The Hill is reporting that Senator Byrd wants health bill renamed for Kennedy. Wow, that was fast. I have to ask myself if liberals were primed and pumped for the passing of the lion.

Calling it TeddyCare would be disingenuous. The difference between the type of care he received vs. what we will receive under any of the bills in the House or Senate are world’s apart. Putting lipstick on a pig does not make it pretty and a pile of crap by any other name is still a pile of crap.

Videos: Chris Matthews, not politicizing Kennedy’s death

The wretched excess begins

More from Politico.

Honor Kennedy By Doing What He Did, Not What He Said

No trillion-dollar healthcare tribute for Kennedy. (h/t Mr. Reynolds)

Kennedy’s seat may remain empty for months

Kennedy Care? How’d That Work Out For Mary Jo?

Dems’ new rallying cry: Let’s pass this trillion-dollar travesty for Teddy

Irresponsible rumor of the day: Panetta resigning as CIA chief?

Does Ted Kennedy’s Death Breathe New Life into the Health Care Debate?

What a bad month for Obama. After working with the House to jam Cap-n-Tax down our collective throats, it looked like nothing could derail the Obama express. Already, ObamaStimulus, well under way – or not – showed signs of not working. So much so that His Highness found himself forced to invent new wording to describe his failed stimulus philosophy – jobs saved or created. Like we would fall for that one.

After ObamaCap-n-Tax, Captain America along with his first mate Nancy Pelosi, rubbed their hands together in unbridled excitement, sensing the fruition of liberal wishes all across the great land of Obamatopia. Certainly the Greek Gods smiled down upon them. Soon they would be replaced by The One. Then came the bad news. Not so fast Captain Disaster.

For some reason, liberals hate reading. They don’t read bills, they don’t read the Constitution – I am not sure they are aware of the document – and they don’t read the American people. When a Gallup poll showed America shifting towards conservatism – they wrote it off, ignored it, tried to explain it away; anything but admit it. Liberals everywhere found it inconceivable and beyond imagining that the sheeple of this country found their way of governing to be – well – distasteful and undesirable. They were “shocked” at the Tea Party protests, and “shocked” as they found themselves outnumbered at their own planned venues designed to fill our hearts will love for the social engineering of medicine. Outnumbered by conservative vermin- sometimes at a ratio of 10-to-1.

Disinformation, they protested. His Highness jumped on board – claiming the Republican’s disinformation campaign concerning his beloved health care was “destroying my presidency”. Interesting that he also admitted, along with many members of the House and Senate, that he was unaware of most of the aspects of the bill. In short, he had not read it, or even bothered to have someone read it for him. The argument of “I don’t know the facts, but I conclude the other side is distorting them”, falls flat on an American public that – surprise! – possess a great deal more smarts than the elites in the Washington liberal establishment and their fellow pirates at MoveOn, Daily Kos, and most of the media outlets give them credit for. Of course, Obama is well aware the scaffolding of the bill serves the purpose of killing private insurance and forcing everyone onto the “public plan”. The real disinformation campaign is by Obama and the liberals on the Utopian ship to Nowhere. Only a liberal could look you in the face, claim you are lying, and know who the real liar is. If not a liberal, then someone very neurotic – but then they are the same, are they not? But I digress.

Some not so liberal Democrats, their heads screwed on straight after suffering through the backlash on Cap-n-Tax from their constituents, noticed they had a backbone and were not the puppets of Madam Pelosi and His Highness. A crack in the wall appeared.

Then came the plummeting poll numbers for Obama’s policies, and the latest Rasmussen poll that has Obama’s approval index at -11. The recipe for disaster is almost complete. Martha Stuart would be proud:

