Sunday, March 21, 2010

Liberals Getting a Taste of How ‘Balance’ Feels:

Amity Shlaes "At its most devilishly aggressive -- and whatever lines it inserts about church, state, hip-hop or the Alamo -- the board will not restore true balance. It will merely manage to make the curriculum a little less skewed to the left."

Hundreds of Israelis Protest “Obama Infitada” in Gush Etzion

Gateway Pundit "Protesters at Gush Etzion told reporters, 'Obama is an enemy of the state of Israel… The American people are on our side. They oppose what Obama is doing… We are telling the Prime Minister to ‘Crush the Obama Infitada.’ ”

Bill Clinton Mocks Goracle: "It's the Start of Spring, Otherwise Known to Al Gore as Proof of Global Warming"

WSJ "So he got loosened up at Saturday night’s white-tie dinner with a joke at his own expense: “I have been waiting to stand in for President Obama for a long time,” he said, “ and since they turned me down for Dancing with the Stars, I had nothing better to do.” He said President Obama called to asked him to fill in because the current president was busy in the White House “polishing up his Nobel Peace Prize.” Obama, he said, asked: “You’ve got one of these, don’t you?”..."

You Won’t Believe This One

Jennifer Rubin "Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Sunday morning that he is close to striking a deal with the Obama administration on abortion provisions. “We are close to getting something done,” Stupak said in an interview with MSNBC. Stupak said he engaged in talks late into the night on Saturday night. The possible deal would focus on an executive order that would specify there would be no public funding for abortions in the healthcare bill." Do they have the votes? Update: Nye a nay; Update: Stupak Dozen member caves; Update: Stupak says a deal is close via Hot Air.

The Take: Historic win or not, Democrats could pay a price

Washington Post "The lengthy and rancorous debate has inflicted considerable damage on the president and his party. It helped spark the grass-roots "tea party" movement and generated angry town hall meetings last summer that led to some opponents painting Obama as a socialist and a communist for advocating a greater government role in the health-care industry. The issue now is whether final passage of the legislation -- Senate leaders say they will take up the reconciliation bill this week -- will cause more harm or begin a turnaround in the Democrats' fortunes heading toward the November midterm elections."

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Video: Ryan vs Slaughter on Medicare reform

Hot Air "This clip is getting a lot of attention on Twitter, and for good reason:"...

Obama recalls bunker-buster bomb kits to bar Israeli strike on Iran

DEBKAfile "Shortly after Vice President Joe Biden's Israel visit ended on March 11 in high dudgeon over the approval 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, US president Barack Obama ordered a consignment of Joint Direct Attack Munition- JDAM already on its way to Israel to be diverted to the US Air Force base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. This step, the pointer to a US arms embargo for preventing Israel attacking Iran's nuclear sites, is first revealed here by debkafile's military sources."

Boehner to Speaker Pelosi: “Every Member Should Stand Before the American People and Announce His or Her Vote”

GOP Leader "It appears the House of Representatives will proceed with plans to vote this weekend on President Obama’s health care legislation, despite the well-documented objections of the American people to both the contents of the bill and the manner in which the Democratic leadership hopes to pass it. This weekend’s votes will be among the most consequential votes we will ever cast as Members of Congress. As such, it is my belief that every Member should stand before the American people and announce his or her vote as the final decision is made."

Hatch Says It’s ’Nuts’ to Think House Vote Ends Health Issue

Bloomberg "If the measure passes, Senate Republicans have enough votes on at least two points of order to alter the measure and send it back to the House for a second round of votes, Hatch said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. “If those people think they’re only going to vote on this once, they’re nuts,” Hatch said as House Democratic leaders rounded up support before the scheduled vote on President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. "

Probable Constitutional Challenges to ObamaCare

Pajamas Media (All emphases gleefully added.) "The Washington Post has reported that under the final version of the national health care bill, “all Americans would be required for the first time to obtain insurance or face an annual penalty of $695; employers could face penalties of $2,000 per worker for not offering affordable coverage.” Not in Idaho they won’t. The attorney general of the state of Idaho (and attorneys general in the other states rushing to pass similar legislation) is, no doubt, working right now on a lawsuit to defend his state’s law and to challenge the constitutionality of ObamCare. There are a number of other possible constitutional challenges if the national health care legislation becomes the law of the land. Look for private citizens and employers who are fined under the new law to sue under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments.

Political Cartoons by Brian Farrington

Townhall

A Way Out of Soviet-Style Health Care

Milton Friedman "."Depersonalized," "doctor and patient as enemies"—those are the key phrases in the growing body of complaints about health maintenance organizations and other forms of managed care. In many managed care situations, the patient no longer regards the physician who serves him as "his" or "her" physician responsible primarily to the patient; and the physician no longer regards himself as primarily responsible to the patient. His first responsibility is to the managed care entity that hires him. He is not engaged in the kind of private medical practice that Dr. Oreschenkov valued so highly."