President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Indonesia and Australia by three days in hopes of finalizing a health care deal — and will scrap plans to take along first lady Michelle Obama and his two daughters, according to senior administration officials.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs brushed aside suggestions that the president planned to postpone or cancel the long-planned trip to his childhood home in Indonesia, even as Hill Democrats groused that the excursion came at the precise time he demanded they finalize a deal.
Instead of leaving next Thursday, March 18 — the deadline he imposed on Congress — Obama will take off on Sunday, March 21, officials said, shortening his itinerary to omit all sidetrips not deemed official business.
On Thursday, both Gibbs and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House was close to finalizing a strategy for pushing a previously passed Senate bill through the lower chamber, but that the deal might require a few extra days. By postponing his trip, Obama effectively gives the House some breathing room, preserving the hope that members will be able to depart the Capitol for their Easter break two weeks from today with a deal in their pockets.
Pick up your phones and start calling the following swing Congressman . Let your opposition be known! If the line is busy, keep trying. Don’t give up! Print out extra copies of these numbers and enlist family members and friends to help. Whenever you have a spare moment, CALL.
PLEASE CALL!………DC OFFICE……….LOCAL OFFICE
Harry Mitchell………….(202) 225-2190….(480) 946-2411
Gabrielle Giffords……..(202) 225-2542….(520) 881-3588
Ann Kirkpatrick………..(202) 225-2315….(928) 226-6914
Jerry McNerney………..(202) 225-1947….(925) 833-0643
John Salazar……………..(202) 225-4761….(970) 245-7107
Jim Himes………………….(202) 225-5541….(866) 453-0028
Alan Grayson……………(202) 225-2176….(407) 841-1757
Bill Foster………………..(202) 225-2976….(630) 406-1145
Baron Hill…………………(202) 225 5315….(812) 288 3999
Mark Schauer………….(202) 225-6276….(517) 780-9075
Gary Peters……………..(202) 225-5802….(248) 273-4227
Dina Titus………………..(202) 225-3252….(702) 256-DINA (3462)
Carol Shea-Porter…..(202) 225-5456….(603) 743-4813
Tim Bishop……………….(202) 225-3826….(631) 696-6500
John Hall………………….(202) 225-5441….(845) 225-3641 x49371
Bill Owens……………….(202) 225-4611….(315) 782-3150
Mike Arcuri……………….(202) 225-3665….(315) 793-8146
Dan Maffei……………….(202) 225-3701….(315) 423-5657
Earl Pomeroy…………..(202) 225-2611….(701) 224-0355
Steven Driehaus……..(202) 225-2216….(513) 684-2723
Mary Jo Kilroy…………..(202) 225-2015….(614) 294-2196
Zach Space………………(202) 225-6265….(330) 364-4300
Kathy Dahlkemper…..(202) 225-5406….(814) 456-2038
Patrick Murphy…………(202) 225-4276….(215) 826-1963
Christopher Carney…(202) 225-3731….(570) 585-9988
Paul Kanjorski………….(202) 225-6511….(570) 825-2200
John Spratt………………(202) 225-5501….(803) 327-1114
Tom Perriello…………….(202) 225-4711….(276) 656-2291
Alan Mollohan…………..(202) 225-4172….(304) 623-4422
Nick Rahall………………..(202) 225-3452….(304) 252-5000
Steve Kagen…………….(202) 225-5665….(920) 437-1954
They also know this is their last hand at the table. They know they will likely be swept out in the 2010 elections. They need to do it now. And they will stop at nothing to do so. The more ludicrous it sounds, the more likely it is that they will attempt it. Remember, this is their end game; they know they’ve over-played their hand. They are now left with one last bet. They *know* they are in deep trouble in 2010, regardless.
Pelosi has been bluffing all week about having the votes. Perhaps that is a way to create plausible deniability when they pull a sneaky move; they can then try to deflect it by saying “we had the votes anyway”. We cannot fall for their bluffs. And we must make sure that no one else does either.
Melt the phones. Call the Democrats in red districts who may care more about their personal re-elections than the ideological pot. Call Republicans and force them to realize that the Democrats are “all in” and to stop with the dangerous “bi-partisanship” and being polite stuff.
The time for polite is over. We must be on guard for any possibility and the GOP must have the fortitude and the spine to stop each one.
Americans are riveted on Obamacare. With just seven days until the March 18th White House deadline for a vote on the Senate health care bill arrives, eyes are glued on Blue Dog Democrats. We are witnessing nearly hourly positioning on Capitol Hill and can almost hear the chest-poking, arm-twisting, and head thumping going on behind locked doors as Obama, Pelosi, and Reid shove and kick to pass their 2700 page health care confiscation scheme.
Hold on to your hospital gowns! We’ll slog through what’s happened in the last three days…
As of yesterday, the latest left-jab to the American people is aptly dubbed the “Slaughter Solution.”
The Slaughter Solution is a plan by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the Democratic chair of the powerful House Rules Committee and a key ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to get the health care legislation through the House without an actual vote on the Senate-passed health care bill. You see, Democratic leaders currently lack the votes needed to pass the Senate health care bill through the House. Under Slaughter’s scheme, Democratic leaders will overcome this problem by simply “deeming” the Senate bill passed in the House -- without an actual vote by members of the House.
