Let’s see. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation report (obvious liberal bias) shows that the average amount of employer-sponsored health coverage is $1,115 a month. That’s the equivalent of $13,375 a year- or roughly the equivalent of the annual salary of a minimum wage job. That’s what an employer pays on top of each employees’ salary. Little wonder why employers are transferring an increasing portion of health care costs on to their employees’, eating into employees take-home pay. Can you imagine if you were a small-business owner, trying to get your feet off the ground, and you had to factor in the costs of paying the equivalence of an annual employee salary on top of the salary you all ready pay out?
Why, that’s madness. But, that’s also the current system status quo which some disillusioned and ill-informed individuals are fighting tooth-and-nail to preserve. All that talk about how Obama’s health care plan is a “job killer?” Yet paying the equivalence of a year’s worth of salary for each job somehow isn’t a job killer?
If the current health care system remains unchanged, then our country continues down an economically ruinous path. All of these cynical pessimists that are opposing the attempts to health care reform- and support the current towards for national economic ruin- are treasonous, plain and simple. Despite the undeniable fact that efforts need to be done, and we are looking at a comprehensive piece of legislation that deals with these issues in a systemic manner, these cynics keep braying about a “clean sheet of paper.” Consider how this extra $1,115 chokes the innovative efforts and the economic driving force of America’s small businesses- how will a “clean sheet of paper” help them? Consider the 45,000 unnecessary deaths that occur in this country this year due to the lack of health insurance, or health insurance that denies coverage. How will a “clean sheet of paper” put an end to that? And consider the outrageous premium increases that occur each year- at least double-digits regardless of where you’re at, but in some locations reaching up to 39 and even 60 percent. How will a “clean sheet of paper” put an end to those?
Boehner, Cantor, McConnell… I have an idea of what you can do with your “clean sheet of paper.” You better home you have a comprehensive health care plan that won’t refuse coverage of what procedures would be needed to take care of you afterwards!”
It’s like they don’t think such things as the Internet or the freaking LAWS THEY PASS aren’t around to catch them in their mile-high piles of excrement.
When Governor Mitt Romney passes an individual mandate to ensure 98% of Massachusetts has health insurance = totally okay and acceptable, and worthy of Scott Brown voting in favor of.
When Obama proposes a similar individual mandate to ensure 98% of Americans have health insurance = a socialist tool of government take over of Medicare, which Scott Brown needs to cast a vote in opposition to.
I’m sorry, but that is sarah todded!
You just know that if Mitt Romney was currently President, he’d be pushing for an individual mandate to pass a similar health care system as they have in Massachusetts. I know it, you know it, we allknow it….
by Calickizzle Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 01:21am
Once a year at CPAC, a bunch of angry white people get together to yell and complain about things they know nothing about. Granted, I’m not on the ground so I can’t provide first-person eyewitness, but according to Thom Hartmann, who worked radio row at the conference, he spent his time “looking at a sea of white people.”
CPAC has been described by the Washington Post as the “preeminent gathering of conservative activists,” and so I was eager to hear some of this mythical “conservative common sense” I keep hearing so much about, but yet see succeed in any manner. Unfortunately, with the conference now wrapped up, it appears that the amount of substance contributed at this conference could fit into a 140-character post on Twitter.
Nah, scratch that. Probably more like half a Tweet, 70 characters followed by a string of hashtags, such as: #obamasucks #nobama #wheresthebirthcertificate, etc. etc. You know, the extent of wit as provided by conservatives…
by Calickizzle Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 02:50pm
Seriously. Someone want to send Michael Steele a few copies? That way they could look up the word ‘bipartisanship.’
Responding to President Obama’s request to have a health-care summit and hash out legislation that combines preferred ideas from both sides of the ONLY if the President agrees to their demand to withdraw the legislation passed by both the House and the Senate off the table, along with the possible threat of reconciliation?
Yeah, that’s pretty much throwing off any and all pretense of attempting bipartisanship, at least from the GOP side.
Not sure if the GOP is worried about becoming irrelevant due to their political posturing and amandnat refusal to address the pressing needs our country faces. For some reason, I doubt it.
by Calickizzle Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 05:57pm
The Tea Party is just one big, drawn-out tantrum thrown by spoiled children in regards to the results of the last President election which, of course, was “stolen by ACORN.” Conservatives have made the claim- “You guys spent eight years kicking around Bush, now its you turn.” Now its “our turn?” What sort of petulance is that? The fact of the matter is, Americans, for the most part, are gracious losers. If it seems we’ve gotten a fair shake in the deal but come out short, that’s fine. In 2000, the candidate who received the most votes for President somehow didn’t become President. And that’s not me “not getting over it” or “Gore didn’t win Tennessee” or whatever. That’s a simple statement of fact. The candidate with the most votes was denied the White House. A group of nine unelected jurists- actually, let’s make that five- determined the outcome of that election. Simply a fact. How could that possibly be a “fair shake.” It can’t. George W. Bush got handed the White House on the most dubious of possibilities, and preceded to run hard to the right as if he was given a mandate, as if the actual results of the election did not even matter. So, of course we gave him shit. He proved that he deserved all the shit we gave him as well.
