Drill, baby, drill?

Drill, baby, drill?

Um, huh?

The president, joined by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, also was set to announce that proposed leases in Alaska's Bristol Bay would be canceled. The Interior Department also planned to reverse last year's decision to open up parts of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Instead, scientists would study the sites to see if they're suitable to future leases.

It appears to me, that the President is shutting down drilling where we know there is oil.

Oh I get it, Obama is going to ask for more exploration, not really drilling.

The Obama administration will propose allowing offshore oil and natural-gas exploration and development in a large swath of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, after months of criticism from Republicans who have made expanded offshore drilling a political rallying cry.

In addition, the administration plans to announce new steps to determine how much oil and natural gas is buried off the coasts of Middle and Southern Atlantic states, where oil-reserve estimates are decades out of date.

Okay, here is the truth.

Obama was set to announce the new drilling policy Wednesday at Andrews air base in Maryland. White House officials pitched the changes as ways to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs - both politically popular ideas - but the president's decisions also could help secure support for a climate change bill languishing in Congress.

Remember when Doyle raided the Physicians' Fund? Guess what?

In order to balance his 2007 budget, Governor Doyle raided $200 million out of the Physicians' Fund. This fund was managed by the state, but not one dime of that money belonged to the state. Governor Doyle took the money anyway.

This was not a state fund. Doctors take money out of their own pockets and place money into this fund just in case their medical malpractice insurance does not cover the balance of the medical malpractice law suits. The money in the fund actually belongs to the doctors who deposited it. Doyle took $200 million.

As a result of the raid, the fund balance is -$109 million. The fund is not only dry but is now running a negative balance.

Just to add insult to the already injured doctors, Doyle's latest budget pads the paychecks of his buddies, the trial lawyers. Governor Doyle's latest budget removed the caps for medical malpractice lawsuit.

Now which Republicans voted for that 2007 budget, when we controlled the Assembly???

Found it:

Republicans voting yes (23): Ballweg; Davis; J. Fitzgerald; Friske; Hahn; Hines; Huebsch; Meyer; Moulton; Mursau; Murtha; Musser; Nerison; Ott, A.; Petersen; Petrowski; Rhoades; Suder; Tauchen; Townsend; Van Roy; Williams, M.; Wood

Both of the Republicans in Kenosha County voted no in 2007: Kerkman and Lothian

Hum? I actually agree with the President on this one

It is not too often these days I agree with anything President Obama says. Today I found something.

In another fawning interview on NBC, the President said "I mean, a lot of commentators have said, you know, this is sort of similar to the bill that Mitt Romney passed in Massachusetts."

Indeed, Mr. President, RomneyCare and ObamaCare are very much alike. Government mandates, massive price tag, increasing price tags, rationing and such.

Mitt Romney has been given a pass for years on his RomneyCare bill from Republicans. Now, suddenly, Republicans are forced to face the fact that large portions of ObamaCare that they do not like was actually implemented several years ago in RomneyCare.

Mitt Romney was called out by the DNC in 2008, now the Republicans are calling him out. It is about time!

Palin/McCain heckler

Funny how it is always the liberals that get violent and get dragged out by the police at these events, huh.

Who let 5 year olds be Congressmen?

I don't care if you are a Republican, Democrat or an Independent...Nobody can look at this video and think this Congressman is being honest or up front on the issue.



Most Americans, who have been following the health care debate, can tell you exactly who will be the ObamaCare enforcers.

The behavior of this Congressman is no different than the behavior of a petulant 5 year old.

For a hero...

Tomorrow, Kenosha will have its first chance to pay its respects to Army Specialist Robert Rieckhoff, killed in Iraq last week.

Specialist Rieckhoff will be laid to rest in Kenosha. He is returning home tomorrow at about 1pm.

Feel free to line up on the travel route with flags or signs of respect, as his body travels to Piasecki's on 39th Ave. The route is east down Hwy 158 (52nd Street) to Green Bay road. North on Green Bay Road to Washington Road. East on Washington Road to 39th Ave. North on 39th.

ObamaCare: Bad for business

Not just bad for business in a few years, but bad for business this year. I wonder how many jobs will be lost because of this?

