Month: September 2009

Die—–Die Quickly!

Tit for tat…..I was wondering when a Dem would be stupid and say something that the Repubs would seize on and demand an apology….well, I did not have to wait long…now did I?

The Ministry of Information of the GOP is reporting:

Taking a page from Democrats who disciplined Rep. Joe “You Lie” Wilson earlier this month, Republicans are seeking their own pound of flesh from a Democratic congressman who said Tuesday that the GOP wants Americans to “die quickly” if they get sick.

Rep. Alan Grayson,a first-term Democrat known for being provocative, refuses to apologize for the comments he made on the House floor Tuesday night while criticizing Republican health care proposals.

Republicans are likening Grayson’s remark to Wilson’s widely criticized shout of “You lie!” during President Obama’s address to Congress earlier this month. They say Democrats should insist that Grayson apologize just as they did Wilson.

In case there was any doubt…this report is from FOX News.

These little minds are acting like 3rd graders….when will they grow up?  Grayson was a moron for giving the GOP the opportunity to play the blame game.  Sorry, guys but being disrespectful to the president and what Grayson did are two separate situations.  If we like let us go back a few months and demand apologies for members that question the Prez citizenship or the members that call him a Nazi or that all Dems are un-American or that Dems would kill Grandma or ………oh hell that is enough they are giving me gas.

If they want an apology then they, all of Congress,  owe the American people an apology for their blatant disregard of the people they are elected to serve.  Or how about they apologize for being a prostitutes for big business.  Or apologize for wasting time and money on their childish little games.

When will the American people tire of these childish little games?

Health Prognosis: Sinking Fast!

I fully intended to go for as long as possible without posting on the health care debate but as usual I could not resist the temptation…but will it be my last temptation?

Yesterday the public option met its match…..cowards in Dem clothing.

thinkprogress.com reported on the voting today in the Senate:

The Senate Finance Committee just voted 15-8 against an amendment offered by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), which would have established a self-financing robust public health insurance option. Democratic Sens. Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Bill Nelson, and Tom Carper voted with the Republicans to defeat the provision.

And then the Schumer thing:

A public option amendment offered by Sen. Chuck Schumer, which would have allowed for negotiated reimbursement rates, failed by a 13-10 vote in the Senate Finance Committee moments ago. Sens. Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Blanche Lincoln voted with the Republicans to defeat the amendment. Today’s votes on the Schumer and Rockefeller amendments mean it is unlikely the Senate Finance version of the health care bill will contain a public option. The Senate HELP Committee and the House versions all include a public option, however.

Hopefully, the people back home are watching the vote and will take that into consideration at next election….but they have a long while for their memories to fail….which is what will most likely happen.

And the Dems put on a happy face and took their optimism pill….but in reality, they crapped in their chamber and the conservs, both Repub and Dem, rubbed their noses in it before being showed the door.

I have been saying that reform does not look good for the health industry and the public option is waiting for the paddles to get its heart beating again, but I do not know if it will resuscitate the patient.

The health industry and insurance biggies have spent their health budget wisely….and why would I say that?  That is very simple, if you have cared enough to keep up with the whole debate…if you have been an occassional observe then you will have NO idea what I am talking about.

The following are excerpts from an article written by Ken Hoover of Business Times:

Americans: 54 percent of U.S. adults don’t think Congress will pass health care reform this year, according to a survey conducted this month by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

Many lobbyists for small businesses and other employers blame Congress for overreaching. They said Congress should have focused on insurance market reforms aimed at lowering premiums and ending the ability of insurers to deny or modify price coverage because of health status.

Instead, Congress embarked on a complete overhaul of the health care system that would give the federal government too much power and cost hundreds of billions dollars more than was necessary, they contend.

Health insurers said they will support insurance market reforms, such as guaranteeing coverage for pre-existing conditions, as long as all individuals are required to buy insurance. Without an individual mandate, some people would wait until they are sick to buy coverage, which would result in higher premiums for everyone else, he said.

