Obama's Newest Czar Wants To Quiet The Opposition

by Marcus Carey, BluegrassBulletin: Talk radio, cable news, the Internet and all modern technologies used to help the people of America exercise their Constitutionally protected right to assemble and petition the government for redress have started to get on Obama's last nerve.

Remember his arrogant declaration "I won" and his complaint that "I'm the President...I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talkin', I want them to just get out of the way?"

Well his latest move is designed to do just that, stop the talking and take control. This time, his newest czar is not the least bit timid about saying so.

Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do.

Along with this money, Lloyd would regulate much of the programming on these stations to make sure they focused on “ “diverse views” and government activities.

“Local public broadcasters and regional and national communications operations should be required to encourage and broadcast diverse views and programs,” wrote Lloyd. [CNSNews.com]

At least one source has identified this as a bold step toward silencing conservative talk radio.

What’s a poor liberal progressive to do when the radio airwaves are dominated by conservative talk and they can’t seem to “get a word in”? Why not diversify it? After Dan Rather got hammered recently for suggesting the news media needs a public handout, now on the horizon is an FCC Diversity Czar calling for private broadcasting companies to fund public broadcasting companies their total operating cost.

Pravda anyone?

Lloyd wrote a book back in 2006 that must have caught someone in the Obama administration’s eye titled Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America, published by the University of Illinois Press. Matt Cover explains that “Lloyd wrote Prologue to a Farce while a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress. In that capacity, he co-authored the 2007 report The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio”

The report argued that large corporate broadcasting networks had driven liberals off the radio, and that diversity of ownership would increase diversity of broadcasting voices

Did you catch that? These unfortunate liberals have been “driven” off the radio. Why wait for the liberals to produce a fairness doctrine when you’ve got a Diversity Czar under the White House’s thumb?

So this is the reaction to a nation of people freely expressing themselves trying to take back control of their government? Where in history have we seen this before, and shouldn't we take time to tell everyone what comes next, before it's too late?

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Tags: Czar, diversity, FCC, free speech, Obama administration, Obama Czar, talk radio To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Blanche Lincoln Big Money Supporters Fund Ads Promoting Obamacare

Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb responds to union, health, and pharmaceutical industry-funded health care ads that have hit Arkansas airwaves:

“I find it interesting that while Sen. [Blanche] Lincoln is avoiding open health care discussions with Arkansans, many of her big money supporters in the pharmaceutical and health care industry and the unions have funded a $12 million television ad campaign in support of the White House plan which she supports. Americans for Stable Quality Care launched the ad campaign in key states, including Arkansas, to put a spin on Obamacare and offset frustration being felt by Arkansans. Don’t let the ads of Obama-Lincoln big money donors fool you; Sen. Lincoln’s desire for Washington-run health care will take away your choices, increase costs, and reduce the quality of health care.”

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Tags: Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, campaign funds, Doyle Webb, government healthcare, government run, McCain supporters, Obamacare, RPA To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Sen. Orrin Hatch on Health Care Reform

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) discusses Americans' skepticism of Democrats' proposals for a government-run health care plan. Sen. Hatch lays out four area of agreement a bipartisan reform could start from, but laments Democrats' fiscally unsustainable direction.

. . . So, why are Americans so skeptical of and concerned with the approach of the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress? A big reason for this concern is that nearly 85 percent of Americans have coverage and they are really worried about what reform means for them. Especially our seniors. And these concerns are moving from kitchen table conversations to town hall discussions.

I am disappointed about the attempts to characterize the behavior of Americans expressing their concerns as ‘un-American.’ Although I strongly encourage the use of respectful debate in these town halls, we should not be stifling these discussions. There is nothing ‘un-American’ about disagreements. In fact, our great nation was founded on speaking our minds.

Families are voicing their concerns because they feel like they are not being heard in Washington and I’m here to tell you that your voices are coming through and it is essential for all of you to be involved in this issue.

Republicans in Congress agree with the majority of Americans who believe that just throwing more taxpayer dollars at a problem will not deliver meaningful reform. Telling the American public that the solution for solving a $2.5 trillion health care system is to simply spend another trillion dollars in our current economy, just does not make sense. Especially at a time when spending and debt are multiplying with such alarming speed, like an almost $2 trillion national deficit this year alone, $200 billion in state deficits, a Medicare program on the edge of bankruptcy and a national debt that will triple within the next decade.

There are several areas of consensus that can form the basis for a sustainable, fiscally responsible and bipartisan reform. These include:

Reforming the health insurance market for every American by making sure that no American is denied coverage simply based on a pre-existing condition.

Protecting the coverage for almost 85 percent of Americans who already have coverage – coverage they like – by making it more affordable. This means reducing costs by rewarding quality and coordinated care, giving families more information on the cost and choices of their coverage and treatment options, discouraging junk lawsuits against doctors and hospitals and promoting prevention and wellness measures like quitting smoking and living a healthier lifestyle.

Giving states flexibility to design their own unique approaches to reduce uninsured.

Empowering small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs – the job-creating engines and lifeblood of our economy – to buy affordable coverage for their employees . . .

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Tags: Health Care Reform, Orrin Hatch, Senate Republicans, US Congress To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Illegals Will be Counted in the U.S. Census

by Dave Eberhart: California could get nine House seats it doesn’t constitutionally rate because illegal aliens will be counted in 2010, concluded an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. The forthcoming census, which determines the apportionment of House members and Electoral College votes for each state, will be counting all persons physically present in the country -- without regard to the legality of their status.

Set for big gains thanks to illegal populations is not only California but Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas, according to the Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey data. California has 5,622,422 noncitizens in its population of 36,264,467. Based on a round-number projection by the WSJ authors of a decade-end population in the Golden State of 37,000,000 (including 5,750,000 noncitizens), California would have 57 members in the newly-reapportioned U.S. House of Representatives.

