Harry Reid to force a jobs bill cloture vote on Monday
Harry Reid stunned Democrats and Republicans– as well as the president– when he decided to throw out the bipartisan jobs bill effort in favor of his own, slimmed down version. Now he is preparing to force a cloture vote on his bill on Monday.
This slimmed down version excludes two provisions that Democrats have deemed vital to the American people– an extention of unemployment benefits and sending more federal money to the states. This does not seem to be a major stumbling block as Harry Reid has promised to address those issues in other upcoming bills. His strategy is apparently to pass as much as possible in multiple smaller bills instead of one big bill. The ommision of these two issues is not likely to stall this bill as Democrats are just hoping to pass anything at this point so that they can show some type of progress.
There is still one notion that I can’t get past; and that is the fact that while this bill is being called a jobs bill, it is nothing more than a second stimulus bill under a new name designed to get the support of the American people. The American people as a whole have soured on the stimulus bill; they feel that it has failed and because of this congress is afraid to release the unspent stimulus money– most of the stimulus money has not yet been released, but with the anti-stimulus sentiment growing congress has decided not to release that money in favor of creating another stimulus bill under a different name in an attempt to fool the American people.
The stated goal of the stimulus bill was to stimulate the economy and to create or save jobs but unemployment is rising and the economy remains stagnant. So congress is now going to pass a “jobs bill.” What is the goal of a jobs bill? To create jobs. That description is too close to the description of the stimulus bill to be a coincidence. This is a second stimulus bill, but congress did not want to call it that because of the anti-stimulus sentiment. If the first stimulus bill failed and the American people know this, why would congress pass a second stimulus bill when most of the money allocated under the first stimulus bill remains unspent? They wouldn’t, unless they called it something else and that is the tact they have decided to take. They have decided that they are never going to release the rest of the stimulus money and have decided to pass another bill with the same goals instead.
The Democrats’ mantra seems to be, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Are the American people going to be fooled by this renaming of the second stimulus bill? I don’t know, only time will tell, but I have to think that the American people will see that this is nothing more than a second attempt to pass the same type of legislation that failed the first time.
What is that definition of insanity again?
Barack Obama plans to use reconciliation to force healthcare reform on an unwilling American people
Barack Obama and the Democrats have not learned their lesson from the recent Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts elections. It should be painfully obvious–especially after the Massachusetts election– that the American people do not want this version of healthcare reform.
Apparently the administration either hasn’t gotten the message, the don’t understand the message, or they have gotten the message and they understand it but they just don’t care, because Barack Obama is going to unveil his healthcare reform bill and push it through with reconciliation against the will of the American people.
Those agreements are likely to be combined as a privileged budget reconciliation bill, which only needs a simple 51-vote majority to pass the 100-member Senate instead of the 60-vote supermajority that has become routine in the Senate and gives Republicans power to block the healthcare bill.
“I believe that’s the path we are going to take,” a senior congressional Democratic aide said.
This news is disheartening to say the least; we have done all that we can to send a message to the president, we have done all we could to stop this bill but it might not have been enough. We may be on the verge of losing this battle at the very moment that we had thought we won.
There is only one hope left if this is the path that the president has decided to take, and it probably isn’t much of a hope. We have to hope that Harry Reid, of all people, will remain true to his word and refuse to use reconciliation to pass this bill. If the president decides that this is the path to take, and the Democrat leadership agree, there is almost nothing we can do to stop it. We would have to convince nine Democrats to change their votes and I just don’t see that happening.
If this is the path that the administration decides to take it could spell the end of the Democrat majority in both houses. That is the one bright side to this news.
While the tax increases in this bill are scheduled to go into effect immediately, the healthcare “benefits” are not to be seen before 2012. This may give us an opportunity to repeal much of this legislation if we manage to take back the House and Senate in November; if the actual legislation is not in effect there may be time to repeal it, once it goes into effect it will never be repealed.
While it is a longshot that Republicans take back both houses, passage of the healthcare reform bill against the will of the people by using such a backhanded means to accomplish it may just be enough to swing the congress back into control of the Republicans.
This could be our only hope because it seems like the president is going to force us to accept this legislation whether we like it or not.
Terrorism in Texas: man flies plane into IRS building
As everyone has heard by now, a man has flown a plane into a building in Austin Texas that employed about 200 employees of the IRS. Local officials there are leery of calling this an act of terrorism. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo refused to call this an act of terrorism stating, “I call it a cowardly, criminal act and there was no excuse for it.” And Congressman Michael McCaul said, “not tied to overseas terror organizations.” Homeland Security has also stated that this is not believed to be an act of terrorism; Joe Gibbs has seconded that motion.
