Dare We Hope? Health Care Reform

It sounds like everything is starting to align so that the Congress will actually get something accomplished as far as health care reform goes. But it's still being presented as a nail biter, like the votes aren't quite there yet. That sucks. I want a slam dunk.

Our health care system in America is a disgrace. The premiums go up incessantly and the benefits go down at the same time. You're forever dealing with the concept of "pre-existing conditions" and wondering if you'd be accepted or rejected. It's a system, that if it had any actual design behind it, you'd say was designed by sadists. Or Republicans, not trying to be redundant.

Speaking of Republicans, if we ever find out what planet these aliens came from, I'm all for an embargo on immigration between there and here. Their idea of the common good is no idea. If I had the opinions the Republicans in Congress (and Fox News and talk radio) have, I would immediately seek psychiatric help, if I weren't committed by someone before I got there. How it is they're able to walk around freely without some kind of mandatory meds check, I don't know.

Certainly the ones in Congress are a pack of wolves or a brood of vipers, whichever predatory nuisance you're most uncomfortable with. The idea that they're going to use every underhanded trick to demagogue this thing and obstruct it is sickening to me. It'd be great, if they're so against health care coverage for everyone else, if they voluntarily gave up their own and that of their children. But of course that would require principles.

The Republicans' big idea is to "promise" to repeal health care reform after the next election. We would greet this with several hoots, since the idea of someone not wanting affordable health care seems unbelievable to me. It's like if the cost of gas went down and the Republicans "promised" to raise it again as soon as they got back in office. We would say ... "Huh?"

I'm all for rewarding the Democrats if they are somehow able to get their act together and get this done. Why it took them so long, and why it's not already a done deal, is beyond me. But the ways of corporate pigs at the trough are not my ways.

A Political Rant, Perhaps

I have enough on my mind tonight without launching into a full blown political rant.

Yes, I look at the news, at least superficially, the headlines. I see the whole thing about the Republicans and their constant obstructionism and rooting for the country's failure. It's dismal, they're dismal, scumbags.

Then on the other hand we have the Democrats, who for some reason get together and mutually tie their hands behind their backs, then insist they can't get anything done. The public might be crying out for progress, for action, but they're oblivious to it.

The word of the year is "bipartisanship," which of course is a terrible joke. If the Republicans weren't engaged in helping to run the country in a non-election year, please don't tell me you seriously think they're going to suddenly switch now. If anything it would've been the other way around.

Bipartisanship is a stupid concept at this point. And anyone who thinks we're going to get more by wishing for more bipartisanship is going to have a big fat goose egg to look back on as to their achievements. The way to get something done is this: When you have the power, get something done.

Republicans make me sick. But tying your hands behind your back and saying you can't get anything done without them also makes me sick. Just get something done. And give us a good reason to respect you.

Postmortem From Massachusetts

The final final final results aren't in from Massachusetts yet. But the trends are such that it seems like Brown probably will win.

If I wake up and see a picture of Coakley smiling, holding a newspaper, "Brown Defeats Coakley," and it's like Truman, that'll be OK with me. But ... alas, it doesn't look like it is to be.

Which takes away our insurmountable 60 vote majority in the Senate. (Yeah, right.) The whole 60 vote thing was a joke anyway, when we had turncoats, traitors, and ne'er-do-wells in the caucus.

The Republicans will take a lot of joy in this, which of course they should. As for exactly what happened, I'll leave that to everyone else. But it seems to me, if the Democrats had stepped up earlier on health care and got the SOB done, they would've had something to campaign on, instead of just responding to tea party anger, etc. But no, they couldn't do that. Everyone had to be president! Everyone needed his or her cut.

So the postmortem is such that -- if we don't want to see it repeated in November -- we (they, our idiots in Congress) need to get their heads out of their collective rectum and get something done for the people.

By the way, we still need jobs out here. Are you listening, Democrats? Is Massachusetts a loud enough wake-up call for you? It's Massachusetts, for crying out loud, not Utah!

UPDATE: The T-shirt in the ad says: I'M TRYING TO SEE THINGS FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW BUT IT IS HARD FOR ME TO STICK MY HEAD THAT FAR UP MY ASS. A fitting message for our Democrats in Congress. And the White House needs to take notice too.

