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Patrick Toomey, former congressman and candidate for Senator in 2010 was the most clear and concise in why The Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 should go down and why America does not agree with the legislation. The second winner, if I can deem him that would be Jim Gerlach. Clearly, Toomey is in tune with what citizens want for America and what they don’t want. He clearly knows that America does not want the health care legislation proposed. Why? Americans want free market with choices where they can make their own decisions on. Read More

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From my email box. If you’re able to do so, be sure to show up at this event so you can “respectfully disagree” with these despicable a-holes:

John –

Our “Health Insurance Reform Now” bus tour — part of a big 50-state push before Congress heads back to Washington — will be in Pittsburgh this Wednesday at 12:00 p.m.

We’ll hear from speakers — including Congressman Mike Doyle and Organizing for America Deputy Director Jeremy Bird — and we’ll present thousands of Pennsylvanians’ declarations of support for reform.

Will you join the bus tour in Pittsburgh? Click here to RSVP. Here are the details:

What: “Health Insurance Reform Now” Bus Tour Stop

Where: Schenley Park Flagstaff Hill
4532 Schenley Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

When: Wednesday, September 2nd
Doors Open: 11:00 a.m.
Start Time: 12:00 p.m.

Be part of history — sign up now to join the “Health Insurance Reform Now” bus tour in Pittsburgh:

http://pa.barackobama.com/PittBusTour

Thanks,

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Lucas
Pennsylvania State Director
Organizing for America

P.S. — Tomorrow, don’t miss Sen. Bob Casey’s public discussion on health care in downtown Pittsburgh. RSVP here.

Um, if the election is over, then why the @#$% am I still getting political emails from BarackObama.com?

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Strange report from Fox29 this morning.

Their helicopter pilot that there is a 3 mile no fly zone around the city, and one half of I-95 is blocked for the morning rush because Joe Biden is in the city.

But there is no public schedule.

Duhn-duhn-DUHN!

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Heh.

His most explosive accusation: that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft pressed him to raise the national threat level after Osama bin Laden released a videotape criticizing President Bush shortly before Election Day 2004. Ridge writes he rejected raising the level because bin Laden had released nearly 20 such tapes since 9/11 and the latest contained nothing suggesting an imminent threat.

Noting that Bush’s approval ratings typically went up when the threat level was raised, Ridge writes that Ashcroft and Rumsfeld pushed to elevate it during a “vigorous” discussion.

“Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level, and was supported by Rumsfeld,” he writes. “There was absolutely no support for that position within our department. None. I wondered, ‘Is this about security or politics?’ ”

Although he prevailed and the threat level was not elevated, Ridge writes that the episode reinforced his decision to resign. He did so weeks after the election.

Last week, when word got out about Ridge’s accusations, Rumsfeld’s spokesman Keith Urbahn issued a statement calling them “nonsense.”

Now, Ridge says he did not mean to suggest he was pressured to raise the threat level, and he is not accusing anyone of trying to boost Bush in the polls. “I was never pressured,” Ridge said.

So… uh…. it sounds like it’s in the book.

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On this day in 1057 Leofric, Earl of Mercia, died. What’s that you say? Never heard of him? Well, you certainly have heard of his wife. She’s known as Lady Godiva.

And on this day in 1802 Captain Merriweather Lewis left Pittsburgh on his way west to meet with Captain William Clark to begin their trek to the Pacific.

And on this day in 1895 John Brallier, from Indiana PA, became the first professional football player. He was paid 10 dollars plus expenses and “some cakes” to play quarterback for the Latrobe Athletic Association against the Jeanette Athletic Association. Latrobe won the game 12-0 with Brallier kicking two field goals. His claim to be the first professional has been challenged and it may be that some earlier players were paid under the table, but Brallier is still the first to openly be paid to play.

