Author: David Weigel

A clever campaign by Sean Duffy, the talented candidate taking on Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), who presided over the first roll call on health care reform yesterday. Duffy attempts to do to Obey’s friendly kiss on the cheek to Nancy Pelosi what liberal activists did to George W. Bush’s apparent kiss on the check to Joe Lieberman.

The American Center for Law and Justice is the first conservative legal group (that I’ve seen, at least) to pivot to a full-out repeal campaign. From their fundraising/petition building appeal:

Now that it’s been approved, the focus turns to challenging this measure in the courts.  The ACLJ is embarking on a massive litigation strategy and will work aggressively to challenge the constitutionality of this pro-abortion package. The battle is far from over when it comes to health care!  Make your voice heard in the courts — join our legal challenge today by reading the form below carefully and declaring your membership with the ACLJ by adding your name to our Constitutional Committee to Challenge the President and Congress on Health Care, which will be represented in amicus briefs filed in all the key challenges.

That comes via Sarah Posner. Meanwhile, the Landmark Legal Foundation — they had put together a draft lawsuit to file in case Democrats deemed health care reform passed without a vote — tells me it’s reaching out to state attorneys general to offer help on potential lawsuits.

Few pundits had as much to lose from the passage of health care reform legislation as Bill Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, whose 1993 memo urging Republicans to block any attempt at health care reform was dusted off again by Republicans last year. Kristol’s magazine pronounced the death of reform this year (and last year) multiple times, most memorably in a piece by Fred Barnes, reacting to Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-Mass.) victory, which pronounced reform “dead with not the slightest prospect of resurrection.”

Kristol cleans up today by putting a spin on Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) “Waterloo” remarks:

Last night’s victory was the culmination of Obama’s health care effort, which has been his version of  Napoleon’s Russia campaign. He won a short-term victory, but one that will turn out to mark an inflection point on the road to defeat, and the beginning of the end of the Democratic party’s dominance over American politics. Last night was Obama’s Borodino. Obama’s Waterloo will be November 6, 2012.

Kristol calls a “repeal” campaign a “one-item Contract With America,” which looks like hyperbole if, as polling suggests, anger at the bill has already peaked and started to simmer down.

The Tea Party activists huddled on the south lawn of the Capitol got the news of health care reform’s passage in the cruelest way. As their enthusiasm had flagged, a small group of pro-health care reform activists had nestled into space right next to the Capitol wall. Outnumbered ten to one, none of them looking a day under thirty, they learned via Twitter when the House crossed the 216 vote mark to pass the Senate version’s of health care reform. Bouncing up and down, waving faded and crumpled signs, they mugged for TV cameras. That prompted a few Tea Party activists to lower a massive American flag between the pro-”Obamacare” forces and the lights and lenses. The liberals cried foul. Park police broke the tension. And the Tea Partiers looked back at the Capitol and chanted “Na na na, hey hey, goodbye.” Just because the bill had passed didn’t mean they couldn’t kill it.

“The most important thing to remember,” said Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots, throwing her hoarse voice into a megaphone, “is that the fight for freedom, it never ends! In the next days, you’re going to find out what you can do to stop it in the Senate. If it becomes law, we’re going to fight to repeal it in the next Congress!”

The roughly 250 activists, some of them wiping away tears, cheered for Martin, then belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner,” then recited the pledge of allegiance. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) slipped through their ranks unnoticed, then politely took the megaphone for himself.

“The American people lost today,” said Hoekstra, “but we’ve got some opportunities. We’ll fight this in the courts. We’ll fight this at the ballot box. Hopefully, in January, we’ll have enough votes to begin the process of repealing this bill.” The crowd cheered as Hoekstra — who is leaving Congress to run for governor of Michigan — walked out and Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) walked in.

“I just came down here,” said King, “so I could say to you, God bless you.”

“God bless you!” shouted one activist.

“We’re here whenever you need us!” said another activist, patting King on the back.

“You are the awesome American people,” said King. “If I could start a country with a bunch of people, they’d be the folks who were standing with us the last few days. Let’s hope we don’t have to do that! Let’s beat that other side to a pulp! Let’s chase them down. There’s going to be a reckoning!” One by one, the people gathered outside the Capitol, who’d spent the day cheering and singing whenever Republicans appeared and egged them on, came to the realization that they’d been beaten in this round. They’d have to redouble their efforts.

