Roll Call via Real Clear Politics: Pelosi Pushes to Bypass GOP If It Continues to Oppose Heath Bill’s Passage:

Roll Call reports:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pinning the blame on Republicans for a lack of bipartisanship in Congress and plans to bypass them if they continue to oppose efforts to enact near-universal health care.

This the clearest indication yet that Democrats are gearing up to jam the Senate version of the bill through the House on a party line vote and use the reconciliation process in the Senate to make modifications. Pelosi’s comment also suggests that President Obama’s bipartisan health care summit scheduled for February 25th is going to be nothing more than a public relations exercise.

As if any more clarity is needed, Pelosi went on in her interview with Roll Call to state that the use of the filibuster in the Senate to prevent the passage of health care “isn’t legitimate:”

A constitutional majority is 51 votes,” Pelosi said in an interview Tuesday with Roll Call. “If in fact the Republicans are going to say nothing can be done except by 60 percent, then maybe we all should be elected with 60 percent. It isn’t legitimate in terms of passing legislation.

Try it Nancy – I dare you. Heck, I double dog dare you. If you could do it, you would have done it by now, and if you are stupid enough to do it, remember the day will come when we are in power. Go ahead and get Reid to be your lapdog and pull the trigger; I’m getting some popcorn.

In the meantime, this is proof positive the GOP should skip the so-called healthcare “summit”. Nanny state Nancy appears to be admitting herself it’s a ruse.

Update: The Nightmare That Is The Senate Finance Committee Healthcare Proposal – RINOCare Gone Wild. Are you ready for governement controlled health insurance cartels? Socialized healthcare vs. fascist healthcare, the dangerous bi-partisan compromise.

The endgame is here and the most important aspect that could kill the above linked post concerning the Senate Finance Committee healthcare bill and any other form of ObamaCare is being ignored by not only the media, but major bloggers everywhere. The only other reference I can find other than on the Social Security Institute website (see link below) is from FreedomWorks. Given that these two amendments kill any chance of reconciliation, I am at a loss to explain the complete lack of interest in this topic.

There were two amendments offered by Senator DeMint prior to the health bill conferences and debate in the Senate – a point-of-order amendment and instruction to conferees. The following is taken directly from an email Mr. Uhler received from Dr. Lawrence Hunter of the Social Security Institute that was forwarded to me and placed in the first link above. Dr. Hunter also has a very long and distinguished career and served as policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan during Reagan’s second term. He also served as a Member of the Board of Advisors for the NTLC:

During deliberations on the Senate Budget Resolution earlier this year, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced a point-of-order amendment that would require a 60-vote majority to pass “any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that eliminates the ability of Americans to keep their health plan or their choice of doctor (as determined by the Congressional Budget Office).” The Senate approved the DeMint Amendment unanimously.

Subsequently, before the Senate Budget Resolution went to a Conference Committee where differences with the House Budget Resolution were to be worked out, DeMint offered a motion to instruct the Conferees not only to insist on retaining the 60-vote provision in the final Conference Report but also to widen the scope of the provision to cover any provision and so forth that decreases the number of Americans enrolled in private health insurance while increasing the number enrolled in government-managed, rationed health care. The Demint motion to instruct passed the Senate by an overwhelming vote of 79 to 14.

As a matter of congressional comity, the House ordinarily would have been expected to accede to the Senate provision since it affected Senate rules that applied only to the Senate. Remarkably, Senate Budget Committee Chairman, Kent Conrad, allowed the Demint 60-vote requirement to be removed from the Budget Resolution in Conference.

Prior to the above statements by Dr. Hunter is information of great importance:

However, with a united Republican front in the Senate, Democrats would be hard pressed to jam a bill as comprehensive and detested as ObamaCare down Americans’ throats. Current polls indicate that more people oppose ObamaCare than support it. Moreover, Senate Republicans stand on very strong procedural grounds for resisting a bum’s rush on government-run healthcare through the Reconciliation process. It would take an act of extraordinary arrogance and recklessness for the Democratic Leadership to use Reconciliation this way.

If agreed upon to be enforced, the Demint amendments would in effect kill the reconciliation process and force 60 votes to pass ObamaCare in its present form – even with the co-operative option, which is nothing more than a Trojan horse for what ultimately will become a single-payer system. Mr. Uhler has identified five Republican Senators that need to align themselves with the party and forgo their proclivity to reach across the aisle. If this story goes national and pressure is brought to bear on these five Republican’s to stand firm with their party, then it is reasonable to assume the above conclusion from Dr. Hunter to be correct. Under these circumstances I do not believe the Democrats in the Senate would have the votes to commit “an act of extraordinary arrogance and recklessness”. However, wide public knowledge of the amendments and the subsequent pressure on Senators to follow their own rules requires national exposure. The average American is completely unaware of the procedural hurdles that Senator Jim Demint placed to block the ramming of a very unpopular plan onto the American people.

One could reasonably ask themselves why the public must follow rules, where the Senate can choose to ignore them. It will focus attention on the contempt that some Senate elitists have for the public. However, to date no major conservative talk show, media outlet, or think tank has covered this tactic. Everyone is talking about Blue Dogs killing the legislation. While certainly one strategy to pursue, I personally believe Blue Dogs have a habit of growling but, at the end of the day, many of them will roll over. I prefer a multi-pronged strategy that would include the above approach outlined by Dr. Hunter. On the legislative front, what is called for is combining public pressure on the Blue Dogs in the House and placing pressure on five Senate Republican’s to stand firm with their party and not negotiate ObamaCare Lite with the cooperative option replacing nationalized health care. Instead the public should insist the Demint rules be followed. This could very well kill the bill as it exists today. We could then press the reset button and start talking about real reform.