(emphasis mine)
Two days ago (March 9th), Nancy Pelosi tipped her neck-wringing hand: “But we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
Taking his health care punches on the road, President Obama traveled to suburban St. Louis, Missouri yesterday. Assured of muscling high schoolers (ticketed with closed doors) at St. Charles High into cheering for his socialized plan as cameras rolled (how hard is that?) he was met outside by 2300 fired-up Tea Party protestors:
The Show Me State temporarily became the No-Show State on Wednesday as some prominent Missouri Democrats decided they’d rather be somewhere else when President Obama came to push his massive health care overhaul plan. […]
The same conspicuous absences occurred Monday [March 8th] in Pennsylvania, a state Mr. Obama won by 10 percentage points in 2008. While the president was accompanied by embattled Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter, Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Chaka Fattah aboard Air Force One, several other Pennsylvania Democrats didn’t elect to join him there, including Reps. Patrick J. Murphy, Christopher Carney and Tim Holden, three incumbents facing tough re-election battles.
Speculation is volatile on whether Representative Bart Stupak and supposed 11 other reps who oppose abortion funding in the Senate bill will succumb to threats of non-cooperation black eyes:
News broke early yesterday morning [March 9th] announcing that Representative Bart Stupak thinks a “compromise” can be reached on the issue of abortion funding in the Democrats’ Senate version of the health care bill. “I’m more optimistic than I was a week ago,” Stupak said in an interview between meetings with constituents in his northern Michigan district.[...]
Stupak had an interview with The Weekly Standard yesterday, where he clarified what was really going on. “Obviously they don’t know me,” Stupak said in his interview. “If I didn’t cave in November, why would I do it now after all the crap I’ve been through? Everyone’s going around saying there’s a compromise — there’s no such thing,” Stupak said. What’s changed between this week and last, Stupak went on, is that he had his first real conversation with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman Henry Waxman about fixing the bill.
As if there isn’t enough padding in health care boxing gloves, we learned today that Democrat leadership is considering stuffing a student loan overhaul into the Obamacare bill:
Democratic leaders met for a second day Wednesday with administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but reached no decision on the student loan measure. One participant said a consensus appeared to be emerging that it would be unwise to risk the health-care bill by including the education measure.
The projected cost of Obama’s plan to expand Pell Grants and diminish the role of the private sector in the student loan program has exploded over the past year as more people seek college loans in the weak economy. Meanwhile, the potential savings from knocking private lenders out of the system has diminished as one in five colleges has already turned to government lending.
Rather than saving $50 billion over the next decade, the student loan initiative is now projected to increase deficits by about $5 billion, according to preliminary estimates provided to Democratic lawmakers. Including it in the health-care package could wreck efforts to meet the deficit-reduction goals required under reconciliation, aides said.
Eyes glazed over yet? There’s more…
Meanwhile, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is staying in the ring by declaring yesterday that he’s going to change filibuster laws:
“The filibuster has been abused,” Sen. Harry Reid said at a reporter’s briefing this afternoon. “But next Congress, we are going to take a look at it. And we’re going to make some changes in it.”
For now, the process seems to be proceeding from the premise that Senate Democrats are fed up with the filibuster. “In baseball,” Reid said in a clipped tone, “they used to have the spitball. It originally was used with discretion. But then the ball got wetter and wetter and wetter. So soon, they outlawed the spitball.” The same, he said, had happened to the four-corner offense in basketball. “And just the way the spitball was abused in baseball and the four-corner offense was abused in basketball,” Reid said, “Republicans have abused the filibuster.”
Republicans will meet the Democrat’s reconciliation onslaught with a combat strategy of their own. Greta Van Susteren and Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) ‘On The Record’ (FOX News) last night:
Senator Kyl: “If you [Dems] are going to use the reconciliation process, we’re going to hold you to the strict limits of reconciliation. And, if you go outside the lines and are not technically correct under reconciliation, we’re going to toss it out on a point of order. And, we have the votes to do that.”
“While the President is visiting America’s heartland today, I hope he will take the opportunity to finally listen to the American people, who are shouting, “stop” at the top of their lungs. They just don’t want out-of-touch Washington Democrats’ job-killing government takeover of health care. They don’t want more than $500 billion in tax hikes. They don’t want nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts. They don’t want these outrageous kickbacks, payoffs, and sweetheart backroom deals.
The Tea Party Coalition is sounding the trumpet nationwide to take the battle to Washington D.C. this month. Here is video announcing the Take the Town Halls to Washington project. Michele Bachmann @ 1:49 :
We’ve got SEVEN days to put the squeeze on Blue Dog Democrats. Let’s not get trapped into the ‘knocked-out’ way of thinking that we can lounge around while someone else does our work for us. How much effort have you made to contact BDDs in the past week? Each of us must take personal responsibility to get a headlock on Obamacare NOW. For information on who to contact, click here.
Mitt Romney’s speech brought viewers to their feet many times this afternoon at CPAC. It was truly inspirational. Divided into four segments, the video footage of Mitt’s speech is posted below. Included is a short introduction by Senator Scott Brown (he had very kind words to say about Mitt).
