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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Limbaugh to GOP: ‘Be proud of being the party of no’

nobodyforpresident
Reminds me of a fortune cookie I got once:
"Aim at nothing, and you will hit it." I think that should be the Regressive Party slogan.
WASHINGTON -- Democrats have frequently labeled the GOP the "party of no" over the past year, and Republicans acknowledge this line of attack has hurt them. But according to Rush Limbaugh, they should be "proud" of it.
President Obama and Republican leaders have agreed to meet for a bipartisan summit to discuss health care legislation. Obama issued the invitation over the weekend and after some initial uncertainty, GOP leaders accepted.
Limbaugh warned Republicans this was merely a "trap," counseling them to miss the event and to wear the "party of no" label as a badge of honor. He said they should be wholly and proudly opposed to Obama's health care plan.
"A clear majority of people do not want it," he said Wednesday on his radio show. "Do not be afraid of being the party of no if you don't do this. Be proud of being the party of no."
But some Republicans have openly indicated they dislike the label and appreciated Obama's acknowledgment that they have their own substantial ideas, which he made publicly at his previous bipartisan question-and-answer session with the House GOP late in January.
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Delay and Obstruct!!!!!!

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Hypocracy thy name is GOP

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Leading Country of the Free World? Ignorance knows no bounds.

Snowpolitics gets stormy

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Iraq boot Blackwater gaurds.

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Wellpoint facing uncomfortable probe

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tea Party Movement a new ploitical breed.

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National Security distortion backfiring on GOP

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Klein: Senate Health Care Bill Already Contains What The GOP Wants

Habitual readers know that I'm fond of pointing out this article by Igor Volsky, which thoroughly documents the way the substantive concerns of the House GOP Caucus have been addressed in the chamber's health care reform bill. As you can read for yourself, the Republicans got a lot of what they wanted.
I'm thankful to Ezra Klein of the Washington Post, for getting his citizen-wonk on, and doing the same for the health care reform bill passed by the Senate.
Klein identifies "six Republican ideas already in the health-care reform bill." The first four come right from the GOP's "Solutions For America" website.
1. "Let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines."
2. "Allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do."
3. "Give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs."
4. "End junk lawsuits."
Plus, a bonus two that aren't codified in their list of "Solutions" but nevertheless reflect the way the Democrats have attempted to respond to the GOP's concerns: placing a cap on the "tax break for employer-sponsored insurance" (Klein points out that Dems typically oppose this; the idea lives on in principle via the excise tax), and, of course, taking anything that looks like a "public" health care plan off the table. As in: no single payer, no public option.
LinkHere
[Ezra Klein]

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Shelby Releases Most -- But Not All -- Holds On Obama Nominees

White House blasts senator for blocking all nominees
Democrats are criticizing Alabama's Republican Sen. Richard Shelby for blocking every one of the president's nominees over spending disputes involving his state.
Senate Shark Jump Announced
— talkingpointsmemo.com — You've seen the reports that Sen. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama has taken the perhaps unprecedented step... of placing holds on ALL of President Obama's nominees until he gets the money for a couple of big earmarked pork barrel projects back in his home ... (more)
Shelby's Office Confirms Holds, Lashes Out At Obama
— tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com — Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-AL) office has confirmed to TPMDC the reports that Shelby has placed a hold... on President Obama's nominees over a pair of government programs set to be based in Alabama. He did not confirm that Shelby has taken the rare step of blocking all of Obama's nominees, as was ... (more)
Shelby Tries to Shut Down US Senate to Benefit Foreign Company
— emptywheel.firedoglake.com — Alabama's Dick... Sen. Shelby (R) There has been a lot of discussion of how foreign companies will... be able to influence elections and politics given the Citizens United deal. But foreign companies are already dominating our politics. But they ... (more)
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama will stop blocking Senate confirmation of about 70 government appointees nominated by President Barack Obama, his office said.
Shelby had placed "holds" on most of Obama's nominees, delaying the Senate from acting on them, in a dispute over federal spending involving his state.
"The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security – the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center," Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo said in a statement Monday night.
Shelby wants the tanker and the new FBI explosives center to be built in Alabama. Senators frequently block individual appointments, but Shelby's blanket hold was unusual.

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Exploring the issues behind the many gates involving Sarah Palin...

Two-Faced: Stimulus Opponents Privately Beg For Government Cash

Stimulus foes see value in seeking cash

Sen. Christopher S. Bond regularly railed against President Obama's economic stimulus plan as irresponsible spending that would drive up the national debt. But behind the scenes, the Missouri Republican quietly sought more than $50 million from a federal agency for two projects in his state.
Mr. Bond was not alone. More than a dozen Republican lawmakers, while denouncing the stimulus to the media and their constituents, privately sent letters to just one of the federal government's many agencies seeking stimulus money for home-state pork projects.
The letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, expose the gulf between lawmakers' public criticism of the overall stimulus package and their private lobbying for projects close to home.
"It's not illegal to talk out of both sides of your mouth, but it does seem to be a level of dishonesty troubling to the American public," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Mr. Bond noted that one project applying to the USDA for stimulus money would "create jobs and ultimately spur economic opportunities."
He and other lawmakers make no apologies for privately seeking stimulus money after they voted against it and continue to criticize the plan: "I strongly opposed the stimulus, but the only thing that could make it worse would be if none of it returned to the taxpayers of Missouri," said Mr. Bond, who is retiring.
But watchdog groups say the lawmakers' public talk and private letters don't square, highlighting a side of government spending largely overshadowed by the "earmarking" process. While members of Congress must disclose their earmarks — or pet projects they slip into broader spending bills — the private funding requests they make in letters to agencies fall outside of the public's view.
"There is a definite disconnect between the public statements and the private letters," said Thomas A. Schatz, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste. "It does seem inconsistent to say you're against the bill but then you want some little piece of it."
At a televised meeting with the House Republican caucus late last month, Mr. Obama chided GOP lawmakers who, he said, took credit for projects funded by the same stimulus bill they voted against — adding that some were even attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
But the USDA letters also reveal a more discreet way for lawmakers to try to steer money to home-state projects.
Taking names on GOP Hypocracy

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America's No ? in Health Care in the world.

