Truer words were never spoken... :D

Michale.....

I just hope the "public option" does not die in the health care legislation. '

If the lobbyists hate it as much as they do, it's got to be the closest thing out there to real reform :).

- David

Interesting report on the Gates/Obama/Crowley racism saga..

According to the original 911 call, the citizen that reported the possible break-in never even mentioned race..

So, by all accounts, the ONLY people to interject RACE into this issue was Gates and Obama...

So much for the "racial profiling" aspect, eh??

This is definitely one of the low points of an Administration replete with low points...

Michale.....

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

No one wants to talk polls??? :D

Michale.....

This should make your socks go up and down!! :D

{White House Spokesman}Gibbs said he doesn't know whether the House will vote this week but added that the White House will make an evaluation during the week to determine whether enough progress is being made to allow lawmakers to leave for their August recess.

I guess President Obama reads your blog!!! :D

Michale.....

CBO deals new blow to health plan
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25415.html

For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the Democrat's health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years.

But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill's $1 trillion price tag.

I have a feeling that ObamaCare is DOA.... If it ever actually arrives...

Michale.....

I just hate it when everyone wants to be "civilized" when it's the hysterical Left that is totally in the wrong..

You can bet that, if Sgt Crowley had actually been a racist rogue cop and Professor Gates had actually been the victim here, then the Left would be screaming from the rooftops and there would be ZERO talk of beers at the White House. There would have been blood most assuredly...

Ahhhh, the wonders of partisan politics... :D

Michale......

No.

If Gates and his driver had been white, I can assure you that the outcome would have been EXACTLY the same.

That is the question isn't it. I bet there is a good chance it would have turned out different.

But it sounds like all parties are doing the civilized thing and going to the white house to talk it out over a beer...

Is it even SLIGHTLY possible that it was your attitude that was the problem and not the cops themselves??

What I don't understand is how ANYONE can say this is an example of racial profiling.

Who profiled anyone's race??

The ONLY thing that was profiled were people's actions. The witness phoning in the report "profiles" the actions of two men breaking into a house. Sgt Crowley "profiled" Gates' actions of being an asshole in a NO ASSHOLE zone...

Where is the racial profiling??

If Gates and his driver had been white, I can assure you that the outcome would have been EXACTLY the same.

Michale....

He is the quintessential "good cop"...

Now let's look at Professor "DO-YOU-KNOW-WHO-YOU'RE-MESSING-WITH!!???" Gates. A loud mouth obnoxious racist jackass who feels he is entitled to special treatment because he is black and because he knows the President..

Once the audio tapes are released, the truth will come out. Of course it won't change the minds of those who are "racist" or bigoted against those with blue skin...

I just hope that Sgt Crowley sticks to his guns and sues the hell outta Gates...

Michale.....

Personally I don't think Obama should have backed down from the police unions. First off he prefaced his comments by saying he did not have all the facts and that he is a bit biased because the professor in question is a friend of his. Second, during my forty some odd years of life, I have had a grossly inordinate number of bad encounters with police over good ones. I have never been convicted of a crime, been in court once for a vehicle citation (bicycle) that got suspended, and have done traffic school twice so far. I'm your basic trouble free straight looking white guy. And yet have been harassed by cops when I was doing nothing to warrant it way too many times. On the two occasions where I needed their help the police showed an incredible level incompetence and were basically no help at all. I'm with the professor on this one. As long as police protect their own and the laws are such that there are rarely repercussions for all but the most illegal acts perpetrated by cops (and even then usually has to be caught on camera when not a corruption probe), I do think cops are guilty until proven innocent. I'm happy to change that but not until cops are held more accountable when on the job. By both the law and each other.

Obama did not set back race relations 100 years, the lady who called the cops and the cop who showed up did. Though in the end it will probably improve race relations, as it gets people thinking and talking about the subject.

The health care debate is certainly showing the power of the lobbyist. The money being thrown around to stop reform and keep the status quo is pretty amazing. Obama must be doing something right even if not going far enough.

#3
That's a very good argument.. So good in fact that I intend to use it when a Scheme & Ream (AKA Cap & Trade) commentary hits your pages again.. :D

#4
While it may be scary, the results of ObamaCare are not that far off the mark of the fear..

No one is disputing that HealthCare needs reforming.

The ***ONLY*** question that SHOULD be debated is, "Does ObamaCare fix the problems? Or does ObamaCare make the problems worse?

I am also constrained to point out that the supporters of ObamaCare, including the President himself, are also using scare-tactics and fear mongering to support their case as well..

Don't hate the player, hate the game...

#5
Ending the "pre-existing conditions" issue is probably the ONLY good thing about ObamaCare. But, I have to ask.. Aren't there loopholes that will allow care to be refused based on pre-existing conditions??

#6
And having a car accident is the reason we have insurance. Yet I am paying out the arse for insurance yet I have never had an accident. And the one time I NEEDED insurance (my daughter's car blew up) my insurance company wouldn't cover it for some pissant fine print reason..

Convince me that ObamaCare will be any different..

#7
Be careful what you wish for. Once the John & Jane Q Public actually seeing the fine print of Obama Care, I think Pelosi will find she is very VERY afraid of August...

Michale.....

"Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit?"
Of course.

Will it mean tax increases?"
Of course.

"Will it mean new fees or fines?"
Probably.

"Can I afford it right now?"
No, I’m already getting clobbered.

"Will it make the marketplace freer and better?"
Probably not.

"Is our health care system in crisis?"
Yeah, it has been for years.

"Is it the most pressing crisis right now?"
No, the economy is.

"Will a health-care bill improve the economy?"
I doubt it.

Courtesy of Peggy Noonan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203517304574306533556532364.html

Michale.....

Actually, average Americans are much more concerned with a President who, even though admitting he did not have all the facts, proceeded to set BACK race relations by 100 years by clearly pointing out that, in the President's mind, cops (black or white) are ALWAYS the "stupid" party whenever they arrest a black person.

Frankly, I think it's a legitimate concern. I would further point out that Americans (at least, THIS American) are concerned with Obama's "shoot from the hip but hit the innocent and let the guilty become even MORE guilty" style of late.

I like a President that doesn't hem haw or fiddle fart around and makes decisions on the fly. I just wish that THIS President would actually make the CORRECT decisions now and again...

I am funny that way...

She may indeed have them, or she may be bluffing. But the bluff (if it is one) has certainly made her opponents think twice about opposing her.

Actually, I think it had the opposite effect. I think that Pelosi's "in your face" management style had the effect of uniting Blue Dogs against the ObamaCare plan. This is evidenced by the fact that, within minutes of Pelosi's bluff, the bluff was called and demolished by the united Blue Dog caucus/group/whatever.

But it is interesting to note that ya'all seem to like Pelosi's KickAssAndTakeNames style of leadership..

What's next??

A **MISSION ACCOMPLISHED** banner over the House archway when the House passes ObamaCare even knowing that the battle is FAR from over?? :D

I'll make fine Rethuglicans out of ya'all yet! :D

But, I have to ask, doesn't that mean that healthcare supporters also have a whole month to make their case? Are they just going to ignore the opportunity, and not fight back?

I think ya'all are going to be very unpleasantly surprised at how John and Jane Q Public really feel about ObamaCare..

I think ya'all are going to find that the Administrations claim of the "Silent Majority" being on the side of ObamaCare is vastly overstated.

In my best Shawn Spencer imitation,

http://www.usanetwork.com/series/psych/

"oooooooo I am getting something.. Oooooo I see... I see... ObamaCare goes down in flames... Beware the Ides Of August" :D

Isn't the healthcare reform a winning argument, in other words? So why would five weeks of making this argument mean support will wither away?

Simple.. Because once CongressCritters get home and actually start LISTENING to their constituents, they are going to discover that not many of them are supporting ObamaCare... They ARE supporting HealtCare reform. But ObamaCare ain't reform. It's simply making current problems worse and creating a whole NEW set of problems.....

John Hammond:"We're not making the same mistakes again!
Ian Malcolm:"No, no, no. Now you're making all new mistakes."
-Jurassic Park II

....and the American People know this.

In short...

HealtCare reform. GOOD

ObamaCare BAD

Lead with the sob story

The problem is that, for every sob/horror story that supports HealthCare reform, their is an equally compelling sob/horror story that shows the dangers of ObamaCare.

You say "Podunk Constituent" and I say "Gary Reirbach"....

'Why do you want to continue the system which caused this to happen? Why are you standing in the way of us helping millions of people like her, both people who vote for you and people who do not? What would you say to her, what would you tell her you're doing for her?' Because that is what this whole debate is about."

Speaking on behalf of CongressCritter Roadblock, I would tell her that "I am opposing ObamaCare because there is ample evidence to suggest that not only will ObamaCare make HER problems worse, it also could, quite probably, make millions and millions of MORE Americans have her kind of problems. I would ask her that, in a time when Americans' budgets are stretched to the breaking point and beyond, is it really fair to put ANOTHER financial burden on those Americans in the form of MANDATORY Insurance payments and FINES if those insurance payments are not made!? I would ask her to imagine the irony of a family who can't afford Insurance, even with the pittance of a Government subsidy, and on top of that, the same Government FINES the family. I would point out the utter illogic of the Government making a family pay MORE money simply because they don't have enough money. I would then ask this lady what happens to that family who can't afford the insurance and can't afford to pay the government fines... That family loses their house to government foreclosure which, ironically enough, is the situation that the lady finds herself in. I would finish with the mantra that SHOULD be adopted by those who oppose ObamaCare..

HealtCare reform. GOOD

ObamaCare BAD

I'll have to get to the rest of your points later.. I am running late as it is.

Michale.....

Beautiful... just be-YOU-ti-ful!

But who's Jerry?

:-)

-CW

I could be not quite so easy
An upright leader, you see,
Instead of flat-supine;
I would be friends with Jerry and
Obama would be merry
If I only had a spine!