Garden State Patriot

Despite opposition to their healthcare proposals reaching a new high, the Democrat’s march towards government-run healthcare is moving forward undeterred. If you believe yesterday’s vote in the Senate Finance Committee means the public option is dead, well, think again.

According to The Heritage Foundation, Senate Democrats, led by Harry Reid, are planning to ramrod their legislation through Congress using what can only be described as scheming, underhanded tactics. As the Foundry piece explains, filibustering the legislation would likely be unsuccessful as it would require the more  ‘moderate’ members of the Democrat caucus going against their own party — an unlikely scenario.

The question is not whether Democrats can muster 60 votes to pass Obamacare; they only need 51 votes to do that. The only time the number 60 will be relevant is when the Senate votes on whether to end debate and vote on the final bill. This is a separate question. We can see Senators from red states like Ben Nelson (D-NE), Blanch Lincoln (D-AR), and Kent Conrad (D-ND) voting against an amendment creating a public option. But voting with Republicans against their party and against their President to support a Republican filibuster? That would take a lot of courage. It would guarantee that these Democrats would face fierce opposition from their leftist bases back home.

Subsequently, Reid will take two Senate-passed measures, merge them together and attach it to a House bill which has nothing to do with healthcare.  

So just how close are we to being inflicted with the Obama/Moore dream of anti-capitalist, competition-free, government-run health care? Closer than many realize. Multiple sources on the Hill have told The Foundry that as early as next week, the Senate could be debating Obamacare. Senate Majority Leader Reid has stated an intention to take the HELP Committee product and merge it with the Senate Finance Committee markup that is expected to be over by this Thursday or Friday. Their plan is to proceed to a House passed non-health care bill to provide a shell of legislation to give Obamacare a ride to the House and then straight to the President’s desk.

Ironically, it wasn’t that long ago that Democrats threatened to shut down the Senate if Republicans used the ‘nuclear option’ to bypass filibusters of Bush judicial nominees. The then-Minority Leader even was quoted as saying that the use of the nuclear option would ”ruin our country.” Now, with the stakes far higher for the nation, the Reid-led Democrats in the Senate are willing to effectively bypass the House of Representatives in their effort to achieve their dream of government-run healthcare. The people’s body, for all intents and purposes, would have no voice in legislation that directly affects the healthcare of the citizenry and 1/6th of our nation’s economy. 

The Democrats’ healthcare proposals already represent an assault on our individual liberties and the concepts of capitalism and free markets which so many of us hold dear. But now their tactics represent nothing less than a direct assault on representative democracy. No sacred institution, no cherished principle, nor the Constitution itself are above sacrifice in the pursuit of their extreme agenda.

Truly shameful.

With apologies to that unforgettable band of the 80’s, A Flock of Seagulls, their biggest hit song of that era is an apt description of sorts of Obama policy towards the rogue, terrorist state.

President Obama’s approach to Iran is a failure unfolding before our eyes. Despite his overtures to open up a dialogue with the Tyrants on Teheran their fists have only become more firmly and tightly clenched than ever before. Now, as their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons become ever more close to becoming reality, Obama offers the free world nothing but empty words – plenty of carrots but no stick in sight.

In fact, you know the world is turned upide down when the leader of France – France! – feels the need to scold Obama for his failure to lead on the issue.

The contempt with which the president of France regards the president of the United States was displayed in public last week.

Nicolas Sarkozy was furious with Barack Obama for his adolescent warbling about a world without nuclear weapons at a meeting Mr. Obama chaired of the United Nations Security Council last Thursday (9/24).

“We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth,” President Obama said.

What infuriated President Sarkozy was that at the time Mr. Obama said those words, Mr. Obama knew the mullahs in Iran had a secret nuclear weapons development site, and he didn’t call them on it.

‘President Obama dreams of a world without weapons…but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite,” Mr. Sarkozy said.

“Iran since 2005 has flouted five Security Council resolutions,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “North Korea has been defying Council resolutions since 1993.”

“What good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community?” he asked rhetorically. “More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe out a UN member state off the map.”

If the Security Council had imposed serious sanctions on the regimes which are flouting UN resolutions, the resolution Mr. Obama proposed about working toward nuclear disarmament wouldn’t have been so meaningless, Mr. Sarkozy implied.

“If we have courage to impose sanctions together it will lend viability to our commitment to reduce or own weapons and to making a world without nuke weapons,” he said.

The extent of President Obama’s naivete – or duplicity – was on display Friday at the G20 summit when the president, flanked by Mr. Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, revealed to the American public that Iran had a second nuclear weapons site on a military base near the holy city of Qom.

News reports indicated Mr. Obama had been briefed on the site before his inauguration. But he’s been conducting his foreign policy as if the mullahs could be trusted.

