Clipmarks | Elections Clips

ObamaCare endorsements: What the bribe was

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:38:44 GMT

clipped by: billpar
clipper's remarks: The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.

Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP — which supposedly represents them — will make more money

Clip Source: thehill.com

ObamaCare endorsements: What the bribe was

As the suicidal Democratic congressmen proceed to rubber-stamp the Obama healthcare reform despite the drubbing their party took in the ’09 elections, the president trotted out the endorsements of the AMA and the AARP to stimulate support. But these — and the other endorsements — his package has received are all bought and paid for. Here are the deals:

· The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians’ reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5-6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill … or else!

Tags: healthcare, politics

Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats for 2010 House Elections, Poll Shows

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:00:07 GMT

clipped by: billpar
clipper's remarks: Let's make sure it's a Hurricane and that the candidates are Fiscal conservatives. Otherwise, what is the point of getting a new bunch of Rino's to continue spending and mismanaging the economy.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats for 2010 House Elections, Poll Shows

According to a Gallup poll released Wednesday, 48 percent of voters said they would back a Republican, while 44 percent said they would support a Democrat, if the 2010 House elections were held today.

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele (AP).

Fresh off major Election Day victories in Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans got another boost Wednesday with a new Gallup poll that shows registered voters would favor the GOP over Democrats if the 2010 congressional election were held today.

Independent voters were decidedly stronger in their preference for a Republican candidate, choosing the GOP by a 22 percent margin -- 52 to 30 percent -- according to the survey.

"The wind is going to be at the backs of the Republicans" going into the 2010 midterm elections, but "it could be anything from a breeze to hurricane force," Sabato added.

Tags: politics

Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats in 2010 Vote

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:39:42 GMT

clipped by: jay8h

Clip Source: www.gallup.com

Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats in 2010 Vote

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans have moved ahead of Democrats by 48% to 44% among registered voters in the latest update on Gallup's generic congressional ballot for the 2010 House elections, after trailing by six points in July and two points last month.

The Nov. 5-8 update comes just after Republican victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections, which saw Republicans replace Democrats as governors of those states.

As was the case in last Tuesday's gubernatorial elections, independents are helping the Republicans' cause. In the latest poll, independent registered voters favor the Republican candidate by 52% to 30%. Both parties maintain similar loyalty from their bases, with 91% of Democratic registered voters preferring the Democratic candidate and 93% of Republican voters preferring the Republican.

Cloward/Piven Strategy of Economic Recovery

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:37:33 GMT

clipped by: dl211
clipper's remarks: Obama adheres to the Saul Alinksy Rules for Radicals method of politics, which teaches the dark art of destroying political adversaries. However, that text reveals only one front in the radical left's war against America. The Cloward/Piven Strategy is another method employed by the radical Left to create and manage crisis. This strategy explains Rahm Emanuel's ominous statement, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

The Cloward/Piven Strategy is named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Their goal is to overthrow capitalism by overwhelming the government bureaucracy with entitlement demands. The created crisis provides the impetus to bring about radical political change.

Clip Source: www.americanthinker.com

The Cloward/Piven Strategy of Economic Recovery

Using borrowed money for a band-aid bailout of the economy should seem backwards to most people. However, it likely is a planned strategy to promote radical change. Those naively believing that President Obama is simply rewarding his far-left base, and will then move to the political center, must wise up.

The assumption that Obama will need the nation to prosper in order to protect the 2010 mid-term election incorrectly assumes that he esteems free market capitalism. He does not. Rather than win through superior ideas and policies, the Democrat plan for success in the mid-term elections is to win by destroying political opposition.

Tags: cloward, piven, economy, obama, socialism

Young Voters

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:37:25 GMT

clipped by: mklosinski
clipper's remarks: They can't drink when they are 18 but they can vote at 18. Please let them drink at age 18 and vote at age 21. They will do less damage during presidential elections.

Clip Source: www.realclearpolitics.com

In November 2008, 658,000 Americans under 30 voted in New Jersey and 782,000 did so in Virginia. In November 2009, 212,000 Americans under 30 voted in New Jersey and 198,000 did so in Virginia. In other words, young-voter turnout this year was down two-thirds in New Jersey and three-quarters in Virginia.

The scary story for Republicans was plain a year ago. Young voters went 66 percent to 32 percent for Barack Obama, while voters over 30 went for Obama by only 50 percent to 49 percent. Some analysts projected an enduringly Democratic Millennial Generation that would send the Republican Party the way of the Whigs.

Young voters cast 441,000 votes for Obama in New Jersey but only 121,000 for Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine

Young voters cast 469,000 votes for Obama in Virginia and provided him with 70 percent of his statewide plurality, but they only cast 87,000 votes for the hapless Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds

Tags: elections

Obama and The Democrats Want You to Know They Had a Good Week

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:23:25 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: During his campaign, in effect, Mr Obama promised to be the constraint: to oversee Congress and guide it with a moderating hand. That was the difference he promised to make. There were always going to be limits to what he could do, but his failure so far even to try has been total.

