Posted on 01/17/2010 7:46:36 PM PST by socialismisinsidious
Democrats Threaten Nuclear Option if Brown Wins
The Conservative Camp ^ | Robert Ditmar
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 12:16:04 PM by The Conservative Camp
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, recently stated in an interview on Bloomberg television that if Republican Scott Brown wins the Massachusetts senate seat, vacated by last summer's passing of Ted Kennedy, the Democrats will ram through the very unpopular health care bill by pushing the so-called "nuclear option button" of reconciliation. “Even before Massachusetts and that race was on the radar screen, we prepared for the process of using reconciliation.” said Van Hollen, who stands by his belief that Brown's Democratic challenger, Martha Coakley, will win. Regardless of the outcome, Van Hollen made clear his party's intention of overruling the desire of an overwhelming majority of Americans who do not want this health care bill to pass by stating, “Getting health-care reform passed is important.”
Reconciliation is a process in the Senate whereby certain bills related to budgetary issues can be passed by a simple majority of only 51 Senators, allowing a bill to avoid being filibustered by the opposition. It is a process that has been seldom used since the founding of the nation some 230 years ago, because the very nature of this option is akin to "tyranny by the rule of the majority," in this case, the simple majority the Democrats would have in the senate.
Dems Look at Bypassing Senate Health Care Vote [So This Is Their Last Resort For Obamacare?]
FoxNews ^ | January 17th 2010
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:25:06 PM by Steelfish
January 17, 2010 Dems Look at Bypassing Senate Health Care Vote
The likeliest scenario would require persuading House Democrats to accept a bill the Senate passed last month, despite their objections to several parts.
A panicky White House and Democratic allies scrambled Sunday for a plan to salvage their hard-fought health care package in case a Republican wins Tuesday's Senate race in Massachusetts, which would enable the GOP to block further Senate action.
Democrats consider backup plan for health care reform [Admit No Good Options]
CNN ^ | 01/17/10 | Dana Bash
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:03:32 PM by freespirited
Faced with the once-unthinkable prospect of losing the Massachusetts Senate race, Democratic officials on Capitol Hill are quietly talking about options for passing health care reform without that critical 60th Senate vote.
Top White House aides insist they are not engaging in any talk of contingency plans, because they believe Democrat Martha Coakley will beat Republican Scott Brown in Tuesday's crucial Senate battle. ...
But Democratic sources on Capitol Hill say "what-if" discussions are taking place about how they could proceed with health care if Coakley is defeated, and they privately admit none of their alternatives is very good. According to senior Democratic congressional officials, here are options under discussion:
#1. Pass health care reform before Scott Brown is seated.
Democrats’ Backup Health Plan: Ask House to Back Senate Bill (Obama to ignore will of the people)
NY Times ^ | 1/17/2010 | DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:49:58 PM by tobyhill
With the Massachusetts special election for United States Senate increasingly unpredictable, Democrats in Washington are contemplating an array of backup plans should a Republican upset on Tuesday deprive the Democrats of the crucial 60th vote that they need to pass far-reaching health care legislation.
And, at least for the moment, the favored fallback would be to try to convince House Democrats to approve the health care bill that the Senate adopted on Christmas Eve, obviating the need for an additional Senate vote.
High noon for health care: Will pass, says McDermott
Seattle PI ^ | January 17, 2010 | Joel Connelly
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:45:31 PM by mdittmar
As Congress approaches high noon for health care reform, liberal U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott urged support even as he warned that a Senate-House compromise will contain provisions that "we don't like."
The congressman spoke and fielded questions at a Sunday afternoon Healthy Washington Coalition gathering. It drew nearly 400 people, many of them elderly, to the United Food and Commercial Workers hall.
"I believe in a single payer system, O.K.," said McDermott, who has fought nearly two decades to have America adopt a Canada-style health system. The remark drew loud applause.
Bill Kristol Says Mass. Senate Race Is Evidence of a "Popular Revolt" Against ObamaCare - Video
Freedom's Lighthouse ^ | January 16, 2010 | Michael
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 12:59:48 AM by Federalist Patriot
Here is video of Bill Kristol saying that the Massachusetts Senate race is evidence of a "popular revolt" against ObamaCare. (Video)
Kristol said that he thinks Scott Brown will probably win "if he can hold off the Democrat assault over the weekend."
