health care reform

Rick Joyner Has A Dream ... Of America's Destruction

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 1/24/2011 2:05 pm

We have mentioned Rick Joyner here a few times before, mainly to point out that he is a member of the Religious Right supergroup known as The Freedom Federation and that several Religious Right leaders -including Janet Porter, Lou Sheldon, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Cindy Jacobs, Lt.Gen. W.G. "Jerry" Boykin - sit on the board his Oak Initiative.  

In fact, it was for the Oak Initiative that Boykin recorded his video explaining how President Obama intended to use health care reform legislation to create his own private army of Brownshirts.

Joyner has been deepening his ties to the Religious Right in recent months, apparently because he recently received a message from God while visiting Moravian Falls, NC - which is reportedly an open portal to Heaven - in the form of a dream revealing that the foundation of America is literally on fire and that only the Word of God could save it from utter destruction:

Joyner went on to explain that the only thing that can save America is for Christians to become more involved in politics and for our political and governmental leaders to start listening to the "prophetic voices" of people like Joyner:

Rick Joyner Has A Dream ... Of America's Destruction

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 1/24/2011 2:05 pm

We have mentioned Rick Joyner here a few times before, mainly to point out that he is a member of the Religious Right supergroup known as The Freedom Federation and that several Religious Right leaders -including Janet Porter, Lou Sheldon, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Cindy Jacobs, Lt.Gen. W.G. "Jerry" Boykin - sit on the board his Oak Initiative.  

In fact, it was for the Oak Initiative that Boykin recorded his video explaining how President Obama intended to use health care reform legislation to create his own private army of Brownshirts.

Joyner has been deepening his ties to the Religious Right in recent months, apparently because he recently received a message from God while visiting Moravian Falls, NC - which is reportedly an open portal to Heaven - in the form of a dream revealing that the foundation of America is literally on fire and that only the Word of God could save it from utter destruction:

Joyner went on to explain that the only thing that can save America is for Christians to become more involved in politics and for our political and governmental leaders to start listening to the "prophetic voices" of people like Joyner:

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 1/19/2011 6:52 pm
  • PFAW: Health Care Reform Repeal: Bought and Paid for by Citizens United.
     
  • Scott Keyes @ Think Progress: Rep. Louie Gohmert: ‘I’m Going To Be Pushing…To Have Some Hearings’ On The Creeping Threat Of Sharia Law.
     
  • Joe.My.God: Gov. Rick Scott Appoints "Christians Only" Activist To Head State Agency On Adoptions.
     
  • Alan Colmes: Christine O’Donnell Finding A New Way To Pay Rent?
     
  • Jason Hancock @ Iowa Independent: Marriage amendment introduced in Iowa House.
     
  • Media Matters: Limbaugh Mocks Chinese President's Untranslated Speech.
     
  • Rachel Slajda @ TPM: CPAC To Host Panel Called 'Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave Of The 9/11 Attacks'.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 1/19/2011 6:52 pm
  • PFAW: Health Care Reform Repeal: Bought and Paid for by Citizens United.
     
  • Scott Keyes @ Think Progress: Rep. Louie Gohmert: ‘I’m Going To Be Pushing…To Have Some Hearings’ On The Creeping Threat Of Sharia Law.
     
  • Joe.My.God: Gov. Rick Scott Appoints "Christians Only" Activist To Head State Agency On Adoptions.
     
  • Alan Colmes: Christine O’Donnell Finding A New Way To Pay Rent?
     
  • Jason Hancock @ Iowa Independent: Marriage amendment introduced in Iowa House.
     
  • Media Matters: Limbaugh Mocks Chinese President's Untranslated Speech.
     
  • Rachel Slajda @ TPM: CPAC To Host Panel Called 'Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave Of The 9/11 Attacks'.

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 1/18/2011 6:35 pm
  • The Supreme Court has rejected the right-wing challenge to Washington, DC's marriage equality law.

  • The ever-brave Sarah Palin sits down for a softball interview with Sean Hannity to defend her "blood libel" video.

  • Rep. Michele Bachmann will be the keynote speaker at the March for Life Rose Dinner.

  • Don't like health care reform?  Why not sign up for a Christian health care co-op?

  • It seems that the developer's attendance estimates for the creationist theme park in Kentucky are wildly optimistic.

  • Randall Terry intends to launch a primary challenge against President Obama so that he can run graphic anti-abortion ads on television and will host a press conference announcing his campaign outside the Holocaust Museum.

  • Finally, the Sarah Palin Battle Hymn is a real thing.