He has let nearly every agenda be set by the Democrats’ left-leaning congressional leadership. This comes in a country in which 40 per cent of voters call themselves conservatives, 36 per cent moderates and 20 per cent liberals.

Voters are confused and concerned about the policies coming forward " above all by their mounting cost " but he has made little effort to explain or reassure, let alone influence. He has chosen to act as cheerleader for whatever congressional Democrats cook up.

On healthcare, Mr Obama stood aside during months of chaotic haggling in Congress. By the summer, unsurprisingly, voters opposed to reform outnumbered voters in favour " again, above all, expressing worries . . .

Clip Source: www.ft.com

Barack Obama and the Democrats want you to know they had a good week.

What’s that, you say? Oh, yes, Democrats did lose the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia, with huge swings to the other side, but this was to be expected with the economy in such bad shape. Read nothing into that, say Democratic strategists.

Still joyous over this electoral affirmation, Democrats in the House of Representatives then made history over the weekend, with passage of their health-reform bill

Last week’s elections went badly for the Democrats.

The lesson for the Democrats was almost as clear, but their learning disability is more severe. The centre of the US electorate – loosely attached Democratic voters, self-declared independents and loosely attached Republican voters – decides elections.

Democrats should be worried about what voters think of them right now. The lesson for Mr Obama and his party is simple: listen to the centre. They are not listening.

Tags: ny 23rd bob owens, voters opposed to pelosicare

The Lords of Entitlement

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:55:57 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: They WILL subjugate us. They do not represent us; they have, indeed, become our "lords". We work for Washington. The American people have entered a new era of serfdom and slavery. The action in the Senate on this bill and the 2010 elections are our last hopes.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

The Lords of Entitlement

Nancy Pelosi defied policy logic and public opinion late Saturday night, ramming through the House a nearly 2,000-page health-care leviathan that counts as the biggest expansion of the federal government since the New Deal.

a breathtaking display of illiberal ambition, intended to make the middle class more dependent on government through the umbilical cord of "universal health care." It creates a vast new entitlement, financed by European levels of taxation on business and individuals. The 20% corner of Medicare open to private competition is slashed, while fiscally strapped states are saddled with new Medicaid burdens. The insurance industry will have to vet every policy with Washington, which will regulate who it must cover, what it can offer, and how much it can charge.

as subsidized costs soar, government will have no choice but to ration medical care, starting with the aged and grievously ill.

Obama calls tea partiers "extremists" as they rally in Iowa, plus GOP fundraiser highlights

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:32:03 GMT

clipped by: Normn8or
clipper's remarks: full Article here.... http://tinyurl.com/ya9n63x

Clip Source: www.examiner.com

Obama calls tea partiers "extremists" as they rally in Iowa, plus GOP fundraiser highlights

As freedom loving Americans from around Iowa headed to Des Moines this weekend, President Barack Obama was calling these same U.S. taxpayers "extremists", during an effort to rally the Democrats to pass PelosiCare. Iowa Congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham were on the front line on Capitol Hill, trying to thwart the attempted takeover of our healthcare industry.

Meanwhile, Saturday was a big day for conservatives and Republicans in the nation's most important state for Presidential elections. The Iowa Tea Party held its statewide convention, former 4-term Governor Terry Branstad held an open house in his new campaign headquarters, and 2012 Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty headlined an Iowa GOP fundraiser.

Here are my thoughts, observations, notable quotes and other interesting tidbits from the day's events:

Money for nothing: One group at

Tags: news, politics, healthcare, tea party, obama

BUFFALO JUMP

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:57:02 GMT

clipped by: censusguyZ
clipper's remarks: NO OFFENSE INTENDED TO NATIVE AMERICA

Clip Source: boortz.com

So we had elections this week. Most Americans probably didn't even know about 'em. They are too busy managing their fantasy football leagues. But these elections do matter. Two states that had Democrat governors now have elected Republican governors – Virginia and New Jersey. Might not be a big deal to people outside of those states, but what do these elections mean for Barack Obama? Remember that it was one year ago that this nation was engaged in an act of mass suicide. It was a Buffalo Jump election. You like that? A Buffalo Jump election. Let me explain.

Last year was a Buffalo Jump election. The media got on their little media ponies and started herding voters and they herded them right over the cliff. It was like mass suicide. That's what this country experienced one year ago.

But the ballot box still works. But 2010 could be the last chance to save this Republic.

Tags: political, adages

ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL...or is it?

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:40:14 GMT

clipped by: censusguyZ
clipper's remarks: the more sophisticated the populace the more likely national issues will be percieved as local as voters realize the local impact of national decisions

Clip Source: us.mg3.mail.yahoo.com

Mark Shields
For mark
Saturday November 7, 2009

Right there on the front page of the Oct. 23 Washington Post, "senior administration officials" attributed the predicted defeat on Election Day -- then still a week and a half off -- of Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds to Deeds' failure to seek and heed advice from the Obama White House.

All of these rationalizations and excuses are baloney, bunk and bushwa. Off-year elections do matter, especially psychologically. Victories help fundraising, help candidate recruitment and lift party morale. Defeat can leave in its wake anxiety, even panic in party ranks. As Bill McInturff, the trusted Republican pollster, told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, "You cannot imagine the carnage of losing 54 House seats (the number Republicans lost between the 2006-08 elections)."

