Veteran political analyst and best-selling author Dick Morris tells Newsmax that a new Democratic Senate bill to control the financial markets is “the opening to socialism in America.”
Morris also says the fight to stop passage of the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill is going down to the wire in the House this week — a fight Morris calls “the people against Pelosi.”
A frequent Newsmax contributor and Fox News Channel commentator, political consultant Morris has handled the winning campaigns of more than 30 senators and governors.
Legislation unveiled Monday by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd is being called the biggest overhaul of regulations since the New Deal. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, Morris says he finds the bill deeply troubling.
“The most important provision in this bill, which is the opening to socialism in America, might be the most wrong-headed piece of legislation that has ever been passed by the United States Congress.
“It would give the Secretary of the Treasury the power to take over any financial firm he wanted if in his sole judgment he thinks it’s too big to fail, that its failure would have a ripple effect on the economy, and secondly, that in his judgment it’s on the borderline of insolvency. It’s not appealable in court.
“And once he makes that determination, he then has the power to replace the management, fire the board of directors, sell off parts of the company, and wipe out shareholder equity — absolutely powers that Fidel Castro would envy.”
Morris tells Newsmax that the Democrats right now don’t have the votes in the House to pass the Senate’s healthcare reform bill. He acknowledges that it will be hard to defeat the bill when Democrats have a 39-vote majority, “but we have a good shot at it,” he says.
“At the moment we’re slightly ahead of them. There are three or four [members who previously voted] yes that are no longer there. We have about 30 yes votes that are undecided. On the other hand we have about 10 no votes that are now listed as undecided.
“So it’s going to be very close. And it really depends on Newsmax viewers who are watching this. If we get enough phone calls to these marginal members and the League of American Voters gets enough funding to run advertisements in their districts promoting those phone calls, I believe we can win this fight.”
“Once this passes the House it’s as good as law. We’re either going to be successful or lose in the next seven days. Once we lose, if we do lose, you’re never going to get this thing repealed because you’ll never have a two-thirds majority of Republicans to overcome an Obama veto.”
Morris believes Republicans will take over Congress in this year’s midterm elections, but with only a simple majority.
“That’s not going to be enough,” he says. “We have got to win this fight this week. The chips are down. It’s the people against Pelosi, and you can have a big impact on this.
“Go to dickmorris.com. Look at the list of Democratic congressmen who are on the fence. Their phone numbers are right there. Call both their Washington and their district office, and click on the link and give us money to run ads in each of their districts urging voters to call them to get them to vote no.
“If we keep up the pressure, we can put down withering fire that will stop these folks from voting yes. And then Pelosi will lose control of the House. She’ll never get another major bill passed.”
Morris agrees that the Democrats will be breaking Senate rules if they try to pass non-budgetary items, such as mandatory insurance purchases, through reconciliation.
It will be an “ugly spectacle,” he declares. “I think the country will be revolted. I think they will suffer for it in the November elections.”
Referring to the escalating drug violence along the Mexican border, which on Saturday claimed the lives of three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate, Morris says: “This is a war, Mexico against the drug dealers for control of the country.
“If the government gives in to these drug dealers and thugs, they are essentially making Mexico a drug state. And believe me, the United States of America does not want a 1,500-mile border with a drug state.”
Morris notes that the Mexican government has made “enormous progress” in wiping out some of the drug cartels.
Asked what advice the former presidential adviser would give Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Morris simply says: “Win the war. Do what it takes. Stay the course and win it. There is no substitute for victory.”
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