ARGville

Texas Taliban

2010-03-05T02:16:00.002-05:00

You have to read about this group, Repent Amarillo, to see what these people are up to. Here's an example:

According to a new exposé by the Texas Observer, Repent set out earlier this year to destroy a discreet club of swingers they discovered in town. On New Years eve, the harassment began, with Repent members, almost exclusively young men, showing up in military fatigues and bullhorns, blaring Christian music at the swingers’ club building. The swingers, made up of “regulars” of middle aged, working class couples, were then stalked at every following visit to the club. Repent not only took video of each member, but obtained the swingers’ license plates and dug through their trash, informing neighbors and coworkers of what was once private.

Blaring Christian music? Can't that be classified as torture?

Gagging

2010-03-04T18:12:00.001-05:00

If passing health care reform is "shoving it down your throat," you're just gagging on democracy. I say relax and swallow!

A brief history of Senate reconciliation

2010-03-04T15:04:00.002-05:00

For a simple, easy to read visual of how often budget reconciliation has been used, check this out.

Yes, Republicans are full of shit on this topic.

Controlling Hospital Costs

2010-03-03T10:47:00.001-05:00

Maryland has done it:

And the state didn't fall into the ocean or crumble into little pieces. If it's good for Maryland, it's good for the USA.

As usual, they're full of shit

2010-03-02T13:37:00.003-05:00

Republicans claim that the health care reform bill is so bad for Democrats that they'd like the bill to pass. If so, why the filibuster?

And since when do Republicans worry about what's bad for Democrats?

As usual, Republicans are full of shit!

Beyond Climate Change

2010-02-28T13:32:00.002-05:00

Al Gore has an excellent op-ed in the New York Times about climate change, tackling some of the mistakes made by a few scientists, and the ridicule brought about by deniers who see snowstorms as proof that climate change is a hoax. Please the whole piece.

For me, the best quote from that article, deals with more than just climate change:

Some news media organizations now present showmen masquerading as political thinkers who package hatred and divisiveness as entertainment. And as in times past, that has proved to be a potent drug in the veins of the body politic. Their most consistent theme is to label as “socialist” any proposal to reform exploitive behavior in the marketplace.

Somehow, sometime we're bound to learn how to these with these clowns, but for now, the noise of these few is surely muffling the thinking of the many.

Saint Ronnie

2010-02-27T19:40:00.003-05:00

Conservatives love to extol Ronald Reagan's "accomplishments." So this reminder is quite timely, considering their (and many liberals) dire predictions for the fate of Barack Obama:

The unemployment rate in Reagan's second year - a full year after his tax cuts for the top 1% - rose to a post WW2 high of 10.8%. According to Gallup, only one third approved of the way he was handling the economy, with the deficit exploding due to his tax cuts benefiting the wealthy.

At the beginning of '83, his approval rating fell to a low of 35%.

Oh yeah, but remember, Reagan was white. He gets a pass.

Headline news

2010-02-26T18:05:00.002-05:00

As I write this, the Washington Post has this story, about the White House social secretary quitting her job, as its top story. Really? A social secretary leaving her job for another is a big story?

Am I missing something or is the news cycle that slow?

End of the fantasy?

2010-02-26T15:17:00.003-05:00

Could it be that the health care summit has cleared the way for us to stop pursuing the fantasy that is bipartisanship?

President Obama uttered the words that frankly, should have been understood one year ago -- Republicans have nothing to gain by voting with the Democrats. It's that simple. It's a political reality.

Now let's deal with it and pass health reform by any means necessary, using whatever procedural tactics available to us, just as Republicans have used Senate procedures to obstruct and delay.

Clean sheet of paper

2010-02-25T22:35:00.002-05:00

According to Republicans, we can solve all our problems with a "clean sheet of paper."

Exactly how a clean sheet of paper would bride the gulf between the basic ideology of the two parties is beyond me. I'm convinced that "clean sheet of paper" is a euphemism for "health care reform over my dead body, pinko commies."

Start over

2010-02-25T21:50:00.002-05:00

I think Democrats should heed the Republican call to start the health insurance reform over with a blank sheet of paper. I would start by writing: "Remove the age requirement for Medicare; make it accessible to all since the day of conception." Done!

Moving the window

2010-02-25T12:26:00.001-05:00

Funny... about a year ago, opponents of health insurance reform were adamant that we needed no changes. A year later, Republicans are saying reform is imperative. For those of you who think Democratic efforts have a been a waste just notice the shift in language. We still don't agree on the "how," but Dems have moved the Overton window quite a bit.

Wholly owned

2010-02-24T20:59:00.001-05:00

Congressman Anthony Weiner said this on the House floor:

The Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry.

Well, it's the truth!

The birth certificate, still

2010-02-24T14:17:00.002-05:00

Some people never give up:

If the Arizona legislature has anything to say about it, President Barack Obama may have to show the state his birth certificate before seeking reelection in 2012.

As one commenter said, why don't they just pass a law that a black person can't be president. It is what they want, isn't it?

Fiscal Conservatives, my ass

2010-02-23T11:28:00.002-05:00

The behavior of Michael Steele is no surprise:

Infuriating his party’s major donors, RNC Chairman Michael Steele is “spending twice as much as his recent predecessors” on private planes and paying more for “limousines, catering and flowers.” A Politico analysis found that the RNC’s “payments for charter flights doubled; the number of sedan contractors tripled, and meal expenses jumped from $306,000 to $599,000.”