Using Reconciliation to force feed ObamaCare to an unwilling nation would backfire in ways that Democrats will find difficult to imagine. That is the type of atmosphere some liberals, such as Chuck Schumer are willing to create now and for the foreseeable future.

Here is the link to the story on the Social Security Institute article from Dr. Hunter:

In other news and opinion:

As the Byrd Rule Flies: Why Dems Can’t Use Reconciliation to Pass Radical ObamaCare

Co-ops a federal-subsidy trough

From Moe Lane at Redstate: Howard Dean threatens primary challenges on public option ‘no’ votes.

Is ObamaCare Constitutional?

Blue Dog: Hey, maybe we should start over on ObamaCare. Won’t happen, but this can be killed in the Senate. I am still astounded nobody has picked up on this yet.

ObamaCare: Does the media matter?

Send these two videos to everyone you know. This gets the point across. Heck, send them to your Senators and Representatives. Thanks to Nancy who is following me on Twitter for providing the links:

Part 1

Part 2

The videos can also be found over at Not So Sure.

Also read Did ‘Cash for Clunkers’ just put Obamacare on the junk heap? and check out this other video that shows you just how poorly senior citizens are already being treated. Ties in well with the first video above.

In the Hill Tweet Room, I just noted a tweet from Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley:

Little disingenuous for pres obama to say “hurry up” pass healthCare. Wk here wk there makes little differenc considerin startup is 2013.

Hmm. If the final bill’s statup date is in 2013 that provides us with many opportunities I have been mulling over:

• Assume the 2010 elections sees a number of Democrat seats go Republican in both the House and Senate. Even without a majority or a slim majority and, given the threat of the veto pen from Obama, there may be political stalling tactics and other procedural tricks to slow down or change the current legislation in preparation for 2012.
• Given 2010 will probably see a moderate reduction in Democrat seats, then 2012 is the perfect opportunity. The Republican’s can grab back the majority in the House and Senate with a Republican president replacing Obama. The public, aware the Senate requires a filibuster proof majority, votes accordingly. A subsequent new health care reform bill effectively negates the previous bill and provides for real reform.
• Some states could attempt to assert their 10th amendment rights and tie up the legislation in the courts for as long as possible. They may even win the battle.
• As I live in Texas, I love Rick Perry’s statements concerning succession. Perhaps a succession movement would take hold in this country from various red states. However, this final option produces a high probability of creating a serious constitutional crisis. Still, if all options are closed, then I would personally support such an approach.

I really should replace “Republican” with “fiscal conservative”. As long as there are fiscal conservative, limited government politicians who caucus with the Republican’s, then I think there is a chance that any health reform that includes a public option either overtly or covertly that makes it out this year could be stalled and negated by 2010 or 2012, with the later being more likely. The only downside to this is the damage done to the current system as it prepares for 2013 and how easily reversible that damage is. It is for this reason that I think that anything that would stall progress on whatever liberal bill we get out of Congress is a good thing.

Of course, all of the above is predicated on the belief a bill will be forthcoming. I am still optimistic this can be stopped, although in my darkest hours in know that something will probably come out by the end of the year. And I don’t doubt that any bill which sees the light of day would spell the end of quality health care in this country and the beginning of a socialized, eugenic, pile of crap.

In other news and opinion:

Did ‘Cash for Clunkers’ just put Obamacare on the junk heap?

Hot Air video: Seniors worried about health care removed from Feinstein’s office. Oh those dangerous senior citizens! I live in fear of them every day. They are so prone to violence, running about in their “gangs”. Those vicious thugs! How dare they voice an opinion!

Way to listen there Feinstein. So this is how the Democrats are going to cram health care down our throats – ignore their constituents. That’s 21st century American liberals for you.

UPDATE 2: Is there a possible rift starting to appear? According to The Hill, there just might be: Waxman may let health bill skip committee. Here is the quote of interest:

Democratic critics of the bill have warned that the bill doesn’t have enough votes to pass on the floor, and say an end-run around the committee would galvanize opposition among centrists.

“That would clearly ruffle some feathers,” said an aide to a Blue Dog lawmaker.

Breitbart is reporting: Conservative House Dem says health talks collapse:

The head of a group of fiscally conservative Democrats says negotiations with House leaders on health care have collapsed.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., who heads the Blue Dogs’ health care task force, told reporters Friday that after a week of talks, the effort to reach agreement between the leadership and the conservative to moderate Democrats fell apart. He said that leaves Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., without the votes to advance the health care bill out of his committee.

However, Waxman has threatened to force a floor vote to break the impasse within Democratic ranks on President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

Pray for the Blue Dog’s and lend them your support. Here is a great list from Tea Party Patriots that provides not only which committee each representative is on, but whether they are Blue Dog. Call the Energy Committee members, especially Waxman, and the the Blue Dogs. Let them know you support them and as long as they do the right thing for this country, we have their backs.

Michelle Malkin: Waxman wants Blue Dogs to heel, signals committee bypass.

CNN Political Ticker is reporting: House Democrats splinter over health care

UPDATE 1: Really Bad News: Waxman: Blue Dogs must relent on health reform:

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says there is “no alternative” to having healthcare legislation bypass his committee if Blue Dog Democrats don’t agree to legislation.

Waxman said if the seven Blue Dogs on his panel do not relent, they could join with the committee’s Republicans to “eviscerate” healthcare reform.

