Senator Brown, here's how to defeat Obozocare even in reconciliation

[1789 Patriot]

If in fact, the progressives decide to commit political suicide and try
to ram this healthcare bill down our throats, I would expect that you
and every other republican will be prepared to go to political war for
as long as it takes to defeat it. What do I mean by that?

If Harry Reid decides to use the nuclear option (reconciliation) that means
it has to go to the amendment process. The opposition gets to advance
amendments that must be voted on.

Here is the important part: There are no limits to the number of amendments that the opposition can
propose. Let me repeat, there NO LIMITS to the NUMBER of amendments that
can be proposed and must be voted on.

I would hope that you and the rest of the republicans will be prepared to propose about one
million amendments and be prepared to stay in session until doomsday to
defeat this bill. Make all the necessary plans required to go to war.

Make no mistake, this is a war for freedom, the Constitution and America.
This is what you ran on and what you were voted in for. This is where
you earn your money. If you need help crafting one million amendments
let me know I have already thought it through.

Anyone else who reads this post and lives in a different State with a republican
Senator, please email them, write them, call them and encourage them to
join the fight!  Encourage them to propose amendment after amendment
after amendment if Reid decides on the nuclear option. This bill can be
defeated even in reconciliation if our Senators are willing to do the
jobs they have been hired to do.

[Grandpa]

Great suggestions Patriot. For us and for our senators. Believe me I am blasting, fax bombing, calling, emailing, and generally being very deliberate in letting them know "we the people" do not want this. My family and friends are also.

[JH Griffin]

Posted then deleted by moderator- looks like DeMint may have saved the day.
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Senator Conrad, the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee said yesterday that reconciliation can only be used if the House passes the Senate bill first. As Sen. Conrad declared, “I don’t know of any way, I don’t know of any way where you can have a reconciliation bill pass before the bill that it is meant to reconcile passes.” Neither do I.

Then, the kicker: “When reminded that House Democrats don’t want to do health care in that order, Conrad said bluntly: ‘Fine, then it’s dead.‘”

Now, the Speaker finds herself in the position of having to pass a bill she says she does not have the votes to pass.

Without passing the Senate bill she can’t pass, the Speaker can’t do reconciliation. (See Sen. Conrad, above.)

OK. Now, this next part is really, really important.

The Speaker and the White House find themselves in this position because of Senator DeMint (R-SC). He insisted that Senator McConnell object to the appointment of the House-Senate Conferees, thus preventing a Conference on the bill.

The inability of the Dems to have a House-Senate Conference then forced the Speaker to have a House floor vote on the Senate bill, which she can’t pass. And there the process has been stuck. Has not moved an inch since Sen. DeMint’s objection. It can’t, she does not have the votes.

The Speaker could fix the Senate bill on the House floor by amendment, then pass the Senate bill amended and fixed, but then it would have to go back to the Senate, where it would have to get 60 yes votes, or die. Since it will not get 60 votes ever again in the Senate, it will die — if the Speaker tries the amend the Senate bill on the House floor and send it back to the Senate route.

When Senator DeMint (R-SC) denied the Speaker the ability to fix the bill in Conference, he put the Speaker and the White House in their current box. If there had been a House-Senate Conference, then the House could have fixed the bill without a floor vote and the bill could have changed, without having to send it back to the Senate to face 60 vote margins.

But now, they can’t have a conference, and the Speaker and the White House must pass the unpassable Senate bill, in order to even try reconciliation.

When the Democrats finally admit ObamaCare is dead, historians should note, this is the single act that killed it. And it was such an artistic assassination of the bill.

Even with a city full of people watching the process, and who all saw the House and Senate Conference be denied, all the chattering heads and analysts did not understand what it meant, until it was too late.

[1789 Patriot]

Great post Griffin. I was aware of DeMint's strategy at the time it happened. Thanks for the reminder but I am still very wary. The House had plenty of democrats that voted against the bill (around 36 I believe) but could switch that vote if the Chicago thugs get a hold of them. My democrat congressman voted against the bill but I believe he did that with Pelosi's blessing. (Which is why I am very wary) He is in a swing district and I believe just protecting his job when the poop hit the fan. He voted for crap and tax so this bill looked like it was right up his alley. I was surprised when he voted against it.
Point being, I am very wary when Pelosi says they don't have the votes. I don't trust these people as far as I can throw them. We need to have as many back up plans and strategies in place as we can come up with.
Jim DeMint rocks!

