I think that it is safe to say that the health care bill that President Obama is trying to cram down our throats is endangering our way of life, and most importantly, our Constitution.

In a lot of ways, Nancy Pelosi is duly responsible for this. As the debate on Obamacare draws close to its end, she has the gumption and the unmitigated gall to use a parliamentary procedure that is a ruse, at best, to get her goals accomplished. The procedure in question? It’s called the “Slaughter Solution.”

Here’s how this “constitutionally illegal” ruse works.

The plan is not to pass a Senate version of a bill on an “up-or-down vote; What it does instead is have the House of Representatives “deem” the bill as being passed without the benefit of an actual vote and then have members of the House vote directly on a series of “sidecar” amendments to fix the things that it doesn’t particularly like.

This would also allow the House Democrats to avoid going on record as to have actually voted for provisions in the Senate bill – things such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker Kickback and the “Cadillac” insurance plans – that are highly unpopular to you and I. If the reconciliation fixes pass, the House send the bill to Obama for his signature without ever having an actual “up-and-down” vote on the underlying legislation.

Should this happen, you can rest assured that the Democrats (and maybe some Republicans) can actually say that they opposed the Senate bill while at the same time allowing it to pass. And folks, this falls within violation of our Constitution, as Articla 1, Section 7 states that for any bill to become a law, it has to pass both the House and Senate. Not the House only and not the Senate only. Both wings of Congress.

In other words, not “deemed” to have passed, but actually voted on. In addition, the legislation has to have the same exact language  in both chambers – and in the version signed by the President – to become a legitimate law. This is exactly why there are committees to iron out the wrinkles of competing versions of the bill. We were taught this in Civics class, remember?

This “Slaughter Solution” is aimed at our current set of checks and balances and would allow Democrats to establish a dangerous precedent. The lawmaking process can be rigged to ensure the passage of any legislation without any democratic accountability or even a congressional majority, at the very least.

In a sense, it is paving a road towards tyranny – whether they realize it or not. Which brings us to the POTUS.

What Obama is starting right before our eyes is a leftist revolution. Ever he assumed the presidency, he has basically regarded the Constiution as some outdated document. The powers of the federal government has imploded; in the meantime, he has nationalized some very important sectors of American life – the big banks, the auto industry, financial institutions and large plots of energy-rich land from Montana ot New Mexico.

His crap-and-trade cap-and trade legislation, along with an all-of-a-suddenly empowered EPA, looks to impose new taxes and regulations on industry nationwide. If you think about it, this is “green socialism” as much of the economy would fall under a huge, bureaucratic corporatist state. Think France when you think of this.

But the holy grail for Obama was, is and always will be health care. And goes without saying that the POTUS wants a single-payer system, if he had his way.

Numbers do not lie. The vast majority of Americans do not approve of Obamacare in its current state; what this health care legislation is doing is polarizing and fracturing our country among ideological and racial lines – conditions that are conducive to a potential civil uprising. Which is what Obama wants. Let’s not forget that there are some Democrats who actually are in not in favor of this crap bill, as well.

And let’s not forget the states; a good number of them have went on record, saying that they will sue the federal government if Obamacare becomes law. You can expect that the states would consider themselves exempt from Obamacare while the legislation is in the court system for years to come.

To illustrate how clueless and out of touch the POTUS is, he is actually willing to risk his presidency, his party’s congressional majority and most importantly, our democratic institutional safeguards that are in place  to enact it. He is a “consequences be damned” ideologue who risks our nation’s stability in the pursuit of a Socialist utopia.

Should the “Slaughter Solution” actually be enacted, not only should “true Republicans” (RINOS need not apply – we don’t need the unpredictability, thank you very much) campaign for the repeal of Obamacare during the November elections, but seriously consider impeachment proceedings against Obama and his merry band of Chicago henchmen.

We have a constutional crisis brewing here, and time is rather short. Action needs to be taken – and needs to be taken now.

President Barack Obama is already planning his next sweeping change for American society after he gets his Obamacare passed in both houses of Congress: fulfillment of his campaign promise to revamp U.S. immigration policy as part of his fundamental transformation of the United States.

On Thursday, Obama mentioned a proposal by Democrat Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, that features a first-ever national identification card for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want a job.

In a blog posted online by The Washington Post, Senators Schumer and Graham stated “our immigration system is badly broken.”  Graham, who has angered conservatives time and time again, and Schumer outlined plan revamp U.S. immigration policy.

