aaronr2000's Comments (504)

“I agree. We can't blame Obama for the what goes on in Congress. He unlike Bush only runs one branch of government on Pennsylvania Avenue just as the constitution intended.

Thanks for the compliment on our pic! Five years and lots of pictures later that's still my favorite family photo of the three of us.”

“I hope the president will be hands on this time. It actually makes sense. Like in baseball you don't bring in your heavy hitter first. You try to get a player or two on base THEN you send your star slugger to bring them on home. I hope that means we can count on Obama to swing for the fense and try to get us something to keep the insurance companies in check.”

“I think you're on to something. Maybe this is a chess move by Obama. If he had put such a visible face on the bill up until now the Tea Baggers would have made that much more of a stinker out of the bill just to make an anti-Obama statement. Now that this is the last stance before becoming law maybe he can redeem himself with his base and help the House give us that shiny new robust public option we've been wanting and been promised all this time.”

“I was thinking maybe he's plotting the opposite.”

“Come now. Why such hyperbolic rhetoric so close to Christmas? While I share your desire for a stronger bill with a robust public option it's not apocolyptic as you so vividly described.”

“No good. We will stump our feet then vote a leader we disagree with out in the primaries. That's what we did with Joe Lieberman. Just because Republican and Independents were crazy enough to vote him back in isn't our fault.

I find it comical that your example of principals and convictions is the Tea Party's voting habits. Forgive me but I'm not going to rise to your challenge of voting Republican or Independent just to make a statement that I can vote other than Democratic.

Oh and by the way, aren't you making two conflicting points? It's commendable to be independent and vote outside the box yet you praise the Tea Baggers for standing by their right wing convictions even to their political peril? So will you please pick a point?”

“Just to be clear I wasn't trying to claim intellectual superiority over those who support the passage of a compromised bill. I too was optimistic to a fault. Now I'm accepting the reality of how Washington works, and sadly it's not always for what's good or what's right but what's selfishly and politically expedient.”

“Thanks for the assist anothervoice2. That was EXACTLY my point! No disrespect to smit9187 but one doesn't even need to go too deep into history to see the changes made to Medicare and SS. Medicare Part D was a windfall to the drug companies and Bush proved that if the lobbyists get their way SS will be privatized. Changes have been made over the years, but not for the good of the people or the original intent of the programs themselves.”

“For those who think this bill is a start and we can just add on to it to make it stronger, you really are hopelessly naive as to how Washington works. Because there is no real cost containment mechanism (i.e. public option) in this bill, not only will insurance companies jack up rates to make up for the $600 million they're out, the cruel irony of forcing us to pay for health care DEFORM, but they'll use the extra windfall profits from the bill that forces us to buy from the insurance cartel to lobby even harder to kill future strengthening of the bill.

This is why this Goliath of an undertaking is taken on only once a generation. Because my faith in the system is so shot, the new generation after us will in their hopeful naivety just as I did try to change the system for the better under the assumption that doing good is all that is needed to exact positive change for the people. And like us they will be stunned to discover that the biggest inertia for change isn't the politician bought off by the lobbyist or even the spineless Democrats that are afraid of their own shadows but their shockingly ignorant constituents who will fight to the death against change that is meant to benefit them! This is what you get when conservatives hate the president of the opposite party (especially a black one) more than they love themselves.”

“Absolutely! That will not only save money by taking out the price gouging middle man but it will also save lives.”

“I agree with most of what you're saying but am unclear on others. Is it your argument that something is better than nothing?”

“While I agree with this proposal on principal I'm afraid it will only hurt those who really want health care reform. Believe it or not (and I can't believe I'm saying this) as much money as congress makes for some it's just enough to put them in the comfortably middle class bracket, specifically those who live far away from Washington, travel a lot and have to purchase both a mortgage and an appartment/condo in DC. The rich lawyers who partially live on the dime of the lobbyists already, well they'll be fine. Therefore cutting their health care will do them, the hard core opponents of reform, no harm anyway.”

