Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Fear and Loathing In D.C.

If there is one thing the Democrats are good at, it’s political theater. Watching them act is like melodrama of the highest order. . . or a low quality soap opera. Of all their recent fooling around, nothing approaches the drama they are generating with health care reform. Fear, hate and revenge fill the air of the Senate. . .

News Item: Dorgan Terrifies Democrats
After fourteen days of debate, the Senate has managed to vote on only eight amendments. Why has the process ground to a halt you ask? Because of little-known Senator Byron Dorgan, who, having fallen for an e-mail scam about a Mexican pharmacy, has introduced an amendment to allow the government to import prescription drugs from other countries.

This has frozen the Democrats with terror. Imagine Dorgan pulling this amendment from his briefcase as the other Democrats huddle together in a distant corner, afraid of the radioactive document. And why is it radioactive? Because this document puts them in a bind. Their idiot followers demand that they PUNISH the drug industry. But the drug industry has been bought off by the White House in a quasi-secret deal to support this reform. Passing this amendment would turn the pharma industry (and their powerful lobby) against them. Thus, they are frozen, unsure what to do.

News Item: Nelson II Terrifies Self
Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Nelson turns the Democratic position that $460 billion in Medicare cuts won’t hurt Medicare into farce. He’s decided that his political survival requires him to offer an amendment to the bill that will exempt three Democratic counties in South Florida with large retirement populations from Medicare cuts. So why would this bill hurt the oldsters in Palm Beach, Dade and Broward counties. . . but no one else in the country?

News Item: Howard Dean Suggests Billocide
A frustrated Howard Dean has told every camera he can find that this bill should be killed. “The Senate version is not worth passing,” growled an angry Howard Dean, a possible gun owner. “The insurance companies got to write this bill the way they wanted to. This isn’t health care reform, this isn’t even insurance reform.” He then noted, in a bizarre moment of honesty, that the bill “does nothing to reduce costs.” And he angrily poked fun at the idea that the bill would cover people with pre-existing conditions: “You can’t afford it, even if you are allowed to buy it.” I wonder if any of ObamaCare's utopian supporters heard those comments?

News Item: Nelson I Rediscovers Principles
Now that it appears the bill cannot pass, Sen. Ben Nelson has rediscovered his principles and states that he won’t support this bill unless the Stupak-like abortion language is inserted.

Meanwhile, the abortion lobby is gearing up to hunt Stupak.

News Item: Democrats Get Their Hate On For Lieberman
But the real hate this week has been aimed at Sen. Joe Lieberman. First, there were hints that Joe might lose his chairmanship. Then the Democrats went a little (lot) crazy. Screamed the shrill Ezra Klein of the Washington Post:
“And if there's a policy rationale here, it's not apparent to me, or to others who've interviewed him. At this point, Lieberman seems primarily motivated by torturing liberals. That is to say, he seems willing to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in order to settle an old electoral score.
And loony Klein is not alone. Jonathan Chait of The New Republic, makes the same claim:
“He seems to view the prospect of sticking it to the liberals who supported his Democratic opponent in 2006 as a goal potentially worth sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of Americans to fulfill.”
Chait then gets his anti-Semitism on to explain Lieberman’s actions:
“[T]here's little evidence that he's a sharp or clear thinker, and certainly no evidence that he knows or cares about the details of health care reform. . . I suspect that Lieberman is the beneficiary, or possibly the victim, of a cultural stereotype that Jews are smart and good with numbers. Trust me, it's not true.”
He finishes by accusing Lieberman of simply being anti-liberal:
“If the liberals like it, then he figures it's big government and he should oppose it. I think it's basically that simple.”
Hate-filled, leftist Huffington Post blogger (or is that redundant) Jane Hamsher has gotten out her long knives for Lieberman’s wife. She accuses Hadassah Lieberman of being a shill for the insurance industry (hmmm, didn’t Howard Dean mention insurance companies above?). Hamsher, thus, wants Mrs. Lieberman fired from being a spokesman for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which fights breast cancer. She also accuses Hadassah of “being instrumental” in killing HillaryCare.

No word yet on whether Hamsher is looking to injure Lieberman’s kids, but I haven’t read all of her diatribes.

But these are just bloggers and/or Howard Dean -- they don’t count. No real politician would act this way, right? Actually, they would. Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut is calling for Connecticut to recall Lieberman, even though Connecticut has no law to do this and even though the United States Constitution does not allow states to do this.
“No individual should hold health care hostage, including Joe Lieberman, and I’ll say it flat out, I think he out to be recalled.”
Added Connecticut Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy, “People are fed up in Connecticut, and it’s maddening to those of us who feel we have a pretty clear sense of where people in Connecticut are.”