“However, with noncitizens not included for purposes of reapportionment, California would have 48 House seats (based on an estimated 308 million total population in 2010 with 283 million citizens, or 650,000 citizens per House seat),” noted the report authors. . . .

“The Census Bureau can of course collect whatever data Congress authorizes. But Congress must not permit the bureau to unconstitutionally redefine who are ‘We the People of the United States,’” the authors argued. Dr. Elizabeth Grieco, chief of the Census Bureau’s Immigration Statistics Staff, told the WSJ that the 2010 census short form does not ask about citizenship because “Congress [The Democrat majority] has not asked us to do that.”

For sure , there has been a significant evolution from the kind of census envisioned by the founding fathers, noted the authors. In 1790, the first Census Act provided for the counting of “inhabitants.” “’Inhabitant’ was at that time a term with a well-defined meaning, maintained the authors. As the Oxford English Dictionary expressed it, an “inhabitant” was one who “is a bona fide member of a State, subject to all the requisitions of its laws, and entitled to all the privileges which they confer.” [Full Story]

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Tags: Census, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, U.S. Census To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

11 Year Old Gives Powerful Tea Party Speech

Below is a video presenting an 11 year old gives her "America's Freedom" Speech to crowd of over 2,000 at Tea Party fireworks rally in Tallahassee, FL. July 4th, 2009.

Hey, I can read you mind, "Who wants to listen to a "kid" - what can she know?" Here is the deal, if after listening to this speech, you know you could do better, then you should be running for office or at minimum speaking out at Tea Parties. If you are doing either of these, thank you!

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Tags: academic freedom, acceptance speech, America, Blogburst video, Florida, Sarah Palin, TEA Parties, tea party To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

I Do Not Want to Hear from the Town!

The Patriot Post: Last week, the administration encouraged Americans who support "reform" to rat on those who are spreading "fishy misinformation," while Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) denounced the administration's opponents as shills of the insurance companies. This week, the Left is painting town hall protestors as racists. "I think 45 to 65 percent of the people who appear at these groups are people who will never be comfortable with the idea of a black president," said Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. MSNBC's Carlos Watson worried that "the word socialist ... is becoming the new N-word." And Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein called them "political terrorists" who are "poisoning the political well" and "willing to say or do anything to prevent" ObamaCare.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) added, "[T]he last time I had to confront something like this was when I voted for the civil rights bill and my opponent voted against it. At that time, we had a lot of Ku Klux Klan folks and white supremacists and folks in white sheets and other things running around causing trouble." How convenient, then, that one of his supporters showed up at a meeting with an Obama-as-Hitler sign to "illustrate" the opposition's "hate."

Similar signs were made by LaRouche PAC, an organization run by long-time Socialist Workers Party member and seven-time Democrat presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche. Rep. David Scott (D-GA) had a swastika painted on his office sign after a heated exchange at a meeting. Talk about "fishy." What are the odds that the swastika wasn't painted by an opponent? Pretty good, given the Left's history of perpetrating similar hoaxes. Not that comparisons with the National Socialists of Germany aren't appropriate -- we made one last week -- and the Left certainly has done its best to invite the unflattering comparison. After all, it was Pelosi herself who first introduced the word "swastika" to the debate.Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is so confident in the health care bill that he will conduct town hall meetings only by phone. And Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) had such esteem for her constituents that she talked to someone else on her cell phone while questions were being asked by meeting participants.

In the end, while Sen. Benedict Arlen Specter (D-PA) dismisses protestors as not "representative of America," here in our humble shop, we suspect that this horde of hysterical hypocrites is in fact not representative of America.
[Also See Phyllis Schlafly article: Obama Brings Chicago-Style Intimidation]

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Tags: Obamacare, political, terroists, The Patriot Post, Town Hall, Townhall, townhalls To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Troubling Questions Remain About Obama's Health Care Plan

by Sara Palin: I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200). It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones.

As I noted in my statement last week, nationalized health care inevitably leads to rationing. There is simply no way to cover everyone and hold down the costs at the same time. The rationing system proposed by one of President Obama’s key health care advisors is particularly disturbing. I’m speaking of the “Complete Lives System” advocated by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the president’s chief of staff. President Obama has not yet stated any opposition to the “Complete Lives System,” a system which, if enacted, would refuse to allocate medical resources to the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled who have less economic potential. [1] Why the silence from the president on this aspect of his nationalization of health care? Does he agree with the “Complete Lives System”? If not, then why is Dr. Emanuel his policy advisor? What is he advising the president on? I just learned that Dr. Emanuel is now distancing himself from his own work and claiming that his “thinking has evolved” on the question of rationing care to benefit the strong and deny the weak. [2] How convenient that he disavowed his own work only after the nature of his scholarship was revealed to the public at large.

The president is busy assuring us that we can keep our private insurance plans, but common sense (and basic economics) tells us otherwise. The public option in the Democratic health care plan will crowd out private insurers, and that’s what it’s intended to do. A single payer health care plan has been President Obama’s agenda all along, though he is now claiming otherwise. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what he said back in 2003 [video]:

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan.... A single payer health care plan – universal health care plan – that’s what I would like to see.” [3]

A single-payer health care plan might be what Obama would like to see, but is it what the rest of us would like to see? What does a single payer health care plan look like? We need look no further than other countries who have adopted such a plan. The picture isn’t pretty. [4] The only way they can control costs is to ration care. As I noted in my earlier statement quoting Thomas Sowell, government run health care won’t reduce the price of medical care; it will simply refuse to pay the price. The expensive innovative procedures that people from all over the world come to the United States for will not be available under a government plan that seeks to cover everyone by capping costs.

Our senior citizens are right to be wary of this health care bill. Medical care at the end of life accounts for 80 percent of all health care. When care is rationed, that is naturally where the cuts will be felt first. The “end-of-life” consultations authorized in Section 1233 of HR 3200 were an obvious and heavy handed attempt at pressuring people to reduce the financial burden on the system by minimizing their own care. Worst still, it actually provided a financial incentive to doctors to initiate these consultations. People are right to point out that such a provision doesn’t sound “purely voluntary.”