Caterpillar has announced that ObamaCare will cost them an extra $100 million this year alone. Who will actually get ObamaCare health care coverage? Nobody.

Now Deere is announcing that they will cost them $125 milion:

(Reuters) - Farm equipment maker Deere & Co (DE.N) expects after-tax expenses to rise by $150 million this year as a result of the healthcare reform law President Barack Obama signed this week.

Democrats: it will take 4 years to "control the people"

Perhaps now the Democrats need to stop talking about health care. They continue to say obnoxious things that will come back to haunt them.

Representative Dingell : "The harsh fact of the matter is when you're going to pass legislation that will cover 300 [million] American people in different ways it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people."

I guess Nancy Pelosi was right?

I guess Pelosi was right, they did have to pass the bill to find out what was in it. Turns out, because no one bothered to read the bill before they passed it, they screwed up big time. Of course, this screwup makes President Obama look like a liar.

Here is a thought, perhaps we should read bills before voting on them.

AP

Hours after President Barack Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged. Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children.

Obama made better coverage for children a centerpiece of his health care remake, but it turns out the letter of the law provided a less-than-complete guarantee that kids with health problems would not be shut out of coverage.

Under the new law, insurance companies still would be able to refuse new coverage to children because of a pre-existing medical problem, said Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the main congressional panels that wrote the bill Obama signed into law Tuesday.

Al Sharpton: "Americans Overwhelmingly Voted for Socialism when they elected President Obama"

I have spent the last several weeks arguing with some local Democrats about this health care overhaul. I would ask "why are you doing this in face of massive public opposition?" and "Why are doing this in complete defiance of the "consent of the governed?".

I would get the same answer over and over again. "The governed gave their consent in November 2008". "Obama and the Democrats had a mandate".

Now we have Al Sharpton declaring that "Americans overwhelmingly voted for socialism when they elected President Obama".



Seriously, Americans voted to become a socialist nation when they voted for Obama?

That is not how I remember it. When anyone would accuse candidate Obama of being a socialist, the media and Obama campaign would fly into hysteria defending candidate Obama.

The attempt to personally destroy the life of Joe the Plumber was perfect proof of this. Hysterical Democrats and the media launched into his personal life and set out to destroy his career.

Americans did not vote for socialism, they want health care reform. Americans still want health care reform that will drive down the cost of health care. ObamaCare will increase the cost of premiums that Americans are currently paying, not lower them.

This video is quite interesting. These idiots are flailing. Three of them were ganging up on Congressman Ryan and they still could not get their facts straight.

The Chairwoman insisted on talking about a different Republican bill and refused to speak of their own bill they are trying to pass. The Chairwoman finally started babbling about vouchers and that mentally ill seniors will be forced to decide what kind of health care they want. Note to the Chairwoman: not every single senior turns senile the day they turn 65. That is offensive. In fact, the Chairwoman herself is in her late 70's and she currently is given a taxpayer funded voucher to go out and purchase the best health care plan for herself and her family. Why is okay of her to do but not the rest of America?

The Chairwoman went so far as to call on another Congressman sitting right next Paul Ryan to describe what was in the Paul Ryan plan. She said "Tell us what they are".

I find it truly amazing that of the 4 House Reps speaking, 2 of them are over the age of 65 and are not living off of Medicare. Instead these two Reps are living off of taxpayer funded plan where they get to chose their own coverage. Congressman Ryan is proposing that every single American should be afforded the same opportunity these members of Congress(over the age of 65) are currently getting. The Dems do not like it.



To hear this debate at a Rules Committee meeting goes to show one thing only...The Democrats do not want to talk about their own plan. The whole point to the committee meeting was to discuss the rules for the Dems to vote on their own plan.

Oh look a new CBO estimate is out today. Dems healthcare will create a deficit

At the request of Congressman Paul Ryan, the CBO has a new (more honest) evaluation of the Dems health care bill. For months, the Democrats have avoided adding the "doc fix" into their bill. The reason the Dems continue to avoid adding the doc fix to the health care bill is because the costs are very high. If the Democrats do not pass the doc fix almost immediately, doctors performing Medicare services will get a 20% pay cut. That pay cut would cause doctors nationwide to dump Medicare patients. Obviously this cannot be allowed to happen. It would devastate the Medicare system sending many seniors into a panic.

