Louisiana's Mary Landrieu just caved.....$100 million bucks of OUR TAX DOLLARS was too much to resist....Read about that HERE at Huffington (believe it or not)You know, I REALLY thought she might show some integrity, but....OH, well.
And the Leftwingers hate PALIN? :-) Think she'd take money for her vote?
Yes, this is ONLY to "Open Discussions" after the Thanksgiving Break......but, we could have rid ourselves of this whole monstrous nightmare health bill if Reid didn't get the votes.
YOU THINK BLANCHE LINCOLN OF ARKANSAS WILL ALSO VOTE YES... AND WELCOME DISCUSSION? I'm hearing a majority of Arkansans do NOT want this bill as it stands now. (83% are 'somewhat satisfied with their health care'..oops)
And, if Landrieu caved today.....WHAT WILL SHE TAKE FOR HER VOTE WHEN IT'S ACTUALLY 'THE VOTE', THE REAL VOTE?
Mr. Z used to say "No earmarks...no lobbyists....this is turning into a Banana Republic." He was almost always right. He certainly was with this one.
z
22 comments:
Mary's face has gotten very puffy, and she doesn't look very happy, does she?
Do you think she may have taken to drink, because she can't live with herself after curtseying so daintily before the Throne of Corruption -- with her panties pulled down around her ankles?
They say, "Money talks." Unfortunately, it also BRIBES.
Poor Mary has lowered herself to the status of a call girl, albeit one who fetches a very high price.
Who among us has enough character to refuse a two-hundred-million-dollar bribe?
DISGUSTING!
~ FreeThinke
Will Blanche Lincoln cave?
She's a Democrat. Therefore, I guess that depends on whether Hairy Red tops his offer to La Landrieu -- and by how much, doesn't it? Blanche is probably holding out for the platinum ring. Mary got the gold one.
Am I a cynic?
When it comes to American politics, you BET!
The really really BIG question in all is will JOE LIEBERMAN put his money where his mouth is and stand firm against "The Public Option" or will he do what he ALWAYS has done in the past?
Gentleman Joe talks the talk, then usually sits down.
~ FreeThinke
How much is it worth to sell out your country? The American people?Evidently for Landrieu it's $100,000,000. Chump change, when you consider the magnitude of nationalizing 1/6th of our economy and limiting further our freedom!
After all, Landrieu and her cohorts are exempt from this theft of our money and more importantly, our freedom. The elitists are always taken care of.
This is the way it's done, no doubt for a very long time. Bribery is a crime, but not in Washington DC. There, it's business as usual. Corruption is business as usual.
However when so much lies in the balance, and when it's clear the American People are screaming NO, it's an in your face, screw you folks!
For Jane Harman I understand the price is an Ambassadorship.
It didn't work for Hillarycare, so I guess they've come a long way since then. The "Chicago Way" is more persuasive than the "Clinton Way".
But then to my knowledge the Clintons didn't have the head of the SEIU (a union) saying, "we take names, we watch your votes, and we know where you live". These are the folks who live in the White House.
The man who makes this threat is Andy Stern and has visited the White House twenty two times.
One thing about dealing with thuggers, there's not a whole lot of subtlety involved.
Having said that, they know where the Republicans live too, don't they?
.
Finally, when you get right down to it, those in power, don't care.
We don't matter. They're drunk with power, and won't stop.
Now it just remains how much more we're going to take.
Pris
FT - "Who among us has enough character to refuse a two-hundred-million-dollar bribe?"
I do, and I'll bet more of us than one might think. My children and grandchild, their future, and our country, are priceless. My soul is too.
Pris
Senator Blanche Lincoln voted for cloture. My goodness, being the last holdout, she must have gotten first prize!
Pris
Lincoln is a DEMOCRAT -- what else would any sane person expect?
And Pris's point about not accepting bribes is exactly right. What good will 100, 200, 500-million -- or even a BILLION dollars do, if there is no viable free society left in which to use and enjoy it?
And what good is the Republican Party when it has so many de facto DemonRats in it?
Does no one care to speculate on the ultimate effectiveness of Joe Lieberman in stopping this fiasco? COULD he, even if he has the guts?
