Sarah Palin Again Sends MSNBC into a Tailspin with New TV Series

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When MSNBC has everything to talk about what with Obama and the health care approval they still cannot resist interrupting the news to take a shot at Sarah Palin. There is nothing more entertaining than watching a media enterprise like left leaning MSNBC working up a dither over the moose hunter from Alaska.

NBC refuses to believe Palin has a strong and loyal backing no matter what she does and every time she has a little success the reporters at MSNBC line up to trash her achievement. Why don't they just shut up and leave Palin alone?

Since MSNBC seems to promote books over everything else, especially those written by MSNBC staff, they must still be fuming since Palin ignored them on her book tour and took the rest of the country by storm. In the end Palin sold over 2.4 million copies, having one of the highest selling political biographies in history.



The elitists at MSNBC just cannot accept that a backwoods, rifle toting soccer mom could do that. The fact she snubbed the cable network and still was a nationwide best seller is too much for them to take.

The same was true when Palin landed the job with Fox News. And now, when Palin has landed a TV series with the Discovery Network to show the world the wonders of the State of Alaska at a reported price of over $1 million per episode they are flabbergasted.

How could the hick from the wilderness have become a multi-millionaire TV star just months after giving up the governorship of Alaska? It would never occur to the media elitists that Sarah Palin paid her dues under a barrage of false charges and innuendo and incessant efforts by the media to smear her reputation and ruin her career.



Palin, smiling through the deluge of negativity and brushing off the media as if they were gnats on a moose in Alaska, just did her thing and kept getting stronger in popularity. Now if it was jealously on the part of the liberals I could understand. Every time Sarah appears on television her ratings bury the meager ratings of the MSNBC elite. Millions of Americans watch Palin while a much smaller number watch MSNBC.

Maybe they are in shock because Sarah managed to negotiate her own TV studio in Alaska so she would not be just another voice in Washington or New York. Maybe it is because her new series will bring attention to the state she clearly loves. Or maybe it is because she earns a salary that dwarfs the normal TV reporter's salary.

It would never occur to the media pundits that Palin commands such a high salary because she brings millions of viewers to the show when she appears. Ad revenue is everything and Palin is a gold mine on television. Just ask Oprah, who went out of her way to get Sarah on her show after Palin lost the election and resigned as governor, and still she significantly boosted Oprah's ratings. The same happened with Jay Leno and helped propel him back into first place in the Late Night ratings race.



Wake up MSNBC! Jealously is not good for your image. Bashing Sarah Palin does not help your ratings. If you really want to do something to help your network and give you some degree of credibility, then get Palin on the show like Oprah and Leno. Or do you prefer the Letterman approach of trashing Palin and watch your ratings sink into last place?

Just get over it MSNBC. The election is over. Obama is president. Palin is not in public office and there is nothing you can do about it. You should be happy she is making so much money in private business that she can't afford to take time off to run for president. You had your chance to destroy her and you blew it.

HOLD THE PRESSES: Very quietly today and very early this morning before it was even light out MSNBC admitted they had misrepresented the facts about the Palin story. Today they acknowledged their assault on Palin yesterday had two things wrong. First, it wasn't Discovery Channel but the TLC Network that is owned by Discovery.

Second they admitted she was not receiving over a million dollars for each show but the total production budget of each show was over a million dollars. Discovery said the show is called "Sarah Palin's Alaska" and is a documentary series on the wonders of Alaska.

Do you think all the MSNBC shows will air the retraction during daylight hours? Don't count on it. Maybe they should fact check themselves before shooting off at the mouth.


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Dark Clouds over the Middle East - Is Israel Going to War?

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Late yesterday, after the White House enjoyed the signing of the health care bill, there was a 90-minute closed-door meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was extended another 70 minutes after the formal meeting. Then Israeli and White House support staff met until after 1:00 am this morning.



Just 24 hours before the meeting between the two heads of state Netanyahu spoke to the pro Israeli AIPAC, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States. AIPAC stands for the America Israel Public Affairs Committee and was in Washington for its annual convention where over half of the United States Congress trooped through its doors to attend the Gala Banquet.

