Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R) of Louisiana must not have gotten the message from House Republicans that no one in the GOP caucus – repeat no one – would vote with Democrats on a sweeping overhaul of the US healthcare system.

The first Vietnamese-American elected to the US Congress, Cao last year defeated incumbent Rep. William Jefferson, after the eight-term Democrat was indicted for bribery

In a vote late Saturday night, Representative Cao – a vulnerable freshman in a Democratic district still devastated by hurricane Katrina – broke ranks, casting the lone Republican vote for the legislation.

“I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people. My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents,” he said in a statement after the vote.

In Cao’s district, 3 out of 4 voters chose Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential elections. In 2004, President Bush won only 24 percent of the vote here.

For the rest of this story:

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/11/08/joseph-cao-the-lone-republican-who-voted-for-healthcare-bill/

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed landmark health care reform legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard won victory on his signature domestic priority.

Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the plan that would expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.

The 220-215 vote late Saturday cleared the way for the Senate to begin a long-delayed debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.

A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.

Obama, who went to Capitol Hill earlier on Saturday to lobby wavering Democrats, said in a statement after the vote, “I look forward to signing it into law by the end of the year.”

“It provides coverage for 96 percent of Americans. It offers everyone, regardless of health or income, the peace of mind that comes from knowing they will have access to affordable health care when they need it,” said Rep. John Dingell, the 83-year-old Michigan lawmaker who has introduced national health insurance in every Congress since succeeding his father in 1955.

But minority Republicans cataloged their objections across hours of debate on the 1,990-page, $1.2 trillion legislation.

For the rest of this story:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091108/D9BREBKG1.html

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) – After a landmark win in the U.S. House of Representatives, President Barack Obama’s push for healthcare reform faces a difficult path in the Senate amid divisions in his own Democratic Party on how to proceed.

On a 220-215 vote, including the support of one Republican and opposition from 39 Democrats, the House backed a bill late on Saturday that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans and bar insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.

The battle now shifts to the Senate, where work on Obama’s top domestic priority has been stalled for weeks as Democratic leader Harry Reid searches for an approach that can win the 60 votes he needs to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.

“Take this baton and bring this effort to the finish line,” Obama urged senators on Sunday in an appearance at the White House, saying passage of healthcare reform would represent “their finest moment in public service.”

Democrats have no margin for error — they control exactly 60 seats in the 100-member Senate. Some moderate Democrats have rebelled at Reid’s plan to include a new government-run insurance program, known as the “public option,” in the bill.

Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, renewed his promise on Sunday to help Republicans block a final vote if the bill contains the government-run insurance option backed by Senate liberals

For the rest of this story:

http://www.reuters.com/article/sarahPalin/idUSN0823070020091108

When I first read HR 3200 in its entirety several months ago I was appalled at the blatant disregard in the bill of the basic tenets of our Constitutional form of government. However, I underestimated what is actually being done to us. The newest version of HR 3200 that has been labeled the Pelosi Bill is the original bill on steroids. It is the most “in your face” challenge to the American people as a whole that has ever occurred. While Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and President Obama continue to reassure the American people about what the bill will do, the proof is there in black and white.

We are about to lose our Republic because this latest version of HR 3200 takes away our freedom to make our own choices in areas such as what type of insurance we want to have, (if any), how much we are willing and able to pay for insurance, which doctors we choose to take care of us, and what type of treatment we can choose based on our doctor’s recommendations. All of these decisions will now be made by federal bureaucrats in Washington who don’t know us and don’t care about us as individuals.

These decisions will be made by the Secretary of Health and Human Services based on the recommendations of an advisory panel chaired by the Surgeon General, who is appointed by the President, and made up of nine members who are not Federal employees or officers that are also appointed by the President. There are nine more members who are not Federal employees or officers who are appointed by the Comptroller General of the United States and there will also be up to eight more members who are Federal employees or officers and are appointed by Obama. How’s that for a stacked deck? That’s like having a task force in the Justice Department dedicated to fighting organized crime made up of a majority of members of the Russian Mafia.

