New Hampshire Republicans are beginning to push back against the healthcare reform bill and the battle starts tomorrow when my former United States representative, Jeb Bradley, introduces a bill that would shield New Hampshire residents from the healthcare mandates that are included in the healthcare reform bill that Barack Obama signed into law today.
Jeb Bradley lost his re-election bid to moonbat Carol Shea-Porter in 2006 and lost a bid to regain his seat in 2008 before winning a state rep seat in a special election earlier this year. The tide may be turning in New Hampshire and Republicans are looking to take advantage of it– this is the first step in doing so.
Here is some of the language in the bill that will be proposed by Jeb Bradley tomorrow:
No resident of this state, regardless of whether he or she has or is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his or her employer, or a plan sponsored by the state or the federal government, shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage except as required by a court or the department of health and human services where an individual is named a party in a judicial or administrative proceeding.”It also says:
“No provision of this title shall render a resident of this state liable for any penalty, assessment, fee, or fine as a result of his or her failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage
Meanwhile– in what should be no surprise to New Hampshire voters– Governor John Lynch has refused to say whether he is in agreement with the healthcare bill or against it. In typical Lynch fashion, he is riding the fence while claiming to be undecided. This is his MO on all contentious bills, he does not lead, he simply waits for the debate to end before making a decision and then comes down on the liberal side. This will be no different, he will come out in favor of the healthcare mandates and will not side with the bill to protect New Hampshire’s residents from being forced to buy healthcare coverage that they either do not want or cannot afford.
It feels good to know that there are some people in our state government who are ready to step up to the plate on this issue. It will probably go nowhere right now, but we must make sure that we pay attention to who votes against the Jeb Bradley bill and then in November we must vote against them.
Latest poll numbers for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid
According to a new poll; Nancy Pelosi’s favorability rating is at 11% while Harry Reid’s is at 8%. This poll really means nothing when it comes the their re-election chances as it is a national poll and not a poll of people who will actually be voting for or against them. But I bring this poll up for another reason, there is something in this poll that I find totally astonishing– and really, I find it very hard to believe.
More than half of those surveyed say they are either undecided about Pelosi or haven’t heard enough to make a decision
The Nevada Democrat, who is facing a tough reelection battle, appears to be an unknown quantity to most Americans: Nearly seven in ten say they are say they are either undecided or haven’t heard enough about Reid to offer an opinion.
I know that I follow politics much closer than most people do, as do the people that visit the blogs on a regular basis, but I find it incredible that after the debate on healthcare reform there could be that many people that do not have an opinion– or that claim they do not know enough about– Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. How is this possible? Especially in Nancy Pelosi’s case, she has been front and center in recent weeks while Harry Reid has been more in the background. But still. 70% of Americans do not have an opinion on Harry Reid?
I would like to know who these people are that were polled and where they are from. Are they likely voters or are they just anybody that would answer the questions? I would like to know the answer to these questions because if these numbers are accurate, and these are likely voters, I have misjudged the anger that the voters in this country feel and their commitment to throwing out many of the incumbents. The Tea Party movement will be in real trouble if these numbers are anywhere close to being true.
While the fact that Nancy Pelosi’s and Harry Reid’s numbers are so low is encouraging, it is equally discouraging– if not more so– that so many people do not have an opinion of– or do not know enough about these two people– to have an opinion one way or the other about them.
Ever since we learned that Bart Stupak caved in on the healthcare reform bill based on a promise by Barack Obama that he would sign an executive order that prohibited the federal funding of abortion– an order that he did not sign today but promised to sign sometime in the future, as if that really can be believed, I won’t be holding my breath– I thought that there must be more to the story than that. I found it hard to believe that someone who was as pro-life as we were led to believe that Bart Stupak was would simply abandon his principles based solely on a promise without getting actual language inserted into either the Senate bill or the “fix it” bill that has been sent to the Senate for a vote. There had to be some other “perk” given to Bart Stupak in order to buy off his healthcare reform bill. And today we may have learned what is was that Bart Stupak won that persuaded him to abandon his stated principles.
It is being reported that just days before the healthcare reform vote Bark Stupak’s district was awarded three airport grants totalling over $700,000. Naturally, this has led to speculation that Bart Stupak’s healthcare reform vote was bought of by the administration for these grants.