For those of you not familiar with AIPAC, their lobbying clout in Washington is second to none as proven by the $3 billion in US foreign aid going to Israel, a new record and up from $2.4 billion last year. At this meeting Netanyahu again defied President Obama and said Israel would build 1,600 more homes in the contested East Jerusalem settlement.



You may remember that Vice President Biden was embarrassed on his recent trip to Israel to restart the Middle East Peace negotiations when Israel announced the housing construction the same day he arrived. Obama had been adamant in his request that Israel stop all settlement construction in disputed territories in order to start the peace negotiations.

This curious action by the Israeli Prime Minister is the latest in a series of actions that seem to be burning bridges with the most ardent supporters of Israel in the world, the United States and Britain.



International outrage against Israel was already in evidence because the Israeli Mossad secret service was accused by the Dubai police of using fake passports from a number of allies including 12 from Britain to send 27 assassins to Dubai and assassinate a ranking leader of Hamas, Mabhoub al-Mabhouh, on January 19, in Dubai. The investigation and disclosures led the British to expel an Israeli diplomat from Britain in protest against the murder.

To date Israel has not commented on the Mossad role in the assassinations but did say they were pleased with the outcome, the death of al-Mabhouh. Relations between Israel and the United States led the Israeli ambassador to America to say they were the worst in 30 years. After the Biden incident the US canceled a visit by US peace envoy George Mitchell.



Could it be the Israelis are threatening relations with their two prime allies because they have decided to go to war with Iran over the nuclear capability of that rogue state? It is becoming clear that the United Nations will never take effective action to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. There is no way China or Russia will ever approve tougher sanctions against Iran and earlier attempts by Obama to negotiate with the Iranians failed miserably.



Israel is armed with hundreds of nuclear weapons even though they refuse to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement and right now they are the only nation in the Middle East with such a stockpile of weapons. They have consistently insisted if diplomatic negotiations fail they will destroy the Iranian nuclear capability.



Could it be the perceived conflicts between Israel and the United States and Britain are a precursor to an attack on Iran by Israel, staged to put distance between the attack and their allies? It would not be in the interest of the United States or Britain to encourage such an attack and this is a rather simple way to show they were at odds with Israel, thus preventing them from being blamed for any consequences.



Stranger things have happened in the long history between the United States and Israel.

So the Obama and Netanyahu meeting took place in the shadow of these diplomatic controversies. Unlike past meetings between the two, it was held behind closed doors with no news media allowed. There were none of the usual photo ops, formal handshake photos, press briefings or public announcements on the meeting. In fact a veil of secrecy not seen often in our nation's capitol was tossed on the whole affair as if it never really took place.

To recap, these are the actions that happened.

Secret meetings between leaders and staff last long into the night.
Obama gets his proposals rejected by Israel.
Netanyahu defiantly defends East Jerusalem settlements before AIPAC.
Biden gets embarrassed by Israel.
Obama cancels a trip by George Mitchell to Israel.
Israeli Mossad accused of assassination in Dubai.
Forged passports are used by assassins.
British expel Israeli diplomat in protest of 12 British passports being used.



Dark clouds are indeed on the horizon casting a foreboding shadow on peace efforts in the Middle East and the chain of events would indicate that something far more serious may be underway. Do not be surprised if Israel does attack Iran and that may only be the beginning of a new wave of horrific warfare in the Holy Land.

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Letter to our National Leaders on Health Care - From Main Street

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Dear President Obama and Speaker Pelosi:

With all the Democrats and media caught up in a feeding frenzy over the passage of health care reform in America I thought I would give you a little advice from the people you serve.

First, when the media becomes the cheerleader for social reform it is a sad state of affairs in America as the media were supposed to be the objective reporters of news, not the initiators of news. Somewhere along the way our media stopped reporting news and started trying to make news.

Perhaps that explains why only about 50% of the eligible voters in America don't even register to vote. Or maybe that is why network news rating have collapsed and cable news rating get far more attention than they deserve.



You don't get it but America does. When only a few million people watch cable, and just 20 million watch all network news, that means about 285 million Americans do not trust the news and don't watch it. Newspapers of course are collapsing in readership at a faster rate than television.

