Brion McClanahan writes on the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution:

When Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter signed HO391 into law on 17 March 2010, the “national” news media circled the wagons and began another assault on State sovereignty. The bill required the Idaho attorney general to sue the federal government over insurance mandates in the event national healthcare legislation passed. The lead AP reporter on the story, John Miller, quoted constitutional “scholar” David Freeman Engstrom of Stanford Law School as stating that the Idaho law would be irrelevant because of the “supremacy clause” of the United States Constitution.

In his words, “That language is clear that federal law is supreme over state law, so it really doesn’t matter what a state legislature says on this.” Now that Barack Obama has signed healthcare legislation into law, almost a dozen States have filed suit against the federal government, with Idaho in the lead. Battle lines have been drawn. Unfortunately, the question of State sovereignty and the true meaning of the “supremacy clause” may be swallowed up in the ensuing debate.

As more states are joining in, it is worth noting that so-called constitutional scholars do not really exist. The constitution is not a very difficult document to understand. The real meaning of the phrase “constitutional scholar” should be replaced by “constitutional case law scholar”. However, a close look at what such a scholar actually knows about the origins of the constitution and what the founders intended it to mean makes it abundantly clear that many so-called scholars are not, in fact, scholars in the sense of understanding both the foundations and subsequent evolution of the document’s impact on this country, nor modern deviation from the original intent of the founders. One by-product of the modern study of constitutional law, is that for many in the field case law and precedents are primary while the foundations and history of the document are glossed over or entirely ignored. What does that tell us? It tells us that, since the foundations have been mired and replaced by 200 years of nationalist judges, many current scholars in in the field are actually completely clueless. Ask them about the Marshall Court around 1810 and onward and you will get a list of cases along with commentary, but mention that it was Marshall who took the sound defeat of nationalists at the Philadelphia Convention and turned it into a victory and you will be met by a blank stare or a nationalist talking point that exposes the naivety of the speaker. You also will not hear any mention of why America in 2010 looks a lot like America in 1776 in reference to the many being lorded over by the few. Brion McClanahan continues (emphasis mine):

Engstrom’s opinion is held by a majority of constitutional law “scholars,” but he is far from correct…

…The so-called “supremacy clause” of the Constitution, found in Article 6, states, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding [emphasis added].”

The key, of course, is the italicized phrase. All laws made in pursuance of the Constitution, or those clearly enumerated in the document, were supreme, State laws notwithstanding. In other words, the federal government was supreme in all items clearly listed in the document.

As stated earlier, the constitution is not a difficult document. So grab your nearest copy and look for the words “national healthcare” or any synonymous phrase. The fact you will not find such working indicates national healthcare is not one of the enumerated powers of the federal government. How embarrassing for Engstrom. Of course, that does not stop him from continuing to display a complete ignorance of the constitution. Read the whole article. Here I wish to point out a few other pertinent items (emphasis mine):

By the time the Constitution was debated in the several State ratifying conventions in 1787 and 1788, the “supremacy clause” galvanized opponents of the document. The Constitution, they said, would destroy the States and render them impotent in their internal affairs. The response from proponents of ratification illuminates the true intent of the clause. William Davie, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from North Carolina and proponent of the Constitution, responded to attacks levied on the “supremacy clause” by stating that:

This Constitution, as to the powers therein granted, is constantly to be the supreme law of the land. Every power ceded by it must be executed without being counteracted by the laws or constitutions of the individual states. Gentlemen should distinguish that it is not the supreme law in the exercise of power not granted. It can be supreme only in cases consistent with the powers specially granted, and not in usurpations [emphasis added].

Davie wasn’t alone in this opinion. Future Supreme Court justice James Iredell of North Carolina argued that, “This clause [the supremacy clause] is supposed to give too much power, when, in fact, it only provides for the execution of those powers which are already given in the foregoing articles….If Congress, under pretence of executing one power, should, in fact, usurp another, they will violate the Constitution [emphasis added].”…

…Ultimately, the three most powerful States in the Union, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia, demanded that a bill of rights be immediately added to the Constitution; near the top of those recommended amendments on every list, a State sovereignty resolution. These ultimately became the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Clearly the intent of this amendment was to mitigate any design the federal government had on enlarging its powers through the “supremacy clause.” If the power was not enumerated in the Constitution and the States were not prohibited by the Constitution from exercising said power, then that power was reserved to the States.

