<div class="entry"><div class="snap_preview">Statists are nothing if not consistent and predictable. Obama is counting on his grandstand showpiece on Thursday to gin up enough support to allow passage of this monstrous, unsustainable TAX bill through reconciliation. Despite promises of open debate and transparency in the development of the health care bill, President Obama and his leftist Congress cronies have gone about the legislation like a meeting of the forty thieves in a cave somewhere.
Thursdays meeting is already shaping up to be a barn burner, with Obama sure to be at his arrogant high-handed best since he, Reid and Pelosi have been unable to pass health care due to (on the House side) an inability to hold together the votes required for final passage and (on the Senate side) no longer holding the required majority vote.
Desperate for a success, the Democrats are falling back on their legislative version of a scorched earth policy. Obamas plan has been to meld the House and Senate versions of the bill and add a range of draconian measures of his own. Republicans can be expected to be highly resistant to Obamas intimidation tactics at the health care summit on Thursday.
The Republican leadership has already stated that it may have found a loophole in the budget reconciliation process that would allow them to introduce an infinite number of amendments to the bill. Experts on Senate procedural rules from both parties have said such a filibuster is possible. While reconciliation rules limit debate to 20 hours, Senators lack constraints and could conceivably continue offering them up until 60 members agree to cut the process off. read more »