And on this day in 1909, after searching through hundreds of potential chemicals, a German immunologist named Paul Ehrlich discovered a compound that can selectively kill the parasitic spirochete that causes syphilis. He is considered the father of chemotherapy. He also won the Nobel Prize, inspired Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, and was the subject of the movie “Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet”. Not a bad career!

On this day in 1949 Richard Gere — actor, Buddhist, and peace activist was born in Philadelphia.

And on this day Elroy Face, relief pitcher without peer, tied Walter Johnson’s record of 802 pitching appearances with the same team [the Pirates]. He was originally signed by the Phillies, but they cut him. These things happen.

And on this day in 1979 the Phillies said goodbye to Danny Ozark, replacing him with Dallas Green.

And on this day in 2004 the Republican Party nominated George W. Bush as its candidate for President.

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From Senator Casey’s Office:

On Tuesday, September 1st, I will be hosting a public forum to discuss the Affordable Health Choices Act, the Senate’s Health Care Bill. Details for the forum are below. Please plan to come early. Doors will open an hour before the event and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tuesday, September 1 at 10:00 am
Community College of Allegheny County
Allegheny Campus
Foerster Student Service Center
Ridge Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Doors open to the public at 9:00 am.

Seating is first-come, first-served.

This looks like a good opportunity for someone in the Pittsburgh area who has a camera.

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Why we don’t need socialized medicine:

All good things must come to an end….

Philly Inquirer:

President Obama needs to stop blaming his predecessor for the country’s ballooning debt and start figuring out what to do about it.

Yes, the administration of George W. Bush irresponsibly ran up big annual deficits.

And Obama did inherit lots of red ink from the government bailouts that Bush initiated last year during the depths of the recession.

But Obama’s job now is to put the country on a path out of this black hole of debt. It serves no purpose to point fingers, as he recently did in enumerating the reasons for this year’s whopping $1.6 trillion deficit.

The president’s Office of Management and Budget revised its estimate of the federal government’s total deficits over the next 10 years.

It’s ugly: $9.1 trillion, nearly $2 trillion more than Obama’s budgeteers had forecast in February. (The news from OMB also led to one of the most succinct headlines ever on the Drudge Report: “OMB:OMG”)

The projections are worse primarily because the Obama administration now admits it was too optimistic about the pace of economic recovery.

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Did you know you don’t matter? Really. That is what members of congress and their dutiful media are saying. The Tea Party’s that are a true grass roots effort across the US to protest Tax’s and spending, according to the media and congress are insignificant and manufactured. The media reports grossly underestimate the crowds and paints them as right wing extremists and or fake protesters paid for by special interest groups. The recent town hall meetings on health care reform where people have made their voices heard, they are doing the same thing. Darth Traitor (Arlan Spector) has told us that the people showing up at the town hall meetings and voicing their opinion are not representative of the American public. Nancy Pelosi has called the people who have voiced their opinion across America, Nazi’s and unruly mobs and are organized by the insurance companies to spread lies about the health care plan. The Media has portrayed protesters as violent mobs and thugs trying to intimidate people into dropping support for the health care bill.

But lets look at the facts. There was no reported violence out there until the white house sent an email to its supporters stating, how ever hard they push against health care we need to push back twice as hard. Just one in many irresponsible statements by this administration. After the White House sent their marching orders, with in a day SEIU leaders had assaulted several people protesting the Health Care Bill in several different states. It seems they got the message loud and clear. AFSME was not far behind. These unions began to Astroturf meetings all across the country, bussing in supporters from other states in some cases to make their numbers seems stronger. Yet they were still out numbered by the people who were against the plans. The Next trick was to have politicians let the Union Members in the hall first through a side door, then tell the rest of the crowd that the room was full and they would not be let in, THIS WAS BEFORE THE DOORS ACTUALLY OPENED.

