Big Government Burrito: A taste of the 2,309-pg Demcare/Student Loan Reconciliation Bill; Update: A tortilla shell fake-out

By Michelle Malkin  •  March 14, 2010 10:24 PM

If the TARP bank bailout was a “crap sandwich,” the Democrats’ Student Loan Nationalization plan wrapped inside the latest version of the health care takeover is a Big Government Burrito.

The House Democrats’ 2,309-page reconciliation bill headed for House Budget Committee markup tomorrow has just been posted this evening and you can download the whole PDF file right here.

Or you can read it on Scribd thanks to the Senate Republicans.

The markup hearing will start at 3pm Eastern and will be broadcast on CSPAN – watch online right here.

Michael O’Brien of The Hill points out that “the bill is a procedural step, it DOES NOT make the substantive changes yet to the Senate’s bill.” These recommendations were first proposed in October by the House Ways and Means and Education and Labor Committees (so the public option is still in here).

Philip Klein reminds us that GOP Rep. Paul Ryan warned last week of the Dems’ strategy ramming this “shell” HC Bill through committee tomorrow. The budget committee approves the shell, sends it to the rules committee, then strips out the language and stuffs the actual reconciliation changes into the burrito, Klein explains. Klein lays it all out here.

Once the bill gets approved (likely Monday), Democrats will send this phantom bill over to the Rules Committee, where it will be stripped, and then they’ll insert in all of the actual changes that they’ve negotiated.

Why all of the theatrics?

Well, under the reconciliation rules in last year’s budget, any reconciliation bill would have to have been submitted to the Budget Committee by October 15, 2009. It just so happens that earlier versions of health care legislation cleared the Ways and Means and Education and Labor Committees last year. So Democrats just dusted that legislation off, and are using that as the vehicle to begin the reconciliation process. That’s why, for instance, if you look through the 2,309 page bill that was released Sunday night, you’ll find a public option, which leadership has indicated would not actually be in the final bill. (Interestingly, the student loan bill is also tacked on at the end.)

Just a “simple up or down vote,” remember?

In other words: What you see below is the tortilla shell fake-out.

More here: “House Democrats on Sunday night set into motion what they hope will be the final steps on healthcare reform. The House Budget Committee on Sunday evening released text that will serve as the base legislation for the changes the House will seek to the Senate bill this week. Specifically, the Budget committee released a 2,309-page effort that had been previously recommended to the Education and Labor Committee and Ways and Means Committee last year. The measure posted online does not include the substantive changes to the Senate healthcare bill that House Democrats will seek. Those changes will be offered during the markups in the Budget and Rules committees, which the budget panel hopes to begin on Monday afternoon. The House is expected to approve the Senate’s healthcare bill along with the package of changes. The Senate would then be expected to approve the package of changes under budget reconciliation rules.”

A small taste for you — the table of contents:

To provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 202 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reconciliation Act of 2010’’.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

The table of divisions is as follows:

DIVISION I—HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS: HEALTH CARE REFORM
DIVISION II—HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR: HEALTH CARE REFORM

DIVISION III—HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR: INVESTING IN EDUCATION
DIVISION I—COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS: HEALTH CARE REFORM

SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF SUBDIVISIONS, TITLES, AND SUBTITLES.

(a) SHORTTITLE.—This division may be cited as the ‘‘America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009’’.

(b) TABLE OF SUBDIVISIONS, TITLES, AND SUB-TITLES.—This division is divided into subdivisions, titles, and subtitles as follows:

SUBDIVISION A—AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE CHOICES
Title I—Protections and Standards for Qualified Health Benefits Plans
Subtitle A—General Standards
Subtitle B—Standards Guaranteeing Access to Affordable Coverage
Subtitle C—Standards Guaranteeing Access to Essential Benefits
Subtitle D—Additional Consumer Protections
Subtitle E—Governance
Subtitle F—Relation to other requirements; Miscellaneous
Subtitle G—Early Investments
Title II—Health Insurance Exchange and Related Provisions
Subtitle A—Health Insurance Exchange
Subtitle B—Public health insurance option
Subtitle C—Individual Affordability Credits
Title III—Shared responsibility
Subtitle A—Individual responsibility
Subtitle B—Employer Responsibility
Title IV—Amendments to Internal Revenue Code of 1986
Subtitle A—Shared responsibility
Subtitle B—Credit for small business employee health coverage expenses
Subtitle C—Disclosures to carry out health insurance exchange subsidies
Subtitle D—Other revenue provisions

