Bunning to the rescue of big money interests -- "Screw you little guys!"

For the Republicans, Jim Bunning has created a mess with his principled, but seriously impolitic timing for declaring his fiscal conservatism.

The stakes are high.  An outgoing Senator with nothing to lose can afford to be principled even if it underscores sensibilities akin to Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake."

Jim Bunning is not above using his power to award government money to his friends through the earmark process.  When you see his sponsorship of unfunded allocations of our money to private contractors, his stand against government spending benefiting hundreds of thousands of workers in a time of great need becomes a study in hypocrisy. 

I have a thought...if Bunning is so concerned about paying for the benefits that he claims to support, then why don't we rescind every earmark he's placed into law as a down payment?  Check his earmark record; that'll be a good start.

Democrats can't believe their luck.  Neither can I.

Health Care Summit

I watched the Health Care Summit today on C-Span. Before I go further, I'd like to give kudos to the network.  They did a fabulous job.

Here's my take on the Summit:

Republicans were intent on arguing for a reset.  Getting a "do over" on the legislation would be a significant win for them.  Not only could they claim credit for "stopping a government takeover of health care," (which incidentally is a misrepresentation..) they would gain more time to whittle away at any attempt for reform in an election year.  Democrats would be fools to sacrifice their advantage at this stage in the game, so my money says the Republicans will be disappointed.

The President handled the matter very well today.  He appeared very Presidential and kept himself above the fray.  Throughout the day, he sought to keep the focus on solutions and grounds for compromise rather than political points.

John Boehner is a lying sack of shit.  Not only does his proposed legislation do nothing to ameliorate the health care problem in any appreciable way, it would exacerbate it.  The true beneficiary would be John Boehner and his re-election committee. Boehner outright lied through his teeth with his figures--his misuse of data was so extreme that calling him a liar is to defame real liars everywhere.

Dick Durbin nailed the problem succinctly.  He asked everyone present if they would be willing to give up their insurance so they would understand the plight of millions of Americans.  Wonder how many of those rich people would do that?  I smell a "let them eat cake" obliviousness run rampant.

Jim Cooper acquitted himself appropriately.  He reiterated that every delay in reform costs lives and pushes the debt onto succeeding generations.  Excellent point.  Jim doesn't photograph well though....

Some annoyances:  John McCain needs to get a clue.  Henry Waxman, although rather accurate, is no Mr. Personality.  

My ultimate opinion:  I think the Summit was a success.  It forced everyone to put forward their ideas to be judged on the merits.  It reduced the partisan advantage of health care reform.

The President and the Democrats have extended the olive branch of bipartisanship (moreso than the Republicans).  I suspect they will push their agenda and pass reform, either with or without Republican help.  If they're smart they'll push ahead.

We'll see.

It's been a long time, but I'm back: Health Care Reform Screw up.

I want to apologize for my dilatory posting.  My focus has been on Health Care Reform and I wanted to see how the legislation fared.

With the election of Scott Brown to fill Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, it appears as if the health Care Bill is dead in its tracks.  Kudos to the Republicans for getting back in the game, but shame on them for ignoring the plight of real Americans to help their real constituencies, viz. Big Insurance, Big Hospitals, and Big Pharma.

You can't support policies that help fat cats and also claim to be working for the little guy.  It's hypocrisy at its finest.  Making it worse in my book is all the idiots who are little guys that believe the propaganda and not the results.

Health Care Reform

Health Reform was the driving issue for my vote during the Presidential Election.  Obama promised to use his political capital (All of it I might add...) to get Health Reform passed.

The failure of the Senate and the House to pass meaningful Health Reform falls squarely at Obama's feet.  Instead of leading the battle for this historic legislation, Obama chose to play it cool and stand back while the Legislature did what it does best: Screw up.

I saw this coming, but was hopeful that surely the Democrats wouldn't mess up something so vital  to not only the nation's financial health, but also their political future over the venal scumbaggery so evident in the Republican Party.

But, alas it was not to be.  With the likes of Ben Nelson holding up passage to get some special favors and other Democrats too worried about their political careers to concern themselves with the literal health of our nation, we got nothing but a lot of drama culminating in a loss of Ted Kennedy's seat.

