The EPA recently ruled that greenhouse gases caused by humans were such a danger to the public health that they had the right to regulate these emissions without congress enacting any new laws.
With Barack Obama’s cap and trade legislation in peril, it seems as though the EPA is poised to move forward with Obama’s vision without there being anything that we can do about it. It looks as if we are going to get cap and trade regulations passed one way or the other. Either Barack Obama will push a cap and trade bill through congress, or the EPA will enact what amounts to a cap and trade bill through regulations.
Or will they?
Three House Democrats are not happy about the EPA’s recent finding and are introducing legislation that would stop the EPA from regulating carbon emissions without the approval of congress.
This sounds good and it is certainly a step in the right direction, but we must remember that these three Democrats are not against cap and trade legislation, they just don’t want the EPA to enact it– they want to do that themselves. The good news is that if this legislation passes it will put the responsibility of cap and trade legislation back where it belongs, with our elected officials instead of with the unelected EPA. This will give us the chance to vote out of office all of those who are all too willing to go along with the climate change hoax.
The issue these three Democrats have with the EPA’s ruling is that they believe the EPA has overstepped the authority that it was granted in the Clean Air Act– the Clean Air Act was not designed to combat global warming. They are now looking to stop the EPA from using the power that it has granted itself.
And it turns out that these three House Democrats are not alone; 35 Senate Republicans have also co-sponsored a bill that offered a “disapproval resolution” on the way the EPA is handling this issue. Three Democrats– and their names may surprise you– have signed onto this bill as well. Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, and Mary Landrieu are the three Democrats. These three Democrats are considered vulnerable in the upcoming elections and suddenly they are ready to side with the Republicans on the issue of cap and trade. While in all likelihood nothing is going to come of this legislation, there is a chance that during an election year this could gain some traction.
I just wonder, if this is happening because of the Climategate scandal. Does Climategate have some of these politicians rethinking their position on global warming, at least privately? Or are they just upset at the EPA for taking away some of their power? Either way, I hope that this legislation moves forward, so we can hold elected officials responsible if they ever do pass Barack Obama’s cap and trade bill. If the EPA does it, we will never be able to hold them accountable.
Did Scott Brown’s election really kill the healthcare bill? If the president listened to the message that the people of Massachusetts sent him than the bill is dead. But he is continuing to urge “Democrats to finish the deal” and at his State of the Union speech he claimed that we are closer than ever to passing healthcare reform and that we mustn’t stop now.
So for the sake of this post let us operate under the assumption that the president really isn’t listening to the people and that he still wants to move forward on a bill that nobody wants. Will it really be that hard to “finish the deal” if that is the course of action that the president takes?
After all, Scott Brown is only one vote out of 60, how hard will it be to replace that one vote? All that I have to do is look to a neighboring state of mine and I see two possible replacements for the vote Democrats lost in Scott Brown– Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. What is to stop the Democrats from targeting one of these senators using “incentives” like the ones Mary Landrieu, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, and Ben Nelson received in order to gain that one last needed vote?
One would think that after the Massachusetts election, and with the anger at this bill that is being displayed that nobody would be foolish enough to continue the same type of backroom deals that the people of Massachusetts rebelled against. The same type of backroom deals that Barack Obama campaigned against. But as the mayor of Las Vegas stated, this president is a slow learner. Does congress have the balls to move the bill forward by attempting to send kickbacks to either Snowe or Collins? I don’t think so, but you just never know.
This bears watching.
Over the last year the Democrats have tried to portray the Republicans as the party of no, claiming that all the Republicans do is obstruct and have no proposals of their own; while Republicans have said that they have tried to work with the Obama administration but were not being listened to. They claim that their proposals have been shot down and that they have been shut out of negotiations.
So which side is right?
Looking at a couple of quotes in this article about the new jobs bill may provide us with an answer.
“We are completely changing the strategy to go for a bill that can get Republican buy-in and pass”
Changing the strategy to “go for a bill” that Republicans can vote for? If they have to change strategy to include Republicans, it would seem to me that Republicans were being closed out before.
But the condemning statement to me was made by Max Baucus:
“It’s just that I’d like to get something done, something passed. That means we have to talk to Republicans.”
That certainly sounds to me like an admission that Democrats were not talking to Republicans before. Note the words “have to.” That suggests that the Democrats did not want to talk to and negotiate with Republicans– and they probably still no not WANT to talk to Republicans, but now they are forced to; now they “have to” talk to them.
I think that the Democrats grew arrogant with their 60 vote majority; they felt that they could pass whatever they wanted to without Republican support so they tried to push a bill that was so far to the left they knew Republicans would oppose is. They then could use that opposition to brand the Republicans as the party of no while pursuing a far left agenda. Republicans were powerless to stop them.
