Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed course yesterday and prepared to abide by the law and welcome Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. There’s no final deal yet, but it looks like the man appointed by disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will soon be seated. Democrats have thus ended a week of intraparty squabbling that was entertaining, but also made them look like they were putting politics above the law.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123137325102362713.html

Onward to your next act as Senate Majority Leader, I can’t wait.

On that note, the Secretary of State does not have the power to veto it’s governor.  Your comments insinuate they do.  Every Governor in this country should be very worried about your statement.

Like I said, you are not prepared the UGLY politics of Chicago.  Please do not say another word on this matter.

Callers flooded the lines of WVON, an African-American-focused AM radio station. They demanded Senate leaders seat Mr. Burris or be removed for breaking the law.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123125550109657443.html

It’s not your fault the Illinois legislature, in their special session, couldn’t secure a vote to remove the power of appointment from the governor and, instead, have a special election. Obviously, they were worried they would be sending a Republican to Washington if there was an election. You had an “out” with that one. Would it have been so difficult to say: “I was expecting the State of Illinois to remove the power from the Governor. My statement was made in the event the Governor refused to honor the Illinois legislature’s decision of a special election.” No, of course you couldn’t, because this is all about you. It’s been awhile since you’ve campaigned Harry. Voters don’t forget. Many voters come out for two reasons only: (1) they really want you elected; or (2) they really want to make sure you aren’t elected.

I’ve Googled and there are I don’t know how many articles supporting Burris, liberal newspapers at that, and stating that you are trying to overturn the will of the people. MSNObamaChannel cites the Los Angeles Times:

Among the liberals, professor Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Irvine, writes in today’s Los Angeles Times: “Allowing the Senate to exclude Burris on any except the narrowest of grounds would create a dangerous precedent. It could open the door to the Senate or the House overturning the will of the people and excluding representatives under one or another pretext. If Burris — whose appointment meets the legal test, no matter what you think of Blagojevich — is not seated, other properly elected or appointed representatives also are at risk.”

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/01/06/1733723.aspx

Diane Feinstein?

“Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes,” said Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, which judges the credentials of senators.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/burris-determined-to-take_n_155515.html

Sen. Dianne Feinstein rejected the reasoning that all of the chamber’s Democrats, herself included, had cited in a letter last week — that corruption charges against Burris’ patron, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, tainted his appointment.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28507873/

I could go on and on.

Do the right thing Harry and fix this problem in your meeting with Mr. Burris Wednesday morning. Only a few people showed up today to protest, but that’s a few more than should have. You’re playing games. This isn’t about racism, because it isn’t about Mr. Burris being African American. This is about your ego, and only your ego. You publically stated that you would not seat any appointee.

Harry, quit embarrassing the great State of Nevada and seat Mr. Burris and let the Illinois legislature deal with what to do with him later.

Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush said that those upset about Rod Blagojevich’s audacious U.S. Senate appointment “need to take a chill pill.”

The biggest dose of Rush’s prescription should be reserved for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is now facing the possibility of ordering his Sergeant-at-Arms to bar a 71-year-old black man from the Senate floor, as the white folks inside talk about the “taint” of his appointment.

The article then goes on to state that Harry is not ready to play the race game.   It’s no surprise to anyone that I really dislike Harry Reid, both the man he is and his political beliefs.  Do I think Harry’s a racist?  No.  I think he’s an elitist who wouldn’t give his constituents the time of day.  However, I do believe that Harry, and the Democratic Party, are not used to being called racists, and they’re now facing this exact situation.

On January 2, I see an article titled Sergeant at Arms Expects No Trouble From Burris, problem resolved, except:

For his part, Burris planned to argue his case in the news media and threatened to sue Senate Democrats if they refuse to swear him in as the chamber’s only black member.

. . . .

Race is a prominent force in the dispute. Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., said he called Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and “made it abundantly clear that we felt that they should reconsider.”

No luck, Payne reported on Friday.

Today, January 3rd, we learn that Harry Called Governor Blogojevich to Discuss Filling Obama’s Seat. This was while the Gov was being taped (I really hope they make those tapes public).  This particular tidbit states Harry didn’t want Jesse Jackson’s son, or the other AA’s for that matter. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it had nothing to do with the color of their skin, but was based on their experience.  The question is will the Chicago activists feel that way?

Which brings us back to the original link that states Harry is incapable of dealing with the Chicago political machine, i.e., Jessie Jackson et al., and now he’s allegedly on tape saying no way to Jessie Jackson’s son.  Ouch!

I’m surprised Harry wants to play hardball on this (it could get very ugly and spiral out of control).   Sue Lowden, in her press release, states Harry is only guilty of playing politics, and I believe her when she says that; however, Chicago has a much longer history of playing UGLY politics than Nevada.   In the end, if Harry does not seat Mr. Burris, he risks the wrath of the Chicago Activists (maybe hefty donation will make all this go away); if he changes his mind, and seats Mr. Burris, he will appear very weak.   They’re talking, maybe Harry can fix this, if he doesn’t, then …

Governor Blogojevich, I tip my hat to you. Thank you so much for creating this quagmire for my dear, not-so-sweet, Senator Harry.