The timing certainly seems suspect enough. Did Bart Stupak vote yes on the healthcare reform vote because he was able to secure airport grants for his district? Or was this simply an extraordinary coincidence? I find it too hard to believe that these two events are not related. Bart Stupak appears to have put pork ahead of his stated position of protecting the unborn, and I find this to be reprehensible if indeed this is the case.
Why else would Bart Stupak cave in to the healthcare reform bill based on the promise of an executive order that could be rescinded at any time? It seems obvious to me that Bart Stupak is a fraud and that he sold his vote for these grants. He realized that without his vote or the vote of his supposedly pro-life Blue Dog coalition, the healthcare reform bill would not pass and he held out for the best offer that he could get. That offer turned out to be grants for airports in his district and with that offer Bart Stupak sold out the last remaining chance to stop the healthcare reform bill from becoming law. Bart Stupak, I hope that you are proud of yourself, you put the lives of the unborn that you were supposed to be defending behind a backroom deal that delivered more money to your district. We now know where your true loyalties lie.
To paraphrase a Boston talk radio host, Howie Carr, it is time to put Blue Dogs on the endangered species list because they are few and far between.
As if the American people needed any more reasons to oppose the healthcare reform bill that Barack Obama will sign into law tomorrow, we are now learning that the IRS will have to add as many as 16,500 new employees just to keep up with the new tax increases and mandates that are in the bill.
A new analysis by the Joint Economic Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee minority staff estimates up to 16,500 new IRS personnel will be needed to collect, examine and audit new tax information mandated on families and small businesses in the ‘reconciliation’ bill being taken up by the U.S. House of Representatives this weekend. …
Scores of new federal mandates and fifteen different tax increases totaling $400 billion are imposed under the Democratic House bill. In addition to more complicated tax returns, families and small businesses will be forced to reveal further tax information to the IRS, provide proof of ‘government approved’ health care and submit detailed sales information to comply with new excise taxes.
I really don’t think that I need to elaborate on that any more, it says it all.
Meet the new GITMO, same as the old GITMO
Ever since the president signed the executive order to close GITMO by the beginning of this year there has been debate over what to do with the terrorists that are confined there. Needless to say, the president didn’t meet his GITMO closing deadline and GITMO remains operational today. The original plan was to detain these terrorists in American jails and provide them with criminal trials but that plan met fierce resistance with the American people so the administration is rethinking its plan.
Enter into the picture Bagram– a detention center in Afghanistan. The administration is now looking at relocating the GITMO terrorists to Bagram, and trying them in military tribunals.
Meet the new GITMO, same as the old GITMO.
It seems as if nothing is going to change for these terrorists except for the location they are being detained in. How is this a shift from the Bush administration’s policies?
If we are going to hold them in a place that is basically a new GITMO, but in a different location, what is the difference? Why bother to do this other than to do it for public relations purposes, to appease the far left? But how will treating the terrorists in the same manner as they are being treated at GITMO appease the left, when nothing but the location changes?
The president signed an executive order to close GITMO because it became a hot button political issue during the 2008 election, but he never bothered to come up with a plan before he signed the order. Now he is stuck; he needs to do something in order to please the far left, yet he faces extreme pressure from moderate to conservative America to not move these terrorists onto the soil of the United States and grant them the same rights under our constitution; the same constitution that they are at war against.
The administration’s new plan is to move the terrorists to a new location and continue Bush’s policies from there. While I am personally glad to see the president admit through his actions that he was wrong in his assessment of what to do with the GITMO detainees, I have to wonder what the far left thinks about this decision, if this indeed is the decision the president makes. If they are honest with themselves they will be forced to admit this is disappointing to them. And it must be maddening to them that Barack Obama is basically admitting– without saying it out loud– that President Bush was right all along about the GITMO detainees.
Let the lawsuits over healthcare reform begin
I am as disappointed over the passage of the healthcare reform bill– if not more so– as is at least 60-70 % of the American people but the battle is just beginning. Now it is time to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation, and the first item up for a challenge is the constitutionality of forcing the American people to purchase healthcare.
Florida is now readying a constitutional challenge to the healthcare mandates that are included in this bill, and Florida is not alone: South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alabama have all signed on so far to challenge this in court. Hopefully there will be more states to follow suit, there is talk that 38 states are preparing to challenge this bill’s constitutionality in court.