South Carolina GOP Fears Doctors May Be Required To Perform Abortions Under “Obamacare”

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 1/12/2011 3:04 pm

Republicans and their allies have consistently smeared the recent health care reform law by suggesting that it will lead to taxpayer subsidized abortions. Poltifact says that, despite Rep. John Carter’s assertions to the contrary, the health care reform law certainly “does not provide full federal funding of abortions — and that’s clear,” but that hasn’t stopped GOP leaders like Speaker John Boehner and Michele Bachmann from asserting that taxpayer funds are already being used to finance abortions. CitizenLink (formerly Focus on the Family Action) and Susan B. Anthony List even ran campaign ads that called the reform measure “the biggest expansion of abortion in decades” and charged supporters with backing President Obama instead of choosing “to protect life.” While the claim that the health care reform law provides funding for abortion has been readily discredited, an even more extreme and conspiratorial claim is emerging: that health care reform could require doctors to perform abortions.

According to the Columbia Free Times, Republicans in the South Carolina State House are planning to pass anti-choice legislation including one measure entitled “Obamacare Abortion Opt-Out.” The South Carolina House Republican Caucus announced that State Rep. Greg Delleney will be introducing the “Obamacare Abortion Opt-Out” to ensure that “S.C. Doctors will not be required to perform abortions if required to by Obamacare.” The legislation is one of many right-wing bills that the South Carolina GOP hopes to pass in the new session, including a “Repeal Amendment” and a “Taxpayer Bill Of Rights.”

Rep. Delleney is a staunchly anti-choice member of the State House and he also plans to introduce a bill that would allow health care workers to refuse patrons contraceptives. He previously introduced legislation that would require women to see ultrasound images before terminating their pregnancy and to endure a twenty-four hour waiting period before having an abortion. Rep. Delleney also gained attention when he excluded gay and lesbian students from dating violence curriculum in schools.

His “Obamacare Abortion Opt-Out” though represents one of the GOP’s most ludicrous and extreme attempts to malign the health care reform law yet.

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 1/5/2011 6:47 pm
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann to run for president?  Could be we that lucky?

  • Rick Santorum also making moves for possible presidential run.

  • Susan B. Anthony List mobilizing to repeal Health Care Reform.

  • Ummm ... "a former girlfriend of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has a deal for a 'sexually driven' memoir."

  • Focus on the Family says this will probably be its last year at CPAC.

  • And finally, I think this paragraph perfectly captures the tension at the heart of the conservative movement: "What annoys social conservatives and 'values voters' is the implication that such a truce would apply only to them and that fiscal conservatives and tea party activists don't face similar pressures to compromise."

Focus on the Family Wants House Republicans to Investigate the Justice Department over DOMA Cases

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 12/30/2010 1:27 pm

Tom Minnery, Vice President of Government and Public Policy at CitizenLink (formerly Focus on the Family Action), is insisting that House Republicans investigate the Justice Department over their handling of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, in order to fulfill the desires of the GOP’s Religious Right supporters.

Earlier this year, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders brought two separate cases to a federal judge in Boston contesting DOMA’s constitutionality. The Justice Department defended DOMA and argued that the law is constitutional, but the Judge ruled otherwise and found that the law was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause and the Tenth Amendment.

Infuriated by the judge’s ruling, Religious Right activists were so assured of DOMA’s constitutionality that they maintained that the Justice Department must have intentionally mishandled the cases and purposefully lost. Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council said that “in part, this decision results from the deliberately weak legal defense of DOMA that was mounted on behalf of the government by the Obama administration,” and Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and David Barton of WallBuilders recently discussed why they believe the Justice Department “threw the case.”

Today, Focus on the Family’s Tom Minnery called for social conservatives to be more demanding of congressional Republicans than they were when Republicans previously had control of Congress:

On Nov. 2, 2010, the Republicans again won control of the House, by an even larger margin than they did in 1994. It was once again a severe rebuke of the policies of the Democratic Party. We hope it won’t again cause a severe misreading of results by conservative Christians. What we learned in 1994 was that simply having power isn’t enough. What matters is what is done with that power.

Minnery goes on to say that the Religious Right should push the House Committee On Oversight and Government Reform, to be led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), to investigate the Justice Department’s management of the DOMA case to show that the GOP is serious about opposing marriage equality:

Will there be comprehensive hearings by House oversight committees on the unwillingness of the Justice Department to thoroughly defend, as the Constitution requires, legal challenges to federal laws? I have in mind the Defense of Marriage Act. The Justice Department has failed to provide an adequate defense against lawsuits seeking to tear away this law.

He also resuscitated the false claim that the government is using taxpayer funds to subsidize abortion, asking, “Will they try hard to undo health care reform, aiming specifically at its vast expansion of government-paid abortions?”

While Issa has already said that his committee may launch inquiries into everything from climate change science to consumer protection efforts to the Justice Department’s handling of the “New Black Panther Party” case, Minnery and other Religious Right activists will work to pressure Issa to include the DOMA cases among his growing lists of investigations.