“I won’t allow them to hand over control of our committee to Republicans,” Waxman told reporters.

“I dont see what other alternative we have, because we’re not going to let them empower Republicans on the committee ”

But its okay to sell-out the American people. Has Waxman and the Blue Dogs checked Obama’s latest poll numbers? Less than 50% as of today – for the first time. Tread lightly.

Look at it this way – you are not empowering Republicans, you are saving your jobs.

__________
Original Post:

Sound familiar – like with the cap-and-tax bill. Just jamming it down our throats. Well it looks quite possible that Ralph Emanuel may be correct in that a vote will happen next week. From the National Review:

Inside Health Policy’s Julian Pecquet, who’s staking out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, reports that Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman “stormed out” of yesterday afternoon’s health reform meeting and told reporters he has nothing to announce. Asked whether the speaker could bypass his committee and take health care reform straight to the House floor, Waxman replied, “Ask the speaker.”

Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, is also in the meeting, along with Rahm Emanuel and Phil Schiliro. And if you’re really desperate for details, we can also tell you that staffers were given Girl Scout cookies.

UPDATE: Following the meeting with Blue Dogs was a separate confab with Pelosi, Clyburn, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and — this is where it gets interesting — Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter. Pelosi mostly avoided reporters as she left the meeting. But when asked about bypassing Energy and Commerce she said, “I don’t want to do that.”

Hoyer and Slaughter said no decision has been made.

Apparently, this ain’t over yet. Keep up the pressure; email and phone your representative. To find out who your representative is and write them check here. To contact your representative by phone go here.

More from Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey: Rahm Emanuel says House will vote on ObamaCare next week. Ed says “Uh, sure”. But don’t count out Nanny State Nancy yet.

If this does not derail Nancy and Ralph, I don’t know what will: Also from Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey: Rasmussen: Obama loses majority support.

Also read How To Kill Private Healthcare – Allow Lawsuits Against Employers

Sweetness & Light: Pelosi Not Bound By Obama’s Rx Deals

In other news and opinion:

Surprise! Dems run away from Gitmo again. From Michelle Malkin.

Heard this on Bill Bennett this morning and found multiple sources. From the Wall Street Journal – Repealing Erisa (emphasis mine):

One by one, President Obama’s health-care promises are being exposed by the details of the actual legislation: Costs will explode, not fall; taxes will have to soar to pay for it; and now we are learning that you won’t be able to “keep your health-care plan” either.

The reality is that the House health bill, which the Administration praised to the rafters, will force drastic changes in almost all insurance coverage, including the employer plans that currently work best. About 177 million people—or 62% of those under age 65—get insurance today through their jobs, and while rising costs are a problem, according to every survey most employees are happy with the coverage. A major reason for this relative success is a 1974 federal law known by the acronym Erisa, or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Erisa allows employers that self-insure—that is, those large enough to build their own risk pools and pay benefits directly—to offer uniform plans across state lines. This lets thousands of businesses avoid, for the most part, the costly federal and state regulations on covered treatments, pricing, rate setting and so on. It also gives them flexibility to design insurance to recruit and retain workers in a competitive labor market. Roughly 75% of employer-based coverage is governed by Erisa’s “freedom of purchase” rules.

Goodbye to all that. The House bill says that after a five-year grace period all Erisa insurance offerings will have to win government approval—both by the Department of Labor and a new “health choices commissioner” who will set federal standards for what is an acceptable health plan. This commissar—er, commissioner—can fine employers that don’t comply and even has “suspension of enrollment” powers for plans that he or she has vetoed, until “satisfied that the basis for such determination has been corrected and is not likely to recur.”

In other words, the insurance coverage of 132 million people—the product of enormously complex business and health-care decisions—will now be subject to bureaucratic nanomanagement. If employers don’t meet some still-to-be-defined minimum package, they’ll have to renegotiate thousands of contracts nationwide to Washington’s specifications. The political incentives will of course demand an ever-more generous “minimum” benefit and less cost-sharing, much as many states have driven up prices in the individual insurance market with mandates. Erisa’s pluralistic structure will gradually constrict toward a single national standard.

Yet a computer programming firm, say, and a grocery store chain have very different insurance needs, and in any case may not be able to afford the same kind and level of benefits. Innovation in insurance products will also be subject to political tampering. Likely casualties include the wellness initiatives that give workers financial incentives to take more responsibility for their own health, such as Safeway’s. Some politicians will claim that’s unfair. High-deductible plans with health savings accounts are also out of political favor, therefore certain to go overboard. If you have one of those and like it, too bad.

The new Erisa regime will be especially difficult to meet for businesses that operate with very slim profit margins or have large numbers of part-time or seasonal workers. They may simply “cash out” and surrender 8% of their payroll under the employer-mandate tax. A new analysis by the Lewin Group, prepared for the Heritage Foundation, finds that some 88.1 million people will be shifted out of private employer health insurance under the House bill. If those people preferred their prior plan, well, too bad again.

The largest employers—though not all—may clear the minimum bar, at least at first. But in addition to the “health choices” administrative burden, the cost of labor will rise because the House guts another key section of Erisa. Currently, lawsuits about employee benefits are barred under the law, allowing large employers to avoid the state tort lotteries in disputes over coverage. No longer. As a gratuity to the trial bar, Democrats will now subject businesses to these liabilities in the name of health “reform.”