The temporary doc fix bill expires in a couple of weeks. Even if the Dems manage to pass the legislation this weekend without the doc fix included, they will immediately have to deal with the doc fix or send Medicare into a tail spin.

That being said, adding the doc fix to the CBO where it should be and will probably end up in the next few weeks, changes everything. The health care bill actually loses money.

When even the San Francisco Chronicle, Speaker Pelosi's hometown newspaper, recognizes this budget gimmick, there is a problem.

Beyond these disputes, several budget gimmicks are used to hold down costs during the 10-year window: The bill starts revenue increases immediately but postpones major spending for four years; a $370 billion "doc fix" to increase Medicare payments to doctors was removed from the bill.

Today, the new CBO estimate, which includes the doc fix shows that in the first 10 years alone, the bill loses $59 billion.

You asked about the total budgetary impact of enacting the reconciliation
proposal (the amendment to H.R. 4872), the Senate-passed health bill
(H.R. 3590), and the Medicare Physicians Payment Reform Act of 2009
(H.R. 3961). CBO estimates that enacting all three pieces of legislation would add
$59 billion to budget deficits over the 2010–2019 period.
Under current law, Medicare’s payment rates for physicians’ services will be
reduced by about 21 percent in April 2010 and by an average of about 2 percent
per year for the rest of the decade.2

Of course, this is all information that the liberals will ignore on Sunday when they cast there vote.

Unfortunately, this means that every single liberal voting for this will have to spend the time between now and the election in November explaining to the American people why they purposefully mislead them.

If this passes, even President Obama will be running his next election on health care reform. He too will be stuck trying to explain why it is he defied the will of the people, slapped the American people in the face and chose to do what he wanted to anyway.

On Monday morning, if this passes on Sunday, the American people start taking their government to task and start figuring out ways to repeal this government control of our lives.

Right now, Washington is being inundated with over 100,000 phone calls an hour. That only gets worse on Monday.

The New New CBO Math

Okay, now this is confusing.

In 2009, the Senate healthcare bill CBO cost estimate was $871 billion and supposedly cut the deficit by $132 billion.

Today, the Senate bill combined with Pelosi's "fixes" costs even more, $940 billion and supposedly reduces the deficit by $138 billion.

???? We are spending billions more and also saving more at the same time?

How is that possible unless there are a mess of tax increases in the "fix" bill?

Apparently this is the new new math that we are teaching our children. Spend billions more and reduce the deficit!!!!

Health Care reform is secondary to Obama's legacy

Finally the Democrats are admitting it. The American people be damned, legislators are not really voting for health care reform, they are voting for President Obama again.

There are some Democrats that are finally admitting that they are voting for the health care bill in order to save Obama's presidency. The will of the people be damned, the Democrats must save President Obama.

Politico

One caucus member told POLITICO that Obama won him over by “essentially [saying] that the fate of his presidency” hinged on this week’s health reform vote in the House. The member, who requested anonymity, likened Obama’s remarks to an earlier meeting with progressives when the president said a victory was necessary to keep him “strong” for the next three years of his term.

Another caucus member, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), said, “We went in there already knowing his presidency would be weakened if this thing went down, but the president clearly reinforced the impression the presidency would be damaged by a loss.”

Added Serrano: “He was subtle, but that was the underlying theme of the meeting — the importance of passing this for the health of the presidency.”

Democrats were very excited yesterday over Rep. Dennis Kucinich flip flop to a "yes" vote. The Congressman made it pretty clear why he switched his vote, he did it to save the Obama presidency.

"You do have to be very careful that the potential of President Obama's presidency not be destroyed by this debate. Even though I have many differences with him on policy, there's something much bigger at stake here for America."

Passing a piece of legislation that the American people are defiantly against is going to "save" Obama's Presidency?

Seriously liberals, please explain the logic in that.

Democrats must think the American people are stupid

Honestly Democrats, do you think that the American people will not hold them responsible for this health care debacle if they pass it by the "deem and pass" rule?

Do the Democrats really believe that this garbage will actually provide them cover from angry constituents?

