Who's "bearing false witness"?, "By any legislative mean necessary" (AKA, The Nuclear Option), Axelrod profits from healthcare debate

1) Who’s “bearing false witness”?, part 1 But at one point the president lied again (and this is news? Nearly every sentence out of his mouth is a lie) when he said that you get to keep your insurance. So he said it today, and he said it yesterday in the conference call with the National Council of Churches. OBAMA: I've said this before. I want to repeat it so that every member of your congregations understand this: If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. Nothing that we're doing obligates you to choose any plan other than the one that you have. If you like your doctor, you can keep seeing your doctor. We're not going to interfere with that. RUSH: It's just not true. Last Friday, he said it wasn't a sure thing. OBAMA: Everybody here who still has -- who has currently private insurance, you know, you would more than likely still be on your private insurance plan. RUSH: "More than likely." It used to be definitely; now it's "more than likely." Again... Look, I really would like to move on from this. I know you probably get tired of hearing it. See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_082009/content/01125110.guest.html 1a) Who’s “bearing false witness”?, part 2: Obama: 'No taxpayer-funded abortions in health bill' Pro-life group calls president dishonest on coverage of procedure ...Johnson noted that according to the Capps-Waxman amendment passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 30, H.R. 3200 explicitly authorizes the government plan to cover all elective abortions.  "Obama apparently seeks to hide behind a technical distinction between tax funds and government-collected premiums," Johnson said in a statement. "But these are merely two types of public funds, collected and spent by government agencies. The Obama-backed legislation makes it explicitly clear that no citizen would be allowed to enroll in the government plan unless he or she is willing to give the federal agency an extra amount calculated to cover the cost of all elective abortions – this would not be optional. The abortionists would bill the federal government and would be paid by the federal government. These are public funds, and this is government funding of abortion." Johnson noted that when Obama was a presidential candidate, he specifically pledged to Planned Parenthood that his plan would cover abortions in 2007. An NRLC video of that promise follows: See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107468 1b) Democratic investigators target health insurers House Democrats are probing the nation’s largest insurance companies for lavish spending, demanding reams of compensation data and schedules of retreats and conferences.  Letters sent to 52 insurance companies by Democratic leaders demand extensive documents for an examination of ‘extensive compensation and other business practices in the health insurance industry.” The letters set a deadline of Sept. 14 for the documents. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, signed the three-page letter dated Monday. What right do they have to do this? This is TOTALLY and completely UNCONSTITUTIONAL. This isn’t Enron. They have done nothing wrong. They haven’t even accepted TARP money. This is tyranny.   An industry source replied when asked for comment: “This is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded fishing expedition designed to silence health plans." You got that right! By Sept. 4, the firms are supposed to supply detailed compensation data for board members and top executives, as well as a “table listing all conferences, retreats, or other events held outside company facilities from January 1, 2007, to the present that were paid for, reimbursed, or subsidized in whole or in part by your company.”  For employees or officers making $500,000 or more, the committee wants information on salary, bonus, options and pension.  And by Sept. 14, the firms are supposed to provide copies of reports from compensation consultants, plus board drafts of compensation plans and information about market share. It’s time for civil disobedience. NO! I’m not giving you the information. Get a warrant. This is unlawful search and seizure.  See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26251.html 1c) Morning Bell: “By Any Legislative Means Necessary” …Facing this cratering of public support, the left in Congress is now considering abandoning moderates and independents to pass their narrow partisan ideal of health reform. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spokesman Jim Manley promised yesterday that Democrats will pass Obamacare “by any legislative means necessary.” What exactly does Senator Reid mean by ‘any legislative means necessary’? The Wall Street Journal explains: “Most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, but certain budget-related measures can pass with 51 votes through a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation.” The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 created reconciliation, but Congress didn’t really use it until the 1980s. In 1993, President Bill Clinton tried to use the rule to press his health care plan through the Senate, but Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) resisted, introducing the Byrd Rule which allows any Senator to strike specific provisions or amendments from legislation if a 60 vote Senate majority agrees that the item is “extraneous” to the budget. At the time Byrd specifically argued that health care was out of bounds for a process that was intended to only apply to budgets. But Democrats in Congress are undeterred by history, precedent, and public opinion. They are now planning to split the bill into two parts: one bill with budget-related matters and another bill with policy changes such as the insurance market reforms.  