senate — if he goes with a partisan bill and attempts to pass it through procedural maneuver known as reconciliation...Obama also has to convince Congressional Democrats to take a...near-term hit in public opinion for pushing...

President Barack Obama on Wednesday tried to retake the upper ground in this month's healthcare debate by casting reform as a "moral conviction" in a conference call with religious leaders. "The one thing that you all share is a moral conviction," Obama said. "This debate over healthcare goes to the heart of who we are as American people... This is part of an ethical and moral obligation that we look out for one another. "In the wealthiest nation on Earth, we are neglecting to live out that call," the president said. Obama asked religious leaders to help him "spread the...

President Barack Obama, trying to regain control of the health-care debate, will likely shift his pitch in September, White House and Democratic officials said, as he faces pressure from supporters to talk more about the moral imperative to provide health insurance to all Americans. The rethinking comes amid a struggle by the White House to clarify its view on a public insurance plan, which liberals see as a critical part of a health overhaul. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that a public plan isn't the "essential element" of a health bill, prompting sharp words from liberal...

TO listen to the White House and its supporters in and out of the media, you'd think that opposition to "ObamaCare" is the hobgoblin of a few small minds on the right. Racists, fascists, Neanderthals, the whole "Star Wars" cantina of bogeymen and cranks stand opposed to much-needed reform. Left out of this fairly naked effort to demonize many with the actions of a few is the simple fact that ObamaCare -- however defined -- has been tanking in the polls for weeks. President Obama's handling of health care is unpopular with a majority of Americans and a majority of...

As with the Democrat takeover of Congress in 2006, it was a disaster of epic proportions. With one shocking, enormous, blatantly partisan, self-serving and destructive proposal following on the heels of another, the sheer enormity of their power grab defies description. But as each new proposal moves forward, the hand of the Crisis Strategy becomes clear. If there were ever any doubt that Barack Obama personifies the Crisis Strategy, it should long since have been removed for anyone with a mind. Since so many Americans seem to have lost theirs, I address this to the rest of you. For with...

The Democratic Party In the last few months, we've made more progress on health insurance reform than we made in the previous 60 years. You can tell from the reaction of reform opponents that we're doing something right. Special interests who profit from the status quo are spreading brazen lies that stir up anger, and Republican leaders are chiming in with over-the-top rhetoric that detracts from the public debate. Just last week, Rush Limbaugh insinuated that President Obama was comparable to Adolf Hitler. It's a perfect example of "the old politics of fear and division" that President Obama talked about...

I'm surprised that the Rocky Mountain News didn't challenge the circumstances around the anti-Obama "swastika" sign at the recent downtown rally opposing the stimulus package ("Columnist isn't smiling over swastika in rally photo," Feb. 18). Under later questioning, Kreck admitted that the sign was given to her by a staff member for ProgressNow.org, who also provided a photographer to capture the reaction. Doesn't the event at the recent rally seem a little odd? Since ProgressNow.org seems to have the only photo evidence of the sign, doesn't it seem possible that the sign holder is a plant, or perhaps a rube...

Democrats Orchestrate Town-Hall Counterpunch By John Stanton Roll Call Staff Aug. 13, 2009, 6:12 p.m. Democrats Orchestrate Town-Hall Counterpunch Democrats on Thursday mounted a broad counteroffensive against Republicans to try to reverse growing opposition to their health care plans and win back an electorate increasingly sympathetic to town-hall protesters. Americans for Stable Quality Care — which is funded by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the American Medical Association and the Service Employees International Union, among others — Thursday also launched a massive $12 million ad campaign defending President Barack Obama’s and other Democrats’ efforts to reform the health care...

“I AM not a Nazi, I’m not being paid to be here, and I’m not un-American!” The elderly man who uttered those angry words on the afternoon of August 10th was clearly boiling over. He and several hundred others had gathered in a poorly ventilated hall in North Arlington, New Jersey, to berate Steven Rothman, their Democratic congressman, for advocating health reform. The patriotic constituent echoed the sentiments of the angry crowd by declaring that the Democrats’ health plan was something his children and grandchildren simply “can’t afford”. With Congress in recess this month, many members are holding such town...

The democrats pick one talking point and parrot it to attempt to discredit the Conservatives. Example, their latest attempt is that Insurance companies are organizing the grassroots townhall demonstrations. They get the word out and everyone parrots it to every media outlet and eventually it starts to sink in. I suggest the following; Who do the Democrats what you to Hate this week? Oil Companies? Insurance Companies? Car Companies? Doctors? Grandpa and Grandma? Tie these folks down to the "Party of Hate" that they are.

The Democrats just can’t get their talking points right on Eric Cantor (R-VA). It was only last year when Cantor’s name was mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential pick that the Democrats wanted everyone to know he’s a Jew. They didn’t mention the religion of any of the other potential candidates. Now, however, they are accusing Eric Cantor, who is Jewish, of fostering Nazism in the United States. Hari Sevugan of the Democratic National Committee sent out an email earlier today with this: It’s disgusting that rather than condemning this hate filled symbolism and mob activity, the highest echelons of...

Dems: "We must stand against this tiny, vocal minority."

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 4:03:58 PM To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Subject: DNC Statement on Republican Mob Rule For Immediate Release Date: August 4, 2009 Contact: DNC Press Office Phone: 202-863-8148 Statement from DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse on the Republican Party and Allied Groups' Mob Rule The Republicans and their allied groups - desperate after losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol Hill - are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street Lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking...

the Democratic National Committee in a new web video is depicting the protestors as irrational birthers who want to "destroy" President Obama.Woodhouse said: "The right wing extremists’ use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the president's citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are. This type of anger and discord did not serve Republicans well in 2008 -- and it is bound to backfire again."

The left will be at the town halls looking for one good photo to send to the MSM. They are likely to plant one of their own holding a sign with a swastika or other offending symbol to show Tea Party folk are racists. Be on the lookout and take facial photos of 1) the person holding the offending sign, 2) the person at a distance taking a photo of the person holding the sign. Then upload to FreeRepublic

You could be forgiven for thinking that a serious campaign is afoot - aided and abetted by the national Republican Party - to question Barack Obama's citizenship. Over the past two weeks, an inordinate amount of news coverage has been afforded to "birthers," conspiracy theorists who claim that the President was not born in Hawaii, as his birth records indicate, but in Kenya. It is not Obama's right-wing opponents, however, who are devoting the most attention to this obscure, Internet-driven "movement," if one can even use that label to describe such a paranoid groupuscule. Rather, it's liberals, bent on portraying...