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Now that the atrocious, budget busting, Obamacare reform bill has been signed into law, there are a number of things that should not be forgotten. Although the president touted his ability to work across the aisle in his campaign rhetoric, he has rather, rejected every effort any Republican made to help make this ridiculous bill an acceptable one to the American people.

By accepting a number of the suggestions presented to them, the bill could have been, not only cheaper, but much more palatable to the rank and file citizenry. Now, that they have enacted the bill, they are still totally engaged in trying to make it sound acceptable to the people. Obama is holding his pre-selected audience ‘town hall’ meetings. Nancy instructed her house members to spend their Easter holiday, telling their constituents what a wonderful bill this is. They are perfectly aware that it is a very socialistic and highly expensive step to have taken when the country is on the verge of bankruptcy. Let’s check a few of the amendments offered by some Republicans which were voted down or simply ignored.

Oren Hatch, Republican Senator from Utah, who has always been a reasonable and cooperative man, tried to block the Medicare Advantage cuts if more than a million seniors were going to lose their coverage from it. The Democrats voted his suggestion down. Now this is after Obama said time after time, that if you like the coverage you now have, you can keep it! He knew all the time that was a lie. One of their first demands was to cut Medicare funding by $500 billion. Knowing full well that benefits would have to suffer to accomplish that. Medicare is inadequate for health care, even as it is. But it surely does help, but without the Advantage programs it will be sorely inadequate. But it must be cut drastically so the millions of non-tax paying aliens can have Medicaid, which is free and covers everything. This, in particular, should be kept in mind when November 2 comes around.

The Democrats attached a federal takeover bill for student loans. They will be the only ones through which one can secure a student loan. They will pay 2.8 percent to borrow the funds and loan them to students for 6.8 percent. The 4 percent profits will go for more government. Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, made an attempt to lower the student’s interest by 1.5% but again the Democrats voted it down.

The Republicans also tried to eliminate the “ sweetheart deals” such as occurred in Louisiana, Connecticut and Nebraska. The Democrats voted to keep them. Here is a quote of more:

"Republicans also proposed that the bill not go into effect unless projections showed, as per the president's promise, that it "would not increase premiums more than the premium increases projected under existing law." They also proposed separate amendments to exempt several groups of patients from paying a new tax on medical devices: First, wounded soldiers; then pediatrics, the disabled and cancer patients. Democrats said no, no, no and no. No matter what the costs, and no matter who would be hurt, the bill would become law without any changes. The list of amendments killed by the Democrats went on and on - at least 42 of them, by our count, all of them aimed at protecting Americans from harmful effects of the new law." (Editorial: Washington Times- April 4, 2010)

And here is one that every Democrat wherever they may be, should be ashamed of and remember well, on November 2. An amendment was offered that would ban any funds being used to purchase Viagra for: "individuals convicted of child molestation, rape or other forms of sexual assault." That vote should have been unanimous...but the Democrats voted it down. Bi-partisan?

O.K., now, it is not difficult to keep up with those who voted for and against this bill to get it through the House of Representatives so they should be kept in mind without fail until the next election. Every Republican voted against the bill. Thirty four Democrats voted against the bill and are listed below. But keep in mind, many of them wanted to vote for the bill but were having diarrhea for fear you would vote them out in November. Also, those of whom voted for the bill, some will tell you they only voted for it after the president assured them he would issue a presidential order banning the use of funds for abortion. Don’t buy that. Every one of them knew that was nothing but a farce. A presidential order cannot override a law and He knew it and they knew it. Here are the Dem Reps who voted against the bill:

Rep. John Adler [D, NJ-3]
Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4]
Rep. Michael Arcuri [D, NY-24]
Rep. John Barrow [D, GA-12]
Rep. Robert Berry [D, AR-1]
Rep. Dan Boren [D, OK-2]
Rep. Frederick Boucher [D, VA-9]
Rep. Bobby Bright [D, AL-2]
Rep. Ben Chandler [D, KY-6]
Rep. Travis Childers [D, MS-1]
Rep. Artur Davis [D, AL-7]
Rep. Lincoln Davis [D, TN-4]
Rep. Thomas Edwards [D, TX-17]
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin [D, SD-0]
Rep. Tim Holden [D, PA-17]
Rep. Larry Kissell [D, NC-8]
Rep. Frank Kratovil [D, MD-1]
Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D, IL-3]
Rep. Stephen Lynch [D, MA-9]
Rep. James Marshall [D, GA-8]
Rep. Jim Matheson [D, UT-2]
Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7]
Rep. Michael McMahon [D, NY-13]
Rep. Charles Melancon [D, LA-3]
Rep. Walter Minnick [D, ID-1]
Rep. Glenn Nye [D, VA-2]
Rep. Collin Peterson [D, MN-7]
Rep. Mike Ross [D, AR-4]
Rep. Heath Shuler [D, NC-11]
Rep. Ike Skelton [D, MO-4]
Rep. Zachary Space [D, OH-18]
Rep. John Tanner [D, TN-8]
Rep. Gene Taylor [D, MS-4]
Rep. Harry Teague [D, NM-2]

There were other “Blue Dog” Democrats who were intending to vote against the bill but were bought over. Remember them in the voting booth also, remembering that they were making a pretense to keep this as low as possible in order not to increase the deficit.

The individual earmarks requests from each of those lawmakers range from $20 million to $1.4 billion. Of the eight lawmakers whose 2010 requests were available for comparison, five requested more money than they did a year ago. Stupak requested $579 million.

Here are the earmark amounts requested by the 11 House Democrats in the 2011 bill:

Rep. Jerry Costello of Illinois.: $1,418.7 million ($256.4 million in 2010)
Rep. Solomon Ortiz of Texas: $618 million ($726.1 million in 2010)
Stupak of Michigan: $578.9 million
Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio: $294 million ($305.7 million in 2010)
Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania: $236.8 million ($54 million in 2010)
Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota.: $207 million ($226 million in 2010)
Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana.: $115.4 million ($82.3 million in 2010)
Rep. Charles Wilson of Ohio: $84 million ($62.3 million in 2010)
Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania.: $67.1 million
Rep. Steve Driehaus of Ohio: $33.2 million
Rep. Joseph Donnelly of Indiana: $19.8 million ($11.65 million in 2010)

So, remember these civil servants when you step into the booth in November, and you might want to mention them in your prayers. They need it.