The American Spectator : Angle Wins, Toomey Loses?

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Angle Wins, Toomey Loses?

By Peter Ferrara on 10.20.10 @ 6:08AM

Sharron Angle didn't allow Harry Reid to demagogue Social Security. Pat Toomey will have to do the same to Joe Sestak.

Harry Reid didn't just vote for the failed, wasted, trillion dollar stimulus. As Senate Majority Leader, he led its enactment. And he didn't just vote for President Obama's record smashing federal spending, deficits, and debt. As Senate Majority Leader he led their enactment. And he didn't just vote for the TARP bailouts. As Senate Majority Leader even then, he led their enactment.

And Harry Reid didn't just support Obamacare. He, again, led its enactment.

Now in two weeks the voters of Nevada will have their chance to hold him accountable.

The Disgrace of Harry Reid

When Harry Reid became Senate Majority Leader in January, 2007, the nation's unemployment rate was 4.6%. Today it is well over twice that at 9.6%. In August, the unemployment rate in Nevada was a shocking, Depression level 14.4%, highest in the nation, higher even than in Michigan, suffering a long-term depression.

When Harry Reid became Senate Majority Leader, George Bush's failed economic policies of the past, as Barack Obama likes to call them, had just set a record of 52 straight months of job creation, which we can only dream about under President Obama's failed economic policies of the 1970s. Economic growth in the most recent quarter then was 3.5%, more than twice today's growth.

And when Harry Reid became Senate Majority Leader, we were in fiscal 2007. The budget the Republican controlled Congress adopted for that year resulted in a $161 billion deficit. Today's deficit is almost 10 times as high.

Maybe that is why the nation today, after nearly 4 years of Harry Reid's leadership, suffers record numbers in poverty and on food stamps, and why September saw record foreclosures at over 100,000. Nevada knows foreclosures, having suffered the nation's highest foreclosure rates for months, to go with its national leadership in bankruptcies.

But Harry Reid's greatest disgrace is his campaign. In millions of dollars of advertising financed by special interest donations, Harry Reid has accused Sharron Angle of wanting to do to Medicare what he has already done in leading passage of Obamacare.

Medicare RIP

The official documentation of the impact of Obamacare on Medicare is found in the latest Annual Report of the Medicare Board of Trustees. The data embodied in that report reveals that in the first 10 years of full implementation under Obamacare, 2014 to 2023, Medicare will be cut by over $1 trillion. Under the first 20 years of full implementation, the Medicare cuts total just under $5 trillion.

These draconian cuts were the basis for the CBO score repeatedly cited by President Obama that Obamacare would actually reduce the deficit while expanding or adopting three entitlement programs. Too bad the President never disclosed that. In last week's debate with Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle, instead of disowning these cuts, Reid actually took credit for them, saying, "We, according to the Congressional Budget Office, have been told that we will reduce the debt by $1.3 trillion…including extending the life of Medicare for 12 years."

These are mostly cuts in the payments to doctors and hospitals for the medical services they provide to seniors under Medicare. Such extreme cuts would create havoc and chaos in health care for seniors. Doctors, hospitals, surgeons and specialists providing critical care to the elderly, such as surgery for hip and knee replacements, sophisticated diagnostics through MRIs and CT scans, and even treatment for cancer and heart disease, will shut down and disappear in much of the country, and others will stop serving Medicare patients. If the government is not going to pay, then seniors are not going to get the health services, treatment, and care they expect.

Medicare's Chief Actuary reports that even before these cuts, already two-thirds of hospitals were losing money on Medicare patients. He further reports that ultimately under Obamacare Medicare payment rates will be only half of what is paid by Medicaid, where the poor often can't find access to essential care. Health providers will either have to withdraw from serving Medicare patients, or eventually go into bankruptcy.

Effectively refusing to pay the doctors and hospitals that provide the medical care Medicare promises to seniors is no way to solve Medicare's financing problems. That would not only suddenly leave seniors suffering sickness without the health care they have been promised, and have come to rely on as a result. It would suddenly leave doctors, clinics, specialists, and hospitals with uneconomic practices for seniors that they entered in good faith on the promise of payment from the government.