Democrats stopped themselves. The problem for the Democrats was that the bill went too far to the left and they could not gain enough support without “negotiating” sweetheart deals with other Democrats. As the bill dragged out and stalled while deals were being cut the American people had time to see what was going on here. And they did not like it.
The end result? The election of a Republican– Scott Brown– in one of the bluest states in the country. If the election of Scott Brown has done only one thing, that one thing would be that it has forced the Democrats back to the negotiating table with Republicans. The Democrats will now have to work with, and negotiate with, Republicans instead of just between themselves. Scott Brown’s election has forced the Democrats back to the negotiating table with Republicans, something they were unwilling to do when they thought they could pass whatever they wanted without Republicans.
Barack Obama has tried to put on a brave face since the election of Scott Brown in all likelihood killed the healthcare reform bill. At his State of the Union address, he refused to admit that the bill was dead, instead urging congress to finish the deal. He reiterated this position when he visited New Hampshire earlier this week when he urged congress to push this bill over the goal line.
But this was just his public position on the issue, privately he had to admit to himself that this bill was not going to get done. And Democratic National Committee fundraiser, (didn’t Barack Obama say at the State of the Union address that the perpetual campaigning had to stop?), yesterday Barack Obama admitted– or more accurately hinted– that the healthcare reform bill could be dead.
“I think it’s very important for us to have a methodical, open process over the next several weeks, and then let’s go ahead and make a decision. And it may be that … if Congress decides we’re not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not.”
Perhaps light has finally dawned on Marblehead, perhaps he is trying to let the far left down easy, or perhaps this is just a diversion intended to have us let our guard down. Healthcare reform certainly looks dead, and in private Barack Obama may or may not be conceding this point, but publically he is still pushing for this bill.
We must remain vigilant and we must keep our eyes on this administration, we are on the verge of defeating the healthcare reform bill, but if we let our guard down this bill will be reincarnated. We must make sure that once this bill is dead, it stays dead.
Democrats are frustrated. They are frustrated and they are angry. They are without direction or purpose since Scott Brown shocked the world and became Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts. His election alone has spiked Democrat on Democrat violence. (Political violence, not actual violence.)
Barack Obama continues to tell his fellow Democrats to finish the healthcare bill; he continues to apply the pressure on them to not let the last year of debate have been in vein. But Democrats are getting angry with Obama and Al Franken is the latest Democrat to blast the administration. More specifically David Axelrod.
Al Franken lambasted the administration for:
“the administration’s failure to provide clarity or direction on health care”
And he is not alone:
“Democratic senators are frustrated that the White House hasn’t done more to win over the public on health care reform and other aspects of its ambitious agenda”
The president himself took part of the blame for his failure to pass healthcare reform, stating that he did not get his message across properly, he didn’t explain it clearly enough to the American people.
The theme remains the same, whether it is Al Franken or other senators, or Barack Obama himself– Barack Obama’s agenda isn’t wrong, he just hasn’t explained it in terms that the unwashed masses can understand. He hasn’t dumbed it down enough for us.
While Al Franken blasted David Axelrod, he blasted him for not selling the administration’s healthcare proposal to the American people not for the actual disaster of a bill that was put forth, a position that the president himself has also taken. See, according to these people they are right, but we are too stupid to understand what they are doing so they have to explain it to us properly or we will never go along with it.
This is a totally arrogant position to take; instead of taking responsibility for chasing after a piece of bad legislation, the administration, and people like Al Franken are only taking responsibility for failing to convince the American people that they are smarter than us and that they are doing what they are doing for our own good.
I for one am glad that this is the path they have chosen. They refuse to believe that the healthcare bill was bad legislation, preferring to think that it was just a public relations problem that led to the election of Scott Brown and the undoing of the healthcare bill. As long as they continue to believe this, they will continue to become detached from the American people, they will continue to bicker among themselves and when the 2010 elections are over and they have been completely neutered, they will not understand how or why it happened.
The problem isn’t that the people are too stupid to understand what the government is trying to do, the problem is that Barack Obama and the government are too stupid to understand what the people are trying to tell them.
More than two years ago I predicted that New Hampshire Democrats would win elections in both 2006 and 2008 but then the tide would begin to turn against them and in 2010 the state Republicans would begin to make gains in the state.
I was right about the 2006 and 2008 elections, but those were the easy ones. It was not hard to predict that President Bush’s low approval ratings in this state would cost the local Republicans problems; even John McCain’s popularity in the state were not enough to help Republicans and New Hampshire voted for Barack Obama in 2008, this helped state Democrats regain seats they already held and turned all branches of state government over to the Democrats for the first time in over 100 years.
