Final TEA Party Update for 9-12

I'm sure we'll see a lot of analysis tomorrow and Monday but for now below are the latest links I could find.

UK's Daily Mail is reporting - Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama's spending in 'tea-party' demonstration. I'd be surprised if that number is true because that would be twice the inaugral numbers but this photo is impressive.


Time Lapse Aerial Video of 9/12 Protestors Brilliant!


NRO at the 912 March - scroll down for some pretty wonderful pictures of protest signs.

Dueling Narratives in DC

VodkaPundit's continuous updating here. "They will be heard is good" but I still like Can't Stop The Signal best.

Memo to Baghdad Bob Gibbs: The Infidels Have Arrived.

Tea Party Express Takes Washington By Storm

The New York Post via AP is reporting - Marchers say, 'Enough spending!'
'
And direct from AP comes this - Thousands of downtown DC protesters blast Obama

Tea party activists rally at U.S. Capitol - From CNN with reasonable number of links.

Videos below:

Another TEA Party Protest Update

"Hell hath to fury like a taxpayer scorned" is one of the quotes from this Washington Post article titled, "Anti-Government Protests Draws Tens of Thousands to D.C."

CSPAN Coverage here and here.

Follow the tweets. Or this twitterer. Or this one.

State-Level Pushback on Federal Over-Reach?

State lawmakers try to halt health care changes

Lawmakers in eight states, only half of which are controlled entirely by Republicans, have filed proposals this year to ask voters to amend state constitutions to prohibit what they bill as restrictions on a person's freedom to choose a private health care plan, mandatory participation in any given plan and penalties for declining coverage. Similar measures were considered in two other states, though they wouldn't have been decided by voters. And lawmakers in three other states say they plan to file similar ballot proposals in the coming months.

Another 9-12 March Video

PLUS - Conservatives rally in D.C.

Power To The People

A tad dramatic but still good!

Message: Never underestimate the Will of the American People.

Of course, my husband finds this terribly offensive but I think most Americans do not see this as equating Obamacare with Hitler so much as what I believe the intended message is - equating the American People's willingness to fight for their personal liberty with the anti-big-government movement. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Looking For A Headcount

We know that roughly 10,000 people signed up for today's TEA Party protest on Washington DC. But there's no official headcount yet.

Estimates range from thousands to tens of thousands but I find this post here quite compelling.

An unnamed Fox news reporter told some attendees that there were 50 people per second marching down Pennsylvania Avenue for 2 and a half hours, plus some stragglers for another 45 minutes, at about 20 people per second. This translates to about 500,000 people in the march, headed for the Capitol lawn.

Currently the DC Police website has nothing up regarding this event, here.

More Great TEA Party Protest

THE website to follow today's TEA Party Protest in DC from FreedomWorks - Follow the March on DC From Home. Then visit their homepage and donate so we can keep up the fight against ALL these terrible tax policies!

VermontTiger has some new pictures up. This protest is HUGE. Where the heck is the media? Oh right.

Loud 9/12 protest reaches the Capitol We're loud. We're proud. And we're not paying any more!

Big Crowds In DC - Pics Rolling In

Wow! Thousands Gather In D.C. To Protest Health Care - How Will The Media Ignore This?

9/12 DC Style This site is heavily linked (excellent) and gives you the twitter hashtags.

Good News Everybody (uh-oh Prof. Farnsworth!)

Obama Adviser: High unemployment for years.

The president’s chief economic adviser warned Friday that the nation’s unemployment rate could stay “unacceptably high” for years to come — a situation that would seriously complicate Barack Obama’s ability to convince Americans that he’s beating back the recession.

“The level of unemployment is unacceptably high,” National Economic Council Director Larry Summers said Friday. “And will, by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for a number of years.”

You know, this should come as no surprise but the newspapers are so desperate for Obama to succeed (else they must realize their own culpility) that they fudge to outright lie about the US economy in order to make Obama look good. The pain is spread everywhere and when 1/2 a million Americans apply for unemployment for the first time EVERY WEEK, the economy is in trouble!

Obamacare Daily Round-Up 09-11 & 12

Today's Obamacare Daily Round-Up is a combination of yesterday's and today's as I shut down in memorial of Sept. 11th. Obviously, I'm back and here goes.

From Forbes, "Obama's Health Care Plan: Put Up And Shut Up"

Given the lack of coverage we are seeing on today's TEA Party protest, this headline is unsurprising, "Democrats stifle Republican health care plans."

CATO translated Obama's speech. Obama’s Health Care Speech in Plain English

For O, It's 'My Way or the Highway' David Limbaugh's Take on the Speech.

Medicare Is No Model for Health Reform. Many doctors refuse Medicare patients because payments are so low. From the Wall Street Journal.

Also from WSJ - The President's Tort Two-Step Special-interests and the health-care status quo

Health care faces some big legislative bottlenecks. God Willing!

Obama's savings' won't pay for health plan, experts say

Shouting truth to power pays off! Rep. Wilson Outburst Leads Senate Dems to Close Loophole in Health Reform Bill. It's paying of for Wilson too, S.C.'s Wilson Rakes In $750,000 in Less Than 48 Hours; Opponent Tops $1 Million

From The Washington Post - Wrong Map For Health Reform

Talking points from The Washington Examiner titled "Obama's top five tax fibs in Wednesday evening speech."

Obama says he address this concern about illegal immigrants getting free Obamacare on the backs of US taxpayers. But do you trust him to actually do it?

The Town Halls of August. They're here, they're conservative, get used to it.

Details Still Lacking On Obama Proposal. White House Unclear on How Some Far-Reaching Goals Would Be Met.

VIDEO: Would ObamaCare Cover Sticker-Shock Treatment? From Hit & Run over at Reason. Gotta love those libertarians!

Also from the good folks at Reason, No American Should Have to Choose Between Health Insurance and Getting Drunk.