If you can’t sue the government, but can sue your employer, the end result is exactly what Obama and his radical allies want – everyone on the public option. Employers, in order to protect themselves against frivolous lawsuits, would dump private plans en masse. One of the reasons for spiraling health care costs is unnecessary extra tests ordered by your doctor to cover themselves and mitigate the chances of a lawsuit. Now the lawyers are going to get to play in a whole new sandbox. Cost savings, eh?

If you think the fight is over, think again.

Read The Road To Waterloo Is Paved With Socialist Intentions. You will find links with information on how to contact your senator and representative. Make use of it now (see below).

Also read Michelle Malkin’s Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard.

Glenn Reynolds: The Press Has Met Their Waterloo and It’s Obama

Can we get ABBA to record that?

CNN Political Ticker: Experts debate proposed ‘big brother’ medical council

Have you heard the latest? Re-branding – Health Care Reform is now Health Insurance Reform. Another example of elitists looking down their noses and thinking we all operate on dim bulbs. I would say a rose by any other name is still a rose, but roses are beautiful and represent love and honesty to me. So how about, a piece of crap by any other name is still a piece of crap.

Another piece from Michelle: Barbara Boxer: My jerkish behavior is great for fund-raising! Apparently, even some Dems are getting concerned about her odd behavior.

Stop the ACLU reports: Obama Warns Against Scare Tactics. He Should Take His Own Advice. Only to a radical liberal would scare tactics equate with truth.

Also of note, The Hill reports that Nancy Pelosi may pull a power play and skip the Energy and Commerce Committee and bring the vote for a bill to the floor before the August recess.

House Democrats, in the faint hopes of getting a vote before August recess, indicated they are considering bypassing the Energy and Commerce Committee altogether, where the bill has stalled, and proceeding right to the floor.

“The preferable course would be to go through the committee,” Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) said Thursday night. “But all options will be on the table.”

Don’t let them jam this down your throat like the cap and trade bill. Contact your representative now.

As the senate and house prepare for the August recess, it’s easy to forget the country is in between rounds in the critical fight waged against misguided health care reform by clear-headed patriots. As we regroup, so will they. It is folly to believe the fight is over. The takeover of the private health section is alive and well as demonstrated by the current bill’s attempt to gut ERISA and allow employees to sue employers over health care, causing a mass exodus by employers from private insurance to the public plan. There are many nefarious and deceitful ways liberals can destroy private insurance, and you can bet the bill nobody has read yet has plenty of them. They only need to sneak in one and the game is over.

Now is certainly not the time to rest. The schedule of those serving in the federal legislature, even on recess, is often full with fundraisers and other political pastimes such as town hall meetings. Keep up the pressure; email and phone your representative and senator. To find out who your representative is and write them check here. To contact your representative by phone go here. For senators, this page is useful. Often representatives and senators will have local numbers in your area. Use Google to find this contact information and location.

I know by nature many of you are not protesters and picketers. However the recent tea party protests emphasizes an important fact – when necessary we do what must be done. Now is the time for more tea parties, picketing outside political venues, making phone calls, and emailing.

America scored a major victory this week thanks to the efforts of talk show hosts, conservative pundits, bloggers, and people like you who care about the future of this country. John McCain recently said elections have consequences – and they do. However, who can forget his statement that we have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency during the campaign? If elections have consequences, the senator from Arizona acted to the contrary.

There is a long road ahead and a litany of issues to address. There are a lot of hills and mountains to climb, and our eyes have been fixated on the one marked socialized health care. Now our attention must diversify and take in the entire landscape of issues. Let’s not forget the additional stimulus plan under consideration, or the fact that cap-and-tax passed in the House thanks to these eight GOP sell-outs:

Our very way of life is under attack. Deficits are soaring and even if victorious against cap-and-tax and government controlled health care, our deficits, now monumental, threaten to saddle future generations and impact the American dream so many fought and died for. Government now has a stake in banks and car companies. There is a lot of damage Obama has done and is still capable of doing. Our only recourse is to put the pressure on. Even if you feel your representative or senator is beyond hope, know there are many who, like you, don’t like the change Obama is offering.

Hope and change? Despair and change is more like it. So regardless of where you live, it is your civic and moral duty to let your voice be heard.

The road is long and treacherous, but just remember this: After the dark days of Jimmy Carter came the bright shining city on the hill of Ronald Reagan. I am optimistic, and my optimism fuels my resistance. From the greatest challenges come the greatest opportunities. Just think of what we can accomplish given the challenge of Obama, the liberals, and their radical agenda.

Next stop on the road to Waterloo? 2010.

Keep up the fight.

Read Michelle Malkin’s Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard.

Glenn Reynolds: The Press Has Met Their Waterloo and It’s Obama

Can we get ABBA to record that?

CNN Political Ticker: Experts debate proposed ‘big brother’ medical council

Another piece from Michelle: Barbara Boxer: My jerkish behavior is great for fund-raising! Apparently, even some Dems are getting concerned about her odd behavior.

Well, I certainly find myself more bemused every day that passes. Another “through the looking glass moment”, the New York Times joins the AP in fact checking Supreme Leader Barkus Obama’s truth challenged press conference. Talk about piling on.

If I were a Democrat and not part of the left nutroots, I would pay very close attention to what is happening with health care legislation. The losers in the current debate include not only you, but, if applicable, your children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents. Think of your parents being punished and pushed aside like so much trash just for being old. If that does not make you mad, I don’t know what will. The previous story all but admits that rationing is the goal of the liberal agenda.

