Tag: congress

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It's the social networking, stupid.

Before the election, the Republicans talked “jobs jobs jobs.”

No word on jobs, since the election.

gridlock

Now they’re talking “health care repeal, health care repeal, health care repeal.”

I guess they want to stop it before it starts — afraid that millions of people might prefer having a doctor instead of going to the ER for every little thing.

They’re also talking about tax cuts.

And deficit reduction.

Tax cuts and deficit reduction just don’t go together.  Clinton erased the deficit and created a surplus by raising taxes AND cutting the budget.

Of course they do want spending cuts (although they won’t say what spending they want to cut).

A couple more thoughts:

The economy will improve in 2011.

Why do the new members of Congress talk like they’ve got all the power? Why do they talk like they can get things done without compromise? According to Mr. Basinger, my ninth grade civics teacher, a bill cannot become a law unless it’s passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President.

Can Obama get things done without compromise?  That is, can the President do things without passing legislation?

Yes — a hell of a lot.  And he will.

The Republicans didn’t get the mandate they think they got.  Why not?

It’s the social networking, stupid.

With online networking, messages can spread very quickly.

YouTube has only been around five years.

Facebook has been open to the public less than five years.

The past election was a seismic shift in the American political spectrum.

Two years after the previous seismic shift.

And we’ll probably have another one in 2012.  And another after that.

The days of ten and twenty and thirty year political cycles is over.

Things go fast now.

I think many of the members of Congress think they’re still operating under the old media system, where money, gridlock, and time is a valid strategy.

Money will become less important.  Gridlock will get them voted out.  They don’t have as much time as they think.

Obama seems to understand this.

The last Congress got a lot done.

It might be wise for the newbies in Congress to realize that political lives these days are short — and get some work done with the time they’ve got.

Just my opinion.

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to the right wing purists who are so giddy these days…

I just had a discussion on Facebook.  All I did was post a video I thought was funny, but a couple of right wing friends got sort of emotional about it. This was one of my answers and thought I’d go ahead and make a blog of it.  (Hint to those who have friends on the right and want to remain friends:  they take Sarah Palin and Fox News seriously).

American politics is a pendulum that swings back and forth.  The Republicans had control of two branches for six years.  It was split for two years.  Democrats have two branches now.  It will probably be split again after next week.  My guess is that the Presidency will shift back and forth, as will the Congress, for many years to come.

This is the way it has been, and the way it will be.

Rather than focusing on these wonderful, pure thoughts that you believe so strongly (ie. pure capitalism is great; pure socialism is evil) — why not be realistic? It’s a pluralistic system.  Obama is not a socialist.  We have a huge country and it requires a huge federal government in order to function.  Somebody must be the CEO of this giant corporation, and some people must make spending decisions.  It doesn’t mean they’re evil.  It’s a hell of a task.

Your ideologies are wonderful for dormitory bull sessions and Fox News stockholders, but why not be real and put forth some ideas that can make this a better place to live, for us, our children, and grandchildren?

Sooner or later, your political party will prevail and have the opportunity to govern — as they did throughout the past decade.

I wish they could be a little more responsible with the budget, national security, and public discourse. The last time they had complete control — from 2000 through 2006 — they blew up the deficit, sliced and diced races and religions, neglected infrastructure, and spent our prosperity on war and extreme wealth for the very richest of the rich.

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Does Mitch McConnell make anyone else feel like barfing?

Am I the only one who feels like barfing every time Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and other Republicans in Congress, in regards to health care reform,  say, like silly billy parrots, “the American people do not want this bill.”

makes me feel like barfing

I doubt it.  I’m guessing, if all the people who felt like barfing every time this lie was told actually barfed — the country would be swimming in barf.

This is because, while he endlessly repeats “Americans do not want this bill,” a lot of Americans in fact DO want this bill.

Wh0 are we, the Americans who want this bill?  Chopped liver?  And why does he keep saying we don’t want it, when we do.  Or does he not consider those who agree with him to be Americans?

And which bill do we not want?

That’s the problem.  The House and the Senate passed different bills — and nobody is completely happy with either.  So if they say we do not want “this bill,” they are technically right — since they haven’t defined what they’re talking about.

But most Americans DO want any damn bill that passes and begins to climb the country out of health insurance hell, introduces fair play, and moves us towards, ultimately, universal health care.

Certainly you’ve got polls that say the majority of Americans are against health care reform — because you’ve lied and distorted and scared the bejeezus out of people.

Well, here’s a poll for you:

In August of 2009, SurveyUSA asked 1200 adult Americans a question for NBC News and Wall Street Journal.  The question was “In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance?  1) extremely important 2) quite important 3) not that important, or 4) not at all important?

77% said it was either Extremely Important or Quite Important.

So get real.  The American people want Congress to fix the broken system.  That’s why we elected Obama.  It’s the health insurance industry that’s against it, and they’ve spent $380 million buying your votes in Congress and moving those poll numbers for you guys — more money than was spent on the entire 2008 presidential campaign.

Importance of Public Option
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Dear Senator Bayh,

Dear Senator Bayh,

You say that the Congress is full of good people, but that the ‘system is dysfunctional.

Might I suggest the opposite is true? The system is good and some of the people are dysfunctional.

If your wife works for the health insurance lobby and you stand with her rather than with people in need — then who or what is not functioning?

Senator Evan Bayh
Senator Evan Bayh

If you begin — right after Obama’s election — to throw the Democrats under the bus every chance you get by joining Republicans in speaking trash about programs that are desperately needed by the American people, then who is not functioning?

Were you hoping he would pick you for Vice-President?  Disappointed?  Just asking.

If you raise $13 million for a Senate re-election campaign and then wait until the last second to announce you will not run again, thereby preventing anyone else in your party from preparing for such a campaign, who is not functioning?

The Republicans in Congress appear to be the ones who are not functioning, and you’ve helped them not function. One minute they say what the party tells them to say. Another minute they say what lobbyists tell them to say. One minute they sponsor a bill. The next minute they are against the same bill. One minute they vote against spending and rail against it. The next minute they rejoice in the money it provides. The next minute they rail against it again. One minute they want to help people in their district in hard times. The next minute they vote against health care for all Americans.

The system may need some tweaking, but it’s been around a lot longer than you.  But it’s the current Republican leaders in Congress who have been dysfunctional — INTENTIONALLY!  It is their strategy not to function.  And, like you, they are paid by big business to be dysfunctional.  And you’ve given them a helping hand.

Sam

P.S. I really liked your father.

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Health Care Reform: Who's got your back?

graphClick this simple graph.

Who wants change?  A change that gets a health care system in which everybody is cared for, and everybody pays?

Obama

Most of Congress

Most Americans

Who wants to keep the system we’ve got, the only modern nation in the world in which everybody is not covered?

Health Insurance Companies who are spending millions of dollars a day to convince Americans not to “rush into anything,” even though this legislation has been in the works for 60 years.

Rush Limbaugh

Glenn Beck

Congress Members who get big money from health insurance companies to misrepresent the facts.

Who cares about working Americans?