Health Care Stupidity

I really wish that whenever a Republican/conservative/idiot proclaims that we can't have government run health care that somebody would ask them why are they so against Medicare.

The problem is that Democrats are stupid.

Bipartisanship

I know I have ranted about this before, but bipartisanship really is a load of crap. Sure people want to see it. Hell, even as much as I bitch about it I would like to see it. The problem is that the pundits on my teevee and people in congress too often seem to think that bipartisanship should come before a good bill. Health care reform could pass both houses without a single Republican vote and if it turns out to be a good bill and it works, nobody is going to punish the Democratic party because it wasn't bipartisan.

Pushing Health Care

The health care push is on with commercials both pro and con starting to hit the airwaves. I haven't been all that impressed with the pro side. Jim DeMint has given the pro side some great ammo to use, which means they probably won't use it.

"If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."

Republicans aren't interested in reforming health care. They are interested in damaging Obama. This should be the message that the pro side should be pushing non-stop. The White House and Democrats got a good deal of mileage out of painting the GOP as the 'Party Of No'. Why they have stopped just doesn't make much sense.

Reporting Half of The Story

Much has been made this morning and afternoon about the new Washington Post/ABC poll showing Obama's approval slipping. For some reason this is big big news. Was anybody really expecting his numbers to stay around 65 for his entire term in office? Regardless, it gives the talking heads a new story 'Is Obama in trouble?'.

I'm sure that the White House isn't happy with the slip in numbers. However, Steve Benen, points out the other half of the story.

While the gaps have narrowed a bit, the president has a 23-point lead over the minority party on economic policy, a 20-point lead on health care, and a 19-point lead on the deficit.

Of course I'm willing to bet the story will continue to be that Obama is in deep deep trouble with his 59 percent approval rating. Damn you liberal media!!!

Why The Senate Sucks

You have a bill that could bring in $4 billion in revenue annually. The bill has 45 cosponsors with supporters from both sides of the aisle. The bill failed by a vote of 54-23. That isn't 54 no votes by the way. In today's Senate nearly everything has to overcome a filibuster, which means you need 60 votes.

It wasn't just the filibuster that killed the bill, but it certainly had more than a helping hand. The chart above (from July '07) shows how the filibuster has been increasingly used as a tool to stop any and all legislation.

What He Said

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Does Not Compute

This.

If the incumbent holds on, some Iran experts suggested this morning, the post-election repression may actually make it more difficult for Obama to pursue a straightforward "engagement" with a discredited Ahmadinejad in the short term -- though it obviously reflects a deep dissatisfaction with the regime.

The number of people that seem to forget, including journalist who get paid for a living to cover stuff like this, that the President of Iran is nothing more than a figurehead amazes me.

Obama won't be dealing with Ahmadinejad or whoever ends up winning the election.

A bit off topic, but it would be nice if Martin would mention which 'experts' suggested this this morning so people can ignore them in the future.

Big Balls

Karl Rove has em.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you take some responsibility, meaning you, the Bush eight years, for this...

ROVE: No.

VAN SUSTEREN: You take absolutely no responsibility? Because...

ROVE: No.

The deficit is 1.8 trillion for this year. When Obama took office he was handed a 1.2 trillion deficit. And it is all Obama's fault.

Stop The Stupid

Well, to be honest, I hope this kinda stupid keeps going strong.

“Hispanic polls, Hispanic surveys, indicate that Hispanics think just like everyone else. We’re not like African-Americans. "

The above quote is from Manny Miranda who is trying to lead the charge against Soytomayor. So not only are conservatives looking to alienate the three latino voters that they actually have, but they are now working on alienating African-Americans as well. For shits and giggles somebody should ask Manny just how African-Americans think.

I thought this was pretty good as well.

"When I was on the leader’s staff, someone called me once and asked me: ‘What’s Senator Frist’s Hispanic agenda?’ I said, ‘low taxes, better education, more jobs … what are you talking about?’ And that’s how Hispanics are. This is an opportunity to educate them on all of our issues and they will resonate in the way that they resonate with everyone else.”

The GOP has had their ass handed to them for two straight cycles. The message ain't resonating.

Dear Conservatives,

Wanna know why we think you are stupid? Cause you are.

Sotomayor also claimed: “For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir — rice, beans and pork — that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events.”

This has prompted some Republicans to muse privately about whether Sotomayor is suggesting that distinctive Puerto Rican cuisine such as patitas de cerdo con garbanzo — pigs’ feet with chickpeas — would somehow, in some small way influence her verdicts from the bench.

Signed,
me

Smart Law Person Needed

Could somebody explain to me the court ruling on Prop 8 in California? The 18,000 people that got married prior to Prop 8 are still legally married, those who want to now can fuck off to Iowa? Shouldn't it be all or nothing?

I wonder what odds Vegas would have given a couple of years ago that Iowa would allow gay marriage before California.