[Grandpa]

JH, thank you for posting. I had not recognized that angle. Exceptional job by Demint. I knew there was a reason I joined his senate conservative team and donated to their efforts. I received this letter from them yesterday.

Guess Who Else Had A Summit in Washington

President Obama's health care summit wasn't the only example of political deafness this week. The Washington establishment also held a fundraiser for its hand-picked candidate to run against Chuck DeVore for U.S. Senate in California.

For those paying close attention, this won't come as a surprise. We've known for months that the same folks who originally backed Arlen Specter against Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania and who now support Charlie Crist against Marco Rubio in Florida have also been helping a candidate run against Chuck DeVore in California.

The Old Guard in Washington is entitled to pick the candidates it likes best, but that doesn't mean we have to go along. We can have our own online summit right now to help raise money for Chuck DeVore, which will help offset the establishment event in Washington.

Contribute to Chuck DeVore's Senate Campaign

Chuck DeVore is gaining speed in the race to replace liberal Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer. DeVore continues to win over crowds as he travels throughout California with his principled message of conservative values. In fact, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows that DeVore has cut Boxer's lead in half in just a few months. She led him by 10 points in November, but now she only leads by 5 points (47%-42%), nearly within the 4.5% margin of error.

Chuck DeVore's momentum isn't just showing up in the polls. He was also recognized by the nation's leading conservative columnist, George Will, who said DeVore would win the GOP primary. On ABC's This Week, Will said, "Chuck DeVore, he's the conservative in the race, and I'll make you a small wager he is the Republican nominee." Watch the video.

In one of his recent columns for the Washington Post, Will explained why DeVore's conservative message is resonating:

The most conservative candidate is DeVore, 47, an aerospace executive and lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve...

When addressing Tea Party audiences, DeVore asks how many of his listeners have ever been politically active before. Only about 10 percent raise their hands. Conservatives everywhere were dispirited by the Bush administration; California conservatives are doubly demoralized as the failed Schwarzenegger experiment expires. Politics is supposed to be fun, and for California conservatives, voting for DeVore would be the first fun in many a moon.

Chuck DeVore recently got to sit down with Glenn Beck to discuss the dangers of the progressive movement and the need for Americans to force Washington to follow the Constitution. During the discussion, Beck said, "You intrigue me," which was high praise from someone who dislikes politicians. Watch the video.

DeVore also got a chance to speak at the conservative CPAC conference last week where he explained why it's important to elect a conservative in California. Watch the video.

The June 8 Republican primary is fast approaching and we have a lot of work to do to help elect Chuck DeVore. He's gaining momentum but he's up against California liberals and the Washington establishment.

Please tell your family and friends in California about this proven, conservative leader and please make a contribution to his campaign today.

Contribute to Chuck DeVore's Senate Campaign

If Chuck DeVore wins the primary and defeats Barbara Boxer, it will be a game-changing victory for the principles of freedom that will begin a fundamental political realignment in our country.

[Grandpa]

Typical "Chicago Style" politics. Buying votes and bribes. Yeah, just goes to show how bad this legislation actually is. Obama has to "buy" votes from his own party. This whole thing stinks.

http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-now-selling-appeals-court-jud...

[Grandpa]

Healthcare Reform. Is Barac Obama fulfilling a promise to Unions and George Soros?

If you are wondering why is Obama continuing to drive forward on Healthcare reform, pursue government takeover of healthcare, and defy the wishes of the majority of Americans? Allow me to provide you some information to possibly connect the dots.

According to latest Rasmussen polling data 53% of Americans are strongly opposed to Obamas plan.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_eve...

Yet despite that information he continues to drive forward, seeming to ignore the will of the people. At the same time he continues to drive down his own poll numbers. Each day he supports this policy his approval rating continues to drop.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_admin...

