The contents of these articles are based on Fact and Truth. Challenges are invited.
The day’s top political news:
What happens next in health care – A Politico Exclusive
After a brief period of consultation following the White House health reform summit, congressional Democrats plan to begin making the case next week for a massive, Democrats-only health care plan, party strategists told POLITICO.
A Democratic official said the six-hour summit was expected to “give a face to gridlock, in the form of House and Senate Republicans.” Democrats plan to begin rhetorical, and perhaps legislative, steps toward the Democrats-only, or reconciliation, process early next week, the strategists said.
After the summit, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid planned to take the temperature of their caucuses.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33510.html#ixzz0geuTB1JT
Obama campaign arm focuses on talk radio
The Democrat National Committee's Organizing for America has quietly launched an initiative aimed at making Obama supporters' voices heard on the largely conservative airwaves.
"The fate of health reform has been a focus of debate in living rooms and offices, on TV and online — and on talk radio. And since millions of folks turn to talk radio as a trusted source of news and opinions, we need to make sure OFA supporters are calling in with a pro-reform message," says the introduction to the online tool.
The online tool presents users with a radio show discussing political topics, to which supporters can listen live, and the phone number for that station, for when health care comes up. It also offers tips for callers and talking points on the issue.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0210/Obama_campaign_arm_focuses_on_talk_radio.html?showall
Obama support plummets to 23%
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.
Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20. For President Obama, the Approval Index has been lower only once
The figure does not yet reflect views of yesterday’s summit on health care.
Opinion:
Democrats and their last health care gasp
Only the certain support and effort by the Mainstream Media can prevent the day-long session at Blair House from being another Democrat/Obama fiasco.
No minds were changed, no compromises reached. The discussion showed the basic barrier to concord – a fundamental difference in the Republican approach through the market place and public choice and the Obama socialistic insistence that only the government-run approach can solve health care problems. Obama and liberals are not at all above imposing their position on an America that rejects it.
Obama won’t likely win on this – especially in the public domain. Polls all tell us the American public has already passed judgment on this Democrat, 2400 page monstrosity and accorded it failing grades. We have rejected the plan and rejected the idea. Normal Americans are viscerally opposed to opening any door leading to Canadian-style socialized medicine that is a mess by any standard. We demand fair access to care and hold quality above cost when the chips are down.
Recently a top Canadian health care official needing serious surgery came to the US to get it rather than undergo surgery and treatment in Canada. Socialized medicine – any form of government-run health care – means an inferior version. Government and quality are mutually opposite.
But none of this reality deterred Obama’s sponsorship of the Blair House dog and pony show. From the outset, the Democrat strategy for making the discussion a plus for their position, was quite clear. Repetitive, and clear.
Time after time, Democrats, all the way down to Dick Durban were stuck on opening remarks noting “we are in agreement” on whatever point was under discussion. They were obviously at odds with reality. Democrats were playing to the cameras and working hard to sell viewers on the idea Republicans were being obstructionists since much was already in concordance. The problem was, the suggestion conflicted with what was basic to the entire conversation – the philosophical differences.
The crafted Democrat image was false, of course. The differences run far deeper, and the GOP position far more closely parallels that of normal America than does the Democrat one. Most observers agree that no minds were changed.
Watching the Blair House show, it occurred to me that it is similar to Hitler’s last gasp attack that led to the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. It was a last, desperate push to try and turn the tide. Democrats need a game changer too.
Obama is facing defeat in his health care scam after having spent an entire year trying to sell a socialized, government-run concept to an unwilling America. He is desperate now – although an analogy of an angry animal cornered or treed is not quite appropriate.
After all, cornered animals don’t have reconciliation at their disposal.
Obama has that option, and I read his closing comments as a thinly-veiled threat another “my way or the highway> sort of thing. I read an intent on his part to use reconciliation or any other available tactic to force his way on America. He covets control of health care.
Given the relatively low degree of importance accorded health care, it is odd. It would suggest Obama is just a hard head and often petulant sort of guy who will just not say “no”.
In politics, that’s usually a recipe for defeat and rejection.
America will be all the better if that proves to be the case with Obama and his chorus of Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Hapless Harry Reid.
Buddy
Top Blogs:
1.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance
Congressional Performance
71% Give Congress Poor Rating
Voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job.
That’s up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago.
Only 10% of voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job.
Nearly half of Democratic voters (48%) now give Congress a poor rating, up 17 points since January. The vast majority of Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party also give Congress poor ratings.
Seventy percent (70%) of voters say Congress has not passed any legislation that would significantly improve life for Americans, up 10 points over the past month and the highest level of dissatisfaction measured in regular tracking in over three years. Only 15% say Congress has passed such legislation.
Forty percent (40%) of voters nationwide now say it is at least somewhat likely Congress will seriously address the most important issues facing the nation. That’s down from 59% last March. Only 9% say it is Very Likely Congress will address these issues.
These numbers are consistent with the analysis provided in Scott Rasmussen’s new book, In Search of Self-Governance. Scott notes that “Today, Americans are united. United in the belief that our political system is broken, that politicians are corrupt, and that neither major political party has the answers.” He adds, “Some of us are ready to give up; some of us are ready to scream a little louder. But all of us believe we can do better.”
The book has received positive reviews from across the political spectrum. In Search of Self-Governance is available from Rasmussen Reports and at Amazon.com.
Other recent polling also reflects voter disappointment in Congress. Earlier this month, 63% of voters said it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November. Just 27% of voters say their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job.
Three out of four voters (75%) report being at least somewhat angry at the policies of the federal government. Part of the frustration is likely due to the belief of 60% of voters that neither Republican political leaders nor Democratic political leaders have a good understanding of what is needed today.
Still, voters believe Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have a plan for the future.
Regardless of which political side voters are on, just 21% believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed.
As Congress continues to hash out the health care reform plan proposed by the president and Congressional Democrats, just 41% of voters favor the plan while 56% are opposed. Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually.
Just 9% of voters believe most members of Congress are genuinely interested in helping people, which ties the recent low in December. Eighty-one percent (81%) say most members of Congress are more interested in their own careers, a new multi-year high.
The plurality of voters (42%) continues to believe most members of Congress are corrupt, a result that has remained fairly consistent over the past several months. One in three U.S. voters (32%) does not see most congressmen as corrupt. Another 26% are undecided.
In 2010, Republican candidates have consistently held an advantage over Democrats in the Generic Congressional Ballot.
Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Florida, Connecticut, Pennyslvania, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. Most show a troubling political environment for the Democratic candidates.
2.
Report: Crist set to leave GOP, run as an independent
Allahpundit
The Hill was hinting about it last night and now, right on cue, the rumors are flying. Honestly, I don’t get it. I get leaving the party to avoid an unwinnable primary against Rubio, but why run as an indie when you could run as a Democrat?
(NOTE: Doesnt likely matter. Rejected by Republicans, and with a weak Democrat in the race, Crist likely has an insufficient base)
Two highly placed and independent sources, speaking strictly on background, tell me that Gov. Charlie Crist is preparing to leave the Republican Party and run as an independent in the race for the U.S. Senate…
Another well-placed source tells me the reason several Crist campaign staffers left recently is because, being committed Republicans, they refused to take part in an independent Senate run by Crist. That’s not confirmed by an independent second source, but it does ring true.
Now, reports from anonymous sources are sometimes wrong, so I have stopped short of reporting a Crist independent run as a verifiable fact, even though I believe my sources are accurate.
Two precedents here: Lieberman running, and winning, as an independent in Connecticut and Specter running, and likely losing, as a newly-minted Democrat in Pennsylvania this year. Given the difference in results, following Liebs’s lead is a no-brainer, right? Not so fast. For one thing, the general election in Connecticut wasn’t a traditional three-way race. Because the state is overwhelmingly Democratic, it was basically a rerun of the Democratic primary with a marginal Republican wild card tossed in. Under those circumstances, it makes sense for conservatives to vote for the conservative Democrat instead of throwing their vote away on the GOP. In a purplish state like Pennsylvania or Florida, you’re more likely to see a traditional three-way dynamic where committed Dems and Repubs vote for their parties while centrists break every which way. For Crist to win as an indie, they’d all have to break for him. Tain’t likely, especially with conservative enthusiasm in November likely to mean massive turnout for Rubio. Crist will need every centrist Republican he can get plus a huge swath of Democrats, but how does he manage that if there’s a nominee with name recognition — namely, Kendrick Meek — running on the Democratic ticket?
The smarter play is to follow Specter’s lead by going Democrat, kissing up to Obama in hopes that the White House will “pull a Sestak” with Meek, taking his chances with Meek in a Democratic primary if he can’t be bought off, and then hoping that rank-and-file Dems line up behind him with an “anyone but Rubio” vote in November. Even that scenario is unlikely, though. Rubio may be an ideologue but, a la The One, he’s a young, soft-spoken, charismatic ideologue, which makes it harder to goose turnout by demonizing him. In fact, Daily Kos polled a hypothetical three-way race between Crist, Meek, and Rubio back in November and found a tight 32/31/27 split — at a time when Rubio was still trailing Crist head to head by 11 points. There’s been a 30-point swing since then, which makes me think Rubio’s probably somewhere around 40 percent right now in a three-man contest. With prominent Republicans lining up behind him and many Dems bound to vote the party line, how does Crist come up with 41 percent from what’s left
?
I was planning to write about Rubio’s credit-card “scandal” before the Crist news broke, but there actually isn’t much to say about it. Read the story, bearing two things in mind. One: According to Jack Funari, who wrote the piece about Crist possibly turning indie, Rubio’s charges on his GOP credit card were actually dramatically less than most Republican pols’. (“From what’s been made public, Rubio’s credit card expenses make him the most frugal of the Republican leaders with RPOF credit cards.”) Two: Since Rubio reimbursed the party for all personal charges, the story’s likely dead — unless there’s some tax angle related to imputed income. Which, per the reimbursement, there probably isn’t.
Exit question: McCain told The Hill this morning that he’d “be glad to try to help” Crist if and when Crist asks him to. Does that still apply if Crist bolts the party?
3.
Summit Reveals the Real Divide
Does Washington Know Best?
Washington, D.C. – Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in the wake of the White House health care summit.
“Today’s summit should have been used to start anew because Americans simply don’t agree with the Democrats’ approach,” said Chairman Price. “Instead, President Obama and Democrat leaders completely ignored the public’s call to start over with a blank sheet of paper. But Democrats came to the table unwilling to let go of their thousands of pages of big government. Amidst all the talk, one contrast stood out with crystal clarity. The Democrat plan operates on the assumption that Washington knows best, while we believe the best solutions will be found by putting patients first. This fundamental divide has been the basis of debate for the past year. All we saw today was another seven hours of it.”
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