10 posts tagged “democrats”

Health care reform.   Socialized medicine.   Free market medicine.  Communists.  Socialist.  Capitalist.   Greedy pigs.  The Brooks Brothers Mob.  Obamacare. Unamerican.

You have to love buzz words.   If there is an issue, I guarantee that there are a few choice buzzwords attached to it, even if the words aren't even remotely relevant.  The argument ends up being nothing more than a series of buzzwords thrown at each other through every communications channel available.  Finally, the public decides which buzzword it likes the best (rather than an actual argument) and that is the winner.

The issue of the day?  The future of biomedical sciences in the United States.  Some call it health care reform, some call it the end of the line.  It doesn't matter who is right or wrong on the issue because the realm of rational discourse and debate ended the day it was introduced. 

The Obama administration, like every presidential administration before his, is looking for a defining piece of legislation that can give them enough momentum for reelection.  They saw a need and used John Dingell's decades long attempts to produce health care reform as their platform.  After all, how could the American public ever be callous enough to deny health care to everybody.  

Apparently, the Obama administration was asleep in the 90's and missed the outrage over "Hillarycare".  Maybe Obama should have talked to the person with actual experience in the arena of governmental health care reform....Hillary Clinton.  Had he talked to her, she could have prepared him for the public outcry.

The people are angry Mr Obama.  Yes, there are 45 million people uninsured in this country.   However, you forgot the majority that are covered via private or governmental insurers - that's 355,000,0000 people.  These people don't want to see the quality of health care diminish because there are more people that will almost certainly overwhelm our overtaxed medical system (next year we face a shortage of 40,000 internal medicine docs). 

We see calls for nurses (another shortage) but where are the calls to increase the number of doctors?   Where is the push to make the AMA allow more medical schools?   Where is the push to have our state universities expand medical school classes?  When a resource is scare, it costs more.  Produce more docs and the costs will be less.  Did the democrats miss Econ 101?  

The people hear small business saying they will downsize to eliminate their employer provided healthcare requirement.   The people see that it will be far cheaper for large companies to pay the fine and shift their employees to governmental programs.  They see companies for what they truly are - organizations with a goal of turning as much profit as possible - NOT benevolent parent figures caring for their children. 

The people also see how poorly our current governmental agencies run.  Why would we want to hand over an industry that is one fifth of our GDP to the most corrupt, inefficient, incompetent organizations in America, ie the Federal Government?  Hell, the Congress and the Administration know that the fed is incapable, how else can you explain their exemption from the plan?

Nancy Pelosi published an Op-Ed piece recently condemning protestors that shouted and chanted as "unamerican".   Hmmm, she doesn't say that when Code Pink is shoulting down conservatives.   She praises them.  Perhaps if she stopped being a hypocrite and answered the questions with facts other than 2 or choice tidbits of the bill (elimination of pre-existing condition, "patient choice", etc), people wouldn't be so damned mad.

Before anyone comments that I must be a Republican or a Limbaugh suppporter....WRONG.   I am a democrat.   I voted for buth Clintons, Gore, Kerry and Obama.  I support health care reform, but this bill does NOT cut it.   It simply add another layer of beauracracy to an already broken system.  If universal health care is the way to go, fine.   Do universal health care but fix the supply problem and make it mandatory for ALL americans (to include congressmen and presidents).   Also, tax all people EQUALLY - no one group should be responsible more than any other.  

To fix healthcare, you have to rebuild it from teh ground up - not by adding another layer of shit to the pile.

Ahhh…electric cars.  Clean.  Safe.   Eco-friendly.  These babies don’t produce the noxious gasses that their gasoline driven brethren create.   Global warming will abate as the CO₂ levels drop with the ever decreasing population of gasoline-driven automobiles.  The consumer will not be beholden to the gas company and their ever-fluctuating prices.   National security will improve as we reduce the dependence our nation has on foreign oil imports.  It will simply make the Earth a better place.  Right?

As Detroit and Japan push forward on the release of new electric plug-in vehicles, we need to reexamine our condemnation of the auto industry as the chief party responsible for global warming.  Plug-in vehicles sound great to most Americans because we simply plug them in and “POOF” – no more combustion engine pollution.   The problem with electric cars is the myth that they are the solution to our problems.