Be that as it may, this was a targeted attack on a federal building and it was an act of terrorism, pure and simple. He targeted the government of the United State of America. This was an act of war against the Unites States. This was a despicable, disgusting act and I cannot put into words how much venom I feel towards this man and his act. Why nobody is willing to call this an act of terrorism is beyond me.
As of this writing the pilot is known to be dead and one other person is unaccounted for. Thankfully this did not turn out nearly as bad as it could have– or as bad as Joe Stack had hoped that it would. Luckily Joe Stack died in this attack and he will not be put on trial as a criminal on the taxpayers’ dime.
His motive seems to be his hatred of the IRS and the tax code of the United States. Some people have already tried to link Joe Stack to the Tea Party movement because of his hatred for the IRS. But this type of action is not what the Tea Party movement is about, that goes without saying. There is a way to solve your differences with the government and it is not through violence, it is by trying to spread your beliefs to others, winning people over to your beliefs, and voting at the polls. That is what the Tea Party movement is about.
Joe Stack left behind his “manifesto” and I ask you to read it and judge for yourself if this man was motivated by the Tea Party movement. It certainly doesn’t seem so to me, especially when you read the last lines that he wrote:
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his means.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.
If the stimulus worked, why is congress working on a jobs bill?
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the signing of the stimulus bill. Barack Obama and Joe Biden were running around defending the stimulus and all the jobs that it can be credited with saving. Barack Obama is crediting the stimulus with creating or saving 2 million jobs to this point. Even if that number is true, unemployment has jumped from 7 percent to over 10 percent since the stimulus was enacted. We were told the stimulus would stop unemployment from rising above 8 percent. It seems like a hollow “victory.”
Only a fraction of the stimulus money has been spent so it would seem to me that if the stimulus has been so successful to this point, and most of the money still remains unspent, wouldn’t it make sense to spend more of the stimulus money to turn the economy around that way?
But that is not what is happening. This seems like a no-brainer to me, but why does congress need to work on a new jobs bill if the stimulus is working and there is still stimulus money left? If the stimulus bill was supposed to save or create jobs, doesn’t that make it a jobs bill? Why do we need a new jobs bill if that is the case? Doesn’t this make the jobs bill stimulus number two?
When Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill he thought that it would be the end all be all; he thought that he had saved the economy so he moved on and forgot about the economy to pursue a healthcare reform bill. Once it became bogged down he tried to claim that he was pursuing the healthcare bill to save the economy. The public wasn’t buying it, so on the one year anniversary of the stimulus bill he had to go out and defend the stimulus. He had to return to where his focus should have been over the last year.
If everything that Barack Obama has said about the stimulus bill is true we do not need a jobs bill, we just need to release the rest of the stimulus money. The money has already been allocated, why not use it before creating another spending bill? Because the president knows that the stimulus has failed to this point and releasing the rest of the money will also fail.
It is on to plan B.
Texas to file lawsuit challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses
The global warming argument is falling apart amid scandals but that does not mean that we are out of the woods when it comes to some sort of cap and trade legislation. Sure, the cap and trade bill has stalled in congress and no politician would be stupid enough to try to resurrect it in the face of all the scandals surrounding global warming– except of course Barack Obama– so under normal circumstances cap and trade would be dead.
But the EPA has ruled that greenhouse gasses are a danger and has given itself the authority to regulate them on their own if congress does not. It seems that we will get cap and trade legislation forced upon us no matter what. The fight might not be over yet because Texas has filed a motion in court challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses, and has also asked the EPA to reconsider its ruling.
This could be our last chance to stop cap and trade from being forced on us and we have to hope that the Texas motion is successful or we are all going to be paying the price for cap and trade even though we now know that the IPCC has manipulated the data to come to their desired result. The whole global warming argument is based on lies, manipulation, and fraud, but that doesn’t matter because we do not have the power to stop the EPA.
I am not sure where this is going to go, after all it was the Supreme Court who gave the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gases in the first place, it is unlikely that if this motion makes it to the Supreme Court that they will overturn themselves. But it must be tried, it is too important to go down without a fight.
New Hampshire Republican wins special election
Republican David Boutin has just been projected to win the New Hampshire District 16 State Senate seat. There have been seven special elections held since 2008 and Republicans have now won six of them.
All of these elections have been local state elections without national implications. Are these victories a sign that New Hampshire is souring on Barack Obama? His approval rating is down in New Hampshire– a state that he carried in 2008– but as I said these were all local elections so while a public down on Barack Obama may have contributed to these recent Republican election victories, I think that it only played a small part.
