The retiring Tanner isn't voting for it, due to budgetary considerations.

Lincoln Davis too.

Drew thinks that Davis is being given a Get Out of Voting Free card, because Nurse Nancy has the votes. Jay Cost thinks it's too close to attempt such a thing.

They were both previously nos.

Call Stupak: enoxo says his office is counting calls in favor and against. (202) 225-4735.

Posted by: Ace at 10:19 AM | Comments (117)
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Not sure, what if anything he got but Stupak is a yes.

Now there's a report saying he says to CNN something else? A no at this moment but still talking.

Maybe the White House is going to wait to see if they absolutely need him or not. I hope this guy is enjoying his moment in the sun.

CNN says Baird and Giffords to vote yes. Baird was a No and Giffords was a yes in November.

Tanner of TN, who is retiring is staying No. He was thought to be an extra vote for Nancy if needed. Looks like they don't need him.

The House is now in session.

First the rule, then the Senate bill, then the reconciliation bill.

Lots of talk for no reason for a couple of hours. There's really no need to have this 'debate', no minds are going to be changed but politicians do love to hear themselves talk. It would be a lot better if they just went to the vote.

Thought for the day is from Alexis de Tocqueville

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.

I originally had this quote from Alexander Tytler but there's some question about its authenticity. Regardless of where it came from, it's true.

Today the Democrats may achieve their dream of filling in a hole in the goal of Cradle to Grave socialism. From SCHIP to ObamaCare and Medicare, government will control your health care. Of course that will just be a start. Once you start eating or doing things that cost to much, well, that will have to be regulated.

Oh btw- The Democrats' budget numbers? Pure fantasy.

God help us all.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:10 AM | Comments (426)
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If you don't keep up with the payments on that $15M Gulfstream or 110' yacht, the "repo man" is coming for your stuff. Yea, T Coddington Van Voorhees VII, I'm looking at you!

...Ken Cage isn't your typical repo man. Rather than snatch cars from an over-extended middle class, he takes back yachts, planes and other toys from the over-leveraged rich.

Business is thriving, even as the economy begins to improve. His company, Orlando-based International Recovery Group, repossessed more than 700 boats, planes, helicopters and other property last year valued at more than $100 million. Business, he says, is up six-fold from 2007.

He has reclaimed everything from $18 million Gulfstream jets and Bell helicopters to 110-foot Broward yachts, $500,000 recreational vehicles and even a racehorse...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:34 AM | Comments (55)
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Conflicting reports this morning about where the Democrats stand.

According to Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) on Meet The Press this morning, they are still a couple of votes short.

John Larson (D-CT), head of the House Democratic Caucus says they have the votes.

The Democrats did pick up Marcy Kaptur (D-OH). She was a Stupak group member.

I haven't seen anything about the grand plan to buy off the Stupakers with an Executive Order. If they are going to accept that crap, I bet Stupak winds up giving Nancy something for the privilege of voting yes. An Executive Order is BS and will disappear before any of the real changes go into effect in a couple of years.

Based on nothing but a guess...Nancy doens't have the votes yet but she's playing chicken with 5 or 6 liberal democrats like Stupak and daring them to kill this. They won't man up. Mostly because they want this crap and are just trying to get a fig leaf, any fig leaf to cover them on abortion.

We'll know in a couple of hours.

Update: Via Allah...Stupak is still begging for his cover from Obama

"We are close to getting something done," Stupak said in an interview with MSNBC.

"We're close but we're not there yet," Stupak said.

Major Garrett just said on FNC that Obama doesn't want to have to sign an EO unless it buys the votes to push it over the top. He won't piss off the pro-choicers unless he has to. Much like Joe Kennedy, he doesn't want to buy a landslide.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:59 AM | Comments (427)
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Oh my.

As their whip efforts narrow to just a handful of Members, House Democratic leaders are facing an unlikely problem vote: Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.).

Sanchez was nowhere to be found on Saturday — she was in Florida on a fundraising jaunt, two Democratic sources said — and while leaders expected her to return for the Sunday vote on final passage, they weren’t assured. What’s more, leaders now list the Orange County Democrat as a “no” vote.