SUBDIVISION B—MEDICARE AND MEDICAID IMPROVEMENTS
Title I—Improving Health Care Value
Subtitle A—Provisions related to Medicare part A
Subtitle B—Provisions Related to Part B
Subtitle C—Provisions Related to Medicare Parts A and B
Subtitle D—Medicare Advantage Reforms
Subtitle E—Improvements to Medicare Part D
Subtitle F—Medicare Rural Access Protections
Title II—Medicare Beneficiary Improvements
Subtitle A—Improving and Simplifying Financial Assistance for Low Income
Medicare Beneficiaries
Subtitle B—Reducing Health Disparities
Subtitle C—Miscellaneous Improvements
Title III—Promoting Primary Care, Mental Health Services, and Coordinated
Care
Title IV—Quality
Subtitle A—Comparative Effectiveness Research
Subtitle B—Nursing Home Transparency
Subtitle C—Quality Measurements
Subtitle D—Physician Payments Sunshine Provision
Subtitle E—Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections
Title V—Medicare Graduate Medical Education
Title VI—Program Integrity
Subtitle A—Increased funding to fight waste, fraud, and abuse
Subtitle B—Enhanced penalties for fraud and abuse
Subtitle C—Enhanced Program and Provider Protections
Subtitle D—Access to Information Needed to Prevent Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
Title VII—Medicaid and CHIP
Subtitle A—Medicaid and Health Reform
Subtitle B—Prevention
Subtitle C—Access
Subtitle D—Coverage
Subtitle E—Financing
Subtitle F—Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
Subtitle G—Puerto Rico and the Territories
Subtitle H—Miscellaneous
Title VIII—Revenue-related provisions
Title IX—Miscellaneous Provisions

SUBDIVISION C—PUBLIC HEALTH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Title I—Community Health Centers
Title II—Workforce
Subtitle A—Primary care workforce
Subtitle B—Nursing workforce
Subtitle C—Public Health Workforce
Subtitle D—Adapting workforce to evolving health system needs
Title III—Prevention and Wellness
Title IV—Quality and Surveillance
Title V—Other provisions
Subtitle A—Drug discount for rural and other hospitals
Subtitle B—School-Based health clinics
Subtitle C—National medical device registry
Subtitle D—Grants for comprehensive programs To provide education to nurses
and create a pipeline to nursing
Subtitle E—States failing To adhere to certain employment obligations

The student loan nationalization add-on (part of the kiddie human shield strategy I diagnosed last week) starts on page 2098:

DIVISION III—HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR: INVESTING IN EDUCATION

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This division may be cited as the ‘‘Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009’’.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