Be sure you bookmark this, as it will be neat to come back often and refresh your memory of why this man needs to be the next President of the United States:
Scott Brown Introduces Mitt Romney at CPAC
Mitt Romney’s Speech at CPAC 2/18/2010 (PART 1)
Mitt Romney’s Speech at CPAC 2/18/2010 (PART 2)
Mitt Romney’s Speech at CPAC 2/18/2010 (PART 3)
Governor Romney’s Remarks to CPAC 2010
Feb 18, 2010
Thank you to Jay and to Scott for those generous introductions. Both these men have made real contributions to our nation. It’s good to be back at CPAC. I can’t think of an audience I’d rather be addressing today.
I spent the weekend in Vancouver. As always, the Olympic Games were inspiring. But in case you didn’t hear the late-breaking news, the gold medal in the downhill was taken away from American Lindsey Vonn. It was determined that President Obama is going downhill faster than she is.
I’m not telling you something you don’t know when I say that our conservative movement took a real hit in the 2008 elections. The victors were not exactly gracious in their big win: Media legs were tingling. Time Magazine’s cover pictured the Republican elephant and declared it an endangered species. The new president himself promised change of biblical proportion. And given his filibuster-proof Senate and lopsided House, he had everything he needed to deliver it.
They won, we lost. But you know, you learn a lot about people when you see how they react to losing. We didn’t serve up excuses or blame our fellow citizens. Instead, we listened to the American people, we sharpened our thinking and our arguments, we spoke with greater persuasiveness, we took our message to more journals and airwaves, and in the American tradition, some even brought attention to our cause with rallies and Tea parties.
I know that most of you have watched intently as the conservative comeback began in Virginia and exploded onto the scene in New Jersey. But as a Massachusetts man, who, like my fellow Bay-staters, has over the years, been understandably regarded somewhat suspiciously in gatherings like this, let me take just a moment to exalt in a Scott Brown victory!
For that victory that stopped Obama–care and turned back the Reid-Pelosi liberal tide, we have something to that you’d never think you’d hear at CPAC, “Thank you Massachusetts!”
2009 was the President’s turn to suffer losses, and not just at the ballot box, but also in bill after bill in Congress, and most importantly, in his failure to reignite the economy. In how he has responded to these defeats, too, we have learned a great about him and about his team.
He began by claiming that he had not failed at all. Remember the B+ grade he gave himself for his first year? Tell that to the 4 million Americans who lost their jobs last year, and to the millions more who stopped looking. Explain that to the world’s financial markets who gaped at trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. Square that with the absence of any meaningful sanctions against Iran even as it funds terror and races to become a nuclear nation. President Obama’s self-proclaimed B+ will go down in history as the biggest exaggeration since Al Gore’s invention of the internet!
Unable to convince us that his failure was a success, he turned to the second dodge of losing teams: try to pin the blame on someone else. Did you see his State of the Union address? First, he took on the one group in the room that was restrained from responding—the Supreme Court. The President found it inexplicable that the first amendment right of free speech should be guaranteed not just to labor union corporations and media corporations, but equally to all corporations, big and small. When it was all over, I think most Americans felt as I did: his noisy critique and bombast did not register as clear and convincingly as Justice Alito’s silent lips forming these words: “Not true!”
Next he blamed the Republicans in the room, condescending to lecture them on the workings of the budget process, a process many of them had in fact mastered while he was still at Harvard Law School. He blamed Republicans for the gridlock that has blocked his favorite legislation; but he knows as well as we do that he did not need one single solitary Republican vote in either house to pass his legislation. It was Democrats who blocked him, Democrats who said “no” to his liberal agenda after they had been home to their districts and heard from the American people. As Everett Dirksen used to say, “When they felt the heat, they saw the light.” God bless every American who said no!
Of course, the President accuses us of being the party of “no.” It’s as if he thinks that saying “no” is by definition a bad thing. In fact, it is right and praiseworthy to say no to bad things. It is right to say no to cap and trade, no to card check, no to government healthcare, and no to higher taxes. My party should never be a rubber stamp for rubber check spending.
But before we move away from this “no” epithet the Democrats are fond of applying to us, let’s ask the Obama folks why they say “no” --no to a balanced budget, no to reforming entitlements, no to malpractice reform, no to missile defense In Eastern Europe, no to prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a military tribunal, and no to tax cuts that create new jobs. You see, we conservatives don’t have a corner on saying no; we’re just the ones who say it when that’s the right thing to do!
And that leads us to who he has most recently charged with culpability for his failures: the American people. It seems that we have failed to understand his wise plans for us. If he just slows down, he reasons, and makes a concerted effort to explain Obama-care in a way even we can understand, if we just listen better, then we will get it.
Actually, Americans have been listening quite attentively. And they have been watching. When he barred CSPAN from covering the healthcare deliberations, they saw President Obama break his promise of transparency. When the Democrat leadership was empowered to bribe Nebraska’s Senator Nelson, they saw President Obama break his promise of a new kind of politics in Washington. And when he cut a special and certainly unconstitutional healthcare deal with the unions, they saw him not just break his promise, they saw the most blatant and reprehensible manifestation of political payoff in modern memory. No, Mr. President, the American people didn’t hear and see too little, they saw too much!
