Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

OUR DAILY SNIPPETS ARE HERE.

SATURDAY,  MARCH 20,  2010

UNEQUAL OUTRAGE – AT 10:02 P.M. ET:  A story now getting wide circulation holds that some black members of Congress were cursed and spat at by tea partiers protesting the health bill outside the Capitol.

If it is true, and I have no reason to doubt the testimony of Congressman John Lewis and other black congressmen of fine reputation, then the tea party movement must immediately, and I mean immediately, denounce and condemn these scummy individuals, try to identify them, and drum them out of the movement.  I've never seen anything racial about the tea party phenomenon.  It is impossible to control every individual who shows up at a Capitol rally.  Some nuts may have joined in.

That having been said, I have a question:  Why is it that, when anti-black racism is charged, it becomes a headline story, but bigotry against other groups is largely ignored by the press?  Now, don't get me wrong.  The anti-black racism must be exposed and stomped out.  But I've seen CSPAN coverage of so-called "anti-war" rallies and pro-abortion demonstrations in which the most vile anti-Christian and anti-Semitic filth is spouted, and it isn't even reported.  If I weren't watching CSPAN, I wouldn't have known about it.

There is a double standard.  It's one of the reasons the press is held in such low regard.  The double standard must end.

March 20, 2010   Permalink

HEALTH CARE - NIGHT REPORT – AT 9:52 P.M. ET:  There have been no dramatic developments since our reports earlier today. 

The Dems are regularly sending the message, like a flashing neon sign, that they have the votes to pass the bill in the House, without even resorting to parliamentary gimmicks.  They probably do, although we won't know until late tomorrow.  Some of the "moderate" Democrats have clearly caved in.  I suspect they realized that their jobs would be worthless on Capitol Hill if they opposed Nancy Pelosi, even if those jobs will be in jeopardy in November.

Some moderate Dems may also figure – it's a line being spread rather actively by some liberal pundits – that health-care "reform" will become more popular once it's passed.  This line is based on the well-traveled idea that, when people start receiving benefits, they like them...and don't care how they're being paid for, or not being paid for.  And it's true:  It's almost impossible to take benefits away.

We'll know the House story within 24 hours.  Voting is expected late in the day, or at night. 

March 20, 2010   Permalink

HEALTH MOMENTUM – AT 5:23 P.M. ET:  Democrats have dropped the controversial "deem and pass" gimmick from their arsenal, another sign that they think they have the votes to pass their health plan tomorrow.  From Fox:

House Democrats on Saturday decided against using a controversial tactic to pass the Senate's version of the health care bill without an actual vote.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD., said he believes Democrats have enough votes to pass the legislation.

The decision capped an ongoing discussion on whether to use a so-called "deem and pass" strategy that would allow House members to approve the Senate version of health care bill without an actual vote before taking up a second "fix-it" resolution, known as reconciliation.

The stage is now set for three big votes on Sunday: the first to bring the "fix-it" bill to the House floor. The second on the bill. Then the final vote would be on the Senate bill itself.

If the final bill passes the House, the Senate plans to take it up next week.

Taking away "deem and pass" also takes away a powerful Republican issue and a possible basis for lawsuits. 

Harry Reid is claiming, at this hour, that he has majority support in the Senate to pass reconciliation measures.

If Dem claims are accurate, this is essentially over, with an Obama victory.  But Dems have made claims before.  I'd wait for the action, especially in the Senate, where Republicans will try to bring the bill down with objections.

March 20, 2010    Permalink

HEALTH CARE LATEST - AT 12:33 P.M. ET:   The Dems are starting to act as if they have the votes to pass the bill tomorrow.  From Fox:

House Democratic leaders have decided against including tighter restrictions on abortion funding in the final health care bill, indicating that they believe they have enough votes to pass legislation without the support of anti-abortion Democrats.

Members of the House Rules Committee, which began deliberations Saturday that will set the terms for Sunday's expected vote in the full House, told Fox News that no changes would be made to the abortion funding restrictions contained in the Senate version of the bill.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who has led the charge to include in the final bill tougher anti-abortion language passed last November by the House, postponed a Saturday morning news conference in which he was expected to announce a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

COMMENT:  Not that shocking.  Abortion is a religious cause for the left wing of the Democratic Party.  For some, abortion rights became the central issue in their lives.  (I've known people like that.)  The pro-life caucus, if things hold, is being put out to pasture. 

