July 29, 2010
NYC Letter: What's In The Bill?
Day 554 of CHOPE
We marvel at the workings of Nancy Pelosi's big brain.
(A) Elect us, hold us accountable, and make a judgment and then go from there. But I do tell you that if the Democrats win and have substantial majorities, Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan.
(B) [Republicans have] had plenty of opportunity to make their voices heard. Bipartisanship is a two-way street. A bill can be bipartisan without bipartisan votes. Republicans have left their imprint.
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, 8th),
Speaker, amateur theologian, amnesiac,
moneybags, and one-party party girl,
(A) promising one-party bipartisanship
MOUNTAIN VIEW October 28, 2008 (ABC/KGO)
(B) explaining how one-party bipartisanship works
CNN'S STATE OF THE UNION
February 29, 2010 (The Hill)
Without bipartisan votes, Ms. Pelosi's unpopular "bipartisan" bill required a disciplined party-line vote.* With a 75-member advantage -- 38 of whom are attritable on a roll call vote -- how hard could this be? Ms. Pelosi went to work on her caucus.
PELOSI: LAWMAKERS SHOULD
SACRIFICE JOBS FOR HEALTH CARE
February 28, 2010 (AP/FNC) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleagues to back a major overhaul of U.S. health care even if it threatens their political careers, a call to arms that underscores the issue's massive role in this election year.... It's unclear whether Pelosi's remarks will embolden or chill dozens of moderate House Democrats who face withering criticisms of the health care proposal in visits with constituents and in national polls.
Ms. Pelosi wants you to believe that the American people -- a righteous but airy polity bodied up in support of everything -- both demand YEAs for Obamacare and will reward these YEAs by voting them out of office.
Ms. Pelosi:Time is up. We really have to go forth.
And go forth she did.
REMARKS AT THE 2010 LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
FOR NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES
WASHINGTON March 9, 2010 (Office of the Speaker) - Nancy Pelosi speaking:You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting.But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.
The controversies are pretty plain (and this and this, to link but three). It was the bill itself that was a fog. Democratic representatives openly scoffed at the idea of reading the 2,801 page bill in-the-making. Even were they inclined to read the bill, the final version for the vote could have only been read by the most accomplished superhuman speed readers.
[Unbearable suspense.] The bill passed the House, 219/212, a 7-member majority but only a 4-member margin. [Stabbing woe.] Two weeks later, the bill was law.
So. What's in the bill? [Pause.] Three times this:
SPAGHETTI-CARE
More Government. Less Sense.
Hi-res PDF Here**
AMERICA’S NEW HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REVEALED
WASHINGTON July 28, 2010 (JEC-R) - Four months after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it," a congressional panel has released the first chart illustrating the 2,801-page health care law President Obama signed into law in March.Developed by the Joint Economic Committee minority, led by U.S Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX, 8th), the detailed organization chart displays a bewildering array of new government agencies, regulations and mandates. Senator Brownback:
This updated chart illustrates the overwhelming expansion of government control over health choices and the bewildering complexity facing everyone affected by this law.Senate Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (R-SC):
[Obamacare is] a bureaucratic nightmare. The Democrats’ takeover of health care creates a byzantine network of 159 new federal programs and bureaucracies to make decisions that should be between just the patient and their doctor. It should concern everyone that at the center of this regulatory web is the new CMS chief, Donald Berwick, who has championed rationing and European socialized medicine. Americans were rightly outraged that this big government bill was rushed through Congress before anyone read or fully understood the bill’s consequences.In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:
- $569 billion in higher taxes;
- $529 billion in cuts to Medicare;
- swelling of the ranks of Medicaid by 16 million;
- 17 major insurance mandates; and
- the creation of two new bureaucracies with powers to impose future rationing: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Independent Payments Advisory Board.
Brady admits committee analysts could not fit the entire health care bill on one chart:
This portrays only about one-third of the complexity of the final bill. It’s actually worse than this.
CHOPE.
Merry Christmas, America! From Nancy Pelosi.
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* More on Demo party-line discipline here.
** Right click > "Save link as..."
