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I actually wrote the Whitehouse this morning and told them they have some culpability in the violence because they are not getting the word out about what is in the health insurance reform bill. If I do not need to see one more piece of footage of some braggidosio politician's talking head in lieu of a one page official document summarizing what is in the bill for the average American.
@Rick, I live in California, when any threat to removing or limiting Insurance Companies stranglehold on car insurance would send the Insurance companies running to the Courthouse. And whenever court cases were decided against them, they would appeal and basically ignore the ruling as best they could.
So I don't even think the Insurance Companies will wait. In fact I'm quite certain their the ones behind so many state general attorney's pledging to bring cases.
I have replaced my Obama sign with Buy American - that really stumps them and no more road rage incidents- yes, I had about 3 of them in this redneck city. Democrats should stop taking California for granted, the inland cities are all Rush Limbaugh territory. We are doing what we can, but it gets scary here, really.
Mike Vanderbo - really, you have got to hear the Alan Colmes podcast on the Vanderbo interview. It is CREEPY. Alan did a great job with him, too, Alan did draw out the guys take on the SSI and Disability. Mikes first response was that it was hard to live on so little, then he went into some bizzare spin on how well he has already paid for it, so he deserves it. Alan said, yes, and so dont you think others deserve it too. REally, worth tracking down and listening too, really creepy. This was day before yesterday.
Nels,
Good, now the spin would be; 'anti-business'.. communist, vegitario-fascist.. etc. etc.. The 'demonization of the insurance companies was well done and justly deserved. If the Repugs run on re-instating all that it would be great.
One question there; after things like the 85% benefit rule etc. come into effect, do you expect a year later to see court cases from the Insurance companies trying to recoup their 'losses'?
The Supreme Board of Directors would probably rule with them..
Good luck,
Rick
@Nels- too bad we did not get the question down soon enough for Thom to pass that onto Bernie-- and I could not hear Bernie as he spoke because that sound muffled on the speaker I was listening through, so then I thought, oh heck someone else surely will think of this and I need not log in....
For free-for-all Friday, I want to talk about how one afternoon last week I walked into the break room at work, and I observed something very much amiss: soccer was on the television screen, and not an NCAA basketball tournament game. My immediate reaction was “Why are we watching this garbage???” Somewhere from a back room I heard someone say “You tell them, Mark.” It seems that we have a sizable minority of employees who are European and African immigrants for whom soccer is their sport of preference. I have to admit that one must be careful in discussing the relative merits of soccer and basketball, given that soccer fans tend to be rather more “emotional” about their sport. Nevertheless, I thought it was somewhat rude for someone to switch the channel from basketball to soccer without asking anyone. Since the pro-basketball element seemed reticent, I went on to say that this was America, and Americans (mostly) didn’t give a damn about such a simple-minded sport like soccer. This managed to persuade one person to brave turning the channel to the basketball game, an action which immediately led to one soccer fanatic leaping to his feet and express his extreme displeasure. A brief argument later the television was turned off—until enough soccer fans left the room to make it safe to turn the basketball game back on.
I have this theory why Americans are less fanatical about soccer than other nationalities. Americans are individualists, they’re not “team players” by nature. When a kid dreams of being a football, baseball or basketball player, he or she is not dreaming about being a “team player.” They’re dreaming about individual achievements: hitting 50 homeruns, scoring 30 points or running for 2,000 yards. The coach might preach “team,” but the individual is thinking what he or she can do to stand out above the rest. That is why players and fans are so fascinated with the multitude of statistics that defines American sports. Now, in the case of soccer, it is very difficult to quantify what being a “star” is. Hardly any “points” are scored. “Bend it like Beckham?” What the hell does that mean? There can be little else than winning for queen and country (or mayor and city) to motivate a soccer player. Maybe during the Olympics Americans have some sense of national togetherness, but in the professional world, it’s the big individual numbers that earn you the big paycheck. I would also conjecture that this lack of team spirit is pervasive in the real world, perhaps more so on the right than the left.
ha! very good- and not to change the subject but the President is all out there so proud of his nuclear arms reductions - this idea was unleashed on the net, and I must confer, "when will we realise, especially given all the innovative clean renewable energy technologies available inlcuding solar thermal, that nuclear power plants are really just a way to hide the proliferation of nuclear arms science. The technology to enrich nuclear material continues to advance. Recently, a known terrorist was found to be working at a nuclear power plant. "
Song When will they ever learn, when will they ever....learn.- Where have all the flowers gone.
@KMH, well if we both thought of the same thing, then I would say there is some merit to the idea. Great minds think alike and all that ;-)
@Rick I also had this thought on the way in to work this morning. The Democratic party and supporters need to put out just one simple message over and over:
"Vote Republican, the Banksters and Corporate America are depending on you!"