The table of contents is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. References.
TITLE I—INVESTING IN STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
Subtitle A—Increasing College Access and Completion
Sec. 101. Federal Pell Grants.
Sec. 102. College Access and Completion Innovation Fund.
Sec. 103. Investment in historically Black colleges and universities and other
minority-serving institutions.
Sec. 104. Investment in cooperative education.
Sec. 105. Loan forgiveness for servicemembers activated for duty.
Sec. 106. Veterans Educational Equity Supplemental Grant Program.
Subtitle B—Student Financial Aid Form Simplification
Sec. 121. General effective date.
Sec. 122. Treatment of assets in need analysis.
Sec. 123. Changes to total income; aid eligibility.
TITLE II—STUDENT LOAN REFORM
Subtitle A—Stafford Loan Reform
Sec. 201. Federal Family Education Loan appropriations.
Sec. 202. Scope and duration of Federal loan insurance program.
Sec. 203. Applicable interest rates.
Sec. 204. Federal payments to reduce student interest costs.
Sec. 205. Federal PLUS Loans.
Sec. 206. Federal Consolidation Loan.
Sec. 207. Unsubsidized Stafford loans for middle-income borrowers.
Sec. 208. Loan repayment for civil legal assistance attorneys.
Sec. 209. Special allowances.
Sec. 210. Revised special allowance calculation.
Sec. 211. Origination of Direct Loans at institutions located outside the United
States.
Sec. 212. Agreements with institutions.
Sec. 213. Terms and conditions of loans.
Sec. 214. Contracts.
Sec. 215. Interest rates.
Subtitle B—Perkins Loan Reform
Sec. 221. Federal Direct Perkins Loans terms and conditions.
Sec. 222. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 223. Allocation of funds.
Sec. 224. Federal Direct Perkins Loan allocation.
Sec. 225. Agreements with institutions of higher education.
Sec. 226. Student loan information by eligible institutions.
Sec. 227. Terms of loans.
Sec. 228. Distribution of assets from student loan funds.
Sec. 229. Implementation of non-title IV revenue requirement.
Sec. 230. Administrative expenses.
TITLE III—MODERNIZATION, RENOVATION, AND REPAIR
Subtitle A—Elementary and Secondary Education
Sec. 301. Definitions.
CHAPTER1—GRANTS FOR MODERNIZATION, RENOVATION, O REPAIR OF PUBLICSCHOOLFACILITIES
Sec. 311. Purpose.
Sec. 312. Allocation of funds.
Sec. 313. Allowable uses of funds.
Sec. 314. Priority projects.
CHAPTER2—SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS FOR LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, AND ALABAMA
Sec. 321. Purpose.
Sec. 322. Allocation to local educational agencies.
Sec. 323. Allowable uses of funds.
CHAPTER3—GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 331. Impermissible uses of funds.
Sec. 332. Supplement, not supplant.
Sec. 333. Prohibition regarding State aid.
Sec. 334. Maintenance of effort.
Sec. 335. Special rule on contracting.
Sec. 336. Use of American iron, steel, and manufactured goods.
Sec. 337. Labor standards.
Sec. 338. Charter schools.
Sec. 339. Green schools.
Sec. 340. Reporting.
Sec. 341. Special rules.
Sec. 342. Promotion of employment experiences.
Sec. 343. Advisory Council on Green, High-Performing Public School Facilities.
Sec. 344. Education regarding projects.
Sec. 345. Availability of funds.
Subtitle B—Higher Education
Sec. 351. Federal assistance for community college modernization and construc-
tion.
TITLE IV—EARLY LEARNING CHALLENGE FUND
Sec. 401. Purpose.
Sec. 402. Programs authorized.
Sec. 403. Quality pathways grants.
Sec. 404. Development grants.
Sec. 405. Research and evaluation.
Sec. 406. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 407. Construction.
Sec. 408. Definitions.
Sec. 409. Availability of funds.
TITLE V—AMERICAN GRADUATION INITIATIVE
Sec. 501. Authorization and appropriation.
Sec. 502. Definitions; grant priority.
Sec. 503. Grants to eligible entities for community college reform.
Sec. 504. Grants to eligible States for community college programs.
Sec. 505. National activities.

Are you going to stand by and let Washington cram this thing down your throats?

Make your voices heard.

***

Why is this in a “health care reform” bill?!?!

P. 2227

SEC. 343. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON GREEN, HIGH-PERFORMING PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Secretary shall establish an advisory council to be known as the ‘‘Advisory Council on Green, High-Performing Public School Facilities’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Council’’) which shall be composed of

(1) appropriate officials from the Department

of Education;

(2) representatives of the academic, architectural, business, education, engineering, environmental, labor, and scientific communities; and

(3) such other representatives as the Secretary deems appropriate.

(b) DUTIESOFADVISORYCOUNCIL.—

(1) ADVISORYDUTIES.—The Advisory Council shall advise the Secretary on the impact of green, high-performing schools, on—

(A) teaching and learning;
B) health;
(C) energy costs;
(D) environmental impact; and
(E) other areas that the Secretary and the Advisory Council deem appropriate.

(2) OTHER DUTIES.—The Advisory Council shall assist the Secretary in—

(A) making recommendations on Federal policies to increase the number of green, high- performing schools;

(B) identifying Federal policies that are barriers to helping States and local educational agencies make green, high-performing schools;

(C) providing technical assistance and out-reach to States and local educational agencies under section 339(d); and

(D) providing the Secretary such other assistance as the Secretary deems appropriate.

(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out its duties under subsection (b), the Advisory Council shall consult with the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality and the heads of appropriate Federal agencies, including the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Administrator of the General Services Administration (through the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings).

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Comments


  1. #1
    On March 14th, 2010 at 10:34 pm, Azygos said:

    I don’t think throat is the correct orifice. :)

  2. #2
    On March 14th, 2010 at 10:41 pm, rocketman said:

    ***
    We are far past the C**P SANDWICH stage with this “bill”. This looks more like a large elephant P**P in your pickup truck bed. And putting a large Maraschino cherry and a barrel of whipping cleam on top isn’t going to help it go down any better.
    ***
    Chow down, Taxpayers. It doesn’t get any better than this–until we vote Comrade Obama (PBUH) and his corrupt clown minions out of office in the 2010 and 2012 elections.
    ***
    John Bibb
    ***

  3. #3
    On March 14th, 2010 at 11:32 pm, Danceswithdachshunds said:

    Tuition is already inflated faster than just about anything else to become one of the most over-priced things you can buy.

