ARRA News Service

The Huge Mistake - Climate Change Solutions 2009

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:53:03 PST

H/T to Leo_Pusateri on Twitter for promoting this The Heritage Foundation alert. Watch the video before it is taken down again. First some background information:

The New York Times
The Environmental Protection Agency has directed two of its lawyers to makes changes to a YouTube video they posted that is critical of the Obama administration’s climate change policy.
The EPA lawyers did take their video down. But not before others reposted it. Read an op-ed the lawyers wrote for the Washington Post. The Heritage Foundation does not endorse the couple's call for carbon taxes, but their analysis of the futility of cap and trade is dead on.

Read about how the economists who first thought up cap and trade, do not believe it can control carbon. Read about how carbon credits are an absolute fraud, here, here, here, and here.

Who Got the Bribes for Obamacare Endorsements

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:55:20 PST

In the following article, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the truth behind the AMA, AARP, and Insurance companies -- strange bedfellows -- endorsement of Obamacare. The AMA endorsement is disturbing because they represent one of the five groups of people who are classified as "professionals" and who by definition are not supposed to be placing money above ethics and responsibility to their profession and their clients. This AMA endorsement has added to the growing tarnish on all medical professionals.

As for the endorsement by the insurance industry, we can expect they might want to make money or even survive the changes being proposed for Obamacare. But, they are quite myopic failing to see that just because they line up under pressure to support Obamacare doesn't mean that they will not find themselves in the lines to ruin. With failure comes finger pointing which is going to fall heavily on the insurance industry as the government throws them under the bus to achieve becoming the single source for health insurance.

However, most disturbing is AARP who was supposed to be a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that advocated on behalf of seniors. However, AARP has used its membership roster to line the pockets of the corporate AARP offices through kickbacks from service provided to seniors including medical coverage to seniors. The AARP is already experiencing reductions in their membership. Seniors may be slow to change but they are not stupid and when they are angry watch out. Maybe it is time for a class action law suit by seniors for a return of several years of dues from AARP for their deceptive actions.

I appreciate the Morris' identifying the medical device makers who have stood with their clients - those who use their devices. The medical devise makers would not endorse Obamacare and now may suffer or at least their clients will suffer because people of no conscious, like Pelosi and other liberal democrats, would tax people who need heath care devices to sustain their lives. So, when grandma needs a pacemaker, not only will grandma most likely have to wait in line to get approval from a bureaucrat verses her doctor, but once approved. she will have to pay more because medicare reimbursements have been reduced. Then to add insult to injury, she will have to pay a federal tax for the privilege of being allowed to have the pacemaker. Liberals do not really care about the needy; their goal is to control the lives of people from cradle to grave.

by Dick Morris & Eileen McGann: As the suicidal Democratic congressmen proceed to rubber-stamp the Obama health care reform despite the drubbing their party took in the '09 elections, the president trotted out the endorsements of the AMA and the AARP to stimulate support. But these – and the other endorsements – his package has received are all bought and paid for.

Here are the deals:

The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians' reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5 percent to 6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill...or else!

The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the health care bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues. Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP -- which supposedly represents them -- will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group . . . .)

The drug industry backed ObamaCare and, in return, got a 10-year limit of $80 billion on cuts in prescription drug costs. (A drop in the bucket of their almost $3 trillion projected cost over the next decade.) They also got administration assurances that it will continue to bar lower-cost Canadian drugs from coming into the U.S. All it had to do was put its formidable advertising budget at the disposal of the administration.

Insurance companies got access to 40 million potential new customers. But when the Senate Finance Committee lowered the fine that would be imposed on those who don't buy insurance from $3,500 to $1,500, the insurance companies jumped ship and now oppose the bill, albeit for the worst of motives.

The only industry that refused to knuckle under was the medical device makers. They stood for principle and wouldn't go along with Obama's blackmail. So the Senate Finance Committee retaliated by imposing a tax on medical devices such as automated wheelchairs, pacemakers, arterial stints, prosthetic limbs, artificial knees and hips and other necessary accouterments of health care.

So these endorsements are not freely given, but bought and paid for by an administration that is intent on passing its program at any cost.

Barbara Boxer Used Nuclear Option to Push Cap and Trade Through Committee

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:53:13 PST

Last Thursday while we all focused on the House Health care bill, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee used the "nuclear option" to push the Cap-and-Trade climate bill out of committee. The nuclear option is when a party proceeds without the minority party and votes on a proposed bill.

Although Committee rules require that two Republicans be present and vote, Boxer had warned she would not let this rule stop her from passing out of committee the bill that she and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) had proposed which would set mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases. Without any of the seven GOP senators on the panel present, she called for the vote and which was approved 11-1.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), the ranking Republican on the committee, implored the panel to not proceed with what he called a "nuclear option" minutes before the vote. He left shortly after making his statement. Committee Republican were concerned that the cost of the legislation had not been fully examined. Boxer argued that the Republican request for more analysis was "duplicative and waste of taxpayer dollars." Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) voted against the legislation, saying that concerns he had with the bill were not fully addressed.

By moving the bill out of committee without Republicans present, the Democrats could not amend the legislation, and many Democrats expressed disappointment that they did not have a chance to improve the bill. Baucus said the bill's calls for a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020 and he preferred a lower target of 17% with a trigger to raise it to 20% if other countries agreed to the same requirement. Now the legislation will be merged with legislation written by five other Senate committees. And in the hopes of broadening support, Kerry announced Wednesday he was working with Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham and the White House to secure votes.

The Senate is pushing the bill because it is one of President Barack Obama's top priorities. Senate democrats want to have a the vote to signal other countries in advance of a climate change conference next month in Copenhagen, Denmark next month to hammer out a new international treaty to slow climate change. The House in June narrowly passed its version of the bill.

Jihad at Fort Hood - Part II

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:38:22 PST

by Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: The evidence is now overwhelming that the Fort Hood murderer, Nidal Malik Hasan, is an Islamist who was trying to please Allah when he gunned down our American heroes. ABC News reported this morning that the CIA has evidence that he had tried to contact Al Qaeda in recent months. For normal Americans the news that he shouted “Allahu Akbar,” the battle cry of jihadists, as he poured bullets into our sons and daughters was all we needed to know.

But that information wasn’t good enough for Dr. Phil, Larry King, major media outlets such as Newsweek, the president and, sadly, even our military elites. Many of them jumped to the conclusion that this was another example of a soldier “breaking” from battle stress. It didn’t seem puzzling to them that he had never been in combat! In fact, all of our elites wanted to lecture the rest of us and warn us that we’d better not jump to conclusions.

Now we know that for years Hasan was quite open about his Islamist views. In fact, HE HARRASSED his fellow soldiers – not the other way around, as has been suggested. Complaints about Hasan’s anti-American rantings were ignored. Some military people say they didn’t file complaints because they were afraid that doing so would hurt their careers in the increasingly “politically correct” Army bureaucracy.