• Add one measure of cap-n-tax passed by the House.
• Add an element of surprise to many representatives at their constituent’s anger for the rushed passing of the debacle that is cap-n-tax
• Add a few level headed Blue Dogs democrats to the liberal mix
• Let boil for a couple of weeks as health care is debated
• Add enough rope to the roiling stew to allow His Highness to hang himself at a presser pushing socialized health care
• Add more rope to allow His Highness to hang himself with additional controversial statements concerning a certain police officer and a teacher at Harvard. Proclamtions our Dear Leader predicated on the statement he possessed none of the facts. Sound familiar?
• Add plunging poll numbers and a missed August deadline for health reform
• Add an entire congressional recess for the public’s intelligence to be further insulted by liberal advertisements touting how well the government runs things and sound the praises for the gift that is socialized health care without actually calling it socialized health care. Watch in amazement as they keep trying to tell us that we can keep our current plan if we like it. Nothing about pushing out private insurance on an exchange where it is forced to compete with the “public option”. Nothing to see here, just move along.
• Simultaneously add in advertisements that show the truth of liberal diversion and legislative tactics concerning said socialized health care and what “the public plan” really means. Higher costs, rationing, and the death of ingenuity. Not to mention control over when you will die. Thanks a lot for the hard work grandma, but the sad fact is, your just too darn old and not worth saving, so perform your duty for the collective and just die already will you. Government as God.
• During this month, mix in an earful of complaints and outright anger directed at representatives and senators who suddenly find the fear of God a constant companion as their re-election in 2010 hangs in the balance.
• Lastly, mix in additional plunging poll numbers for His Highness, especially given that The Obama-conomy: “It’s worse than you think”

  Let it all stew and watch Obama’s liberal castle crumble around his ears. This is not to say His Most High can’t do any damage in the 3 1/2 years remaining, even with the slaughter for liberalism that will be the 2010 elections. His Highness will drag this country through the mud as often as possible, but we have weathered worse. It will take a long time to get rid of the taste of the ObamaNation.

  In closing, I had the opportunity to watch Zach Galifianakis, of “The Hangover” fame in a film titled “Visioneers”. An odd little movie to be sure, but with many poignant points. In this world of the future, dreams are considered bad. Both in the literal sense – as when sleeping – and in the figurative sense – such as possessing them. Having either or both types of dreams can lead to one exploding – in the literal sense (I told you the movie was a bit odd). I won’t give away the plot, but there is one scene in the move when the protagonist is told that in order to get rid of dreams, it is important to kill that which is most important to you. For most of us, this would be our family or a loved one. In the context of this country, that would be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or as my Naval friend says, “Life, liberty, and the happiness of pursuit”.

  Then it struck me. That is exactly what socialism is – what liberalism is. It is the overt and often covert attempt to level the playing field by making everyone as miserable as everyone else. No more excellence allowed in this utopia. If you succeed, we will punish you and take away the fruits of your labor. Anyone found possessing ambition or passion will be trampled upon, ridiculed, pilfered, and outcast. No dreams allowed, except those provided for by the state. Do not think for yourself, do not think for others; do not think, period. Mediocrity and blandness are the order of the day and we will all be equal, not under God, but under the clenching fist of Government, for Government is now your God, and that other god is no longer allowed, for there is only one true God, known as “The State”.

  For now, just call Him Obama.

  In other news and opinion:

  Jonah Goldberg hits the proverbial nail on the head: None dare say rationing:

  Let us for a moment adopt the proposition that health care is in fact a “right,” as pretty much every liberal politician has told us.

  Now let us consider how President Obama’s health-care bill would work. An official body – staffed with government doctors, actuaries, economists and other experts – will determine which treatments, procedures and remedies are cost-effective and which are not. Then it will decide which ones will get paid for, and which won’t. Democrats call this “cost-controls.” But for the patient and the doctor, it’s plain old rationing.

  Now, imagine if the government had a body of experts charged with figuring out what your free-speech rights are, or right to assemble, or worship. Mr. Jones, you can say X and Y but not Z. Ms. Smith, you can freely assemble with Aleutians, Freemasons and carpenters, but you may not meet in public with anyone from Cleveland or of Albanian descent. Mrs. Wilson, you may pray to Vishnu and Crom, but never to Allah or Buddha, and when you do pray, you cannot do so for longer than 20 minutes, unless it is one of several designated holidays. See Extended Prayer Form 10-22B.

  Michelle Malkin: “The siren call of judicial activism”. Here is to hoping that, one day, a majority of our federal legislature suddenly decides that judicial activism is grounds for impeachment. If judges are allowed to continue to invent law from the bench, then the constitution is nothing but a piece of paper. We already have a group of people to do that – Congress. Remember that strange concept called separation of powers? It is not a hurdle to be overcome – it is written in the very fabric of this land.

  Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey: New Dem strategy on ObamaCare: Ignore the evidence and just trust us!. No thanks. I would sooner trust a used car salesman or a snake oil peddler.

  Call it faith-based economics. Just forget all of those people who make a living at looking at balance sheets, cost projections, and legislative analysis — trust us! For a party that screeched about returning science to its “rightful place” in policymaking, they seem highly enamored of tarot cards and entrail-reading when it comes to their own fiscal policies.

  Glenn Reynold’s on Michelle Malkin’s Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies. Read it, buy it for a loved one, pass it on.

  Emperor Misha I eviscerates in the usual fascinating fashion, exposing Obama and his Latin American advisor. Kinds of puts things in perspective. Read Pieces Coming Together.

  The CNN political ticker reports: RNC commits nearly $1 million on health care campaign. Now that’s change put to good use. More of the same, please! See the story for a list of the Democrat targets. I don’t think CNN will allow the trackback to my story – as they have in the past. Fair and balanced? I think not. Puppets who like to have their strings pulled – you betcha. Am I surprised? Come on, take a guess…

  

Now this is getting fun. It’s like watching a good cage fight. Now The Hill is reporting that Blue Dog Democrats said they were “lied” to by their Democratic leaders (emphasis mine):

The seven Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stormed out of a Friday meeting with their committee chairman, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saying Waxman had been negotiating in bad faith over a number of provisions Blue Dogs demanded be changed in the stalled healthcare bill.

“I’ve been lied to,” Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairman Charlie Melancon (D-La.) said on Friday. “We have not had legitimate negotiations.

“Mr. Waxman has decided to sever discussions with the Blue Dogs who are trying to make this bill work for America,” Melancon said.

Now that’s a good line for a commercial. I can hear it now….

Although those Blue Dogs were supposed to be headed back into another meeting of the Energy and Commerce Democrats, their anger was visible.

If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, the only hope for passage of the bill in the House will be to go straight to the floor, an option leaders shied away from endorsing but said was an option.

But the Blue Dogs issued dire warnings to leaders contemplating that approach.

“Waxman simply does not have votes in committee and process should not be bypassed to bring the bill straight to floor,” Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the lead Blue Dog negotiator, said on Friday. “We are trying to save this bill and trying to save this party.”

Melancon said there would be 40-45 “solid no” votes from the 52-strong Blue Dogs, among other problems throughout the caucus.

“If they try to bring it to the floor, I think they’ll find out they have more problems than the Blue Dogs.”

A leadership aide said no decisions have been made on how to proceed.

Ouch.

So far I have to say I am proud of the Blue Dogs for standing on principle. The big question is whether they have the character and gumption to continue to stand together against the liberal tide and do what is right for this country.

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. Lend the Blue Dogs your support.

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

Just how bad is it for the opposition? Dallas Tea Party activists outflank MoveOn at Obamacare protest

Hot Air: Waxman threatens to bypass own committee.

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.

This is in another post, but I felt like this topic deserved its own spot:

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 doesn’t add up. Last time I checked 53% was just a wee bit smaller than 70%.

Here is a doozy for you. Michelle Malkin reports Exposed: A trial lawyers’ pay-off in Obamacare

From the Washington Post: Senate Panel Takes Careful Approach to Crafting Health Bill. The important part is near the bottom in discussing the Senate Finance committee’s approach (emphasis mine):

Finance members said the committee was leaning against requiring employers to provide health coverage, although it would impose a fee on individuals who do not purchase insurance. They also said the panel had rejected the government health plan that Obama wants to create and would instead adopt a cooperative model, similar to rural electricity providers.

Would that it were true. While premature to raise a glass to the end of government takeover of health care, this development looks promising.

It used to be that of the two things assured in life – death and taxes – the government controlled only one. Now they want control of the other.

The trillion plus dollar cost of ObamaCare (read socialized medicine) often obscures an obvious fact. The real cost of socialized medicine is in lives. As I have indicated on this site (read Even The NYT Won’t Avoid The Truth – Socialized Healthcare Stinks and I Have 25 Stents – And I Don’t Want The Public Option), the real impact of socialized medicine – loss of ingenuity, the death of the medical specialist, rationing, and high cost – are the real casualties of any public plan.

