Running On Empty

Or what?

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is ratcheting up the pressure on Congress to complete health-care legislation, setting March 18 as the deadline by which a final bill should be passed.

Noting that President Obama leaves that day on a trip to Indonesia, Guam and Australia, Gibbs said on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” with Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie that “we believe that we’re on schedule, based on our conversations with the speaker and the majority leader, to get something done by then.”

The White House deadline means Congress would have exactly two weeks to pass a version of the existing Senate-approved bill in the House of Representatives and then pass a second bill filled with “fixes” in both chambers.

Gibbs modified his statement hours later, in his daily briefing for reporters, saying that the bill was “on schedule to get this through the House by then.” He did not address the bill’s fate in the Senate.

Back a few years, the one term county manager in the county I lived in issued a glaring threat in the local paper. The region had been hit by a massive ice storm and a full 50% of my utility company’s lines were down on the ground. Good old Ralphie got a headline demanding that the power be restored immediately “or else”.

What the “or else” was didn’t exactly get stipulated.

We got the power back on as soon as we were able given the immense damage.

He lost the next election in a landslide.

I really, really doubt the Emerald House staff munchkins will get this, but there is a lesson in that story.

Flash!

Ships and passengers frozen in ice near Sweden:

Thirty to 40 ships — including several passenger ships — were stuck Thursday in ice off the coast of Sweden, said a spokesman for the Maritime Search and Rescue Center in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The area of the Baltic Sea worst hit by the ice were the waters bounded by mainland Sweden, the Stockholm archipelago and the Finnish island of Aland, said Tommy Gardebring, press officer with the Swedish Maritime Administration.

The center identified one of the passenger ships as the Amorella, with 753 passengers and 190 crew members.

Several passenger vessels from Viking Line were stuck, he said. One of them had been freed.

Of course, according to global warmening theory, such an event is unpossible. An event like this would put the North Dakota Banana Growers Association into receivership. But never fear, true believers! We here at the Blue Crab Boulevard Academy of Scientifical Studies have applied the Jones-Mann-Hansen “Hide the Decline” formula to the temperature data from the Baltic and have great news! The ships, their crews and the passengers are not actually frozen in the ice.

They actually flashed to incandescent gas when the scientifically corrected temperature hit 25,000° C.

The Reality

The reality is that the White House wants to force House Democrats to pass the Senate bill. The supposed “fixes” that will be applied to that bill via reconciliation are being touted as the reason that House Democrats should simply follow the Wizard down into the valley of the Little Bighorn.  Trust us, the Wizard shouts.

Unfortunately, there’s another reality in play.

There will be no reconciliation. There will, however, be a massacre in November.

The Senate will not be able to make any real changes to the Senate bill, if they even try. The little bit of tinkering they can do via budget reconciliation will leave all of the most objectionable parts of the Senate bill firmly intact and already signed into law.

House Democrats will have committed suicide on command for Obama. Because even “safe” Democratic seats will be in play after this horrible bill passes.

Americans do not want this bill by a very, very large margin. They will be in full payback mode in November. Repeal will be a massive weapon for the Republicans to wield and they will do so with glee.

I’m personally convinced that the health care “reform” will utterly cripple our already wounded economy.

And I have no illusions that the Wizard doesn’t know it will politically kill a lot of Democrats in Congress. I don’t think for a moment that he cares one whit about those future former members of Congress.

They should not be so stupid as to think he does, either.

The reality is simple. If the House passes the Senate bill, there will not be any reconciliation. It won’t happen. And Democrats in the House will be all alone to face the voters in November.

Pay For Play?

The Weekly Standard:

So, Scott Matheson appears to have the credentials to be a judge, but was his nomination used to buy off his brother’s vote?

Consider Congressman Matheson’s record on the health care bill. He voted against the bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee back in July and again when it passed the House in November. But now he’s “undecided” on ramming the bill through Congress. “The Congressman is looking for development of bipartisan consensus,” Matheson’s press secretary Alyson Heyrend wrote to THE WEEKLY STANDARD on February 22. “It’s too early to know if that will occur.” Asked if one could infer that if no Republican votes in favor of the bill (i.e. if a bipartisan consensus is not reached) then Rep. Matheson would vote no, Heyrend replied: “I would not infer anything.  I’d wait to see what develops, starting with the health care summit on Thursday.”

The new version of PayGo. Obama pays off people to go vote for his schemes? The timing is more than a little suspicious, as the Standard points out. We have seen more than a little sleaze in the early stages of the ObamaCare odyssey. The Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker kickback. Did you really think the end game would be squeaky clean?

But how  really, really ugly is the bill that is passed by such nefarious methods? The reality is that this monstrosity, if passed into law, will be even uglier than its passage.