In an article I noted yesterday, Charles Lane wrote:

“Ideally, the delicate decisions about how to manage life’s end would be made in a setting that is neutral in both appearance and fact. Yes, it’s good to have a doctor’s perspective. But Section 1233 goes beyond facilitating doctor input to preferring it. Indeed, the measure would have an interested party -- the government -- recruit doctors to sell the elderly on living wills, hospice care and their associated providers, professions and organizations. You don’t have to be a right-wing wacko to question that approach.” [5]

I agree. Last year, I issued a proclamation for “Healthcare Decisions Day.” [6] The proclamation sought to increase the public’s knowledge about creating living wills and establishing powers of attorney. There was no incentive to choose one option over another. There was certainly no financial incentive for physicians to push anything. In fact, the proclamation explicitly called on medical professionals and lawyers “to volunteer their time and efforts” to provide information to the public.

Comparing the “Healthcare Decisions Day” proclamation to Section 1233 of HR 3200 is ridiculous. The two are like apples and oranges. The attempt to link the two shows how desperate the proponents of nationalized health care are to shift the debate away from the disturbing details of their bill.

There is one aspect of this bill which I have not addressed yet, but it’s a very obvious one. It’s the simple fact that we can’t afford it. But don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Doug Elmendorf, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. He told the Senate Budget Committee last month:

“In the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount. And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.” [7]

Dr. Elmendorf went on to note that this health care legislation would increase spending at an unsustainable rate.

Our nation is already $11.5 trillion in debt. Where will the money come from? Taxes, of course. And will a burdensome new tax help our economy recover? Of course not. The best way to encourage more health care coverage is to foster a strong economy where people can afford to purchase their own coverage if they choose to do so. The current administration’s economic policies have done nothing to help in this regard.

Health care is without a doubt a complex and contentious issue, but health care reform should be a market oriented solution. There are many ways we can reform the system and lower costs without nationalizing it.

The economist Arthur Laffer has taken the lead in pushing for a patient-center health care reform policy. He noted in a Wall Street Journal article earlier this month:

“A patient-centered health-care reform begins with individual ownership of insurance policies and leverages Health Savings Accounts, a low-premium, high-deductible alternative to traditional insurance that includes a tax-advantaged savings account. It allows people to purchase insurance policies across state lines and reduces the number of mandated benefits insurers are required to cover. It reallocates the majority of Medicaid spending into a simple voucher for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance. And it reduces the cost of medical procedures by reforming tort liability laws.” [8]

Those are real reforms that we can live with and afford. Once again, I warn my fellow Americans that if we go down the path of nationalized health care, there will be no turning back. We must stop and think or we may find ourselves losing even more of our freedoms.

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Tags: Alaska, health care, nationalized health care, Obamacare, Sarah Palin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Broken Promise - Where Are The Jobs?

One hundred days ago, on May 5th, Vice President Joe Biden, as President Obama’s point man on the stimulus bill, submitted his first quarterly report on the progress of the $787 billion package. In the report, Biden claimed that since the bill’s passage in February “150,000 jobs have been created or saved,” though with little proof of that. In the press release accompanying the report, Biden wrote, “Looking ahead, an additional 600,000 jobs are expected to be created or saved under the Recovery Act in the next 100 days . . . .” So by today the stimulus bill was supposed to have created 750,000 jobs.

Will the Obama administration be announcing that 750,000 jobs were saved or created today? There doesn’t seem to be any positive words on a bunch of new jobs from the White House or the press. The AP reports today, "The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week and retail sales disappointed in July. . . . The U.S. consumer remains very weak. The jobs situation, while slowly improving, is still dismal." Meanwhile, a new Gallup poll finds, "a dramatic increase in the percentage of U.S. workers who are personally concerned about losing their job. Now, 31% say they are worried about being laid off, up from 15% last year and easily the highest Gallup has found since the question was first asked in 1997."

It doesn’t sound like the good news on jobs and economic recovery that Biden and the administration predicted 100 days ago is evident today. But perhaps an announcement is coming?

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Tags: American jobs, broken promise, employment, Joe Biden, Obama administration, stimulus bill, unemployment To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Abortion Will Be Covered

by Gary Bauer: We have been warning for some time that the health care reform bill would likely include taxpayer subsidies for abortion-on-demand. In recent days, many folks have emailed us responses they have received from their members of Congress who deny that abortion is being covered in the bill. At least one congressional liberal is now publicly suggesting otherwise.

Our friends at LifeNews.com report today that California Rep. Zoe Lofgren told a town hall audience, “Abortion will be covered as a benefit by one or more of the health care plans available to Americans, and I think it should be.” Since Rep. Lofgren is a member of the pro-abortion majority in Congress, I take her at her word. Since President Obama has called “reproductive justice” “one of the most fundamental rights we possess,” and since he pledged support for the Freedom of Choice Act, which would codify abortion as a constitutional right, I assume he wants abortion covered. But we don’t have to assume anything.

We’ve told you about pro-life amendments that have been defeated in the House and the Senate. We’ve told you that pro-abortion groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood are demanding abortion be covered. And even the Associated Press admits abortion will be covered.

Today, I was honored to add my name to a broad coalition, being led by former Attorney General Ed Meese, of pro-family leaders who are taking a stand for sanctity of life by opposing taxpayer-funded abortion as part of any health care reform plan. Polls show that huge majorities of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, so this ought to be an easy decision for politicians who are truly representing the people. Unfortunately, it is clear from the responses that some of you are getting that many liberal Democrats are more interested in representing the extreme pro-abortion agenda of NARAL and Planned Parenthood.
Read: 'Seven Reasons Abortion Is Included in the Health Care Overhaul'

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Tags: abortion, Gary Bauer, nationalized healthcare To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare

by Chuck Norris: Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S. While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government's coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development. It's outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading "home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children." The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts'? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

Are we to assume the state's mediators would understand every parent's social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be "voluntary." Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, "I don't think I'll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I'll go down to the local government offices"? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state "shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families."

Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this "prioritized" training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

Bottom line: Is all this what you want or expect in a universal health care bill being rushed through Congress? Do you want government agents coming into your home and telling you how to parent your children? When did government health care turn into government child care?

Government needs less of a role in running our children's lives and more of a role in supporting parents' decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right -- and government support -- to parent them without the fed's mandates, education or intervention in our homes.

Kids are very important to my wife, Gena, and me. That's why we've spent the past 17 years developing our nonprofit KICK START program in public schools in Texas. It builds up their self-esteem and teaches them respect and discipline. Of course, whether or not they participate in the program is their and their parents' choice.

How contrary is Obamacare's home intrusion and indoctrination family services, in which state agents prioritize houses to enter and enforce their universal values and principles upon the hearts and minds of families across America?

Government's real motives and rationale are quite simple, though rarely, if ever, stated. If one wants to control the future ebbs and flows of a country, one must have command over future generations. That is done by seizing parental and educational power, legislating preferred educational methods and materials, and limiting private educational options. It is so simple that any socialist can understand it. As Josef Stalin once stated, "Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."

Before so-called universal health care turns into universal hell care, write or call your representative today and protest his voting Obamacare into law. Remind him that what is needed in Washington is a truly bipartisan group that is allowed an ample amount of time to work on a compromise health care law that wouldn't raise taxes (for anyone), regulate personal medical choices, ration health care or restrict American citizens.

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Tags: Chuck Norris, dirty secret, Families, interference, nationalized health care, Obamacare, parental rights To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

White House Intimidation and Manipulation of CBO

Kerby Anderson, Point of View: Lately those pushing health care reform can’t seem to catch a break on their budget numbers. On a number of occasions the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has shot down the predictions in their bills.

First, the CBO determined that the health care reform bill would cost $1.6 trillion over ten years. The sticker shock was nearly fatal.

Second, was the claim by that the health care reform bills before Congress would “bend the curve” on spending. In other words, it would lower health care spending in the out years. The CBO said no. In fact, it said that health care spending would significantly increase.

Third, there was the attempt to fix the Medicare provision for the “sustainable growth rate” that forces the doctors’ reimbursements down if Medicare spending goes up. Proponents argued that this wasn’t an expense but a fix. The CBO disagreed.

What happened next appears to be unprecedented. The president, obviously upset with these numbers, called the CBO Director to the White House. I doubt their chat was very cordial.

Some White House officials argued that this was not unusual. Actually it was unprecedented. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the CBO Director during George W. Bush’s administration said he never met with Mr. Bush to discuss CBO policies or estimates. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used a baseball analogy. He said: “that’s like asking the umpires to come up to the owner’s box . . . . I mean, if the CBO is to have credibility, they’re the umpire.”

Calling the economic umpire to the White House is unprecedented, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to challenge its assumptions and predictions. In the past conservatives have questioned CBO assumptions about tax cuts and economic development. And Dr. Merrill Matthews warns conservatives and Republicans not to praise the CBO too much because “the CBO will not be our new BFF (Best Friend Forever).”

It’s OK to argue with the umpire, but to call the umpire to the White House smacks of intimidation and manipulation. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

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Tags: Barack Obama, CBO, Congressional Budget Office, cost, government healthcare, Kerby Anderson, Point of View, The White House To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Happy Cost of Government Day!

Today, August 12, is Cost of Government Day (COGD), the day of the calendar year when the average American worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government on the federal, state, and local levels.

COGD falls 26 days later than last year's date, and it's 23 days later than the previous all-time high of July 20, in 1982. There are numerous reasons for this explosive growth in government spending including TARP, the so-called Stimulus, and the big three auto "bailouts." If Congress and the President had not pushed for TARP, Americans would have celebrated COGD on July 25 rather than on August 12.

View the COGD report at CostofGovernmentDay.com and arm yourselves with the data to ask your representatives the necessary and hard questions about the astonishing growth in government. The report contains a state-by-state breakdown so you can find out how your state ranks.

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Tags: American workers, Americans for Tax Reform, ATR, capital gains taxes, COGD, cost of government, Government Day, National Debt To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Gallup Polls Show Health Blitz Not Helping Obama

Over the last two days Gallup released two very interesting polls on health care, neither of which are good news for the plans President Obama and Democrats in Congress are pushing.

In a poll released today, Gallup finds that despite a month of speeches, interviews, town halls and a national prime time press conference, more people disapprove of President Obama’s handling of health care policy by 49%-43%. This is essentially unchanged from Gallup’s July poll, which found 50% disapprove and 44% approve. However, Obama’s disapproval on health care is up among political independents is slipping. In July, 55% disapproved of Obama’s handling of health care, with only 40% approving. Now, only 35% of independents approve. Of the four issues Gallup asked respondents for their reaction Obama’s performance on, education, foreign affairs, the economy, and health care, health care had the lowest approval rating, 43%. Gallup writes that the new poll “comes after several weeks of Congress’ working to advance [health reform] legislation through committees and the Obama administration’s stepping up efforts to win public support.”

In the other poll, released yesterday, Gallup found that only a third of respondents want their member of Congress to vote for a health care reform bill in September. Gallup notes that the question “did not identify or connect the idea of a new health care reform law with any specific individual or party,” simply asking if their member of Congress should vote for any health care bill at all. Meanwhile, 36% wanted their member of Congress to vote against a health care reform bill next month. Importantly, this is a 21 point drop from a July Gallup poll, which found 56% wanted Congress to pass “a major health care reform bill this year.”

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Tags: Barack Obama, Gallup Poll, Obama administration, polls, Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Thomas Jefferson Speaks on Obama Administration

Question: How could Thomas Jefferson have anticipated the Obama Administration?
Answer: He knew all about an over-reaching central government.

