I Hope You're Happy

Appendix fails to assassinate Glenn Beck

The nation asks doctors to put it back for another try.

The Golden State isn’t worth it

After analysis, the studies find that the standard of living in the high tax, high social program, big government state of California, life isn’t as good as in the  no taxes, small government state of Texas, and the residents are leaving to lower taxed states in droves.

Having seen this coming, this is why I’m an advocate of small government. Too bad there isn’t a small government-lowtax social liberal party out there for me to get behind.The Democrats every once in a while show some interest in it, especially after Clinton proclaimed the era of big government is over. The rest of the party just hasn’t come around to that concept yet.

Todd Akin gambles on the Pledge of Allegiance, Loses

If you want to use it as a political weapon, you should take care to say all the words. I’m just saying.

Cheney’s FBI interview featured 72 times where he couldn’t recall

I know Reagan got away with it, but really, he had Alzheimer’s. Cheney is just avoiding the question.

And Lo, the two party system did create a void, and out of this void came…third parties

America is seeing the problem with the two parties, and we all know that being an independent is a bad route to go (Joe Lieberman). Most of Europe has several parties (BUT THEY’RE ALL SOCIALISTS), so it’s about time we got in on the action, and allowed some more voices into the debate. It can’t get any worse (right?)

Doug Hoffman, the Conservative of NY-23 claims Glenn Beck is his hero

No wonder that race got so fucked up that the Republican candidate dropped out and endorsed the Democrat. With an election as strange as that, I’m shocked there wasn’t a former porn star or reality TV b-lister also on the ballot.

As a result of Barack Obama’s policies, lobbyists are quitting in droves

If only there were a pied piper to run the rest of them out.

Iran Accepts nuclear deal

Funny that Bush was never able to do this….

Texas and Ohio voters reject red light cameras

I think that if we can’t get this on the ballot everywhere, we should reject them like the mysterious guy in Chicago: with a cherry picker and the cover of darkness.

Carly Fiorina to run for California Senate seat

Let’s see, she nearly ruined HP and Compaq, got chased out but kept her $29 million golden parachute, and then was economic advisor to John McCain.  This is one chick that has failed upwards. The difficulty on this is she has money, connections and media savvy. The easy way to beat her is to point out how few of California’s citizens have a golden parachute in their contracts. Should be easy to paint her as one of those Wall Street types that caused this whole economic disaster, and who can’t relate to the masses like her Democratic opponent.

Michele Bachmann losing aides like Washington is losing Lobbyists

Michelle Marston has left her for being too crazy.

Michael Steele on the mid-term elections: We’re Transcendant

Presumably, the chairman meant that his party is ascendant, meaning on the rise, and not transcendent, meaning beyond the limits of comprehension.

The quote says it best.

So AT&T sued Verizon, and Verizon said, “Um well, ok.”

Seems AT&T was getting killed by the Verizon ads comparing networks, and sued, claiming false advertising. The expectation was Verizom would drop the ads and they’d settle out of court. Verizon, on the other hand, replied very simply by saying, “Prove it.” See, the burden of proof is on AT&T and if Verizon has its facts together, well, AT&T has little legal recourse.

This lamp is consumer retribution

An LED lamp that connects to the phone jack in your wall, stealing power from the phone company.

Dick Grayson

The Caustic personality of Dick Grayson

I have to admit, I like him because of one of his faults. He’s overbearing, and overbearing as a real personality fault, but this also makes him a no bullshit kind of guy, and that’s really what we need in politics.

He’s so brash, nobody wants to run opposing him

That’s one way to win an election.

The Fox News Beat

Jane Hall left Fox because of how skewed they are

She says she left because they stopped debating the issues, and because “Beck is scary”.

White House to Democrats: Stop providing balance to Fox News

I think the idea is to let Fox News continue to become more extreme and more marginalized.

Of course, by the laws of Social Newtonianism, that sort of means they must also become more extreme and marginalized. I wonder if they’ve found some sort of Social Gravitation constant I haven’t worked out quite yet.

To start things off, I have a new proposal. I won’t say all of Congress, but all those who vote for whatever plan comes out of Congress must take it. If a plan fails to pass, ALL members of congress should be forced to do without.

From the Facts and Figures Dept.

Now, that being said, here’s the best thing I have heard said about the health care debate by a Congressman, and it happens to come from Al Franken. For an Ultra-Liberal, he’s very middle of the road and practical here (and way better than Norm Coleman).

Obama may drop public option

Word is that the public option is so sticky, Obama may drop it.

