Abandon Ship? Follow the leader, guys

Well it’s been roughly a day since Scott Brown’s amazing upset in Massachusetts, so how are North Dakota’s national representatives and senators taking the news?  Discounting the retiring Senator Byron Dorgan of course.

Let’s take a look at the scorecard so far, starting with Representative Earl Pomeroy!  According to this story compiled by HotAir, Rep. Pomeroy is believed to be in the running for CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers.

“Several high-profile Democrats, including North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy and former Sen. Bob Kerrey (Neb.), are said to be in the running to fill former Oklahoma Republican Gov. Frank Keating’s post as CEO and president of the American Council of Life Insurers,” Roll Call (subscription) reports.

Pomeroy looking for a golden parachute into the insurance industry?

And perhaps the most interesting thing about this position at ACLI is that:

Sen. Dorgan’s wife, Kim Dorgan, is senior executive vice president for public policy at the American Council of Life Insurers, its top lobbying position.

Insurance Industry Losing Two Senate Allies

Ready to abandon ship for the private sector, are we?  Isn’t that just sweet?  So we have Dorgan leaving, and with all talk about retiring, maybe Pomeroy will look to his colleague’s wife’s organization and wonder…what if? 

So who does that leave, Senator Kent Conrad?  Maybe it’s time for this bastion of public integrity to catch retirement fever as well, given this outrageous bit of conniving to push Obamacare through:

The Senate Budget Committee Chairman said Wednesday he’s willing to use special rules to force changes to the healthcare legislation through the Senate with a simple majority vote.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) made clear his openness to applying budget reconciliation to healthcare, a position he opposed prior to this week’s special election in Massachusetts, is contingent on the content of the bill.

Conrad opens door to reconciliation for healthcare

Yeah, cute title, but it has nothing to do with what the average person would consider “reconciliation” and absolutely everything to do with strong-arm tactics of utter desperation.  My god, MASSACHUSETTS of all places just sent a REPUBLICAN to the Senate who RAN A CAMPAIGN ON OPPOSING OBAMACARE!  Sorry about the yelling, but maybe this isn’t quite clear to the Democrats who still think passing this monstrosity is a good idea.  Massachusetts.  The left-wing bastion of Ted “make it all free” Kennedy.  Seriously.  No one wants this bill to pass, and by no one I mean roughly 38% of Americans.

With any luck, 2/3 of North Dakota will be red by the end of this year and I’m sure we’ll clean up the remaining third by 2012. 

Have it good,

-Mike

too little, too late

So after weeks of shutting the Republicans out, negotiating in closed sessions to hammer out a disaster of a healthcare bill, lying about transparency and giving the cold shoulder to anyone disagreeing with the heavy-handed steamroller that is the Democratic party, this is what we get? 

Obama To Meet With House Republicans In Spirit Of Bipartisanship

Sorry champ, too little too late. 

Have it good,

-Mike

litigation = the last line of defense?

I’ve been reading more and more about the constitutionality of this massive healthcare reform bill in the news and blogs over the last few weeks, but  it seems like the idea has really taken off in the last few days.  One blogger I’m a big fan of is Josh Blackman, and he’s been blogging on the possible “Constitutional moment” that would occur if the SCOTUS actually decided to hear questions of constitutionality if the healthcare bill passes.  He caught this article from The Hill before I did:

With Democrats in control of the White House and large majorities in the Senate and House, Republicans view the third branch of government as their last, best hope to limit Obama’s ambitious reform agenda.

“Since Democrats cut Republicans out of the healthcare negotiations in Congress, maybe the only way to have any input into the health bill is through litigation,” Bossie added.

Republicans see courts as last line of defense vs. Democrats’ agenda

This story is directly related to my last post about transparency and healthcare, as you can see from the second paragraph I quoted.  The Dems have  totally shut out the Republicans in their secretive efforts to force this bill through to the President, so what else can conservatives do other than win big in the 2010 mid-terms, as it looks like they might do?  Top Democrats head for the exits

My pre-law advisor had us read a very interesting book dealing with whether or not the Courts are actually desirable and effective venues for any meaningful change in public policy, specifically the chapters on Race and Abortion.  I think I might revisit that book briefly, to see if any parallels can be drawn with the HC debate.

Have it good,

-Mike

is a thick wooden door transparent?

Not that I needed one more reason to be disillusioned by President Obama’s lies and deceptions, here we go with another one.  This is a campaign quote from Obama about what he would do to a debate on a healthcare bill. 

Hell yes, on something this important open it up to the public!  Or at least the opposing party! 

Senate Democrat Harry Reid and House Democrat Nancy Pelosi are inclined to finish up the 2,500-plus-page legislation themselves behind closed doors, skipping the usual Senate-House conference committee that would include those pesky Republicans.

C-SPAN pleads with Reid, Pelosi to open final drafting sessions for Obama’s healthcare bill

I admit, I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to C-SPAN so I agree with televising these healthcare negotiations just so I can have something to watch at 6am on a no-sleep night.  And if it weren’t for C-Span, where would the majority of Jon Stewart’s hilarious political clips come from?

Let C-SPAN in!  Let this much-lauded “bi-partisanship” the Democrats speak of show its head!  Or does that trick only work when they’re in the minority and need an excuse to influence policy?

Have it good and open,

-Mike