Last night, the House of Representatives passed ObamaCare by a vote of 219-to-212. The most bi-partisan aspect of the bill was the opposition to it. Republicans voted unanimously against it and they were joined by 34 Democrats. This bill raises taxes by more than $500 billion. It imposes new taxes on investments and new fines on businesses. It imposes unconstitutional mandates on Americans and funds abortion. This is what happens when liberals get power.

In a weekend of outrageous statements, the worst was to hear Obama and Pelosi describing their takeover of nearly 20% of our economy in the language of liberty. They cloaked one of the biggest expansions of government and retractions of liberty in our nation’s history in conservative rhetoric. For example, Nancy Pelosi hailed the vote as “great act of patriotism.”

After the House vote, President Obama said, “We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people.” But the American people didn’t want this bill. The latest Rasmussen poll found that likely voters opposed it 41%-to-54%. In fact, there is not a single poll the president can point to in the past 60 days that shows public support for the legislation that passed last night.

Conservatives did everything in their power to stop socialized medicine. The reconciliation process used to circumvent conservative efforts is proof of that. And while the Left is celebrating today, it has damaged our democratic republic in the process. The bill was written behind closed doors. Committee hearings were a charade. It passed the Senate not because of the legislation’s merits, but because of special deals and kickbacks. Until the national uproar, Speaker Pelosi had planned on passing it without even voting on it.

When a Republican doesn’t vote consistently for conservative principles, he is called a RINO – a Republican In Name Only. I don’t know what you call a Democrat who betrays his core principles, but this bill should be called the “Stupak Abortion Subsidy Act.”

Rep. Bart Stupak has been elected to Congress as a Democrat since 1992 in a relatively conservative district. But he was always pro-life. Yesterday, Stupak sold out his pro-life values for an executive order from the most pro-abortion president in history. An executive order cannot override legislation. That’s why the Hyde Amendment was so important and has been reaffirmed by every Congress for more than 30 years. The Senate bill funds abortion, which is why Stupak consistently said he was a “No” vote until the very end.

My friends, this is just the beginning. Obama said recently that he was going to wear us down. The Left isn’t done. Immigration “reform” is next. This is gut check time for our values and American Values is not giving up. We have serious concerns with the constitutionality of the healthcare legislation, as do several states. We are exploring various legal avenues to continue the fight for our values in the courts.

Now if your reaction is to throw your hands up in despair, give up and walk away, then the Left has worn you down. But if your reaction is to recommit to the values we cherish and fight even harder, then it’s not too late to make America the “shining city upon a hill” our Founding Fathers envisioned. I’m not giving up and I pray you will continue to stand with me!

Media elites and pointy-headed leftwing intellectuals are having spasms this morning over Sarah Palin. What set them off this time? A liberal blogger discovered that Gov. Palin had written some “cheat” notes on her hand to use during her speech at the Tea Party convention this weekend. Every commentator in the country is using the incident to denounce her as stupid, non-intellectual, un-presidential and unserious. By the way, the “reminders” on her palm were “Energy,” “Cut taxes” and “Lift America’s spirits.” Oh the horror!

Of course most of the media talking heads continue to think that Obama is just the smartest, coolest guy that has ever occupied the Oval Office. Most of them thought it was silly when we raised questions about why our Harvard-educated president couldn’t say “Good morning” without his co-president – the Teleprompter. And even with the teleprompter, Obama manages to display serious ignorance. In a speech last week, he told a story about a Navy corpsman apparently not realizing that the “p” and the “s” in “corpsman” are silent. Twice, with the teleprompter, Obama pronounced the word as “corpse man.” Now there’s a job I wouldn’t want.

The media and the Left desperately want America to think that only liberals are smart. I remember how Reagan was mocked unmercifully because he used note cards during his speeches. The media had nothing but contempt for Dan Quayle. And, of course, George W. Bush was constantly presented as a buffoon.

“Poor little stupid Sarah Palin,” they are all saying. She wrote “Energy” on her hand to remind herself to bring up the need for more drilling. She wrote “Cut taxes” because she believes that is how to get our economy moving. She wrote “Lift America’s spirit” because she knows America needs inspiration.

Our president doesn’t write notes on his palm. He “knows” that limiting drilling is a great idea while we grow more dependent on people who hate us. He “knows” that raising taxes on families and small businesses is just the thing to do when the economy is on the ropes. And he is too busy apologizing for America’s sins and bashing businesses to think about lifting our spirits.

So who is the stupid one?