What He Said

TPM

If we need to keep evidence of torture, like photographs, secret, to protect our troops, doesn't that suggest that torture isn't a great way to keep them or us safe?

Making Cheney Look Classy

I didn't think it could be done, but Specter seems to be making a run at it.

He's touting--and raising money from--a website called specterforthecure.com, which he describes as "a bold new initiative to reform our government's medical research efforts, cut red tape and unstrangle the hope for accelerated cures."

But the money he's raising isn't funding research grants, or advocacy, or treatment for patients who can't afford it. It's funding the Senate re-election campaign of one Arlen Specter.

I said getting him to join the party was stupid.

Rebranding

The GOP is the midst of rebranding. The problem is the rebranding looks a lot like the old brand.

A Democrat, making the familiar point that the most prominent Republican faces aren't the new ones, sends over the bookings on the Sunday shows:

This Week: John McCain

Fox News Sunday: Newt Gingrich

Face The Nation: Dick Cheney

Hehe.

DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan:
1996 called. They want their GOP Sunday show lineup back.

Elizabeth and John

I used to have a good deal of respect for both Elizabeth and John Edwards. The key phrase there is 'used to'. While I still respect them and admire the work they have done, they pissed away a lot of that respect.

Edwards denied the affair, but Scher and other loyalists from his 2004 campaign doubted his word, made excuses, and stayed out of the 2008 presidential race when Edwards launched his campaign after Christmas.

A few days later, Edwards made a partial confession to his wife Elizabeth, of a single, regrettable encounter with Hunter. Like Scher, she asked him to drop his bid, to “protect our family from this woman, from his act,” she writes in her book.

But Edwards went ahead with the campaign — and Elizabeth Edwards put her reluctance aside to drive his campaign forward.

You don't run for president with an unexposed affair hanging out in the background. Had John Edwards won the nomination and then his affair was exposed, John McCain is our president and much of what John and Elizabeth believe in is immediately put on the back burner if not back in the refrigerator for four to eight years. They risked that because they wanted John to be president.

I want to be clear that I could give a shit about a candidate having an affair. I don't like it, but it really isn't any of my business. I could also give a shit about a candidate using drugs, what church they do or don't go to and a whole host of other issues that are nothing more than low hanging fruit for stupid chatter. The problem is that the vast majority of voters do care about such things. John and Elizabeth knew this and ran anyway.

Why I Love The GOP

Stuff like this.

Republicans looking to recover from Bush-era defeats are turning to an unlikely source for advice: top aides to former President George W. Bush.

Deep Thoughts By Michele Bachmann

Each time Bachmann opens her mouth, I think it is important to remember that she gets to write laws.

"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter," said Bachmann. "And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

Also, ignoring the crazy for a moment.

It happened in 1976 when Gerald Ford was in office.

Specter

The big news in politics today is obviously Specter jumping to the Democrats. If you haven't heard the news turn on CNN, MSNBC or Fox and wait two minutes and you will.

A number of conservative pundits are quick to remind people that this wasn't Specter having an ideology shift, but rather a move to save his job. For once, I agree with the conservative pundits and even Specter has admitted to this being the a big reason. In other words, Specter hasn't changed, but the Republican party has.

Another example would be Lindsey Graham talking about how he is a moderate Republican. The guy scored an 89.79 from The American Conservative Union. I would be curious to see what a hardcore conservative scored.

I Dub Thee A Hack

Ken Strickland

As Congress prepares to vote on a budget that would include a procedural tool allowing Democrats to effectively shutout Republicans and pass sweeping health-care reform,

Strickland is talking about reconciliation and in no way does it 'shutout' the Republicans. What it does do is prevent Republicans from requiring a 60 vote threshold to pass health-care. Democrats and Obama would love to see Republicans working with and supporting the majority in guiding health-care reform through the Senate. The problem is that they aren't offering up any ideas, unless you count tax cuts and drill baby drill.....you know the usual. Instead of working to craft a strong bill, they will and are warning of the big scary gubmint coming to take your babies and doctors.

Republicans are not interested in health-care reform. They are interested in making sure it never happens. It would be an absolute disaster for them. I don't think you need a public poll to realize that people like to be able to go see a doctor when they get sick. If more people are allowed to do so under a Democratic president and congress, the party that has been fighting tooth and nail against that is going to have a tough time winning elections.

Not to give Republicans any ideas on how they can have more of an impact on government, but they should really think about winning more elections.

Not To Bring Up Old Shit

But

For years leading up to the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore committed the sins of taking policy seriously, and of knowing what he was talking about. As punishment for those sins, reporters like Kellman mocked him as a "teacher's-pet" and a dull, lifeless buffoon. They propped up a dim-witted Texan (by way of Greenwich Country Day, Andover, Harvard, and Yale) who had run business after business into the ground, and skipped out on the National Guard service that kept him out of Vietnam by virtue of his father's accomplishments. On the other hand, he called reporters "Stretch," and they loved him for it. And so George W. Bush became president.

Although, this might be just as likely.