By the way, if you are wondering how many medical professionals are required to be members of this advisory panel that will decide on the type of healthcare you can get, the answer is none. The previous version of the bill required at least one, but apparently it was decided by Pelosi et.al. that this was one too many.  Section 223 of the Bill on page 111 lays it all out if you care to read it.

In addition, everything I mentioned in my first article on HR 3200 is still there although additional attempts have been made to hide them. For example, there will be rationing of health care, programs for seniors will be drastically cut, and there will be programs available for illegal aliens since all they have to show is that they are “residents” of the United States. There will also be instant access available to your medical and financial records under the provisions of Section 1173A on page 76.

There are also numerous new taxes being imposed to pay for all of this and of course there are the fines that are imposed on people who don’t get health either health insurance or government approved health insurance. (These are incorrectly called taxes in the bill because if they were labeled as fines people would be entitled to protection under the due process clause of the 5th Amendment to the Constitution. This is something that the Congress is seeking to avoid.)  Here is the link to the entire bill: http://health.burgess.house.gov/UploadedFiles/House_HCR_bill.pdf

There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 9 that grants the Congress the right to strip the states and individuals of the United States of their rights and powers in this area. There are no Supreme Court decisions that authorize it either under the commerce clause or the General Welfare Clause of that article. Yet, when asked about the Constitutionality of the law Nancy Pelosi’s response was “Are you Serious?” In other words, we are all idiots and only the new aristocracy made up of the all the President’s appointees and the members of Congress is capable of knowing what I best for us.

The bottom line is that this alleged health care bill and a number of other bills in Congress are designed to establish a form of government that is even worse than the one the Constitution was designed to protect us from. I, for one, am getting fed up. This bill and others pending in Congress, as well as regulations being proposed by the “Czars”, will strip us of our Constitutional rights in a number of areas. We will no longer be “citizens” of the United States, but will be “subjects” of another nation entirely. It is time that the members of Congress are told in emphatic terms that if they won’t abide by their oath of office to “support the Constitution” we see no reason for them to keep their jobs.

Tell them now! We are free citizens of a Republic and will never stand for being anything less! I personally hereby re-affirm the Declaration of Independence from Tyranny made by my forefathers and for which members of my family have fought for in every war from the American Revolution to today. I can say it best by taking the same oath that was taken by the signers of the Declaration in 1776.

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Michael Connelly is a guest blogger on Facefwd.com.  For more of his excellent articles please go here

http://michaelconnelly.viviti.com/

Who is Michael Connelly?

 A U.S. Army veteran, a retired attorney, and published author, freelance writer, and teacher. He is the author of three books,  “”Riders in the Sky: The Ghosts and Legends of Philmont Scout Ranch”, “The Mortarmen”, and the just released novel, “Amayehli: A Story of America”.

He also teaches law courses via the Internet through colleges and universities worldwide. Here are links to the courses he teaches.

Constitutional Law: http://www.ed2go.com/courses/cl1

Winning Strategy For The Courtroom: http://www.ed2go.com/courses/wsc

Business Law For The Small Business Owner: http://www.ed2go.com/courses/law

Evidence Law: http://www.ed2go.com/courses/evl

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama sees both “unprecedented consensus” from outside Congress on his drive to remake the nation’s health care system and obstructionism by some on Capitol Hill.

“The historic movement to bring real, meaningful health insurance reform to the American people gathered momentum this week as we approach the final days of this debate,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet video address.

The consensus “includes everyone from doctors and nurses to hospitals and drug manufacturers” — even Republican governors and former GOP lawmakers, Obama said.

It does not extend to congressional Republicans, however, as nearly all of them oppose the Democrats’ health care proposals.

The president noted that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Bill Frist, all Republicans, and former Health and Human Service chiefs Louis Sullivan and Tommy Thompson, who both served in Republican administrations, have all come out in favor of overhauling health care, even though they differ on some specifics.

Hey Arnold, we looked under your fake Conservative skin and what do we see? It's a Liberal (and probably a Democrat)

“These distinguished leaders understand that health insurance reform isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution,” Obama said.

Democrats have made significant strides since Labor Day, when they returned to the Capitol after an August spent absorbing attacks from noisy conservative critics over health care.