Hasan made presentations that justified suicide bombings, and argued that the wars we have been fighting since 9/11 are really wars against Islam. He tried to convert his military patients to Islam and was put on probation. He attended a mosque in Northern Virginia that two 9/11 hijackers also attended. The list goes on and on.

As an obvious Islamist, Hasan did the predictable – he killed as many of us as he could. His actions should be no more mysterious than those of the hijackers who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 or the Palestinian family who celebrates when they receive news that their teenage child has blown himself up while killing Jews.

What is harder to fathom is why so many elites are more interested in spreading politically correct lies than in confronting the strong likelihood that our jihadist enemy has infiltrated key American institutions. More of our soldiers will die, as will more of us, if the media and our government leaders don’t wake up. Nidal Hasan should not have been in the Army – he should have been in jail. He should not have been assigned to counseling returning American warriors. He should not have been promoted.

On Meet The Press Sunday, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey continued to urge people not to jump to conclusions about the overwhelming evidence in this case. He expressed deep concern about a possible backlash against Muslim members of our Armed Forces. He actually said this: “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” Does he really believe that? I think that 13 American families would argue that we could have had one person less of “diversity” at Fort Hood in exchange for 13 live American heroes.

And what about the White House? Since long before this attack, this president has refused to use the phrase “Islamic terrorism,” and has banned its use by others in the government. He began his administration by attempting to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Hasan’s jihadist brothers are imprisoned. Day by day, America becomes less safe under his leadership.

ICYMI: Jihad at Fort Hood - Part I

House Health Bill Raises Taxes, Costs Too Much - CNN Poll 53% Oppose Dem Plans

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:20:20 PST

Senate is only scheduled to be in session on Monday and Tuesday this week due to Veterans Day. Today the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 3082, the fiscal year 2010 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA) appropriations bill. At 4:30 PM, the Senate will begin consideration of the nomination of Andre Davis to the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals. After an hour of debate the Senate will vote on confirmation of the nomination. Votes on the Milcon bill are possible afterwards.

As previously reported, on Saturday night, the House voted 220-215 to pass H.R. 3962, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s $1 trillion health care bill. The bill was passed after the Democrat majority voted down the much less costly Republican alternative and rejected the GOP motion to recommit to add tort reform to the bill.

The Wall Street Journal writes today, “President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul faces an uncertain battle in the Senate after a narrow weekend victory in the House revealed the continuing divide among Democrats. . . . But its narrow passage in the House, where the Democrats have a large majority, underscores the difficulties ahead. Senate Democrats are struggling to agree on how to pay for the overhaul and whether to create a new public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, as the House did. Friction over how the bill treats abortion, which almost derailed the House vote, is likely to divide the Senate too.”

Indeed, the 39 House Democrats who voted against the bill Saturday pointed to many of the same problems with the legislation that Republicans have. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) said, “[This bill] failed to effectively rein in rising health care costs; it was punitive toward small businesses; and it paid for reform by raising taxes.” Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) warned, “The worst thing we could do during a recession is raise taxes and this bill does just that.… I also believe the public option would ultimately lead to a single-payer health care system.” Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) said, “Our nation is facing an $11.9 trillion national debt, and we simply cannot afford a bill that does not lower healthcare spending.” And Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) said, “It raises too much in new taxes and imposes new requirements that will harm the ability of too many small businesses to compete and create jobs.”

Even Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post’s editorial page editor, can see the problems Pelosi’s bill presents. In an op-ed today, Hiatt writes, “The bill also could take America a step closer to bankruptcy.” He notes that the bill adds to the deficit and that Congress in unlikely to enact the cuts needed to pay for the bill down the road. Hiatt also points out, “The root difficulty is Obama’s insistence that the nation can afford a large new social program without raising taxes on anyone who earns less than $250,000 per year. . . . In the kind of fiscal crisis that might ensue, as progressive budget expert Robert Greenstein said recently, ‘the risk is high that the people with the least political power in this country could bear a disproportionate share of the burden even though, by and large, they’re lower on the income scale.’”

In today’s editorial, The Wall Street Journal ties up some of the worst aspects of the House bill with a pithy bow. “It creates a vast new entitlement, financed by European levels of taxation on business and individuals. The 20% corner of Medicare open to private competition is slashed, while fiscally strapped states are saddled with new Medicaid burdens. The insurance industry will have to vet every policy with Washington, which will regulate who it must cover, what it can offer, and how much it can charge.”

It’s little wonder, then, that polls continue to show public opposition to the Democrats’ health care reforms. On Friday, a CNN poll found that a majority, 53%, “oppose Barack Obama’s plan to reform health care.” The poll also found 33% would like to see major changes in the Democrats’ legislation, 24% want to scrap the current bills and start over, and 15% want to stop the bill altogether. That’s 72% of Americans who are not in favor of moving the Democrats’ health bills as they currently exist.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said over the weekend, “The government-run plan that narrowly passed the House Saturday was rejected by one in seven House Democrats and a majority of Americans. It should serve as a stark reminder that Americans don’t want a 2,000-page, trillion-dollar government experiment—they want commonsense reforms. Soon, Senate Democrats will propose their own version. We don’t know how big it will be or how expensive, but we do know with certainty that it will mean higher premiums, higher taxes and massive cuts to Medicare to create even more government programs. That’s not reform.”

20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:14:04 PST

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a great day for Liberty that should not be forgotten. For those of us who remember that day, we remember the lesson that Communism does not work. For those who are too young to remember it first-hand, please take time to watch this video.

by Fred Smith, CEI President: On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Today marks the twentieth anniversary of that great day – one of the greatest in the history of human freedom. Communism in Germany finally collapsed, setting off a domino effect that would reach Moscow within two years. Families torn apart for nearly three decades came together in tearful, happy reunions as the world watched. The Cold War was finally, mercifully, ending.

Many historians cite World War I as the twentieth century’s opening act. Sixteen million souls died in that war over nothing. Two of the nations it toppled became the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Communist and fascist governments would combine to kill more than one hundred million people over the next seven decades. Those needless deaths are the twentieth century’s legacy, every bit as much as the transistor or rock ‘n roll.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was that short, bloody century’s coda. November 9, 1989 was also the start of something better. It was a nation’s way of saying that it was ready to move on to better times. To a new world defined not by oppression, ideology, and servitude, but by freedom. Sweet, precious, fragile freedom. Seeing the footage on the news was like witnessing something being born. The hope and potential that surround every birth were glimmering in people’s eyes. It was beautiful.

What Berlin’s people did on that day also inspired half a continent to send the same message to their leaders. What a noble achievement. How worthy of commemoration, now that twenty years have passed. What a shame, then, that this milestone has been treated more like a millstone by the media. Reporters more concerned with today’s news cycle are giving at best perfunctory attention to a day that showed us all that is good about humanity.

