Seems to me – and the vast majority of US citizens – that jobs and the economy should be a higher priority than the health care legislation that President Obama and Congress wants to cram down our throats. Scott Brown seems to agree.

It looks like the Democrats are going ahead with taking the health care bill to a reconciliation vote. They claimed on Thursday that they couldn’t strike a compromise on rules in terms of abortion (read: the government will pay for abortions) and gambling that they can secure the votes necessary to turn this legislation into law, with the vote taking place presumably some time next week.

Of course, the decidedly left-leaning Democraps (typo intentional) are targeting the centrists (Blue Dog Democrats and moderate Republicans), with the preferred method of convincing being the twisting of arms and rumored offering of jobs and aid to the states of the undecided representatives.

Regardless of the methods, there is a lot at stake here.

Firstly, the president’s call to expand health care to about 30 million uninsured Americans and to prohibit insurance company practices such as denying coverage to individuals who have pre-existing conditions.

And without a doubt, the vast majority of us would be affected by the current piece of legislation, which would change the way we receive and pay for health care, from the most basic checkup to the most expensive, lifesaving medical treatment. And what is probably the most disturbing part of this piece of crap? Americans, should this be signed into law, would be required by law to purchase health coverage.

And that, folks, is in my humble opinion unconstitutional. A power grab by the federal government, namely the Obama administration.

Oh, by the way, there will be taxes that will be hiked in order to finance this scheme. One that is beng proposed is a new excise tax, beginning in 2018, which would levy a tax on employer-provided health care plans worth more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families.

When the voting day comes around, you can almost rest assured that the Republicans will use every legal tactic available to them to delay the passage of the Democratic package, even if they cannot successfully kill it.

What is certain is this. There are Democrats who are sittin on their hands making this decision as they realize that their political careers ride on the vote that they cast on this health care legislation. How they vote will speak volumes into their character of the representatives who vote as much as it says about Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, co-ringmasters of the health care agenda.

Is government-ran health care around the corner? If you want this legislation to die a certain death both in the House and Senate, do yourself a favor – contact the representatives who represent your district and voice your displeasure.

If you choose not to, they will intrepret that as indifference (hell, the Democrats are doing that already) and voter accordingly.

More proof that President Obama’s popularity is continuing that downward spiral, courtesy of Rasmussen Reports:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 22% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President.

Forty-two percent (42%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 72% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 17% Strongly Approve and 45% Strongly Disapprove.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe that passage of the proposed health care legislation will hurt the economy. Just 25% believe it will help.

Sixty percent (60%) of parents believe that textbooks used by their students are more concerned about political correctness than accuracy.

Republicans hold a seven-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.

Overall, 43% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. That, too matches the lowest level yet recorded for this President. Fifty-six percent (56%) disapprove.

Forty-two percent (42%) favor the President’s health care plan while 53% are opposed. Most believe passage of the plan will increase the cost of health care. Fifty-five percent (55%) say that Congress should scrap the current health care legislation and start over.

It is important to remember that the Rasmussen Reports job approval ratings are based upon a sample of likely voters. Some other firms base their approval ratings on samples of all adults. President Obama’s numbers are always several points higher in a poll of adults rather than likely voters. That’s because some of the President’s most enthusiastic supporters, such as young adults, are less likely to turn out to vote.

Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. The margin of sampling error—for the full sample of 1,500 Likely Voters–is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has made the following nomination:

• Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez has been nominated for re-appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and assignment as commander, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command/deputy commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan. Rodriguez is currently serving as the commander, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has made the following nomination:

• Navy Vice Adm. Paul S. Stanley has been nominated for reappointment to the rank of vice admiral and assignment as principal deputy director of cost assessment and program evaluation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C. Stanley is currently serving as director, force structure, resources and assessment, J-8, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.

This is pathetic, folks. Some hack named Joe Klein over at Time magazine actually thinks that Obama was all that and a bag of chips in reference to the televised healthcare summit. Here is his two cents on Obama and the healthcare summit:

Shame on me. I was elsewhere yesterday and missed the health care summit. I’m catching up now, and the tea leaves seem to indicate that Obama came out well ahead of the Republicans. How do I know that? From Matt Drudge, of course. I mean, Drudge’s takeaway from the summit is that the President talked a lot--actually, the President, the Congressional Democrats and Republicans each spoke an equal amount–the Times of London found it boring and the networks turned to other programming.

Reading between the lines, you can conclude that the Republicans had nothing very interesting, or clever, to say (and were never able to get the President’s goat). And that the President was his usual, unflappable, well-informed self. You can also conclude that not much progress was made at the summit, as Karen reports here–but that’s a huge surprise, right?

Reading further, in the New York Times, I can’t find any indications that the Congressional Democrats were actually present at this meeting. Certainly, they had nothing notable to say, no new compromises to propose–which leads to another obvious conclusion: the Republicans have been absolutely recalcitrant in this process, but the Dems are no bargain, either.

I remain convinced that if the Republicans actually wanted to deal with this issue, they might have gotten some major concessions from the President–malpractice reform, for sure; perhaps a greater use of insurance polices that emphasize catastrophic coverage (as the Republicans wanted), maybe even a system–as John McCain proposed during the campaign and health wonks everywhere favor–that truly limited the deductability of  corporate health care benefits. To get these things, however, the Republicans would have had to say yes at some point. As in, YES, I’ll vote for the bill if you throw in malpractice and pay for it with the money you get from limiting deductability. That is what happens in a negotiation. That is what is supposed to happen in a democracy.

But the obvious truth here is that the Republicans do not want any sort of health care bill to pass at all because they do not want to hand President Obama a victory. Shame on them.

It is plain to see that Klein just doesn’t get it. He says that he didn’t watch the summit yet has the gall to bash the GOP as the party who doesn’t want any healthcare bill to pass – all because of depriving the POTUS of a victory. Whatever that means.

And Joe goes on to say that Obama, the Democraps and Republicans all got equal time speaking – which is not the case at all.

Then there was the disrespect from the mouth of Obama; conveniently, Klein didn’t bring that up. Obama dissing McCain and a host of others. Obama saying he lost track of the time in terms of speaking because “he is the president.” And just as importantly, Obama refusing to get rid of “reconciliation”. The narcissism, the condescending attitude and just plain being out ofd touch – all three traits were on full display at the summit.

So for some hack from a MSM magazine to just assume that the GOP doesn’t want helathcare reform in order to score political points is wrong and ignorant.

Which explains why TIME’s readership is on a par with MSNBC’s viewership – down in the basement. TIME ceased to be a magazine a long time ago and they just illustrated that in spades by ill-advisedly putting Klein’s diatribe online.

For those of you who watched at least part of the dog-and-pony show that was the Healthcare Summit, then you probably saw the disresepct, talking points and nothing beneficial getting accomplished.

The above videos show the POTUS in action – for those of you who miss it.