Health Care and Massachusetts

So now health care is supposedly hanging by a thread, depending on how the special election for senator turns out in Massachusetts, of all places.

Teddy Kennedy's old Senate seat is threatened by a Republican, who apparently is ahead in polls. And just like that, health care could down the tubes, because of one Republican. That's shameful.

Our congressional idiots should've had this SOB done last year, but no, they dilly-dallied around. Everyone had to be president for the day. Everyone had to be in the pocket of one interest or another. They couldn't just put the public good at the front of the line for once.

So now we come to this.

Hopefully the Democrats will maintain power. But if they do, how about doing good with it and getting something useful done, instead of throwing it down the drain?

Idiots.

The Democrats Trying To Cut Off Funding

I heard a report on CNN about many Democrats in Congress want to cut off funding for President Obama's plans for Afghanistan.

I find that disturbing. He's their President! Where were they when all the funding was going to President Bush's efforts? As I recall, yes, some wanted to cut off funding here or there. But they never got it done. Because there was a lot of paranoia that the Republicans would be able to successfully paint them as weak on defense, hating the troops, etc.

Now the Democrats are in power (sort of), with a Democratic president. And this is the time they pick to make a bold move?

It's real stupid. If they wanted to stand up to a president, as seems to be their daily inclination these days, they should've stood up to Bush.

As to Afghanistan, it might've been over with by now ... if the Democrats had exercised their desires to stand up to a president back when it came to the Iraq war buildup. Where were they then? Rolling over and playing dead for George Bush and his merry men of liars and crooks.

No Filibuster Tonight

The Dems managed to hold together 60 votes to stave off a filibuster and now can proceed to debate health care. (Wow, I hate the Republicans!)

Of course this doesn't mean anything for actually getting the bill passed in any decent way or time. Already Senators Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Lieberman, Lincoln, and Benedict Arnold are on record as opposing some aspect of the proposal. Some even saying they will filibuster later on.

Leading me to ask the age-old question, If we can't trust Democratic senators to support the Democratic agenda, why again do we need them?

Reid: Support Public Option or You're Out

This is a good headline at TPM: "Progressives To Reid: Support Public Option Or You're Out."

It's quoting some unspecified progressive group, whose thought is, If we can't depend on Harry Reid to work for Democratic goals, what's the use of having him in office? And that's a great question.

Of course having Democrats in office is good over the long run ... for such things as the Supreme Court, etc.

But when it's time to play ball, you need to play ball. And if we can have a 60 member majority in the Senate, a Democratic House, and a Democratic president, and still not get anything done, then you're time has come.

Harry Reid has been a huge disappointment.

Republican Twitterers

I saw a story on MSNBC a few days ago that said Republican Congresspeople have twice as many Twitter accounts as their Democratic counterparts.

This seems like a divide we ought to be able to bridge, if we want to. Whether they have more Twitterers or not, though, is that a big deal?

I've seen a few of Charles Grassley's nonsensical looking tweets and I'm not impressed. Sounds about like the babble that comes out of this fool mouth most of the time. But that's the way Republicans are.

They always say Republicans have the edge on radio and Democrats have the edge on blogging. But Twitter? Can't we catch up on that if we want to? It seems like we could.

Harry Reid Trailing

Harry Reid is trailing his Republican competition in the 2010 polls.

Ordinarily this would be bad news. If Harry was any good.

As it is, we might conclude, give in to the Republicans and they still won't like you. And the Democrats, of course, we expect better.

Could it be that Harry will get the message between now and 2010? I thought this guy was an ex-boxer. What was his record? Was he ever known to fight back?

C'mon, Harry, we'd appreciate some actual Democratic governing while you're still around!

All Right, Blanche

Roll Call:

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), still facing the prospect of a tough re-election in 2010, has reversed her position on the public insurance option, saying Tuesday she will oppose the measure as a part of health care reform after previously expressing support for the policy, the Arkansas News reported.

All right, Blanche. If you're not going to govern as a responsible Democrat, what's the use of having you in there. Lose.

The Public Option

Look at this poll from CNN. There's wide support for the public option in the health care reform legislation. But because of the execrable Republicans and some lily-livered Democrats, it looks like we're not going to get it.

