August 20th,
2009
Dear Liberty Activist,
Harry Reid has delivered his ultimatum to
Republicans in the Senate: Deal with Senate leadership and build a
"bipartisan" bill, or he'll invoke a process known as "reconciliation,"
whereby only 51 votes would be needed to pass certain parts of the
bill. Be prepared for some parliamentary maneuvering by Democrats when
the August recess ends.
According
to Reid spokesman Jim Manley, "The White House and the Senate
Democratic leadership still prefer a bipartisan bill. However, patience
is not unlimited, and we are determined to get something done this year
by any legislative means necessary." Read those words and believe them:
"by any legislative means necessary."
This could be indicative of a shift to a
"Senate-first" strategy, whereby the Democrats get what they can
through "reconciliation" and then send the bill(s) directly to the
House for a vote. Then there wouldn't be a conference bill, which would
still need 60 votes in the Senate to get cloture.
Unclear is whether the so-called public
"option" would be tied to the "reconciliation" bill. According
to the Wall Street Journal, "In recent days, Democratic leaders
have concluded they can pack more of their health overhaul plans under
this procedure, congressional aides said. They might even be able to
include a public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, a key
demand of the party's liberal wing, but that remains uncertain."
If the public "option" is included in the
"reconciliation" process in the Senate, then the typical process would
be circumvented. And Democrats could get government-run health care
without any opportunity for a filibuster.
The worst part is there is not a thing that
Senators opposed will be able to do to stop it.
Which means it's up to you. You are the
last line of defense. The only option, which is the true public option,
is for the American people to express outrage, anger, and fury to call
for a stop to this outrageous bending, twisting, and breaking all
procedure to stage a coup and ram this down your throats against your
best wishes.
Use
CapWiz NOW to tell the Senate, the House, the White House, and your
local media outlets that you know what the Congressional majority is up
to, and it is nothing less than a coup against the representative
administration of the Republic.
Of course, we need to keep up the
conventional efforts, since things can change quickly in Washington. We
need to keep focused on the House, too. There are enough vulnerable
members there to defeat any measure as long as the public uproar
increases in volume.
Click
here for the upgraded target list to now include all vulnerable and
Blue Dog Democrats.the
letter against ObamaCare promising not to vote for it if it weren't
deficit neutral. 45 through 56 are the rest of the Blue Dogs who
didn't sign the letter. And 57 through 94 are Democrats we have
determined are vulnerable. Representatives 5 through 44 are Blue
Dogs that signed
Blue Dogs are listed in blue. 92
Congressmen and women in total. Here's the .xls and .pdf versions.
Everything you need to email their staff, write letters, make phone
calls and send faxes, both to their district and Capitol Hill offices.
And, for your own Congressmen in the House,
keep
in frequent contact with them CapWiz.com by clicking here. Just
enter your zip code and follow the easy steps. Or, you can use the
government's websites in
the House and in
the Senate to do it the old fashioned way.
In today's Liberty
Action Report, David Axelrod appears to be profiting from
the ObamaCare debate, rather than using facts, ObamaCare supporters are
using invective to deflect fact-based criticism to the bill, and
Liberty Features Syndicate is looking for a few good writers! Plus, the
brave people of Honduras may in fact be the spark plug to liberate
millions of people now under the repressive regimes throughout Latin
America.
Please send your letters to the editor at Robert@getliberty.org. We
publish all points of view! Today, David C. Miller MD of Concord, NC
writes, "I suggest you stop calling what we are opposing the
'Public Option' or 'Private Option' and begin calling it what it is,
the 'Government Option.' It would be sponsored by the government or
financed by the government or controlled by the government, or some of
those or all three, not sponsored, controlled or financed by any public
or private company. In addition to being more accurate, polls suggest
that name will be more informative and excite more of the appropriate
opposition that the euphemistic 'Public Option' or 'Private Option'
descriptions."
We may be preaching to the choir to our
readers of the Liberty Action Report. I personally prefer to call it
government-run health care and socialized medicine, which I imagine
poll well, too. I also call it the public "option," to saracastically
indicate that it is not at all optional. Thanks for the note.
For Liberty,
Robert Romano
ALG Senior News Editor
www.getliberty.org
P.S. Had enough? Help
us out with a small donation today!
Open Source & Copyright Free
Editorial:
If the Bush Administration Had Done It…
"If the Bush Administration had done it, there would be national
outrage."
Democrats
don't want to sell Healthcare.
When Democrats have run into opposition from those they serve at town
hall meetings, they have not shown the slightest inclination to
seriously listen to those concerns.
Liberty
Features Syndicate
Have a passion for politics and want to write? LFS is looking for YOU.
Too
Hot Not Too Note: Latin leftists fear a Honduras coup domino effect
The brave people of Honduras may in fact be the spark plug to liberate
millions of people now under the repressive regimes of the Castro-lite
crowd throughout Latin America.
