Thirst for Power. GOP and the Extreme Right

Cross posted at CobaltVa

I find it very disturbing that the GOP has become a simple Get Obama Party. Their seeming willingness to ride the coat tails of the "crazies" back into power would seem at first glance to be political suicide, but they see a path to power. I'm just scanning the blogs this morning and I'm amazed at what is going on back in the home districts.

Here's Congressman Wally Herger of California at a town meeting in Redding, California courtesy of reporter, Paul Boerger:

“Our democracy has never been threatened as much as it is today,”

Rep. Herger is speaking in code. "Democracy is being threatened" because to Rep. Herger and his conservative brethren, democracy is all about preserving business interests, corporate profit, the private sector, and unregulated, laissez-faire free markets. He truly feels that his idea of democracy is being threatened. He's absolutely telling the truth if you can read the code.

“Health care costs have soared, but I will oppose a public option with everything I have.”

Here he acknowledges that health care costs have soared but offers as solutions only that we should let the private insurance companies sort it out. He offered some of his ideas about health care reform, again from Paul Boerger reporter for the Mt. Shasta Area Newspapers:

After denouncing the Obama plan to wild cheering, Herger offered a few solutions of his own including opening up competition among private health care companies by forcing companies to sell policies nationwide rather than just within individual states, tort reform to bring down malpractice costs and “risk pools like automobile companies” for those with preexisting conditions who Herger conceded are unable to get coverage. He also suggested “bargaining groups and associations” could help bring down costs.

These "solutions" are free market solutions that must be foisted upon the insurance companies. They haven't done any of these things yet and aren't likely to unless their feet are held to the fire. They are going to be very unwilling to give up their huge profits unless they are forced to. Mr. Herger's precious free market principles are at stake. Would Congressman Herger be willing to use the power of the federal government to force the health care industry to kowtow to his suggestions for reform? How would that sound given his following statement?

“There are things we can do with health care, as long as the government is not running it,”

Would Mr. Herger and his colleagues simply send go to their friends in the health care business and ask nicely that they should make "risk pools" and increase competition among themselves? How has that worked so far? In my reading of the way conservative governance works, it's the other way around. The health care industries go to the Congress critters with cash in hand and ask for what they need in order to increase profits.

The real motives of Mr. Herger became apparent later in the meeting. Forced to be unspecific in his proposals, and refusing to "out" himself as a corporate carpetbagger he turned to the "crazies" in the audience and called on a supporter.

One speaker said he could trace his ancestors back to the Mayflower and said “they did not arrive holding their hands out for help. I am a proud right wing terrorist,” he declared to cheers.

Herger had found his voice. No mention of the issues at hand, no indication of any awareness of what the debate over health care is about, just simple ignorance and fear. No need to explore the Herger's desire to hand over the care of American citizens to profit takers and carpetbaggers. Ignore all that and embrace the "crazies!"

“Amen, God bless you,” Herger said with a broad smile. “There is a great American.”

There's hope for reform. Even with all of this demagoguery going on, at the end of his town meeting Rep. Herger said this:

“They can vote in anything they want, the only thing standing between you and them voting in anything they want is you."

Is this a plea to progressives and liberals to put him out of his misery? It's convoluted, but try and follow this: Mr. Herger and his ilk are hamstrung, tied firmly to the stake of corporate oligarchy. They are completely bought and paid for, they've sold their souls and are pleading for help. The "crazies" are helping them in an inverted sort of way by showing us what America would be like if we didn't jump in and save him. It's as if he knows his ideas are empty and can't or won't do anything to change the status quo.

Personally, I think he simply can't sell his ideology so getting cool with the crazies is the way to go. Keep everyone's eyes on the smoke and ignore what's going on in the boardroom and the lobby. Go talk about crazy and we'll keep on scooping up the cash. Can't change, don't want to change, we're talking the American way here!

Or perhaps it's a dare. "Democrats, put up or shut up. You won the election, now fix this. We're playing our role, now you play yours Dammit!"

Anthony Weiner is a Health Care Hero

Crossposted at CobaltVa.

Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York got on Morning Joe Tuesday and gave the clearest, most concise position on the health care debate that has yet reached the public airwaves. He is an advocate of Single-Payer and before you dismiss him as a leftist kook (wait, why would anyone on this blog do THAT?) hear him out. He is the only person to have ever rendered Joe Scarborough SPEECHLESS!

Leslie Savan over at The Nation blogs today:

Something rather remarkable happened on Tuesday's Morning Joe. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York pointed out that the health insurance industry has no clothes, and Joe Scarborough, after first trying to spin it some gossamer threads, broke down and said, By God, you're right, this emperor is a naked money-making machine!

Well, he didn't use those exact words, but Joe did seem to finally get that America has granted insurance companies the right to create bottlenecks in the financing of healthcare in order to extract profits out of the suffering of ordinary people--without providing any actual healthcare whatsoever.

My personal hope is that this Rep. from New York gets air time, gets passed around the internet, comes back on MSNBC many, many times and makes his arguments again, clearly, rationally, and with common sense. This is the type of argument I've been waiting to hear in the news. This is the type of argument that will win the day for this historic legislation that needs to be passed for the benefit of the citizens of our great country.

