The American Spectator

Pete| 3.15.10 @ 10:16AM

Not that they care from a practical standpoint, but won't that further jack up costs and thereby hurt their chances?

Lockandload| 3.15.10 @ 10:19AM

Now with the threat of a Ethics probes, such as was made to Stupak, and who knows what else, the deals will be made. Representatives who are voted out will no doubt have rewards we can only imagine.

Roger| 3.15.10 @ 10:23AM

Open their mouths and lies fall out, today is no different than yesterday or the day before that. Don't expect See B.S. or any of the other legacy outlets to point this out however. It's breathtaking how little outrage there is until you get as far out as How Weird Dean or Dennis Kusinich on the left.

John3| 3.15.10 @ 10:56AM

The end justifies the means. Machiavelli would have been proud of this government.

Tim| 3.15.10 @ 12:13PM

"There was resistance, however, from two committee chairman, Democratic Sens. Max Baucus of Montana and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and the White House has apparently backed down. "

The Doddfather made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

SoCon| 3.15.10 @ 12:26PM

Why is Obama screwing Nebraska over? Too many white people?

Ken (Old Texican)| 3.15.10 @ 12:54PM

“Red Dawn” …in America
I fully expect to see that headline somewhere very prominently if this abomination passes.

Those of you old enough to have seen the movie by that title will recall that after the missiles stopped falling, the Communists were foolhardy enough to put “boots on the ground” here in the US. OOPs!
Those Soviet troops found themselves facing a nightmare a hundred times worse than they found in Afghanistan. Instead of scattered illiterate ragamuffin Jihadists, they found a whole bunch of courageous young people, stiffened and mentored by a bunch of old military vets.

Yep, the movie focuses upon a microcosm of young people fighting a guerilla action against the Soviets. In the self-same fashion, if the “missiles” of mass destruction from Washington actually do fall… whatever form they take… the battle will have just begun! Where are the communists, (pardon the shorthand), going to find “boots” to put on the ground?
The IRS? Our own military? Will they re-institute the Draft? Will they “draft” gangstas from da ‘hood?
Look, folks, “capital” has already gone Galt. When we in the “entrepreneur/ small business” community go Galt…..the communists have no choices except the above.
What then?

Bob| 3.15.10 @ 1:00PM

Again, Philip, it is what you left out that is important. These are Medicaid funds. They will be spent by a combination of federal and state funds. So this is not a case of spending more total money. All the "Cornhusker Amendment" did was get the money from the federal budget so the state wouldn't have to spend it. The reason it is bad, is that it isn't fair to the other states who must balance their budgets.

You guys at AmSpec seem to cover over the point that even without this kickback, the same monies will be spent. But as I see from the responses, the lack of knowledge by your readership lets you get away with this. Hopefully, you know better.

The real problem is that we spend too much on Medicare and Medicaid -- and this "kickback" doesn't address that...

SoCon| 3.15.10 @ 1:18PM

Oh, shut up, hockey stick Bob. Go somewhere else and spew your stupid liberal lies.

Moron.

Bob| 3.15.10 @ 3:10PM

I thought you religious extremists are supposed to turn the other cheek???? You sound much more like Muslim fundamentalists...

If you even understood the "hockey stick" argument, your post might have merit. But alas, you don't.... By the way, I'm far more conservative than you. I'd save a lot of money by reducing Medicare (i.e., killing Grandma), but you're not a fiscal conservative, you wouldn't...

SoCon| 3.15.10 @ 3:18PM

Yeah sure, Bob. I'm just tired of your lies masquerading as fact. If anyone's an extremist here it's a Christian hating, flaming atheist like you.

Not only are you a troll, you're a dimwitted troll.

John E. Vande Woude| 3.15.10 @ 2:25PM

On January 21, 2009 President Obama proclaimed that “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of his presidency” and promised "a new era of openness in our country". Shortly thereafter, on his first day of office, President Obama signed executive orders relating to ethics guidelines for staff members of his administration and vowed that he would set a new standard for honest behavior in Washington.