Editorial:
If the Bush Administration Had Done It…
"If the Bush Administration had done it,
there would be national outrage."
This phrase seems to be thrown about a lot
recently with regard to the new administration and its ever-deepening
slough of gross misconduct. Whether it's Obama asking people to snitch
on their neighbors to "flag@whitehouse.gov", mocking the Special
Olympics on prime time television, or issuing an ill-founded DHS memo
targeting "disgruntled veterans" as possible terrorists, the president
and his lieutenants have gotten away with record scandal in record time.
In fact, Barack Obama has received a pass
from the Mainstream Media "Obamatons" the likes of which George W. Bush
and his predecessors never would even have dreamed possible.
Well, one can now modify the aforementioned
statement and likewise conjecture: "If Karl Rove had done it…"
In brief, David Axelrod, Barack Obama's
Senior Advisor, is up to his neck in corruption, which, not
surprisingly, has been largely ignored by liberal news outlets—i.e.,
the Obamatons en masse. As Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico
reports, AKPD Message and Media, a firm founded by Mr. Axelrod that
currently employs his son, was awarded a significant $24 million
advertising contract by Obama Administration allies in the Healthcare
Reform debate. Conveniently enough, AKPD also owes Mr. Axelrod $2
million in severance dollars.
AKPD and another firm were contracted by a
coalition of liberal groups and other entities—among them PhRMA—to
produce and air two separate $12 million ad campaigns designed to
bolster support for Barack Obama's government-run healthcare plan. Mr.
Axelrod's close ties to both AKPD and the groups pushing Obama-care is
raising a lot of eyebrows.
One of those miffed is House Republican
Conference spokesman Matt Loyd, who had the following
to say regarding the situation:
"Let me get this straight: Out of all the
firms Pharma could choose to do their media work, they choose David
Axelrod's firm, which still maintains Axelrod's son on the payroll and
owes Axelrod himself $2 million. How can the public be assured that
David Axelrod isn't influenced by any of this in the course of the
health care debate? For an administration that promised 'change' and to
be above even an appearance of impropriety this does not even come
close to passing the smell test."
If Karl Rove had done something like this,
at least one head would have rolled—his—and possibly more. And, as Mr.
Vogel reports:
"On his first day in office, Obama
unveiled a strict ethics policy barring officials from working on
issues 'directly and substantially related' to their former clients or
employers for two years."
Apparently, that strict injunction did not
apply to the man who put Obama in office and carries his water on a
daily basis.
Corruption, ethics—and boldfaced
lies—notwithstanding, the hypocrisy regarding the Obama regime's view
of America's healthcare system and the "moral imperative" they so
proudly proclaim is this Administration's most egregious sin.
On one hand, Mr. Obama and other Democrats
in Washington argue passionately that America's health care industry is
no place for the greedy pursuit of profits. Morality dictates that
people come before profits, they continually intone. Meanwhile, David
Axelrod has no qualms about pocketing a few million bucks through his
"directly and substantially related" ties to his own advertising firm.
Karl Rove may have been the architect, but
David Axelrod is clearly the engineer—engineering corruption and
hypocrisy in the nation's highest office while smarmily proclaiming his
personal piety.
Have these people no shame?
http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=1485
Democrats
don't want to sell Healthcare.
By Isaiah Stegman and Carter Clews
Opponents of the Democrats' all-out push
for healthcare legislation have been striking back hard. Some have
condemned it as "socialized medicine," others have dissected it line by
line to reveal its more egregious provisions, and still others have
simply labeled it "deathcare" citing the sections of the bill calling
for healthcare rationing and government death counselors.
They have given the Democrat Party elites
one opportunity after another to fight back with the "facts." But,
instead, "Obamacare" apologists have hurled invective, launched
carefully orchestrated smear campaigns, and cloistered themselves
behind barricades to fend off peaceful protestors.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) penned a piece together over the
weekend in which they called Obamacare opponents "un-American." And
they even claimed, contrary to recent polling, that most Americans want
the healthcare legislation they are proposing.
When Democrats have run into opposition
from those they serve at town hall meetings, they have not shown the
slightest inclination to seriously listen to those concerns. Sheila
Jackson Lee, infamously talked on her cell phone while taking
attendees' questions. Pelosi and Hoyer called concerned constituents
"mobs" and "astroturf" (phony grassroots organizations).
And the White House isn't doing much
better. A call for all citizens to send in the names of those who
espouse "fishy" and "misleading" information about the healthcare
legislation – "even
in casual conversation" -- to the ominous sounding flag@whitehouse.gov
has already sparked public outrage. And it has prompted one Senator to
accuse the White House of creating lists of enemies.