The crux of the article that will shape the debate as ObamaCare lawsuits wind their way to the Supreme Court is well articulated (emphasis mine):

Several other constitutional “scholars” have weighed in on the debate in the last week, and each has invoked the “supremacy clause” to defend their opposition to State action against healthcare. Duke Law Professor Neil Siegel went so far as to suggest that the States are not reading the Tenth Amendment correctly. In perhaps the most outlandish statement of the debate, he also said, “Any talk of nullification bothers me because it’s talk of lawlessness.”

I guess Mr. Siegel has failed to consider that Idaho bill HO391 was passed by a legitimate legislative body elected by the people of the State. That would make it lawful.

Brion McClanahan recalls a very telling quote by a great patriot:

Of course, this debate ultimately boils down to loose interpretation verses strict construction. Thomas Jefferson had the best line on this issue.

When asked to read between the lines to “find” implied powers, Jefferson responded that he had done that, and he “found only blank space.”

Herein lies the crux of the matter – the blank space. The blank space that has been filled in for 200 years by those who would create an ecosystem ripe for the growth of tyrannical rule and contempt fo the unwashed masses. How else does one explain the lucre and arrogance of Congress and the President force-feeding ObamaCare to an unwilling public? The burning question is, will the Supreme Court side with the other two branches?

For two centuries the judicial branch acted the enabler to the Congressional addiction to power. Two centuries to grant Congress virtually unlimited powers. Two centuries for a judiciary promising to uphold the constitution while crossing two fingers together behind their collective backs. Each finger represents the usurpation of powers that belong to you and me. One finger is the Supremacy Clause and one is the Commerce Clause. It will be very telling as ObamaCare lawsuits make their way through the maze of the court system to see if the judiciary will finally imply it understands its own role in shredding the constitution or whether they will continue to conspire with the executive and legislative branch in a triumvirate of tyranny.

This battle will prove once and for all whether tyranny rules our land. I doubt it will resolve the issue of state’s rights vs. nationalism. An entire compendium of cases since 1810 would need to be undone and power wrested from the federal government either by the people along with their states, or by the people under their own power through non-violent passive-aggressive massive civil disobedience. My money is on that later requirement.

Highly recommended article: What Would Jefferson Do? Nullify Now!

More news and opinion:

Dean: Of course ObamaCare is wealth redistribution!

If you want to go fast – go alone. If you want to go far – go together.

Evil is not an abstract concept. It is not some ephemeral quality difficult to define or subject to the whims of relativism. It is not just an act, but the intent behind the act.

It is evil to steal the fruits of labor derived from the sweat of the body or the effort of the mind and give it to another. This is not liberty; it is not freedom; it is not American. I choose to give to those less fortunate. In doing so, I exercise my right to decide the distribution of my efforts. I reject the very idea of a few who would lord over me, full of such contempt and drunk on power their twisted logic excuses and rationalizes their actions. Only a sick mind belongs in such a pit of malfeasance.

Should I ever be held in contempt of such vultures, I proudly would stand up and identify with a shout the charge to be fact, for indeed I have nothing but contempt for the leeches. They do not own me, though they will try. They do not honor my rights, though they claim to. They are, to their very core, evil.

It is those who practice that act of theft in the pursuit of power, those that enslave the populace to their so-called charity, who need us. We are free. We live in the spirit of liberty. We do not need them. I deem their actions unlawful and abhorrent. Even their might will not frighten me into submission.

Who are these lowly thieves they should defy the wolves of liberty? Do not fear them, for even in their sickness they are aware of our power and are afraid. They can break neither you nor I, and this fact troubles them and defines them by their fear of us. Right is on our side, our spirits bright with the shining light of liberty. Their darkness cannot withstand even the smallest of candles among us. Together, the evil of socialism they represent will perish, and all signs of their foulness swept into the dustbins of history. By will, by conviction, and by moral rightness shall we prevail. They are like leaves and will blow away with the slightest wind – the smallest of breezes. No arms will be required, no martial weaponry, but only the weapons of the mind. Our enemies are feeble. If we recognize and own this fact, their weakness will be no match for our resolve.

I hereby swear to work tirelessly in the effort to vanquish the ideology of thieves, the evil of socialism, and the enemies of liberty; to aspire to bring this nation back to its constitutional foundations where the power lies in the individual. I vow to honor the ideas of empowerment and independence, to make them terms of common use and action, understood in their original context and intent. I vow to buttress such thought through sheer will and determination, and in doing so drive the vultures far away. I vow to set the foundation of such thought so when evil dares to return in any guise, its unsightly countenance will be turned away once again by those who come after me.

