I have big concerns about Obama's health care plan. In particular, we will never get to universal health care until we go for universality.

However, no one's health care plan, Hillary, Obama, Edwards or Kucinich (who's plan I most prefer) will get accepted word for word without discussion, amendment or compromise. The real issue is what Obama's intentions are. I do think all four of these candidate's basic intentions are right.

Health care policy is changeable and since Obama supports a mandate for children, if a mandate is what it takes to bring insurance companies and others onboard, I think he'll take it. This would not be a betrayal of principle or a u-turn. It would be part of the compromise that is part of any new legislation.

One thing is for sure, even if we won't get the single-payer health care system we need and deserve, Obama's plan, while not the strongest of the top three, is certainly miles ahead of anything a Republican President would propose or allow.

The actual quote .........

If it turns out that there are still people left over who are not purchasing healthcare, one way of avoiding them waiting till they get sick is to charge a penalty if they try to sign up later so that they have an incentive to sign up immediately.

- Obama on Meet the Press

See how quick the republicans want to push Obama. They know he is the only candidate they can beat and they are messing their pants to get him picked.

Conservatives are not as stupid as we think they are. They are underdogs in this election, so they need a Dem candidate that they can beat. To them, this includes Clinton, because she is a woman, and Obama, because he is black. They do not want to compete against Edwards. Also, they do not want Huckabee, because his extremism will lose against any of the three top Dem candidates. They hope for a Romney vs. Clinton or Obama campaign, so look forward to conservatives baiting us into putting-up Clinton or Obama. That's my tentative analysis anyhow.

Ouch! Is that your last will?

George Will has tremendous influence within the Republican Party. He reaches huge audiences and has a great deal of respect. This is as about as close to an endorsement as can happen.

Anyone expecting the moderate Republicans or Independents to go for one of the far whack jobs running on the left had better face the reality that no one is voting for a Kucinich or probably a Clinton or even an Edwards. Any of those candidates get the party nomination and all bets are off.

What is interesting is that George Will has been a huge McCain supporter and by this column is accepting the reality that McCain probably won't win. The GOP is so hopelessly split that someone has to give Republicans some guidance. So far both Bloomberg and now George Will have done so.

George Will is so full of crap it isn't even funny.

Shelby Steele is "the leading" Black intellectual they same way George Will is "the leading" White intellectual.

That is, only in Cloud CooCooLand.

Obama is a Lieberman "Democrat"!

Obama's eager choice for a "mentor" in the senate was Joe Lieberman, How can I possibly trust Obama, knowing that?

Kucinich is the only candidate consistently working for the 98% of the American people. He has proven as mayor that he is not for sale.

Medicare for all!

Kucinich is so feared by the MSM that his impeachment of Cheney got zero headlines. Russert was tasked with "Moon beaming" Kucinich, and finally Kucinich was just excluded from the debates, since he was getting huge applause for impeaching Cheney.

Google Kucinich Wins

We can hope HRC will be different then the face she presents to win, but it rarely turns out that way.

Strength Through Peace!

Kucinich!

Studs Terkel writes a great article about Kucinich:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020506/terkel

Who are the top three candidates?

We don't really know.

Great link on problems with modern phone polling.
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/cell_phones_and_political_surv.php

Con-servatives love Obama because they know he'll be toothless.

Less appeasement carrots, and more regulatory sticks...that's the way to deal with Korporat Amerikka (tm).

.
Here's some info on O-BOMBA that WIll left out of his current column - but surely will use during the campaign:

1. O-BOMBA is the most ignorant, inexperienced and lest-capable Dem politician running for president.

2. He is a total hypocrite on lobbyists. His efforts in support of Illinois lobbyists have cost US taxpayers $12 million (so far). (Documented by Brian Ross on July 16 - see ABC NEWS website) Michael Bauer, part of BO's National LGBT Leadership Council, is registered as a lobbyist with ResPubica Group, a Chicago based firm that serves corporate and noncorporate clients.

3. His shady real-estate dealings with his partner-in-crime, lobbyist Tony Rezko, stink!

4. Bomb Pakistan.

5. O-BOMBA is so devoid of creative thought, he has to steal the campaign ideas of John Edwards on healthcare, poverty and nuclear proliferation and try to pass them off as his own.

6. What's that white powder around his nostrils? (Must have had a powdered sugar donut, right?)

7. Note carefully this exchange to understand how dangerous it would be to have such an IGNORAMUS in charge of nuclear weapons:

2007-08-02 19:00:39 -

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday he would not use nuclear weapons "in any circumstance".
"I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance," Obama said, with a pause, "involving civilians." Then he quickly added, "Let me scratch that. There's been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That's not on the table."

Eight years of having bumbling morons in charge is enough. America can, and MUST, do better than O-BOMBA.

George Will forgot to mention that his party, that is GOP, has prosperous by playing to racial stereotypes...the so called southern strategy.

Obviously, any penalty that leads to more revenue
& more profit for Big Insurance, has got to be a
Good Idea, if it 'deters free riding'.

Say WHAT? Is it time to 'pay no attention to
the man behind the curtain' yet? There really
needs to be a cogent explanation, at least, of
how & why penalizing people to get them to buy
insurance is anything like a good idea.

It's one thing to 'require' people to buy auto insurance,
since if they won't, then presumably they can use public
transport. If we apply that logic to health care, then 'free
riders' can always just use the 'emergency room'. Just tell
them George Bush sent you, so they won't seize your assets after.

Yesterday on Meet the Press Obama offered nothing other than platitudes. He must have said "new direction" 5 times.

My 83 year old Republican mother loves Obama because his smile can "light up a room." I admit he seems youthful and fresh, but that will not help him as president. He is an empty suit.

You can't force people to buy health insurance if they can't afford it. If you install penalties you are really saying that the health insurance premiums are equivalent to a tax.

Incredibly, the democrats want to raise taxes to pay for health care ("mandated premiums")but the mandated premiums are paid to the corporations who's job it will be to deny health coverage as much as possible so they can pocket the tax themselves.

This is change???

Krugman is an IDIOT!