Porker of the Month: Rep. Louise Slaughter

I got this little ditty from an email that I receive periodically from the Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). See: This is exactly what I was talking about in my previous blog entry.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) Porker of the Month for conjuring up an eponymous House “rule” that would have allowed House Democrats to ram through the $2.3 trillion healthcare reform bill without directly voting on it. The invocation of the “Slaughter Rule” was one of the last steps in the tortured journey of the bloated, expensive healthcare bill. In an effort to absolve vulnerable House Democrats of having to take an unpopular vote on the Senate version of the bill without an ironclad guarantee that the Senate would later enact corrections to the most toxic provisions, Chairwoman Slaughter jury-rigged a proposed “self-enacting” rule that would allow the House to vote to “deem” the Senate bill as passed without forcing members to cast individual votes up or down. To quote former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, “Last year, the House was passing bills without reading them. This year, they’re passing bills without voting on them.” This mind-boggling disintegration of the legislative process into procedural travesty enabled by Chairwoman Slaughter provoked questions of constitutionality, fairness, and transparency, and in the end was not used to pass the abominable healthcare bill. For her mindless slaughter of the legislative process and leading an assault on the credibility of Congress, House Rules Committee Chairwoman Slaughter is CAGW’s March Porker of the Month.

Our Freedom

There is a quote over on the right side of my blog by Abraham Lincoln. It says that we will lose our freedoms through our own actions and not from outside forces. Read it. It is as true today as it was the day he said it. America needs to carefully consider who they are electing to Congress. We need to make sure that they will follow the will of the people and not be power and money hungry. By passing Obamacare, we have just given up a little more of our freedom to the federal government. This is how it happens. We give up a little power for this and a little power for that, and before you know it, you are enslaved to a federal government whose elected officials now hold all the power.

Earmarks

I read a truly enlightening article at the Wall Street Journal's web site. It was written by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC). Look it up. This is the title of the article: Earmarks: Corrupting and Wasteful. I added a link to the title of this post.

Deem and Pass

I can't believe that the Democrats and Obama are trying a new tactic to get this health care bill passed. So the American people get clued in about the reconciliation strategy and oppose it. Now the Democrats and Obama are trying to "Deem and Pass" the bill in the Senate. I even heard Nancy Pelosi say that we should just get the bill passed and deal with the little problems in the bill later. Why are these people still in office? They are enacting legislation that the American people do not support. Legislatures are supposed to represent the people and their wishes. This seems to be lacking in a most appalling way. I also oppose the little kickbacks to states like Nebraska who buy their way out of having to participate in Obamacare. The thing is, when the founders of our country tried to unite the different states into a nation, it was a struggle. It took a long time to write up a constitution that would unite while still giving states autonomy. The states weren't willing to combine into one nation because they were afraid that they would lose their rights as a state and they weren't willing to do that. Knowing that makes this bill all the more detestable. The compulsory actions from the Federal government are infringing on states rights and on the rights of the American people. Virginia, Idaho and Utah have passed laws to nullify ObamaCare's mandate that everyone purchase health insurance.

Congress: Stop this mess!
Don't pass Obamacare!

We need a different solution.

A member of the European parliament, Daniel Hannan, told Fox News that Britain's National Health Care was a "60-year mistake." Britain's socialized medicine had brought nothing but trouble in the form of lawsuits and poor quality of care in various forms. Is this what you want, people of America? Protest LOUDER!!!

Reconciliation

In the dictionary, the word "reconcile" has several different meanings. One of those meanings is to restore to friendship or harmony. Another definition is to check (a financial account) against another for accuracy. I think that the latter is probably the definition that applies to the parliamentary process that was introduced in 1974 as a way to help "reconcile" the U.S. budget to account for changes that needed to happen because of changing economic conditions. This is usually used as a tool to reduce the deficit.

Right now, the Senate is trying to use this little "tool" to ram through Obamacare. I guess that this use of the tool would fall under another definition of "reconcile": to cause to submit to or accept something unpleasant. This is not a budget adjustment. In fact, this is really a budget increase of elephantine proportions. Robert Byrd, Senator from West Virginia, in March told the Washington Post "The misuse of the arcane process of reconciliation--a process intended for deficit reduction--to enact substantive policy changes is an undemocratic disservice to our people and to the Senate's institutional role." He was referring to health reform and cap and trade.

A funny point that the Wall Street Journal observed was what Nancy Pelosi said about getting this bill passed.

"'They know that this will take courage,' Nancy Pelosi said in an interview over the weekend, speaking of the Members she'll try to strong-arm. 'It took courage to pass Social Security. It took courage to pass Medicare,' the Speaker continued. 'But the American people need it, why are we here? We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress.'

Leave aside the irony of invoking the 'American people' on behalf of a bill that consistently has been 10 to 15 points underwater in every poll since the fall, and is getting more unpopular by the day, particularly among independents."

Does anyone think it ironic that Pelosi acts like she is not just here to "self-perpetuate" her  service in Congress? HA! What a joke! This is like the last chance the democrats have to pass Obamacare. Most people think this is an abuse of power from what I am reading. What do you think?

Pay-As-You-Go

As if I wasn't already irritated with the Obama Administration for all the money that they are spending, now I have fuel for my fire. The Administration has tried to put through a $10 billion bill that extends the jobless insurance and funds some transportation projects. Well, along comes Jim Bunning who is a Republican from Kentucky. He has threatened to put this bill on hold until the Congress or the Administration finds a way to pay for it. You would have thought he had threatened to kill all children under the age of two the way he has been vilified. However, he is just trying to play by President Obama's own rules to pay-as-you-go. The Wall Street Journal has called this Mr. Bunning's finest hour. The Journal had this to say about the reaction from Congress and the Administration:

"The faux indignation has been something to behold. 'It is simply unfair for one Senator to attempt to hold the Senate hostage,' said Senator Richard Durbin. 'Unfair,' cried Jay Rockefeller. The Obama Administration has attacked Mr. Bunning for playing 'political games' and forcing a furlough of 2,000 government workers. (The horror!)"

Gasp! I bet that didn't affect Obama or the congressional paycheck. But it affects ours. Because more money spent is more money that has to be collected from us the lucky taxpayers. Actually, I think we should throw a party for Mr. Bunning. I'd pitch in $5. After all, he tried to save us $10 billion.

(What I'd really like to know is if the Obama Administration has obeyed the pay-as-you-go rule even once.)