The Multi-Pronged Disconnect

Deaf to America:

That was nothing, though, compared to the multi-pronged Democratic disconnect on health care. It was clear early on that the public wanted the president and Congress to focus on the economy, especially after the evidence mounted that the stimulus, whatever its disaster-preventing benefits, was not going to spur job growth any time soon. Yet the Democrats went ahead and devoted most of the last year to health care reform, which only reinforced the growing perception that Washington was still as arrogant and unresponsive as ever and that the Democrats, like their predecessors, were still out for themselves and their political aims.

Once that die was cast, it was obvious that the public’s top priority was reducing costs, and they had a right to expect that’s what Washington would try to do since that’s how Obama sold his agenda. Yet the Democrats on the Hill crafted a contradictory trillion-dollar bill–it called for cutting costs by increasing spending–that was largely seen as being about expanding coverage. And after all the recent federal intrusions into the economy, the frustrated middle was plainly skeptical about the federal government’s ability to re-engineer one-sixth of the American economy. Yet the Democrats came forward with an incredibly intricate scheme that even they could not explain.

And so they follow their Wizard over the edge and into the valley of the Little Bighorn. If you are serious about trying to stop this madness, you had better start calling. Make it exceedingly clear that the political price Democrats will pay for ramming their agenda down America’s throat will be too high to bear. Say it with a smile – and mean it.

Begin gearing up now for the repeal battle, because this monstrous bill will cripple America, cause health insurance to skyrocket in cost and greatly diminish the quality of your health care. Sure, they promise otherwise, but when have you seen them be right?

They promise they can spend money to save money all the time. When does that work for you, personally? If you are a union member, Obama is coming for your gold-plated health benefits. If you are a small business owner, Obama is coming at you with punitive taxation. If you like your current health care plan, you will lose it. You will be forced to buy government-approved health care whether you want it or not. You will be a thrall to an insurance company. You will see your taxes go to fund abortions whether you want them to or not.

There is literally nothing worth the price you will pay in this horrible bill.

Start calling, folks. Hold the center.

The Culture Of Corruption

And Democrat Charlie Rangel is gone – sort of.

Sources say Harlem Democrat Charles Rangel will step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee soon, NBC News has learned.

He may make the move as early as tonight as pressure mounts and sources told NBC that either Michigan Democratic Rep Sander Levin or California Democrat Pete Stark will temporarily take over the committee.

Some details still need to be ironed out, but the sources said Rangel has been pushed to step down before the House voted on a bill to forcefully strip him of the coveted chairmanship.

He’s not giving up his seat, of course. Just the chairmanship of the committee. But making a few guesses about this, I’d about bet that he – and a lot of others – know that there are a lot more – even more damaging – revelations in the pipeline. If it was just the slap on the wrist he got over a couple of trips and nothing more, he would have fought.

There is likely a lot more dirt about to come out about Charlie and his finances.

Also, if true, his reported leave of absence may be a parting shot back at Nancy Pelosi for not protecting him. She needs his vote. If he is on leave, he can’t cast it for her. Interesting, isn’t it?

How To Actually Save Money On Health Care

Look to Indiana:

If you want a textbook example of how to “bend the cost curve down,” I recommend taking a look at the state of Indiana and how it funds health care for its employees. The governor, Mitch Daniels, explained it yesterday in the Wall Street Journal. The state of Indiana puts $2,750 into a medical savings account for every state employee who signs up for this sort of coverage. (When it started five years ago, 4 percent signed up; this year 70 percent signed up.) The employee then pays all medical expenses out of that account. If there is money left over at the end of the year, it’s the employee’s to keep. If expenses exceed that sum, the state shares expenses up to an out-of-pocket maximum of $8,000 and covers all expenses above that sum.

The program has been a huge success, saving millions for both employees and the state. Why? As Governor Daniels explains,

It turns out that, when someone is spending his own money alone for routine expenses, he is far more likely to ask the questions he would ask if purchasing any other good or service: “Is there a generic version of that drug?” “Didn’t I take that same test just recently?” “Where can I get the colonoscopy at the best price?”

My wife and I have a Health Savings Account plan. It works. We watch exactly what the doctors recommend and keep an eye out for less expensive options on every visit. The plans in Washington don’t like those accounts, don’t like Medicare Advantage, don’t like anything that empowers citizens to choose for themselves.

They want you enfeebled and dependent on bureaucrats for your health care.

Reform should be about empowering citizens, not engorging the bureaucracy at public expense.

There He Goes Again

Al Gore makes another materially false statement:

Gore says, “The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth, yet scientists have long pointed out that warmer global temperatures have been increasing the rate of evaporation from the oceans, putting significantly more moisture into the atmosphere — thus causing heavier downfalls of both rain and snow in particular regions, including the Northeastern United States….”