Then again, maybe Obama is ready to take the wheel on this monster truck

Well, then, finally change we can believe in.

Does Preventive medicine really make savings?

In this article, no.

Excellent Bill Moyer editorial about the whole debate

It’s hard to argue with the coverage on this

The rates of denial of claims on various insurance plans

I won’t usually link to DailyKos, but this is fairly free of bias and the figures are all quotes. Feel free to visit this page without being a Democrat.

Claims denial rates by leading California insurers, first six months of 2009:

• PacifiCare — 39.6 percent 
• Cigna — 32.7 percent 
• HealthNet — 30 percent 
• Kaiser Permanente — 28.3 percent 
• Blue Cross — 27.9 percent 
• Aetna — 6.4 percent

Democrat Hoyer on voting for the bill

No tax hikes, fully paid for or no vote from me. That sounds fair to me, really.

Meet the opposition

Rep. Jenkins of Kansas (who hasn’t read the bills) laughs at a single uninsured mother

Ok, now this is just cold.

How We’re Blowing it

Medicare pays four times the value to rent a motorized wheelchair than to buy it

Come on guys, what are you getting these at Rent-a-Center?

What’s the Canadian Health Care system really like?

While the Republicans like to villify it, it practically sounds like heaven on earth according to this NPR talk show. They interview a former head of the Canadian Medical Association and others to investigate some of the myths and realities of the system. (the audio will be available after 6:00 pm est). If you have a Republican friend who is badmouthing Canada, have them listen to this.

Fact Check on Obama’s “record profits” claim

For those who think I’m above criticizing Obama, here you go. It’s all about keeping them honest.

I have two op-eds coming down the pike, but for now, I have this.

Michael Steele doesn’t even know who supplies his health coverage…

which makes him an excellent candidate to criticize health care reform, right?

Tennesee’s lessons from universal health care

I’m hoping Democrats are looking at this.

Blah blah blah rationing healthcare blah blah whargarble

If you played Republican healthcare lies bingo, you’d have it won in the first paragraph of this article. The funny thing about the anti-health care reform side of things is that they can’t propose a better idea, nor can they defend our current system. Hmmm something for me to chew on.

AP fact Checks Obama on Healthcare

Some of this seems a little out of perspective, and perhaps even a little overzealous. I want to briefly look at one thing:

OBAMA: “We already have rough agreement” on some aspects of what a health care overhaul should involve, and one is: “It will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if you’re happy with it.”

THE FACTS: In House legislation, a commission appointed by the government would determine what is and isn’t covered by insurance plans offered in a new purchasing pool, including a plan sponsored by the government. The bill also holds out the possibility that, over time, those standards could be imposed on all private insurance plans, not just the ones in the pool.

Indeed, Obama went on to lay out other principles of reform that plainly show the government making key decisions in health care. He said insurance companies would be barred from dropping coverage when someone gets too sick, limits would be set on out-of-pocket expenses, and preventive care such as checkups and mammograms would be covered.

It’s true that people would not be forced to give up a private plan and go with a public one. The question is whether all of those private plans would still be in place if the government entered the marketplace in a bigger way.

He addressed some of the nuances under questioning. “Can I guarantee that there are going to be no changes in the health care delivery system?” he said. “No. The whole point of this is to try to encourage changes that work for the American people and make them healthier.”

He acknowledged then that the “government already is making some of these decisions.”

The plan the House sent on is large and not entirely what Obama had laid out, it is a large, and probably very flawed bill, and it is only one of five floating around. When we fact-check Obama on this, I have to wonder if they are all talking about the same bill, and how much Obama knows of the specifics of this particular one.

The government determining what is and isn’t covered as stated here will only add to the opposition’s bullshit arguments of a bureaucrat lurking between you and healthcare. Every plan has people looking at this issue, this is not unique in the realm of health care. it sucks enough right now, but having the government do this is not a horrible thing. In point of fact, Japan’s top-ranked health care system has just this, a panel that determines what is covered, and how much is a fair price for that service. Not only is their health care among the best in the world (which, by the way we are currently not), but it is also the most affordable.

I do credit the AP with making the issue more muddy than it has to be (way to go guys).

What’s the rush, Barack?

Ok. This article is way over the top in an oppositional way, but the basics of it are what I’m beginning to agree with. We elected a calm, cool president who wanted to do things right, with transparency and proper time for review. Problem is, the last couple major pieces of legislation have been pushed through so fast we didn’t get the proper review period, and we didn’t get good bills because of it. The climate bill was a debacle, a mess waiting for a justified death. This hea;th care thing needs a little of the time pressure taken off it. I’d rather have the right bill in six months than the wrong bill tomorrow. The time for health care reform is now, and instead of rushing to beat the lobbysists efforts to sway us, I’d rather see an honest and effect PR campaign to counter the bullshit so that we get it right. We need to slow down on this one.