I do not suffer fools lightly, and thankfully it appears the American public, not quite as tuned out as the elites in Washington wish, are fully attentive to the smoke screen thrown up by the liberals in congress and now demand to see behind the curtain of obfuscation generated to hide one of the most liberty killing, costly (in terms of lives and money), and ineffective reform bills ever to hit the legislature.

It does not take a genius to understand that allowing the public option to compete on an exchange with private insurance is a recipe for the full takeover by the public option. It insults our intelligence that elites in Washington think us incapable of understanding how a non-profit, government funded public option would crowd out for-profit private insurers. Raise taxes or print money – the government, in the end, always wins. But at what cost? Are we truly to believe that government is capable of efficiency. Mentioning efficiency and government in a sentence that equates the two is a sure sign of a serous disconnect with reality.

The most liberty stealing feature of the public option is that now the government gets to decide if you get that treatment. They decide if you live of die.

If you think socialized medicine is a good thing, just spend an hour on Google and check out the rationing and other horror stories of so-called public options from around the world.

Something else to be thankful for, the death of Obama’s attempted make over of our country does not end with just his health care policy.

Bret Jacobson of Opposing Views writes Obama May Be Forced to Give Up Top Economic Initiatives:

It looks as if Americans — already pummeled by an economic slide from dropping home prices to 10 percent unemployment — may avoid the final knockout punch. Political pundits are forecasting increasing odds that that grassroots pressure may force President Obama and Congressional Democrats to give up on some of their top policy initiatives — legislation that would have saddled already-strapped taxpayers with even greater economic burdens.

Sure, the trillions already wasted in stimulus and deficit spending are bad. But that price tag is nothing compared to the three worst potential policy threats that seem to be losing momentum as more voters read their newspapers and more politicians starting reading the bills they’re voting on.

On the cutting block, Global Warming/Cap and Trade, Card Check Union Organizing (all but dead), and the health care public option (on serious life support and hopefully dying). Mr. Jacobson continues:

Change We Can’t Afford

While President Obama was elected by sizable majorities, it is not clear the public sent him to Washington with any specific policy mandates.

Meanwhile, discussion of the nation’s leftward lurch has some support among polling on voter identification, but ideological identity still favors conservatism in America. Moreover, recent figures show more Americans think the Democratic party is too liberal.

It seems America voted for some sort of “change,” though the Democrats’ version has not been what the doctor ordered on health care, energy taxes, or increasing the influence of union officials. In no instance has the public shown an appetite for going socialist.

There are certainly a host of small policy problems likely to be passed by big-government types in both parties. But Democrats have firmly grabbed the “overreach” mantle, though now it fits like an albatross.

By seeking economy- and society-altering policy overhauls with combined price tags of trillions of dollars, a handful of political elites showed they lost touch with a public that is, by and large, conservative. They’re just not crazy enough to seek change we can’t afford.

This is not over – not by a long shot. Complacency is the friend of Obama’s policies. The biggest mistake a boxer can make is overconfidence. Drop your guard for a moment, and that opponent who seconds ago looked destined for the floor surprises you with a right uppercut to the jaw. We are winning the battle of hearts and minds with objectivity and rationality on our side; but when has rational thought defined government?

More health care news:

Glenn Reynolds:

ANOTHER HEALTHCARE BILL NUGGET: “The section, titled ‘Advanced Care Planning Consultation’ requires senior citizens to meet at least every 5 years with a doctor or nurse practitioner to discuss dying with dignity.”

You have got to be kidding me. Thanks mom and dad, and our government thanks you to for all that hard work you did raising us. But your just too old and its just not worth keeping you around anymore. Sorry.

Michelle Malkin: Barack Obama speaks the truth! Update: Mayo not okay-o with Obamacare

Music to my ears, but don’t stop those phone calls and emails yet: Obamacare: Code Blue

Must see video via Glenn Reynold’s: NO PACEMAKER FOR YOUR MOM — have her take a pain pill.

