I Hope You're Happy

We’ll start up with a Facebook status update from my friend Dermot, who does all sort of fun things for the NHS in the UK:

Dermot Is designing a backup psu to power a ventilator from the main power on a colleague’s wheelchair. Needs help to breathe all the time (has the same condition as Hawking)*, but his new wheelchair is amazing; unfolds and holds him upright in its embrace…think the exoskeleton that Ripley operates in Aliens. * Yes, contrary to what that wanker wrote in the IBD recently, the NHS does look after patients like Hawking.

Roger Ebert wrote the best thing I’ve heard on health care so far

Having read through some 600 comments about universal health care, I now realize I took the wrong approach in my previous blog entry. I discussed the Obama health plan in political, literal, logical terms. Most of my readers replied in the same vein. The comments, as always, have been helpful, informative and for the most part civil. My mistake was writing from the pragmatic side. I should have followed my heart and gone with a more emotional approach. I believe universal health care is, quite simply, right.

It is a moral imperative. I cannot enjoy health coverage and turn to my neighbor and tell him he doesn’t deserve it. A nation is a mutual undertaking. In a democracy, we set out together to do what we believe is good for the commonwealth. That means voluntarily subjecting ourselves to the rule of law, taxation, military service, the guaranteeing of rights to minorities, and so on. That is a cheap price to pay.

From the Facts and Figures Dept.

Premiums up 20 percent over last year for 10 person company

Sure, those gigantic health insurance companies are really looking out for each and every one of us, and want nothing but peace and happiness, health and every last penny we have. That non-profit public option is sure the most evil thing ever. Can’t have that. More importantly, this article really looks at the idea that the free market is competing to save us money. Turns out, there’s little competing, and plenty of profiteering.

Look folks, Obama is not a Nazi

How hard is Bipartisanship?

This hard.

Lou Dobbs tours single-payer systems and finds….they’re good

Yeah, Lou “Birtherboy” Dobbs is admitting they may not be as bad as the Republicans make them out to be.

Meet the Opposition

Sen. Tom Coburn’s hypocrisy at a town hall

Here’s the set-up. A weeping wife asks for help for her husband, who has had major brain trauma, was dumped by his insurance company, must leave the nursing home he’s at, and she can’t care for him on her own. His response: Come to my GOVERNMENT office an we’ll see what we can do, but don’t look for GOVERNMENT to be the answer. >insert crowd cheers<. For fuck’s sake, a man is incapacitated by a traumatic brain injury, the family is completely destroyed by health care problems that would be solved by the Democratic plan, and people are cheering that the system is completely broken for this woman, and they won’t help her. Some fucking human compassion here.

John McCain and the Death Panel Shuffle

Watch John McCain dance around the biggest mistake of his political career, by standing behind (very far behind) Sarah Palin and her death panels, only he doesn’t call them death panels. You got that?

John Boehner is pissed PHRMA caved to the White House

You want proof that the Republicans aren’t looking out for America? John Boehner is giving advice to PHRMA, namely that giving appeasements to the White House won’t help them win the war. THEM? What about us? What are you doing for us Boehner? Sure, you’ll defend big business to the bitter end, but when it comes to doing good for Americans?

Sen. Chuck Grassley’s recent town hall

Let’s see, Obama’s a Nazi, a threat on his life, yeah, looks about typical.

McCain booed for defending Obama

John, you courted this audience in the election, you’ve got to deal with them. Hint: shaming them back to reality might be a good idea.

Michael Steele: The VA is encouraging vets to commit suicide

This according to a memo that talks about end of life counseling like what Democrats wanted in the main health care bill. Michael, you’re the HNIC of the RNC. You won’t get any respect until you start telling the truth about this. You can rejoin the nation anytime you like.

Why are senior citizens the ones crying “Socialist” about health care debates

Funny considering Medicare is the most socialist health care program in America. Even funnier considering they are using twice as much as they’ve paid in. I’m guessing McCarthyism is part of it. And stupidity is the other part.

Republicans spreading fear of issues that don’t exist with Medicare

The Republicans won’t allow for rationing of care for seniors, which is just great because the Democrats won’t either. Finally, some common ground if we could just stop lying.

National Healthcare is a breeding ground for terrorism. Really.

How can they actually believe this shit?

