Op-ed: 
Screwed By the Senate Yet Again
By: Diane Sori

“It allows Republicans to show they are committed to ending Obama’s amnesty once and for all in the next Congress. If we agree it is indeed unconstitutional, we have no business funding it when the GOP controls Congress.”
- Senator Ted Cruz (TX.) before the vote on the 'CRomnibus' spending bill

Ted Cruz (along with Mike Lee) tried...he really did...but the Senate rejected his Constitutional proxy 'Point of Order' on Obama's immigration executive action when he directly targeted the funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Rightfully using the spending bill as leverage to try and stop the implementation of Obama's executive ordered immigration reform, Cruz tried to defy RINO party leaders and their hanger-ons who cut deals with Obama and Reid to try and assure smooth passage of the $1.1 trillion spending bill. So in an attempt to force a Senate vote on said action as a condition for approving this disastrous bill, Cruz presented the argument that the bill violated the Constitution (and it surely does) because it would fund Obama’s plan as it rewrites current on-the-books immigration laws without any say whatsoever from Congress. And Cruz made sure he presented this to the Senate chamber in such a way that it was in keeping with long-standing Senate practices.

"If you believe President Obama's amnesty is unconstitutional, vote yes...if you believe Obama's amnesty is consistent with the Constitution, then vote no." Cruz had said in his trying to get his fellow Republicans to understand the severity of what they were voting on.

And yet the Senate rejected Cruz's arguments for NO other reason than the Senate is still controlled by the Democrats and a large number of turncoat RINOS until...and it can't come soon enough...January 6th when the 114th Congress is sworn in at noon.

Had the Senate sided with Cruz, this "mess of a bill" as he called it, would have been sent back to the House to have an amendment added to it that would have stopped the funding for Obama's unilateral immigration reform. But by a vote 22-74 against Cruz...and with less than half of the Senate’s 45 Republicans voting with him*...this still Harry Reid led Senate proved once again to be deaf to the wishes of 'We the People'...wishes that we shouted loud and clear back on November 4th.

And for those Republicans that voted against him...those like Sen. Bob Corker from Tennessee who had the audacity to call what Cruz did “irresponsible”...RINO extraordinaire Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina who blamed Cruz's actions for causing the garnering of less votes than it would have gotten without him butting in... and Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah who said Cruz's antics irritated a lot of people... it will be remembered by true Conservatives next time they are up for re-election. And just know that payback will once again...as it was just some six or so weeks ago...be a b*tch.

And with that, the 1,603-page $1.1 trillion spending bill...reminiscent in length of the nightmare ObamaCare bill isn't it...and the last major piece of legislation for this year...was passed by the Senate late Saturday night thus avoiding another possible government shutdown. But I say they should have shut the whole damn Obama government down, especially since essential services by law would continue to be funded. And as an added bonus by shutting the government down Obama could go play golf and thus do NO more harm to this country while he was doing so.

In a vote of 56 to 40** the so-called 'CRomnibus' bill (the combined continuing resolution and omnibus funding bill) will now provide funding for NOT only the dreaded ObamaCare, but for most government departments and agencies through fiscal year September 2015, that is except for the Department of Homeland Security which will only be funded through the end of February. And the Republicans say they intend to use the time between now and then to try and find ways to defund and halt Obama's easing of deportation rules...ain't going to hold my breath for that one...but with the new Republican controlled Congress being seated come January there is a possibility...albeit a remote one...that they can pull it off...that is if the party unites and stops all the in-fighting.

But this very in-fighting between the RINOS versus the Conservatives and TEA Party Republicans...in-fighting NOT of Cruz's doing in my opinion...has now afforded 'Prince' Harry Reid the opportunity to move ahead next week...before this lame-duck Congress goes on Christmas break...with the 24 Obama nominees who most likely would NOT have been approved come the new Congress...nominees like 13 district court judges, 11 nominees to administration posts including customs enforcement officials and Carolyn Colvin to head the Social Security Administration along with the ubber liberal Vivek Murphy for Surgeon General.

Just a bit more of anything but happiness thanks to the RINOS who would NOT support Cruz.

But what was even more surprising about this final vote is that six Democrats actually sided with the Republicans against passage but NOT because they saw Obama's actions as wrong but because of two provisions in specific that they did NOT like...one a provision that weakens the Dodd-Frank Act's restrictions on banks that allows the banks to back their bets with taxpayer-backed insurance, and the other a provision that allows for an increase in the amounts that wealthy donors can give to major political parties. In fact, some Democrats claimed that these two provisions would have allowed already wealthy Wall Street employees to earn even more money, which they believe Republicans in turn would use to 'reward,' if you will, those who backed the spending deal.

Accusing the Republicans of kick-backs now aren't they.

But NO matter who voted which way, the bottom line is that 'We the People' are screwed and stuck with a monstrosity of a spending bill. And while the bill as passed does block funding of the 'risk corridors' (insurer's cost projections that in reality could cause individual plans to end up costing more than the insurers projections) that under ObamaCare could lead to a government bailout of the insurance companies at a huge cost to the American taxpayer, and does cut a bit more funding to the EPA to a tune of $60 million as well as prohibiting the IRA from targeting conservative organizations because of the way they chose to exercise their First Amendment rights, this 'CRomnibus' bill very unwisely caps spending for all-important national defense at $521 billion...very dangerous in this ever-expanding violent day and age of the islamic terrorist.

