Carolina Politics Online

This is just incredible.

Spratt defended his support of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, a bill that has been debated by U.S. Congress for months. He champions the bill, as well as President Barack Obama’s involvement in trying to pass the bill in Congress.

“I would have liked to see the bill done a bit differently, but he’s (Obama) done a magnificent job on it,” Spratt said. “This is something Presidents Truman, Nixon, Ford and Clinton have tried to do before, and I give him credit for trying.”

The Lancaster News

Those are the words Congressman John Spratt used to describe ObamaCare while speaking at the Lancaster County 2010 Democratic Convention.  I think this man needs to stop puffing on the magic dragon.  The entire process of this health care plan has been carried out in a fashion of Mafia thuggery masquerading as the legislative process.  It’s been filled with backroom deals, bribes, and threats and intimidation.

If this is what Bubba thinks is magnificent then he has either been in Washington too long and/or senility is setting in.

The first shot has been fired in the battle to uphold states’ rights and the Tenth Amendment. Call or email your state legislators and tell them that we want North and South Carolina to follow suit and unite against this encroachment of the Federal government.

RICHMOND — The Virginia General Assembly has given final approval to a bill that would make it illegal for the government to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a measure intended to conflict with Democratic efforts to reform health care in Washington.

Thirty-four other states are weighing similar legislation to block the individual mandate, which is an element of bills that have passed both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. But Virginia is the first state to complete legislative action on such a bill.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Wednesday that he intends to sign the legislation.

The Washington Post

Public pressure might be building on Bubba or maybe it’s his shoddy polling numbers, but something is possibly causing Spratt to reevaluate his position on the health care legislation.  According to a few different publications, Spratt is being referred to now as a possible undecided vote on reconciling the health care bill with the Senate version.  Spratt voted in favor of destroying the American health care system late last year.

“We’re telling constituents that he is withholding judgment until he sees the final bill,” says a staff aide.

Christian Science Monitor

Obviously, there are a lot of Democrats who voted “yes” in the fall who have indicated that they want to vote “no” or are considering voting no: Jerry McNerney, Steve Kagan, Henry Cuellar, Kathy Dahlkemper, Dan Lipinski, Marion Berry, Baron Hill, Brad Ellsworth, Dina Titus, Michael Arcuri, Dennis Cardoza, James Oberstar, Bart Stupak, Shelley Berkeley, Dan Maffei, Earl Pomeroy, Nick Rahall, John Spratt and Kurt Schrader.

National Review

I will update the whip count near the end of the day, but Steve Kagen, along with John Spratt, may be undecided now.

Fire Dog Lake

If you live in South Carolina’s Fifth District, call John Spratt’s Congressional office and demand he vote no on the health care bill.  Tell him to stop representing San Francisco and start representing South Carolina.

Washington Office
1401 Longworth Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Tel. 202-225-5501
Fax 202-225-0464

Apparently Bubba has set up a call screening system in order to stop the influx of out of state residents from calling into his office about the health care bill.  I guess I can sort of understand.  He doesn’t represent people that live outside of the Fifth District.  Although now that I think about it, he doesn’t represent those of us in the Fifth District either.

President Obama is sinking all of his remaining political capital into destroying the American health care system and the question to be asked here in the Charlotte area is will Larry Kissell capitulate or buck his party again and vote against ObamaCare?  Kissell represents a swing district that leans slightly Republican and although a Public Policy Polling poll taken a couple of months ago showed him hovering over 50% in hypothetical November match ups, this issue will make or break that.

As reported today in the Charlotte Observer, Kissell insists that his position has not changed and that he has no intention of supporting the current proposal in Congress and that is probably a good thing.  The American people are not seeing eye to with this administration.  Over half the country opposes the bill and almost two-thirds of Americans think it would be better to pass smaller incremental bills that address specific individual flaws in the system.