Newsworthy:

Obama to sign the Demcare House of Cards

Meet Bart Stupak’s Republican challenger

If you want to go fast – go alone. If you want to go far – go together.

I’m not counting on these bozos to repeal ObamaCare, even with a 2/3 majority. It just is not going to happen and is part of the denial phase of losing our liberties to contemptuous tyrants. It will soon become apparent this approach is a non-starter. Looks good, sounds good, is inspiring to think about it, but it ain’t gonna happen, so let’s look for the real solution. You will find it in the 10th Amendment.

Kill the bill – invoke the tenth, written by the Tenth Amendment Center and fresh off the presses offers the real solution, along with some eye opening insights:

Lenin said:

“Medicine is the keystone of the arch of socialism” and “The goal of socialism is communism.”

Chew on that one for a bit.

The article continues:

Thomas Jefferson said:

“Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force”

That is, unless we wish to give them that power over us. Even a cursory reading of not only the Constitution, but also the context of the times it was written in make this clear. The article continues:

Ignore Washington D.C.

They are ignoring you, return the favor. In his speech on Saturday, Obama referred to you as “astroturf”. In political terminology that insinuates that you were paid for your phone calls and someone picked up your travel expenses and bought your dinner for your troubles. That’s one way they ignore you. Another way they ignore you is to use an unscrupulous process to pass an unconstitutional health care bill that changes the foundation of your country overnight.

If you’re like me, when you call representatives, write letters or attend tea parties, you pick up the tab and sacrifice your own personal time in hopes that someone will listen. I’d much rather spend my time and money with my family, business or hobbies than hoping my actions will result in my federal representatives actually representing. And anyone that could have done anything about the health care bill is in Washington D.C., you can’t meet with them, you don’t know them and you cannot reasonably hold them accountable. How can you really expect them to feel any pressure to represent you? Yes, morally your expectations are valid because they should do the will of the people. Unfortunately, the reality is without the power to exert an opposing force, you will continue to be disregarded as a mere annoyance.

The later could not be more true. We are an annoyance and until we realize that, the politicians in Washington will continue happily along the path of political expediency and play on your emotions for their own political gain. Nowhere in their political calculus does their exist an iota of concern for you, unless expressing it so benefits them. Live it, learn it, and never forget it. If you want to win this, then concentrate on the one area where you actually can make a difference. Learn where the leveraged pressure is. Concentrate on the one area where a long-term solution is readily available to you. No band-aids, no wishful thinking, but hard work, perseverance, convictions, and liberty collide in the perfect storm of freedom.

Brian Roberts continues:

Ghandi had it nailed:

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. “

For the most part, the federal government has ignored any resistance to the health care bill. Tea Parties have been ridiculed as radicals of all varieties such as “tea baggers”, “astroturf”, “racists”, and “domestic terrorists”. But, they have never formally acknowledged the existence of this movement. Once we begin to focus our attention on the state governments, everything changes. The media will be unable to ignore a block of defiant states. Personally, you will be ridiculed as a “tenther” (I think this is pretty cool) but once states exhibit defiance it will not be long before the federal government shifts it’s focus to the states not the individuals. That’s when you will know that you are not being ignored anymore.

At a minimum, your state will be ridiculed as out of touch with reality, as constitutional rogues, racists, and more. The governor of your state and your state representatives will be positioned as little more than common rabble rousers and will be the target of incredible pressure to compromise. But this must be overcome before we can win and we must solidly stand with state representatives. Federal funds will be used to coerce states to comply as has been common practice for some time. This will be specifically painful with health care because defiant state’s federal funds will be used to finance compliant state’s health care. However, this cannot be allowed to stand for any significant amount of time so states must be influenced to pass state legislation that denies the federal government what they covet most, tax revenue.

From here on, resolve will be the key. Not just your resolve, but the resolve of the rest of the citizens in your state. So it’s our responsibility to educate neighbors and make sure the right state representatives are in place.

Get enough states to do this and we will win. The question remains, do we have the resolve as a people? Are we ready to be revolutionary like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi using non-violent passive-aggressive civil disobedience and constitutional nullification? We have been ignored, stepped on and spit out by Washington. Is it so surprising we would actually do something about it? At what point does one stop taking the insults to ourselves, the assaults to our liberties, and push back? I think the answer it clear. That time is now.

