Can Nullification Weaken the Gov't Takeover of Healthcare?

I have to tell you that I am not a political science major. In college I majored in biology. So many of these terms are new to me. Do any of you know about Nullification? Is it true that this might be a way to fight this battle?

The real way to resist DC is not by begging politicians and judges in Washington to allow us to exercise our rights…it’s to exercise our rights whether they want to give us “permission” to or not.

Nullification – state-level resistance to unconstitutional federal laws – is the way forward.

When a state ‘nullifies’ a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or ‘non-effective,’ within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as that state is concerned.

It’s peaceful, effective, and has a long history in the American tradition. It’s been invoked in support of free speech, in opposition to war and fugitive slave laws, and more. Read more on this history here.

Regarding nullification and health care, there’s already a growing movement right now. Led by Arizona, voters in a number of states may get a chance to approve State Constitutional Amendments in 2010 that would effectively ban national health care in their states. Our sources here at the Tenth Amendment Center indicate to us that we should expect to see 20-25 states consider such legislation in 2010.

20 States resisting DC can do what calling, marching, yelling, faxing, and emailing has almost never done. Stop the feds dead in their tracks.

For example, 13 states are already defying federal marijuana prohibition, and the federal government is having such a hard time dealing with it that the Obama administration recently announced that they would no longer prioritize enforcement in states that have medical marijuana laws.

Better yet, in the last 2+ years more than 20 states have been able to effectively prevent the Real ID Act of 2005 from being implemented. How did they do that? They passed laws and resolutions refusing to comply with it. And today, it’s effectively null and void without ever being repealed by Congress or challenged in court.

While the Obama administration would like to revive it under a different name, the reality is still there – with massive state-level resistance, the federal government can be pushed back inside its constitutional box. Issue by issue, law by law, the best way to change the federal government is by resisting it on a state level.

More here at Tenth Amendment Center.

Government Healthcare Can Kill You

This article was pulled from the "Investor's Business Daily." It provides some very interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization.

Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:

U.S. 65%

England 46%

Canada 42%

Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:

U.S. 93%

England 15%

Canada 43%

Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:

U.S. 90%

England 15%

Canada 43%

Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month:

U.S. 77%

England 40%

Canada 43%

Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people:

U.S. 71

England 14

Canada 18

Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health":

U.S. 12%

England 2%

Canada 6%

I don't know about you, but I don't want "Universal Healthcare" comparable to England or Canada .

Moreover, it was Sen. Harry Reid who said, "Elderly Americans must learn to accept the inconveniences of old age."

Hat Tip Wofat.

The reason this is still a problem in the Reidcare and Pelosicare plans, is that even without a "public option" there will still be government employees deciding who gets what treatments when.

A Merged Senate Bill By Monday?

DEAR LORD, WHEN WILL THEY STOP!

Democratic leaders in the Senate are now planning on having a health care bill on the Senate floor by next Monday, much sooner than anyone had been expecting.

As it stands, the public has access to the health care bills as passed by the Senate Finance Committee (S. 1796) and the Senate HELPCommittee (S. 1679), but not to the merged version that will be brought to the floor for debate and votes. The merged version does in fact exist, however, and it’s currently being examined by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO is expected to report their findings by the end of this week or Monday of next week. If their findings are to Senate Dems’ likings, the bill will be made available to the public on Monday.

What does this mean for the bill’s transparency? Basically, it means that if all goes according to the Senate Democratic leadership’s schedule, the first vote on the bill could occur just hours after the text and details of it are made available to the public. Senate Republicans and Democrats outside of the leadership would likely not have much more time than the rest of us to read the bill before they vote.

The reason, I assume, that the Senate feels they can justify this pace is that the vote that would be taking on Monday would not technically be a vote on the bill. It wouldn’t even be a vote on beginning the debate of the bill. It would be on a motion to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to the debate. In other words, it would be a vote to overcome a Republican filibuster of even considering debating the bill. If that motion is approved — it would take 60 votes — the Senate would proceed to 30 clock hours of debating whether or not to begin the actual debate of the bill. Once those 30 hours are up, the Senate would then take another vote, requiring a simple majority of 51 votes, to begin the official debate. All of this would likely take until Thursday to pass. By that point, if the bill is in fact made public on Monday, it will have been officially available online for 72 hours before debate begins, just like it was in the House.

In reality, however, the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed is not just procedural. It often has substantial implications. If some Democrat disliked the bill so much that they didn’t even want it debated on the floor, they could join with the Republicans on the motion and block it. Right now, that’s not expected to happen, but neither is it expected to be a pleasant, bipartisan event. It’s a little bit like “agreeing to the rule” in the House, which was a partisan vote that was held captive by conservative Democrats to force a vote on changing abortion language in the bill.

More here.

