Garden State Patriot

The first major vote in the Senate on healthcare will take place this Saturday at 8PM. The vote will be on the ‘motion to proceed’ with the bill. This is not a vote to pass the bill, just a vote to approve of bringing the bill to the floor for debate.

Senate Republicans have managed to get 10 hours of debate on the motion to proceed. Harry Reid initially wanted just 1 hour of debate.

Republicans, though, have dropped the idea of reading the bill on the floor. And now they will need one Democrat or Independent Joe Lieberman to join them in a filibuster.

One Senate aide summed it up this way:

“Under the rules, we would only have been entitled to one hour of debate before the vote. Now we have all day to flip one Democrat,” the aide said. “The reading would’ve been to an empty chamber after the vote had happened, press would’ve gone home, and Americans would’ve turned the channel. Now it’s show time.”

I should add, this effort is not without its shenanigans from the mischievous Senator Reid. In a post at Red State, Senator DeMint explains the meaningfulness of this vote and what Reid plans to do:

A defining moment is coming in this year’s health care debate.

Yesterday, Democrat leaders announced they may soon bring Harry Reid’s new health care bill to the Senate floor in an effort to grant the President’s wish for a government takeover of our nation’s health care by Christmas. This is in spite of the fact that 99 senators have never seen Reid’s new bill that was written in secret. Reid even hinted he may rush to a vote before the bill’s been public for 72 hours, as even Democrats have demanded.

To begin debate on this new version of Obamacare, Reid will play a shell game. He needs 60 senators to “vote to proceed” to an unrelated piece of legislation, and once he clears that hurdle he will strike that bill’s text and insert his new health care bill. But don’t be fooled by senators that will say they oppose a government takeover but just wanted to allow debate on health care, they are not being honest.

The simple fact is this: Any senator that votes to proceed to the Reid-Obama bill is voting for a government takeover of health care.

Why? Because, President Obama and Harry Reid cannot pass a government takeover without clearing 60 vote procedural hurdles in the Senate — but they also know that vulnerable Democrats likely cannot win reelection if they vote for this unpopular bill. So they want all Democrats to stick together on the vote to proceed, then some Democrats will vote against final passage of the bill and claim they tried to stop it.

Senators who say they just want to allow for debate are trying to deceive their voters while giving President Obama the crucial votes he needs to pass a government takeover of health care.

Voters should be watching and remember who stands up for their freedom and who stands with the special interests who want to ram through this takeover.

Again, to see the senators we need to target review my previous post here.

Cross-posted at CMNJ.

With H.R. 3962, aka the Socialize and Destroy America’s Healthcare System Act, having passed the House all eyes are now turning to the U.S. Senate. While I am of the opinion that Harry Reid will pull every trick out of his hat and use every underhand tactic to pass the Senate bill, this will be a tougher road to hoe for the Democrat leader.

The Republicans have a lot more leverage in the Senate than their colleagues in the House. This, of course, starts with the filibuster. Republicans would need one other senator (assuming they can keep RINOs like Olympia Snowe on the reservation) if they are to successfully filibuster the healthcare bill that emerges from behind Harry Reid’s closed doors. Senator Lieberman, as Michael pointed out, plans to filibuster any measure with a public option.

Should the Republicans fail in their effort to filibuster, they would need 11 senators to defeat the bill. Which begs the question, which senators should we target? I asked that very question to one of my contacts on the Hill. And according to this Senate GOP source, the following senators would be the ‘most important and persuadable’: 

• Blanche Lincoln – Arkansas
• Michael Bennet – Colorado
• Ben Nelson – Nebraska
• Evan Bayh – Indiana
• Mary Landrieu – Louisiana
• Mark Pryor – Arkasnas
• Mark Warner – Virginia
• Mark Begich – Alaska 

My source considerd these senators ‘less persuadable, but still possible’: 

• Kent Conrad – North Dakota
• Byron Dorgan – North Dakota
• Claire McCaskill – Missouri
• Tim Johnson – South Dakota
• Jim Webb – Virginia 

And lastly, these senators were described as ‘probably not persuadable, but couldn’t hurt’: 

• Bill Nelson – Florida
• Kay Hagan – North Carolina
• Mark Udall – Colorado

As we know, this entire process has utterly lacked transparency, with Republicans shut out of the process and Harry Reid working behind closed doors to merge/cherry pick from three Senate measures. This process is apparently taking longer than Reid anticipated and my understanding is that the Senate bill may not be voted on until December.