I have worked with these guys in the past and this strategy is the best chance we have of stopping ObamaCare. The exact same type of strategy saved us from ObamaCare last year:

After weeks of refusing to embrace the “obstructionist” label as a virtue, Senate Republicans finally saw the light and late last week began to use the parliamentary tools at their disposal to delay a final vote on health care.

Until then, with the exception of South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Republican lawmakers had refused to use Senate rules and procedures to obstruct the passage of the health care bill being pushed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and run out the clock on Obamacare. Some prominent Republican senators and members of their staffs had even let it be known they actually believed passage of the Reid health care bill and enactment of Obamacare would benefit GOP candidates in the November midterm elections.

This GOP strategy of expedient complicity enraged the conservative base, roused talk radio show hosts and bloggers and even provoked a backlash from the chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Social Security Institute and the National Tax Limitation Committee joined with…to convey this outrage to the Senate Republican leadership through letters, e-mails and telephone calls from the grass roots to GOP senators’ offices.

Pass this on. The Patient Opt Out team includes Dr. Larry Hunter, former policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan, current CEO of the Social Security Institute, and one of the authors of the Contract With America. The strategy involves an email buy and are quite costly – $10,000 or more for one million email addresses – with the email creative directing the viewer to a page where they can fax all members of Congress.

Last year, this same approach lead to GOP obstruction in the Senate. Without the dedication and work of the groups listed above, the Scott Brown victory last year would have occurred AFTER the passage of ObamaCare.

Help kill ObamaCare now.

Fred Barnes’ eye-opening op-ed in the Washington post is a wake-up call to wavering Democrats and even those leaning yes or committed yes. The Pandora’s Box that is the current health-care reform legislation best be left with the lid on, wrapped up in chains, and chucked into the deepest depths of the ocean:

America will be in a constant health-care war if ObamaCare is enacted. Passage wouldn’t end the health-care debate. Rather, it would perpetuate ObamaCare as the dominant issue for decades to come, reshape politics, create an annual funding crisis in Congress, and generate a spate of angry lawsuits. Yet few in Washington seem aware of what lies ahead.

We only have to look at Great Britain to get a glimpse of the future. The National Health Service—socialized medicine—was created in 1946 and touted as the envy of the world. It’s been a contentious issue ever since. Its cost and coverage are perennial subjects of debate. The press, especially England’s most popular newspaper, The Daily Mail, feasts on reports of long waiting periods, dirty hospitals, botched care and denied access to treatments.

And the people of this country, contrary to what our dear leader continues to spout, are very tied into the process, understand reconciliation and the “Slaughter Solution”, and not liking what they see:

Democratic leaders believe the public doesn’t focus on the process of how legislation is enacted. But in this case they’re wrong. I’ve been amazed at how many people understand “reconciliation”—a process that allows budget and spending bills to pass in the Senate with only 51 votes, instead of 60. Many voters are also now studying the details of the “Slaughter solution,” which would allow the House to “deem” the Senate health-care bill to have passed without actually voting on it and then to vote through changes to the Senate bill. These legislative shortcuts are already infuriating ObamaCare’s opponents.

Also contrary to the Democratic leadership’s position is that ObamaCare will not go away as an issue – not know, not next year and not in 2012. Lawsuits, party platforms and campaigns that run on repealing or de-funding enough aspects of ObamaCare to virtually kill it, will drag this out and make it the issue. Senate comity will be all but destroyed with dire consequences and partisanship in government will reach new unimaginable confrontational heights. This bill is absolute poison to the system, exposes the slimy “inside the Beltway” machinations, and indicates to the American people the fundamental lack of fairness when a small group of people can control the lives of 300 million others, while showing contempt not only for the Constitution, but the people of this country, and the will and best interests of a majority of the electorate.

Power and a complete lack of reason has gripped the Democratic party, heralding their demise and the ultimate demise of ObamaCare. The people will not rest nor sit idly by to be lorded over by a bunch of power-hungry elitists so disconnected to the reality outside their bubble that some actually believe they know what is good for us better than we and are willing to destroy the best healthcare system in the world in the process. Take a look at the NHS. Great Britain has 60 million people. You are about to try an experiment with 300 million people with 1/6 of the U.S. economy. The law of unintended consequences is the real law under consideration of passing. It is also called Murphy’s law.

I’d seriously consider what your doing. The consequences of your actions will not ultimately lead to the enactment of ObamaCare – we will see to that in one way or another – and you will have fallen on your sword for an President and a leader who, in the end, look at you as a pawn they are all too willing to sacrifice. Their contempt for you should anger you, not motivate you to vote yes.

