Landrieu for $100 million

Jay Newton-Small:
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Lincoln, an embattled Arkansas centrist…
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God bless you for your accuracy, Jay Newton-Small.
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Lincoln is no “moderate liberal”.
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Also, this is a huge story, completely worthy of our attention.

And you;’re saying the GOP never did this when they controlled Washington?

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

Landrieu is a hack indebted to health care and insurance special interests, among others. She extorted this Federal aid and she will likely still vote AGAINST the bill regardless of her vote on cloture.

Who cares? Why ask journalists to construct balance?
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On its own terms, this is an important piece. Why make “pox on both houses” out of it?
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The centrist wing of the Democratic Party is corrupt and in control of every legislative process…that’s the story.
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The key frame is not “GOP vs Dems”, it’s “corrupt centrist Dems vs impotent liberal Dems”.
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Why demand that this become journos’ favorite “corrupt generic Dems vs corrupt generic GOP”, when that’s not an accurate picture of who the real perpetrators are?

Before everyone completely renders their garments, horse trading is part of the political process. You might not like the deals that are cut, but this is how legislation is passed: “You look out for my interests and I will vote for your bill.”

This may be the ugly, sausage-making side of politics, but it is hardly corrupt or scandalous.

There are many way that legislation can become truly corrupt. We are all familiar with them: Votes, statutory language or even entries in the Congressional record in exchange for cold hard cash, campaign donations, trips, or post-governmental lobbying or executive positions.

I’m somewhat torn on this.

From the link:

The additional money is intended to adjust the percentage of federal payments to Louisiana for Medicaid to avert a scheduled cut in U.S. assistance in 2011 for the program, which provides medical care for the poor. Louisiana had a bump in per capita income from the post-Katrina construction boom, which would force the decline in federal aid.

So, while I don’t like engaging in horse trading for votes – and that is what this appears to be – the outcome is not undesirable.

“Senate Democratic leaders are wooing Senators Mary Landrieu – $100 million”

And the silence form the left and especially Obama will continue. The tirades against HC insurance companies has gone on for months. If this was a citizne they would be charges with extortion.

I guess we know what the Democrats are all that’s left is to negotiate price.

I don’t contend that the “horse trading” itself is necessarily corrupt. I take issue with the trade itself. Reid is going to trade for cloture votes, though he may not get them, and he will be extorted AGAIN when the time comes to vote on the final bill.

I still don’t believe that these “conservaDem” jackasses will vote for it when the final vote rolls around either.

“I guess we know what the Democrats are all that’s left is to negotiate price.”

What’s that, Republicans?

Like it or not, it’s the process. Don’t like it? Rally your precious Repubs to change it. Fat chance on that one since they are the original purveyors of the K Street lobby.

I bid one penny for Landrieu’s thoughts. And still feel like I’m overpaying.

This may be the ugly, sausage-making side of politics, but it is hardly corrupt or scandalous.
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There is a question of ends and means. Would the last-minute inclusion of funding for Senator from Texas’ biggest campaign contributor’s wind farm project be acceptable if it guaranteed that Senator’s support on legislation X?
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Hypothetical, I know.

Nothing in the story about Joe Isuzu threatening to vote no on allowing debate. Was he bluffing then?

There’s no silence from the left…we hate Mary f-ing Landrieu and the rest of the New Democrats.
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Here’s a link to somebody who’s a little less restrained in her contempt for Landrieu, and who’s a bit well-known in the health care reform movement on the left: (Link to dKos diary entitled “Mary Landrieu gets a well-deserved heaping dose of shame tomorrow” by nyceve ).
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Liberals are beginning to understand that DLC-ers like Landrieu make having a majority meaningless –unlike when the GOP was in the majority, I might add.

Ms. Newton-Small:

Great Piece!

I hope she (Mary Landrieu) loses her bid for re-election.
She and other so called Conserva-Democrats have received everything they asked to be included in the bill, almost. Yet they are holding out. For what?? This posturing is such a yawn.