 

Right Wing Pushes “Super Death Panel” Myth

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 12/30/2010 11:52 am

After The New York Times reported that the new health care reform law will cover “voluntary advance care planning” as a reimbursable Medicare service, the Obama Administration immediately feared pushback from right-wing opponents of reform. Anti-reform politicians and activists jumped on a widely-discredited and disputed article by former New York Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey, who predicted that the reform bill will lead to government control over end-of-life decisions.

Republicans pounced on the false claim, as Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) declared that the country “should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma” and House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) warned that the “provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia.” Most famously, Sarah Palin wrote on Facebook that her “baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide” if he is “worthy of health care.” The New York Times said that “Ms. McCaughey has been the hammer to Ms. Palin’s nail” as the two “have driven some of the most disturbing, and distorted, claims about the proposals.”

Not only is the service voluntary, but Medscape Medical News reports that since January 1, 2009, “Medicare has been paying for [end-of-life care plans] in a limited fashion — and with little if any protest,” and the American Academy Family of Physicians and American College of Physicians applauded the move as a way to “tailor care” for each patient.

Conservatives though are already decrying the decision as the return of the death panels. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel condemned what he called “a super death panel” that will put “pressure on the elderly to end their lives prematurely” by targeting senior citizens:

When you have the government mandating this end-of-life counseling, they're conscripting doctors to do end-of-life counseling on a massive scale. It will be the equivalent of a super death panel. Elderly patients will get confused and will end up signing documents without having a clue what they're signing, and they will sign away care they might really want.

Spokesmen from other Religious Right groups, including the American Life League, Concerned Women For America, and Operation Rescue, also denounced the purported "death panels":

"Nothing good can come of this," said Judie Brown, the president of American Life League. "This will affect everybody's parents and grandparents and preborn babies, and it will not affect anybody for the good."

Congress must step up to cancel the regulation, Brown added. "If not, a death certificate is written for an awful lot of elderly people."

"Those of us who voted in common-sense representatives to take control of the House will be expecting to see reversals of regulations like these that run roughshod over the will of the American people," said Dr. Janice Crouse, director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute at Concerned Women for America.

…

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman called the Obama approach "Darwinist," and predicted it would lead to rationing of health care.

"When you have a fixed amount of money that is allocated to health care, it's only logical that some bureaucrat will regulate it and decide who will get treatment," Newman told WND. "That treatment will be based on some humanist, egalitarian principle that these bureaucrats always seem to hold. Their principles are Darwinist, survival of the fittest.

"My grandmother is 94 years old," Newman continued. "Suppose she breaks her hip. Are they really going to authorize that expense over a 16-year-old who has urgent needs? It was Obama who said maybe Grandma should take a pill rather than get this expensive treatment."

…

"Having just returned from the funeral of a dear lady – widow of a Navy man, both buried at Arlington National Cemetery – I couldn't be more repulsed by the idea of government-controlled death panels that will make end-of-life decisions for the most vulnerable of our citizens," Crouse added.

Conservative columnist Cal Thomas uses Charles Dickens to blast the move, and claims that it redeems Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin deserves an apology. When she said that the new health-care law would lead to "death panels" deciding who gets life-saving treatment and who does not, she was roundly denounced and ridiculed.

…

Do you see where this leads? First the prohibition against abortion is removed and "doctors" now perform them. Then the assault on the infirm and elderly begins. Once the definition of human life changes, all human lives become potentially expendable if they don't measure up to constantly "evolving" government standards.

It will all be dressed up with the best possible motives behind it and sold to the public as the ultimate benefit. The killings, uh, terminations, will take place out of sight so as not to disturb the masses who might have a few embers of a past morality still burning in their souls. People will sign documents testifying to their desire to die, and the government will see it as a means of "reducing the surplus population," to quote Charles Dickens.

Penny Nance: "I Literally Chased Bart Stupak Down the Hall" to Stop Health Care Compromise

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 12/29/2010 12:54 pm

When describing her efforts to stop the health care reform law, Penny Nance of Concerned Women For America said she “literally chased Bart Stupak down the hall” in order to “defend babies.” Rep. Stupak (D-MI), was the leader behind the Stupak-Pitts Amendment which would have seriously undermined reproductive rights by “eliminating coverage of medically indicated abortions over time for all women, not only those whose coverage is derived through a health insurance exchange,” according to a George Washington University study. However, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment was removed from the final version of the bill after President Obama agreed to issue an executive order reaffirming “longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion.”

Stupak and other anti-choice Democrats voted in favor of the final version of the bill, and the nonpartisan fact-checking group PolitiFact confirms that the health care reform “law does not provide full federal funding of abortions--and that’s clear.” In fact, Nancy Keenan of NARAL Pro-Choice America expressed her disappointment regarding the “restatement of the Hyde amendment, a discriminatory law that blocks low-income women from receiving full reproductive-health care.”

But Nance repeats the patently false claim that health care reform would lead to taxpayer funding for abortion after describing how she “chased Bart Stupak” down:

 

Everyday we’re working very, very diligently to try to keep the terrible Obama health care plan from coming into law. Of course, you know we eventually lost that fight but it was a good fight. I literally chased Bart Stupak down the hall the day he caved, right before that vote. I had my high heels clicking on the marble, but it was important: we had to defend babies and so I would do it all over again.

When Stupak addressed the House about the health care reform bill, Republican Congressman Randy Neugebauer of Texas shouted “baby killer!”

2012 Candidates Weekly Update 12/21/10

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 12/21/2010 10:36 am

Haley Barbour

Civil Rights: In Weekly Standard profile, Barbour lauds racist, pro-segregation Council of Conservative Citizens, doesn’t remember Jim Crow era as “that bad” (TPM, The Hill; 12/20).

Mississippi: Tries to shape his legacy as governor (Clarion Ledger, 12/19).

CPAC: Set to address Conservative Political Action Committee conference in February (ACU, 12/16).

Mike Huckabee

Fox News: As a guest, Rep. Anthony Weiner asks Huckabee, “How Much Do You Make Over There At Fox?” (Mediaite, 12/18).

Health Care: Backs 9/11 First Responders care bill blocked by GOP (HuffPo, 12/17).

Religious Right: Signs letter defending SPLC-designated anti-gay hate groups (RWW, 12/15).

Sarah Palin

Obama: Palin continues to knock Michelle Obama in her Reality TV show (LA Times, 12/20).

Poll: New ABC-WaPo poll shows that a majority of Americans would refuse to back Palin for President (The Fix, 12/17).

Foreign Policy: Pens National Review column against START Treaty (NRO, 12/17).

Tim Pawlenty

Labor: Claims about public sector workers receives “pants on fire” rating by PolitiFact (PolitiFact, 12/16).

Health Care: Compares health care reform law to “drug dealing” (Minnesota Independent, 12/15).

Religious Right: Signs letter defending SPLC-designated anti-gay hate groups (RWW, 12/15).

Mike Pence

2012: Will decide in January whether to run for President or Governor of Indiana (Politico, 12/20).

Religious Right: Uses unemployment as a reason to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood; signs letter defending SPLC-designated anti-gay hate groups (RWW, 12/20; 12/15).

Mitt Romney

Health Care: Romney “trying to have it both ways” on health insurance mandate (Boston Globe, 12/19).

GOP: Conservatives debate whether Romney has firm ideas or just panders to base (The Atlantic, 12/17).

Rick Santorum

Iowa: Meets with far-right American Principles Project, touts his socially conservative views (Caffeinated Thoughts, 12/18).

Taxes: Opposes tax compromise, says Republicans didn’t “keep their pledge” (CNN, 12/16).

Religious Right: Signs letter defending SPLC-designated anti-gay hate groups (RWW, 12/15).

John Thune

Congress: Accuses Democrats of “flouting” midterm election by passing major bills during lame duck session (AP, 12/20).

New Hampshire: Says he is considering presidential run during interview on NH radio station (WMUR, 12/17).

Taxes: Criticizes Republican opponents of the tax compromise as “politically expedient” (HuffPo, 12/15).

Pence: Congress Should Defund Planned Parenthood Because of High Unemployment

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 12/20/2010 6:09 pm

Empowered by Republican gains and the recent selection of Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) to Chair the Subcommittee on Health, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence is again speaking about ending what he calls “taxpayer funding of abortion.” Pence is the sponsor of the “Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act,” which would cut-off federal finances to health services groups such as Planned Parenthood. However, the title of Pence’s bill is deceiving, as under current law “Title X funds may not be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” As a result, there is no taxpayer funding of abortion either under Title X or the new health care reform law, another baseless charge frequently used by the right wing activists.

Under Pence’s bill, the government will stop giving taxpayer dollars to organizations which perform abortions or contribute to groups which perform abortions, even though abortion coverage is already banned from using federal dollars. As The Nation points out, Planned Parenthood is one of the largest and most well-known groups working in the extensive field of reproductive and sexual healthcare, and would incur most of the damage from this bill: “The aim is to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest network of clinics for family planning and women’s health, and in many regions the only provider within reach.”

Now Pence, the winner of the Values Voter Summit 2010 presidential straw poll, believes that cutting funds to reproductive healthcare organizations is not just necessary to constrain a woman’s access to healthcare but also to address unemployment. Pence told the anti-choice news service LifeNews:

With a nearly 10 percent unemployment rate, there is simply no reason during these tough economic times why taxpayers’ hard-earned money should fund the activities of abortion providers and equip them with the resources they need to end innocent human life.

The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood by passing the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which I intend to introduce again in the next Congress.”

