Thank goodness that's all it was!  Here's to a speedy recovery Justice Ginsburg!

Did you agree with Rush Limbaugh's attempt to use a fight on a school bus to create a race wedge in this country?

Was that responsible commentary?

Here is a gift for you and Rush:

*World's Smallest Violin*

Have fun playing it while feeling sorry for yourselves.

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

You know what I think? I think the media gives more credit than he deserves because they want a white radio host to succeed!

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

Can you explain to me why Rush never served any jail time for buying all those illegal drugs?

Is he above the law?

Uh huh.

Time to play that violin.
Nashville_fan (Sent Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:35 AM)

--------------------------------
Nashville, did you agree with Obie's attempt to use an event in Cambridge that he knew nothing about to create a race wedge in this country?

Was that responsible action for a president?

You know what I think? I think the media gives more credit than Obie deserves because they want an inexperienced black man to succeed!

Can you explain to me why Obie never served any jail time for buying all those illegal drugs? You know he's a coke-sniffer, right??

Is he above the law?

I think Obie believes he's above the law.  It's always do as I say, not as I do with him.

Is it just me… or… does anyone else out there notice that the righties around here NEVER have one POSTIVE thing to say???

Hmmm… wonder why?

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL (Sent Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:34 AM)

========================================
I think they're following your lead and spewing hate and lies like you do every single day with every single post.

Ginsburg's Native American name is "Many Strokes Crazy Horse."  Such explains her life-long faulty opinions.  Crazy as an old nag foundering on jimpson weed.  But on the positive side, she ranks as one of the world's three ugliest objects topped only my the siamese Greenspan-Mitchell and the Evil Joker Hussein.

Whether it’s a flawed approach to HCR, an economically stifling cap and tax program, or the routine use of boogeymen to demean the achievements of the most successful among us, the leftist vision of America is one of conformity and orthodoxy that is destined to bring us down to their level.  And we just can’t let that happen.

Bill, Fairfax, VA (Sent Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:19 AM)
----------------------------------------------------

As far as the tax and cap program is concerned...we ask our industry "are you locusts or honeybees?"  do you work with your natural environment to make it sustainable, or do you rape it and leave it destroyed.

As for boogeymen...Some of the most successful people on the planet are liberal minded...it's not about admonishing success, it's about working as a country and not letting any of the links of this chain get weak.

If anyone has been rolling out the boogeyman, it has been this "socialism" word coming from the right, scaring people into thinking that Big Brother is going to "kill their grandma" or decide who lives or dies.  The misnomer is that govt. can't run something, and I would disagree.  We have brave Firemen, and Policemen, selfless Civil Prosecuters...and hundreds of thousands lower level govt. paid employees (including public works and teachers) that do an outstanding job each and every day.

Best wishes for Judge Ginsberg



1. Increase the subsidies
2. Bolster the protection against high expenses
3. Get tough with providers and producers
4. Get a public plan (or something that serves the same purpose).
5. Strengthen the exchanges
6. Preserve the Medicare Commission
7. Save the benefits tax
8. Stiffen the individual mandate
9. Keep a real employer mandate
10. Open the exchanges



From the New Republic via Washington Monthly:


‘…The Top Ten Things Worth Fighting For
Jonathan Cohn


Below is my list of priorities, for whatever that is worth. (Click here for another wish list, from Timothy Jost.) Each one is somewhere within the universe of political possibility, at least according to the administration and Capitol Hill sources I consulted. But that's only if you consider the priorities individually. Getting Congress to embrace many of them, let alone all, seems highly unlikely.

1. Increase the subsidies. The House and HELP bill have sliding scale subsidies that extend to people making up to four times the poverty line, or about $88,000 a year for a family of four. Finance’s bill stops the subsidies at three times the poverty level, although there’s some assistance above it, and offers less help to even those who still qualify. This is a strength of the House and HELP bill and might, in theory, seem like an easy thing to save, since virtually everybody says they worry about reform not making insurance sufficiently affordable. But more subsidies require more money. The options are out there: A tax on sugary sodas, the House's millionaire surcharge, or President Obama's proposal to cap charitable deductions. But it's when you start talking taxes than the centrists start backing away from the table.

