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GOP Lawmakers Flip Flop On Costly Health Plans: AP
Commented Dec 27, 2009 at 02:05:16 in Politics
“Associate Propaganda (AP) is barking up the wrong tree. The problem with the GOP is not that it is flip flopping but that it refuses to join in the discussion in good faith. The GOP has put winning above everything including doing what is best for the country. The GOP will not argue the merit of its ideas, will not assess its policies in the light of history, and shouts down anyone who tries to do so. The GOP is not changing its mind because it has examined its ideas and policies and have concluded that they are not what is best at this time (or ever) but simply to be contrarian. And, perhaps worse, the GOP has shown that it will gladly pander to popular sentiment if the pander makes it look good--e.g. the Medicare drug fiasco they rammed through during the Bush years. This story (and others) should be chastising the GOP for promoting the GOP (its "brand") at the expense of the country. With the country in dire straights on so many fronts, we can't afford this kind of narcissism.”
GOP Lawmakers Flip Flop On Costly Health Plans: AP
Commented Dec 27, 2009 at 01:29:16 in Politics
“Not all Democrats are liberal. At least the party is honest with and about its members. Republicans aren't allow to think for themselves.”
GOP Lawmakers Flip Flop On Costly Health Plans: AP
Commented Dec 27, 2009 at 01:26:07 in Politics
“No, they lost touch with the country. People were anxious that the country was going in the wrong direction, and rightly so. The GOP is still out of touch. The hardliners cling to their core values without periodically taking a reality check to see if those values still work. They don't, and there is a long list of problem states--such as Argentina in the 80s--littering recent history showing those values don't work.”
GOP Lawmakers Flip Flop On Costly Health Plans: AP
Commented Dec 27, 2009 at 01:10:08 in Politics
“We never experience robust economic growth during the Bush years. The growth we did experience was anemic to moderate and we never fully recovered what was lost from the Clinton boom crash. We now know that much of the grow we did experience was snake oil.”
GOP Lawmakers Flip Flop On Costly Health Plans: AP
Commented Dec 27, 2009 at 01:00:54 in Politics
“There is more to education than what the government can put into it. The 50% dropout rate in inner cities has a lot to do the prospects those kids see for themselves. But high dropout rates are not resticted to just inner cities as Time magazine reported a couple of years ago. I don't imagine things will turnaround in this downturn.”
The Virtuous Man Named Jesus Christ
Commented Dec 25, 2009 at 15:41:22 in Living
“Why such focus and resentment of wealth? Isn't this quality the same as what it is condemning?”
The Virtuous Man Named Jesus Christ
Commented Dec 25, 2009 at 15:32:13 in Living
“If that's true then as many and more should hate the Buddha. But that message is presented differently.
I just did a quick read of Revelations 3 and I'm hearing an angry, pugnacious, security-conscious voice; and I have to ask myself why would I want to sit and sup with this person if this is what he bring?”
I just did a quick read of Revelations 3 and I'm hearing an angry, pugnacious, security-conscious voice; and I have to ask myself why would I want to sit and sup with this person if this is what he bring?”
C-SPAN Caller: I'm So Mad About Health Bill Passing, I Took My Christmas Tree Down! (AUDIO)
Commented Dec 25, 2009 at 13:50:11 in Politics
“The hidden treat is that they vote and elect people like Barraso.”
C-SPAN Caller: I'm So Mad About Health Bill Passing, I Took My Christmas Tree Down! (AUDIO)
Commented Dec 25, 2009 at 13:44:38 in Politics
“Christmas doesn't have a lot to do with the birth of Jesus either. Some early, enterprising Pope or Bishop adapted the prevailing practices to Church purposes and it became the Christian tradition. God help her if she knew the truth.”
HBD replied on Dec 25, 2009 at 14:38:57
“'Twas the first use of Christmas.
pottedferne replied on Dec 25, 2009 at 14:11:57
“fanned....
The Virtuous Man Named Jesus Christ
Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 17:28:36 in Living
“Or maybe he didn't mean what people thought and think he meant. Unfortunately, Jesus never speaks for himself and one has to question the reliability of his handlers.”
