Since the Republican Party has obviously outsourced its legislative responsibilities to lobbyists, it seems that the GOP is no longer capable of anything other than sucking up to the demands of big moneyed corporate interests that apparently drive the power in Washington. Republican lawmakers obviously serve as mere tools for the Wall St. and every other fat cat that can and will conscript taxpayer dollars for its own purposes. Today Republicans seem capable of nothing other than complete and total obstruction. As Paul Krugman of the New York times writes:
Yes, the filibuster-imposed need to get votes from "centrist" senators has led to a bill that falls a long way short of ideal. Worse, some of those senators seem motivated largely by a desire to protect the interests of insurance companies - with the possible exception of Mr. Lieberman, who seems motivated by sheer spite. (The bold is mine.)
But let's all take a deep breath, and consider just how much good this bill would do, if passed - and how much better it would be than anything that seemed possible just a few years ago. With all its flaws, the Senate health bill would be the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, greatly improving the lives of millions. Getting this bill would be much, much better than watching health care reform fail.
At its core, the bill would do two things. First, it would prohibit discrimination by insurance companies on the basis of medical condition or history: Americans could no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, or have their insurance canceled when they get sick. Second, the bill would provide substantial financial aid to those who don't get insurance through their employers, as well as tax breaks for small employers that do provide insurance.
All of this would be paid for in large part with the first serious effort ever to rein in rising health care costs.
Get it folks? Republicans want to continue with the insurance company's agenda of either robbing us blind or killing us off by denying the care we and our employer's pay for.
The health care industry lobbyists are holding a gun to the heads of Republican lawmakers like Snowe, Blue Dog Democrats and sometimes D, sometimes I, sometimes R, whatever works best for him, Joe Lieberman, CT-IABMAV (It is all about me and my vendetta.)
The Republicans and their water carrying blustering blowhards in the conventional wisdom alternative universe bubble have been frantically working 24/7 to fabricate the perception that the federal stimulus program is not working.
Those Americans who reside outside the Republican and conventional "wisdom" bubble, i.e. Joe, Jose, Jane, Yolanda, Chen, Hui, Omar and Laqueesha (to name a handful) have a far different view of the federal stimulus program.
It seems that Republicans and the Party's blowhards ignored the recently released Congressional Budget Office report. Or perhaps the Republicans and its tools did not like what they read. Yikes, this stimulus can't work or we are dead. Change the message! If the government works we lose! No matter what, kill off any good news about the stimulus program! Who cares what happens to the average Jane and Joe Americans? WTF are they?! This is all about us and our ability to stockpile as much money for ourselves as we can! Heaven help us! Change the bleeping bleepity bleep message! Jeeze oh Pete - gin up a freaking war if need be!
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the $787 billion stimulus package approved in February lowered the nation's unemployment rate by between 0.3 and 0.9 percentage points while boosting the economy by between 1.2 percent and 3.2 percent. The analysis also found that three-quarters of the money provided in the stimulus had yet to be funneled into the economy by the end of September.
The report is a boost for the administration, which faced renewed questions last month over how many jobs the stimulus has produced after the Government Accountability Office said it found "significant" problems with the White House's tally. The administration has estimated the stimulus created or saved 640,329 jobs through October.
The report released yesterday "leaves no doubt that the economy would be in much worse shape if the recovery act had not been implemented," said House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, a California Democrat. "As the Obama administration and Congress continue to explore additional strategies to create jobs and build a foundation for long-term economic growth, it is critical to acknowledge the progress that has already been made."
This morning on Pacifica radio a caller told her story about the plight of those without health insurance. Because of pre-existing conditions insurance for her family of 4 would cost a whopping $3200.00 per year with a $12,000. deductible, which means little very insurance coverage. She, like many folks, cannot afford it. When her 10 year old daughter badly sprained her arm, the trip to the ER and treatment came to between $1500.-$2000. This is beyond ridiculous.
This is why I have such contempt for the self-serving shills like the teabagger nut job below. They are doing all they can to make the lives of the woman who called Pacifica and others more desperate than they already are.
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.
Remember all of the color coded alerts issued from Tom Ridge, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security? The red alerts and the orange alerts that would send chills down the spines of the American people? The ones that would make some hearts stop with fear? The alerts that would send CNN and all news channels into feeding frenzies that would in turn bring fear and anxiety into homes across America? Remember the huge and bold front-page headlines in our daily newspapers? How many children went to bed at night afraid? If parents were fearful, their children were terrified. For those who live in New York City and Washington, D.C. the fear was even more palpable because the residents know all about a terrorist attack.
And now we learn some of the alerts, if not most of them, were fake.
According to an article published in Politico posted on Daily Kos Tom Ridge admits he was pushed by the Bush Administration to announce terror alerts when it was politically advantageous to do so.
Tom Ridge confirms a long-held suspicion among Bush critics, writing in his new autobiography that he "was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over."
to tax $165 million of the billions of U.S. bail out funds doled out to AIG.
U.S. Taxpayers now own 80% of AIG.
AIG used $165 million of our taxpayer dollars to fund rather generous bonus packages for its executives.