During the Tea Party last April many of the speakers focused on New Hampshire politics and the direction the state has taken under John Lynch, more so than the direction that the country has taken under Barack Obama. I think that these elections reflect more on the state government– and Governor John Lynch in particular. People are fed up with the out of control spending at the state level, they are tired of Governor Lynch passing budget bills with revenue projections that are inflated. When the economy was still going strong Republicans tried to warn the governor that his projections were inflated and that the income would not be met. But then the economy took a turn for the worse and Governor Lynch tried to blame the national economy even though he was warned that even in a good economy his numbers were unattainable.
Then came the governor’s solution to the budget deficit– he tried to seize the private money that New Hampshire doctors have in a malpractice insurance fund. This proposal was shot down by the state Supreme Court.
People are angry in this state, they are tired of the spending and they are tired of the tax increases. They are tired of the liberal policies and the Nanny State laws that have been passed under Governor John Lynch. The people of New Hampshire are engaged and they are not happy.
These elections have me feeling pretty good about New Hampshire’s future, we appear ready to turn a corner and get back on the road to the independent New Hampshire citizenry that we have always considered ourselves. We had lost our way over the last four years but we appear poised to regain our independent nature.
Governor Lynch, we are coming for you in November!
After scolding congress for perpetual campaigning, Barack Obama hits the campaign trail
Didn’t Barack Obama say at his State of the Union address that it was time for the perpetual campaigning to end? Didn’t he claim that congress was too worried about their own futures– their re-elections– and not concerned enough about doing what is right for the country? I am pretty sure that he did. He basically scolded congress for listening to the will of the people instead of his own radical agenda. He urged congress to stop being in campaign mode all of the time.
He must have only been scolding Republicans who are concerned about getting re-elected because Barack Obama is heading out on the campaign trail. The man who urged congress to stop the perpetual campaign is now going out to campaign for two Democrats who face tough re-election campaigns.
With Barack Obama’s recent track record of campaigning for Democrat candidates, this should be considered a positive development for Republicans. Barack Obama has been the kiss of death for the Democrat candidates that he has stumped for– but that is besides the fact.
The fact is that Barack Obama is now engaging in the perpetual campaign that he warned congress about. If it is wrong for the congress to be in full campaign mode all the time in Barack Obama’s eyes, why is it okay for him to be in full campaign mode all the time.
Barack Obama has a history of his actions not being in sync with his rhetoric. Remember when he signed a bill that had 9,000 earmarks in it at the same time he was condemning earmarks? When Barack Obama talks, does anyone take him seriously any more? The man has a way with saying one thing at the same time he is doing the opposite, and now he is doing it again.
TSA forces 4 year old disabled boy to remove leg braces to pass through airport security
When you read about a story like this you realize that we have gone too far in attempting to be politically correct.
A police officer and his wife were taking their four year old son to Walt Disney World to celebrate his birthday. The Thomas’ had more to celebrate than just their son’s birthday. Ryan Thomas was born prematurely and because of this his legs were not fully developed; he just began walking with the help of leg braces.
When he tried to pass through airport security with his leg braces on the metal detector went off. The TSA agent at the scene ordered Ryan to remove the leg braces and walk through the detector, to the surprise of his parents who argued that Ryan could not walk through on his own without the braces. Ryan’s mother offered to walk through with him for support but the TSA agent said that was not allowed. Ryan had to walk through on his own.
The boys parents were allowed to walk through directly in front of and behind Ryan to protect him in case he fell; he did not fall, he made it through the detector on his own.
Needless to say, Ryan’s parents are not happy and they shouldn’t be. But this is what we have come to as a country under Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama. This administration is so damned concerned about offending Muslims that the TSA has reached the point where they must make a boy who is developmentally delayed take off his leg braces and risk injury so that we can show the world that we are not profiling Muslims.
This is disgusting, uncalled for, and totally reprehensible.
Here is the truth; we have a profile of who the terrorists are, we can not admit it but everyone knows that it is true. But we have to play this politically correct game and pretend that profiling does not exist, and you know what? With this administration it may not exist and that is a shame.
Profiling is not only not wrong, it is a necessary tool; not only in fighting terrorism, but in fighting crime also. When a crime is witnessed by an individual what is the first question that the police ask? They ask for a description of the criminal. A description is a profile. The police then look for a person who fits that description. That is not wrong, that is how criminals are caught. Will the police then question people who do not fit the profile of the criminal just so that they can claim they are not looking for a person of a particular race, no matter what race that is? I certainly hope not. What would be the use of obtaining a profile if you are not going to use it to solve a crime.