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About the Author

Peter Ferrara is Senior Fellow at the Carleson Center for Public Policy, Director of Entitlement and Budget Policy for the Heartland Institute, and General Counsel of the American Civil Rights Union. He served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under the first President Bush. He is the author of America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb, now available from HarperCollins.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (29) | Leave a comment

Booger| 10.20.10 @ 6:11AM

From the desk of D. Mephistopheles, Attorney-at-Law

Dear Senator Reid,

Well, I must say, I'm a bit nonplussed at these latest poll numbers. It is, quite frankly, looking rather grim for you this November.

If you will refer to the terms of our previous contractual arrangement (page 512, paragraph 103, line 49) you will see that failure on your part to secure re-election stipulates that your contract shall be due for full and immediate payment to the principal member of this firm. You have, of course, been in the Senate for twenty-four years now, the normal amount of time we allot for such contracts. I should add that our principal and founding member is rightly well-known for being a stickler in these matters.

Please refrain from protesting about the terms being "unfair". I have heard more than enough of that prattle to last me several eternities down here. As you well recall (and I do have the video, audio and spectral documentation to prove it) you were allowed to select the Republican candidate of your choice to face in the general election, in return for which you guaranteed to keep Nevada's Senate seat on Our Side. You assured us that Sharon Angle would be a suitably weak opponent, and that you would offer her up as a "sacrificial lamb".

You should also remember my STRONG warnings against taking a "sacrificial lamb" for granted, and the havoc such individuals have been known to cause for Our Side. You assured me that such would not be the case. Yet look at you now, grovelling before us and asking for "more time" and "another chance". I assure you, Ours is not the side which dispenses grace. It appears you are on the verge of losing the Senate seat which represents Our Great Bastion, Sin City itself, to the thrice-cursed other side! Do you think we will look kindly on such incompetence? This pathetic "sacrificial lamb" you requested and received opposes Our Beautiful Culture of Death, making all sorts of ridiculous arguments for the "sanctity of life" and such nonsense. She defends the hateful doctrine of "human rights" and "freedom", all of which she attributes to some "creator"! How dare you lose Our Great Stronghold to her!

So, Senator Reid, you wish to make a new deal, when we already own you? Very well. I will propose a new deal for you if you lose this seat to the thrice-cursed other side. Following the November election, there will be a "lame duck" session of your Congress and Senate before the servants of the other side can take over their stolen seats. In this "lame duck" session you will perform Our Will as never before. Deeds which would have caused even Barney Frank or Charlie Rangel pause will be your hallmark. You will enact law after law, stripping every last freedom from this benighted country of yours, until the foolish bitter clingers among your countrymen finally realize how pathetic their futile "faith" is and surrender to our cause. Do this, and perhaps we can offer you an extension before we take Full and Final possession of that which was yours but is now ours. Fail us in this, and the execution of our terms will be even more exacting than before.

I'll have my people fax the paperwork over to your people. Remember to have it notarized, and for crying out loud, get it back to me before Friday night. I hate having to mess with this stuff on the weekend. Say hi to Rory for me. Looks like that one could have a GREAT future with the firm himself.

Your friend and admirer,

D. Mephistopheles, Attorney-at-Law

dw| 10.20.10 @ 1:11PM

From the desk of Harry Reid
U.S. Senator, Nevada

Dear Meph,

All that I am I owe to you, all that I have I owe to you, all that I will be depends on you.

When I signed over my soul to you I did so willfully, realizing you would give me wealth and stature in return. You more than kept your end of the bargain and I feel I have kept my end.

I wish to present in my defence the fact that this country is further down the road to communism than ever before, as you directed. I know that, as you ordered, I did my part in supporting my fellow agent and your contractee, Obama, as he organized the forces you have unleashed to accomplish your prime directive. We've done so much and I feel I was an important part of that effort.

