Altmire To Vote No On ObamaCare

Finally, my congressman announces his intentions.

From KDKA:

Altmire confirmed that he has decided to vote no in a telephone conversation with KDKA Political Editor Jon Delano.

In the final push for Obamacare passage, Jason Altmire (D-PA) has been besieged by his own colleagues in the House and in DC, activists from both sides of the argument, and his own constituents as we fought for his attention through emails, phone calls, and rallies. The WSJ reported:

A recent poll in his district asked the straightforward question, "Do you generally support or oppose the reform plan?" Precisely 29% support it. Conversely, 60% believe it will raise their health costs, 72% believe it will raise the deficit, and 68% believe it will cause their taxes to go up.

And Altmire himself acknowledged it is not what his voters want:

“I really am trying to be thoughtful,” said Altmire, D-4, McCandless Township. “The number one factor is where my district is (on health-care reform), and my district is overwhelmingly against it at this point.”

--snip--

“They have great concerns about this bill,” he said. “If I vote no, it’s going to be because a great majority of my district doesn’t support this bill.”

Today, he announces that he has listened to his voters. Thank goodness, because yours truly is one of many who have sent email after email while listening to the busy signal from his office phones. (Thank you, Organizing for America, for helping to make sure that when it mattered, I could not get through to my elected representative.)

From the statement on his website - emphasis mine:

"I ran for Congress in large part because I believe we need to find a way to bring down the cost of health care. I also ran for Congress with a simple promise: I would do my best to represent my district and to give western Pennsylvania a voice in Washington, not the other way around.

--snip--

It has become clear that the vast majority of my constituents want me to oppose this bill.

--snip--

The politically easy vote would have been to vote with my party. But I was notsent to Congress to take the easy way out or to vote the way they want me to vote in Washington. I was elected to represent my district and give western Pennsylvania a voice in Congress. I strongly believe that a vote in opposition to the health care bill is consistent with the views of the district I represent, and is the correct vote based on the impact of the bill on my constituents and the overall health care system."

This is exactly what I want in a person elected to represent me. When Altmire voted against the original House bill, there were insinuations that he was "allowed" to, because Nancy Pelosi already had the votes she needed. This can not have been an easy decision... but it was the right one.

Thank you, Jason Altmire... for doing your job. I'll keep it in mind when you come up for your next "performance evaluation" in November.

"I’d Make Them Throw Me In Jail"

While I was not able to go to DC for the Code Red Rally (although I can promise, I was there in spirit and heart), I was happy to see that my fellow blogger and friend - Russ from That's Right - not only made the trip... he managed to get himself quoted by CNSNews!

Cote said if the bill passed with a mandate requiring every American to buy health insurance, he would not comply.

“If there’s a mandate, I can tell you this — my own form of political protest – I won’t do it and I’ll be a test case if I have to,” Cote said. “I wouldn’t pay the fine either. I’d make them throw me in jail.”

You won't be alone, pal. That was my first thought after hearing about the mandate. I have a feeling if they actually try to force the issue, they won't have enough room for all of us in the jails. We can use the Cloward-Piven systemic overload strategy on them!

Check out Russ's own blog (and The Resistance) for his post about it.

Hey, Nancy Pelosi -- YOU LIE!

JammieWearingFool has a video of Nancy Pelosi answering some questions about the Health Care Reform legislation from the ignorant peasants American voters. As I sat watching, almost entranced by a forehead that never creases and a pasted on grimace pretending to be a smile, she said something that caused me to channel Joe Wilson (R-SC):

"You lie!"

Here's the video. Those of you without a cast iron stomach who don't want to sit through 8 1/2 minutes of San Fran Nan can skip right to question five, which comes at around 6:45.

The question is more of a comment. While I couldn't make out the name, this was the point:

"Bills should be read by members of Congress."

The comment also made mention of using clear language instead of legal gobbledygook. I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard Pelosi's answer:

"I agree. And they should be. And they are. We have reading sessions right here where we read them together."

--snip--

"So we read the bill in two ways... the way it is written in legislative language, and a presentation of it in lay language, so that people know... uh... how they can... uh... what it is they're voting on and how they can explain it back home."

This is nothing short of a bald-faced lie. Complete and utter bullshit. There's more truth to global warming than there is to this statement. Only the paralyzing effects of her botox overdose could have allowed her to say this with a straight face.

Here we find Pelosi's fellow criminal Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) making no pretense at all about his unwillingness to read a bill before voting on it:




And the money quote:

“I love these members, they get up and say, 'Read the bill.' What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”

So, does this mean Conyers doesn't read them once, let alone "in two ways"? You betcha. And never mind that while he's bemoaning the lack of two lawyers, Congress is crawling with them like a roach infestation.

But surely he's the only one, right? I mean, when we elect these folks to make votes on our behalf, they must understand we expect them to have read whatever they're voting on... Right?

Enter Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) who is too confused by legislative language to bother.






His excuse explanation for his dereliction of duty?

“I don’t expect to actually read the legislative language because reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I’ve ever read in my life.”

Somebody should tell this jackass if he's not qualified for the job to resign. (Somebody should tell him the American people were somehow able to muddle through the language... because we had a vested interest in making sure someone read it, so we did it ourselves. Thanks.)

And somebody should tell Nancy Pelosi to google her talking points before she opens her mouth. These statements - and more - are out there, directly contradicting her "read the bill in two ways" lie. From TheHill.com:

On at least two dozen occasions in 2009, the transparency rules have been shelved — including on votes on wage discrimination, climate change and children’s health insurance, according to statistics culled by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group.

But... but... Nancy Pelosi says they don't just read the bills, they "read the bill in two ways"!

You lie!

ReadtheBill.org has a heartbreaking roundup of their legislation-without-representation joke on America. And yet, with video evidence against her, contradictory statements by her fellow Congress Critters and multiple websites that document Congress not reading bills, Nancy Pelosi still has the unmitigated gall to say "We read the bill in two ways."

Why? Because she thinks we're stupid. That's the only possible explanation for her blatant dishonesty spewed through that vapid-yet-frightening grimace she thinks is a believable smile.

Well, I'm not stupid. I'm pissed. There's very little that makes me as angry as someone smiling in my face while they lie their ass off. Of all the offensive, patronizing, condescending nonsense! I'm as disgusted by a politician as I've ever been, and I can only offer one rebuttal to Pelosi:

You Lie!