It is no different in regards to terrorism; we know who the terrorists are and what they look like. Stopping people who fit the profile of a terrorist does not mean that you are accusing that person of being a terrorist, it simply means that you are doing your best to protect the public from terrorism. Most clear thinking Muslims understand this.
The fact that we have reached a point in this country where Homeland Security is more afraid of offending the people we are trying to fight than they are of offending the parents of a four year old developmentally delayed boy– who obviously does not fit the profile of the people the TSA is looking for– in the interest of pretending that a profile of terrorists does not exist is just more proof that this administration lacks the courage it takes to fight terrorism.
The United States is granting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed– the admitted mastermind of September 11th, Nadal-Hasan– the Fort Hood terrorist, and the Christmas day bomber full constitutional rights as if they were Americans citizens and they are harassing four year old disabled children as they try to pass through airport security and we are supposed to think that this administration takes terrorism seriously?
Will the Tea Party hand Harry Reid a re-election victory?
In Nevada the Tea Party has qualified to appear on the ballot later this year. The Tea Party is planning on nominating Jon Ashjian as their candidate for Harry Reid’s senate seat this fall.
The Tea Party movement is growing stronger, to the point where the Tea Party is now able to field candidates in some of the upcoming elections. While once the movement was laughed at and ridiculed by the left, the movement has grown to the extent that candidates are now running based on the ideals of the Tea Party movement.
To tell you the truth, the Tea Party movement has gained more traction than I thought it would when it first began at the protests last April 15th. I thought that after the initial protests the people would fall back into their routines and forget about the issues that drew them all together. But I was wrong, the movement has intensified, the movement is real. The people are angry at where our government is leading us and they have not abandoned the Tea Party movement, in fact just the opposite has happened, they have become engaged in a manner that I haven’t seen the American people engaged in before. And it is culminating with people who are associated with the Tea Party actually taking the steps necessary to run for office and defeat those that they were protesting against.
This is great news, but it could come with a price. The addition of a third party in the Nevada senate race could be all that it takes to hand the unpopular Harry Reid a victory in his re-election bid. If the anti-Reid vote is split between the Republican candidate and the Tea Party candidate, the door could be open for Harry Reid to walk back in to the United States senate next year after his re-election looked doubtful.
How ironic would it be that the very movement that has fought so long and so hard against Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama– among others– would be the movement that secured Harry Reid a victory from the jaws of defeat?
If this is the end result of the Tea Party movement in Nevada it would be unfortunate, but there is always collateral damage in any battle and this battle is no different. If the Tea Party movement is able to claim enough victories in the upcoming elections– and the movement is already of to a great start– it will not matter if they are not able to catch the big prize because they will have politically neutered Harry Reid.
If a re-elected Harry Reid is powerless because he has lost enough senate votes than the movement will have succeeded, even if their presence actually helped to re-elect him.
Harry Reid’s victory may be a loss for the Tea Party, but not for the movement as a whole. It would be nice to bring down Harry Reid, but while Harry Reid might escape the Tea Party’s vengeance he is more of a figurehead than anything else if the movement is able to claim enough victims in the House and Senate.
Harry Reid’s defeat would be so satisfying, and I am going to be disappointed if he manages to pull it out because of the Tea Party, but we must remember that the goals of the Tea Party are higher than just one man. There is more at stake here than just one man. Harry Reid may win the battle, but the Tea Part has to win the war.
Evan Bayh announces he will not seek re-election
It is being reported that within the hour Democrat Senator Evan Bayh will hold a press conference in which he will announce that he will not seek re-election in November.
This could present the Republicans with a huge opportunity at picking up a senate seat that was not considered vulnerable, as Evan Bayh was leading his four possible Republican opponents in November by twenty points in the latest poll. Surely the Democrats considered this a secure seat– and Republicans probably thought this seat was not in play– but this announcement has changed that.
Most of the other Democrats who have announced they will not seek re-election faced tough election campaigns, but Evan Bayh does not fall into that category, this news seems to have come out of the blue. This could be a huge opportunity for Republicans.
Although the prospect of a GOP victory here may still not be great– there are two Democrats who appear poised to run for Bayh’s seat and Republicans were trailing Bayh by 20 points, whichever Democrat wins the primary will probably still have a lead on the Republican candidate– they have gotten allot better.
This seat is now in play, the game is changing.
America's Watchtower 