Past it on Billboards in and near every Republican dominated district, and in areas hardest hit by home foreclosures, see how much money it takes for Corporate America to spin that message.
Wow- we have really got to hand it to the Democrats, really, and of course Progressive Radio and ourselves! The world really IS changing.
BTW- Money Bomb tomorrow for Alan Grayson-
Alan Grayson is the first Democrat to represent Orlando in 34 years. He’s in the crosshairs of the insurance and Wall Street lobbyists. Please join me in supporting his March 27th money bomb. Pledge $35, $50 or more now at CongressmanWithGuts.com
@Nels- thx goodness! Looks like we had the same idea at the same time! [I had to take the time to log in- you were already logged in.] :)
Filibuster- why cant we just cap the number of times a senator can call for a filibuster, like in any sports games, where only a certain amount of 'time outs' are called?
Maybe filibusters should be limited like time-outs in a football game. You can only make x amount of filibusters per Congressional session. Then parties could still use it, but only when they felt it was absolutely necessary.
There would be no illegal immigrant problem if there were no illegal hiring of them. Neither the Dems or Repubs really want to address the real problem.
@Rick, nothing would please me more than seeing our voting system improved, and I think that should be worked on regardless of the big push. Ballot reform and instant runoff voting is just necessary.
However, I'm talking about what's the next battle that can draw out the Republicans and show them for what they are. I doubt many of them will stick their neck out much to fight fair elections, and unfortunately most Americans don't seem to care about the voting irregularities, for it to become a big issue.
But I so totally agree with vote reform, and also an amendment that strips Corporations of the status of Human Beings once and for all.
Senator Sanders makes a great point, pushing for alternative energy would be a wonderful tack to take now. Would be awesome to see a lot of ribbon cutting ceremonies on Solar Plants and Wind Generating plants, or at least the announcement of hundreds of sites that are being studied for environmental effects of building such power plants on these sites.
Bernie, does Michele Bachmann's firing up the crowds and telling her constiuents that she wants them armed and dangerous rise to sedition?
Nels,
Aren't you going to be going back to the polls with the misbegotten twins; unlimited corporate money courtesy of your Supreme Board of Directors, and the same corporate-controlled voting machines?
The right is going to use anything else to grab attention; what about trying to get control of your voting system?
Up here we use paper ballots that can be re-counted, and still get our results back that night.
Cheers,
Rick
@Mark. Norman Goldman started his radio career filling in for Ed. He also has a legal perspective that I find quite informative. The show is not exactly a carbon copy.
So what will be the next big push? Immigration Reform or Wall Street Regulation? or are both going to be worked on concurrently?
I personally think the best strategy would be to tackle Wall Street Regulation, if they can pass credible reform before the end of October, I wouldn't be surprised if the Republicans actually lose more seats. Then Immigration Reform can be moved forward without giving Republicans the advantage of playing to their racist base at the mid term election in regards to immigration.
I am amused by the Repubs examples of "see we are being threatened too."
Cantor takes a freak accident (probably somebody celebrating healthcare passage) and conflates it into an attack on his office. Maybe it was fired from one of those black helicopters.
And, "Mean" Jean Schmidt releases a "threatening" voicemail. The caller was clearly upset and used profanity. The caller suggested the Republican Party change its name, hardly a threat.
What I am not amused by is the cable media giving these "examples" equal billing to actual threats and acts.
If you think right-wing talk radio/tv is bad, you should tune in Christian talk radio sometime. I'm talking specifically AFR (American Family Radio) and www.AFR.net. There is a guy at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time who spews lies and incites anger worse than Rush. I want to call and confront his Christianity but he is so obnoxious I know my temper would rear its ugly self. Tom, I would love to hear you take him on while on the air one day (just make note in your newsletter so I can podcast it in case I miss it). I must say I am a Christian, but I am also an active Progressive with common sense. TGIF!
I hope Senator Sanders is successful at getting the States the ability to create their own single payer health care systems by 2014. I doubt that the provision will be survive to 2017. Too much chance that the Corporations will install all the subservient politicians they want by then (so long as nothing is done about Citizens United).
So, Dems receive death threats, faxes of nooses, bricks thrown through windows, gas lines cut at family member's home and the Repubs chalk it up to public discourse. Never mind that Republican members of Congress have surmised the doom of the republic. Ignore the man with the blow-horn spinning a yarn about Guv'mint putting Grandma to death. Overlook the woman at the podium encouraging the obliteration of the "enemy". These are not isolated incidents carried out by a few rogue scoundrels. No, these are the acts of outlaws being incited by jackals hell-bent on serving up the poor and middle-class to the capitalist elites.