If Kissell were to change his mind and vote for the bill it will mark the end of his very short political tenure.  Hell, even if he doesn’t vote for it and it still passes it could seal his defeat.  The original House bill only passed by five votes so it’s hard to predict how this is going to turn out if the Democrats decide to proceed with reconciliation, but the word is the White House is putting on the pressure.

The woman who chaired Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell’s two congressional campaigns has turned against him.

Dannie Montgomery, a teacher from Anson County who served as first vice chair of the N.C. Democratic Party, said in a news release that Kissell “has turned his back on the grassroots supporters who propelled him to office,” Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Under the Dome

Most of the bitching coming from the far left concerning Kissell is over his vote against the lack-of-health care bill.  Kissell did the right thing in opposing the bill because it is a complete and utter train wreck, but this is the problem when you are dealing with ideologues.  They don’t actually take the time to analyze the whole situation.  People like Dannie Montgomery are just peeved that Kissell didn’t tow the party line regardless of the harm it would have caused.  Apparently Montgomery and others expect Larry Kissell to walk through Congress with blinders on and be a rubber stamp for every single disaster that comes out of Congress just because it is the president’s idea.  Ironically, these are the same people that attacked Robin Hayes and other Republican Congressmen around the country for doing exactly that with George Bush.

There are a slew of candidates running to replace Congressman Gresham Barrett (R) in South Carolina’s Third Congressional District.  As you probably know, Banker Bailout Barrett is trying to become our next governor (fat chance of that) and his R+17 district virtually guarantees that a Republican will succeed him next year.  Of the six candidates running I had the pleasure of interviewing State Representative Jeff Duncan of State House District 15.

Duncan is the father of three boys and has been married to his wife, whom he met in high school, for 21 years.  He got elected to the State House in 2002, but don’t blame him for the 40% increase in state spending and all the pork and waste racked up by our legislative assembly during that time.  Duncan was one of the good guys, consistently opposing the largesse of our trough feeding state legislative leadership.  Yes, Bobby Harrell and Glenn McConnell, I am talking about you, amongst others.  Duncan has received multiple high marks from the South Carolina Club for Growth, a taxpayer hero award from Governor Mark Sanford, and commendations from the South Carolina Policy Council.  In fact, it is this invariable commitment to small government policies that Duncan feels is what makes him the best candidate to receive his party’s nomination and go on to be an effective representative in Washington D.C.

South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.  I asked Duncan specifically about what could be done in Congress to improve our state’s economy.  He supports overhauling the tax code and regulatory environment.  Banking regulations, he says, have frozen access to capital for many businesses preventing expansion and an increase in jobs.  He also advocates slashing the Corporate Income Tax, which is the second highest in the world, and getting back into the business of nuclear power.

I also asked him about health care costs because that’s been a huge issue lately across the country.  One criticism I’ve heard from some of my more conservative friends is that they hold some blame on the Republicans for this health care disaster we’ve been seeing in Washington.  They say the rising cost of health care and insurance has been a complaint from many Americans for years and during all that time the GOP held the majority in Congress they could have addressed that issue, but they didn’t.  Now we have the Democrats on the verge of destroying the entire system.

Duncan says that Congress could take advantage of the interstate commerce clause in the Constitution and use it to bring down state boundaries in health insurance to allow companies to sell across state lines.  Competition will drive down the price.  He is also a supporter of some type of tort reform.  Furthermore, Duncan says that individuals who purchase health insurance outside their company should be allowed a dollar for dollar Federal tax deduction to help pay for it.  Additionally, associations in an industry should be able to pool together to purchase insurance at a lower cost.  He cited the National Association of Realtors, for example.

I also hit Duncan up about the Boeing deal that just happened a few months ago.  Boeing ultimately decided on South Carolina over Washington State to locate their plant that will assemble their new 787 jetliner.  This decision was based on the state’s cheaper labor costs and also targeted tax breaks for the company.  There has been criticism by some groups over these tax breaks, referring to them as corporate welfare.  Duncan, who voted in favor of the deal, said that while it probably isn’t good policy, to not go along with it would put the state in a non-competitive spot due to other states engaging in the practice.