When the bill finally reaches the Senate floor, the first important vote will be on the Motion to Proceed. Like any bill, this requires a majority vote but can also be filibustered. If the Motion to Proceed passes, then the bill comes up for debate.

Aside from any potential filibuster, Senate Republicans will use all parliamentary procedures at their disposal. There is talk of actually having the entire bill read on the Senate floor. Republicans also would propose a ton of amendments, all of which would require debate.

In sum, there is more reason for optimism that this could be stopped in the Senate. However, Democrat Senators will also be under immense pressure from their caucus to support Obama’s top legislative priority. Thus, it will require an even greater amount of pressure from all of us. And the senators listed above are are where we need to start.

Also, I would point out that, according to the Senate calendar, two breaks are upcoming in November which would offer people the opportunity to see their senators back in their home states. They are as follows:

For Senate contact information click here.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Rep. John Shadegg just wrapped up a conference call with bloggers on healthcare. Coming away from the call, I can’t help be very anxious and apprehensive about what is going on in Congress. The news right now is sobering to say the least.

While the Democrats still face some obstacles in the House – about 30 Democrats will not vote for a public option while 57 will not vote for a bill without it – Congressman Shadegg said in no uncertain terms that “this bill will pass…unless the American people rise up again like they did in August…and say ‘NO.’”

Here are some specifics from the call:

Congressman Shadegg took aim at the Baucus bill in the Senate which has a price tag of $829B. The Baucus bill would raise taxes starting in 2010 while healthcare services would not change until 2013. As such, the CBO scoring of the Baucus bill is completely flawed. It’s numbers are based on 10 years of revenue but only 7 years of benefits.

Additionally, Congressman Shadegg pointed to some of the shenanigans that are going on in the Senate - calling it a ‘Soviet Gulag style’ of politics.

For instance, Harry Reid (who is in trouble in Nevada) is using his position to have the federal government pick up that state’s share of its Medicare expenses. To cover himself on this, 3 other states (blue states mind you) will receive the same exception. So, the rest of the states would still have to subsidize Medicare, while Nevada will not in order to boost Reid’s chances of re-election.

Senator Schumer is also using his power to thwart a luxury tax on so-called Gold-plated insurance plans. The bill calls for a tax on anyone with a plan of $21k or more. Schumer has included language that would raise this threshold to $24k in New York (in Masssachusetts it would be $25k).

Senators Stabenow and Kerry have inserted language that would provide $5B to underwrite policies for unions.

And Senator Menendez - ah, yes, our very own - is pushing for $1B in tax credits for R&D work for the pharma companies.

I also had a chance to ask both Representatives about Harry Reid’s scheme to attach a Senate bill to a House bill that has nothing to do with healthcare. they provided some interesting responses. First off,  Rep. McMorris-Rodgers said that the Republicans could “make the majority’s life difficult” and “grind this place to a halt” if the Democrats attempted such a maneuver. Secondly – and this gets a bit technical – there is the question of whether the bill is treated as a tax bill or not, which would impact what Republicans in the House could do. Congressman Shadegg said quite emphatically, “Our procedural rights are stunningly limited.” Because of the way Pelosi is running the House, the minority has been virtually shut out. They might not be allowed to propose amendments or motions to recommit the bill.

Representative McMorris-Rodgers pointed out that the Republicans have stood firm against both the stimulus bill and now the healthcare bills. The only bi-partisanship has been in opposition to the bills in the house committees. Note: 3 House committees have passed bills.

At the end of the day, Congressman Shadegg made it clear: “This bill will destroy the healthcare you have now.” He said, “Within 5 years every policy in America must meet the criteria in the bill.” He also said he actually hoped Pelosi would bring a bill to the floor before the Senate and that, hopefully, with public pressure and not enough votes, she would have to pull it. This, in turn, would send a signal to those in the Senate now considering voting in favor of a bill. If this were to happen, he said the Senate would “back away…and run like scared mice.”

But it is worth repeating: Congressman McMorris-Rodgers and Congressman Shadegg are now looking to us to put the same kind of pressure on our legislators that we did back in August. If we want to stop this, then we have no choice.

{UPDATE: Here is the audio link of the call. I come in at the 13:30 mark}

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Senator Olympia Snowe has once again sold Republicans down the river. Snowe already betrayed us by going along with the Porkulous Bill, now she has voted in committee for the destructive Baucus bill.

For all the dissent, for all the protesting, and despite public opinion firmly against the Democrat’s socialist healthcare proposals – I hate to say it – but right now we are losing this fight.