Why? Well the answer might be a little less obvious than you would expect. It all connects to how he got into office during the election and the massive IOU that he was left with. Organized labor was instrumental in the primary win for Obama over Hillary Clinton. Without the union support and organizing literally thousands and thousands of "volunteers" (well, paid volunteers) he would never have been able to defeat Hillary and Bill Clinton. This was called the most carefully orchestrated, destructive effort, ever in a political primary, Obama used MoveOn, SEIU, and ACORN members to pummel the Clinton campaign. But, these organizations knew what they would stand to gain. George Soros funneled millions into MoveOn, the democrats funneled millions into ACORN, and the unions spearheaded by SEIU (Service Employees International Union) did the rest. Without going into unnecessary details, let me just say that after Obama won the election he owed these people BIG TIME! How could he pay them back?.

Well you know what happened to ACORN with the expose'. But, you might not know recent events. Despite public outcry and congress suspending their funding, the current Obama budget has $3 billion, Yes, THREE BILLION in it for ACORN. Also, yesterday the New York district attorney office announced they would not be filing criminal charges against the ACORN members from the expose'. "Federal" State Attorney General Eric Holder had considerable influence in that outcome. Who appointed Holder? (and supports him even with the decision to proceed with terrorist trials in civilian courts) Ok, well the next one is even more disturbing.
www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/5548
www.lonelyconservative.com/2010/03/01/no-prosecution

What about MoveOn? Well that one was much easier, billionaire George Soros funded that organization personally, so the only thing that Obama had to do was something to pay him back (or create) the $100 million or so that he funded. So on January 29th 2010, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil. The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA ! Now here’s the real clincher…the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil”. We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever!..... Wait, it gets more interesting....Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? Yep, you guessed it, George Soros.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120...

Last, but by no means least, what about SEIU? Well, on this one, the union president, and personal friend of Obama, Andy Stern already had a plan for the quid-pro-quo. Andy quickly became the most frequent visitor to the White House as soon as Michelle and Barac moved in.
http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2009/11/18/seiu-president-andrew-stern-...

Andy's union was in big trouble. Had been for quite some time. It seems those big, hefty, union pension payments were in trouble. Stern could see the writing on the wall. Many unions are in the same predicament. Their pension funds are not significant enough to keep up with the payments and benefits to members. What is the biggest drain on the pensions and the membership funds? Yep, the same for all Americans in the non-union sector. Rising Healthcare costs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203946904574300113800... (union pensions in big trouble)

Andy had already established a plan. He made healthcare reform a top priority. Not out of some altruistic goal to benefit his membership. But, purely as a financial plan to save his business. After all, unions are just businesses that exist within corporate businesses, kind of like the tick on a butchers dog. When business is good, the dog gets fat, the tick engorges itself with huge demands and gives generous benefits via contract negotiations to its members. Andy knew that the "healthcare commitment" already promised to the members is a huge financial liability and they may not be able to keep it. The butchers dog is losing weight.
http://www.seiu.org/a/mediakit/andy-stern.php (Andy Stern makes healthcare reform a top union priority)

Stern had a vested interest in Obama winning election and then developing the Healthcare reform legislation. Stern wasn't just willing to trust Obama's promises. After all, Obama is a Chicago style politician. Similar to the mafia, Obama could turn on Stern, or "cave in" to public opinion once he took office. He couldn't risk that. So Stern kept up the pressure, kept up the visits, and positioned himself as an insider. It is safer to guard your agenda that way. In addition you can "mold" and manipulate the policy or bill to your benefit. And what happens if the bill looks like it is going to tax your team?
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/unions_get_pecial_treatment_i...

Stern isn't stupid. He sees how unpopular the healthcare reform is. So he has to keep pumping up Obama and supporting his efforts. Consider that if healthcare reform fails, Andy's union will become financially insolvent. What is a major point of opposition to the reform? THE RISING DEFICIT. So how are two friends going to address the potential deficit issue and at the same time construct healthcare reform? Hey, Chicago style please... So taking care of his friend, and keeping him close, Obama actually appoints Stern to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
http://laborpains.org/?p=4710 (Andy Stern appointed to Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform)
http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/02/26/president-obama-name... (members)

Obama can shape the policy and strong arm the support (big twists) with Nancy, and Andy can keep the smoke and mirrors routine with the budget commission until the plan is finished.
http://switcher.dmn.aol.com/sw/r?ri=48OnucasGTQ5WitZl8kHImQA&ai...