As King spoke, FreedomWorks campaign director Brendan Steinhauser looked on, pondering over the last year of Tea Party activism — especially the last two months. On January 19, the Tea Parties helped elect Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to the seat of the late Ted Kennedy and — so they thought — put the stake in health care reform. “ObamaCare,” wrote The Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes after the Brown victory, “is dead with not the slightest prospect of resurrection.” A popular sign at the evening’s rally, spotted again at the Saturday rally that Steinhauser helped organize, portrayed President Obama as a vampire climbing out of a coffin marked “health care.” Opponents of health care reform, pondered Steinhauser, did not quite see the health care bill recovering and passing as it did.

“The media’s going to promote it as a victory for Democrats,” he said. “But I think enough people are out there — maybe they weren’t following it as closely today — who are going to pay attention now. We’re looking at what’s going to happen in the states, we’re possibly looking at legal challenges.”

Tea Party activists and Republicans were in total agreement after the call of the vote — they would go all-in on legal and legislative attacks on health care reform. But the lateness with which they considered a post-Brown Democratic victory on health care, and the speed with which they moved to a hardcore responses, mirrored the decision-making process of Democrats just a few months ago.

“We were roommates in Massachusetts, working for Brown,” said Mark Falzone, a New Jersey activist, pointing to his friend, Virginia activist David Morchek. “When we left there, we thought all this crap was over.”

Democrats had been slow to see the threat posed by Brown, a talented politician facing a creaky establishment and weak candidate, with the issues on his side. And once Brown won, Democratic leaders picked up the suggestion their left-leaning allies had been making all year — to break the logjam created by the GOP’s abuse of Senate procedure and pass a bill through the up-or-down reconciliation process. Similarly, Republicans and Tea Partiers saw Brown’s election as a game-changing event that would scare Democrats away from a comprehensive health care bill. When it became clear that Democrats would push forward, the Tea Partiers mobilized quickly. For much of Saturday and Sunday, they hoped that their response would keep Democrats from cobbling together the votes they needed. But around 4 p.m., when news got out that Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) would accept a compromise on abortion funding and swing his support to the bill, the mood outside the Capitol grew dark, and the activists who’d been talking all this time about Constitutional challenges, and the essential evil of President Obama, got vindication.

“We had a dream,” said Deborah Welch, who joined her husband Chris on an eight-hour drive to the rally from Dayton, Ohio. “All of the Democrats and all of the Republicans were on this teeter-totter, and they were falling off. Nancy Pelosi was hanging on to Barney Frank by his pants — his pants were coming down. And Obama was standing out in the grass, watching it. What that meant was that Obama doesn’t care what happens to Congress. He has an agenda. He wants to collapse America.”

Joe Chalmers, an unemployed activist who’d come to the rally in camouflage, told TWI he wasn’t in the military — he “didn’t want to fight for oil.” But he won both criticism and nods of the head as he talked to protesters about the need for a real uprising against the Democrats. As a Democratic victory looked more and more likely, Tea Partiers got more ornery about the liberals who’d showed up to cheer for reform and take commemorative photos of what, to them, looked like the end of a year of agenda-slowing right-wing activism.

“Look at that idiot!” said Linda Cocsy, a New Yorker who’d spent the weekend in Washington for the protests, pointing at one of the young Democrats who’d infiltrated the protest, holding up a pro-reform sign provided by a pro-choice Catholic group. “This one, here with the stupid grin on his face! He looks likes he’s brainless. You look at these people and, they really look like jerks. You look at the other people, with the Don’t Tread on Me [flags], and they look like real people!” Cocsy stared off at another protester, waving a sign he’d picked up from a pro-immigration reform protest that had broken up around the time that Stupak announced his flip. “I just wanna kill them!” said Cocsy.

That rhetoric didn’t have too many takers. After passage, after King had finished talking, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) adressed the crowd and beseeched it to commit “no violence” as it fought for health care repeal. Instead, they needed to focus on the elections, and on holding Democrats accountable.

“Remember who caused this bill to pass!” said Bachmann. “Not only was it Nancy Pelosi, it was the so-called pro-life Democrats, who can no longer call themselves pro-life.”

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had threatened to file a federal lawsuit if Democrats deemed the health care reform bill passed. In the end, of course, Democrats held an up-or-down vote, and won. Cuccinelli is threatening a lawsuit anyway.

