AMA Endorses Health Care - Maybe Not!

The American Medical Association's much-touted endorsement of the House health care reform bill has triggered a revolt among some members who want the endorsement withdrawn.

Some members are outraged that the group's trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization's House of Delegates.

On Monday, delegates will vote on a resolution offered by some members that, if approved, will withdraw the AMA’s endorsement of the bill.

President Obama cited the endorsement of the influential AMA, along with AARP's, in a surprise appearance Thursday in the White House briefing room as he attempted to beat back criticism that the bill would gut Medicare.

"They're endorsing this bill because they know it will strengthen Medicare, not jeopardize it," he told reporters. "They know it will protect the benefits our seniors receive, not cut them."

"So I want everyone to remember that the next time you hear the same tired arguments to the contrary from insurance companies and their lobbyists and remember this endorsement the next time you see a bunch of misleading ads on television," he added. - FOX News

This would be a huge blow to the Obama Administration if they withdraw their endorsement. Obama touted their support as proof that this is a good plan, so if they withdraw that then you can safely assume that it is proof that it is a bad plan. hmmmmm

Health Care Fight for Votes in House

With Republicans raising the volume of their protests and House Democratic leaders uncertain if they have enough rank-and-file support, some moderate Democrats sense that passing a health care reform bill will be as difficult as the House’s energy bill, which was approved by a slim margin June.

That has caused quite a bit of hand-wringing among the Democrats.

Some “really anguished” over voting for the energy bill, Rep. Jason Altmire told Fox News, and they “would be reluctant now to vote for health care and take a second vote that might be unpopular in their district.”

House Republicans who voted unanimously against the energy bill warned its greenhouse gas restrictions would cost jobs, and they are making the same jobs warning about the health bill's requirement's for small businesses. Once again, their opposition is unanimous.

"Those who have just lost their jobs or who feel they're in danger are going to look to Washington and go, 'What are they doing?'" said Rep. Shelly Capito, R- W.Va.

It's an argument that could resonate with the public as the government reports a 10.2 percent unemployment rate, the highest since 1983, and an all-time high $1.42 trillion dollar budget deficit.

Moderate Democrats say historically they're the people who pay for their party's tough votes.

"The people that lost seats were people representing swing districts that tended to be more moderate legislators reflecting the views of those districts," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.

Polls suggest the economy's deep recession has raised all voters’ concerns about spending and debt, and the White House is finding it hard to decouple that from health care.

"I think if you have a job and you lose your health care, it's an economic concern," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday.

And a summer of angry town hall confrontations and tea party demonstrations, the White House says, is poisoning the debate on the issues.

"Imagine five years ago somebody comparing health care reform to 9/11," Gibbs said. "Imagine just a few years ago, had somebody walked around with images of Hitler."

The Republican National Committee thinks Democrats are flirting with an issue that could cost them control of Congress in 2010 like the partisan votes on energy and gun control they say led to the Republican takeover in 1994. - FOX News Story

Democratic Agenda Killing Jobs - While Obama Claims Job Creation?

Democrats – headed into an historic health care vote this weekend — got smacked in the face with a 10.2 percent unemployment rate in October, the government reported Friday.

The jobless rate is well above the 9.9 percent that economists expected and breaks the psychological barrier of 10 percent, topping double digits for the first time in 26 years. It's the last headline the Obama administration wanted to see going into the House healthcare vote, and White House officials were already heading to the airwaves Friday morning to talk up the economy.

In all, employers shed 190,000 non-farm jobs last month.

The tough numbers arm House Republicans with fresh political ammo against the trillion-dollar House health care bill, which could come to a vote as early as Saturday. The GOP has been relentlessly pushing the narrative that Democrats are obsessed with creating ever-bigger government at the expense of the economy, and Democratic response to the bad employment news was thin on Friday morning while Republicans pounced.

“Democrats Job-Killing Agenda Must Cease,” declared a press release from Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.).

"As unemployment tops 10 percent this holiday season, Republicans have put jobs and the economy first, and are focused on developing real solutions that will put Americans back to work," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said. "Increasing taxes on small business, as Democrats will do to pay for government run health care, is the wrong approach." - Politico Story

It continues to amaze me that Obama and his Administration travel around the Country and the World touting all of these job savings and creations that they are responsible for. What is even more amazing is the number of Americans that buy into it.

Under Obama's watch, he has increased spending to record deficits, all in the name of saving jobs and the economy. How has that worked out for us?