WASHINGTON – Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter Tuesday and cleared a key Senate hurdle, a double-barreled triumph that propelled President Barack Obama’s signature issue toward votes this fall in both houses of Congress.

“When history calls, history calls,” said Maine Republican Olympia Snowe, whose declaration of support ended weeks of suspense and provided the only drama of a 14-9 vote in the Senate Finance Committee. With her decision, the 62-year-old lawmaker bucked her own leadership on the most high-profile issue of the year in Congress, and gave the drive to remake health care at least a hint of the bipartisanship that Obama seeks.

Obama, speaking to reporters at the White House, said, “I never count chickens before they hatch, but this is obviously another step forward in bringing about a better deal for the American people.”

Snowe, too, said there were problems with the bill, but on balance, the risks of doing nothing were too great.

“We should also contemplate the decades of inaction that have brought us to this crossroads,” she said. “The status quo approach has produced one glaring common denominator, that is that we have a problem that is growing worse, not better.”

This is the last of 5 bills to pass Senate committees. Now, Harry Reid will have a free hand to cherry pick whatever he wants from each and bring it to the floor for a vote.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Last week I reported on Harry Reid’s scheme to pass Obamacare by tying the Senate measure to a House bill with nothing to do with healthcare. Further, during my trip to D.C. for the AFP Summit, our group met with a Lautenberg spokesperson who did not deny this was this case.

Well, to no surprise, this story has been confirmed by CNS News. Here is the update from The Foundry @ Heritage:

Leaders in the House and Senate have a plan to pass President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care plan by Thanksgiving without any significant participation by the American public. CNS News has confirmed the details in our September 22nd titled “Passing a Shell of A Bill: Congress’ Secret Plan to Ram Through Health Care Reform.” Nicholas Ballasy reports “a senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told CNSNews.com that it is ‘likely’ that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a ‘shell’ for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.”

This story confirms the four part scenario that would railroad the bill through the Senate using a very unusual closed door procedure to craft the bill with no input from the American people.

The four stage plan to pass Obamacare has been publicly confirmed and is ready to be implemented. The following is a comprehensive update:

Step One: “The Senate Finance Committee will finish work on the marking up of Senator Max Baucus’ (D-MT) conceptual framework for legislation by this Friday.” Progress on this had been stalled and the bill was not passed by the end of last week. Foxnews.com is reporting that the Congressional Budget Office score of the bill will be released later today and a high score may further stall progress on the Committee’s Vapor Bill.  Senate Finance Committee’s progress on passing something out of committee – INCOMPLETE.

Step Two: Next, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will take the final product of the Senate Finance Committee and merge it with the product of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. CNSnews.com has confirmed that “the actual final text of the legislation will be determined by Reid himself, who will consolidate the legislation approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the still-unapproved legislation from the Senate Finance Committee. Reid will be able to draft and insert textual language that was not expressly approved by either committee.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will write the final version of Obamacare to be considered in the Senate with no input from the American people. This is an extremely complex procedure that will not be done in public, or in the form of a hearing, or a public conference committee, and only Senator Harry Reid, some other Senators chosen by Reid and Obama Administration officials will be allowed to read the bill before the Senate debate starts. Merger of the bills – IN PROGRESS.

Step Three: Senator Reid will then move to proceed to H.R. 1586, a bill to impose a tax on bonuses received by certain TARP recipients. A senior aid to Senate Majority Leader Ried has confirmed that he will move to proceed to Senate Calendar Number 36, H.R. 1586, or another House passed tax measure, so the Senate can avoid the Constitutional mandate that tax bills originate in the House. Proceed to tax shell of a bill – CONFIRMED.

Step Four: This scenario would most likely be implemented after the Massachusetts state legislature gives Governor Deval Patrick the power to appoint a new Senator and that Senator is seated by the Senate. The Senate swore in new Massachusetts Senator Paul Kirk on September 25th. Change Law of Massachusetts to allow for interim Senator – COMPLETE.

The final step in this plan is for the House to take up Obama care, without amending the legislation, and then sending that bill directly to the President for his signature. Matt Cover at CNSnews.com reports “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) won’t rule out having the House vote on the Senate health-care bill without making any changes in it, which would allow the bill to go directly to President Barack Obama without having to pass through a House-Senate conference committee and another round of votes in the House and Senate–and a longer period of public scrutiny of what the text of the proposed law actually says.” This scenario is in the process of being implemented and, if successful, it will result in Obamacare being on the President’s desk in time for Thansgiving with minimal participation of the American public.