Americans and the rest of the world face a bigger problem than our vehicles and that is our energy industry.  Beyond the obvious stranglehold that oil producing nations have over the world we have big problems.  Oil is the BIGGEST energy producer on the planet (not to mention a primary source for plastics).  In the US, nearly 40% of ALL energy produced in the country is created by oil and most of that energy produced is done by vehicles. 

So what happens when we take all of the power producing vehicles offline and put the burden on our aging power grid?   What happens we have to nearly double the capacity of our aging grid?  We have to build more power plants.  

New power plants will probably result in new coal plants and an increase in the ever-growing demand for coal.  Currently, 51% of our electricity comes from coal and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.  People seem to be on a “clean coal” kick to include top Democrats like Obama.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing as “clean coal”.  No matter how much you scrub the gasses or trap them in underground storage facilities, there is still a host of environmental issues involved like the destruction of mountains, rivers and streams through mountaintop removal mining techniques.

Sadly, renewable energy sources are expensive to install (although the prices are dropping) and the profits are minimal compared to those the energy industry is used to seeing.  That means they aren’t truly motivated to implement the cleaner energy sources.  Also, the large scale national grids that are plagued by transmission losses and health risks make the sale of energy more profitable; this eliminates their interest in more sustainable, secure and eco-friendly microgrids.

We have attacked our environmental problems in reverse.   Rather than addressing the need to double the capacity of electric power production FIRST, we have pushed for the production of vehicles that will drain an already overtaxed system.  This will most assuredly result in haphazard regulations and lenient rules that will allow the power industry to expand its production capabilities with cheap, dirty energy.  

Pecss_diagram

  

Dear Obama Supporters:

Thank you very much for being concerned about how I vote if my candidate, Hillary Clinton, does not get the nomination. I think its nice that you are showing concern for other voters in the divided democratic party. However, you are being a tad bit simplistic if you think that we should vote for Obama just because he is a Democrat. Many of us that are facing this decision are not taking it lightly - we want the best CANDIDATE even if that pushes us outside of the Democratic party.

I have seen many views of Clinton supporters that are having a problem getting behind Obama. So far - they are all quite nasty to tell you the truth. We have been called "spiteful", "racist" and "selfish". All of these names and accusations just seem like attempts to shame people into supporting Obama rather than giving solid reasons why we should vote for him. The really sad part of this issue is most of these names come from the radical far left of the Democratic Party and it infuriates moderates like myself.

Take the accusation that we are spiteful, vindictive women trying to punish Obama for beating Senator Clinton. That couldn't be farther from the truth. If I thought that Obama was a quality candidate - I could easily support him if Clinton failed to garner the nomination. I have done it multiple times in the past and I even managed to support a questionable John Kerry. I simply have found nothing of substance in Obama - that does not make me spiteful folks.

The "racist" claim is beyond annoying. I could care less what color the man is - black, yellow, white, red, purple - IT DOESN'T MATTER FOLKS. I want a quality candidate. I currently have three choices and my ranking of their qualifications has NOTHING to do with the hue of the man's skin. Why is it ok to call a person that cannot support Obama a racist but not a person that is only voting for him because he has a darker skin tone a racist? Sadder yet, it amazes me that being called a racist is such a travesty but people could care less about blatant chauvenism - even from Barack Obama. Can you imagine the reaction if Clinton had called a young african american journalist "boy" as Obama called a female journalist "sweetie".

Just today, Ariana Huffington noted that women who supported Clinton were somewhat selfish because they don't care about Roe V Wade and reproductive rights. Excuse me??? I will fight for the reproductive rights of women until the day that I die. Huffington likes to point out that McCain is pro-life. She goes through his history (this is the part of McCain that I disagree with). She pimps out Obama as if he had been marching along side women for reproductive rights. However she fails to mention the fact that the man did NOT vote "no" on FOURTEEN new abortion restrictions when he had the chance to in the state of Illinois. According to Senator Obama, his "present" votes were only used when he SUPPORTED a bill but had some questions about the way the bill was written. Sorry folks - that does NOT scream "pro-choice" to me.

I think its wonderful that Obama is charismatic enough to draw new voters and people that were just too lazy to vote in past elections (those of you Obama supporters that simply didn't vote in 2004 are hypocrites if you dare question voters that have done their duty for years). However, fact of the matter is this - the man has been a Senator for 2 1/2 years. However, he has been running for President for four years. We simply do not know enough about the man to make him our President.