    Gasoline in comparison is a bargain and has barely kept up with the CPI.

    Tuition has risen since 1982 at over FOUR TIMES the CPI!

    (Gee.. I’m trying to recall what the real estate market did when the government stepped in and made housing more ‘affordable’? Hmmm, did housing prices go down or up? )

    Now consider that virtually ALL of the people who provide us our health services from doctors to nurses to pharmacists to med techs, etc spend a FORTUNE to go through college and paying back their tuition loan is very much a part of that cost.

    So the government, by making college ‘affordable’ is simply going to make college even MORE expensive – a give away to all their liberal friends at universities – and thus make health care more expensive in the process.

    These crooks should be ridden out of Washington on a rail.

  4. #4
    On March 14th, 2010 at 11:57 pm, Freddy said:

    Still all smoke and mirrors. We still have no idea what this bill is going to be.

    And, without any actual votes scheduled, I do not think that the democrats have any idea what this bill will include either.

  5. #5
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:09 am, Ragspierre said:

    And, without any actual votes scheduled, I do not think that the democrats have any idea what this bill will include either.

    Pshaw…like that’s important, or something…

    This is a revolution, people.

  6. #6
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:26 am, cactusjoe said:

    Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined. -Patrick Henry

    I will refuse to obey a law that is so obviously devised to circumvent the Constitutional provisions of this Republic. Is it asking too much of our Federal Government to simply leave us alone? But this bill strikes deep within our homes and places the government between us and our families.

    This wretched abuse of power must embolden us to protect our families from tyranny. How can we act any differently? For what will we say, when at Heaven’s Gate, we meet the brave who purchased our liberties at such great sacrifice. Do we chose now to repay their noble gifts with meek quiescence.

  7. #7
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:27 am, Ron said:

    What part of unconstitutional do Democrats not understand? Oh. The “un” throws them for a loop, and they don’t know what “constitution” means, except a good walk over everybody else’s rights.

  8. #8
    On March 15th, 2010 at 1:09 am, kwrxxx said:

    I Don’t think this bill will be passed by the house. It won’t help with the 2010 election. 25 million of the uninsured can’t vote and the middle class doesn’t want to pay higher taxes and costs for ObamaCare.

  9. #9
    On March 15th, 2010 at 1:16 am, Speakup said:

    And this is before corruptOcare, cap and tax and three more years of collectivist Presidency.

    Years

    $63.6 trillion compounded at 2.97%

    (in 2009 dollars)
    Increase
    10 $85.2 trillion 34%
    20 $114.2 trillion 80%
    30 $153.0 trillion 141%
    40 $205.1 trillion 222%
    50 $274.8 trillion 332%

    [1] Web page: “The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It.” Bureau of the Public Debt, United States Department of the Treasury. Accessed March 11, 2010 at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

    As of 3/9/2010, the “Total Public Debt Outstanding” is $12,552,703,515,296.

  10. #10
    On March 15th, 2010 at 1:19 am, Speakup said:

    Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
    George Washington

    And that was before Karl Marx

  11. #11
    On March 15th, 2010 at 1:30 am, Speakup said:

    Just in time.

    Updated March 14, 2010
    Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam’s IOUs

    AP

    This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.

    PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

    It’s time to start cashing them in.

    For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.

    Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.

    Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg’s municipal offices.

    Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn’t be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.

  12. #12
    On March 15th, 2010 at 1:41 am, CO2 Producer said:

    Though they intend to pass this without anyone knowing exactly what it says, the chicken-pellets are brazen enough to not care.

    Fictional horror should be this scary. The Scream mask hides the Michael Myers mask which hides the Jason mask, when it’s really Freddy Krueger who lies beneath it all, vowing to take care o’ ya when you fall asleep. Feels like there’s only a few seconds left before the timer runs out and Jigsaw’s spiked death trap snaps shut on our faces. (Time to make a choice. Cut your hand off, or people like this poor boy’s mother will die…) Then we’ll be wandering broke and dependent on help across a desolate, radioactive wasteland where the hills have eyes.