While it is true that I hand picked my opponent in this election, it is also true that you were supposed to continue your "spell" over the electorate as you have done in the past. I have seen my usual supporters act as they have always responded in the past, but for some reason too many others seem as though they have not been affected by your influence. I say this with all due respect and I am in no way criticizing your magnificence. I only wish to offer this as a humble excuse for my shortcomings. Never before have my words been so harshly examined or questioned and it seems I did not properly understand the degree to which what I said years ago would come back to haunt me. You had instructed me to rant on about the Iraq war being lost and that damn Angle used it against me. Where'd that come from?

Meph, you all knew when you signed me up that I was not the sharpest tool in the shed, even I admit that... (remember the jokes Adolf, Joe and Karl kicked around about me)... but that is the exact reason I told you I would need all the extra help you could give. Look, I am downright stupid and I only point this out in order to shore up future activities in this regard. I am sorry for saying this and you know I love you, so I hope you will not visit me with punishment tonight, I am not sure how much more I can handle right now.

Thank you very much for giving me a new deal. Of course, you can be assured that with your help, I will do all that you desire to further your goals. As before, I assume Obama will lead this effort to impose your will and that through him you will relay your orders to me.

Please forgive my mistakes, as I bow to your greatness.

Long live Mephistopheles and may your reign on earth last forever.

Thank you again for this second chance.

Your servant,
Harry

wodiej| 10.20.10 @ 3:31PM

LOL...these are hilarious.

Nancy in NC| 10.20.10 @ 4:48PM

Booger and dw...you guys are too clever. Have you ever considered politics? I think you would make a great team!

dw| 10.20.10 @ 8:02PM

Booger is the man.

Tim*| 10.20.10 @ 7:06AM

Republican Pat Toomey now holds a 10-point lead over Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, the widest gap between the candidates since early April in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Pennsylvania shows Toomey earning 49% of the vote, while Sestak picks up 39% support. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, but a sizable 10% remain undecided less than three weeks before Election Day.

The race now moves from Leans GOP to Solid GOP in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

Tim*| 10.20.10 @ 7:11AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican challenger Sharron Angle remain locked in a tight race for the U.S. Senate in Nevada in the first survey following last Thursday night’s debate.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Angle with 50% to Reid’s 47%. Two percent (2%) prefer another candidate in the race, and one percent (1%) are undecided.

Both Sharron Angle and Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey are Tea Party Candidates.

The Tea Party Rebellion Escalaltes.

Rise Up In Rebellion !

Lawrence Boccardi| 10.20.10 @ 7:21AM

Hey Tim? Are you sure about Toomey leading in the polls? I heard, yesterday, about a poll showing Sestak ahead by 1 point? Was that a ruse to fool supporters into continued funding?

George True| 10.20.10 @ 9:29AM

I don't remember the name of the organization that conducted the poll you are referring to, but I did read that they are funded by the DNC. They oversample Democrats, and they poll registered voters as opposed to LIKELY voters, as Rasmussen does. I would disregard this poll.

Texas Mom 2012| 10.20.10 @ 11:57AM

In order to get Sestak ahead of Toomey in their poll they assumed a higher percentage of Democrats, stagnant independent turnout and FEWER Rupublicans would turn out in this election cycle. Ridiculous assumptions based on all the polling on voter enthusiasm among Rs is sky rocking and the Dems are popping antidepressants...
As I learned when programming in the old Cobol language, GIGO. This poll was Garbage In, Garbage Out!!!

Kishego| 10.20.10 @ 2:31PM

It was the PPP (Public Policy Polling, I think that's what the PPP stands for. They constantly pump out polling data slanted to the left. As George stated, they over sample democrats.

Mark James| 10.20.10 @ 10:39AM

The cited poll also made some very favorable turn out assumptions that are patently silly, such as Dems would show up in droves and Repubs would stay home.

Tim*| 10.20.10 @ 7:34AM

Yup !
Our Tea Party Candidate Toomey's has Led Sestak for months .

Aaaaand , They Debate Tonight .
Rasmussen came in 1st in The Fordham University Study of 23 Public Polling Firms Accuracy for The 2008 Presidential Election

Bob K.| 10.20.10 @ 8:08AM

Mr. Ferrara,

Good points but a bit complex for many of the voters.

The demographics of PA and Nevada are much different. PA has a very aging population and Social Security is a 3rd Rail issue here.