Within weeks of being sworn in as Commander in Chief, President Obama appointed Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary ─ someone who did not pay self-employment taxes for several years, even though he had acknowledged his obligation to do so. No biggie, Geithner paid $34,000 in back taxes to the IRS and was confirmed as Treasury Secretary.

President Obama nominated Tom Daschle as Health and Human Services Secretary. Tom ultimately withdrew his nomination after it was discovered that he failed to disclose money he had earned over a 3 year period as a paid consultant to InterMedia Partners. No biggie, Daschle paid $140,167 in back taxes and currently makes millions as a lawyer in the private sector.

What about Bill Richardson, the Governor of New Mexico, who President Obama tapped for Commerce Secretary? No biggie, Bill withdrew his nomination amid a Federal Investigation into “pay-to-play” allegations involving a firm that improperly won more than $1.4 million in work for the state of New Mexico (shortly after making contributions to his political action committees).

Then there was Hilda Solis, President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Labor. No biggie either, she paid $6,400 to settle a 16 year old tax lien and was confirmed.

And what about Obama’s own ethics rule barring lobbyists from joining his administration if the work they will be performing involves issues they have lobbied on in the last two years. On the very same day he announced this rule, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner picked a former Goldman Sachs financial lobbyist Mark Patterson as his Chief of Staff despite the fact that Mark had lobbied in Washington on behalf of Goldman Sachs 10 months earlier. This rule was also waived for William Lynn, who lobbied for a defense contractor in 2008. William Lynn was appointed as Deputy Defense Secretary.

Shall I continue?

What about “Sunlight Before Signing” whereby the President promised that all non-emergency legislation would be posted on the Whitehouse Website for Public Review (for 5 days) before signing? Regarding the same, the following message has been posted on the White House Website since February 26, 2009.

"Since a few questions have come in, we want to update you on the President's campaign commitment to introducing more sunlight into the lawmaking process by posting non-emergency legislation online for five days before signing it. This policy will be implemented in full soon; currently we are working through implementation procedures and some initial issues with the congressional calendar."

Wake up people!

Is this the “hope and change” you voted for?

The people who voted for President Obama are hoping he changes into the person they believed he was before he became President. Conversely, I am hoping he doesn't change so we can take back Congress in the mid-term elections and the Presidency in 2012.

Nick| 3.15.10 @ 6:48PM

Pay no attention to 3/5 Bob's comments above, folks.

For those who don't know, he is known as 3/5 Bob, because until last June, he thought that blacks had 3/5 of a vote, under the original U.S. Constitution.

He also doesn't know the scientific fact of when human biological life begins because he is unsure of when "ensoulment" happens.

He also claimed he translated the Bible from the original Aramaic when he was a teenager.

He is a pseudo-intellectual and an anti-Christian bigot.

Don't waste your time arguing with him.

mbt| 3.15.10 @ 9:33PM

Our shop that mainly engaged in mbt Brands,where sale MBT shoes.MBT shoe is a perfect shoe,which be for physiological.Here you can enjoy discount mbt shoes without tax.you can buy cheap mbt shoes which have a positive effect on our body.

fitness| 3.16.10 @ 2:14AM

Our website mainly wholesale mbt shoes, where you can buy a variety of discount mbt shoes.You can make a purchase online and buy mbt shoes with free shipping.At the same time,you will enjoy more discount.

Bijaya| 5.9.10 @ 2:13PM

How Obama administration can say okay to the health care reform bill,it's not getting enough support from senate too.So Obama should investigate or think twice about it before passing this bill.Fire Resistant Clothing

Superman| 11.10.10 @ 11:24AM

Bijaya,

I agree completely with you. piriformis pain

casque sans fil| 11.24.10 @ 5:28PM

I agree too with you Bijaya. Thanks for this nice discussion!