So you don’t matter? REALLY? The fact is people who have never even thought about going to a protest or Tea Party like gathering, are now GOING because they see what is going on. They are going educated on the Health Care Reform bill, stumping career politicians with facts, and not standing for the spin. So much so that many of the Town Hall meetings on Health Care were canceled. Right here in Schuylkill County our Congressman Tim Holden refuses to have any town hall meetings, saying they are not productive, he did however call into the Local Call in Talk Show (Step up to the Mic on WPPA 1360) and spoke to the hosts about Health Care Reform. And while it really seems as though he is on the right track, you have to wonder with his voting record in the House if it is not just lip service to his constituents. One will never know since he will not face us in a public forum where he can be challenged.

To Congressman Holden your voice doesn’t matter, or he would be willing to hear it.

The White House is so worried about your voices they have encouraged your friends and family to report you to the White House if you hear something you feel is fish about Health Insurance Reform you should REPORT it to the White House. Can you imagine the head of a Government asking you to report your Mom, your Dad, your friend or your co-worker for disagreeing with the Leaders stance on an issue? Have you ever heard of anything like that in history? But here it is directly from the White House web site…..

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov

This is not the first time in History this has happened. This has been a tactic to quell dissent by many dictators through out history including Saddam Hussein, and yes while I frown on how often this has been thrown around by Mrs. Pelosi and many other people in this debate, Nazi Germany’s SS also used this tactic. So being a good patriotic American I sent the following letter to flag@whitehouse.gov

I would like to report President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and almost every other member of Congress for putting our false information about the health care act. These people and their willing accomplice’s in the media have OVER and OVER again lied to the people of the united states about this health care bill. Specifically attempting to lead people into believing they can not get health care if they are poor or uninsured.
Let me make this clear, no one can be turned away from an emergency room or denied care based on many factors including being insured. If this does happen, that hospital should dealt with swiftly.

If the above mentioned people would stop spinning, misleading, attempting to rush the process, and out and out lying to the people of the United States, they could make an informed decision on health care reform. The result would be reform that would truly benefit the people of the US.

The constant attempts to dismiss people who do not agree with the above mentioned people, the constant attempts to silence them and intimidate them will only serve to strengthen their resolve.

Michael Zellner Jr.

The simple fact is you do matter, and it scares the crap out of them, it scares them that Democrats and republicans alike are out in force voicing opposition to this health care reform plan. Not opposed to health care reform, but this government controlled plan.

Earlier I mentioned the unions, one union has be very very quiet on this issue. The Teamsters. You only need to look a bit closer to see why. Teamsters own and operate their own Health Insurance plan, the implementation of the House version of Health Care Reform would no doubt Destroy the Teamsters Health and Welfare, costing the Teamsters millions if not billions of dollars in premiums.
There is nothing wrong with them being against is, in fact I am glad they are, just like 85% of America I like my health insurance and do not want it to change in any way, but the least the Teamsters could do is come out and oppose a Government Run health care option. They are vocal on every other issue, why not come out and oppose this? I’ll save that answer for another day.

You matter, you matter MUCH more than they will let on. So don’t stop, keep asking the tough questions, keep voicing your opinion, keep challenging their “facts” with the real facts, keep educating yourself by doing what the elected officials refuse to so reading the bills they are voting on, and NEVER stop speaking from your heart, whether your for or against this or any other bill, make your voice heard.

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In the face of the usual MSM tags like Nazi Brown Shirt, Illiterate Racist, and the neo-pornographic “Teabagger:”

From my Bitter American post:

WASHINGTON (Aug. 29) – Signaling a fading chance for compromise, a leading Republican negotiator on U.S. health care legislation on Saturday criticized Democratic legislative proposals as budget-busters that would reroute spending for the elderly and restrict medical choices.

The criticism from Sen. Michael Enzi echoed that of many opponents of the Democratic plans under consideration in the U.S. Congress. But Enzi’s judgment was especially noteworthy because he is one of only three Republicans who have been willing to consider a bipartisan bill in the Senate.

