Scott Brown Up By Four
Jan 15, 2010 Political
This is encouraging. Scott Brown has taken the lead in the Massachusetts Senate race. According to the Boston Herald:
Riding a wave of opposition to Democratic health-care reform, GOP upstart Scott Brown is leading in the U.S. Senate race, raising the odds of a historic upset that would reverberate all the way to the White House, a new poll shows.
Although Brown’s 4-point lead over Democrat Martha Coakley is within the Suffolk University/7News survey’s margin of error, the underdog’s position at the top of the results stunned even pollster David Paleologos.“It’s a Brown-out,” said Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center. “It’s a massive change in the political landscape.”
The poll shows Brown, a state senator from Wrentham, besting Coakley, the state’s attorney general, by 50 percent to 46 percent, the first major survey to show Brown in the lead. Unenrolled long-shot Joseph L. Kennedy, an information technology executive with no relation to the famous family, gets 3 percent of the vote. Only 1 percent of voters were undecided.
This would truly cause Democrats to lose their collective minds.
It is a long shot and this is Massachusetts. Considering the Democrat’s machine it is going to be close as they come in to scare up the cemeteries and bus in the out of staters. But anything close is going to rock the Dems.
Most of the voters there are not affiliated with a party and a lot of folks are not happy with the current climate in DC.
The voters are looking at true climate change.
Others:
Stop the ACLU
Ace
Hot Air
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Tags: martha coakley, Massachusetts, scott brown, senate race
Is Martha Coakley A Liar?
Jan 13, 2010 Political
While Scott Brown was in his home state connecting with voters Martha Coakley was in DC getting cozy with lobbyists and taking their money. Coakley indicated that the event in DC was a unity event that was planned in December after the primary. There is no dispute that it was planned then but what exactly was planned? The website Legal Insurrection reports that the event was organized by a professional fund raising group.
But in fact the event was organized by 4C Partners, a professional fundraising and campaign consulting organization. One of Coakley’s own fundraisers, Julia Hoffman, joined 4C Partners in mid-December 2009. Hoffman is the contact person on the fundraiser announcement.
So was this a unity event or a fund raiser? Do they really need a professional group to organize a unity event? Since when does a unity event involve lobbyists, many of whom are from companies with a big stake in health care? Since those very lobbyists ponied up large sums of money and they did it at an event that was organized by a professional fund raising group, we can only conclude that it was, in fact, a fund raiser.
Martha Coakley left Massachusetts and went to DC to raise money from lobbyists while Scott Brown stayed at home with the people he will represent once elected.
Coakley also witnessed an event that involved one of her people and a reporter. The reporter, John McCormack, claims that Michael Meehan, an Obama nominee who was dispatched to help Coakley, pushed him down as he tried to ask Coakley a question. I have no way of knowing what happened because I was not there. He could have tripped or he could have fallen over something but he claims he was pushed. All of this is moot because Coakley was right there even though she stated she was not “privy” to the event.
A video of the event (it does not show how McCormack fell) shows Coakley was right there looking at McCormack as he lay on the ground. A still photo makes it clear that Coakley was there and looking at him. Perhaps she did not see what happened and turned when she heard the commotion but since he was attempting to ask her a question it is likely that she was looking at him. It appears to me that she saw what happened. If he fell then she would have said she saw him fall or trip or whatever. Since she denied being privy, it is not out of the realm that she witnessed an assault and ignored it. Is this the kind of person Massachusetts wants representing the state? She is an officer of the court, of law enforcement, and it is quite possible she ignored a crime.
Coakley also told a blatant lie about Scott Brown with regard to a bill that he voted on. She claims he voted to withhold care for victims of rape. This is a lie. Brown required the bill to have language that allowed health care providers to not give the morning after pill if they had a religious or other moral objection to the procedure. The provider was required to already have his objections on file at the treatment facility and the victim was to be offered the service from someone who had no objection to giving it and at no additional cost.
In Coakley’s mind this is withholding care for rape victims and it is an absolute lie. In fact, the health care bill before Congress, the bill Coakley will vote for if elected, has nearly identical language in it regarding treatment of victims of rape.
Does this mean Coakley is in favor of withholding treatment from rape victims?
Brown’s daughters were out with him and defended their dad. Jammie Wearing Fool has the money quote at the end of the post about Brown and his daughters:
Behold the irony of castigating Brown on his stance with women to the fact Coakley is trotting out Bill Clinton for an appearance this week.