These videos from the Daily Show are very interesting. There’s this cognitive dissonance in Betsy McCaughy who spouts Republican dogma despite her actual real world experience. It also seems that she isn’t interested in debating a point, but is only interested in scoring points. Look at her body language. Very strange.

Poll: Republicans believe Government should stay out of their Medicare

I think that about sums it up.

We’ll start off with a quote from my friend Nigel, in New Zealand, a moment of clarity from across the dateline.

am i going crazy or has it come to pass that a whole bunch of white folks are accusing a black man of being a nazi for daring to attempt to provide healthcare for a nation? i don’t remember hitler ever trying to do that as such….

From the true facts and figures dept.

Health care expenses found to grow 4x faster than wages

This study went for 10 years in Maine. How is this good for America or sustainable?

Truth about British Healthcare Rationing

From a prominent surgeon: Um, we don’t ration healthcare, we focus on what works, not what pays, we allow people to choose their own doctors. Things are just peachy, of course, 47 million people without healthcare is a pretty extreme version of rationing.

Speaking of British Health care, would Stephen Hawking really be dead if he lived in England?

Despite claims to the contrary, he does, and his health care is working just fine for him, thank you very much for playing.

And we love the NHS

O Canada! Your healthcare is so good

Let’s see, they spend 6% less of their GDP, have 0% uninsured, 0 medical bankruptcies,

Amenable death rate, and how the US is low and sinking among developed nations

We keep sinking and sinking in the ratings compared to other countries.

Meet the opposition

The Angry, Dumb, Pathetic face of the Health Care Opposition

It is very obvious to me that some people just want something to hate, and the Republicans have figured out this is a market for them, never mind the factual basis for the hate. Here’s a picture gallery of example humans. Every time somebody screams at a Democrat to “take your gubmint hands off my medicare”, or “Obama is making a Nazi system,” I look at these faces and just laugh.

Has Rep. Mike Ross (D- Ark.) been drinking Republican Politic Juice?

Says “I don’t want to kill old people.” Now this is good news if he was thinking about maybe changing careers and becoming a serial killer who preys on old people, but bad new if he’s a Democratic Congressman, as it proves his gullibility. I’d like to think he’s sticking with his Democrat Associates and is saying “I will not vote for a plan that kills old people, and that is why I’m voting for this plan.” The article is just not clear enough to me on that one. A little context after this quote would have helped.

This guy drank a lot of it

Says Democrats sent thugs to his house. The Fox News reporter actually called bullshit. Oh yeah, he does quote the “kill old people” meme.

So did this guy

Presented so you can see how eloquent bullshit can sound.

How to dress the part of a teabagger

Tip: they all need to be on What Not to Wear

The Pope, I can understand, but Rosa Parks?

A Teabagger tears up a picture of Rosa Parks a pro-health care supporter brought into a rally. Yeah, buddy, that really helped your case.

Why did you come to the town hall meeting with a gun?

Huffpo, I know, but Chris Matthews. Some of what this guy says is just fine, a very small percent, but some of it. Problem is the disconnect that says bringing a gun to a Presidential event doesn’t increase your odds of being jumped by a bunch of guys with guns and legal right.

Maybe this is why the guy with the gun has the wrong idea

Guy’s protest poster, well, you just have to read the article.

Arlen Spector should have seen his difficulties coming

Still glad you left the Republicans behind, though. They didn’t suit your voice of reason.

Pelosi on “unamerican” protests at town halls

This is why I don’t like Pelosi, well, part of why, she doesn’t know when she’s being baited.

Michelle Malkin on being Unamerican

There’s two sides to this story. First, I’ll give Michelle Malkin props for calling out people for trying to quiet the debate. I’m a firm believer on open debate, and I’ll take on that challenge any time. On the other hand, Michelle loses out on far more points by not instructing her readers to be calm, respectful and rational, ah hell, let’s call it like it is. She’s inciting them to ranting loudly to disrupt the debate.

Palin on death panels – the beginning of the B.S.

While the death panels have wound up being just about killing grandma, let’s not forget her little Trig was once a target in her imagination, too.

And again

Newt Gingrich backs up Palin’s Death panel claims

Says the death panels exist, so does the Loch Ness Monster. Here’s a very interesting quote:

“You are asking us to trust the government,” Gingrich declared on ABC’s “This Week.” “You are asking us to decide to believe the government should be trusted.”

Hm, maybe somebody that doesn’t trust the government shouldn’t be firmly imbedded in it. Might just be a conflict of interest there.