The Republicans want to stick it to President Obama. That's their only agenda. They don't mean well for America, nor will they govern responsibly. I don't think they can, since they don't actually believe their job in government is for any positive difference. They're only concerned with sticking it to the American people. Go figure.

Then we have the Democrats, who if there was only one Republican left in Congress would be cowering in fear under their desks, afraid he might criticize them for something. So many of the Democrats are either gutless or in the back pocket of the lobbyists or health care industries, so they're not even representing us. It's criminal.

Whether President Obama even has the cajones to stick up for what he campaigned on and was touting back in March, we shall see. The signs out of the White House are not promising. I still like him, a lot, but he seems to be governing as a gutless wonder. I heard he would bring a gun to a knife fight. But I guess he didn't say he'd bring ammo. He pulls the trigger and you get a sign that says "Bang." Doesn't seem to scare very many.

We shall see what we shall get. If I had the power, though, I'm in the mood to run out the lot of them and start over. If that were only possible. Too many entrenched liars and crooks in there, like Chuck Grassley, Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, and on and on. Then we have the insane crowd, like Michelle Bachmann.

You think, this is Congress. Congress ought to have great people in there, patriots, our nation's best, working for us. And what do we get? Paid cronies of corporations, crooks, liars, crazy people without a lick of sense, halfwits, morons. And then there's the Democrats. And half of them seem like creeps too.

God Bless The AFL-CIO

The AFL-CIO is telling Democrats they will not be able to count on their support if health care reform legislation doesn't have the public insurance option in it.

The incoming president, Richard Trumka, said there are "three absolute musts": a public option, an employer mandate and no tax on employer-provided health benefits.

And I love this: Trumka said last month: "We need to send them a special message: it’s that you may have forgotten what the labor movement did to get you elected; but, by God, we never will! And if you stab us in the back on health care this year don’t you dare ask us for our support next year!

Let's review this one piece: "If you stab us in the back...this year don't you dare ask us for our support next year!"

Amen. Mark that well, Congressional Democrats: Don't you dare ask us for our support!

The Blue Dogs Don't Represent Us

Nice article about a sickening subject. The selling out of our "representatives" to the big money interests, in this case the pharmaceutical industry, big hospitals, the very people who have a vested interest in keeping their thumb on us.

The Blue Dog so-called Democrats are bringing in tons of money from these crooks. And sucking it up willingly, then screwing us over, denying what we voted for in the last election.

If there's any greater sign that we need reform, I don't know what it'd be. These crooks are in this simply for what they can get. And every time they raise our rates and say you can't do anything about it, or deny coverage, we know who we have to thank for it. Their representatives, bought and paid for. The Republicans and these traitorous Blue Dog "Democrats."

Reconciliation

I'm not up on the procedures of the Senate, but they say there's a procedure called "Reconcilation" by which we can get healthcare reform.

If so, do it. Whatever it takes. And, good grief, stop talking about it and do it.

It looks, though, like the Democrats want to wait till the middle of September for some reason. Perhaps to give the Republicans more time to lie through their teeth about everything under the sun. For supposedly being so "moral," the Republicans do a lot of lying.

Apparently however this procedure works, the Republicans used it themselves for the tax cuts of Bush's years. So they haven't got anything to squawk about, which of course won't stop them.

I don't really see any reason to wait till September. They're not going to come around. They're just looking for any way -- by hook or crook -- to kill healthcare reform and keep us in the back pocket of the insurance industry. (We know who Congress, a large part of it, represents. Crooks.)

Get it done. We've gone from "Yes We Can" to "Get It Done."

Blowhard Boehner -- Such A Liar

From Wall St. Journal:

"From day one, the White House has taken a go-it-alone approach on health care," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R, Ohio). "The administration rejected our efforts to work together, choosing instead to craft a costly government takeover of health care."

Right, and if you trust anything that comes out of John Boehner's lying mouth, you've made a huge mistake.

The "go-it-alone" approach is why the Democrats couldn't get this done before the August recess, I'm assuming. When they were trying in vain to work out a bipartisan solution.

And the Republicans' "efforts to work together" are like the lion tamer sticking his head in the lion's mouth. If the lion keeps biting the guy's head off it tends to ruin the act. This kind of "working together" we don't need.

I suppose their complete idiocy about "Death Panels" and "Pulling the plug on Grandma" was just more "working together."