Delivering the Republicans’ weekly radio and Internet address, Enzi said any health care legislation must lower medical costs for Americans without increasing deficits and the national debt.

“The bills introduced by congressional Democrats fail to meet these standards,” he said.

Enzi, together with Republican Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Olympia Snowe of Maine, has been holding periodic talks with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. But the chance of a bipartisan breakthrough has diminished this month in the face of an effective public mobilization by opponents of Democratic proposals.

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Sometimes traveling through the gorgeous commonwealth is like a visit to Middle Earth.

The Shire?

The “White Tree of Gondor”?

Mordor?

An Entmoot?

Old Man Willow?

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Senator Robert Byrd believes that the health care bill should be renamed in honor of Ted Kennedy:

In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American.

I couldn’t agree more.

H/T to Ace

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On this day in 1964 race riots erupted in North Philadelphia. The unrest actually began on the previous evening when a woman named Odessa Bradford stalled her automobile on the corner of 23rd and Columbia [now Cecil B. Moore] Avenue. Police officers ordered her to remove the car from traffic lanes and she refused. An argument ensued and a fight broke out when officers tried to remove her from the car and were attacked by a spectator. A rumor spread rapidly that a black woman had been beaten to death by white officers and a mob began to assemble. Rather than confront the mob, police withdrew from the area. Riots broke out and destruction and looting continued for two days as white owned businesses were targeted throughout North Philly. Eventually 225 stores were broken into, 341 people were injured, and 774 people were arrested. Nobody was killed. The chief beneficiary of the riots was Frank Rizzo, who emerged as the strongest voice for a law and order administration in the city.

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Ron Rosenbaum finally realizes something that a lot of us have known for some time — that Sarah Palin is smarter…, make that a lot smarter, than her liberal critics. Read it here.

Funny how conservatives and ordinary citizens have no trouble understanding Sarah — it’s just liberal intellectuals, blinded by their bigotry, who find her incomprehensible.

HT Instapundit

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… no, no, no… it’s not as bad as it seems.

Now that the Club for Growth has legal permission to contact Specter donors about getting refunds, Brian Faughnan traces the money.

when he changed parties, Specter made sure to get the full support of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Ed Rendell. They have already scheduled fundraisers for him. Now, their support seems likely to be more expensive, and every dollar they raise for Specter is a dollar they can’t spend defending Democrats in Connecticut, Nevada, Arkansas, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Delaware, and several other endangered seats. And can you picture the reaction when the Democrat base realizes that the president, Joe Biden, and the DSCC are raising money so Arlen Specter can cut checks to Republican donors?

Snicker.

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I went to the post office today to buy an envelope, weigh the package, and get postage for the package.  I arrived shortly before noon – yes, it’s a busy time.  No, this isn’t a new notion to anyone.

I was sixth in line and I thought, no problem.  There were two post office employees assisting customers.  After a couple of customers were assisted I moved up to third in line.  Then an amazing thing happened – an insight that everyone in line got.  The one employee who was assisting customers closed her window.  She stated to the next person in line “It’s not you, I’m required to go on break at this time.  My replacement will be here shortly.”  That left one post office employee to assist a growing line of customers. The customer he was assisting required something in the back of the post office.  So for about five minutes, there were no post office employees assisting anyone in the front.  And the line grew to the door of the post office.

Someone in the back of the line stated outloud:  “Great, another government run institution.”

I have nothing against the post office employees – they are doing what they can given the limitations that are placed on them.  In fact, the employees at my post office are very nice and recognize customers by name.  I’m talking here about how the post office is managed.

To close the story out – I was finally assisted and left the post office after approximately 25 mintues.