2. Bolster the protection against high expenses. There’s no reason anybody should face out-of-pocket expenses of more than a few thousand dollars. The House and HELP bills come closer to meeting this standard, although even the protection even in those bills could stand some improvement. This, too, is not so controversial in theory. Everybody, left and right, wants insurance that protects people. But establishing a higher baseline of protection will--like more subsidies--require more funding, to subsidize the more generous insurance. That's really where the challenge lies. There may be a way out of this. If you give insurers leeways for slightly higher deductibles, the money that frees up is enough to require much tighter limits on overall out-of-pocket spending. Or so I am told. It'd be better, though, just to come up with more money.

3. Get tough with providers and producers. Both the drug industry and the hospital industry got sweetheart deals. And since the White House was a party to these agreements, rewriting them may not possible, or at least politically realistic. But there may be chances to tweak them and, if so, Congress should take them. Under the current deal, it doesn’t appear either the drug industry or the hospitals will actually be giving up much revenue; if anything, they might come out ahead. Surely it makes sense to ask them for a larger financial sacrifice, particularly if it can be done in a way that fosters more efficient care that would help reduce overall health care spending down the road. Remember, the most important aspect of these deals isn't the cash it frees up in the short term but the behavior changes it fosters in the long run. By the way, while Congress is at it, it might want to look at the other key industry groups--namely, doctors and device-makers.

4. Get a public plan (or something that serves the same purpose). Passing a fully fledged public plan, the kind that has all of the bargaining power that its architects originally envisioned, still seems like a long shot. The Senate votes just aren’t there. But idea of a public plan, or something like it, is definitely getting a second look from lawmakers who once dismissed the idea out of hand. The reasons are pretty simple: The idea continues to poll well, at least in isolation, and it eases anxiety about the requirement that everybody get insurance. The most likely scenario, I continue to think, is to arrive at some sort of trigger. But a well-designed trigger might still do some good. The key is designing one that would actually scare insurers, enough to make them provide the kind of affordable coverage we all want.

5. Strengthen the exchanges. The House doesn’t get much credit for this, but it got the exchange structures almost exactly right. In their bills, the exchanges would be national, rather than state-based, with authority to police insurers aggressively and bargain hard for lower prices. The model here is the Massachusetts Connector’s management of the CommonwealthCare program, which has successfully held down premiums for its enrollees. This is not what the insurance companies want, which tells you why it’s so important. But the idea may yet win out. According to my colleague Suzy Khimm, Olympia Snowe is already thinking along those lines.

6. Preserve the Medicare Commission. Letting Congress micromanage Medicare payment policy is a bad idea, unless you’re a lobbyist looking to get special treatment for the hospital, professional group, or maker of medical ware that pays your salary. Let an independent commission make recommendations, and then force Congress to vote on them up-or-down, as they do for closing military bases. The Finance Committee endorsed this idea. So has the president. The House disagrees. And the lobbyists are doing their best to make sure the House prevails.

7. Save the benefits tax. This is another piece Finance got right and the House, in my opinion, got wrong. Taxing high-value health benefits does more than raise revenue that can, in turn, finance subsidies. It also sets off a chain reaction that, according to most experts, will lead to lower health care spending. The Finance bill has protections that exempt workers in high-risk jobs, as the unions (rightly) asked, but the unions are trying to kill it anyway. That’d be a mistake, unless they can present an alternative--a politically realistic alternative--that can both raise money and reduce federal spending in the long run. Personally, I'd love to see labor give on this in exchange for a public plan or better subsidies, two priorities they have--to their great credit--been pushing. (For more on the excise tax and why it makes sense, consult the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.)