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit kicked off this weekend with 15,000 delegates and officials, 5,000 journalists and 98 world leaders expected to attend. Despite the ongoing “Climategate” investigation, another scandal is brewing in Copenhagen – the rank hypocrisy of leftwing elites. At a conference filled with the true believers of the gospel of global warming, one would think they would set an example by minimizing their “carbon footprint” as much as they can. But like members of the Soviet Politburo, living lives of luxury that their people could hardly imagine, many of these global warming advocates are doing the exact opposite of what they preach.

The managing director of the largest limousine firm in the Danish capital said she had more than 200 limousines booked on the opening day of the conference. On a normal day, she has 12 reservations. Between her company and others, she estimated that there will be more than 1,200 limousines on the road. How many of those limousines are powered by alternative fuels? Five.

The Copenhagen airport is also expecting 140 private jets during the peak time of the conference. The number is so great that the airport doesn’t have the capacity to hold all of them, so many are being re-directed to nearby cities. Including travel, the 11-day conference will use 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide — greater than the daily amount produced by 30 countries.

While the delegates in Denmark debate what steps we should take in response to the theory of global warming, reality in the United States is running contrary to the idea of warming. The central U.S. is bracing for its first blizzard of the year. The wind chill in the northern plains will reach 30-40 degrees below zero. In southern California, at the San Bernardino mountain range, up to 3 feet of snow is expected, and some areas set a new record low. Dallas, Texas, had its earliest snowfall in 90 years, and Houston experienced its earliest snow fall on record.

Why It Matters

In case you’re wondering why all the hot air about the weather should matter to you, here’s the bottom line: If the bureaucrats get their way, their theory is going to cost you – and it’s going to cost a lot. Germany is often looked to as a model for the green economy. It has been at the vanguard of environmental regulation, and the Washington Post recently featured a story about “The High Price of Going Green” in Germany.

According to the Post report, “A kilowatt of electricity costs three times as much [in Germany] as it does in the United States, supercharged with high taxes to discourage use and to help fund renewable energy development. Meanwhile, a 50 percent ‘eco-tax’ has sent the price of gasoline soaring to $8 a gallon.”

The Left wants to follow that example here. The Obama Administration just announced that the EPA will declare carbon dioxide a “dangerous pollutant” that must be vigorously regulated. What economic sectors produce the largest amounts of carbon dioxide? According to the Wall Street Journal, “Electricity generation, transportation and industry represent the three largest sources of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.” Get ready to pay three times as much for electricity, $8.00 a gallon for gasoline and watch even more jobs get shipped overseas to escape radical environmental regulations.

According to Emily Douglas, editor of The Nation, a leftwing magazine, Americans need to reduce consumption to save the planet, and the way to do that is to make things more expensive. Douglas toldCNSNews.com, “Yeah, I think things should be more expensive… If goods are more expensive, it stands to reason that Americans will buy less of them.”

To any rational person, Douglas’ idea is economic insanity. What she fails to appreciate is that there are jobs and families attached to the goods and services that people buy. But to many liberals, what is bad for the economy and your job is good for the environment. Unbelievably, her “logic” has become mainstream thinking in Washington.

According to the Heritage Foundation, in introducing his cap and trade bill in the Senate, John Kerry (D-MA) made this astounding statement: “The United States has already this year alone achieved a six percent reduction in emissions simply because of the downturn in the economy, so we are effectively saying we need to go another 14 percent.”

Kerry is conceding that a strong economy means increased carbon emissions. But, remember, consumption (economic activity) is bad. So, to meet the goal of his cap and trade bill – a 20% reduction in carbon emissions – we should make the recession three times as bad. How can government raise prices to stop consumption? Tax energy.

America’s struggling economy does not need one more tax, but that’s exactly what cap and trade is. You can read more about cap and trade in my weekly Human Events column.

Laura Tyson, an economic advisor to President Obama, is suggesting that the nation needs a major economic stimulus plan devoted to infrastructure spending to help the anemic economy recover. No, you’re not having déjà vu; the administration is laying the ground work for Stimulus II. Believe it or not, Tyson says the $787 billion stimulus bill was “a bit too small.”

In addition to our budget deficit, Washington is also suffering from a serious trust deficit. The trillion-dollar stimulus bill (it’s real cost with interest) was sold to the nation as an infrastructure plan full of “shovel ready” projects. We were told that if it passed, unemployment would not go above 8%. Well, infrastructure projects accounted for only 11% of the $787 billion, and unemployment today is 9.5%.

The bill wasn’t what Democrats told us it would be, nor has it done what they promised it would do. But now they are demanding a “redo.” I don’t know about you, but I want a refund!