The easiest way to end the health insurance debate, I think, is to have everyone go to your local post office at the busiest part of the day and see how a government managed institution works and ask a simple question – is this how we want our health insurance to actually run?  Forget the philosophical debate that is happening.  Take a look at what you actually get in real life.  Don’t think the post office is a good example – then pick any government institution – only watch it under stress and see the results.  Talk is great, but results are what matter.  There doesn’t need to be a debate – we need only look at the current results we have – let’s talk about those.  Let’s talk about what we like and don’t like about government run institutions – not about the institutions, but rather the results those institutions produce and why they get the results they do.  Let’s talk about the management style and the limitations of the style.  Let’s talk about how customers are treated and how they should be treated.  Let’s talk about the limits placed on employees vs. treating an employee with respect and empowering them to make a decision to assist another customer.  Let’s talk about what the ideal version of a customer’s experience in dealing with health insurance and the health care industry.  Let’s debate those things.

Steven Covey in The 8th Habit talks about institutions being in the 20th vs. 21st centuries.  20th century institutions are institutions of the industrial age.  It was an age of machines and efficiency where your greatest asset was your equipment – people are an expense.  The 21st century institutions will be known for the age of the knowledge worker.  These organizations will recognize that their greatest asset is their people.  They will run their organizations by freeing their people to make decisions since those people know what is best for their situation.  The 20th century style was an age of control.  The 21st century style is an age of freedom.

Apply that concept to the current debate on health insurance.  For as supposedly progressive and forward-thinking that Mr. Obama claims to be, it appears to me that he his applying 20th century industrial age thinking to this challenge.  Maybe we should send him a copy of The 8th Habit.

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Written by Roberta Biros

For the endless number of citizens that depend on the flow of State funds to stay afloat, the most recent news out of Harrisburg is less than optimistic. When we last checked, the budget negotiation process was held up in the six person conference committee. Three Democrats and three Republicans were being “locked up together” and assigned the task of hammering out the details of a balanced budget. For weeks we have waited for some glimmer of hope, but we have been repeatedly disappointed. Yesterday, talks broke down once again, and this time the Democrats are accusing the Republicans of playing “political games”.

HELLO? From what I’ve observed, the citizens of Pennsylvania have seen nothing BUT “political games” since February when the budget was introduced by the Governor. We didn’t see a budget proposal from the Republican-led Senate until May. When it was received by the Democrat-controlled House, it was sent to the House Appropriations Committee where it SAT until the budget deadline had nearly come and passed. Senate Bill 850 was then eventually “passed” by the House for the soul purpose of allowing the Governor to eliminate all funding other than funding for State Employees and funding for the Governor’s own Executive Branch. Hmmm. Sure sounds like politics to me?

Since the beginning of this battle, Democrats have stood firmly for increased spending paid for by increased taxes, and Republicans have stood for less spending with no tax increases. My research has found that overwhelmingly individual taxpayers agree that tax increases ARE NOT the answer, but in a ridiculous “political” twist this week, Democrats are now implying that the GOP opposition to tax increases is motivated only by “big business” (natural gas and cigarette interests). Huh? Are you kidding me? What’s next? What old trick will the parties pull out of their “political handbooks”?

During the past few weeks, it looked as though there might be some small granule of hope when fiscal conservative Democrats agreed to sit down with fiscal conservatives from the GOP to work on a non-partisan and fiscally responsible “compromise budget”. It was all well and good until the “so called” Blue Dogs were pulled in by their leashes by their Party. The Blue Dogs were sent to the corner for a little “time out”, and fiscal conservatives from the right were left without the numbers and support to make a difference. [As a side note, if you can’t support a fiscally conservative budget, you aren’t a “fiscal conservative” and not a “Blue Dog” . . . so please don’t “soil the name” . . . just my opinion.]

Now here we sit . . . eight weeks have passed since the June 30th deadline and our leaders in Harrisburg are no further along than they were in February. The latest news reports state that the Democrats and Republicans are ONLY $500 million dollars apart. ONLY? FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS? That is a HALF A BILLION to you and me. That seems like a WORLD of difference from where I stand.