Things are changing, and the old rules are out. Those who make decisions based on the now antiquated habits and culture that is DC politics are in for a shocking surprise. The electorate is awake and watching. We know what’s going on and the rules have changed.

Tread very lightly.

Thus begins the anger of the states. Starting with Idaho and soon to be joined by 37 other states weary of the over-reach of federal power:

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter is the first state chief executive to sign a measure requiring his attorney general to sue the federal government if Congress passes health care reform.

Legal experts say the measure, signed today, will likely be struck down. But Idaho’s new law reflects growing frustration with President Barack Obama’s health-care proposal.

If Federal courts strike down 38 state lawsuits, listen for the sound of Gabriel’s horn, as the overt evidence of federal contempt for the people and the states would be impossible to conceal. The feeling of déjà vu, burned into our cultural identity, so palpable even from a distant time, is summated by a single word – liberty.

The distant land of a sovereign parliament, transported to our shores centuries later, is now centralized in DC. The overlords have returned in a different guise; the mask slips, and they are revealed.

We recognize and reject the tyrants – as is our duty.

Related:

Landmark Legal Foundation to Slaughter House butchers: Not without a fight; Update: The states’ revolt

Last Wednesday, all 41 Senate’s Republicans signed a letter promising to hold Democrats to the letter of the Senate rules concerning reconciliation. These rules determine what items may be included in a package of alternations to the health bill Democrats intend to shove through Congress violating minority rights in an effort to take over 1/6 of the U.S. economy while simultaneously inserting themselves between you and your doctor.

Will it be enough to scare Democrats in the House? I have my doubts. I believe the GOP must shut down the entire Senate now on all legislation until ObamaCare is moved off the Senate and House calendar and both leaders promise to keep it off the calenders until the next Congress. However, I am hearing from inside sources the Senate GOP is skittish about this approach. Skittish about protecting our liberties? As one strategist put it who has created enough decision trees on the matter to wallpaper a house:

…the only viable strategy I can see is for the Republicans to begin the process of shutting down the U.S. Senate until the Democrats agree to MOVE ON — move off healthcare until the 112th Congress convenes.

I hope the Senate GOP knows what it is doing. I would not put it past VP Biden to overrule the parliamentarian and force this through. I have seen no evidence to the contrary that the entire Democratic party is in self-destruct mode and displaying outward signs of an obsessive-compulsive disorder bordering on seriously neurotic behavior when it comes to ObamaCare.

Related:

Constitution Butchers: Stop Pelosi’s Slaughter House; Update: Dems don’t have the votes

Obama flip-flops on dealmaking for ObamaCare

Reconciliation bill posted; Update: Shell bill

I was born in Canada. At the age of six my father moved his family to this country to escape socialism. I am 43 years old, have 25 stents (that’s right, I said 25) in three major heart arteries. I have had four heart attacks since the age of 38. If Obama, Pelsoi, Reid, et al. think I am scared of them, think again. I have defied death four times. In comparison, you are cockroaches to be stepped upon.

You hear that Obama. Come and get me. If your unconstitutional bill passes using the Slaughter Rule (which itself is blatantly unconstitutional) then it is my intention to increase my exemptions on my W4 form to ensure the tax revenue for your bill is denied you until next year and then I may consider paying – may. Am I entitled to the number of exemptions under penalty of perjury? You bet I am – I deem it so.

I hope millions will do the same. For then you will have neither the manpower nor the ability to enforce your unconstitutional law. If the Democrats think they are stubborn by shoving this down the throats of an unwilling public, we will show you the true meaning of stubborn.

I am not going to wait for the Supreme Court to rule ObamaCare unconstitutional. If they do, fine, if they do not, fine. In my mind this is the last proof one needs that nullification is the only option to stop the madness that is Washington DC – regardless of what the SCOTUS ruling is on ObamaCare. Too many other violations of our rights as defined in the Constitution require addressing. Only the states can fix this problem now and only if many of them stand together.

Washington, this time you have gone to far. Your tiny brains cannot begin to comprehend the storm that will hit you should you not kill ObamaCare now. If clear-headed Democrats still exist in the Congress, then I would highly recommend that enough of them get together and write a letter to Pelosi telling her exactly where she can put her bill and that they will not, under any circumstances, vote for either the Slaughter Rule or for ObamaCare. The well has been poisoned and the game is over. Recognize that or go down in history complicit in the destruction of your own party.