Another White House call to its union
cronies to "punch back twice as hard" on healthcare, may have played a
direct role in the savage beating of an African American opponent of
the plan. This beating was so severe that a local emergency room
treated him for numerous injuries.
There have been some rather feeble attempts
to sell it. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote
two opinion pieces that were heavy on the lofty goals and good
intentions of Democrat healthcare plans. But they fell far short on
actual facts. In one of the pieces she went so far as to tell people
that she and the President were taking care of the details, and that
people should not "let the details distract [them] from the huge
benefits reform will bring."
So, why aren't Democrat leaders trying
harder to sell what is actually the warp and woof of their massive
healthcare package? Because they have no intention of selling it. They
talk of dialogue and then revile their opponents, without truly
discussing the legislation or answering objections.
They have made up their minds on what is
good for the country -- and regardless of any concerned constituents
and their protests, as Mr. Obama has pointedly said time and again,
they plan to enact their agenda. Come hell or high water.
In short, every time the party leadership
opens its mouth about healthcare, it is a simple extension of Obama's
smug observation to Republicans in January: "I won. So live with it."
Well, they did win in 2008. But, as massive
protests continue to build nationwide over the largest government power
grab in recent U.S. history, there is a resounding question as to
whether they will be able to say the same in 2010.
Isaiah Stegman is a Senior Research
Analyst at Americans for Limited Government and Carter Clews is the
Executive Editor of ALG News.
http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=1484
A
Call for Pens from Liberty Features Syndicate
Americans for Limited Government's Liberty
Features Syndicate (LFS) is looking for new highly motivated guest
writers. Newly selected writers will get a chance to join a very
talented writers group and our award-winning cartoonist William Warren
at having their work published in everything from national and local
newspapers.
All you have to do is submit a written
column or op-ed, no more than 600 words, to
jwilliams@libertyfeatures.com with a brief bio about yourself. The
editors at LFS will help each writer make sure that the piece is
compatible and effective for newspaper publication.
While most syndicates have big names like
Pat Buchanan or George Will, here at Liberty Features Syndicate we
believe that every center-right American has a voice that is being
ignored by the mainstream.
http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=1483
ALG Editor's Note: When the
people of Honduras took to the streets to preserve their democracy on
June 28 of this year, ALG News -- along with informed editors and
broadcasters nationwide -- helped overcome a deliberate campaign of
disinformation proffered jointly by Chavistas in Latin America and the
Obama State Department. The
commentary below -- though filled with factual errors in defense of
deposed Marxist despot Manuel Zelaya -- makes one very telling point:
The brave people of Honduras may in fact be the spark plug to liberate
millions of people now under the repressive regimes of the Castro-lite
crowd throughout Latin America. And, who knows, they may even be the
inspiration to the people of the United States to resist the thugs now
trying to intimidate patriotic protesters at tea parties and town hall
meetings -- not to mention those in the Halls of Power who shout down
and ridicule their own constituents.
Latin leftists fear a Honduras coup domino effect
By ALEXANDRA
OLSON
TEGUCIGALPA,
Honduras – Manuel Zelaya's chances of getting restored to the Honduran
presidency become more distant with each passing week. Across Latin
America, his allies and foes alike see a precedent being set.
It's a glimmer
of hope for the region's conservative elite, which has watched with
dismay over the past decade as a wave of leftist presidents has risen
to power, promising to topple the establishment and give greater power
to the poor.
When the
once-moderate Zelaya started down that path, Honduras' military,
Congress and Supreme Court teamed up to oust him, and despite protests
from across the hemisphere the coup-installed government remains in
place. Could this be the model Latin America's conservatives were
desperately seeking?
Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, who was briefly ousted in a 2002 coup himself,
said Cuba's Fidel Castro told him the situation in Honduras will "open
the door to the wave of coups coming in Latin America."
"Fidel says
something that is very true," he said.
Added Ecuadorean
President Rafael Correa, a close ally of Chavez and Zelaya: "We have
intelligence reports that say that after Zelaya, I'm next."
Across the
region, conservatives who long ruled Latin America — and still own much
of it — are showing signs of unrest, with armed uprisings in Bolivia
and marches in Guatemala where tens of thousands of protesters have
demanded the president resign.
But the most
extreme case came in Honduras, a country with three decades of
political stability and seven consecutive democratically elected
presidents.
"This coup
really surprised us," said Jorge Acevedo, deputy director of a Honduran
human rights group. "We thought the issue of civilian rule was
something we had resolved a long time ago."
Soldiers
arrested Zelaya on June 28 and flew him into exile, and within hours
Congress swore in the next-in-line to the presidency, Roberto
Micheletti. In the six weeks since, demonstrations by Zelaya supporters
and diplomatic efforts by countries ranging from the United States to
Venezuela have been unsuccessful in orchestrating Zelaya's return…
continue reading here.
http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=1482
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