Is The Health Care Fight Obscuring A Criminal Cover-Up In The Obama White House?

Great investigative journalism by The American Spectator’s Jeffrey Lord:

Even as the drama of health care carries the headlines, beneath the surface, visible now, the iceberg of scandal ripples.

First, the timeline on the blossoming scandal upon which we will now officially fix the dreaded “gate” descriptive. Jobsgate.

• September 27, 2009 — The Denver Post reports that Obama White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina allegedly offered a job in the Obama administration to ex-Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff if Romanoff dropped his planned primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. Romanoff refuses comment and runs anyway.

• February 18, 2010 — Philadelphia TV anchor Larry Kane reports that on his just taped Comcast show, he had asked Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, who is challenging incumbent Senator Arlen Specter whether it was true that the Obama administration had offered Sestak a job if he would withdraw from his primary challenge to Specter. Sestak answers “yes,” specifically saying the offer came from someone in the White House and that he, Sestak, turned down the offer. Sestak refuses to name who it was that made the offer. Two hours later, Kane calls the White House, plays them the tape, and asks for comment. The White House never calls him back.

Lord continues…explaining why Holder’s Justice Department might not be investigating:

One former high-ranking Justice Department official, after telling me that there were indeed problems with the Department’s silence on this issue, said that in the current political climate at the Holder-run Justice Department, any Justice official who sought to go to Holder with thoughts of investigating Messina or his boss Rahm Emanuel or anyone else in the White House would have to have “brass balls.” A colorful way of saying that Justice Department officials are being intimidated from pursuing the truth, no matter where it leads. Let’s go back to Congressman Darrell Issa.

Issa has stepped up to the plate and sent his letter to White House Counsel Bauer, who now holds the job in the legal precincts of the White House one frequented by Nixon’s John Dean. Bauer, it should be noted, is the husband of now-departed Glenn Beck foil Anita Dunn, briefly the Obama White House Communications Director. Bauer and Dunn have been featured in Newsweek as one of ten “global power couples,” ranking them alongside — honest — Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Bill and Hillary, Beyonce and Jay Z, and Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina’s back-to-back presidents. All of which means, according to Newsweek, the Bauer/Dunn power-combo has power, lots of it. The Congressman has formally requested an answer to his letter — from Bauer — by March 18.

And here are the implications [I hope you'll go read the whole thing. The story is damning.]

If in fact Sestak is telling the truth, if in fact the Denver Post story about Andrew Romanoff is correct — and neither Sestak nor Romanoff reported these offers to federal authorities — Specter is saying both could in fact do jail time for committing a felony.

Even more remarkable is to comprehend why Robert Gibbs may now be standing at that White House podium five different times and refusing to answer questions from Jake Tapper and Major Garrett. If Sestak has told the truth, if the Denver Post got it right — then not only is the person or persons within the White House who made these job offers in big trouble, but anybody else on the Obama White House staff who currently knows this has happened and has not reported it to the proper authorities — the FBI, just for starters — is, according to Specter, a potential prosecution target for “misprision of a felony.” For which this person or persons could also go to jail along with whomever offered the jobs in the first place.

Quite possibly, that could include Robert Gibbs, if in fact he knows these job offers occurred.

So, keep an eye on this story guys. The President and his staff could be in big trouble. This administration is laughable on transparency. What a disgusting mess.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Crime, Democrats, Political Animals | 2 Comments »

EXCLUSIVE: Freedom Works Co-Chair Dick Armey Discusses His Controversial Remarks On Health Care and Immigration

Former House Leader and current FreedomWorks Co-Chairman Dick Armey discusses his National Press Club interview: Is health care doomed to pass? Does he support Amnesty? Should citizens bother going to DC this Saturday for another push on The Hill? He also talks about Michelle Malkin’s perspective and why he feels that America is at a pivotal point in history.

Listen here.

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Posted in America, Body, Corrupted Culture, Political Animals | 1 Comment »

Obama Goes Belly Up

How much do people hate health care reform? They hate it so much they’re starting to hate President Obama because he won’t shut up about it. Gallup has the distressing news for President Obama: 47% disapprove. 46% approve.

Three more weeks of health care haggling? That should put President Obama over 50% disapproval or more.

I’ve heard people say that approval goes up as soon as it passes. Um, I doubt it.

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Posted in Barack Obama | No Comments »

Health Care Reform: About Doctors

My last post focused on jobs generally. Now, what about Doctors? Everyone wants to know about doctors because it’s already tough to get a doctor if you’re on Medicaid or Medicare.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, it’s going to get worse:

Physician Support of Health Reform in General
• 62.7% of physicians feel that health reform is needed but should be implemented in a more targeted, gradual way, as opposed to the sweeping overhaul that is in legislation. [NOTE: I think this reflects the American public, too. No one is saying to do nothing. This bill is just not the "something" that needs to be done.]
• 28.7% of physicians are in favor of a public option.
• 3.6% of physicians prefer the “status quo” and feel that the U.S. health care system is best “as is.

