OK, I've had it. I expect the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to lie through their teeth about just about anything, but this takes the cake. Lying to old people about end-of-life decisions to scare them? Because God forbid the Obama administration should get a victory like much-needed health care reform! This isn't about whether or not we need health care reform -- everybody from the AARP to the AMA to the pharmaceutical industry agrees we must have it or risk our entire economy eventually collapsing -- this is about politics and the 2010 elections!
The right-wing is so pissed that we have a Democrat in the White House and a majority in both houses of Congress that they are willing to do something so heinous and disturbing as to make stuff up to scare the elderly. Limbaugh, Hannity, Boehner and everybody else pushing this nonsense should be ashamed of themselves. I'm ashamed that these people call themselves Americans.
I'll let an article on HuffPo by Bob Cesca do the rest of the talking:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/republicans-lying-to-old_b_247400.html
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Wingnuts are at it again
You know, I almost hate to put anything about this silly Obama birth certificate crap on my blog, but when I ran across Jon Stewart's take on it on HuffPo I just found it so damn funny I couldn't resist. So I'll let Jon do the honors for me:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/jon-stewart-eviscerates-t_n_243383.html
The only thing he misses about the lawyer/dentist/real estate agent wingnut is that she got her "degree" from an online correspondence course. Just sayin'...
Now, I got to thinking the other day that I couldn't recall a time when there were left-leaning wingnuts (although I'm sure there must be some) who had addle-brained conspiracy theories out there, certainly not any that would have made it to CNN -- despite the fact that Lou Dobbs was apparently unaware that Kitty Pilgrim, subbing for him on his own program, debunked the whole Obama birth certificate conspiracy nonsense! No, I was trying to think of a time when that happened and by golly I just couldn't come up with anything! Guess the wingnuts are all right-sided.
Anyway, thanks Jon, for the laugh. It reminded me of the lady with the crazy hair at the John McCain campaign event! You know... the same John McCain who was born in Panama. Hmmmm...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/jon-stewart-eviscerates-t_n_243383.html
The only thing he misses about the lawyer/dentist/real estate agent wingnut is that she got her "degree" from an online correspondence course. Just sayin'...
Now, I got to thinking the other day that I couldn't recall a time when there were left-leaning wingnuts (although I'm sure there must be some) who had addle-brained conspiracy theories out there, certainly not any that would have made it to CNN -- despite the fact that Lou Dobbs was apparently unaware that Kitty Pilgrim, subbing for him on his own program, debunked the whole Obama birth certificate conspiracy nonsense! No, I was trying to think of a time when that happened and by golly I just couldn't come up with anything! Guess the wingnuts are all right-sided.
Anyway, thanks Jon, for the laugh. It reminded me of the lady with the crazy hair at the John McCain campaign event! You know... the same John McCain who was born in Panama. Hmmmm...
Friday, July 17, 2009
We can and must pay for health care reform, and I know how
President Obama gave a speech today at the White House that he hopes will get the health care reform bill back on track. I hope it will, too. Despite support (and in some cases, monetary concessions) from hospital groups, pharmaceutical companies, AARP, the AMA and nursing organizations, it seemed that votes on the Hill were slipping into the "No" column due to the CBO analysis that the bill would cost $1 trillion dollars.
Now, a trillion dollars is a LOT of money. But critics make it sound like it's a trillion dollars a year, which of course is just ridiculous. It's a trillion dollars over TEN years, which is a hundred billion dollars a year. It's still a lot of money, but not compared to what we just spent to get the banks back on their feet.
If anyone has health care coverage from an employer they probably know that the cost of this coverage has been going up every year (probably faster than any raise they may have received), and the employers are not eating these cost increases -- they are passing them on to the employees. Anyone who has been laid off from a job and lost their health care, or who doesn't have health care through their employer, knows what a roll of the dice it is not to have coverage. Health care expenses are the #1 cause of bankruptcies.
President Obama has said that 2/3rds of the cost will already be paid for. I know where to find the remaining 1/3rd, which would be about $33 billion a year. In fact, I know where to find more than that. We need a higher gas tax, and we need it now.
Americans put about 146 billion gallons of gasoline in their cars and trucks every year. For many years now the gas tax has been about 18 cents a gallon. When gas was $1 a gallon, this was 18% of the price. Now gas is about $2.50 a gallon, and the 18 cent gas tax is about 7.2% of that. If we were to increase this tax 25 cents a gallon to 43 cents a gallon, we would raise about $36.5 billion dollars a year.
