uberlefty's Comments (195)

“The fact that the USCoC and the NFIB are against it is enough for me to support it wholeheartedly. Once business is compelled to provide insurance for their employees the pressure will increase to get rates under control. I AM a small business owner and I provide coverage for my employees. They stay healthier and have fewer sick days. Any business model that is based on substandard wages and scant benefits is bad for the country. Some business people would have you believe that if they have to pay a living wage with benefits they will employ less people. That implies that they can do their business with fewer people or that they would have to charge more than the market can absorb. If all employers have the same requirement then no one has an advantage. I have to charge more for the services I provide and I explain to my customers why. I choose my suppliers based on how they compensate their employees because I see the difference in the service I get. You reap what you sew and now its time to pay the piper for businesses that make their money on the backs of labor. This country wasnt made great by exploiting labor, in spite of what the exploiters want you to believe, it was made great by the people who get up every morning and do the work that needs to be done. Providing them with basic health care isnt charity or socialism its patriotic.”

“Republicans were besides themselves with joy in the spring of 08' watching the battle between HRC and BHO. The common wisdom was that the left of self destructing and paving the way for 4 more years of conservatives in the White House. We saw how that turned out. The strength of the left is that we are pragmatic. We can scream, argue, criticize, and threaten but at the end of the day we work it out. This bill stinks but as many have said its better than nothing. Progressives have the thankless task of supporting the best solution to many problems. Unfortunately there are many who dont see what to progressives seem obvious. In the long run we will have single payer but for the time being we have to settle for covering 30 million more Americans. The costs will be great but those costs will be what ultimately makes single payer the only option. People seldom make the smartest decision the first time around but ultimately they get it.”

“Matthews position is disingenuous at best. The primary difference between the Democrats accomplishing something and the Republicans accomplishing something is money. Democrats who seek to achieve any kind of reform that benefits private citizens are swimming against a river of money. Millions spent to defeat health care and banking reform. There is no meaningful counter stream to blunt the effect of all of this money. Being a Republican is easy. Just vote with the money. Thats why they appear to be more disciplined. Matthews contention that passing this using reconciliation rather than getting the full 60 votes to achieve cloture shows how wed the beltway insiders are to defending a broken system. Like any sports commentator who used to be in the game they dont want the rules to change. It would make their insights useless. Both parties want to keep the system as it is. It allows them the political cover they need to sit on the sidelines and fill their war chests with contributions from both sides. Dean was instrumental in reforming the Democratic Parties approach to winning elections. Now that he is turning his attention on how to get reform passed the party wants him to go away. Unless we are as vocal, articulate, and courageous reform wont happen. Call, write, and e-mail your senator now.”

“I find it ironic that some need to turn these sorts of things into gender bashing. The one thing that all of these MEN have in common is that they cheated with other WOMEN. It takes 2 to tango. The idea that these men were perps and the women they were involved with victims is an insult to women. You dont know the real story here and its just as likely that this woman planned on selling her story all along. If thats the case then it is the man who was the victim of an enterprising young woman? I think not. In affairs of the heart there are no victims only volunteers. We have little control over who we are attracted to. Some people have more control than others and some are more ruled by their hearts than their heads.”

“Texans had to look long and hard to find someone stupider than W to replace him as governor. They had the good fortune to find Rick Perry. Well done Texas!”

“That seems like a reasonable assumption but usually you dont turn security tapes on and off or change them for that matter. Part of the reason you have a security camera is to capture what happens when you are not there. Burglaries for instance. The tapes in security cameras in the 90s were generally able to record 24 hours of video. This is why the images tended to be grainy. The tape runs very slowly so there is more magnetic data per inch than on a standard 120 min. tape. After 24 hours the machine automatically rewinds the tape and records over the previous 24 hours. This was standard procedure for most private security cameras. The government cameras tend to save the tape for a long period of time and have procedures that trained security personnel or law enforcement follow when it comes to changing the tapes.”

“If there is anyone who knows about crybabies it is someone who works for Faux News. Freedom of association is one of Americas greatest freedoms. The president has chose to not associate himself with Faux News. Let Freedom ring!”