    Cut! Burn the script and start a new one that isn’t pretentious and is written in such a way that it doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence.

  13. #13
    On March 15th, 2010 at 1:57 am, dadinseattle said:

    “If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
    -Samuel Adams

    The ruin of this country is the price of getting an ideologue with no business being president his first achievement in office.

    To think that these dolts have the gall to think they are even close to having the brains and wisdom of our forefathers
    as they have convinced themselves is appalling.
    People are simmering right now, I hate to think what will happen when people realize they are seeing a rogue government seizing away liberty permanently.

  14. #14
    On March 15th, 2010 at 4:51 am, Eclectic said:

    This whole thing makes me sick. I’ve never been so afraid for my country, not even on 9/11. At least that day it was foreigners trying to destroy us; now it’s coming from within, and it’s coming from the top down.

    As Padme says is Star Wars: Return of the Sith, “So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.” Well, at least not all of us are applauding…

  15. #15
    On March 15th, 2010 at 5:51 am, Uplander said:

    I’m constantly amazed at the lack of logic in the Dem leadership. It should be obvious that the people don’t want this, because of the extreme gyrations that have been attempted and failed already.
    They must know the ‘Hurt Sandwich’ they are fixing for their own November lunch.

  16. #16
    On March 15th, 2010 at 5:54 am, Uplander said:

    Obama and the Progressive Movement must fail, or America will fail.

    “Is it not time to awake from the deceitful dream of a Golden Age and to adopt as a practical maxim for the direction of our political conduct that we, as well as the other inhabitants of the globe, are yet remote from the happy empire of perfect wisdom and perfect virtue?”
    Federalist 6 Alexander Hamilton

  17. #17
    On March 15th, 2010 at 5:56 am, swede said:

    Danceswithdachshunds said:

    (Gee.. I’m trying to recall what the real estate market did when the government stepped in and made housing more ‘affordable’? Hmmm, did housing prices go down or up?)

    The prices don’t matter if the govmint pays it for you. Hey, let’s give mortgages to folks who can’t afford them – then when they default, we give them subsidies to pay ourselves back. Let’s give health insurance to everybody, then pay the premiums for them so they can do nothing.

    These crooks should be ridden out of Washington on a rail.

    I believe the correct procedure would call for tar and feathers preceeding the rail – but the “out of Washington” part is the important thing.

  18. #18
    On March 15th, 2010 at 6:22 am, William Teach said:

    One of the questions is, will anyone or group sue over this bill being un-Constitutional? If so, how soon?

    Will elected Republicans point out that this is un-Constitutional?

    (b) DUTIESOFADVISORYCOUNCIL.—

    (1) ADVISORYDUTIES.—The Advisory Council shall advise the Secretary on the impact of green, high-performing schools, on—

    Funny. Perhaps the House should proof-read their work, as they did not put spaces between words in a section on schools. Solid F.

  19. #19
    On March 15th, 2010 at 6:47 am, jangar said:

    Any bill whose table of contents reads like the history of the world deserves to be tossed into the round file and taken out with the rest of the garbage.

    Obama and the Progressive Movement must fail, or America will fail.

    They already have failed… and are trying to take America with them.

  20. #20
    On March 15th, 2010 at 7:04 am, aero said:

    No Michelle, the big government burrito comes via immigration “reform” Obama wants after he finishes health care “reform”.

  21. #21
    On March 15th, 2010 at 7:08 am, jlhudg23 said:

    While on the surface it might seem ironic, I submit that it is, instead, predictable that the Democrat party — so opposed to both civilian and military use of firearms — is pushing this country to the very brink of a Second Armed Revolution.

    DEATH TO TYRANTS! LONG LIVE FREEDOM!

  22. #22
    On March 15th, 2010 at 7:11 am, zyzzyg said:

    Conflating these two issues is a bad idea made worse.

    Healthcare should be able to stand alone and pass if it good legislation. Or, healthcare ahould fall on it’s own and fail if it is bad legislation.

  23. #23
    On March 15th, 2010 at 7:28 am, graysonret said:

    Obama and the Progressive Movement must fail, or America will fail.

    They have failed, and they know it, if anyone there follows polls. Even MSNBC admitted that there will be a “change” in congress, this Fall. Their strategy right now is to cram as much “progressive” legislation through, before the new congress comes in. That way, come the next election, they can use these “reforms” as the “3rd rail” and get back into office. For example, once people have national health care, they won’t want to give it up…so their thinking is.