The essence of his arguments:

Weiner, who recently warned that President Obama could lose as many as 100 votes on a health bill if a public option is not included, really wants single payer--Medicare for all Americans is his goal. What a crazy, way-out, reckless notion, Joe went into their encounter believing. But Weiner asked some simple, direct questions that no politician, much less Obama or HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, has managed to pose:

What is an insurance company? They don't do a single check-up. They don't do a single exam, they don't perform an operation. Medicare has a 4 percent overhead rate. The real question is why do we have a private plan?

Indeed! What are the insurance companies bringing to health care? Why is our health considered a commodity? Why is Medicare so popular? Why do we include insurance companies in the loop when their best interests are served by denying health care to their consumers?

You go Anthony! I'm looking forward to hearing your voice on the air and in the blogs over and over until health care reform is done.

This is a must see:

Don't you Mess with Public Radio

Crossposted at CobaltVA

We are live blogging - sort of - today's anti-Public Radio rant from the editor of the Daily News Record's op-ed section. His radical views display his fear of "leftists," and his irrational fear that somehow, leftists will destroy his beloved conservative talk radio. He therefore projects all of that fear on his ideological opponents accusing them and specifically, Mark Lloyd, the new head of the FCC, of conspiring to destroy THEIR ideological opponents. What is the face of the Right Wing? You get a snapshot of the "right wing mind" in this letter this morning.

I've picked out the relevant portions of the letter. You should really read the whole thing along with the comment section HERE. Away we go.....

"...appointing Mark Lloyd, a veteran “newsman” and professional leftist, to this position (FCC director) is extremely troubling on many fronts."

What is a professional leftist anyway? Is there a job with money? Where can I go to get one? Mr. Editor, you are marking your territory on the extreme right. Prejudicial and bigoted.... what else is new?

"Mr. Lloyd is an enemy of free speech. In a nutshell, Mr. Lloyd thinks that commercial radio stations should pay heavy fees, or fines, if you will, to help fund left wing radio."

Are you talking about NPR, PRI.... you know "Public Radio?" Our own WMRA (insert YOUR local public radio station here) with talk shows that cover events in a serious reasoned manner, giving us a depth of information that is not to be found in other media markets? What could possibly be wrong with that? How in the world is rational argument a threat to free speech? Your ideological bigotry is showing....
I'm a subscriber. I put my money where my mouth is. OH..... I get it...... It's not Profitable! and... it's not loud, outrageous, biased, and silly! Great! To each his own.

Give me more of that "left wing" radio. I'll send them another check today. Thanks for the inspiration.

As for the "fines".... what you don't want conservative talk radio to pay taxes like the rest of us? They should somehow be immune? I know they live in their own little world, but they are sponsored in the USA.... you remember.....we the people?

“operating in the public interest,” which is code for “operating in the left-wing interest.”

Talking in code are we? Nice of you to recognize "code." Your coded message today, ("left wing radio," "professional left winger," "his lunacy,"diversity chief.") shows a level of paranoia that is rare even for the DNR editorial staff.

You've jumped from an appointment of a Democrat to the head of the FCC to shutting down wingnut radio, a pretty far leap even for a wingnut. It's paranoid ranting. Hate Public Radio if you wish, but never fear that conservative talk radio will disappear. Liberals do not wish for the destruction of their opponents. That's your territory. Heck, without wingnuts to cuss, being a liberal would be no fun at all! :)

"Again, when a man of Mr. Lloyd’s ideological feather says “fair and balanced,” what he really means is one-sided, that side being the left side."

Nope. You've got that wrong. It really means, "Again, when a person of the editor's ideological feather says “fair and balanced,” what he really means is one-sided, that side being the right side."

You are simply criticizing yourself sir.

"Mr. Lloyd’s real object, of course, is shutting down conservative radio. Why would he want to do that?"

Exactly. Liberals generally encourage opposing viewpoints and rational debate. Shutting down conservative radio is YOUR idea not his. The only time you EVER hear of shutting stuff down is in ..... you guessed it... conservative radio! Strawman alert!

"Because conservative talk shows have millions of listeners and make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits,"

Yup. Smells but it sells. Capitalism at it's finest. TV loves a ruckus and that's what you get 24/7. The intelligencia meanwhile? Let's talk... :)

"...while few listen to liberal radio and it never makes a profit."

NPR is a non-profit organization... dummy. It's directly supported by it's listeners and the rest of the slackers who only contribute their tax dollars... It only seems like a few, cause they are never raisin' a ruckus or attracting attention by raising their voice needlessly.

"Americans don’t want to hear leftist lamentations or progressivist protest."

Nope. There are legions of fans that love Prairie Home Companion, Morning Edition, Acoustic Cafe, Talk of the Nation, Car Talk, ....... more than you'll ever know, and we ain't goin' anywhere! And besides, Liberals and Progressives are Americans too, thank you very much...

"Mr. Lloyd doesn’t like that, and neither do his allies at Media Matters and the other institutions of organized subversion."