Mark Steyn's take on Where Is Obama’s ‘Center’? Look at his Rolodex and then figure out just where such a man would estimate it to be

Tevi Troy has two pieces on Obamacare from National Review. First, Waste, Fraud, and Yadda Yadda Yadda and second, More on Med Mal Reform. Both are well linked and quick reads.

Micheal Gerson over at the Washington Post points out that democrats are great recyclers of worn-out and failed ideas in his op-ed titled, "Where's the Party of Ideas?" He claims republicans are the party of anger but then he hasn't visited Shout First to read about many, many anti-big-government ideas that ARE out there that could solve our healthcare issues WITHOUT converting 1/8th of the US economy into a socialist regime.

47% Now Favor Health Care Reform Plan, 49% Oppose It will be interesting to see if that Rasmussen pool changes after today's TEA Protest.

This could work (copied from NRO - The Corner. I can't figure out how to link to them.) By Rich Lowry via a reader's email.

Another Trigger Idea
Via e-mail:
Subject: What about giving the Republicans everything they want on HC Reform...

…and then have a trigger for the public option if it doesn’t work? Seems fair to me…

They could include the following:

-Modify tax policy to eliminate the disincentives for individual purchase of health insurance and health care.

-Eliminate regulatory barriers that prevent small businesses from cooperatively pooling and self-insuring their health risks by liberalizing the rules that govern voluntary health care purchasing cooperatives.

-Eliminate laws that prevent interstate purchase of health insurance by individuals and businesses.

-Eliminate rules that prevent individuals and group purchasers from tailoring health insurance plans to their needs, including federal and state benefit mandates and community rating requirements.

-Eliminate artificial restrictions on the supply of health care services and products, such as the over regulation of drugs and medical devices, as well as state and federal restrictions on who may provide medical services and how they must be delivered.

-Improve the availability of provider and procedure-specific cost and quality data for use by individual health consumers.

-Reform the jackpot malpractice liability system that delivers windfall punitive damage awards to small numbers of injured patients while it raises malpractice insurance costs for doctors and incentivizes the practice of defensive medicine.

An Obama Speech in 13 Easy Steps. Don’t be overly bedazzled by Obama’s rhetorical prowess.

Viewership to last night’s address was down 38.6%

Good Advice, if only Obama and Congress would listen.


From The Hill - Obama sets stage for using budget maneuver to pass health reform

Heal for America

In for a penny, in for a Trillion. After Obamacare, the Cap and Tax Bill, the Stimulus, Amnesty for illegals, this is coming at us, from The Wall Street Journal - The Quietest Trillion. Congratulations. You're about to own $100 billion a year in student loans.

More 9/12 TEA Party Protest

The crowd knows CNN is NOT on their side. ‘Go Home!’: DC Crowd Drowns Out CNN Reporter During Live Report The crowd starts with "Tell. The. Truth.", probably because CNN doesn't address the TEA Protest or its concerns but stands in front of the crowd and talks about Rep. Wilson. WTF?



On the spot Video Interview here from townhall.com.

Steve Green (VodkaPundit) is on-the-scene here and updating regularly.

Clips of Lee Doran's speech today at the TEA Party protest!
First Clips of My Speech on the Capitol in front 100,000+


From MyWayNews - Thousands march to US Capitol to protest spending

The Washington Post has one major headline up on their website about the tens of thousands of people marching through their front yard AND they make it only available if you sign up. It's like they want to go out of business.



GOP embraces conservative groups’ protest

GOP Sees Protest As an Opportunity I think the real question here is why doesn't the Mainstream Media see this as an opportunity to DO THIER JOB?

Conservatives From Across the Country Arrive in Washington for Tea Party

Thousands flood downtown to protest spending



MSNBC Tries to bury the news AND willfully mis-identify this protest with this headline, "Thousands of Anti-Obama Protestors March in D.C." It's not anti-Obama, it's anti-tax. It's the economy, Stupid.

Tea Party Express Arrives for 'March on Washington' to Protest Government Spending

Thousands pack downtown D.C. to protest spending



Thousands pack D.C. to protest spending, taxes

Tea Party Rally Sparks Dispute Over Potential Turnout



Activists to protest government spending in D.C.

At least the New York Times acknowledges that this isn't a party affiliation thing but an anti-tax protest in this article titled, "Thousands Rally in Capital to Protest Big Government."

CNN is burying the TEA Party on their website or putting up unfavorable video here.

Update on the Washington TEA Party

You go guys!

Right on Washington: A Call for Good Policy and Fiscal Sanity

About my husband - prep for today's rally. Intellectual Ammunition for the Tea Parties

Wow, the DC crowd builds

House Dems Bracing For Huge Turnout At Glenn Beck/Tea Party Gathering It's obnoxious that the left is STILL trying to demonize decent Americans protesting vast government over-reach with their attempt to associate the TEA Party with Glenn Beck - their demon-de-jour. Pathetic and insulting. Three observations before I go out the door.

Tea’d Off in The Capitol 9/12/09

Dotting the I's and crossing the Tea's

TEA PARTY ROCKS

Right now the Trafficland camera for Washington DC is showing a HUGE mass of people. As one tweet has gone out saying "I've never seen a this large a protest filled with job holders."

Keep up the fight!

In Remembrance

As a gesture of respect, I will not be blogging (or on twitter or facebook) tomorrow, September 11th.

Think of it as a moment of silence for the innocent victims of that day.

9/11 has not lost its significance for me.

May God bless America and bring peace to all those who suffered at the hands of evil terrorists. Amen

Tell Me Something I Don't Know

From the UK's Telegraph comes this "shocker"...
Organic food is a waste of money As much as I supported Whole Foods CEO Mackey, I did not buy organic food there for pretty much the reasons below.

The organic brands at Tesco, Waitrose and Asda scored worse than each supermarket’s basic, standard and premium ranges. Only at Sainsbury’s did organic food not come bottom, and that was only because its Basics range is so bad. Hard though it may be to believe, Asda’s standard range scored higher than Waitrose’s organic range. [snip]

The idea that organic food is worth more because it is healthier is totally bogus. Only last month the Food Standards Agency, the unbiased government agency set up to protect the public’s health, published a report concluding that organic food has no greater nutritional value than conventional produce.