So now you know. Obamacare may be, in part, just a BIG election payback under the smokescreen of presidential altruism. Chicago style politics on the backs of the American people. You decide.

[Grandpa]

[Grandpa]

U.S. companies are gasping for cash like beached fish fruitlessly flapping their gills. Rather than help these firms find financial oxygen, President Obama would accelerate their asphyxiation.

Specifically, Obama’s February 22 health reform proposal would sic the 2.9 percent employer-employee Medicare tax onto “income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, and rents.” This spanking-new investment-income tax would slam individuals who make more than $200,000 and north of $250,000 for married couples. These folks, who often risk their money in fledgling companies, will not enjoy Washington’s applause. Instead, Democrats will demand that they surrender even more of the proceeds of their productive capital.

This 2.9 percent tax may sound picayune, until its 10-year cost emerges: $234 billion --Americans for Tax Reform reckons -- or $334 billion, if it smacks capital gains.

So, while unemployment hovers near 10 percent, and the economy reeks of a relentless hangover, Obama would vacuum up to one third of a trillion dollars from the productive sector and pump it into an increasingly hated entitlement scheme.

Every dollar that ObamaCare would suck out of investors is one fewer dollar that could help fund a new patent application, charter a new company, hire a new sales representative, or export a new product.

Investors who face diminished returns on capital will spurn potential opportunities. This new tax will frustrate those whose promising innovations lack financing.

These negative repercussions would reverberate beyond the “idle rich” who supposedly fan themselves with dividend checks between swings of their croquet mallets.

“With a less productive economy, there would be fewer job opportunities,” predict the Heritage Foundation’s Dr. Karen Campbell and Guinevere Nell. “Thus, wages and salaries are estimated to fall by an average of $14 billion per year nominally.” They add: “Taxing the investment income of high-income individuals is estimated to reduce the economy’s potential by an average $10.2 billion per year. That is $102 billion of real accumulated lost opportunities over 10 years.”

Heritage’s analysts further forecast that this ObamaCare tax would “lose $1.37 in gross domestic product (GDP) for every dollar of additional revenue collected.”

Obama’s policy of capital deformation could not be more ill-timed. Weary entrepreneurs and managers are scrounging for cash as billions fester on the sidelines.

“Lending Falls at Epic Pace,” sobbed February 24’s Wall Street Journal. Total bank loans outstanding slid 7.4 percent last year to their lowest level since 1942.

Beyond traditional banks, “Investments by venture capital firms fell to $17.7 billion in 2009, the lowest since 1997, down 37 percent from 2008,” calculates David Malpass, president of New York’s Encima Global. VC funds raised only $15.2 billion in 2009, down 47 percent versus 2008.

Malpass believes this helps explain America’s lingering joblessness. “Without an active venture capital market, the labor market recovery will be held back. Some 20 percent of GDP has been accounted for directly by companies that were venture financed.”

Obama also would slap a $22 billion tax on pharmaceutical companies, atop their existing 35 percent corporate tax liability. Democrats relentlessly rail against the “greed” of Merck, Novartis, and other drug companies. However, they should explain how depleting pharmaceutical coffers somehow will encourage them to underwrite new and improved remedies.

Obama’s plan similarly would stick a senseless $19 billion tax on medical-device makers, heretofore hailed for creating prosthetic limbs, insulin pumps, pacemakers, and similar life-enhancing and life-saving technologies.

“We should be focusing our efforts on policies that will promote innovation, patient care, and job creation in the US,” Medical Device Manufacturers Association president Mark Leahey told the Utah Technology Council last month. This new tax, Leahey added, “will result in companies laying off employees, moving jobs outside the US, cutting research and development, and slowing the introduction of breakthrough therapies.”

Washington Democrats should stop smothering American enterprise. These $375 billion in new taxes may brighten ObamaCare’s balance sheet. But they cannot simultaneously finance the productive, job-launching activities of those from whom this cash would be squeezed.

