The plans, being tested in places like San Diego, New York and Chicago, are likely to appeal especially to small businesses that already provide insurance to their employees, but are concerned about the ever-spiraling cost of coverage.

But large employers, as well, are starting to show some interest, and insurers and consultants expect that, over time, businesses of all sizes will gravitate toward these plans in an effort to cut costs.

The tradeoff, they say, is that more Americans will be asked to pay higher prices for the privilege of choosing or keeping their own doctors if they are outside the new networks. That could come as a surprise to many who remember the repeated assurances from President Obama and other officials that consumers would retain a variety of health-care choices.

The New York Times

Shocking, eh?  No, not that this is happening.  It’s shocking that there were people in this country stupid enough to actually believe the President’s lies about being able to keep their current health coverage and doctor.  As ObamaCare slowly unfolds more people are figuring out just how badly we got bent over by our “representatives” in D.C.  Oh, and let us not forget who it was that brought this on us by voting in favor of ObamaCare.

• G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (NC-02)
• David Price (NC-04)
• Mel Watt (NC-12)
• Brad Miller (NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (SC-06)
• Senator Kay Hagan (NC)

The point of the legislation would be to force corporations sponsoring a political ad to disclose their identity, even to the extreme of the CEO having to appear at the end of the ad in a disclaimer.  However, it’s the more ominous language in the bill that has raised the eyebrows of those in the blogosphere and questioning if this legislation could unconstitutionally impact us as well.  The issue is with the language.

Under the bill, the F.E.C. would have the authority to require disclosures regarding the funding of “coordinated communications,” defined in the bill as “a publicly distributed or disseminated communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for Federal office” and is publicly distributed or disseminated within four months prior to an election. In other words, political ads. And this bill would specifically target those paid for by someone or some entity other than the candidates.

The bill specifically exempts certain forms of media from being considered “coordinated communications” and regulated by it, but blogs aren’t specifically listed.

OpenCongress

And that is what is sounding the alarm.  Here is the language of the bill stating who exceptions apply to.

‘(4) EXCEPTION- The term ‘covered communication’ does not include—

‘(A) a communication appearing in a news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless such facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;

There is no mention of blogs in the list of communication and there is no language specifically exempting the communication of a private individual like myself and others who write Web sites like this.

It’s uncertain if this bill will make it through the Senate. After all, as the saying goes the Senate is the place where legislation goes to die. If they do pass it then we have an open door to Stalinism right here in the United States.  Think it’s out of the question that the Federal government couldn’t abuse this law to shut down Web sites like this one and others that they feel are a threat to their power just like they do in countries like Iran, China, and Singapore?  Think again.

The following Congressmen from North and South Carolina voted for this bill today:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

The following members voted against the act to preserve freedom of speech:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

Elaine Marshall won the Democratic nomination for the U.S.Senate race in North Carolina. She will now face incumbent Republican Richard Burr and Libertarian Michael Beitler.  I rank this race as leaning Republican.

State Representative Nikki Haley handily defeated Congressman Gresham Barrett in the Republican gubernatorial run off for South Carolina.  Haley will now face Democratic State Senator Vincent Sheheen in the fall to determine who will succeed Governor Mark Sanford.  I rank this race as also leaning Republican.  Ken Ard will be Haley’s Lt Governor running mate.

In North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District Republican run off Harold Johnson easily bested Tim D’Annunzio as expected.  D’Annunzio will now have all the time he needs to begin excavating the State of Arizona for the lost Ark of the Convenant.  Johnson will face incumbent Democratic Congressman Larry Kissell and Libertarian Thomas Hill in November.  I rank this race as leaning Democratic.

In North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District Bill Randall defeated Bernie Reeves.  Democrat Brad Miller is the incumbent in this gerrymandered district which covers a small portion of the Triangle and then shoots up to the Virginia border.  This is a D+5 district, so it’s not overwhelmingly Democratic, though I lean this race towards Miller.  Given the political environment this year, however, we could see Randall pull off an upset in November.

In South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District State Representative Tim Scott defeated Paul Thurmond by a huge margin in the Republican run off.  Although Congressman Henry Brown almost lost this seat in 2008, it is still pretty reliably Republican.  Scott is likely to win the November election.