Some additional information.  Jeff Duncan would support a Constitutional amendment imposing term limits on all Federal elected officials and he also is of the opinion that we do not have enough small business owners in D.C. who understand economics and what it takes to run a business in America.  Small businesses make up 75% of all American industry.

The primary is June 8th of this year.  Aside from Duncan, State Representative Rex Rice, State Senator Shane Massey, businessman Richard Cash of Anderson, Easley attorney Neil Collins, and Dr. Mike Vasovski of Aiken are also vying for the nomination to run in the November general election.

Maybe.  David Waldman of The Daily Kos makes the case that the fate of the Democrats’ lack of health care reform bill is in the hands of my very own Congressman, John Spratt.  In a nut shell, as chairman of the House Rules Committee, Spratt can put together a package of changes, attach them to H.R. 3200, the original bill that made it out of committee in early fall, then present it to the House Rules Committee and pave the way for reconciliation.  Waldman has spelled it out in a bit more detail, but that is the general idea.

It’s an interesting proposal, one that could put Spratt in an unusual pickle.  Does he support the President’s ill fated agenda and ram this through as suggested above?  After all, according to rumor, Spratt wanted permission from Queen Pelosi to vote against the health care bill in the House and he was denied.  He’s proven to not have the testicular fortitude to stand up to the power brokers and listen to the people he actually works for, me and the other residents of the Fifth Congressional District.  A move on reconciliation would almost ensure Spratt’s defeat in November, but then I wouldn’t put it past him to do so and then decide to retire from the House after all.  Then Pelosi is happy, Obama is happy, and Spratt escapes all consequences back home.

I have my doubts, however, that after the Massachusetts Senate race the votes exist to pass this through both chambers even with a simple bare majority.  At least right now.  Frankly, I don’t know why Kos would even want them to do this.  This is nothing close to what Obama and the Democrats promised the people.  The left was promised a public option, which this bill lacks.  Furthermore, they are always railing against the profits of insurance companies.  It’s one of their biggest beefs with privatized health care, yet this health care bill is a giant corporate give away to those very same interests.

Keep an eye on John Spratt.  It’s the quiet, sneaky ones you need to pay attention to.

I agree with the following press release from Congressman McHenry’s office, however, I think there is more than just dissatisfaction with the health care bill that drove what we saw last night.  This Congress, which Nancy Pelosi said would be the most open and ethical in history, has been the most sneaky and underhanded I think we’ve ever had in my lifetime.  They are supposed to be representatives of the people, not aristocrats, and they have shown nothing but a snobbish contempt for the American people.  I would like to think what happened in Massachusetts last night will serve as a warning shot over the bough of the Democrats’ sinking ship, but I’m not holding my breath.

“If you’d told me a month ago that a Republican running against President Obama’s health care plan would win Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat, I’d have said you were crazy.

“If the Obama health care bill has sparked such a massive backlash in Massachusetts, I can’t imagine what Democrats in red and purple districts are hearing back home. Democrats should take the hint and stop pushing their unpopular plan on the American people.”

Call To Action: Citizens Health Care Rally – Tuesday, January 12th at Noon

Congressman John Spratt Health Care Rally

Please come join three conservative organizations as we unite to oppose the Leftist Government takeover of our Health Care System supported by Congressman Spratt.

What:
Citizens Health Care Rally

When:
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 12:00 Noon

Where:
Congressman John Spratt Rock Hill Office
201 E. Main Street
Rock Hill, SC 29730

Event Sponsors:
We The People / SC District 5 Patriots / 5th District Republican Parties

You may recall that President Obama promised several times during his 2008 presidential campaign that if elected he would push for an overhaul of the health care system and that he would make the talks and negotiations publicly accessible by the media.  This of course has turned out to be another one of the many lies he fed the American people in the run up to the 2008 elections.  The health care legislation has been a rotting stew of secrecy, back room deals, and flat out bribery among our elected representatives on the left side of the aisle.