Ginger Kitty Smacks Down Obama

"I'll show you single payer health care!" Hat Tip Amusing Bunni's Musings. If you are not familiar with Bunni's blog, I suggest you go there and click the follow button. We are going to need a lot more of her sweet humor in the coming months....

Here is a different kind of video, a smooth way to relax in trying times. Perfect, really, for bloggers. "Love Letters..."

Tough Road Ahead in Senate for Health Care Takeover

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed far-reaching health care legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard-won victory on his chief domestic priority though the road ahead in the Senate promises to be rocky.

The 220-215 vote late Saturday cleared the way for the Senate to begin a long-delayed debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.

"The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday. "It was a bill written by liberals for liberals." A Democratic colleague, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, predicted an overhaul would pass the Senate because "it's essential" to the country's economic success and people's quality of life. "It will take time," he added.

House Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the plan that would expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.

A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.

Obama, who went to Capitol Hill on Saturday to lobby waveringDemocrats, said in a statement after the vote that he looked forward to signing a bill by year's end.

Republicans detailed their objections across hours of debate on the 1,990-page, $1.2 trillion legislation.

"We are going to have a complete government takeover of our health care system faster than you can say, `this is making me sick,'" said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich.

More here.

Pelosi's 1,990-Page Government Takeover of Health Care - 10 Facts

10 Facts Every American Should Know About Speaker Pelosi's 1,990-Page Gov't Takeover of Health Care

Washington, Oct 29 -

Members of Congress and the American people are just beginning to look at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) 1,990-page government takeover of health care, but it’s already becoming clear just how costly and unsustainable this proposal is. From higher taxes on middle-class families to job-killing mandates on small businesses to cuts in Medicare benefits for seniors, here are 10 facts every American should know about Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-page government takeover of health care:

1. RAISES TAXES ON MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill imposes a range of tax increases on families with income below $250,000, breaking a promise made by President Obama. Tax increases on middle class families include: an individual mandate tax of up to 2.5 percent of income for taxpayers earning as little as $9,350; repeal of a tax break on medicine purchased with funds from an HSA (health savings account); limits to tax relief through FSAs (flexible spending accounts); taxes on medical devices that will inevitably be passed on to consumers; and a new tax on all insurance policies.

2. MASSIVE CUTS TO MEDICARE BENEFITS FOR SENIORS. Despite grave warnings from CBO, FactCheck.org, and the independent Lewin Group that cuts to Medicare of the magnitude included in Speaker Pelosi’s bill would have a negative impact on seniors’ benefits and choices, Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill stays the course and cuts Medicare by hundreds of billions of dollars.

3. NO PROTECTIONS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill claims to exempt small businesses from the steep eight percent ‘pay or play’ employer mandate. The facts tell a different story. Using Census data compiled by the Small Business Administration, this so-called ‘exemption’ hammers small employers with only, on average, 17 or more employees to new taxes and mandates. The outfits affected employ 70 percent of all small business employees, or 42.3 million workers. Adding to the assault on small businesses, the bill does not index the small business “exemption” amounts, meaning more and more small businesses will be ensnared by this job-killing employer mandate each year.

4. INCREASES THE COST OF HEALTH INSURANCE. Imposing a new $2 billion tax on insurance policies will be passed on to patients in the form of higher premiums. Changes to the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit will, according to estimates by CBO, will raise Medicare Part B premiums by $25 billion and Part D premiums by 20 percent. And imposing an unfunded mandate on the states to pay for the bill’s Medicaid expansion will shift the burden of this expansion on state taxpayers who may experience tax increases to cover the cost.

5. USES GIMMICKS TO HIDE BUDGET-BUSTING COST, PILES UP DEBT ON FUTURE GENERATIONS. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill claims to be deficit neutral, but uses budget gimmickry to hide its massive total cost. Working families across America know they cannot simply decide that a bill they get in the mail doesn’t exist, but that’s exactly what congressional Democrats are doing. In order to meet the President’s ‘target’ spending total of $900 billion, Democrats have simply swept costly provisions under the rug, including the $245 billion ‘doc fix.’

6. IMPOSES JOB-KILLING EMPLOYER MANDATES. Additional taxes on employers and new government mandates that dictate acceptable insurance will place new and crushing burdens on employers. These are burdens that will ultimately fall squarely on the backs of workers in the form of reduced wages, fewer hours or lost employment. CBO agrees that "[e]mployees largely bear the cost of... play-or-pay fees in the form of lower wages." According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s largest small business association, an employer mandate of this magnitude will disproportionately impact small businesses, triggering up to 1.6 million lost jobs. Two-thirds of those jobs would be shed by small businesses.

7. TILTS THE PLAYING FIELD IN FAVOR OF THE GOVERNMENT-RUN INSURANCE COMPANY. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill promises not to give the government-run plan advantages over private insurers in the market, but the opposite is true. The bill provides billions in start-up funding for the government-run plan, and while it requires the plan to repay the money over time it does not require the plan to pay interest on this “loan.” This interest-free, taxpayer-subsidized loan is potentially worth millions of dollars and tilts the playing field in favor of the government-run plan.