See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/20/morning-bell-by-any-legislative-means-necessary/ And: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125072573848144647.html 1d) GOP unmoved as Obama renews health care push …Officials said Democratic researchers lately have concluded that a strong-arm Senate tactic, which could negate the need for any GOP votes, might be more effective than previously thought. The strategy, called "reconciliation," allows senators to get around a bill-killing filibuster without mustering the 60 votes usually needed. Democrats control 60 of the Senate's 100 seats, but two of their members — Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts — are seriously ill and often absent. While always controversial, reconciliation lets the Senate pass some measures with a simple majority vote. Non-budget-related items can be challenged, however, and some lawmakers say reconciliation would knock so many provisions from Obama's health care plan that the result would be "Swiss cheese." See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090820/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care 1e) Outbursts at Frank's Town Hall …"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy. "Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," Frank replied. He continued by saying her ability to deface an image of the president and express her views "is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated." …At one point, Frank asked the crowd: "Which one of you wants to yell next?" Several people wanted to know how the government would pay for the reforms without worsening a growing federal budget deficit. At least two dozen protesters gathered in small groups outside, handing out pamphlets and holding signs criticizing the overhaul, Obama and Frank. Some of the posters read: "It's the economy stupid, stop the spending" and "Healthcare reform yes, government takeover, no. Tort Reform Now" See: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/Rrep_franks_health_care_town_hall_heats_up_081809 1f) Who’s Profiting From The Health Care Debate? Recently, new details have surfaced revealing that those profiting from Obama Care are, in fact, members of the Democratic party. In an investigation by Bloomberg News, it was discovered that a firm with ties to White House senior adviser, David Axelrod, has received nearly $12 million to create ads supporting Obama’s health care plan. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. (as stated in an e-mail from Sean Hannity) See: http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=011008&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=8390354&referralPlaylistId=playlist And: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_health_care_consultants   2) Auto Czar to Become Manufacturing Czar? If you like what’s happened to the auto industry, you’ll love this. Bloomberg is reporting today that Ron Bloom — the head of the Obama Administration’s automobile task force — will soon get an expanded portfolio, with responsiblity for crafting Administration policies for all manufacturing industries. …Unfortunately, the Obama Administration — having just nationalized General Motors — seems to have quite different policies in mind. According to Bloomberg, the new position may be a response by the White House to calls for a full-blown national industrial policy for manufacturing. In recent congressional testimony, Obama advisor and former cable executive Leo Hindery starkly described the elements of such a strategy: government picking winners and losers among products and firms, government spending to support industry, and trade protectionism. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/20/auto-czar-to-become-manufacturing-czar/ And: http://www.bloombergnews.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=afK4W0y86viY 3) Democratic Party ratings plummet The percentage of Americans who hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party has slipped below 50 percent for the first time since President Barack Obama took office, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday. See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26262.html 4) Car Dealers Report Extended Wait for Clunker Cash Car dealers are growing increasingly impatient with the government's slow pace in reimbursing them for accepting trade-ins as part of its popular "Cash for Clunkers" program, even though Transportation Department officials say they are working to address the delays.  The National Automobile Dealers Association estimates that dealers have hundreds -- and in some cases thousands -- of applications pending that are "worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars." See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803261.html?hpid=moreheadlines 5) Wave of blasts in Iraqi capital kills at least 95 BAGHDAD – Nearly simultaneous truck bombs struck Iraq's Foreign and Finance ministries Wednesday as a wave of explosions killed at least 95 people, bringing the weaknesses of Iraqi security forces into sharp focus less than two months after U.S. forces withdrew from urban areas. It was the deadliest day of coordinated bombings since Feb. 1, 2008, when two suicide bombers killed 109 people at pet markets in Baghdad. More than 400 were wounded in Wednesday's blasts. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq