Hilarious

Seems as if the famous rhetorical question about having no decency might be appropriate here.

The US appears to be divided into two right now: those whose natural reaction to Republican ideas, campaigning and general all round actions is to laugh hysterically, and those who insist that they are valid, reasonable people to whom respect should be given. I know which side I’m on. Unfortunately, I know what side the media’s on as well.

How come government-run health care was OK when Republicans were in charge and ballooning the scope of Medicare by tens of trillions of dollars?

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Of course, despite the obvious, that GOP opponents have no personal integrity and they believe that the ends justify any means, including telling big fat sweaty lies. the strategy might work. After all, after thirty ears of telling America that government is bad and can’t walk and chew gum, you now have a bunch of seniors who have reconciled the message that government is inept with their knowledge of a program like Medicare they love, by assuming that Medicare is not a government program. Don’t believe it? Run this by ten seniors in Florida and see if you don’t get at least five denying that Medicare comes from the government.

Ah yes, the GOP resorting to the fear tactic. At least they are consistant. But you can only yell “boo” so many times before people stop jumping.

BOOOOO!!!!!

Did I scare ya?

If you want to really read something scary, try this. It is testamony from a former Cigna employee.

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/PotterTestimonyConsumerHealthInsurance.pdf

What’s sad is how much of a damn meme this has become amongst the right-wing opposition to health-care reform: THE PUBLIC PLAN IS EUTHANASIA!!

Please, tell me that Democrats were never as boldly paranoid and whacked as to have the national party representatives go out of their way to say crazy crap like ‘Obama wants to kill your grandparents if he gets his way on health care’.

Aye, bu’ apparent’ they can be yellin’ it infinite an’ th’ Democrats will al’ays be jumpin’!

YARR!

DW, I am interested: do you blame Obama for this fiasco or the Congress, or Republicans for being so full of bad faith or the media for being idiots. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking it’s some combination of all of these but the fact is the only person I can stand listening to about healthcare is Obama.

Irrelevant. The Democrats are going to defeat their own health-care plan.

The author of the Republican theme song discovered –
it’s Groucho Marx

(T)he ends justify any means, including telling big fat sweaty lies. Dee @ 10:55

By coincidence, Glenn Greenwald wrote about this yesterday:

It’s not hyperbole to say that the central political tactic of neoconservatism is the “noble lie”.

And what they believe is the virtue of political lies when spouted by certain people (themselves) in service of certain goals (their own), and relatedly, the complete absence of any limits on what they can do in pursuit of those “noble” goals.

homerk –

First an’ foremost I be blamin’, th’ Democrats! They be havin’ a huge majority so really, nothin’ th’ Republicans be sayin’ ought t’ be matterin’ a whit! Unfortunate’ Congressional Democrats be a bunch o’ self-castrati who be incapable o’ mountin’ any sort o’ effective offense an’ instead careen ’bout in total ineffectual disarray. An’, they be as much in th’ pockets o’ corporate health as Republicans!

Second, I be blamin’ President Obama fer no’ demandin’ a’ least an honest consideration o’ single-payer. Even ‘is insistence on th’ public option be suspect, since th’ option included in all th’ iterations I be seein’ so far be so restricted as t’ guarantee it be an expensive failure. I fully expect ‘im now t’ be willin’ t’ scuttle it in th’ name o’ “bipartisanship”! Th’ President talks pretty, tha’s fer sure, bu’ so far ‘is words be empty. An’ I voted fer ‘im expectin’ more than wha’ ‘e be deliverin so far – compromise an’ backtrack after compromise an’ backtrack!

Third, I be blamin’ th’ “news” media fer choosin’ t’ simply repeat wha’ they be told t’ say rather than do their f*ckin’ jobs! Even KT, who be doin’ more’n others wi’ health care, be unwillin’ t’ step o’er th’ line an’ demand answers. She be just as much o’ a process stenographer as others more often than no’ when it be time t’ haul anchor an’ speak truth!