The fact that Obama has known about the secret nuclear site in Iran and has still persisted in a Neville Chamberlain-like approach to this problem is stunning - and suggests that his ego is far larger than his intelligence. It his time for him to lead before it is too late.

Let me be clear. The Iranian situation is indeed complex. The answers are not easy, nor are the consequences of using military force to stop them pretty. Iran very easily could attack Israel, either directly or throught their surrogate terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah. They could also use these terror groups to attack American interests and disrupt the world’s oil supply and, thusly, further damage an already weak world economy. All of these possibilities are indeed bleak.

Bleaker yet, though, is a world in which Iran possesses nuclear weapons. Like Pakistan and North Korea now, the free world would have no leverage over Iran. The mullahs could see fit to transfer their nuclear know-how to other terror states like Syria or, worse yet, put nuclear weapons in the hands of Hamas or Hezbollah. An arms race could spread across the Middle East. Iran would also be free to continue to foment terrorist activities across the globe, with particular aim at the state of Israel, without the fear of consequence. This second scenario would be a far worse reality than using force to stop them now and, one would hope, replacing the regime with the pro-western contingent in that country.

Despite my many other serious concerns about what this President is doing, this issue should be above party and above ideology. An American President needs to, above all, be grounded in reality. He (or she) needs to understand their role as both leader of America and the free world. The time for diplomacy is quickly running out on Iran, I fear. The President now needs to step up and be forthright about the matter at hand and let the American people know that military force may be the only solution to this crisis. This is not an issue that the United States can defer on and leave to the state of Israel.

The President has before said the time for ‘childish games is over.’ Well, the time for fecklessness, weakness and naivete now ought to be over. It’s time for Obama to step up on this issue. To do otherwise, is an abrogation of his sworn duty to protect and defend our nation. To do nothing, would be unforgiveable.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

With his long-awaited corruption trial scheduled to begin Thursday, former BCDO heavy, ‘Goomba’ Joe Ferriero received some bad news today. His partner in crime, Dennis Oury, pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and, in so doing, implicated Ferriero. From Bloomberg:

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — A former counsel to the Bergen County Democratic Organization in New Jersey pleaded guilty two days before he and the party’s ex-chairman were scheduled to go on trial on corruption charges.

Dennis J. Oury, 59, admitted conspiring with Joseph A. Ferriero, the former chairman, to defraud the borough of Bergenfield, New Jersey, of his honest services. Oury, the former municipal attorney in Bergenfield, implicated Ferriero, saying they hid their interest in a grants-writing firm and tried to influence government officials to secure business.

“Did you have an understanding with Joseph Ferriero that neither of you would publicly disclose your involvement” in the firm, Governmental Grants Consulting, or GCC, U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler asked Oury in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Oury agreed.

Before their indictment in September 2008, Ferriero was one of the most powerful political figures in New Jersey. Ferriero and Oury were indicted by former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey for seven years. Christie is running as the Republican candidate to unseat Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine in the November election.

Oury, who faces up to 20 years in prison, also admitted failing to file a federal income tax return in 2006. Chesler set sentencing for Jan. 7.

According to PolitickerNJ, Ferriero does not plan on pleading guilty and his trial will go forward. Any way you slice it, this is bad news and bad timing for Governor Jonny as the stench of Democratic corruption emanating from Bergen County – perhaps the key county in November’s election – will only hurt his already fading chances for re-election.

At the same time, hopefully it will boost the chances of Republican victories in the freeholder races in Bergen where Democrats under Ferriero have run the show for more than a decade.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

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Last week I posted on the G20 protests going on in Pittsburgh, including around my alma mater, Pitt. Well, on Friday Sean Vannity had a segment with a couple of the protesters, 2 Pitt students. Suffice it to say, I can’t help being embarrassed by this to some degree. Watch here as these two students demonstrate their incredible naivete. God only knows where they come up with their ideas, but I fear they are only being reinforced in the halls of *higher learning* at Pitt.

First off, it is amazing to me that neither student can bring themselves to at least condemn the violence. The one girl justified the violence and vandalism as an effort to make ‘their voices heard.’ So, according to this leftist radical, such activity is OK if it means getting your message out. Bill Ayers must be proud.

Michael Moore must also be proud considering that these protesters have come to the twisted conclusion that capitalism is evil. Yes, somehow CEO’s making 6 figures is bad for society and needs to be reined in via taxation and forced wealth redistribution. Capitalism is evil because poor people still exist in society. And, ironically, capitalism is evil because, according to these ’progressives,’ progress resulted in the demise of the city’s steel industry. (As an aside, it should be noted that Pittsburgh has rebounded over time both due to a vibrant healthcare industry – Pittsburgh is known for its hospitals – not to mention the efforts/expansion of the University of Pittsburgh itself, which is the city’s top employer.) 