Sanchez was expected to be a sure "yes" vote. By my own count, whatever Executive Order on abortion funding the President is cooking up has to peel off six of the remaining ten in Stupak's bloc for Pelosi to reach 216.

Fingers crossed.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:40 PM | Comments (409)
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Hello, hello all M&Ms. Welcome to your regularly scheduled Saturday night ONT.
I know some of the M&Ms could really use a J-O-B these days so I've added the Moron Job Bank to the yahoo group. So if you're looking for something or know of any position post it and help a moron out before they're forced to go hobo.

Welcome to the new Rickroll - the Trololo Song AKA the Russian Rickroll

Back in 1976 Eduard Khil, a popular Soviet singer, sang this song on Russian TV. Well someone discovered it a month or two back and it's now become an internet sensation and seems to be on its way to replacing Rick Astley's original Rickroll.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:16 PM | Comments (994)
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CBS says a "rough schedule" for tomorrow's House activities looks like this:

2 p.m.: The House will debate for one hour the rules of debate for the reconciliation bill and the Senate bill.

3 p.m.: The House will vote to end debate and vote on the rules of the debate.

3:15 p.m.: The House will debate the reconciliation package for two hours.

5:15 p.m.: The House will vote on the reconciliation package.

5:30 p.m.: The House will debate for 15 minutes on a Republican substitute and then vote on the substitute.

6 p.m.: The House will vote on the final reconciliation package.

6:15 p.m.: If the reconciliation bill passes, the House will immediately vote on the Senate bill, without debate.

All times Eastern.

[DrewM.] Added: There's rumors that Nye of VA announced he was a yes. As of 9:15 eastern Roll Call says that's not true. No guarantee that it won't change shortly but there you have it.

10:15pm- Nye is a no. Again, it's not clear if these are passes from Nancy or a sign she's in trouble.

Update [Gabe]: 11:00pm -- The Rules Committee has clarified that the vote for the Senate bill has to come before the vote on the reconciliation bill. Just to get the order right.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:52 PM | Comments (529)
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It could mean he's gotten a "You Get To Keep Your Seat" Card from Nancy or they still don't have the votes.

Found via Right Wing News, which has similar numbers to Gabe on the whip count.

Don't give up the ship yet!

UPDATE: Jim Matheson was no in Novemenber, thought to be undecided, stays No. The link is to Firedoglake (I know) but they have a running whip count that isn't optimistic for the Dems either.

Matheson was the guy whose brother was nominated for a federal judgeship. Guess that didn't work out for Obama.

Related: Republicans on the House Ways And Means Committee figured out who really wins if this passes...the IRS.

Thanks to "Smapty" for the heads up.

*IRS agents verify if you have “acceptable” health care coverage;

* IRS has the authority to fine you up to $2,250 or 2 percent of your income (whichever is greater) for failure to prove that you have purchased “minimum essential coverage;”

* IRS can confiscate your tax refund;

* IRS audits are likely to increase;

* IRS will need up to $10 billion to administer the new health care program this decade;

* IRS may need to hire as many as 16,500 additional auditors, agents and other employees to investigate and collect billions in new taxes from Americans; and

* Nearly half of all these new individual mandate taxes will be paid by Americans earning less than 300 percent of poverty ($66,150 for a family of four.)

16,500 more IRS employees? What could possibly go wrong with that?

Posted by: DrewM at 02:07 PM | Comments (300)
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Six defections, leaving him, he says, with six. Another Representative in that bloc (Kantor) confirms the six.

Stupak says he just heard an hour ago that Pelosi is still down 4.

Posted by: Ace at 01:01 PM | Comments (325)
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"A government of laws and not of men"-Stuff John Adams actually wrote.

Impeached federal judge and current Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings disagrees.

From today's House Committee on Rules (how's that for irony?) health care reform session...

234 years is a good run by any standard. Now, as with all things, it comes to an end.

Posted by: DrewM at 12:35 PM | Comments (128)
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