The attacks on the WH for ducking C-Span keep coming. Jack Cafferty appears to have expunged all the Kool-Aid he swilled in 2008. Though there is no reason to suddenly trust the noxious gasbag, his broadside is welcome:
The Widow Gibbs is having a particularly hard time with this issue, falling back on "We covered this yesterday.", which is, of course, a lie. The question was avoided yesterday, as it was today.
The similarity in vibe between the Bush Cheney push for war with Iraq and the Obama Pelosi Reid demand for a health care bill that the majority oppose is striking. The main difference being that before we invaded Iraq only half the nation opposed the war. In the case of health care "reform" well over half oppose. The level of arrogance is astounding even by D.C. standards. In trying to get a handle on it I keep coming up empty. The bill must be a payoff of extraordinary magnitude. Much of the Democratic leadership is acting like kamikaze pilots, willing to give their political lives for a bill next to no one wants. And they're willing to do it in secret - throwing the middle finger just before they self-immolate. The mindless belligerence is a sight to behold.
Slaughter the bill. Rep. Louise Slaughter said today:Supporters of the weak Senate bill say 'just pass it-any bill is better than no bill,' I strongly disagree... a moment of sanity in D.C. this Christmas week. It now looks as if the final bill will not be ready before the State of the Union...though I question this floated meme. We shall see. Obama is so driven by the need to be seen as a saviour I wonder if the poll numbers on the health care bill are finally spooking him. It may be politically advantageous to pass it after his next big speech - then move abruptly to jobs creation talk. POTUS can use the speech to emphasize jobs...the health care debacle concludes disconnected from an Obama speech. Imagine BHO triumphantly entering the House the day after the most partisan, least popular bill in 100 years has passed. Well over half the nation would fine the imagery revolting.
Move on malfeasance. Tamerlane forwarded an email from Move On arguing against the Senate HC bill. I'm so disturbed by the bill I find any opposition gratifying. Move On's 5 reasons: #1 Deny Americans the choice of a public option. In contrast, the House bill contains a national public option, the key to real competition, greater choice, and lower costs.#2 Leave insurance unaffordable for some lower income and working people. Both bills require virtually all Americans to buy insurance. But even with the subsidies provided, some families could have to pay up to 20% of their income on health care expenses.#3 Impose dangerous restrictions on women's reproductive health care. Unfortunately, both bills do this and the House provision is worse. Both versions would be a dangerous step and neither should be in the final bill.#4 Tax American workers' health coverage to pay for reform. The Senate would pay for part of reform by taxing the hard-won benefits packages of some working Americans. The House, on the other hand, pays for reform with a small surcharge on only the wealthiest Americans-a far better approach.#5-Allow insurance companies to remain exempt from anti-trust laws.
I mostly agree on these points. However, Move On deserves what it is going to get soon enough- pitched into the rubbish bin of irrelevancy. Their despicable ass kissing of Obama in 2008 is not forgotten or forgiven.
Finally: A horror story. A number of thinkers have wondered aloud when Mexico will become a failed state. One must now ask - has it already collapsed in all but name? Mexico drug raid hero's family slaughtered
Send some love to No Sheeples Here. They featured this blog "in the spotlight" a few weeks back and I appreciate it. It's a Conservative blog...and I - wearing my faded blue - check it out regularly.
As far as I can tell "monstrosity" is exactly the right word. What the bill boils down to now is a mandate forcing people to buy a service whether they want it or not, ( A proposition I'm still convinced will wreck the entire bill once litigation commences.) a huge transfer of tax payer money (all borrowed in our name from the Chinese) to health insurance companies, and some stricter regulations that are past due and could easily have been passed in this Congress this year - with a 2 page bill.
Yet the bill won't die. Democrats, throwing self preservation to the wind, will pass this beast - and they will call it reform. They and Obama will claim "victory", with the main talking point being something about "trying to get this passed for 60 years...". Though, one has to wonder if FDR and Truman aren't spinning about now.
The excuses for all the bills flaws are on deck:
"We can fix this bill later",
"Social Security wasn't perfect when it passed either" and so on and so forth.
These bromides have little relationship to reality. Congress will certainly move Right in 2010 - and there will be no "fixing" of the bill in the next 11 months. Increasingly desperate Blue Dogs won't have it. After the midterm the Democrats will be severely weakened.
Further, the "Social Security and Medicare needed work after passage too" excuse misses one essential fact: It's not the 1930s or the 1960s. The nation was in debt then too - but we were still a good bet for lenders. Fiscally, the United States is a shadow of what it was even 15 years ago. Going forward the health care bill is not "fixable" for one simple reason: The country doesn't have the resources to fix much of anything. The congress seated in 2014 is not going to be ponying up cash to make health care work - it's going to be trying to keep the heat on in the capital building...and, one presumes, throwing what bones it can to the Chinese.
Like all things in the Obama era, this bill is about short term theatrics. (See Obama parachuting into Copenhagen on the last day of the conference for another example.) Reid is perfectly content to go over the falls for Obama. He's probably already ceded his own re-election and figures what the hell... As for the rest: they are either in safe seats, not running, or too drunk on being "historical" to see their political doom in the rear view mirror.
I shall mark this day in my calendar: I'm with Cheeto Man today.
1. Battered Obot Syndrome: Anne Lamott, a serviceable, but overrated writer, turns on Obama a bit in today's LA Times. It is interesting to watch rich white liberals contort as they try to keep the abusive love affair with Obi alive - even as he batters and ignores them. She, of course takes the requisite cheap shots at Palin along the way - done with a sort limp wink to her lefty know it all crew...cuz, you know, all the smart people, hate Palin...
(and most like Lamott secretly hate all successful women... they won't own that little fact unless the women are conservative.)
Here's my little Bird by Bird writing exercise for the day:
Dear Ms. Lamott,
Go fuck yourself.
Sincerely,
A real liberal - who did his goddamn due diligence on Obama LAST YEAR -before the election.
2. The End of the Line: Ethel, who was always....well...Ethel to Jackie's Lucy...is The Last Lady of Camelot.
3. Today's Featured Product: The featured product of the day is our delicious and subversive False Hope line of products. Check them out here - remember 10% of L.R.'s profits go to the American Breast Cancer Foundation.
