Gabby Watch

Like a good puppet of the Democratic Party leadership, and pawn of the most liberal members of the United States House of Representatives, Gabby Giffords continues to show what kind of tricks she has up her sleeve. These tricks are used to dupe the people of Arizona into believing that what she does is for the greater good of the country.

This time, she and the Democrats are using one of the most deceiving tricks in the book - “it’s all for the children.” Unfortunately for the children, Gabby and her Democrat colleagues are using them as an excuse to push their ultra-liberal agenda.

Yesterday, the Democrats rammed an “Inclusive Health Care Bill” through the House 225-204, mostly along party lines. The bill is designed to increase funding to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program by $50,000,000,000. This program is something the White House and most people support in theory, but it is quickly losing backing because of the Jokers still left in the card deck.

In an opinion piece Gabby had published today in the Arizona Daily Star, Ms. Giffords said, “The Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act (the CHAMP Act), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday, makes critical improvements to Medicare while cutting wasteful spending.”

What Gabby has conveniently failed to mention is that the “critical improvements” to Medicare is a major cut from the programs funding. In her own defense, Gabby justifies this move by claiming that letting insurance companies compete for lost cost savings has let these companies make too much money. But if you read between the lines, Gabby is really saying that she believes the government can handle better what the free market has already been doing for a number of years. It is a direct endorsement by Gabby for letting the federal government balloon its spending and introduce socialism to the United States health care system.

“This is not just about helping low-income children. This bill today seems to be spending government funds to lure middle class, upper middle class, even wealthy, perhaps, families, to opt out of private health coverage and go to government health coverage,” said Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee.

Gabby and her liberal friends on the hill have forgotten to tell us why there is such strong opposition to this bill, other than the fact that it lets the government slowly encroach on the private sector. Why? Because if everyone knew the truth the Democrat-controlled Congress would sink even lower…

1. It introduces a tax increase on low-income Americans
2. The bill plans for pay for the increased funding to the program by putting a tax increase on tobacco. This tax hike was not even discussed in the House Ways and Means Committee which has the jurisdiction over changes to the tax code.
3. The bill is designed to give free health care to “children”, but it considers a child to be as old as 25 years-of-age.
4. It contains provisions that will aid illegal immigrants
5. There is a lack of anti-fraud provisions

For someone who claims to be a fiscal conservatives, Gabby’s backing a tax increase, on low-income Americans of all people, strikes her out. For someone who claims to want to see an ethical Congress, Gabby’s backing of skipping right over the Ways and Means Committee to introduce tax hikes, strikes her out. For someone who wants to see honest and open government, Gabby’s backing of a bill that claims a 25 year old to be a child and not talk about it, strikes her out. For someone who claims to be strong on border security and immigration reform, Gabby’s backing of a provision to aid illegal immigrants, strikes her out. For someone who claims to be a strong supporter of closing loopholes in government programs, Gabby’s backing of a bill that lacks anti-fraud provisions strikes her out.

It would seem that a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition would see the flaws in a bill like this. A bill that in no way, shape, or form is fiscally responsible, nor small government minded. But when you’re a member of the exclusive Pelosi Protégé program, what would you care about sticking to your “principles”?