Ashes

Kimberly Strassel:

No one pushed harder than Mr. Kindler. The CEO made no fewer than five trips to the White House last year. He was the man prodding Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America head Billy Tauzin every step. He wrote an op-ed with the SEIU’s Mr. Stern demanding reform. He pressed the industry’s $150 million ad campaign promoting ObamaCare, rolled out with liberal activist groups.

Critics warned the legislation would lead to a government takeover and price controls. They warned Democrats would take the money and double-cross them. None of it fazed the industry, right up until ObamaCare imploded.

Mr. Kindler and Co. are left with the ashes. Having got this far (with Big Pharma’s help), Democrats are more desperate than ever to pass “something.” It won’t include any upside for drug companies. There is talk instead of “popular” stand-alone legislation, including reimportation, Medicare price controls, and slashing the industry’s 12-year exclusivity on biologics.

You really, really have to go read the entire piece. It is an object lesson in how to make a bad bet. A lot of the medical industry made a bad bet on this one. The drug companies – led by Pfizer and Kindler – really made a really bad one. He was never the one.

Free market supporters now have a heaven-sent opportunity to make some real changes – if they are smart, fast and willing to push their ideas. Corporations that supported the won stand a real chance of finding out that they backed the loser instead of the one. Or won, as may be.

Limit lawsuits, allow insurance sales across state lines, allow drug reimportation – allow the free market to work. Will this lead to lower profits for companies like Pfizer who backed a losing horse? Probably. No, certainly.

Gosh, I feel bad about that. Don’t you?

Oh, Mama, Can This Really Be The End?

Could this be the end of the Kennedy political dynasty?

Nearly 6 in 10 registered voters in the First Congressional District would consider another candidate or vote to replace Loughlin’s opponent, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, according to a WPRI-TV, Channel 12 survey released Thursday night.

The poll offers a snapshot of an abysmal political climate for Democrats that could present serious problems for the eight-term incumbent Kennedy, according to pollster Joseph Fleming.

“It looks like it could be a very competitive race, which we haven’t seen in many years,” Fleming said, noting that Election Day is still nine months away. “I think people, right now, are really looking at who’s in office, and they’re considering somebody else.”

Kennedy’s office declined to respond to the WPRI poll, in which 28 percent of respondents from his district said they’d vote to replace the congressman if the election were held today; 31 percent said they’d consider another candidate; while 35 percent said they’d vote to reelect him.

Does not look good for Kennedy – if – a big if – there is a strong challenger and if things continue from now until election day as they are now.

But the political atmosphere is deathly toxic for Democrats, bordering on lethal. Americans – including a large number of self-identified Democrats – are rejecting the basic economic paradigm that has been a driver for Democrats. Voters are resoundingly anti-Keynesian.

While influential 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes would say it’s best to increase deficit spending in tough economic times, only 11% of American adults agree and think the nation needs to increase its deficit spending at this time. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 70% disagree and say it would be better to cut the deficit.

In fact, 59% think Keynes had it backwards and that increasing the deficit at this time would hurt the economy rather than help.

To help the economy, most Americans (56%) believe that cutting the deficit is the way to go.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of Americans, in fact, say the size of the federal budget deficit is due more to the unwillingness of politicians to cut government spending than to the reluctance of taxpayers to pay more in taxes.

Maybe the voters have had enough because the only growth sector of the economy is the number of Federal bureaucrats making six figure salaries while the masses face unemployment. Maybe it’s because the Democrat “grown-ups” in charge of taking care of the country fiddle around obsessively with health care “reform” while the economy burns down around America. Maybe it’s because average Americans understand that spending your way out of an economic hole has always been idiotic.

Regardless, the “throw the bums out” election looms, driven by the voter’s rejection of spend and tax and tax and tax policies. Every incumbent is in danger. Only those who get the message are safe. Those who assume they are safe because they are in “safe” seats – or who rely on a family name for protection – might want to think about what the election of Scott Brown really meant.

There are no safe seats.

Run, Pat, Run

‘I’m running like I’m 20 points behind and I’ll continue to run like I’m 20 points behind.” Pat Toomey, running against Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Benedict Arlen, Toomey is currently in the lead in that race. By rather a lot.

Campaigning across the state, Toomey says he’s hearing time and again that it’s Washington’s “lurch to the left” that “Pennsylvanians don’t like.” The bailouts and ObamaCare are both flashpoints. The effort to pass the “card-check” bill to ease union organizing is a loser for Specter, too, even in this union-friendly state. Above all, Toomey reports, voters are asking the government, Why aren’t you focused on the economy?

And I think that is going to be the real issue this fall. I will wager that it will be even worse for the Democrats if they succeed in ramming their health care “reform” through. If they have any brains at all, they will begin opposing Obama’s agenda and control their spending urges while trying to get the economy back on track.

Which is why I fully expect a debacle for them in November. I don’t think they can rein in the mad spending. They simply do not get it that the spending and the debt and the lack of interest in turning the economy around is what people are angry about. Americans hate the health care bills passed so far, but they loathe the ruin of the economy.