Business lobbyists said they would continue to work for insurance market reforms at the state and federal levels if Congress doesn’t pass a comprehensive bill. Employers, labor unions, insurers and health care providers also would continue their work on reforms that don’t need legislation, such as quality standards for hospitals, the chamber’s Gelfand said.

And there you are!  We have just heard what the outcome that will most likely be your reform.  The markets, both insurance and health, will get “reformed” and the rest of America will continue to be screwed four til Tuesday.  Costs will continue the upward spiral,  patients will die because of existing conditions and others will be denied just because….the only thing that remotely sounds like it would be patient friendly is the co-op proposal, but it only sounds friendly…it will just take the insurance giants a little more time before they control those also…but maybe that is the idea all along…after all they have bought a bunch of our legislators.

Also keep in mind that the US Congress has a public option and they are using it without thought….but somehow it is not for the common man or woman….why is that?  Or maybe they just do not want us peons in their health plan.

If and when health care reform is defeated, especially the public option, then all those assisting in the defeat will BE guilty of murder, because of their complacency.

I leave my reader with a joke….”a government of the people, by the people and for the people” gets NO funnier than that.

Sleep well you soul-less SOBs!!!!!!!!!!!

GOP And Its Foreign Policy

Two words that do not go together…GOP and Foreign Policy….it is an oxymoron…..while the GOP has always been a staunch defender of national security, that does not mean they have a strong foreign policy.  Look at the last admin in power….it was my way or the highway….gunslinger foreign policy….it was not effective then and it will seldom be effective, if ever.

Daniel Larison reporter for “the Week” magazine has put it very well.

Republican criticism of President Obama’s foreign policy is increasingly divorced from reality. David Frum’s recent column outlining Obama’s alleged failures is a prime example. Indeed, it’s part of a pattern of behavior in which Republicans have tried to transform their greatest weakness—the conduct of foreign affairs—into a political weapon against Obama. It is scarcely nine months since the end of an era marked by some of the greatest foreign policy failures in postwar history. Yet the perpetrators and their supporters are now condemning Obama’s attempts to undo the damage. Even when these critiques are not factually false, they reflect the bankruptcy of mainstream Republican foreign policy thinking and demonstrate that many Republicans still have no idea why the country turned against them.

In the short term, the Republican credibility gap means that Obama will have little effective domestic opposition to his foreign policy. The GOP’s recent hysteria over Obama’s decision to cancel the Central European missile defense system confirms this. Unfortunately, an administration that lacks credible critics is far less likely to be held accountable for its misjudgments. By failing to make credible, accurate arguments against Obama’s decisions, Republicans will make it far more difficult to resist the administration when it does err—as it inevitably will.

I do find it on the silly side when the Repubs in Congress are rbbing Obama to make a decision on Afghanistan immediately, but if I recall correctly they turned their back on the country to go kill Saddam and his non-existent WMD program…..But now Obama is a real meany for not paying more attention to Afghanistan.

I know there well be a wealth of conservs out there that will throw lots of manure my way….but hey….okay look at Reagan…..his foreign policy was to make USSR spend all their cash and go bankrupt trying to keep up with the US and its arms thing……Bush 1 his was fight a war and accomplish little…..And there is Baby Bush….need I say more?

These are some of the reasons that people chuckle when they hear the term GOP foreign policy.

2009 Anal-Ocity

Why oh why do they allow these idiots to keep talking, for they have not be accurate anywhere during the health debate.  And as usual another Dem has shot himself in the ass trying to emphasize a point; a point that was completely inaccurate.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) when arguing against the public option as a government run program said:

They’re not government-run systems in Germany, in Japan, in Switzerland, in France, in Belgium — all of them contain costs, have universal coverage, have very high quality care and yet are not government-run systems.

Has he read the GOP talking points?