Nobody likes to pay more taxes, but it's high time we increase this tax. For one thing, it would make those who drive gas-guzzlers more responsible for the environmental damage they are causing. It's (unfortunately) not enough to tip the scales toward people getting rid of their guzzlers, but it's enough to help pay for the health care reform we need. Remember when gas went so far up in price recently? Not many people parked their cars and took public transportation, or traded their vehicles for more fuel-efficient models, until gas got up to $4 a gallon. That seems to be where the tipping point is for most people.
When politicians run for office they always run on the promise to cut taxes. I think this is a mistake. We as citizens can't expect more services for less money, it just doesn't make sense. A recent poll said that the majority of people are willing to pay a little more money if they know they would have health care should they lose their jobs. It's time to get health care reform done, and raising the gasoline tax would help pay for it.
Now, a trillion dollars is a LOT of money. But critics make it sound like it's a trillion dollars a year, which of course is just ridiculous. It's a trillion dollars over TEN years, which is a hundred billion dollars a year. It's still a lot of money, but not compared to what we just spent to get the banks back on their feet.
If anyone has health care coverage from an employer they probably know that the cost of this coverage has been going up every year (probably faster than any raise they may have received), and the employers are not eating these cost increases -- they are passing them on to the employees. Anyone who has been laid off from a job and lost their health care, or who doesn't have health care through their employer, knows what a roll of the dice it is not to have coverage. Health care expenses are the #1 cause of bankruptcies.
President Obama has said that 2/3rds of the cost will already be paid for. I know where to find the remaining 1/3rd, which would be about $33 billion a year. In fact, I know where to find more than that. We need a higher gas tax, and we need it now.
Americans put about 146 billion gallons of gasoline in their cars and trucks every year. For many years now the gas tax has been about 18 cents a gallon. When gas was $1 a gallon, this was 18% of the price. Now gas is about $2.50 a gallon, and the 18 cent gas tax is about 7.2% of that. If we were to increase this tax 25 cents a gallon to 43 cents a gallon, we would raise about $36.5 billion dollars a year.
Nobody likes to pay more taxes, but it's high time we increase this tax. For one thing, it would make those who drive gas-guzzlers more responsible for the environmental damage they are causing. It's (unfortunately) not enough to tip the scales toward people getting rid of their guzzlers, but it's enough to help pay for the health care reform we need. Remember when gas went so far up in price recently? Not many people parked their cars and took public transportation, or traded their vehicles for more fuel-efficient models, until gas got up to $4 a gallon. That seems to be where the tipping point is for most people.
When politicians run for office they always run on the promise to cut taxes. I think this is a mistake. We as citizens can't expect more services for less money, it just doesn't make sense. A recent poll said that the majority of people are willing to pay a little more money if they know they would have health care should they lose their jobs. It's time to get health care reform done, and raising the gasoline tax would help pay for it.
Time to get rid of political parties?
It has occurred to me that nothing gets done in Washington because of political party nonsense. Let's take health care, for instance. Love the health care bill or hate it, it will pass or not due less to its own merits than whether or not the Democratic party can expect its members to march in lockstep, and whether the Republicans can intimidate their members into voting against it.
That's the way things work on the Hill. If you're a free-thinking Republican who might want to vote your conscience, or on the actual merits of the bill itself, woe be to you if you're even thinking about running for reelection. Because if you don't toe the Republican line (which these days just means voting against anything the Obama administration wants), you can expect a cold shoulder from the party at reelection time. And, to be fair, the same thing happens in the Democratic party when the President is a Republican.
Have you ever noticed how difficult it is for an "average Joe" to get elected? That most of the folks in Congress tend to be wealthy? It's almost impossible for anybody to get any support from their political party unless they've got contacts in all the right places. And that's a shame -- because I happen to think that if the manager of the local hardware store has the best ideas for how to shape things up in Washington, then he or she should have the opportunity to launch a serious campaign.
Maybe it's time we dump these labels, have campaigns be publicly funded (which would make them a whole lot cheaper than they are now), and stop the gridlock.
