January 16, 2010
While You Were Sleeping...
It's
been a few weeks since the U.S. Senate passed their version of health
care 'reform'. I'm sure you are aware that it went down now, but if you
missed it when it happened initially, fret not, it surely was not your
fault. Your U.S. Senator wanted to sneak this through when no one was
paying attention, so the three votes that were required were
scheduled during the week leading up to Christmas (including the final
vote, which was held around 1:30 a.m. Christmas Eve morning.) Now
regardless of religion, Christmas is still a pretty big deal in this
country, even during the middle of our worst economic crisis in the last
30 years, and make no mistake, the 60 Senators who cajoled and connived
to come to this diaphanous 'compromise' are aware of that. They knew
that they could pass this in the middle of the night, and there hope had
to be that by the time anyone knew what was going on, it would be too
late. Which may still be the case. The compromise between the house
and senate is not going nearly as quickly as the leadership team would
like it to, despite the fact that the democrat's leadership team has
excluded republicans for any part of the final bill.
One thing that the democrats would never have worried about was losing one of their votes in the Senate based on a special election in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth currently has 0 Congressmen/women that would identify themselves with an (R). We have not elected a U.S. Senator that was a Republican since the early 1970s. Ted Kennedy held his seat for the last 47 years of his life, and it was controlled by democrats since at least 1952, when his more famous brother, John, won the seat. Paul G. Kirk, a Kennedy family friend was appointed to take Kennedy's seat by Massachusetts' governor Deval Patrick.
This was not as easy a task as one might think, because five years ago, the legislature in MA was concerned about the consequences of Senator John Kerry defeating President Bush in the 2004 election. They did not want then-governor Mitt Romney (a republican) to be able to appoint a republican to fill out Kerry's term, so they passed a law that stated that when a seat was vacated, there had to be an election before the seat could be filled. The people had a right to vote was the logic used by the state legislature (which is in the neighborhood of 80 - 90% democrat.)
Fast forward to August of 2009, and Ted Kennedy dies, which creates a giant hole in the Dems plan to take control of every single facet of health care. Scheduling an election would take time (the law passed in 2004 required that at least 145 days pass before the seat could be filled), and there would be important votes that would require a 60th senator to make sure that the republicans would not filibuster the legislation. Not a problem in MA, the legislature simply reversed course and changed the rules. Again. They even took care to make sure that all their bases were covered. From the 2009 law:
(f) Upon failure to choose a senator in congress or upon a vacancy in that office, the governor shall make a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy; provided, however, that the person so appointed shall serve until the election and qualification of the person duly elected to fill the vacancy pursuant to subsection (a) or (c).
Now that provision shows just how politically savvy the democratic machine is in MA. We simply don't elect republicans in the Commonwealth, but just just in case we somehow managed to do that, the dems built in a stall, which may be the difference between health care 'reform' in its current iteration passing or sinking. Secretary of the State William Galvin has already stated that he would delay certifying the vote for at least 2 weeks (and some reports have it being held up until February 20th), which means that interim Senator Kirk (D) would still be the very much needed 60th vote should the negotiations be handled in a timely manner.
Still, through all of this, I see a glimmer of hope. For the democrats to have to pull out all the stops in order to win a special election in MA (our Shadow President©™ has recorded a video for YouTube, done a robo-calling to democratic/independent voters, and will stump for Coakley tomorrow {01.17.2010}...John Kerry has also taken up the torch for Coakley, and the DNC is allegedly in the middle of spending $4 - $5 million for her ad campaign), which will show people (at least those that are paying attention) exactly what health care reform is all about: controlling our lives. Already the legislation has been destroyed from the Utopian dream (their thoughts, not mine) in to just passing anything so that our Shadow President©™ can claim a 'victory' when he delivers his first State of the Union address (TBD.) Win or lose come Tuesday, the democrats will find themselves in a huge hole that they might not be able to recover from (and it's not that democrats are by nature more vile or evil than many republican politicians, it's simply that their brand of evilness endangers our nation on a much grander scale.)
Wow. That's a lot of rambling above. If you're still here, I'm impressed. A lot of what is written above may not make sense (and I'm not going back to edit), but they are a few of the thoughts that are currently running through my head.
The main point is this: on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 I will get to cast a vote as a resident of MA that might actually change the course of our national history (not my single solitary vote, but combined with those who will vote in tandem with me.) To cast a vote that means anything in the state of Massachusetts is not an everyday occurrence, believe me. However, a more informed public, and a groundswell of voters who are concerned over what is going on in Washington, D.C. has turned this into a dead heat (polls that I would trust are all within the margin of error. There was one poll that showed Brown with as much as a 15 point lead, and one showing Coakley with the same lead. I discounted both of those.) For Lost fans, this is our Incident, our chance to set things right and force the politicians in Washington, D.C. to rethink how they are destroying our country. With one fell swoop, we could force everyone back to the table. Whether you believe that health care reform is needed (85% of those polled are quite happy with their current coverage) or you don't, I would hope that we could come to an agreement that what is being foisted upon us is not 'reform', it's politics as usual.
I'm hopeful that if it needs to be reformed, it would be done in a way that is not so politically motivated, that it would be considered, and that the consequences of soaking the American taxpayer for $2.25 TRILLION (conservative estimate) to negligibly 'improve' our health care system would be taken under advisement and not rushed through in order to beat an artificial political deadline (yes, Mr. Shadow President©™, Senator Reid (D-NV), and Speaker Pelosi (D-CA), I'm speaking to you and all of your subordinates. For what was supposed to be the most transparent and accessible government going, you've turned in to a joke. You have proven time and again that you will stop at nothing to ram through your socialistic, communistic ideals, even at the expense of their career. While I admire that sort of commitment, it is severely misguided. Their scheme will destroy this nation that we all cherish, and it will happen quickly (certainly much faster than Al Gore's prediction that 'global warming' will destroy Planet Earth.) It is an misguided attempt to take over an even greater portion of our lives than they currently have, and it is something that we must not allow.