[Grandpa]

Obama is willing to be honest with his "progressive" base behind closed doors. The Senate health care bill plus some reconciliation fixes is just the start.

The goal always has been a single payer system, and it remains so.

As soon as the Senate bill becomes law, the push will start for a public option and other changes demanded by "progressives":
Obama argued to the group of progressive members that his health care reform bill should be looked at as the foundation of reform, that can be built on in the future. He asked them to help gather votes for the final health care battle and promised that as soon as the bill was signed into law, he'd continue to push to make it stronger.
In his recent statement regarding health care, however, Obama presented his proposal as the end result, not the beginning (emphasis mine):
Last Thursday, I spent seven hours at a summit where Democrats and Republicans engaged in a public and substantive discussion about health care. This meeting capped off a debate that began with a similar summit nearly one year ago. Since then, every idea has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health care has been said and just about everyone has said it. So now is the time to make a decision about how to finally reform health care so that it works, not just for the insurance companies, but for America's families and businesses....

So this is our proposal. This is where we've ended up.

But this is not where we have ended up, and it is not how Obama plans to "finally reform health care."

The entire health care push by the Obama administration is a ruse. It's taking what you can get now in order to get more later.

But that is not how it is presented to the public. I wonder why?

[Grandpa]

Steve Benen, at Washington Monthly, suggests that the enthusiastic and open embrace by some single-payer advocates of the "Medicare buy-in" idea floated by Harry Reid, as a device to obtain a single-payer system, may have scared Joe Lieberman away from the idea.

Benen laments that such advocates were so open in their embrace:

Occasionally, there's something to be said for keeping one's cards a little closer to the vest.
At least Benen is honest about it.

The Medicare buy-in was just another of the devices to be implanted into the restructured health care system not on its own merits, but as the foot in the doorway. Once opened, that door would have be pushed ever more open until one day we had a single-payer system without anyone ever having voted for a single-payer system. The "public option" was the same deception under a different name.

Now that the Medicare buy-in and public option look like they will not be in a final Senate bill, do not think the deception is over.

The expansion of Medicaid, the extension of subsidies to families earning substantial five-figure incomes, and the host of other provisions which remain in the bill, all are part of the push toward a single-payer system. That is why the Obama administration will accept any plan which effectuates federal government control over the entire health care system. The details can be changed later on, so long as the door keeps opening.

At least we should call the Democratic proposals what they are: A Deception.

Update: Some more honesty about the Senate bill without a Medicare buy-in or public option:

If Barack Obama signs it into law, he’ll go down as the president with the most progressive legislative accomplishments since Lyndon Johnson. You’ll say that the American welfare state was inaugurated by FDR, substantially expanded by Johnson, and given its final shape by Obama.
And some more:

Disappointed progressives may be wondering whether their efforts were a waste. They most decidedly were not. The campaign for the public option pushed the entire debate to the left--and, to use a military metaphor, it diverted enemy fire away from the rest of the bill.
And here's how badly Obama wants a bill passed; he'd throw 10,000 Nebraskans out of work to get it:

According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if [Nebraska Senator Ben] Nelson doesn't fall into line.

Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson's vote." They are "threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?" asked the Senate staffer.

[Grandpa]

Eric Massa (D-NY) voted against Obamacare, and was prepared to back up that previous vote with another "No" vote on the current bill.
Obama and his WH staff are using typical "Chicago Style" politics, ie. Threats, accusations, blackmail, to get rid of him. It worked.
This is a BIG story and going to be much bigger all week.... Massa is now blowing the story wide open.

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Here is the audio
http://www.freedomslighthouse.com/2010/03/democrat-rep-eric-massa-s...


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Massa Implicates Emanuel, Dem Leaders
March 8, 2010 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (66) |
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By Reid Wilson

Embattled Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) lashed out in an emotional radio appearance Sunday, accusing Dem leaders of what he suggested was an orchestrated campaign to force his resignation.
"There's a reason that this has all happened, frankly one that I had not realized," Massa said on WKPQ radio on Sunday. "Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill, and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they've gotten rid of me and it'll pass."
Massa addressed rumors circulating on blogs about his personal behavior, including incidents during an informal Navy ceremony in '83 on the USS New Jersey and one that occurred in a state room later during his Navy career. He insisted he had done nothing uncommon, insisting his sin was
foul language.