These fact checks, from liberal sources, serve as the wake up call to anyone thoughtful and deliberative. It is time to put aside ideological alliances and not just rubber stamp the congress. It is time for you think for yourself. If this plan were so good, why does the federal legislature not participate in it? Why is Obama not telling the truth to the American people, as apparent in the New York Times and AP fact checks? What is he hiding? What is his real agenda? These are questions you should be asking.

Tom Elia has a list for you to contact. For a more comprehensive list try here for your representative and here for your senator.

From the NTY story, first we have the obligatory liberal bowing to the Fearless Leader:

President Obama showed great fluency in the intricate details of health policy at his news conference on Wednesday night, but experts said some of his points were debatable.

Now to the meat:

Mr. Obama said doctors, nurses, hospitals, drug companies and AARP had supported efforts to overhaul health care.

While it is true the American Medical Association has endorsed a bill drafted by House Democratic leaders, a half-dozen state medical societies have sharply criticized provisions that would establish a new government-run health insurance plan.

Likewise, Mr. Obama said Medicare could save large amounts of money by creating “an independent group of doctors and medical experts who are empowered to eliminate waste and inefficiency” and hold down the annual increases in payments to health care providers.

Far from supporting this proposal, the American Hospital Association is urging hospital executives to lobby against it.

Of the proposed new cost-control agency, Mr. Obama said: “It’s not going to reduce Medicare benefits. What it’s going to do is to change how those benefits are delivered so that they’re more efficient.”

Hospitals say the cuts could indeed cut services in some rural areas and from teaching hospitals, which receive extra payments because of higher costs.

In seeking to portray health legislation as bipartisan, Mr. Obama said that 160 Republican amendments were adopted in a bill approved last week by the Senate health committee. Republicans said many of the amendments involved technical provisions and did not alter the fundamental features of the bill.

The president said that health insurance companies were making “record profits.” America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main lobby for insurers, contends that “for every $1 spent on health care in America, approximately one penny goes to health plans’ profits.”

Mr. Obama said he was not proposing to ration care, but just wanted to coordinate it better. For example, he said, he wants to eliminate repetitious tests ordered by different doctors for the same patient.

Electronic medical records and health information technology, championed by Mr. Obama, could reduce such duplication. But, under his plan, it is not clear who would take responsibility for patients and coordinate care in traditional fee-for-service medicine.

The president continued to take credit for deficit reduction by making a claim that has been challenged by many experts.

“If we had done nothing, if you had the same old budget as opposed to the changes we made,” the deficit over the next 10 years would be $2.2 trillion greater, the president said.

In fact, $1.5 trillion of those “savings” are mainly based on an assumption that the United States would have had as many troops in Iraq in 10 years as it did when Mr. Obama took office. But before leaving office, President George W. Bush signed an agreement with Baghdad mandating the withdrawal of all American forces within three years.

So Mr. Obama is claiming credit for not spending money that, under the policy he inherited from Mr. Bush, would never have been spent in the first place.

Ouch. Two liberal media outlets just ripped BO a new orifice. If this were a boxing match, it’s a one-two punch that’s got Obama heading towards the floor.

The LA Times also chimes in:

During much of the hourlong news conference, Obama relied on jargon that Washington insiders embrace but that might leave the typical television viewer mystified. Discussing government spending, he mentioned “the supplemental” — referring to a war-funding bill. He used the word “incentivize” several times.

The purpose of Obama’s appearance was to regain momentum for proposals to make major changes to the healthcare system, one of his top domestic priorities.

Even fellow Democrats now say that the deadline Obama set for the House and Senate to pass a bill before their August recess is unrealistic.

Still waiting for the CNN Political Ticker to report on something substantial. All they have right now is Oops! Obama calls out reporter for asking out of turn.

Wow, now that’s coverage. How about joining in the NYT and AP in some actual journalism? Wait, did I just say that?

Now comes the obligatory puff piece from the CNN ticker that completely ignores the fact of Obama’s lies during the press conference. Journalism all but dead at the Comrade News Network. CNN, can you say credibility? Bet you can’t. Democrats intensify drive for health care reform.

What a difference a day and a question make. Michelle Malkin: White House flip-flop: Ok, ok, we’ll tell you which health execs we met.

More from Michelle: The fear-mongerer-in-chief. Also check out Dr. Obama applies CPR.

Gateway Pundit chimes in: AP: Obama Lied Last Night About His Health Care Plan

Also check out Megan McArdle via Glenn Reynolds:

If you want to talk about awesome future cost savings, pass them. Otherwise, you have to defend the actual bills we might pass, not some better bills that we haven’t and probably won’t.

From the Hill: Pelosi: I have the votes to pass health bill and Obama: ‘The stars are aligned’ for healthcare now. No, wait: More delays in House on healthcare reform.

Nancy the dreamer, Obama the cosmologist, the realists in the House, and the rest of us. What a soap opera!

And how’s this for transparency? Democrats Block GOP Health Care Mailing

Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority’s health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate.

House Republicans are crying foul and claiming that the Democrats are using their majority to prevent GOP Members from communicating with their constituents.

The dispute centers on a chart created by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee to illustrate the organization of the Democratic health care plan.

At first glance, Brady’s chart resembles a board game: a colorful collection of shapes and images with a web of lines connecting them.

But a closer look at the image reveals a complicated menagerie of government offices and programs that Republicans say will be created if the leading Democratic health care plan becomes law.

In a memo sent Monday to Republicans on the House franking commission, Democrats argue that sending the chart to constituents as official mail would violate House rules because the information is misleading.