The real shame here is the behavior of so-called "moderate" Democrats who folded under pressure.  There is nothing moderate about this health bill.  They will have to explain it to their constituents, who should reject the explanations.

March 20, 2010   Permalink

A STRANGE APPEAL – AT 11:41 A.M. ET:  In a manner befitting the president of a student government, the president is appealing directly to the Iranian people, who have absolutely no power.  From AP:

In a fresh appeal directly to the Iranian people, US President Barack Obama says in an online video that the United States wants more educational and cultural exchanges for their students and better access to the Internet to give them a more hopeful future.

Isn't that precious?  We give them internet.  They send us nuclear explosions.  Fair deal, don't you think?

In the video, the second of his presidency directed at Iran, Obama said that the United States' offer of diplomatic dialogue still stands but that the Iranian government has chosen isolation. He said the US believes in the dignity of every human being.

Unfortunately, that belief in "the dignity of every human being" seems to include dictators.

Even though the United States and Iran continue to have differences, Obama said, "we will sustain our commitment to a more hopeful future for the Iranian people — for instance, by increasing opportunities for educational exchanges so that Iranian students can come to our colleges and universities and through our efforts to ensure that Iranians can have access to the software and Internet technology that will enable them to communicate with each other and with the world without fear of censorship."

So lovely.  So irrelevant.  Obama has gotten absolutely nowhere with Iran.  This must be some kind of consolation prize.  We've seen, in the administration's Israel bashing in the last few weeks, just how amateurish this crew is.  Video appeals like this might get Obama some points in the warm 'n fuzzy part of the job, but little else.

It's been a rough road for Obama, and there have been few signs Teheran is loosening its grip after bloody elections marred with allegations of fraud. And efforts to impose new sanctions have been slow to find unified support from US allies.

They call that the bottom line.  It's a concept Obama really doesn't understand. 

I wonder what those Iranians who see this video will really think of our president.  You'll recall that, during the insurrections in Iran, some demonstrators carried banners asking, "Obama, where are you?"  Now they know where he is.  He's in the Oval Office designing cultural exchanges.

March 20, 2010   Permalink 

AND IN THE SENATE... – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  So much attention has been focused on the House vote on unhealthy care tomorrow that we forget there's another division of Congress, the U.S. Senate.  The Hill reports on what the Senate might do if the bill passes the House:

The Senate could take up the healthcare bill as early as Tuesday if the House passes it on Sunday, the second-ranking Senate Republican said Friday night.

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he expected the Senate debate on healthcare to begin Tuesday if House Democrats are able to stay on track and pass their bill tomorrow afternoon as planned.

Only a simple majority would be required, as the bill would be taken up under the rules of the reconciliation process. 

Under those rules, there is limited debate and an exhaustive round of amendments before moving to final passage, which only requires a simple majority instead of the 60 votes normally needed to end a filibuster in the Senate.

Conversely, new elements of the healthcare bill could be stricken if they are deemed to not strictly relate to budgetary issues. Republicans are hoping to force such changes through points of order.

"Now, points of order can be raised at any time, and there will be a several points of order that can be raised against this legislation," Kyl explained.

The Republican goal is clear:

If Republicans are able to force changes in the Senate, it raises the prospect of the bill returning to the House again, where Democratic leaders over there would be forced to wrangle the votes again to pass the legislation.

COMMENT:  A momentous week coming up.  Get out all those self-examination medical kits available online from companies you never heard of, 'cause that's what you'll need if this monstrosity goes through.

March 20, 2010   Permalink

OBAMA HITS HIS ALL-TIME BOTTOM AGAIN IN RASMUSSEN POLL – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  As we anticipate tomorrow's health-care vote in the House, President Obama is being greeted by a wave of popular disapproval, as reported by Scott Rasmussen:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).

Each time the President leads a big push for his health care plan, his job approval ratings suffer. While some portions of the plan are popular, others are not.

And...

Overall, 43% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That also matches the lowest level yet recorded for this President. Fifty-six percent (56%) disapprove.