The GOP has been using France as the way NOT to go for at least 20 yrs of health debate….How many idiots does it take to pass a bill?  Apparently it will be 60 in the Senate……Apparently this Dem needs to spend more time reading and learning what is what…after all HE is suppose to be negotiating as a Dem……I guess it is hard to concentrate with your head shoved up the butt of the Insurance dudes.

Just for FYI. France has had a government run health program since 1945 it is called, Securite Sociale and the World Health Organization recently called it “the world’s best health care”.

They make my job oh so much easier….thanx…….


RNC Goes RINO Hunting

The party is using its clout, as small as it is, to try and defeat fellow Repubs that they consider a RINO (Republican In Name Only).  Has it come to that?  The GOP is eating its own?

RINO?  What the hell is a RINO?  Thanx to wiki for the definition.

The term implies that, despite party affiliation, RINO politicians are not “authentic” Republicans. The label is usually acquired because a politician’s political actions, policies, positions on certain issues or voting records are considered to be at variance with core Republican beliefs. The term is pejorative and no Republican has ever self-identified as a RINO. It is used by those who believe that the party’s core beliefs are conservative and therefore that politicians are not true Republicans unless they adhere to conservative beliefs. The targets of the term argue that there is no litmus test for being a Republican, but rather a commitment to the party organization, especially support for party candidates. The targets argue that conservatives from outside the party who use the term are not true Republicans because they do not support the whole ticket.

The Party has set its sights on Rep. Inglis of South Carolina….apparently he was not in the same corner as everyone else on the Wilson shout heard around the world, and for that he will suffer the wrath of the Party.  All that is just crazy for he has been a loyal neo-con even themiddleclass.org gives him a 6% rating on legislation meaning he has played the GOP political game,  his only transgression was to call for Wilson to apologize to the House.

If the Conservatives do not play ball with the extreme of the Party then they will be a target in the primaries.

Does not bid well for Gov. Crist since he is considered a RINO by the hijackers of the GOP.  If he has any intention of running for national office then he will have to either become an independent or follow the leaders into the extreme right wing.

And is why the most accomplished Republican was been out of the national picture, Colin Powell, he is labeled by the nut jobs as a RINO and he could not get any backing from a party that has veered so right.

There is also some talk about the former governor of New York, Pataki, as a possible candidate for the national scene but once again he will most likely meet with opposition from the extremes of the party….he too will either have to change or become an independent.

There are female RINOs also, it will be interesting to see how the GOP handles the Senators from Maine, Snow and Collins in the future.  These ladies have also made the list of RINOs, they may be targeted in their next primary.

The RNC is at a new low as a party…they should be looking in all directions to find new blood to help regenerate the party, instead of going on these hunting trips that is doing NOTHING to strengthen their party for the next round of elections.  Instead of worrying about their party these dipsticks just want to oppose , not grow.  Several parties have died because of this type of BS.

The next primaries are speeding head long into the present and the way the RNC is traveling they should run into a wall before they arrive.  Do any of these mental midgets realize they are killing a proud conservative position and replacing it with innuendos, misinformation and outright LIES?  Oh, they KNOW….they just do not care as long as the extreme agenda is followed…no matter how wrong it is.

What Are They Teaching Our Children?

I have heard a few horror stories about the schools and the students….but first what is “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB)

Thanks to wiki for the following definition:

NCLB is the latest federal legislation that enacts the theories of standards-based education reform, which is based on the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades, if those states are to receive federal funding for schools. The Act does not assert a national achievement standard; standards are set by each individual state. The Act requires that the schools distribute personal information of every student enrolled to military recruiters and institutions of higher education, unless the student opts out.

Okay, now we know what the Bush admin had in mind for the future of our educational institutions….how has that worked out?

IMO, it has been a absolute bust….why?  Recently high school students in the state of Oklahoma were asked to name the first president of the United States of America…not a particularly difficult question, huh?  Only 23%, almost one in four, did not know that George Washington was the first president.  How scary is that?  These kids are the future leaders of the country.