Will I pay the tax penalty for underpayment? No, I will not. I deem it true that the penalty is not required of me. I deem the President and any liberal who votes for the Slaughter rule or for ObamaCare unfit for office and a traitor to this country. As President it is your job to stand up and say enough when the constitution itself it being trampled upon. The fact you do not clearly demonstrates your contempt for this document. As you swore to uphold it, any failure to do so had better be met with your removal from office when we take over in 2010.

Resolved: The federal government derives its power from the people and state’s of this country. This has been true from the times of the Constitution itself.

Resolved: The federal government has overstepped its bounds and grabbed power to the point that it has corrupted the minds of many politicians with such a level of contempt and insanity that the only recourse is to fight tyranny. As it states in the Declaration of Independence, it is our duty to fight tyranny. Not our right – out duty. It can be done peacefully and will be done peacefully. Our leaders not longer hold power. Rather, it is power that holds them.

Enough is enough. Bring. It. On.

Not only will you lose your precious ObamaCare, you will kill progressive politics and set it back a century or more. You will have done more in one year for the rights of the people and the states than we could possibly have imagined and you will, in the process, remove yourself as an obstacle to liberty for a very, very long time.

Today is the day to not ask questions – it is the day for action. The Senate GOP must shut down the Senate, and halt the normal course of business in Washington on all matters of legislation for the foreseeable future until ObamaCare is dead or until the 2010 elections. No longer will fig leaf and wobbly excuses suffice. Do it and do it now. Use this time to expose those who would abscond with our liberty by ignoring the very document that made this country great. The campaign for 2010 starts today. The Democrats have lost the mandate, their jugular is exposed and now is the time to move in for the kill. Show yourselves to be field mice who scatter at the slightest noise and the results will not be to your liking. Show yourselves to be wolves and lions and we will consider you strong allies.

And would someone please send Pelosi, Obama, and Slaughter the School House Rock cartoon “I’m Just a Bill”? Perhaps this better fits their intellectual capacity to understand basic civics. Then we can move on to the alphabet.

Go ahead Obama, make my day. I want to be the poster child that brings you down. I want to chronicle for the world a new narrative of David vs. Goliath. I want this to be the beginning of an army of Davids, taking down your entire agenda and shattering it to pieces around you. You are a thief of liberty, a manipulator, and an egotistical maniac, keeping company with like-minded thieves. This is the beginning…of the end. I will not rest until the states have taken back their rightful place in the power structure and I want you to know that you will be responsible for heralding in a new age of liberty – much to your chagrin. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to clinging to my gun and my bible.

Oh, and by the way I am hearing from the AP you are open to some deals now on your bill. The only deal that is acceptable is for your bill to die a well-deserved death until the next Congress can take it up. We need health care reform in this country. We just don’t need your version of it. I’d like my doctor and I to make decisions concerning my health care thank you very much, and I would appreciate it if you would quit lying through your teeth about the benefits of your bill. You are past the point of looking like an disingenuous fool on this issue.

Related:

Constitution Butchers: Stop Pelosi’s Slaughter House; Update: Dems don’t have the votes

Obama flip-flops on dealmaking for ObamaCare

Reconciliation bill posted; Update: Shell bill

I hope they have the spine or their electoral gains will evaporate. The GOP must shut down the Senate starting early next week. Not just on healthcare, but everything. Grind it to a halt. This is from Senate insiders with knowledge of the battle to come in the next couple of weeks. As one strategist emailed me:

…the only viable strategy I can see is for the Republicans to begin the process of shutting down the U.S. Senate until the Democrats agree to MOVE ON — move off healthcare until the 112th Congress convenes.

The Democrats are ready to rip off the band-aid:

The advice went out to freshman and sophomore House Democrats, blunt talk to help them through a tricky vote on health reform.

“At this point, we have to just rip the band-aid off and have a vote — up or down; yes or no?” the memo said. “Things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL.”

As Pelosi is now looking for Senate assurances before the House healthcare vote, it is clear that not only the House but the Senate as well requires our immediate attention:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday said she will need “certain assurances” from Senate Democrats before the House votes on healthcare reform as early as next week.

Pelosi did not say what those assurances would be, but acknowledged that extracting them would be necessary to counter lingering concerns from within her caucus that the Senate will not be able to pass a reconciliation bill.

“With reconciliation, a simple majority, a constitutional majority, I think members are much more comfortable with the fact that this reconciliation will happen,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. “Nonetheless, there are certain assurances that they want, and that we will get from [Senate Democrats] before I ask them to take the vote.”