G.O.P. Sees Political Gain in Health Care
The New York Times ^ | January 16, 2010 | Katharine Q. Seelye
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 11:18:48 AM by Cheap_Hessian
Even as Democrats nail down the final details of their health care bill, Republicans are devising ways to convert it into political capital.
Their greatest hope is to defeat the bill outright, rebuffing President Obama on his signature domestic issue and weakening the Democrats heading into the midterm elections. Republicans now think they can persuade some conservative and moderate Democrats in the House to vote against the final bill, which initially passed the House by just five votes.
For Obama, Health Care Is Worth A Mass.
IBD's Capital Hill ^ | 1/17/2010 | Ed Carson
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 11:21:07 AM by Slyscribe
President Barack Obama will campaign with struggling Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley Sunday afternoon in Boston as she finds herself in a dogfight with or even behind Republican Scott Brown ahead of Tuesday’s special election. Some political observers say it’s not worth the risk of putting his prestige on the line if he goes and Coakley still loses.
Health care reform scenarios if Brown wins
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/01/health_care_reform_scenarios_i.html ^
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 12:27:04 PM by free1977free
The panicked Democrats are thrashing about trying to come up with a way to save health care reform if Republican Scott Brown wins the special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday to fill Ted Kennedy's seat.
The first scenario involves challenging the results of the election, no matter how much Brown wins by. The Democrats have already deployed their crack team of election law lawyers who will attempt to muck up the process of counting the ballots, challenging machine counts, trying to force a recount if the result is close enough, and generally throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings.
Briefing by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (why unions are exempted from Cadillac tax)
White House web site ^ | January 15, 2010 | Robert Gibbs
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 11:31:54 AM by reaganaut1
Q. ... [W]hy is it fair for individuals who have so-called Cadillac plans that have been negotiated through collective bargaining agreements to be exempt until 2018 from the proposed excise tax, whereas those who might be in the exact same situation but are not part of labor unions -- even if they want to be and their company resisted, or many they're in right-to-work states -- why is it fair for one group to not get a tax and others to --
MR. GIBBS: I would say this. I've asked to see what numbers they can run. We're talking about an exceedingly small number of people I think that the premise of your impact would impact.
Right to Work on Glenn Beck: Obamacare's Big Labor Giveaways
Freedom @ Work ^ | January 17, 2010 | Anthony Riedel
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 12:25:32 PM by yoe
Who will get kickback on health care bills? (video)
Obama Ties Passage of Health Insurance Bill to American 'Decency' (Campaigning in Church)
Fox News ^ | January 17, 2010 | Caroline Shively
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 3:06:34 PM by 2ndDivisionVet
As Democratic fears increase that health insurance reform could slip away with a crucial vote for a new U.S. senator in Massachusetts, President Obama on Sunday used a church pulpit at a Martin Luther King Day service to say the massive health bill would be a victory for "decency."
Why Doctors Are Abandoning Medicare (Physicians will not be bullied into bankruptcy)
Fox News ^ | 01/17/2010 | C.L. Gray
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 4:54:37 PM by SeekAndFind
Two weeks ago the Mayo Clinic shocked the nation when it closed the doors of one of its Arizona clinics to patients on Medicare. Just this past June President Obama himself praised Mayo as a model of medical efficiency noting that Mayo gives “the highest quality care at costs well below the national norm.” If Mayo feels compelled to walk away from this government-run program, others will surely follow. The nation must understand why.
Doctors are leaving Medicare for two reasons: one obvious, the other more concealed.
Sen. Nelson's approval ratings take a hit in wake of health vote
The Hill ^ | 1-17-10 | Michael O'Brien
Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 6:24:04 PM by Justaham
Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) approval ratings have slid since voting for health reform legislation, a new poll showed Sunday.
Damn the torpedos! Full speed ahead! Each day that passes, I am more and more convinced that the Progressives in Congress see health care as a battle not THE war. Although they may all lose their jobs in the next two elections, they will win the war, 20 years from now, when the Republic that WAS the USA is no more.
In the minds of the elitists,
when the commoners oppose their superior ideas,
it just proves the superiority of those ideas.
The other day, Obama stated that he knows that the health care debate is heated because he recieves 40,000 letters a day against it. He didn’t mention how many letter are for it, so I can only assume not many or he would have pointed it out. Therefore, the commoners are just stupid and even though this is supposed to be a representative govt. I will go against the will of the people because it is “good” for them.
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