Fourth, I be blamin’ th’ Republicans…tho’ as I were sayin’ earlier, they only be an obstacle ’cause th’ Democrats LET ‘em be!

An’ finally, I be puttin’ some blame on th’ American People fer no’ holdin’ everyone’s feet t’ th’ fire an’ demandin’ real, fundamental health care reform! We be so used t’ bein’ a bunch o’ passive sheep, we don’t seem t’ be able t’ rise up no more!

YARR!

DW, thanks for the response. I can’t really disagree with your order, although maybe I’d put the american public and the media together since one drives the other. WRT Obama, every day I say to myself that we don’t really know what pressure he is putting on people behind the scenes and how much of his soft pedalling is his way of trying to sell reform much in the same way he defused Republican’s attacks during the campaign. I think, however, that he is coming to realise that he is going to get attacked no matter what and, for some reason, those attacks are being amplified in the media, who appear to be feeling guilty for the positive press they gave Obama during the campaign. Once he does, hopefully he’ll feel like there is less risk in gambling on the intelligence of the US public and his power of explanation.

http://newsbusters.org/stories/obama-2004-bush-rushed-legislationthrough-congress-without-allowing-time.html?q=blogs/p-j-gladnick/2009/07/27/obama-2004-bush-rushed-legislationthrough-congress-without-allowing-ti
.
Of course, Joe won’t ever point out this hypocrisy . . . .

Hey folks, there is still hope yet. The latest tack is to blame fat people. MSNBC’s Dr. Nancy and CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo quoting findings from the Aspen conference, the panel convened last night and the CDC obesity conference today to say the rising costs of health care is all because of fat people. They are even questioning whether it should be okay for companies to fire people who are overweight. Well they may have just put their foot in it, because its one thing to celebrate skinny people in Hollywood, but that’s not what American looks like and they may have just pissed off everyone over a size in America.

I’d suggest one read Harold Wilensky’s article, http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol7/iss2/art7/ , concerning how disgusting our health care/dollar expenditure is. right now, government expenditures/capita in the U.S. is similar to that of other developed countries, yet we rank last in “real health.” Why not just start adding all new births to Medicare and begin dropping the Medicare eligibility age by 16 years? In 15 years everyone could be covered.

That’s funny, considering we have had public debate concerning health care “reform” for years and the same fearmongers are using the same tactics since Clinton care back in 1993.

Obama simply asked for a bill on his deck before Congress went on vacation. He asked for this months ago. We have been seeing the debate going on in the media. . . . .

Compare this to the lack of debate in the Patriot Act, an act which sought to undermine our civil liberties for the sake of security (What did Ben Franklin say? “Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither”).

What Obama is afraid of is that the politicians will fall for the same lies put out by the industry. We already see these lies as the talking points of Republicans on the House and Senate Floor and in the media.

“Socialized medicine” Obama has said since the campaign he wanted a plan where if you were happy with your health insurance, you could keep it.

“Rationed medicine” Somehow, a government bureaucrat will deny you payment for a necessary medical procedure. What we have now is an insurance bureaucrat, who has an incentive to deny you a medical procudure, so we already have rationed medicine with a perverse incentive to deny coverage.

“government run health care” Guess what who run Medicare, Medicaid, and health care for veterans and Congress. Guess who is the most satisfied with their health care.

Now, the insurance companies have promised to play fair, but that wouldn’t have happened if Obama hadn’t pressed hard. Now it looks like we will get something by the end of the year, but that would not have happend if Obama wouldn’t have press for an August deadline. Congress is a bunch of procrastinators.

Gettin’ SOMETHIN’ be no’ th’ same as gettin’ th’ RI’ THING!!!

Th’ SOMETHIN’ we be goin’ t’ get out o’ this be a great big giveaway t’ health insurance corporations! I’ll no’ be celebratin’ tha’!

In this case, SOMETHIN’ be NO’ better than NOTHIN’!

YARR!

“What 2 watch 4″?

Who writes the headlines for the RNC? A 12 year old?

