Sheldon Whitehouse Voted to Defund The Troops in 2007

As part of his broad attack this weekend on opponents of the Democratic health care plans, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) declared:

"The lowest of the low was the Republican vote against funding and supporting our troops in the field in a time of war. As a device to stall health care, they tried to stop the appropriation of funds for our soldiers. There is no excuse for that. From that there is no return. "

In May 2007, Whitehouse was only one of 14 Senators to vote against the Iraq war funding supplemental to support the troop surge, at a time our troops were fighting al-Qaeda in the field in a time of war. Whitehouse also was one of 10 co-sponsors of a bill to cut off funding for the troops in Iraq unless troop withdrawals started within 120 days.

Had Whitehouse succeeded in withdrawing funding from our troops in the field in 2007, the Iraq war would have been lost, the region likely would have fallen into widespread chaos and genocide, and we would be facing al-Qaeda control of large parts of Iraq.

Unlike Republicans, who were only trying to gain a short delay in the Democratic rush to pass the health care legislation before Christmas, Whitehouse actually wanted to starve the troops of resources.

Want to rethink the "lowest of the low" line, Senator?

Or should we just say, "Sheldon Whitehouse was against funding the troops in the field before he was for it."

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First They Came For The Tanning Industry...

What did the tanning industry ever do to deserve being singled out for a new 10% surtax on all indoor tanning services in Harry Reid's Manager's Amendment?

The tanning tax was a substitute for the cosmetic surgery tax (a/k/a Botax) in the prior bill.

This may seem inconsequential, and to some extent it is. The revenues raised will be insignificant in terms of the overall cost of health care. It also is unlikely that the tanning industry will be able to defend itself. And there doesn't seem to be a pro-tanning political movement.

The purported justification is the claim that use of tanning services contributes to skin cancer, although it seems that overuse of tanning services might be the culprit. But so is over-sunning at the beach or poolside, so why not tax beach clubs and shut down public pools? The justification for a tanning tax results from the same pseudo-scientific logic being used at the state level to try to tax sodas and sugary drinks.

The random nature of this tax is what is worrisome. An out-of-favor industry, with no substantial political muscle, is singled out by an avaricious Congress at the last minute in a secret backroom deal.

The significance of the tanning tax is that the government, in its thirst for funds to fund government expansion, will attack the weakest link. Today, the tanning industry is the weakest link, tomorrow who will it be?

Yeah, it's one of those "first they came for the tanning industry..." moments. Sounds funny, but it's no joke.

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Sheldon Whitehouse Becomes Alan Grayson

Sheldon Whitehouse, my Democratic Senator from Rhode Island, has joined the Alan Grayson wing of the Democratic party with a speech so over the top that it is an infuriating embarrassment.

I wasn't going to post on this. But then I listened to the speech, in which Whitehouse invoked Kristilnacht, the night of broken glass, and threw out dozens of pejoratives against anyone who opposes a government takeover of the health care system.

Those of us who stand for individual liberty and health care freedom have been called malignant vindictive people similar to those who hung blacks from trees and to the Nazis who ran through the streets breaking windows and beating Jews in the streets.

You really need to listen to this speech. It is almost beyond description. I cannot fully convey the full scope of this vile speech. It is scary to see a Senator on the floor of the Senate make such a speech.

The video is here. Whitehouse's speech starts at about 107 minutes into the video. [added] An excerpt of the video now is available on YouTube -- embedded below -- but the excerpt doesn't convey just how outrageous the speech was; you really need to listen to the whole thing to appreciate the wholesale smear of opponents of Democratic health care restructuring plans.

Partial transcripts are available here and here and here. [added] The full transcript is available here.

Sheldon Whitehouse is why Washington has gone so wrong. His arrogant, demeaning attitude as evidenced by this speech is an example of why people are so angry in this country.

We are not racists or Nazis, or a lunatic fringe, Senator Whitehouse, so stop the name calling.