Following are quotes from Jefferson:
“Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now."

"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.”

“I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.”

“If a Central Bank is ever created in America – Through inflation and deflation the 'bankers' will rob the Americans.”

Have there been or are there any modern day American political figures who agrees with Jefferson? "You betcha."

Reagan Speaks from the Past!

Palin Speaks in the Present.

No wonder the liberal, progressive, socialists hated Ronald Reagan and hate Sarah Palin.
[H/T Dr. Stephen Maloney]

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Tags: Obama administration, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, Thomas Jefferson To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Coleman Declares As Candidate for U.S. Senate

(LITTLE ROCK, AR – AUGUST 12, 2009) Little Rock businessman Curtis Coleman, CEO of Arkansas based Safe Foods Corporation, has formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. Coleman is seeking the Republican nomination to represent Arkansans in the U.S. Senate race for the seat currently held by Senator Blanche Lincoln.

“We desperately need experienced business men and women in the U.S. Senate who know what it’s like to make a payroll, provide health insurance for their employees, and who have lived under oppressive regulations created by people who’ve never had to function in the real world outside of Washington, D.C.,” Coleman said. “The critical issues facing Americans today—like healthcare reform—will have such a profound impact on our daily lives that we must replace career politicians with citizen statesmen,” he said.

Coleman’s company is helping to make food safer on three continents, with a fourth continent expected to be added this fall. “Developing a global market for our technologies has given me extraordinary experience in foreign trade issues,” Coleman said. “I understand we must not take actions such as those proposed in the current cap and trade legislation that will cripple Arkansas businesses and send even more Arkansas jobs overseas.”

Coleman managed Gov. Mike Huckabee’s first campaign for political office when Huckabee ran for the U.S. Senate in 1992. “I understand from experience the sheer enormity of effort a state-wide campaign requires,” Coleman said. “I don’t have any visions of glory or grandeur. I do have visions of my grandchildren gathering around me in 15-20 years and saying, ‘Granddad, tell us what America used to be like.’ With our government’s out-of-control spending, we’re mortgaging our country’s future and our children’s futures. I will not sit idly by and let that happen without a fight.”

“The number one issue facing us is the crippling national debt being created at the rate of over $5 billion per day. A lot of folks in Washington don’t seem to understand the simple truth that most Arkansans apply to their personal budgets: ‘You don’t spend your way out of a crisis that was created by overspending.’ I’ve already signed a pledge to oppose any increases in our taxes. I have the same intense commitment to stopping the federal government’s outrageous deficit spending. This disastrous debt is a matter of national security and a clear and present danger to the well-being of every Arkansan.”

Coleman also expressed concern over the current healthcare legislation, “We’ve first got to stop the government’s healthcare takeover, then we can start over to genuinely make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every Arkansan. There are feasible and practical solutions to controlling healthcare costs while protecting the fundamental America freedom to control personal healthcare choices. The plans being proposed today are counterproductive to that ultimate goal. Congress is proposing that health savings accounts be taxed, when instead they should be expanded. A ‘public option’ is being touted that will ultimately destroy insurance competition, not improve it. The Washington proposal is that employers be required to provide health insurance for their employees, a requirement what will destroy even more jobs in Arkansas’ small businesses. Instead, employees need to be able to control their own portable insurance policies.”

“Although these Washington proposals are clearly not Arkansas values,” Coleman said, “they are the positions the incumbent has taken. It’s tragic that Sen. Lincoln isn’t listening to folks in Arkansas and it’s sad that she’s lost touch with the very people whose views and values she had pledged to represent. Perhaps even more disconcerting is the fact that we rarely ever know which side of an issue the Senator may take next.”

“The days when horrible bills that destroy jobs and put basic American liberties at risk are voted on without even being read must quickly come to an end,” Coleman said.

“I understand what it’s going to take to fund this campaign and this won’t be my first time around this block.” Coleman said that he had to raise over $20 million to keep his company viable through its first seven years of domestic and international regulatory roadblocks and hurdles. Coleman was winner of the 2005 Arkansas Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Coleman is a graduate of Conway High School and Central Baptist College in Conway, and Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. He describes himself as a conservative Republican. “I have always been pro-life, I do not support embryonic stem cell research, and I am a defender of the Constitution, traditional marriage and the Second Amendment.”

Coleman, 61, is married to Kathryn Rosenbaum Coleman, and has three children and seven grandchildren. Curtis and Kathryn are active members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, where they currently reside.

For more information, please visit the campaign’s website.

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Tags: 2010, Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, candidate, Election 2010, Republican, U.S. Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Blanche Lincoln Un-American

Rett Hatcher: On 11-02-10, you can voice your concerns in a very American way.

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Tags: 2010, Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, election, Election 2010, Rett Hatcher, un-American To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Blanche Lincoln Called to Account

Today, Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb held a press conference and challenged Sen. Blanch Lincoln for calling un-American Arkansans who wished to express their concerns and feelings about health care and runaway spending by Congress. While Lincoln has tried to "walk back this comment," it is evident that she is playing by a democrat political playbook that is divisive and ignores the people of Arkansas. And as one person said "Senator Lincoln's calling us, her constituents, un-American doesn't happen with a slip of the tongue. She said what she meant. NO DO OVER BLANCHE. "

Arkansans, as a free people, should be allowed to publicly express their concerns to their senators or congressman in an open forum available to a free press and without controls by bullies and thugs. Congressmen Snyder and Ross are commended for doing this very thing. We don't want our voices hidden away in a controlled "tele-townhall" meeting. We want to be heard without prejudgment as being "un-American" for using our 1st Amendment rights. For some reason, elected officials like Blanche Lincoln have forgotten that they are not plantation owners and we are not plantation workers or servants to be bullied.