Best line of the day:

Hiding the truth about wildly unpopular policies is a Democrat specialty,” said one GOP aide. “I’d like to see the flow chart on how Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi plans on implementing the open and transparent government she keeps promising everyone.

I guess the truth hurts. Pain pill, anyone?

BREAKING: From The Hill – Pelosi backs off insistence on recess health deadline

Karl over at Patterico on the Obama’s craptastic presser.

Lot’s of juicy stuff to report today. First, recall when Republican Senator Jim De Mint said if Obama fails to pass health care reform it would be his Waterloo? Remember the High One’s response?

Think about that,” Obama said. “This isn’t about me. This isn’t about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America’s families. … We can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care — not this time, not now.

Now the Whiner In Chief is complaining: ‘You’re Going To Destroy My Presidency’. From National Journal via Jammie Wearing Fool:

A telling episode recounted by Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley reveals the Obama administration might be more worried than they are letting on that a Republican senator’s comparison of the healthcare overhaul to Waterloo might be dangerously close to the truth.

Grassley said he spoke with a Democratic House member last week who shared Obama’s bleak reaction during a private meeting to reports that some factions of House Democrats were lining up to stall or even take down the overhaul unless leaders made major changes.

“Let’s just lay everything on the table,” Grassley said. “A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn’t going to pass if there weren’t some changes made … and the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.’ “

Let’s be frank. Can we be frank? What will be destroyed is His Eminence’s ability to ruin this country, drive us further into debt, make a mockery of our health care system, and finally take over complete control of your life – and death – in the ultimate nanny state coup. Boo frigin’ hoo.

And it’s never been about Obama, has it? I mean, his modesty and humility are unmatched:

Obama Election Night Victory. Greek Columns, God Complex

Michelle chimes in: Not about you, huh?

And check out Michelle Malkin’s video, Politician claims Obamacare saves. Voters laugh out loud.

My favorite parts? Well, all of it. But especially when Carnahan tries to tell the audience that Obamacare will create “efficiencies” and a “surplus” and when constituent Kevin Jackson asks:

“If it’s so good, why doesn’t Congress have to be on it?”

What? Congress eating from the same filthy trough as the unwashed masses. Why the nerve of even suggesting such a thing!

For another great video see CNNs RNC spoofs drug ads in new ‘Reforma’ Web video:

The Republican National Committee has a message for the nation’s health care consumers: “Call your Congressman or Senator immediately” if you are concerned about possible “side effects” of the Democrats’ health care reform proposals.

That’s what viewers are told in “Reforma,” a new RNC Web video that appears to draw heavily from the tropes of pharmaceutical advertising.

The roughly one-minute spot features happy-looking couples in various settings — dancing on the deck of a ship, walking barefoot along a beach, skipping through an open field of green grass, lounging comfortably in each others arms in a field of lavender plants, tossing leaves at one another on a typical fall New England day, and walking hand-in-hand down a tree-covered path.

“The life you want to live, [t]he peace of mind you deserve, [t]he Obama Pelosi prescription for building a government takeover of health care, [a]nxiety and stress disappear, [r]ecommended by more lobbyists than any other health care reform, [n]o worries. No concerns,” an announcer says as the carefree images appear on screen.

Then the video, like a drug ad, lists what the RNC calls the “side effects” of the Democrats’ reform plan: “bureaucratic waste and delay,” “[c]ost to taxpayers may vary and is more than you can possibly imagine.”

Email the video to everyone in your contacts and have them forward it on. Truth in advertising.

From The Hill: Dems at odds on how to turn tide on health. It looks like more than Blue Dogs are getting a bit skittish. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that if consensus can’t be reached, he expects to send legislators home on schedule. Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Tuesday said the House should stay in until it finishes the bill.

They can’t even agree on whether to take a vacation. I suggest a robust debate concerning the vacation!

Nanny State Nancy chimes in saying Congress should work through recess on health bill.

“I think 70 percent of the American people would want that,” Pelosi said. “I want a bill.”

Which would be fine if it were not for those pesky things called polls. Glenn Reynold’s – RASMUSSEN: 53% Now Oppose Congressional Health Care Reform. You don’t say. That math sure must be challenging Nancy. Kind of like “save or create jobs”, or “deficit neutral” – it just does not add up. Last time I checked 53% was just a wee bit smaller than 70%.

The great physicist Richard Feynman once said of time that it is the universe’s way of stopping everything from happening all at once. Thankfully, the universe seems to be doing a fine job. I guess the liberals are going to be mad at the universe now.

Who says there are not a few smart Dems out there? Stick to your guns boys, history is watching and those annoying mid-term elections will be here before you can say “Socialism is for weenies”.

Headline: Obama blames universe, GOP, and really, really mean Dems for destroying presidency and failed health care plan. America yawns. Obama loses crown.

All kidding aside, with the state of our economy, the fact the President himself admits he does not know what is in the House bill, and the fact the current House Bill all but squeezes out private insurers, I think starting from scratch after a long rest would be a good idea. I mean, don’t the American people deserve a deliberative legislative process? Apparently, some legislative liberals (and some plain ole fashion confused liberals) don’t think so because it would put their prized pony – the public option – in jeopardy. Of course, since House and Senate members would not be forced to “enjoy” the obvious benefits of socialized health care (this is sarcasm in case any liberal is reading this – you have to help them along sometimes), then it should be okay for us common folk.

Slightly related and on the creepy horror film Nazi bastard side is Michelle’s The science czar stonewalls:

Can a population control freak holding the prestigious title of “Science Czar” get away with published musings on forced abortion, mass sterilization programs, and a “planetary regime” to re-engineer society by simply stonewalling?