State Representative Jeff Duncan defeated political newcomer Richard Cash by only a three point margin in the Republican run off for South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District.  This is a solidly Republican seat and we are sure to see Duncan succeed Gresham Barrett in January.

Congressman Bob Inglis became another incumbent to lose reelection in his party’s primary in what’s becoming a long line of incumbent bloodletting all across the country.  Trey Gowdy laid the smackdown on him pretty hard last night.  Like the 3rd, the 4th is solidly Republican and Gowdy will be the next Congressman come January.

Alan Wilson won the Republican run off for South Carolina’s Attorney General race.  The odds favor him to win the general election in November.  Mick Zais won the State Education Superintendent Republican run off and he will face Democrat Frank Holleman in the general.  I rank this race as a toss up.  This is the one statewide seat that the Democrats traditionally seem to be able to capture in this state, probably because Democrats are generally trusted on education issues better than the GOP.  Although, with the political environment favoring the GOP this year more so than normal, Zais could emerge victorious.

In South Carolina’s State House run offs, Doug Brannon ousted one term State Representative Joey Millwood in the 38th House District.  This was an unfortunate result as Brannon supports the failed status quo of public education in this state, where as Millwood was a school choice supporter.  On the other hand, Andy Patrick absolutely pummeled State Representative Richard Chalk in the 123rd so that balances out the Millwood loss.  Democrat Boyd Brown just barely kept his seat in District 41 and Republican Marion Frye hung on to his seat in District 39.

And since I live in York County I always like to weigh on our local races.  Both County Council incumbents in the Republican run off lost their seats.  Eric Winstead defeated Councilman Joe Cox in District 3 and Britt Blackwell beat Buddy Motz in District 6.  David Bowman secured the nomination in District 1, the seat currently held by sleaze bag Paul Lindemann who only managed to get a paltry 12% in the primary election two weeks ago.

Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC-13) wrote a column for the Huffington Post over the weekend in which he referred to the Republicans in Congress as hypocrites for opposing Obama’s tax on “too big to fail” banks because they posed a similar plan just a few years ago.  Well, that may be true and they probably are hypocrites.  I have met very few politicians who aren’t, but hypocritical or not, this tax should not be implemented and that’s the bigger picture Miller isn’t seeing through his partisan eye glasses.  He quotes a 2000 testimony by Stephen Moore of the CATO Institute.

“The user fee is a partial payment for the implicit guarantee it receives from Uncle Sam,” Moore said. “The rationale behind such a fee is that since taxpayers are bearing an implicit risk on Fannie Mae activities, it is reasonable that the federal government recoup fees to pay for that assumption of risk. The main advantage of such a fee is that it would help level the playing field between Fannie Mae and its fully private competitors.”

What I am reading there amounts to double taxation on you and me.  First of all, Moore is right about Fannie and Freddie.  We, the taxpayers, are bearing a huge risk on backing their overly risky and poor business activities.  We are already being taxed to pay for their recklessness.  The question that should be asked here is why?  Why is the government continuing to take responsibility for Fannie and Freddie with our tax dollars?  That’s what should be addressed.  Miller also notes that the tax will go to help reclaim $120 billion in tax dollars that were lost through the TARP program.  Again, it begs the question, why was it done in the first place?  Adding a 15% tax on all banks to cover this stupidity is what amounts to the second round of taxation on people like you and me because as Congressman Miller and many in the Democrat party don’t seem to understand, businesses don’t pay taxes.  They pass their tax burden on to us  through increased fees and prices and we pay for it when we patron them so I don’t see how Obama’s bank tax is good for anybody other than the power brokers in D.C. steering our nation into the crapper.

I want you to understand what this bill does.  It is going to cost in excess of $1.2 trillion over the next ten years.  This is all new spending on top of what our government spends today.  Bear in mind, we have a $1.7 trillion budget deficit this year alone an $11 trillion debt.  It’s actually even worse than that, though.  The $1.2 trillion figure is what the House reps are saying.  The CBO has a much, much larger price tag.

Senator Gregg: Updated CBO Estimate of House Bill Pulls Back the Curtain on Majority’s Intent to Grow Government by $3 Trillion

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee today commented on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) more detailed cost estimate of the manager’s amendment to the House health reform bill.

Senator Gregg stated, “The CBO estimate released last night finally sheds light on the smoke and mirrors game the majority has been playing with the cost of their health care reform proposal. Over the first 10 years, this legislation builds in gross new spending of $1.7 trillion – and most of the new spending doesn’t even start until 2014. Once that spending is fully phased in, the House Democratic bill rings up at more than $3 trillion over ten years.

“Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense – we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit.

“If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.”

This bill will fine employers who do not provide health insurance to their employees.  This is a double edged sword.  Many small business, for one, don’t provide it because they can’t.  Of those companies that do, the fine that would be implemented by the Federal government will actually cost less than providing the benefits.  The obvious result is that many companies out there will simply drop employee health benefits and force them onto the public “option.”  Personally, I think this is by design because the Democrats have been very open about wanting a single payer government run health care system and that is exactly the path we will go down.

This bill will make your current insurance policy even more expensive.  Remember how the whole point of health care “reform” was to lower the cost.  Yeah, that’s out the door.  Taxes on medical devices and supplies as well as on insurance companies and mandates requiring them to cover anyone who walks through the door regardless of age or preexisting conditions will raise the price of your insurance.  This will put many more Americans on the public “option” because they won’t be able to afford the premium increase or their company will stop offering the benefits and just pay the fine.  We are headed towards a two-tiered health care system.  High quality health care for the elite rich of our nation who can afford to pay outside the public “option” and a watered down rationed system for the rest of us.

This bill was 1,990 pages long.  Everyone that voted for this bill doesn’t have the slightest clue what is in it.  They haven’t had it long enough to know and many of them have already admitted that they don’t read the bills anyway.

Probably the most destructive part of this bill is the individual mandate.  Never in the history of our nation, one that prides itself of personal freedom and liberty, has our government passed a law forcing the American people to  buy a product.  This is blatantly unconstitutional and I imagine that if the Senate companion bill passes with the same mandate, which it does possess, and this is signed into law there will be Constitutional challenges to this piece.   I want you to understand the ramifications if such a mandate is held up by the Supreme Court.  Going forward our government will have no limitation of powers.  Once they are told by the highest court in the land that they are allowed to tell us what to buy based upon the court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause or providing the general welfare, they will have complete control over the American people.  Our nation as we know it today will be a thing of the past.  We are heading into a Soviet style government.  Make no mistake about it.

All Republicans in North and South Carolina voted against this bill.  Democrat Congressmen Larry Kissell, Mike McIntyre, and Heath Shuler also voted against the bill.

The following Democrats voted to throw you in the gulag if you don’t buy health insurance.

• G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (NC-02)
• David Price (NC-04)
• Mel Watt (NC-12)
• Brad Miller (NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (SC-06)

Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) was the only member to receive a perfect score of 100%.  However, there were a few others who weren’t far behind her.  Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) received a 99%, voting against only one of the amendments.  Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03) and Sue Myrick (R-NC-09) both received a 97%.  Bob Inglis (R-SC-04) a 96%.  All others were below 90% which means the rest have some work to do, some a little and some are completely worthless.

Two more Congressmen that stood out to me were our two Blue Dog Democrats in North Carolina:  Heath Shuler (NC-11) and Mike McIntyre (NC-07).  Bear in mind that the Blue Dogs are supposed to be fiscal conservatives.  Apparently, these two didn’t get the memo.  Shuler supported only one amendment out of the 68 and McIntyre found the only way to top his poor showing by voting for none of them.

Also on the wall of shame for frivolously throwing your tax dollars away are the following pigs who received a zero score:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Jack Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-11)

It’s interesting to note that all the high scoring members of Congress are Republicans and all the ones with the shitty scores are Democrats.  That really illustrates the differing views the two parties have on the role of the Federal Government.

The Triangle’s three Democratic congressmen sought to build support for President Barack Obama’s health-care proposal Monday, saying it would help ensure that when middle class people become seriously ill or change or lose jobs they would not be left to pay their own medical bills.

The News & Observer

Correct.  They would not be paying their medical bills.  You would be paying their medical bills, in addition to your own.

In their first joint appearance since coming home for the August congressional recess, the lawmakers scoffed at critics’ cries of socialism, saying the president’s plan has deep roots in American history.

“Theodore Roosevelt, when he ran for president as the nominee with the Bull Moose Party in 1912, called for universal health care,” said Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh. “Harry Truman called for it in 1948. We come back to this issue again and again. It’s an issue that faces every family.”