Lincoln was not elected by the Washington elites and lobbyists with whom she associates. All Arkansas, from the backwaters of the Delta to the high points of the Ozarks, are equal citizens. Lincoln when campaigning promised to be our servant, to represent us the voters and people of Arkansans and not other States, the president, fellow senators, lobbyists, illegal aliens, visitors, or government programs. And, now we want her to listen!

Chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas Todd Turner quickly responded to Webb's press conference saying, “Today, Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb again attacked Arkansas Democrats in an effort to disrupt and distract attention from the important public policy discussions going on in America right now…. Apparently Republicans are so dependent on manufacturing disruptions at town-hall meetings and staging events to distract from an honest dialogue, the Republican Party of Arkansas was enraged by our e-mail last week calling them out for it.”

The Democrats also immediately released a video which indicates that they are very worried. The video challenged Webb's concern with a lack of town hall meetings on health care. It claims that Lincoln has held meetings. But again these meetings were not open to the general public and were not town hall meetings. Jason Tolbert sums up the video best by stating in The Tolbert Report: "[M]y interview with Sen. Lincoln shows one interesting fact about some fiction contained in the video from the DPA. When I asked Sen. Lincoln why she is not hosting any town hall meetings her response is not to say this is incorrect rather it is to point out that she previously hosted meetings in April and in July. For the DPA to claim that her scheduled events are equivalent to hosting an open forum is disingenuous at best.

The RPA released a copy of the following letter which Doyle has sent to Sen. Lincoln.

August 11, 2009
Sen. Blanche Lincoln
United States Senate
355 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0404

Dear Senator Lincoln,

As you make your way around Arkansas during Congress’ annual August work period, I encourage you clarify your comment that those who question the current health care reform proposals are “un-American.” Pelosi and Hoyer wrote, “these disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.” I understand that you have now apologized for using that word, but I believe you still need to answer several questions for the benefit of your fellow Arkansans, your constituents.

After reading House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s op-ed in USA Today yesterday, I notice similar language between you and your Democratic colleagues. The use of the same exact word by your Democratic colleagues raises several questions:

1. Sen. Lincoln, what exactly do you mean by saying these people are ‘un-American?”

2. Did you make your comments on your own volition, or were you reading from Democratic talking points?

3. In an interview with Jason Tolbert of The Tolbert Report Blog on Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, you offered an apology, saying “I probably misspoke when using that word… It was a poor choice of words and I never intended for it to be meant that way.” You used the word “probably.” Will you not say that you definitely misspoke?

4. Also, in your interview with Tolbert, when asked if Nancy Pelosi should apologize for using the word “un-American” you said, “I don’t know how she used it but possibly she should.” Now that you know the context, should she apologize?

Many hard-working Arkansans are worried about the idea of universal health care and want to share those concerns with their elected officials. I can think of nothing more patriotic than providing Americans the opportunity to exercise their right to freedom of speech.

As far back as 1776, turning points in our history were made by people facing the courage of their convictions. I am proud to see Arkansans take a stand on health care. Sen. Lincoln, why do you and your fellow Democrats disparage those who speak out against a proposal that would lead to more government control and less personal liberty? Surely you know that from the nation’s beginning arguments were made with emotion, passion, volume and, yes, anger, practiced by our Founding Fathers in Independence Hall when our nation’s independence was being debated.

The Republican Party welcomes the opportunity to hear from those concerned about the future of health care in America. Sen. Lincoln, I encourage you to listen to the people of Arkansas, not your fellow Democrats in Washington. It’s not time to silence the debate, it’s time to engage in it. Further, I look forward to hearing your responses to my questions.

Sincerely,
Doyle Webb
Chairman, Republican Party of Arkansas

"Since the founding of the United States, people have been exercising the freedom and responsibility to question their elected representatives. The current public political debate resembles the enthusiasm of our nation's first 100 years. A U.S. Senator referring to The People as "disrespectful" and "un-American" for calling on their Representatives is appalling. Senator Lincoln's statements are indicative of the elitist Washington D.C. arrogance and mentality that continues to dismiss the voice of Middle America. The citizens of this country deserve honest answers to their questions." - Source Unknown but well said!

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Tags: Blanche Lincoln, David Letterman, Doyle Webb, health care, press conference, Republican Party of Arkansas, RPA, Town Hall, Townhall To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Who pays their protesters?

by John Allison, III: The dishonesty that permeates the Democratic party is beyond belief! They accuse ordinary concerned citizens who practice their first amendment rights of being sponsored by special interest groups and the Republican party...with no proof. There's absolutely no evidence that conservatives complaining to their representatives at town halls across the country have been paid or bussed in, but Democrats have no qualms of making things up. They lie without hesitation. But what about their side?

They also try to lead you to believe their side really is a grassroots movement, springing from citizens wronged by the current system. Never do they hint their "activists" are bought and paid for. But we do have proof.

They're so conceited, believing you are so ignorant that you won't recognize their hypocrisy and absolute dishonesty. Here's the ad they took out to hire "activists" to campaign for Obamacare. Warning: Ad Deceptive!

ACTIVIST JOBS to Promote OBAMA's HEALTH CARE PLAN!!! $10-15/hr (berkeley)

YOUR CHANCE TO CURE THE HEALTHCARE CRISIS!

The Problem: Rising Healthcare Premiums
Healthcare costs in the US have doubled in the last 10 years, and they are projected to double again in the next 8 years, unless we pass reform through Congress this summer. Families and businesses are scraping to afford coverage, and many are being dropped by their provider after they get sick.

The Solution: A Public Health Insurance Option
President Obama's public option would allow millions of Americans to afford the coverage they seek. The option would create a more competitive market and drive down the cost of health insurance for everyone.

Big insurance companies know this, and they are working adamantly to stop us. So we are going out and building a grassroots campaign that will bring the power back to the people and not corporate CEOs.

The Strategy: People Power
Over the past 30 years CALPIRG has stood up to powerful interest groups. Corporate insurance companies have far too much influence over Congress, so CALPIRG is pushing back to reduce rising healthcare costs.