“We will file our complaint with the court as soon as the president signs it into law,” Cuccinelli said in a statement released by his office.

The lawsuit will be filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Cuccinelli said. He indicated it wil take aim at a provision which imposes a penalty on individuals who do not purchase health insurance.

“With this law, the federal government will force citizens to buy health insurance, claiming it has the authority to do so because of its power to regulate interstate commerce,” Cuccinelli said. “We contend that if a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person – by definition – is not engaging in commerce, and therefore, is not subject to a federal mandate.”

The General Asembly passed legislation this winter declaring that Virginia residents cannot be forced to buy health insurance, taking aim at the “individual mandate” provision in the federal law. Cuccinelli said the state legislation puts Virginia in “a unique situation that allows it the standing to file such a suit.”

I’ve done some reporting on this, and Idaho, too, has passed legislation that opens the door for the attorney general to file such a lawsuit. But lawyers for that state’s AG office told me it will take some time to build a case, or see if one needs to be built. Cuccinelli, who’s getting quite a reputation for trigger-happiness, is jumping the gun.

I was on the scene at the Code Red rally against the health care reform bill, but I did not witness the events getting the most attention today — the reported racial and sexual slurs lobbed at some black members of Congress and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Instead, I took stock of the rally on the Capitol lawn (photos below), which was markedly more pessimistic than any previous health care event, and followed, as far as I could, the surge of Tea Party activists into the House offices. Around 3 p.m., I broke off and watched some activists, believing that President Obama was in the Capitol, walk back over there and yell at the building.

So, what do I mean by pessimism? Many Republicans who spoke out at the rally — far more came there than had been announced — acknowledged that passage was looking more likely.

“Regardless of what happens tomorrow,” said Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), “do not lose faith!”

“Regardless of what happens tomorrow,” said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), “we will be here!”

There was some ugliness — an effigy of Obama in doctor garb railing against “voo-doo” medicine, a protester daring Democrats to “bring your boy Obama out here” — outweighed by a lot of annoyed people on their best behavior. The most interesting thing, to me, was the degree of focus on the next steps that will have to be taken if health care passes.

Rep. Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) office passes on a memo titled “No-Mentum,” making the argument that Democrats are a total of 7 votes down. Cutting against the Cantor count, I think, is the news that Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) will vote yes — that brings the count to six — and Cantor’s assumption that 12 unnamed conservative Democrats are still with Bart Stupak. Several people assumed to be with Stupak, like Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), and Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), are now on board.

The memo:

It has been widely reported that the White House and congressional Democrats are gaining momentum towards passing their government take-over of health care.  Democrat Leadership may be selling that story to recalcitrant rank-and-file Democrats, but those Democrats shouldn’t be buying it.

LET’S BE CLEAR: No Democrat who has switched from a “no” to a “yes” so far has been a SURPRISE.  Quite the opposite—those five have been predictable.

We’re not the Democrat Whip, but these numbers aren’t hard to crunch:

38 Democrats are needed to defeat a government take-over of health care.

Of the original 37 Democrat NO votes, 5 have publicly switched their votes to “yes”:
John Boccieri, Allen Boyd, Bart Gordon, Dennis Kucinich, and Betsy Markey.

That means there are 32 current Democrat NO votes left.  Unless those 32 Democrats want to dispute our characterization of their position, that’s a fact.

Here’s a few from that group who might want to dispute they’re a no, so we’re watching them with a close eye:

Brian Baird, Suzanne Kosmas, Michael McMahon, Scott Murphy, John Tanner, and
Harry Teague.

Seemingly, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a comfortable victory if she only has 32 NO
votes…..but that ignores 2 groups.

The first group is from a pool of original “yes” votes who are in conservative-leaning
districts, and know that a government take-over is widely unpopular.  It seems clear that Speaker Pelosi could lose any one of these Members—in fact, it appears she’s already lost at least one:

Michael Arcuri, Marion Berry, Jim Costa, Gabby Giffords, Stephen Lynch, and Zach
Space.

The second group is very well-known by now for taking a principled stand: The “Stupak 12.” Only Mr. Stupak knows exactly who his 12 are and we respect their
privacy.

So, if we add 12 to 32, we get 44—which leaves Speaker Pelosi 7 votes short.

Since that doesn’t take into account the additional Members we’ve listed above, we will continue to watch them closely.