That's the way things work on the Hill. If you're a free-thinking Republican who might want to vote your conscience, or on the actual merits of the bill itself, woe be to you if you're even thinking about running for reelection. Because if you don't toe the Republican line (which these days just means voting against anything the Obama administration wants), you can expect a cold shoulder from the party at reelection time. And, to be fair, the same thing happens in the Democratic party when the President is a Republican.
Have you ever noticed how difficult it is for an "average Joe" to get elected? That most of the folks in Congress tend to be wealthy? It's almost impossible for anybody to get any support from their political party unless they've got contacts in all the right places. And that's a shame -- because I happen to think that if the manager of the local hardware store has the best ideas for how to shape things up in Washington, then he or she should have the opportunity to launch a serious campaign.
Maybe it's time we dump these labels, have campaigns be publicly funded (which would make them a whole lot cheaper than they are now), and stop the gridlock.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sarah Palin resigns as Governor of Alaska
I find it interesting that the talking heads on TV are so surprised by this resignation, especially the conservative ones (the ones who were counting on her to run for President in 2012). She said she was a "lame duck" -- after two years? If she is intending to run for President, and I would be very surprised if she is, then she just made a big mistake by not finishing her commitment to Alaska and staying in office before her run. But I think there are other forces at work here...
She has had a string of bad press, from the public infighting with her daughter's baby daddy to the leaking of memos from the McCain campaign that showed how clueless she was. The most recent e-mail leaks concerned the fact that her husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party for seven years, which if you look at the front page of their website clearly shows that their members want to have a revote as to whether or not Alaska should be a state. They also believe that the U.S. government has too much control over their lives. Below are three quotes copied and pasted directly from the front page of their website:
"The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State."
"There is a commonly held belief across Alaska, that the US Constitution has been set aside, and other then ourselves, there are no protections to the liberty and freedoms we are to have as our continued inheritance since the formation of the Union of the "several States". "
"The US government is far and away outside the bounds placed on it by the 9th and 10th amendments and is operating illegally for all ."
I think that's pretty clear, but Gov. Palin apparently did not understand what the goals of this organization were, if you read her e-mails to McCain's campaign manager.
I think there may also be another, larger reason, though, for Gov. Palin stepping down. Seven million of them, to be exact. As Governor she makes $125,000 a year. She just got a $7 million advance to write her memoirs. Memoirs for a woman who has been Governor for two years (several months of which was spent in an unsuccessful campaign for the Vice Presidency)? Okey dokey. Funny thing is I know this will sell amongst conservatives. At any rate, I think she's taking the $7 mil and running and, according to Andrea Mitchell's reporting, she's not looking to come back to elected office.
It just goes to show what a bullet we dodged when the McCain/Palin ticket failed to get elected.
Well, there's another name crossed off the list of possible 2012 Republican presidential nominees. Looks like it's clear sailing for Mitt Romney.
She has had a string of bad press, from the public infighting with her daughter's baby daddy to the leaking of memos from the McCain campaign that showed how clueless she was. The most recent e-mail leaks concerned the fact that her husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party for seven years, which if you look at the front page of their website clearly shows that their members want to have a revote as to whether or not Alaska should be a state. They also believe that the U.S. government has too much control over their lives. Below are three quotes copied and pasted directly from the front page of their website:
"The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State."
"There is a commonly held belief across Alaska, that the US Constitution has been set aside, and other then ourselves, there are no protections to the liberty and freedoms we are to have as our continued inheritance since the formation of the Union of the "several States". "
"The US government is far and away outside the bounds placed on it by the 9th and 10th amendments and is operating illegally for all ."
I think that's pretty clear, but Gov. Palin apparently did not understand what the goals of this organization were, if you read her e-mails to McCain's campaign manager.
I think there may also be another, larger reason, though, for Gov. Palin stepping down. Seven million of them, to be exact. As Governor she makes $125,000 a year. She just got a $7 million advance to write her memoirs. Memoirs for a woman who has been Governor for two years (several months of which was spent in an unsuccessful campaign for the Vice Presidency)? Okey dokey. Funny thing is I know this will sell amongst conservatives. At any rate, I think she's taking the $7 mil and running and, according to Andrea Mitchell's reporting, she's not looking to come back to elected office.
It just goes to show what a bullet we dodged when the McCain/Palin ticket failed to get elected.
Well, there's another name crossed off the list of possible 2012 Republican presidential nominees. Looks like it's clear sailing for Mitt Romney.
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