The Fund for the Public Interest has organized grassroots campaigns for more than 25 years. We have defended human rights, protected the environment, and fought for the average consumer. Our partnership with CALPIRG is an exciting campaign that aims to bring the power back to the people, and away from the wallets of corporate CEOs.

We need people like you to become involved with healthcare reform and make some money in the process. Joining this campaign will allow you to work with some of the most motivated people in the region. Together, we can make change happen.

Earn $400-600 per week!
To apply for a job, visit our website—www.JobsThatMatter.org—or call Charles at 510-644-3454

Who's paying their protesters?!?! Will everyone please call Charles at 510-644-3454 and shut down his phone line? Also, who wants to destroy private insurance businesses in America!

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Tags: Berkeley, California, CALPIRG, John Allison III, Obama, Obamacare To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Testing Government Run Health Care

Fiends discuss the importance of "testing" something before you risk it all. This lesson is applied to the health care reform debate in Washington. Check out more videos like this at Not So Sure.

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Tags: government run, health care, healthcare, nationalized health care, testing, video To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Now We Are Un-American?

John Allison III: According to Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), my US Senator anyway!

Is there any level so low Democrats in Washington won't stoop to it? Are they so conceited they actually believe themselves as they outright lie to the American people? Do they really think the American people are so terribly stupid they can't see through their childish, imbecilic responses to conservatives' fact-based challenges to their agenda?

Our first hint of things to come was the Department of Homeland Security report that warned law enforcement agencies of the danger posed by virtually every conservative in the country. Labeled "Right-Wing Extremists" in the report, conservative Republicans, Independents, and third party backers were pointed to as potential terrorists who deserved the scrutiny of local, state, and federal law enforcement officials. Even targeting the most patriotic among us, veterans of the US armed forces, it generated the first of several conservative uprisings to challenge Obama administration policies.

We thought it bad when we found out they didn't read the $787 billion so-called "stimulus" bill. Then the arrogant Henry Waxman (D-CA) hired a speed reader to buzz through the Cap & Trade bill on the House Energy & Commerce committee at an unintelligible pace so that he could claim to have "read the bill." The move was designed to undermine an attempt by Republicans to force them to fulfill their obligations to constituents by reading the bill to fully understand what the legislation would saddle the American people with. It was a classless, egotistical attempt by Democrats to ridicule both constituents and fellow members of the US House who demanded Democrats act responsibly and perform the duties for which they were hired.

The same Democratic legislators refused to read HR 3200, "Obamacare," and are now paying the price. Now that conservatives have realized their representatives refuse to do their jobs, constituents are taking the task upon themselves. We now have a situation where ordinary citizens are taking the time to read legislation and explaining it to our elected officials. And the Democrats don't like it.

Their lies and talking points are no longer holding water with the American people, because they understand it better than the Congress! Congressmen are walking into town halls and other public meetings armed with a single sheet of Pelosi-Reid talking points while their disgruntled constituents come armed with the actual text of the bill! Backed into a corner with facts, Democrats in Washington are lashing out in desperate attempts to denigrate their own constituents.

The Obama administration has now issued a mandate to his minions to turn in neighbors, friends, and family who write and forward communications critical of Obamacare. Not stopping there, the White House even demands "fishy" truths about Obama's government-run health care program mentioned in casual conversations should be reported to the Propaganda Office in the White House. Ask yourself, when have we ever faced the prospect of an American President demanding citizens turn each other in to the government for disagreeing with policy? Never.

If that's not enough to worry you, the President's aides have now made direct threats to "punch back twice as hard" whenever the administration's health care policies are challenged. We saw this put into practice when the administration sent in union thugs to physically assault protesters outside a St. Louis town hall. So now we have a President actively engaging in suppression of Americans' ability to freely express their disagreement with their government.

And now we hear our own Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has described us as un-American! It's funny how Democrats have no problem with protesters who demonstrate against conservatives and their causes. According to Hillary Clinton, "we have a right to disagree with any administration." But I guess she meant any Republican administration. Of course Lincoln is now backing away from her comment, but calling your constituents un-American doesn't happen with a slip of the tongue.

She's retreating because the heat from the fire she stoked is too hot! Though her Arkansas colleague didn't even face a Republican challenger last year, the GOP field to run against Lincoln has already drawn a crowd. Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren and Arkansas Tea Party organizer Tom Cox have already announced their intent to run, while central Arkansas businessman Curtis Coleman and State Senator Gilbert Baker are considering runs but have yet to announce. (Although I have it from a pretty reliable source that Coleman will announce soon.) A conservative Independent, Trevor Drown, has also announced his intent to run for Lincoln's seat.

Lincoln's opposition hopefuls wasted little time taking Arkansas' senior Senator to task for her callous comment. The Cox campaign issued the following press release:

"Since the founding of the United States people have been exercising the freedom and responsibility to question their elected representatives. The current public political debate resembles the enthusiasm of our nation's first 100 years. A U.S. Senator referring to The People as "disrespectful" and "un-American" for calling on their Representatives is appalling. Senator Lincoln's statements are indicative of the elitist Washington D.C. arrogance and mentality that continues to dismiss the voice of Middle America. The citizens of this country deserve honest answers to their questions."

Coleman, who's made numerous posts on his blog enumerating the flaws in the Democrats' health care plan, had this to say:

"What's sad is that Senator Lincoln apparently doesn't value the opinions of hard-working Arkansans who took time away from their busy schedules to express their concern over losing control of their healthcare to the government. Senator Lincoln's description of these Arkansans as 'un-American' illustrates how deeply out of touch she is with the American people."

Lincoln's planning a series of public speaking events this week (not town halls) and we hope she gets an earful from some of us un-American Right-Wing-Extremists everywhere she goes!

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Tags: Barack Obama, Blanche Lincoln, Curtis Coleman, Gilbert Baker, Harry Reid, health care, John Allison, Kim Hendren, Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare, protests, Tom Cox, Town Hall, Townhall, un-American To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Angry Mod Mauls Steven Crowder!