Do the Democrats really believe that this process of "deeming" a bill law without actually voting on it is okay with the American people?

These folks must think the American people are stupid. The American people are engaged in this debate. They know what is happening.

I was sitting in a restaurant yesterday afternoon. I was working on campaign stuff. Another couple were sitting there eating, but basically the rest of the place was empty. A new couple walked in and knew the first couple and the talk immediately turned to health care. The waitress jumped into the conversation also. From what I could tell, they were all disgusted with this health care mess. I could not tell if they were for or against the health care legislation but they sure were ticked about this voting mess.

Americans are not stupid. They are fully engaged. They do not want this garbage coming out of Congress. When do the Democrats decide to start listening to us?

ObamaCare vote: Call these Democrats

Here is a short list of Democrats that need to be called in order to keep the Democrats from defying the will of the people. Code Red alert.

There will be more as the week progresses:

1) Congressman Chris Carney (PA-10): PHONE - (570) 585-9988 | EMAIL - http://www.carney.house.gov/contact.shtml#email | WEBSITE - http://www.carney.house.gov/
 Vote on the House Bill: YES Current Status: UNDECIDED

2) Congressman Steve Driehaus (OH-01): PHONE - (513) 684-2723 | EMAIL - https://forms.house.gov/driehaus/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm | WEBSITE - http://driehaus.house.gov/
 Vote on the House Bill: YES Current Status: UNDECIDED

3) Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (AZ-08): PHONE - (520) 881-3588 | EMAIL - https://giffordsforms.house.gov/contact/email.shtml | WEBSITE - http://giffords.house.gov/
 Vote on the House Bill: YES Current Status: UNDECIDED

"Lifting America's spirit"

Yesterday, as I am reading an article by Peggy Noonan, my mind traveled to the palm of Governor Sarah Palin's hand.

Peggy Noonan writes:

And now here are two growing problems for Mr. Obama.

The first hasn’t become apparent yet, but I suspect will be presenting itself, and soon. In order to sharpen the air of crisis he seems to think he needed to get his health-care legislation passed, in order to continue the air of crisis that might justify expanding government and sustaining its costs, and in order, always, to remind voters of George W. Bush, Mr. Obama has harped on what a horror the economy is. How great our challenges, how wicked our businessmen, how dim our future.

This is a delicate business. You can’t be all rosy glow, you have to be candid. But attitude and mood matter. America has reached the point, a year and a half into the crisis, when frankly it needs some cheerleading. It can’t always be mourning in America. We need some inspiration from the top, need someone who can speak with authority of what is working and can be made to work, of what is good and cause for pride. We are still employing 130 million people, and America is still competitive in the world, with innovative business leaders and practices.

The president can’t be a hope purveyor while he’s a doom merchant, and he appears to believe he has to be a doom merchant to justify ramming through his legislation. This particular legislation is not worth that particular price.

Peggy Noonan is right, our country is depressed right now. Basically, Americans do not see a bright future and it is really beginning to show.

Ms. Noonan, no fan of Governor Palin, may not admit it, but clearly Governor Palin has recognized this as a problem.

Obviously, much has been written about the highlights written on Governor Palin's hand during her Tea Party Convention speech. As mentioned in Governor Palin's speech last night, at the Ohio RTL event, no one wants to talk about the substance that was written on her hand, just the fact that she wrote on her hand.

One of those highlights was "lift America spirits".

Our nation is in serious trouble right now. Americans cannot see a path forward out of this economic mess.

The truth is, not a single politician, not even the President of the United States can lift this country out of its fiscal crisis. No political party or protests can move this country forward either.

Regular ol' everyday Americans will be the ones to lift this country up. We need to see the "shining city on a hill". We may not be on top of that hill, but we need to be able to see the hill and start marching up the hillside.

Governor Palin was right about lifting America's spirit. As a nation, we have been here before and dug our way out. Our parents, grandparents and great great grandparents have all faced the same obstacles we are facing today.

America's spirit, determination, dignity, innovation and ingenuity dug us out of the hole and we can do it again. This is what Governor Palin spoke about that night at the convention and why it was highlighted on her hand. Americans need to hear that they can dig their way out and they need their leaders to simply point them in that direction and encourage them to keep moving.

