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Contrary To All The Theories, Democrats Will Not Benefit From ObamaCare

History holds no examples of unpopular Washington policy quickly growing in public favor. History is brimming with illustrations of legislation the public came to hate even more than when it passed.

An equally popular theory is the "We Must Close the Enthusiasm Gap" line. Democrats are demoralized. If the White House does not provide its base a big victory, th... read more

Amplifyd from online.wsj.com
Another week, another episode of health-care drama
Yet the ObamaCare dozer grinds on, and on, and on.
In the interest of sanity, let’s go through the theories.
The most popular might be termed the “If We Build It, They Will Come” hypothesis.
The White House loves this one
Americans just don’t understand the health bill.
Once it is in place, the polls will improve.
This might have been compelling, say, last July. There has since been an inverse relationship between the number of times the president briefs the country and the public’s view of reform
Americans now firmly believe the sum total is a monstrosity that will harm the economy
Moreover, the bill offers nothing in the short term to change that view. Its taxes kick in immediately; its benefits are delayed for years. Every time an insurer hikes premiums in coming months (as they will), Democrats will get to explain why ObamaCare isn’t working. History holds no examples of unpopular Washington policy quickly growing in public favor.
pw0312
See more at online.wsj.com
 

Schmucky Schumer & Little Dick Durbin Fight Over Minority Leader

Either one — Schmucky Schumer or Little Dick Durbin — would make a fine leader of the minority Democrats next year; Schumer with his cornrow-style hair-plugs and the other with his infamous halitosis.

And don’t you love the smell of virtual napalm on the Democrat side of the aisle?

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com

Pass the popcorn, Nahanni: Schumer and Durbin Fight to Replace Senate Majority Leader Reid, Since Voters Plan on Forcibly Retiring Him in November

When you’ve lost Time Magazine, Harry, you’ve just flat out lost.
No one remembers exactly when they started, but there is no doubt that the campaigns for Senate majority leader are raging on Capitol Hill. They have not been formally declared, of course, and for good reason — the position is still filled. But as Harry Reid’s November re-election has looked increasingly imperiled, his two top deputies in the Senate have become more overt in their quests for his job. And in a Senate that is already near paralyzed by partisan rancor, the two Democrats’ maneuverings are threatening to further gum up the works.
Well, if by “gum up”, you mean prevent this rogue Congress from further screwing up the country with its unconstitutional power-grabs, well then, I’m all for it.
Read more at directorblue.blogspot.com
 

Progressives

Perhaps we are simply different than any other model in which Progressive ideology has overtaken in the history of the world. I am renewed by the overwhelming rejection of national healthcare; the rejection of union stranglehold on the workforce; the rejection of oppressive taxation of job creators; and the rejection of the media’s White Knight narrative of the... read more

Amplifyd from iowntheworld.com
by BigFurHat
And They’ll Do This Forever
or until someone like Obama finally kills the tax base and, eventually, the Republic
progressives
See more at iowntheworld.com
The idea of Progressive Change is simple: collapse the economic system from within and solidify seat of power by providing government entitlement to the people affected by the economic collapse. What the Progressives did not expect – and admittedly I was not confident of – was that even in these times, Americans would ultimately rise up against those Progressive ideals. Why? Perhaps we’ve learned from our history and the devastation we now are forced to handle with FDR’s New Deal. Perhaps we’ve refreshed ourselves with world history and the brutality which always follows statist government.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”Read more at rantsandrefinements.blogspot.com
 

Economy is Dying, Thanks to Marxist-Democrat Policies

-- existing-home sales are down two months in a row to a seven-month low;

-- first-time claims for unemployment benefits have risen in six of this year's first eight weeks;

-- and new orders excluding transportation fell 0.6%; orders for capital goods fell 2.5%, while capital spending itself was down a thumping 3.5%.