Here again, with all due respect, President Obama fails to understand America. He said: “With all the lobbying and horse-trading, the process left most Americans wondering, ‘What’s in it for me?’” That’s not at all what they were asking. They were asking: “What’s in it for America?”
America will not endure government run healthcare, a new and expansive entitlement, an inexplicable and surely vanishing cut in Medicare and an even greater burden of taxes. Americans said no because Obama-care is bad care for America!
When it comes to shifting responsibility for failure, however, no one is a more frequent object of President Obama’s reproach than President Bush. It’s wearing so thin that even the late night shows make fun of it. I am convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly—he pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9-11, he overcame teachers unions to test school children and evaluate schools, he took down the Taliban, waged a war against the jihadists and was not afraid to call it what it is—a war, and he kept us safe. I respect his silence even in the face of the assaults on his record that come from this administration. But at the same time, I also respect the loyalty and indefatigable defense of truth that comes from our “I don’t give a damn” Vice President Dick Cheney!
I’m afraid that after all the finger pointing is finished, it has become clear who is responsible for President Obama’s lost year, the 10% unemployment year—President Obama and his fellow Democrats. So when it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys.
There’s a good deal of conjecture about the cause of President Obama’s failures. As he frequently reminds us, he assumed the presidency at a difficult time. That’s the reason we argued during the campaign that these were not the times for on the job training. Had he or his advisors spent even a few years in the real economy, they would have learned that the number one cause of failure in the private sector is lack of focus, and that the first rule of turning around any troubled enterprise is focus, focus, focus. And so, when he assumed the presidency, his energy should have been focused on fixing the economy and creating jobs, and to succeeding in our fight against radical violent jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, he applied his time and political capital to his ill-conceived healthcare takeover and to building his personal popularity in foreign countries. He failed to focus, and so he failed.
But there was an even bigger problem than lack of focus. Ronald Reagan used to say this about liberals: “It’s not that they’re ignorant, it’s that what they know is wrong.” Too often, when it came to what President Obama knew, he was wrong.
He correctly acknowledged that the government doesn’t create jobs, that only the private sector can do that. He said that the government can create the conditions, the environment, which leads the private sector to add employment. But consider not what he said, but what he did last year, and ask whether it helped or hurt the environment for investment, growth, and new jobs.
Announcing 2011 tax increases for individuals and businesses and for capital gains, hurt.
Passing cap and trade, hurt.
Giving trial lawyers a free pass, hurt.
Proposing card check to eliminate secret ballots in union elections, hurt.
Holding on to GM stock and insisting on calling the shots there, hurt.
Making a grab for healthcare, almost 1/5th of our economy, hurt.
Budgeting government deficits in the trillions, hurt.
And scapegoating and demonizing businesspeople, hurt.
President Obama instituted the most anti-growth, anti-investment, anti-jobs measures we’ve seen in our lifetimes. He called his agenda ambitious. I call it reckless. He scared employers, so jobs were scarce. His nearly trillion dollar stimulus created not one net new job in the private sector, but it saved and grew jobs in the government sector-- the one place we should have shed jobs. And even today, because he has been unwilling or unable to define the road ahead, uncertainty and lack of predictability permeate the private economy, and prolongs its stall. America is not better off than it was 1.8 trillion dollars ago.
Will the economy and unemployment recover? Of course. Thanks to a vibrant and innovative citizenry, they always do. But this president will not deserve the credit he will undoubtedly claim. He has prolonged the recession, expanded the pain of unemployment, and added to the burden of debt we will leave future generations. President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their team have failed the American people, and that is why their majority will be out the door. Isn’t it fitting that so many of those who have contempt for the private sector will soon find themselves back in it?
The people of America are looking to conservatives for leadership, and we must not fail them.
Conservatism has had from its inception a vigorously positive, intellectually rigorous agenda. That agenda should have three pillars: strengthen the economy, strengthen our security, and strengthen our families.
We will strengthen the economy by simplifying and lowering taxes, by replacing outmoded regulation with modern, dynamic regulation, by opening markets to American goods, by strengthening our currency and our capital markets, and by investing in research and basic science. Instead of leading the world in how much we borrow, we will make sure that we lead the world in how much we build and create and invest.
We will strengthen our security by building missile defense, restoring our military might, and standing-by and strengthening our intelligence officers. And conservatives believe in providing constitutional rights to our citizens, not to enemy combatants like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed!
On our watch, the conversation with a would-be suicide bomber will not begin with the words, “You have the right to remain silent!”
Our conservative agenda strengthens our families in part by putting our schools on track to be the best in the world. Because great schools start with great teachers, we will insist on hiring teachers from the top third of college graduates, and we will give better teachers better pay. School accountability, school choice and cyber schools will be priorities. We will put parents and teachers back in charge of education, not the fat cat CEO’s of the teachers unions!