On March 17, Connie Hair of Human Events shared an unsourced rumor with her readers:

Most interesting rumor from the Hill yesterday: Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) who announced his retirement from Congress has been promised the job of NASA administrator in exchange for his vote, and Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), another retiring Democrat, has been promised an appointment as U.S. Ambassador to NATO in exchange for his vote.

It will be interesting to note any job announcements from this Tennessee duo post-House retirement.

Interesting, indeed! No sources, but that didn’t prevent the rumor from reaching all the way to Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s (R-Utah) notes for a speech on the House floor.

The accused congressmen say, respectively, that they’re “shocked” at this “affront.” When pushed, Chaffetz refused the name his source.

Shortly after Politico reported on an “internal Democratic memo” telling members to spin away the looming cost of a “doc fix,” Republicans began pointing reporters to the story. But two hours after the story went up, TPM reported that Democrats were calling the memo a “hoax,” and Politico pulled the story. At a 3:30 press conference called “to highlight the concerns over the Democrats’ budget gimmick to temporarily exclude a $371 billion ‘Doc Fix’ from the health reform bill,” Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) quickly dismissed the memo.

“Look,” said Cantor, “the appropriate question there is, ask the reporter who wrote the article. I know nothing beyond what I read in Politico.” The “real hoax,” he said, was on “the American people.”

Ryan was even quicker on the dismissal. “Who cares about a memo?” he asked.

Here’s the email blast sent to reporters by the office of Rep. Eric Cantor at 1:52 p.m.

Did Ya Get the Memo? Dems Hide $1.3 Trillion Cost

We cannot emphasize this enough: do not allow yourself (or your boss) to get into a discussion of the details of CBO scores and textual narrative.,” the memo says.

… The inclusion of a full SGR repeal would undermine reform’s budget neutrality. So again, do not allow yourself (or your boss) to get into a discussion of the details of CBO scores and textual narrative

$1.3 Trillion

EXCLUSIVE — Democrats plan doc fix after reform

Politico: Posted by Chris Frates 12:46 PM

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/

Democrats are planning to introduce legislation later this spring that would permanently repeal annual Medicare cuts to doctors, but are warning lawmakers not to talk about it for fear that it will complicate their push to pass comprehensive health reform. The plans undercut the party’s message that reform lowers the deficit, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO.

Democrats removed the so-called doc fix from the reform legislation last year because its $371-billion price tag would have made it impossible for Democrats to claim that their bill reduces the deficit. Republicans have argued for months that by stripping the doc fix from the bill, Democrats were playing a shell game.

“Most health staff are already aware that our health proposal does not contain a ‘doc fix.’ … The inclusion of a full SGR repeal would undermine reform’s budget neutrality. So again, do not allow yourself (or your boss) to get into a discussion of the details of CBO scores and textual narrative. Instead, focus only on the deficit reduction and number of Americans covered,” the memo, sent Thursday to Democratic staff, said.

“As most health staff knows, leadership and the White House are working with the AMA to rally physicians for a full SGR repeal later this spring. However, both health and communications staff should understand we do not want that policy discussion discussed at this time, lest (it) complicate the last critical push to pass health reform,” according to the memo.

The memo helps explains why the American Medical Association has supported reform even though their top legislative priority, the doc fix, was left out. The group is working behind the scenes with Democratic leadership and the White House to fix the cuts later this year.

Indeed, in a statement this afternoon, the AMA announced its support for the reconciliation bill — and hinted that the debate is not over with reform’s passage.

“This is not the last step, but the next step toward real health system reform. We will remain actively engaged with Congress and the administration to ensure that before Congress adjourns there are additional important changes to our health system,” AMA president James Rohack said. “Congress must act to preserve access to care for seniors and military families by permanently repealing the Medicare physician payment formula that will cut Medicare payments by 21 percent next month.”

The memo also repeatedly advises Democrats not to discuss the details of the CBO score.  “We cannot emphasize this enough: do not allow yourself (or your boss) to get into a discussion of the details of CBO scores and textual narrative. Instead, focus only on the deficit reduction and number of Americans covered,” the memo says.

Last year I profiled Adam Kokesh, an Iraq War veteran who became a fiery anti-war activist and launched a 2010 GOP bid for Congress. Since then, he’s become a more credible candidate for the nomination in NM-3, typically the bluest district in New Mexico — and has come under attack from conservative bloggers like Michelle Malkin and from Republican activists who want to prevent the party from nominating an anti-war libertarian.