The idea that organic food is better for the environment is also questionable. Organic milk, for example, generates more carbon dioxide emissions than standard milk and uses significantly more land.

Read the whole thing.

Bipartisan Rhetoric, Far-Left Reform

(Michael G. Franc of National Review had this article up at NRO which I thought was worth repeating.)

The soaring rhetoric certainly was there. And there were countless conservative-sounding references: How many times did he deploy words like "choice" and "competition" and "incentives" and "bargaining?" And there was even the Reaganesque riff where the president paid homage to our "self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government."

Conservatives, moreover, would raise few if any qualms with how the president defined the challenge, or even how he characterized the goals he seeks to achieve. ("It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don't. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.")

But a yawning gap remains between the president's pleasing rhetoric and the hard reality of what still lurks within those thousands of pages of legislative text. I found it significant that at no point in his speech did he acknowledge that the resistance and anger on display in the August town halls and in numerous public opinion polls was authentic, legitimate, and warranted a serious response. His rhetoric on that score
was nothing short of insulting: August was a "partisan spectacle" fueled by "scare tactics." Too many Americans were "dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise." Oh, and the opponents of his plan "used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points."

Nor did the president demand that congressional leaders jettison all those committee-approved bills and start anew. There was no sense that, if given a chance to go back to square one and do things over, he or his Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill would gratefully do so. In fact, there was some odd gloating, given the sorry condition of the health reform effort. Four congressional committees, he boasted, have made
unprecedented strides toward a final bill and, besides, there is 80 percent agreement on all the big issues.

No humility. No acknowledgment that perhaps, in their zeal to accomplish all these worthy goals, he and Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Waxman and Majority Leader Reid might have overreached and now need to recalibrate so that the debate reflects where mainstream Americans really are on these issues.

All in all, a lost opportunity to be a leader for all of America.

Could This Bring Down Holder?

Inquiry opened into New Black Panther case.
Since the Office of Professional Responsibility reports directly to the Attorney General, they will probably make a fall-guy out of somebody else but Holder's reprehensible handling of this clear case of voter intimidation must be investigated. I pray this inquiry will expose Holder's DoJ to sunlight.

A Real Education Outrage

Protesting parents ignored by the media.

President Obama's speech to students this week got plenty of attention, and many conservatives looked foolish by fretting about "indoctrination." They would have done far more good joining those who protested on Tuesday against the President's decision to shut down a school voucher program for 1,700 low-income kids in Washington, D.C.

"It's fundamentally wrong for this Administration not to listen to the voices of citizens in this city," said Kevin Chavous, the former D.C. Council member who organized the protest of parents and kids ignored by most media. Mr. Chavous, a Democrat, is upset that the White House and Democrats in Congress have conspired to shut down the program even though the government's own evaluation demonstrates improved test scores.

Read the whole think in the Wall Street Journal here.

ACORN "Pros" Updated

Shock Undercover Video Shows ACORN Workers Advising ‘Pimp’ & ‘Prostitute’ to Avoid Law. Complete with videos.

Transcript here.

Videos: ACORN advising on tax evasion for pimps and prostitutes? From HotAir.com

ACORN Outdoes Itself. ACORN helps set up a supposed brothel. From The Wall Street Journal.

Obamacare Daily Round-Up 09-10 Updated

This will be, obviously, a big round-up today. Personally, I was not impressed by Obama refering to oppossition to socializing 1/8th of the US economy as "bickering" and thought he brought zero clarity to the details of this bad, bad legislation. But that's just me. Read below and decide for yourself.

WHIP COUNT: DEMS LACK THE VOTES

Obama disapproval on health care up to 52 percent CNN Poll: Double-digit post-speech jump for Obama plan - but how relable is the "jump" when CNN polled only 427 American voters and the "sample of speech-watchers in this poll was 45 percent Democratic and 18 percent Republican."? Rasmussen has 44% Favor President’s Health Care Plan, 53% Oppose with an interesting healthcare poll here.

78% Say All Americans Should Be Able To Buy The Health Insurance That Congress Has.

From AP: Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge

Does Obama think Americans are so gullible? From The Washington Examiner

Talking Cure, Again

Read the Union Health-Care Label. Get ready for Detroit-style labor relations in our hospitals. From The Wall Street Journal.

If You Only Read One White Paper On Health Care Today, Make It This One

Obama's Big Speech: Triangulation + Airbrushed Orszagism. From Slate.

Obama: Time for 'bickering' is over on health care

IRONY ALERT - Biden says congressman's outburst was embarrassing. That's rich coming from Biden.

That outburst is getting a lot of play. A short note on the Wilson outburst And Sure, he was a rude jerk. But Rep. Joe Wilson has a point. More discussion here and here. And democrats do not exactly have a history of politeness and really shouldn't point fingers.


Obama's Big Political Gamble. Red-state Democrats are being asked to risk their seats.

All sizzle, no substance

Is A.M.A. Support for Health Reform a Bad Sign? From the New York Times (!)

What's Wrong with Obama's Health Care Speech

GOP leader: Obama 'thumbed his nose at the American people;' speech 'remarkable in its arrogance'

Glimpse of our future, not if it is happening now. Drug Control Becomes Speech Control. A federal prosecutor tries to silence a pain treatment activist.

Obama's $900B health plan: Mandatory insurance, public option

Analysis from The Hill Obama speech to Congress unlikely to be game changer

The Unhealthy Politics of Deja Vu. Since Liberals and Progressives only have socialism to lean on, all their ideas are tired recycling of old and often failed policies. Obamacare is turning into Hilarycare all over again.

Obama's Speech: Did It Help Him? An excellent analysis by Power Line

A Telling but Not Moving Speech

Obamacare won't cover illegal immigrants? Yes it will, says Congressional Research Service

Obama's Lies Matter, Too

Obama's doubly impossible claim

Key terms in the health-care debate

His numbers are dropping again.


