Crossing a Line in the Health Care Debate?

Richard Grenell: Is the White House Sending Healthcare Propaganda to Federal Employees?

The White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle has been feverishly sending out unsolicited email messages to federal employees in an effort to build support for President Barack Obama’s health reform package over the last several weeks.

DeParle’s unsolicited emails have been regularly coming to some federal employees’ official government email inboxes for weeks without permission or request, causing some federal employees to feel threatened by the overt political language.

The Department of State employees, who receive hundreds of official government emails every day, have complained about the annoying and partisan emails but are nervous to go public for fear of retribution. The emails are addressed to the federal employees by name and use the official .gov address.

The unsolicited emails also request that the federal employees take action in order to ensure that Obama’s health reform package is passed and the federal budget isn’t at risk for bankruptcy. One federal employee was so concerned about DeParle’s language in one email that he questioned whether his department’s budget would be cut or eliminated without passage of Obama’s bill. DeParle uses scare tactics that some assume are meant as threats:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/19/opinion/main6313300.shtml

Via Big Government:

Freedom Alliance Responds to Allegations Against Sean Hannity

by Freedom Alliance

Dear Friends of Freedom Alliance:

This week, false and malicious allegations about Freedom Alliance were posted on the Internet and we want to address them with you. We don’t know the motivation for these vicious smears, but we will not allow them to go unanswered.

First, we want to thank you for your support and assure you that Freedom Alliance’s record of financial stewardship and programmatic achievements not only meets, but exceeds standards of program efficiency set by most charity evaluators. We are extraordinarily proud of our work at Freedom Alliance and stand by our efforts 100 percent.

False Accusations

1. The blog posting accuses our friend Sean Hannity of personally benefiting from Freedom Alliance. This is FALSE. Freedom Alliance has never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean. Sean gets nothing from Freedom Alliance except our gratitude for his personal generosity and for all he has done to help the troops and our organization. We have never had to ask Sean for anything, he always generously offers his help before we have a chance to ask him. But to be clear Sean pays for all his own transportation, hotels, and all related expenses for himself and his family and friends and staff, which over the years has added up to tens of thousands of dollars. He does not use any Freedom Alliance Funds or Concert funds in any way, period.

2. Sean Hannity has contributed $100,000 to the Wounded Warriors Foundation, over $200,000 to the Freedom Alliance, and over tens of thousands of dollars to other military charities and individuals. We only make this information public because of the outrageous slander against him. Sean has no management or operational involvement in, or control over, Freedom Alliance. He has been a selfless patriot in his efforts to raise funds for the education of children of armed services personnel.

3. The blog posting accuses Freedom Alliance of spending less than 20% of money raised on program activities. This is FALSE. Listed below are the amounts that Freedom Alliance spent for each of the past three years and the categories on which they were spent. The figures are taken from our Federal Form 990 which is filed with the Internal Revenue Service and posted on our web site and audited by an independent auditor using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This financial record not only meets, but exceeds standards of program efficiency set by most charity evaluators.

4. In 2008, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $6,745,717. Of that:

http://biggovernment.com/falliance/2010/03/19/freedom-alliance-responds-to-allegations-against-sean-hannity/

Reid to release letter -- without signatories

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will release the contents – but not the signatories – of a letter Saturday aimed at reassuring House members that the Senate will act on the reconciliation bill. 

The letter has caused some hand-wringing among Democratic senators in recent days, not so much because they don’t support the bill – although skeptical House members would disagree – but senators are notoriously reluctant to publicly commit to something before they absolutely must. Senators like to preserve their leverage.

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0310/Reid_to_release_letter__without_signatories.html

Cable Network Rankings: FNC #2, MSNBC #26, CNN #32, HLN #37 in Prime

In total Viewers, Fox News was the #2 ranked cable network last week in primetime, averaging 233,000 viewers behind USA. MSNBC was #26, CNN was #32, and HLN was #37. In total day, FNC was #4, CNN was #29, MSNBC was #33, and HLN was #35. You can see the full rankings for the top 30 below.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/cable_network_rankings_fnc_2_msnbc_26_cnn_32_hln_37_in_prime_155302.asp

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional budget scorekeepers say a Medicare fix that Democrats included in earlier versions of their health care bill would push it into the red.