  24. #24
    On March 15th, 2010 at 7:55 am, Uplander said:

    Repudiation of the Progressive’s current impetus in November will be good, but they won’t quit there.
    When I speak of their failure I mean they need to be completely exposed as the anti-Constituional movement they have always been to the point where they are looked on as ‘Flat Worlders’ are today.
    They will never stop, but we can knock them back 5 generations when we regain control of the education of our children.

  25. #25
    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:00 am, cicerokid said:

    How many Americans are paying attention?

  26. #26
    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:08 am, graysonret said:

    With some states, including my state, Virginia, passing bills to make this health care plan optional for its citizens, I expect a long court battle involving the 10th amendment. It could be tied up for months or, even years.

  27. #27
    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:25 am, nail49 said:

    It Pelosi et al could should be tied up for months or, even years.

    graysonret: FIFY

  28. #28
    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:30 am, BOB said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:00 am, cicerokid said:
    How many Americans are paying attention?

    Not nearly enough. I know plenty of people who say, “I don’t do politics…who do you think is going to win American Idol“.

  29. #29
    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:47 am, happyscrapper said:

    There is no freakin’ way the CBO can score this! How can they possibly pass something that is so nebulous and convoluted that the cost can’t begin to be measured?? That alone has to defeat this disaster. Peter Johnson, Jr. said this a.m. that there is a lot of “bait and switch” in the bill and more things come out by the hour. First of all, they can’t change anything on the Senate bill…can they? So where are all these things coming from? Are these all amendments that they say they are going to add AFTER the bill PASSES and is signed into law? They are purposely confusing us. Mutiny is coming this week…watch for it!!

  30. #30
    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:48 am, happyscrapper said:

    What is happening to the numbering system??

  31. #31
    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:01 am, Flyoverman said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 8:47 am, happyscrapper said:

    There is no freakin’ way the CBO can score this! How can they possibly pass something that is so nebulous and convoluted that the cost can’t begin to be measured?? That alone has to defeat this disaster.

    My Congressman will vote for this bill no matter what it contains. The Progressives are hell bent on seizing power and they do not care what it will cost, how many lives will be ruined, of even whose loved ones will die.

    To collectivise the farms in Soviet Russia, Stalin starved seven million Kulaks to death for the “greater good.” All they care about is the “greater good.”

    My elederly mother likely will be sacrificed for the “greater good.”

  32. #32
    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:08 am, happyscrapper said:

    I didn’t hear one single person this weekend discuss the COST of this bill. Why? Isn’t that one of the most important considerations? At least, it used to be. And how can anyone figure the cost when they keep adding crap to it?

  33. #33
    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:12 am, stillontheroad said:

    I have known this for years, the DEMORATS are fully responsible for this, this “LOCKBOX” crap they spewed over the years was ans is a lie and every single person should know the ramifications of this”
    “The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
    It’s time to start cashing them in.
    For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.
    Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.
    Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg’s municipal offices.”

  34. #34
    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:20 am, happyscrapper said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:12 am, stillontheroad said:
    I have known this for years, the DEMORATS are fully responsible for this, this “LOCKBOX” crap they spewed over the years was ans is a lie and every single person should know the ramifications of this”

    Hmmm…and now, are they going to put the payments for health ins. reform in a “lock box” too? So, when the “benefits” go into effect in 2014, the money will be gone. Problem solved. No money, no health reform…right? Oh wait, never mind. They will just print more money.

  35. #35
    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:47 am, rocketman said:

    ***
    What will happen to the money collected by the ObamaCare tax hikes in the four years before the so-called “benefits” kick in? Will they go into the General Fund and be spent immediately–like our Social Security “payments” (aka confiscations) have been since President Johnson (D) changed the law?
    ***
    Maybe we could buy a few more file cabinets to hold the electronic DVD IOU’s for MessiahCare. Put them along the SS cabinets with the paper IOU’s.
    ***
    Who says we haven’t made progress since the 1960′s?
    ***
    John Bibb
    ***

  36. #36
    On March 15th, 2010 at 9:56 am, stillontheroad said:

    I have written, smoke signaled, teletyped and morse Coded all my Senators and Congerss Critters about where the money goes that will be taken from my pay check and not one answer back – does anyone know? like other enlightened posters -Another “LockBox”?