8. Stiffen the individual mandate. There’s a reason that Obama, after campaigning against the mandate as a presidential candidate, has changed his mind since taking office. It’s a good idea, for all sorts of policy reasons. (Chief among them: It guarantees a broad risk pool, in which we all share the burden of paying for the high medical expenses a few of us will be unlucky enough to face.) But nobody wants to make people buy insurance they can’t afford, which was something that worried Senate Finance members as the debate came to a close. The smart answer would have been to embrace generous subsidies and strong affordability protection. That’s what HELP and the House committees did. Instead, Finance took the easy way out and just started gutting the mandate.

9. Keep a real employer mandate. Here, again, a concession to centrists--and, in particular, Snowe--has substantially weakened the Finance bill. An employer mandate is essential not so much for the revenue it generates as for the role it plays in preserving employer-sponsored insurance, at least in the short term. (Letting it whither away in the long term would be fine with many people, including me.) Snowe’s aversion to the idea is a major reason why the Finance Committee opted instead to go with a “free rider” provision that could actually introduce some perverse incentives, like discouraging workers from hiring low income employees. (The way it works, companies who didn’t provide coverage would pay a fee only if their workers ended up in federally subsidized coverage--i.e., if they were low income.) The House and HELP bills have much stronger employer requirements--and should be preserved.

10. Open the exchanges. This is Ron Wyden’s idea, as popular among pundits as it is reviled by labor and business. Under his proposal, somebody with access to employer-sponsored insurance could decline it, enrolling instead in a policy made available through an insurance exchange. And, critically, they could take their employer contribution with them. Wyden says it would give all Americans more choices, which is true, and that it would introduce more competition to the insurance market, which is also true. It would have to be crafted very carefully, to make sure--among other things--that all the healthy people don't aggregate in either the employer plans or the exchanges. But that seems feasable.

One last note: I'm sending this list out to experts and insiders whose priority lists probably differ. If I get any particularly good responses, I'll post them.

Update: My original item said enactment of health reform was a "safe bet." I'm confident but not that confident. Plus I'm cautious by nature. So I changed it to "very likely." I also added some details to the section on provider deals, making clear that the ultimate goal of any industry deal should be to foster more efficient care (i.e., not simply raising cash to subsidize coverage).

http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/the-top-ten-things-worth-fighting...’



As good a list as any
The real work d=begins now
How to make it real reform, but keep the Blue Dogs and Sen Snowe aboard
The Public Option is the big thing for me
Getting real competition in the Insurance marketplace

Poll: Obama personal popularity at new low
By: Byron York

10/15/09 6:57 AM EDT .

A new Gallup poll shows that the number of people who have a favorable impression of Barack Obama has fallen to its lowest point since he became president. Fifty-six percent say they have a favorable impression of Obama, versus 40 percent who say they have an unfavorable impression. (Four percent say they have no opinion.) Historically, a president's personal favorable rating has often been higher than his job approval rating; right now, Gallup has Obama's job approval at 52 percent.

In January, just before Obama took office, 78 percent of those surveyed by Gallup had a favorable impression of him, with just 18 percent having an unfavorable impression. By March, the favorable number had fallen to 69 percent, where it would stay virtually unchanged for four months: 67 percent in May, and 66 percent in July. Now, it has tumbled ten points to 56 percent.

Obama's favorable rating has fallen most markedly among Republicans: In January, 60 percent said they had a favorable impression of him, versus just 19 percent today. More ominous for the president's political prospects is the fact that he is also down significantly among independents, from 75 percent in January to 52 percent today. Among Democrats, Obama has slipped a little but is still extremely strong, going from 95 percent in January to 89 percent today.

Gallup points out that in this latest survey, Hillary Clinton is now more popular than Obama. Sixty-two percent say they have a favorable impression of the Secretary of State, versus 34 percent who have an unfavorable impression. That's a big change from the height of the battle for the Democratic nomination last year; in February 2008, just 48 percent had a favorable impression of Mrs. Clinton, versus 49 percent who had an unfavorable impression.