A health care bill soon to emerge from the Senate Finance Committee is the only one judged to meet Obama’s conditions for expanding insurance coverage without raising the federal deficit, while also slowing the rise in medical costs.

Yet Obama said he recognized the issue remains divisive among members of Congress.

For the rest of the story please go here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091010/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care;_ylt=AtMlVg4_X88PD.WsVHe.q510fNdF

Face Fwd Comments:

Unprecedented Consensus? The same groups of people that he list as supporting his push to nationalize medicine, doctors, nurses, hospitals, drug manufacturers, Republican governors and former GOP lawmakers, are considered the most vocal opponents of his plan. Obama does have audacity to change ….to change the truth.

I did read yesterday that Arnold Schwarzenegger backed a nationalized plan.  My guess is that Arnold is playing politics.  He knows his state is about bankrupt and needs federal help.  In my opinion Pelosi is blackmailing him.  Probably didn’t take to much, Arnold is not really a conservative anyway or much of a Republican.

In the Republican response to Obama propaganda address (at least he wasn’t using kids this time) Sen. George LeMieux of Florida said, “the solution should not be worse than the problem we are trying to solve.”

“We in the Congress have a duty to tackle this problem, but the solution we settle upon should not be rushed,” LeMieux said in the GOP’s weekly address. Democrats maintain Republicans are simply trying to delay action. He went on to point out that should any of the current democratic plans be implemented the following would happen:

Burden tax payers with an additional $1.8 trillion over 10 years, more than twice the total for the Senate Finance Committee’s bill, as projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Add a new tax burden by penalizing those who do not buy health insurance

Deny millions of people the choice of health plans that best suit their needs by forcing them onto Medicaid

Take about $500 billion out of Medicare

I direct this to you Mr. Obama and the rest of your liberal cronies, If you have all of this consensus and you control the House, the Senate and the Presidency, why have you just passed it?  Could it be that you don’t even have consensus in your own party?  Could it be hat those Democrats that are coming up for reelection know that if they vote for it will loose at the ballot box? 

You may have pulled of some political shenanigans to rig a Nobel Peace Prize but the Tax Payers of this country see right through you.  Your drive to socialism and drive to punish the middle class are coming through loud and clear.

By GREG BLUESTEIN

ATLANTA (AP) – Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act “based on racism” and rooted in fears of a black president.

“I think it’s based on racism,” Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.”

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders.

“Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care,” he said. “It’s deeper than that.”

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting “You lie!” during Obama’s speech to Congress last Wednesday.

The shout came after the president commented that illegal aliens would be ineligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. Republicans expressed their disbelief with sounds of disapproval, punctuated by Wilson’s outburst.

Tuesday’s rebuke was a rare resolution of disapproval pushed through by Democrats who insisted that Wilson had violated basic rules of decorum and civility. Republicans characterized the measure as a witch hunt and Wilson, who had already apologized to Obama, insisted he owed the House no apology.

For the rest of the story please go here:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090916/D9AO5MA00.html

Face Fwd Comments:

Give me a break.  I am so tired of trotting out the race card every time some one disagrees with Obama.  Of course he is a liar, he is a politician.  What the liberals and Obama keep trying to do is deflect any criticism of Obama’s push to socialism by calling the critics, racist.  I detest what Obama is trying to do not because of the color of his skin or his heritage but because his politics are wrong for this country.  Hey, and after all he is as much white as he is black.  I guess that makes Alan Keyes (a black man and Obama critic) racist as he is probably hating on Obama’s white side.

Jimmy Carter, if you are not old enough to remember his presidency, brought about one of the lowest points for American credibility.  The world looked at us as weak and stupid.  The media ripped him every day for things he said and did.  However, now that he has said something nice and proper about Obama, Carter has become intelligent in the media’s eyes.  Talk about a double standard.

I and everyone that opposes this presidency will continue to speak out against it.  We speak out not because the person that holds the office is black, but because he is wrong.  Here is a riddle for you.  What does Hugo Chavez, Karl Marx, Kim Jong-il, Barack Obama have in Common?  Answer:  Four communist/socialist that I don’t want to run my country.