Underlying the protester’s attacks on capitalism is the idea that there is a utopia. That if only there were wealth redistribution to address the ‘inequities’ of capitalism, opportunity and prosperity would abound for all. Of course, such socialistic visions only lead to tyranny and the spread of misery and poverty among the populace.

This segment just underscores the real problem we are facing. Too many people simply do not understand – and have not been taught – the virtues of capitalism and the superiority of its morality. Abraham Lincoln said it best:

“You cannot help the poor, by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak, by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity, by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up, by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man, by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage, by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently, by doing for them what they could and should, do for themselves.”

While these protesters are likely lost to this message and the virtues of capitalism and a free market system, it is up to conservatives to deliver it to our fellow citizens and persuade them otherwise.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Valero Energy is fighting back against C(r)ap & Trade. The sign you see here is being posted at their gas stations around the country. They also have a web page set up called Voices for Energy, urging people to contact legislators in opposing this energy tax. My Fox- Houston had the story:

“It’s definitely unprecedented for Valero,” said company spokesman Bill Day. “We’ve never done something like this before. But this particular issue is so important and this particular piece of legislation is so demonstratably bad that we did take the lead on this.”

Day says the bill pending before Congress holds refiners solely responsible for their product’s carbon footprint.

“So when you and I and everybody else drives their car, the manufacturer of the fuel in that car is the one responsible for the carbon emissions, not the owner of the car, not the driver.”

Valero estimates the company could be on the hook for $6 billion in carbon allowances every year, which is more than the company made in its most profitable year.

Of course, they balanced the story with the POV of the radical enviro nut:

“They’re not worried about this cost to their business,” said Matthew Tejada, executive director of GHASP (Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention).

“They’re worried about the fact that they know they’re going to pass that (cost) on to the consumer and that’s going to drive the consumer even more quickly to get away from oil.”

Tejada takes umbrage at Valero’s claim that Cap and Trade legislation would make “no measurable improvement on global climate change,” as stated on the website.

“If somebody doesn’t want Cap and Trade and they aren’t offering a more viable solution,” said Tejada, “what they’re really saying is ‘we don’t want to deal with greenhouse gases, we don’t want to deal with global warming.’”

To see Fox Houston’s corresponding video report, click HERE.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

I thought I’d point out some of the important business being addressed in Congress these days – in-between trying to cripple our economy and infringing our liberty with things like government-run healthcare and C(r)ap & trade, of course. 

Well, I don’t know about you but I’m impressed. I mean, how could we function as a society if not for Congress tackling such vital issues like promoting a National Animal Rescue Day? And my favorite in the list: A bill to fund a study of video game console energy efficiency! Gee, thanks, Senator Menendez! Good to see we have loose change for this but can’t spare a dime for our military or defense.

It’s also good to see these people have time for all this meaningless crap but don’t have time to read a bill that threatens 1/6th of our economy. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

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This quote appeared in yesterday’s e-mail from Assembly Republicans called ‘The Pulse.’ When I first saw it I was a little taken aback. It seemed to me to be a bit of a slap at conservatives and typical of a party that continues to stake out the moderate/Dem-Lite/RINO territory. Well, I wasn’t the only one with a reaction.

Steve Lonegan also questioned its intent. Here is his e-mail response today:

Conservatives were surprised to read the following quote from “The Pulse”, the official newsletter of the Assembly Republican Caucus:

“The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower, Quoted in The New York Times, November 10, 1963

This quote was not accompanied by a link to the entire New York Times story of November 10, 1963, so we don’t know the context of President Eisenhower’s remarks.  Perhaps he was talking about the planned speech by Malcolm X, scheduled for later that evening.

What we do know is that this quote was unearthed and published at a time when tens of thousands of our fellow Americans are protesting at town meetings and “tea party” events, against attempts by a Democrat administration to enact socialist health care and the cap & tax energy scheme.

These Americans have been called “extremists”, all summer, by the liberal media and left-wing politicians like Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

For decades conservatives in New Jersey have been marginalized and treated with disdain by the Republican establishment.  This pattern continues.

In light of current events, the thought process behind including this comment is questionable, and the judgment, poor.

We expect more from people who call themselves “Republican leaders”.

Frankly, I couldn’t agree more. I’d like to hear someone in the Assembly try to explain this one away.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Well, he already owns the banks and car companies. So, it should come as no surprise that Barack Obama alos owns Jon Corzine’s bid for re-election. From the New York Times:

TRENTON — While President Obama’s political team seeks to nudge David A. Paterson out of the New York governorship, they are fully engaged in trying to get Gov. Jon S. Corzine re-elected here.

Every TV ad that Mr. Corzine puts on the air is being screened by the president’s team. The governor’s aides are giving daily briefings to the White House. Mr. Obama’s pollsters have taken over for Mr. Corzine’s polling team, and White House operatives are on the ground for everything from internal strategy sessions to obscure pep rallies with Latino supporters.

Read the rest here.