Modern News

Harry Reid defends his “slavery” remark.

“At pivotal points in American history, the tactics of distortion and delay have certainly been present,” Reid said. “They’ve certainly been used to stop progress. That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s what’s happening here. It’s very clear. That’s the point I made — no more, no less. Anyone who willingly distorts my comments is only proving my point.”

Setting aside for the moment that Reid is wrong on history, let’s look at another facet of the accusation.

This Wall Street Journal article muses on the mystery of Harry Reid as it covers Reid’s slavery statements and scapegoating of the Republican Party, calling him “an inspiration to dour, foolish men everywhere.”

Given the breadth and scope of the health care legislation that Senator Reid, et al. are pushing, perhaps they also need a reminder of what slavery means:

slav·er·y (slā’və-rē, slāv’rē)
n. pl. slav·er·ies

1. The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household.
2. a. The practice of owning slaves.
b. A mode of production in which slaves constitute the principal work force.
3. The condition of being subject or addicted to a specified influence.
4. A condition of hard work and subjection: wage slavery.

Senator Mitch McConell outlines 10 things we should know about the healthcare bill.

• The Democrat bill includes nearly half a trillion dollars in new taxes that hit virtually every American, including middle class families making less than $250,000 a year.

• The Democrat bill would increase insurance premiums for individuals and families.

• The Democrat bill cuts Medicare for seniors by nearly half a trillion dollars ($465 billion) and limits the choices that millions of seniors now enjoy.

• The Democrat bill won’t lower health care costs according to the Congressional Budget Office.

• The true cost of this bill over 10 years, when fully implemented, is about $2.5 trillion.

• Under the Democrat bill, if you like the health insurance you have, you may not be able to keep it.

• The Democrat bill would let government bureaucrats dictate what kind of health plans Americans must purchase and what benefits they can receive.

• The Democrat bill creates a government plan that CBO has said would have higher premiums.

• The Democrat bill would, for the first time in history, allow federal programs to pay for elective abortions.

• Finally, Americans should know that this bill doesn’t have the common-sense reforms that they have been asking for all along, like getting rid of junk lawsuits and leveling the playing field when it comes to health care taxes.

In addition to those 10 things, there is a mandate that says you have to buy health insurance and creates at least 111 new bureaucracies.

Projection is a term that should be employed more in politics and is defined as: The tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way (Source).

Slavery is a condition of servitude that bestows power for some to wield over others. One wonders if Harry Reid will, “belatedly” or otherwise, recognize the wrongs he is choosing to commit today.

When huge percentages of the profits from our labor go to support those in power and those they set up as the arbiters of our conduct (bureaucracies) against our own self interests, are we not then slaves?

Who decides? Us or “Them”?

Senator Reid says “trust him.” Do you?

Should you?

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Hope? Not much. Change? More than you bargained for.

As Day 2 of the Copenhagen Climate Summit is wrapping up, we find that the United Nations declares the hacked emails unimportant.

“Nothing that has come out in the public as a result of the recent email hackings has cast doubt on the basic scientific message on climate change and that message is quite clear — that climate change is happening much, much faster than we realized and we human beings are the primary cause,” he said.

In addition to Ban Ki Moon’s declaration, we find there’s a leaked document, called the “Danish text” that is causing an uproar that is rippling through the summit as details show that it puts poorer nations at a disadvantage in the regulation of carbon emissions. (Complete “Danish text” can be found here.)

The United Nations President’s sentiments echoes those of our own President Obama.

From Obama’s press secretary:

The White House is shrugging off the Climate-gate e-mails.

“I think there’s no real scientific basis for the dispute of (global warming),” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this week.

To his science czar:

And Obama’s top science adviser, John Holdren, downplayed the e-mails Friday, telling Congress that the controversy involves a small group of scientists and how they have interpreted and shared global warming data.

“It’s important to understand that these kinds of controversies and even accusations of bias and improper manipulation are not all that uncommon in science, in all branches of science,” he said at a congressional hearing.

John Holdren is right about one thing. It’s not uncommon in science to have controversies. However rarely does science describe itself as settled which is a theme that has been repeated over several years. There is no consensus in science. But, when you politicize science you get: Climategate.

And since it is politics the expose of the climate emails and data don’t matter.

Here is what matters to the politicians via the Times UK summary of the “Danish text.”

A confidential analysis of the text by developing countries also seen by the Guardian shows deep unease over details of the text. In particular, it is understood to:

• Force developing countries to agree to specific emission cuts and measures that were not part of the original UN agreement;

• Divide poor countries further by creating a new category of developing countries called “the most vulnerable”;

• Weaken the UN’s role in handling climate finance;

• Not allow poor countries to emit more than 1.44 tonnes of carbon per person by 2050, while allowing rich countries to emit 2.67 tonnes.

And how do those developing countries feel about it?

Developing countries that have seen the text are understood to be furious that it is being promoted by rich countries without their knowledge and without discussion in the negotiations.

“It is being done in secret. Clearly the intention is to get [Barack] Obama and the leaders of other rich countries to muscle it through when they arrive next week. It effectively is the end of the UN process,” said one diplomat, who asked to remain nameless.