  37. #37
    On March 15th, 2010 at 10:10 am, pueblo1032 said:

    Ahhhh, all the kiddies out there will say YES to the idea of COLLEGE for all… That is until little JOHNNY or little SUSIE wants to take, oh let me see, say a major in FINANCE… Sounds good, right??? Then somebody from the GOVERNMENT comes in and says, NO!!! We have way too many FINANCE people now, what we need is TEACHERS… You will be a TEACHER now!!! The answer from little KIDDIES, I don’t want to be a TEACHER… GOVERNMENT, YES YOU DO!!! Result, ad one more TEACHER to the coffers…

  38. #38
    On March 15th, 2010 at 10:22 am, happyscrapper said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 10:10 am, pueblo1032 said:
    Ahhhh, all the kiddies out there will say YES to the idea of COLLEGE for all… That is until little JOHNNY or little SUSIE wants to take, oh let me see, say a major in FINANCE… Sounds good, right??? Then somebody from the GOVERNMENT comes in and says, NO!!! We have way too many FINANCE people now, what we need is TEACHERS… You will be a TEACHER now!!! The answer from little KIDDIES, I don’t want to be a TEACHER… GOVERNMENT, YES YOU DO!!! Result, ad one more TEACHER to the coffers…

    Oh my God, you just posted something that I had not even thought about! Of course!! That is why they are doing that…so they can tell our kids what professions they must go into. Sound familiar? Read the history of Russia. THESE COMMUNISTS MUST BE STOPPED!! And soon.

  39. #39
    On March 15th, 2010 at 10:52 am, 24Klady said:

    happyscrapper
    On the takeover of student loans – if students don’t like provisions under one provider they can go somewhere else. Under gubmint control they can raise the interest rates or change the rules on a whim. When medical students want to go to one school they may be told they’ll have to go somewhere else, or that they have enough pharmacists but need opthomologists….it’s the new man’s army.

    I truly think I’m going to be sick.

  40. #40
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am, happyscrapper said:

    I am doing a lot of praying this week. I know there are people who think that is too little, too late. But I think it is urgently needed!

  41. #41
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:38 am, Savage24 said:

    If they add a few more things to this, it will be the only bill they will need to pass year. In fact it will be the last thing they do before getting the butts thrown out of office.

  42. #42
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:38 am, cheapseat said:

    Would any other profession besides teachers put the least qualified among us to teach the students of tomorrow? AVERAGE COLLEGE SAT SCORE FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADS IS 1000. AVERAGE SAT SCORE FOR THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN THE U.S. IS BELOW 800. And we wonder why our kids seem to be getting dumber by the year?

  43. #43
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:43 am, 24Klady said:

    Happyscrapper
    I’ve carried a prayer in my heart and pleaded with the Father to please divert this organized rape of America in some manner. I normally wake up happy knowing I’m a child of the most powerful force in the universe but it’s been harder lately.

    It’s one thing to steal from me, but this is generational and will take our children/grandchildren and beyond into a new era of endentured servitude.

  44. #44
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:45 am, ITookTheRedPill said:

    Obama on “the Final March for Reform”

    Note the purple tie (shout-out to SEIU).

    A commenter on my blog noted:

    On Fox News Sunday yesterday, the democrats wore purple ties and Gibbs had a purple plastic ring on his right wrist.

  45. #45
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:46 am, Virginia Patriot said:

    How do we know they haven’t stuffed amnesty into this crapburrito???

  46. #46
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:59 am, ITookTheRedPill said:
  47. #47
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:02 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:46 am, Virginia Patriot said:

    How do we know they haven’t stuffed amnesty into this crapburrito???

    Very good question! This is their one and only chance to get things through the Senate on a “reconciliation” simple majority vote.

    After this, everything will require at least one Republican to help them break a filibuster.

    They will try to overreach even more than they have already.

  48. #48
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:10 pm, letget said:

    virginiaPatriot,
    No one has actually seen ALL of the bill. There could be amnesty and/or Cap and trade there too. This bho, team, and the d’s are stuffing everything their little sick minds have wanted since this bho was elected. They could add whatever they want later when they do admendments to the bill.
    L

  49. #49
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:17 pm, Flyoverman said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:43 am, 24Klady said:

    Happyscrapper,

    I’ve carried a prayer in my heart and pleaded with the Father to please divert this organized rape of America in some manner.

    The problem unfortunately is what we have turned from. Europe preceeded us and we have followed them down the same path. Now we are receiving what we asked for.

    See 1st Samuel 8 for details.