Obama played it too cool on this issue and he "cooled" himself right out of success.

As a lifelong Democrat I am ashamed of my party.  I'm a Democrat because I can't bring myself to support a party that advocates policies for the wealthy and powerful at the expense of everyday folks.  When you fight the well-financed and hypocritical forces of the right, you can't play fair because they won't--they're on a mission from God.

I said it before Obama was elected and I repeat it:  You must fight assholes with assholes. If your aim is to protect the nation's working people and powerless, you must fight fire with fire.  Politics is not the place for playing Jesus and turning the other cheek.

Reagan era Republicanism is dead; Democrats the new pragmatists.

E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post sums it up clearly with his analysis of the future of the both Democrats and Republicans.

The broader point shouldn't be ignored: Republicans should realize that the Reagan era is over and find a new pragmatism.

Democrats have embraced pragmatism and will thus survive much stronger and with greater ability to run the show as a result.

Republican backing Diebold makes ther voting machines easy to hack...probably on purpose

When I hear the Republicans complain about voter fraud, I can't help but be reminded of Diebold.

Diebold makes electronic voting machines. They make the kind without a paper trail, so if the machines screw up, then well, voting is FRAUDULENT.

Now this normally wouldn't be a much cause for concern except when Diebold does something obviously stupid that screams out for some bozo to take advantage of the voting process. Here's a good example of Diebold stupidity.

The problem with Diebold is simple. The CEO of Diebold is a staunch Republican supporter.

So I ask you: Are the claims about voter fraud really a red herring to point the finger away from the side who will actually be engaging in voter fraud?

Based of the problems with electronic voting machines, lack of paper trail, companies like Diebold offering up online keys to anyone for their voting machines. I can hardly believe voting fraud is the sole province of Democrats.

Love the new look: John McCain -- Flip Flopper

The Republicans used the "flip flopper" label to great effect last presidential election.

Now, it seems that John McCain sees some value in dramatically changing his policy positions.

It's a good thing that John McCain has decided that the best way to win his election is to be more---Democratic.

Welcome John McCain. We'll send you your Donkey Button.

Democrats are consistently better for the economy--based on the facts and data.

Here's a fun story.

Based on data dating back to the 1950s, Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans.

So, if the economy is the most important issue for you and you fail to vote Democrat, then you are voting against better economic policies.

That's plain and simple. Vote Democrat to improve the economy.

Winston Churchill said it best...

After watching all the bloviating by the typical press opinion-istas and watching the Democrats fall victim to the out and out bald-faced lying coming from the McCain camp, I worry about the results of the election.

If we, as a nation, allow another Republican deceiver into the White House all because he and his campaign manage to say what people want to hear, even if it's not true, then we probably deserve what we get.

I'm reminded of a quote from Winston Churchill when I think of the possible consequences of electing a lying Senator, too old to live out a term without dementia, along with his ideologue running mate.

Winston summed it up about Americans when he said of us:

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing...after they've exhausted all other possibilities."

I don't know what's more stunning: The fact that so many willingly give up any notion of good sense and reason just to elect some party willing to lie, cheat, and obfuscate? Or, whether people are really such ignoramuses.

If McCain wins with the sort of campaign he's running, then we've sacrificed our collective intelligence upon the alter of our shallow foolishness. The results will be dire...more dire than they've already been.

I know that since Bush was elected I've seen my personal wealth disappear. I've seen my career prospects dry up and my income fall dramatically, even though I should be in the prime years of my earning potential. It can't all be my fault like the Republicans will try to argue.

Democrats are reverting to their spineless selves again. Enough is enough.

Here's the problem facing the Democrats now that McCain is riding the Palin wave.

The Republicans are masters at saying exactly what people want to hear--even if it's not true. Those who support the Republicans are dedicated loyalists to their party and just stick their fingers in their ears when legitimate questions about their candidate are posed.

The Democrats have fallen for the bait. By not attacking McCain and Palin BECAUSE Palin's a woman.

This is flawed and nothing but Karl Rove bull. Spare me the faux outrage please.

