Democrats: 223 minutes
Obama: 119 minutes
Republicans: 110 minutes
In an attempt to “control” the message the tale of the time says it all. In 452 minutes (the elapsed time of the Summit) Democrats held the microphone for 342 of those minutes.
That is a slightly more than a 3-1 margin.
The other glaring discrepancy to this Obama billed “bipartisan” meeting was that every time a Republican brought up ideas they were labeled a “talking points” while the Democrats droned on and on about their plan without that label.
During the Super Bowl, Obama announced his plan for the Summit which was explained to “convene a bipartisan summit in which Republicans and Democrats would try to forge a compromise while a national TV audience watched.
If you are to seriously consider this “Summit” as a truly bipartisan meeting then it should have convened with a clean slate and not a discussion that started with the three Democrat bills (House, Senate and the newly crafted White House version that has yet to be scored by the CBO). All three of the bills that were tossed around today were crafted by Democrats without any Republican input. In fact, the Republicans were shut out of each and every turn while the doors were locked (and locks changed) and backroom bribes were made to Louisiana, Nebraska, AMA, AARP, Unions and a whole host of special interests in order to move this monstrosity forward.
This is why the Republicans wanted to scrap this corrupted and bloated government takeover of 1/6th of our economy to have an equal say in the process. Yet for all of the touting by the Democrats and Obama at a bipartisan effort here we heard from Harry Reid and Nanci Pelosi that regardless of the outcome, we are to expect the Senate to ram this legislation through using the “reconciliation” process.
In legal terms, this is a tactic of coercion that would make any contract illegal because of the threat that looms if one side doesn’t agree. I believe it is called “fraud in the inducement”!
Per legal dictionary:
“Fraud in the inducement n. the use of deceit or trick to cause someone to act to his/her disadvantage, such as signing an agreement or deeding away real property. The heart of this type of fraud is misleading the other party as to the facts upon which he/she will base his/her decision to act. Example: "there will be tax advantages to you if you let me take title to your property," or "you don't have to read the rest of the contract--it is just routine legal language" but actually includes a balloon payment.”
Obama and the Democrats have gone into this Summit with an uphill climb as it tries to convince an angry American public that their legislation is in our best interest. How else can you explain the failure of a 60 seat majority in the Senate from just passing this bill? How else can you explain the failure of a majority in the House from just passing this bill? With the bribes and payoffs to lobby groups how can you explain the failure of this bill? Finally will someone please explain why there are many states that have enacted and some that are considering enacting “Federal Health Care Nullification” legislation if the majority of people want Obama and the Democrats legislation?
The following States have already passed this federal nullification of healthcare legislation: Arizona and Virginia
The following States have passed this federal nullification of healthcare in one or two houses within their state: Tennessee, Utah and Idaho
The following States have introduced the federal nullification of healthcare legislation:
Alaska, Washington, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Hampshire.
The following States have turned down the legislation when put to voters:
North Dakota, Minnesota, Mississippi and Wyoming.
With the overwhelming anger that constituents have over this healthcare takeover bid by the Democrats that have translated into absolute Republican rejection at every vote during the legislative process has also led to Democrat defection from their ranks.
To move forward with the reconciliation process to force this into law would not only be stupid politics but politically suicidal. The real test will be whether or not Democrats can even muster the 51 votes needed for reconciliation given the poison pills Democrats will need to swallow to get us there.
The two things that I can say that were accomplished today:
1) Republicans found the hidden key to the negotiation room!
2) Republicans utilized their 110 minutes masterfully while the Democrats looked like, well, what they were – bullies!
No comments:
Post a Comment