That, my friends, is pure irony.
Martha Coakley is a liar. She lied about the DC event and what it really was. She was less than honest about the incident involving the alleged assault of a reporter and she lied about Brown’s stance on treatment of rape victims.
Take a look at the photo of Coakley staring at the man on the ground and then look at this photo of Scott Brown. Which one is the true defender of the people and which one feels it is OK to run roughshod over those with whom they disagree?
The thoughts and prayers of the Big Dog family go out to the people of Haiti who have been devastated by a terrible earthquake. Americans will rally to help them but as you do please be careful to whom you send your money. The worst events bring out the worst people and there will be many scam artists out to make money off the human suffering. The Anchoress has a list of organizations to whom you can safely donate as does America’s North Shore Journal.
Big Dog Salute to Michelle Malkin and Don Surber
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Tags: assault, Democrats, fund raisers, lies, lobbyists, martha coakley, Massachusetts, scott brown
In Haste To Slam Brown Coakley Makes A Big Mistake
Jan 13, 2010 Political
After the debate last night in Massachusetts, where Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley very soundly, Coakley rushed an attack ad out to stem the tide that is now going against her. In her haste, she made a big mistake. The wording at the bottom of the add misspells the name of the state.
Jammie Wearing Fool has a screen shot of the ad and the state is spelled “Massachusettes.”
One would expect a person to be able to spell the name of her state especially if that one is running for the US Senate. But Martha was in such a rush to get this out that she approved this message, misspelled state and all.
This is the kind of attention to detail one expects from a person who will march in lockstep with her party regardless of the details and who is now in panic mode.
The add was pulled for a bit of time and when it went back up the state name was spelled correctly. I guess she took a lot of heat over the error.
Brown said he was not going to go negative and that he did not want big name Republicans coming to the state on his behalf (not that he could stop them). He is busy running around the state campaigning after he received around 1.3 million dollars in 24 hours after an internet money bomb. His donations are small ones from every day people.
Coakley is in DC at a fundraiser that has 22 registered lobbyists, 17 of whom are directly involved in health care.
This should tell the people of Massachusetts where her priorities are.
Scott Brown might just pull this off. A lot will depend on the weather, voter enthusiasm after a three day weekend and what groups actually turn out.
If he wins this will be the second shot heard round the world. He will make a number of vulnerable Democrats very uneasy.
If a Republican can win in Massachusetts then a Republican can win anywhere.
And the Democrats know that which is why SEIU is kicking in a lot of money and some heavy hitters are making their way to Massachusetts.
Ace has a video of a union steel worker who is carrying a Coakley sign. The guy says they paid him $50 to stand there holding the sign but he is voting for Brown.
Priceless…
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Tags: brown, coakley, Democrats, massachusettes, Massachusetts, Obama
Dorgan Will Not Seek Reelection
Jan 6, 2010 Political
Democrat Byron Dorgan of North Dakota will not seek reelection in 2010. The Senator states he wants to spend more time with his family. Considering that he is down by 31 points to a man who has yet to announce it seems that Dorgan would get to spend more time with his family even if he did run again.
The reality is that Dorgan does not want to end his political career by getting his ass handed to him on a platter so he is bowing out.
As the musical group Queen put it, Another One Bites the Dust.
Democrats are jumping off the ship rather rapidly and deciding either to not run in the first place or to not seek reelection. The downside of this, with regard to Dorgan, is that he can now do what he wants without fear of repercussion. He can vote for any Democrat bill regardless of how the people feel and not worry about the backlash at the polls.
Harry Reid and Chris Dodd are gone unless things drastically change and now Dorgan will not be in the mix. Republicans have a real good chance of cutting into the Democrat’s lead in the Senate if not take back control.
This next year will be a true test of America and will show if the citizens have truly had enough of this out of control government.
We can put a hurting on Democrats in two short weeks by electing Republican Scott Brown to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts. Things are looking promising in that race but it will be a struggle. Voter turnout and the unaffiliated voters will decide that election.
UPDATE: Moments after I posted this Fox News and Drudge broke the news that Chris Dodd will not seek reelection. The problem is that without Dodd to beat up on Republicans have little chance of winning in very blue Connecticut. Story at Washington Post.