I’ve been asked many times over the last few weeks what I think about the budget negotiations. I’ve been asked, “How long do you think this will go on?”

Well, folks, I’m sorry to say that I am not hopeful at this point. It is my opinion that we are potentially weeks or months away from any sort of agreement. I would bet that the “best case” scenario might be a finalized budget by late September. On the “worst case” side, I would say that Thanksgiving and Christmas are a possibility. Maybe we all need to send our “letters to Santa” a little earlier this year in hopes of getting some help from a jolly old man in a red suit (I wonder if Governor Rendell owns a “red suit”?).

One More Thing . . .

I’ve been personally talking to many voters in Mercer County lately. Many have brought up their concerns regarding the budget. Many are also under the misunderstanding that our State Representatives are to be blamed for this mess. I’ve had folks specifically blaming State Representative Mark Longietti and State Representative Michele Brooks for the stalemate in Harrisburg, and specifically saying that neither one should receive support for re-election because of it. Now hold on just a minute—-I’d like to point out that individual Representatives are not responsible for the problems that are occurring with the budget standstill at this point. Beginning in May, the budget was controlled by a handful of legislators in the Appropriations Committee. Most recently, the budget has been in the hands of the six legislative leaders that make up the conference committee. State Representatives are working independently to come up with ideas and possible solutions, but the responsibility sits firmly in the laps of the Appropriations Committee, the conference committee, and the Governor. State Reps like Mark Longietti and Michele Brooks haven’t even had an opportunity to vote on a final budget yet. They are simply hostages in these negotiations like the rest of us. Let’s wait until after the General Assembly has voted on a final budget before we start pointing fingers and blaming our legislators . . . that is if we EVER get the opportunity to see a “final budget”.

As always, just my opinion.

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Congressman Kanjorski was on CNBC this morning when he left this gem pass his lips:

We have to take the time, now, to start rebuilding faith in government. I mean, after all, if we start thinking about it, the government and the people are one and the same in the American system. So, if you’re going to condemn the success of government, you’re condemning the success of the people.

Few words are more abrasive and offensive to conservative sensibility. As our political system drifts further away from the prescribed Constitutional order, Kanjo’s statement becomes increasingly scary.

The whole video is just under 9 minutes. Skip ahead to about 6:50 to hear the question and response.

Exit questions: How many times did Kanjo use the word “exacerbate”, and how many times did he use it correctly?

(Cross-posted at my blog and DoublePlusUndead)

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Or are we calling it Kennedycare now?

Yes, we need reform. Tort reform, EMTLA policy reform, address the problem of healthcare for illegal aliens. What we don’t need is a government monopoly of healthcare.

And, oh, by the way, for those of you who still think that all those protestors at Townhalls are simply right wing wackos or dupes for special interests, there’s a great piece in yesterday’s WSJ by former NY Lt. Governor Betsey McCaughey who recounts, in chilling detail, the words of Ezekiel Emanuel, Obama’s chief health care advisor and brother of Rahm, that is a must read for everyone:

Dr. Emanuel says that health reform will not be pain free, and that the usual recommendations for cutting medical spending (often urged by the president) are mere window dressing. As he wrote in the Feb. 27, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): “Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality of care are merely ‘lipstick’ cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change.”

True reform, he argues, must include redefining doctors’ ethical obligations. In the June 18, 2008, issue of JAMA, Dr. Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the “overuse” of medical care: “Medical school education and post graduate education emphasize thoroughness,” he writes. “This culture is further reinforced by a unique understanding of professional obligations, specifically the Hippocratic Oath’s admonition to ‘use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment’ as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others.”

Did everyone get that?

True reform must include redefining doctors’ ethical obligations.
The chart above accompanied the WSJ article and was used by Dr. Emauel to illustrate the ages on which health care spending should be focused. This chart originally accompanied an article in the medical journal “The Lancet”.

Read McCaughey’s whole article here.

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