Todd Akin

The U.S. Senate passed a $17.6 billion jobs bill today by a 68-29 vote, sending it to the White House for the President's signature. "The bill includes a payroll tax break for small businesses and highway funding designed to spur job growth," according to Politico.

In a new statement posted on his official website, Rep. Todd Akin warns that if the Senate-passed health care legislation becomes law, "it will create a system where unelected 'health care' bureaucrats can decide to use your taxes to pay for abortions."

This isn't true.  The Senate legislation -- with abortion language written by anti-choice Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- would require people who want coverage for abortions to write two checks to their insurance provider, and the plans would keep the money in a separate account from taxpayer funds.  The Associated Press analyzed the legislation last week, as did PolitiFact.com.

The Post-Dispatch challenges Rep. Todd Akin today for his prayers for God to stop "this fatal step pushing our nation into socialized medicine” (i.e., the compromise health care reform legislation). Check it out. 

Not ridiculous in any way:

Some Missouri legislators disagree. Representative Todd Akin, of Town and Country, called the health care bill "a threat from within and a danger from Washington D.C."

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder agreed. "This is Pelosi versus the people," he stated, "and we stand with the people." Kinder went on to say that he believed democratic measures [sic] for health care would turn the country "into something that is unrecognizable" from the country he and members of the assembled crowd grew up with.

What, exactly, does Kinder think he'll be unable to recognize?  The all-American joy of being uninsured?  Budget-busting insurance rate increases?

Todd Akin sure is confident that God is on Todd Akin's team. This morning:

[Todd Akin] credited divine intervention with the January election of Scott Brown, R-Mass., which deprived Democrats of the 60-seat majority needed to block fillibusters [sic]. Akin said he hoped God would intervene again in blocking the bill.

Todd Akin makes us proud at the 5:50 mark.

Earlier today, President Obama accused Republicans of "putting party before principle and voting against his 2009 stimulus plan but then attending 'ribbon cuttings' for stimulus projects in their own districts." Watch it:

Reps. Todd Akin and Blaine Luetkemeyer may have gotten a little ahead of themselves in co-sponsoring a Congressional resolution to praise conservative activist James O'Keefe for posing as a pimp in the now-infamous ACORN videos.

O'Keefe has been a right-wing media star since the videos were released, but was arrested yesterday by the FBI for allegedly attempting to tamper with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) New Orleans office.

Todd Akin has signed on to an amicus brief in D.C. Superior Court calling for a voter referendum on whether to legalize same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. Akin and 38 other Republican members of Congress have signed on to the brief filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, an organization founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. The Washington Post:

In the filing, U.S. senators James Inhofe (Okla.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) and 37 House Republicans align with Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church, in asking the court to reverse a D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics decision prohibiting the same-sex marriage question to be put before voters...

If some godless socialist from the ACLU thwarted your Christmas celebration this year, then you should probably call Todd Akin and beg him to keep fighting for an extremely important Congressional resolution to protect "the symbols and traditions of Christmas...for use by those who celebrate Christmas." 

Akin has cosponsored House Resolution 951 to show you just how much he loves Christmas. It reads:

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected for use by those who celebrate Christmas.

Whereas Christmas is a national holiday celebrated on December 25; and

Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment of the Constitution, in prohibiting the establishment of religion, would not prohibit any mention of religion or reference to God in civic dialog: Now, therefore, be it

The Rachel Maddow Show's report on Wednesday's "PrayerCast" to oppose health care reform legislation, which featured Rep. Todd Akin.

The Post-Dispatch: "If the GOP doesn't want to be branded the "Party of Stupid," it could stand to nominate more people who can speak eloquently on complicated policy matters."

Rep. Todd Akin contributed to a Family Research Council Action PAC "prayercast" last night, an webcast to pray for God's intercession in stopping health care legislation in the Senate. Ses. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) also participated.  FRC described the event like this:

During the Webcast, you will hear the latest on the threats to the God-given right to human life through government funding of abortions, our health from rationing, our family finances from higher taxes, and our general freedom posed by the government plan to take over health care.

Yesterday, the House voted 225-200 to permanently extend the estate tax at its 2009 level -- 45% for estates valued at more than $3.5 million, or $7 million for a couple.  As part of the 2001 Bush administration tax cuts for the wealthiest 5% of taxpayers, the estate tax gradually decreased and was set to disappear for all of 2010, only to come back in 2011 at a 55% rate for estates worth more than $1 million. Media Matters:

Rep. Earl Pomeroy's (D-ND) H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009, which passed the House today, will fix the problem by making the estate tax permanent at 45% and raising the exemption to $3.5 million.  According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, H.R. 4154 is actually a $233.6 billion tax cut.  Republicans, who want to entirely abolish the estate tax, must choose between supporting a Democratic tax cut or having rates rise in 2011. 

The Beacon's Jo Mannies spoke with the office of Rep. Todd Akin (R-You Serious) about his Thanksgiving lecture series (first noted in this space yesterday).  Apparently, the Congressman is quite serious when he says the Pilgrims can help us understand the horrors of Democratic health care reform proposals. Quoth official spokesman Steve Taylor:

Akin "believes that the principles expressed in the Mayflower Compact ... are definitely relevant to the Medicare debates and to a lot of debates [in Washington], including cap and trade."