While the proposal for state-of-the-art identification cards are a new development in the Senate, other parts of the Schumer-Graham plan are old hat including a promise to upgrade border security, creating a new process for admitting temporary workers, and implementing a “tough but fair path to legalization for those already here,” a euphemism for illegal alien amnesty.

Obama met last week with Schumer and Graham, and the White House said a sweeping agreement dealing with as many as 12 million illegal immigrants was unlikely to get through Congress without support from both parties. Such a measure would have difficulty advancing before November’s congressional election especially with the epidemic of violence occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border and reports that Islamic terrorist groups are recruiting and training would-be terrorists in Central and South American countries.

It’s been widely reported that illegal aliens comprise upwards of 27 percent of the US prison and jail population. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — two agencies within the Department of Homeland Security — claim in several reports that they’ve apprehended over 100,000 criminal aliens whose offenses go far beyond violation of immigration laws and regulations.

Sadly, only about 25 percent of expenses for imprisoning criminal aliens is reimbursed by the federal government to state and local governments. This creates a hardship for taxpayers in states with high incarceration rates for criminal aliens. The proponents of open borders or lax immigration enforcement always point to the benefits derived from illegal immigration such as the amount of taxes they pay into the government system. Evidence, however, exists that refutes those claims. For instance, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence that suggests a large number of illegal aliens are paid “off-the-books” therefore those wages are not taxed.

The National Research Council has estimated that the net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year, with most government expenditures on immigrants coming from state and local coffers, while most taxes paid by immigrants who actually do pay taxes go to the federal treasury.

The net deficit is caused by a low level of tax payments by immigrants, because they are disproportionately low-skilled and thus earn low wages, and a higher rate of consumption of government services, both because of their relative poverty and their higher fertility.

This is especially true of illegal immigration. Even though illegal aliens make little use of welfare, from which they are generally barred, the costs of illegal immigration in terms of government expenditures for education, criminal justice, and emergency medical care are significant.

Californian officials have estimated that the net cost to taxpayers in order to provide government services to illegal immigrants approached $3 billion during a single fiscal year. The fact that states must bear the cost of federal failure turns illegal immigration, in effect, into one of the largest unfunded federal mandates existing today.

In addition, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, even with free trade, the United States continues to enjoy a higher real wage than other nations, due to the superiority of US technology. If taken to an extreme and the US removed all barriers to migration, most foreign workers would move to the United States, lured by the higher wages available here; Foreign labor would essentially cease to exist.

However, with all labor now in the United States, the prices of goods would return to their level of self-sufficiency, prior to the opening of trade. That is, perfectly free migration entirely eliminates the gains from trade that US natives had enjoyed. World income rose with the migration, but the natives of foreign countries in this case received more than all of this rise, since the income of US natives declined. With the world’s majority of low-wage workers in the US, there would be tremendous damage to free trade and its benefits, with US middle and upper-middle class workers suffering the brunt of declining wages.

The urge for a utopian state of existence and a desire to make all things equal by the American Left has given way to a desire simply to make all things equal sans utopia. In their passion for a neo-Marxist level for the masses, they’ve decided consciously or subconsciously that if they could not bring the World’s population up to the American level of prosperity and wealth, then they will bring US citizens down to the World’s level of poverty and misery. For this is a result of seeing free trade as a zero-sum entity, and self-alienation of the American Left from their own country, the USA.

The problem isn’t about the need for new laws; the problem is about the lack of enforcement of existing laws. The US Constitution provides the executive branch with a number of inherent powers such as the enforcement of immigration laws.

The Constitution also mandates that the President protect American sovereignty and the American people. That is the number one priority for our government — of it should be. And congress is mandated to provide domestic tranquility for Americans. Criminal alien gangbangers do not add to our domestic tranquility.

Why is it suddenly necessary for congress to pass laws on illegal immigration when we haven’t been enforcing the laws that already exist? The executive branch has the power to add border agents, equipment and other resources. The President has the power to use the military if necessary to enhance border protection. Passing laws is an easy, painless process. The trick is to enforce those laws.

And why isn’t the US government arresting illegal aliens while they are protesting in our city’s streets all across the country? The protest organizers, believed to be sponsored by left-wing groups including Open Borders and MEChA, are protesting the border security bill that passed the US House of Representatives in December and is still awaiting passage by the US Senate.

The University of Texas at El Paso recently conducted a study that found the following: Treating illegal immigrants in hospitals accounts for nearly one quarter of the uncompensated costs at border county hospitals in Cochise County. That county in Arizona spends tens of thousands of dollars just picking up trash left at campsites by these illegals. Prosecuting and jailing illegals costs this county an additional $5 million a year. And 25 percent of Cochise County’s budget is paid for health care for the uninsured, the majority of whom are illegally in the country.