The Virtuous Man Named Jesus Christ
Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 17:23:03 in Living
“Yes, according to the New Testament Jesus is the new god: the Christ. Consequently, the story had to be shaped to support this view. John's gospel is especially good at this.”
The Virtuous Man Named Jesus Christ
Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 17:19:05 in Living
“I believe there had long been a rich tradition of Jewish mysticism at the time and thriving Gnostic communities in the desert. My sense is that Jesus spent his "three years wandering in the desert" among and absorbing the teaching of said communities. It's a pity that we have no direct record of Jesus' thinking or teaching in, say, correspondence or treatise. If Jesus did spend ample time in these communities, then clearly the Gospels are an impoverished source of his teachings. One would expect a fuller account of the idea of gnosis, to say the least, and maybe an expansion on the meaning and understanding of miracles. Alas, the Jesus we have is the Jesus of his followers, and they weren't interested in such things.”
The Virtuous Man Named Jesus Christ
Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 16:39:13 in Living
“Anyway you look at it it is the birth of light.”
Senate Passes Health Care Bill, 60-39
Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 16:04:46 in Politics
“I don't agree that it is the legislative process that needs to be addressed asap. Basically, you're asking the legislative process to fix itself, and that's not going to happen to anyones satisfaction. Rather, what needs to be addressed is the quality of the conversation in America. As a people we seem to be suffering from some sort of ADD. We want to see the world in black-and-white, we want instant fixes, we want bowdlerized memories. Until we start to accept things as they are, that most things are a shade of gray we are not going to elect legislators who will or can do what we need to have done.
Many of the problems we are facing now we were also facing in the late 70s. Ronald Reagan came along peddling a fantasy about a city on the hill. We bought it. Fortunately, high tech gained traction about that time and propelled us forward. But the rot was still there, and Reagan's vision ignored the rot making no effort to address it and making it worse. Now, high tech has matured. We can afford to hold on to Reagan's fantasy.”
Many of the problems we are facing now we were also facing in the late 70s. Ronald Reagan came along peddling a fantasy about a city on the hill. We bought it. Fortunately, high tech gained traction about that time and propelled us forward. But the rot was still there, and Reagan's vision ignored the rot making no effort to address it and making it worse. Now, high tech has matured. We can afford to hold on to Reagan's fantasy.”
Senate Passes Health Care Bill, 60-39
Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 15:34:43 in Politics
“They are not irrelevant, they are worse: they're obstructionist. This debate and the final product would have been far cleaner if they were irrelevant. Far too often they set the tone and dictated the terms of the debate. The healthcare delivery system should have been the kernal at the center of the debate, instead profits were. The question is not when will the Republicans wake up, the question is when will we, the American people, wake up.”
My Reason for Hope This Christmas
Commented Dec 23, 2009 at 01:12:45 in Politics
“I don't understand what do you mean by "freedom." The way you use the term is open-ended and vague. I think the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution used the term in reference to bondage and servitude as property. Those conditions are no longer legal in contemporary America, so that understanding doesn't make sense. To my understanding you are not incarcerated or under any legal restriction. So what is this "freedom" you are talking about? If you say that your "freedom" is threatened by "government" restriction, let me remind you that your "freedom" is restricted by your wife, your neighbor, the guy driving the car ahead of you. Let me also remind you that your "freedom" is also ensured by government restriction such as when the government mandates that a business give you three days to change your mind about a contract you sign.”
tranquilnight replied on Dec 23, 2009 at 02:15:20
“I'll ask a couple questions as food for thought as well:
When Madoff and other hedge frauders pull ponzi schemes and make mass amounts of money disappear from world markets, there's definitely profound effects. Or when some corporate fatcat puts profits over the customer, there's definitely a frustrating sense of iniquity.
But do you really want to turn over control of these sectors to bureaucracies governed by appointed politicians, especially one's so deceptive even to their own alies and constituents, let alone the opposition? Does it really make sense to create a Public HealthCare system designed to give people the best and most comprehensive coverage and yet somehow reconcile that with fiscal responsibility? Is it even possible to claim you're being fiscally responsible and paying for the best medical care for all?
