Democrat Representative, Peter Griffith, defects to the Republican party
Representative Parker Griffith from Alabama announced today that he was leaving the Democrat party and joining the Republicans. Here is what Griffith had to say about his switch:
I believe our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt
Unfortunately there are those in the Democratic Leadership that continue to push an agenda focused on massive new spending, tax increases, bailouts and a health care bill that is bad for our healthcare system,” Griffith said in a statement. “I have always considered myself to be an independent voice and I have tried to be that voice in Congress – but after watching this agenda firsthand I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear and that for me to be true to my core beliefs and values I must align myself with the Republican party and speak out clearly on these issues
Those are strong words, and they are what many of us believe is wrong with the Democrats. Griffith denied that his switch was an attempt to help his re-election bid, and judging by his conservative voting record I would say that he has more strongly aligned himself with his beliefs.
This is mostly a symbolic victory for Republicans, it will not change anything in the House as Griffith was already siding with the Republicans on all of the major bills that were debated this year; the cap and trade bill, the stimulus bill, and the healthcare reform bill, but this does highlight the growing rift in the Democrat party.
As one who does not put much stock in “moral victories”– you either win or you lose– this one could be a sign of things to come. Republicans are united against this president’s radical agenda, while it is the Democrats who are splintering over his policies. If it were not for the payouts that several Democrats received for their states, the healthcare reform bill would have been defeated.
Griffith’s defection represents the growing divide in the Democrat party and while this one defection may not change the balance of power in the House, it does show us the fragile state of the Democrat party heading into the 2010 election year.
The healthcare reform debate; politics at its worst
While reading one of my favorite blogs, Political Realities, I came across a post entitled “Senator Ben Nelson will vote yes.” I left a comment on the article, to which one of the authors of the blog, Mike, wrote a reply that got me thinking.
He said:
I’d add that the backroom negotiations have made it perfectly clear to Senate Democrats that it is not in their best interest to support any Obama initiative right out of the gate. Why should they when the Republicans appear united in opposition to any Obama proposal thereby making every one of the 60 Senate Dem votes required and therefore negotiable. Why say “yes, I’m in favor of that” when you can say instead “yes, I’m in favor of that provided I get x, y, and z” for my state? And are House Dems now supposed to blindly vote yes as they watch hardline Senate Dems gain individual benefits for their states as a “reward” for their incalcitrance? It’s truly politics at its absolute worst.
This is an angle that I hadn’t even thought about. While I find it extremely exciting that the Republicans have seemingly become unified against this president’s agenda, there is actually a downside to it.
Because the Republicans can be counted on to vote against almost anything that the president introduces, it renders the Democrats’ individual votes in the senate even more powerful. As Mike asks,”Why say ‘yes, I’m in favor of that’ when you can say instead ‘yes, I’m in favor of that provided I get x, y, and z’ for my state?”
Also, as Mike states, it make all of the senate Democrats’ votes negotiable. They hold a position of power and can use that power to gain more “concessions” for their states at the expense of the other states. We have seen this on display with Mary Ladrieu, Ben Nelson, Chris Dodd, and Harry Reid. Instead of voting for or against a bill on the merits of the bill, their vote is now for sale.
It is sort of ironic that the unity in the Republican party– unity that was missing for far too long– could actually do more harm than good; not because of their unity and not because they are on the wrong side of the issues, but because it gives certain Democrats bargaining power that they would not otherwise have. With every single Democrat vote needed to pass any bill on the president’s agenda, it makes their vote worth more– figuratively and literally. Democrats have the votes to pass whatever they want to, but some Democrats are using the unity of the Republican party as a bargaining chip against their own party to drive up the cost of legislation in order to help their re-election bids.