Tags: mtiveark shields perspec

REALLY, ALLYSON

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:58:14 GMT

clipped by: ricksnares
clipper's remarks: I bet Rep.Schwartz would not know what unaffordable and unsustainable even means. Sorry, I have to run, my car has a flat so I have to change the engine.
Do everyone a favor if you have to say something stupid, please don't after all we do not need to be reminded.

Clip Source: www.detnews.com

Obama pleas for health care votes

Erica Werner / Associated Press

"The status quo is unaffordable and unsustainable. Health care reform benefits all of us," said Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., as debate opened on the House floor.

"The American people need to understand this is about a government takeover of the whole health care system," said Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga.

Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., said he heard from Obama, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Their message: "This is a historic moment. You don't want to end up with nothing," said Altmire, who remained undecided.

Last Tuesday's elections -- in which Democrats lost two governors' races -- sent a message that voters care about jobs, not growing the size of government, Barbour said.

Wow, That Didn't Take Long

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:05:06 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: I knew this day would come...but not quite so soon.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president.

It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or issue truly moves him.

I never thought I'd hear myself say it," one Democrat told me. "But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something.

When Mr Bush's Republicans were defeated in the 2006 mid-term elections, it was the President himself who stepped up and declared that his party had received "a thumpin'"

Mr Obama acted as if nothing at all had happened.

And to think that it was Mr Bush who was always accused of being "in denial".

More serious perhaps was Mr Obama's strange disconnectedness over the Fort Hood massacre

Completely missing was the eloquence that Mr Obama employs when talking about himself.

It could do him good to show he has a bit of fire in his belly. Perhaps he might make a decision or two based on gut instinct and deep conviction. In other words, maybe he should try being a bit more like Mr Bush.

Tags: bush, saudade

Obama doing too little, NOT too much

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:21:11 GMT

clipped by: blackroseheart
clipper's remarks: This mirrors my thoughts on the matter.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Obama Faces His Anzio

Remember those Republican boasts that they would turn health care into President Obama’s Waterloo? Well, exit polls suggest that to the extent that health care was an issue in Tuesday’s elections, it worked in Democrats’ favor. But while health care won’t be Mr. Obama’s Waterloo, economic policy is starting to look like his Anzio.

Yet there was a national element to the election. Voters across America are in a bad mood, largely because of the still-grim economic situation. And when voters are feeling bad, they turn on whomever currently holds office. Even Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, saw his supposedly easy reelection turn into a tight race.

But the truth is that Mr. Obama put his agenda at risk by doing too little. The fateful decision, early this year, to go for economic half-measures may haunt Democrats for years to come.

Tags: obama, economy, healthcare

Thank goodness someone can shut Palin up.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:53:29 GMT

clipped by: fudomyoo
clipper's remarks: "it was revealed that she took the stage for a photo op with her family and McCain aides turned the lights out to prevent any opportunityfor her to give the speech."

Clip Source: open.salon.com

The Palin Victory Speech? Ouch!

It does stand to reason that a woman with an ego as large as Sarah Palin's would not realize that leaving gracefully and quietly would say volumes more than any speech she could have given. But had she been given the choice, Palin would have spoken. Aloud.

Later, it was revealed that she took the stage for a photo op with her family and McCain aides turned the lights out to prevent any opportunityfor her to give the speech. You can find both Me-Me speeches here.

From the Concession speech: “It would be a happier night if elections were a test of valor and merit alone, but that is not for us to question now.” All I can say is wow.

Tags: palin, mccain, dumbass

Will The Left Do a Kamikazi on Obamacare?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:12:14 GMT

clipped by: ColoradoRight
clipper's remarks: Mob-O-Care is still the big banana. The Democrats can still carry it over the top and then take their losses in elections to come with the faith that no Republican Congress will dare to infuriate all the Victim Groups of the Left by repealing free medical care for forty percent of the population. Or whatever they settle on. Remember that the actual dollar figures have never been believable, and Medicare and Social Security are operating as accounting fictions even now. So this has all been media drivel from top to bottom. All they have to do is pass a shell of a bill, set up the bureaucracies, and expand them in future Democrat-dominated Congresses.

Clip Source: www.americanthinker.com

it's not out of the question that the Democrats in the House and Senate will go for a kamikaze rush to push MediCoup through Congress as quickly as possible. It would not be difficult. Normal Americans think we can defeat the "Blue Dog Democrats" at the polls, and that is true. But Obama just has to pick up the phone and tell the Dogs he will guarantee them jobs even if they are defeated. How about Ambassador to Upper Slobbovia?

Everything we know about these people suggests that they are single-minded fanatics with basically only one game plan, which is to consolidate as much power as possible as quickly as possible. Everything flows from that. In Europe, the socialists have insulated themselves from elections. That's how they can do outrageous things time and time again and still stay in power.

All they have to do is vote for Mob-O-Care as soon as possible, knowing they will be defeated, but also knowing that the Machine always takes care of its own.

Tags: kamikazi, obamacare, democrats