Posts about Stop Cap and Trade as of July 18, 2009

by publius Many things annoy me about the calls to “slow down” on health care coverage.   But what most annoys me is the idea that we should wait for a “bipartisan” result, as the latest letter from the “Gang of Moderates Protecting Really Rich People” suggests. In the abstract, these requests sound reasonable.   But these requests assume that Republicans are interested in passing real reform – which they’re not.

Liberals are over a barrel. They have to pass universal health care (really universal health insurance since health care is already “universal” to anyone not too lazy to get it) in order to not look impotent. With the “stimulus” failing, TARP a fiasco, Cap and Trade facing serious challenges in the Senate, Obama’s favorability dropping as the economy has not turned around as quickly as his followers had been promised, much of their hope for more power rests on the passage of such a plan.

President Obama and some Democrats insist the Congress rush and tax on health care just like they rushed the so-called stimulus and cap and trade tax. Liberal Democrat leaders must rush to pass their change because the more Americans find out about the Democrats’ change, the more they oppose it. In today’s weekly Republican address, Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl contrasts the Democrats rush and tax change with the Republicans common sense ideas that do not require a government takeover of the health care system, or massive new spending, job-killing taxes, or rationing of care:Full transcript of Senator Kyl’s remarks:Hello.

Looks like the Obama Administration is up to the usual tricks when it comes to bipartisanship; the Administration is pushing to change the definition of bipartisanship, in effect to make it easier to say a bill is bipartisan even if it really isn’t. Sounds strange, I know, but let’s think about it for a moment. Just about every piece of crappy legislation that the liberals in congress are pushing right now is grounds to have them removed from office; unless they have bipartisan support.

Satur day’s Newslinks brought to you by At Ease Tees    Paula White Returns to Lead Ailing Megachurch Charismatic preacher Paula White is stepping in as senior pastor of the Florida megachurch that she and her now ex-husband founded nearly two decades ago. Majority of Episcopalians Favor Scrapping Ban on Gay Ordination   Conservatives Wary of Abortion Coverage in Health Care Reform   G8 Climate Change Progress ‘Painfully Slow,’ Say Christian Agencies   Church’s

Rep. Buchanan Speaks Against Health Care Tax On Small Businesses   Weekly Address: President Obama Calls for Real Health Care Reform  Bum’s Rush  Forcible ejection from an establishment, as of a bum (hobo) en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bum%27s_rush   Rep. Paul Ryan points out that Health Care Reform will be the most Important Vote   Rep.

I was not in-country when Jared Polis, the gay heir to Blue Mountain Arts, a greeting-card company created by his mother and netting him tons of money to use to seed his own entrepreneurial aspirations (and he’s a Democrat ?!), was elected to represent Colorado’s ultra-Leftist 2d District (which includes Boulder). As such, I was pretty ho-hum to learn another gay Democrat had been elected to Congress, let alone from that district.

     Fox News: Glenn Beck – [7/17/2009] “Sen. Boxer Gets Reamed By Black Chamber Of Commerce President”   Senator Boxer Accused of Race Politics   Barbara Boxer to General: Call me “Senator,” not “Ma’am” FOX NEWS: Glenn Beck interview of Ann Coulter 7-17-2009 Lady you can call me an American citizen and you work for the American people as a civil servant and never forget it.

Midwest Pols Sell Out – Henry Payne – Planet Gore on National Review Online Peters supports “using fuel that’s free and won’t run out,” preaches the ad’s narrator. And all this “free” wind power will create 53,000 jobs in the state while cutting consumers’ utility bills by “$110 a year.” This is poppycock and Peters knows it. Never mind that windmills can’t power 80-acre auto plants…

We have less than 50 days until the special election in the 10th Congressional District to replace Ellen Tauscher, who resigned to take a job at the State Department.  The candidates include local members of the legislature, the state’s Lieutenant Governor, and several candidates with interesting resumes.  There’s even word that New Age guru and Oprah pal Marianne Williamson may get into the race, although she doesn’t have much time to make her decision.

Survey: Almost 60% of US Manufacturing Senior Executives Oppose Cap-and-Trade – greencarcongress.com 07/17/2009 Nearly six in ten US manufacturing senior executives (59%) oppose a cap-and-trade program such as that proposed in the Waxman-Markey bill, according to a recent survey by CPA firm Baker Tilly and KRC Research. Support for cap-and-trade. Click to enlarge. Opposition increases the more familiar executives are with cap-and-trade. Legislative support increases

Let’s begin with the study : Nature Geoscience Published online: 13 July 2009 | doi :10.1038/ngeo578 Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming Richard E. Zeebe 1 , James C. Zachos 2 & Gerald R. Dickens 3 Top of page The Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (about 55 Myr ago) represents a possible analogue for the future and thus may provide insight into climate system sensitivity and feedbacks 1, 2 .

Indonesia Is a Model Muslim Democracy Last week’s election caps a decade of success. PAUL WOLFOWITZ It’s rare when any political leader wins a 60% mandate in a free and fair election, which is why commentary on last week’s Indonesian election has focused on the personal success of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. However, Indonesia’s success in building democratic institutions in just 10 years is equally remarkable.

When this health care debate is over, we are going to know if our Congress is Democratic or Conservative. The irony of the Democrats’ majorities is that ideologically they have no majorities. The Blue Dog Democrats are often more Conservative than many Republicans. They have to be because their districts vote in a manner that would never accept anything but a conservative voting record. Many of the Blue Dogs got into office in 2006. They were recruited by the liberal, now Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel in one of the shrewdest political move in history.

As healthcare reform bills struggle through Congress, it’s looking increasingly likely that the end result will be weak and frail Progressive advocates of comprehensive healthcare reform are beginning to feel more and more like HL Mencken when he compared democracy to “running the circus from the monkey cage”. The Obama administration’s rather hands-off approach to reform leaves its defining domestic policy goal to the barons of Capitol Hill – and to the special interests that fund their re-elections .