Surgical Error: Phillips & Webster Attorneys Represent Victims
Wrongful Death Due to Surgical Error. Tragically, approximately 98000 wrongful deaths occur in the United States each year as the result of surgical error. ...www.phillipswebster.com/html/surgical-error.html - Cached -
Murtha's Death Caused By Surgical Mistake
9 Feb 2010 ... approximately 98000 wrongful deaths occur in the United States each year as the result of surgical error ...
Rep. John Murtha's (D-PA) death on Monday has been reported by various news outlets as resulting from "complications following gallbladder surgery." Via Taegan Goddard, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the "complications" involved a mistake by Murtha's surgeons.
Mr. Murtha was first hospitalized with gallbladder problems in December. He had surgery Jan. 28 at the National Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md. He went home, but was hospitalized two days later when complications developed. According to a source close to Mr. Murtha -- confirming a report in Politico -- doctors inadvertently cut Mr. Murtha's intestine during the laparoscopic surgery, causing an infection.
Read the full story here.
systems
Source: WHO World Health Report - See also ... 33 Chile 34 Denmark 35 Dominica 36 Costa Rica 37 United States of America 38 ... Find affordable health insurance plans by Kaiser Permanente of California. ...

Right On Dude

Stewart Takes On Palin's Hand-Scribbled Buzzwords

jsijason

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

- Plato -

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To quote Henry Rollins: "Then there’s Sarah Palin, who, egged on by other intellectually malnourished “real Americans,” has said so many startlingly stupid things in the last few days, the comedic furnaces won’t be cooling down any time soon! She’s a dynamo of dumbassity! An inferno of idiocy! "

Colbert: 'Sarah Palin Is A F--king Retard'


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Sunday, February 07, 2010

Smoke the Bigots Out of the Closet

By FRANK RICH
Published: February 6, 2010
A funny thing happened after Adm. Mike Mullen called for gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military: A curious silence befell much of the right. If this were a Sherlock Holmes story, it would be the case of the attack dogs that did not bark.
John McCain, commandeering the spotlight as usual, did fulminate against the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” But the press focus on McCain, the crazy man in Washington’s attic, was misleading. His yapping was an exception, not the rule.
Many of his Republican colleagues said little or nothing. The right’s noise machine was on mute. The Fox News report on Mullen’s testimony was fair and balanced — and brief. The network dropped the subject entirely in the Hannity-O’Reilly hothouse of prime time that night. Only ratings-desperate CNN gave a fleeting platform to the old homophobic clichés. Michael O’Hanlon, an “expert” from the Brookings Institution, speculated that “18-year-old, old-fashioned, testosterone-laden” soldiers who are “tough guys” might object to those practicing “alternative forms of lifestyle,” which he apparently views as weak and testosterone-deficient. His only prominent ally was the Family Research Council, which issued an inevitable “action alert” demanding a stop to “the sexualization of our military.”
The occasional outliers notwithstanding, why did such a hush greet Mullen on Capitol Hill? The answer begins with the simple fact that a large majority of voters — between 61 percent and 75 percent depending on the poll — now share his point of view. Most Americans recognize that being gay is not a “lifestyle” but an immutable identity, and that outlawing discrimination against gay people who want to serve their country is, as the admiral said, “the right thing to do.”
Mullen’s heartfelt, plain-spoken testimony gave perfect expression to the nation’s own slow but inexorable progress on the issue. He said he had “served with homosexuals since 1968” and that his views had evolved “cumulatively” and “personally” ever since. So it has gone for many other Americans in all walks of life. As more gay people have come out — a process that accelerated once the modern gay rights movement emerged from the Stonewall riots of 1969 — so more heterosexuals have learned that they have gay relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers and co-workers. It is hard to deny our own fundamental rights to those we know, admire and love.
But that’s not the whole explanation for the scant pushback in Washington to Mullen and his partner in change, Defense Secretary Robert Gates. There is also a potent political subtext. To a degree unimaginable as recently as 2004 — when Karl Rove and George W. Bush ran a national campaign exploiting fear of gay people — there is now little political advantage to spewing homophobia. Indeed, anti-gay animus is far more likely to repel voters than attract them. This equation was visibly eating at Orrin Hatch, the Republican senator from Utah, as he vamped nervously with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC last week, trying to duck any discernible stand on Mullen’s testimony. On only one point was he crystal clear: “I just plain do not believe in prejudice of any kind.”

U.S. soldier 'waterboarded his own daughter, 4, because she couldn't recite alphabet'

A U.S. soldier has been accused of 'waterboarding' his four-year-old daughter because she couldn't recite the alphabet.
Joshua Tabor admitted to police that he used the CIA torture technique because he was so angry.
As his daughter 'squirmed' to get away, Tabor said he submerged her face - upwards - three or four times until the water was lapping around her forehead and jawline.
Tabor, 27, admitted to investigators that his daughter was terrified of water and he had deliberately chosen the punishment. Read more:
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