This bill will only make every single problem with our health care system worse: higher spending, higher deficits, and worse care. Former-Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean said on Meet the Press yesterday, “[This bill] simply sets us on a track in this country which is expensive and where we’re going to have lots more political fights.” Dean is dead on. President Barack Obama’s signature on this health care bill settles nothing: it is only the beginning of a much larger health care fight.

In a bizarre email message to her supporters December 18, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D-Koolina) says there is "real concern" about ... "bankrolling a special election we cannot afford...."  She suggests the other option would be "doing without representation in Congress for a year." 

Cost saving measures totaling $452.3 million for FY 2010 that have already been implemented include reducing specific appropriations, eliminating cash funding of capital improvements, debt restructuring and a comprehensive 13.85 percent restriction on operating budget appropriations.  In addition, because 60 percent of the State budget pays for salaries and benefits of State employees, the Administration instituted payroll savings through furloughs and reductions in force.

However, these steps alone are not sufficient to close the expanding budget gap for FY 2010, which now totals $721 million.

Senator Ben Nelson got an unprecedented deal to force federal taxpayers to pick up 100% of the cost of Nebraska's Medicaid expansion--forever.

(Medicaid expansion in Hawaii?  Here's the cost >>> Obamacare punches $41M hole in Hawaii State Budget.  Looks like Inouye and Akaka don't have the clout that Ben Nelson has.  Too bad they're so liberal.)

A cloture vote limits debate to 30 hours.  The next vote can be held as early as 7am (EST) Tuesday morning (2AM HST).  A third vote would be held thirty hours later at 1PM (EST) Wednesday (8AM HST) followed by the final vote, which requires only a simple majority at roughly 7PM (EST) Christmas Eve (2PM HST).  Each of the two remaining cloture votes requires that all 60 Democrats show up.  If one Democrat misses the vote or changes his vote, the entire bill fails.

“From San Diego to Clear Lake, 57 tribes are cashing in on the annual $7.7 billion California Indian gambling boom, and some are throwing out many of their own members - all, critics say, so those remaining can pocket more cash. In many cases, that amounts to monthly allowances of up to $30,000 per person."

FreedomWorks has learned that it is Reid's intention to bring up the decisive cloture vote for the Left’s proposed government takeover of America’s health care system at 1:00 AM (EST) Monday Morning  (8PM HST).

While there are now clearer signs of an imminent recovery, risks abound, including possible additional fallout from state and local government fiscal crises and a possible stall in the global upturn. The beginning of local recovery will not quickly yield tangible benefits for many local households. Jobs will still be hard to find for several years, social welfare needs will abate only slowly, and income losses for public and private sector workers will persist for some time.

With President Bush no longer wielding a veto and a Hawaiian in the White House, Democrats would need to stumble badly to botch the passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act. Fortunately for conservatives, that's exactly what's happening.

Throughout the conference, one of the biggest obstacles to an agreement was the insistence of developing nations that rich countries sign a binding treaty that included a large transfer of wealth to the developing world. If there were any doubts that wealth distribution was at the heart of climate cap-and-trade agreements, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Chavez put them to rest when he delivered his anti-capitalist diatribe that drew thunderous applause from the convention’s delegates Wednesday....

Like the failed House amendments, the new version of S1011 creates a previously unknown category of "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents" which will exclude tens of thousands of Native Hawaiians from membership in the Akaka Tribe while at the same time opening the doors to people who are not ethnically Hawaiian.  It is likely that the vast majority of Hawaiians living outside of Hawaii will be excluded from becoming the Akaka Tribe under the rules laid down in Section 12 of the S1011.

This 10 minute video lays out the primary themes of Duke Aiona's campaign for Governor. See it here...

Will Dan Akaka introduce the existing version of S1011 or will he introduce a new version of S1011 modeled on the version of HR2314 which blew up in Neil Abercrombie's face yesterday?    

Explaining why he would vote against the Senate version of Obamacare if he were a Senator, former-Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told MSNBC last night: “You’re going to be forced to buy health insurance from a company that is going to take on average of 27% of your money … and there is no choice about that. If you don’t buy that insurance you are going to get a fine.” For this heresy, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs suggested Dean was irrational....

HSTA has side-stepped the primary issue by proposing to reopen portions of the original contract unrelated to the furlough issue and is seeking changes that would compromise the safety of the children and limit their after-school programs.  The HSTA is now saying they do not want teachers to participate in campus and playground supervision responsibilities during lunch hours.  And they no longer want teachers to voluntarily participate in school-related activities after the regular school day – such as glee club, debate team, robotics, or prom night.

This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. And, honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House … You have the vast majority of Americans want the choices, they want real choices. They don’t have them in this bill. This is not health care reform and it’s not close to health care reform.

At the outset of the hearing, Republicans expressed their fundamental constitutional concerns with this effort to create a separate governing entity for Native Hawaiians, and served full notice to Committee Democrats that we intended to use every House rule and parliamentary tool available to us to insist our concerns be heard.  Until Representative Abercrombie stated his intentions to not push forward the proposed changes, Republicans demonstrated their dedication to using all tools available to them.

Over the years, they’ve both traveled here to Washington, D.C. and testified to Congress in favor of the original text of the bill.  Now that the bill has been substantially rewritten behind closed doors, they’ve been compelled to send a five-page letter expressing opposition to the proposed changes the Committee is scheduled to consider today.  The Attorney General and Governor have only had the full text of the proposed changes for a matter of, literally, hours. Postponing until February 24^th will allow them time to fully review the changes and have their concerns understood and considered by this Committee.

Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) denies there is an "Akaka Bill Sneak Attack".  He claims that the Akaka Bill process is "transparent."  Yet only now--as the US House Committee on Natural Resources is debating Abercrombie's proposed Akaka Bill rewrite--has a complete copy of Abercrombie's proposed rewrite been made available to the public.  Clcik here to read the full revised bill being proposed by Neil Abercrombie. 

The live webcasts will begin approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the hearing.  Hearing begins at 5AM HST (10AM EST) Weds December 16.