Whitehouse was confronted by a reporter after the speech, and denied calling us racists, and insisted that we listen to the speech. I did listen to the speech, and you are being intellectually dishonest Senator Whitehouse.

What you did was you read from columns and speeches given by other people in which these ugly images were invoked, to leave yourself a way out if confronted with the words. Apparently you didn't say these things, you merely read the words.

Be man enough to stand by what you said. Don't call me a racist and Nazi on the floor of the Senate and then deny you said it.

If you are embarrassed by what you said, then apologize, if you have the emotional capacity to do so.

"There will come a day of judgment," you said. Indeed.



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Dems Break It, They Own It

The meme circulating today is that Republicans made a tactical error by failing to cooperate more with Democrats early on in the health care debate, pushing so-called moderate Democrats like Evan Bayh into the arms of Harry Reid and Barack Obama.

That meme is a bunch on nonsense.

As bad as the Senate bill is, it could have been much, much worse but for Republicans holding together.

Does anyone really believe that the public option would have been dropped willingly by Democrats back in June or July merely because Republicans were willing to vote for a smaller bill? Supporters of a public option, which remains in the House bill, are screaming over its removal from the Senate version to this very day.

It also is delusional to think that those hard battles could have been won without Republicans holding together, which allowed Joe Lieberman to succeed in forcing the public option (and substitute Medicare buy-in) out of the Senate bill. If even one Republican had supported a public option, it would be in the bill.

There also was no intention to compromise early on on the part of Democrats. Nancy Pelosi shut Republicans out of the process completely. In the Senate, the negotiations with Olympia Snowe went nowhere over key substantive and ideological points on which Democrats would not bend. Compromise actually meant Republicans acceding to Democratic ideology, which fortunately did not happen.

The rhetoric from the Obama administration also was uncompromising. Remember, Obama originally wanted these bills passed through the House and Senate before the August recess. Every message the White House sent was that Democrats should use their large majorities to just get it done, Republicans be damned.

Obama was willing to sign legislation last August, had it passed, which he later criticized as fundamentally flawed. The willingness of Obama to sign anything which passed through the Congress, so long as it was done quickly, did not signal a willingness to compromise.

Obama also insisted on an all-encompassing restructuring of the health care system in one fell swoop. Passing insurance reforms as a first step, which would have had bipartisan support, was rejected out of hand. It was Obama's way or the highway, and Republicans responsibly took the highway.

Any conciliatory overtures from Democrats earlier in the process were around the margins only. Republicans were permitted to offer amendments which made no real difference to the thrust of the Democratic versions, every single one of which focused on expanding government spending and bureaucracy.

Equally important was the fact that the Democratic bills, regardless of which version one picks, were monumental disasters waiting to happen, as I have written about almost 200 times in the past several months. I have analyzed, among other things, the unprecedented and possibly unconstitutional individual mandate, the use of the IRS as health care enforcer, the expansion of government bureaucracies, the increase in job-killing taxes, and a host of other fundamental flaws in Democratic proposals.

For Republicans to sign onto this manmade disaster would be to betray our traditions, our constitutional form of government, and individual liberties.

Republicans were right to say "thanks, but no thanks" to being a party to the worst piece of legislation "since the Great Depression."

Don't try to pawn this catastrophe off on us by rewriting history to claim that the bill is so horrible only because Republicans refused to play ball. That is pure fiction. The bill would have been worse.

Democrats are about to break the best health care system in the world. The store policy is: "You break it, you own it."

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Big Pharma Meets Knife In Back

In order to get large pharmaceutical companies behind Obamacare, including getting the drug companies to advertise, the Obama administration cut a deal, among other things, that the re-importation of drugs would not generally be permitted.

Unlike some issues, there are legitimate points on each side of the issue, the simplistic demagoguery of Obama and many Democrats notwithstanding.

But a deal is a deal, right?

