By which, of course, I mean Democrats.
Strong work! It appears that your signature piece of domestic legislation is going to the scrap heap because you did such a bang-up job selling it to your constituents! Bravo!
It really does make me wonder why I bother. Admittedly, I think the GOP is worse, but "better than the GOP" is one piss-poor campaign slogan, no? We're left to choose between one party of idiots and religious fanatics and another of lily-livered vacillators so politically inept that they can't convince voters in Massachusetts, where there's already universal health care, that universal health care is something worth supporting. After a year of controlling both houses of Congress, during which time most of you have already cast unpopular votes that you'll have to justify the next time you run for re-election, you seem prepared to chuck it all. (Though some of you seem to be showing signs of life again.)
So, let's hope you learn a little lesson here. May I suggest that you refrain from trying to divvy up blame, and simply face the fact that all of you own this? Fix your message. Get some party discipline, and pass the legislation you want without trying to get a token Republican to give you the fig leaf of "bipartisanship." (If you haven't learned by now that not even Olympia Snowe is out to help you, then you're past teaching.) And do the country a favor, and get rid of the filibuster -- it's ridiculous that either party essentially needs a supermajority in the Senate to get any business done.
Do. Better.
Update: And I see we're cashing in our chips. Splendid.
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Hunting the Wild Goose – It’s a Funny Game
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*GAME*. Get it?
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Times.
4 hours ago
Perhaps the problem is that MA residents aren't happy with government-run RomneyCare? Why, what's this? A poll of MA residents from last summer. Humm, 26% consider reform a success, 37% label it a failure, and 37% aren't sure. Gee, I dunno about you, but if I were trying to convince the electorate that HCR would be a Good Thing worth spending squillions of dollars to do, I'm not sure I'd cite the resounding "success" of MA HCR. Maybe it is just me, but having 50% more people in the failure column than in the success column doesn't sound all that convincing. More people believe healthcare has become less affordable than believe it has become more affordable, and three times as many think care has gotten worse than think it has gotten better. Those aren't good numbers at all. Why should the rest of the US follow BlueLand down the fiscal rathole just so lefties can feel all tingly?
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a crazy thought... maybe a significant number of those in the failure camp decided to vote for the guy who wasn't about to double down on stupid. Ya think?
Oh, and the Dems have controlled both houses of Congress for 3 years, not one.
ReplyDeleteMeh. One Rasmussen poll does not a conclusive statement make. Hell, Brown himself made no effort to criticize the plan in Massachusetts, so I think you are overstating its unpopularity.
ReplyDeleteAs a Mass resident I can say I have no real objections to the UHC plan here.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I'm fully insured by my employer so it doesn't have any day to day impact on my life and seems to genuinely benefit those who need or want the service. I think the only people who are opposed to it are opposed simply on the principle of the issue, not because it has any kind real adverse effect on their lives.
Wait... this sounds awfully familiar.
Why would Brown criticise the State plan? He's running for National office. I do note that he is a critic of the National HCR plan and managed to win convincingly in Blue Central.
ReplyDeleteI agree one poll does not a referendum make, and the Harvard/Globe polls showed popular support, albeit with declining numbers. Interestingly, I read that a part of the political success in MA was doing reform in smaller pieces; coverage was done first, and cost containment put off. MA residents are paying for that with hefty premuim increases, declining support (in the '08 to '09 Harvard polls), and the highest family premiums in the USA.
Anonymous, I don't really care what MA residents do with their own money. They can have all the RomneyCare they can stand; after all, it is their money, not mine. I am not opposed to MA beggering their citizens in order to get that lefty tingle. But I think we should learn from this experiment in a lab of democracy. I see hard evidence that satisfaction is declining as costs rise, and the hard questions haven't been addressed. Perhaps that is why the good citizens of MA sent a message to DC.
yes gj, and I am sure the hard questions now will be asked and the Republicans will present a plan that lowers costs, increases the amount of people who have coverage, is deficit neutral, and ends such things as denial of service do to pre-existing conditions, and, most importantly, adds to the general health of the population (I don't know, maybe because a healthy populace is a productive one).
ReplyDeleteLet me just say I shall not hold my breath.
And please, don't say catastrophic health care insurance. That just delays care to the point that fixable becomes catastrophe.
And so much for Democracy, 59 to 41 Dems to Republicans now should be treated as a minority. When the Republicans were in power they used every device to pass bills (reconciliation, labelling Dems. traitors, etc.)
Of course, I am sure you are happy that now millions of people whose lives would have been saved shall now die lest one penny of your taxes ever go towards helping others.
"I was ill and you cared for me" Matthew 25:30
I never knew that this was an admonition, that you are wrong to provide care to those in need lest it be called "beggering their citizens"
Amazing that after 13 years of Catholic education I got something so wrong.
Of course Health care is a right, and beyond that it is a responsibility, ordained by God himself. If it is not, then we are nothing but an animal like gj, self obsessed, greedy, and stupid. No, this bill is not perfect, but it gets the big things right, and many of them right away (ending of denial of care for pre-existing conditions, no more recission, etc.) What is wrong can be fixed. What is right it is immoral to delay, so yes, Republicans are evil anti-Christs who flout the word of God in the name of supposed populism.
I guess Jesus needs a new marketing executive, the supposed Christians can't seem to understand what he was about.
charo