When lawmakers oppose transformational health care reform or lie about it by calling it a "government run program" that will create death panels and impose tax-payer funded abortions, they show cruel contempt for many of their constituents. These lawmakers are especially heartless toward those who are suffering from lack of decent health care. And those who will go bankrupt in attempt to get well. Politicians who rail against health care reform are most likely shilling for the insurance companies.
Anti-reform politicians prove that they approve of the insurance company death panels that do indeed exist, as we can see below.
To learn who is contributing to your U.S. elected officials, go to OpenSecrets.org.
During her career, Senator Kay Bailey "government take-over" Hutchison received $937,340 from the health professional industry. She has received $257,849 from health care professionls this year alone. My U.S. House Rep. (TX-7 Houston) John Culberson received $10,600 this year from Pharma and Health Professional groups.
A for-profit health care system run by monopolies with no competition is wrong. It is immoral, un-American and undemocratic. For some, it is also a death sentence.
Gee whiz. I sure hope, for their own sorry sakes, right wing Republicans have decent health care coverage. I mean, at the rate at which they are blowing fuses and blood vessels over literally everything proposed by President Obama, good health care coverage sure is necessary for one's survival in avoiding and overcoming strokes and heart attacks.
OK, so the latest hysteria emanating from the right has to do with a speech President Obama will make to school children about staying in school, working hard to achieve good grades and taking personal responsibility for one's actions. This should be music to a parent's ears, especially in Texas where we have the highest number of school dropouts and our schools rank second to last nationwide.
But oh no, au contraire and God forbid, should a child work hard to stay in school, earn top notch grades, graduate with honors and gain acceptance in a top tier university.
It seems that the right has plenty of problems with staying in school, at least according to comments posted by on-line readers of the The Houston Chronicle.
Some object to Obama speech to students
According to the right President Obama will "indoctrinate" and "brain wash" students.
About?
Getting good grades? Taking responsibility?
No one howled when President G.W. Bush read to school children on the day our nation was horribly and ruthlessly attacked.
Nick Anderson, the Houston Chronicle, 9/3/09.
And where were these very same wingnuts when President George H.W. Bush spoke to school children at the eve of his campaign in 1992?
I guess a little ol' indoctrination and spin is harmless when it comes from a really rich white guy.
I just spent the past several days with very conservative right wing relatives in North Carolina. Where healthcare reform is concerned the disinformation and misinformation that pervades and fuels this group is simply breathtaking. Most have been misled into believing that a public option will result in mandatory and taxpayer funded abortions. FOX News and others driving the Astroturf teabagging town hall meetings are not entirely responsible for this appalling lie. My uncle's wife unwittingly revealed that fundamentalist Christian ministers play no small role in spreading the taxpayer funded abortion myth.
Because my conservative relatives think very highly of my late father, and since this "flaming liberal" is a member of the family, my relatives were at least willing to listen politely to my arguments in favor of healthcare reform. In the end I am not sure my arguments changed minds but at least some of the points I made gave a few of my relatives great pause.
Many are not even aware of how much goes into funding healthcare insurance because
"my company takes care of most of it."
But what happens if you lose your job? Can you get insurance b/c of pre-existing conditions?
"Well, I never thought of that."
You should because in today's economy anyone can lose their job.
"Well, I guess you are right about that."
I sure wish I had the video clip below with me at the time. It brilliantly simplifies and clarifies the entire HCR debate.
There are many ways in which the health care titans and their tools in the Republican Party manipulate and play upon the ignorance and fears of senior citizens and under-educated Americans. Most of its targeted base is the most vulnerable. It is older folks who are sadly, the easiest prey for utterly evil sharks and profiteers. Next up are under-educated and low information Americans. These groups provide a solid anchor in the crumbling GOP base and these supporters also happen to be Rush Limbaugh's frequent listeners.
But there is a third group and this is the one that is the most sinister and dangerous. They are not old folks who are fearful about losing their Medicare benefits. They are not the folks who are honestly confused about what health care reform will mean for them. As Paul Krugman wrote in his article The Town Hall Mob today.
Now, people who don't know that Medicare is a government program probably aren't reacting to what President Obama is actually proposing. They may believe some of the disinformation opponents of health care reform are spreading, like the claim that the Obama plan will lead to euthanasia for the elderly. (That particular claim is coming straight from House Republican leaders.) But they're probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they've heard about what he's doing, than to who he is.
