anniegirl9's Comments (469)

“Or we could look at things that have been proven to work and do away with those that waste our money, like AIDS relief $ that insist on abstinence only and demonizes condom use. Just one example among many.”

“"The fact that costs will necessarily go up is obvious..." Not at all. 1) the added age group is proposed as a by in, meaning individuals would pay premiums, just like they would to an insurance co. and 2) the younger age group would create a healther pool for Medicare, thus spreading the risk and reducing individual cost.”

“And they think (perhaps rightly so) that their only ticket back into power in 2010 & 2012 is blocking health care and to keep unemplyment rates high - thus perpetuating the lie that 1) this was Obama's stimulus in te first place, saying he grew the deficit by 1.4 trillion when 1.2 was on the books from the Bush term the day Obama stepped into office and 2) that it has failed. That is the only explanation for them now contradicting themselves from their earlier position of using TARP funds to promote job growth.”

“If one side was actually concerned with the cost, it would not so easily reject a robust public option which was shown by the CBO to actually reduce the deficit.”

“Um, isn't this the same group of people who screamed "indoctrination" just a little while ago.

Do they really know the meanings of these big words, or do they just repeat everything Fox and Limbaugh say?”

“I wish we could really learn from history for once. The right debates whether or not FDR’s New Deal got us out of the GD, but that ignores history even further back. The US was plagued with periods of economic turmoil since its creation. The GD was undoubtably the largest, and it was especially hurtful because it came after a period of great prosperity, but it certainly wasn’t the first. With the regulations of FDR, we enjoyed the longest spance of time without these large economic upheavals. But Republicans started to chip away at regulation almost immediately. They did not have good success until Regan. And low and behold, shortly there after, we had the S & L scandal. At this time, with the GD all but forgotten, deregulation penetrated even into Democratic ideas. More and more regulations were eliminated or not enforced. And now we have the greatest recession since the GD.

Many don’t like regulation because, arguably, companies don’t have the potential to capitalize on their profits as much as possible. The flip side of that is that we all do not suffer the consequences of their quick profit mentality nearly as often. The US needs to decide if we are going to go back and be a country with rollercoaster ups and downs in the race for the biggest profit margins or are we going to be a more – dare I say – “conservative” economy that looks to the future and the benefit of society in”

“Neither man would ever make it through a GOP primary. Neither would their man Steele. They like to have a few around to say, "see, some of my best friends are ..." but they would never dream of granting them real power.”

“It's also ignorant of history. Before the US joined in WWII, there was actually quite a bit of support for Hitler among the conservative and economic giants of the time who despised labor unions and thought Hitler might just have the answer. Hitler even had a portrait of Henry Ford who helped finance some of Hitler's ambitions. And now the conservative and economic giants of our time are yielding the puppet strings to have the ignorant masses turn the finger on Obama and progressives and call us "Nazis." It would be funny if it wasn't so scarry.”

“lol - huked on foniks wurked phor me.”

“I had to laugh as I listened to one Republican strategist explaining that the rallies were "buyer's remorse." So many people were there saying "this wasn't the change we voted for."

Yeah, what percent of those protesters voted for Obama in the first place? I would wager to say 0, but I'm sure some of them were too confused by the ballots and accidentally voted wrong.

The truth is, Obama was exactly the change they didn't want, and never would want or accept, even if he succeeds in turning the economy around. It's all just a little too dark for them.”

“Let’s all be honest for a moment.
Dems say Wilson lies because there is a clear provision that disallows payment of benefits to illegals. Undeniable truth.
Wilson and supporters say Dems lie because Dems defeated amendments that would disallow “treatment” for illegals. Also accurate.
Treatment would continue as it does now, and bills that could not be recouped would be passed on to us.
Depending on which tinted glasses you wear, both are telling the truth and both are lying.

But which one is the only acceptable option. Reps want immigration reform built into health care reform. They want ER’s to turn away all patients who are not here legally, no matter what age, no matter how life threatening the condition. Such an amendment would say that we as a people are okay watching a child die because her parents, like so many of our own ancestors, crossed our boarders without permission. Libs fight against such inhumanity and depravity and the Right calls us socialist Nazis as if the two could ever be interchangeable and expect others to believe that Progressives who fight for Heath Care for all would be happy to let Grandma die. That is the real lie.
That and Compassionate Conservatism.”

“I guess that means Oberman's bid gets rejected.”

“Let's just humor him and say I believe it was "story telling."
I still have the following ?'s.

So is sharing creepy sexual fantasies with your fellow college as if it really happened a new Republican hobby?

Do they sit and compare imaginary, potentially illegal sexual exploits as if they were high school virgins trying to one up each other?

And can we just eliminate "family values" and "campasionate conservative" from our vocabulary now?”

“Mark my words, all it would take is Rush saying that McCarthy was a victim of Dem's "historic revisionism" and was actually a good guy for 20% of the GOP to declare McCarthy as an American hero. A few more responsible Repubs, like McCain, would make a brief, under the radar statement expressing their disagreement but quickly move on to protect themselves in future primaries. Can we please stop pandering to the crazies?