Well I guess Big Pharma didn't get it in writing, or didn't listen carefully enough. What Obama apparently meant was that drug re-importation would not be part of this legislation.

David Axelrod just announced that drug re-importation, however, would be part of the next piece of legislation and will be an administration priority:

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a key White House ally in the healthcare reform push, has lobbied heavily against re-importation, though, and would likely not support the final bill if it was included in the package.

Speaking on CNN’s "State of the Union," David Axelrod, Obama’s top political aide, said the White House still favors drug re-importation and wants to move forward on it.“Let me be clear. The president supports re-importation. As he said, safe re-importation of drugs into this country. There’s no reason why the Americans should pay a premium for pharmaceuticals that people in other countries pay less for,” Axelrod said. “We will move forward on it.”

CNN’s John King countered, “Just not in this healthcare reform?”

“Yes,” Axelrod said. “The president is committed to move forward once we resolve the issues that the [Food and Drug Administration (FDA)] has. That is his responsibility, to protect the American people.”

How foolish for so many to have cut deals to push forward this horrible legislation thinking that one would obtain some sort of permanent immunity. The AMA's deal on doctor reimbursements already has been cast aside even prior to passage, now Big Pharma's deal will fall soon after passage.

Whose deal is next for a stab in the back?

Nebraska, I hope.

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Nebraskans Must Be Proud This Morning

I wonder how Nebraskans will feel waking up this morning knowing that their Senator Ben Nelson sold out the rest of the nation on Medicaid reimbursement in order to secure a deal for Nebraska.

While Nebraskans will get new Medicaid mandates covered by the federal government, most other states will sink under the weight of new unfunded mandates. Here's how Nebraska's Governor described the problem before Nelson struck his bargain:

"The State of Nebraska cannot afford an unfunded mandate and uncontrolled spending of this magnitude.”

Will Nebraskans be proud of Nelson's tactics, or ashamed that Nelson has turned Nebraska into a beggar state relying on others to pay Nebraska's way?

Will Nebraskans sit back in quiet satisfaction knowing that Nebraska has been saved from further unfunded mandates, while other states crumble, or feel like the proverbial person who lay down with dogs and got up with fleas?

Do Nebraskans care that the rest of the nation is furious over this backroom deal, and that a state known for integrity and hard work has had its reputation tarnished? Nebraska and Louisiana now are spoken of in the same breath.

Do Nebraskans have long memories? Or will all be forgiven and forgotten in a few years?

We'll know the answer to these questions when Ben Nelson is up for reelection in 2012.

Update: Here's how one Nebraskan feels - A Nebraska doctor’s message for Ben Nelson

And, it appears Nebraskans are reacting negatively to this embarrassment:

But [Nebraska Gov. Dave] Heineman expressed anything but gratitude, saying he had nothing to do with the compromise and calling the overhaul bill "bad news for Nebraska and bad news for America."

"Nebraskans did not ask for a special deal, only a fair deal," Heineman said in a statement Sunday.

In response, Nelson fired off a letter Sunday to Heineman saying he's prepared to ask that the provision covering Nebraska's Medicaid share "be removed from the amendment in conference, if it is your desire."

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Blizzard

Here is a photo of our patio taken a little before 8 a.m. this morning. Looks like we have almost a foot of snow. We are expecting snow for about 5 more hours.



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This Is Why I Named This Blog "Legal Insurrection"

I was in the car most of the day, so I haven't had a chance to post on the Ben Nelson sellout. So here are some initial thoughts:

• Yes, it is that bad. The Democrats are about to put in place the legislative, regulatory and bureaucratic infrastructure for a complete government takeover of health care. Just read the comments from the supporters and you will see a common theme -- this is just the beginning. They know it, we know it, and Ben Nelson knows it but doesn't care because he scored some pork for his home state, just like Mary Landrieu


• This is the worst of Washington. Payoffs, lies, deceit, and deception. Oddly enough, I've come to have more respect for the left-wing advocates of single-payer than the so-called moderates who will sell their principles for money. At least the left-wing has principles, even if I disagree with those principles. The moderates like Nelson and Landrieu have no principles, at least none that cannot be sold.


