Blue Commonwealth - Recent Comments

Not-so-Good-latte

libra — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:53:34 GMT

aka Bitter Brew, is my non-representative too. He's always been a reliable backbencher and back-stabber, on every issue, even as he (usually) manages to stay out of the limelight. Imagine my surprise then, at seeing him photographed in the New York Times, actively inciting the Hatebaggers to riot some more:

http://prescriptions.blogs.nyt...

currently, it's photo #6 (a couple of hours ago, it was #5)

Yeah, But Better Than GOP Would Be

Elaine in Roanoke — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:39:50 GMT

Guess this shows Nye is a definite DINO

vabreeze — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:28:49 GMT

not for healthcare or clean environment

There's a group and a petition on facebook

brian12 — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:38:29 GMT

Some of my friends who are more in the know on the latest culture war battles, signed up for the facebook group "Texas Can't rewrite our History Books". So I followed suit and joined, then the group produced a petition, which I signed, as well at least 1000 people. A lot.

Note I wasn't trying to shamelessly promote, just seemed relevant to the topic.

This

libra — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:40:05 GMT

is the kind of "wind" that Beck and his ilk are whipping up among the Tea Hateriots:

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/...

That's just today's crop of crap (if you'll pardon my unladylike language), on top of the video of "the Parkinson guy", which ran like wildfire through the "lefty blogs" the other day. Too bad that none of the "whippers" will reap what they sow.

There will be no appetit to deal with hcr until the next Democratic administration and I don't mean an Obama second term (god help us)

martinlomasney — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:46:02 GMT

so whatever we get tomorrow we'll be stuck with until I'm on Medicare.

In the meantime, my company will probably be forced out of business by health premia that continue the roof.

Too many of my employees are single mothers with sick kids. I'll close the doors before I cut off their health benefits.

The most dangerous demagogue since Joe McCarthy

kindler — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:38:23 GMT

Beck is in many ways more effective than the other right-wing loudmouths.

He explains things at a very basic, 6th-grade level to his listeners. He has a more authentic blue-collar look than the sleeker, higher-class-looking Limbaugh, Colter, Hannity, etc. He is highly entertaining, sometimes riveting. And unlike Sarah Palin, he is able to follow a certain logic of his own, even if the syllogisms are based on faulty premises and don't add up.

At the same time, he is among the least restrained, comparing Dems to Nazis, calling Obama a racist, saying our nation is heading for extinction. He is out of control, and seems to be the guiding spirit of the tea-baggers.

He is one of a historical pageant of demagogues who have preyed on people's hopes and fears in difficult times -- from the instigators of the Salem Witch Trials to Father Coughlin to Senator McCarthy and on.

This creates a lot of dangers as the wackiest wingnuts in society get energized, empowered and mobilized. The good news is that sensible people still greatly outnumber them -- we just need to make sure that we too stay alert, engaged, outspoken and active.

One more thing...

KathyinBlacksburg — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:19:07 GMT

the day after this passes, we have to begin the effort to fix some of the things that are wrong with it. The work doesn't end tomorrow.

For one thing, we have to take back

KathyinBlacksburg — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:16:01 GMT

local school boards...

Texas Shows Dangers

Elaine in Roanoke — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:05:07 GMT

Texas is a perfect example of the danger of progressives - or a group of reasonable, intelligent conservatives, for that matter - failing to see why EVERY election at EVERY level of government is vitally important. When few vote and no one runs, the nutcakes are given free rein.

Howard Dean tried to teach Democrats that lesson with his 50-state strategy and the DFA emphasis on endorsing at all levels of public service. We progressives have to contest all elections.

Although he is a noted consultant to Democrats

KathyinBlacksburg — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:22:14 GMT

he is right about this. I think Gruber is wrong on a number of things. But I do not believe he is wrong about this. The effort of this bill is to shift the mandate for health insurance onto individuals rather than corporations. In the long run, this direction will help your company. It will also likely help in the short run(as Elaine has noted). I think the shifting of the burden onto individuals is wrong. And it is likely to undercut the claim that "if we like the coverage we have we can keep it." That may be true for a while. In the long run, I doubt it.

Gruber declare that we will never have single payer in this country. He purports that Americans so love their policies they would never accept single payer. That's disputable. You can rig a survey to come up with that. But if you ask the question without biasing language, Americas are very open to single payer. They will be more and more so. I am willing to bet that after the Baucus bill becomes law, Americans will be clamoring for single payer.

He claims that the health insurance market is well-functioning for most, but not all. This is kind of laughable. Nowhere is the market for health care well-functioning. Even those of us who think we are OK (got ours) can find ourselves having to fight for payment of legitimate claims. Americans should never, ever have to go into a surgery with a disclaimer by their insurer that "pre-approved" it, but that they might not pay for it.

Gruber's "Third Way" is just so much bull. I also don't like his notion of incrementalism. It means progress will be incredibly slow on so many issues.

Most of all I do not like his authoring MittCare. Kinda shows you whose side he's really on.

Even so, I think he is right about small businesses being better off on average.

It's individual Americans I worry about. Until some better cost controls are added later (if they can be), I remain concerned.

also posted at Daily Kos

teacherken — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:05:58 GMT

Virginia is a state already beginning to feel the impact, albeit not yet as severely as some other states. Our case is made worse by the Republicans who refused to address the need to raise taxes for basic services even before this current crisis hit.

I hope and pray my concerns are misplaced

teacherken — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:04:53 GMT

I worry that even these concerns do not cover the dangers for our young people.

I will continue to teach. If I lose my National Board stipend, which represents an additional 9% to my income, I will find a way to keep teaching. Some of my compatriots will not be able to afford it.

My classes will become bigger.

And what I see will be miniscule compared to what will happen in schools of much higher poverty than ours.

Sorry to be such a downer at the start of the weekend.

As a great Texan,

libra — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:10:24 GMT

Molly Ivins, used to say (of W): willfully ignorant and proud of it.

Neither Gruber nor the Wh disclosed the HHS contract when Gruber made some critiques of

martinlomasney — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:48:03 GMT

public option & Medicaid buy-in at a time that Rahm was trying to bully progressives off those issues. Gruber's analysis didn't withstand scrutiny. WH was citing Gruber as an supposed independent expert without disclosing his HHS contract as an expert for hire.

Our company pays most, if not all, of the non-owner employees premia to the extent that I had to defer a month's pay and tell my kid that she might not be able to go back to college.

Do you have a section cite for you read of the bill?