I hope someone comes out with a movie on how the inability of the Democratic party to co-operate on key issues cost them BIG time!
It will cost them. Time will bear me out on this matter.

They have the majority and are acting like a bunch of “green horns” who do not know the political implications of failing on major initiatives especially since those initiatives were key in the election of this President.

What a mess.

LM

http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/palin-a-woman-worth-emulating-yes/

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that freeper isn’t going to click on a DKos link.

So, in order to keep Landrieu from voting against a measure to help the poor, they had to give her $100 million to help the poor.
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Weird.

Also this:
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$100 million just to start the debate: imagine how much lawmakers are going to demand to vote to end it?
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Seems pretty dumb to me.

Joe has said emphatically he will NOT vote for ANY bill which contains a so-called Public Option. Period.
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59 votes and counting. Who will make up number 60?
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Unfortunately not any of the Republicans, that is all that is left. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
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Of course I am sure Obambi can find some more money in the Treasury to BRIBE someone out of their vote. Calling Olympia….Olympia Snowe, what do YOU want Olympia???
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Yes indeedy!!! CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!

“I guess we know what the Democrats are all that’s left is to negotiate price.”

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And who gets SCREWED in the process?
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The American Tax-payer, along with those Seniors dependent on Medicare. Over 500 BILLION in MEDICARE CUTS!!!
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This bill contains over 20 different NEW “Taxes” or penalties, unbelieveable. And, to top it off, it will not even take effect until 2014!!!
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2014 is when the program will “kick in”. WHY???
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Would one of the great liberal commenters or brilliant journalist from TIME please explain this to me???
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Why do the people of this country have to start PAYING for the Democrat / Obama Health Care Reform now, but they do not receive any benefits from it until 2014 ????
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But what do the reporters at TIME discuss? Who is bribed and who is not.
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Over 10.5% of our citizens are un-employed, according to Obama’s under-estimated figures. Actually it is approaching 20% UNEMPLOYMENT. But, what does TIME report on???
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A completely WORTHLESS HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL

I say OK, buy her vote … then primary her @$$.

Sqr1:

This may be the ugly, sausage-making side of politics, but it is hardly corrupt or scandalous.

If your point is that Jay Newton-Small can be faulted for cynically exclaiming “I’m shocked –shocked!– to find gambling going on in this establishment!“, then please disregard the following:
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While I certainly concur that this is business as usual, I respectfully disagree that is is “hardly corrupt”.
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Whether something is the “normal” amount of trading votes for tax-payer dollars or not isn’t really the point. What’s usual in the Congress is indefensible. That it’s “normal” is precisely what’s scandalous about it. It’s how we have a defense industry propping up our economy instead of an infrastructure industry, even though this particular trade is not an example of defense pork.
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To cry foul on this sort of thing isn’t a demand for perfection from the human soul, nor is it a denial of how things are run, but an acknowledgment that we don’t want the government run this way.
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I’m sure that you don’t disagree with the premise that, if it were possible wave a magic wand and have votes purely cast on the merits of proposals, and aid dollars distributed purely on the basis of efficiency and need, this would be the way things should work, right?
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If so, then isn’t it incumbent upon us to demand that government change to be more like how it should be…which would mean expressing outrage that its not?

Over 500 BILLION in MEDICARE CUTS!!!
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But you hate the government, Rusty. Also, ask any other conservative and they’ll tell you that Medicare is a broken system that is about to go bankrupt.
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Which means if you want to save it, you’ll have to raise the money through higher taxes.
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Why do the people of this country have to start PAYING for the Democrat / Obama Health Care Reform now, but they do not receive any benefits from it until 2014 ?
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This is a good question.
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Over 10.5% of our citizens are un-employed, according to Obama’s under-estimated figures. Actually it is approaching 20% UNEMPLOYMENT. But, what does TIME report on?
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Why do you care? Your friends in the GOP want a spending freeze. You think that’ll help the unemployment rate?
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But good question about why we don’t see anything on unemployment here on Swampland.