Palin is first and foremost a politician and she should be treated as such. Screw the fact that she's a woman. The Republicans are exploiting her gender to their advantage with the press.

The Republicans are running a campaign that consists of "taking offense" at everything. This is a load of crap. I take offense at their deceit and continual lies on the economy and energy policy.

The best approach is to turn the tactic on its head and pummel Palin and McCain. There may be an initial backlash, but eventually things will begin to stick. The Republicans can only take offense for so long before they start looking weak.

The press will eventually get over their shiny new bauble that is Governor Palin.

The Democrats need to give them something to latch onto, viz., the weaknesses Governor Palin brings to the ticket and possibly the country.

The Right can't stand it when they're given the O'Reilly treatment.

This flap is hilarious. Apparently, the Republicans are finally getting a taste of their own medicine with MSNBC.

They don't like it. Good.

Democrats have suffered with the highly partisan Fox News for years and people rolling their eyes when Democrats complain about it.

Now that the shoe's on the other foot, the Republicans show their thin skin.

They can dish it out, but they can't take it.

I don't watch Obermann, but what I have watched I find funny, especially when he takes on Bill O'Reilly.

Big babies.

How can we have a political campaign when one side is constantly crying foul, but wanting the right to sling mud at the same time?

We can't. This is politics...get with the program.

McCain spreading B.S. about Obama to scare people--Again.

As is typical of the Republican machine, John McCain is spreading lies about Obama to discourage voters. This comes from a non-partisan source too, so Fox News can't do its usual claim of bias against the source.

Republicans have successfully thrown this stinkbomb for years and it is typically nothing but a pack of lies.

Too bad U.S. voters, as a whole, do little in the way of background checking before they buy into this sort of campaign garbage.

Socialized Health Insurance is a wildly popular idea that could be doomed by inertia

Here's an article by Paul Krugman laying out the issues related to universal health care.

I think Paul is on target. I agree with what he says.

He makes the point that Republicans have for too long bristled at the notion of universal health care as "socialized medicine." This is true. He doesn't make the same distinction between socialized medicine and socialized insurance that I do, but he does allude to it.

Here's my previous posting about it.

David Zucker has traded one ideology for another in an intellectually dishonest move.

Here's an interesting article about a Hollywood big wig that's changed his ideological stripe from liberal to conservative.

David Zucker brought us some classic comedy movies, cf, Airplane, Naked Gun, etc.

Now, it seems that Zucker now believes Democrats are a scourge. Especially after 9/11. This sounds strangely similar to Ron Silver's conversion to right-wing politics after New York was hit on 9/11. (You rememeber Ron Silver, the liberal actor that conservatives hated until he spoke at the 2004 Republican convention?)

Zucker struck up a friendship with Dennis Prager, a conservative talk radio dude.

Here's what I see.

Zucker is not unlike those 60's liberals who think they MUST have an ideology in order to be political.

That's a mistake. Here's why.

Ideology carries with it certain blindspots to the actual reality. This applies to both liberal and conservative ideologies alike.

For example: How can conservatives supporting Bush blame liberals for all the shenanigans of the Bush administration? They can't, but rather than acknowledge it, they stick their heads in the sand and give Bush a pass, since he represents the conservative ideology in the political sphere.

I agree with Zucker's irritation with Democrats after 9/11. But, my irritation with Democrats doesn't mean I should jump in bed with the other side. To do so shows a dearth of intellectual depth and a susceptibility to ideology.

My issues with the Democrats remain (spineless more often than not), but if the alternative it to support the Republicans (feckless more often than not), as the Dennis Pragers of the world would have us, then that's not much of a choice--in fact it's a Hobson's Choice, meaning that it's no real choice at all.

This is the problem with ideology and the simplistic thinking from the 60's--Everything is black or white, everything is either up or down, and liberal or conservative. That ignores the complexity inherent in modern political life.

Here's what I say to that: I actually use my brain and can see that the world has degrees and shades of gray.

Ideology works best for those without much of a brain or for those who are too blind to their own limitations. This applies Zucker (and Ron Silver...) if he cannot see the real complexity in the world.