But the Democrats can’t quit wasting time on Obama’s rotten ideas and idiotic economic theories.

Canary Row

If a whole row of coal mine canaries begin falling like little feathered dominoes, at what point does the message get across that the air is poisonous?

One asks because of low Democratic turnout in Illinois – and very, very strong Republican turnout in the same state where they are badly outnumbered.

Based on the current numbers 885,268 voters were cast in the Democratic primary for Senate compared to 736,137 on the Republican side. Those numbers are awfully close to each other for a state that’s overwhelmingly Democratic.

Can’t find the exact numbers for what the difference is, but Illinois has been heavily Democratic for a long time. Although things are looking a lot worse for the Democrats this year as their total nationwide has now fallen to another all-time low. As in lowest percentage ever.

Currently, 35.4% of American adults view themselves as Democrats. That’s down from 35.5% a month ago and 36.0 two months ago. Prior to last month, the lowest total ever recorded for Democrats was 35.9%, a figure that was reached twice in 2005. See the History of Party Trends from January 2004 to the present.

(Yes, I know that’s in Rasmussen’s history of tracking these numbers).

The, canaries all in a row, one by one they fall.

Lions And Tigers and Bears Elephants, Oh My

Or when it all falls apart:

Stuart Rothenberg, a political analyst who follows Congressional races, said a report he will release Monday will count 58 Democratic House seats in play, up from 47 in December. The number of Republican seats in play has remained steady at 14 over the same period, he said. At the same time, Democrats expect more of their incumbents to retire, which could put additional seats at risk.

Republicans need a net gain of 40 seats to regain control of the House, a prospect that still seems unlikely, though hardly impossible.

Mr. Rothenberg currently lists seven Democratic Senate seats and four Republican seats in play; that number will not change on Monday, though Mr. Rothenberg recently rated Republicans as likely to take over the seat currently held by Mrs. Lincoln, the Arkansas Democrat.“The Republicans are expanding the playing field, no doubt about that,” Mr. Rothenberg said, describing it as a continuing Democratic deterioration that began late last summer.

If Rothenberg says the seats are in play, pay attention. Pay particular attention to the sharp increase in numbers. I’m guessing that these numbers are low right now and will increase in the coming months – greatly – if Democrats follow the manipulative, mendacious,  myopic muchkins over the cliff with the Wizard of 0 and try to ram ObamaCare down America’s throat.

It promises to be a very, very interesting year.

(Personally, if I were a Democrat in Congress, I would not be taking calls from the Emerald House.)

Last Ditch Effort

In a bid to save Harry Reid from the wrath of the voters in Nevada, Barack Obama, the Wizard of O himself, will make a campaign appearance for Harry next month.

In the wake of Obama’s amazing victories with last minute personal appearance appeals for favored causes such as the great win for Chicago in its bid to host the Olympics, the world shaking climate change agreement forged by the won in Copenhagen and the resounding electoral victory for Martha Coakley in Massachusetts, Harry is a shoo-in.

A shoo-in right into the last ditch on the left. Just call Harry “Fill” from here on.

Seriously, the only way this could be worse for Reid is if the joint appearance was to be held in Copenhagen where the Wizard has a perfect record.

Advice to Democrats: If the won offers to help you with a campaign appearance, run screaming.

(H/T to Jim Hoft)

Catch The Wave

This is a thing of beauty. And we all know that a thing of beauty is a joy forever, right?

Congressional strategists had warned in the closing days of the Massachusetts Senate race that a Coakley defeat had the potential to trigger a series of retirements within the Democratic ranks as members flee a political wave that could wash out dozens in the House and high single digits on the Senate side.

“My message to my clients? Jump ship now,” said one Democratic operative who advises a number of targeted Members of Congress. “Obama can’t help you.” (Emphasis added)

Democratic leaders spent much of Tuesday reaching out to vulnerable Members to convince them that the circumstances that led to Coakley’s demise were unique to her and the state and not indicative of the general political environment in which they will have to run in November.

Try whistling past this graveyard, by all means.

Try ramming ObamaCare down the throats of Americans and be fully prepared for the payback. America does not want what you are selling. That is the message. Fail to read it at your own peril.

Prediction: Reid retires. Pelosi screeches. ObamaCare dies.

If they try to ram it through, all hell breaks loose.

Why The Democrats Hate Scott Rasmussen

Because he tells the truth.

That, they cannot handle.

Buh-Bye

Real Clear Politics reports that the Boston Globe is saying that Martha Coakley has conceded. I cannot get the page to load, however. It may or may not be correct at this point.

But it sure looks like Brown has won.

The New York Times interactive map shows a stunning victory is very, very likely.

Heck, I’ll call it for Brown at this point – by too large a margin to contest or cheat out of.

RCP is calling it at about a 7% win for Brown.

Try whistling past this graveyard.

What On Earth Is Happening Here?

Michael C. Moynihan reports from his former Massachusetts stomping grounds on the utterly strange happenings in that state. It seems that a real uprising is underway.