For that reason alone, I urge all MA voters to go to the polls on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 and cast a vote for Scott Brown. If you don't live in MA, but you know someone who does, please contact them and urge them to vote likewise. We are running out of chances to save our great nation, this may be our last, best shot.
One thing that the democrats would never have worried about was losing one of their votes in the Senate based on a special election in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth currently has 0 Congressmen/women that would identify themselves with an (R). We have not elected a U.S. Senator that was a Republican since the early 1970s. Ted Kennedy held his seat for the last 47 years of his life, and it was controlled by democrats since at least 1952, when his more famous brother, John, won the seat. Paul G. Kirk, a Kennedy family friend was appointed to take Kennedy's seat by Massachusetts' governor Deval Patrick.
This was not as easy a task as one might think, because five years ago, the legislature in MA was concerned about the consequences of Senator John Kerry defeating President Bush in the 2004 election. They did not want then-governor Mitt Romney (a republican) to be able to appoint a republican to fill out Kerry's term, so they passed a law that stated that when a seat was vacated, there had to be an election before the seat could be filled. The people had a right to vote was the logic used by the state legislature (which is in the neighborhood of 80 - 90% democrat.)
Fast forward to August of 2009, and Ted Kennedy dies, which creates a giant hole in the Dems plan to take control of every single facet of health care. Scheduling an election would take time (the law passed in 2004 required that at least 145 days pass before the seat could be filled), and there would be important votes that would require a 60th senator to make sure that the republicans would not filibuster the legislation. Not a problem in MA, the legislature simply reversed course and changed the rules. Again. They even took care to make sure that all their bases were covered. From the 2009 law:
(f) Upon failure to choose a senator in congress or upon a vacancy in that office, the governor shall make a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy; provided, however, that the person so appointed shall serve until the election and qualification of the person duly elected to fill the vacancy pursuant to subsection (a) or (c).
Now that provision shows just how politically savvy the democratic machine is in MA. We simply don't elect republicans in the Commonwealth, but just just in case we somehow managed to do that, the dems built in a stall, which may be the difference between health care 'reform' in its current iteration passing or sinking. Secretary of the State William Galvin has already stated that he would delay certifying the vote for at least 2 weeks (and some reports have it being held up until February 20th), which means that interim Senator Kirk (D) would still be the very much needed 60th vote should the negotiations be handled in a timely manner.
Still, through all of this, I see a glimmer of hope. For the democrats to have to pull out all the stops in order to win a special election in MA (our Shadow President©™ has recorded a video for YouTube, done a robo-calling to democratic/independent voters, and will stump for Coakley tomorrow {01.17.2010}...John Kerry has also taken up the torch for Coakley, and the DNC is allegedly in the middle of spending $4 - $5 million for her ad campaign), which will show people (at least those that are paying attention) exactly what health care reform is all about: controlling our lives. Already the legislation has been destroyed from the Utopian dream (their thoughts, not mine) in to just passing anything so that our Shadow President©™ can claim a 'victory' when he delivers his first State of the Union address (TBD.) Win or lose come Tuesday, the democrats will find themselves in a huge hole that they might not be able to recover from (and it's not that democrats are by nature more vile or evil than many republican politicians, it's simply that their brand of evilness endangers our nation on a much grander scale.)
Wow. That's a lot of rambling above. If you're still here, I'm impressed. A lot of what is written above may not make sense (and I'm not going back to edit), but they are a few of the thoughts that are currently running through my head.
The main point is this: on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 I will get to cast a vote as a resident of MA that might actually change the course of our national history (not my single solitary vote, but combined with those who will vote in tandem with me.) To cast a vote that means anything in the state of Massachusetts is not an everyday occurrence, believe me. However, a more informed public, and a groundswell of voters who are concerned over what is going on in Washington, D.C. has turned this into a dead heat (polls that I would trust are all within the margin of error. There was one poll that showed Brown with as much as a 15 point lead, and one showing Coakley with the same lead. I discounted both of those.) For Lost fans, this is our Incident, our chance to set things right and force the politicians in Washington, D.C. to rethink how they are destroying our country. With one fell swoop, we could force everyone back to the table. Whether you believe that health care reform is needed (85% of those polled are quite happy with their current coverage) or you don't, I would hope that we could come to an agreement that what is being foisted upon us is not 'reform', it's politics as usual.
I'm hopeful that if it needs to be reformed, it would be done in a way that is not so politically motivated, that it would be considered, and that the consequences of soaking the American taxpayer for $2.25 TRILLION (conservative estimate) to negligibly 'improve' our health care system would be taken under advisement and not rushed through in order to beat an artificial political deadline (yes, Mr. Shadow President©™, Senator Reid (D-NV), and Speaker Pelosi (D-CA), I'm speaking to you and all of your subordinates. For what was supposed to be the most transparent and accessible government going, you've turned in to a joke. You have proven time and again that you will stop at nothing to ram through your socialistic, communistic ideals, even at the expense of their career. While I admire that sort of commitment, it is severely misguided. Their scheme will destroy this nation that we all cherish, and it will happen quickly (certainly much faster than Al Gore's prediction that 'global warming' will destroy Planet Earth.) It is an misguided attempt to take over an even greater portion of our lives than they currently have, and it is something that we must not allow.
For that reason alone, I urge all MA voters to go to the polls on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 and cast a vote for Scott Brown. If you don't live in MA, but you know someone who does, please contact them and urge them to vote likewise. We are running out of chances to save our great nation, this may be our last, best shot.