Congressman Sestak will invent issues about it!

The best response to this is for Toomey to keep things simple and fire back that CONGRESSMAN
Joe Sestak and his staff and all the government employees got cost of living raises last year but no Social Security recipient did. (And emphasize that Sestak is a Congressional Incumbent!)

That is what the Republican challenger Lou Barletta, in the 11th District of PA, is doing to incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski. Polls show that it is working.

It's a pocket book issue in a down economy that
affects senior citizens and it affects an awful lot of them in PA.

Remember the acronym KISS!

SpiralArchitect| 10.20.10 @ 1:48PM

It sure is a good thing that O'Bummer nor Dirty Harry never saw 'Logan's Run' or Obama care would be a LOT diferent!

Rmm| 10.20.10 @ 9:07AM

In any other election cycle, Angle would not stand a chance against the Senate Majority Leader. But given that Reed is joined at the hip to O, he has the cross-hairs on him. People are just sick and tired of listening to the dynamic duo spinning their yarn about a vision that has failed miserably to bring this country out of our malaise.
And, by the way, just read that Harry lives in a pent
house suite in the Ritz-Carlton in DC. Let them eat cake.

SpiralArchitect| 10.20.10 @ 1:50PM

Harry is indeed 'dirty'. Very pleased to reside in Nevada so I can vote against Reid - in any election cycle/year.

Redstateboy| 10.20.10 @ 9:49AM

Can you believe (well I guess ya could) the disengeniousness of the Rats??!? A bunch of em' are now slam'n Nazi Pelosi, running or hiding from Hussien and some are saying they want to be elected to FIX HussienCare to make it workable! Why would anyone for any of these Rats is beyond me except if they're expecting a handout for it.

Al Adab| 10.20.10 @ 11:38AM

The Republicans, not Conservatives, still fail to grasp the magnitude of the issue underlying the citizens displeasure. They would do well to consider what options the citizens retain should they fail again to roll back this Leviathan-like tyranny which has been foisted upon us.

Unless Conservatives preponderate in this election and act on the principles which bring them success, the business as usual Republican establishment - the country club set, the RINOs, the accomodationist wing - will find the alternatives retained by the people not to anyone's liking.

Kishego| 10.20.10 @ 2:41PM

You are spot on with that Al, it's going to take more than 1 election to get rid of these old guard, panty waste, spinless republicans. I've already heard that McConnel and Boehner want to " bring civility back to congress". Hearing them talk like this makes my blood boil. I don't want civility, or "comity" in congress. I don't want bi-partisanship, that just continues the road we are on. We need hard core partisanship, "hand to hand combat" to quote the lame one.

Al Adab| 10.20.10 @ 2:52PM

Thanks Kishego,
What now we have to dread is to possibility that the Democrats who survive after Nov. 2 will be so arrogant in their pride and power that they become insufferable. Consider what a re-elected Ried or a Coons will do given the chance.

Let us hope that the ballot box is sufficient for the alternatives are bitter to contemplate.

Barney Murrell| 10.20.10 @ 1:33PM

Those who support strict Constitutionalism and a “small government conservative agenda” should take note of what it really is. Conservative Republican plutocrats use control of government to redistribute income upwards (“trickle up”) while performing the remarkable feat of convincing naive citizens that “government is the problem” (Reagan, 1-20-1981).

For example, the 1934 textbook “Labor Economics and Labor Problems,” stated that earlier in the 20th century:
* The richest 2 percent (plutocrats) owned 40 percent of all American wealth
* The middle 33 percent (merchants and wealthy farmers) owned 45 percent
* And the poorest 65 percent (blue-collar and poor farmers) owned only fifteen percent.

Reverse of “trickle up” economics changed only after conservative Republicans were replaced with Democrats and moderate Republicans (FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter) between 1932 and 1980.

Between 1935 and 1975 taxpayer income per quintile changed as follows:
* The bottom 20 percent (the poor) income increased from 4.1 to 4.3 percent of all income
* The second 20 percent increased from 9.2 to 10.4 percent
* The third 20 percent increased from 14.1 to 17.1 percent
* The fourth 20 percent increased from 20.9 to 24.7 percent
* The fifth 20 percent (the wealthy) decreased from 51.7 to 43.4 percent
* In addition, income of the top 5 percent decreased from 26.5 to 16.3 percent
(“Economics,” p763, 7th Edition 1978).