The first result of that opposition was a disappointing showing at the state party convention where Kokesh got only 19.6 percent support — technically enough to get him a ballot slot without getting additional signatures from voters, but the party’s not yet allowing that. Here, via a libertarian source, is one of two “smear cards” (the Kokesh campaign term) passed out at the convention.

Some decoding:

– Kokesh, like many Paul acolytes, has indulged the out-there right with an occasional interview, and the reference at the top of this card seems to be to the Kokesh appearance on “The InfoWarrior,” a radio show hosted by Jason Bermas. He’s best known for his role in the 9/11 truth documentary “Loose Change,” but they didn’t touch on those issues in the interview at all.

– Kokesh did appear at “Shoe Bush out of office” rally on January 19, 2009, but in that still captured on the flier, he’s holding up the shoe he’s “saving for Obama,” in case the new president escalates one of America’s wars.

The Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll has the GOP insurgent surging to a 12-point lead over his Republican rival, Secretary of State Trey Grayson. Paul’s overall favorable numbers are the highest in the field, nonwithstanding a slowly building campaign to bring them down.

As a few state attorneys general talk about filing lawsuits if health care reform passes, I’m increasingly convinced that passage of the bill will spark some unprecedented challenges from states to the federal government. Much of the discussion centers on very specific lawsuits that challenge the deals made to help the bill pass. But what about states opting entirely out of the health care mandate? That, says Ludwig von Mises Institute scholar Tom Woods, author of the upcoming Regnery book “Nullification,” is unprecedented, but conceivable.

“The interesting question is whether there’s enough popular resistance in the states,” said Woods. “If states file legal challenges, who would they file them with? The federal courts! So, what’s the point of that? I wouldn’t even go to the legal level. From my point of view, nullification is the way to announce to the government that the citizens of a state are ready to engage in civil disobedience.”

Details about tomorrow’s “Code Red” rally against health care reform have already been leaking out — Jon Voight promoted it as a way to fight back against the “corrupt ACORN liars” — but here’s the full press release.

Grassroots “Code Red Rally” Urges
Congress to Vote No on Washington Takeover

Saturday Health Care Rally on Capitol Grounds Urges “Kill the Bill”

Washington, D.C.— Hands Off My Health Care, A Project of Americans for Prosperity®, is part of a grassroots coalition rallying on Capitol Hill on Saturday, March 20^th at 12:00 noon in opposition to the health care overhaul that is expected to be voted on in the U.S. House on Sunday.

The noon Code Red Rally will feature speakers such as Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Rep. Joe Wilson, Rep. Tom Price, actor John Voight, Dr. Milton Wolf (President Obama’s second cousin who opposes Obamacare), and leaders from grassroots and issue organizations such as American Grassroots Coalition, Americans for Prosperity, Let Freedom Ring, 60 Plus, Tea Party Express, and many others. In addition to the rally, there will be a candlelight vigil around the Capitol on Saturday evening and a nationwide “virtual vigil” on BlogTalk radio sponsored by DoctorsandPatients.org.

“It is time for Washington to finally listen to the American people by voting to kill this bill,” said Phil Kerpen , AFP’s vice president for policy. “For an entire year, instead of creating jobs, this administration has distracted and divided the American people with wildly irresponsible and unpopular dead-end health care policies. This legislation will limit patient choice, increase bureaucracy, kill jobs, raise taxes, slash Medicare funding, create a system of rationing, and ultimately threaten our country’s financial solvency. American taxpayers, seniors, small businesses, minorities, and the middle class will suffer.  This is not real reform and this bill must be defeated.”

What: Code Red Rally

When: Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 12:00 Noon EST

Where: Upper Senate Park , Capitol Hill

Speakers: Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Rep. Tom Price, Rep. Joe Wilson, actor John Voight, Dr. Milton Wolf, Colin Hanna of Let Freedom Ring, Tim Phillips and Phil Kerpen of Americans for Prosperity, Jim Martin of 60 Plus, Andrew Larger of Institute for Liberty, Kathryn Serkes of the Doctor Patient Medical Association, Mark Skoda of the Memphis Tea Party, Amy Kremer of Tea Party Express, Jennifer Hulsey of American Grassroots Coalition, and Ben Cunningham of the Tennessee Tax Revolt.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 1 million members, including members in all 50 states, and 30 state chapters and affiliates. More than 60,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial investment in AFP or AFP Foundation. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

Hands Off My Health Care is a project of Americans for Prosperity, focused on real health care reform that will lead to more choices for patients and affordable health care options for all. For more information, please visit www.handsoffmyhealthcare.com.

Conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel follows a tip and finds enough problems with Sean Hannity’s “Freedom Concerts” — star-studded events meant to pay for scholarships for the children of fallen soldiers — to dub them “scams.”

According to its 2006 tax returns, Freedom Alliance reported revenue of $10,822,785, but only $397,900–or a beyond-measly 3.68%–of that was given to the children of fallen troops as scholarships or as aid to severely injured soldiers.

On the other hand, 62% of the money went to “expenses,” including $979,485 for “consultants” and an “advisor.” Yes, consultant/advisors got more than double what injured troops and the kids of fallen troops got. The tax forms show that “New World Aviation” got paid $60,601 for “air travel.” Was that for Hannity’s G5? Like I said, neither the charity nor Hannity is talking. And finally, that year, Freedom Alliance spent $1,730,816 on postage and shipping and $1,414,215 on printing, for a total of $3,145,031, nearly half the revenue the charity spent that year and about eight times what the injured troops and the children of fallen ones received.

Read the whole thing — Freedom Concerts didn’t respond to Schlussel, who often operates on the fringe. But other conservatives are starting to pile on.

Variety reports that a Sarah Palin-hosted TV series about Alaska is on track to appear on a cable channel, possibly Discovery or the Travel Channel. The entertainment industry newspaper’s take:

This Alaska show, of course, could only be a prelude to a bigger TV career for Palin — particularly if she decides not to run for president in 2012. Some industry execs believe that Burnett has his eye on turning Palin into a daytime star — much as he revived Martha Stewart’s TV career with “The Martha Stewart Show.”

And talk about timing: With Oprah Winfrey exiting syndication in 2011, Burnett could always fashion a Palin yakker as a contender to fill that void.

You could speculate that the series means Palin is leaving politics, or you could recall that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wrote three books about “character” and “courage” between 2004 and 2008 — not really political texts, more work that built up his brand as a maverick. Anything that humanizes Palin and softens her image is potentially helpful to a presidential bid.

From yesterday’s Twitter feed of Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the GOP whip’s office:

Dayspring doesn’t mis-attribute the study to the New England Journal of Medicine, but I think Peter Lipson at Forbes does a good job unspooling the unscientific Medicus poll that’s at issue here.

When asked, “How do you think the passage of health reform WITHOUT a public option would affect your professional/practice plans, if at all?” 70% of respondents said, “no change.”  It is not reported in this data, but apparently primary care physicians, who made up about a third of respondents, were more likely to say that they would leave medical practice.

I have no doubt that there are unsatisfied physicians out there.  This data, gathered unscientifically, hyped by the survey company, and widely picked up by partisan media, is not a reliable measure of doctors’ responses to health care reform.

If the bill passes, I wonder if this sort of hyperbole will be remembered the way Republican claims that Bill Clinton’s 1993 budget would bring about a massive recession are remembered.

The GOP minority in the House, not satisfied with a resolution from Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) that put members on the record about whether they’d support “deem and pass,” has introduced a resolution putting on record the various media reports of how Democrats pondered the use of the legislative run-around.

The resolution accuses Democrats of behaving in a “malfeasant manner,” basically accusing them of committing crimes, which I think speaks to where the optimism is right now.

The text:

Whereas at least three members of the House Democratic Leadership have endorsed a procedural tactic for the sole purpose of avoiding an up-or-down vote, by the yeas and nays, on the Senate-passed health care bill;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Representative James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, stated, “We will deem passed the Senate bill…”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, The Washington Post reported, “After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate’s health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it. Instead, Pelosi (D–Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand…”;

Whereas in the same Washington Post article, the Speaker declared, “…I like it because people don’t have to vote on the Senate bill.”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, McClatchy Newspapers reported Representative John Larson, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, stated, “Many of our members would prefer not to have voted for the Senate bill.”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 9, U.S. News and World Report reported, “Pelosi gaffed, telling the local elected officials assembled ‘that Congress [has] to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it, away from the fog of controversy.’”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, The Washington Post editorialized, “…what is intended as a final sprint threatens to turn into something unseemly and, more important, contrary to Democrats’ promises of transparency and time for deliberation. …[I]t strikes us as a dodgy way to reform the health-care system. Democrats who vote for the package will be tagged with supporting the Senate bill in any event.”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, the Cincinnati Enquirer editorialized, “This disgusting process, which Democrats brazenly wish to bring to conclusion this week, is being done with little regard for the opinions of a clear majority of Americans who, while they may believe health care reform is necessary, think this particular approach will take our nation down the wrong economic path.”;
Whereas bipartisan members of the House and Senate have expressed their opposition to using the Slaughter Solution;