COMMENT:  I'd be cautious about these figures.  If the president's bill passes tomorrow, and he can sign it into law, public opinion, which is fickle, might change.  On the one hand, public anger toward the president can grow, as the American people look forward to federally managed care.  On the other hand, there may be a tendency to say, "All right, it passed.  Let's get behind it and give it a chance."

Also, polls show that Mitt Romney is the front runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.  He's the "next in line," which, sadly, is how the Republicans often nominate their presidential candidates.  Although it's very early in the game, I don't see Romney as a particularly strong candidate, although that could change by 2012.  There is no Reagan in the wings, and it may take a Reagan to defeat an Obama in campaign mode.

March 20,  2010   Permalink

FRIDAY,  MARCH 19,  2010

ONE PICTURE IS WORTH... – AT 10:12 P.M. ET:  We reported yesterday that Hillary Clinton, apparently working off her frequent flier miles, is in Moscow getting nowhere on Iran policy. 

The getting nowhere continued today.  A picture tells the story.  An obviously impressed (NOT) Vladimir Putin listens in awe to our animated secretary of state explain the details of the proposal for sanctions on Iran that Russia will sidestep or flatly reject.  Do you feel the aura of Clintonian success in the air?

Putin is probably thinking to himself, "In America they call what she's doing 'batting zero.'"

March 19, 2010   Permalink

AND NOW FOR THE DETAILS – AT 7:54 P.M. ET:  This is a subject starting to see the light of day, as journalists look at the sleight-of-hand in the health-care bill:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional budget scorekeepers say a Medicare fix that Democrats included in earlier versions of their health care bill would push it into the red.

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that rolling back a programmed cut in Medicare fees to doctors would cost $208 billion over 10 years. If added back to the health care overhaul bill, it would wipe out all the deficit reduction, leaving the legislation $59 billion in the red.

The so-called doc fix was part of the original House bill. Because of its high cost, Democrats decided to pursue it separately. Republicans say the cost should not be ignored. Congress has usually waived the cuts to doctors year by year.

This is an obscenity.  The Democrats cut the expensive feature out of the bill in order to rig the numbers and make it appear that the bill saves money.  But the feature, which essentially allows for at least respectable reimbursements for physicians who take Medicare patients, will have to be put back, or many, many doctors will opt out of the Medicare system, creating a medical crisis.  Bills that reinforce reimbursement are routinely passed.

But this time the feature will be passed after the main health bill, continuing the charade that the main bill will save money.

And that's the way it's done, folks.  You can get that kind of accounting on any street corner in a bad neighborhood in New York. 

Brace yourselves:  There'll be many more surprises like this.  On Sunday the Democratic Party will begin the process of breaking the bank.

March 19, 2010   Permalink

TOYOTA CONTINUES FIGHTING BACK – Apparent buoyed by reports that some reports of "out of control" Toyotas are false, Toyota is continuing is fight back.  The company seems to realize that its initial, apologize-to-everyone strategy has not worked.  The apologies, like Obama's apologies for the United States, only brought contempt.

Now Toyota is going after ABC for what the company considers a particularly outrageous report:

"Toyota deserves a public retraction and formal apology from ABC News." At least according to the automaker itself. For what, you ask? For ABC's "irresponsible broadcast entitled "Expert: Electronic Design Flaw Linked to Runaway Toyotas." You surely remember the piece, which originally aired the night before a Congressional Panel began investigating the issue of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

That dubious timing has also drawn ire from Toyota, which says ABC News "Rushed out the report" and "denied Toyota the opportunity to review specific manipulation" ABC and its expert, Dr. David Gilbert, "performed in the broadcast." If it had been given an opportunity to respond, Toyota claims it would have shown that Gilbert's technique required conditions that are "virtually impossible to occur in real-world conditions."

It's also pointed out in Toyota's four-page letter, which you can see in its entirety below, that ABC News faked at least one shot of a tachometer shooting from 1,000 to 6,200 RPM, insinuating that the vehicle was speeding out of control with Brian Ross behind the wheel when it was actually sitting in a parking lot with the transmission firmly in Park.

COMMENT:  We've compared the Toyota controversy to global warming.  The first stories featured authoritative-looking people who assured us that they had The Truth.  Then other truths started to come out.  What's a trial lawyer to do?

We're only at the beginning of this story, and we'll follow it.

March 19, 2010   Permalink

THE COUNT – AT 7:16 P.M. ET:  I must report the impression gathered from a variety of news sources, that the Democrats either have or are close to having, enough votes for passage of the health bill on Sunday, and may not even need the procedural gimmicks they were threatening.

The pressure of the Dems has been intense, with Barack Obama and his Chicago Swing Band providing a good part of it.  Many Americans don't realize that the bill also includes a rewrite of the student-loan program. 

However, even if the Dems win a major victory on Sunday, there still could be combat ahead.  There are apparently some technicalities that require Senate approval.  These could throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. 

It's now about power, and who is king (or queen) of the hill. 

Two days to go.  If the bill passes, look for lawsuits, some of them brought by the states on Constitutional grounds.

March 19, 2010   Permalink

EMPLOYMENT NEWS – AT 9:48 A.M. ET:  As if ABC News wasn't left-wing enough, the tilt will be further strengthened by Christiane Amanpour:

Christiane Amanpour will be leaving CNN to join ABC News.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the incredible team at ABC News. Being asked to anchor “This Week” and the superb tradition started by David Brinkley, is a tremendous and rare honor and I look forward to discussing the great domestic and international issues of the day,"Amanpour said in a statement. I leave CNN with the UTMOST respect, love and admiration for the company and everyone who works here. This has been my family and shared endeavor for the past 27 years and I am forever grateful and proud of all that we have accomplished.”

Amanpour was CNN's chief international correspondent and anchored Amanpour, a 30-minute, daily interview program that premiered on CNN International in September 2009.

Amanpour worked for 18 years as an international correspondent, covering major crises including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans and the United States during Hurricane Katrina.

COMMENT:  Maybe it was too much to hope that ABC News, after the death of Peter Jennings, would try to balance its reporting, and indeed it has some fine reporters.  But Amanpour will bring it back to the bad old days.  We well remember her reports on election day, 2008, when she biked around New York and told us she sensed the beginning of a new and nobler age.  So much for fair and balanced.

CNN is a ratings train wreck, in part because it's so reliably liberal.  If the organization were smart – and there are doubts – they'd replace Amanpour with someone more to the center.  But they won't.

March 19, 2010   Permalink

OBAMA'S FOREIGN-POLICY WRECKAGE – AT 8:36 A.M. ET:  Something else that must be depressing the enthusiasm of Americans is the wreck that Barack Hussein Obama Jr. has made of foreign policy.

Can you point to a single Obama success in foreign policy, other than his popularity with teen-aged German girls?

Robert Kagan, in the Washington Post, surveys the storm damage in a rather devastating way: 

The president who ran against "unilateralism" in the 2008 campaign has worse relations overall with American allies than George W. Bush did in his second term.

In Democratic circles, that is the second-worst insult that can be delivered, the worst being that you didn't graduate from an Ivy League school with a degree in ethnic grievance. 

In Britain, people are talking about the end of the "special relationship" with America and worrying that Obama has no great regard for the British, despite their ongoing sacrifices in Afghanistan. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has openly criticized Obama for months (and is finally being rewarded with a private dinner, presumably to mend fences). In Eastern and Central Europe, there has been fear since the administration canceled long-planned missile defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic that the United States may no longer be a reliable guarantor of security.

And...

Who has attracted attention in the Obama administration? The answer, so far, seems to be not America's allies but its competitors, and in some cases its adversaries. If there were a way to measure administration exertion in foreign policy, the meter would show the greatest concentration of energy, beyond the war in Afghanistan, has been devoted to four endeavors: the failed first-year attempt to improve relations with Iran; the ongoing attempt to improve relations with Russia; the stalled effort to improve cooperation with China; and the effort -- fruitless so far -- to prove to the Arab states that the United States is willing to pressure Israel to further the peace process. Add to these the efforts to improve relations with Syria, engage Burma and everything with Af-Pak, and not much has been left for the concerns of our allies.

This is bad enough, but compounding the problem has been the administration's evident impatience with allies who don't do as they are told.

And...

The president has shown seemingly limitless patience with the Russians as they stall an arms-control deal that could have been done in December. He accepted a year of Iranian insults and refusal to negotiate before hesitantly moving toward sanctions.

Finally...

This administration pays lip-service to "multilateralism," but it is a multilateralism of accommodating autocratic rivals, not of solidifying relations with longtime democratic allies. Rather than strengthening the democratic foundation of the new "international architecture" -- the G-20 world -- the administration's posture is increasingly one of neutrality, at best, between allies and adversaries, and between democrats and autocrats.

COMMENT:  That is not a vote of confidence, but it is one of the best descriptions of our foreign policy that I've read.  Change is needed.  Remember that 2012 is only two years away.

March 19, 2010   Permalink

OBAMA'S POLL DANCE FADES AWAY – AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  The president is taking heat in the polls.  From Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics:

Yesterday I noted that President Obama's job approval rating in the Gallup tracking poll went upside down for the first time. Today, with Gallup's rating staying upside down and with the addition three new polls in the last 24 hours (NBC/WSJ, Pew, and Fox News), Obama's job approval in the Real Clear Politics Average has gone net negative for the first time ever as well. Currently 47.3% of those surveyed approve of the job Obama is doing as President, while 47.8% disapprove.

One of the things dragging the president down is his pushing of the very health-care bill that will be voted on this weekend.  From Fox:

As Americans wait for Congress to act on health care, a Fox News poll released Thursday finds 55 percent oppose the reforms being considered, while 35 percent favor them.

In addition, just over half of voters think House Democrats are “changing the rules” to get their bill passed.

About a third of voters (31 percent) think House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are “playing by the rules” to get health care through, while 53 percent think they are “changing the rules.” Looking at the results by political party, 53 percent of Democrats think their party is playing by the rules, about one in four think they are changing the rules (27 percent) and the rest are unsure (19 percent). Varying majorities of Republicans (78 percent) and independents (57 percent) think House Democrats are changing the rules to pass the bill.

COMMENT:  One thing that's hard to factor into these polls is the "likability" factor.  I believe that the president was, during part of his first year in office, helped considerably by the fact that he appeared "likable."  I'm not so sure he gets the warm and cuddly vote any longer.  These days Mr. Obama seems to be a member of the law firm of Cold, Petulant and Snippy, specialists in losing friends.  Even the Obama Girl from the 2008 campaign has turned against him.

March 19, 2010   Permalink

HEALTH VOTE TWO DAYS AWAY – AT 7:37 A.M. ET:  This will be an extraordinary weekend in our political lifetime.  Americans are aware of that.  And I have never sensed the sadness that I feel coming over this nation, in response to a domestic issue.

It's as if we're losing something truly American, and we are.  To watch the once-great Democratic Party at work is to watch an organization whose worst characteristics are now dominant - the power of its left wing, contempt for the voters it claims to represent, and a big-city-machine style of politics that offends the sensibilities.  Further, I think there's a genuine sadness that Barack Obama has proved to be such a complete disappointment.  Far removed from the elegant and sometimes inspirational candidate that he was, he today acts more like a political thug, bullying friends at home and allies abroad. 

Some compare Obama to Jimmah Carter.  It's a poor comparison.  Obama is far more dangerous because he has political gifts that Carter lacked.  And Obama has a built-in, rigidly loyal constituency that Carter also lacked.  Further, the Republican opposition had, waiting in the wings, one Ronald Reagan, ready to take on Carter in 1980.  I do not see a Reagan today, but I hope I'm wrong.

It is impossible to get a precise vote count on the health bill, heading into the weekend.  Michael Barone still maintains that Nancy Pelosi still lacks the votes needed to pass the bill in a normal, democratic manner.  Thus, it's widely accepted that the Dems will resort to parliamentary maneuvers that may be open to Constitutional challenge.  What a way to dispense with one sixth of the nation's economy, and a life-or-death issue for Americans. 

There is still hope.  The Republicans are gearing up for a major fight, and have their own parliamentarians at work.  There will be rulings and points of order.  The one thing the Dems don't want is for this bill to have to be returned to the Senate for further votes.  The Republicans believe they can bottle it up in the upper house.

So fasten your seatbelts, as Bette said, it's going to be a bumpy night, and a bumpy weekend ahead.  With the president openly boasting that the gimmicks the Dems plan to use might be used on other bills as well, we may be fighting this weekend for the future of genuine democracy itself.

March 19,  2010   Permalink