Strong families will have excellent healthcare. Getting healthcare coverage for the uninsured should be accomplished at the state level, not a one-size-fits all Pelosi plan. The right way to rein-in healthcare cost is not by making it more like the Post Office, it’s by making it more like a consumer-driven market. The answer for healthcare is market incentives not healthcare by a Godzilla-size government bureaucracy!
When it comes to our role in the world, our conservative agenda hews to the principles that have defined our nation’s foreign policy for over six decades: we will promote and defend the American ideals of political freedom, free enterprise, and human rights. We will stand with our allies, and confront those who threaten peace and destroy liberty.
There’s much more on our positive, intellectually rigorous conservative agenda. Not all of it is popular. But the American people have shown that they are ready for truth to trump hope. The truth is that government is not the solution to all our problems.
This year, I have taken the time to write a book that tells the truth about the challenges our nation faces, and about the conservative solutions needed to overcome them. I have titled it: No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. I’ve set up a booth outside so that you can buy a few hundred copies each. Well, maybe one or two.
Sometimes I wonder whether Washington’s liberal politicians understand the greatness of America. Let me explain why I say that.
At Christmas-time, I was in Wal-Mart to buy some toys for my grandkids. As I waited in the check-out line, I took a good look around the store. I thought to myself of the impact Sam Walton had on his company. Sam Walton was all about good value on everything the customer might want. And so is Wal-Mart: rock bottom prices and tens of thousands of items.
The impact that founders like Sam Walton have on their enterprises is actually quite remarkable. In many ways, Microsoft is a reflection of Bill Gates, just as Apple is of Steve Jobs. Disneyland is a permanent tribute to Walt Disney himself—imaginative and whimsical. Virgin Airlines is as irreverent and edgy as its founder. As you look around you, you see that people shape enterprises, sometimes for many years even after they are gone.
People shape businesses.
People shape countries.
America reflects the values of the people who first landed here, those who founded the nation, those who won our freedom, and those who made America the leader of the world.
America was discovered and settled by pioneers. Later, the founders launched an entirely new concept of nation, one where the people would be sovereign, not the king, not the state. And this would apply not just to government, but also to the American economy: the individual would pursue his or her happiness in freedom, independent from government dictate. Every American was free to be an inventor, an innovator, a founder. America became the land of opportunity and a nation of pioneers.
We attracted people of pioneering spirit from around the world. They came here for freedom and opportunity, knowing that the cost was incredibly high: leaving behind family and the familiar, learning a new language, often living at first in poverty, sometimes facing prejudice, working long and hard hours.
All of these pioneers built a nation of incomparable prosperity and unrivaled security.
After its founding, our national economy grew thanks to more pioneers—people like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, William Procter and Robert Wood Johnson, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard and Thomas Watson. These are names we know—but the less well known are just as vital American innovators, and they number in the millions.
That American pioneering spirit is what propelled us to master the industrial age just as today we marshal the information age.
This course for America, chosen by the founders, has been settled for over 200 years. Ours is the creed of the pioneers, the innovators, the strivers who expect no guarantee of success, but ask only to live and work in freedom. This creed is under assault in Washington today. Liberals are convinced that government knows better than the people how to run our businesses, how to choose winning technologies, how to manage healthcare, how to grow an economy, and how to order our very lives. They want to gain through government takeover what they could never achieve in the competitive economy—power and control over the people of America. If these liberal neo-monarchists succeed, they will kill the very spirit that has built the nation—the innovating, inventing, creating, independent current that runs from coast to coast.
This is the liberal agenda for government. It does not encourage pioneers, inventors and investors—it suffocates them.
In a world where others have lost their liberty by trading it away for the false promises of the state, we choose to hold to our founding principles. We will stop these power-seekers where they stand. We will keep America, America, by retaining its character as the land of opportunity. We welcome the entrepreneur, the inventor, the innovator. We will insist on greatness from every one of our citizens, and rather than apologizing for who we are or for what we have accomplished, we will celebrate our nation’s strength and goodness. American patriots have defeated tyrants, liberated the oppressed, and rescued the afflicted. America’s model of innovation, capitalism and free enterprise has lifted literally billons of the world’s people out of poverty. America has been a force for good like no other in this world, and for that we make no apology.
Anticipation is building in Vancouver, Canada! Tonight, the Opening Ceremony of the XXIst Winter Olympiad will unfold in all of its frosty glory. Numbered among the thousands of down-coated, mufflered spectators will be guests of honor, Mitt and Ann Romney.
Widely recognized for turning around the 2002 scandal-ridden Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Romney’s outstanding leadership in cleaning up Olympic corruption, reversing fiscal woes, restoring the integrity the Games, and turning a profit for the Games caught the attention of nations across the globe. Romney’s exemplary performance has made him a highly-valued guest at subsequent Winter Games.
The Romneys will be in Canada today through Monday.
Notably, not attending is President Obama. Vice President Joe Biden and wife Dr. Jill Biden will do the honors in his stead:
The official U.S. delegation includes the Bidens, David Jacobson, U.S. Ambassador to Canada; Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President; Mike Eruzione, 1980 Olympic gold medalist, U.S. Men’s Hockey Team; Peggy Fleming, 1968 Olympic gold medalist, Ladies Figure Skating, and Vonetta Flowers, 2002 Olympic gold medalist, Women’s Bobsledding.
