Senate cloture vote, December 21, 2009, 1:00 AM ET, Harry Reid, Ben Nelson, $470 billion Medicare cuts, $548 billion in new taxes next year
Jeff Schreiber does a great job over at America’s Right. Here is a great article about the rape of America that just took place while most of us were sleeping. Thanks Jeff.
“Is This For Real?
It’s 11:15 p.m. on a Sunday night. I’m in a king-size hotel room bed in Athens, GA with a snoozing wife and a three-year-old who is still singing “he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake” despite the long, fun-filled day she had. It’s late. And, yet, on one side of my sister-in-law’s fancy MacBook Pro is a live stream from the floor of the United States Senate.
It’s 11:15 p.m. on a Sunday night. And Florida Sen. Bill Nelson is speaking, right now, on the floor about the Senate’s health care reform bill, which will be voted on in a little less than two hours from now. He’s talking about how private insurance companies will be forced to spend 85 cents out of every dollar on patient health care costs. Where, may I ask, does our federal government have the authority to mandate the capital structure of private companies? Where?
Why else would the lights even be on in the Capitol building unless our government is up to no good? This is legislation which will not even come into effect until 2014, two years after the next presidential election, and yet the Democrats feel it so essential to work through the night as the last weekend before Christmas comes to a close?
Most of America is fast asleep. Most of the people whom these senators represent, even if they wanted to pay attention, are sawing logs (probably not literally, though I’m sure there are a strange few) and catching winks in advance of a working Monday tomorrow. These people have no business whatsoever working right now. It might be different if they were burning the midnight oil in an attempt to save the nation with legislation that would have an immediate impact, but they are not — instead, they’re planning the destruction of our economy and health care system through legislation which will not take effect (other than the spending aspect of it) for another four years. If this is a great bill, if it is so necessary, and if the 60 percent or so of Americans who vigorously oppose it just don’t have their facts straight, then they should be debating it during the day, when most of America is awake and attentive.
12:06 a.m.
Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander made an excellent point — the reason they’re working now is because Harry Reid dropped a 400-page amendment on Friday, something that has been written and kept under the cover of darkness, and that they want to have it passed as part of the bill before Americans can figure out what’s in it.
I can count on the fingers of one hand when I’ve read 400 pages of anything in one day. One was Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, which I read in the course of one night as a kid. Another was Bernie Goldberg’s Bias, which may not be 400 pages long, but was finished in the course of a single afternoon. Reading, digesting and researching 400 pages of legislative language in one day is nearly impossible.
Other things Alexander noted:
$470 billion over the next ten years will be cut out of Medicare, and about $1 trillion in total.
$548 billion in new taxes starting next year. So much for reducing joblessness. And the taxes on medical devices will be passed along to consumers, as will the increased regulation on private insurers, which will be passed along in the form of increased premiums. So much for reducing health care costs.
The CBO said that 9 million will lose employer-based insurance. So much for insuring everyone.
Changes the bi-partisan agreement not to federally fund abortion.
A political kamikaze mission toward an unfortunate mistake. Damaging to the Democrats, but worse for our country. Nicely put.”
“12:32 a.m.
Chris Dodd is up. I can’t even look at him, nonetheless listen to him, without getting irreversibly angry. The only time I want to see Christopher Dodd at 12:32 a.m., or frankly at any time of day, is if he’s wearing handcuffs. And not in a Barney Frank kind-of-way, either — I want to see Dodd being led into prison like Bernie Madoff.
More Ted Kennedy stuff. Good grief. If Ted Kennedy were a normal, everyday American in the aftermath of this legislation, he would have been cold and dead long before he passed with the benefit of the best health care that money can buy, the same health care innovation and ingenuity that the Democrats are poised to stifle, discourage and destroy.”
“12:54 a.m.
And, as if to show evidence of nothing good happening in Washington, D.C. at all, Harry Reid is up.
Every ten minutes, he says, another American dies because they don’t have health insurance. Oh, please. We have emergency rooms ready and able to care for illegal immigrants who have no identification, nonetheless insurance. What’s going to happen is that Americans are going to die because Democrats destroyed the American health care system. What’s going to happen is that Americans are going to die while waiting for six months for a biopsy.
I will dance a jig in my new living room next November when Fox News Channel calls the Nevada election for whomever is running against Reid. And then I’ll switch over to MSNBC–just for a moment–to watch them call it. In fact, I will keep champagne on ice to enjoy during his concession speech.
And, gosh darn it, health care is NOT a fundamental right. Freedom is a fundamental right, and what they are doing right now is destroying freedom in the name of the perpetuation of power.”
“1:08 a.m.
Here goes. Cloture on Reid’s amendment, and the vote which sets up a Christmas Eve vote on the destruction of American freedom and prosperity. I mean, seriously? They need to tear these people away from their families, just so Americans from coast to coast will be too busy eating dinner and enjoying their own families to notice?
Bayh is an “aye.” Burris is an “aye.” Byrd has been dusted off and wheeled in; he’s an “aye.” Bob Casey, supposedly a pro-life Democrat, is an “aye” to a bill which federally funds abortions. Susan Collins votes “no.”
Lieberman? Aye.
Lincoln? Aye.
Landrieu? Aye.
Nelson? Aye. Unreal.
Cloture passes by a vote of 60 to 40. At 1:18 a.m. Procedural votes will come at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday and 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The vote for final passage will come at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night. That’s Christmas Eve. It seems America will be getting a lump of coal in her stocking this year, and from this year on.”
This is a must read and please pass this on:
http://www.americasright.com/2009/12/is-this-for-real.html
Citizen Wells
Next election
Lieberman voted out, Aye.
Lincoln voted out, Aye.
Landrieu voted out, Aye
Reid voted out, Aye!!!!!
Thanks CW commenters.
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