Those who say that the foot soldiers coming out in the bitter cold, in a wet and soggy snow, to hoot and holler for Scott Brown are hirelings, out-of-staters, both teabaggers and carpetbaggers, are talking nonsense. I came across a man from Michigan selling “second American revolution” flags, an Atlanta native who, veins popping on his neck, told me that the government was run by “thieves,” a woman from Pittsburgh who “blogs on Facebook” (whatever that means), and a handful of people from New Hampshire who would rather die than not live free. Or so their license plates informed me.

But most were like Nick Redmond, a native of Dorchester—the neighborhood famous outside Massachusetts for bequeathing New Kids on the Block and Donna Summer to American culture—who was voting for Scott Brown because, under the current administration, “the middle class is getting screwed.” Or John Camuso, a gay man from Boston who said he was “proud to give [Brown] my vote,” despite thinking that Coakley, whom he knew from his neighborhood, was a “nice lady.”

Perhaps this explains Coakley’s appearance last night at the Eire Bar in Dorchester, a redoubt of working class, union-affiliated Irish Catholics. The crowd was surprisingly small and unsurprisingly sedate. The candidate gave no speech, was surrounded by union heavies and representatives of local media, and quietly sipped a pint of Guinness. Across the bar, a boisterous Belfast native called Larry was holding a Brown sign and telling the Coakley people who surrounded him, hoisting their own signs, to “f*** off.” (Edit due to BCB policy)

There really does appear to be something happening here. As I have mentioned before, I work with a lot of union members. They are all – every one of them – very vocal about not supporting what is going on under the Obama administration. (The opposition they voice could not be published on this site due to my rules.) They are genuinely angry that their union officials continue to back the Democrat’s schemes.

There really does appear to be something happening here. The Democrats ignore this at their own peril.

Interesting Anecdote

Very interesting if true.

Via Memeorandum

When Bureaucrats Decide

A glimpse into what the future will look like under ObamaCare: Bureaucrats decide, you suffer:

The Government’s drugs rationing body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), has provisionally said that it does not intend to recommend the use of the drug, called Tocilizumab, or Roactemra.

Nice claims that the £9,000 a year drug, for rheumatoid arthritis, has not proved that it is cost effective.

But patients in Scotland are to receive the treatment after it was recommended by the body which regulates drugs on the Scottish NHS, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

The move will reopen accusations of medical ‘apartheid’ within Britain.

It follows an outcry after patients in Scotland were given access to expensive cancer drugs denied on the NHS in England and Wales.

Note that the nameless, faceless bureaucrats making these decisions never have to face the voters. They decide, you suffer.

This is what health care looks like when the government runs it. Were these the chains you were hoping for?

Bay State Roundup

Jules Crittenden brings the hometown perspective to the battle in Massachusetts.

Slapdown

Ben Smith:

From the Brown campaign:

 Sunday, January 17, 2010

 WHAT:
 Scott Brown for U.S. Senate , “The People’s Rally”

 WHO:

 Scott Brown, candidate for U.S. Senate
 Curt Schilling, Red Sox legend
 Doug Flutie, former Boston College star and NFL great
 John Ratzenberger, from Cheers
 Ayla Brown, Scott’s daughter

Get a sense of the demographic they’re going for here?

Please do go over and read what Smith’s commenters are saying. Because they are slapping Ben around pretty hard. Whether he meant it to or not, the comment sounds pretty elitist and the readers are taking it that way. And beating heck of of him as a result.

Actually, if you look at that list, you realize that Brown is appearing with people with a strong connection to New England, Boston and Massachusetts. (Ratzenberger is a native of Connecticut.) In other words, he isn’t bringing in outsiders with no connection to Massachusetts – a smart move that casts a harsh spotlight the outsiders Coakley is bringing in to stump for her. 

Brown is running a heck of a campaign.

A Rotten Bill Gets Worse

Unions get special treatment – at the expense of Americans who don’t belong to a union:

For most American workers, beginning in 2013, if your health care insurance plan is worth more than $8,900 for an individual and $24,000 for a family, that plan will be hit with a 40% excise tax. While technically the tax falls on the insurer, virtually all economists agree that the cost will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. Moreover, because the threshold for the tax is indexed to ordinary inflation rather than the higher rate of medical inflation, even if your plan doesn’t get hit today, it may well be taxed in the future.

But that won’t happen to union members. Under an agreement negotiated by the Obama administration, congressional leaders, and union bosses behind closed doors, their policies will be exempt from the tax until 2018. Plans for state and local employees would also be exempted.

There’s even more largess for the unions, do go read the entire piece.

The thing is that at the end of the five year exemption, the union rank and file will have to trade in their Cadillac health care plan on the government Yugo plan. There won’t be anymore Cadillac plans. All that will be left will be what the government will allow you.

As for “renegotiating” their contracts, do you really think that that is going to work in this economy? Obama and his crew have caused so much damage to the economy that I fully expect job losses and plant closings to continue – and actually to accelerate.

The union bosses are selling out the rank and file members. And giving the shaft to the rest of the nation at the same time.