My advice is to take the adoration of the news media with a grain of salt. Why even the Obama love fest on The View on network television only pulls an audience of about 350,000 viewers out of 315 million. So don't assume what you see or read in the media has much credibility.

Now, as for health care, why did it take the Democrats 13 months of painful deliberations to the exclusion of the economy, unemployment and everything else to figure out you had the votes to slam through the bills? In the end the bitter partisanship that has resulted from this protracted debate has driven a stake through the heart of America being a nation of people and not political parties.



You seem to forget the majority of Americans can't identify with either political party and the independent movement gets stronger by the day. The Tea Party movement is but one of many that will be heard from in the next few years.

As for the health care bill, good old salty VP Joe Biden was right, it was a F###ing big deal. But it isn't even done until the changes are made in the Senate. If it gets done there are still some serious questions for us Americans. As I read it, and finding the truth in the claims of both political parties and the news media is a serious struggle, I believe it is the first time in our history that Americans are being forced by Congress to buy something we may not want from private companies we may not like regardless of the cost. If we don't we get fined.

Where in our Constitution does it say the federal government can do that? Does that mean you can force us to join a union whether we want to or not? Or force us to participate in public education when private, Parochial and charter schools are much better for our kids?



The Governor of Pennsylvania was on TV assuring us that the federal government has the right to force us to do this and has done it before. He gave as examples Passports and Immigration. Nonsense. We don't have to buy a Passport or get fined. And the 15 million illegal immigrants prove the government doesn't force people to get immigration papers. Where is the truth?

I heard the US Attorney from South Florida talking about Medicaid fraud. You claim this bill will save hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud. Why does this fraud still exist if you know it is there? The US Attorney says in South Florida there are $2 billion worth of fraud cases backed up waiting for criminal investigation and prosecution. He said he has 270 employees and that if he had three shifts of 270 employees working 24 hours a day seven days a week he still couldn't process the cases that are already pending. How in the world is the Justice department going to handle a caseload going after billions and billions of more in fraud? Why not increase the punishment for ripping of the government to huge fines, mandatory prison sentences and stripping guilty parties of any licenses forever?



If so much fraud exists and you all know it, then maybe you are guilty of mismanagement of billions of federal dollars and a failure to perform your fiduciary responsibilities. It would have been a bigger travesty of justice had you not passed some kind of health care reform.

You promised coverage for 32 million uninsured Americans yet they are not covered until 2014. Did you forget to tell us that? How are the states going to be able to increase taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars in 2018 to pay for Medicaid cost increases? I guess if a state has to increase state taxes by billions it does not count as a tax increase yet your action imposed that burden on the states.



Much of what was promised to us will not take effect until 2014. We wonder what you promised others to get the votes that takes effect immediately? How many pork barrel projects, special funding, or other forms of political corruption are buried in the negotiations to get this approved?

We did need health care reform. We are watching to see what we really got. And if health care reform means we have given up the last of our individual freedom and can now be forced by the federal government to buy what we may not want or be fined by our own government then you may have a much bigger fight on your hands getting this thing implemented than you think.



Finally, every small businessman I have talked with insist their health care costs are going up, not down, because of this bill. They fully expect insurance companies to adjust premiums upward to pay for all the benefits in the bill. They do not expect any government subsidies or tax credits to cover the increased costs and they dread the paperwork involved. We will be watching your actions.

Health care reform was needed. Let us hope your solution will help. Let us also hope that the flaws in the bill will not just result in another industry in the private sector becoming a slave to the federal government. Let us hope that single payer and public option elements that were originally demanded by you then defeated do not suddenly appear in the laws of the land.

Be very careful how you implement this bill. Be very cautious with the truth. So many lies and distortions have already been shouted we do not need any further reason to question the credibility of our government.

Sincerely,
Main Street America

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It is Time for Responsible Republicans to Be Heard

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While Obama and Pelosi have captured center stage in the media with the health care reform and they have already declared a host of other social issues will be pursued next, I wonder what the Republican alternative to the Obama agenda might be?

The Democrat White House and Congress are clear in their intentions to overthrow, I mean overhaul the federal agenda and continue building their single payer, single employer and single owner social empire, meaning a very fat federal government.

