STUPAK CAVES

For the past several months, Representative Bart Stupak(D. Mich) was a beacon of principle in an otherwise fairly sordid and cowardly Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives.

The liberal wing of the party—the one that thought the Obama victory was a mandate to enact every liberal dream—decided that this was an opportunity to get rid of the Hyde amendment that since the 1970s has prohibited federal payment for abortion. They tried to sneak such language through the House, but Stupak and others insisted on amending the House bill to ensure that there was no way that tax money would ever pay for elective abortions.

Why he trusts any of the leadership is a mystery because they tried to defeat his amendment by preventing him from offering it. Only when the Czarina and her buddy, Stenny, were caught trying to bypass Stupak did they allow it to be considered. Surprise—it carried.

Enter Harry Reid and the liberal Dems in the Senate. They ensured that no Stupak language would be added to the Senate bill. “Don’t worry, Bart,” the Czarinsa PROMISED. “The House Senate conference will try again.”

But Massachussets intervened. Martha Croakley…er. Coakley the heir presumptive to Ted Kennedy went down in flames to Todd Brown. Faced with the certainty of a filibuster of a conference report in the Senate, the House had but one option—pass the Senate bill as written.

Stupak objected. Now comes the real arm twisting. Harry Reid PROMISES that the so-called “fix-it” bill will pass, but, surprise, Stupak’s language is not allowed in the fix it. Besides which, Harry also PROMISES that the Senate will pass the fix it. Not to worry, Bart.

But Harry also knows that if the Parliamentarian rules that the reconciliation proces does not apply to the fix it, that legislation is dead. And so does Bart.

Now the Pres comes in. “Don’t worry, Bart. Even if the Senate language is the law of the land, I will simply issue an Executive Order amending the law. I PROMISE.”

Ultimately, a man of principle will learn a couple of good lessons before he is defeated next November. First, you are not a man of principle unless you stick to your guns, even when your party gets mad about it. Second, a man of principle has no business in the Democratic caucus in the House. Not with the leadership there extant.

Here endeth the lesson…

HARRY, NANCY, SMOKE AND MIRRORS

My 200th Blog. Who'da thunk it?

The hype surrounding the vote on the so-called “Health Care Reform” bill is approaching that usually associated with the Super Bowl. Tomorrow promises more smoke, mirrors and glitz than a half-time extravaganza.

Based on the glowing CBO figures received based on Harry and Nancy’s “assumptions (which CBO is required to accept) the bill will cost a minimum of $940 billion over the next 10 years (although only the taxes, penalties and fees kick in immediately—the $940 billion will be spent in 6 years starting in 2014). We are assured by the Dems that it will “save” $138 billion in deficit reductions. In other words, they plan for the federal government to spend less money we don’t have than they would otherwise spend. Huh?

It’s like the old joke about the guy who buys something on sale although his bank balance is zero because he can use the “savings.”

But it gets better. Although CBO usually doesn’t project out beyond 10 years (for obvious reasons to be mentioned below), Nancy and Harry needed some big numbers to counter that nearly $1 trillion (1 followed by 12 zeros)cost, so CBO promises that in the decade starting in 2020 and ending in 2029, we’ll “save” another $1.2 trillion.

And if you believe that, contact me. I have some prime Nevada ocean front property that Harry is selling me that I can pass on to you.

The CBO does not project out that far because to do so accurately is nearly impossible.

Think about it. If the CBO is that good, why, back in 1988 did the CBO not warn us about the last two years?

Update

The Dems have retreated from Demon Pass ("Deem and pass"), the procedure thay had planned to use so that they could lie to their constituents saying "Oh, I didn't vote for the Senate Bill. I voted for a rule."

I suppose someone said to them, "Look, if we are so ashamed of what we are doing that we don't want to admit it, we should either better listen to the voters or just stand up and vote for the damned thing and take our whuppin' in November like adults."

We ought to sell tickets to the Fall campaigns--we coulkd retire the debt.