The Conservative Praetorian: One of the seven deadly sins- Gloating

Opinion 1.0

Alright, I know it isn't gloating. When I saw the democrats today mentioning dear ol' Teddy, it kind of brought a tear to my eyes. Not really, I'm lying. They were so smug, I wanted to lobb a couple of smoke bombs in the room. It is so amazing to me that a bill can be passed when the citizens of American do not support this obamintion of a bill, they are lying their butts off, manipulating the CBO, bribing senators, left and ~~right ,~~ (just left) and the estimated cost (situational math) of this whole takeover. I know they will sign this tomorrow morning. But, I am not giving up, because they have to go home tomorrow and cohabitate with their constituents. They are in for a treat. Another beautiful issue is there is going to be a big confrontation when the the senate meets the house and the two bills collide. The lines are being drawn in the sand. The liberals are standing strong on the abortion funding and public option, the moderates are adamant about the the elimination of the taxpayer funded abortion and a bill without a public option. The other black cloud is the blatant bribery by Harry (Dr. Smith) Reid. The joke is on the American people since it is our taxes paying these bribes. If a private company did this, Eric Holder would be investigating them as we speak. As I've said in previous post, the stimulus bill resources are being used as a democratic slush fund , because it surely not stimulating the economy. However, Obama said he is pleased, and that is what matters. I hope the 2010 midterms becomes a blood bath for democrats who think that they should decide what we need even though we don't want it. Oh yes, the "Hypocrites of Demcare." I was so impressed with the Govenor of Nebraska. He called Ben Nelson's bluff. That takes integrity and pride, something the democratic senators checked at the door. As I've said many times before, contact and/or visit your representatives and express your views. This is our chance to be heard. "Save our healthcare."

Fool on the hill:

Fool on the hill, Part II:

Obama's Latest Health Care Lie

Matt Welch
December 22, 2009

That would be in remarks the president made yesterday:

The Congressional Budget Office now reports that this bill will reduce our deficit by $132 billion over the first decade, and by as much as $1.3 trillion in the decade after that. So I just want to be clear, for all those who are continually carping about how this is somehow a big spending government bill, this cuts our deficit by $132 billion the first 10 years, and by over a trillion in the second. That argument that opponents are making against this bill does not hold water.

There are actually multiple lies and deceptions in this paragraph, beginning with the verb "reports" to describe what the Congressional Budget Office does. The CBO, as Peter Suderman documented in his foundational Reason feature on the organization, does not "report," it "projects," in highly speculative fashion, what a proposed piece of legislation may cost. What's more, as Suderman detailed in a more recent piece that every American should read before listening to a word the president says, the CBO is bound in its "scoring" to take at face value what every living politician–Obama included–knows to be a stinking lie. That is, Congress' promises to make hundreds of billions of dollars worth of unspecified future spending "cuts." From the article:

[A]s the health care debate has progressed throughout the year, Congressional Democrats have become far more adept at getting the CBO to count the beans just the way they want.

Indeed, they have become so skilled at getting what they want out of the CBO that the office has taken to including strongly worded warnings that the various bills' real costs may not actually match their estimates.
Analysts at the CBO are not blind to this, but they must score bills as if what is written is what will happen. However, they are not prohibited from issuing strong warnings about what might happen if the legislative reality they assumed for scoring purposes somehow does not come to pass

Which is exactly what they have done (read the whole thing for multiple examples). And even given Obama's root lie of "reports," and passing over the absurd lie that this is somehow not "a big spending government bill," there's a lie built into the very CBO claim that the president is waving around like a lie-shattering club. Cue ABCnews.com's Jake Tapper:

But the deficit reduction number cited by the president has been disavowed by CBO.

When CBO first guesstimated by how much the Senate health reform legislation would reduce the deficit, they said it would be about half a percent of GDP -- $1.3 billion, said Democrats.

But on Sunday, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf issued a correction, downgrading the estimate from half a percent of GDP to between a quarter and a half a percent. The reason is that CBO misinterpreted when recommendations from the Medicare Advisory Committee would kick in.

Finally, as Suderman again has tirelessly pointed out, cutting the deficit is not the same as spending less, contra Obama's formulation here. Why, it's almost as if you could write something every day about the president's health care mendacity!

I'm still waiting for those who whooped and hollered when Obama said "we will call you out" to react with similar enthusiasm when the caller-outer-in-chief is caught red-handed. I guess we'll have to wait until they find themselves on the other side of the legislative argument. Who coulda guessed that the "reality-based community" would fudge facts to win fights just like the faith-based monsters they replaced?

Reason.TV:

Senior Dem: Kill the Senate health reform bill and start over

By Michael O'Brien - 12/23/09 02:12 PM ET

The Senate's healthcare bill is fatally flawed, a senior Democrat atop a powerful committee said on Wednesday.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee and co-chairwoman of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, said that the Senate's bill is so flawed that it's unlikely to be resolved in conference with the bill to have passed the House.

"The Senate health care bill is not worthy of the historic vote that the House took a month ago," Slaughter wrote in an opinion piece for CNN's website.

Slaughter argued that while the House bill is far from perfect, the Senate bill's exclusion of a public option, along with abortion funding restrictions and other measures, make the bill undeserving of a vote.

Specifically, Slaughter said, the Senate bill would charge seniors higher premiums, would fail to nix health insurers' antitrust exemption and would not go far enough in extending coverage to people in the U.S.

"Supporters of the weak Senate bill say 'just pass it — any bill is better than no bill,' " Slaughter wrote. "I strongly disagree — a conference report is unlikely to sufficiently bridge the gap between these two very different bills."

The New York Democrat also sounded a note similar to what Republicans have said (though for different reasons): Scrap the current healthcare bill, and start over.

"It's time that we draw the line on this weak bill and ask the Senate to go back to the drawing board," she said. "The American people deserve at least that."

Update, 2:54 p.m.: A Senate Republican aide chimed in on Slaughter: "Unfortunately for moderate Democrats, all the sweetheart deals in the world couldn’t help you win an election when voters from across the political spectrum hate you because of your support for this disastrous bill."

Kill Bill Vol. III:

Opposition to Senate Healthcare Bill: Call your Senators!

"We the people" must stop the Obamacare Proposals: I am formally asking (pleading) with you to muster up the initiative and enthusiasm to fight the healthcare bill that will emerge in the end of the year. First, there are 2 bills (proposals) that will somehow be merged into one bill. Liberals are adamant about some form of "Public Option." (Government Run Option) I think the democrats believe they can push this bill through while we are sleeping. The democrats have blocked many bills that would allow the final bill to be posted on the internet 72 hours prior to a vote. Why? you know why. We must oppose this more than we did over the summer. Let them know, we are not against healthcare reform, just not a total makeover. Call and email your representatives. I have emailed and called mine so many times, they are referring to me by my first name. Write an old fashioned letter, it has a lot of importance. Attend your local tea parties and townhalls to voice your opinions and make a overwhelming presence. Below, is a little list how you can get involved. It is our civic duty. "It is our Country."

http://www.congress.org/
http://www.joinpatientsfirst.com/
http://www.freedomworks.org/
http://www.resistnet.com/
http://www.teapartypatriots.com/
http://www.teaparty.org/
http://www.taxpayer.org/
http://www.taxpayer.net/
info@cmpi.org
http://www.fairtax.org/
http://www.conservativeamericansunited.org/

CALL YOUR SENATORS! EMAIL YOUR SENATORS! CALL YOUR SENATORS! EMAIL YOUR SENATORS!

Polls you can live by:

26% Strongly approve of President Obama's job performance.
44% Strongly disapprove.
Presidential Approval Rating Index: -18 (lowest to-date)
45% Somewhat approve of President's job performance.
55% Somewhat disapprove
Generic ballot-Republicans 44% Democrats 36%

Quote du jour:
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."

Sir Winston Churchill (speaking of Harry Reid, Max Baucus and Chris Dodd)