To partially right that wrong, CEI has produced a short video [posted above] commemorating what the Berlin Wall’s fall symbolizes. . . . Of course, it is hard to convey in a few short minutes what the people living in that Wall’s shadow went through for 29 long years. So put yourself in their shoes. Think what they thought. Look right in the eyes of those separated families as they try to catch glimpses of each other over that wall. And the people who risked their lives escaping. And the soldier carrying back the body of someone who didn’t make it. What was going through his mind as he carried out his grisly task? That might give you an idea of what the Berlin Wall meant.

We all need to remember the Berlin Wall. We need to say to each other, “Never again.” And we have to mean it.

Excuse me Mr. President. It was an act of terror!

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:30:05 PST

by John Allison, America, You Asked for It!: That's right! Even though the Apologist-In-Chief, the Great Empathizer with Radical Islam, the Socialist Leader of the United States doesn't want to call the latest slaughter of Americans on US soil by a Muslim Jihadist a terror attack, anyone who opens their eyes can now see this was exactly that!

Even the former Democrat Senator Joe Liebermann (I-CT) is now calling the murderous rampage by the American-born Muslim radical, Nidal Hasan, a terror attack. But not our illustrious Nationalizer of Private Industry! No. His Justice Department immediately concluded that terrorism was NOT involved, before a single FBI agent arrived at the scene! The first statement from the Great Orator Reader of Teleprompters to the American public he believes is foolish enough to believe anything he says was "Don't jump to conclusions!"

Now how on Earth could our Omnipotent Oracle and his underlings divine that terror wasn't involved when the attack was minutes old? When they couldn't have received much more information than the name of the shooter and a rough sketch of how the carnage was carried out? Simple. The Prophet of Partakers of Entitlement Programs didn't want it to be terrorism.

That might interfere with his most pressing priority, to force Americans to enjoy the services of a new government-run health care system. It also might impede his planned heart-to-heart talk with the President of Persia, the Virulent Victor of last summer's elections in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It might cause Americans to question our Dithering Dear Leader's indecisiveness on General McChrystal's request for more troops in Afghanistan.

In short, a terror attack at this time would just be too inconvenient, so the Propagandist President Obama just decided to call it something else. Anything else. Or nothing at all. Just not terrorism.

But those pesky pests in the Out-of-the-Mainstream Press just kept digging, and the evidence shows the Administration's assumptions may be off the mark. Comments to colleagues and internet postings paint a clear picture of a developing Jihadist in the months preceding the attack. Referring to the War on Terror as a "war on Islam" and berating the US with "anti-American rants" motivated his colleague Dr. Val Finnell to complain to superiors when the two worked together in 2007-2008. Now, Finnell says he's not surprised at Hasan's violence.

And leave it to our friends across the pond (because it's certain our mainstream media wouldn't cross the hand that feeds it) to get the scoop on Hasan's ties to the September 11 hijackers. The Telegraph.co.uk has discovered Hasan attended mosque with two of the terrorists who killed almost 3,000 on American soil in 2001. Led at the time by a radical imam who now lives in Yemen and has been forbidden from preaching in the UK due to his ties to terrorism and support for terror attacks on British troops, the mosque and its influence on Hasan must be considered as possible motivation for, not just this attack, but his motivation for joining the US military in the first place.

Hasan only completed his studies at the Uniformed Services University Of The Health Sciences F. Edward Herbert School Of Medicine - Bethesda MD in 2003. His residency wasn't completed until 2007. According to the USUHS website, its MD, PhD programs consist of three phases. The first phase or Graduate Program is generally completed in 3 years, 2 years of classes and the final year spent in research. The entire program takes 7-8 years to complete.

It's been reported that his father died in 1998 and his mother in 2001, so he would have matriculated at USUHS just before, or right around, the time of his father's death according to the time line for his med school program. Last week's tragedy reeks of a terrorist act when all these facts are compiled. But it's possible administration officials didn't have all this information compiled immediately following the tragic events. But that still doesn't excuse the knee-jerk denial of any possibility of links to terrorism by the monster Hasan.

And even though it's possible White House officials' statements were made without knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Hasan, the FBI should most certainly have had the information. Especially since Hasan had shown up as a blip on their radar screen months before. In the months following the Omnipotent One's inauguration, Hasan seemed to become more open about his radical ideology. Internet posts defending suicide bombers, conversations with a young Muslim mentee, and a presentation given in his fellowship program depict a terrorist sympathizer at best, and a "ticking time bomb" at worst.

All of this evidence contradicts the stance taken by the Administration of the Great Admirer of Himself, that this was not a terrorist act. Still, in his weekly address to the nation, our President who continues to refuse to give our troops in the field the resources to protect themselves and perform their mission, "honored" those who fell at Ft. Hood, but never once did the words Terror, Terrorism, or Terrorist escape his lips.

Call it what you want Mr. President. A rose by any other name is still a rose, and a terrorist is a terrorist regardless of the label you give him. Major Malik Nidal Hassan slaughtered 13 unsuspecting men and women who devoted their lives in the defense of this country, and wounded dozens more. He's a terrorist, plain and simple.

Barack H Obama reminds us of George W Frederick and wistful for George W Bush

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:26:24 PST

Bill Smith, Editor: H/T to The Oracle who identified the article below and noted that President George W. Bush and his wife Laura making a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood, TX. President Barack H. Obama and his wife Michelle will attend the memorial service at Ft. Hood on Tuesday.

It is easy to to find something to criticize President Bush for after eight years in office serving his country. However, it is also easy to remember numerous favorable situations including his respect for the American people and his fondness for those who served in the military, public service in law enforcement, fighting fires, first responders and serving the needs of others. But, it is most unusual to find a majority of American's in just 10 months being tired of a president.

President Barack Obama has achieved this place in history. People are tired of being lectured at by immature acting president. Tired of a commander-in-chief who expressed more concern with the emotional state of the murderer rather than evidencing, like most red blooded Americans, that he was "PO'ed" at a non-combat doctor murdering and wounding military and civilians at Ft. Hood. Tired of a leader who criticizes and apologizes for the United States before the rest of the world at the drop of the hat. Tired of a man who associates with and then places into Government offices and positions known radicals and associates who would have been on any former FBI's watch list. Tired of a president using these same associations, his campaign organization, and the White House to challenge American citizens' liberties, freedoms and their right to live free of government controlling all aspects of our lives.

Barack Hussein Obama, who turned 48 (on August 4th), has in the last 10 months achieved what one other leader of America achieved by the age of 38. Barack H Obama has been irritating and or insulting the American people, has taken actions to levy taxes and or in-debting living and future generations beyond all cumulative debt established by former presidents, and has reduced or sought to reduce "We the People's" inalienable rights. Who achieved this undesirable feat quicker than Obama? Well, that former leader was George William Frederick (formerly our King George III) who by the age 38 had forced Americans to respond to his attitudes and behaviors. George W Frederick turned 39 exactly one month before July 4, 1776 when Americans finally said enough is enough and severed ties with him as their leader. You can clearly see that this issue is not about race. GWF was white and BHO is black. Race doesn't matter. What matters is when people try to be kings verses servants of the American people! Kings may be interesting in the movies and children's fairy tales, but in real life, America cannot abide them.