A few days ago C-SPAN finally got up the nerve to push House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to allow them access to cover the talks of the final legislation being reconciled by both Houses of Congress.  In what is more or less a mockery of their request, the Great O has bestowed upon them a one hour window to cover the talks.  The fact that they even have to ask permission in a “government for the people, by the people” is rather striking to begin with.

Understandably outraged by the behavior of the majority party, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) has co-authored a letter with a few fellow Republican Congressmen to Pelosi demanding that they live up to the promise  of “a new era of openness in our country” made by the President early last year.  It will more than likely be ignored because this administration and Congressional leadership have demonstrated time and time again that they don’t give a damn about what the people of this country want, but hey, at least Foxx has tried.

You can read the text of her letter here.

The Nebraska Medicaid deal to secure Ben Nelson’s (D) vote for the health care bill has rankled many in the Democrat Party in both Houses of Congress and more and more members of the caucus are beginning to publicly denounce the deal and demand it be pulled from the final version of the bill.  According to Jack Spratt (D-SC-05), this provision, in addition to the secrecy and back room dealing that has been going on behind closed doors, may be costing the Democrats support from their own party.  Spratt claims the final vote on the bill at this point is too close to call.

At this same City Club breakfast this morning in Rock Hill, Spratt also perceptively pointed out the following and used it as justification to pass this health care travesty.

“Folks tell me they don’t want medical care made in Washington,” Spratt said. “I understand the sentiment. Here’s the reality: The federal government has a huge stake in health care already.”

And yet it doesn’t occur to ole Bubba that all of that Federal interference might be one of the biggest problems with our health care system.  Doh!

If you have followed the saga of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Democrats’ health care disaster being rammed through the Congress, you probably heard that the bill’s passage through the U.S. Senate was finally secured through a bribe to Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson (D) promising his state free Medicaid funds in exchange for his vote. This is not a privilege that any other state will be the lucky recipient of.  Like many other parts of this legislation that fail to live up to constitutional muster, this specific provision has not set well with several state attorneys general around the country, including our own Henry McMaster here in South Carolina.

McMaster is the ring leader of a group of 13 attorneys general who have threatened a legal challenge to the Nebraska deal citing that it violates equal protection as laid out in the U.S. Constitution.  McMaster and the others sent a letter this past Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) demanding that they remove the promised Medicaid funds from the legislation that will be funneled to Nebraska at the expense of the other 49 states or face a legal battle in the Supreme Court.  This has sent Senator Nelson, who has already plummeted 31 points in the polls after making this deal, into a bit of a panic.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned.

According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference to recent threats by the state AGs to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Medicaid provision in the bill that benefits Nebraska at the expense of other states.

Under the terms of a deal Nelson cut with Senate leaders to secure his crucial vote for the health care package, Nebraska would be exempted from having to pay for the coverage of its new Medicaid enrollees—leaving the federal government to pick up the tab. The deal is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over the next 10 years.

Read more: Politico

If this bill eventually gets reconciled between the House and Senate and is signed by President Obama, which I have little doubt it won’t, this will be the first of many other legal challenges this bill is going to face.  This health care bill is the most corrupt and intrusive power grab by the Federal government that in my opinion has ever been attempted in my lifetime.  I am happy to see that my state’s elected representatives are on the front line of the fight to stop this abomination of our freedom from taking place.

In a nutshell, yeah.  That’s a damn good description.  Not only are Americans going to be paying higher insurance premiums once this bill goes into effect, but we will also be footing the bill for Medicaid in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Vermont, a deal made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in order to secure the necessary votes for passage.  In the private sector this would be considered bribery, yet in the Federal government it’s considered “compromise.”

A Republican senator who has opposed President Barack Obama’s health overhaul effort said Tuesday that the deals Democratic leaders have cut to round up the votes they need to push the measure through the Senate have been “sleazy.”

Speaking Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina cited concessions won by Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, whose support gave Democrats the 60th and final vote they need. Among other things, Nelson won an agreement that the federal government will pay to expand Medicaid services in Nebraska.