“I'm with Howard Dean: Kill Bill Volume 2

If this bill was neutral or marginally better than the status quo then I'd say go ahead and add to it as time goes by. But since it has morphed into a health care insurance bonanza then it's time to shut it down.

I'm reading a lot of great arguments for starting over as Dean is suggesting, but let's not make the argument that since he's a doctor that he has an advantage in discussing this issue. The same argument has been made to give credence to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) who is also a doctor.”

“OK fair point. As a married man I've learned never when trying to make a point to say words like "All" or "Always". Allow me to qualify my comments by saying most of the ones I've seen or heard from. Even the Daily Show did a great piece on how indecisive and unsure they are even when the choices are polar opposites. Politicians seek the independent votes like a dance from the prettiest girl at the prom because they know you're a wild card.

One question: do you subscribe to Lou "Mr. Independent" Doubs brand of independence or Ralph Naider or other brand of independence?”

“That's a very cynical and simplistic accessment of liberals. It also happens to be utterly false. We are not group thinkers like the Tea Party crowd. If what you're saying is true then there will not be all this push back on the president and Democrats in Congress, and their approval ratings will be off the charts. But because they're squandering a golden opportunity to pass meaningful legislation by unnecessarily cutting deals with the devils not only are they getting an earful but they'll be reminded come November.”

“I agree that it'll never happen. Our elected officials buckle under the weight of the health insurance industry alone. Campaign finance/lobby reform will bring to bear the force of not just them but every special interest with an agenda to sell. As for a viable third party, there is no demand for it. America for the most part is made up of three separate groups: Democrats, Republicans, and a loose federation of self-aggrandizing indecisive uninformed independents.”

“I don't disagree with you. Only I don't know as much about the Federal Reserves as I should. I always wondered who lobbied on behalf of the Federal Reserves being a tight nit secret society that sets our monetary policy, that is who is going to give Ron Paul push back with his proposed legislation to audit them. Based on what you're saying we can look for some resistance from the banks, the same people who don't want reform on Wall Street or any other firm that stands to benefit from the casino environment we have up on Wall Street, correct?”

“Thanks for the number but I just got off the phone with the staffer who said that they are taking numbers only for Conneticut citizens only and that they have a ton of calls coming through.

OK Conneticut, please make the call. I hope all the people calling weren't gullible independents and ignorant Republicans patting him on the back for being such a dork.”

“That's true. It must be really humiliating to the competition. It's like he creamed them with one hand tied behind his back. What would they think if after the dust settles he makes an announcement that he's going to put aside all the shenanigans and start focusing on improving his golfing skills? Uh oh!!!”

“Please tell me you're lying!”

“Agreed. There's plenty to dispise about this man dealing with the facts alone without drawing Israel or his heritage into this. No need to play connect the dots (other than the ones connecting him to the insurance lobbyists).”

“aaronr2000 to Reid: Ignore the White House and to hell with Joe Lieberman!

Reid should put out a bulletin: "If one more politician demands that I compromise an already gutted out bill not only will I deny your request but I will also reinstate the more robust parts of the public option and call for reconciliation in order to pass it with a simple majority. As for Joe Lieberman, meet me at the back of the wood shed. Oh and bring your Homeland Security chairman gavel with you."”

“I'm torn. I was content writing her off as being just plain old nutso. How I have to recalibrate my predispositions to admit that people on Fox "News" really are smart? This may take a while.

OMG could this mean that George W. Bush was...NAAAAHHHH!!”

“Obama is not a "war president"! George W. "I make decisions with war on my mind” Bush, now THAT'S a war president. Pres. Obama did not start a war and is bent on ending the two we're in. Just because he hasn't withdrawn the troops precipitously (gosh Cheney has tainted that word) doesn't make him a war president, just a smart one. Remember, "We have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in."?

I think we should have never gone to Iraq and should have been out a long time ago. As for Afghanistan it's definitely time to fish or cut bait, but you who think that the president's role as commander in chief somehow disqualifies him from being pieceful are woefully naive.”

“Wow. Thanks for the warning. That's NOT funny!”