Please Consider the following article and share your comments: The UK's Telegraph: Barack Obama's reaction to bad news is to play it so cool that Americans yearn for a bit more drama - and some even for his predecessor, writes Toby Harnden in Washington.

During the election campaign, Barack Obama's cool detachment was a winning quality, the "No Drama Obama" a welcome contrast with the "Mr Angry" John McCain, never mind the hot-headed "I'm the decider" President George W Bush.

A year into his presidency, however, Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president. If he experiences passion, he seldom shows it. It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or issue truly moves him. He has spent more than two months considering a troop increase but do we know how he really feels about the Afghan war?

In a sign that the Obama honeymoon truly is over, I began to hear this week the first stirrings of a wistfulness about Mr Bush. "I never thought I'd hear myself say it," one Democrat told me. "But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something."

When Mr Bush's Republicans were defeated in the 2006 mid-term elections, it was the President himself who stepped up and declared that his party had received "a thumpin'". The Democratic defeats on Tuesday were not on anything like the same scale but Mr Obama acted as if nothing at all had happened.

Mr Obama had campaigned for Jon Corzine, New Jersey's Democratic governor, five times, twice just last Sunday. But when Mr Corzine lost by four points in a state Mr Obama won by 15 last year - a 19-point swing to Republicans - White House aides just shrugged. In Virginia, which Mr Obama won by six points last year, prompting Democrats to declare an historic political realignment in the state, the Democratic candidate went down by 17 points in the biggest landslide since 1961 - a 23-point swing to the Grand Old Party.

It took Senator Mark Warner of Virginia to admit that his party "got walloped". For three days, Mr Obama maintained a studied silence about the results while his aides blamed them on local factors that had nothing to do with the President. And to think that it was Mr Bush who was always accused of being "in denial".

More serious perhaps was Mr Obama's strange disconnectedness over the Fort Hood massacre of 13 soldiers by an Army major and devout Muslim who opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, had praised suicide bombing and shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire. Maybe Mr Obama had been reading the American press, much of which somehow contrived to present the atrocity as a result of combat stress due to soldiers going on repeated war deployments (though Major Nadal Hasan had not been on any) and therefore, no doubt, Mr Bush's fault.

When the television networks cut to the President, viewers listened to him spend more than two surreal minutes talking to a gathering of Native Americans about their "extraordinary" and "extremely productive" conference, pausing to give a cheery "shout out" to a man named Dr Joe Medicine Crow. Only then did he briefly and mechanically address what had happened in Texas.

On Friday, when most of the basic facts were available, Mr Obama tried again. It was scarcely any better. He began by offering "an update on the tragedy that took place" - as if it was an earthquake and not a terrorist attack from an enemy within - and ended with a promise for more "updates in the coming days and weeks". Completely missing was the eloquence that Mr Obama employs when talking about himself. Absent too was any sense that the President empathised with the families and comrades of those murdered.

It was a reminder that for the past 16 years Americans have had two Presidents who would often extemporise and express emotion. President Bill Clinton could certainly "feel your pain" while Mr Bush sometimes struggled to hold back tears. Mr Obama is more like President George Bush Snr, who famously communicated his concern for people by blurting out: "Message - I care."

The White House argues that Mr Obama was not on the ballot last week and there is therefore no need to fret. The problem with this complacency is that voters were angry about the state of the economy, which Mr Obama can't keep blaming on his predecessor. With unemployment now above 10 per cent, Mr Obama needs to show Americans that he can relate to what they're going through, and take responsibility.

It could do him good to show he has a bit of fire in his belly. Perhaps he might make a decision or two based on gut instinct and deep conviction. In other words, maybe he should try being a bit more like Mr Bush.

The Message From Last Night is That Democrats Didn't Get the Message

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:46:47 PST

U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, made the following remarks today on "Fox News Sunday" with host Chris Wallace:
Excerpts from this morning's interview:
Host Chris Wallace: Congressman Pence, what's the message from last night and what about those Democrats from conservative districts who ended up voting for the bill? Are you going to make them pay in the next election?
Rep. Mike Pence: Chris, I think the message from last night is that Democrats didn't get the message in August or last Tuesday. I think from this past summer we saw the American people express overwhelming opposition to a government takeover of health care. They attended town hall meetings and rallies across the country, and then this last Tuesday, the historic reversals that Democrats saw in just twelve months in New Jersey and Virginia. Again, was an effort by the American people to send a message to this party that they are tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers. But last night, on a narrow partisan vote, the Democrats put their liberal big-government agenda ahead of the American people.

Rep. Pence: I think the American people are deeply frustrated with a liberal establishment in Washington D.C. that is ignoring their will. Nancy Pelosi, last night said, that they were "answering the call of history." I got to tell you, if Democrats keep ignoring the American people, their party is going to be history in about a year.

Comply with Pelois Healthcare Plan or Go to Jail

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:45:50 PST

H/T Boot Berry - by Publius, BigGovernment.com: Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail.

The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:

H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1]

“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2]

“Criminal penalties

Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years. [page 3]

When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.

“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates. Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

Wrong Diagnosis and the Wrong Prescription

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:53:38 PST

Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA) released the following statement following the historic health care vote (220 to 215) in Congress:

“After countless hours, days, weeks and months of debate, I have found there are certain things we can all agree on: we need to increase access to affordable, quality health care coverage.

“I have said in numerous town hall meetings and tele-town halls throughout my District that we do not need to turn the entire health care system on its head. Instead, we need to implement common sense reforms that will actually help those who are struggling because they have not only lost a job, but their employer-based health care coverage as well. There are other ways to expand access to affordable health care. A combination of tax credits and subsidies can be made available that would allow individuals and families to purchase coverage that meets their needs. We should allow Americans to purchase health care plans across state lines.

“We can provide for the creation of statewide exchanges – one-stop marketplaces – where everyone – not a select few, like the bill passed tonight – can buy coverage. This will offer not only access, but choice. That is the right prescription for America. Unfortunately, that is not what we did on the House Floor tonight. Instead the House of Representatives passed an historic bill which cuts 440 billion from Medicare for our seniors, kills jobs, adds $1.3 Trillion dollars to our skyrocketing debt and imposes a government plan on the public which will shift costs to private insurance plans and increase the costs of premiums for millions of Americans.”

Valerie Jarrett: The Next Van Jones - Obam said: she can "speaks for me"

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:08:18 PST

Ben Johnson, Front Page Magazine: Many have wondered how anyone as extreme as Obama's "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones – a self-described "Communist" obsessed with racial conspiracy theories – could have been named to head a federal agency. David Horowitz described the radicalization of the Democratic Party as the appointment's subtext. Closer to the fore, Jones owed his elevation to another new factor: the unparalleled influence of Valerie Jarrett. To call Jarrett a presidential adviser, even a close adviser, is misleading. She is an alter ego, an inner conscience, a touchstone of clarity for both President Obama and first lady Michelle. In the frenzy of the presidency, she reminds both Obamas of their identity and deepest-held beliefs. In exchange, the president makes no decision without her and has said she can “speak for me.” . . . [Read Full Article]

This Little Piggie - Remembering Tea Party Patriots

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:41:17 PST

With another major spending and liberty destroying bill (the Pelosi health care) before the the House of Representatives today, it seemed only right to remember the faithful 9-12 Washington, D.C. patriots and the above sign - This Little Piggie. Patriot Unknown but appreciated.