Guess what - when it comes down to it, this elections is a case of voting for the lesser of two evils. Personally - Obama is too big of a risk to take. So I will be voting McCain (unless something incredible changes my mind.)

Thanks for listening.

So apparently, there are rumors floating around that Condi has been actively campaigning to be the Republican running mate to McCain.  Really?!?!?   Seriously?!?!?!?   Can she possibly be serious?

Talk about political suicide for McCain.

I'm sorry but right now, if McCain gets into office, it will be because the democratic party is split.   We have two nominees fighting viciously.   We have democrats that refuse to support the other democratic candidate.  We even have people, like myself, that ar willing to vote McCain if our chosen candidate doesn't get the nomination.

HOWEVER....that will change if you put one of Bush's Administration in office.   Let me tell you - I don't think Condi should be doing anything except selling coffee at Starbucks after her stint in the Bush Administration. I will vote for Obama should McCain even THINK of doing that!

What, are the Republicans are jealous of the Democrats flair for losing unloseable elections and wanted to top the Democrat stupidity?

OK....I receive the following email from my aunt.   She is an environmentalist, a lesbian, super liberal and as democratic as the come.   However, she is unabashedly ant-barack obama.   She sent an email out to everybody she knows becuase she got a lot of stuff about BArack's "afrocentric" church home.  I am just going to post the email here to share some food for thought even though I have not made my decsion yet....

Yes, Obama has mentioned his church on various occasions.

Yes, It's the Trinity Church of Christ.

Yes, If you look at the first page of their website,

You will learn that this congregation has a non-negotiable “unapologetic” commitment to Africa.

Nowhere is AMERICA even mentioned.

Yes, I Notice too, that the church specially designates itself as a “black”

Church. So, it seems there is some requirement to be black to join Obama's Church.

Yes, it does seems to me that much of what this church believes falls in step with

The kind of separatism and cultural bias a Muslim is brought up with.

Yes we are all aware that Obama has a very early Muslim upbringing.

This is the web page for the church Barack Obama belongs to: 

<http://www.tucc.org/about.htm>www.tucc.org/about.htm

I may be a liberal democrat.

But that does not mean that I support everyone that is running on a democratic ticket.

I do not understand why this is not being talked about more, considering the fact that

The public has pounced all over Mitt Romney (no I don’t support him)

For his Mormon belief.

I am amazed little is being said about Obama belonging to a church that supports such separatism.

In the surface,  it seemed like a good value system to me but after reading the details it becomes worrisome to me.

http://www.tucc.org/black_value_system.html

For a Church that uses the name of Christ in its title.

I found little on the whole web site about Christ.

But I did find a link on the website at the bottom left of http://www.tucc.org/about.htm

to “trumpet magazine” on the website that features an articles about the

“An Empowerment Interview: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.”

http://www.trumpetmag.com/current_issue.cfm

Yes I think this country is ready for a minority in the presidency, be it be black, a woman, Latino, whatever.

But I do not think we know enough about this man and how he really thinks.

And no matter how you cut it, you can say his religion is a personal commitment and it should not matter.

But it does matter because ones religious belief is going to reflect their core values of how they live,

Impacting the decisions and judgments one makes.

Yes we are a country that promotes freedom of religion also promoting separation of church and state.

But that doesn’t mean that religion does not shape our politics or beliefs or play a part in our decisions. .

As an example, take a look at the influence the far religious right has had on the Republican Party.

Religion is playing a great part in the politics of this country and the direction in which it is moving.

So it pays to know what the person running for president believes.

I do not know Obama well enough and I do not think he has made enough history for me to make a judgment on how much his religion has affected his thinking.

But there are other Democrat candidates who have enough history and past for me to make that a better evaluation of this so I am sticking with that.

That’s my thoughts.

I am Still a Democrat

And Still a liberal

Waiting to see where all this takes us like everyone else.

 

Over the last week we have all watched Rush Limbaugh try to dodge questions about his massive case of word vomit when he accused soldiers that were against the war of being "phony soldiers".  His missteps, doublespeak, lies and evidence fabrication actually made me worry for dear Rushbo.  Is he on drugs again?  Should we stage an intervention?