“Poor choice of words. We arent supporting them we are exploiting them. They work for less than a citizen would and contrary to popular myth they pay taxes and social security/medicare even though they arent entitled to the benefits. The IRS and SSA have known for years that the SSNs illegals use were false but didnt care as long as they didnt try to file. So you see unradicalized one you have gotten it backwards.”

“Joe Wilson was the designated dumb ass. They all saw the text of the speech so they knew it was coming. They chose a person from a safe district to pander to "the base". Conservatives have shown a taste for confrontational speech and this outburst can be likened to Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. A cynical effort to distract us into a conversation about immigration rather than the merits of the plan. We need to stop providing political cover for this sort of nonsense and call it what it is.”

“She isnt a journalist, she is a payed spokesperson for Wall Street. She jets around with CEOs on corporate junkets and pretends to be unbiased. She is married to Jonathan Steinberg the CEO of WisdomTree Investments. They specialize in ETFs, one of the worse investment vehicles because of their high fees. Whether you like ETFs or not it doesnt change the fact that she has a very personal stake in the status quo. In short she is what Forbes would refer to as a capitalist tool.”

“The first thing the NAZIs did was have "pet" judges declare their actions legal. The Nuremberg Laws and the doctrine of "Fuhrerprinzip" ( German for Executive Privilege ) were the legal justification that long established German institutions used to legalize their crimes against humanity. The last administration took it all out of the NAZI playbook. Many of the participants of the Wannsee Conference were lawyers and one of the purposes of the meeting was to establish the legal framework for the final solution. They saw Judaism as a threat to Christian culture in much the same way that the last administration saw Islam. The parallels between the NAZIs and the last administration are too numerous to chronicle. Allowing them to avoid prosecution, regardless of the legalization of their actions would set a frightening precedent.”

“The time for progressives to push back is now. Call the White House and let them know that that the public option has to be part of this. They want to do it but they dont want to get burned. If enough people let them know we want it they WILL get behind it.”

“This is all about traditional media trying to regain relevance. They want this to be a good game. They will do everything they can to create an environment that is conductive to regaining viewership and readership. The best thing that we can do is not watch. Just say no to the MSM.”

“The president does have the authority to order the withdrawal of US troops from a Iraq and Afghanistan but only in accordance with the law. In the case of Iraq the current troop presence is in accordance with an agreement between the US and Iraqi government. Withdrawing US troops would be a violation of that bilateral agreement. Afghanistan is a different situation and it is a little more complicated. The US invaded both countries and destroyed their institutional abilities to govern themselves. Iraq is moving towards a day where US troops wont be present. Afghanistan less so. In short whether you agreed with the policy of invading those countries we have broken them and now we have a responsibility to try to fix them. Smart compassionate people can and do disagree with how to accomplish that but it is simplistic and irresponsible to just leave no matter how appealing the prospect.”

“There is nothing the right would love more than for the government to be perceived to be cracking down on free speech. It fits perfectly into their narrative of an administration out of control. Only by tolerating the bad behavior can we demonstrate that we are not afraid of a debate. The more insane they act the less serious they will be taken. The key is to call your congressperson and senator and let them know you want reform now.”

“Your logic escapes me. If Obama "takes it" as you put it his popularity goes up? Bush didnt worry about what people were saying because he had everyone's phone tapped, was reading their e-mail, and had the FBI planting spies in activist groups. If you disagreed with him or defended those he disagreed with you could be arrested and detained. I would suggest you Google Brandon Mayfield if you want to see how Bush dealt with his opponents. Pointing out that people in the media need to be responsible for what they say and shouldnt be inciting riots isnt a violation of the First Amendment. It is free speech. The right goes nuts when anyone suggests that they should be responsible for the crap that they spew. They protest that their rights are being infringed on. BTW Pelosi wasnt elected by California, she was elected by the 8th congressional district in California, which is about 2/3 of San Francisco. Just so you know.”

“When Bill Kristol talks, people yawn and change the channel. He and those like him have been relegated to the bargain book table of punditry, Faux News. Nothing new there, just another way to roll the dice but always come up lucky 7. When Kristol says arrogant he means uppity and those who are left in the echo chamber snort and slap their knees. The right is doing its best to deride Obama the same way that sane, articulate, and literate people derided Bush. The problem for them is that Bush was the gift that kept on giving and Obama is stingy with gaffs. Swing and a miss Bill, better luck next week.”