He’s trying his best.

Hot Air has another poll (this time AP) showing Obama in trouble. Calling all senators and representatives, it’s only going to get worse. Not a good time to be clutching on to the Mighty King of All. He’s drowning in his regal attire and will drag you down with him.

Sister Toldjah: Obama administration: It’s not “secrecy” when we hold private meetings. Honest, you can trust us! Move along please, nothing to hide here.

Riehl World View: Dems frustrated with Obama.

Senior Democrats on the Hill are expressing frustration with Obama because he isn’t taking a particular stance on specific issues regarding health care reform. They claim to be “baffled”. Good heavens, do they really expect him to put his name on something that might prove unpopular with the public, … to own it, in a sense? Since when has that been his job? He’s voting Present. What more do you want?

Read the CNN story here. Of note:

The Democratic leadership had hoped the work going on behind closed doors for months could bear fruit in time for the president’s news conference Wednesday night. But multiple Democratic sources tell CNN that’s looking very unlikely, and one senior Democratic source tells CNN there is some frustration among Democratic leaders that Senate negotiators have, “repeatedly missed deadlines.”

Ezra Klein chimes in with some very flawed logic: Filibustering Is Not the Same as Voting “No.”. What he fails to note is that the converse is true, voting for cloture is the same as voting yes – even if you vote no. If the fifty votes are there and you are instrumental in allowing those votes, then you de facto support the legislation, and no amount of posturing, including a subsequent nay vote, will convince the public otherwise. Ezra Klein, in joining the ranks of the Washington elitists, shares company with the likes of Pelosi, Reid, Obama, and the rest of the liberal establishment and rubber-stamp pseudo-journalists in insulting our intelligence. Really Ezra, ya think we be that stoooopppid?

And to any senator thick enough to attempt this CYA, sorry to disappoint you, but we catch on pretty quick outside the beltway. Don’t underestimate us.

Contact your senator and let them know that such a tactic will not go over well; insult our intelligence and we will assault your position.

Right Pundits is cautiously optimistic but warns against complacency: Obama Health Care Reform Appears Doomed in 2009. Ignatius Reilly also seems to note the liberals lack of basic math skills:

All signs are pointing to a Clinton-esque failure for Obama’s health care reform proposal.

Three polls now show that Obama’s support for health care reform has fallen under 50%:

Percentage supporting Obama on Health Care Policy:
CNN: 47%
ABC News: 49%
USA Today: 44%

For certain Obama-supporters who post on this site who cannot grasp basic mathematical concepts, that means a majority of people DO NOT support Obama’s health care policy. The lack of support for his health policy coincides with a noticeable drop in his overall approval rating, which we reported on here. Obama, who just six months ago was being proclaimed as invincible by the left, now has lower approval ratings than either Bush or Jimmy Carter did in their first six months.

President Obama will address the nation regarding health care in a primetime news conference tonight. In that news conference, he is expected to press for health care reform BEFORE the end of this year’s Congressional session. Pressing for this so quickly, Obama’s team seems to smack of desperation. It’s almost like he’s saying, “Let’s get this through before everyone realizes what a complete disaster I’ve been.”

Patterico guest blogger DRJ: Slow Down, You Move Too Fast (Updated x2)

Also read President Prepares An Army Of Bloggers

From My Way: White House putting off release of budget update (emphasis mine):

The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today’s bleak landscape.

The administration’s annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and unemployment and slower growth than projected in President Barack Obama’s budget in February and update in May, and that could complicate his efforts to get his signature health care and global-warming proposals through Congress.

The release of the update – usually scheduled for mid-July – has been put off until the middle of next month, giving rise to speculation the White House is delaying the bad news at least until Congress leaves town on its August 7 summer recess.

The administration is pressing for votes before then on its $1 trillion health care initiative, which lawmakers are arguing over how to finance.

The White House budget director, Peter Orszag, said on Sunday that the administration believes the “chances are high” of getting a health care bill by then. But new analyses showing runaway costs are jeopardizing Senate passage.

“Instead of a dream, this routine report could be a nightmare,” Tony Fratto, a former Treasury Department official and White House spokesman under President George W. Bush, said of the delayed budget update. “There are some things that can’t be escaped.”

Trouble in paradise?

Any member of either Congressional chamber voting in favor of health care reform prior to the release of the White House budget data abdicates responsibility and common sense, and the negligence involved profound to the point of defying any form of logic. The correct recourse to such behavior, bordering in this author’s opinion on criminal, is the removal of the offending thief.

The Hill reports that Healthcare marathon may hit wall this week:

If President Obama’s analogy — that reforming healthcare is a long race — holds true, this week might just be Heartbreak Hill.

Beginning on Monday, Obama will find out if congressional Democrats have the wherewithal to push ahead with their — and his — ambitious goal of crossing the healthcare finish line before August, or whether they have to stop and stretch before limping across at a later date.

It’ll be close.

In the House, Democratic leaders are still grappling with severe cramps caused by two different groups: their vulnerable freshman members and the conservative Blue Dog Democrats.

Twenty freshman Democrats, led by Rep. Jared Polis (Colo.), have threatened a revolt against the $544 billion worth of tax increases spelled out in the House bill — one of the two revenue pillars holding up the Democrats’ promise of producing a “deficit-neutral” healthcare bill that is expected to cost more than $1 trillion.

The Ways and Means Committee completed its markup of the tax portion of the bill last week, meaning that if the freshmen aren’t satisfied with the result, close to two dozen votes could be at risk.

