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Slaughter and Pelosi were against “self-executing rule” in 2005!
Washington Examiner, “Pelosi, Slaughter went to court against GOP’s self-executing rule in 2005”
by Mark Tapscott
You’ve been hearing a lot this week about the Slaughter Solution, the rule devised by House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter of New York whereby the House would pass an Obamacare reconcilliation bill via a rule that “deems” the chamber to have voted for the Senate version of Obamacare even though no such recorded vote was actually taken.
It’s been dubbed the “Slaughter Solution in the media. I prefer to call the Alice in Wonderland way of passing Obamacare.
But put aside the present for the moment and step into my time machine. Dial the date selector back to 2005 when the Republican majority in Congress approved a national debt limit increase using a self-executing rule similar to the Slaughter Solution.
Washington Examiner article continues here.
House may try to pass Senate health care bill without voting on it
The Washington Post, “House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it”
by Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane
After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate’s health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.
Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers “deem” the health-care bill to be passed.
The tactic — known as a “self-executing rule” or a “deem and pass” — has been commonly used, although never to pass legislation as momentous as the $875 billion health-care bill. It is one of three options that Pelosi said she is considering for a late-week House vote, but she added that she prefers it because it would politically protect lawmakers who are reluctant to publicly support the measure.
The Washington Post article continues here.
Google appears to drop censorship in China
MSNBC, “Google appears to drop censorship in China”
by Adrienne Mong
Web sites dealing with subjects such as the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, Tibet and regional independence movements could all be accessed through Google’s Chinese search engine Tuesday, after the company said it would no longer abide by Beijing’s censorship rules.
Despite a report in the China Daily that Google China was still filtering content on its search engine and the firm’s own insistence that its policies had not changed, people in Beijing found that it wasn’t necessarily the case.
NBC News, using the publicly accessible Internet, tried searching for three sensitive topics normally blocked in China.
MSNBC article continues here.
Obama refuses to campaign for Democrats who don’t support health bill
Telegraph, “Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support from wavering Democrats”
by Alex Spillius
The president will refuse to make fund-raising visits during November elections to any district whose representative has not backed the bill.
A one-night presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds which would otherwise take months to accumulate through cold-calling by campaign volunteers.
Mr Obama’s threat came as the year-long debate over his signature domestic policy entered its final week.
Mr Obama is personally telephoning congressmen who are still on the fence this week, in between several personal appearances devoted toward swinging public opinion.
Telegraph article continues here.
Gore: Last weekend’s winter storm caused by global warming
Business & Media Institute, “Gore Attaches Global Warming as Cause to Last Weekend’s Storm in Northeast”
by Jeff Poor
If there’s a drought – it’s global warming. When there’s a hurricane – it’s global warming. If there are heavy snows or even blizzards – it’s somehow global warming. And amazingly, the latest round of rainy and windy weather in the Northeast, well that’s consistent with this phenomenon as well, so says former Vice President Al Gore.
Gore, the self-anointed climate change alarmist-in-chief, told supporters on a March 15 conference call that severe weather in certain regions of the country could be attributed to carbon in the atmosphere – including the recent rash of rainy weather.
“[T]he odds have shifted toward much larger downpours,” Gore said. “And we have seen that happen in the Northeast, we’ve seen it happen in the Northwest – in both of those regions are among those that scientists have predicted for a long time would begin to experience much larger downpours.”
Business & Media Institute article continues here.
Pelosi: ‘Once we kick through this door,’ more reform will follow
Washington Examiner, “Pelosi: ‘Once we kick through this door,’ more reform will follow”
by Byron York
If you have any doubt that the Democratic leadership of the House views passing the current health care reform bill as the beginning, not the end, of the process of creating a national government health care system, just note what Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a group of bloggers on Monday. “My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive,” Pelosi said, according to an account by Washington Post reform advocate Ezra Klein. “We won that fight, and once we kick through this door, there’ll be more legislation to follow.”
But since the current bill is unpopular, and Pelosi at the moment does not have enough Democratic, much less Republican, votes to pass it, the door she will be kicking through is the back door. Pelosi told the bloggers she favors using the “self-executing rule” strategy in which the House would pass the Senate health care bill without going on the record as specifically voting for it. “I like it,” Pelosi said of the scheme, “because people don’t have to vote on the Senate bill.” The strategy of passing the Senate bill while avoiding a direct vote, writes Klein, “is all about plausible deniability for House members who don’t want to vote for the Senate bill.”