There is no reason that any Democrat should not hold out to gain “concessions” through what Harry Reid thinks of as “negotiating,” to not hold out would be irresponsible. Why not get whatever you can while you can? We cannot blame these senators for going after everything they can get, if my Democrat senator was as shrewd as any of those listed above, instead of being the rubber stamp that she is, perhaps New Hampshire could have won a deal much like some of the other states. I am not condoning this type of thug politics, but what good reason does she have for not trying to lessen the burden of her taxpaying constituents while so many of her colleagues are doing the same?
As Mike said in his comment, this is politics at its absolute worst. Instead of voting on the merits of a bill and putting the country first , these politicians are using their political capital to “bring home the bacon,” but all that it is doing is raising the price tag of healthcare reform and putting a larger burden on fewer tax paying Americans.
What this tells me is that we need to elect more Republicans to the senate in 2010 in order to offset this pork barrel money grab, and diminish the selfish power that is being wielded by certain senators in Washington at the expense of others. Even one more Republican senator would weaken the bargaining power of these senators who are looking through a prism of “what are you going to do for me” instead of looking at what is best for the country.
Of course, this would also serve to give the “usual suspects” in the Republican party; John McCain, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins to name three, more power to try to cut a deal with the Democrats so there is only one thing left for us to do.
It is time to take the power away from those in Washington and put it back where it belongs, in the hands of the people. We have the final say next year, we need to make it count.
Senator Whitehouse on the floor of the senate; People who oppose healthcare reform are members of the Aryan nation
I can’t recall a time in recent memory where the people who oppose a president, or his agenda, have been under attack the way that they have been since the election of Barack Obama.
According to some of our elected officials there is no reason to oppose the president other than being a racist or a proponent of slavery. Harry Reid said as much when he likened opponents of the healthcare reform bill to the debate on slavery in the 1800’s, and Nancy Pelosi went so far as to call opponents of the healthcare reform bill swastika carrying Nazis.
And now we have Senator Whitehouse, of Rhode Island, calling opponents of the healthcare reform bill Aryan nation supporters.
We have now gone beyond the point of legitimate debate in this country. Instead of listening to those that disagree with the president on an issue, and instead of trying to win over the people who disagree with the president using reason, we have reached a point where elected officials are insulting the people and demeaning the people. Senator Whitehouse would do well to remember that he works for the people, he serves us, we do not serve him.
It is one thing for our elected officials to insult and argue with each other, that happens on controversial measures, but it another thing altogether for those officials to insult the people who they work for.
Senator Whitehouse is attacking the people of this country that disagree with him. This shows an arrogance and a disdain for the “unwashed masses” that quite possibly has never been seen before in American politics. It is disgusting and insulting for him to stand up on the floor of the senate and call the majority of the American people fringe, out of touch, Aryans just because they have the common sence to see this bill for the disaster that it is.
Not so long ago Hillary Clinton shrilly screamed that “we’re Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration,” but just a short time later we evidentially don’t have that right any more. Instead, we are abused and degraded in an attempt to delegitimize us by this administration and by the senate that supports him. Where once it was patriotic to oppose the president, it is now racist and unacceptable. Funny what can happen in two short years depending on who the president is, isn’t it?
Thomas Jefferson once said, “when the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” I will let you draw your own conclusions from the actions of this president and the senate about where our government stands, and how they feel in regard to that quote. I conclude that not only does the government not fear us, they do not respect us. We must teach them respect.
Senator Whitehouse is a disgrace and he owes the American people an apology. To think that he made that statement on the floor of the senate is despicable.
Chris Dodd’s $100 million healthcare reform bill payoff
We can add Chris Dodd’s name to the list of senators that received money in exchange for their affirmative vote on the healthcare reform bill. According to this article, Chris Dodd has requested $100 million to aid in the building of a state run hospital in his home state of Connecticut. While it is not confirmed that Chris Dodd will receive this money, the money has been added to the bill and states will have the right to compete for the funding.
With Chris Dodd’s connections, and with the amount of time that he has dedicated to the healthcare reform bill this is only a formality. I am sure that when it comes time for the Department of Health and Human Services to dole out this money, Chris Dodd’s name will be at the top of the list.
Between Harry Reid, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, and others, the cost of the healthcare reform bill has risen exponentially in order to gain the necessary 60 votes in the senate to assure its passage.
Again, the question must be asked, if this bill was so good in its original form why did all of these payouts have to be agreed to in order to gain its passage in the senate?
Somebody has to pay for all of these “concessions” that Harry Reid made in order to pass healthcare reform, care to guess who that will be?
Yesterday Ben Nelson, senator from Nebraska, won “concessions” from Harry Reid on the healthcare reform bill and announced that he would vote in favor of the bill. While Ben Nelson threw up a smokescreen by declaring that he would not support the bill because of the abortion language that it contained, he was really working behind the scene to “negotiate” a Medicare expansion cost deferment for his state. In other words, Nebraska will be wholly exempted from paying the higher Medicare costs that will go into effect once this bill is passed.
Senator Nelson may be the latest– and most prominent because his vote is the 60th vote– senator to acquire a Medicare exemption, he is not the only one to acquire monetary concessions for his state in return for his vote.
Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont, received $10 billion for the creation of healthcare centers, as well as additional Medicare funding. Pennsylvania, New York and Florida also received exemptions from an increase in Medicare.
And let us not forget the esteemed senator from Louisiana, Mary Landrieu, who proudly announced “the fix is in” after she secured a $300 million increase in federal Medicare funding.
But the most obscene example is that of Harry Reid himself; at the beginning of this debate Harry Reid made sure that Nevada was exempt from the Medicare increases even while he was forcing this bill upon all the other states. Evidently, Harry Reid did not find this bill very palatable for his own state, so he made sure his state was exempted. That’s the way to lead by example, Harry.
Here is what Harry Reid had to say about this type of “negotiations”:
You’ll find a number of states that are treated differently than other states. That’s what legislating is all about. It’s compromise
Throwing more and more money around until you get the votes you need is not legislating and it is not compromise, Harry, it is bribery.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame these senators for making sure that they are acting in the best interest of their states and assuring that their constituents aren’t burdened with additional taxes to pay for this monstrosity, but it does lead us to the question; if this bill was so great in the first place, how come so many senators had to exempt their states from the burden of the expanded costs when this bill is supposed to bring down healthcare costs?
If this bill was as it is being sold to us, wouldn’t these senators have been on board from the beginning? The truth is, this bill is not going to reduce healthcare costs; and we can tell by the actions of Bernie Sanders, Mary Landrieu, Harry Reid, and Ben Nelson, among others, that this bill is actually going to cost taxpayers more money. There will be no healthcare savings in this bill; those of us who already have healthcare are going to see our taxes increased to pay for the healthcare of those who do not already have it– at least those of us who are in the states which are not exempted.
This leads me to one last question; do the rubber stamp senators who were willing to go along with whatever bill Harry Reid put in front of them regardless of the damage it would do to the taxpayers of their states– such as my New Hampshire Senator, Jeanne Shaheen– feel stupid for being played for the fools that they are when they could have held out for a better deal?
They should, they were played for suckers.
Ben Nelson to vote in favor of healthcare reform bill
There was no way in hell that Ben Nelson was not going to vote in favor of the healthcare reform bill eventually, the only question was, how much will it take? Ben Nelson and Harry Reid have been in marathon “negotiations” to secure the senator’s healthcare reform vote and last night those “negotiations” paid off for the Democrats.
Ben Nelson is now on board and will vote in favor of the healthcare reform bill. The supposed issue that Ben Nelson had with the bill was language in the bill about the federal funding of abortion, but once that issue was resolved to Nelson’s satisfaction he still wasn’t on board with the bill. Clearing the abortion hurdle allowed Harry Reid to “negotiate” the one true issue that Ben Nelson ever really had– money.
Ben Nelson was able to secure monetary considerations for his state in return for his vote. In other words, he was bribed. Nebraska will now be exempt from picking up the additional costs of Medicare when this bill goes into effect.