“I dont think that this is an issue of two different versions of events but of two different perceptions. The reality is that if this had been a white homeowner and a white officer this wouldnt have happened. A lot of white people would like to believe that blacks are treated no differently than whites by law enforcement. Every study conducted on this subject shows that to be inaccurate. The makeup of Americas prison population shows this to be inaccurate. The FACT that the charges were dropped demonstrates that arresting Dr Gates was a mistake and considering that he is one of Americas foremost black scholars makes it a stupid mistake. None of us were there but it is safe to assume that the officer probably didnt have much experience dealing with African-American academics. He probably took offense at Dr. Gates tone and chose to arrest him rather than be berated, an entirely human reaction but not a well considered one. If Dr. Gates had been a white professor it is more than likely that there would have been severe internal repercussions for the arresting officer. Instead the officer will become a poster child for those who love to claim reverse discrimination. This is the true state of American race relations.”

“When put in the terms liberal and conservative you are correct. If you look at the individual makeup of the congressional districts you will find a different result. Americans have an affinity for simple terms that put things in black and white. When you poll the details you will find that Americans are overwhelmingly progressive. They want health care reform, increased spending for education, support a womans right to choose, and many more issues that are termed liberal. What they dont want is increased government intrusion into their personal business, something conservatives seem to want. The terms liberal and conservative are rapidly losing their punch, as the GOP discovered in the last election. When the liberal = evil label didnt stick to Obama he became a socialist and a communist. He palled around with terrorists. He was part of a sleeper cell etc. Wanting health care reform isnt a liberal/conservative issue, it is a pragmatic issue. The majority of Americans arent ideological, they want the country to work. They want good paying secure employment. They want to afford to send their kids to college. Conservatism doesnt have a viable solution to the problems that Americans face, they favor the status quo because it favors them. Progressives want action and social evolution. Something, that when polled, Americans overwhelmingly favor. Blue dogs arent ideological, they are scared and lazy. If they dont figure out which side their bread is buttered on they will be replaced. Thats democracy.”

“Higgy,

Its not his agenda its our agenda. The agenda of the over 70% of Americans who think the system is broken. The agenda of almost 50 million people who are uninsured. The agenda of anyone who wants this country to be able to compete globally in the 21st century. There is NO measurement that would indicate that the system is working for most Americans or that it will somehow fix itself. The only people who think the status quo is working are those who directly benefit from it or those driven by political ideology. Conservatives who realize that Americans prefer the Universal health care of the Democrats over the Universal war of terror of the GOP. Then there are the conservatives who seem to believe that wealth is meaningless if the poor don't suffer.”

“Didn't you write " Under the Bleachers " ? I loved that book.”

“We are 39th in average IQ and that is only because we have some very smart people to raise the curve. Are problem isnt stupidity its ignorance. That didnt just happen. We have seen a systematic gutting of public education combined with a disproportionate representation of conservatives on school boards across the country. There is a direct correlation between intelligence and income expectation. Now we see the price of higher education skyrocketing for no reason. This creates another disincentive for people to seek post high school education. One would think that this was all some weird coincidence if you were watching the MSM. It is nothing of the kind. After WWII we had one of the best education systems in the world. It created the social environment that fostered the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. The corporate interests that run this country knew that they were next to go if this trend continued. They have done everything in their power to keep Americans fat, stupid, and financially dependent. Unless we push back and demand a world class education system we will all be " Joe the wage slave".”

“The question we need to be asking is how much? How much do we have to pay our representatives to do whats in our interest? Just give us a number and we will come up with it. $100 miillion? 200? Whats the bottom line. It is clear that they are being paid off by their corporate masters so why dont we just ask their price and show them for the shameless whores that they are. How much Baucus, Feinstein, Landrieu, Wyden, Hagen, and the rest? How much?”

“David Gregory is what is known as a "tool". Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Not the sharpest tool in the shed. You get the picture. I think NBC gave him the slot so they could go after the NASCAR demographic.”

“They made a tape of them doing it under a bridge and on a grate.”