Now we know that the Republicans by nature are opposed to Uncle Sugar and having the government hire and own everything. We also know that up until the beginning of the 21st century the Republicans were also the protectors of our economy and opposed to increasing the national debt. During the first decade of this century they seemed to have gone brain dead regarding the debt but there was hope they would come to their senses eventually.



Now that they are the minority party, meaning they blew it the last decade, one would think they might be offering an alternative to the Obama social juggernaut and demand the attention of our government be focused on what is being ignored in Washington. I mean there are a few issues still being ignored by everyone like the economy, jobs, unemployment and credit markets. How quickly we forget Main Street.

Then there are the massive number of fixes that are needed within the federal government covering everything from Financial reform to Housing Mortgage reform, Campaign reform to Energy independence, stronger ethics and conflict of interest laws to limits on lobbying and special interests. Fact is we are still waiting for Obama to start prosecuting all those crooks who manipulated federal laws and nearly destroyed the world economy. Those crooks remain in their offices on Wall Street.

So my question is this? If the public seems to dislike Obama's agenda though they like him okay, and if nothing has happened in Congress for over a year except the nasty old health care reform, where are the GOP ideas, initiatives and reforms to lead us out of the quagmire in Washington? Why are they not screaming about the trillion dollar debt the Obama agenda has created and why are they not offering alternatives?



Most days it seems as if the Republicans just trash Obama and the Democrats but offer nothing in terms of new ideas. If either party was really interested in Main Street they would be pushing for investigations and prosecutions of all the people who caused the economic meltdown, paid the outrageous bonuses, and profited from all the market manipulations.

The Democrats complain about the crooks on Wall Street but can't even pass a financial reform bill with enough teeth to prevent corruption, let alone prosecute the corrupters. Don't suppose it has anything to do with the fact these same crooks are filling the campaign coffers of the Democrats?

Yet the Democrats blame the Republicans for being the protector of Wall Street and stalling the financial reform laws. If I were a Republican I would be offering a comprehensive financial reform bill that does stop the corruption and prosecutes the corrupters because neither has any place in a free market economy. Then I would go after the Democrats for protecting the fat cats. Of course that assumes the GOP is not trying to protect the old ways of Wall Street.



I have trouble finding any Republican position on financial reform or anything else for that matter. It seems their agenda is stopping Democrats, not fixing America. If they want to get all worked up over the health care that's okay, but fix the bill, don't destroy the progress that has been made.

No benefit will come to the GOP if they simply oppose everything Obama and Pelosi want and then there is no alternative being offered. If I were a Republican every time I spoke I would preface it with a stand against increasing the national debt further and then offer alternatives to bigger government.

I think the GOP might have a false sense of security about the mood of the public. If they read the polls and think everyone hates the Democrats they better read again. If they think they are the natural alliance for the Tea Party movement they are also mistaken.



The independent movement in America belongs to no one and no party. As the Democrats continue to pursue more and more liberal goals and the Republicans continue to blabber more and more conservative opposition to everything both parties are at risk of being booted into oblivion by a public that is fed up with all politicians.

The social agenda of the president is certain to get the liberal and moderate Democrats in trouble in the fall elections and will increase the Republican resolve to win back seats. But without an agenda, without a plan and without concrete proposals the Republicans will just be blowing the same hot air as the Democrats and may find themselves on the endangered species list along with the Democrats.

We do not need politicians whose purpose in life is to tear down and destroy. We do not need politicians who believe there is a single political philosophy everyone must embrace. This is a big country. There is room for a lot of diverse ideas. Political leadership requires acknowledging the diversity of Americans and the diverse needs that result.



A good conservative can still have a social conscious and a free spending liberal can still show restraint for the good of the people. But they don't. The GOP leadership needs to stand for something. Spouting you are the party of fundamental conservative principles is nice, but will it assure food and housing for the poor? Being fiscally conservative and opposed to big government carries a responsibility to make certain those who benefit from such a system do not abuse it like Wall Street.