Several Democrats– including Harry Reid himself– made sure that their states will be shielded from the costs of picking up additional Medicare costs while the rest of us will be saddled with paying those costs for them. And this is supposed to reduce our healthcare costs?
The fix is now in, it isn’t surprising, barring any last minute stumbling blocks this bill will be passed and we will be paying for it forever.
Senator Lincoln claims the constitution “charges congress with the health and well-being of the people”
Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln was asked, “What part of the Constitution do you think gives Congress the authority to mandate that individuals have to purchase health insurance?” She responded by saying the constitution “charges Congress with the health and well-being of the people.”
There is no provision in the constitution that “charges Congress with the health and well-being of the people” as Senator Lincoln suggests. The authority simply does not exist, but the liberals in congress really don’t give a damn what does and does not exist in the constitution. They only care about what they think the constitution should say.
These are two vastly different things, and I have to believe that the politicians that favor healthcare mandates know this. If they don’t, it is a sad state of affairs in this country when our elected officials have no clue about what is written in the constitution. Of course it is an equally sad state of affairs in this country if congress knows they don’t have this authority and they exert this non-existent authority anyway.
Several Democrats have been asked the question about where in the constitution they are granted the authority to mandate the American people buy healthcare insurance and none of them have been able to cite anything real and tangible. They either falsely claim the “general welfare” clause grants them the authority– a notion that I debunked using the authors of the Federalist Papers own arguments– or they just make up non-existent clauses.
This total lack of regard for the constitution, and its meaning, is very disconcerting to me and it seems that more and more politicians just don’t give a damn about the original meaning and interpretations of the constitution.
Perhaps they are just ignorant, but I don’t think so. I think there is a much more nefarious motive at work here.
Harry Reid wants the senate to vote on healthcare reform without even seeing the bill
When congress passed the disastrous and failed stimulus bill nobody in the House or Senate had a chance to read the bill before they voted on it. As dumbfounding as it is that a person could vote on a bill without bothering to read what they are voting on, Harry Reid has taken it to another level on the healthcare reform bill.
He is not even allowing senators to SEE the healthcare reform bill that he wants them to debate and vote on. He is not even giving them a chance to read the bill this time.
And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen. That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private’
That statement was made by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
When running in the 2008 elections the Democrats promised a more open and transparent administration but now that they are debating one of the most important pieces of legislation ever to be rammed down the people’s throats, not only are they not letting the American people see the bill, they are not letting those that must vote on the bill the chance to see it either.
The notion that a senator would be asked to vote on a bill they have never seen is ludicrous. What is Harry Reid trying to hide? Why is he conducting the negotiations behind closed doors? What is so insidious about this bill that he doesn’t dare to, nor have to common decency to, let the senate see the bill he will ask them to vote on?
The bill should be killed for this reason alone, why would any bill that is any good be voted on blindly? What is Harry Reid trying to hide?
The far left turns against the senate version of healthcare reform
In an effort to win one senate vote– Joe Lieberman’s– in order to pass the healthcare reform bill, the senate has alienated many on the far left. Harry Reid gave Joe Lieberman the concession that he sought by dropping both the public option and the Medicare buy-in for people 55 or older. While this has successfully won Joe Lieberman’s vote, it may have actually hurt the chances of the senate passing this bill. Those on the far left are now opposed to the bill.