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that rolling back a programmed cut in Medicare fees to doctors would cost $208 billion over 10 years. If added back to the health care overhaul bill, it would wipe out all the deficit reduction, leaving the legislation $59 billion in the red.

The so-called doc fix was part of the original House bill. Because of its high cost, Democrats decided to pursue it separately. Republicans say the cost should not be ignored. Congress has usually waived the cuts to doctors year by year.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Medicare-fix-would-push-apf-2700343586.html?x=0&.v=2

Washington (CNN) - The divisive issue of abortion is once again causing eleventh hour problems for House Democrats as they plan to move forward on health care reform.

Anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak of Michigan is asking for a vote on his language restricting taxpayer funding for abortion, and a group of female abortion rights Democrats came out of an emergency meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office Friday evening visibly angry about the prospect.

Rep. Diana Degette, D-Colorado, told reporters a vote on Stupak's measure was a "non starter" and said "somewhere between 40 and 55" abortion rights Democrats would bolt from the bill.

"We are holding firm this time," she insisted. "If Mr. Stupak and a few members along with the Republicans decide to use this to take health care down, that loss of health care will be in their hands."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/19/abortion-standoff-as-health-care-vote-nears/?fbid=dGoh_HQI7gY

Part 1:





Part 2:

March 18, 2010 4:00 A.M.

This Corpse Has the Right to Remain Silent
Holder bobs and weaves on legal rights for bin Laden & Co.

There is dishonest, and there is asinine. Combine them and you have Attorney General Eric Holder’s congressional testimony on Tuesday.

As the Examiner’s Byron York recounts, Holder — assuring Congress that he was not “dodging” questions about Miranda warnings for enemy combatants — dodged madly. Cornered, he insisted to Rep. John Culberson (R., Texas) that there was no need to answer the question of whether Osama bin Laden would be Mirandized on capture because . . . he won’t be captured. Holder guaranteed that bin Laden would instead be killed: “We will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden,” Holder said. “He will never appear in an American courtroom.”

Now, it’s certainly possible that bin Laden could be killed, as Zarqawi was killed, by an aerial attack. But major al-Qaeda figures have often been captured: KSM, Hambali, Zubayda, et al. If a combatant is disarmed or surrenders, the laws of war require that the we accept that surrender, that we capture rather than kill. Is Holder — who cavalierly accused the Bush administration of war crimes — now suggesting that we refuse to give quarter when quarter is sought? Is he suggesting that we kill someone who has been rendered defenseless?

http://article.nationalreview.com/428315/this-corpse-has-the-right-to-remain-silent/andrew-c-mccarthy

Equipment Maker Says Health Care Bill Would Cost It $100 Million in First Year

FOXNews.com

In a letter Thursday to House leaders, Caterpillar said Democrats' health care reform legislation would drive up its health care costs by more than 20 percent

Caterpillar, the heavy-equipment maker that President Obama cited last year in making his argument for a massive economic stimulus package, is opposing the health care bill nearing final passage, saying the bill would ramp up the company's operating costs by $100 million alone in the first year and imperil coverage for its 150,000 employees and retirees.

In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner, and provided to FoxNews.com, the Peoria, Ill.-based company urged lawmakers to vote against the bill, citing provisions in it -- such as new coverage mandates and the taxation of Medicare subsidies for prescription drugs -- that would drive up its health care costs by more than 20 percent.

...

Last year, Obama said he was told by the world's largest maker of mining and construction machinery that it would hire back some of the more than 22,000 workers it planned to lay off if the president's stimulus bill passed.

But Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens later contradicted the president and said even if the stimulus passed, the company would probably have to lay off more workers before rehiring any of them.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/19/equipment-maker-says-health-care-cost-million-year/

Via HotAirPundit:

Oversight Republicans Begin Probe of Special Interest Deals on Healthcare Bill

Friday, 19 March 2010 10:49

WASHINGTON D.C. – Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, today announced the beginning of an investigation into reports of secret special deals the Obama Administration has made to advance the President’s government healthcare expansion plan.  Letters to six organizations – the American Medical Association, the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AARP, the American Hospital Association, and PhRMA – ask that they identify any action (or inaction), “expressly or implicitly agreed to by your organization or its agent during any meeting with White House or Congressional leadership regarding health care reform.”  Organizations that did not negotiate are asked to respond with a certification that it did not participate. “The true costs of health care deals struck behind closed doors are still unknown,” said Rep. Issa.  “The White House’s broken promise on transparency in the health care debate doesn’t change the public interest of knowing the details of what’s happened.  There has to be some accountability.”

http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=610%3Aoversight-republicans-begin-probe-of-special-interest-deals-on-healthcare-bill&catid=22&Itemid=29

Via Ed Morrissey: Murphy: I'll vote for health care plan

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY, Washington bureau Last updated: 6:44 p.m., Friday, March 19, 2010

WASHINGTON _ Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, today declared he would vote for the administration's $940 billion overhaul of the nation's health care system, saying it would shift the balance of power from insurance companies to patients and does a better job of reining in medical costs.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=913479

Via Big Government:

The Heat is On: Congressman’s Office Says Constituent Calls Are ‘Harassment’

by Capitol Confidential

Yesterday, I decided to call Rep. John Garamendi’s (CA-10) office in Washington, D.C. He’s my representative and I wanted to voice my opposition to the Senate Health Care Bill. I spoke with a female staffer and politely told her that, while I support health care reform, I oppose the Senate Bill because it wasn’t true “reform.” She said the Congressman thinks it’s a good bill and that he campaigned on health care reform. I told her I knew that. I also mentioned that I voted for him. When I tried to give her specific reasons why the Senate Bill would harm our system rather than reform it, she refused to listen. She said she was very busy and hung up on me. Being the persistent person that I am, I kept calling back. Each time I tried to finish my point, she hung up.

I called one more time. This time she said, “If you call one more time, we will notify Capital Police.” I asked why my conduct warranted involving federal law enforcement agents. She said I was “harassing” her. I tried to explain that trying to convince a representative to change his or her vote didn’t constitute “harassment.” Before I could fully explain, she hung up again.

I called back. This time, I asked to speak to her supervisor in order to report her repeated hanging up as well as the threat she made. I was placed on hold. Thinking I was holding for her supervisor, I was shocked when a Federal Agent with the Capital Police picked-up the telephone.

At first, the Agent was curt with me. He claimed I was harassing Mr. Garamendi’s staff by continually calling after being told to stop calling. I asked him when it became a federal crime to lobby a congressman. He said that it wasn’t but it was a crime to “harass” congressional members and staff pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 223. I told him I was an attorney (which I am) and that I would research the statute he had cited.

After researching 47 U.S.C. 223, I called Mr. Garamendi’s office again and asked to be transferred back to the Capital Police Agent. The Agent picked up the phone and I explained to him that the statute he cited was not controlling since it only prohibits people from calling with the specific intent to harass. I further explained that I was simply trying to voice my concerns with the intent of getting Mr. Garamendi to change his mind, not to harass his staff. The Agent eventually agreed with my position and said he would call Mr. Garamendi’s office and instruct his staff that I was within my rights to call my congressman and voice my concerns.

http://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2010/03/19/the-heat-is-on-congressmans-office-says-constituent-calls-are-harassment/

House Minority Leader John Boehner warned vulnerable Democrats that the healthcare debate won’t end after President Barack Obama signs the bill into law.

Pledging to do “everything [he] can to defeat the bill,” the top-ranking House Republican said on Friday that “the American people are going to hear about every payoff, every kickback and every sweetheart deal that comes at them.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/87889-boehner-warns-dems-the-healthcare-debate-wont-end