Nice. So if you don’t toe the party line, you need to be removed from office. And these same little totalitarians had the nerve to blast the Republicans for suggesting that candidates who did not agree to 8 of 10 positions would not get financial assistance. Hypocrisy, thy name is “Democratic Party.”

So why did Lieberman do it? According to Lieberman, he was particularly troubled by the overly enthusiastic reaction to the Medicare proposal by liberals who had been championing the public option:
“Congressman Weiner made a comment that Medicare buy-in is better than a public option, it’s the beginning of a road to single-payer. Jacob Hacker, who’s a Yale professor who is actually the man who created the public option, said, ‘This is a dream. This is better than a public option. This is a giant step.’”

*** BREAKING NEWS ***
Finally, we predicted a few weeks ago, that liberals would soon begin throwing around the word “betrayal.” Guess what word The Politico used to describe how liberals feel about Obama’s behavior:
“And as Democrats tried to salvage health reform Tuesday, some liberals could barely hide their sense of betrayal that the White House and congressional Democrats have been willing to cut deals and water down what they consider the ideal vision of reform.”
and
“Progressives feel betrayed, but are not surprised, by the Senate’s move to drop the Medicare buy-in and the public option. They blame Reid and Obama for not exercising their power to fight for the provisions.”
Equally interesting, check out the conspiracy theory thinking being promoted by our old friend Jane Hamsher:
“They were very good at making it look like they wanted a public option in the final bill without actually doing anything to make it happen. It’s hard to believe that the two most powerful people in the country — arguably the world — could not do more to achieve their desired objective than to hand the keys over to Joe Lieberman. They would not be where they are if they are that bad at negotiation.”
Wow, so Obama didn't fail, he never really tried?! How about a tin-foil hat to go with your brown shirt Jane! It’s all a plot! The bells!! The bells!!!

If anyone ever needed proof that leftists are petulant and unbalanced, here it is.

Enjoy!

26 comments:

LawHawkSF said...

Andrew: I can't help but chuckle at the Democrat piranhas in a feeding frenzy, eating each other. I haven't seen anything like this since the Johnson/antiwar feeding frenzy. And this time I can enjoy it because I'm not involved in it.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, This is amazing. I've never seen anything like it, but it's obviously been years in the making. They are falling apart as a party and all that's left is vendetta and force.

This is basically becoming a Democratic verbal civil war. You can feel the hate coming off several of these quotes. I almost expect this whole thing to end with Pelosi or Reid knifing Joe on the floor of the Senate: "Et tu Dingy Harry?"

CrispyRice said...

While I do find it entertaining, I have a deep-seated (and not irrational) fear that the Dems will pull together in the end and pass some piece of junk. Ugh.

And as for the Dems falling apart, Andrew, I think it's only going to last as long as they don't have anyone to band together against. As soon as we have a Republican "in charge" again - either as taking back over the House in 2010 or as a new prez in 2012, they'll quickly forget their sniping.

AndrewPrice said...

CrispyRice, So cynical. . . :-(

Actually, you're right. I think they will eventually pass a watered-down monster that will need to be euthanized by some future Congress.

You're also right that their civil war will end as soon as they can find a common enemy worth fighting. They've been trying that already. Several of them are suggesting that "the real enemy" are the Republicans. But it's not working because the Republicans have no power to stop anything, so that hasn't managed to stop the infighting yet.

Interestingly, the intensity keeps going up. Now the House Democrats are now piling on as well, attacking the Senate Democrats for dithering, with some very public attacks on Reid's leadership skills (or lack thereof).

LawHawkSF said...

Andrew: I thought the common enemy was Rush Limbaugh. LOL

CrispyRice said...

Yes, Andrew, I heard Pelosi said today that "next time" the Senate is going to have to stick their necks out and vote before the House does. Way to show leadership! ;)

Just give the Republicans the House and the Dems can blame everything on them again. Meanwhile, as LawHawk points out, Rush will have to do! LOL! Nothing like being the most powerful man on the planet while at the same time "nothing but an entertainer" eh?

AndrewPrice said...

So Rush is now running the secret cabal that keeps the Democrats from voting the way they promised? And here I thought it was still Dick Cheney? LOL!!

Yeah, leadership is letting the other guy go first. Nice philosophy from Madame Pelosi.

StanH said...