What are they teaching our children?  Apparently it is not Civics or American History………. just what then?  I would almost bet that they are having to say the pledge of allegiance and are having their daily religious indoctrination….but they are not taught anything about this country’s beginning other than we broke with England….oh, there is so much more to it than that (a later post).

But our new president is not that much more education friendly.  Some of his plans sound a lot like those of Pres. Bush (see previous education post).  You know where all the problems are those of the teachers and moist reforms would effect teachers and the pay would not go with the added responsibility.

The AP is reporting another proposal the the Obama admin is considering:

Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

Does Obama want every kid to do these things? School until dinnertime? Summer school? And what about the idea that kids today are overscheduled and need more time to play?

For one thing, the current school yeat is based on when the country was an agarian society and the kids were needed in the late speing and summer to work on the farm…those days are gone….I agree that it is time to update the schools to help our undereducated children compete in a every growinmg global society.

To answer one of the questions…..overscheduled children?  Yeah, they are so overscheduled that they have time to do this.

Investigators say a Philadelphia teenager wrapped a cat in duct tape, put it in a shopping bag and left it in a neighbor’s backyard.The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says 19-year-old James Davis was arrested Saturday on animal cruelty charges.

Official George Bengal says Davis admitted to taping up the cat from neck to tail after he spotted it in his yard Sept. 21.

The gray tabby was nicknamed Sticky by animal welfare workers. It was dehydrated and had to be sedated while the tape was cut off its fur.

Yep that is right, we do not want to overschedule the little shits so they have plenty of time to do stuff like that.

We are talking about kids that spend most of their time watching TV, playing games or playing on Facebook….where is the over scheduling?  Mom and Dad spend less than 6 hours a day with the kids….where is that over scheduled?

If there is going to be sweeping changes in education then someone needs to see that the teachers are compensated for the extra work….a teacher is the most important person your child will ever encounter, short of Mom and Dad, and sometimes that can be argued, but the pros that teach the children should be treated and paid for their efforts.

Safire Dies!

Another sad day for us that depend on the media for accurate and well informed news and opinions.

VOA is reporting:

William Safire, the renowned wordsmith and conservative political pundit has died of pancreatic cancer in a Rockville, Maryland hospice at the age of 79.

William Safire was most famous for having been former U.S. President Richard Nixon’s speechwriter, and for the three decades’ worth of influential conservative columns he penned for the liberal New York Times newspaper.

Safire was known for taking forceful conservative positions on most issues, and never mincing words when opposing others’ views,” Safire said. “His scathing commentary on Bert Lance, a high-level Carter Administration official, garnered him a Pulitzer Prize in 1978. But Safire said he was careful not to make his criticism “personal.”

Yes, a sad day….we have lost Cronkite,  Russert, among others and now we have lost Safire.  As a  liberal, I seldom agreed with his conserative views, but I read them and enjoyed them…..he NEVER used vile language or misinformation (lies) to make his point…his was a well thought out position to whatever subject he attacked on that day…he will be missed….he was a journalist and a great analyst.

With his passing we are slowly but steadily losing all our “true” journalists and in their passing they are leaving us with the jokes that disguise themselves as doing journalistic work.  We are looking at O’Reilly, Hanerity, Limbaugh, Beck and on and on,,,,these types can NEVER wear the mantle of journalist…a journalist reports the news…jokes make the news fit their reports….big difference….Safire was thought provoking, the ones mentioned are joke provoking…..

So, goodbye Mr. Safire you will be dearly missed and the country will be the worse at your passing.

2009 Anal-Ocity

Yet another piece of crap coming from the GOP on health care….this time the Chairman Steele does it again with a great anal statement and a very delusional way of thinking.

I would like to thank thinkprogress.com for the word and the thoughts.

Yesterday, in an address at Philander Smith College, a historically black college in Little Rock, RNC Chairman Michael Steele implied that the late Martin Luther King Jr. would be disappointed with President Obama’s leadership.

“Dr. King would be disappointed in the political leadership of this country for failing to address the least of us,” Steele said.