The San Francisco Examiner published an editorial today that exposed the fact that the American people can’t see the bill. “When then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama promised not to sign major legislation until it had been posted on the Internet for public reading at least five days, trusting voters took him at his word. Now they know better. Not only is the actual language of what is likely to become the main legislative vehicle for Obama’s signature health care reform not available on the Internet, it hasn’t been given to members of the key Senate committees or the Congressional Budget Office.” The procedure being used, in addition to the exclusion of the American people from the process, should be of grave concern to all who want to participate in democracy and have a say in Congress’ health care reforms that will touch 1/6th of the American economy.

Importantly, Reid’s scheme still requires breaking a filibuster. This is where healthcare opponents need to focus their attention and pressure. Per Dick Morris, the key Senators we need to persuade are Olympia Snowe and Blanche Lincoln.

Watch how Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln vote in the Senate Finance Committee on the Baucus version of the Obama healthcare plan. As Snowe and Lincoln go, so will the Congress.

The Democrats need Snowe’s vote desperately, to convince wavering moderate Democrats that they can offer a veneer, however thin, of bipartisanship to the health proposal. If Snowe, their last chance at a Republican vote, opposes the Obama/Baucus proposal, there is no hope of a bipartisan fig leaf for the package.

On the other hand, if Snowe backs the bill, it will send a signal to moderate Democrats that it’s OK to join in and the bill will probably attract the 60 votes it needs for Senate passage.

Lincoln’s vote becomes critical if Snowe votes no. Lincoln is probably the single most vulnerable Democrat running for reelection in 2010. She is the proverbial canary in the coalmine. If she makes it, so will all the Democrats. Hailing from a conservative Southern state, her poll numbers suggest that she would be in a heap of trouble with a stiff challenger.

If Lincoln defects and joins the Republicans in voting no (as she has done on a number of amendments), she will do a lot to cement her chances to remain a senator, but will open a wound in the Democratic Party. A domino effect will likely set in.

Here are the phone numbers of Snowe and Lincoln’s Senate offices. It’s time to start burning up the phone lines.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR) 202-224-4843
Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) 202-224-5344

As I mentioned yesterday, the AFP New Jersey contingent dropped by for a little chat on Friday with Senator Lautenberg. Although the Senator was back in New Jersey, we were able to meet with his spokesperson (I believe his name was Doug). To his credit, Doug was very professional and handled our questions and comments repectfully.

However, I had a chance before the meet-up ended to ask about the report I posted on earlier this week, regarding Harry Reid scheming to get a health care bill to the President’s desk by attaching it to a House bill that has nothing to do with health care.

I expected that I would hear from Doug that the report wasn’t true or that he knew nothing of it. Instead, though, he attempted to duck and dodge my question – for example, by saying 60 votes would still be needed, when that is only true of the vote to end a filibuster and not a vote on the final bill.

Further, when I pressed Doug to see if the Senator would oppose any effort by the Majority Leader in attaching the Senate bill to a non-healthcare House bill, he would not answer and provided no such commitment.

Unfortunately, the only conclusion I can draw from this is that the Senator knows of this effort and would not use his influence in the Senate to oppose it. Yes, I know…hardly shocking. Yet still, as we begin calling our legislators this week – AFP will be promoting a national drive to just that – on top of voicing your opposition to healthcare, be sure to contact Senator Lautenberg’s office and pressure him to put a stop to this underhanded approach to passing their agenda.

By the way, we should all be proud that our tax dollars pay for the Senator’s posh Washington office and LCD TV’s. How else would his staff be able to tune in to MSNBC while at work?

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

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.

The reckless gang of Democrats in Congress is now trying to ram socialized medicine down our throats without any debate and by misusing the procedure called ‘reconciliation.’

Here is Americans for Prosperity’s statement on the subject. Please visit their site and help fight this by sending a message to your Senators.

We told you about efforts to jam a cap-and-trade energy tax through the Senate using reconciliation, a trick to avoid proper debate and the normal 60 vote requirement for important legislation, and you sprung into action, generating a flood of calls and emails to the Senate and IT WORKED.  WE WON that fight and kept cap-and-trade out of reconciliation. 

 

Last week, Sen. Johanns introduced a budget amendment to prohibit the use of reconciliation for cap-and-trade, and it passed on a solid 67-31 vote. Every Republican supported the amendment, as did 26 Democrats.  Before the Johanns amendment passed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated he wanted to do both cap-and-trade and health care under reconciliation, saying that cap-and-trade revenues would be “exactly how much we need for the first phase of health care reform.” 

