May 18, 2013

Even though it was broken when we passed it…

February 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Senate Democrats block the repeal of  ‘Obamacare’ and continue their headlong dash to self-induced defeat in 2012…

February 04, 2011

by Matt Campbell

 This past Wednesday, Senate Democrats once again failed to listen to the will of the vast majority of American citizens, by opposing Republican efforts to put forward a repeal of the healthcare law ratified in 2010. The repeal measure, which was passed last week by the United States House of Representatives, was blunted in the Senate by a vote straight down party lines. 51 Democrats, 47 Republicans.

More distressing than the vote is the continuing willful disregard of Senate Democrats to acknowledge or even consider the will of those whom they represent. Further, the Senate Democrats refused to recognize that the healthcare bill that they passed into law should have never been passed. This stubborn attitude was demonstrated in the comments several Senate Democrats made from the floor. Perhaps the most telling of these comments were those made by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida:

“My preference is we fix the law, that we don’t throw it out” said Nelson from the Senate floor Wednesday.

The word “fix” by its definition implies a state of brokenness, and if the bill was broken, why was it passed at the intial vote in March of last year? Senate Democrats have yet to explain that discrepancy, but Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi may have given an clear insight into the Democrat thought processes with her enthusiastic declaration - ”We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it…”

Sen. Nelson, however, is not the only senatorial Democrat demonstrating a lack of connectivity to the will of the American citizenry.  Senate majority leader Harry Reid, took a swing at Senate Republicans saying - ”They are fighting for repeal but refusing to offer any new ideas… Republicans have had a year to propose a plan to replace the law they dislike even though 80% of Americans don’t want it repealed in the first place.”   The problem with Sen. Reid’s “80%” number is that it is just plain wrong. According to Rasmussen,  58% of Americans want the healthcare law REPEALED.  Also,  in the most recent Quinnipiac poll the numbers favor repeal as well with 48% favoring repeal to 43% falling in the “don’t repeal”, or “don’t know” category. Furthermore, Republicans were, in fact, offering a solution… Don’t pass a broken bill – especially when it goes against the will of the American people.

In all likelihood, this matter will end up before the Supreme Court, and many Democrat Senators, including Sen. Bill Nelson, seem ready to pass along the responsibility for this decision.

Sen. Nelson made this clear in his statements from the floor:  ”Doesn’t anyone conclude that this matter is going to the Supreme Court to decide if this law is constitutional or not? The Supreme Court decision is going to discard political and partisan interests.” Nelson continued “Why don’t we just expedite the matter?”

Both Republican and Democrat Senators received thousands of letters and e-mails requesting the repeal of the 2010 healthcare law. For Sen. Nelson messages from his home state of Florida included communications from two of his likely competitors in the 2012 Senate race for the seat he now holds.

Florida State Senate President Mike Haridopolos and U.S. Representative Connie Mack (R- 14) both sent letters to Sen. Bill Nelson requesting that he support the repeal. Representative Connie Mack wrote eloquently, but stated in no uncertain terms precisely what Florida constituents expected of Sen. Nelson - ”It is critically important that you listen to the will of your constituents and to the federal courts that ruled it unconstitutional, and finally stop supporting this dreadful, unconstitutional, and harmful piece of legislation… Floridians await your decision,” Rep. Mack wrote “and also know to be mindful of any procedural motions ahead of the vote that would also measure your intentions.”    Sen. Nelson will face both Haridopolos and Mack in the swiftly approaching campaign season, where it is likely the health care law will play a significant role.

By the admission of Republicans, the vote for repealing  ’Obamacare’  was a long shot in the Democrat-controlled Senate, but Republican leaders were quick to point out that this vote is just the start.  Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell stated- “This fight isn’t over. We intend to continue the fight to repeal and replace ‘Obamacare’.

Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina made reference to the far-reaching effects of this Senate vote in his statement- “There is going to be a presidential election in 2012, and this healthcare bill is going to be an issue…”

Many ongoing court battles will keep this law in the forefront, including Florida’s recent court decision, finding the 2010 healthcare law unconstitutional.

All of America will be keeping watch; both on the course of this bill, and the Democrat Senators who continue to ignore the will of the people in favor of party agenda.

Filed Under: Nationwide Politics, Senate Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Reid Pulls Controversial $1.2 Trillion Spending Bill in Favor of Short-Term Budget Fix

December 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

December 16, 2010 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, bowing to Republican opposition to a 1,924-page $1.2 trillion spending measure packed with earmarks, withdrew the bill and said he would work with Republican leaders on a smaller, short-term budget fix to avoid a looming government shutdown. 

The government already is operating on a temporary stopgap measure, set to expire at the end of Friday. Republicans had insisted on having the massive spending bill read aloud – a move that would have delayed a final vote until next week. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has offered a one-page stopgap bill that would fund the government for just the next two months. Reid said he would with McConnell to finalize such a measure. 

Reid, in announcing his decision, lashed out, saying that he had the support of the nine GOP senators needed to pass the measure, but suddenly that support evaporated. 