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Tags: byron dorgan, jumping ship, Massachusetts, reelection, scott brown
The Ghost Of Health Care Yet To Come
Jan 2, 2010 Political
During this entire health care takeover debate we have been deluged with the supposed support for the plan among the nation’s health care professionals. The prop doctors at the White House provided a stunt to show all the “support” out there among the medical community. The AMA board gave its support to the plan after some deal making even though most of the members oppose it (and keep in mind the AMA only accounts for about 18% of doctors in this country). The AARP came out in favor of the bill because it will get rid of Medicare Advantage and seniors will need a Medi-Gap plan. The AARP happens to have one of those and it will make a ton of money by selling it to seniors.
Let us not forget that the pharmaceutical industry was against this until Obama made deals with it, deals that favor the industry and go against what Obama promised.
Then we have the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The clinic, which Obama touted this “as a national model for efficient health care”, has stopped accepting Medicare patients (unless they pay for their own care) because the government does not reimburse enough to cover expenses.
The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.
More than 3,000 patients eligible for Medicare, the government’s largest health-insurance program, will be forced to pay cash if they want to continue seeing their doctors at a Mayo family clinic in Glendale, northwest of Phoenix, said Michael Yardley, a Mayo spokesman. The decision, which Yardley called a two-year pilot project, won’t affect other Mayo facilities in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Bloomberg
Obama has said that the amount of money that doctors and hospitals are reimbursed is used as a safety valve by Congress to control costs. In other words, the doctors are screwed out of money by Congress in an attempt to balance the books (they never balance). Many doctors do not accept Medicare because of the reimbursement problems and now the model clinic will follow suit.
Imagine now if health care is run on a national scale by the US government. The government will set reimbursement rates and doctors and hospitals will begin dropping patients because the reimbursement is too low. This will lead to rationing of services and it will lead to more out of pocket expenses for those who rely on government. If a hospital or doctor refuses to accept the patients in the government plan then it matters not whether they have coverage.
Mayo’s hospital and four clinics in Arizona, including the Glendale facility, lost $120 million on Medicare patients last year, Yardley said. The program’s payments cover about 50 percent of the cost of treating elderly primary-care patients at the Glendale clinic, he said.
“We firmly believe that Medicare needs to be reformed,” Yardley said in a Dec. 23 e-mail. “It has been true for many years that Medicare payments no longer reflect the increasing cost of providing services for patients.”
No matter what they do to reform Medicare the purse will be controlled by Congress and as long as Congress can decide the reimbursement all the reform in the world will not make the situation any better. Yes, Congress could enact some reform but nothing can stop it from fixing prices in the future. This is true for any other government run health care.
Maybe the doctors and hospitals in Nebraska should contact Ben Nelson and tell him they will all stop accepting Medicare patients because he sold his soul to the devil. That would negate much of his sweetheart deal and it would keep the rest of us from having to pay into our Medicare and for theirs as well.
Health care needs to be reformed but not in the manner that government proposes. We need to scrap this whole mess and do some common sense things that will fix the problem and not enslave the people to government.
You people in Massachusetts can help. There is a special election this month for Ted Kennedy’s seat. The corrupt politicians in your state manipulated and changed laws to put a Democrat in there in the interim so that the majority would have 60 votes. If you vote the Republican candidate into office he will deny the Democrats their filibuster proof majority. The Senate will not have the 60 votes it needs to get closure. It is up to you to fight back against the corruption that your state has engaged in. Remember, if they had not changed the law (a law that existed until they changed it to prevent a Republican from being appointed by Romney should Kerry win the presidency) then the bill would have been dead.
Instead we have billions of dollars used as bribes for Senators, we have middle of the night legislation, and we have corruption at the highest level.
Massachusetts, you have the opportunity to keep the bill from passing by electing a Republican to the Senate. Look at Romney care and see how bad it is. Then you will see what it will be like for the country. Do us all a favor and elect the Republican. Besides, the Democrat has demonstrated that she is an unethical person who should never hold elected office.
Well, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona has fired the first shot across the bow of the government takeover of health care. They will no longer accept Medicare patients and this is being looked at in their other facilities and by physicians around Arizona. You can be sure that this is taking place across the country as well.
Seniors, this affects you. Get out in full force and vote these bums out of office. Especially you seniors in Massachusetts. Vote for the Republican in the Senate race that takes place this month. If you don’t step up then you have no right to complain when they are denying you care or doctors stop accepting Medicare.
“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?” –Source
Like Ebeneezer Scrooge, the future of health care can change. It all depends upon heeding what the ghost of health care yet to come has shown…
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Tags: denial, health care, Massachusetts, mayo clinic, medicare, Obama, stop care