As we can see in this article, influential liberals are coming out in droves to oppose the senate healthcare reform bill. Liberal talk radio icon, Ed Schultz had the following to say:
The base is restless. They are wandering in the wilderness, Mr. President. … They want to know, where are you? … Right now, Mr. President, your base thinks you’re nothing but a sellout — a corporate sellout, out that. … The only people who like this current bill right now, Mr. President, is the insurance industry — they get a bunch of new customers
And he is not alone, Markos Moulitsas– founder of the Daily Koz— said the following:
Time to kill this monstrosity coming out of the Senate.” And “Kos” blogged: “You pass a s——-y program now that further bankrupts our nation, and we won’t be talking about ‘fixing’ it in a few years, but whether it should even exist
Keith Olbermann on the healthcare reform bill in its current state:
unsupportable … a hollow shell of a bill”: “This is not health, this is not care, this is certainly not reform
Even the SEIU and the AFL-CIO oppose the bill without the public option, but perhaps the most damning rebuke of the bill can be read in this scathing article by Howard Dean in which he takes the senate to task for watering down the healthcare reform bill and claims that if he were in the senate he would vote against it.
As amazing as this might sound, Howard Dean is opposed to healthcare mandates.
Instead, it fines Americans if they do not sign up with an insurance company, which may take up to 30 percent of your premium dollars and spend it on CEO salaries — in the range of $20 million a year — and on return on equity for the company’s shareholders. Few Americans will see any benefit until 2014, by which time premiums are likely to have doubled. In short, the winners in this bill are insurance companies; the American taxpayer is about to be fleeced with a bailout in a situation that dwarfs even what happened at AIG.
And he is also upset that the public option has been dropped.
progressives have argued that a public option or a Medicare buy-in would restore competition and hold the private health insurance industry accountable. Progressives understood that a public plan would give Americans real choices about what kind of system they wanted to be in and how they wanted to spend their money. Yet Washington has decided, once again, that the American people cannot be trusted to choose for themselves. Your money goes to insurers, whether or not you want it to.
He also goes on to say something that I alluded to in a previous post, and that is the fact that the senate is now looking to pass ANY bill just so they can have the priviledge of passing something. They have reached the point where they do not even care what is in and what isn’t in the bill as long as they can get the 60 votes they need.
In Washington, when major bills near final passage, an inside-the-Beltway mentality takes hold. Any bill becomes a victory. Clear thinking is thrown out the window for political calculus. In the heat of battle, decisions are being made that set an irreversible course for how future health reform is done. The result is legislation that has been crafted to get votes, not to reform health care.
For the second time in two days I have to admit that I agree with Howard Dean. That last statement is right on, Democrats no longer are– if they ever were in the first place– concerned about what is best for the American people. They are designing this bill in a manner that they hope will get them 60 votes and they are no longer focused on what they said the original goal was. Howard Dean realizes this, and I think that more and more Americans are realizing it also.
The conservatives have never agreed with this bill, and the American people as a whole now look upon the bill unfavorably. But now the left is also opposed to the bill. While the reasons for the opposition from the right and the left are for different reasons altogether, it shows us that this bill is in real trouble.
All of this has happened because Harry Reid gave away a major part of this bill in an effort to win one vote, in doing so it now seems as if this bill is further away from passage than it was before.
Conservatives are unhappy with this bill, liberals are unhappy with this bill, moderates are unhappy with this bill, and unions are unhappy with this bill. Yet the senate is still going to try to move this bill forward just so that Barack Obama can say that he signed SOMETHING. It no longer matters what the people want, it is all about Barack Obama.
Healthcare mandates could cost middle class families $15,000 a year
If the senate manages to pass a healthcare bill that would mandate people to buy healthcare insurance it could cost some middle class families about $15,000 a year.
As currently written, the mandates would require all individuals and families to purchase healthcare. The government would provide subsidies to those families that earn up to 400% of the federal poverty level. That sounds good on paper until you look at the numbers.
A family of four who earns $88,200 is right at 400% of the federal poverty level. That means middle class families who earn over that number would be required to buy healthcare insurance if it is not provided by an employer and the average cost of a plan would be about $15,000 a year.
$88,000 is not allot of money for a family of four, especially a family of four who will be looking to put a son or daughter through college. And a family of four making $88,000 that does not have healthcare insurance probably doesn’t have it because they cannot afford it. These are some of the people who this bill is supposed to help, is it not? Where is the help for these families?
America's Watchtower 