Said Graham: “That’s not change you can believe in. That’s sleazy.”

AP

While the Republicans are having their own caged death match to win the 8th district nomination, it’s possible that an even bloodier contest could take place on the Democrat side:

Some 8th District Democrats are courting a potential challenger to U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a sign of their continued frustration over his vote against a Democratic health care bill.

They’re wooing a Charlotte lawyer who ran for the seat in 2002. A Facebook page called “Draft Chris Kouri for the 8th District” says “Do more than simply tell Larry Kissell that you are ‘mad as hell (at him) and won’t take it anymore.’”

“It’s a legitimate groundswell,” said Mecklenburg County Democratic chairman Joel Ford. “Chris Kouri is entertaining it. And I believe that if Chris gets enough grass-roots support he’ll run.”

The Charlotte Observer

You gotta love those Dems… apparently not voting for the worst freedom-killing abomination to come out of Washington in recent memory makes you soft and a traitor. Jeeez…

Anyways, they can whine “grassroots” all they want. A broader look at the district-wide grassroots in the 8th ought to show anyone that Kissell is about the farthest left that district can go. Nominating an outright liberal in what should be a bad year for Dems is suicidal.

WASHINGTON — Eight states and the District of Columbia don’t have laws that specifically bar insurance companies from using domestic violence as a pre-existing condition to deny health coverage, according to a study from the National Women’s Law Center.

The states are Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming. The study by the nonpartisan, nonprofit center focused on individual coverage, not group coverage.

Some of the states, particularly North Carolina, argue that other statutes on their books address the issue.

McClatchy

I can see the reasoning here. If you are in a violent relationship and continue to stay with the abuser and end up in the hospital time and time again for abuse related injuries, at what point are you bearing as much responsibility for your situation as the person inflicting the violence on you and why should the insurance company have to keep paying for it?

Take note that I am not saying that is necessarily how I feel, just that I can understand that argument being made.

DURHAM — Democratic Senate candidate Kenneth Lewis criticized Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s position on health care legislation Thursday, saying he was part of the Washington establishment that had blocked efforts to make health care more affordable.

The News & Observer

I’m not trying to defend Burr because his performance in the Senate leaves a lot to be desired, but Lewis is full of it.  The health care bill going through the Senate and the one already passed by the House do not make health care more affordable.  It will make insurance more expensive for the 85% of Americans that currently have it.  Every study of these bills has stated so including the CBO so either Lewis is misinformed or he is just lying.

Remember all the hubbub about Joe Wilson exclaiming “You lie!” to the President during the State of the Union address earlier this year?  Of course you do.  Despite the chastising he has taken since then by the left and even some on the right for his outburst there is one little problem hanging over the heads of Wilson’s critics.  He was right.  Both the House health care bill and the Senate health care bill still do not encompass provisions to screen out illegal immigrant workers from the mandate on businesses that they provide health care coverage for all of their employees.

The House bill mandates, and the Senate bill strongly encourages, businesses to extend health care coverage to all employees. But the bills do not have exemptions to screen out illegal immigrants, who usually obtain jobs by using false identities and are indistinguishable from legal workers.

A rough estimate by the Center for Immigration Studies suggests that the practical effect of the mandates would be that about 1 million illegal immigrants could obtain health insurance coverage through their employers.

Democrats who wrote the House bill said that employer coverage for illegal immigrants is not intentional, but rather the outcome of people breaking the law.

The Washington Times

Technically, that may be true.  People are breaking the law by hiring illegals, but let’s stop playing games here.  Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have taken serious steps to crack down on the hiring of illegals.  In fact, under this administration and the direction of Janet Napolitano, INS raids on businesses known to employ illegals have all but stopped.  The Feds aren’t going to do anything about this problem and the Democrats who wrote this House bill know that full well.  Hence, they know they are to blame for the coming crisis if this bill becomes law so they are trying to pass the buck now.

The longer this drags out and receives more attention, the more Joe Wilson may turn out to be a hero to his district rather than an embarrassment.