In an attempt to recoup the misused bailout money, a 90% tax penalty on the AIG bonus packages passed in the U.S. Congress today with a vote of 328 for, 93 against.
Uh Oh. Boss Rush won't be happy with his 87 Republicans who voted yes to increased taxes and socialism.
The other 50% of U.S. House Republicans voted YES to the continual plunder, pillage and robbery of our U.S tax dollars by corporate fat cats and lobbyists.
Boss Rush will be very, very happy with his 85 Republican soul mates who voted for the right of corporations to perpetully rape and pillage our national treasury. After all, the Boss is a rather substantial fat cat himself in terms of both his personal wealth and physical appearance.
Meet the faces of the conservative corporate protectors whose ideology supports free, unregulated and unfettered rights for corporations to rob taxpayers blind.
For the past few days I have been reading about Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick's fall in the Houston Chronicle and The Burnt Orange Report. The Burnt Orange Report has provided excellent moment-by-moment coverage of this fascinating drama. The blogosphere is a great place to read about these kinds of developments because it affords lively discussion and debate among the bloggers and their readers.
Yesterday morning the Houston Chronicle's Lisa Falkenberg wrote an excellent and very revealing commentary on how Houston would benefit from a House Speaker who is from a large urban area.
After reading the article this life-long urban dweller and native of NYC who has lived in Houston for over 20 years, finally understands why I have been so frustrated by how our Austin lawmakers operate. Falkenberg's article nailed it for me. Texas has been run by a bunch of country boys who are more concerned about boll weevil eradication and transporting hogs to markets than they are a big city's crammed prisons, crumbling inner city schools, over-extended hospitals, torn up roads and gridlocked freeways.
Though ten days have elapsed since Barack Obama won the 2008 landslide Presidential Election, with a little help from formerly and so-called Confederate strongholds such as Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana, the Republican leadership and its members, especially in Texas, continue to reel in total disbelief, shock and denial.
How did this happen!?
But, but, but, I thought we had created a Permanent Republican Majority! Our fearless leader and former Hammer Tom Delay and Spin Master in Chief Karl Rove promised! Our very own W. said he had a mandate when he won by a handful of votes in 2004. What on earth happened!?
The GOP has apparently been asleep while the twenty-first century made its debut along with its cutting edge technology, and a 24/7 information cycle that can be rather unforgiving. In other words, it is far more difficult for liars to lie to and mislead voters nowadays, despite all of the GOPs highly paid masters of spin and hate talk radio hosts.
The voting electorate obviously appreciates the raw reality of the Bush Administration, its Republican rubber stamps and what all of the above have visited upon the people. Bush Republicans drove the economy straight into the sewer. The Republican Party has siphoned off the national treasury. It has likewise stolen our 401K plans, homes and jobs.
The people have spoken. We have fired most of the bums, but alas, in Texas there is more than a bum or two who are in dire need of tossing in 2010.
According to a diary written by blogger Jerome รก Paris on Daily Kos
today that includes data provided by the Sierra Club, John McBush has told more than a few tall ones on his voting record on energy bills. In a recent interview Walter Issacson asked John McCain to respond to Thomas Friedman's charge that the Senator did not support an extension of tax cuts for wind and solar energy companies.
WALTER ISAACSON: [...] Tom Friedman's column mentioned that you haven't been there supporting the tax breaks that need to be extended for wind and solar. Do you support those breaks, and will you keep pushing for--will you push for it at some point?
JOHN MCCAIN: Yes, and I have, and I have a long record of that support of alternate energy. [...] I've always been for all of those and I have not missed any crucial vote. But my citizens in Arizona know that when I'm running for the President of the United States I have to be out campaigning. But I of course I am for renewable energy.
I have a serious problem with the abject and appalling under performance of U.S. Senator John Cornyn and his failure to stand up for the interests and needs of his constituents, i.e. we the voters. John Cornyn's voting history clearly demonstrates that he neither cares nor is he concerned about serving those is supposed to represent in Washington, D.C.
A brief overview of John Cornyn's recent voting record gives us a glimpse into the ideology that drives our U.S. Senator.
John Cornyn has voted with President Bush at least 97% of the time, despite the President's approval ratings that range from 23-30%.
John Cornyn will predictably vote for legislation that is favorable to corporate and special interests. Both of our U.S. Senators will unfailingly vote against any legislation that ensures any kinds of oversight or regulation of corporations and special interests, even if oversight means protecting the interests of the people of Texas.
John Cornyn consistently votes against legislation that will do anything to improve the quality of Texans' lives whether it is an increase in the minimum wage, a cleaner environment, or affordable heath care insurance, both of which would yield a far healthier population here. Nor is John Cornyn interested in any bill that would ease the financial burdens born by the middle, working classes and the economically disadvantaged. He voted against SCHIP, the G.I. Bill and he voted against The Medicare Bill the first time. U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Lt. Col. Rick Noriega and the Texas Medical Association had to shame the Senator into supporting Medicare on its second go around. Cornyn had a change of heart only because he is up for re-election.