Michele Bachmann has also embraced Pence’s bill, and the bill’s 103 co-sponsors include Speaker-designate John Boehner, incoming Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Pitts, who plans to push anti-choice legislation through his Subcommittee on Health. Pence isn’t the first leader on the Right who suggested that anti-choice bills address economic problems like unemployment, as Jim Garlow, the Chairman of Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership, recently claimed that abortion is responsible for high unemployment:

Right Hails Health Care Ruling As Victory For the Constitution

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 12/13/2010 4:21 pm

When a federal judge declared the military's ban on openly gay soldiers to be unconstiutional, the Family Research Council blasted it as unconscionable judicial activism: 

This is the very definition of judicial activism -- when you are unable to achieve your desired policy goals through the democratic process, simply go to court and get a judge to decree that it must be so.

Today, a right-wing Bush-appointed judge declared that a key portion of the health care reform legislation was unconstitutional, and FRC hails him as a hero: 

"We applaud Judge Hudson for striking down the individual mandate recognizing that no part of the Constitution empowers the federal government to command American citizens to spend their own personal money to purchase health insurance.

...

"We call on the incoming Congress to quickly move to repeal this unconstitutional law in its entirely not merely to tinker with various provisions. Such tinkering would likely doom the legal challenges that are the best hope for dooming this fundamentally flawed law that is a high taxing, poorly thought out, and taxpayer funding of abortion monstrosity."

Amazing, isn't it, how when a judge rules in a way the Religious Right dislikes, it is unadulterated judicial activism but when a judge rules in their favor, it is a heroic stand for the Constitution?

Liberty Counsel:

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, said: “I applaud the ruling by Judge Hudson. There is absolutely no authority in the Constitution that would allow the federal government to force every person to purchase a particular kind of health insurance. Today marks the beginning of the end of this federal power grab. I am confident when the Supreme Court hears the cases of Liberty University and the Virginia Attorney General that the final nail will be driven into this monster’s heart.”

Concerned Women for America:

"It is good to see that we still have judges who take seriously the oath they took to operate within the powers granted to them by the Constitution. The court recognized that the federal government has no power to force Americans to buy a private good and penalize them if they do not. It is nonsensical for the federal government to argue that not engaging in an economic activity is, in fact, an 'economic activity' in the law.

"The individual mandate is just one part of the many troubling issues with ObamaCare. This ruling represents the first step in protecting families from an overreaching federal government that is out of control.

American Center for Law and Justice:

"We're very pleased the federal court reached a sound decision and concluded that the individual insurance mandate is an unconstitutional violation of the Commerce Clause," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "This decision guts ObamaCare and represents a decisive and significant victory for America against the largest power-grab by the federal government in U.S. history. The court correctly concluded that forcing someone to buy health insurance is not economic activity and that Congress does not have that authority under the Commerce Clause. We're already working on an amicus brief on behalf of members of Congress in support of the Commonwealth of Virginia as this case proceeds through the appeals process."

Traditional Values Coalition:

TVC warned last year that ObamaCare was unconstitutional and was a violation of our right to determine our own health care needs. We also warned that it was going to destroy private health insurance in this country and was designed to force all Americans into a government-run system. This socialist system would include death panels, taxpayer funded abortions, and the creation of dozens upon dozens of bureaucracies that would control our future health needs.

We have pushed for the repeal of ObamaCare since it was enacted – and have repeatedly detailed the numerous flaws in it. In fact, President Obama has admitted that what he really wants a "single payer" system – code for a government-run system. ObamaCare is carefully designed to destroy private health insurance in America.

...

Hudson has correctly determined that Congress has no constitutional authority to force Americans to purchase health insurance or face a financial penalty.

I hope this is the beginning of the end for ObamaCare. It was a bill that no one had read in its entirety and it was rammed through on Christmas Eve last year. It should be gutted and repealed.

Richard Viguerie:

"Congratulations to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for his hugely important first-round victory over Obamacare today in federal district court.

"Mr. Cuccinelli has been a true leader in the cause of freedom and constitutionally limited government. His win is also a victory for the entire Tea Party movement and constitutional conservatives everywhere.

"Now more than ever, Tea Partiers and constitutional conservatives must rally behind and support Ken Cuccinelli as he takes his case--and the Gadsden flag ('Don't tread on me') that decorates his office--through the appeals process.

Judge Hudson’s Right Wing Ties

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 12/13/2010 4:16 pm

Today a federal judge in Virginia, responding to a suit filed by the state’s far-right Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, ruled that a key part of health care reform was unconstitutional. The judge, Henry E. Hudson, said that the Constitution’s “interstate commerce clause” does not provide the federal government the right to implement a mandate to make sure that everyone has health insurance coverage. A different federal judge in Virginia dismissed a similar suit brought by Liberty University against the reform law only two weeks ago.