That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that's behind the "birther" movement, which denies Mr. Obama's citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don't know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn't be surprising if it's a substantial fraction.
And cynical political operators are exploiting that anxiety to further the economic interests of their backers.
Does this sound familiar? It should: it's a strategy that has played a central role in American politics ever since Richard Nixon realized that he could advance Republican fortunes by appealing to the racial fears of working-class whites.
Indeed, this is the group of folks who despise President Obama and everything he stands for. They are the ones who attended Palin's hate fests in droves. They are the ones who screamed "Kill Him!" and "Arab!" at Palin's potential lynch mob scenes. These very same sick and twisted cretins listen to every hateful word spewed from the mouths of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and other hate mongers on the right.
The crazed racists made their forceful presence known at a town hall in Tampa yesterday.
to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor tomorrow?
Based on the questions posed to Ms. Sotomayor by Republicans, when coupled with the hateful right wing ad below, I believe my question is completely legitimate.
Senator John Cornyn is indeed in total lock step with Senator Sessions' right wing racist fringe of the GOP. Cornyn continues to beat Ms. Sotomayor's comment about "Latina woman" like a dead horse.
There they go again. The Republicans must be going through an identity crisis b/c the Party's Chair Michael Steele wants Sarah Palin to disappear for awhile. Go fishing, Sarah, please. Apparently some think Sarah has too many personal issues plaguing her right now. Others likely think she's too thin skinned for the foundry called national politics.
But our Guv Rick not only wants Sarah to hang around, he said he'd let her campaign with him. Look out Texas! We're in for a lot of crazy talk about nutty stuff. It'll be the pretty boy and pretty girl duo, lying and spinning tales about conservative voodoo make believe as they make their way through the state. They'll preen for the cameras and tell us all how great they. The moneyed fat cats will just love 'em. I wonder if Rick Perry will pick up the tab for Sarah's clothes? I guess that will be up to the fat cats who love Sarah.
If anyone gets an advance schedule of her arrival please do let me know when that woman from Alaska arrives so I can leave for saner ground.
The husband of U.S. Senator Ensign's (R-NV) mistress tells all.
This one is a humdinger. It seems that Ensign's torrid affair started right in his own home with his family around.
I'm telling you folks, these Republicans know no shame when it's all about them. If they can show such contempt and disregard for their very own families, how do you think they feel about those they represent?
Though it's too hot to grill burgers and dogs outside in Houston's relentless and unbearable heat, except on sidewalks and driveways, this has been a really good holiday weekend for progressives and liberals.
On the state front, I am excited to learn that Ronnie Earle, former Texas Attorney General, filed the paperwork to run for office in 2010. Many of us hope that Mr. Earle will throw his hat into the Governor's race. Folks may recall that Ronnie Earle, during his tenure as Attorney General, indicted the former House Speaker and Republican Majority Leader, Tom (The Hammer) DeLay with felony conspiracy charges involving illegal campaign contributions.
The indictment alleges that DeLay conspired with two of his political associates, John Colyandro of Austin and Jim Ellis of Virginia, to convert $190,000 in corporate money into individual campaign contributions through a transfer of funds using the Republican National Committee.
Texas is long overdue for a tough governor with a spine who is not afraid of ethically challenged fat cats and powerful crooks.
I definitely have to stop sipping coffee when reading the Houston Chronicle in the morning. Too many times my freshly brewed favorite morning beverage is spat out because I am appalled and/or disgusted by something I read.
This morning happened to be one of those days when my morning joe ended up on the front page of the Houston Chronicle.
The headline that captured my attention:
A case of mistaken identity?
Environmentalists surprised that A&M scientist named to board has sided with industry
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE
Apparently a Texas A&M educated scientist who holds two advanced degrees and a doctorate in agricultural engineering to boot, is skeptical of the proven science supporting the fact that human activity is largely responsible for pollution.
As we all know, an anti-abortion extremist gunned down and murdered Dr. George Tiller in his church where he served as an usher and his wife sang in the choir. This was the second attempt on the physician's life. In 1993 Dr. Tiller had been wounded by anti-abortion extremists in an unsuccessful assassination attempt. During that same year, Dr. David Gunn was murdered by anti-abortionists in Pensacola.
Records reveal that Tiller's murder suspect has a criminal record and a history of anti-abortion postings on friendly web sites. Apparently the suspect also spends a lot of time at a home known for its strange gatherings.
Neighbors said they've seen a similar car at the house in Merriam. They describe the ongoings at the house as strange. They said it's a revolving door of men coming and staying there and describe what appear to be religious gatherings.
