RickO's Comments (548)

“Anyone planning to vote for a Republican, a Blue Dog or Lieberman in 2010, just remember they are causing you and I to suffer to further their political careers. I am almost ready to say the same of Obama.”

“Not hard to figure out. He's on the payroll of both the Israelis and the insurance companies.”

“Lieberman needs to be neutered in the Senate, stripped of his committee chair and anything else he has that makes him relevant. This is one arrogant man.”

“That's Blair.”

“Quite possibly the funniest commercial I've ever seen.”

“Meanwhile, 133 people will die today for lack of insurance. Tomorrow, 133 more. Each month, more people die from lack of insurance than did in the 9/11 attacks that spurred us to an estimated 3 trillion in military spending.

So if you say roughly 3,000 people died in 9/11, we will spend 1 billion dollars per person to a) get revenge by killing anyone who even looks like a terrorist and b) pretend we can make sure it doesn't happen again.

It would be nice if all of our lives were considered as important as those who happened to work in the World Trade Center that day. In fact, I would settle for being 1/100,000th as important because that's all it would cost per person to provide universal healthcare.

So while you feckless and greedy senators wrangle for position and political points, another life, six per hour, is lost directly because of you.”

“Hmm, let's see what II Corinthians has to say about it. Wow, nothing at all. I guess it don't exist.”

“The Federal Government owns nearly 85% of the state of Nevada, which is mostly scrub desert with nothing but lots of sunshine and wind. If 10% of of Nevada (about 10,000 square miles) was converted to solar and wind farms, it would more than power the entire US electrical grid, forever.

So select a big chunk of useless Nevada desert, say 10,000 square miles, lease it in smaller pieces, for a dollar a year to anyone who will develop alternative energy plants. Force the banks to offer low interest loans with government matching funds. Energy generated by these ventures is given some kind of grid priority and plenty of tax incentives.

The project would involve about a million wind turbines and thermal solar collectors, miles of roads, pipelines, wiring, substations and equipment and more employees than it would likely be able to find.

During WWII, the whole country mobilized to produce everything needed for the war effort, and all we were trying to do was not lose the war. That effort brought us out of the great depression and into one of the periods of greatest prosperity this country has ever seen. That's not a matter of opinion or belief. That's actual history.”

“Actually it looks more like Mickey Mouse riding a kangaroo but who cares, let's worship it!”

“Many years ago I rented some furniture for a new apartment from one of those weekly rental places. It was overpriced and cheesy stuff but it was easy, no questions asked. I made the payment every week but then the place went out of business. I had no place to send the payment and no one ever called so I just kept the furniture. Nobody seemed to care. I hung on to it for a few months because I wasn't sure what to do with it. When I moved from the apartment, I sold the furniture.

Let's treat the banks like businesses. If you go out of business, and I have a mortgage with you, it looks like I've got the house. That's the risk you take being a bank. If you bundled my mortgage into some nebulous security, that's the risk your investors take.

If all of the sudden big banks were failing (because they deserve to) and millions of people suddenly owned their homes free and clear, you would begin to see real estate buying, trading and selling on a scale like never before, much of it outside the banking system.

I know this a really stupid idea but I still have one of the lamps I rented and no one ever asked for it back.”

“Actually, yeah.”

“You're darned right you'll have a problem and you'll deserve the full brunt of it.

I, along with a growing number of people I know, are beginning to disengage already. I had my cable TV disconnected for economic reasons but I stopped watching television altogether as well. The effect is an information refocus from what you are doing in Washington to what we are doing here to survive it. I am starting to not care what you are doing because as I look closer to home, it doesn't seem to matter. At least it doesn't matter who's in charge because, like they say, unless you'r the lead dog, the view never changes.

Here's what's gonna happen a little less than a year from now. You are going to want my vote and I'm not gonna be there. You're are going to hold out your hand to me and while you won't pull it back with teeth marks in it, it will most certainly not have any cash in it. You are going to try and convince me to support you and you'll be talking to my hand. You will need me much more than I need you.

If you can't take advantage of a super-duper majority and actually do something for the people, you don't deserve to have it. You will lose it and frankly I won't care. Why should I?”

“This has all the trappings of a deal. The Administration gives the hawks a surge and at least 3 more years of orgiastic war making and they take a dive on heath care. They don't have to make it look easy on either side but it's quid pro quo.

It's a deal with the devil for sure but if it was your choice to make, sacrifice a thousand soldiers and a few hundred billion dollars more in exchange for a version of health reform that could transform the lives of millions of people, and that was the deal, what would you do?”

“Behold, the latest Risk Management strategy. Issue the staff Customer Service Revolvers. Yeah, that will help.”

“I guess her memory only goes back to her date of manufacture.”

“To the person in the article who said "I feel like I don't want to support her anymore", I say this:

If your support for Palin is based on something as stupid as whether or not she signs your book, you also need to remember that she doesn't care about you. Palin is for Palin. The fact that you support her at all says more about who you are than who she is. So you better hurry home because the Bridezillas marathon is starting.”

“I'm still not sure how I feel about Ron Paul. He did have a campaign Zeppelin and that was pretty cool. The hardcore Libertarian thing is kind of a mixed bag I suppose.”

“Well, the majority of them also believe in talking snakes so what's the point?”

“What about "dude"? For some people, that single word represents 25% of their entire vocabulary.”

“At least we don't bring guns.”

“Surely you saw the intended satire (or Fox News' reporter's guide to foreign correspondence).”

“Of course they forget that about 29 million people died under Mao.”

“As Stewie Griffin might say, "Yes, you like saying it because it refers to genitalia being dangled one's mouth and that's hilarious".”

“I'm surprised she didn't say. "Hey, I'm an American and your Mickey Mouse little laws don't apply to me".”

“If the catholics curtail their charities, remove their tax-exempt status.”