….In fact, recent research actually contra dicts Gore’s claims about “significantly more water moisture in the atmosphere.”

In late January, Scientific American reported: “A mysterious drop in water vapor in the lower stratosphere might be slowing climate change,” and noted that “an apparent increase in water vapor in this region in the 1980s and 1990s exacerbated global warming.”

Gore has a more than spotty record on telling the truth, as a court in Britain pointed out. Keep in mind that this man has gotten rich off his dire warnings of inevitable doom and stands to make even more by getting more governments to play along with his not exactly true statements.

The folks down in Georgia and the Carolinas are getting hammered with snow right now. I don’t recall that happening very often at all. Where I live, we are running about 10 degrees below the average and have been for some time. It may – just may – warm a bit this weekend during the day, but the nights are still going to bone-chilling temperatures. I’ve about worn out an ice scraper this season.

Up Until Now…..

Every weekly or monthly unemployment report that showed job losses has been “unexpected”. (Every job report that showed even a very, very, very modest decline in the number of unemployment numbers has been heralded as nothing less than the Second Coming.) This month’s jobless report is suddenly – unexpectedly, so to speak – being spun as “expectly” bleak – well before hand.

White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday.

“The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it’s going to be very important … to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends,” Summers said in an interview with CNBC, according to a transcript.

Construction activity was hit particularly hard by the storms, but many restaurants and stores also had to close, putting the brakes on hiring plans and temporarily throwing some employees out of work.

Translation: The numbers are going to be disastrous. As in appalling. They know it and are desperately trying to get out in front of it. This is the first time the administration has tried to spin ahead of time even though they have known about bleak – seriously bleak – numbers in the past year. Up until now, every bad report has been just “unexpected”.

That should warn you about what is coming.

But ask yourself a question or two – especially when you consider the particular spin being offered by Summers:

many restaurants and stores also had to close, putting the brakes on hiring plans and temporarily throwing some employees out of work

Now any sane person has to wonder about what hiring plans any business has had recently. One also has to wonder if those few businesses who were actually thinking of hiring were waiting to see what Congress might pass in the way of sweeteners before making their decisions whether to hire or not.

Lo and behold, Congress passes a bill that will give employers a “tax holiday” from paying a relatively small tax bill – if they hire employees who have been out of work for a few months.

Ask yourself how many really smart employers are buying a temporary “benefit” for a year as an incentive – knowing that they will repay the “holiday” – with interest – at a future date when taxes inevitably rise to cover the “holiday”.

Ask yourself how many entry-level jobs, usually the important first job for teenagers – just became victim of the new beneficence from Washington. How many never-employed-before teens just lost any hope of a job to some employer eager to take Washington’s short-term bounty and hire older workers who have been unemployed the requisite number of days to meet the requirements of the new largess?

Then consider the unprecedented pre-spin.

How bad is it going to be?

I’m guessing it is really, really bad.

Substituting Electioneering For Governing

Robert Samuelson:

The common denominator is a triumph of electioneering over governing. Every campaign is an exercise in make-believe. All the good ideas and good people lie on one side. All the “special interests,” barbarians and dangerous ideas lie on the other. There’s no room for the real world’s messy ambiguities, discomforting contradictions and unpopular choices. But to govern successfully, leaders must confront precisely those ambiguities, contradictions and choices.

The make-believe of campaigns now increasingly shapes the process of governing. Whether this reflects cable TV and the Internet — which reward the harsh hostility of extreme partisanship — or the precarious balance between the two parties or something else is hard to say. But the disconnect between policy and the real world is harmful. Proposals tend to be constructed more for their public relations effects than for their capacity to solve actual problems.

Samuelson’s column is essentially a “pox on both houses” slam. Essentially, this is why I suspect that this is shaping up as a “throw the bums out” election. The fact is that we need real fiscal discipline – fast – or we are going to be in real trouble. Does this mean that there will have to be severe cuts in spending? You bet. Does it mean that there will have to be some tax increases? Well, unless you’re willing to endure truly draconian cuts in spending, yes it does.

We cannot continue down the path we are on. We must tie any spending increases to a small percentage of real revenue growth. And we are going to have to radically reduce entitlements. If we do not, we are heading for an economic collapse.

The current crop of Washington politicians need to either grasp this or we are going to have to make some changes, very, very soon. Or we are doomed. More importantly, our children are doomed. We have to stop this.

Blue Bleeds Red

Forbes has the numbers:

The five states in the worst financial condition–Illinois, New York, Connecticut, California and New Jersey–are all among the bluest of blue states. The five most fiscally fit states are more of a mix. Three–Utah, Nebraska and Texas–boast Republican majorities and two–New Hampshire and Virginia–skew Democratic.