The vice president and Dr. Biden will make remarks at a kick-off rally for American athletes today and later attend a reception honoring heads of the Olympic delegations.
Vancouver at a Glance
Canada is geared up to impress and rumors are rampant as to which Canadian performing artists will rock the crowds in tonight’s show:
Canadians Nelly Furtado, Sarah McLachlan, and Bryan Adams are all likely bets for Friday’s performance, although program details for the opening ceremonies have yet to be disclosed by Vancouver Olympic organizers.
According to a Toronto Sun report, the above-named singers were spotted arriving at the dress rehearsal this week.
People.com predicts that rockers Rush and jazz singer Nikky Yanofsky, also Canadians, are sure bets as well.
There is no yet word on whether other Canadian A-listers, like Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, and Celine Dion will perform at any time during the games.
One part of the opening ceremony lineup had been confirmed. The new star-studded “We are the World” video for Haiti earthquake relief is slated to make its debut during tonight’s coverage.
VANOC (Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games), the Canadian Forces, and Nike have joined together to deliver desperately yearned-for sports equipment to children in some of the most isolated communities in Northern Canada. Here’s a look at the far-reaching influence of the Olympic Spirit that Mitt Romney sacrificed greatly for and loves so much:
This month, 216 Americans will venture north to Vancouver to compete in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Team USA is represented by 123 men and 93 women.
Thirty-one different Americans have won Olympic medals in previous Winter Games, collecting a total of 48 Olympic medals among them (12 gold, 20 silver and 16 bronze).
At the 2006 Games, the United States had its most successful Winter Olympics ever on foreign snow and ice -- winning nine gold, nine silver and seven bronze for a total of 25 medals. Snowboarding and speed skating led the way for the U.S. with seven medals each.
Since then, the winter success has only continued. At the individual 2009 World Championships, the U.S. won more gold medals (13) in events on the Olympic program than any country and finished second overall in medals to Canada.
While some of the 13 world champions are unlikely to find similar results in Vancouver, the number speaks to the depth and talent of the Americans.
The Olympics are a showcase of some of the great qualities of the human spirit: determination, persistence, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, faith, passion, teamwork, loyalty, honor, character. The Olympics celebrate the human spirit by revealing the athlete’s unrelenting drive to push the limits of human capacity. ~ Turnaround by Mitt Romney, p.xiii-xiv Aug 25, 2004
Thank you, Canada! Good luck to all the athletes. BEST of luck to the Americans! USA! USA! USA!
Television coverage of the excitement in Vancouver begins tonight, February 12, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Pacific Standard Time on NBC. For Vancouver, British Columbia, the opening ceremony will actually begin at 6 p.m. PST.
Additional Info:
Online Olympic Coverage here. (Avoid NBC’s delayed coverage and choose events you wish to watch/ignore.)
2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games Medal Event Schedule here.
Olympic results, Team USA, athlete profiles, video, photos, schedules, etc. here.
“If the Senator-elect will now present himself to the desk, the chair will administer the oath of office,” intoned Vice President Joe Biden yesterday (2/4/10) at Scott Brown’s swearing-in ceremony. Brown, accompanied by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Paul Kirk (D-MA), strode across the senate floor where Biden was waiting to administer the constitutionally required oath of office:
I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
Within moments, the Senator-elect became United States Senator Scott Brown.
Senate Chamber swearing-in ceremony. (Biden begins at 3:45):
A private swearing-in ceremony which included the 41st Senator’s wife, reporter Gail Huff, was later conducted in the Old Senate Chamber where press photos are allowed. Although the Brown daughters were unable to attend, Senator Brown carried his daughters’ bibles at both ceremonies. Daughter Ayla was committed to play a basketball game with Duke that evening and youngest daughter, pre-med student Arianna, was taking tests at Syracuse University:
After being sworn in, Senator Brown immediately held a press conference where he endorsed across-the-board JFK-style tax cuts and mentioned job creation and terrorism among his top priorities. He also deftly handled ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ queries by stating his desire to talk to generals in the field before forming an opinion on the polemic issue:
Washington D.C. is expecting a ‘snowmageddon’ snow storm this weekend. Depending on Mother Nature’s proclivities, Brown’s first vote may come as early as Tuesday of next week. Obama’s controversial choice of SEIU union attorney, Craig Becker, to be seated on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will be first on the senate agenda to vote on next week. Fearing that Becker will use his post to create more union-friendly labor laws sans congressional approval, Republicans have stalled Becker’s confirmation for months.
Even if D.C. is up to the Capitol Dome in snow next Tuesday, I have no doubt Senator Brown’s trusty truck will get him were he needs to be to cast his first vote.
While Nancy Pelosi tests the ‘spring’ in her pole vaulting apparatus and packs her parachute, House Republicans converged yesterday evening (Jan 28, 2010) for a three-day strategy session at the Inner Harbor hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. President Obama will join them today to speak and participate in a question-and-answer session. No doubt, health care will be a priority topic.