That’s propaganda.  Teddy Roosevelt was incredibly left wing compared to your average Republican today.  Harry Truman was Vice-President under FDR who was a big government stooge and an authoritarian control freak.  To say that government controlled health care has deep roots in American  history is a blatant manipulation of our history.  Where are the quotes from our Founding Fathers advocating a strong centralized government to plan our lives for us?  These guys are liars and they know it.

The three congressmen, Miller, David Price of Chapel Hill and Bob Etheridge of Lillington, appeared at a private event at Wake Health Services, a community health center in East Raleigh.

A private event.  That’s because they’re cowards who are afraid to face their constituents.  They know that the voters don’t want this, but they want to try and jam it through anyway.  They know once public health care is passed it will be here forever.

RALEIGH — The health-care debate spilled onto the streets of Raleigh on Friday, with more than 600 people picketing the office of Democratic Congressman Brad Miller, decrying his support for the president’s health-care proposal.

The crowd, intense but not unruly, turned sedate, tree-lined St. Mary’s Street into political theater with signs such as “Hands off My Health Care,” and “God Forgive Them, They May not Know They are Helping Traitors,” and “Right Wing Organizer.” One man held up an empty suit on a pole.

The picketing was part of an increasingly angry and intense national debate over President Barack Obama’s health-care plan, as congressional Democrats returning home for the August recess have been met by determined opponents. Critics have been demanding public town hall meetings to vent their opposition, but Democrats have largely been avoiding them, viewing them as orchestrated efforts by conservative groups to create public confrontations rather than discussions.

The News & Observer

The American people did not put the Democrats in power so that they could hand over our health care to the Federal government in the biggest government power grab in U.S. history.  People all across the country are making their voices heard on this issue and the Democrats are not listening.  A few town halls have escalated into random incidents of violence and it’s no surprise.  Our Founding Fathers went to war over far less tyranny than what we experience today.

Here was the scene in Raleigh yesterday. According to the handful of activists that were allowed to actually meet with Miller, they were basically told by him to piss off.

Update: It seems to be only a few left blogs talking about this like the Daily Kook, but ABC does have something on it.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6950802

I need to check my mailbox more often. It turns out Bill Randall emailed me on Wednesday about his congressional run. Here’s what he has to say:

Good day to you.  This is Bill Randall.

I intend to run for the U.S. Congressional seat in the 13th District
(…currently held by Democrat Brad Miller).  I have discussed the matter with my County Chairman (Claude Pope, Wake), and this has also been communicated up-the-chain to my NCGOP 13th District Chairman (David Robinson) and the NCGOP State Chairman (Tom Fetzer).  For the record, my campaign will be launched “officially” on July 1, 2009.

The race for this pivotal U.S. Congressional seat will be challenging, and will
require that we are all pulling in the same direction.  The vital importance of your support, along with the other counties in the 13th District, CANNOT BE OVERSTATED.

For your information, I have been invited as one of the speakers at the
Independence Day (Family) “Tea Party” at Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh (1:00 -5:00 PM).  Website:  www.ncteapartyrevolution.com

Feel free to call or e-mail me anytime. Your thoughts and input are key to a
Conservative Republican “comeback” in 2010, as well as in our winning key
municipality races in 2009. 

Thank you for your stalwart work behind-the-scenes in your counties.  I look forward to seeing (and hearing from) you once again in the near future.

Sincerely,

William (“Bill”) Randall
bill@pray4ncgop.com

/UPDATE

Wasn’t it just two weeks ago that I hoped aloud that Bill Randall would continue to be active in politics?

Bill Randall, an unsuccessful candidate for state GOP chairman, plans to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh next year.

Randall, 42, a retired Navy meteorologist from Wake Forest, plans to announce his candidacy July 1, reports Rob Christensen.

“I believe the current representative is out of touch,” Randall said. “With his voting record he does not represent the average constituent in the district along with the so-called stimulus plan.”

The N&O

Brad Miller is one of the 219 assholes who today voted for the biggest tax hike in American history. Godspeed, Mr. Randall.

This still has to pass the U.S. Senate of course and that is nowhere near certain. They need 60 ayes just to be able to vote for it and I imagine there will be Democrat defectors there just as there were in the House.