~ FreeThinke
FT - One thing's for sure, Lieberman doesn't owe the Democrats anything. There's one fly in the ointment for him though, he could lose his chairmanship of his committee.
I wonder, would he think the country's worth that? We can only hope.
Pris
I don't know anything about Mary Landrieu, but I think this says more about the system than about her. Either the bill passes with hervote and her constituents get money, or it passes without her vote and they get nothing. Not hard to see why she would cave.
This is like the classic example in econ texts. If I'm at a stadium watching a football game, I can get a better view if I stand up. If we wall stand up, we don't get better views and we're stuck standing, to boot. If Louisiana votes for the bill, Louisiana is better off. If all states vote for the bill, we're no better off and we're stuck with the bill, to boot.
This also reminds me of what Clearance Thomas wrote about his daddy (who was actually his grandfather). He told of the measures his daddy went to and how hard he worked so that he wouldn't have to take government assistance. I thought it was admirable but questioned that I would have the strength to do the same.
tiob
Banana Republics are at least loyal to Bananas. :)
The yahoo's in the Senate are loyal to no-one.
Good piece Z
tiob - In days gone by, people were too proud to take charity. Instead they made sacrifices, did any kind of work they could find no matter how difficult it was, or how "beneath their station" they believed it was.
There is nothing which Mr. Pris or I have ever borrowed which we didn't pay back. Once, it was money from a family member and we paid it back with the same amount of interest she was getting from the bank.
We didn't feel entitled, we were grateful, and obligated to do the right thing. That's how we were raised. In short, "the world didn't owe us a living", we had to earn it.
To this day if I have to borrow a cup of sugar, I pay it back. It's just the way it is. It never occurs to me not to. Our children were brought up the same way. It's a question of honor, and pride.
Welfare and entitlement programs have robbed people of that down through the generations who received it. It's become pervasive, and robbed people of their pride and their dignity.
If you ever saw "Cinderella Man", a terrific movie, it's a good illustration of how it was during the depression and how demeaning it felt for those who had no choice left but to take government "relief" which is what it was called then.
Now, we have politicians who evidently think nothing of taking taxpayer money for their own self interest.
Sadly, words like honor and pride are not heard much anymore, to our detriment I might add. Now, it's "get whatever you can", and to hell with honor and we are the worse for it.
Pris
Z,
This is about party, it isn't about what's best for the people. Landrieu, Lincoln, Nelsen etc, aren't voting for a debate, they're voting to pass the bill.
They can go with their phoney baloney statements about debate, but they will vote for the bill in the end.
My hope is their constituents vote them out later. Gutless politicians deserve to be voted out. Justice should be done.
PS I posted my favorite Band song. There is peace in the world.
Pris,
Thanks for the post. Problem with increasing state is that you don't know what to consider charity. Medicare? Social Security? Reduced tuition rates for being a resident of the state, etc? Hard to tell the difference between getting what you put in, and hand-outs. Perhaps statism is antithetical to words like honor and self-reliance.
tiob
"Perhaps statism is antithetical to words like honor and self-reliance"
tiob - Yes I think you're right. The politicians who impose statism which create dependency, make us all wards of the state. What pride is there in that?
We no longer will be our own masters, and that's the price we pay. Freedom.
As far as Medicare, or social security are concerned we become entitled because we are forced to pay into them our entire adult lives. If we could have saved that money ourselves, we would need neither.
With college tuition you could say out of state tuition is increased rather than the other way around.
Besides, tuition isn't an entitlement. It's a charge or bill, if you like, that you must pay. Our son worked his way through college.
I consider charity to be when one collects welfare without having contributed anything, or choosing not to work and collecting it.
The problem with that is, they stay on the bottom rung of the ladder. Government is doing them no favors and robbing them of their self reliance and pride IMO.
I'm afraid we're all headed for exactly the opposite of what America was always about, and I'm sick about it.
Pris
Now we know for sure why LINCOLN rhymes with STINKIN.' ;-)
Pris is right, but there really are many many people who are too ill to work, or victims of tragic accidents, and for a long time many really DID face policies like "No Irish need apply," and worse.
