Yesterday I spoke to the Pima GOP ladies. Today I have the Pinal GOP ladies, in Saddlebrook, Arizona, near Tucson.
I said yesterday that I was not going to be covering President Obama’s newest self-indulgent waste of time. People who say I should be open-minded and just hear him out at some point should concede that he has had enough chances to speak. Nevertheless, hours driving in a car allowed for me to hear more than enough to determine that he is completely wasting our time.
When a liberal tells a conservative to “be bipartisan,” that liberal is really telling the conservative “shut up and agree with me.”
When people reject what the left offers, the left claims that their opponents are either evil or stupid. Claims that they did not explain it right means that we are complete dolts too unsophisticated to grasp concepts. Claims that we have no interest in coming to the table attacks us as bad people when the truth is that dialogue is not the same as monologue.
Let’s start out with a basic premise that will anger conservatives. Barack Obama has every right to ram through his agenda. He won the election. He has healthy majorities in congress. If he rams through a left-wing agenda and we on the right dislike it, too d@mn bad. We lost the election and have to shut up and deal with it.
However, my objection with Mr. Obama is not that he wants to ram through an agenda I dislike. That is what elections are for. My problem with him is that he keeps telling us that he wants to be bipartisan. He doesn’t. He is an ideologue. He wants to govern from the left. I do not believe the right should refuse to deal with him out of spite. However, we have every right to refuse to deal with him until he starts speaking honestly.
Here is the truth, with a lowercase “t.”
Republicans did not block health care reform. Democrats did. The Democrats had a filibuster proof majority in the senate and could not get the job done. Again, there is absolutely nothing the Republicans could have done to block the bill. Failure to enact Obamacare is 100% the fault of the Democrats.
Barack Obama is not coming to the table because he is bipartisan. He knows that the Democrats are a bunched of undisciplined children that can’t govern. If they could, his bill would have become law.
The next truth is that Mr. Obama wants the Republicans to agree to his bill. He does not want to enact any Republican proposals.
Republicans favor legal reform. He is against it. His concern that legal reform would allow corporations to crush innocent victims is bogus. There can be a compromise legal reform bill that limits frivolous lawsuits while still allowing legitimate ones to go forward. Mr. Obama will not stand up to the trial lawyers.
Selling insurance across state lines would lead to competition, which is good. Mr. Obama is masterful at saying that Republican ideas should be “looked at,” which his way of pretending to acknowledge opposing views before completely discounting them.
Mr. Obama is even trying to revive the public option. Republicans do not want this.
So what is the solution?
I personally think Mr. Obama should try and ram his bill down our throats. Then when he fails, he and the Democratic Party should face the deserved humiliation, as they did with Hillarycare in 1994.
The Republicans should absolutely not cave in to this man.
Flash back to 1992. In a recession, Tom Foley and George Mitchell convinced President George Herbert Walker Bush to agree to raise taxes. Vice President Dan Quayle correctly pointed out that he would be breaking his word, ending his presidency.
President Bush gave a speech about how he hated to do it, but that he really wanted to work with the other side. The Jayson Blair Times praised him for compromising.
What was his reward? Foley and Mitchell and the rest of the Democrats called him a liar for breaking his “no new taxes pledge.” He was fired.
Politics are like the cartoon Peanuts. Democrats are Lucy, and Republicans are like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. How many times do we have to get fooled before we realize that the other side wants to bury us?
The Democrats screwed up health care reform. They desperately want Republicans to come on board so that if the bill fails, blame will be spread out.
Hell no. Let me say this again. Hell no.
President Obama keeps saying we have no ideas. We have plenty of ideas, and he keeps rejecting them. Either he adopts some of our recommendations, or he tries to pass a hyperpartisan bill on his own.
(Tomorrow I will explain WHY the Democrats cannot pass it on their own, and what is causing their own members to immolate themselves. It involves Barbara Boxer.)
Barack Obama keeps saying that the people want his bill. Therefore, he should pass his bill with his party and get all the credit if it succeeds. He is scared of blame, which tells me that he knows the people are not buying what he is trying to sell.
The left can cry and throw temper tantrums about GOP obstructionism, but it is a lie. They have the votes. They are too gutless and useless to do anything with the votes.