Here is the statement released by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum:
The health care reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last night clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state’s sovereignty.
On behalf of the State of Florida and of the Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alabama if the President signs this bill into law, we will file a lawsuit to protect the rights and the interests of American citizens.
Barack Obama scored a huge victory yesterday with the vote in the House to pass the Senate version of the healthcare reform bill but we are just beginning to fight. This is not over, and it will not be for quite some time.
Republicans are also readying bills to repeal the healthcare reform bill and while the chances of these moves actually bearing fruit are extremely slim, the fight must go on. The manner in which this bill became law must be made a political issue all the way through the midterm elections. The American people are upset. They are upset at this bill and they are upset about the manner in which this bill became law.
Nancy Pelosi claimed that there was no way that this bill would not get passed and she was right. Unless I am mistaken– and if I am I am sure that somebody will correct me,– the Senate never even voted on their version of the bill before the House passed it. The Senate was preparing a vote on the bill when Scott Brown won in Massachusetts and deprived the Democrats of the 60th vote needed to pass the bill. They agreed to use reconciliation to pass the bill with a simple majority, but I do not remember them actually voting on passing the bill.
There seems to be something shady going on here when the president can sign a bill into law that the Senate hasn’t ever approved. The fix has been in on this bill from the very beginning and it is enlightening moving forward on future bills such as cap and trade and amnesty for illegals. We cannot allow the government to get away with this on healthcare reform because it will open up the door for them to do whatever the hell they want to on the other pressing issues of the radical Barack Obama administration.
Now is the time to write to your state representatives and to ask them to join in the lawsuits that are upcoming on the constitutionality of the healthcare reform bill. The stakes have never been higher, the future of our nation is at stake. It is time to rise up and take our country back before it is too late.
Bart Stupak has reached an agreement with Barack Obama on the abortion language in the Senate’s version of the healthcare reform bill and will vote “yes” when the bill comes up for a vote later tonight. The president has agreed to sign an executive order that will prevent federal funds to be provided for abortions. On this promise alone Bart Stupak is set to deliver his pro-life coalition into the “yes” column. He must have more faith in the president actually keeping his word for once than I do. It really isn’t surprising that Bart Stupak and his pro-life coalition has finally caved in on this issue– we all knew that eventually he would– but it is disheartening to see our last line of defense penetrated at the last instance. Especially on a promise and not with anything that is actually binding.
This turn of events all but assures the healthcare reform bill will pass the House– and probably with more “yes” votes than the first House vote, a major victory for Nancy Pelosi– when it is voted on. This is a major setback for all of us who oppose this bill but the fight is still not over. The “fix it” bill will still have to be voted on in the Senate, and Republicans in the Senate are vowing to kill it. Republicans are planning to use the procedural process to either kill the “fix it” bill or to alter it enough so that it will have to go back to the House for yet another vote. The Senate bill is still very unpopular in the House and if the Republicans can manage to change enough in the “fix it” bill– or kill it altogether– there is still a chance that this bill can be defeated. The House would have to succumb to serious pressure from the White House to pass the Senate version of the bill without the “fix it” provisions included. Will they cave on this eventually? We just don’t know the answer to that question, but now is not the time to give up.
By the end of the day, opponents of the healthcare reform bill will have been dealt a serious blow, but the fact remains that the fight is not yet over. We must continue to keep up the pressure no matter how futile our attempts may seem. We are in the final stages of this fight now and while the outcome may seem assured, nothing is final. We must continue to fight, I know how hard it is and how disheartening it feels to know that the House is simply not listening to the people they are supposed to represent, but we must not quit until the fight is over.
While the end seems to be nearing, it is not here yet; the focus is now returning to the Senate, so we must now write, call, and email our Senators and demand that they kill the “fix it” bill and send it back to the House for yet another vote. The process has been long drawn out and is tedious to say the least, but it is not over and we cannot give up until this bill becomes law. Once it becomes law it will be in the hands of the constitutional lawyers and out of our hands once and for all.
We can still defeat this bill even though our odds are becoming longer as every day passes. Now is the time for vigilance and determination. Once again, I leave you with the words of Thomas Paine:
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
Claiming that the EPA relied to heavily on the IPCC’s fraudulent climate change data to come to its assessment that greenhouse gasses pose a threat to humanity, at least 15 states have joined in a lawsuit to stop the EPA from issuing regulations until their finding has been re-examined.
If EPA doesn’t reopen the hearings we will move forward to try to stop them from regulating greenhouse gases,
Even though the IPCC has been caught trying to manipulate the data, and even though the IPCC is in the midst of a major scandal, the EPA still stands by their finding that was based on the information that was given to them by the IPCC.
The question of the science is settled
The House passed a climate change bill last year but it has stalled in the senate. Barack Obama feels that the EPA will provide him a means to get his radical climate change agenda instituted, declaring that he supports letting the EPA regulate greenhouse gasses if the senate fails to do so.
The congress may be on the verge of handing Barack Obama a healthcare “victory” without a vote, and it appears as if Barack Obama may be able to get a climate change “victory ” without a vote either. Does anyone else see a troubling pattern emerging from the Obama administration?
Climategate has revealed a scandal of epic proportion, only you wouldn’t know it by listening to the mainstream media, but this could be the opening salvo of a long battle ahead on climate change. There is no way that any climate change legislation should go forward until a full investigation has been concluded on the IPCC, to do otherwise would be irresponsible. Hopefully this lawsuit is the beginning of the end for the global warming alarmists.
The American people have been battling the healthcare reform bill– as has congress– for almost a year now and the media is portraying the end as being near now that the House has scheduled a vote on healthcare reform for sometime on Sunday. But the end is not yet here, no matter what happens on Sunday.
If the House does vote on Sunday– and that is still iffy as the votes are not yet there– it will mean that the House is confident that they can either pass the bill on a straight up or down vote, or they will use the Slaughter solution to pass the bill without voting on it. But that is not the end of the battle, the Senate will still have to approve the changes. If the Senate does not approve the all of the changes the House will once again have to vote on the changes that the Senate did make. This process if still not over.
If the house votes on and passes the bill this Sunday, it will be a setback for all that we have worked for for the past nine months, but it will not be time to despair and it will not be time to throw in the towel. With every passing obstacle that is cleared the bill gets closer to passage, and as the bill gets closer to passage the natural reaction is for those who are fighting against it to become more nad more disheartened– possibly even throwing in the towel. Now is not the time to throw in the towel, that is what the Democrats are hoping for. I know firsthand how hard it is to rail against this everyday, wondering if it is worth it. After all, aren’t they going to do whatever the hell they want to regardless of what the people want? But we cannot give up until the president has signed this bill into law. We can’t give up even then because there will be constitutional challenges to this legislation. The press may say that the battle is nearing an end but in fact the battle is just beginning.
Please remain vigilant in the days ahead, we need to keep up the pressure as long as this bill is being debated, no matter how bleak it appears and no matter what our chances are of stopping it. Please continue to call, write, and email your representatives, let them know that if they do not listen now they will not have to worry about listening after November because they will join the ranks of the ever growing unemployed.
As this bill gets closer to passage, it is the most critical time to make our voices heard. If a full effort is given by us and we still lose at least we will know that we did everything we could and never gave up, but if we give up now before the bill is finalized we will regret it for the rest of our lives.
Remember the words on Thomas Paine:
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
Sheriff Joe launches a new immigration sweep
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is launching a new immigration sweep that is targeting drop houses, drug violators and human smuggling vehicles. He is determined to do his job in the face of withering criticism that he is racially profiling Hispanics because he is looking for illegal Mexican immigrants. I know how asinine the charges sound– after all, he is looking for illegal MEXICAN immigrants, it seems natural that he would target MEXICANS– but he has even been ordered by Homeland Security to stop his immigration efforts because this administration is not serious about curbing the illegal immigration into this country. As a matter of fact, this administration is beginning to look at immigration reform that will include amnesty for the very people that Sheriff Joe is rounding up and sending back to where they belong, it is no wonder this administration and Homeland Security are disgruntled with Sheriff Joe.
Yet Sheriff Joe remains undaunted and is now launching yet another immigration sweep in direct opposition to Homeland Security. Sheriff Joe, keep up the good work. The American people are with you even if this administration is not!
America's Watchtower 