Today in Washington D. C. - June 19, 2009 - Enslavement in any form is not freedom!

Yesterday, the Senate voted 91-5 to pass the conference report for the fiscal 2009 supplemental appropriations bill, H.R. 2346, which funds operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, pPrior to passage, the Senate voted 60-36 to waive all points of order against the bill, preventing Republicans from getting to vote to remove the cash for clunkers legislation, which was inserted in the conference report in violation of Pay-go and without having previously passed the Senate.

Also yesterday, the Senate passed by unanimous consent a resolution to apologize for the institution of slavery, S. Con. Res. 26. The resolution included a disclaimer that "nothing in this resolution authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States.''

National Government Run Health Care: The Wall Street Journal writes today, “This was supposed to be a red-letter week for national health care, as Democrats started the process of hustling a quarter-baked bill through Congress to reorganize one-sixth of the economy on a partisan vote. Instead it was a fiasco.” Politico reports, “President Obama's campaign for health care reform by this fall, once considered highly likely to succeed, suddenly appears in real jeopardy.”

The Journal explains, “Most of the devastation was wreaked by the Congressional Budget Office, which on Tuesday reported that draft legislation from the Senate Finance Committee would increase the federal deficit by more than $1.6 trillion over the next decade while only partly denting the population of the uninsured.” And that wasn’t the only CBO score that presented a problem. Politico notes, “Democrats admit that it was a public-relations disaster this week when the Congressional Budget Office issued a report this week concluding, from a partial draft of a Senate health committee bill, that the plan would cost $1 trillion over 10 years but only provide coverage for 16 million of the estimated 50 million Americans who are uninsured.”

The Politico article also points out, “Public anxiety about red ink . . . has come roaring back, with a Gallup Poll showing deficits and spending as the only issues where more people disapprove of Obama’s performance than approve of it.” Little wonder, then, that The New York Times reports that Congressional Democrats are “scrambling to scale back their proposals or find ways to trim tens of billions of dollars a year from existing health programs.” And The Washington Post reports that Obama “conveyed his concern” about the estimates over the Senate HELP committee bill.

Though Democrats have pledged to pay for the cost of these health plans, they have not been able to find a way to do so. According to The Wall Street Journal, Democrats “would need substantial cuts to current spending, plus tax increases, to pass a bill that doesn't add to the deficit, as Democrats have vowed.” One proposal The New York Times highlights is “to tax employer-provided health benefits in excess of a certain value — say, $6,200 for individuals and $15,700 for families . . . .”

But there has also been troubling news beyond the cost of the proposed bills. The AP writes today, “President Barack Obama rarely equivocates when he promises that his health care plan will let people keep the coverage they have. His vow sounds reassuring and gets applause, but no president could guarantee such a pledge.” The story identifies that some employers might drop their health coverage under Obama’s plan, “to avoid the hassle of dealing with insurance companies, and take advantage of the fact that workers could find coverage now with government help.”

With reports about Democrats’ health care proposals revealing massive price tags, programs that fall far short of their goals, and promises that simply cannot be kept, Americans should be skeptical about a mad rush to push through a health care bill. Attention Congress! Americans don’t want another blind rush to spend yet again more trillions of dollars that we and future generations will have to pay for through higher taxes and increased national debt. The Senate apologized for institution of slavery yesterday while proceeding to enslave future generation of Americans with government debt, taxes, regulations and reduced freedoms and choices. Appears the Democrats and a few others still don't get it. Enslavement in any form is not freedom!

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