What Obama Doesn't Understand

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:40:20 PST

William J. Murray, Chairman Religious Freedom Coalition: On the first anniversary of his election, President Barack Obama still does not understand that Americas did not vote for him because they wanted to "fundamentally change America." He and radical leftist Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi both believe in their hearts that they were given a mandate to turn the United States into a socialist "utopia." Insiders in the White House say Obama has been "stunned" that there is so much resistance to his plans to raise fuel and energy prices as a means of "saving the planet," and so much resistance to creating a socialistic health care system. The real problem ... rich liberals like Obama and Pelosi live inside a fantasy, believing that everyone can somehow have all the comforts they have as millionaires, but furnished by the government rather than by hard work. (After all, neither Obama nor Pelosi ever had a real job before being elected to public office). The Obama-Pelosi logic has the same fatal flaw as did that of Karl Marx. In order for their Utopian fantasy to work, there must be unlimited resources that do not require rationing.

Jihad at Fort Hood

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:32:12 PST

by Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: Every American this morning should be outraged not only about the murderous rampage against U.S. soldiers in Ft. Hood, Texas, by Major Nidal M. Hasan, but also by the sickening effort of Big Media, and even some U.S. officials, to deceive us about what has taken place.

For eight years we have been fighting radical Islamists around the world, and we have been the victims of jihadist attacks by lone radical Muslims repeatedly here in the U.S. Yet as the story broke of the carnage yesterday, 13 dead and 30 wounded, virtually every major media outlet, along with our own government, seemed to have as their main goal convincing us that the event had nothing to do with terrorism or radical Islam.

But minute-by-minute, more information is coming to light that can’t be ignored. We have found out that six months ago Major Hasan may have defended Muslim suicide bombers on his web page, comparing such acts to the sacrifice a U.S. solider makes when he falls on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers. Col. Terry Lee, who worked with the killer, said Major Hasan had said, “Muslims shouldn’t be fighting Muslims.” Back in June, when a Muslim convert assassinated a U.S. soldier at a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas, Col. Lee said that Major Hasan seemed happy about the event and that he was confronted by other officers. (You may recall that it took days for Obama to acknowledge that attack, yet the White House issued a rare Sunday statement when late-term abortionist George Tiller was killed.)

In recent weeks, while off the base, Major Hasan started wearing Arabic and religious clothing. He passed out Korans on the morning of the shooting. Survivors in the facility where Major Hasan went on the attack reported that he yelled, “Allahu Akbar,” (Allah is great) before he opened fire – the same words shouted by the jihadists on 9/11 and which have been repeated by our enemy in every attack since.

Nor is this an isolated incident. In June 2003, Sergeant Hasan K. Akbar attacked his fellow soldiers as they gathered in Kuwait to start the liberation of Iraq. He killed two officers and wounded many more. Numerous plots by American Muslims have been uncovered in recent years to attack Fort Dix, the Quantico Marine Corps base and other military facilities.

No one is suggesting that an Al Qaeda operative contacted Major Hasan and ordered yesterday’s attack. But the evidence certainly indicates that Major Hasan was becoming more and more committed to radical Islam and growing increasingly hostile to the American military that paid for his education and repeatedly promoted him. NPR reports, “Hasan was put on probation early in his postgraduate work… He was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues…”

I understand the media’s politically correct mindset. What is inexcusable is why the military and the FBI continue to be so reticent about acknowledging the nature of the enemy we are confronting. Instead of going into denial, our military, the FBI and other intelligence agencies need to admit the obvious. While thousands of loyal American Muslims have served in the military, and some have died with other Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are also “sleeper cells” or “sleeper individuals” who are jihadist ticking time bombs inside our own ranks. Similar attacks are inevitable the longer our leaders engage in self-deception. The brave men and women in uniform, who are on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq, should not have to worry about being killed at home by the same enemy they are fighting abroad.

Government-Run Healthcare at Your Fingertips - Inherited National Debt

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:51:25 PST

Although Nancy Pelosi is no laughing matter, this video brings a chuckle:

Here is a video addressing Inherited National Debt:

Today in Washington D. C. - Nov 6, 2009 - Record Unemployment Rate 10.2% - Pelosi Ignores Americans

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:11:21 PST

The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 3072, the fiscal year 2010 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA) appropriations bill. No votes are scheduled in the Senate today. Yesterday, the Senate voted 71-28 to pass the fiscal year 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill, H.R. 2847. Prior to final passage, the Senate rejected several GOP amendments to the bill. The Senate voted 54-45 to kill an amendment from Sens. Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Jim Webb (D-VA) which would have prohibited funding to try 9/11 co-conspirators being held in Guantanamo Bay in civilian courts in the U.S. So the Democrats want to give foreign terrorists the right to trial in civilian courts. Also voted down were amendments from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) which would have cut funding for political science from the National Science Foundation and moved $5 million for renovating the Commerce Department building to funding its Office of Inspector General.

Phil Kerpen, Americans for Prosperity reports that "yesterday, more than 20,000 Americans from all across the nation traveled to Washington to demand real reform that expands choice and puts patients first." Newt Gingrich, American Solutions is reporting that "House Speaker Pelosi will try to ram her 1,990 page government health care bill this weekend." Pelois is moving forward not in spite of the fact that a majority of Americans oppose her bill and in total lack of concern regarding the national tragedy at Ft. Hood, Texas yesterday.

This morning, President Obama acknowledged the jump in unemployment rates. He also expressed his sympathy to the soldiers and their families who lost their life yesterday at Ft. Hood, Texas and announced flags will be at half mast through Nov.11th.

Record Unemployment Rate: The AP reports today, “The unemployed rate jumped to 10.2 percent last month, the highest since April 1983, from 9.8 percent in September, the Labor Department said Friday. The economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs, more than economists had expected.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said this morning: “I know the administration shares our goals of job creation and economic growth. But more debt, more spending, higher taxes and growing the size of government clearly has not worked—particularly in a time of double-digit unemployment.”

Once again, it’s worth looking at the predictions and promises made by the Obama administration when it was pushing to pass its massive $787 billion economic stimulus package in an attempt to prevent the recession from getting worse. Back in February, President Obama declared, “[I]f we don't act immediately, millions of more jobs will be lost. The national unemployment rates will approach double digits not just here in [Indiana], all across the country.” And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on CBS’ Face the Nation, “[T]he economic team believes that this bill will help us stay away from those double-digit economic unemployment numbers.” A month before those statements, administration economic advisers Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein released a report saying that if Congress passed the administration’s stimulus plan, unemployment would not exceed 8%.