Amen, but before we engage in primary politics, we’ll have to extract ourselves from the rhetorical hole we dug when we jumped up and down about the GOP being taken over by its scary, radical base.
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We need to start that process of explaining why what we want to do is somehow different from what the GOP base is doing…now.

Cliff: Daily Kos? And the left makes fun of Beck?

SZ: You may be correct but if this was a Repub (who are just as guilty) it would be headlines in the NYT WaPo, ABC NBC for days. Oberdork would be blowing a gasket. It will all be swept up as “part of the process”. One which the annointed one campaign he would change. He will vote present on this one as well

The GOP base is doing something, but sabotage isn’t especially constructive.

BO long ago should’ve told these fence-sitters to either…er, *perform your natural bodily elimination process* or get off the pot.

Coulda saved us at least $100 M.

Hmm…

“2014 is when the program will “kick in”. WHY???”

Great question.
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Is it perhaps so that Reid can game the CBO by having it score from 2014 on, instead of 2013, perhaps? Maybe if the program started helping people sooner, they would have had to include that tax on individuals making over $500,000 per year that was in the House bill (that reduced the deficit even more than the Senate’s version)?
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Ezra Klein has even more problems with the shenanigans involving dates things happen and the CBO score (Link to Ezra Klein’s “Things to worry about in the CBO Score”) :

In the aggregate, the Senate finance bill reduces the deficit. But there are a couple individual years when it increases it. The CBO thus estimates that “the failsafe provisions would require a reduction in exchange subsidies averaging about 15 percent during the years 2015 through 2018.” That’s a very bad thing, particularly in the first years of the plan. It means that, with no warning, subsidies will be cut by 15 percent, and insurance that families were able to afford the year before will become totally unaffordable. That needs to be changed.

It’s beyond me how this kind of game works on our supposedly educated-class political press corps.
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So, in 2015, premiums for middle-class families in the exchange are going to go up by 15%. Super. But if all we care about is the magic CBO Score, and not what’s actually being done in the name of liberal Democrats, then we deserve to lose control of Congress after this thing passes.

OT: But so it does not fly under the rader since its Friday.
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Ethics panel: No punishment for Sen. Burris
Senate committee found no violations of law in legislator’s appointment
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Nice job new ethics committee.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34063391/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

The page that SZ linked to is Daily Kos. I was pointing out to SZ that there’s no point in him referring you to a DKos page because you won’t read it.
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Apparently you didn’t even mouse over his link, which vindicates me.

It is looking like Nelson is all in. Must have found a couple million for him some where.

We need to start that process of explaining why what we want to do is somehow different from what the GOP base is doing…now.
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Step One: Point to the mountains and mountains of evidence of misrule by the right, and then point to the fact that centrist Democrats are blocking efforts to correct said misrule?

I don’t like the payoff process either but it’s somewhat ironic that Repubs harp against the process when they’re out of power. It’s perfectly OK if we ramrod stuff like declaring war seven years ago before actually discussing its ramifications. In this case (i.e. HC) we’ve talked about it enough. Now if the Repubs had a legitimate alternative to saying NO more people would listen.

“Now if the Repubs had a legitimate alternative to saying NO more people would listen.”

Funny, but you don’t expect the Repubs to drop the only bit of strategy that they’ve utilized thus far do you?

“Obstruction, struction, what’s your function?”

Jay Newton-Small:
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Perhaps the most egregious problem in the Bloomberg piece is this example of He Said/She Said:

Landrieu, Lincoln and Nelson have all criticized a central element of the legislation, a new government-run insurance program to compete with private insurers like Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna Inc.
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The three lawmakers “all represent states where Obama is pretty unpopular, and they will at least need to split their votes on health care, casting some key skeptical votes,” said John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

First of all, everybody knows what the American Enterprise Institute is, right? We’re all aware that it’s not a political analysis house, but a conservative agenda policy factory?