Obama won't take on the trial lawyers

Mr. Obama's Prescriptions

Stop Thinking Insurance. How to implement health care reform that cuts costs and improves care.

It's Still the Economy, Stupid This could be America's greatest failed presidency

But not much truth to health talk

The dedicated healthcare blog here from National Review.

Reason.tv on Health Care: Get Some!

Where's the Paying Customer? Health care reform isn't serious until the patient is at the center of the picture.

Obamacare Speech

Here is the full transcript of Obama's speech (before he's even finished reading it).

I listened to him talk while reading along - I felt like Obama's teleprompter.

He talks about competition but he isn't providing any real competition - it's all still down to private insurers vs. the government.

The Alabama example is particularly telling - there would be MORE competition in Alabama if there were interstate trafficking for healthcare insurance policies. DUH.

Sen. Warner Needs To Read The Constitution

Proving that all these things he mentions are Un-Constitutional, Sen. Warner puts his foot down his own throat. From Eyeblast.tv.

In response, John Taylor (President, Tertium Quids) had the following letter response...

Senator Warner:

The U.S. Constitution is a document of both enumerated and unenumerated rights of the citizens, but delegated, enumerated, and therefore limited powers of government. The IX Amendment states plainly that the people retain rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution. However, the X Amendment states plainly enough that powers of government not expressly delegated to the national government are reserved for the state governments or for the people themselves.

We don't need the government's permission to have a telephone because our rights go far beyond those few that are expressly mentioned in the Constitution. However, if the Constitution does not expressly enumerate a power that would allow government to nationalized health care, then the only way a congressman can vote to do that is to violate both the Constitution as well as his oath of office.

If you would like to begin familiarizing yourself with the U.S. Constitution, may I suggest, given your present level of knowledge, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Constitution by Timothy Harper, or U.S. Constitution for Dummies by Michael Arnheim, or The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution by Kevin R.C. Gutzman.

No need to thank me. Just trying to help you avoid further embarrassing gaps in your knowledge. Harvard, huh?
John
John Taylor
President
Tertium Quids

Here's Hoping For Change

ACORN turns in Fla. workers on voter fraud charges. From AP.

I wonder what they'll find in the ACORN offices in the other 49 states?

Save The Earth - No More Humans

'Contraception cheapest way to combat climate change' From the UK's Telegraph.

Contraception is almost five times cheaper as a means of preventing climate change than conventional green technologies, according to research by the London School of Economics.

Why are environmentalists so pessimistic? I believe that with some counselling and real effort on both sides, the earth and human beings can get along.

Caught On Tape

I just love it when we get video on our Congressional Representatives. Don't you? Whether it is a democrat or a republican, calling out bad behavior is worth it. Congratulations KCAL9! And thank you Breitbart.tv.

Open Borders

Terrific. Our borders will lay open as terrorists are emboldened by weak foreign policies and our economy is suffering under the worst recession ever.

That's hope and change.

Read all about it in this article from CNSNews.com titled, "The U.S. Won’t Secure a Single Additional Mile of Border in 2010."

Abercrombie & Fitch Mistreat Disabled Girl

Charming story about Abercrombie & Fitch treating a girl with Autism like a reject.

Four years after Abercrombie & Fitch refused to let a teenager help her autistic sister try on clothes at its Mall of America store, state officials have fined the company $115,264 for discriminating against a disabled person.

The hefty penalty from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights pleased the Maxson family of Apple Valley, which was forced to push hard for satisfaction after the retailing giant refused to apologize for the incident and even questioned whether the girl was disabled. The fine was levied in June but made public this month.

Here is the full story.

Unions and Card Check

That is what's next after we get the Obamacare cram down. The further erosion of democracy by card check - the elimination of the secret ballot for Union votes.

As reported here "White House, Trumka Agree: Card Check Priority After Health Care" at HumanEvents.com

Sssh. Hope and Change is a Secret

Advocates for more open government who had hoped that the Obama administration would be less secretive than its predecessor say it is continuing to use executive privilege to block lawsuits over allegations of past abuses in the fight against terrorism.

A new report from OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of anti-secrecy groups, criticized the Obama administration's interpretation of the so-called "state secrets privilege." Under it, the Justice Department has argued that courts must dismiss national security cases challenging wiretapping and the transport of suspected terrorists to CIA and foreign jails, where they claim they were tortured.

Obama's not keeping his transparency promises as this report here from the Washington Times indicates.

Is The Media Ignoring Certain Books?

Unmentionable: Best-Selling Conservative Books and the Networks that Ignore Them.

Well, in our experience, I'd say yes since no one bothered to review my husband's book which is available here.

Good Intentions Take Us to Hell

Ron Bailey over at Reason askes "Is Government Action Worse than Global Warming?
Why policy nihilism may be the only rational response to climate change."

We don't even fully understand the function of sun spots, high atmosphere clouds, or the ocean's carbon sequestering ability but the environmentalists insist we destroy our way of life "just in case."

No thanks. You go ahead and live in huts. I like technology.

Not My Girl Scout

The United States wants to enlist its 3.4 million Girl Scouts in the effort to combat hurricanes, pandemics, terror attacks and other disasters.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a campaign Tuesday to entice the blue, brown and green-clad multitudes to be even more prepared, with the promise of a new patch if they pitch in.

I am, admittedly a tad protective of my children. But I do not believe I am unreasonable when I say my Girl Scout daughter is NOT going to be helping "combat a terror attack".

US Girl Scouts prepare for war, pestilence. What the heck?!?

What is DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano suggesting? Surely, she means the older high school Girl Scouts because I see no reason why my elementary school-aged child should be helping out during a pandemic. That's an adult's job. Sure we will pitch in, we are a charitable family. But putting my children in harm's way during a disaster is never going to happen.