What happened to the FREE Health Care I was supposed to get?

Max Baucus , the head of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, laid down a marker on a health care overhaul Wednesday, . . . would not wait for the new president to move forward on the issue.

. . . .

Many details in Baucus’ plan match with what President-elect Barack Obama proposed during the campaign but it also includes elements, such as an individual mandate to buy coverage, that break with the president-elect.

Obama has proposed offering health care access for all Americans, but without a requirement that they be covered.

The centerpiece of Baucus’ proposal, which he developed independently over the course of the 110th Congress, is the creation of a “health insurance exchange,” where insurers could SELL plans to the uninsured.

Rest of story here 

Note this is not BO’s plan.  I’m pretty certain Barack Obama ran on a platform that he would not make it mandatory – people should not be forced to choose between making their health insurance payment over buying groceries.  A mandate is a tax.  Yes, something needs to be done about health coverage.  Yes, all children should have the benefit of health insurance.  Yes, it should be illegal for a health insurance company to deny coverage of necessary procedures, or dump them off the policy when they get sick, after years of paying into the plan. 

What do I mean by that?  Well, a friend of mine started having severe lower back pain several years ago.  Her doctor scheduled an MRI which revealed that her uteral cancer had returned (the dr. thought she damaged her back) – she had been in remission for many years.  She had been insured all her life, and made her payments faithfully.  Her insurance company denied the claim for the MRI because they felt it was an “unnecessary procedure.”  She died several months later and her family was still fighting the insurance company.  I’ve had a few claims of my own denied that I’ve had to fight.  

It’s difficult to find a doctor that will accept you as a patient if you have no health insurance so the uninsured is forced to go to the County Emergency Room.  Many of the doctors that will treat you, charge you more than what they receive from the insurance companies.

I don’t know what the best answer is to this problem, I personally liked Congressman Duncan Hunter’s plan. 

I’m guessing the plan Senator Baucus is submitting will give health insurance companies/lobbyists even more power than they already have.  Mega companies will lobby for the contracts.  It won’t be about who has the best plan, it will be who donates the most money to our representatives, which one is offering choice positions to friends/family in return for a favorable vote.

Yep, we’re going to have keep our eyes open and demand our Republicans fight back against the onslaught that will be brought upon them.

I am a child of the 1960′s, born in 1964 to be exact. My parents were Democrats, my extended family were all Democrats, still are to this day. I am not. I remember having a protest sign in my hands as young as 4, I’m sure it was a war protest sign, but I really don’t know what it said. We were poor. I grew up in Inglewood, California to move up to Lennox, California, and finally to spend my teen years in Hawthorne, California. Not the greatest places to grow up in to be sure, and heavily democrat.

I can remember my mother’s friends coming over to our home, with their Nancy Sinatra boots, mini skirts, and signs in their hands to protest their current boyfriend’s place night after night. Now that I look back, it was pretty darn funny. I guess they paved the way that if a guy is a jerk, leave his butt behind and never look back. Who am I to argue that they felt picket signs were more effective. I protested the war, I protested offshore drilling, I still believe the Indian with a tear commercial was very effective to curb polution and littering, and who can forget Woodsy the Owl: Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute.

High school came and Jimmy Carter had been my President for two years. The war was over. Life was supposed to be good. The poor, who were supposed to be helped, got poorer. Jobs were hard to come by. Couldn’t buy a house, interest rates were at 14% if you had great credit. Gas was hard to come by – anyone remember the gas lines? Then our embassy in Iran was taken over by terrorists. Our embassy personnel were taken as hostages. I remember thinking piece of cake, we go in, get our people out, be done with it. Yeah, well that didn’t happen. In the meantime, gangs in my community/school were out of control, crime was skyrocketing, and our Democrat politicians were clueless. If we’re nice to our enemies, they’ll be nice to us. That didn’t work.   If we tell our local thugs we’ll go easy on them, they’ll see the errors of their ways. That didn’t work.   My friends were getting pregnant, they couldn’t stand their parents’ rules, and moving into ghetto housing and dropping out of school. That was working out real well for them/snark.

Ronald Reagan came on the scene with personal accountability, strength through peace, and I was won over to the Republican party. Yes, I was in an “Against the Draft” club (I’m still against a draft), I still believe the poor need help, but you can help the poor by providing a hand up, not always a hand out, that the disabled and handicapped have priority over those less fortunate who are capable of working.

Our system is broken and the Democrats have designed it for people to fail for any success. Why wouldn’t they, if they succeed, they may no longer need them.

I don’t care if gays get married and I would never stop a woman from getting an abortion. Those, to me, are religious issues and the government has no business in religious issues.

Yes, I’m a Republican, a moderate Republican, but a Republican all the same.  I moved to Nevada in 1989 to get away from the taxes of California. Apparently, so did a whole lot more, except some of them brought their tax and spend agenda with them and can’t wait to raise my taxes, and voted to implement everything they left, and have now imposed on this wonderful State I’ve adopted.

2010 is coming soon, and I want Harry Reid gone, I want Republicans elected across the state.

It’s time to move on to positives.