8. THREATENS CASH-STRAPPED STATES WITH UNFUNDED MANDATES. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill swells the number of Americans on the government rolls by expanding Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid is financed through a federal-state partnership, but the bill dumps nearly ten percent of the mandated expansion included in the bill onto the states. States, already struggling with fiscal constraints, would be left on the hook for billions of dollars due to this unfunded mandate.

9. CREATES A NEW MONSTROSITY IN THE TAX CODE. Starting in 2011, Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill imposes a 5.4 percent tax on adjusted gross income above $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for married couples. Yet, the dollar amounts for which the tax kicks in are not indexed for inflation. We’ve seen this horror film before: the Alternative Minimum Tax, another Frankenstein’s monster of the tax code, also wasn’t indexed for inflation and now affects millions of middle class families with incomes below the Democrat’s surtax.

10. MISSES AN OPPORTUNITY TO CURTAIL JUNK LAWSUITS. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill misses a critical opportunity to rein in junk lawsuits and costly defensive medicine. The bill includes only a voluntary grant program to deal with the medical liability crisis instead of including real reform, which would produce tens of billions of dollars in savings, improve efficiency in our health care system and reduce costs for patients and providers.

BONUS: Republicans have offered better solutions to lower health care costs and expand access to quality, affordable coverage at a price our nation can afford. Learn more by visiting healthcare.gop.gov.

Hat Tip Republican Leader John Boehner.

Health Care Protest 10/3/09-Russia Today

I can't tell you how it angers me to have to see a story in RUSSIA TODAY that I should be finding in American media. It is shameful! Here are American patriots in our nation's capital protesting government takeover of health care. More here.

Canadian Brain Tumor Patient

I was sitting here watching Fox News after the speech, and saw a WONDERFUL commercial from patientsunitednow.com. I ran over to the site and here it is. Obama has tales of folks, but this is a case that is sincere.

Jack Webb Schools Obama on Healthcare

Dragnet's Jack Webb gives Barack Obama an education about America. If only....

Man Who Got His Finger Bit Off Talks to Cavuto

"I guess I'll have to take different piano lessons or something..." Bill Rice. Would he go to the protest again if he knew this crazy person would be there? "Yes sir. Freedom is not free."
h/t NNN.

Elderly Man's Finger Bitten Off at Health Care Rally

An elderly man protesting health care reform had his finger bitten off in a scuffle at a rally near Los Angeles Wednesday, according to a report.

KTLA-TV reported that the violence happened at the scene of two dueling health care demonstrations -- one in favor of health care reform sponsored by MoveOn.org, and a counter-rally of protesters against health care reform.

According to one account, a man was wading through the counter-protest to get to the MoveOn side, when the 65 year old confronted and hit him. In response, the man who was hit, identified by one witness as "pro-reform," bit off the other man's finger. Neither person was identified.

According to KTLA-TV, the elderly man took his detached finger to a local hospital for medical attention.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/03/report-mans-finger-bitten-fight-health-care-rally/

Banned Health Care Ad

See the health care Ad banned by ABC and NBC. 30 seconds of messages unacceptable to our State-Run Media. H/T The Mad Conservative.

Mesa, AZ Americans Speak Out Against Obamacare

A nice video of Tea Party patriots interviewed as they stood in the heat to speak against the government takeover of our health care system. Of course, our Dear Leader has his say at the beginning of the video. Gotta give him equal time.

I Love Daniel Hannan!

Daniel Hannan says "You were warned" about government health care. Once established, it is almost impossible to be gotten rid of. The care is abysmal for the elderly. He says he LOVES the U.S. Constitution. Ah! What a man!!!! He is singing my tune.

Dem Congressman screams at Dem constituent for asking about Obamacare at open meeting

h/t Gateway Pundit

The "Nazi mob" now includes democratic constituents and doctors who dare ask questions about Obamacare at open town hall meetings.

Dem Rep. David Scott screams at a local Georgia urologist Dr. Brian Hill for asking him a question on Obamacare.

Government Takeover of Health Care

We have already had a government takeover of a number of American industries. Health Care is 1/6 of the American economy. Obama is working toward a 100% government takeover. He and his allies will take less than that to get started, but make NO mistake. Government Health Care is the goal. 100% government care (non-care). This may sound fine to some of you. But understand that there aren't enough doctors now to cover everybody. Pay doctors less, steal their private businesses and there will be fewer, not more. The only way to make government care work will be to ration care. The elderly, disabled and other non-productive members of society will have their coverage severely curtailed. There will be long waiting lists. Only the rich will be able to get timely care at private clinics, like they do in Canada.