For two hundred years America fought wars, constructed canals and the interstate highway system, placed men on the moon; and much more. In spite of it all the American national debt was less than $1 trillion.

However, that all changed after conservative Ronald Reagan won the 1980 presidential election. After which “trickle up” economics became known as “supply-side” economics with the same results; i.e., plutocrats became much richer at the expense of the bottom 80 percent of taxpayers.

Between 1979 and 2007 (Reagan and GW Bush) taxpayer income changed per Congressional Budget Office Data as follows:
* Income of the wealthiest top 1 percent increased from 9.3 to 19.4 percent of all income
* Income of the top 20 percent increased from 45.5 to 55.9 percent
* The bottom 80 percent’s share of all U.S. income went down
*And the national debt increased to $10+ trillion.
(http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/tax/2010/pre-tax_income_shares.pdf)

Also, for another example, see “Wealth Disparities in U.S. Approaching 1920s Levels,” http://seekingalpha.com/articl.....b_popular.

And IRS data, “The 400 Individual Income Tax Returns Reporting Highest AGI… 1992-2007,” http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/07intop400.pdf.”

Nancy in NC| 10.20.10 @ 5:05PM

And what is the point? The road we are now traveling will destroy the middle class, and we can all share the misery of the poor.

Only freedom and liberty give us all an opportunity to achieve success. Do you really think that government gives a hoot about you? It's up to us as individuals to make our way in the world; just keep government pretty much out of the way and we all have a chance.

Al Adab| 10.20.10 @ 6:04PM

Thank you Nancy for the succinct comment. We are guranteed opportunity not success; the pursuit of not happiness itself. While the Left adhers to Marxist class distinctions, Conservatives see unique individuals with the opportunity to achieve. Government exists to allow that opportunity.

SpiralArchitect| 10.20.10 @ 1:56PM

Just spewing raw data or do you have a point?

Your presentation implies you prefer the socialist approach to economics and personal wealth.

Do you think that people should not keep the money they earn?

Is it wrong for people to make a profit?

Why vilify a capitialistic approach to life... does the thought of prosperity frighten and enrage you that much?

J.P. Travis| 10.20.10 @ 6:54PM

Does anybody else wonder, after watching the debate Friday and after listening to some of Harry Reid's weird statements and gaffes over the last couple of years, whether something is wrong with him? http://www.jpattitude.com/101019.php I'm not saying this to be funny or cruel. Just LOOK at the man talk.

Tim*| 10.20.10 @ 7:10PM

Pat Toomey is debating Sestak right now.

Toomey hit Sestak with the fact that Toomey & his brothers hired hundreds of workers for their restaurants.
Stephanopoulos asked Toomey about Palin's endorsement and Toomey said he welcomed it .

Sestak is reduced to complaining about neighboring Delaware's Chris O'Donnell .

More later .....

Tim*| 10.20.10 @ 7:27PM

Sestak says " Palin, Toomey & O'Donnell want to repeal Roe ".

Toomey rebuts that he is Pro-Life, as is Pennsylvania's other Senator, a Democrat .

Toomey says, " Sestak is Seriously Misrememberin' "

Toomey says, " Sestak wants a civilian trial for Shaik Mohammed "

Sestak says that he, Sestak is unique in Pennsylvania
Toomey says no other Pennsylvania Official agrees with Sestak ,who's extreme .

More later......

Tim*| 10.20.10 @ 8:13PM

Toomey is discussing Pennsylvania Companies, like Air Products with overseas operations that Pennsylvania Air Product workers depend on for their jobs and Pennsylvania Medical Devices Companies that are being hampered by Obama's Agenda.

Sestak is talking about Health Care & that everybody in the military has it .

Toomey is hammering out of control spending , crappy education choice, earmarks and taxes .

Sestak says his mom was a public school teacher.

Toomey says Sestak has voted repeatedly with the teachers union agenda