Those who voted to raise your energy bills by about $1500 a year to “save the planet” are as follows:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Those who voted to protect your liberty, labor, and livelihood were:

• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

North Carolina’s congressional delegation served up $228 million in pork barrel spending for fiscal 2009, a 5 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report from the government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

CAGW’s 2009 “Congressional Pig Book,” released one day before hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets to protest wasteful government spending in a series of “tea parties,” catalogued 10,160 total pork projects, also called earmarks, amounting to $19.6 billion. Although the number of earmarks was down this year, the amount spent on those projects rose by 14 percent compared to fiscal 2008.

The Carolina Journal

I guess while the rest of us cut back, Congress felt the need to make up for it by spending more. But hey, what’s another $19.6 billion compared to the trillions we’re tossing around?

Despite a pledge to reform the earmark system, President Obama last month signed a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill laced with pork barrel spending. “I am signing an imperfect omnibus bill because it’s necessary for the ongoing functions of government, and we have a lot more work to do,” Obama said.

Hope and change. Change and hope. Just click your ruby slippers together and maybe it’ll come true.

U.S. Rep. David Price, D-4th, helped score the most earmarks among North Carolina representatives, followed by former Rep. Robin Hayes, R-8th. Price and Hayes secured a combined 34 earmarks totaling over $11 million in the omnibus spending bill alone, according to a report by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, and Patrick McHenry, R-10th, were the only Tar Heel lawmakers to pass on the pork. Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd, was responsible for only one earmark: $2.4 million for a U.S. Navy cancer vaccine program in California.

Foxx, Jones, and McHenry have promised to abstain from earmarks. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., made the same pledge, but the CAGW report shows that Burr played a role in securing 52 earmarks in appropriations bills this fiscal year.

I’m interested to know what Burr’s earmarks were, and what excuse he had. Last week Bane took some S.C. lawmakers to task for breaking their no-tax pledge. Well, I’m not to pleased to see my U.S. Senator break a no-earmarks pledge. That and his support for Bush’s bailout plan last year are causing me to sour on this guy real quick.

As it turns out, U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield doesn’t like to call them earmarks either.

The Wilson Democrat was the only member of the North Carolina delegation to actually label his requests for special appropriations in the federal budget “earmarks.”

But he told Dome he doesn’t like the term.

“I don’t like to call them earmarks because they have such a bad reputation around the country,” he said. “I call them Congressionally-directed funds.” 

Oh, well as long as we have some sort of innocuous pseudo-Orwellian term for these money-wasting travesties, I guess that makes it OK.

Jeeez, do we ever need a revolution.

Here’s the list:

Rep. G.K. Butterfield: 98, $7.3 billion

Rep. Larry Kissell: 103, $530.1 million

Rep. Bob Etheridge: 59, $312.2 million

Rep. Mike McIntyre: 67, $302 million

Rep. David Price: 89, $264.6 million

Rep. Brad Miller: 59, $185.5 million

Rep. Mel Watt: 66, $179.7 million

Rep. Howard Coble: 29, $90.3 million

Rep. Heath Shuler: 79, $81.5 million

Rep. Walter Jones: 11, $43.8 million

Rep. Sue Myrick: No earmark requests

Rep. Virginia Foxx: No earmark requests

Rep. Patrick McHenry: No earmark requests

The N&O

At least three of our congresscritters are trying to be responsible with our tax dollars. I won’t say that I expect better from Coble and Jones, because I don’t. We do deserve better though.

But let’s take a look at the top of that list, shall we?  G.K. Butterfield got $7.3 billion. BILLION! A “B” and 9 zeros! Now, I understand that G.K. represents the cradle of Eastern N.C. BBQ, but this goes a little too far.

So what did ol’ G.K. get with other peoples’ tax money?

The Wilson Democrat released his list of 98 requested appropriations for the federal budget on his Web site.

The largest request is $2 billion for Virginia-class submarines from the Northrop Grumman Corp. The smallest is $150,000 to upgrade lecture halls at Halifax Community College.

Other notable earmarks:

* Refueling overhauls for Navy aircraft carriers, $1.6 billion.

* Construction of new aircraft carriers, $807 million.

* Funding a National Textile Center at N.C. State University, $16.5 million. 

* Starting a rural business incubator in Scotland Neck, $10 million. 

The N&O

Hey, G.K., you know we’re in a recession, right?

Anyway, this is just a reminder to you to not forget which of our Carolina representatives voted to make all of this possible:

Voting for the bill:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)