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is a conservative think tank founded in 1943.
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AEI scholars are considered to be some of the leading architects of the second Bush administration’s public policy.[2] More than twenty AEI scholars and fellows served either in a Bush administration policy post or on one of the government’s many panels and commissions.[3]
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Among the prominent former government officials now affiliated with AEI are former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, now an AEI senior fellow; former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities Lynne Cheney, a longtime AEI senior fellow; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, now an AEI senior fellow; former Dutch member of parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an AEI visiting fellow, and former deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz, now an AEI visiting scholar.
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Other prominent individuals affiliated with AEI include David Frum, Kevin Hassett, Frederick W. Kagan, Leon Kass, Irving Kristol, Charles Murray, Michael Novak, Norman J. Ornstein, Richard Perle, Christina Hoff Sommers, and Peter J. Wallison.[4]

Does anybody who works in journalism understand the professional need to fact check claims?
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Let’s see, how about Nebraska, where “Obama is pretty unpopular”, according to the rightist think-tank guy (Link to Lincoln Journal Star):

Obama gets 57 percent approval in Nebraska
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By DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 4:20 pm
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President Barack Obama enjoyed 57 percent job approval in Nebraska in a Gallup Poll released Tuesday.
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The daily tracking results were compiled from January through June and were billed by Gallup as the president’s “half-year approval rating.”
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Obama’s disapproval score in Nebraska was 32 percent.

OK, but I can hear you saying “Well, the rightist propagandist goofed on NE, but what about Arkansas, Lincoln’s state, or Louisiana, Landrieu’s?”
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So what does Gallup say about those states (Link to Gallup state breakdown)?

Arkansas: Approve 56, Disapprove, 31
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Louisiana: Approve 55, Disapprove, 34

Oh horrors! A mid-fifties approval rating!
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Only in the minds of people who would bestow the laughable title of “visiting scholar” upon the fool ideologue Wolfowitz do these numbers signify that “Obama is pretty unpopular” in these states.
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I know that you don’t work there anymore, Jay Newton-Small, but is it possible for you to mention something to James Rowley and Kristin Jensen, the authors of that eye-rollingly bad piece, if you were to still be in contact?
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Could you maybe point out that when journalists turn to the AEI for political analysis on politicians’ votes on a “government-run” anything, they should probably expect something along the lines of “that would be bad politically” –even if the Senator were, say, Dick Durbin of Illinois?
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Thanks so much in advance for letting your former colleagues know that many of their readers aren’t idiots, Jay Newton-Small!

Good call, Cliff.

Since it’s Friday, I assume spob will be along to promote some new Obama non-controversy such as Michelle Obama’s dress choice, an Obama quote taken out context, or Obama;’s bow to the Japanese Emperor.

Oh, wait…

spob may not want to talk about how Obama’s bow debased the U.S., and set us on the road to tyranny, radical socialism and an influx of alien hordes.

Seems most Americans (67% and even 53% of Republicans) thought it was perfectly fine (pdf).

And the delicious irony of that poll is that it was done by the very same folks who prattled on and on about it for days.

Humorous side note: Fox News conducted the poll then never broadcast the results of their own poll.

Not even once.

Hookin’ up talkin’ points and stretchin’ ‘em outright

And…heck hasn’t frozen yet.

stuart, why do you have to do their jobs for them all the time?
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Jay, do you know how to use Google? It’s obvious the Bloomberg reporter *cough* has no clue. At least you could fact check the clown who refused to fact check the clown who was quoted in the article you cite.
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Besides, stuart deserves a day off.

Spob’s superpower is to rationalize away any empirical evidence he disagrees with.

Sounds like a good start, Cliff.

I should clarify that the He Said was:
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Landrieu remains skeptical about the so-called public option yet “she is open to a principled compromise,” Sawicki said.
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, with the opposing She Said being:
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The three lawmakers “all represent states where Obama is pretty unpopular, and they will at least need to split their votes on health care, casting some key skeptical votes,”
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“Principled” vs “Pragmatic” stenography, with nothing in the way of backup for these claims, and Landrieu’s flack on one side vs the think-tank rightist on the other.
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Hey!
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That sounds just like Meet The Press on any given Sunday, doesn’t it?