Goldman Sachs repays TARP funds with 23% annual interest

Yeah, that bailout is going to cost us taxpayers billions. We’re commie pinkos who are nationalizing our banks, uh wait, we uh, we made money on the deal? You’re all still commies.

While Morgan Stanley is putting aside 72% of revenues for salaries, bonuses and benefits

Yeah, rational market. How is this good business?

Looks like a happy conceal-carry nation isn’t going to happen any time soon

Senate rejects a bill sponsored by John Thune of South Dakota that would force states to recognize the gun laws of other states. Funny how Republicans are for states rights except for when they want to carry guns anywhere. I think gun control is a local issue. Cities with crime issues like L.A., Chicago, New York, and Phlly should be able to make their own decisions on who and what. Their problems and beliefs are very different from rural Texas. Just seems, I don’t know, commonsensical.I also think that responsible gun ownership starts with knowing the legislation on the books of the jurisdictions you travel through.

You’re no longer going to hell for reading Harry Potter

Conservative churches are recognizing similarities between Harry and Jesus. You’re still going to hell if you have a crush on Dumbledore, though.

First they re-wrote science, now they’re going after history

Do these Christians know that bearing false witness is one of the big sins?

Very good article on predicting the Democratic Resurgence

No snark here. Just good political foundations.

I told you Sarah Palin’s twitter stream was only there for comic relief

Marijuana dispensaries are now being taxed in the Bay area and this is a good thing

Tax brings legitimacy. Legitimacy brings legalization. I won’t even come near weed, and I think legalization would be good for our country. Let’s focus on the real drug war. Let’s also allow an industry to grow in this nation, hemp farming for industrial use, marijuana for smoking and tax revenues. Could just set everything right.

The Ayatollah wants Ahmadinejad to choose a new vice president, and he won’t

This could create tension between the President and one of his few backers.

That whole ethics complain thing that Palin said wasn’t why she was resigning and that she was suing bloggers for reporting on, but it still wasn’t true

Well, a decision just came in against her.

And now your birther rant of the day

Way to present a rational, coherent and cogent rant. I’m sorry lady, if you’re reading this, those are big words. Let me dumb it down for you: you’re fucking crazy.

Chris Matthews gets a birther congressman to admit Obama is a citizen

Funny how John Campbell (R-CA) can’t answer a simple question, nor can he accept simple evidence. Hmmmm sounds like a great elected official.

I can’t wait for the conservative rap (C-rap)

Michael Steele wants to give GOP a hip-hop makeover. And you thought Barack Obama was the end of political comedy.

What the F@&#!

Looking at censorship.

Republicans vs. Porn – A history

Yeah, free speech, abortion and porn, three things Republicans can’t figure out.

This explains what happened with the economy

Westboro Baptists protesting the Flight 3407 memorial, counterprotesters louder than the voice of God

Apparently sometimes gays choose to fly instead of walking to their destinations.

Sen. Richard Shelby still can’t get over Barack Obama’s citizenship

Dude, that was like, so last November. You lost. Get over it. And by the way, when does your seat come up for re-election? Yeah, get ready for your own personal loss.

“You can’t borrow your way to prosperity,” Shelby said. “We’re the largest debtor in the world. We’re stealing from our grandchildren.”

Funny, he didn’t seem to mind when Bush was doing it.

Another local resident asked Shelby if there was any truth to a rumor that appeared during the presidential campaign concerning Obama’s U.S. citizenship, or lack thereof. “Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”

Should we maybe start examining Sen. Shelby’s citizenship, or maybe we should just doubt that he’s a citizen and skip all of that research.

GOP Governors considering turning down the stimulus Money.

Good, we need a control group in this experiment. That way we can prove once and for all that spending helps us rebound faster. Oh, wait, Republicans don’t believe in science, damn, they’ve got me there.

Bachmann alert! “We’re running out of rich people!”

Quite a lot of other great lines in this one. I’m not sure who’s more crazy, her or the C-Word Ann Coulter. They’d be great in a debate/cage match/mud wrestling event though.

Utah State Senator compares gays to Radical Islamic terrorists

Must be all the gay bombs.

Most of Diebold’s listed offices are Walmarts or nonexistent.

We should all write our reps and ask them to investigate Diebold.

Roland Burris Article coming soon.