Yet the country now faces 10.2% unemployment, with nearly 3.5 million jobs lost since February. And still the administration is trying to claim the stimulus was a success, mostly by trying to point to jobs it says have been “saved or created.” But reports over the past two weeks have shown that these numbers have been unreliable or inflated. And this week, the AP reports that “The inflated job count is at least partly the product of the administration instructing local community agencies that received money to count the raises as jobs saved.” In Texas, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Virginia, and elsewhere, reports have shown that stimulus money was used for pay raises but reported by the administration as saved jobs.

As Sen. McConnell said this summer, “The president said rush and spend it; pass it, we'll hold unemployment to 8% . . . . By any measurable index, the stimulus package has been a failure.” Now we have noted that the Obama administration has demonstrated the old adage: "statistics never lie but liars use statistics."

This One Will Hurt - 24 Hours to Stop Pelosi - Contact Your Representatives!

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:27:48 PST

Contact Your U.S. Representative!

Newt Gingrich, American Solutions: This Saturday, Speaker Pelosi will try to ram her 1,990 page government health care bill through the House of Representatives. If you want to defeat this, you must make our voice heard. Urge him or her to vote NO on H.R. 3962. We don't need a government takeover of health care. Remember, the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. Please take a moment and make the call. Remind Congress that in America, we the people shape the future. Thank you for taking a stand. Know that there are millions of other Americans standing with you.

Phil Kerpen, AFP Director of Policy: Yesterday, more than 20,000 Americans - people from all across the nation - traveled to Washington to say "Hands Off Our Health Care!" and demand real reform that expands choice and puts patients first. The atmosphere was electric. It's clear that the energy of this summer's protests has only grown as Congress tries to rush us towards a reckless multi-trillion-dollar health care takeover. Tens of thousands of Americans made "Emergency House Calls" yesterday to their Representatives' local offices. We saw huge crowds in Missouri, Arizona, Wisconsin, Colorado, North Carolina, Arkansas, and other key states. Our message and our enthusiasm have clearly resonated with Republican legislators. Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican Whip, told the crowd in Washington that not a single Republican will vote for Nancy Pelosi's Washington takeover of health care, scheduled for this Saturday. You and I must hold the Republican legislators to this commitment. But we must also, right now, break through to wavering Democratic legislators and demand that they vote "No" this Saturday. Please help by calling your member of Congress today. Then, encourage everyone you know to contact their member of Congress.

Thomas A. Schatz, President, Citizens Against Government Waste: The House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 3962, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA.) disastrous health care reform bill. I urge you, to tell your U.S. Representative that you OPPOSE this unaffordable government takeover of health care! H.R. 3962 poses a fundamental threat not only to our nation’s and your own financial health and prosperity, but to every American’s individual liberties and right to free choice! According to an initial estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 3962 will cost our country a minimum of $894 billion over 10 years. Robert Pear of The New York Times reported, “By the most commonly used yardstick, the bill would cost $1.05 trillion over 10 years.” H.R. 3962 would also inflict a whole host of new taxes and costly mandates on individuals and businesses as American families struggle to make ends meet and unemployment approaches double digits.

The most dangerous part of Pelosi’s healthcare “reform” bill is that it paves the way to a complete government takeover of healthcare in this country that will dramatically expand the size of government; allow bureaucrats and politicians to dictate your choice of doctors, treatments, and medicines; and ration quality care to control costs. H.R. 3962 creates 111 new federal boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs. It also expands Medicaid to all individuals with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, an estimated 10 million Americans. Speaker Pelosi proposes to pay for this government takeover of health care with massive cuts to Medicare. Those include more than $170 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage Plans that will gut the program, forcing the more than 10 million seniors who opt for it back into traditional fee-for-service Medicare, which has higher out-of-pocket expenses. It’s so vitally important that you tell your U.S. Representative to vote NO on H.R. 3962 today!

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council: On Saturday, Congress will vote on the massive health care legislation which currently will spend your money on all elective abortion! Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health care bill authorizes the government run "public option" to fund elective abortion and would subsidize private plans that cover elective abortion. Pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak and Republican Rep. Joe Pitts want to offer a pro-life amendment to strike the abortion funding from the bill. However, Speaker Pelosi won't allow it. Instead, they have inserted a fake "compromise" to allow the government to fund abortion through private contractors, but this would still be GOVERNMENT funding of abortion (Medicare also uses private contractors to process fees and no one would call Medicare "private" funding.) Speaker Pelosi will not allow a vote on a true amendment that would stop funding of abortion so you need to ask your Representative today to oppose the Rule that prevents a vote on the Stupak-Pitts amendment. And if that Rule passes they need to oppose final passage of the bill.

Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum: Less than 24 hours remain for Members of Congress to do the right thing and listen to their constituents who have passionately risen up to oppose this 2,000-page pile of junk policy which Nancy Pelosi is masquerading as health care reform. This bill is stealth amnesty for illegal immigrants and abortion on demand rolled into one. H.R. 3962 is the feminists’ dream bill because it provides for the largest expansion of government sanctioned abortion since Roe v. Wade in 1973. It’s unprecedented. It would for the very first time allow direct government funding of elective abortions. Pelosi’s bill has done nothing to close those pesky loopholes that existed in the Democrats’ first health care bill. It still allows illegal immigrants open access to the Insurance Exchange, it still provides no reliable verification mechanism, and it still allows that even if only one person qualifies for the family affordability credit, then the entire family is eligible for the pickings.
LAST CHANCE TO CALL BEFORE THE VOTE SATURDAY!

Choose Ye Whom Ye Shall Serve in the People's House - The People or Pelosi

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:42:43 PST

by Robert Romano, Senior ALG Editor: Yesterday, at noon, on the steps of the Capitol in Washington D.C., thousands of patriotic Americans gathered to express their heated opposition to the government capture of the nation’s entire health care sector.

These individuals, many of whom traveled from across the country, were protesting the takeover of more than one-sixth of the nation’s economy by a government that can’t even balance its own budget. They were rightly wary of bureaucrats getting between them and their doctors. They opposed of the rationing of health care away from seniors. And they refused to meekly accept the unsustainable hundreds of billions of dollars of taxes and spending riddled in the 2,000 pages of the bill.

In total, Americans for Limited Government estimates this bill will cost taxpayers some $2.1 trillion over ten years once fully implemented. All of which will be added to trillions of dollars in annual deficits, and a national debt expected to equal the entire Gross Domestic Product in 2011.

Several Republican members of Congress, led by the courageous Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann and Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) thrilled the crowd with speeches as the gathered throng chanted “Kill the bill!” and “No you can’t!” They were joined by top radio host and author of Liberty and Tyranny, Mark Levin, and acclaimed actor Jon Voight.

Upon the conclusion of the rally, these concerned constituents stormed the House of Representatives office buildings to petition their members of Congress in person, fulfilling a critical civic duty. They may have arrived in just a nick of time.