So far, all indications point to House leaders sticking with their plan to pay for half of their bill through a sliding surtax on the income of Americans in the top tax brackets — a plan the White House has blessed but for which the Senate has not indicated an appetite.

Beyond that, the biggest threat to the August goal — if not successful passage of the bill altogether — is coming from fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, who have banded together in opposition to everything from Medicare reimbursement rates to an automatic public plan, and have hinted at bolting on the idea of taxes of any kind.

The will of these Democrats, and the power of their leaders to cut deals with them, will be on full display starting on Monday, when the critical Energy and Commerce Committee continues its markup of major portions of the House bill.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has vowed to finish his markup by midweek as promised. But the Blue Dogs have said they have enough votes to kill the bill in committee if changes aren’t realized. And on issues where the committee lacks jurisdiction, such as the tax portion, Blue Dogs have warned that there are enough votes to kill the bill on the floor as well.

Light up the phone lines and send those emails to your Representative and Senator.

And they better pay attention. As the Washington post reports: Poll Shows Obama Slipping on Key Issues, Approval Rating on Health Care Falls Below 50 Percent

Heading into a critical period in the debate over health-care reform, public approval of President Obama’s stewardship on the issue has dropped below the 50 percent threshold for the first time, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Obama’s approval ratings on other front-burner issues, such as the economy and the federal budget deficit, have also slipped over the summer, as rising concern about spending and continuing worries about the economy combine to challenge his administration. Barely more than half approve of the way he is handling unemployment, which now tops 10 percent in 15 states and the District.

The president’s overall approval rating remains higher than his marks on particular domestic issues, with 59 percent giving him positive reviews and 37 percent disapproving. But this is the first time in his presidency that Obama has fallen under 60 percent in Post-ABC polling, and the rating is six percentage points lower than it was a month ago.

Obama has taken on a series of major problems during his young presidency, but he faces a particularly difficult fight over his effort to encourage Congress to pass an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system.

Wondering why liberals are rushing through health care reform? Time is the enemy of liberalism. The more of it we have, the less chance they have of passing destructive, socialized, deficit growing legislation. Only conservative democrats capable of level-headed thinking can save us from the disaster of Obamacare. The longer this bill is debated, the worse it begins to look and the odds of getting real health care reform increases.

Michelle Malkin on Obama’s slipping poll numbers.

Also, check out Michelle’s Democrats reverse Obama on auto dealerships. Looks like not all Democrats are a rubber stamp for Obama and his policies. Poll numbers do count. Go figure.

The truth is out: Glimpse of Obamacare future: 83 million would lose private coverage. Like I said, the smell gets worse as time passes.

Right Pundits: Dude, Where’s My Budget?

More: Even The NYT Won’t Avoid The Truth – Socialized Healthcare Stinks

Glenn Reynold’s warns via Advertising Age:

ANOTHER REASON FOR THE RUSH: Advertising Age: Obama Wants to Avoid Health-Care-Reform Ad War. “If supporters of health-care legislation seem like they’re in a hurry to get a bill passed, it might be because they’re hoping to avoid a costly ad war they would stand a good chance of losing. . . . If a health-care bill isn’t passed before the August recess, that opens the door for opponents to appeal to the public.”

Like the filthy and uneducated masses should have anything to say about what is best for us. Sounds like the elites disrespect for us unedumakated gun tottin’, bible clutching nitwits uncloaks itself.

The Wall Street Journal on how the AMA betrays doctors by backing ObamaCare (emphasis mine):

What’s Up, Docs? The AMA signs its members up to be civil servants.

Everyone supports “health reform” as an abstract goal, but that mile-wide consensus is an inch deep when it comes to substance. Increasingly, however, most of the major health industry lobbies seem prepared to concede the mile — as long they get their inch.

The latest example is the American Medical Association’s unqualified endorsement Thursday of the health bill patched together by House Democrats. In a letter to Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, the doctors group lays on its “appreciation and support” pretty thick, and pledges to “work with the House committees and leadership to build support.” The so-called tri-committee plan is also the most left-leaning out there, funding its new coverage for the uninsured in part by cutting payments to doctors and hospitals in Medicare and Medicaid.

But lobbyists don’t lobby for less revenue for their members, and Democrats seem to have procured the AMA’s bouquet with what the AMA letter says is the promise of “fundamental Medicare reforms, including repeal of the sustainable growth rate,” or SGR. The SGR is a formula that Congress created in 1997 as a form of fiscal triage, mandating automatic cuts in physician payments if entitlement spending rises too steeply. Next year, they’re scheduled to drop by 21.5%.

President Barack Obama speaks about health care on Friday in the Diplomatic Room of the White House.

Doctors despise the SGR, and understandably so. Medicare’s administered prices are already 20% to 30% lower than those of private insurers, and then Congress threatens to arbitrarily pay even less for the medical goods and services it wants to buy. However, Washington always swoops in with an 11th-hour reprieve that defers the pain to another year, given that even deeper cuts would cause many doctors to stop treating Medicare patients. But this only makes the distortions worse, creating an uncertain business climate and forcing some doctors to compensate by shifting costs onto their private patients or making up in volume what they lose on margin in Medicare.

Yes, ending this incoherent farce is a great idea. But the AMA is essentially saying that if doctors get paid more, all else is negotiable. Other industry lobbies such as the insurers and drug makers have made the same calculation, putting their short-term self-interest — usually ensuring that government programs remain generous (enough) — ahead of the long-run threats. It can’t last.