Steven Crowder infiltrates an angry mob at a health care town hall in Texas. (Satire)

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Tags: Angry Mob, Barack Obama, conservative, Democrat, health care, liberal, protest, Republican, Steven Crowder, Texas, Townhall, violence To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - August 10, 2009 - Democrats Call Concerned Citizens Un-American, Political Terrorists, Swastika-Carriers

With members of Congress on August recess, many Democrats are hearing from constituents who are not on board with their proposed government takeover of health care. Yet the more Democrats hear from concerned citizens, the more they apparently feel the need to attack them.

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of upset folks showing up at town hall meetings, “I think they’re AstroTurf. You be the judge. They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care.” Today she’s penned an op-ed for the USA Today with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer declaring, “These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.”

Meanwhile, rank-and-file Democrats continue to "feel the heat" at home, and are increasingly unhappy about it. In a piece profiling the troubles facing Indiana Democrat Baron Hill, The Washington Post notes, “One thing Hill is not doing is holding public town-hall meetings like those at which opponents have heckled members of Congress.” Ask why, Hill explained, “What I don’t want to do is create an opportunity for the people who are political terrorists to blow up the meeting and not try to answer thoughtful questions.” Fox News reports, “The fresh round of debate over the heated summertime sessions comes after a meeting in Des Moines with Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin was interrupted several times by critics in the audience. He drew outrage Saturday when he told the crowd there is a ‘nationally coordinated effort’ to disrupt the town halls. ‘How dare you claim that I’m part of a conspiracy,’ one man yelled, claiming he sent himself to the meeting.”

Asked about this issue on Fox News Sunday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “I think attacking citizens in our country for expressing their opinions about an issue of this magnitude may indicate some weakness in their position on the merits. And I also think it’s particularly absurd for the Democrats, who have over an 8 million e-mail list over at the DNC called Organize [for] America, to be criticizing citizens for being organized.”

The Democrats’ hypocrisy doesn’t end there, though. It was just two years ago that Democrats held the Senate in session all night to debate the Iraq war, only to take a break to appear at a rally featuring MoveOn.org and Code Pink to call on them to pressure Republicans to support a withdrawal. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told protesters at the time, “You will keep the pressure on them. We will keep the pressure on them. And together, you – and we – will deliver the new direction that our troops and all Americans demand and deserve.” Somehow, over the last few years, sustained, sincere protest, has switched from being “the highest form of patriotism” to “simply un-American.”

Their hypocrisy aside, Democrats might want to rethink the wisdom of referring to their constituents and fellow Americans as “un-American,” “political terrorists,” and swastika-carriers. As Sen. McConnell said yesterday, “[T]o demonize citizens who are -- you know, who are energetic about this strikes me as demonstrating a kind of weakness in your position -- in other words, you want to -- you want to change the subject. And rather than talk about the half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts, let’s talk about somebody at some town meeting who misbehaved. It strikes me that’s missing the point.”

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Tags: Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, political, recess, Steny Hoyer, terrorists, town halls, public town-hall, meetings, liberals, un-American Citizens, Political Terrorists, Swastika-Carriers, US Congress, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Open Letter: Loss of our health care liberty

Bill Smith, Editor: The following letter, by Lois Smith, was sent to Representative Marion Berry (D-AR-1st Dist), Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR). The letter is being shared as an Open Letter. It represent the heart's cry of many Americans to their elected representatives and senators. Too many letters, emails and other communications seem to never reach the eyes and ears of our elected officials.

It appears that "insanity" has captured Congress. But in fact, it may be an agenda which is addressed after the letter. For each of us who have been caught up in the frustration over various elements of the proposed bills and who has sought the right words relevant to the most perverse aspects of the proposed government health care plans, Lois Smith has summed up the entire issue in six words: "loss of our health care liberty." We have been so blessed with liberty that when the government promotes "nice" or "needed" programs, laws, rules or regulation to resolve "problems" or "needs," we miss the issue of liberty being trampled. Let's first read the letter:

[Addresses and Salutation Removed]
August 9, 2009

I realize you have been inundated with mail, etc. concerning the health care reform legislation. I was tempted not to write. But then I thought, “What if one more letter could convince you to withdraw your support for the legislation thus far proposed?”

I don’t know the answer to that question. But what I do know is that the proposed legislation is a very slippery slope that I and many, many others do not want to even consider going down. There are many horror stories out there concerning the present system, but they would pale in comparison to the legislation currently being pushed through. The loss of our health care liberty is of the utmost importance.

Please, I beg you do not endorse any legislation that would take away our private relationship with our doctors or find funding by limiting health care for senior citizens.

Sincerely,
Lois Smith

Loss of Health Care Liberty is indeed a nexus point. As presented in a previous article, President Barack Obama, his administraters and other Democratic leaders, are committed to the eventual achievement of a National Single-Payer Health Care System. Why? Because, a massive Federal employment program will be created. Its employees and professionals will become dependent for jobs and incomes on the continuation of the single-payer system. Elected officials, the system's employees and professionals, and their relatives will be joined at the hip even when single-payer health care evidences excessive costs and poor performance as has happened in foreign countries, the system will continual.

Life cycle" cost of humans will become a determinate factor. Workers and professionals will follow (or be forced to follow) the "government guidelines" addressing denial of care, abortion, and end of life decisions. When government controls cradle to grave health care options, it totally controls its people. In the process, the government makes almost everything an issue related to life, health, injury, and the greater good of society. However, "liberty" with its free choices, individual decisions and personal responsibility, and "ethics" will cease or not allowed to exist.

Therefore, we urgently need our elected members of Congress who are not part of the scheme to take away our health care liberty to listen, to learn and then to stop this 'train wreck" before the train leaves the station.

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Tags: Freedom, health care, liberty, Lois Smith, Open Letter, US Capitol To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!