The 10 Real Reasons Harry Reid Quit the Senate

Sen. Harry Reid announced on Friday that he will not seek re-election next year and will retire after serving for 30 years — including eight years as Senate Majority Leader.

The Nevada Democrat's announcement took some observers by surprise, but there are several compelling reasons behind the veteran politician's decision. Here are the 10 real reasons Harry Reid quit the Senate:

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Stacking the court: the REAL reason for changing the filibuster rules in the Senate

This is the main reason why Democrats changed the nominating rules: to give President Obama an advantage on “executive orders” that are legislative workarounds so that he doesn’t actually have to compromise on anything.

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Senate leaders race to draft debt-limit bill after House effort collapses

First, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew made up this arbitrary deadline (he felt the children in the government needed some guidelines) and second, we have PLENTY of money coming into the government to pay ALL of our obligations (including Social Security) but a default (which would be the first time in U.S. history and would be an impeachable offense for the president) would only prevent the spend-mad politicians from borrowing more money.

...it was unclear whether an agreement between Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could pass the Senate before the Treasury Department exhausts its borrowing power Thursday.

Washington's fiscal fantasy

Paul Ryan: "Let's cover the moon with yogurt..."

HAT TIP: BeldarBlog

Destroy the McConnell-Reid-Pelosi "Cut, Run, and Hide" Plan!

Go to CutRunAndHide.com now!

How the Democrats plan on taking over the government on January 5th, 2011

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been scheming behind closed doors to use his slim majority to vote on January 5 for the most drastic rules changes since 1975...

Reid's Rules Scheme To Rewrite Defeat

According to Karl Marx, the following ten elements were requisite conditions for "a transition from capitalism to communism..."

Compare with the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda...

How efficient is big government?

Not very. Senate stall to blame for slow egg recall?

Obama's 10 false promises about Obamacare

From Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion:

Promise #1: If you are satisfied with your existing health care arrangement, you can keep it.

Promise #2: Reform will lower America’s health care spending.

Promise #3: Reform will lower Americans’ health care premiums.

Promise #4: Obamacare will not lead to a doctor shortage, or escalate the primary-care physician shortfall.

Promise #5: There will be no government rationing of medical care.

Promise #6: “The firm pledge” – Ninety-five percent of Americans will not see any form of tax increase because of Obamacare (or anything else).

Promise #7: Health care reform won’t add “a single dime” to the deficit—and will actually cut it.

Promise #8: Health care reform will help businesses—employers and employees, alike.

Promise #9: Obamacare will not allow for funding of abortions with taxpayer money.

Promise #10: Obamacare will not only satisfy each of the promises above, but satisfy all of them at the same time with virtually no downsides.

Yeah, They Lied (x 10)

CBO: Doc fix will cost more than anyone thought

Legislate in haste, repent at leisure. The ObamaCare bill signed by Barack Obama after getting hastily and repeatedly rewritten in backroom negotiations by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid turns out to cost a lot more than they admitted — and in new areas that keep appearing after its passage. The CBO now estimates the “doctor fix” that Pelosi and Reid promised to the AMA in exchange for their support will cost much more than the Democratic leaders admitted, emphases mine:

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Over 8,000 protestors show up in Harry Reid's hometown to protest Obamacare!

Gateway Pundit provides multiples links including Sarah Palin's speech.

The Healthcare Follies

Man, THIS IS RICH

Obama tried to publicly distance himself from the deals, saying he wasn’t in the room when they were struck, even though some of his aides were.

Obama presses Reid to cut special deals from health bill

Obama Is Nobody's Messiah Now

Obama can’t get a passing grade in any category today, and the Pelosi led congress is even more unpopular than what’s left of the man who was called a “messiah” only a year ago.

There's somethin' happening here

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

...there is not enough civilian security in Washington, DC to hold back the mob that will descend if the Obama/Pelosi/Reid axis tries to force this through. The anger likely to erupt across this country at such a willful abuse of power is not something any responsible official should want to encourage.

It will be historic, potentially dangerous in some ways, and far-reaching in consequence.

Cram-downs, Constitutions And A Revolution Over Health Care Reform

Coulter to Sharpton: "Did [Harry Reid] ask you to stop using your negro dialect too?”

It’s weekends like this that make it harder and harder for democrats to play their political race card when it’s obvious that it has little to do with race and everything to do with politics.

Update: Health Care Legislation

House and Senate Negotiations:

Senate Passes Reform Bill: At 7:05 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., along with 59 other Senate members voted to pass reform legislation that would expand health coverage to approximately 31 million people at a cost of $871 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill passed on party-lines (60-39), without a single Republican vote. Republicans believe the bill would impose many regulatory and financial burdens on taxpayers and businesses, and would swell government debt.