So as this sitting Congress soon retires for the holidays and as a new Congress gets ready to be seated, at least we start 2015 knowing we NO longer will have to deal with 'Prince' Harry Reid blocking every bill that originates with Republicans. But sadly, we also know that at least for now, work visas are still on the horizon for at least five million Obama-made legal ILLEGALS and all because the RINOS amongst us did NOT get that Ted Cruz was right...once again.
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* Republicans voting with Cruz were Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Rob Portman (Ohio), James Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Jon Thune (S.D.) and David Vitter (La.).

** Democrats who voted against the 'CRomnibus' spending bill: Sherrod Brown (OH.), Al Franken (MN.), Joe Manchin (WV.), Claire McCaskill (MO.), Bernie Sanders (VT.), Elizabeth Warren (MA.). Republicans who voted against the 'CRomnibus' spending bill: Mike Crapo (Idaho), Ted Cruz (TX.), Dean Heller (NV.), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Rand Paul (KY.), Rob Portman (OH.), James Risch (WI.), Marco Rubio (FL.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Richard Shelby (Ala.), David Vitter (LA.).

Op-ed:
ObamaCare…and lies are spewed yet again
By: Diane Sori
 
Obama knew…Kathleen Sebelius knew…they all knew as far back as last March that the ObamaCare website…Healthcare.gov…had problems…major problems…yet they kept moving forward and promoting a site that simply did NOT work while telling ‘We the People’ that all was well and on schedule.

Incompetence…subterfuge…LIES…Barack HUSSEIN
Obama runs the gamut of all three as a law the majority of the American people do NOT want, (57+% do NOT want ObamaCare in any form and 71% at least want it delayed) need, or can afford, is being shoved down our throats…shoved down our throats as we’re told we must go shopping for health insurance on a site that is broken beyond repair...or else we'll be hit with a penalty even though we have NOTHING to do with the site's problems.

And so the broken record spins on and on and on...ad nauseum

“I was NOT informed directly that the website does NOT work,” so said Barack HUSSEIN Obama during his anything but an 'apology tour' while he made the media rounds. Now read those words again and pay close attention to the context of the way the word ‘directly’ is used. Directly…Obama said he was NOT told ‘directly’ but he was indeed told for ‘directly’ only means that Sebelius herself did NOT tell him…it does NOT mean that someone else involved with the site did NOT tell him.

But the truth is that according to documents released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Obama and those in his administration were indeed told last March that there were potential risks with the implementation of the Healthcare.gov site and this in turn forced Obama mouthpiece Jay Carney to allude to the fact that Obama might indeed have been briefed back in March.

So now it’s time for Obama and his minion to devise yet another LIE to cover for the LIE that he did NOT know the site was such a mess…which in turn was devised to cover for his LIE about the cancellation notices…which covers for his BIG LIE about the fact that ObamaCare was actually designed to fail so he could get what he’s wanted all along…a single-payer system of health care…a single-payer system so he could further tighten the grip on ‘We the People.’

But thankfully, Obama’s web of LIES is starting to unravel. In fact, McKinsey & Co…the independent consulting firm that waded through 200+ documents and interviewed HHS staff to identify problems that might rise before the official October 1st rollout…told in a report of giving administration and HHS officials briefings last March in relation to issues that could affect ObamaCare’s debut…issues including insufficient testing, evolving requirements, and that ObamaCare relied too heavily on outside contractors.

But in spite of all the problems with the website’s official rollout…paramount of which is that the website simply does NOT work…problems that the site is ‘hacker-friendly’ causing people to be subjected to identity theft and fraud…problems with proposed monthly rates so high that it scares most who peruse the site to run away…the first enrollment deadline of December 15th for those who want insurance coverage beginning January 1, 2014, is fast approaching and Obama still will NOT agree to a delay.

So when December 15th does arrive with enrollment numbers NOT met what happens then…I’ll tell you what…Obama has another happy little surprise in store to screw ‘We the People’ yet again.

And that happy little surprise is that to assure that his namesake law works, Obama had a clause buried within its 2000+ pages of nonsense that says the government can bailout insurance companies who do NOT make enough money because of all law’s mandatory coverage requirements. In a provision called ‘risk corridors’ that’s used to mitigate an insurer’s pricing risk...basically protecting insurance companies from unexpected monetary changes in the marketplace…a safety net for insurers during the first three years of ObamaCare’s implementation designed to protect the marketplace if more expensive patients (meaning older sicker Americans) sign up than the so-wanted younger healthier sign-ups. This means if costs end up being higher, the government pays part of the difference and if costs are lower the insurance company pays the government…translating to its ‘We the People’s’ taxpayer dollars that will be forced to bail out the insurance companies.

So while Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) yesterday introduced a bill to remove this clause, Obama and crew continue to squawk that the risk corridors provision is important for avoiding the so-called ‘death-spiral’ of high costs and low participation that could jeopardize…if NOT outright kill the law. A lack of risk protection could cause insurers NOT to participate in the exchanges, or raise their premium rates even higher than they’ve already been raised…meaning more people will simply choose to pay the penalty than to buy insurance they simply cannot afford to buy let alone to maintain.

And the nightmare that is ObamaCare continues to wreak havoc on our economy…our business communities…and on each and every American NOT only cancelled from carriers and policies they were happy with but on ALL taxpaying Americans who are now being forced to pay and carry the burden for the mere 5% of Americans who currently are uninsured…Americans who can walk into any emergency room in this country and NOT get turned away.

And while the ObamaCare nightmare continues on there is a way to wake up from it…REPEAL the whole damn thing and be done with it...and then vote out each and every Democrat who voted this monstrosity in BEFORE they even bothered to read it...period.