A complaint before the House ethics committee, he said, stemmed from a wedding Massa attended over New Years, when he made an inappropriate comment to an aide, according to Roll Call, which first reported the radio program.

Massa maintained his comments were inappropriate, but he blamed "political correctness" and accused Dems of a setup. Massa voted against health care legislation in Nov., and he has not been a reliable vote for Dem leadership. That, he said, has put a target on his back.

"When I voted against the cap and trade bill, the phone rang and it was the chief of staff to the president of the United States of America, Rahm Emanuel, and he started swearing at me in terms and words that I hadn't heard since that crossing the line ceremony on the USS New Jersey in 1983," Massa said. "And I gave it right back to him, in terms and words that I know are physically impossible."
"If Rahm Emanuel wants to come after me, maybe he ought to hold himself to the same standards I'm holding myself to and he should resign," Massa said.

Massa slammed House Maj. Leader Steny Hoyer for discussing a House ethics committee inquiry, accusing Hoyer of lying in an effort to eliminate an opponent of health care. Hoyer said last week he heard in early Feb. about allegations against Massa, and that he told Massa's office to report the allegations to the ethics committee.

"Steny Hoyer has never said a single word to me at all, never, not once," Massa said. "Never before in the history of the House of Representatives has a sitting leader of the Democratic Party discussed allegations of House investigations publicly, before findings of fact. Ever."
"I was set up for this from the very, very beginning," he added. "The leadership of the Democratic Party have become exactly what they said they were running against."

Massa bemoaned the state of the nation's politics, which he said is perpetuated by the constant need for money to run for re-election. And, he said, he has been made an example by Dem leadership.

"There is not a single member of the Democratic freshman class whi is going to vote against this health care bill now that they've got me," he said. "Eric Massa's probably not going to go back to Congress, because the only way I would go back there would be as an independent. A pox on both parties."

Massa has held the radio program, in which he took calls from constituents, during his 14 months in office. He said yesterday's episode would be his last as an incumbent.


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An open letter from Rep. Massa

http://massa.house.gov/

Two days ago as I sat reading my new annual CAT scan, having been told that the anomalies in the films may or may not be scar tissue, I decided to finally take the advice that my doctors have repeatedly given me, and that is to take care of my family and myself before my profession. After I decided not to run again I was told, for the first time, that a member of my staff believed I had made statements that made him feel “uncomfortable.” I was told that a report had been filed with the Congressional Ethics Committee. At no point prior to this had any member of the Ethics Committee communicated with me directly – if fact I first read it on the internet.

I own this reality. There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable. In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart. Some would say that this is what happens when you stand apart from political parties, which I have done. Others will say that this is what happens to a non politician when they go to Washington DC. I want to make something perfectly clear. My difficulties are of my own making. Period. I am also aware that blogs and radio will have a field day with this in today’s destructive and unforgiving political environment. In that investigators would be free to ask anything about me going back to my birth, I simply cannot rise to that level of perfection. God knows that I am a deeply flawed and imperfect person.

During long car rides, in the early hours of the evening, late at night and always in private, I know that my own language failed to meet the standards that I set for all around me and myself. I fell short and I believe now, as I have always believed, that it is not enough to simply talk the talk, but rather I must take action to hold myself accountable.

Therefore, effective at 5 PM on Monday the 8th of March I will resign my position as the Federal Representative of New York’s 29th Congressional District in the 111th Congress. I do so with a profound sense of failure and a deep apology to all those whom, for the past year, I tried to represent as our Nation struggles with problems far greater than anyone can possibly imagine. I hope that my family, constituents, and fellow Members of Congress can accept this apology as being both genuine and heartfelt and I wish for them and all Americans only the best. I will take all actions possible to ensure that my personal health is secured in that I know that mine is a far more fragile lifeline than most. For the millions of fellow cancer survivors with whom I share this experience, they, more than anyone else, will understand the honesty and openness in this statement.
I ask that members of the press respect the privacy of my family, my staff, and me at this time.

-Congressman Eric Massa