And so does Michael Steele

Still doesn’t mean they exist. The Republicans are trying the make Democrats look evil, but it’s their own imagination that is coming up with this stuff.

Turns out the only one to propose a death panel was a Republican

Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson and the HELP amendment.

President Obama is the real target of protesters not health care

At this point, this should be obvious.

How We’re blowing it

What did the White House know about the Pharma Deal?

This is one of the shittiest elements of the Healthcare Debate, pharmaceuticals, what seems like the most central element of our health care system are just off the table?

The How Bad it’s Gotten Dept.

New Zealand faith healing clinic

Yes, prayer is all you need, and it’s free to do at home. (Shh, I think it’s working)

Or you can trade for health care

Bartering is more and more common for health care.

Wouldn’t Jesus want universal health care?

The Daily Show explores the controversy. It’s a shame John Oliver has to be so confrontational with the scientist in the beginning because it would have been stronger if he just let the absurdity of the high school teacher speak for itself.

Reason #1 why being at Harvard doesn’t mean you’re the smartest thing on the block

This writer tries to make a comparison between Bush ignoring the advice of people outside his administration for that of his misguided cronies to Obama’s economic decisions. Problem is, he says that Obama is ignoring the advice of “nearly every eminent economist in the world.” Well, he fails to cite any of these “eminent” economists. Truth is, Obama has consulted everyone and everything he can get his hands on, and is following a path that the rest of the world’s governments also are following based on teh advice of their own eminent economists and the global community of eminent economists. The economists this guy adheres to are apparently conservatives who think reducing taxes on the rich is the way to go. You should also probably avoid articles where the first line is “Now, I’m pretty slow sometimes.”

As a matter of fact, this article isn’t so much an article as a cheap shot. So, to respond in kind, Harvard boy, you’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny.

Reason #2 why being at Harvard doesn’t mean you’re the smartest thing on the block

Now check out this slick young Harvard student who thinks his less than 20 years of living can outsmart Barney Frank’s years in Congress.

Like the polar ice caps, the Republican party is at a record small size

It’s shrinking and it’s membership thinks it should become more conservative. Yeah, have fun with that.

Turns out if they want to keep their jobs, they should have taken that stimulus money

Republican governors who initially made a stand against accepting stimulus spending because it would make them appear more stodgy, Republican, and dumb have realized stodgy Republican and dumb don’t make you popular. Their state legislatures, from both parties have forced them to accept.Featuring our favs, Palin, Jindal, and Sandford.

Palin knows how to pick ‘em

AG nominee quoted “If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?” and “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut.” Stay classy.

That resignation that she asked for, she never asked for, kinda like that bridge

The laughs never stop with her.

Karl Rove says Biden lies…or exaggerates

It’s kind of like that whole Iraq WMD 9/11 thing but this time he gets to point the finger, so it’s all fine then.

About that whole Christian nation thing

This guy doesn’t know how biased his opinion is. He criticizes Obama for saying that we aren’t a Christian or a Muslim nation but a nation of individuals. He then tries to make the case that we are even though 1) there’s no official national religion 2) there are non-Christians in this nation, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, atheists and they in fact, make up a statistically significant portion of the population, and 3) the founding fathers recognized the division among sects of Chrsitianity (Catholics, Protestant, etc) made life as bloody and difficult as our current drawing of lines between religions.

My favorite argument this guy makes is this:

The concept of unalienable rights inheres in the Judeo-Christian precept that an all-loving God created man in his image, thus entitling him to dignity, freedom and rights that cannot be divested by the state.

The twist in the argument is that these statements were made in reaction to abuses they saw in limiting the rights of the colonists on the part of the king. There was no basis in Judeo-Christian theology bullshit. I think I need to write a big article on this concept, the founding fathers, whether they were Christian, Secular, atheist, or whether that even mattered in the context of the nation building.

Sign of the times

Star salesperson, needs operation for life-threatening operation, so the company, Zales (looks like I won’t be shopping there) fires her, and messes up the COBRA paperwork. It gets worse from there.

Faith Groups are losing the gay rights fight

Maybe it’s because their argument is “Only my rights matter.”

Scientist who Turned Anglican Priest thinks we’re all going to Hell if we don’t pray or something like that

Wow. Cuckooo!!!

How GM Crushed Saturn

One thing I’ve learned is if you have a high concept for a project, stay true to it.

The End of Christian America

Looks like we’re heading to America 2.0. Only like 8 years too late.

Canadian MP vs. Science

I don’t know how separation of Church and State work in Canada, but I’m sure glad we have it here. Oh…wait.

And a pair of Daily Show clips

And # 2

The GOP Budget: More of the Same

Let’s see here, Repeal all of the stimulus spending that just about every economist in the world says we need, makes the Bush Tax cuts for the rich permanent, and the worst plan for health care since the employer based system we have now. It also puts another nail in the coffin of the GOP, as it illustrates hwo unrealistic and out of touch they are.

The Poisonous Queen

The Republican blogosphere is having a heyday about Michelle Obama touching, yes, touching the queen, and calling it a major political faux pas (and probably calling for Obama to resign amid the growing scandal). The tale of the tape, however is quite different, and I want to use this to illustrate how quickly anything gets taken out of context in Washington, and to be fair, both sides do it.

Now, long ago, I remember a commoner hugged the queen. Gasp! A Commoner? Off with her head! The media had a tittering about it, and the incident was mostly forgotten.

In this case, the Queen touched first. Maybe she was feeling overawed at the Obama mystique, or maybe she was feeling like Han Solo talking to Greedo, either way, don’t think this is a gotcha moment.

After all, it isn’t like she gave the Queen a backrub, or tried to leave a press conference through a locked door, or, threw up in the prime minister’s lap, or made up insulting nicknames for other heads of state, or got snubbed for a handshake at a world summit, or walked off with a “goodbye from the world’s largest polluter!” or using a racial slur for hispanics in reference to the Italian delegate, or……

Really, we need to grow up over this petty bullshit. There’s an economic crisis on, and the people throwing the shit are largely responsible.

Gay Marriage in the Heartland?

Suddenly Iowa is hipper and more progressive than California?

Iowa’s gay marriage ban “is unconstitutional, because the county has been unable to identify a constitutionally adequate justification for excluding plaintiffs from the institution of civil marriage,” Cady wrote in the 69-page opinion that seemed to dismiss the concept of civil unions as an option for gay couples. “A new distinction based on sexual orientation would be equally suspect and difficult to square with the fundamental principles of equal protection embodied in our constitution,” Cady wrote. The ruling also addressed what it called the “religious undercurrent propelling the same-sex marriage debate,” and said judges must remain outside the fray. “Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring that government avoids them,” the opinion says.

“Next year, 2010, which is, obviously, going to be a signature year because it will establish, first of all, the power of this presidency and this president, all that he is embraced by at least the national media, he still didn’t receive a majority of the votes in this country, just those cast.”

Lou Dobbs everybody, Lou Dobbs.

US Spy Agencies still Plagued by the problems that led to 9/11

You mean like Republicans who want to put their agenda on shaky data?

The Dirty dozen of the financial apocalypse

Rolling Stone’s list.

These guys are getting charged for hoaxing

Of course they did point out the gullibility of humanity.

Peter Orszag, the author of the budget on the Daily Show

Funny how a comedian can ask the hard questions that newsmedia can’t.

How compromised can a politician get?

Chris Dodd can tell you. First he got a special mortgage from Countrywide. Then he has been underreporting the value of a home in Scotland to get out of some interesting investigations into his relationships with the witness to the sale. Now he was having a $1,000 dollar a head fundraiser with the head of Hedge Fund manager John A Paulson while being Senate Banking Committee Chairman. Of course he had to move it because it was at a club that excluded minorities. Can we not vote this guy back in during the next election in 2010.

Texas Board of Education votes to not put the age of the universe into textbooks, just to appease creationists

And there’s others for the whackadoo set.

I’m just going to have to disagree with Penn Jillette on politics and his Libertarian crap, and just enjoy Bullshit!

The rest of the world wants to spend now to get things going

So why don’t the Republicans?

The Trouble with the Obama stance on lobbyists is a lack of qualified people

I’m quite a bit more supportive of Obama than this commentator, so this is kind of a contrarian viewpoint to my own. Lobbyists are compromised by money, how many have lobbied for say, petrochemical companies, then gone to work for, say the Bush Administration EPA, then gone back to lobby for big petrol? Far too many. It’s a double edged sword, to skewer a cliche. Then again, the rate that he is appointing people is awfully slow…

The House passed the Obama budget

But the Senate is no sure sell….