Now, the latest poll on Barack Obama’s approval rating in New Hampshire is out and it could be a sign that my last prediction may be on the verge of becoming true. Barack Obama has fallen below 50% favorability in the latest opinion poll. Only 48% of New Hampshirites approve of the president’s job performance, while 47% disapprove.
This is the first time that he has fallen below 50% in New Hampshire and that is not the worst news for the president in this poll. New Hampshire’s largest voting block, the Independents– a voting block that overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama in 2008– has really turned against the president. According to the poll, (the link provided above does not contain the full article that appeared in the print edition, this number comes from the print edition), on 38% of Independent voters now approve of Barack Obama’s job performance.
If this trend continues we can expect the carry over effect to help Republican candidates in the 2010 election. New Hampshire Democrats cannot win if the Independents remain opposed to the president by such a large margin. Both New Hampshire representatives are Democrats and the one senate seat up for election in 2010 is held by retiring Republican Judd Gregg. These are going to be important elections and it appears as if New Hampshire is ready to swing back towards the right in the elections later this year.
I attended a tea party earlier this year and I can tell you that I believe the people of New Hampshire are upset; not just at Washington, but also at our state politicians. They are ready for a change and Barack Obama’s plummeting poll numbers– they have fallen 18% in New Hampshire since his inauguration– show us this discontent first hand.
2010 looks to be a big year for New Hampshire Republicans unless something drastic happens to turn the tide. I don’t see that happening.
During President Bush’s sixth year in office he had become so toxic that Republicans started to distance themselves from him, or at least they tried to distance themselves from him. It didn’t work and Democrats were able to ride the anti-Bush wave to victories in both 2006 and 2008. President Bush’s unpopularity led to the majority that Democrats now enjoy.
Some Democrats are still trying to ride that anti-Bush wave– the most notable is Barack Obama– but that wave has crested and it is no longer viable for Democrats to be simply anti-Bush so they are beginning to look towards another strategy for the upcoming midterm election. They are beginning to distance themselves from Barack Obama.
Barack Obama– the man who was ushered into power with such high expectations– and his agenda have become so toxic for vulnerable Democrats in the midterm elections that they are actually trying to distance themselves from the president. It is stunning that Barack Obama has alienated so many people so quickly.
In a strategy that seems reminiscent of recent Republican victories, Democrats are now trying to claim they represent the people and do not represent Barack Obama or his policies. Democrats are now trying to be the next Scott Brown. Even Arlen Specter, who changed parties thinking that he could ride Obama’s coattails to re-election as a Democrat, is now trying to distance himself from the man he was coddling up to just a few short months ago.
Barack Obama has burned through all of the goodwill that he had conjured up during the election and people are fed up with his far left agenda after only one year. Democrats can see this and they are unwilling to sacrifice their jobs for Barack Obama’s agenda, so they are distancing themselves from him.
We must not be fooled by this strategy. Democrats are just as responsible for Barack Obama’s agenda as he is. They have enabled him and they must be stopped. If we fall for this ploy, Democrats who win re-election will fall lack-step in line with Barack Obama once their re-election is secured and will continue to persue his agenda. The only way that we can ensure that Obama’s agenda will be defeated is to defeat all of those who support him– even those who are now trying to distance themselves from him.
The healthcare reform bill may be all but dead with the swearing in earlier today of Scott Brown but congress is still ready to move ahead with some form of healthcare reform, and there is one part of the bill that is not quite dead yet– the backroom deals that almost secured the bill’s passage before the Massachusetts rebellion two weeks ago.
The last and most famous of these deals, Ben Nelson’s, has been sacrificed in order to continue to move this bill forward, but it looks as though all of the other deals may be kept in place on any healthcare bill that moves forward. Ben Nelson’s bill was probably the most scrutinized and opposed deal because it was the final deal; it was the deal that pushed the bill over the top in the Senate. But it was not the only deal and it was not the most expensive deal. But those other deals will likely be honored if this bill passes in one form or another.
Mary Landrieu secured $300 million for Louisiana while Massachusetts acquired $500 million and Vermont $600 million to offset increases that will be incured by the rising costs of Medicaid if this bill passes. And there are other deals, these are just the most obnoxious ones– Chris Dodd and Harry Reid are among others who secured deals for their respective states. Those deals may still be on the table if a new version of healthcare reform is eventually debated and passed.
If some Democrats have their way, this new version of healthcare reform will be passed, with these deals intact, using reconciliation which requires only a 50 vote majority.
It would seem to me that this idea would be political suicide to all politicians who go along with it; it is these types of deals that voters rejected in Massachusetts leading to the election of Scott Brown. But then again at the State of the Union speech Barack Obama scolded congress and told them not to worry about the “continual campaign” and urged them to pass healthcare reform for the good of the nation, instead of worrying about re-election. He asked congress to put what he considers the good of the nation above their careers, forgetting that congress represents the people. He forgets that it is we who the congress works for, they represent us, and if we do not want this bill it is their sword duty not to pass it. But he wants congress to do what he wants to do, regardless of what the people want.