“This action taken by my friends on other side of aisle going to cause people to lose their job,” Reid said. 

McConnell gave a different interpretation. 

“He doesn’t have the votes,” McConnell said. “And the reason he doesn’t have the votes is because members on this side of the aisle increasingly felt concerned about the way we do business.” 

A McConnell aide said the leader “worked the phones” for days, pressing his members to quash the bill. Republicans had strongly condemned the $1.27 trillion omnibus spending bill, which would fund the government through Sept. 30, for its $8.3 billion worth of earmarks — though some of those earmarks belong to Republicans. 

Defenders of earmarks point out that the money for congressional earmarks represents a tiny portion of the bill — less than 1 percent — and that lawmakers know the needs of their states and congressional districts better than administration bureaucrats. And just because something is in the president’s budget doesn’t mean that it’s not pork. 

“If you look up earmark in the dictionary, it means ‘to designate or set aside.’ It is not ‘in addition to,’” said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. “If the Congress does not exercise its constitutional authority to designate where the funds will go, the administration will usurp that authority and you will get every bit as much pork barrel spending.” 

Such arguments, however, have been drowned out by protests from Tea Party activists and other opponents of the projects, who make fun of earmarks like $100,000 obtained by Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., to renovate the Edgar Allan Poe museum in the Bronx, a cottage where the poet lived for the final three years of his life. 

Other senators with earmarks in the bill after voting last month to ban them include Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Kay Baily Hutchison, R-Texas; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. 

Even avid earmarker Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee — who obtained almost 300 earmarks totaling more than $500 million — hasn’t explicitly come out in support of the bill, though he’s widely expected to vote with Democrats later this week to advance it. 

So is Ohio Republican George Voinovich, who’s responsible, along with Democratic homestate colleague Sherrod Brown, for 77 earmarks totaling $94 million. 

Fox News’ Trish Turner and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Original Article

Filed Under: Congress Watch, Nationwide Politics, Senate Tagged With: , , ,

Senate Republicans Reject Obama's Plan to Extend Tax Cuts for Middle Class Only

December 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Senate Republicans on Saturday voted against President Obama’s plan to extend the Bush tax cuts to only the middle class in a pair of votes Democrats are seizing to paint the GOP as guardians of the rich. The Senate voted 53-36 to extend all expiring tax cuts on individuals with incomes of less than $200,000 a year and married couples making less than $250,000 — seven shy of the required 60 to advance. The other proposal, which drew opposition from White House officials, would have renewed them for all tax filers with incomes of $1 million or less. That also failed in a 53-36 vote.

President Obama said he was “very disappointed” in the Senate’s verdict. “Those provisions should have passed,” he said.”It makes no sense to to hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage to permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans especially when those high-income tax cuts would cost an additional $700 billion that we don’t have and would add to our deficit.” “But with so much at stake, today’s votes cannot be the end of the discussion,” he said. “It’s absolutely essential to hardworking middle class families and to the economy to make sure their taxes don’t go up on Jan. 1.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately slammed the political maneuvering by Democrats after the votes. “According to the strange the logic of Democratic leaders in Congress, the best way to show middle class Americans that they care about creating jobs is to slam some of America’s top job creators with a massive tax hike,” he said on the Senate floor. “Today’s vote was an affront to the millions of Americans who are struggling to find work and a clear signal that Democrats in Congress still haven’t got the message from the November elections,” he said. The Senate vote is expected to clear the way for negotiations between the White House and Republicans to resume on a bill to extend the tax cuts at all levels. Any agreement is also expected to renew expiring jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.

Also part of the discussions is a possible increase in the federal debt limit, which allows the government to continue to borrow to meet its financial obligations. But Democrats, already eyeing the 2012 elections, wanted to use this showdown to weaken a resurgent GOP. “All those people out there in the Tea Party that are angry about the economics of Washington, they really need to look at this,” Sen. Claire McCaskill., D-Mo., said Friday as Democrats took turns pummeling Republicans. “They need to pull back the curtain and realize that you’ve got a Republican Party that’s not worried about the people in the Tea Party,” said McCaskill, who will be on the ballot next year. “They’re worried about people that can’t decide which home to go to over the Christmas holidays.”

In the weekly White House radio and Internet address, Vice President Biden, skipped lightly over Obama’s willingness to negotiate with the GOP on the Bush-era tax breaks. “We’ve got to extend the tax cuts for the middle class that are set to expire at the end of the month,” he said. “If we don’t, millions of middle-class families will see a big bite out of their paychecks starting January 1. And that’s the last thing we should let happen.” “And the second thing we’ve got to do is extend unemployment insurance for Americans who have lost their jobs in a tough economy,” Biden said. Delivering the Republican address, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who was sworn into office this week, said voters in the midterm elections demonstrated their distaste for any tax increases. “The current leaders of Congress should not move forward with plans that were just rejected by the American people,” he said. “These leaders should not raise taxes and risk another recession. Instead, Congress should reduce spending and prevent another tax hike on American taxpayers.”

 - The Associated Press

Filed Under: Nationwide Politics, Senate Tagged With: , , ,
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