Now, here is Obama, who received a plurality of the votes, a decisively large margin of victory in the electoral college, and the other side hasn’t stopped braying about it since November 6th, 2008. The Republicans can’t sign on to anything- not one thing- that Obama supports, because they will be attacked from within their own party and be cannibalized as a result. Perhaps its time to move past the primary system, leave the ballot as wide open as possible with multiple candidates from each party on the general election. Because what this country needs is centrists, and not ideologues. What the current situation is is that we have a centrist in the White House up against a determined pack of ideologues, who would even reject legislation they sponsored themselves if it even looked like the President might be acceptable to it. Over the next twelve months, there is going to be no plausibly rationale, middle-of-the-ground legislation presented by the Republicans, because in all honesty, they don’t want Obama signing something they pass, otherwise they might get cast in a similar light as Charlie Crist who, as a Governor know s first-hand the fiscal plight his state- as pretty much all states- are in, and gave the President a quick hug for the fiscal lifeline tossed to Florida through the stimulus. That hug is now being used by his opponent in the Douchebag, I mean Republican primary. I’ve posted something similar before, but recently my constituional law professor said, “We reward cowardly behavior, and punish principled behavior by politicians A politician can take a courageous, principled stance, and voters will show them the door.” That’s a fact, jack.
by Calickizzle Monday, January 25, 2010 at 12:58am
For the better half of the last twelve months, I’ve heard a barrage of unfounded rhetoric from my friends on the right explaining as to how the proposals being sought by Obama and the Democratic congressional majority would turn us all into French cheese-eating surrender monkeys. Expanding coverage- even if its simply subsidizing the uninsured to enter the market and purchase insurance from private, non-state run insurance companies- would be one step closer towards swapping our red-blooded Americanism for all things French. And the next thing you know, the Maginot Line is breached, and here come the Nazis.
However, is it ironic that these same critics of the French health care system would more than likely be huge proponents of the energy system that provides power to conservative America’s most despised European nation?
by Memeticdrool Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 11:45pm
As all four political estates digest the MA election, some attention is naturally settling on what effect this will have on the Senate’s ability to move forward. In brief: Democrats never had it so good.
While the political pendulum swings, and no party should delude themselves with “permanent majority” talk, Dem’s have all the time they need. They’ve tried the high road of parliamentary politics, and Congressional Republicans have clearly demonstrated they will sacrifice American lives for their own petty power agenda. It’s not the first time conservatives have demonstrated their party-first politics (“nuclear option” anyone?), but it is time to let go of fantasies that the current conservative members of Congress will suddenly start voting for reasonable policy on its merits. It is simply not going to happen.
From the Whitehouse to the Senate and House, extending the legislative olive branch to R’s was gracious, honorable, and much more than they deserved post Bush 43. Now that the Republican hand is on the table, it’s time to get stuff done with or without them. Americans are dying or losing their homes or enduring any number of ills inherited from the last 30 years of bad policy and bad thinking. Regardless of who is to blame, we need to get the policy foundations laid so hard working Americans can proceed with fixing the problems. There are ways to get things done in Congress. Everyone knows this, and no one need apologize for doing the right thing and moving forward. Dems need to get it done via any and every available means necessary to save American lives from those who will otherwise hold Americans hostage to advance their own failed political quackery.
In 2009, Democrats made one big mistake: they let 60 seats – political calculus – take center stage. Now that no one need be misled by a magic number, roll up the sleeves and bring it, Dems.
by Calickizzle Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 11:17am
It appears that Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) wants to postpone the debate and a possible vote on health care reform, to focus on fighting the Afghanistan War. You know, the same war that despite Sen. Lugar calling “terribly important” was all but ignored over the past decade by a Republican administration and a Congress that was controlled by Republicans during much of that span.
So, what’s the political calculus here? Let’s see, health care reform is the cornerstone legislation of Obama’s domestic agenda. Passing health care reform will endear Obama with his base, as it will accomplish a long-sought policy goal of the Democratic Party. The war in Afghanistan, however, is being ramped up and becoming more unpopular with those on the left. Obama has been criticized from his supporters for increasing the Afghanistan war efforts, despite Obama saying on the campaign trail that he’d focus- and end- the war in Afghanistan. So, little surprise that the Republicans- who, after all, are assholes- are going to assert their legislative powers in an attempt for a popular policy goal to be shelved so in exchange for the President to focus on an unpopular policy. Assuming that the Republican assholes succeed, it should be assumed that any decision Obama comes to will be criticized by the Republicans, no matter what. Even if its an all-out military blitz, the Republicans will fault him some how. Why? Because they’re assholes.
The best conservatives can do to present the Obama administration as somehow failing, is from the pressures of the jobs situation, double digit unemployment, and the health care debate, which has droned on for nearly a year, and a final bill that will probably be so watered you can drop it on the California wildfires. Not withstanding, Barack Obama’s numbers have been essentially unchanged for three months now even under those circumstances. However, should Congressional Democrats be panicking right about now? It’s too early. Should they be nervous? Maybe.
by Calickizzle Friday, November 13, 2009 at 04:02pm
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Ft. Hood shooter, was charged with 13 counts of murder as he lies on a hospital bed, paralyzed from the waist down due to the four bullets he took that ended his shooting spree. Reports indicate that Hasan contacted Islamic militant preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who currently resides in Yemen. As Thom Hartmann points out, good thing the last President still isn’t in charge, as with the right-wing frothing over themselves that the Ft. Hood shooting constitutes a “terrorist” attack, we probably would have been dropping bombs in Yemen by now.
The Obama administration announced, care of Attorney General Eric Holder, that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed -along with four others who assisted with the plot- will be tried in a U.S. federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, just blocks from Ground Zero. Of course, this led to outrage from Republicans, with the NRSC releasing a histrionic press release stating that the only reason why KSM is being tried in a Manhattan court room is due to Harry Reid caving into the “far Left.” The release included the following quote:
“Those who think elections don’t matter will have an important wake-up call when Khalid Shaikh Mohammed walks into the very American city where he helped slaughter thousands of innocent Americans and they shouldn’t forget that Harry Reid helped roll out the welcome mat,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh.