Reconciliation Poses Difficult Road Ahead: Before lawmakers can present a final health care reform bill to President Obama, the approved Senate bill needs to be merged with the House version passed in Nov. 2009, which extends coverage to 36 million Americans for a cost of about $1 trillion. However, the bills have some major differences that will need to be addressed as lawmakers shape the final package, including:

* Insurance market reform and Exchanges -- Both bills would bar insurers from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and from dropping coverage for those who get sick. They both would also create insurance exchanges that would allow small businesses and individuals to shop for insurance. However, the Senate bill would create state-based exchanges, whereas the House bill would create a national exchange with an option for states to run their own programs if they meet certain requirements.

* The government-run plan -- A government-run plan was a central component to the House bill. The Senate bill would instead direct the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to contract with private insurance companies to offer policies on the exchanges. Despite much commotion over the need to include the public option, House leaders conceded Tuesday that they may be willing to agree to a bill without a public option if other parts of the bill fulfill the same goals, and they hope to expand available subsidies.

* Reform financing -- With a price tag of approximately $1 trillion, Members of the House would pay for the reform effort through a 5.4 percent surtax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million and by imposing a 2.5 percent excise tax on medical devices. Members of the Senate, on the other hand, plan to pay for their $871 billion plan through a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans; an increase in payroll taxes for Medicare on individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000 per year; fees on insurers, medical device manufacturers and drug companies; and, a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning. On Wednesday, President Obama expressed his preference for the insurance tax contained in the Senate bill, however this provision is strongly opposed by labor unions.

* Coverage Mandates -- Both bills require that individuals obtain health insurance and would impose a penalty on those who do not. The House bill also includes an employer mandate for companies with payrolls above $750,000. The Senate bill, however, does not include this mandate and would require companies with more than 50 employees to pay a fine if employees obtain federally subsidized coverage on the insurance exchange.

* Medicaid expansion -- Both bills expand Medicaid. The Senate bill makes Medicaid available to those with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty level, whereas the House allows for coverage for those with incomes up to 150 percent of the poverty level.

* Abortion -- Both bills bar the use of federal funds for abortions; however, the House bill includes stricter language requiring anyone seeking abortion coverage to buy separate insurance riders. The Senate bill would allow states to choose whether or not to include plans with abortion coverage in the insurance exchange and would require those with abortion coverage to write a separate check for this insurance.

President Obama Pushes Swift Action: In a meeting at the White House Tuesday, President Obama encouraged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who participated via phone, to bypass the traditional conference committee used to negotiate reconciliation in the interest of time. The move creates a three-way negotiating construct involving top Democrats in the House and Senate and the White House and will exclude Republican lawmakers from the debate and reduce their ability to delay the voting.

Further, President Obama indicated that he would be taking a hands-on approach to the final stages of the negotiations. The President held another meeting with leading Democrats on Wednesday to help iron out the differences between the House and Senate bills. Democrats also held a meeting and conference call on Thursday to discuss how reconciliation will proceed and some of the priorities for the final bill.

HEALTH ACTION NETWORK

Professor Epstein: my new hero!

Apologies to Leo Donofrio, who just might slip to 2nd place...(I sure hope you respond to Mr. Lawrence Loeb's 12/21 post!)

Duquesne Light carries extra weight here because health-insurance industries are far from natural monopolies, so that regulating their rates calls for an extra dollop of judicial scrutiny. At this point, the Reid bill is on a collision course with the Constitution...The Supreme Court should apply the constitutional brakes to this foolhardy scheme if Congress doesn't come to its senses first.

Harry Reid Turns Insurance Into a Public Utility

Sarah Palin confirms "death panels" in Reid health care bill

Democrats are protecting this rationing “death panel” from future change with a procedural hurdle. You have to ask why they’re so concerned about protecting this particular provision. Could it be because bureaucratic rationing is one important way Democrats want to “bend the cost curve” and keep health care spending down?

The Congressional Budget Office seems to think that such rationing has something to do with cost. In a letter to Harry Reid last week, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf noted (with a number of caveats) that the bill’s calculations call for a reduction in Medicare’s spending rate by about 2 percent in the next two decades, but then he writes the kicker:

“It is unclear whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.”

Though Nancy Pelosi and friends have tried to call “death panels” the “lie of the year,” this type of rationing – what the CBO calls “reduc[ed] access to care” and “diminish[ed] quality of care” – is precisely what I meant when I used that metaphor.

This health care bill is one of the most far-reaching and expensive expansions of the role of government into our lives. We’re talking about putting one-seventh of our economy under the government’s thumb. We’re also talking about something as intimate to our personal well-being as medical care.

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Obamacare sparking 10th Amendment rebellion, action in seven states

Looks like the steadily growing list of constitutional, ethical and political outrages that constitute the Harry Reid version of Obamacare is sparking a rebellion in the states, as AP reports South Carolina's attorney general plans to investigate the vote-buying that surrounded the proposal in the Senate majority leader's office.

According to AP, South Carolina's Henry McMaster is being joined by the attorneys general of Michigan and Washington state in a suit to determine the constitutionality of the Obamacare proposal. Their initiative was prompted by a request from South Carolina's two senators, Lindsay Graham and Jim DeMint, both Republicans.

Attorneys-general in at least four other states are also considering joining McMasters...

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