I guess it's possible but it doesn't make it true. And that's the problem, with so many lies it's hard to trust that any of this is for the good of the people. That's why Dems are in big, big trouble. I don't care what your ideology, nobody appreciates being lied to.. you libs did a pretty effective job of pinning that title on Bush and carrying that crusade to your current state of power. Well, prepare for double the electoral backlash for double the betrayal.”
When Madoff and other hedge frauders pull ponzi schemes and make mass amounts of money disappear from world markets, there's definitely profound effects. Or when some corporate fatcat puts profits over the customer, there's definitely a frustrating sense of iniquity.
But do you really want to turn over control of these sectors to bureaucracies governed by appointed politicians, especially one's so deceptive even to their own alies and constituents, let alone the opposition? Does it really make sense to create a Public HealthCare system designed to give people the best and most comprehensive coverage and yet somehow reconcile that with fiscal responsibility? Is it even possible to claim you're being fiscally responsible and paying for the best medical care for all?
I guess it's possible but it doesn't make it true. And that's the problem, with so many lies it's hard to trust that any of this is for the good of the people. That's why Dems are in big, big trouble. I don't care what your ideology, nobody appreciates being lied to.. you libs did a pretty effective job of pinning that title on Bush and carrying that crusade to your current state of power. Well, prepare for double the electoral backlash for double the betrayal.”
tranquilnight replied on Dec 23, 2009 at 01:48:28
“Great question. The freedom we speak of is like waking up every day and not having to care about what the government is doing. It's the freedom to work for an opportunity at doing something you really want to do, not something you have to do because it's the only way to survive. It's the freedom to come home at the end of the week with a work check that isn't 50% because you're paying for people who can't or won't pay for themselves.
Those opportunities have existed here for the great extent of people for most the present era; perhaps not in equal fashion or outcomes but overall the opportunities for the average American are greater and more varied than any other country in history. I can prove this by pointing to the countless numbers of great Americans whose brilliance have absolutely revolutionized every facet of human life; all thanks to a system that believes if you let people work for their own goals and accept that there's always going to be a percentage who a) make bad or destructive choices or b) are TRULY born into unfair circumstances (for which case government programs are sometimes but not always an appropriate solution) then society would progress WAY MORE than if you tried to macromanage it using big-government.
That is the essence of Conservative supply-side economics and why it's so deeply part of not just our fiscal identity by our philosophical one as well. Hope this helped.”
Those opportunities have existed here for the great extent of people for most the present era; perhaps not in equal fashion or outcomes but overall the opportunities for the average American are greater and more varied than any other country in history. I can prove this by pointing to the countless numbers of great Americans whose brilliance have absolutely revolutionized every facet of human life; all thanks to a system that believes if you let people work for their own goals and accept that there's always going to be a percentage who a) make bad or destructive choices or b) are TRULY born into unfair circumstances (for which case government programs are sometimes but not always an appropriate solution) then society would progress WAY MORE than if you tried to macromanage it using big-government.
That is the essence of Conservative supply-side economics and why it's so deeply part of not just our fiscal identity by our philosophical one as well. Hope this helped.”
My Reason for Hope This Christmas
Commented Dec 23, 2009 at 00:41:44 in Politics
“The free market is an idea not a thing. Men create and run markets. Of their own markets have no ethics, no discipline but are wholly dependent on the ethics and discipline of the men who participate in them.
I think that you want to believe that private enterprise needs a teacher to be corrupt and that government is that teacher. Sadly, that is not now nor ever has been the case. Too often private enterprise will do anything it thinks it can get away with. Often the victims are other enterprises.”
I think that you want to believe that private enterprise needs a teacher to be corrupt and that government is that teacher. Sadly, that is not now nor ever has been the case. Too often private enterprise will do anything it thinks it can get away with. Often the victims are other enterprises.”
My Reason for Hope This Christmas
Commented Dec 23, 2009 at 00:13:01 in Politics
“Heck, how would the Republicans be handling the economy?”