There's that bigoted, paranoid code again. Are you fearful of mean ole Mr. Lloyd? Afraid that he'll take his super armies and crush wingnut radio?.... oops sorry, I got caught up in the paranoia again.... now.. let's talk a little about organized subversion.... would that be radical wingnuttery you are proposing? Sounds like paranoid projection again.

"But having leftist ideologues such as Mr. Lloyd determining the public interest is more than a little scary."

Ok we get it. You and your ideological brethren are shivering in the corner in fetal position, petrified with fear that your beloved wingnut radio will be destroyed by the fearsome armies of the night..... need a blankey?

Just Once...Please?

Crossposted at CobaltVA

First a quote from today's Kos entry entitled: Saturday hate mail-apalooza

I just heard a bit of very disturbing news. It seems the Republican leadership in the House and Senate are secretly working on legislation that will force the US government to end all government run health care. If passed, the bill will require all Medicare seniors to move to private insurance within six months. Any citizen over 70 who is suffering from a terminal illness will be required to provide medical justification to determine if they will be eligible for private insurance coverage. The VA hospital system would have one year to shut their doors. Medicaid payments would cease within one year as well.

The American people need to be warned of this impending danger so they can contact their elected officials before it's too late. The Republicans in congress want to end all government run health care. Seniors and vets will suffer if they get their way.

Kos Reply: "Difference is, of course, that we're reality based. If we were like Republicans, we'd be forwarding this to everyone we knew."

Excellent point. Makes being in the reality based world harder and harder all the time..... Can't we just send out one pandering, false, conspiracy theory to frighten everyone?? Please??

As the Rich Get Richer....

Crossposted at CobaltVA

The new numbers: 1% = 49.7% This is the number that reflects the nation's economic boom of the Bush years. The first number represents the top percentile of income earners in the United States. The second number represents the percentage of the total income generated in the United States that went to that top percentile.

This is our number, you know... the "rest of us." 99% = 50.3%

A new report by Emmanuel Saez, economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley and reported in the Huffpo lays out the news in pure unvarnished and unspun numbers.

As of 2007, the top decile of American earners, Saez writes, pulled in 49.7 percent of total wages, a level that's "higher than any other year since 1917 and even surpasses 1928, the peak of stock market bubble in the 'roaring" 1920s.'"

Beginning in the economic expansion of the early 1990s, Saez argues, the economy began to favor the top tiers American earners, but much of the country missed was left behind. "The top 1 percent incomes captured half of the overall economic growth over the period 1993-2007," Saes writes.

Despite a rising stock market, largely growing employment and a historic housing boom things were not nearly so rosy for the rest of U.S. workers. This trend, according to Saez, only accelerated during the George W. Bush's tenure as President:

"...while the bottom 99 percent of incomes grew at a solid pace of 2.7 percent per year from 1993-2000, these incomes grew only 1.3 percent per year from 2002-2007. As a result, in the economic expansion of 2002-2007, the top 1 percent captured two thirds of income growth."

What does it mean? How is this one issue affecting our economy? the health care debate? the political power struggle between the conservatives and the "silent majority?"

One side is about creation and conservation of wealth. Republicans were in charge as this study was taking place. The report begins in the early nineties and was updated in this new report to cover the years between 2002 and 2007, the Bush Years. The health care debate is currently dominated by the wealth preservers. Protecting the profits of the health care industry and the wealth of the corporate elite in control is the primary task of the current minority party. Who woulda guessed?

The curious think is how effectively they've built a rabid base of peasants who are very much in the lower 99% and who have been completely convinced that their best interests are represented by the corporate elite. Stoking anger and fear, wrapping it up in the cloak of "freedom" and "rights," they've managed to dominate the media coverage and give us the impression that health care reform is in danger.

Not.

The nature of the President and his supporters is simply not as volatile. Basically, he's saying, "Calm down, everyone. Show some patience! This is a huge problem demanding the best of our leaders AND the best from our citizens." I thank President Obama for leaving all the histronics and staging to the Republicans. By showing leadership, calmness, and most of all, maturity he's simply not giving in to all the hysteria being generated by the evermore desperate Wealthy Elite.

I thank President Obama for demanding the best from us. Every time he shows his confidence and poise in public he exposes the blatant political aspirations of the disloyal opposition. Every time the deliberate hypocrisy of the political right wing is exposed his arguments become stronger. The Wealth Preservers depend on their rabid, angry base for support. It doesn't stay angry and rabid if someone takes away their fear, talks to them truthfully and forcefully. Obama is working the country, talking to the people, bypassing the corporate elite. He's taken the best shot from the "No-sers," showing us that it's time for straight talk and reform.

"I know there's plenty of real concern and skepticism out there. I know that in a time of economic upheaval, the idea of change can be unsettling, and I know that there are folks who believe that government should have no role at all in solving our problems."

(There are)... stories that aren't being told -- stories of a health care system that works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people.

The history is clear -- every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests with a stake in the status quo use their influence and political allies to scare and mislead the American people."

Calmness, truthfullness, leadership. Thank you Mr. Obama.