The Democrats have lost the Mandate from Heaven they once enjoyed and are attempting to literally enact a bill that will destroy our healthcare system, raise taxes, stifle economic growth during a deep recession, and nationalize over 1/6 of our economy. We should not take this lying down. Neither should GOP members of Congress. This was never about Stupak or abortion. Any government takeover of healthcare will result in the use of taxpayer dollars at some point in the future to federally fund abortions. A vote to improve ObamaCare with any Stupak-like language is a vote for ObamaCare. But the real reality is at this time it just does not matter. What matters now is derailing this bill.

The Senate GOP should not make us go through a repeat of the embarrassing display of spineless behavior displayed last year. Next week shut down the Senate. We are counting on you.

It’s time to go into campaign mode and draw this out until the Easter recess. No more need to think about parliamentarian tricks. Such worries have no impact whatsoever on the current situation. After the Senate GOP began to obstruct is exactly the time when they began to win over the electorate.

Nobody wants this bill, so I repeat the GOP must stand up and shut down the Senate. Regardless of what the legislation is, shut down the Senate. Don’t wait for healthcare abortion side bills and reconciliation to come barreling down on your heads and then obstruct. Start doing it now and don’t stop until Senator Reid promises to drop ObamaCare until the following Congress. There is no excuse for waiting and the American people are counting on the Senate GOP to stand up for us.

The Democrats lack a mandate on healthcare. This issue must dominate every nook and cranny of network and cable news, in every blog, and in every opinion piece and editorial. Take the healthcare dominance of the news cycle now and increase it exponentially. Make this a referendum on the Democratic party and its contempt for the governed.

Obstruct. Obstruct. Obstruct.

Related:

Shut down the Senate or we are looking at this: Welcome to Martial Law: House Democrats Will Rule They Voted on Health Care Bill Without Actually Voting On It

Constitution Butchers: Stop Pelosi’s Slaughter House. If Pelosi tries this, she will have provided us with the greatest of gifts. The death of a strong national government – nullification will becomes a household word, and the death of the progressive agenda as it exists today as well as the rolling back of federal powers, which includes as a bonus the rolling back of current progressive policies. Please do it!

The following quoted piece below is from Dr. Hunter, CEO of the Social Security Institute. If Republicans refuse to vote strategically as indicated in the referenced post, say goodbye to electoral gains for the GOP in November. A vote for any Stupak language effectively ushers in the end of any budding alliance between Tea Parties and the GOP. In short, lean and lean hard on the GOP to think carefully about any vote that expedites the passage of ObamaCare. Any vote for strengthening anti-abortion language in the healthcare bill is a vote for ObamaCare. To the point, anything that assists in the passage of ObamaCare is a tacit approval of ObamaCare. Excuses will not extricate the GOP from a blatant strategical failure and the subsequent loss of any goodwill by the electorate. There are many of us who will not rest until the public is completely aware of any betrayal of the Republican party concerning this matter. Obstruction and strategic voting is the only way to ensure the GOP maintains electoral gains. If the GOP had voted present in the first House vote, ObamaCare would be dead today. You can blame political expediency and the pro-life advocacy groups for this. I personally am pro-life, but do not appreciate the pro-life movement hijacking the fight against ObamaCare and pushing for votes that made it easier to pass this liberty stealing behemoth of a bill, knowing full well the language for federally funded abortion will make it into government run healthcare at some point in the future. The only solution is to kill the bill and they know it. If ObamaCare passes, they will be as much to blame as the Democrats.

As for Senator Stupak and those who claim to strongly resist federal funding of abortions, the game is up. Insult our intelligence and look for another job. It does not take a PhD to understand that once government controls healthcare, federal funding of abortions is a soon-to-be foregone conclusion. Just a little legislative fix down the road and say hello to your tax dollars being used to kill the unborn. Stupak knows it, the GOP knows it, and the pro-life groups know it. To use the combination of a social issue and the powder keg that is healthcare reform as a fundraiser knowing full well protection for the unborn is only temporary is pathetic. I hope the Tea Parties and other concerned citizens will inform pro-life groups that if they support ObamaCare in any way, they are supporting the use of federal funds for abortion regardless of what the language says or will soon say regarding this issue. They will pay and pay dearly for their worship of the dollar over the lives of the innocent.