• How dare this man who never served a day in his life make judgments about any soldier that willingly served.  Mr Limbaugh, you hid like a child in a University while Vietnam was going on.
• Limbaugh has changed his claims multiple times about exactly what he was referring to when he said that.  First, he claimed that he was talking about a single "phony soldier" named Jesse Macbeth that had been arrested for claiming to be an injured Iraq War vet (I support this idiot's conviction 10000%).  Next he claimed he was talking about a group of soldiers.  Which is it?  One or a bunch?
• Limbaugh claims that they were talking about the fake soldier when the "phony soldier" line came up.  WRONG!!!  If you listen to the tape or watch the video, you will see that they are not talking about Macbeth.  They are talking about the people that don't believe in WMDs.  It wasn't until two minutes later (with phone lines blazing in protest) that he brought up macbeth.  Conveniently, almost all of the two minutes was removed from the evidence that El Rushbo offered.

Rush - just fess up.  You don't like soldiers that don't agree with this war.  We all know it. 

Oh and as an aside - Democrats, knock of the stupid legal maneuvering around this issue.  Let private interests and market forces dictate what happens to the man.   Using the law to punish Rush is abhorrent to me because of the FIRST AMENDMENT.  I may not like what he says, but I will defend his right to say it.

On June 6th, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) introduced the Access to Birth Control Act (ABC) to restore contraceptive options to those who most need them. We really need to support this bill.  Women accross America are facing pharmacists that are refusing to fill their prescriptions because of "moral" objections of the pharmacist.   While many of us don't see this as a big problem because we can go down the street to the next pharmacy, that simply isn't an option for many women in small towns and rural areas.  This bill will ensure that a woman is not discriminated against and that her doctor prescribed medication is filled without delay.

Right now women face discrimination because they cannot get their medication.  Some pharmacists refuse to fil the prescriptions.  Some "professional" pharmacists take the prescription and only after they have possession of it, they refuse to fill or RETURN it to the woman.  Others are admonishing and lecturing women for the use of birth control.

The reasons given range from the erroneous connection of birth control pills to abortion to "moral" codes that prevent unmarried women from engaging in sex (although the same standards aren't applied to Levitra and Viagra).

Please contact your congress person today and help pass this important legislation.

One of the number one rules in blogging - keep current.   This past month, my real world life has overtaken the blogosphere and completely eliminated my ability to post!  Sigh, those few readers (I think there are two of you) that I had probably started to read a blog on gardening with my luck.  Oh well, I apologize!

Lets see some random comments about the past month - personal, political and every other thing.

1. The democrats and Bush agree on immigration - scary.   Its too bad most of America doesn't approve of the bill democrat or republican.  If they would just enforce the laws they have and pass a guest worker program - many of us would be happy.
2. Wanting immigration reform and a tightening of the borders does NOT equal racism.   Some of us just want everybody to follow the laws established and to have the borders safe from criminals and terrorists. 
3. The War in Iraq and the funding of that war.  Democrats should stop pussyfooting around the issue.  They are just wasting time when they should just pass the damned funding bill.  Yes, Bush was wrong for dragging us into tat god foresaken country but we are stuck there now.   We have to stay until the place is stabilized or the IRaqis ask us to leave.   Am I the only one that remembers it was the pullout of Afghanistan that created the terrorist training camp playland and heroin capital?
4. Ding Dong Wolfowitz is gone! Yippee!!!
5. It seems that the far radical christian right wing should stop telling people to go live in Russia.  The anti-gay Christians would be very happy there because the police are beating homosexuals in the street there.   The scenes from this horrible abuse of human rights made me want to cry.
6. Sick bitches that have kids to kill them must be stopped.   Where are the fathers?  Why aren't they paying attention to their children and the mother's?  How do the husbands and fathers or even the family and friends ignore severe depression?  Do I sound angry?  You bet I am!  How does any mother hang all of her children?  How do you hang a nine month old???

OK...so I will write more later.  FRom now on, I will be dilligent with my updates.

So today Hannity was whining about Hillary using her fax machine in her senate office for campaign work.   He bemoaned her atrocious misappropriation of taxpayer money.

I'm sorry but I would much rather pay for her faxes than for George W Bush to campaign for every Republican under the sun in AIR FORCE ONE.