Whereas on Wednesday, March 10, Representative Joe Donnelly released the following statement, “The process over the past few months has been frustrating, including the cutting of unacceptable special deals to assure a few senators’ votes.”;

Whereas Representative Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania has characterized the exploitation of the Slaughter Solution by Democratic Leadership as “wrong” and unpopular among his constituents;

Whereas on Friday, March 12, POLITICO reported on a memo sent from Representative Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to freshman and sophomore House Democrats that stated, “At this point, we have to just rip the band-aid off… Things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL.”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, Roll Call reported, “Hoyer argued that the American public isn’t interested in the process lawmakers use for approving reforms…”;

Whereas on Tuesday, March 16, Representative James Clyburn told Fox News, “Controversy doesn’t bother me at all.”;

Whereas the Democratic leadership of the House has conducted a calculated and coordinated attempt to willfully deceive the American people by embracing the “Slaughter Solution”;

Whereas resorting to the “Slaughter Solution” in this circumstance, is being done to intentionally hide from the American people a future vote that Members of Congress may take on the Senate-passed health care legislation;

Whereas the deceptive behavior demonstrated by the Democratic Leadership has brought discredit upon the House of Representatives; and

Whereas the Democratic leadership has willfully abused its power to chart a legislative course for the Senate health care bill that is deliberately calculated to obfuscate what the House will vote on, in an illegitimate effort to confuse the public and thereby fraudulently insulate certain Representatives from accountability for their conduct of their offices: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House disapproves of the malfeasant manner in which the Democratic Leadership has thereby discharged the duties of their offices.

Here’s the draft of a legal complaint Mark Levin plans to file if “deem and pass” is used to push through health care reform — although as I understand it, Levin might lack standing.

Martin Wisckol, who really can’t be disappointed about having such a fun story on his beat, reports that Orly Taitz has qualified for the ballot and will run for the GOP’s nomination for California secretary of state. Her best shot might be knocking the GOP’s preferred candidate, first-time politician (and African-American) Damon Dunn, off the ballot.

Among the allegations was that Dunn was registered as a Democrat within the last 12 months, which would disqualify him to seek the GOP nomination, [Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal] Kelley said. Candidates must be registered for three months with the party they are running for, and cannot be registered for a different party for 12 months.

Kelley said that Dunn has been registered as a Republican in Orange County since March 17, 2009. That’s just short of the 12-month mark given the March 12 filing deadline, but meets the three month requirement.

In what looks to be a good year for California Republicans, this could become a sizable embarrassment. Voters don’t typically pay much attention to downballot races, and name recognition can deliver wins — hello there, Scott Lee Cohen.

I thought yesterday’s NRCC hit on Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) for the “coincidence” of voting for health care reform after his wife got to appear at an event promoting vegetables was sort of silly. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) did not. From her appearance on Bill Bennett’s radio show today:

BACHMANN: [T]o think what they’re flipping for. You know, Dennis Kucinich, a ride on Air Force One.

BENNETT: Yeah.

BACHMANN: And apparently the President also gave him, Dennis Kucinich’s wife and to be able to work with Michelle Obama on the next effort, which is if you eat vegan that you’ll lose weight. I think that’s the next, the next platform that Michelle Obama’s going to have. And what I understood yesterday is that Mrs. Kucinich will work together with Mrs. Obama on that effort.

BENNETT: It’s time to get the Cattleman’s Association back there.

BACHMANN: Oh my gosh, if this is what they’re selling out votes for on their side, they’re a bunch of weak sisters over there.

Can Bachmann really believe this, though? Wouldn’t the more explicable reason be that Kucinich realizes a sneaky plot to nationalize health care when he sees one? I think this is part of the pattern I’ve seen with Bachmann this week, focusing on “backroom deals” and “arm-twisting,” even when, as in this case, the allegation is awfully hard to take seriously.

UPDATE: Here’s the audio.