• Where is Evan Bayh? His silence has been deafening.


• How amazing is the number of circumstances which caused this perfect storm, without any one of which we wouldn't be on Obama's precipice: Massachusetts changes its rules for a second time to allow appointment of a Democrat in Kennedy's place rather than having to wait for the special election; Al Franken outmaneuvers and out-litigates Norm Coleman to steal the Minnesota race; Rahm Emanuel recruits "blue dog" Democratic wolves in sheep's clothing and people fall for it; the media covers up the Obama agenda during the campaign, portraying Obama falsely as a moderate; [added] George Allen says "Macaca," and so on.


• Democrats do not care about the 2010 election cycle, or 2012. Obama has said it. He'd rather get his restructuring of society in place and be a one-term president, than be a two-term president and not succeed in perfecting our imperfections.


• There is a slight, slight chance this legislation can be stopped in the House, so don't give up until the last vote is taken.

This perfect storm likely never will be repeated. But it only takes one storm to wreak havoc and cause damage which will take years or decades to undo, if it can be undone.

The only ray of hope is that most of the provisions will not kick in until well after November 2010. I've said it before, this is the political fight of our lives for the future of the country.

Rescinding Obamacare needs to be the organizing theme of the 2010 election. And throwing out the bums who voted for it.

Now I remember why, as I saw the Obama wave rising last fall, I named this blog Legal Insurrection. That's what's needed, now more than ever.

Update: A couple of commenters correctly have pointed out that I should have included Ted Steven's defeat as another element in the perfect storm. Remember that Steven's conviction later was dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct, but the Democrat who won the election remains in office, as I posted previously, Ted Stevens Conviction Reversed, But What About The Election? I noted the implications in that post: "Without the Begich vote, Obama would have a much more difficult time passing his agenda."

And, now we know why Evan Bayh was relatively silent in public. Behind the scenes, Bayh was a moving force in closed meetings to put the plan together:

Lawmakers who attended a private meeting between Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats at the White House on Tuesday pointed to remarks there by Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, as providing some new inspiration.

Mr. Bayh said that the health care measure was the kind of public policy he had come to Washington to work on, according to officials who attended the session, and that he did not want to see the satisfied looks on the faces of Republican leaders if they succeeded in blocking the measure.

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Saturday Night Card Game (Salem News.com)

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:

Vice-President/Executive Editor Tim King writing at Salem News.com plays the "Rush-O'Reilly-Beck inspire white supremacist killers" hand, while slipping in the Godwin's Law card from the bottom of the deck, in a post titled Beck, Limbaugh, O'Reilly; Ties to Racism & Murder?:

There is nothing more disgusting than a bunch of angry white men stirring other scared white men into a frenzy, it can be deadly for large groups of people when white people, like Adolph Hitler, get a firm hold on things.

Hitler, like these American talk show hosts, drove people with lies and fear. These men are liars, and they are the very worst kind.

Yup, just like they inspired the white supremacist anti-government killers of Bill Sparkman.

(I believe this is post no. 63 that he has read. How did I do?).

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One If He Prevails, Two If He Fails

Saturday morning Harry Reid unveils, we think, The Real Bill. They're even wheeling snowmobiling in Robert Byrd for the votes on procedural issues so that Reid can move The Real Bill forward as an amendment to the current version. Since the amendment will have to be read out loud, Reid needs to get through it all by midnight if he is to get his pre-Christmas vote.

Lots of drama, but for me, not so much.

I'll be in the car early and for a long time trying to beat the unusually warm weather due to global warming massive ice age-like snow storm on my way back to Rhode Island. So I'll miss the drama.