In another study of a sample group of 55,000 criminal aliens, it was discovered they accounted for over 400,000 arrests and more than 700,000 criminal acts including felonies. In Los Angeles, the city that’s hosting the protest — which was whole-heartedly endorsed by its mayor — 95% of the outstanding arrest warrants for homicides are for illegal aliens and 65% of all felony warrants are for so-called undocumented immigrants. Are they committing the crimes Americans won’t commit?

Afghan and international forces killed several militants and detained numerous suspects in operations last night in Afghanistan, military officials reported.

In Kunar province, a combined Afghan-international force went to a compound in the Chapa Dara district after residents asked for help in removing the local Taliban threat.

Intelligence information confirmed militant activity and the location of a Taliban commander believed to be responsible for planning attacks against Afghan and coalition troops. Several armed militants threatened the combined element as it surrounded the compound, forcing them to engage the insurgents. These armed militants, including the targeted Taliban commander, were killed.

The Afghan-led force called out for remaining Taliban in the compound to surrender peacefully, but the hostile fire continued. Because Taliban in the area have used innocent civilians as human shields, the decision was made for the combined force to withdraw to minimize the chance of civilian casualties. Close-air support was called in to safeguard their departure, and the security force returned to its base.

In the Zharay district of Kandahar province, a combined force detained several suspected insurgents for further questioning, and another combined force detained two suspected insurgents in Helmand province’s Nad-e Ali district.

No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations, officials said.

Military officials say 2011 will be a transition year for dwell time in the U.S. Army.

The Pentagon has called improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, among the most deadly threats to servicemembers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dozens of military families were reunited this weekend as the Army Reserve’s 180th Transportation Company returned home after a year in Iraq.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recognized the contributions women have made in the military during a ceremony Thursday at the Pentagon.

Hundreds of National Guard troops from North Dakota and Minnesota are deployed along the Red River to help fight the rising flood waters.

The NATO training mission in Afghanistan needs more qualified trainers in order build a high-quality Afghan military.

Jim sent this in:

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice celebrated the one-year anniversary of Attorney General Eric Holder’s 2009 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) guidelines.

Issued exactly one year ago, Holder’s guidelines were supposed to aid President Barack Obama’s “new era of open government” by establishing a “criteria governing the presumption of disclosure” and creating “effective systems for responding to requests.” 

Unfortunately, after only the first year under these heralded guidelines, Judicial Watch reported on March 17 that its officials have experienced little improvement in U.S. government transparency or accountability.

In fact, a recent analysis finds that government secrecy has actually increased under Obama. Indeed, the first year of the Obama administration is ripe with examples of absent accountability and selective transparency. From the secrecy surrounding Obama’s czars, to the backroom deals in the health care legislation, there is little cause for celebration over Obama’s “new era of open government.”

During the celebration held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the hour-long festivities featured several self-congratulatory speeches by FOIA representatives from the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Attorney General Holder made some short remarks touting the Justice Department’s work in creating a new era of transparency. According to Mr. Holder, President Obama has “delivered” on his pledge “to restore the sacred bond of trust that should exist between our nation’s government and its citizens.”

Holder also announced that the Justice Department will present an Open Government Plan on April 7, 2010. Ironically, the celebration of government transparency failed to feature a question and answer portion, a disturbing absence of transparency since there were dozens of reporters and opinion writers in attendance. 

Judicial Watch officials stated they did not encounter the idyllic open government that Eric Holder referenced in his celebratory remarks. In fact, the Justice Department, and specifically the Attorney General’s Office, has stonewalled Judicial Watch in a number of recent FOIA requests.

For example, in February, Judicial Watch attorneys filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Justice to obtain documents related to Eric Holder’s decision to prosecute terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 conspirators in New York federal court.

The lawsuit is the result of a complete failure by the Attorney General’s Office to comply with the statutory requirement to respond within a 20-day time period. Judicial Watch’s experience demonstrates that noncompliance is common practice with this Attorney General’s Office.

However, the facts surrounding the DoJ’s noncompliance with its own guideline did not prevent Monday’s celebrants from highlighting their accomplishments. They also avoided addressing – or even acknowledging – any problems with Obama administration transparency (other than the occasional ‘there is more work left to be done’ comment).

“Holder also used the oldest trick in the book: he made his official statement on a Friday afternoon during a busy news cycle,” Baker said.