Judge Hudson was first appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986 to be US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and in 2002, George W. Bush appointed him to serve as district court judge for Virginia’s Eastern District.

According to disclosure forms, Judge Hudson reported collecting “dividends” totaling anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 from Campaign Solutions over a five year period of 2003 to 2008. Campaign Solutions later acknowledged that Hudson has owned stock in the firm since it was founded.

Campaign Solutions has a long record of working with conservative organizations and Republican candidates, including none other than Ken Cuccinelli. As the Alliance for Justice points out, “Campaign Solutions, has done work for a host of prominent Republican clients and health care reform critics, including the RNC and NRCC (both of which have called, to varying degrees, for health care reform’s repeal).”

Along with Cuccinnelli, who was elected Attorney General in 2009, Campaign Solutions worked for John McCain and Bush’s presidential campaigns, the notorious Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and the Judicial Confirmation Network (since renamed the Judicial Crisis Network). In fact, Campaign Solutions was behind the establishment of the JCN, which was founded to support George W. Bush’s conservative judicial nominees and coordinate activities right-wing organizations, especially with Religious Right groups, although the JCN has since changed its name and works to oppose the confirmation of Obama’s nominees.

In 2008, The New Republic found that the JCN “publicly consists of two employees, a post box, and a website” and was “originally created in November 2004 by Becki Donatelli, a Republican PR doyenne who chairs Campaign Solutions (the firm used by Bush-Cheney ‘04, McCain 2008, the RNC, the NRCC, and even the 527 Vets For Freedom).”

As reported earlier today, according to legal expert Tim Jost, who has been following the many health care reform decisions being issues, “This decision is very defective and will be reversed by the appellate court or the Supreme Court."

Anti-Choice Crowd Celebrates as GOP Picks Joe Pitts, Presses for New Restrictions on Abortion

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 12/8/2010 11:47 am

When Michigan Republican Fred Upton was tarred as a “moderate” during his campaign to lead the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, leading anti-choice groups including the National Right to Life Committee and the Susan B. Anthony List suggested back in November that they could support Upton if he picks Joe Pitts to chair the Health Subcommittee. Pitts, the co-author of the restrictive Stupak-Pitts amendment during the health care reform debate, is one of the most fervently anti-choice members of Congress. Now, Upton won his campaign to lead the committee and selected Pitts to chair the Health Subcommittee which not only deals with health care legislation but also sets policy with regards to abortion rights and reproductive health.

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser called Pitts’s appointment “a major pro-life victory,” and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council told LifeNews that Pitts is committed to passing anti-choice legislation to stop the purported taxpayer funding of abortion.

While the nonpartisan PolitiFact already determined that rightwing claims of taxpayer funding for abortion are false and simply untrue, the facts didn’t stop groups like SBA List, CitizenLink (formerly Focus on the Family Action), and the Family Research Council from spreading the badly misleading claim.

The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” better known as “Stupak on steroids” would impel private insurers to drop abortion coverage by taking away the insurance plans’ tax deductions, make the Hyde Amendment permanent, and prevent “any government department from funding any program that touches on abortion in any way, however notional.” There is already a drive by Mike Pence and Michele Bachmann to pass the "Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act," which would de-fund reproductive healthcare organizations which provide abortions, like Planned Parenthood, even though such financing does not go to abortion coverage.

During an interview with CNSNews, Bachmann was asked “What should Republicans do to advance protections for the lives of those unborn babies who are being slaughtered in this country?” Bachmann repeats the two baseless and fallacious claims that women in Pennsylvania received taxpayer funding for abortions and that “for the first time in American history under Obamacare, socialized medicine, under President Obama, we have federal funding of abortion.” She also calls for the reinstatement of the global gag rule, which cuts off US funding to international family planning services.

Watch:

Boykin: Islam "Should Not Be Protected Under the First Amendment"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 12/6/2010 5:58 pm

A few weeks back we posted a video that Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin had recorded for Rick Joyner's Oak Initiative in which he explained how President Obama was going to use the health care reform law to create his own army of Brownshirt soldiers loyal only to him.

It turns out that Boykin has recorded several videos on varying topics for Joyner's group, including this one in which he explains that Islam "should not be protected under the First Amendment":

We need to realize that Islam itself is not just a religion - it is a totalitarian way of life. It's a legal system, sharia law; it's a financial system; it's a moral code; it's a political system; it's a military system. It should not be protected under the First Amendment, particularly given that those following the dictates of the Quran are under an obligation to destroy our Constitution and replace it with sharia law.

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 12/2/2010 6:45 pm
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann says there will be an "insurrection" if House Republican leader don't hold a straight up-or-down vote on repealing health care reform.

  • I guess Dick Cheney won't be traveling to Nigeria any time soon.

  • Grover Norquist and Christopher Barron say Sarah Palin "has earned the right to run [for President] if she chooses." I have no idea what they are talking about.