 

Unfortunately, THERE IS NO TIME TO CELEBRATE, because now Democrats are poised to pull the reconciliation trick for their plan to NATIONALIZE AND RATION HEALTH CARE.

 

There are a few senators that are going to be very influential in this fight.  If you know anyone in the following states please forward this email to them:  Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, Nevada and North Dakota.  We need your help to get the word out!

 

While the Senate passed a budget resolution without reconciliation language, the House budget specifically includes a section authorizing the use of reconciliation for a national health care plan.  This is despite the fact that reconciliation is only relevant in the Senate, where it can short-circuit debate and pass legislation with only 50 votes instead of the regular 60.

 

This is a TRICK to let Senate Democrats claim they passed a budget without reconciliation, only to have it slipped back in during conference committee, when the House and Senate budgets are combined.

 

Please click here to send a message to your senator OPPOSING HEALTH CARE RECONCILIATION.

 

The dean of the Senate, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Democrat from West Virginia, has made it crystal clear that this is not what reconciliation is for, saying, “I was one of the authors of the legislation that created the budget ‘reconciliation’ process in 1974, and I am certain that putting health-care reform and climate change legislation on a freight train through Congress is an outrage that must be resisted.”

 

The stakes are enormous.  Two big steps toward government-run health care are already in place with the national health information database and the comparative effectiveness research that were hidden in the stimulus plan.  We are now only a few steps away from establishing a national health board that will RATION CARE based on the results of comparative effectiveness research, and a coverage mandate designed to, over time, shift more and more people into a government-run and government-controlled health care plan.

 

Moving health care nationalization through reconciliation will SILENCE moderate Democrats and Republicans and produce the most aggressive, big-government health care plan possible.  Any government plan to restructure one sixth of our economy deserves to be debated fully under the regular rules of the Senate.

As if we need more reasons to oppose the Scheme-ulous Bill, I give you wasteful school construction spending.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the bill will spend nearly twice as much on schools than we did in 2007. Some $88.6M will go to the Milwaukee Public School system even though the city currently has 15 VACANT chools and enrollment is actually dropping.

To understand the problem with the stimulus bill, it helps to focus on specific parts. Take the $142 billion for schools, which is nearly double the total outlays of the Department of Education in 2007. Now consider that much of this cash would go to public-school systems that don’t even need the money for its earmarked purposes.

The Milwaukee Public School system, for example, would receive $88.6 million over two years for new construction projects under the House version of the stimulus — even though the district currently has 15 vacant school buildings and declining enrollment. Between 1990 and 2008, inflation-adjusted MPS spending rose by 35%, per-pupil spending increased by 36% and state aid grew by 58%. Over the same period, enrollment fell by a percentage point and is projected to continue falling, leaving the system with enough excess capacity for some 22,000 students.

“In general, MPS facilities have been described by school officials as being in good to better-than-good condition,” reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “The kind of situations that create urgent needs for renovation or new construction in some cities have not been on the priority list for MPS officials in recent years.”

What’s worse, though, is the bill prohibits dollars from going to students to attend private schools. It just so happens that Milwaukee has one of the better voucher programs in the nation which is helping to educate otherwise disadvantaged students.

The Milwaukee situation is instructive for another reason. The city is home to the country’s oldest and largest school voucher program, which provides public funds for children to attend private schools. Families who participate in the means-tested voucher program receive $6,700 per pupil, while the city spends more than $13,000 per student. In addition to saving the taxpayers money, voucher students graduate at higher rates and outscore their counterparts on reading and math exams, which is one reason waiting lists for the program are common.

Yet language in the stimulus bill expressly prohibits any dollars from going toward financial assistance to students attending private schools. In other words, Milwaukee can use the money to build schools it doesn’t need, but not to expand education programs that are producing better outcomes for disadvantaged kids. The Senate version excludes provisions in the House bill for teacher merit pay and charter schools now serving more than a million students, two more education reforms that are gaining popularity nationwide despite opposition from teachers unions and local school boards.

So, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelousy, Barack Obama & Company - the ones who claim the high ground when it comes to education - are doing nothing more than throwing disadvantaged kids under the bus subjecting them to worse educations and ultimately worse futures.

Change!

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Yes, that’s what you get for a job well badly done in Washington at a time of economic crisis in the country – a pay raise totaling $2.5 million. Next time you hear Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi talk about fairness or golden parachutes or greed on Wall Street, remember that the true greed is theirs. The real greed isn’t on Wall Street it’s on Capitol Hill.

Link: With the economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise