anniegirl9's Comments (202)

“"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.”

“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.”

“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!!!”

“This may sound simplistic equating the Iran descent to the RNC last year, but it does remind me of how Cheney was not wanted anywhere near the convention. Bush could only give a speech via satelite. Why? becuase at the time, the Bush/Cheney name was acid to McCain and the republicans. Cheney had (at the time) the decency to stay away. The American name has the same acid quality to the Iranian protesters. They do not what our "support" as it would only taint their cause. I hate to have to say this, but we should have as much sense as Cheney showed durning the RNC and stay out of it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I feel the overwhelming need to was my mouth out with soap.”

“Doesn't matter. Until Obama repudiates the report, he owns it.”

“It's not about how much he can handle on his plate at a time, it's about what he is willing to expend political capital on. Obama never said he was for gay marriage, but he did say he was against DADT and DOMA and a fierce advocate of gay rights. To this point, Obama has not only been (for the most part) hands off these issues, he has allowed things like the DOJ report to be anything BUT be an advocate of gay rights.

I will not argue that he may need to focus on things like the economy or health care right now, but that hardly means he should allow the DOJ to compare gay marriages to incestous or underage marraiges.

And even if Obama is making a good decision to focus on other things, that certainly does not mean that true advocates of gay rights should sit back and wait. They must continue to forge ahead, even if that means criticizing Obama for his inaction.”

“I have to wonder if those who think US and Obama should take a harder stance on this have thought about 2 things.
1) what would the Iranian protesters want? Much like the Rupublicans during the RNC last year wanted nothing less than Cheney to show up and give a speach, the Iranian protestesters want nothing less than the American name attached to their protests. Or an even more apt metaphore whould be if Limbaugh was to put his seal of aproval on one of two liberal candidates during a primary. It would be the kiss of death for that candidate. Shouldn't what they want matter?

2) If we bang our chest in support of the protesters, what then should we do if they take to the streets only to be gunned down? We do not have any ability to stop such violence. Are we really so caulous as to beat the drum of revolution and then stand on the sidelines of a massacre without the prospect of taking any responsibility for the outcome?”

“These guys will re-define anything to suit thier needs. They openly mocked feminists until they put Palin (a woman who wanted to take away women's rights) and then claimed she was a feminsit.
Limbaugh now says that fit people are the ones hurting the health care industry, and white supremist are now leftists.

I wouldn't say that this shooter was a main stream Repub, but the idea that a white supremist is left leaning is all but laughable. I would personaly kiss Limbaugh's a@* if he could show me the voting records of admitted white surpremist going even more than 1% for liberals. Any white supremist. It ain't gonna happen!!!

And I'm sick and tired of being accused of being intollerant because I will not accept intollarance. It is not hypacritical to hate hatred. Yes, there are acts of violence on both extreams, but for progressives, it is not really natural. It's like female mass murderers. Yes, they occure, but in much lesser numbers because it goes against nature.”

“Living in Michigan, I looked into that myself when considering Lasik, but that still leaves out a massive amount of people who do not have the $ to travel or the proximity to other countries. We are all hurt by the extra cost of people not having access to preventative care.”

“As an English teacher, I can safely say this is a textbook case of plagiarism, at least at an academic level. Palin gives credit to two lines coming from Newt. She never gives any credit to the second author and there are numerous other lines (as the article points out) that are nearly word for word or very closely paraphrased. If this had been one of my student’s speeches or papers, they would have failed at the very least. It is entirely possible they would be on some sort of academic probation, and if one of my college students would have turned this in, they would have been recommended to the Student Ethics Committee for possible suspension.

Politics is a different game, but in academics, we take this pretty seriously. I would even use this as an example of what not to do when teaching my students about plagiarism. There is even plagiarism software that many colleges and some H.S. use that may very well have been used to discover this instance. You can type in a portion or upload the entire speech or paper and the software will cross reference any published material to find similarities. When a speech matches this closely, there is no doubt that plagiarism is going on.”

“Since the Civil Rights movement, the Democratic and Republican parties have pretty much switched sides. Yes, is was Southern Dems who wanted to uphold segregation, but once the Democratic party embraced civil rights, those very same southern Dems defected the party. It is more appropriate to say progressive and conservative (or status quo), as the parties have both evolved. The Republican Lincoln party was the progressive party of the time, and the Democratic party of the Civil Rights era was the conservative party. The point is, in narly all instances, the party that held the progressive stance has always been on the right side of the debate (no pun intended).”

“NOt only is it NOT easy to get a late term abortion in Michigan, it is also very expensive. I agree, women do not carry a baby so far to term to just change their minds.”

“I absolutly hope that the federal level will recognize gay marriage rights, but I do fear the SC is too conservative at this time and that a decision against it would push the movement back for many years to come. I hope I am wrong.”

“G. Gordy Libby made it and also said (while trying to depict Sotomayer as a racist) that "La Raza was illegal immigrant for The Race."

I think that the GOP congress has remained fairly restrained on this so far. But those with the loudest voices outside of the congress are all spewing this type of stuff.”

“But for the most part (with a few exceptions), they aren't attacking her record and judicial views. They are attacking her intelligence, making the claim that someone who would have the most judicial experience in over 100 years in unqualified, claiming she is angry and temperamental, bringing up her menstrual cycle, and saying she is a racist for making the same statements that both Alito and Scalia where quoted as having made.

That is what makes them look racist, not any real debate over the merit of her record and judicial views.”

“So if say Alito or Scalia where to be shown to make statements that were nearly identical to the one's Sotomayor is being criticized for, you would call for them to step down too, right?

Oh wait, they both did make such comments.

And Bush Sr. also said Thomas' sence of empathy was a credit to him as a SC judge!”

“Actually, she is an admitted member of La Raza, but beyond that, Tancredo's statements are completely inaccurate, including the motto of the organization. It is the largest Latino civil rights advocacy group in the country. If anything, it should be compared with the NAACP, not the KKK.

But this is just like the GOP demonizing groups like ACORN. Stick it to those who want to fight poverty or better the lives of minorities. All the while they are claiming racism to slander such groups, they are counting on racism to garner support for their accusations.”

“I think that conservatives have heard arguments about racism without ever really listening to the argument that now all they hear are a string of words and the think, "hey, this is what everyone has been telling me is racism," and they scream "racist." They never seemed to pick up what people have been saying about the underlying beliefs that mark racism. Thus, they are only reacting to the words but still do not understand what racism is. There can be no other explanation for G. Gordy Libby's accusation of Sotomayor as a racist while stating that "El Razo is illegal immigrant for the Race."”

“One fellow lefty can only wish!!!”

“I have no problem with anyone scrutinizing her for her decision making and then making a decision for or against. But that is not what the loudest voices in the GOP are doing. They are saying that a summa cum laude, valedictorian, top of the class Princeton and Yale graduate with the most judicial experience of any nominee in over 100 years is a stupid and unqualified "affirmative action" candidate.

If that is the case, what they are saying is that no minority no matter how intelligent or hard working ever stands a chance at legitimately making it to the top position in our country.

And that is how this white woman reads their criticism. I can only image (using empathy of course) how Latino Americans read it.”

“When you break down the numbers, the % of her decisions that where overturned is pretty small. Less than the actual % of cases the SC overturns. And being that she is an apeals court judge, that means that her cases have a higher chance of making it before the SC in the first place, so her #'s are not that bad at all.

As for the New Haven case, Sotomayor and the two other judges all came to the same conclusion based on precidence that was already set. If you want judges to disregard legal precidence when you don't like the decission, you are asking for an "activist" judge.”

“To us, there is nothing immoral about homosexuality. And yes, according to the constitution, it is necessary to exclude God and religion in a debate about laws.

I respect your right to your religious beliefs, but when it comes to the law, God is as true as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.”

“You remind me of my husband's uncle who will argue until he is red in the face that a meal can not be a meal if there is no meat.

While I can not speak personably about gay marriage, I can assure you that vegetables can and do make an excellent meal. In either case, you just need an open mind.”