  • Apparently Matt Barber is an authority on who is and who is not a Catholic, despite the fact that he is not actually a Catholic.

  • I guess this is supposed to be funny.

  • Quote of the day from FRC's latest prayer target asking God to stop the repeal of DADT: "May God's people prevail with Him in prayer to deal with this crisis in National Security and Morality. May God-fearing Senators stand to defeat this evil initiative and protect our troops!"

  • Finally, it looks like Al Mohler's daughter is going to work for Sen. Mitch McConnell:

Liberty Counsel Declares Victory After Judge Tosses LU Lawsuit Challenging Health Care Reform

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 12/1/2010 3:40 pm

For months now, Mat Staver and Liberty Counsel have been bragging about how they are leading the legal fight against the new health care reform law on behalf of Liberty University because the organization filed suit "on the same day the bill was signed into law and was the first private party lawsuit in the nation challenging the 2,409-page healthcare bill."

Today, a US District Court judge dismissed the suit and spent fifty pages [PDF] explicitly rejecting just about every claim put forth by Liberty Counsel ... and amazingly Staver is portraying this is some sort of victory:

Liberty University’s challenge to the healthcare law will now be heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals following today’s ruling by District Court Judge Norman Moon. Judge Moon found that Liberty University and two individual plaintiffs had standing to assert their constitutional claims against the individual and employer mandates in the healthcare law and that their claims were ripe for consideration. Judge Moon also held that the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits taxpayers from trying to enjoin the collection of taxes, does not bar the claims. He then ruled on the merits of the substantive claims, finding that Congress acted within its authority under the Commerce Clause when it enacted the mandates in the healthcare law.

...

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law said: “I am confident that the federal healthcare law will eventually be struck down on appeal because it is unconstitutional. Congress does not have the authority to force every American to purchase a particular kind of health insurance product. I am pleased the federal court found that Liberty University and the private plaintiffs have standing to pursue this claim. The court’s ruling on the merits of the Commerce Clause, while wrong now, puts the case on a fast track to the federal court of appeals. This ruling will expedite a final resolution of the case.”

Land Calls for Constitutional Amendent Instituting Retention Elections For SCOTUS, Federal Judges

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 11/30/2010 1:24 pm

In day two of James Dobson's discussion with Richard Land on the state of America today that I mentioned earlier, Land let loose on the dangers of health care reform, guaranteeing that it'll fill the lives of everyone with pain and misery:

Land: I'm absolutely confident in saying this: ninety-nine percent of the people who are hearing me right now over the radio, if Obamacare is not rescinded, you will live a shorter life and it'll be more filled with pain and suffering before you die because they're not going to give you hip transplants, they're not going to give you knee transplants, and they're not going to give you other treatments as you go into old age.

Eventually, the topic turned to the vote in Iowa which removed three state Supreme Court justices, prompting Land to announce his desire to see constitutional amendment passed that would institute this process nationwide:

Land: In Iowa they have what seems to me to be a very sensible law and I'm ready to start a discussion that we ought to have it at the federal level.

I'm ready to put an amendment to the Constitution that says that every six years, on a rotating basis, we'll have three Supreme Court justices and they will be on the ballot nationwide, and you get to vote - I want to keep Justice Scalia or I don't want to keep Justice Scalia.

And the same thing with federal district court judges - in the district where they serve, you get to vote whether you're going to keep them or not.

Dobson: Well, to do that you'd have to have a constitutional amendment ...

Land: Yes sir , I'm ready to start ...

Dobson: I'll go with you ...

Land: Judges aren't all that popular. 

2012 Candidates Weekly Update 11/23/10

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 11/23/2010 10:30 am

Newt Gingrich

Government: Claims that Attorney General Eric Holder “endangered national security” and should resign (NewsMax, 11/21).

Media: Says he will refuse to attend a debate hosted by “hostile” and “left-wing” Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann (Mediaite, 11/21).

Mike Huckabee

2012: Warns that GOP takeover of the House will help Obama in 2012 (The Note, 11/22).

Religious Right: Iowa Independent looks at Huckabee’s ties to Vander Plaats, IFPC (Iowa Independent, 11/22).

Iowa: Congratulates voters for ousting judges who backed same-sex marriage rights (AP, 11/21).

Sarah Palin

Obama: In new book says that the President betrays “a stark lack of faith in the American people” (USA Today, 11/23).

Media: Tells Sean Hannity she will only speak to non-biased reporters and shun Katie Couric (CBS News, 11/22).

2012: Conservatives4Palin lists the five top reasons she is qualified to be President, includes PTA volunteering and “Pro-Life Advocacy” (C4P, 11/19).

Tim Pawlenty

Government: Calls on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign (Iowa Independent, 11/22).

Health Care: Writes Op-Ed on how states can stop health care reform (San Diego Union Tribune, 11/18).