Protests Hit Washington and Health Care

Thousands of Tea Party activists descended on Washington Thursday to protest the trillion dollar health care bill and government spending, holding signs protesting Barack Obama’s agenda while aiming chants of “you work for us” at the Capitol building.

The gathering was organized by local Tea Party groups around the country, who are arriving in Washington this morning by the busload. Conservative leaders in Congress, led by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), have taken to the airwaves to encourage the activists to show up on the Capitol steps and demand meetings with members of Congress. The crowd grew to about 10,000 by noon – a significant gathering for a weekday but far less than the 9/12 protests earlier this fall. Bachmann has promised to lead some protesters to a press conference inside the Capitol to express their opposition to the health care bill in person to members of Congress.

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), actually invited the thousands of protesters to go into the House buildings to try to meet their member of Congress after the rally.

"I invite you, when the rally's over, to travel in those halls, look at the walls, find your (member) and walk in," she said. "Let them know how you feel about this bill."

Given the security of the Capitol complex, that might create a logistical nightmare, so it’s not clear how many of the protesters may actually enter House office buildings.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) was a surprise guest speaker this afternoon, holding up a copy of the Constitution as he rallied the protesters. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) demanded: “Madam Speaker, throw out this bill,” while some protesters chanted “burn the bill.”

Conservative leaders like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council showed up, along with celebrity conservatives Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger have also joined the protesters.

Voight invoked Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his speech, saying “the lies and deception are blatant... Maybe it was the 20 years of sub-conscious programming by Rev Wright to damn America." - Politico Story

Democrats Concentrate on Jobs - Their own Jobs!!!!

Election Day losses in Virginia and New Jersey have congressional Democrats focused like never before on jobs — their own.

While the White House and party leaders are urging calm, Democratic incumbents from red states and Republican-leaning districts are anything but; Tuesday's statehouse defeats have left them acutely aware that their votes on health care reform and other major Obama initiatives could be career-enders in 2010 or beyond.

“I should be nervous,” said Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Huntsville, Ala.

Griffith said the Democratic rank and file is “very, very sensitive” to the fact that issues being pushed by party leaders “have the potential to cost some of our front-line members their seats.”

House Democrats, forced to take a tough vote on a controversial cap-and-trade climate change bill in June, may have to vote as earlier as this weekend on the even more controversial health care bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team have struggled to get moderates on board for that vote, and Tuesday's results won't make the task any easier.

“People who had weak knees before are going to have weaker knees now,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), a relatively liberal congressman who seemed safe in 2010 but now thinks a Republican challenger might feel emboldened by Tuesday’s election results. - Politico Story

Did the President Learn anything this Election Cycle?

Two big questions loom in the wake of the 2009 elections. The first is whether Barack Obama learned anything new about American voters. The second is whether American voters will soon learn something new about Obama.

For a president who likes always to convey confidence and cool, the returns will test his willingness and capacity for self-critique and self-correction.

So far, Obama’s White House has responded to the results — flaming defeats for Democratic gubernatorial nominees in Virginia and New Jersey, along with better news in the N.Y. 23 special congressional election — exclusively with self-justification.

Obama himself did not mention the elephant in the room Wednesday in public appearances in Wisconsin. His silence came even though he had immersed himself heavily in the New Jersey race in particular, only to see incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine lose a traditionally Democratic state.

National polls for months have shown deep unease among independent voters about Washington spending and about the expansiveness of Democratic proposals. So it was not fully a surprise when, in both New Jersey and Virginia, these voters swung wildly from Obama in 2008 to Republicans this time, according to exit polls.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Tuesday’s results do not suggest any need for political repositioning or policy reappraisal.

“The CW in town has focused on the governors’ races, but the most portentous event was the New York 23rd because it exposed a major fissure in the Republican Party.”

But what if independents abandon 2010 congressional Democrats the same way they fled Corzine and Virginia Democrat Creigh Deeds?

“If the Earth stops turning, we are all going to die, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” said Axelrod. Turning more serious, he said he would tell anxious Democratic candidates, “I understand that there might be some nervousness, and that’s understandable, but we are doing the right things. The best move politically is to show more and more success governmentally.” - Politico Story

Big GOP Wins and Warnings for Democrats

WASHINGTON -- Republican gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia mark a troubling turn for President Obama, whose personal efforts couldn't stop the fall of Democrats facing a voter backlash over the economy and a notable uptick in the government's would-be role in people's lives.