America needs leadership. America needs hope.

I am not talking about false hope and cheerleading like we saw from Harry Reid and the President yesterday. 36,000 Americans losing their jobs is nothing to cheer about. Americans did not need this from its top leaders. We are not stupid, for heaven's sake.

What Americans did not need was the leader of the free world, traveling from country to country apologizing for Americans. We did not need our President running around the country claiming the best health care system in the world is broken. We did not need our President slamming corporate America, the very folks we need to create jobs. We have enough problems just trying to pay our bills from month to month, Americans do not need one more crisis.

Americans need a better environment and politicians can help create a good business environment. Politicians can encourage tax cuts for those Americans driving innovation and new technologies. American ingenuity is being squelched because it is massively over regulated. Get off our backs!

Politicians can create a positive environment for our businesses to grow and succeed. Americans need to know that their businesses will not be hammered by local, state and federal regulations and taxation. Success should not be punished and regulated into failure.

Governor Palin is right that it is time to lift America's spirit. Americans can dig their way out if they can simply get the government back on their side. No more tax increases. No more government strangling regulations on our businesses. No more apologizing to this nation's enemies.

Our President is worried about the success of his presidency and is so busy trying to prove that his stimulus worked, he has ignored the American people. The President needs to worry less about his own success and start worrying about the success of the American people. Presidents only succeed when the American people succeed.

I am proud to be an American. Americans should never apologize for being Americans. Even more, we should never apologize or be punished for being successful Americans.

Thank you Governor Palin for seeing the "shining city on a hill" and pointing Americans in that direction. We need a little more of this from the rest of America's politicians.

We can do this America. We can dig our way out, but we need to get this nation's leaders to back off and let us do it.

Okay, Democrats...Are you willing to give up your jobs?

There is a false assumption out in the media right now that the President plans on scaling back the Health Care bill and use Republican ideas.

It is all garbage. The only bill the President is backing is the Senate bill. That has not changed. There is no new bill.

All the President is doing is suggesting to Democrats that they accept some Republican ideas. Also, the idea that the backroom deals are gone, is also a crock. Unless Congress removes them, they are not gone.

President Obama has not written a new bill, nor will he write a bill. This would start the entire health care process over again.

Don't be fooled by the media or the Democrats.

Nothing has changed, they just want to give the impression that something has changed.

Vote already!

Nancy Pelosi continues to state that she has the votes necessary to pass the health care bill.

The White House stated on Sunday that they have the votes to pass the massive health care bill.

So why then, is the White House now sending out another proposal that is supposed to be half the costs of the current bills?

If the Democrats have the votes, then vote already!

How much is President Obama is drinking?

I had not really thought of it before, but apparently, President Obama's doctors are recommending:

The doctors also recommended "moderation of alcohol intake".

Hat tip:Drudge

Why would the doctors even make that recommendation, unless they thought there was a problem?

Will he or won't he run?

Am I the only person sick of the Tommy Thompson dance?

Like many others, I am sick of Tommy's ego dance. This hurts fundraising and such for the other two candidates that have their lives on hold as they run for office.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who served four terms as Wisconsin governor, is securing financial pledges and ramping up his outreach to longtime political aides in preparation for a possible campaign against Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.

Thompson has alerted his Washington-based law firm of his moves and is contacting key clients about the prospect of challenging Feingold, the most tangible signals yet that he’s seriously exploring a 2010 campaign.

“The governor has taken additional steps in the past week and will continue to do so over the next several weeks. If the meetings go well, you can expect to see an exploratory committee set up near the end of March,” former state commerce secretary and Thompson campaign manager Bill McCoshen told POLITICO.

Another longtime Thompson ally said the governor already has $200,000 in potential donations for a campaign that doesn’t yet exist.

“If you talked to me two weeks ago, I would have put it at a 50-50 shot. Now it’s at 70,” said the Thompson aide, who requested anonymity to avoid offending his friend. “He’s asking serious questions like, ‘Who would run the campaign? Who would do the fundraising? When would we announce? How much could we raise?’”

Despite Thompson’s steps, political insiders in both parties in Washington and Wisconsin remain skeptical of Thompson’s commitment to challenging Feingold, a three-term incumbent.

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