Free Republic

The nasty car crash that is Obamacare is dragging down Barack Obama’s presidency. The cancellation of his visit to Indonesia and Australia to stay at home offering pork-barrel enticements to doubtful House Democrats is the kind of desperate expedient we expect from Third World dictators apprised of a potential coup at home. It advertised to the world the precarious nature of a presidency that has all but lost control. In his obsession with his healthcare fantasy, Obama is prepared even to allow the subversion of the US Constitution. For what else is the so-called Slaughter Solution? Leaving aside the grim...

Last week we were all introduced to the “Slaughter Solution;” a procedural method that could be used to get around the requirements of the Constitution to pass a bill without actually voting on it. I have read a number or articles both defending and condemning the move. For me any attack on the Constitution needs to met with a swift and overwhelming response. Most of us picked up the phone and called our representatives, and expressed our deep concerns to some nameless staffer who took down our information and promised to relay our frustrations to our congressman or congresswoman. I...

(CNSNews.com) – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) confirmed that the House of Representatives will use the controversial “Slaughter Solution” – named for Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) who crafted it -- to enact the Senate version of health care reform legislation.Slaughter Solution--aptly named. That is what it will be. One way or another, so take your choice you Congressional weasely traitors! Speaking to reporters at his weekly Capitol Hill briefing on Tuesday, Hoyer said the Senate would use a so-called self-enacting rule to pass the Senate bill, which would allow them to avoid actually voting on the bill itself. “We’re...

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...

Rep. Parker Griffith, M.D. (R-Ala.) switched parties recently to escape the far-left policies of the House Democratic leadership.  The newly-minted Republican is set to lead efforts to force an up-or-down vote on a resolution requiring an up-or-down vote on the Senate health care bill.This is hand-to-hand fisticuffs, parliamentary-style, as minority Republicans battle the 76-seat Democrat majority on procedure while Democrats battle the American people on substance.If passed by the House, the resolution would prohibit Speaker Pelosi from implementing the “Slaughter Solution” scheme by which House Democrats seek to “deem” the Senate health care bill as passed without an actual vote...

House Democratic leaders gave fresh indications Wednesday that they will use a complex procedure dubbed the "Slaughter solution" that would effectively pass the health bill without members voting on it. Skeptics suggest it will do little to keep Democrats from getting butchered in November. Despite success in pressuring some prior no votes such as Reps. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Dale Kildee, D-Mich., to back the bill, Democrats still find themselves short on the vote count. The Slaughter solution was conceived as a way to win over wavering members by letting them side-step a direct vote on the bill. House Rules...

A spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) said this afternoon that Virginia will file suit against the federal government if the Democratic health care reform bill is approved by the U.S. Congress. Cuccinelli has long said he was examining the legal issues and suggested he would likely file suit. Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for the office, said this afternoon that a lawsuit is now a definite. Gottstein would provide no details of the legal rationale for such a suit, indicating the process is "still being worked out." Virginia last week became the first state in the country...

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...

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...

If the House uses the Slaughter Rule to advance the Senate bill, Landmark Legal Foundation and Mark will, in fact, bring a federal lawsuit in the District of Columbia challenging its constitutionality.

The Landmark Legal Foundation announced today: (LEESBURG, VA, MARCH 17, 2010)…Mark R. Levin, president of Landmark Legal Foundation, today issued a warning to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives about the possible use of the so-called “deem and pass,” “self-executing,” or “Slaughter Rule” to enact H.R. 3590, the legislative version of President Obama’s healthcare proposal that has been previously approved by the Senate. If this tactic is employed, Landmark will immediately sue the President, Attorney General Eric Holder and other relevant cabinet members to prevent them from instituting this unconstitutional contrivance. Read the rest and view the draft...

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...

When I was a kid I used to watch the School House Rock clips every Saturday morning in between cartoons. I loved the catchy little songs and how they taught the basics on a variety of topics from conjunctions to the American Revolution. I still can remember most of them to this day. Looking back, I now realize just how important those clever little videos were in my life. This week is a very critical moment in time in our young Republic’s existence. We are faced with an out of control Congress that is ready to usurp our Constitution with...

Mark Levin coming on live next.

To:              Interested Parties From:         Ranking Republican David Dreier (R-San Dimas, CA) Subject:    The Slaughter Solution: Bending the Rules Beyond Belief The Democratic Majority has a problem with their efforts to pass healthcare legislation, and it’s political: they simply do not have enough Members in the House willing to vote for the Senate-passed healthcare bill. That’s understandable because it’s an awful bill loaded with special interest provisions. To solve their political problem, they’re looking for a procedural solution. That’s where the Rules Committee comes in. On Sunday, senior presidential advisor David Axelrod said on ABC News’ This Week,...

Via Doug Ross: In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House “deems” the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but they would then be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.Thus, Slaughter is preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill “passed” once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes. Democrats would thereby avoid a direct vote on the health care bill while allowing it to become law!Constitutional attorney...

Democratic congressional leaders have floated a plan to enact health-care reform by a procedure dubbed "the Slaughter solution." It is named not for the political carnage that it might inflict on their members, but for Rep. Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.), chair of the powerful House Rules Committee, who proposed it. Under her proposal, Democrats would pass a rule that deems the Senate's health-care bill to have passed the House, without the House actually voting on the bill. This would enable Congress to vote on legislation that fixes flaws in the Senate health-care bill without facing a Senate filibuster, and without...

WASHINGTON — The House's chief Democratic headcounter said today he hadn't rounded up enough votes to pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul heading into a make-or-break week, even as the White House's top political adviser said he was "absolutely confident" in its prospects. The administration gave signs of retreating on demands that senators jettison special home-state deals sought by individual lawmakers that have angered the public. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs predicted House passage this week, before Obama travels to Asia, a trip he postponed to push for the bill. "This is the week where we will have this...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14, 2010CONTACT: Levi Russell at (509) 979-6615 or Levi@FrontLineStrat.com    **MEDIA ALERT** What: CODE RED Health Care Rally to…Kill The Bill! When: March 16, 2010 at 10:00 AM EST. Where: Capitol Hill, Taft Park, Washington D.C. The American Grassroots Coalition and The Tea Party Express welcome the American People to bring their LOUD VOICES, Thoughts and Letters to their elected Representatives. www.americangrassrootscoalition.org           www.teapartyexpress.org  Speakers Include: ·        Congressman Mike Pence·        Congresswoman Michele Bachmann·        Congressman Tom Price·        Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn·        Congressman Joe Wilson·        Congressman Phil Gingrey·        Amy Kremer of Tea Party Express·        Tim Phillips of American for Prosperity·        Jim Martin of 60...

No bill can become law unless the exact same text is approved by a majority of both houses of Congress. Democratic congressional leaders have floated a plan to enact health-care reform by a procedure dubbed "the Slaughter solution." It is named not for the political carnage that it might inflict on their members, but for Rep. Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.), chair of the powerful House Rules Committee, who proposed it. Under her proposal, Democrats would pass a rule that deems the Senate's health-care bill to have passed the House, without the House actually voting on the bill. This would enable...