If the tactic is to hang one’s hat on the Senate reconciliation process, Stupak knows better unless he is a complete idiot. Once the House bill is passed, ObamaCare is law, and the Democrats will pivot to jobs and off the issue in an effort to save their collective electoral butts. In either case neither Stupak or any who claim to be in his camp that subsequently votes for ObamaCare with the sorry excuse it now prohibits federal funding of abortion would expose themselves in all their glorious hypocrisy and contempt. A Representative who is disingenuous or a half-wit is no choice at all – unless the choice is to shove them out the door.

The following two posts, dated last year, still apply to the degree that strategic voting is discussed. It is shameful we must include the likes of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as opponents to the public will but also as opponents to the protection of the unborn. This left-wing organization’s only issue with ObamaCare is federally funded abortion. Fix that in the legislative language and they are quite happy with ObamaCare, even with the knowledge that federally funded abortion is all but guaranteed if ObamaCare passes. Hypocrisy, political expediency, and just plain stupidity are on the lunch menu today. We have met the enemy and he is us. The time of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is nigh.

Although the following posts are dated, much of the information is pertinent to the current situation:
Killing ObamaCare In The Senate – The Need For Strategic Voting and The Endgame Strategy To Kill ObamaCare – Lessons From The House Bill

From Dr. Hunter (italicized emphasis mine):

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops already has instant messaged their willingness not just to acquiesce in such shenanigans but also to actually mobilize the faithful to oppose any point of order in the Senate in order to lubricate passage of ObamaCare through the Senate:

The Roman Catholic bishops signaled Thursday that if agreement is reached with House leaders on anti-abortion language, the church would work to get the votes needed to protect the provisions in the Senate — and thereby advance the shared goal with Democrats of health care reform.

Now is the time for opponents of ObamaCare to focus, focus, focus on preventing Hoyer from maneuvering them into this corner. The only way for opponents of a government takeover of healthcare to prevent getting mouse trapped by a Separate Stupak is to recognize that the Stupak language and all Stupak lookalikes are a snare and a delusion.

NO legislative language will prevent ObamaCare once enacted into law from transforming very quickly into a federal abortion mill that provides abortion on demand. Given the obscure language inserted into the Senate Bill by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), which is being totally ignored by anti-abortion groups, even the strongest Stupak-like language will fail to stem a tide of transformative interpretations of bureaucrats and judges, which are sure to produce federally subsidized abortion on demand.

The Mikulski language gives plenary authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to require every public and private healthcare plan in the nation to include “preventative services,” which is defined to include “abortion care.” Even without the Mikulski provision, both the House and Senate bills are shot through with provisions that will lead inevitably to federally subsidized abortion on demand.

There is simply no way cleanse the final bill of this authority without starting over. Hence, what anti-abortion Members of Congress and the pro-life groups must understand is that the only route to protecting the unborn from the effects of this bill is to defeat the entire bill. As long as Members of Congress and pro-life groups labor under the delusion that they can make ObamaCare safe for the unborn, they will actually serve as the President’s useful idiots and facilitate federal abortion on demand.

The political problem is there are many libertarians and moderate Republicans who oppose anti-abortion laws. This fact unnerves many Republican Members of Congress who therefore attempt to straddle the abortion issue so as not to offend moderate Republicans who agree with their libertarian constituents on abortion.

Stupak is a perfect straddle, which has the unfortunate by product of removing the last remaining block preventing enactment of ObamaCare into law. Unless Republicans refuse to take a pass on Stupak-like language, i.e., vote present on any Stupak vehicle however it is presented to them in the parliamentary chaos likely to ensue once the legislative bum’s rush begins—they will actually set the stage for enactment of ObamaCare into law.

The reluctance of Republican Members of Congress to help defeat Stupak language on strategic grounds is a huge political miscalculation. This miscalculation results from failing to comprehend the coincidence of interests on ObamaCare among libertarians/moderate Republicans and anti-abortion conservatives. Because of this blind spot, Senate Republicans are poised to make the same fatal mistake they made the first time around when they failed to comprehend the necessity of strategic voting on abortion language.

Read the whole thing.

Call pro-life groups, your Representative and Senator now. Tell them to resist strengthening ObamaCare and facilitating its passage. Let them know you are aware that if ObamaCare passes it is only a matter of time before federally funded abortion is a reality and that you will hold them personally responsible.

Michelle Malkin provides Stupak’s contact information:

Stupak’s contact info:

2268 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225 4735
(202) 225 4744 – Fax

Related:

Will Stupak be bought on Demcare?

AP: Stupak “more optimistic” on ObamaCare deal

Is Stupak Preparing to Cave?

Catholic bishops send message to faithful: We oppose ObamaCare