Please go read the entire analysis. Especially take the time to view the “In Pictures” slideshow. The difference in per capita debt is staggering. (How Connecticut stays afloat, I have no idea.)

Massive spending and insane levels of debt are killing these states – and we are well on our way to much worse with the Obama spending frenzy at the national level. The Democrats are, quite literally, stealing candy from babies with these lunatic spending amounts. Because our children, grandchildren and out as many generations as can be imagined, will be saddled with the gargantuan debt they are accumulating.

We need a balanced budget amendment and a spending limit tied to real growth in GDP. (Mandating that they can only raise spending by a (small) percentage of real growth.) There simply appears to be no other way to rein these spendthrifts in. They are killing this country.

Desperate Sob Stories

Via Ann Althouse, my own former Congresswoman reels out a desperate sob story in a desperate attempt to desperately pass anything.

I didn’t like her back in the day when I lived in her district, I still don’t.

But she looked very, very nervous, didn’t she?

There are no safe seats, Louise. One wonders if that realization is what made her look so nervous.

Backfire

I had to work today, so I was unable to watch the “summit”. But I knew it did not go as expected when I heard NPR’s reporting on it.  They are desperately spinning the result as “nobody really expected it to work”. They were not crowing about Obama’s performance. In fact, they admitted that Obama had felt the need to hold an impromptu press conference on a lunch break to try to spin things his own way.

In other words, it is like Copenhagen (twice).

It did not work.

It appears to have backfired mightily. Paul Ryan has been heard speaking some very solid American values and common sense.

The difference is this. We don’t think all the answers lie in Washington.

By federalizing the regulation of insurance, and by mandating exactly how it’ll work, you make it more expensive and you reduce the competition among insurers for peoples business. We want to decentralize the system, give more power to small businesses, more power to individuals, and make insurance compete more. But if you federalize it, you standardize it and mandate it, you do not achieve that. And that’s the big difference.

That sound bite would never have been reported by the MSM. That alone damages the Wizard’s plans.

I’m quite happy that what I feared did not happen.  I’m pretty sure that the White House wishes today had not happened.

Because it did not work as planned. Obama did not overawe and silence the opposition. His awesome awesomeness failed – yet again.

For Your Own Good…

…We’ll poison you.

To sell the stolen industrial alcohol, the liquor syndicates employed chemists to “renature” the products, returning them to a drinkable state. The bootleggers paid their chemists a lot more than the government did, and they excelled at their job. Stolen and redistilled alcohol became the primary source of liquor in the country. So federal officials ordered manufacturers to make their products far more deadly.

By mid-1927, the new denaturing formulas included some notable poisons—kerosene and brucine (a plant alkaloid closely related to strychnine), gasoline, benzene, cadmium, iodine, zinc, mercury salts, nicotine, ether, formaldehyde, chloroform, camphor, carbolic acid, quinine, and acetone. The Treasury Department also demanded more methyl alcohol be added—up to 10 percent of total product. It was the last that proved most deadly.

The results were immediate, starting with that horrific holiday body count in the closing days of 1926. Public health officials responded with shock. “The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol,” New York City medical examiner Charles Norris said at a hastily organized press conference. “[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible.”

Do go read the entire article. It should horrify you. How many Americans were crippled, blinded or killed by overzealous bureaucrats in their own government? Nobody actually knows. Understand something here. The consumption of alcohol was not banned by the 18th Amendment, only the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction”.

The victims of this were sickened, maimed or killed by overzealous  bureaucrats for no reason whatsoever. They had committed no crime whatsoever.

Sure, it was a long time ago, a different America, a different time. But ask yourself this: Are you willing to entrust your welfare to bureaucrats? Do you really want them making decisions for you?

Given the history, I don’t think that’s a really great idea.

The Rasputin Bill

Is it undead or merely Rasputin? Hard to tell.

Like Rasputin, the plan nevertheless remains evil and crazy. It treats 21st-century Americans like the subjects of Middle Ages monarchy, telling them what they must buy; could prolong the recession by scaring businesses to death with new costs; and will definitely worsen the frightening problem of runaway government spending.

Never mind, because Obama can now point to a recent, steep rise in insurance premiums in California and promise price controls as part of his improved plan, and some people may respond positively without understanding that such controls never fix anything in the real world but will generally, in one way or another, make matters worse.

The American people, by a substantial majority, reject this so-called “reform”. It is a bloated, bureaucratic nightmare that will kill liberty in this country. It will be enormously expensive – much, much more costly than the already appalling estimates and it will cut most people off from the plans they like. It will seriously damage the economy and will make the current downturn last even longer. The economy, in fact, may be utterly crippled by this hideous monument to the Wizard’s already gigantic ego.

But it just won’t die.

But if the Democrats continue to follow the 0, their political careers sure as hell will.