Pitts Fumes Over Omission of Abortion Language in Senate Health Care Bill
Congressman Joe Pitts is angry.
Pitts, one of two Republicans to successfully attach an abortion amendment to the House version of the health care reform package, is seething over changes Democratic leaders in the Senate have made to the amendment's language.
"I've only had a cursory look, but basically ... it's like the caps amendment that we had in the House version, the Pelosi bill," he tells me on the eve of tonight's Senate vote to move the legislation to the floor for debate. "It's nothing but an accounting mechanism. It still provides that public funds will subsidize abortions."
Katy Abram: Why We fight
After standing up at a health care town hall in August and challenging Republicrat Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, stay-at-home mom Katy Abram took a lot of heat from the Left (and even some left-leaning independents) questioning her motives.
As she continues to fight for her beliefs by speaking to various conservative organizations such as the Tea Party Express in Orlando, Fla., the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC, the 9/12 Rally in Lebanon, Pa. and others, Abram continues to provide inspiration for other conservative activists. She also continues to attract criticism from liberals.
Holder Gambles With 9/11 Justice
Let's not kid ourselves.
Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to return five 9/11 terror suspects to New York City to stand trial in civilian court, rather than in military commissions, was undoubtedly made with the blessing of President Barack Obama. By way of deduction, this decision has little to do with furthering the interests of justice. If that were the case, neither Holder nor Obama would have put the cases in such dire jeopardy.
Holder points to the success the Department of Justice has had in prosecuting previous terror cases in civilian courts. He points to the convictions of the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, who attempted to light a bomb on board an airplane in 2001; the blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, who conspired to bomb the World Trade Center in 1993; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who conspired to execute the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. While all three men are serving life sentences, their cases are dramatically different from the ones currently discussed in terms of both scope, magnitude and evidence collection.
For example, each of those cases were investigated by civilian authorities such as police officers and FBI agents. Additionally, most of the critical evidence was gathered on American soil. In each of those three cases, federal prosecutors had more than just the suspect's confession upon which to base their case.
Oprah Winfrey Going Rogue With Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin is Going Rogue in a big way.
The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee is kicking off a whirlwind publicity tour today with an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Surprised? Don't be. Despite the magnanimous talk show host's very public diss of Palin last year, the two have apparently teamed up to sell some books and raise some ratings.
Palin can't be blamed for seizing the opportunity to appear on Winfrey's wildly popular TV show, nor for allowing her book to be included as an official "Oprah's Book Club" selection. Such a stamp of approval will ensure the memoir flies off the shelves for years to come. As it is, Going Rogue: An American Life became a New York Times best seller more than a month before its scheduled release to book stores tomorrow.
Shouldn't Hasan Be Charged With Hate Crimes?
Late last month, President Barack Obama gleefully signed his name to a defense bill Congress passed because it had no choice. The bill contained an expansion of US hate crimes laws.
It's no secret that conservatives generally oppose hate crimes laws, holding the belief that all hate-motivated crimes should be punished equally, regardless of the victim's sexual identity, religious preference or nationality. Nevertheless, conservatives must abide by the law as it's written.
So, here's what I want to know: if is determined that Nidal Hasan allegedly committed his crimes out of hatred for any religion but Islam, will he be charged with 13 federal hate crimes, just as he was charged on Thursday with 13 counts of premeditated murder for last week's shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas?
If ever a situation screamed out for it, this is it.
For the Senate, a Sacrifice for a Sacrifice
Let's make this abundantly clear from the get-go: America should support its troops both on and off the battlefield, and it should keep its commitment to its injured veterans for the rest of their lives.
Senate Democrats are using Veterans Day this year to lobby for a $3.7 billion legislative package that would provide in-home care to 6,800 injured American veterans. It is a noble bill, and it is worthy of passage.
Here's the thing, though: There's no money for the bill.
The easy thing to do, of course, would be to simply tack the program's costs onto the mountainous $9 trillion deficit the US will continue to owe for the next decade, and probably beyond. What's another $3.7 billion, right? As it is, the numbers are so incredibly large, it's hard to imagine that they're even real.
On the eve of Veterans Day, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn voted against the spending package, not on its merit or even on its worth but on the US government's inability to pay for it.
Senate Becomes Last Hope for American Health Care System
A few quick facts about HR 3962, the so-called "Affordable Health Care for America Act," which the House approved by a slim margin (220-215) late Saturday night:
- Number of pages: 1,990
- Weight: more than 19 pounds
- Height: 9 inches
- Cost per word: approximately $2.24 million
As Jobless Rate Surpasses 10 Percent, Obama Pushes Health Insurance Reform
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the national unemployment rate jumped from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent in October, its highest level in 26 years.
President Barack Obama, meanwhile, remains absurdly dismissive of these figures and continues to push his health care reform legislation. And why not? After all, he has a job. What does he care? The economy and job security may very well be the taxpayers' top priorities, but reforming health insurance and getting re-elected are his top priorities. And since he is the president, health insurance reform will continue to be the topic of discussion ... and so, instead of picturing the jobless numbers as jobs lost, the president and his administration will view them simply as lost policy holders.
The president is now on a Quixotic quest to fulfill a campaign promise, even if he has to break many others campaign promises along the way. The irony, of course, is that the whole reason he is pursuing health care reform so relentlessly and ignoring the unemployment situation so fastidiously is to secure his own job.
Obama's Arrogance on Election Day Angers Conservatives and Liberals
About.com Guide to US Liberal Politics, Deborah White, posts a refreshingly honest blog today, which summarizes the feelings of many conservatives regarding the behavior of their president last night while the returns came in.
Conservatives have had the feeling since February that President Barack Obama isn't interested in their wishes or concerns regarding health care or the economy. They should consider White's comments external validation, and they should take solace in the fact that they are not alone in their frustration.
From the post:
Democrats took a drubbing yesterday in two key governor's races in states which President Obama won just one year ago... and yet Press Secretary [Robert] Gibbs said the President was "not watching the returns."
Instead, top [adviser David] Axelrod haughtily sniffed to CNN that "Obama is more likely to watch Tuesday night's Chicago Bulls game."
(Question: Is Obama watching basketball rather than devastating election returns akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned?)
A perfect symbolism of the whole problem for Democrats these days: the President isn't listening to the American people. Or apparently watching, either.
Fear Grips Democrats in November 2009
When the polls close tonight, and the returns begin to show Republican and conservative dominance in New Jersey, Virginia and upstate New York, the Democrats will say it doesn't matter.
Rather than admit they're worried and acknowledge that perhaps they should be more inclusive in their legislative affairs -- as President Barack Obama promised they would a year ago -- they'll smugly tell you that the president's agenda wasn't on any of the ballots cast today, and that these elections were about local issues.
I beg to differ. While it may be true that not a single national race was on the ballot today, national politics was definitely on voters' minds.