    18 “When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

  50. #50
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:27 pm, TigerLady said:

    Flyoverman said:

    Elections have consequences. We are getting exactly what the majority wanted. We have King Obama.

    I hope you are not right about the Lord not answering. Keep praying.

  51. #51
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:31 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    TO: Moderate House Democrats

    SUBJECT: How to take the High Ground

    All you have to do is say that you are going to hold President Obama accountable to what he himself said:

    Change to Win Convention 9/25/07

    The bottom line is that our healthcare plans are similar, the question once again is, who can get it done? Who can build a movement for change? This is an area where we’re going to have to have a 60% majority in the Senate and the House in order to actually get a bill to my desk. We’re going to have to have a majority to get a bill to my desk. That is not just a fifty plus one majority.

    Obama Interview with the Concord Monitor 10/9/07

    You’ve got to break out of what I call the sort of fifty plus one pattern of presidential politics. Maybe you eke out a victory of fifty plus one. Then you can’t govern. You know, you get Air Force One, there are a lot of nice perks, but you can’t deliver on healthcare. We are not going to pass universal health care with a fifty plus one strategy.

    Center for American Progress Conference 7/12/06

    Those big-ticket items: fixing our health care system. You know, one of the arguments that sometimes I get with my fellow progressives, and some of these have flashed up in the blog communities on occasion, is this notion that we should function sort of like Karl Rove where we identify our core base, we throw ’em red meat, we get a fifty plus one victory. See, Karl Rove doesn’t need a broad consensus because he doesn’t believe in government. If we want to transform the country, though, that requires a sizeable majority.

    If Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are not willing to work with you and Republicans to create a bill that can pass BOTH houses of Congress with at least 60% of the vote, then the “Healthcare Reform” bill WON’T PASS.

    There is no excuse for Obama, Pelosi, and SEIU to be putting extreme pressure on you to achieve a “50 plus 1″ outcome that Obama himself said means “you can’t govern”.

    Remind him of what he said, and hold him accountable to what he said!

    You’ve got to break out of what I call the sort of fifty plus one pattern of presidential politics. Maybe you eke out a victory of fifty plus one. Then you can’t govern. You know, you get Air Force One, there are a lot of nice perks, but you can’t deliver on healthcare. We are not going to pass universal health care with a fifty plus one strategy.

  52. #52
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:35 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:27 pm, TigerLady said:

    I hope you are not right about the Lord not answering. Keep praying.

    Fast and pray. It’s what our Founders did.

  53. #53
    On March 15th, 2010 at 12:43 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens.

    - President George Washington

    The problems in this country can be tied to directly to a lack of “Religion and morality”.

    We have removed what President George Washington called “indispensable supports” to “political prosperity”.

    The majority of Congress is both spiritually and politically bankrupt. So it should come as no surprise that they are fast leading the U.S.A. to financial bankruptcy.

    President Washington questioned their patriotism, and so do I.

  54. #54
    On March 15th, 2010 at 2:27 pm, 24Klady said:

    Turning our back on Israel isn’t going to win any favors from the Almighty either. It’s too late for us to get our priorties in line, we’re too busy trying to equal every morally and spiritually bankrupt despot that ever lived on the planet. We’re about there.

  55. #55
    On March 15th, 2010 at 5:58 pm, Uplander said:

    One ridiculous part of this Kabuki is the fact that once the first 4 years of taxes and fees have been impounded they will have been spent once the ‘Benefit’ side of this abortion is implemented and they will need more revenue without bothering to explain where the first allocations ended up.

  56. #56
    On March 15th, 2010 at 10:56 pm, jangar said:

    The crap sandwich was just a side order

    …or appetizer.

    It made me sick, therefore the main course can’t be any better. And the service sucks too.

  57. #57
    On March 15th, 2010 at 11:01 pm, jangar said:

    What you want to bet that those first 4 years of collecting taxes, that are not spent on healthcare, will actually be spent on abortion? This could be, not only a huge Democrat campaign-Ponzi scheme-pot, but also a population control plan.

  58. #58
    On March 16th, 2010 at 3:40 am, mattm said:

    I just picked a few random pages to read, it is so confusing and so many provisions and restrictions on what this means and how it can bu applied, etc.

    I will be amazed inf ANYONE can tell me what is in this bill.

  59. #59
    On March 16th, 2010 at 1:41 pm, rightwingrocker said:

    Haha

    Big government burrito …

    Kinda like a $h!+ sandwich!

    I love it.

    RWR
    http://www.rightwingrocker.com

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