Fox News conducted the poll then never broadcast the results of their own poll.
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Back off, man!
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That’s Jake Tapper’s sister (network) you’re insulting!

I should probably use the word “perhaps” less often, perhaps?

Cliff SZ

Sanctimony and self vindication. Small wonder little of what “progressives” want is taken seriously

At least “Meet the Press” is billed as an opinion show. David Gregory is at peace. He never has to check the truth or falsity of a guest’s statements again. Not like his days on the White House beat.
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Oh, wait… He didn’t do it even back then.

Why?

Simple by 2014, Obama and Congress can play enough bait and switch games , exemptions and other chicanery it would make Madoff blush

Spob’s superpower is to rationalize away any empirical evidence he disagrees with.

Well it beats the liberal method of just declaring everyone (but yourselves of course) a liar!

spob may not be intellectual honest but at least its not delusional

At least “Meet the Press” is billed as an opinion show.
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I’d love to know when the construction “It’s okay to lie, as long as it’s labeled as opinion” became the consensus in the modern political press corps.
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Also, when did liberals start to accept that idea?
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Did anybody on our side see Betsey McCaughey fifteen years ago, and think to themselves “We really shouldn’t allow the press to go unchallenged when they don’t label lies as lies in opinion pieces…“, or were we all f-ing brain-dead (or trying to get jobs at the Times or the Post…or the New Republic)?

You’re not even paying attention, are you?

The AEI, the Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute put out a lot of dubious stuff reflecting the Right’s notion of how a think tank works. They offer talking heads and have developed pretty solid relations with the MSM. The are few others with impressive sounding names which allow Frank Gaffney and Co to get into the act. These people are all for waging war with nary a concern for how it be paid for. But as soon as we make an effort to help our less fortunate citizens on matters of health the calculators come out. They never ask the price of a soldiers death. But they want to cost health.

For journalists in a hurry or working against deadline the easiest think to get is a quote from on of these outfits (Neocon Central) to make sure the he said-she said routine is followed.

JNS has done what journalists should do: be skeptical. I hope it is habit forming.

As for the Senators who are threatening to stop the bill from coming to the floor: many commenters have said it all.

Cliff:

to what?

I like this because it tells us clearly how much a right-wing or centrist liberal will cost when thy shake down the party for their vote. Life is great for these people isn’t it? They are recipients of the largess from bribery, and the media portrays them as “moderates” at the same time. It looks like a great racket.

Rusty.
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Time for a bit-O-reality:
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Note that the number is 59 and not 39. Also, little has to be inferred by the fact that the target is 60 and not 50!

Doesn’t anyone in Washington know it, this country is Bankrupt. That right Bankrupt. If they pass this so call health reform plan which is really a take-over of the health care system by the governent, where is the 1.5-3 trillion dollars going to come from to fund the programs?
After, they get the programs running will come the Health Cost Control Boards that will tell doctors how to treat me and you. Age and type of illness with determine what type treatment you get, from good to no treatment and just a few meds, just like Canada and England. Wait times to see doctors for serious problems will run weeks to months.
This is not the type health care I want.
We need a few health care reforms but not a government take-over.

No, twithead. That is not what the story is saying. That is what you Dems always do, the lamest thing to do, when you have not got an argument to defend the fraudulent Dem claim of the past eight years that they are morally superior to the Reps. “The Reps. did it too! They did it too!” Why don’t you say the reports on Lincoln and the others is Republican propaganda while your’e at it??

“$100 million just to start the debate”:

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/the-ghost-in-the-machines-the-mystery-of-the-wtc-hard-drive-recoveries/

Add a .50 tax to every fast food order which exceeds 500 total calories. With the millions of those sold every day in America, that would help illuminate the issue, discourage the consumption a little, and toss billions of dollars into the kitty to finance health reform — saw a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth