Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 12:13 Go get ‘em, Harry.
(See press release below)
I love Reid’s tough new tone, but unfortunately, it needs to come with a sharp stick with which to poke Ben Nelson (D-Neb), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo), Jim Webb (D-Va) and Mark Warner (D-Va). Actually, Reid should do more than poke them, he should draw blood.
Leave a mark.
Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 15:18 The last few months have really provided many opportunities to get all emotional and riled up over the roller coaster ride of proposed House, and then Senate bills that woulda, shoulda fixed our broken disaster of a health care system and insurance in America. The idea was that with Obama’s election, a real world, modern health care plan for all Americans would ride the groundswell of good vibes that seemed to follow the young, energetic new president.
It didn’t exactly happen that way. Perhaps a lot of us were being unrealistic in our expectations - at the worst, which doesn’t exactly seem too terrible. We want the best for the citizens of our country. How bad is that?
I think a lot of our idealism and energy was, unfortunately, deliberately redirected by the vociferously evil opponents of any sort of reform and their nitwit teabagger cheering section. I got caught up in it with a lot of my progressive compatriots when it seemed like the dirty money of the lobbyists was, indeed, taking over the process. I’m still very wary that they might have.
Anytime emotions take over, the rational thinking processes are compromised.
I believe I might even have said unkind things about Harry Reid. Shame on me.
I still think Nancy Pelosi did her best, too.
This bill that has passed out of the Senate isn’t completely evil, although it is more stingy than the House version. With a little bit of luck, some of the House bills provisions might make it into the final compromise.
Alas, the ‘public option’ is the least likely to be one of those provisions that survives the final pass through the meat grinder. It’s sad, but the focus on the public option has only served to divert everybody’s attention from the real meat and potatoes parts that will really help a lot of Americans.
I still believe that a public option, or at the least - and extension of Medicare to people 55 years and up, would have been the best choice. That’s said only because I know Americans - when led by the Fox ‘guvmint is bad’ machine would have nothing approaching actual ‘universal coverage’.
Here’s the bottom line on the joint bills that we can look at in the coming weeks:
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 17:05 That’s the door to the Republican side of the aisle. And, in an ideal world, I would include the Blue Dog/Conservacrats like Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln.
I’m told that one of the reasons the Republican party was ( emphasis on ‘was’) so successful was that they allowed NO DISSENT among the ranks. You were either a loyalist or you were out in the cold.
These are not usual times that we live in. This is serious and it requires the loyalty of all who call themselves Democrats…. or in Joe’s case … well, whatever he is. He so needs to be stripped of his chairmanship. He can caucus with the devil. Send him naked into the fray.
Now, there’s a picture guaranteed to keep me awake tonight.
But really, Senator Reid, this needs to be a ‘teachable moment’ for guys like Joe Lieberman.