Dr. Tiller has been a target of the right for some time as he was one of the few doctors in the country who would perform late term abortions. A number of right wing TV and radio talk show hosts have made a practice of demonizing Dr. Tiller in an attempt to whip the religious right into frenzy. This time the hate talkers hit the jackpot.
Bill O'Reilly of FOX "News" is one of those who led the charge against Dr. Tiller.
Jed Lewison over at Daily Kos captured the video clip below in which Bill O'Reilly called Dr. Tiller:
Heaven help us. The good old boys have been throwing endless hissy fits and temper tantrums on cable TV since yesterday. President Barack Obama had the nerve to appoint a Latina, Sonia Sotomayor, to fill retiring David Souter's seat on the Supreme Court. The appointment has apparently whipped the Party of Rush and Dick into a carnival like frenzy.
Rush is ballistic. Karl Rove babbles psycho nonsense about Ms. Sotomayor's intelligence. Pat Buchanan is apoplectic and Newt has been screaming "Racist!" for nearly twenty four hours.
When one goes to alternative sources for news and information on the evil doing Internets, one is likely to discover a whole host of information that will routinely never make it to the local, national evening news or cable TV.
The posts below, for example, are certainly fit to print and air but somehow, because of the powers that be in the corporate owned media, much of it has been fed through the buzz saws and the shredders of the gatekeepers who control particular messages and agendas.
Thanks to the interactive Internets and You Tube, bloggers can disclose news that is largely unnoticed or ignored in the mainstream.
Halliburton/KBR Rewarded for Deaths of U.S. Troops.
According to an article written by Jeremy Scahill for The Nation magazine, Kellogg Brown and Root received bonuses for work that had in fact killed American troops.
According to an article in The Houston Chronicle today, the health care industry has agreed to cut $2 trillion in costs over the next ten years.
President Barack Obama today portrayed the health care industry's promise to cut $2 trillion in costs over 10 years as "a watershed event" in the long search for a solution to the millions of uninsured.
Whether that is true won't be readily known as debate begins in Congress over sweeping health care legislation. What is known now is that the move puts the industry groups involved firmly inside the process of expanding coverage, with the hope they can steer the final product toward something that doesn't restrict their profitability.
At a press conference, President Obama announced that health care reform is indeed going to happen. He rolled out his top three priorities for health care reform: (1) Rising costs of health care must be brought down; (2) Americans must be free to keep whatever they have, or choose whatever they want; and (3) All Americans must have quality affordable health care.
I hope the Conservative for Patient's Rights are listening because few folks are listening to them.
As one would expect Karl Rove blatantly lied about Senator Arlen Specter's motivation for switching his Party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.
In a statement issued earlier today, Senator Specter said his former Party had moved too far right.
Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.
Speaking from FOX Looney Tunes News, Rove said Specter had lurched left.
No wonder Dick Cheney has been appearing so frequently on FOX News. It's an attempt for him to defend his deplorable record and to distract the media and the public from the truth. Cheney has been attacking President Obama right and left in order to change the subject about torture.
A newly declassified narrative of the Bush administration's advice to the CIA on harsh interrogations shows that the small group of Justice Department lawyers who wrote memos authorizing controversial interrogation techniques were operating not on their own but with direction from top administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
According to Gail Collins of the New York Times (see below) Rick Perry and other Republicans are behaving like gerbils that just bit an electric wire.
I don't think anyone could have said it better. Ms. Collins is absolutely right and she is not the only one who thinks so.
The words "looney talk" "nuts" and "whacko world" are the terms used by Hardball's Chris Matthews when he refers to Rick Perry and Tom Delay's views on secession and state sovereignty.
So, we've been hearing a lot of chatter on cable TV this week about a Fox News/GOP Tea Party Revolution. Fox News and the right wing fringe of the GOP have obviously gone completely bat bleep crazy over something. They are screaming day in and day about something. I am not sure what it is at this point. I've heard rants like "taxation without representation."
Huh? As I've mentioned before, we had an election recently that did not require lawsuits or recounts. This week President Obama has a 66% approval rating. The Democratic Party is at 51% while the Republican Party has a 26% approval rating. A majority of Independents and some moderate Republicans support President Obama's agenda.
So why is there so noise spewing from the right? Is this tea party thing merely a childish tantrum thrown by a bunch of sore losers and clowns?
Let's explore a few events of this past week to try to find an answer.