Landrieu Now Facing Anger From The Right, But Predicts Re-Election
Commented Dec 22, 2009 at 23:46:22 in Politics
“Clinton really didn't hand Bush that much. The tech bubble burst in March of 2000 and the economy was already in trouble. Bush's policies made a bad situation much worse. When Obama talks about sustainable jobs, it is the Clinton economy that he is thinking about. That economy was probably the pinnacle of Reaganomics based in financial manipulation. So what Obama inherited is more than Bush. It is more than Clinton, too. The struggle now, the real problem we have with Congress is in making a clean break from the ideology that got us into this mess. It behooves us to remember that the economy was in decline in November of 2000 and to use the Bush years to challenge tax-cut and deregulation advocates to show how those policies will make things better.”
Landrieu Now Facing Anger From The Right, But Predicts Re-Election
Commented Dec 22, 2009 at 23:22:48 in Politics
“We like to suffer. America grew considerably after the "socialist" programs kick in after WWII and the Great Depression. I doubt people here really appreciate how much those programs reshaped our economy and way of life.”
Improving the Health Care Bill After It Passes Will Not Be Easy
Commented Dec 22, 2009 at 22:59:14 in Politics
“Improving on the health care bill if it passes will not be easy, but the prospects of getting a better bill if it fails will not be any easier and probably harder. The question that begs to be asked is why? Why does America have so much difficulty adopting progressive measures that the commons will benefit from? Why is there so much aversion to helping people (ourselves) whose needs are short of a "natural disaster?" We have a lot of problems in our country. We have fallen behind other developed countries in so many areas including health care, education, and technological deployment (and in many cases development) but our myopia allows us to continue to pretend that we are leading. Why are we so risk averse and fearfull (tea partiers and survivalist)?
Health care is a symptom of what troubles America. Big finance is another. The truth is we are not going to get the health-care (or finance) legislation we need until we address what really troubles America. In the meantime, if it passes it will at least send a pulse that we can rather than the can't we been telling ourselves for the last 60 years.”
Health care is a symptom of what troubles America. Big finance is another. The truth is we are not going to get the health-care (or finance) legislation we need until we address what really troubles America. In the meantime, if it passes it will at least send a pulse that we can rather than the can't we been telling ourselves for the last 60 years.”
DonRoberto replied on Dec 23, 2009 at 08:59:57
“A partial answer? We are used to being comfortable, and we have trouble digesting anything that interferes with that comfort --- including facts. We would rather live in the Matrix our mass media, churches, schools, and big corporations have created for us, and we prefer to listen to comfortable lies than uncomfortable (or inconvenient) truths.”
Learning from Lieberman
Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 16:53:25 in Politics
“Funny how rare it is for a progressive representative to lead the national news. The spotlight gives the likes of Lieberman clout.”
Krugman: Health Care Fight Shows The Senate Has Become Dangerously Dysfunctional
Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 15:26:48 in Politics
“It seems to me that the problem is not with the filibuster per se but the fact that we have 40 people who automatically say no to every issue. More than 40, actually, because we have got the entire contingent of House Republicans doing the same. Frankly, I don't believe that all of those Senators and Congressmen are opposed to health care reform or every other issue they oppose as a party block. I also believe that were they acting independently they would have actively contributed to the HCR packages and other legislatislative initiatives in our common interest. Our problems stem not from the Senate rules but party ideology and discipline. It is the Republican party, not the Senate, that is antidemocratic.”
The Long Overdue Debate
Commented Dec 18, 2009 at 01:36:55 in Politics
“I think this debate has been going on all along and has evolved as the bills have evolved. I think that this debate has encompassed more pertinent aspects of health care and narrowed as Congress moved closer to its goal. What is disheartening is that this debate and these debaters have always been on a remote stage well off to the periphery of the main stage. The main stage has been dominated by scatologicalist aping learning for a credulous audience. This seems to me to be the nature of American politics. I want so desperately for it to change.”
The Long Overdue Debate
Commented Dec 18, 2009 at 01:03:23 in Politics
“If digital communications are such a great thing, why aren't our politicans behaving any differently? When Congress starts showing a lot of new faces marching to a different drummer, then I'll believe that digital communications have made a difference.”
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