...the magnitude of the declines note... read more

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com
Commentary: Recent data paint a picture of an economy slowing — sharply
The fledgling economic recovery appears to be running out of gas… The recent run of economic data is most compelling. Just about all of them paint a picture of an economy slowing — and sharply, at that…
– both consumer confidence and sentiment have fallen unexpectedly;

– after-tax personal incomes adjusted for inflation have flattened;

– sales of both new and existing homes took a surprising stumble;

– orders for most durable goods are down;

– manufacturing has slowed;

– jobless claims are up;

– fourth-quarter GDP growth came largely from a slower pace of inventory liquidation, not from an increase in consumer spending;
– and as a matter of fact, consumer spending weakened last quarter.

Understand that the changes in the data above were not insignificant:

– consumer confidence fell to a 27-year low;
Read more at directorblue.blogspot.com
 

“If The American People Find Out That Bill is About Giving Health Care To Non-Citizens….”

A caller to the Mark Levin Show on June 25, 2009 described how what Menendez and La Raza view "health care reform".

I want to tell you that last week I attended a conference on health care reform sponsored by La Raza. And I will tell you that what they had to say, Mark, is scarier than anything that's been said so far on the health care plan.

...som... read more

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com
The White House and Democrats had one mission today: prepare the political class for the President’s announcement, probably Wednesday, that he thinks the Senate ought to proceed with reconciliation to ****pass or modify**** a comprehensive health care bill (passed by the House or Senate first? Not sure.). But Democrats still don’t agree: Kent Conrad, the budget committee chairman, says that the House must pass the extant Senate bill (with all the bad stuff in there) first; the House wants to see if the Senate has the votes for the Obama bill (with all the bad stuff taken out), and Conrad said today that reconciliation can’t be used to pass #HCR.
On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Robert Menendez claimed that Senate Democrats would be able to muster 51 votes to pass the bill through reconciliation.
This is the same menacing supporter of the radical Hispanic separatist group La Raza (”The Race”) who believes that a health care bill should offer “stealth amnesty” to illegal immigrants.
See more at directorblue.blogspot.com
 

Union Admits Buying Politician, Wants $ Back

though, the union has taken sudden umbrage at Griffith’s voting record. “Parker Griffith, we feel you have swindled us,” Henley said at a recent rally in Hunstville, Alabama.

Henley criticized Griffith for voting “no” on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the stimulus bill and health care reform.

Of course, there is one interesting fact, he... read more

Amplifyd from www.stoptheaclu.com
February 18, 2010
-By Warner Todd Huston

When an average citizen donates money to a politician it is usually because that citizen believes in the politician and wants to help him have the war chest to conduct a campaign. Unions like to pretend that they donate to politicians out of the goodness of their hearts, just like common citizens do. Everyone knows, though, that they are merely making an attempt to buy them. A union in Alabama has as much as <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1266315354117330.xml&coll=1
Union asks for donations back”>admitted that they were trying to buy a politician, but when he didn’t dance to their tune, these union folks demanded their contributions back.

Al Henley, secretary-treasurer of the Alabama AFL-CIO, seems to be a mite miffed with Alabama Representative Parker Griffith. You’ll recall that Griffith was the one-time Democrat who jumped the sinking Donkey ship and became a Republican late last year.

Apparently while he was a Democrat the AFL-CIO had no problem giving him campaign money. Now that he’s a Republican,Read more at www.stoptheaclu.com
 

Terrified Health Insurers Lay Off Thousands To Prepare for Socialized Medicine

“Humana's business activities are subject to substantial government regulation. New laws or regulations, or changes in existing laws or regulations or their manner of application, could increase the company's cost of doing business and could materially affect its business, profitability and financial condition. In addition, as a government contractor, the compa... read more

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com
The unrelenting attacks on the private sector have deterministic results. The massive health insurer Humana, for instance, just announced that it’s laying off 1,400 employees (five percent of its workforce) this year.
Aite Group senior analyst Kunal Pandya pointed out that these cuts and additions may be part of a strategy to prepare the company for future changes brought on by healthcare reform…. Aite Group believes that when healthcare reform is enacted, early movers in focusing on elements that will be proposed by healthcare reform, like Humana, will find themselves positioned to benefit in the long-term.”
Clearly, Humana is trying to position itself for whatever the future might bring, in terms of regulation, competition and demographic changes. The “cautionary statement” text –- typically mind-numbing boilerplate –- that closed the February 17 press release illustrated this. For example:
Read more at directorblue.blogspot.com
 

Union Pensionomics Levies Crushing Debt on State and Local Governments

The job is not over until every public union in the country is abolished along with their overbloated pension plans.