Bachmann said their country needed them to defeat the bill as she encouraged them to speak up against Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. “The biggest vote in the United States, the biggest voice in the United States is your voice,” said Bachmann. “Quite simply, the Republicans don’t have the votes to kill this bill… We knew we were limited, but what we knew was unlimited was the voice of persuasion of the American people. And that’s why you’re here today.”

To defeat the bill its opponents — including 54 percent of the American people according to Rasmussen — need to be at least 41 House Democrats voting with Republicans. However, despite the huge majority Pelosi has to work with, House Democrats are still working to achieve a plurality. In short, she does not yet have the votes.

According to the Wall Street Journal: "As of Wednesday, House leaders didn't appear to have secured the 218 votes they need to pass the bill. They were moving to quickly swear in two Democrats elected Tuesday, which would give the party 258 seats in the House and allow leaders to lose as many as 40 Democratic votes without losing their majority… House leaders spent Wednesday scrambling to secure votes from freshmen and lawmakers in swing districts.”

Adding urgency to the American people’s presence at the Capitol are moves in Congress to speedily move to a vote on the bill, H.R. 3962, in the House. According to top Capitol Hill sources, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has announced that the House will convene an emergency session on Saturday, November 7th with votes occurring as early as 9AM. The single purpose in Pelosi’s mind: to rush the bill through as quickly and covertly as possible — in the face of a tidal wave of public opposition.

Fortunately, throughout the year, the American people have made their voices heard against the unbridled expansion of government. They’ve stood up and spoke out at tea parties. At the summer town halls. On the phone and fax. Via email. And in person. They have said, “No!” They are not alone. According to Rasmussen Reports, 54 percent of voters oppose the “public option” proposed, which only 42 percent support. But defeating this bill is no easy task.

Moderate and conservative members of the Democrat caucus are actually the American people’s only hope to kill this bill. As Congresswoman Bachmann noted, there are not enough Republicans to defeat ObamaCare.

In response, activists nationwide have begun focusing on those vulnerable members of the Democrat majority who are concerned about a tough election battle in 2010. Some have already begun to cave in to constituent pressure—especially after crushing GOP victories in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday. Americans for Limited Government is urging its 400 thousand members to target some 92 House Democrats, including all members of the Blue Dog coalition.

In the end, it is the vulnerable members of the majority who will have to “choose ye this day whom ye shall ye shall serve”: those citizens who traveled hundreds, even thousands, of miles to demand the right to their own health care choices — or the politically powerful liberal elite. Now, the choice is theirs. It won’t be on November 2nd, 2010.

House Will Vote on Pelosi Health Plan this Week!

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:42:22 PST

Eagle Forum: Last week, liberal Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) introduced her "new and improved" plan to facilitate a government takeover of the best health care system in the world, which just so happens to make up one-sixth of the U.S. economy. After months of witnessing an American uprising to oppose Congress' first health care proposal, famously remembered as H.R. 3200, liberals in Congress are now pushing a twice as long, yet almost identical bill under the guise that it is a new compromise that won't push America further into bankruptcy. But, Americans will not be fooled.

Pelosi's "new" bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), has been scheduled to go to the House floor for only a few hours of debate this week! Debate could begin as early as Thursday, November 5^th, and a vote could occur shortly thereafter. Pelosi's goal is for this bill to receive as little attention and scrutiny as possible before the vote, so please be aware that once this bill goes to the floor, it will move fast. We need you to continue sounding the alarm and urging opposition to this 2,000-page monstrosity of massive new bureaucracy, redistribution of wealth, and rationed medical care.

Nancy Pelosi's H.R. 3962 contains the following provisions:

Permits federal taxpayer funding of abortion services, above and beyond the status quo of current law.
Provides for a "health care czar" called the Health Choices Commissioner, who could forcibly enroll individuals in government-run insurance and whose tasks include requiring random compliance audits on Americans' health benefits plans.
Allows for "community organizations" like ACORN and Planned Parenthood to assist the Health Choices Commissioner in enrolling individuals in the Health Insurance Exchange.
Encourages identity fraud for illegal immigrants seeking to gain taxpayer-subsidized health benefits through inadequate citizenship and legal status verification standards. Page 255, Section 345 of H.R. 3962 includes language requiring verification of income for individuals wishing to receive federal health care subsidies, and while the bill currently does include a requirement for applicants to verify their citizenship, it does not include a similar requirement to verify that person's identity, a key component of effective verification.
Provides for 13 new and different tax increases, including an employer mandate excise tax.
"Grandfathers" out of existence individual health insurance coverage.
Retains the "death panels" by providing for bureaucrats working for a new comparative effectiveness institute funded by a tax on health benefits. The institute could publish the protocols needed to deny patients access to life-saving treatments on cost grounds.
Contains NO ban on federal promotion of assisted suicide and/or health care rationing of treatments.
Facilitates leftist, social engineering policies such as rewriting current tax law to allow domestic partners to be treated as "spouses."
Retains both the individual and employer mandates to purchase health insurance or else face a financial penalty, and compliance to this mandate will be enforced by the IRS.
Imposes a 2.5% tax on an individual's modified adjusted gross income if they fail to purchase "acceptable" health care coverage.
Imposes a surtax, starting in 2011, on "high"-income people - that is, couples with adjusted gross income over $1 million and individuals over $500,000.
Fails to hold Members of Congress to the same health care system requirements that Americans will have to live by under the public health insurance option.
Prohibits states from using tort reform to reduce health care costs.
Mandates that all health insurance companies accept all applicants, that they cannot deny anyone for pre-existing conditions, and that they cannot increase the monthly premiums for less healthy, more costly consumers.
Accommodates "whistleblower" provisions for trial lawyers to bring suit against employers.
Slashes Medicare payments to providers by more than $400 billion.
Creates dozens of new bureaucracies (111 to be exact) including the Health Benefits Advisory Committee and the Health Choices Administration.
Encourages people to drop their insurance in favor of the public option as it provides for underpaying medical providers, who will in turn jack up their rates for those patients who have private insurance, driving more people to the cheaper, government plan.
Authorizes Medicare to pay doctors for providing advice to patients on end-of-life care.
Grants the authority to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Considers individuals to be treated as "children" up to the age of 26 for the purpose of remaining on their parents' insurance plan.
Imposes an excise tax on medical devices.
Cuts $170 billion from the Medicare Advantage program.
Institutes $729.5 billion in job-killing tax increases on all Americans, fines those who can't afford to purchase government-forced insurance, and cripples businesses by taxing health benefits.

If all of this weren't enough, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) even predicts that the public option's premiums will end up being quite high because it will attract less healthy people, who are more costly to the insurer. But, with a government-run plan, the government is the insurer, so higher cost projections for the government really means higher costs to American taxpayers.