Washington Examiner article continues here.
Netanyahu remains defiant to Obama
The Independent, “Obama runs out of patience with Israel”
by Donald Macintyre and Hugh MacLeod
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday strongly defended Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem in the face of US pressure and what one of his own top diplomats described as the worst crisis in relations with Washington for more than three decades.
A defiant Mr Netanyahu appeared to be digging in despite clear indications that the Obama administration is now demanding the scrapping of plans for 1,600 new Jewish homes, whose announcement overshadowed last week’s visit to Israel by the US Vice-President Joe Biden. Mr Netanyahu’s stance appeared to guarantee, after a highly charged week, the protraction of a stand-off in which a full-scale diplomatic row blew up at the start of Mr Biden’s visit and appeared to abate at the end of it. But it was then reignited by demands from Hillary Clinton and an angry White House that Israel make amends for the “insulting” announcement just as indirect negotiations with the Palestinians had finally been arranged.
The Independent article continues here.
Obama’s health care prop will not lose home
Fox News, “Clinic: Cancer Patient Who Wrote to Obama Will Not Lose Home, May Get Aid”
Natoma Canfield, the cancer-stricken woman who has become a centerpiece of President Obama’s push for health care reform, will not lose her home over her medical bills and will probably qualify for financial aid, a top official at the Cleveland medical center treating her told FoxNews.com.
Though Canfield’s sister Connie Anderson said her sibling is afraid she’ll lose her house and Obama warned at an Ohio rally Monday that the patient is “racked with worry” about the cost of tests and treatment, she is already being screened for financial help.
Lyman Sornberger, executive director of patient financial services at the Cleveland Clinic, said “all indications” at the outset are that she will be considered for assistance.
Fox News article continues here.
Clyburn: House Democrats still short on health care votes
Fox News, “House Democrats Short on Health Care Votes, Clyburn Says”
House Democratic leaders still do not have enough votes to pass health care reform, the chamber’s top vote counter said Sunday, even though the administration is aiming to have the bill passed this week.
The reality check came from Rep. James Clyburn, the House Democratic whip.
“No, we don’t have them as of this morning, but we’ve been working this thing all weekend,” Clyburn, D-S.C., said.
But despite the challenge of corralling wavering Democrats, Clyburn joined with other Democratic officials in saying he was confident the measure would pass, echoing comments from Speaker Nancy Pelosi Saturday.
Fox News article continues here.
Obama supports mandatory DNA sampling upon arrest
Wired, “Obama Supports DNA Sampling Upon Arrest”
by David Kravets
Josh Gerstein over at Politico sent Threat Level his piece underscoring once again President Barack Obama is not the civil-liberties knight in shining armor many were expecting.
Gerstein posts a televised interview of Obama and John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks” who commit crime.
When it comes to civil liberties, the Obama administration has come under fire for often mirroring his predecessor’s practices surrounding state secrets, the Patriot Act and domestic spying. There’s also Gitmo, Jay Bybee and John Yoo.
Wired article continues here.
‘Terminally ill’ Lockerbie bomber could live for another five years
Sun, “‘Terminally ill’ Lockerbie bomber could live for another five years”
by Gail Cameron
The Lockerbie bomber was at the centre of a fresh row last night after it emerged he is taking a cancer-busting drug that could keep him alive for FIVE more years.
Terminally ill Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was prescribed chemotherapy treatment Taxotere after returning to Libya.
But yesterday reports claimed Megrahi wasn’t given the drug while he was in Greenock prison – amid claims he could have been kept behind bars if he had taken the medication.
Last night Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken demanded answers from Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.
Sun article continues here.
Gibbs: By next Sunday, healthcare reform will be the ‘law of the land’
The Hill, “Gibbs: By next Sunday, healthcare reform will be the ‘law of the land’”
by Walter Alarkon
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the healthcare bill will pass by next weekend.
“We’ll have the votes when the House votes, I think, within the next week,” Gibbs said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Gibbs added that those on next week’s Sunday talk shows “will be talking about healthcare not as a presidential proposal but I think as the law of the land.”
President Barack Obama will look to campaign on the new healthcare law in midterm elections, Gibbs said.
The Hill article continues here.