They were given NO chance, because of prejudice. That USED to be a great deal truer than it has been for the last forty years.
Unfortunately, the once-much-needed remedy has latterly become worse than the disease -- or rather it has BECOME a disease.
What the antidote to this poison might be I have no idea. I USED to believe in the power of Reason and the innate wisdom of "The People, , but obviously congress and this evil WH have made themselves impervious to that -- and the freeloaders are forever gaining ground.
~ FreeThinke
We ARE all headed for exactly what AMerica is NOT about (or wasn't), Pris....
FT makes a good point about those really needing help, but we have to remember that churches used to fill in that gap; people went there for money, food, help, etc.
Today? NO WAY. And, I'm thinking THAT is why they'll soon NOT have church exemption (wait for it, I give it early 2011 for bills to start on that subject)...this gov't doesn't WANT anybody getting help from faith-based institutions...DO NOT GO TO GOD! GO TO THE GOVERNMENT.
I want to know for sure in my heart that no temporal organization or power bloc could possibly "kill God."
They may try, but sooner or later -- sometimes too much later in our limited view -- such forces will self-destruct.
No power could oppose Almighty God and live.
But God's concept of time is not ours. "A thousand days are in Thy sight but like an evening gone ..."
"Let nothing disturb thee
Nothing affright thee --
All things are passing.
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things,
In whom God pleaseth
In nothing is lacking.
Alone God sufficeth."
~ St. Teresa of Avila
(as translated by H.W. Longfellow)
~ FreeThinke
Sorry, Miss Z, but I live in Lousy-anna & could have told you to expect such a complete lack of any integrity or honor. After all, corrupt apples don't fall very far from their native trees. She's a typical product of New Orleans & Lousy-anna 'politics as usual'. Her pappy was mayor of N'Awlins, for those who might not be aware. 'nuf said!
Ellen
P.s. A happy, safe, & healthy Thanksgiving to all of you. Especially to you, Miss Z.
Pris,
I think Landreiu is in a similar to position to the person who takes money from Social Security or Medicare. Just as the person who pays into those programs feels entitiled to get payments from them, I'm sure Louisiana feels the right to take some benefit from this program since they have to pay into it. The problem is not so much Landreiu's vote, but a system that allows money from the collective purse to go to a specific state's interest.
tiob
Yeah we hate Palin, and we hate this other bimbo also.
tiob, We do have Medicare, and also pay for a private supplemental insurance. You should know that Medicare payments are still taken out of our SS. 80% of our Social Security is taxed as income by the feds.
I can't really compare this with a bribe. Btw, it turns out today we learn she got $300,000,000. She sold her vote.
Louisiana seniors get SS and Medicare too don't they? What does that have to do with a bribe?
Frankly, I think you're reaching. The bottom line is, according to some relatives who live there, Louisianans are against Obamacare.
To your way of thinking, all the pork politicians add on to every bill, they have coming.
Well I live in California, we don't get back what we pay in. We contributed to Landrieu's windfall.
Pris
Pris,
Landrieu is making decisionsbased on the constituency she respresents. In terms of the incentives she has, her situation makes a lot of sense. I am not defending state-run health care. I think it is a terrible idea. I'm not convinced that addressing her individual decision is solve much. We could throw her out of office and replace her with someone else who has the same set of incentives. I wouldn't be surprised to find that new person making the same decisions. I think it's more important to put reins on the government and limit their scope.
And, to be honest, I don't think I'm stretching. The federal government can give money to Louisiana as stimulus money or to citizens as social security or Mediare. In both cases, the government must take the money so that it can give it someone. In both cases, the recipients are being taxed and therefore feel entitled to receiving the benefits. In both cases, the recipients grow dependent on the government and become more likely to support the redistributive system.
When did I become so provocative?
tiob
tiob...I guess what I hate is the TIMING. To deny this was about her YEA is NUTS. Coincidence? WHAT?
I think you're right..she can use $300 million and this was NOT a vote for health care.
My worry is, how much will other senators take for THAT America-ruining vote? If Reid is THIS much of a snake, what will he promise of OUR MONEY to SCREW US?
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