We need to do away with the Electoral College. In a "winner takes all" system, it is detrimental for either party to disengage itself with any of its factions. Right now, third parties can actually insure minority rule as popular platforms may split the majority. Without the EC, multiple parties that embrace real differences can hold onto their values without having to pacify one segment or another.

And we will never again have a situation where a candidate receives the popular vote but does not win the election!!!”

“As I said before, you are right. I will not vote Repub, BUT if Obama fails to fight for what he promissed us, what so many of us got excitted about, we will not turn out to canvas neighborhoods, volunteer at phone banks, or give $. I worked in a group of nearly 3 dozen people where only two had ever volunteered to a campaign before. It was Obama's message that moved us, and without the fight begind it, I know I will not be moved again. To lose his grassroots support could be the same as if we didn't vote for him. That is wht you are failing to grasp.”

“I might agree with you if the PO was not so pivotal to the other parts of this bill working. So far there have been insurance reform parts: eliminating pre-existing conditions, making coverage portable... which have for the most part avoided criticism. If this was all that we could hope to get passed, I would be up to saying lets do it and we can build on it. But, as I have mentioned before, insurance supporters have already installed into the bill some provision that would help counter those loss of profits.

Still, it is the other areas that define it for me. The main one is the employer mandates. With a Public Option, the bill would cover many more people. The millions of uninsured are one of the most compelling arguments for Heath Care Reform. Without the PO, this leg of the legislation turns into a win for the insurance company or a loss for employers and workers. The PO is the third leg of a tripod. Without it, the legislation falls. It becomes more harmful than helpful, so the idea of passing something we can build off of later loses its appeal.”

“It is precissly because he is starting to lose Progressives that his numbers are going South. If he can enact strong helath care reform, they will go up again. If not, he may well be a one term president.”

“Even if we vote Obama 2012, without us fighting for him, going door to door, making calls, and sending in $ everytime we can spare it, with his approval ratings going down, I forsee a grim November for Dems. The Repubs were right about something after all. This may be Obamas Waterloo, but only if he buys into it and thinks that passing anything he can call a Health Care bill will save him.”

“There is also an amendment in the senate version that allows the insurance companies to increase the patient burden from a max of 25% to 35%, placing even more of the cost onto us, making up for the provisions which are sure to make it through like eliminating pre-existing conditions.

The majority of bankrupcys in the US are due to medical bils.
The majority of those are individuals who HAVE medical insurance.

The system is broken. Leaving out the PO only increases that, and I hope House REps keep their word and kill it if it desn't have the PO.”

“I would prefer single payer, but Obama didn't campaign on that. He never endorsed it, so I can't be too hard on him for not including it. He did however campaign on the Public Option. Now I expect him to fight for it now.”

“A bad bill is worse than no bill. If the bill were to pass as it stands in all 3 versions in the House but without the PO, it would include mandates for employers to provide insurance. Without the PO, this only serves to strengthen the insurance companies, giving them more customers and not capping prices in anyway. Employers forced to cover more employees may pass that cost on to the employees with higher premiums or lay off workers to cover those left behind. The bill only works if it includes the PO to keep the prices in check.
Not to mention, an amendment in the Senate allows the insurance companies to increase patient responsibility costs from 25% to 35%. Essentially, this could be an insurance aid bill and not a health care reform bill if it does not include the PO.”

“You're right. I knew Obama was no progressive when I worked to get him elected. The whole "he's the most liberal senator" stuff was crap to scare the far Right and I knew it. But this was something he campaigned on to gain the support of progressives, and they have every right to hold him to it now.

I’m not saying he will lose my vote. But he will certainly lose my confidence, and without that, I will not be volunteering my time or my money to help him in 2012. I don’t mean that to sound like a threat. I’m just being honest. Obama infused excitement and hope in us. He electrified us. I would not change my vote last November, but if Obama fails to fight for the things he mobilized us to fight for, he won’t be able to excite us enough in 2012 to do any more than show up and vote.

As for the moderates, they should be able to accept that this was a key part of Obama's platform and, if they voted for him, then they have no reason to be upset if he fights for it.”

“How is stating facts "revising history?" Now, I will allow you your opinion on the reason for the turn around or that it could not be carried on, even if I disagree with them, but facts are facts. Clinton left office with a surplus. It is an easily verifiable part of record. Historic revisionism happens when we alter those facts.”

“The National Debt and the annual deficit/surplus are two different things. No one could expect Clinton to eliminate the National Debt which accrued during the Star Wars era of Regan, but an annual intake which is larger than the annual expenses (i.e. a surplus) was in fact what Clinton left in Bush's hands. Had Bush been able to carry on the Clinton trend, he would have cut the National Debt. Instead he ballooned it with the Iraq War and, in the minds of many, we no longer have the $ to pay for a Public Option. Although, I suspect the Right would have proclaimed that we didn't have the $ even if we did not have the debt of the Iraq War on our hands.”

“You are assuming it will pass with a "trigger." What, by the way, would those triggers be? Nothing has been defined, making it very had to support. But more telling is the lack of any other Repubs or Blue Dogs willing to say they will support a "trigger" option.

Do you really believe that those fighting so hard to defeat something would be open to the possibility of it in the future? Either they will fight it right off if Dems show support, or they will make sure the triggers are so ambiguous, they could never be meet.”