FOX News anchor Patti Ann Brown talks with reporter Carl Cameron, Jan 28, 2010:
Pelosi Pole Vault
Pelosi on Obamacare:
“You go through the gate. If the gate’s closed, you go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re going to get health care reform passed for the American people.”
Responding to Obama’s State of the Union speech and the President’s invitation that if anyone from either party has a better aproach to bring down health care premiums, House Republican Leader John Boehner revealed to reporters yesterday that he hasn’t been contacted by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel or any one on the President’s team in over a year:
John Boehner responds to Obama (Jan 28, 2010)
Boehner:
“And so, we’re eager for the President to come to our retreat tomorrow. We’re going to have an honest conversation about America’s priorities and trying to find ways to find some common ground.”
NOTE: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirms that the House Republican health care plan will lower health care premiums by up to 10 percent and reduce the deficit by $68 billion over 10 years without imposing tax increases on small businesses and families. For more information on the GOP plan, go here.
“Republicans are emboldened. They think Obama has overshot the runway, and they’re going to stick with their strategy,” said Scott Reed, a Republican consultant.
As they left Washington for the three-day strategy session, Republican leaders did not seem to be in a frame of mind for compromising.
Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio said that Obama had “decided to just double-down on his job-killing agenda,” while ignoring the angry voter message behind recent Republican victories in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts.
“There was nothing last night in the president’s speech to indicate that there was any willingness to sit down and work together,” he said of Obama’s State of the Union address Wednesday. Boehner added that Republicans would try to find common ground with Obama, “but we’re not going to roll over on our principles.”
Heading into this year’s congressional campaigns, Republican fundraising and recruitment have picked up. National opinion surveys show steady improvement in the party’s prospects. And independent analysts predict that Democrats could lose dozens of House seats and, possibly, majority control of the chamber in the first midterm election of Obama’s presidency.
Obama acknowledged the effectiveness of the opposition’s strategy, even as he took a swipe at Republican obstructionism.
For now, at least, Republicans have little incentive to cooperate. Only three of the 37 most competitive House races this year feature a Democratic challenge to a Republican incumbent, according to the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report.
And Obama’s attempts to woo Republicans could be constrained by growing restiveness within the president’s own party. His pitch, during the State of the Union address, for building a new generation of nuclear power plants and possibly expanding offshore oil and gas drilling won immediate Republican approval but fell flat with Democratic liberals.
“It is in the president’s interests, politically and probably governmentally, to try to get some Republican cooperation and some Republican buy-in,” said former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.).
Obama passed up opportunities during his first year that might have made it more costly for Republicans to oppose him.
For example, the administration bowed to a powerful Democratic special interest, the trial-lawyer lobby, and refused to make significant changes in medical liability as part of healthcare legislation. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a Republican proposal to limit medical malpractice costs would save taxpayers $54 billion over 10 years.
With elections ahead, a weakened Obama may find it more difficult to win Republican support for his agenda. But simply making a sustained attempt at bipartisan outreach could help put Democrats in a better position to attract swing votes this fall.
The Republican retreat, which runs through Saturday, is designed to help develop the party’s strategic plan for the midterm elections. Independent campaign analysts are forecasting significant Republican gains this November, with some predicting at least an outside chance for Republicans to knock Democrats from the majority.
Republicans “look forward to sharing with the president our better solutions for getting this economy moving again [and] putting our fiscal house in order. Our proposals for health care reform [and] energy will all be part of what we are describing as a conversation between the president and House Republicans,” Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the House Republican conference, said Wednesday.
Besides Obama, scheduled speakers at the Baltimore retreat include former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, newly elected Republican Gov. Robert McDonnell of Virginia and former House Republican Leader Dick Army, who chairs a conservative group that has aggressively opposed Obama’s agenda. Retired football coach Lou Holtz, a longtime Republican activist who gave a pep talk at the 2007 retreat on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, is the Friday night dinner speaker.
Gingrich, whose former aides are active in the Congressional Institute, also addressed last winter’s retreat, held at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Va. Other speakers there included 2012 Republican presidential possibilities Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty newly elected Republican National Chairman Michael S. Steele
Keep an eye out for a party-crashing parachuting Pelosi.
After the knock-out senatorial election of Scott Brown (R-MA), President Obama blatantly declared, “The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office.” Obama’s 71-minute State of the Union speech to the nation last night signaled he’s ignoring Massachusetts’ cold-water-in-the-face message. He’s quickly toweled off and plans to keep slugging. With an overall combative tone, peppered with patronization and huge doses of hypocrisy, here are just a few jabs from last night’s speech:
“We have the largest majority in decades and people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills.” (Obama warns Democrats to stay in the ring with him. 78% of Americans believe the Democrat super-majority loss is a positive for America. 22% feel it is a negative for America.)
“Let’s try common sense. Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. Let’s meet our responsibility to the people who sent us here.” (Obama’s policies have put us on a road that will triple our national debt to $22 trillion over the next ten years. The fiscal policies of the United States are unsustainable.)
“And what the American people hope — what they deserve — is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences, to overcome the numbing weight of our politics… Just saying ‘no’ to everything may be good short term politics but it’s not leadership.” (Capitol Hill doors have been locked – figuratively and in actuality - to prevent policy negotiations with Republicans. Update: House Republican Leader John Boehner (OH-8) said today that it had been over a year since he has been contacted by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel or anyone in the Obama administration.)