SNAFU! All’s right with the world, cause everything is screwed up in Washington. They will get something through, and call it healthcare reform. As the election approaches maybe they’ll break into open warfare in the House and Senate as they start to understand the tail kicking that’s coming in their direction in 2010.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, I'm sure they'll get something out of the Senate. Then the fight returns to the House.

In the end, I agree that they'll get something through.

LawHawkSF said...

Stan and Andrew: I agree that they'll get something, but it won't be much. Free Band-Aids in assorted shapes for everyone over the age of 2, maybe. I have some hope that at this point, whatever they do come up with won't fool anybody and won't satisfy anybody, and will leave us in a position to undo whatever little interference in medical care that they do get at the polls in the next two election cycles.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I hope you're right. Even if they only get through what's left in the Baucus bill, it could still be pretty damaging.

StanH said...

Wow Lawhawk, Band-Aids assorted sizes, …what about different colors?

You guys are the lawyers, what about attacking this monstrosity through the courts. Use the tact of the left and sew it up in court. Andrew touched on this on an earlier post, if it’s weak maybe it can be stopped or delayed in the courts, until the voters can deliver the ultimate solution in 2010 etc. Just a thought.

BevfromNYC said...

I'm having a great time watching Lieberman force the gutting of the Senate bill and the Democrats only have Howard Dean to blame for it. If he hadn't screwed Lieberman, Lieberman would be still be a full fledged nearly completely controllable Blue Dog Democrat instead of nearly uncontrollable Independant. Hopefully he will be rewarded in 2010 by the Republicans...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I'm enjoying it a lot too. Sadly, I suspect the fun will end soon and they will get something passed. But in the meantime, I will enjoy watching Lieberman wreck havoc on their parties. And you're right about Dean. As they say, what goes around comes around.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, We need to wait and see how the final bill turns out before we could make any real assessment of how we could go about trying to block the bill or any parts of it.

In reality, however, the bill is going to take so long before most of it kicks in (other than the tax hikes) that we should have plenty of time to undo the damage.

Still, it's an interesting thought that we'll need to ponder.

BevfromNYC said...

Yes, but the real fun will start when they have to reconcile both bills into one bill. Now, that's going to be some fun...

LawHawkSF said...

StanH: The doctrine of ripeness and the requirement that the federal courts address cases and controversies would stop us cold in our tracks. It's nearly impossible to stop anyone, including Congress, from doing something that is not yet in any coherent form, and which cannot yet allow the law to discern which portions of the legislation might be unlawful or unconstitutional.

As much as I am an enthusiastic supporter of the legal dictum "sue the bastards," it's just too soon. But as Andrew said very succinctly, it's an interesting thought that we'll need to ponder.

Opus #6 said...

I just hope the delays keep coming. I mean really. If they had the votes in July, August, September, anytime. It would already have been passed. I called all Dem senators yesterday and I will keep doing it. They need to feel our opposition daily.

patti said...

andrew: i feel you may be the ying to my yang. while you call libbies petulant and unbalanced, i call them....well, you KNOW what i call them. same sentiment, different levels of restraint :)

"billocide" gave me a YYEEEEAAAAAAAA!

seems all we have to do is get out of the dems way and let them kill their own. and a merry christmas to all!

StanH said...

Oh yeah, you can’t go off half cocked, you must have a target first. Wouldn’t you reckon that “Judicial Watch” and like groups will tear into, for instance, the Constitutionality of a mandate to purchase healthcare. It appears Lawhawk, that this works like a charm in California (endangered species). I guess my point is, we on the right need to use all weapons available to fight these leftist creeps, and their terrible policies.

AndrewPrice said...

Opus 6, Great! Everyone should keep the pressure up on these people. They need to know that the public is angry about this.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, That will be interesting to see what comes out of the reconciliation committee and if it's palatable to anyone.

Stan, There are definitely points that could be attacked, but we need to wait to see what the bill looks like -- you can't challenge a bill until it exists.

AndrewPrice said...

Patti, You're method works too! LOL!

LawHawkSF said...

StanH: Just because it's too early to attack, that doesn't mean that it's too early to formulate a strategy. We're with you on using their own legal tactics against them as soon as possible. For now, we have to settle for polishing up our law books. LOL

Mike Kriskey said...

I'm one voter from Connecticut who's sent Lieberman a thank you note. Tomorrow I'll write him again, about some of the other concerns I have about what I'm hearing about the bill.

It's not like the leftists here are ever going to vote for him now---they're going after the man's wife, for crying out loud I'm hoping he'll realize he's going to have to please his more moderate constituents on this one.

AndrewPrice said...

Good for you Mike! I hope Lieberman eventually hangs tough on this.

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