Should they be upset? Apparently so since it’s “settled.”

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How else should one view the Republican National Committee’s idea of creating a litmus test for conservatism? As one person put it:

“We already have screen tests in place, and they are called Republican voters. If a candidate doesn’t support the principles of the party, Republican voters aren’t going to choose them as a candidate, which renders the whole coordinated-funds issue completely moot,” the strategist said. “Respectfully, some of these committee members need to take a step back and realize this is unnecessarily harmful.”

All such a rule will do is allow a potential candidate to gloss over past actions by signing a nonbinding piece of paper in order to receive funds.

We already have a litmus test and it’s called the Constitution. It is a litmus test that can, and should, be applied to candidates of any party, including the main two.

The money quote is here (emphasis mine):

Members of the conservative group within the RNC tell The Washington Times that, besides aiming to make the GOP more consistently and reliably conservative by promoting lower taxes, keeping spending levels in check and focusing on national security, they want to head off an already emerging third party inspired by the anti-spending tea-party movement.

Message to the RNC: The more you try to control, the less control you will have. The actions you’re considering will insure that a third party develops rather than prevention.

Gimmicks are what got you to your present state. The litmus test you are considering is no different from a habitual liar asking for forgiveness for those lies, who, once forgiveness is granted, repeats the offense only to repeatedly need forgiveness for the same transgression, until it has become habitual and expected.

Actions over words, RNC. Then, perhaps, you’ll understand the tea party movement. By the way, the tea parties are not all about Republicans. It’s government as a whole and the fact that people are becoming unable to tell the difference between the two parties, regardless of which has the majority.

If you build a conservative party, people will join you. But, please get rid of the gimmicks. The gullible party is “over there.”

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The Hill categorizes the Saturday vote as a rarity. One believes it will become more a normal course of business for this Congress as it proceeds with unpopular legislation. The House of Representatives used the same tactic, which was also called rare. How many times can it be done before its no longer a rare occurrence?

There is some doubt about its passage and the bribes (legal since it’s pork) are coming out strong.

Congressional offices are closed on Saturdays. It’s also payday for the average American and they’re off doing other things such as running errands or recreational activities. Yesterday the phone system collapsed as people tried to reach their Senators due to one of the most massive bill in this country’s history, if it passes. However, there is still voicemail.

The crucial vote to move the health care bill is the one for cloture scheduled for 8 P.M tonight. Many politicians are indicating they will vote for cloture “to move it forward for debate on the floor.” Senator Mitch McConnell says a vote for cloture is a vote for the bill.

He’s right. A report from the CRS shows that 97% of bills approved through cloture become law.

What price your freedom? For Mary Landrieu it’s $100 million. One sold it for more. Others sold it for less.

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• Reid unveils Senate health bill (news.bbc.co.uk)

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With all the raging health care debate, not much attention has been paid to what governors think. We have 50 of them in this country. TN’s Governor Phil Bredesen opposes the bill even as TN 05 Representative Jim Cooper votes in favor of it in the House.

Gov. Phil Bredesen continues to earn praise from members of the National Federation of Independent Business for sounding the alarm on the impact that proposed health-care reform will have on Tennessee.

The governor fully understands our state’s finite resources cannot satisfy infinite wants. That’s why he reined in TennCare, and that’s why he’s taking a hard stand against HR 3962, which would further increase Medicaid costs, leaving Tennessee with a $1.3 billion tab.

Bredesen, like Romney as governor of Massachussetts, knows full well the financial drain “free” health care puts on the state as a whole. Other states are trumpeting the 10th Amendment as a way out.

As with most federal government mandated programs the individual states share in the costs of implementation. Is this a thing to do during an economic crisis? Yet, Congress proceeds in spite of the objections of the states’ governors.

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San Fransisco area independent book stores aren’t carrying Sarah Palin’s autobiography.

Some of the comments included in the article (emphasis mine):

“Our customers are thinking people,” said Nathan Embretson, a bookseller at Pendragon Books in Oakland. “They’re not into reading drivel.”

“Anything like that we wouldn’t carry,” said clerk Emily Stackhouse. “We’re a small store and it would probably gross us all out. Some things you carry because of freedom of speech, but a book like that is just gross.”

From Sheryl Cotleur, the head buyer for Book Passage:

“Nobody around here is particularly interested in her politics or her opinions,” she said. “There’s a certain curiosity, sure. But I don’t think that translates into what people are willing to pay money for.”

Wait a minute! Didn’t Mr. Embretson say their customers were thinking people? Yet Ms. Corleur claims a lack of interest. One would think that someone as seemingly hated as Palin would be examined as intensely as possible for reasson countering those things for which Palin stands.

Further in, the article details one customer who claims to be a conservative from Montana, now an accountant in the city. Perhaps his quip that Mrs. Palin is “A lightning rod” provides the clue of why San Franciscans won’t buy the book.

It’s not that they’re not thinkers. It’s not that it would gross them out. It’s not a lack of interest.

They’re afraid of lightning but don’t want to admit it?

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