In addition to all of this bureaucracy, taxation, and theft of individual liberty, the very same CBO has estimated the 10-year cost of H.R. 3962 to be a whopping $1.1 trillion, and that doesn't even include the "Doc Fix" legislation, which seeks to lump $245 billion of Medicare reimbursement payments into the national debt. The exclusion of the healthcare-related "Doc Fix" legislation into the overall pricetag of H.R. 3962 is nothing more than a Washington numbers gimmick, intended to deceive the American people about the true cost of the liberals' plan. So, now is the time to pick up the phone and demand the defeat of a government takeover of health care! TAKE ACTION!

The clock is ticking. The vote WILL occur at the end of this week. We will keep you updated everyday with the latest details, but there are only a few short days to do all you can to contact your Representatives and to make your voice heard in opposition to this bill. Phone calls are best, so please try to phone both your Representative's Capitol Hill office and his/her district office at least once a day, everyday this week.

For your convenience, here is our list of crucial target Members of Congress. These Members need extra pressure to stand up to Nancy Pelosi and vote NO on H.R. 3962 this week. If your own Representative is solidly opposed to this bill, please phone one of your friends or family members who lives in a district who has a Representative on the fence or who may be leaning toward supporting it, and encourage them to get involved in this fight!

You stopped Congress from steamrolling forward on this legislation last summer, so it's time to do it again this week!

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Our Prayers Go Out to the Military and Their Families at Ft. Hood

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:17:20 PST

At Ft Hood, Texas, an Army psychiatrist opened fire today on soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq, killing at least 12 and wounding 30. Our prayers go out to the victims, their families, friends and fellow soldiers.

Today in Washington D. C. - Nov 5, 2009 - Tuesday Results Should Make Dems Nervous About Obama Agenda

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:05:47 PST

The Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 2847, the fiscal year 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill. The bill provides $65 billion in funding, including $7.3 billion for the Census Bureau. At 12:15 PM, the Senate will vote on cloture on the substitute amendment to the CJS bill. If cloture is invoked, the Senate will then consider pending amendments to the bill. One of those amendments is offered by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that would prohibit funding to try 9/11 co-conspirators being held in Guantanamo Bay in civilian courts in the U.S. They would instead be tried by military commission. Earlier today 150 family members of victims of the 9/11 attacks released a letter supporting the amendment. A vote could come this afternoon.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 98-0 to pass the unemployment insurance extension bill, H.R. 3548.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) has taken the lead in calling for citizens concerned about a government take over of health care to rally at the U.S. Capitol today (Nov. 5th) and make “house calls” on their members of Congress. Info on that event can be found here. Fox News is reporting that people are already rallying at the Capitol. In addition, today, the House Republicans will release their proposed health care alternative.

Politico writes today, “Election Day losses in Virginia and New Jersey have congressional Democrats focused like never before on jobs — their own. While the White House and party leaders are urging calm, Democratic incumbents from red states and Republican-leaning districts are anything but; Tuesday's statehouse defeats have left them acutely aware that their votes on health care reform and other major Obama initiatives could be career-enders in 2010 or beyond.” Democrats getting nervous over the liberal agenda of their leadership in Congress and the White House seems to be the theme of the day.

The Wall Street Journal editorializes today, “Tuesday's GOP gubernatorial sweep revealed an electorate deeply anxious about jobs, the state of the economy and the wider Obama agenda.” And The Washington Post’s David Broder writes, “Despite White House efforts to discount the importance of the loss of the only two governorships on the off-year ballot, especially in New Jersey, where Obama had campaigned heavily for embattled Gov. Jon Corzine, the implications were clear to other Democrats. Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, a leader of the moderate-conservative ‘Blue Dogs,’ called the result ‘a wake-up call for Congress. A tidal wave could be coming.’” Even a skeptical Washington Post editorial mostly critical of a number of Republicans admitted, “There is a lesson here for Republicans, and perhaps also for Democrats: The results in Virginia and New Jersey may or may not represent a repudiation of the Obama presidency; we tend to think they do not. But they did signal to Democratic members of Congress -- especially those who represent Republican-leaning states -- that voters are getting nervous about the size and indebtedness of the federal government.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader John Boehner sat down with ABC News to discuss the impact of Tuesday’s elections yesterday. ABC writes, “McConnell, R-Ky., said the election results will make it more difficult for the president to convince Democrats to support a sweeping health care bill. ‘You’ve got a lot of newly elected Democrats -- as they had two good years in a row -- who are hanging on by their fingernails, and being pushed by the speaker and the majority leader to support legislation that they now know for sure their constituents don’t approve of,’ McConnell said.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial examines why the Democrats’ health care bill should make rank-and-file members so nervous. “Mr. Obama campaigned on a pledge to spare 95% of Americans from tax increases, but the American middle class is slowly figuring out that it will eventually be asked—that's the polite way of putting it—to pay for all of this. These looming bills, and not only from the $787 billion stimulus, are clouding the investment outlook. Nowhere is this more true than on health care.”

Sen. McConnell warned this morning:

“Taken together, the health care plan we’ve seen would impose roughly half a trillion dollars in new taxes, fees, and penalties at a time when Americans are already struggling to dig themselves out of a recession. What’s worse, an independent analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation suggests that nearly 80 percent of the burden would fall on middle-class Americans. So a reform that was meant to make life easier is now expected to make life harder.”

“This is not the reform Americans were asking for. And that’s precisely why more Americans now oppose this health care plan than support it.” Certainly, that, combined with Tuesday’s election results must be weighing on the minds of Democrats as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushes for a vote on her health care reform bill this weekend."

Since April, 114 Children Have Died from H1N1 - 700,000 Have Died from Abortion

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:07 PST

by Karen Schuberg, CNS News: [H1N1] has claimed the lives of at least 114 children in the United States since April, according to the latest data available from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But an estimated 2,247 to 3,305 babies lose their lives to abortion each day, based on statistics compiled by both the CDC and the Guttmacher Institute, a private research foundation tied to the abortion industry.

A CDC report released last Friday placed the death toll from H1N1 at 114 for persons aged 18 or younger. The week of Oct. 18-24 saw 19 laboratory-confirmed pediatric deaths from H1N1. Since August, 65 children have died from the virus and 12 have died from an unkown subtype of Influenza A. Since April 26, only 1 child has died from seasonal flu.

Meanwhile, in a 2008 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC said that in 2005, the most recent year for which abortion data is available, 820,151 legal abortions were reported from 49 reporting areas. According to Guttmacher data, which are considered more up-to-date and more accurate than federal government statistics, 3,305 babies on average lose their lives to abortion daily. In 2005, the number of abortions totaled 1,206,200 children . . . [Full Story]

Country On The Wrong Track

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:30:01 PST

by William Warren:

Voices of Republican Doctors

editor@arragopwing.com (Bill Smith) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:43:12 PST

This video features the testimonials for House Republican Doctors on the ongoing health care debate. Seems it is time to listen to experienced doctors who agreed to also serve as our representatives verses listening to inexperienced liberals who seek expanded government bureaucracy, increased taxes, limiting services, and interjecting government (be it an agency or an official) between us and our doctors and between us and our health insurance plan.