Health Reform and Primary Care Physicians
• 46.3% of primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine) feel that the passing of health reform will either force them out of medicine or make them want to leave medicine.

Health Reform, Public Option, and Practice Revenue/Physician Income
• 41% of physicians feel that income and practice revenue will “decline or worsen dramatically” with a public option.
• 30% feel income will “decline or worsen somewhat” with a public option.
• 9% feel income will “improve somewhat” with a public option, and 0.8% feel income will “improve dramatically” with a public option.

Health Reform, Public Option, and Physician Supply
• 72% of physicians feel that a public option would have a negative impact on physician supply, with 45% feeling it will “decline or worsen dramatically” and 27% predicting it will “decline or worsen somewhat. [NOTE: This is the part that is most concerning. What will then happen is that the United States will recruit less-qualified drones to fill the jobs. As the role of physician becomes commoditized, the person seeking that job will change.]
• 24% of physicians think they will try to retire early if a public option is implemented.
• 21% of physicians would try to leave medicine if a public option is implemented, even if not near retirement age at the time.

Health Reform and Recommending Medicine to Others as a Career
• 36% of physicians would not recommend medicine as a career, regardless of health reform.
• 27% would recommend medicine as a career but not if health reform passes.
• 25% of physicians would recommend medicine as a career regardless of health reform.
• 12% would not recommend medicine as a career now but feel that they would recommend it as a career if health reform passes

Source: The Medicus Firm “Physician Survey: Health Reform’s Impact on Physician Supply and Quality of Medical Care,”
The Medicus Firm, www.TheMedicusFirm.com

This does NOT bode well for the future of American medicine. More importantly, it harms the care Americans will receive.

By the way, Democrats know this. This bill is NOT about health care. It’s about transitioning costs away from the unions and the ballooning aging Boomer population to the younger, healthier people.

Health care reform is a tax plan.

Posted in Barack Obama, Body, Economy | No Comments »

America Would Never Be The Same & That’s Why The Democrats Fight To The Death

Even though, by now, you’re as disgusted and fed up with the topic of health care as I am, I write about health care. Again. Why? Because it ain’t over ’til it’s over and goodness knows Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama aren’t quitting. They will never give up until they have the power to control your life from before birth ’til you’re in the grave.

Government run health care is a defining moment in American history.

Today, in my first Daily Caller column, I talk about why this bill is evil:

Health care reform tears at fundamental threads holding our society together. Should it pass, it will reshape the American psyche from a risk-taking, freedom-loving open-mindedness to a self-protective, risk-averting, and provincial desire to protect the tiny piece of pie the citizen is granted.

Health care reform is immoral. It changes the equation from creating a legacy and gift to the next generation, to stealing from them. The debt load is such that our children are enslaved because of their parents greed and lack of restraint.

Health care reform redistributes wealth. The government bequeaths a win on irresponsible unions and businesses hoping to avoid commitments they made. The government decides. Instead of individuals and groups being forced to make the tough decisions, the government rescues them–sends them a lifeline that’s at the other end of a rope that is a noose around the necks of the very same American people.

There is much more at the link. Please go read it all.

We cannot give up. The Democrats never will.

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Posted in America, Democrats | 1 Comment »

President Obama Again Challenged By A Citizen: Ingrid Martin Plays Joe the Plumber

Matt Lewis gets the exclusive story. Setting: Townhall, Somewhereville, America. Mood: Stacked crowd…except for this lady. Here’s what happened:

Martin said she opposes Obama’s health care plan for philosophical, not parochial reasons, and after his speech, she caught the president’s attention.

“I didn’t clap and I didn’t smile, and I just sort of held firm to my beliefs and held my tongue so I didn’t get into any trouble,” she recalled. “And I think that, being in the front row, he noticed that because when he came down off the stairs and started shaking hands, when he got to me, he said, ‘Thanks for coming,’ and he looked at me and said, ‘Are you okay?’ And I said, ‘Yes sir, I just don’t support your bill’.”

Ingrid Martin said she then entered into about a 2-minute-long debate reminiscent of Obama’s meeting with another Ohioan, Joe Wurzelbacher (a.k.a. “Joe the Plumber“), telling him she worries about the long-term implications of his sweeping legislation. She told the president he was focused on insurance reform, as opposed to the rising cost of health care, which she believes to be the fundamental problem. Martin stressed her view of the need for tort reform. She also noted: “He said things like, ‘Medicare is not going to be affected by this bill,’ which is not right.”