Health Cared Out

I'm about health care reformed out. I hate the whole process going on. It's a dreary drag.

Anonymous sources from the White House seem to be poo-pooing the public option, which, I thought I heard President Obama laying out pretty well in a news conference some months ago. They also seem to be dumping on their base, their supporters, fellow Democrats, and basically anyone who's been for them. But with the Republicans -- who hate their guts -- they want to play nice and have bipartisanship.

I've never been to Washington, D.C. But even so, from where I live I can see clearly that the Republicans are trying to torpedo the whole health care reform effort. If there's someone in the White House who thinks the Republicans are acting in good faith, it would be a good time to pull that person's resume and see what they did for a living before.

This morning there were several stories about the Democrats "going it alone" on health care, which I'm all for, if they can get it done. But we have several Democrats who appear to be as worthless as the Republicans, including Ben Nelson and Max Baucus. Whether these polecats can get on board is left to be determined.

But until we get there ... I think I'll go down to the factory and watch them make sausage ... it's a more appealing sight.

This Health Care Thing

I can't believe the way it seems, that President Obama is getting his ass handed to him. I say it seems that way. But maybe it's just because I get most of my news from the internet, where everything is super inflamed all the time.

I hope he knows what he's doing on this health care thing.

Personally I think he has all kinds of power to turn it around. But, in my opinion, and what I know is limited by an extreme amount of ignorance, I don't think playing nice is going to get it done. And I certainly don't think cozying up to the Republicans is paying off.

For instance, Sen. Grassley. The man is a snake. Why assume he's going to help the Democrats (the loyal ones) get a decent health care program? And the other Republicans, they're equally lost causes. They have too big an investment in this country's failure. They know their road to success is for Obama to fail, so they can crow about it. Then we'll have troubles, when these Republican criminals get back in office!

OK, I assume the Republicans are going to play nasty. But I don't assume the Democrats are going to. I hate these so-called Democrats who are derailing Obama's program. Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, other lesser-known ones, this screwball in the House from Arkansas, and others. I'd like to flush these guys down the pot and start over with fresh water in those states.

And Harry Reid. I don't know what's in that man's underpants. But he probably never needs new ones, because there's not enough heft and motion down there to wear the old ones out. Whether the man can accomplish anything is still up for debate.

Now it seems like the White House is wavering on the public option. They're open to compromise with these monkeys. Good grief. Does the President not have the power to kick some booty and get things done? Is it just my imagination, or did George W. Bush get virtually everything he wanted? (I know he didn't get to foul up Social Security, but that's just one exception that basically proves the rule.) The creep got the Iraq war approved, with Democratic appeasement!

George Bush for all his faults -- don't get me started -- knew how to get his way. President Obama needs to quit being Mr. Nice Guy. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Play hardball with these guys. Cut their legs out from under them. Use the power of the White House to bull your way through to a decent health care program!

What I'm seeing these days is ridiculous.

MoveOn Targeting Blue Dogs

MoveOn is targeting Blue Dog Democrats who vote about the health care bill.

MoveOn has produced a hard-hitting ad that will be unleashed in the districts of any Blue Dog Dems who vote against the House Dems’ health care bill in committee today — a warning shot that’s intended to preview the broader ad campaign that will target Blue Dogs who continue to block reform throughout August, I’m told.

Thank goodness for MoveOn. This is exactly what should happen. If we can't depend on Democrats to uphold Democratic values, then what good are they?

This article is on the House side. But the same thing goes for the senators. These creeps like Max Baucus and Ben Nelson, what are they good for? What's it even matter if they're Democrats if we can't tell the difference between them and the Republicans? Flush 'em.

Democrats and Democrats

Good grief, we have a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress. Can we please get some Democratic legislation passed?

Are our guys so seriously on the take that they're willing to screw over We The People? This is going to be a problem with long term consequences if that is so.

We wanted the power so much, for everything to be in Democratic hands. But if we botch this ... the Republicans will be the prime beneficiary.

Try your level best, you idiots, to get it right.

Democrats

It's so frustrating to think we have Democrats in Congress who are dragging their feet on health care reform.

To think, we finally get a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress, and they suddenly decide to dilly dally around. It's disgusting.

We need to get this thing done.

The insurance companies need to be severely spanked. They're bandits.