I figure anyone who offers real meaningful campaign reform and abolishes legal loopholes preventing prosecution of crooks on Wall Street and in Washington, and anyone who first considers the impact on the national debt before spending more billions we don't have, can't be all bad. Now I find myself still waiting for someone to come through with the ideas we need to fix America.

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Obama - New Social Architect or Special Interest Stooge?

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Now that President Obama has his coveted health care reform in hand, albeit there is a ways to go before it can become a reality, and we have seen what he did with the banks, insurance companies, auto companies and mortgage companies, it is time to ask if he is truly a social architect intent on forming a new American social structure based on government ownership and/or control, or if he is simply a stooge for the powerful special interests who helped finance his campaigns.



With his detached attitude and unwillingness to get immersed in the mechanics of fighting for his own legislative agenda, it seems he may be the consummate compromiser yet his actions are leading us in a very specific direction. Since he first took office there has been an obvious pattern of first taking care of his special interest contributors which leaves his true intent in question.



Look at the record. Several of the first Executive Orders he issued as president greatly strengthened the unions and even gave them a degree of control and influence over construction projects and other activities that were contained in his economic stimulus program. No Democrat or Republican president before ever made such blatant concessions to the unions.



The auto bailout he engineered guaranteed the unions major control of General Motors and protected them from losing billions of dollars in unsecured losses from GM stock they owned while the bond holders from General Motors were left out in the cold.



He even delayed the provision in the health care reform bill to tax the most luxurious health insurance policies until 2018, long after he would be president. Under the contracts negotiated by the unions with auto makers these luxury policies were a major contributor to the very bankruptcy of the auto industry.



The most frequent visitor to the White House is Andy Stern, President of the SEIU, the service workers union who Stern claims spent more than $60 million to get Obama elected. So who is to benefit most from expanded health care, the service workers union of Stern who is trying to unionize the health care industry.



Then when Congress did not approve his Deficit Reduction Task Force he created it by Executive Order and then promptly appointed the same Andy Stern to the group. I find it rather odd that a union organizer qualifies as an expert in economics and knows how to reduce our federal debt when he has been benefitting from the very Obama initiatives that have resulted in an avalanche of new debt.



Of course Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing mortgage companies, were taken over by the Obama government although the media does not seem interested in talking about it. In this case Obama took care of Wall Street poster boy Goldman Sachs, another major Obama contributor and supporter, whose actions in selling the sub-prime mortgages helped destroy the housing market.

Did you know $217 billion have already been given by Obama to these two housing agencies to bail them out of their last mess?. Did you know Rahm Emanuel was on the Board of one of them and when he was with the Clinton administration they passed the federal commodity loopholes that allowed the deceptive investment practices that caused oil price spikes and brought down the world economy?



In fact his ties to Goldman Sachs are best illustrated by the fact he approved the AIG insurance bailout to protect a too big to fail company and $64 billion in government money went to Goldman and other banks who recouped 100% of their toxic holdings in the bankrupt company while the stock and bond holders got a fraction of their value.



Finally, though Obama promised he was considering taking on the powerful Trial Lawyers Association and was going to incorporate tort reform to reduce the multi-billion dollar cost of medical malpractice, it was left out of his final bill. It's not surprising since they were at the top of the list of special interest contributors to his campaign.



Social architect or special interest stooge, the jury is out but the actions seem to have taken a sharp left turn. Big government and multi-trillion dollar debt are the products of his efforts, a very left leaning legacy to date. Yet he may be the godfather of his own special interests and at the top of the list come Goldman Sachs (Wall Street), the Trial Lawyers and the unions, particularly SEIU. All stand to benefit greatly from his health care reform.



His unfinished agenda includes more social redirection as he says Immigration reform is next followed by Cap and Trade and other initiatives. Ironically, he and the Democrats controlling congress still are not even talking about the economy, unemployment, jobs and credit issues affecting Main Street, the very issues Main Street wants addressed.

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Obama Health Care Done - Democrats Celebrate - Is it Premature?

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Well the national and cable media are falling all over themselves in glee this morning after President Obama got the weekend votes on health care in Pelosi's House, but have they once again idolized their hero prematurely like they did in the election?