Mitt Romney

Poll: New poll has Romney as most competitive Republican, in statistical dead heat with Obama (Quinnipiac, 11/22).

Fundraising: NYT explores Romney’s web of state leadership PACS (NYT, 11/20).

Rick Santorum

2012: Set to address Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting in February (Sunshine State News, 11/22).

New Hampshire: Plans on seventh appearance in the Granite State later this month (CNN, 11/17).

Tea Party: After claiming to be only Tea Party presidential hopeful, says that Angle, Miller, and O’Donnell don’t represent movement either (GOP 12, 11/16).

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health care reform Posts Archive

Right Wing Leftovers
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Friday 09/30/2011, 5:37pm
Disappointingly, Mike Huckabee is not considering entering the Republican presidential race. Glenn Beck is now targeting kids with a new children's show on his GBTV network. Bryan Fischer's latest conspiracy theory is about how President Obama wants the Supreme Court to strike down health care reform so that he can use it to win re-election. Shocklingly, FRC is not happy that military chaplains can now conduct same-sex marriage. On a related note, Elaine Donnelly says it is ridiculous for the military to recruit at gay venues. Finally, Liberty University... MORE
Perry, Prayer, Politics and the Presidency
SUBMITTED BY: Peter Montgomery, Tuesday 08/09/2011, 12:13pm
Casual viewers of “The Response,” including some political reporters who don’t pay a lot of attention to the Religious Right, may have watched Texas Governor Rick Perry’s prayer rally on Saturday and wondered what all the fuss was about.  Most of the time was taken up with prayer and praise music.  Few of the speakers seemed overtly political.  Nobody used the occasion to endorse Perry’s pending presidential bid. But context is everything, and the context for this event was remarkable: a governor launching a presidential bid by teaming up with... MORE
Is Wendy Wright Out At Concerned Women For America?
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Tuesday 08/02/2011, 11:11am
Wendy Wright may be out of a job at Concerned Women for America. Once President and CEO of the powerful Religious Right organization, she appears to have been eclipsed by the new CEO Penny Young Nance. Now, Wright has been completely removed from CWA’s leadership page and her bio was taken down (you can still see her cached page). In fact, she is listed as “Past President, Concerned Women for America” on this new social conservative petition opposing government social services programs.   An outspoken opponent of evolution science, reproductive freedom and LGBT rights... MORE
Religious Right Activists Warn GOP Not To Nominate Mitt Romney
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Wednesday 07/13/2011, 1:39pm
Right-wing activist and former California legislator Steve Baldwin has organized an open letter to “Conservative, Catholic and Evangelical Leaders” asking them to refuse support for Mitt Romney’s campaign for president. Already a number of activists including failed US Senate candidate and Tea Party hero Joe Miller; Rick Scarborough of Vision America; Brian Camenker of MassResistance; Linda Harvey of Mission America; Michael Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Association; Ted Beahr of WND and Movieguide; Gary Glenn of American Family Association-Michigan, Kelly... MORE
Rick Perry Partner John Benefiel Claims Homosexuality Is An Illuminati Conspiracy
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Tuesday 07/12/2011, 1:34pm
Earlier today we posted video of “Apostle” John Benefiel, an official endorser of Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally, arguing that the Statue of Liberty is a “demonic idol” used for pagan worship. In the same sermon, Benefiel claims that homosexuality is a plot by the Illuminati to “control the population.” He says that the Illuminati intend to reduce the world population to just 500 million people and that, along with the recently passed health care reform law, the secretive group will use homosexuality as a “perverted way” to bring... MORE
Remembrance of Bachmann Things Past: Praying To Stop Healthcare Reform
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Wednesday 07/06/2011, 11:27am
Given that Rep. Michele Bachmann is now running for president and among the Republican frontrunners, I was going through our Bachmann archives collecting past posts chronicling the absolute fringe Religious Right leaders with whom Bachmann has eagerly associated herself since getting elected to Congress. In doing so, I noticed that we had lost our video of Bachmann and Lou Engle at the Family Research Council's 2009 "Prayercast" which was organized in order to seek God's intervention in preventing the passage of health care reform. And so I thought it might be a good idea to get... MORE
At Ralph Reed Confab, Obama Portrayed as Enemy of Faith and Freedom
SUBMITTED BY: Peter Montgomery, Monday 06/06/2011, 8:59pm
Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition gathering in Washington, D.C. this past weekend was essentially a relentless repetition of the GOP’s 2012 attack themes on the Obama administration, mixed with Religious Right leaders’ demands that the Tea Party not abandon social conservatives’ priorities and conservative politicos’ appeals for unity behind whichever candidate emerges from the presidential crowd.  Just about everyone running, or thinking about running, for the presidency on the Republican side was in attendance with the exception of Newt Gingrich.... MORE