“As part of Holder’s confirmation process, a list of legal briefs to the committee was turned over to senate staffers,” he said. And the list turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee did not include filings in about seven cases.

The issue of Holder’s past legal papers came up after some Republicans asked why lawyers who had previously done legal work for terror detainees now had jobs in the Justice Department, something President Barack Obama successfully avoided discussing, and something conveniently overlooked by a Justice Department now saturated with Holder colleagues whose work records show they defended terrorism suspects and ‘Gitmo’ detainees.

Attorney General Eric Holder didn’t tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about at least six Supreme Court Amicus briefs he prepared or supported, his office acknowledged in a letter Friday, including two urging the Court to reject the Bush administration’s attempt to try Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant.

“It has come to our attention that some but not all briefs submitted to the Supreme Court by or on behalf of Attorney General Holder as counselor Amicus were supplied to the Committee in the course of his confirmation process last year. We regret the omission,” Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.  Sen. Leahy, who has his own problems with honesty dating back to the days of the cold war, has not indicated his committee will take any action against Justice Department executives and attorneys.

For example, Attorney General Eric Holder didn’t tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about at least six Supreme Court amicus briefs he prepared or supported, his office acknowledged in a letter Friday, including two urging the Court to reject the Bush administration’s attempt to try Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant.

While Holder and Obama can count on the support and loyalty of the majority of Senators and congressmen, some conservative lawmakers are not ignoring the AG’s suspected duplicitous behavior

For once, someone in the media (in this case Fox News Channel) stands up to the President. And you probably know what the bone of contention is here: the health care reform bill. here’s Part 1 of the interview. Stay tuned to The Republican Temple for Part 2 either later today or Friday.

The NATO training mission in Afghanistan needs more trainers to build a high-quality Afghan military institution, the deputy commander of the training effort said yesterday.

According to AFPS’ Judith Snyderman, Army Maj. Gen. David Hogg said U.S., NATO and Afghan partners have established military academies, officer candidate schools and specialty programs, but hundreds more trainers are needed. During a March 16 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable, Hogg said more than 800 of 2,325 trainer positions requested from NATO remain vacant.

The U.S. Defense Department considers the training mission so important that it may bridge the gap for the short term, he said. “In January, the United States Army deployed to us an infantry battalion to help thicken our training structure,” Hogg said.

He added that pressure is being placed on Afghan authorities to meet their commitments to supply trainers, and Afghan officials have pledged to pull 30 noncommissioned officers from each army corps to augment the staff in basic warrior training courses. Even without the full complement of trainers, Hogg cited progress.

For example, this week the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, which is modeled on the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., will graduate 212 army officers. A ceremony for new lieutenants to sign their orders symbolized a new merit-based military culture, Hogg said, because assignments were drawn in a transparent lottery.

Hogg said new officers will be distributed among the fledgling corps of Afghanistan’s military service. Many will be deployed in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, a few dozen will become pilots in the Afghan National Air Corps, and six will fill instructor positions at the academy.

Hogg also talked about changes improving the quality of the Afghan force down to brigade levels. He said the consolidated fielding center training has been extended from eight to nine weeks, not only to facilitate scheduling so Afghan commanders and U.S. partners can work in tandem with new soldiers, but also adding additional time for collective training, including improving literacy.

“The neat thing about this whole thing is the Afghans very much want to be literate,” Hogg said. “It is a motivating factor keeping them in the army and also bringing them into the army. There is a thirst to become literate.”

Taliban rule essentially destroyed Afghanistan’s educational system, he noted.

“And what you have is a bubble of folks who did not have the opportunity to go through elementary or high school,” he said, “and now we have a new generation that is starting to get educated.”

In the meantime, Hogg said, instructors at regional basic warrior training centers offer demonstrations and hands-on training. And for those who are literate, training manuals have been translated into Dari.

Next year, enrollment at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan will top 600 cadets, including some 40 future medical officers, Hogg said. He noted other positive signs, including a pilot program to train the first 22 female Afghan military officers that begins next month and the opening of a number of specialty schools for officers. New branch schools are producing needed expertise in areas of armor, artillery, signal, military policing and engineering.

Despite training shortfalls, Hogg said, he believes professional military education already is paying off. Feedback from the field indicates that the quality of the battalions and of the soldiers themselves is improving, he said.

Hogg added he expects the training gap for the Afghan military to close over time.

“As the quality of the institution increases, you’ll see a decrease in the need for trainers and advisors and contractors,” he said.