Before we write a new chapter in the history of health care in America we better wait and see what the Senate does to the reconciliation bill passed by Pelosi's House. Without the approval by the Senate the original bills passed by Pelosi could go down in flames and there are a lot of lingering questions about the process, the elements of the bill, the long term impact and whether it will raise taxes and premiums.



This much we do know. What passed will raise taxes by $437 billion. There are 15 different tax raises hidden in the bills approved by the House. Even top Democratic analysts say health insurance premiums will rise 10-13% as a result of the bills.

By 2013 there will be a 3.8% increase in taxes for every family in America earning more than $200,000 and a lot of middle class families will be earning over $200,000 in four more years.



By 2017 all the states will have to increase their taxes to pay for Medicaid subsidies required under the Obama-Pelosi bills. Just one state, the state of Ohio, will have to raise $200 million to pay for the new Obama taxes which means nationwide states will increase taxes by several billion dollars yet Obama does not consider this a tax increase since it is the state that has to pay.

Even Leslie Stahl, a veteran CBS reporter on 60 Minutes, said she listened to all the debate and still doesn't know if the bills will increase taxes. If the national news media has no clue, and there are 15 new tax increases in the bills not counting the taxes on states, then how will the public ever learn the true extent of health care reform.

There are also the deals made to secure votes and it may take years to unscramble what was promised. We know there are several hospitals in certain states that received $20 million windfalls in order to get votes. How many more secret deals were made?



We also know the Pelosi bills eliminated cost controls on drugs for senior citizens. Do you realize what I said? Pharmaceutical companies will not be restricted from raising prices from drugs. Obama promised to stop the spiraling drug costs, then let Emanuel negotiate away the controls to get final passage. This will also cost billions more since the average senior in America has 6-8 drug prescriptions.

The bills do not put any cost controls on the health industry and they do not put any controls on the medical malpractice abuses, both of these actions are necessary to save billions of wasted dollars but they are missing from the bills.

Also unknown is if the federal government can force citizens to buy health care and fine them if they don't which it is trying to do. More than 37 states have already said they will sue the government to stop the action. It could be another big setback.



No one has really studied who the 32 million people are who will be added to the health insurance roles. We know 253 million people were covered in 2007. We also know low income are covered through Medicaid and 15 million illegal immigrants will not be covered.

What we don't know is how many of the uninsured do not want health care. They could be rich and not need it. Many college age kids don't have it because they are healthy and it costs too much. They will now be forced to have it because the family health policy was extended to cover all dependents up to age 26. This will most certainly raise family premiums whether they want it or not. We also don't know how many have adopted alternative health techniques and programs, most of which are denied insurance coverage even though the treatments have been proven effective. They will be forced to have it.



Perhaps more ominously, what about the doctors, dentists and opticians who refuse to participate in health insurance programs. Many have demonstrated that they can deliver health care up to two thirds cheaper than through health insurance if you pay cash. Will they be forced to participate? Some have already indicated they will retire before work under a health insurance program. How many doctors will we lose because of this?

No, the battle may have just begun to approve the reconciliation in the Senate and to resolve the many points I have just described. Don't let the media fool you, finishing the approval process and implementing the whole monster program is a long ways from finished.



Just as the White House, Obama and Pelosi are declaring a historic victory and marveling at how the president brought health care reform back from the dead, the Republicans could also bring defeat back from the dead by refusing the House reconciliation bill.

If the public realizes they have been hoodwinked by Obama and Pelosi when insurance premiums continue to increase, drug prices continue to rise and the 15 new taxes are implemented they could raise up in revolt against the new social system in America.

Will the Obama liberal base allow the president's last second Executive Order denying the use of federal money for abortions, a move intended to buy the votes needed to get approval for the act, survive challenges in court and the Congress? The reversal by Obama at the last second infuriated the liberal base and they may not take this lightly.

In the meantime, will the White House and Congress ever get to the number one issue in America, jobs, the economy, credit, credit card fees and banking fees? So far no one is talking about these bread and butter issues and the patience of the public is growing thin.

Much remains to be seen.

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Demon Pass and Reconciliation - Total Health Care Chaos in Congress - Who is the Fool?