I had to read this one twice. I think I slipped a disk during the double take. Better get that taken of before rationing arrives. From the Heritage Foundation: Morning Bell: Obama Admits He’s “Not Familiar” With House Bill. Ahem, excuse the question from a dumb citizen, but is anyone else out there bothered just a little about this statement?

Ah, how bittersweet to hear a self-labeled independent bemoan his selection of Barack Hussein Obama to the highest office in the land. Short of temper, long on incredulity, the blank look in their eyes like the thousand yard stare of someone in complete shock as circumstances around them spiral out of control. They have learned powerful lessons – that voting sans objectivity lacks intelligence and foresight, that dangerous consequences exist for decisions made on baseless emotional grounds, and the man they helped elect is destroying the very fabric of this country.

Should you find yourself faced with a similar tortured soul, remember to practice tough love. To ensure the lesson is driven home, remind them of the opportunity this country once provided and how their vote mortgaged the dreams of generations to come, their children and grandchildren now held hostage to a system whose only mass produced commodity is mediocrity and economic slavery. Don’t flinch as their eyes widen in horror, but stare them down, for it is this lesson that must stay with them for years to come, when opportunities to fix today’s mess present themselves in voting booths across this country.

Liberalism is an affliction, its adherents suffering from delusions of adequacy, their sense of purpose derived not by encouraging independence, but by chipping away at the very dignity of what it means to be a human being. Self-reliance gives way to reliance on the state, the very foundation of liberal thinking a child of nihilism’s will-to-power. Myopic in their lack of capacity to realize the foundation of their beliefs rest on the assumption that the very ground of reality is emptiness, that only an ephemeral conception called humanity possesses the capacity to bootstrap itself and change its very nature.

Wait, you may say, Christians are liberals. To these people I point out the bipolar nature of liberal thought – that one can be a Christian, even act outwardly like a Christian, but inwardly and often unconsciously and implicitly act the nihilist. What nihilism as a movement fails to realize is its own absurdity and contradiction. If reality is meaningless at its deepest and most fundamental level, then so are our thoughts about it. Nihilism negates everything…except itself. It is not radical enough to be objective. If it were, it would be practical to the point of utility, lending itself to a sort of pragmatism that does not ignore the nature of the world and attempt to mold it into something palatable.

As such it is as much a religion as Christianity. I can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God any more than a nihilist can provide objective evidence for their belief. Adherents to the tenants of nihilism seem incapable of recognizing the self-contradiction of attempting to create meaning where none exists. Why attempt a philosophy at all if your belief is that the ground of being is meaningless? It is like one is attempting to create a meaningful meaninglessness. If the original assumption is true, then any subsequent philosophy lacks a foundation. Perhaps that is why liberals love to tear down the founding principles of society – if you lack a foundation, then by extension, so should society. The core beliefs that made a country great now become fodder for destruction, their very existence distasteful to the warped liberal mind.

The fact of this self-contradiction now spreads itself into everyday actions and beliefs. It is now possible to believe we can change human nature, such as our propensity for conflict by appealing to a despotic leader’s logic while simultaneously allowing rampant sexual behavior to go unchecked. Why one instinct and not the other? PETA protects the animals, the ACLU protects the National Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), and if we could all just gather together and talk about our grievances then everything would be okay. Go ahead, Iranian diplomats, come on over to the White House for some hot dogs and a few beers.

Liberals are like cattle heading towards a cliff, and those who value freedom and independence are currently tethered to this self-destructive herd. Their subjugation of their will to government power and insistence that an entire society self-enslave themselves to the state calls into question the ability of liberals to think about any subject critically. This is not surprising as thinking is just one of many items in a liberal’s shopping bag of things the government should do for you.

This is particularly apparent in the global warming debate, something I will touch on tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few posts today from fellow bloggers I found particularly interesting:

Michelle Malkin on more liberal madness. It appears the EPA is hiding climate change emails not helpful to the global warming narrative. Now I wonder why that is?

Karl on why an Obamacare public plan should be an easy target.

Gateway Pundit has the latest news on Iran. Where is Obama? I can’t help but feel horrible whenever I see pictures of injured and dead students. The Neda image is seared into my mind.

High levels of testosterone and testicular fortitude abound at the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. Emperor Misha I on our Pathetic leader.