Obama's 2008 victory in Old Dominion had marked an historic breakthrough for Democrats who hadn't won Virginia's electoral votes since 1964. The fight in the Garden State was more grueling than usually accompanies Democratic campaigns in the reliably blue state of New Jersey.

So the setbacks demonstrate the difficulty of presidential leadership following a campaign built on promises of unity followed by divisive policies and a relentless campaign approach toward big legislative issues like the stimulus and health care bills.

"What this is tonight, this victory here tonight, is a warning shot, and it says to the moderate Democrats in the House that they ought to think twice about continuing to pursue the policies of this White House and (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi," said Virginia Republican Rep. Eric Cantor.

In Virginia, Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell roundly defeated Democrat R. Creigh Deeds while GOP Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling won a second term and Republican Ken Cuccinelli was elected attorney general. It was the first time the GOP took the top three spots since 1997.

"We have really had a run of wins and we got used to winning and that makes it tough," said outgoing Virginia Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine, who is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee. "We have to give credit where credit is due they ran a great campaign."

"You guys are making this tougher than this has to be," a resigned Deeds told the still chanting audience at his "victory party."

In New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie pulled off a stunning upset over incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, who was facing a backlash over property taxes and other economic issues. Independent Chris Daggett also pulled about 6 percent of the vote. - FOX News Story

The spin from the Democrats will be that this is no big deal. But, big deal it is. The margins of Victory in Virginia were huge. This all shows voter anger over the massive spending and the tax hikes.

It may not matter to Obama, Pelosi or Reid, but the more moderate Blue Dog Democrats are going to step up and take notice. Those up for re-election have to see the writing on the wall and be wondering if they are next to go. This should and will make the massive spending bills harder and harder to pass.

Although this may not be seen as a mandate against Obama, it has to be a shot across the bow.

Democrats Upset that People Know how they will Vote?

Democratic House leaders are having a tough time getting an accurate vote count for their health care bill after a list kept by Majority Whip Jim Clyburn leaked out last week.

The list, compiled to show that a “robust” public option could not win majority support, revealed the positions of every Democrat who opposed the plan or was still on the fence — including those of moderates in both the “yes” and “no” columns who would have preferred to keep their powder dry on a version of the bill that never came to the floor.

Moderates accuse party liberals of leaking the list to blogger Greg Sargent and other reporters — and Democratic aides say that some of those moderates are retaliating by refusing to tell leaders how they plan to vote on the more moderate version of the bill that was introduced last week.

“I think there’s frustration by anyone and everyone that does whip counting,” one senior Democratic aide said of the leak.

A survey of the current bill conducted late last week left fewer “yes” responses than vote counters expected, the Democratic aides said.

“A concerted effort has been made to respond in the undecided column in rebellion to the fact that the whip list was leaked,” said another senior Democratic aide. - Politico Story

What does this tell you. When people get upset that people will know how they are going to vote. They don't want you to know? What is that and what does it tell you about your representatives?

Obama's Doing Nothing on Foreign Diplomacy and it is Starting to Show

Foreign policy never goes according to campaign plan, but for President Barack Obama, who promised a hardheaded new engagement with the world, the last week and the weeks he sees looming ahead must be discouraging.

Across a region spanning Pakistan to the Mediterranean, foreign leaders seem to be challenging the very premise of his policy: that foreign countries can reasonably be persuaded to move in the direction of common interests, and that a better-loved America can get more done.

In Afghanistan, an all-out effort to promote a legitimate election turned into a scramble to prevent a civil war and ease the defrauded challenger off the stage. Iran persuaded the White House to drop its late-September deadline for action and then appears to have rejected a deal on nuclear fuel. Great powers such as Russia and China show no appetite for crucial concessions, while the U.S. Congress continues to block major action on a pillar of Obama’s policy goals — international action on climate change.

“This is a clarifying moment,” said David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration foreign policy hand. “It’s not the week that they wanted to have happen, but sometimes it’s better to get your rough lessons early when the stakes are lower.”

Another Democratic analyst, the National Security Network’s Heather Hurlburt, labeled this “back-down-to-earth week.” - Politico Story

Obama Losing War on Terror?

Voter confidence in America’s conduct of the War on Terror has fallen to its lowest level since the first week of January in 2007. Voters are also much less optimistic about the course of the war in Iraq.