When Obama said that his bill addressed her concerns, “I just kind of shook my head and said, ‘I don’t believe it does’ — oh my gosh, I’m calling the president a liar,” she added with a nervous laugh. Obama then took Martin’s business card and promised to send her information on the bill. While she was not persuaded to change her mind and support Obama’s policy, she was impressed with him for engaging her. “He took the time to stop and listen, which I appreciated,” she said.

Matt has much more at the link.

Why is it that common citizens are the ones asking these tough questions and bringing up the obvious?

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NYT: Millions Spent To Sway Democrats. You Don’t Say? Actually, You DON’T Say

Is it any wonder Americans hate with a pure, enraged hate, the politics of Washington, D.C.? What a disgusting town.

The New York Times reports the obvious, yet again:

The yearlong legislative fight over health care is drawing to a frenzied close as a multimillion-dollar wave of advertising that rivals the ferocity of a presidential campaign takes aim at about 40 House Democrats whose votes will help determine the fate of President Obama’s top domestic priority.

Oh, wait. What’s that? The article is about advertising being spent to sway those on the fence about the health care reform bill? That’s bad?

There aren’t even words to describe my contempt for this purposeful misdirecting piece of garbage cloaked as news.

If Jeff Zelany and the New York times cared about money in politics, they’d investigate the money that the Democrats are throwing around to bribe their fellow Democrats to vote for a piece of legislation that no one wants besides the New York Times editorial board.

What nonsense!

I went to the article figuring they’d be talking about the avarice disguised as sausage-making and they’re taking time to talk about advocacy advertisements and the millions being spent on a bill no one wants?

The outrage should be focused where the American people are focusing: on the nasty pit-vipered swamps of D.C. But no. Focus everywhere else. Blame the American people and advocacy groups for trying to influence this fetid process.

The president’s traipsing through the jobless midwest? Worthless. The Congress Democrats bickering and buying-off and banning Republicans from the process? Worthless. The Press, like the New York Times, spewing empty drivel when Americans know the truth? Worthless.

Push ‘em all into the Potomac and start over. We’d be better off.

Posted in Barack Obama, Democrats | 1 Comment »

Democrats And Health Care Bill: Bait & Switch & Switch & Then, Probably, Switch Again

Public option: In

School loans: In

And yet, it’s called a “shell” bill that will be stripped. Philip Klein explains it all. Here’s a bit:

Shortly before midnight on Sunday, Democrats released a 2,309 page health care bill that will start the process of reconciliation — but don’t let that fool you, it’s not the actual reconciliation bill with all the changes you’ve been reading about. Instead, as Rep. Paul Ryan, the ranking Republican member on the Budget Committee, explained to me last week, this is just the “shell” bill — the vehicle that Democrats need to get moving on health care. Once the bill gets approved (likely Monday), Democrats will send this phantom bill over to the Rules Committee, where it will be stripped, and then they’ll insert in all of the actual changes that they’ve negotiated.

Rep. Paul Ryan says:

Despite claims of transparency and calls for a “simple up-or-down vote,” there is nothing simple about this process. This convoluted legislative charade demonstrates how far the Democratic majority has wandered from real health-care reform and cost control, employing any means to achieve political victory.

Then the 2300 page non-bill bill aka “shell” will be sent for mark-ups. Link here.
Now, is the time to fight. Call your representative. Write. Pray. Do not sleep. This bill must die. Or there won’t be much left to fight for.

Michelle Malkin has who to call, where to go and what to do.

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New York Times Deifies Obama

From the New York Times the Obama Jesus. Says Jammie Wearing Fool [photo at link]:

Not content to show Obama with a halo, the New York Times is now creating images of him with a cross in the background.

Good grief. I guess the separation of church and state no longer applies when it comes to The Sainted One.

This is the definition of sacrilege. But I’m not sure the editors at the New York Times know God–that’s why they’re fooled by Obama.

Posted in Barack Obama, Bias, Christianity | 1 Comment »

Where Is Sarah Palin?

Where is Sarah Palin? This health care fight is raging and Governor Palin is silent. Why?

One thing I hope: That she’s not still listening to John McCain for advice. Sarah Palin has been running around and helping candidates which is all to the good. But her greatest strength has been her willingness and ability to articulate what the people are feeling.

Sarah Palin has big inside DC advisors—the old school guys. I would just point out that those people didn’t help Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas. And I sincerely doubt they’ll help many candidates back in their home states.

The DC establishment knows how to run elections that won a decade ago. They know how to speak one language. The American people have moved on and speak another and want a different feel from their leaders.

Since Sarah Palin has done such a good job defining the arguments, I hope she doesn’t stop.

Posted in Sarah Palin | 3 Comments »