Up is The New Down

The "Sure, If You Consider The NY Times A Conservative Web Site" post over at JustOneMinute.com is an excellent dissection of the idea that the New York Times is an unbiased news source.

In addition, Bowden might have reflected on whether journalism was murdered or committed suicide - if right-wing bloggers were digging for dirt on Sotomayor (or Van Jones) it was partly because they were utterly confident that no one in the MSM was doing so.

Raising Standards Would Help

What the Public Thinks of Public Schools. High-school graduation rates are lower today than in 1970. To paraphrase my favorite Edmund Burke quote, A lowering of standards leads to a softening of minds.

Obamacare Daily Round-Up 09-09 UPDATED

I wasn't sure today's Obamacare Daily Round-Up would be worth it since we'd be hearing from Obama himself this evening but apparently everyone is piling on today so here goes....

Obama disapproval on health care up to 52 percent More detailed story here.

A Glimpse of Our Future from Great Britain? This is what the oldest government-run healthcare system does to its citizens. 'Doctors told me it was against the rules to save my premature baby'. HORRIBLE. If the baby had been born just two days later, they would have attempted to save him. This is what happens when beaurocrats run healthcare and it could happen here given Obama's outright support of late-term abortions. More here and here.

Obesity, Magic Ponies, and Hitler Dueling opinions over at BloggingHeads.com

Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care. The president's proposals would give unelected officials life-and-death rationing powers. From The Wall Street Journal and Sarah Palin. And Moe Lane's review of her op-ed, here.

Let's hear what he has to say first... "Tide turns against public option on eve of President Obama's address." From The Hill.

Blue Dog Ross Comes Out Against Public Option From The Washington Post.

Interesting idea - who knows maybe it'll help Congress read the damn thing, but what if it rains? Group wants to chalk Capitol steps with entire healthcare bill

Political Theory. Megan McArdle's take on what's happening with Obamcare.

Why VOTERS matter. Obama's Speech: The Outside Game is the Game That Matters Although over at Slate.com, Timothy Noah doesn't seem to thing US Citizens are the important issue in this piece titled, "No More Speeches! On health reform, Obama needs to twist arms, not win hearts and minds."

Pelosi and Reid Tell President: We Have the Votes; President Wants Bill Passed Soon. From ABC News.

Obama's media skills face pivotal test. From Politico.com. It's not the message that's the problem, it's the policy.

Fines proposed for going without health insurance. Don't sign up for Obamacare and you will pay a price.

Despite Fears, Health Care Overhaul Is Moving Ahead. From The New York Times, seemingly endoursing a cram down.

Obama to Endorse Public Plan in Speech is the headline in this Wall Street Journal article which, if true, might indicate that Obama has a tin ear when it comes to the desires of the American public.

Micheal Barone over at the Washington Examiner has this piece up titled, The convenient fantasies of President Obama.

Too late for Obama to turn it around? Camille Paglia's take over at Salon.com. I don't always agree with her but I completely respect her independance of thought. An excellent read.

Obama Pitched Universal Health Care to Students in Meeting Prior to His Speech on Education. Don't turn your back on this guy is pretty much the take-away I'm getting.

Congress has already exempted itself from Public Option. From The Washington Examiner.

ObamaCare's Crippling Deficits. The higher taxes, debt payments and interest rates needed to pay for health reform mean lower living standards. From The Wall Street Journal.

A warning from Riehl World View - Ignore Us At Your Peril

Commentary from Forbes Magazine - Do Health Care Reformers Fear A Reading Public?

Obama’s False Witness. In accusing the Right of lying about health care, the Left shows its disregard for the truth. From the wonderful Ramesh Ponnuro.

Whom Do You Trust?

Where's the Urgency? Various polls seem to indicate Americans want Congress to stop this headalong rush and actually Read The Bill!

The Washington Times suggests "Better ways to reform health care."

This is just a tad tongue-in-cheek. A Bipartisan Plan to Wreck the System. The health-care address President Obama should really give to Congress.

John Stossel talks about "Obama's Speech Tonight". It's a good piece to read.

In this Forbes Magazine op-ed by Scott Atlas titled, "Why Are These Health Care Fixes Ignored? Obama and Pelosi reject introducing competition.", he presents five excellent healthcare reforms that are being deliberately rejected by liberals. Why?

Boehner: GOP leaders haven't met Obama for health talks since April. What's the point? They'd only disagree with Dear Leader anyways.

Obama tries to build momentum for health overhaul. He can try all he wants but I think the voters might have something to say about this.

Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care

By Sarah Palin over at her facebook page, here.

Instead of poll-driven "solutions," let's talk about real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. As the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and others have argued, such policies include giving all individuals the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; providing Medicare recipients with vouchers that allow them to purchase their own coverage; reforming tort laws to potentially save billions each year in wasteful spending; and changing costly state regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care.

She puts up an intelligent post that debunk's the left's claims about Obamacare while offering real-world solutions to healthcare reform.

Political Malpractice

Below is the opening paragraphs to this article titled, "Political Malpractice. Health Insurance Misdiagnosis and the Destruction of Medical Wealth" from my husband's think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute (a free-market libertarian group).

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats have proposed a major restructuring of the American health care system. They argue that Americans spend too much for health care of often dubious quality and that tens of millions of Americans lack meaningful access to health insurance. In turn, they have proposed structural reforms to the existing private and public health care fi nancing systems that are intended to increase coverage, lower costs, and improve health care quality.

Most Americans agree that our health care system is broken and must be fi xed. But it is increasingly clear that what ails health care is not too little, but too much government intervention. Federal and state tax preferences for employer-sponsored health insurance distort the market in a way that limits choices for individuals, reduces competition among insurers, and artifi cially infl ates costs for health care services. For most working Americans, switching jobs often entails switching health plans and doctors or losing coverage altogether, while many others fi nd non-employer-sponsored insurance unaffordable or difficult to obtain.

PJTV Videos To Keep An Eye On

Why the Left Needs to Keep the Poor Poor from AlfonZo Nation.