Pardon me but I think you left someone off your wall of shame (as appropriately immense as it is already). This entire treason is being organized, funded and managed by giant, private insurance companies. As is usually the case, it is our rapacious, self-absorbed corporate masters and their fellow oligarchs who are keeping us from improving society to the benefit of the other 99% of Americans.

Spob, seriously? This is comparing apples and camels. There’s been a health care debate for decades in Congress, and it’s been a central point of discussion on the Hill for months now. This is nothing compared to the Patriot Act, which was introduced so soon after a national disaster that people felt we had to pass it before the nation was attacked again or we would all be vulnerable.

I agree that people who want legislation passed want it passed quickly so it doesn’t get altered or distorted or burdened with other bills. But health care has hardly been “rushed” so as to draw comparisons with the Patriot Act that Bush wanted passed, thereby leading to charges of hypocrisy on Obama’s part.

Call me selfish, but if we can get to a place where I can buy affordable coverage, that can’t drop me when I’m sick, can’t deny me coverage because of pre-existing conditions, can not charge me more because I am the wrong race, the wrong gender, live in the wrong neighborhood or because I’m the wrong age. I will take that pan and run all the way to the bank for a check to buy into that system — and I am not alone.

Now, will that alone get everyone covered? Probably not. So let’s make some additional reforms that will allow us to demonstrate the the ability to create savings within our existing public plans of Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. if we switch incentives to an outcome based model. We include a trigger to use the savings generated by the reforms, that the CBO can’t score now, but that everyone knows is going to come, to pay for additional subsidies to raise income eligiblity to join the public plans. How can the opposition be upset, according to them it will never hapen because we are never going to be able to save any money right?.

But if we have the right reforms in our existing public plans and have automatic triggers that would raise the eligibility levels for the public plans each year to include more and more of the uninsured we will eventually cover everyone who is now ineligible. Now, granted the ideal is to get everything all at once, but let’s face it, this not only beats a blank, considering that any plan they come up with was going to phase in coverage over time anyway what’s the difference?

This way we actually make the single payer plans we have more effective, and enlarge them overtime. Establish a mechanisms for the public to eventually chose to go that way when the evidence proves that it is a better model. And we take away the only arguments they have about exploding deficits and destroying capitalism.

Are you kidding, Shakespeare? Health care reform has been kicking around for a while, but this package has not. And they are trying to rush this through. You know it; I know it. Face it.

Ye be ri’ o’ course, shepherd – I were confinin’ meself t’ those who by ri’s ought t’ be in OUR corner!

YARR!

Have your read their tweets?

Th’ thorn on th’ rose be, I don’t be b’lievin’ any o’ th’ plans current’ under development be doin’ any o’ those things ye be hopin’ fer!

They be sellin’ a shimera o’ affordable, non-droppable, non-preexistin’ condition corporate cov’rage whilst neglectin’ th’ part where in return for those probab’ly empty promises, they be forcin’ near’ everyone (an’ th’ govt helpin’, too!) shovel even more money into th’ insatiable corporate insurance maw !

I just don’t be understandin’ ‘ow tha’ be helpin…special’ when we be doin’ such a dastardly miserable job o’ oversight – don’t want t’ be offendin’ any corporate donors by crimpin’ their style ‘cept in appearance only!

YARR!

We need to keep this simple. Everyone should be agree that we need to cut medical costs. A system that creates incentives for prevention and quality health care can save ONE THIRD of the cost. What we have now are incentives for doctors who increase the number of appointments and medical tests.

Agree on successful health care models:

The Mayo Clinic

Medicare

VA Health care

All we are saying is give Civilized Health Care a chance!

Textspeak is now officially going too far. Either that or Steele is trying for the hip Republican street cred again. Either way I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The Republican Party is reaching the point where it is a bigger threat to freedom and liberty in this country with their lies and inuendos than the Communist Party ever was.

Ooops….

Wasn’t it Republicans who built their careers on screaming lies about Communists.

I guess some things NEVER change.

(P.S. I used to be a “moderate” Republican.)