Healthcare reform may be on life support but it isn’t dead yet, we have to keep our eyes open and we have to stay vigilant because the congress has a choice to make– do they represent the will of the people or the will of the president? We know what who they are supposed to represent, but do they know who they are supposed to represent? Will the lure of the remaining healthcare reform deals coupled with a lack of understanding about whom they represent be enough to push this bill forward against the will of the people?
The people have spoken; the question is, is Washington listening to us or will they have to learn the hard way? They follow Barack Obama’s quest at their own peril.
It is in the air. You can’t see it and you can’t smell it, but you certainly can feel it and if you are listening you can hear it. The questions are; are they listening? Do they hear it or are they deaf to the noise that started softly but has grown much louder over the last few months? Do they feel it?
They had better feel it and they had better hear it and if they do, they would be wise not to ignore it. If they ignore it, they will ignore it at their own peril. Yes, there is something in the air and that something is the wind of change that appears to be blowing. People are engaged in a way that they haven’t been in many years; they see what this administration has tried to do and they are not happy. The seeds of discontent have been sown and the flower that blooms will be the repercussions that will be felt next November if they do not listen to us.
We have tried to make our voices heard, we held tea parties over the Summer, but we were ignored. We attended the Town Hall meetings and voiced our displeasure, but we were marginalized. Yes, you can hear it, but you have to listen and they are not listening. So now it is time to make them hear us in the only language they understand– at the polls.
Something that was unthinkable just a few short months is not so unthinkable anymore. Because the administration has refused to listen to the will of the people there is a growing chance that the Republican party can regain control of the Senate. This is still a longshot– Republicans would have to win all of the seats they currently have that are up for re-election while also winning ten seats now held by Democrats. But the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts has invigorated the Republicans, conservatives, and Independents. They have been breathed new life and the possibility of regaining control of the Senate, while unlikely, is not unattainable any more.
Many Democrats who were once thought unbeatable are now in tough fights for re-election. Russ Feingold is trailing a Republican who hasn’t even made his candidacy official, and other Republicans either have leads or are within striking distance of the Democrats.
While it would still be considered a longshot for the Republicans to take back the Senate, there is still a long time to go before the election and as of right now it appears that Barack Obama does not feel what is in the air. He does not hear what is in the air, his stubbornness on healthcare reform and cap and trade even after the election of Scott Brown is proof that Obama doesn’t feel what is happening in America all around him.
If he continues down this path in defiance of the message that the people are trying to send him, the midterm elections could spell a real disaster for him. The House and the Senate could fall and while Barack Obama may be surprised, the American people who tried to warn him will not be surprised.
We have done everything that we could to try to warn him, but he has not listened, therefore he has not heard. He will hear soon because it is in the air, and I can feel it and I can hear it. Come November we may even be able to smell it, and it will smell like….. VICTORY!
The Climategate scandal continues. The scientist at the heart of the Climategate scandal is facing new allegations that he purposely hid faulty data from Chinese weather monitoring stations.
According to this article the data used by Phil Jones from Chinese weather stations is seriously flawed and coincidentally the documents relating to this data has been destroyed. These are the very documents that Wei-Chyung Wang– Phil Jones’ co-conspirator– claimed would exonerate both of them.
As can be read in this article:
It is well-known that the concrete, bricks and asphalt of urban areas absorb more heat than the countryside. They result in cities being warmer than the countryside, especially at night.
The weather stations in question here are all from urban areas in China. And as China becomes more urban it is only natural that the cities will provide warmer temperature readings, and that the rising temperatures in China are a result of the growth of cities and not by carbon emissions. But these documents have vanished, what a coincidence. Wang and Jones both claim that the urbanization effects of warming are negligible but they can not provide the proof of these findings.
This scandal is not going away; in fact it is growing. It is time to stop entertaining any cap and trade legislation until a full investigation is opened up and completed. During his State of the Union speech, Barack Obama poked fun at those wo deny the “overwhelming evidence” that exists in regards to man-made global warming. He is ignoring the Climategate scandal– as is everyone else in Washington. It would be irresponsible for our government to proceed on cap and trade in light of all of the revelations that have been made public through Climategate.
It is time to stop the global warming propaganda, it is time to investigate these criminals and bring them to justice if they are found to have committed a crime. The United States government has spent millions of dollars on an issue that has been manipulated by those that receive the money. How can anybody support restrictive cap and trade legislation without at least asking for an investigation? If the evidence is as “overwhelming” as Barack Obama claims it is, and if they truly believe it is a legitimate concern, what are they afraid an investigation will reveal?
NH Tea Party Coalition