I think they're following your lead and spewing hate and lies like you do every single day with every single post.
Randall B., Marianna AR (Sent Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:29 AM)
................................
I guess you told HER!
"I know you are, but what am I???"

"Cost of living increase witheld for the first time since 1975, as Obama calls for another round of $250 checks for 50 million seniors, vets and the disabled."

WOW! What compassion Mr. President! $250 bucks, about two weeks of grocery bills and half a tank of gas.

How do you and Michelle survive on your 2008 reported income of $2.8 million and the additional $1.4 million you just got from Alfred Nobel? Say, that $1.4 million is exactly the amount the US taxpayers spent to fly you to Denmark for the Olympic fiasco. How about paying us back?

Wow--you folks should start your own blog since many of you have so much to say.  Way long winded for a news comment section.  Just seems like "talking among yourselves."  

I don't know what other viewers think but it really turns me off this site whether from left or right.  I vote for limiting the length of posts to get more participation besides the "insider" stuff that is here in abundance.      

Walk your talk leftist:'...WOW! What compassion Mr. President! $250 bucks, about two weeks of grocery bills and half a tank of gas...'

Sorry !!
Aren't you the guys who want 'Fiscal Responsibility' ?
Don't you guys worry about deficits ??

(after ignoring the Bush Admiin's DOUBLING OF THE NATIONAL DEBT)

Make up you mind
VooDoo Economics is DEAD !!
Trickle Down economics left a stain on Republican legs

(from another thread)
".......What you’ve been doing is condescending."

Anita, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Thursday, October 15, 2009 9:43 AM)

_____________
Thank you, Anita.  I'm not black, yet everytime I hear Steele open his mouth, I can't help but feel embarassment for the folks who ARE black.

Dear President Obama

My employers have not offered me a COLA increase this year due to low inflation.  Although I am not retired I could really use the $250.  I know that the federal government really doesn't have the money and will either print it or borrow it from China, but as I'll be dead when it needs to be repaid I don't care.  Screw my kids and grandkids.

Please send the check to .....

Obama MUST BE STRONG
Channel LBJ
MSierra, SF


Obie is less LBJ, and more Lady Bird.

GHunt (Sent Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:54 AM)

we live in a complicated world with complex issues, sometimes it takes more than a soundbite to explain a point of view.  Did you ever watch the sitcom Cheers?  That is what this site provides for many of us.  We welcome you; but I personally don't want to change the format,...it's not perfect but has been working well for me for about 20 months now.  Visit anytime, someone will remember you!

Pat, Boston ~ Don't let the turkeys get you down.  You are THE most positive poster, day after day, that I have EVER seen on either side of the aisle.

When someone gets to you, do what I do -- feed 'em a split-fingered fast ball.  ;)
Anna Molly and the Chocolate Factory


Maybe you can sing a little tune like mmm,mm,m, Barack Hussein Obama, mmm,mm,m. See? Now don't you feel better?

Dear President Obama

My employers have not offered me a COLA increase this year due to low inflation.  Although I am not retired I could really use the $250.  I know that the federal government really doesn't have the money and will either print it or borrow it from China, but as I'll be dead when it needs to be repaid I don't care.  Screw my kids and grandkids.

Please send the check to .....

Dear President Obama

My employers have not offered me a COLA increase this year due to low inflation.  Although I am not retired I could really use the $250.  I know that the federal government really doesn't have the money and will either print it or borrow it from China, but as I'll be dead when it needs to be repaid I don't care.  Screw my kids and grandkids.

Please send the check to .....
Alan, NJ

Yes, the Democrats are always whining about "Oh, it's for the children!". It's for the children alright, it's up to them to pay for this massive Obama deficit spending. Obama will surpass Bush in deficit spending in about 30 months. Obama will pass Presidents 1-43 in total spending in about 60 months. And on what? Corporate welfare!

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg--Get well soon!

Thank you, Anita.  I'm not black, yet everytime I hear Steele open his mouth, I can't help but feel embarassment for the folks who ARE black.
Buzz
---------

He's ignorant ant his ignorance only serves to keep AA's from moving over to the Republican Party. It as though he thinks that we'll buy into his snake oil. Most AA's view him as a despicable small minded person that his only drawing attention to his ignorance and he is an embarrassment to the AA community.

He stereotyping the AA community on a “national” level and his ass will pay for it. Some people will do anything for a dollar and recognition…they really don’t want him, that’s why he’s on a short leash…he’s just a token title.

***********************************

Best wishes to Justice Ginsburg.

*************************************

To Keep the Change:

President Obama answered a question that he was asked about a Professor being arrested in his own home. He did not bring it up.

Once the situation was getting out of hand, he moved quickly to neutralize the situation and apologized for any part he played in the mayhem.

In terms of the media giving President Obama too much credit for being black . . . hey, he doesn't get credit for anything else, so whatever it takes!

lol

I think the President didn't go to jail for experimenting with drugs because he never got caught . . . what's Rush Limbaugh's excuse? :)

Your post was a great diversion, but you didn't answer any of the questions about Rush . . . oh well, I really didn't expect any answers . . . maybe you can use the violin?

lol lol lol lol lol lol

Get well RBG.

Don't look now, but the Iraqi government and at least two other organizations are calling a lot of left wing loonies liars.  Seems the official Iraqi (and remember, they hate us)casualty figures are somewhat less than the propaganda we have been regularly treated to by the MoveOn types, as well as mainstream ordinary Democrats.

It also seems that most of the casualties were inflicted by Iraqis on Iraquis, or by foreign fighters on Iraquis.

Bill, Fairfax:

Excellent post today on the blackballing (if I can use that term without being called a racist) of Rush Limbaugh, which was McCarthyism at it's finest, exercised by the true practitioners of the art.

From yesterday, to Pam San Pedro:

Sorry for associating you with Eric, Salacious.  I was really trying to insult him, but you know how some of these posts go.  Someone else must have used your name and written things that sounded like him.  Maybe it was the Red Headed Queen of Snark and Shallow.

On the economic discussion, your argument really loses something when you try to speculate on the irrelevant scenario of what would have happened if George Bush had been president during the 90's.  It's like my saying that Al Gore would have lost his marbles when 9/11 happened.  Just look at how he fell apart after being denied the presidency.  But that's just my opinion.  You're entitled to yours, which are no less ridiculous.

You do, however, admit that Bill Clinton was lucky.  I believe he was an astute, though narcissistic, politician that played the hand he was dealt by timing, history, Bill Gates, a Republican congress and the "peace dividend" that allowed some spending control (even if at the expense of the military). He was a political opportunist and a good one. He was a slightly better than average president and a slightly below average human being. (I'm sure you can translate that into a Bush putdown).

I have the best of both worlds here, because based on your logic, I can still blame Clinton personally for the bursting of the dot.com bubble and for all the people who lost everything in that crash.  I can blame him for 800,000 deaths in Rwanda, too along with every terrorist attack on the country during his term, up to and including the U.S.S. Cole in October of 2000.

We may have crossed the bridge to the 21st century during the Clinton administration, but it was more the result of the efforts, talents, capitalistic entrepreneurship and vision of the other Bill, with the last name of "Gates".

Thanks for the economic stats. What were they supposed to tell me that I didn't know before?

Monsiuer Keep The Change:

Are you really so obtuse as to not be able to comprehend the difference between the two examples you cite? I'll gladly give your argument a thorough undressing if you are.

My favorite grip from the repugs today is about the $250 SS payout. I don't love it either... but did any republicans cry foul when Bush gave every taxpayer a $300 check? Or that last $1200 check the feds gave us in '08.

To a repug, handing out checks is only bad when a Dem does it. When Bush did it, it was AWESOME! Heh. I don't agree with it either way. But I would like to see each person who complains about the $250 give back their Bush "tax rebates" (we couldn't afford those either.. or maybe you didn't notice)

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