It seems I am always finding these types of BS…I hate to be the one to tell Mr. Steele but he is wrong.

Dr. King once said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

Since he was addressing a group at a college maybe he should take advantage of a government program and take a couple of cl;asses on Black History.  He sadly needs to be updated on historical events and sayings.  We cannot blame his ignorance on No Child Left Behind, since he too old to be a product of that piece of crap.

What If The Health Reform Fails?

Sad to say that it is appearing that it may be stalled forever. The rhetoric is flying around Washington as well as the air ways. If the program fails…who can we blame?

I do not know how many readers can recall the health reform debate back in the mid 90’s, but I will help you out….the debate now is about in the same shape as the Clinton admin’s attempt to correct the health care imbalance….btw….their health reform failed!

So if the health care issue fails, whose fault will it be?  My best answer is that the Dems will blame the Repubs for their opposition and political posturing….but the truth of the matter is if it fails the Dems have NO one to blame but their own membership.

Dems have a majority in both houses and they still cannot move legislation through them.  Whether it is because of spending or wording or lobbyists or….whatever…the Dems are killing their own legislation.

One reason is that the Congress has not passed any major legislation since the Medicare days of the 60’s…I think they just do not know how to work the system any more.  They just cannot find the handle…if practice makes perfect, then the Dems inability to pass anything is purely because they are out of practice.

The Dems cannot control the conversation…they do not know how.  The polls show that 80% of Americans are happy with their present health care and another poll shows that 72% want the public option and yet another poll says the health care is #3 on the people’s mind behind the economy and the deficit.

The conversation is about money and politics, but where is the conversation about the people?  The whole health care conversation will hit the air waves soon…coming to a townhall near you…..the Congress is on break soon and the talk will be …not about the health care bill itself…but rather that it will be a failure or cost too much or will be a death sentence of the elderly (an absurd piece of BS).

This whole debate would be humorous if it were not so damn pathetic……elected Reps allowing Americans to die or go in debt or worse…just in the name of politics.  Unless the Dems get their crap together…they will lose this debate and the health care we get will be just a reflection of what it is now.

Something to think about…the government already runs the VA and vets seem to have no prob with it…the government runs the health care program for Congress and I do hear any complaints…and they run Medicare…this is where there is some bitching…but here the probs are that Drs and hospitals and even insurance companies overcharge the government…it is not that it is run badly but rather too many trying to defraud…..think that over……

And we pay these a/holes to play these games….how intelligent are we?  Keep in mind also that when the Repubs were in the majority health care was not a big or important issue….but their answer to the problem was for everyone to go out and invest in a health savings account.  They were NEVER serious about health reform and they will not be serious if they defeat it this time.

So it is health care NOW or quite possibly NEVER!

I’ll Drink To That!

Washington was about as boring as watch paint dry or flies having sex last week….the news media was all over the Afghan story…well he or not he send more troops….yawn…of course he will send more!

Because of the media’s BS it will be yet another Sexy Sunday…..

And yes, another sex survey to report…..

Millions of women drink alcohol before having sex because they lack confidence in their bodies, a study has found.

Almost half of those questioned said they preferred sex while under the influence of alcohol because it helped them to lose their inhibitions and be more adventurous.

Three quarters of women claimed they felt more able to let their hair down and go wild after a few drinks.

Four out of ten have ‘always’ been a bit tipsy when they have slept with a partner for the first time. But astonishingly 48.5 per cent said they preferred sex while under the influence.

The study also found that 75 per cent of women said they liked to drink before getting into bed with their husband or boyfriend. Some 6 per cent of women have never had sex while sober.

More than half of women polled claimed drinking with a prospective partner was ‘part of the dating process’ so they were bound to be a bit drunk when they had sex.

It was also revealed 14 per cent of women in a relationship can’t face sleeping with their partner unless they had a couple of glasses of wine beforehand.

May I see a show hands that did not know this already?  How do I get this research cash?