Spend it, baby, spend it.

Ronald Reagan voted with Democrats

2010-02-22T18:53:00.002-05:00

Scott Brown voted for cloture on the jobs bill.

Time to tea bag him!

5-3

2010-02-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

The American ice hockey team beat the Canadian team in the winter Olympics. Proof positive that our health insurance system is better then their health insurance system.

(The preceding was a right wing thinking moment).

Just do it!

2010-02-22T12:38:00.002-05:00

I don't care how you do it. I don't even care -- within reason -- what's actually in it. Just pass a health insurance bill that if nothing else, moves the ball from the current status quo.

Pass a damn health insurance reform bill already, Democrats. Just do it any way you can.

CPAC money quote

2010-02-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

Joe Klein:

The CPAC straw poll, which was won by Ron Paul, reinforces the general sense of the G.O.P. as a high school Ayn Rand Fan Club.

7% for Sarah

2010-02-20T21:56:00.003-05:00

Even I could have spewed enough venom to get 7% of the straw poll at the CPAC.

How's that hatey-retardey thing workin' for ya, Sarah?

CPAC Straw Poll

2010-02-20T19:17:00.002-05:00

No wonder Mitt Romney did so well (yeah, I know Ron Paul but he's a joke in the general scheme of things) in the conservative conference straw poll for presidential nominee in 2012 -- Romney lied, and lied, and lied! And with that crowd, that's a family value.

Some examples of his lies:

And so it's worth noting when Romney, the former Massachusetts governor positioning himself for the 2012 presidential race, tells the CPAC crowd that Democrats are opposed to tax cuts.

He conveniently left out the fact that the stimulus bill backed by President Barack Obama and approved by the Democratic-led Congress included $288 billion in tax benefits, including refundable credits of $400 for individuals and $800 for families in 2009 and 2010 covering about 95 percent of taxpayers...
Democrats are against balanced budgets? You might chalk that up to harmless hyperbole except for important facts that Romney overlooked: A Democratic president, Bill Clinton, oversaw surpluses and the nation's debt skyrocketed under President Bush, a conservative Republican.

Oh, and what happened to the beauty queen? She's fading fast even in their world, isn't she? Only 7% of the most conservative conservatives voted for her.

How far for the far right

2010-02-19T14:42:00.002-05:00

How far right have the right wing movement moved? So far that Bill O'Reilly is now the voice of reason among that group:

"Talking Points" does not mean to lecture. We've made mistakes here as well. And there is no question that President Obama is having some big problems. All the polls show that. So is he a legitimate political target. But if CPAC makes a weekend out of bashing Obama, it will be making a big mistake. In order to regain power in America, conservatives must come up with solutions to complicated problems. And that's what they should be doing at the Washington convention. And that's "The Memo."

And with that kind of attitude his ratings will continue to lag behind Glenn Back.

Losing his hard-on for Palin

2010-02-18T11:56:00.004-05:00

Looks like conservative pundit George Will is losing his hard-on for Sarah Palin, at least, politically speaking:

Yet Sarah Palin, who with 17 months remaining in her single term as Alaska's governor quit the only serious office she has ever held, is obsessively discussed as a possible candidate in 2012. Why? She is not going to be president and will not be the Republican nominee unless the party wants to lose at least 44 states.

The more attention Palin receives, the fewer Americans consider her presidential timber. The latest Post-ABC News poll shows that 71 percent of Americans -- including 52 percent of Republicans -- think she is not qualified to be president.

I think Mr. Will is being a little too pessimistic about losing 44 states. Enough people voted for George Bush; I'm sure she'll get many of their votes too. Also.

Public option. Now!

2010-02-17T18:17:00.003-05:00

About 8 Democratic Senators are requesting that Senate leader Reid submit the public option via reconciliation, which would require 51 votes, not the undemocratic 60 needed for cloture.

This really is a no-brainer, and frankly, I'm surprised Dems didn't focus on this from early on, for these reasons: 1) it is the aspect of the health insurance reform act most likely to reduce costs; 2) it is the one that will provide affordable health care to more people; 3) it is the one that from the very beginning the American people strongly supported; 4) it is a great step towards eventual single payer system; and 5) there is little doubt that this piece of the bill will qualify for reconciliation (unlike others that do no impact the budget and are therefore more questionable).

UPDATE: The number of senators making such a request is now up to eleven. Here's their statement to Reid:

We respectfully ask that you bring for a vote before the full Senate a public health insurance option under budget reconciliation rules.
There are four fundamental reasons why we support this approach - its potential for billions of dollars in cost savings; the growing need to increase competition and lower costs for the consumer; the history of using reconciliation for significant pieces of health care legislation; and the continued public support for a public option.

I swear I wrote my reasons above before I saw this statement. Cross my heart and hope to die.

Recovery Act

2010-02-17T12:19:00.001-05:00

Pesky independent consultants keep telling me that the Recovery Act worked, that it saved us from disaster and created more then 1.6 million jobs, and more jobs will be created in the year ahead. But I'm not so sure that's true. If it were true, my dear friends on the right -- fair minded as they claim to be -- would be pleased with the elitist black foreign-born communist in the White House, and they're not.