New Rasmussen Reports national telephone polling finds that just 34% of voters say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. That’s down nine points from a month ago and 21 points from when Barack Obama first took office. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Has No Coat Tails - Polls Show

Americans are a little less enthusiastic about the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama this time around.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to vote for Obama if he was up for reelection right now. Forty-nine percent (49%) say they would be unlikely to vote for the president’s reelection.

Thirty-four percent (34%) would be very likely to support Obama, while 40% say they would be not at all likely to do so.

The question did not specify whom the president would be running against and also was asked of all adults as opposed to just likely voters. Obama carried 53% of the vote nationally over Republican candidate John McCain’s 46% in last November’s election.

As in that contest, women are more supportive of Obama than men. Adults 18 to 29 are more likely to vote for the president than those who are older. Ninety percent (90%) of African-Americans say they would be at least somewhat likely to vote for Obama, compared to 36% of whites.

Among adults not affiliated with either major political party, those not at all likely to vote for the president’s reelection outnumber by two-to-one those who would be very likely to support him. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Can no Longer Blame Bush - America Blames him almost as Much

Voters for the first time are blaming President Obama nearly as much as President Bush for the country’s continuing economic problems.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% still blame the economic situation on the recession that began under Bush. But 45% now say the nation’s economic problems are caused more by Obama’s policies.

Just a month ago, 55% pointed the finger at Bush, while only 37% said the policies Obama has put in place since taking office were at fault. These findings had remained largely unchanged since May.

Sixty-two percent (62%) now trust their own judgment more than the president’s when it comes to the economic issues facing the nation, up three points from a month ago and up 13 points from early February. Twenty-seven percent (27%) trust Obama’s economic judgment more, and 11% are not sure. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Approval Falls to 46%

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 28% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13 (see trends).

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The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-two percent (52%) disapprove. It’s sometimes easy to get caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations of the tracking poll and miss the longer-term trend. Rasmussen Reports also compiles the data on a month-by-month basis which shows that the President’s ratings slipped a bit in October after stabilizing in September. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Broken Promises of Obama Administration

LOBBYIST RULES

Pledge: "When you walk into my administration, you will not be able to work on regulations or contracts directly related to your former employer for two years." -- Obama, during a June 22, 2007, speech in Manchester, N.H.

Verdict: Promise Broken. This pledge was broken from the very beginning of Obama's presidency, with the nomination of William Lynn as deputy defense secretary. Lynn was registered until last July as a defense lobbyist for Raytheon Co., where he advocated for a range of military programs. Even though Obama did issue the ethics rules he promised on the campaign trail, he ended up issuing a waiver on Lynn's behalf after senators threatened to hold up the nomination. Lynn was confirmed, and the administration continued to grant waivers for subsequent former lobbyists.

SPENDING

Pledge: "When George Bush came into office, our debt -- national debt was around $5 trillion. It's now over $10 trillion. We've almost doubled it. ... But actually I'm cutting more than I'm spending so that it will be a net spending cut." -- Obama, during an Oct. 7, 2008, debate in Nashville

Verdict: Promise Broken. The federal budget deficit for fiscal 2009 tripled to a record $1.4 trillion, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate out in early October. That's nearly $1 trillion more than the $459 billion deficit recorded in President Bush's last full year. The recession-driven declines in revenue accounted for a large part of Obama's red ink, but so did increases in spending -- on everything from the economic stimulus to Wall Street bailouts (sealed before Obama took office). Though Obama still says he wants to bring the deficit down significantly before the end of his first term, projections show the fiscal 2010 deficit will also exceed $1 trillion. Even if Obama does make major changes to fiscal policy and cut the deficit in half, that's still hundreds of billions of dollars every year to the national debt.

TRANSPARENCY

Pledge: "That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are." -- Obama, during a Jan. 31, 2008, debate in Los Angeles

Verdict: Promise Broken. While Obama and his congressional allies have given countless briefings and speeches on health care reform, much of the negotiations have taken place behind closed doors. These private meetings have grown more common since the Senate Finance Committee passed its version of the bill in mid-October, becoming the last of five congressional panels to clear the bill. Lawmakers are now trying to hammer out versions that can pass the full House and Senate.

HEALTH INSURANCE MANDATE

Pledge: "If you've got a health care plan that you like, you can keep it. All I'm going to do is help you to lower the premiums on it. You'll still have choice of doctor. There's no mandate involved." -- Obama, during an Oct. 7, 2008, debate in Nashville

Verdict: Promise Broken. All of the health care reform plans before Congress endorse some kind of requirement for people to get health insurance. And during his Sept. 9 address to a joint session of Congress, Obama endorsed the idea as well. "Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part," the president said. Obama expressed a wholly different point of view during the Democratic primaries, when one of the few policy differences between him and Hillary Clinton was that she supported an individual mandate while he did not. He persistently defended the decision, arguing that the reason people don't have health insurance is because they can't afford it -- not because they don't want it.

FOX News Story

Big Taxes for the Weathy under Democrats/Obama Plan

WASHINGTON -- The typical family would be spared higher taxes from the House Democratic plan to overhaul health care, and their low-income neighbors could come out ahead.

Their wealthy counterparts, however, face big tax increases that could eventually hit future generations of taxpayers who are less wealthy.

The bill is funded largely from a 5.4 percent tax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million, starting in 2011. The tax increase would hit only 0.3 percent of tax filers, raising $460.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to congressional estimates.

But unlike other income tax rates, the new tax would not be indexed for inflation. As incomes rise over time because of inflation, more families -- and more small business owners -- would be hit by the tax.

"Twenty years from now, we're going to see more and more small businesses ensnared into paying higher taxes," said Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

The tax would hit only 1.2 percent of taxpayers who claim business income on their returns, according to the estimates by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. But that percentage would grow as business owners' nominal incomes rise with inflation.

In 2011, a family of four with an income of $800,000 a year would get a $24,000 tax increase, when the new tax is combined with an increase in the top two tax brackets proposed by President Barack Obama and other scheduled tax changes, according to an analysis by Deloitte Tax. That's a 12.5 percent increase in federal income taxes.

A family of four making $5 million a year would see a $434,500 tax increase, about a 32 percent increase, according to the analysis.

"These are very big numbers and very high effective tax rates," said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert at Deloitte Tax.

The new health care tax would come on top of other tax increases for the wealthy proposed by Obama. The top marginal income tax rate now is 35 percent, on income above $372,950. Obama wants to boost the top rate to 39.6 percent in 2011 by allowing some of the tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush to expire.

House Democrats said they are proud that they found a way to finance the health care package largely from a tax on the wealthy. There is, however, little appetite for a millionaire's tax in the Senate, and some tax experts think it is a mistake to tap only rich people to pay for services used by all.

"If health care is a benefit that is worth having, then it's worth paying for," said William Gale, who was an adviser to President George H. W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers and is now co-director of the Tax Policy Center. "This gives the impression that it's only worth having if someone else pays for it." - FOX News Story

Democrats on FOX Take Heat from Party

Democratic pundit Bob Beckel has been under contract with Fox News for six years. And in the midst of the White House war against the cable network, some of his liberal friends think that’s six years too many.

They invited him to lunch the other day for an intervention: Why is Beckel — a true-blue Democrat who worked for Robert F. Kennedy and ran Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign — giving comfort to the enemy?

Beckel’s response: “I talk to more persuadable voters in a month than anybody on MSNBC and CNN talks to in a year.”

In the eyes of some of their party brethren, Beckel and other Democratic strategists and pundits who appear regularly on Fox News are traitors to the cause. Or at least gluttons for punishment.

And some of them feel that way, too.

“It sucks,” says Democratic direct-mail consultant Liz Chadderdon, a regular on the network. “It is very, very tough to be a Democrat on Fox.”

During an October 2007 hit on “The Factor,” Chadderdon referred to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay as “victims.” It was a verbal faux pas, and she knew it. But no sooner did she get off the air than she received a death threat — the first of a handful she says she’s received after appearing on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox show.

More recently, Chadderdon has been invited to talk business with Fox’s Neil Cavuto — on the main network and on the two-year-old Fox Business Network — even though she readily admits that she has no background in economics.

“Speaking about those issues is not my forte,” said Chadderdon. “And I’m getting the tar kicked out of me.”

So why does she keep doing it? For pretty much the same reason Willie Sutton robbed banks. Fox is where the viewers are — No. 1 in the prime-time news ratings and drawing more than twice as many viewers on weeknights as either MSNBC or CNN. - Politico Story

Obama's Not Providing Coat Tails for Democrats

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13 (see trends).

Following release of the House health care plan by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 42% of voters now support the Congressional effort while 54% are opposed. - Rasmussen Reports Poll