Surprise, Surprise: Obama Sides with Leftist Dictator and Shuns Democracy in Honduras. Is Steve Green just egging Bill Whittle on?

If You Don't Support Gay Marriage, Are You a Homophobe? Can't Reasonable People Disagree?

Psst, Liberals ... Torture Works!

How Rivers of Federal Tax Dollars Support Your Local Socialists. Get Involved If You Can.

Hope Can Change A Lot in 8 Months. By the lovely Sonja Schmidt

This Doesn't Bode Well

It's either bravado or idiocy.

Pelosi and Reid Tell President: We Have the Votes; President Wants Bill Passed Soon

Question a doctor and lose your child

Reason #3,425,824,856,289 to hate government-run, socialistic healthcare.

The UK's Times Online is reporting in an article titled, "Question a doctor and lose your child" that "Parents are being threatened with having their children taken into care after questioning doctors’ diagnoses or objecting to their medical care."

Sample horror stories...

Cases are emerging across the UK:

The mother of a 13-year-old girl who became partly paralysed after being given a cervical cancer vaccination says social workers have told her the child may be removed if she (the mother) continues to link her condition with the vaccination.

A couple had all six of their children removed from their care after they disputed the necessity of an invasive medical test on their eldest daughter. Doctors, who suspected she might have had a blood disease, called for social services to obtain an emergency protection order, although it was subsequently confirmed that she was not suffering from the condition. The parents were still considered unstable, and all their children were taken from them.

When it comes to socialized medicine/government-run healthcare, it is not a matter of whether something like this could happen here but when.

Don't believe me?

Well, the above isn't a one-off event. The newspapers in Britain, perhaps emboldened by the debate in the US and PM Brown's rapid collapse, have been publishing report after report of the NHS's reprehensible behavior and shoddy services. This article is from the Telegraph titled, "Daughter claims father wrongly placed on controversial NHS end of life scheme." Basically her father is not being cared for because of a typo and she can do nothing to save him.

Sophomoric Olbermann

Keith Olbermann is a cross between a doofus, a bully, and a sophomoric douche-bag.

I mean seriously, what kind of respectable newscaster does a piece called "Worst Person In the World"? High School Freshman wouldn't have done something like that. It's lame. It's sad. It's delusional.

So when he calls out to his hoard of minions to attack Glenn Beck and then within 48 hours calls them back, I've got to wonder what was he thinking?

First of all, his show is like watched by a half dozen people nowadays. How deep in the tank are MSNBC's ratings in general and Olbermann's in particular?

Second, why pick a fight at all and then retract it? The only thing I can think of is that Olbermann himself realized that Beck could simply turn the tables on Olbermann and dig up dirt on him.

As I said a sophomoric doofus.

Rather Pay for This Than Obamacare

From AP, "Obama space panel says moon return plan is a no go." Lack of funds is the problem. Gee, I wonder why?

Another thing that was exceptional about America being cut by Obama.

An Armed Society Is A Polite Society

1,000,000 Guns Added to American Homes in August.

To be honest with you, I have no idea how to parse this report. What it means I can not tell you.

Fantastic Perspective on the Student Speech

Mr. President Goes Back to School: A Controversial Issue? by Adam Baldwin (of Firefly and Serenity fame, a good Baldwin) is astonishingly good.

I particularly like this insight below:

The trouble with all this arose because the materials in the ED’s lesson plan are an integral part of the president’s message, and the fact that it has already been necessarily revised (post-dissemination) proves it was in fact controversial.

That the ED and its recipient, undoubting education professionals do not seem to appreciate this distinction (and parents’ natural concerns) perhaps illustrates how the quest for intellectual conformity in public education–not to mention this particular predetermination to accept a federal government lesson plan–exemplifies a pervasive and discriminatory injustice that runs contrary to all pretense to freedom of conscience, speech and thought in modern academia.

Holding Steady at -11 Presidential Approval Index rating

From Rasmussen. "Overall, 50% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance."

Here's Why the Dems Will Cave on Verification of Illegals

(Originally written by Mark Krikorian over at NRO-The Corner (aka link-less website). I am posting it in full because I'm hoping Mark is right.)

New from Rasmussen: "83% Say Proof of Citizenship Should Be Required to Get Government Health Aid." They mean "legal status" rather than "citizenship," of course, but you can see why they're so worried about this:

The desire to limit the benefits to U.S. citizens is found across demographic and partisan lines. It is held by 95% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 87% of those not affiliated with either major party. It is favored by nine-out-of-10 conservatives and moderates, along with 56% of those who consider themselves politically liberal. But 32% of liberals hold the opposite view.

I can hear the lefties grasping at straws: "At least opposition isn't quite 2-to-1 among liberals!"

In related news, my colleague Steven Camarota has estimated the maximum potential cost if all uninsured illegals who qualify based on income levels (a total of 6.6 million people) were to receive the taxpayer-funded premium affordability credits: $30.5 billion, as opposed to the estimated $4.3 billion a year governments spend now on health care for illegals, mainly at emergency rooms and free clinics.

Having voted down an amendment requiring verification, the sponsors of the health-reform bill are asking us to trust that the regulation-writing process will make sure illegals are barred from receiving benefits.

The check is in the mail. I'll respect you in the morning. Illegal aliens won't be covered by Obamacare.

Unethical And Hypocritical Behavior Round-Up

Rev. Wright announces "'I Think the Racists in the Right Wing are Upset Because Poor People are About to be Helped'" from JammieWearingFool.

How is playing the race card ever ethical?

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings. From the Washington Examiner. Apparently liberals have no short-term OR long-term memory.

WHO SET UP GOVERNMENT ‘PROPAGANDA’ CONFERENCE CALL? Newly Revealed White House, NEA Audio Contradict. From BigHollywood.com, with details and audio recording which is almost as good as video. By the way, this whole using-NEA-for-Obama-Propaganda thing is just a vile abuse of taxpayer money and worse, puts funding for the NEA in far more serious jeopardy than Mathlethorpe ever did.

The Washington Times is reporting that yet another Obama pick has ethics "issues". Obama nominee omitted ties to biotech

President Obama's nominee at the Department of Homeland Security overseeing bioterrorism defense has served as a key adviser for a lobbying group funded by the pharmaceutical industry that has asked the government to spend more money for anthrax vaccines and biodefense research.

But Dr. Tara O'Toole, whose confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology is pending, never reported her involvement with the lobbying group called the Alliance for Biosecurity in a recent government ethics filing.

Plus all these "goodies" about the Van Jones resignation. Good riddance!Why did the press ignore the Van Jones scandal? and Revealing Convergence: Van Jones and the Education Speech and No Loony Lefty Left Behind. And...


The Latest Human Rights Watch Bombshell. Well, not really that "explosive" but definitely reveals the "do as I say, not as I do" mentality of the Left. Bonus, I LOVE the reference to O'Sullivan's Law!

Obamacare Daily Round-Up 09-08 Updated (V2)

Hang on folks. This is gonna be a big one.

Obama open to 'sin tax' on fizzy drinks to stem obesity

From The Hill, "Already, 23 Dems have said they will vote ‘no’ on healthcare reform." Won't rest until Obamacare is voted out of existence.

Breitbart has a related article to the above titled, "Key Dem moderate turns against public plan."

It's not the "message", it is the policy that constituents have a problem with. And no amount of "messaging" (aka spin) is going to change that. This Washington Post article titled, "Deeply Divided House Democrats Return to Work -- and the Same Set of Problems" still seems to believe that if only the People understood. We understand just fine. And our message to you (which you can spin any way you want) is "Vote yes for Obamacare and we will vote NO for you in November".

Sen. Baucus no longer wished to be a Senator. Why do I say that. Because the genius just announced, "Up to $3,800 fine for failure get health insurance." With apologies to morons, Sen Baucus is a moron.

I don't care for Kathleen Parker because of what I felt was a rather elitist stance on Sarah Palin, but I do like her piece here titled, "Obama's Abortion Minefield."

Obama is fast losing white voters' support. From The LA Times. "New surveys show steep declines in Obama's approval ratings among whites -- including Democrats and independents -- who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country's first black president." And Obamacare isn't the only thing to blame. UPDATE: Actually an intrepid blogger dug further and found that this LA Times headline is deceptive - Obama's support has dropped across the board. Might as well have headlined the piece "Obama is fast losing support amongst redheads" as anything else. Here.

Public Ignorance on the Public Option. Democrats insist Obamacare is popular, but Americans don’t even understand it. I think the more the public learns the less they like Obamacare is the best and safest take away one can make from these polls.

Forbes has an article up on US Life Expectancy which is worth a read if you want to understand how weak some of the related arguments made in support of Obamacare really are. It is titled, "Life Expectancy Humbug. We're getting a lot of sophistry connecting health care to life spans."

The New York Times finally admits that the 9.7% unemployment rate is too low (some studies have put it at 16.8%) in this article here. They bury the hard bad news numbers rather than percentages but they do offer links, most of the article is "people's stories."

A LOOK AT THE AUGUST UNEMPLOYMENT DATA. and PATTERN OF INCOMPETENCE?

From Wesley Pruden over at The Washington Times, A crucial week for Obama's teleprompter

Conservatives for Patients Rights (CPR) have a list of demands up titled, "WAFFLING ON PUBLIC OPTION IS NOT LEADERSHIP - AMERICA WANTS CLEAR GUARANTEES THAT PROTECT PATIENTS' RIGHTS" I'm not sure how they believe those demands can be met with the current direction healthcare reform is taking. Personally, I believe in sensible incremental steps starting with fixing the already existing government-run healthcare programs first.

Senate must raise debt ceiling above $12T. Or they could just stop spending OUR DAMN MONEY! Debt Be Not Proud: The Sorry Tale of America’s Out-of-control Spending.

When protest is uncool, &c.It's never "uncool" unless you are conservative?

Thousands take part in 'tea party' protest against high taxes in Morristown Slide show, no video. Here's JammieWearingFool's post on the Morristown TEA Party.

10,000 Americans Gather For Tea.

Issues, not politics, is their cup of Tea. An estimated 18,000 attend event at Voice of America Park in West Cherster Twp.

Tea Party Rally at the Capitol. This Saturday, Sept. 12th. Be there or be regulated!

How many unintended consequences of bad regulations do we have to live through before Congress stops using them to justify their existence? Read here to see how the latest regulation is making the housing market worse. And we trust these jokers to regulate our healthcare?

From National Affairs (a hot new conservative printing) comes this article from Volume 1 titled, "Who Killed California?". Wow! Excellent analysis and a terrible glimpse of our future if liberal/Progressive/socialists are allowed to do to the whole of the United States what they did to California.

Obama policies may lead US to third world status – Michael Moore to lead cheers celebrating death of capitalism until starving peasants come to eat his fat a** Lots of links and helpful hint for contacting your Congressional Representative.

Adam Smith would not be optimistic in today's economic world. Burke, of course, is weeping.

Barack Obama accused of making 'Depression' mistakes. Barack Obama is committing the same mistakes made by policymakers during the Great Depression, according to a new study endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan. Funny how Time magazine thought Obama as FDR was a good thing. YIKES!

Let There Be Light

By Mike Potemra and Originally published on National Review-The Corner. Since NRO doesn't have an easy way to link to their postings and I really liked Mr. Potemra's article, I am re-posting it below in full.

When you pick up a book titled The Genesis Enigma: Why the Bible Is Scientifically Accurate, you expect a fundamentalist attack on the theory of evolution, or at least a plea for Intelligent Design theory. In fact, the author, Andrew Parker, believes in evolution. A scientist based at Oxford University and the Natural History Museum in London, Parker is not a Bible literalist, and he dismisses Intelligent Design as a “concocted theory” characterized by “flawed logic” and “forced” theorizing. The book describes the remarkable similarity between the order of events described in the first chapter of Genesis and the scientifically known series of macro-evolutionary steps in the history of life on earth. Parker asks how a text written some 2,500 years before the development of modern science could have captured this order of events, and says it was either a lucky guess or a matter of inspiration.

The book is an interesting attempt to make sense of this ancient text: the creation account of Genesis 1 as a combination of divine inspiration with the limited thought- and language-forms of a particular (in this case, scientifically backward) culture. It makes a persuasive case for a deep wisdom behind the words.

As a Catholic, I am somewhat familiar with The Bible. (Those genealogies are pretty boring to read - sorry God.) I love Biblical Archeology for what I can only assume are obvious reasons. Unlike fundamentalists, I do not believe every single word of The Bible is literally True. But I do believe it was written by inspiration and that there is deep wisdom for those who take the time to ponder its meaning rather than its words. (I hope that make sense.)

Obama's Speech To The Students

It's actually a rather good speech to students. I may even read it to my children.

Read it yourself here.

I just hated, hated, hated the Dept. of Education's "guidelines". They were disturbing. But so many newspapers (like this Financial Times report here) are assuming it was the paranoia about Obama that was the problem. It really wasn't. It was the propaganda-esque guidelines the DoE were sending with it, that upset me the most.

Finally, I was really concerned that my SID son would be unable to sit still on his first day of Kindergarten to listen to a lengthy speech that he probably won't fully understand.

As I wrote in an Obamacare Daily Round-Up...

There is something frightening and indoctrinaire about Obama giving a speech directly to students, aka our children in general. But specifically this also smacks of propaganda when he releases this "Pre-K - 6 Menu of Classroom Activities: President Obama's Address To Students Across America" telling teachers how to "discuss" Obama's message AND related projects to do afterwards. Building America's future one indoctrinated child at a time?

Obamacare Daily Round-Up 09-07

Are You Ready to (TEA) Party?

Big Labor Not Looking Good on Labor Day. No Labor is not looking so good - from beating up an African-American conservative at a TEA Party to intimidating Obamacare protestors, Big Labor looks like the mafia-associating, corruption-gobbling, thugs. I'm not alone in thinking that as Bryon York points out in this Washington Examiner article titled, "On Labor Day, support for unions plunges to all-time low."

Sheriff Reports 10,000 at New Lenox/Joliet Rally. These TEA Parties are not running out of steam. Politicians be warned, this may lead to a new political party if you don't watch out.

Another demonstation of Congressional incompetence, here. They couldn't even pretend to care?

"It's the Bureaucracy, Stupid" An excellent analysis of the VA and Tricare systems (government run healthcare for Veterans and active military respectively) and a thorough explanation of why they are so awful. I live in a neighborhood with a lot of mililiary. It's bad.

People Power, A wake-up call for America's political elites. From Weekly Standard.

Apparently, Obama really is a modern version of FDR. "Barack Obama accused of making 'Depression' mistakes" From the UK Telegraph. A sample of the article is below:

His policies even have the potential to consign the US to a similar fate as Argentina, which suffered a painful and humiliating slide from first to Third World status last century, the paper says.

There are "troubling similarities" between the US President's actions since taking office and those which in the 1930s sent the US and much of the world spiralling into the worst economic collapse in recorded history, says the new pamphlet, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

In particular, the authors, economists Charles Rowley of George Mason University and Nathanael Smith of the Locke Institute, claim that the White House's plans to pour hundreds of billions of dollars of cash into the economy will undermine it in the long run. They say that by employing deficit spending and increased state intervention President Obama will ultimately hamper the long-term growth potential of the US economy and may risk delaying full economic recovery by several years.

Let me make sure I understand, we need Obamacare but if these policies of Obama are enacted, the US economy will tank? Have I got that right?

A Different Sort of Health Care System. India's actually. Not a great fit for America but there are many things we could learn...

Lance Fairchok over at American Thinker has a "review" of a book that could easily be called prescient these days. "By the Book: How Democracies Perish" Opening quote...

Exaggerated self-criticism would be a harmless luxury of civilization if there were no enemy at the gate condemning democracy's very existence. But it becomes dangerous when it portrays its mortal enemy as always being in the right. Extravagant criticism is a good propaganda device in internal politics. But if it is repeated often enough, it is finally believed. And where will the citizens of democratic societies find reasons to resist the enemy outside if they are persuaded from childhood that their civilization is merely an accumulation of failures and a monstrous imposture? - Jean Francois Revel, How Democracies Perish

Obamacare and the public option are Trojan horses. Dem rep: Public option is path to single payer. There is Video!!

How Barack Obama lost his mojo.. Over-reach with Obamacare? Attenpting to bring socialism to our democracy? Taxing jobs out of existance? Surrounding himself with corruption and liars? Using 1930 solutions to 21st century problems? I think we all know how Obama lost his mojo - if he ever really had true mojo to begin with, he wouldn't be in this mess.

Healthcare: The Supply Side

French healthcare is 'badly run'. France must make big changes to its health system in order to cut waste and increase efficiency, a government-commissioned report is warning. Glimpse of our future if Obamacare is enacted?

Another Example of Labor/Liberal Ghastliness

The UK Daily Mail ran an article titled, "How Labour plotted to smear daughter of new army chief... whose 'crime' was to work for Cameron." It exposes how Labor (the liberal party) politicized the UK Department of Defense by attacking the military generals who didn't agree with the Labor politicians in office. This quote from the article sums it up -

"It is an insult to question the impartiality of a man who has served his country on the battlefield with such distinction and courage. To drag families into politics reveals Labour’s debased morals.’

As George Orwell once said, "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” Attacking the forces that exist solely to defend your freedoms is about as stupid an act as a politician can commit.

And to revisit Orwell, he also said, "Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” Dear Labor Party - you are atrocious and should be ashamed.