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Okay, yesterday Nancy Pelosi finally posted the Obama health care demon pass rule or whatever the heck it is since it is not a bill that was approved by congress. It is a rather odd demon pass rule in the House that no two people in Washington explain in the same way, and it is also a reconciliation procedure in the Senate yet somehow it morphs into a bill.

The report from the Congressional Budget Office is in and they claim if we spend about a trillion dollars the first ten years we will reduce the deficit by around $134 billion. Then after ten more years we will save another $1.2 trillion. Strange math I think.



If you look at the fine print in the CBO instructions it may very well say the savings are not savings at all but a reduction in future increases, a technique congress has used often to confuse the public. Well a reduction in future increases is no savings and I don't care what school of economics you attended.

Now the financing of the first trillion dollars comes from increased taxes, a $500 billion reduction in Medicaid, taxes on a whole bunch of health expenses like wheel chairs, and who knows what else. I don't remember Obama promising to do any of those things during the campaign and debate over the bill.



Some of the bill does not even start until 2014 so don't expect overnight results. And those promised reductions in health care premiums, don't count on them either. As for punishing the insurance industry, don't you find it odd that with all their billions of dollars there is no evidence of lobbying against the bill or running commercials opposing the bill by those insurers? Wouldn't you think they would be fighting it tooth and nail if they were going to be disemboweled by it as Obama claims?

Fact is as the final action neared those devils on Wall Street, the ones who finance those bad insurance companies while taking million dollar bonuses, have not been driving down the stock market prices but have actually had eight straight days of driving up the market. Yet another sign the big, bad, rich guys are for the bill, not opposed. There is even an internal method to poll Wall Street which shows according to MSNBC the bet on Wall Street is 80% believe it will be approved.



So Wall Street, Obama and Pelosi agree it is best for America. Now we find out if the Democrats in the House first, and Senate second, agree. We know the Republicans oppose it and it seems as if the public is split or a majority oppose it.

Sunday just after 2 pm the House, under Pelosi, will take up the demon pass rule in order to avoid voting on the Senate bill which somehow they think will protect Democrats from being defeated in the elections this fall. Of course demon pass has never been used for this purpose. Then there will be a vote on the changes that Obama and the House want to the Senate bill which has not been approved by the House yet.



Nor will it ever be thanks to the Pelosi and Steny Hoyer rules that will be applied. So 216 votes are needed and it could be a cliffhanger. If they get them the bill thing then goes to the Senate because the House has now changed the Senate bill without voting on it and the Senate must agree to the changes to their bill that wasn't voted on. Still following me?

Now here is one thing the media, president and Pelosi are not talking about. You see, under the reconciliation procedure being used by good old Harry Reid and Obama in the Senate, every single proposal in the House bill must be directly related to the federal deficit or budget process. A Senate parliamentarian must rule on each section. There is no guarantee every section will meet the budget rule and if the Senate refuses to agree with any part of the bill, whoops, it goes back to the House for another round.



No matter what the White House and Democratic leaders say, there have never been votes on such broad bills like the health care reform bill using either the House demon pass rule or the Senate reconciliation procedure. That means it could also be subject to a Constitutional challenge. Add another year to the process for the courts to act.

The House will act on Sunday, but if the bill slips through don't start celebrating yet. It could take a week or more for the Senate to act. If they disagree on any part of it add a few more months. If they agree then we still have the court challenges. And even if we don't have court challenges remember much of the bill does not start until 2014.



Now if you understood everything I just said you should be running for president or moving to South America. If you could explain it, and remember, each thing I said is contested by either the Democrats or Republicans, then you are a better communicator than our president, congress and media.

So in summary, take every step the rest of the way with a grain of salt. No one really knows if it will add to our deficit or reduce it. Based on past government projections and promises, don't count on it reducing the national debt, reducing your health insurance premiums or get you better, if any, health care.



If the timing works out, the Senate could be voting about the same night NCAA March Madness ends with the National Championship game on April 5. Let's hope it doesn't end on April 1, April Fool's Day, because of the chaos node we are in we will have no idea who got fooled. Is it the president, congress, the Democrats, the Republicans, the public, the media or Wall Street who will be the biggest fool?

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