No chance of getting any real news on the radio, particularly in the "empty" parts of upstate where they teach young children to sing about Obama shoot pretty birds and bambi.

I do have wireless internet, but I'll be driving so .... someone send me a tweet (@LegInsurrection) which I will check only when I stop, of course.

No need for 140 characters.

Tweet "One" if Harry prevails on the procedural votes and commences the amendment process in time to complete the reading by midnight.

Tweet "Two" if Harry fails and the American people prevail.

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Alan-Grayson-Is-Nuts-talanche

I've posted about Alan Grayson before. The Congressman from Florida is the class clown of Congress (that's including Al Franken in the equation).

Grayson not only is nuts, he has dangerous tendencies. As reported at Politico, Grayson is trying to get the Justice Department to prosecute someone who set up the website "MyCongressmanIsNuts.com" which mocks Grayson, on the ground that the author does not live in Grayson's district.

This, according to Grayson's letter to Eric Holder, amounts to a criminal fraud for which the author should be prosecuted and imprisoned.

Alan Grayson would be just the class clown, were he not a nasty clown who cannot take half as much criticism as he dishes out. Even that would be okay, but Grayson is dangerous to the liberty of this country by trying to criminalize what clearly is political speech.

The only things Grayson will accomplish is to further prove that he is a buffoon, and to drive enormous traffic to "MyCongressmanIsNuts.com."

Hey Alan, can you help me out with my traffic?

We'll call it an Alan-Grayson-Is-Nuts-talanche.


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Look Who's Worried About Death Panels Now

Not Sarah Palin, Not Republicans in Congress. Nat Hentoff:

I try to avoid hyperbole, but I think Obama is possibly the most dangerous and destructive president we have ever had. An example is ObamaCare, which is now embattled in the Senate. If that goes through the way Obama wants, we will have something very much like the British system. If the American people have their health care paid for by the government, depending on their age and their condition, they will be subject to a health commission just like in England which will decide if their lives are worth living much longer...

So in answer to your question, I am beginning to think that this guy is a phony. Obama seems to have no firm principles that I can discern that he will adhere to. His only principle is his own aggrandizement. This is a very dangerous mindset for a president to have.

Read the whole thing. Ouch.

Added: Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Hentoff is 84 years old:

JW: Do you think Obama is shallow?

NH: It's much worse than that. Obama has little, if any, principles except to aggrandize and make himself more and more important. You see that in his foreign policy. Obama lacks a backbone—both a constitutional backbone and a personal backbone. This is a man who is causing us and will cause us a great deal of harm constitutionally and personally. I say personally because I am 84 years old, and this is the first administration that has scared me in terms of my lifespan.

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Sad and Embarrassed

For our country, and yes, our President.

That's the feeling I had watching Obama's climate speech in Copenhagen, and the whole theater of the bizarre surrounding it.

Read into "sad and embarrassed" what you want.

No other brilliant thoughts this afternoon. Not for lack of trying.

Except, "pathetic."

And, too much, too little, too late:



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Obama's Teleprompter Repeats Itself

Just do as he says, or you must want to kill the world:

“The time for talk is over, this is the bottom line: We can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward. We can do that and everyone who is in this room will be part of an historic endeavor or we can choose delay,” he said, predicting: “We will back here making the same stale arguments, year after year, perhaps decade after decade, all until the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible.”

Where have we heard this before?

"The time for talk is over," [Obama] added. "The time for action is now, because we know that if we do not act, a bad situation will become dramatically worse. Crisis could turn into catastrophe for families and businesses across the country."

Yep, the speech Obama just gave in Copenhagen is basically the speech he gave last February to push through the Stimulus Plan, that foul piece of legislation which has turned into a paradigm of big government gone bad.

Let's bring that Stimulus mojo to the whole planet, because the time for talk is over. For everyone except Obama, that is.

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Because We Do Not Live In Sufficiently Interesting Times

From my new favorite screen shot source:


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