The financial blight -- bequeathed by the public sector unions to state and local government -- is not yet visible to most Americans. Thanks to pragmatists like Governor Christie, these unions are going to resemble cockroaches when the light of ... read more

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com
How’s this for an investment?
You pay a total of $124,000 into your pension plan and, upon retiring at age 49, you receive $3.3 million in pension payments and $500,000 in health care benefits. You receive $3.8 million in total on a $124,000 investment.
Or this:
You pay a total of $62,000 towards a pension plan and absolutely nothing for health care (medical, dental and vision coverage) over your working career. Upon retirement, you are paid $1.4 million in pension and $215,000 in health care benefits. You receive $1.6 million on a $62,000 investment.
Republican Governor Chris Christie is demanding drastic actions to prevent New Jersey from falling off the precipice and into full-fledged bankruptcy.
The reality is public unions are public enemy number one. Christie did not go far enough. He should have stated a goal of totally abolishing the unions.
Christie’s proposal is just a start.
Linked by: Hot Air. Thanks!Read more at directorblue.blogspot.com
 

Who Appears At The Intersection of Every Legislative and Regulatory Failing of the Mortgage System?

CONTINUED ........ Consider the findings of the auditor: "Over 50% of the sub primes were for cash-out refi’s. Regardless of the loan criteria used to pull random samplings for audits, the majority of the last names were Hispanic. The loans I audited were primarily in CA, NV, AZ, FL, CO, compare those to the states with the highest number of foreclosures & ille... read more

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com
In 2004, a Congressional effort to limit the use of MCCs was defeated by a consortium of financial institutions, immigrants’ rights groups, consumer groups, and many others. These organizations had formed a loose coalition to defeat, again, limitations on the use of consular ID cards by banks, credit unions, thrifts and other financial institutions.
By a vote of 222 to 177, the House passed a bipartisan amendment (HA 754), introduced by Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Pastor (D-AZ), Hinojosa (D-TX), Oxley (R-OH) and Kolbe (R-AZ). It prohibited the Treasury Dept. from implementing regulations regarding the acceptance of FCCs by financial institutions.
But prior to that hearing, the FBI was adamantly opposed to the use of MCCs as valid identification. Assistant Director Steve McCraw’s testimony before Congress in 2003 was blunt: “…consular ID cards are primarily being utilized by illegal aliens in the United States.
See more at directorblue.blogspot.com
 

Someone is Lying About the Detroit Underwear Bomber

Eric Holder, in writing, says he did.

Someone is lying -- and an immediate investigation is needed. Eric Holder needs to be put under oath and questioned extensively about his side of this bizarre story. The safety of innocent Americans -- men, women and children -- hangs in the balance.


Hat tip: Commenter Brian.

Someone is Lying About the Detroit Unde... read more

Amplifyd from directorblue.blogspot.com
Item One: After concerted pressure from Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder confessed that he was behind charging the alleged Detroit crotch-bomber in civilian court, thereby terminating the interrogation process after a scant 50 minutes.
So Holder says that all relevant intelligence agencies were consulted. But:
Item 2: On February 2nd, however, CNN reported that no one in the intelligence communities knew of Holder’s decision.
And:
Item 3: According to Politico, “Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano admitted they had not been consulted about the decision to Mirandize Abdulmutallab.”
And:
Item 4: The former chairs of the 9/11 Commission criticized the handling of the Crotch-bomber case, saying that the terrorism and intelligence communities should have been consulted.
In short, the heads of the intelligence agencies say that Eric Holder never consulted them about the decision to Miranda-ize the crotch-bomberRead more at directorblue.blogspot.com