Maybe I've become a little too skeptical. Maybe I'm wrong. But this whole swine flu "scare" thing really, it's not grabbing me. It's just that, you know ... "sleight-of-hand" keeps popping into mind.
The Democrats sure had other things on their mind this past weekend, as they worked out the details on their proposed $3.5 trillion FY 2010 budget bill.
Oh, and by the way ... no Republicans were invited to participate.
As reported by Nancy Thorner at American Thinker:
Congressional leaders and the White House are spending the weekend hammering out final details of the proposed $3.5 trillion FY 2010 budget bill, with no Republican input, in a push toward final approval of the 2010 budget proposal by Wednesday. This would give President Obama something to crow about on Wednesday, when he plans to enumerate to the American people, during prime time, his accomplishments in 100 days in office.
Look! Over here! It's the Pandemic Pig Flu!
Oh, and uh ... watch out for low-flying airliners when you go out to buy those air masks!
How serious is this pig flu? I don't know. It could be very serious. I don't know much about the spread of disease and signs of pandemic. I pray this isn't a serious problem, but if it is, then I pray we all get through it well.
But still ... it sure seems (at least to me) that the administration likes to, you know, Wag the Dog.
Let's see here ... Flu pandemic ... budget ... flu pandemic ... money ... budget ... money ... flu pandemic ... crisis ... Hmmmmm. Is there a possible connection?
It looks like Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has recently come under attack:
"by some liberal bloggers for insisting that Congress remove nearly $900 million from the stimulus bill that would have gone to fighting an influenza pandemic."
Na ... just coincidence. C'mon.
Of course there's the big picture too, uh, the Big Picture of Spending that is. This is good thing they've done. The GOP put together a series of charts to track the performance of the Democrat Power Grab. But first (really), if you haven't seen I.O.U.S.A. yet, go do it!
Just click the link above and just watch the short-version, and when you come back, consider the public debt scenario illustrated by the graph below.
Nice. Uh?
Democrats, uh, I mean the Progressives, for as long as they can remember, have dreamed the dream of enforcing institutionalized medicine in America. In their mind, now is their opportunity, and they're gonna take it. Socialism will be enforced in America through various methods like "reconciliation," avoiding debate where at all possible. Swiftly.
This is the same reason why the so-called "stimulus" bill included provisions for universal health care! A bill, by the way, passed without anyone in Congress even bothering to read it. Then suddenly a potential pandemic breaks out?
What was it the Democrats were doing over the weekend again?
According to Nancy Thorner:
Democrats are attempting to create a brand new entitlement program that that will absorb 17% of our budget, all under the public radar (Obama's 2010 budget proposal allows $600 billion for health care, but the real number is closer to $1.2 trillion.). The process of reconciliation will ensure that the massive $3.5 trillion budget bill passes, which will pave the way for the takeover of this nation's health care system based on a single-payer government plan, at a time when our government is already deep in long term and short term debt. This sounds like a power grab to me.
Yes, the good-old "Process of reconciliation" ... it's a "parliamentary" trick. Budget reconciliation allows any legislation tied to the budget to be passed by a simple majority, rather than the standard 60-votes required. In tying universal health care to the budget, the Democrats successfully squelched debate on the subject. So "we the people" get universal health care ... whether we like it or not!
How did that old saying go again?
...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.
Oh sue-prise, sue-prise! The $3.4T budget with no GOP support just passed the House! Considering the reconciliation process, gyou can consider the budget a done deal. Plus, "not wanting to waste a crises" (emphasis added):
State and federal officials intensified their response to the swine flu outbreak on Tuesday, with President Obama asking Congress for $1.5 billion in supplemental funding.
At least the push-back against the radical tax-cheat Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as health secretary is building steam. Oops. I almost forgot:
A major pandemic could break out any day now. We need to get her confirmed fast. This is a national "crisis" and everything. We must set aside our bickering during times like these, etc., etc.
The following also reads: "We're in power. There will be no debate. End of subject."
Oh, goodie!
WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as health secretary, filling a crucial spot in President Barack Obama's cabinet amid growing fears of a possible swine flu pandemic.
Universal health care ... here it comes!
Then again ... it could be, that I'm just a paranoid wingnut.
[adsense]