“One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, financial system on the verge of collapse and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted — immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.” (Of Obama’s controversial $787 billion Stimulus Bill, only $264 billion has been spent. That leaves $523 billion more for Obama’s pay-backs and pet projects. He promised us that passing the Stimulus Bill would hold unemployment at 8%. It’s now over 10%. The Labor Dept reports today that for the week ending Jan. 23, another 470,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits. UPDATE: Dr. Frank Luntz conducted a poll today among an equal number of Republicans and Democrats in Philadelphia, PA. This statement polled as the WORST MOMENT in Obama’s speech.)
“…I’ve proposed a fee on the biggest banks. Now, I know Wall Street isn’t keen on this idea. But if these firms can afford to hand out big bonuses again, they can afford a modest fee to pay back the taxpayers who rescued them in their time of need.” (TARP funds prevented our entire financial system from collapsing. Obama wants banks who have paid back TARP money -- with interest -- to now pay a fee. Obama ignores the federal government’s part in contributing to our economic crisis and is deflecting from the bonuses his own administration allowed.)
“You see, Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse. Meanwhile, China is not waiting to revamp its economy.” (Of course China isn’t waiting. They own us! Just a couple of months into Obama’s presidency, the Chinese were expressing concerns over his penchant for trillion dollar borrowing from them. U.S. taxpayers pay the Chinese government $50 billion per year on interest – alone.)
“Still, this is a complex issue [health care], and the longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became. I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.” (Does Obama really believe 61% of Americans want him to move off the health care issue and focus on job creation because he didn’t explain it well enough? 81% of Americans believe Obamacare will raise taxes.)
“Let’s put aside the schoolyard taunts about who is tough. Let’s reject the false choice between protecting our people and upholding our values.” (Obama foreign policy gobbledy gook. The Commander-in-Chief conveniently forgot to mention his policy of giving U.S. constitutional rights to terrorists and trials in U.S. courts.)
“And, yes, it [clean energy] means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America. I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy. I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.” (Obama is willing to cripple our economy further by refusing to even consider real science and the scandalous suppressing of evidence regarding climate change. Cap-and-Trade legislation isn’t global warming/climate change. It’s about creating profit -- money out of thin air.)
A jaw-dropping breach of decorum occurred last night when Obama scolded the Supreme Court regarding the reversal of the McCain-Feingold bill. Watch Justice Alito mouth “that’s not true”:
Like us, Harry Reid has heard it all before:
Governor Bob McDonnell’s (R-VA) response to Obama’s State of the Union Speech:
Obama’s condescension and arrogance doesn’t bode well for 2010. The President’s hoped-for left hook last night may cost him seats in the mid-term elections. Will Blue Dog Democrats go to the ropes for him? We’ll see.
Obama may have bloodied our noses this past year, but I feel a whopping right-hook coming on. The American people refuse to be his punching bag any longer.
Read full text of Governor Bob McDonnell’s (R-WA) rebuttal speech here.
Read full text of President Obama’s State of the Union Speech here.
In case you missed it: Mitt Romney made an early appearance this AM on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America‘. In the video below, Mitt Romney gives his response to George Stephanopoulos regarding last night’s ‘State of the Union’ speech, delivered by President Obama:
Be sure to catch more of Mitt Romney this afternoon on ‘Your World‘ with Neil Cavuto. More info here.
Be sure to catch Mitt Romney on Fox News this afternoon at 4 PM-ET. Romney has been invited to give his two cents on Neil Cavuto’s Program, ‘Your World‘.
Look for more of Romney’s reaction to last night’s State of the Obama speech (…I mean, State of the Unions speech). He’s likely to echo what he said earlier today on Good Morning America: “We’ve lost a year”.
UPDATE: Here is the video of Mitt Romney’s interview with Neil Cavuto:
Watching President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight? Why not make it a little more fun by joining us on chat to discuss the speech, or even playing Bingo to win some prizes?
I’ll give you a hint, don’t pick card number 5. Numbers 1-4 are the same but with the words in different orders.
Bingo Rules: the first five to get BINGO will get a MITT ‘12 bumper sticker. To verify your Bingo leave a comment on this post. State which card number you have, and which were the five phrases that you got for Bingo. Be sure to yell BINGO! on the chat first. We will verify the first five. Good luck and have fun!
MittRomneyCentral.com is a pure grassroots website. It is not paid for, endorsed by, or affiliated in any way with Governor Mitt Romney or the Free and Strong America PAC.
Americans are riveted on Obamacare. With just seven days until the March 18th White House deadline for a vote on the Senate health care bill arrives, eyes are glued on Blue Dog Democrats. We are witnessing nearly hourly positioning on Capitol Hill and can almost hear the chest-poking, arm-twisting, and head thumping going on behind locked doors as Obama, Pelosi, and Reid shove and kick to pass their 2700 page health care confiscation scheme. 
Online Olympic Coverage 
In case you missed it: Mitt Romney made an early appearance this AM on ABC’s ‘
Recent Comments