There is no need to talk anymore. It is a waste of time.
Meetings are useful when both sides are willing to listen and compromise. Mr. Obama wants face time in front of the camera in the hopes that the public will become weary with the Republicans and demand his bill be passed. This was the strategy that allowed Bill Clinton to defeat Newt Gingrich during the government shutdown of 1995.
Mr. Obama wants to talk everybody to death until the public says “enough already.” Then pressure will fall on Republicans to cave.
This cannot happen. Mr. Obama should not be rewarded for his own intransigence.
The bill is a bad bill. He refuses to change it. Having a meeting with the other side is not the same thing as taking concrete actions.
Mr. Obama did not definitely promise to put one GOP proposal into the bill or remove one liberal poison pill out of the bill.
He also promised to focus on jobs first, but he cannot let health care go.
He could sign a smaller bill eliminating restrictions on preexisting conditions. In 1994 Hillarycare collapsed, but after the GOP took over congress we got the Kennedy-Kassebaum portability bill. It was good legislation.
Barack Obama wants what he wants, and he will not stop until he is dragged kicking and screaming to the center.
Republicans should hold the line. If we can get Bill Clinton to agree to a balanced budget, we can get Barack Obama to move as well. He is mortal, despite his own visions of grandeur.
Hours and hours of wasted time accomplished nothing. Mr. Obama talked, blathered, lectured, and nothing changed.
Mr. Obama, either pass your own bill, or work with the Republicans.
Just stop talking. Nobody that matters believes you any more.
Enough already.
eric
For those that don’t (or don’t want to) know me, I was a registered
Democrat during my college years. I, like most of my people, were brought up to believe the Democrats were the party of your average
Joe., the Republicans were for “big business”. Democrats were pro minorityh, Republicans were the John Whatshishame Society.
Then, I got some experience in real life, and began to think more and
more about what it meant to be a Democrat.
My first thought was WHY, Roosevelt ( Hitler called him Rosenfelt), allowed
6.5m of my brethren in Europe to be slaughtered? Why! Considerig
all of my relatives fought the krauts and Japs in WW2, and there were
600,000 Jews who were in the military..I still cannot fathom why
Auschwitz was not bombed, at least to send a message?
All the excuses as to why now..seem absurd to me. We had
bombers in the area on many occasions. I mean, just one bomb
down the chimney.
I believe in the Judeo-Christian ethnic.if not all the miracles described
by both the old and new. Religion is NOT about science..it has no relationship to science. It is about man to man and man to G-d.
(See movie Devils and Demons for the absurdity of it all and
connection which I despise)
Anway, a friend asked me why I am against Barbara Boxer?
I said, caus she is a Democrat. Democrat he shouted to me..and?
I told him that I vote the party line now..as I did when I voted
straight Democratic.
Frankly, I cannot stand her. I want her out, as soon as possible.
Our state is insolvent, get it, insolvent. We are attracting people
who want (and need) services, and losing people who would be paying
for them. We are just beginning to understand that mixed use housing
is good for us..it conserves space and doesn’t require huge freeway
expenditures.
But I am mainly against Boxer’s liberal and defeatest stance against
the fight for our survival ( taking on the Islamic-fascists when
necessary and where needed). I don’t want Sharia law in California
or the USA, anywhere. (See Europe’s caving in oblivion). I want to fight the Taliban there, and not here.
I hate the idea of socialized medicine, in any disguised from.
HMOs are socialized medicine folks. Oh yes, they have millions of members
and thousands of doctors. But compare their competence to private
doctors. Frankly, the good doctors leave for greaner pastures, and who
cannot blame them.
So what is left..for the hapless patient, who is denied the minimal of testing caus it costs too much. You pay for what you get folks..that’s the
reality.
31m people w/o medical insurance..who cares? That’s why we
have charities and clinic. (See Free Clinic). If the churches want to aid their people, that’s fine, with THEIR MONEY.
Obamacare should never have been initiated. Decades of
private insurance coupled with the medicare/medicaid programs,
should have sent the Demos message. Don’t tread on private industry.
It ain’t broke..just needs a little adjustment..like a knee brace. But don’t take out the entire knee cap.
Get it!
Obama is slick. He is smart. He is HOWEVER outsmarting himself. We
patriotic Americans who want a free society, w/o government
intervening in all aspects of our life…have begun to speak again.
There is a G-d, a Jewish/Christian one.
Of all the criticisms of Obama, the whole “he talks too much” one has got to be one of the silliest. He’s the president of the United States! We should want to hear him speak! At least he can speak!
The Democrats have incorportaed plenty of Republican porposals into the healthcare reform bills. It is a either a lie or an expression of ignorance to say otherwise. If Republicans want to be taken seriously – just like anyone else – they should tell the truth and they should know what they’re talking about.
Obama ate them for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner yesterday. He made them look like the sleazy talking-point-robot liars they are. It’s no wonder Repubican pundits want Obama to “shut up.”
Here, our good host talks about “legal reform.” That’s a new one. Usually conservatives use the equally cryptic “tort reform.” Most people are probably unaware of what that all means. What it is is slick conservative-speak for putting caps on the amounts people can sue for in malpractice suits. CALL IT WHAT IT IS. YOU WANT TO RESTRICT THE PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO REDRESS IN THE COURTS.
Just the same, there is some merit to MALPRACTICE REFORM. It won’t save very much money, but it will life a little easier for doctors and hospitals. Most states have at least some legal ways of constraining the amount lawyers can make from malpractice suits, and dealing with some other negative aspects of our malpractice system. Across the country, awards are down something like 50% over the past twenty years or so. This was a reaction to the very high awards/penalities being handed down by sympathetic juries. Some states have had a lot of success with these reforms. some have not. But in the end, it mostly a STATE MATTER. Most malpractice suits are filed within a state – they are not interstate, and so therefore the federal government has NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.
Just the same, the president has said he would be open to federal tort reform. We are waiting for the Republicans to ACTUALLY OFFER IT. Don’t expect it from the Democrats, as they are heavy favorites of the trial lawyers, just as the Republican party is heavily favored by the insurance industry. That’s just the way things are in an America dominated by a sleazy corporatocracy. And that’s exactly the way conservatives want it, so they should shut up about it. They’re being hypocrites.
The other “reform” Republicans are offering is to FORCE STATES TO ALLOW OUT OF STATE INSURANCE COMPANIES TO SELL THEIR POLICIES IN THOSE STATES EVEN IF THEIR POLICIES DO NOT MEET THE MINIMUM STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS OF THOSE STATES. This folks is yet another Republican “Race to the Bottom” scheme. So, with tort “reform” we see the cons limiting the rights of the people, and with interstate insurance reform, we see them trying to limit the rights of the states. So, let’s be honest and clear: REPUBLICAN “REFORM” IS TO LIMIT THE RIGHTS OF THE STATES AND THE PEOPLE.
Once again we see the GOP for what they really are. Sure, they talk a great talk about “states rights” and “individual liberty,” but don’t don’t care a whiff about those things. All Republicans care about is the profits of their benefactor corpoate masters. And in this case we see that Anthiny Weiner was absolutely correct when he said that “the Republican party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance induistry.”
The GOP may be the slick ones, but they can only hope the people are total morons, because you’d have to be a crook or an fool to want these “reforms.”
JMJ
“31m people w/o medical insurance..who cares?”
This a Republican, folks. A living, breathing moral vacuum who’s depth of
cognition is singularly small.
JMJ
Why Congress can’t have a debate without the President forcing them to site together in the same room is my concern. Even with it being a fruitless and camera staged event to showcase Obama exclusively it was still the most Congressional debate in over a year. It’s sad our officials can’t act like professionals and work together without a damn edict from a President to do their elected duties.
“We should want to hear him speak! At least he can speak!”
The point is that HE SAYS NOTHING !!!!
I’m tired of his crap too. That crap with McCain was totally uncalled for coming from a guy whos at that very moment campaigning for something the people have said over and over again that they dont want it !!!
““31m people w/o medical insurance..who cares?”
This a Republican, folks. A living, breathing moral vacuum who’s depth of
cognition is singularly small.
heh, a moral argument coming from a guy who supports a group tossing viable lives into dumpsters and communist revolutionaries like Che who killed thousands
Well, the congress has been arguing over healthcare for over a hundred years now, so it’s not as if anything here is new to see. One of the (many) lies we’ve seen bandied about in recent months is that there “hasn’t been enough debate” over the issue. Heck, this very post conferred there was too much “talk” about it! From Capital Hill to Town Hall USA, healthcare reform has been been debated to death (pun intended).
What we need now is action. The Dems are scared to do anything big, and the GOP is scared that the Dems will do anything big. It’s all a game of Chicken from here on out. If I were a Democrat, I’d hit the gas. &^%# the Republicans. They’ve historically been proven wrong on almost everything for almost a hundred years themselves.
JMJ
Dan;
““31m people w/o medical insurance..who cares?”
Jersey;
This a Republican, folks. A living, breathing moral vacuum who’s depth of
cognition is singularly small.
What was really said;
Dan;
“31m people w/o medical insurance..who cares? That’s why we
have charities and clinic. (See Free Clinic). If the churches want to aid their people, that’s fine, with THEIR MONEY. ‘
The point being made jersey which you so typically and sleazely misrepresented was that because of the right, the most charitable demographic on the planet, these people will be fine no thanks to Obamas little BS mock kumbaya dance around the marshmallow roast yesterday.
By the way. This whole stinking healthcare bill came up because obama said there were 36 million uninsured in this country. 1/3 didnt want it, the other 3rd were illegal, and the other third wanted wide screen TVs instead.
AND THEM BOOM !!!
All of a sudden its the whole damn country that needs it now !!!
Bull, Obama is feeling the heat, loosing seats, loosing the faith of the people, loosing in the polls, loosing his own base.
Thats why he had this pow wow only so he can say later after shoving anything that says ‘healthcare” on it down our throats… ” I tried reaching across the aisle”
Bull, not one of our proposals was taken into consideration. Hes screwed if he passes it because hes too in debt to back out now. And his base will disown him if he doesnt pass it.
Say goodbye Barry, and dont bow on the way out, theres just too many bars of soap laying on the shower floor
Micky, do five minutes of research and then you tell me if charities, churches and clinics can handle the healthcare of 31 million people. Please. I dare you.
The “Right” may be a charitable bunch, but their charities barely amout to bumsquat in the big scheme of things. Don’t get me wrong here – I give to charity myself. But to expect charity to completely deal with major issues like healthcare or education or hunger is just plain STUPID.
Regardless of who thinks they need healthcare, we ALL need it. Like clean and safe water and food, we ALL need clean and safe healthcare. Ya’ never know when you’re gonna need it.
THAT is what YOU need to understand.
JMJ
By the way, all this fun bickering aside, how are you these days? Aren’t you glad you live in Hawaii? Isn’t Hawaii great? Well, THAT is what I want for America.
JMJ
“Micky, do five minutes of research and then you tell me if charities, churches and clinics can handle the healthcare of 31 million people. Please. I dare you’
The government, our taxes, already insure far more than that and not very well might I add at being billions in the hole, taking half, 500 bill from medicare, as it is denying twice as many claims as the private sector.
The majority of the country doesnt want this crap in this form.
Get that thru your lemming skulls and you might finally get somewhere.
So while you’re up there on your high horse selling victimization, being the 31 million peoples champion I’d like to see you give half as much pity to all the seniors who will lose out for you guys ridiculous healthcare plan which is simply 2012 votes being paid for in advance.
Jorge Camara Thanks for all of your great work. I would like you to be aware of an organization based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that has been in existence for 26 years now, and provided care to over 250,000 patients in 15 countries and Hawaii, with an estimated value of services, had they been delivered in the USA, of over $86,000,000.0…0. Thank you for allowing me to share.
http://www.alohamedicalmission.orgSee More
November 9, 2009 at 3:22pm · Comment · Like · Report
Thats just one organization working out of this state. Soooo, assuming that the other 49 states are contributing in some form or manner that you more than likely would not like to give credit to I’ll assume more people are being tended to than you’d care to admit
And by the way, you still never were able to refute the 3rds I mentioned who dont want, are illegal, or opting for widescreens
pray for my hood, tsunamis a comin