Looks like another deadline is going to come and go.

Michale.....

I think this comes more under the heading of giving Democrats enough rope to hang themselves.. :D

Michale.....

This is a very interesting HuffPo piece on how Republicans are not really obstructing health reform.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-odonnell/will-scott-brown-ruin-rep_b_426604.html

Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.

-David

Why should Blagojevich be in jail?

What has he done that is any different than what Democrats in Congress have been doing?

Blago wanted bribes for a Senate seat..

Congressional Democrats are giving bribes for votes on CrapCare.

Where's the difference??

Michale.....

Michale.....

President Barack Obama is going to appear in support of Coakley this weekend, and I really don't think he'd do that if she was seen as some sort of lost cause by the White House.

{{{cough}}}New Jersey{{{cough}}} {{{cough}}}Virginia{{{cough}}} {{{cough}}}Copenhagen....x2{{{cough}}}

Isn't it amazing how fast things can change.. However, to be fair, you are probably right. On Friday, she may not have been a "Lost Cause" in the eyes of the White House.

But, apparently, that was before Obama went to MA..

Now, CNN is reporting that, privately, Obama officials are saying that Coakley is going to lose on Tuesday.

The results of this are going to be seen immediately and and in the long term..

Immediately we will see a mad scramble to push CrapCare thru before Scott is sworn in. Democrats are going to game the system up and down the State & Federal level in order to pass this garbage piece of legislation. And, in doing so, will guarantee their own demise in the 2010 elections.

Such a campaign ad practically writes itself. Smoke-filled rooms, backroom deals, bribing officials left and right to vote for the piece o' crap, intentional malfeasance, gaming the rules, changing the rules, breaking the rules, etc etc etc..

Hell, someone reading all that would think we're talking about REPUBLICANS!!!

But we're not. We're talking about Democrats...

In the long term (the 2010 elections) this is another blow to the prestige of President Obama. Once again, President Obama rides in to save the day and, once again, he puts his political presence on the line and, once again, he fails. I can envision where those candidates who are running in 2010 will quietly, yet firmly, tell President Obama to stay away from their campaigns.

From the heights of political ecstasy where Dems have majorities that were a wet-dream fantasy down to the depths of political hell, where they have to kow-tow to every lobbyist and interest group to get things done.

All political persuasions aside, ya'all gotta admit.

No group on the face of the planet can do a train wreck like the Democratic Party.

Michale.....

The government will probably still lose money when all is said and done, but it may be a lot less than people think. The public perception still seems to be that the government simply gave this money to the banks.

@Elizabeth - I think one reason why there is so much anger is that very little responsibility has ever been taken in the financial crisis and those who seem to be behind it are still in charge. Really wish they'd publish the independent commission report and take some steps based on their recommendations. Like ending "too big to fail".

Until this happens, people still see the situation as the people who caused the problem are being rewarded.

People don't understand the two sets of rules in this country. One for individuals and small businesses, where you're supposed to take responsibility. And one for the wealthiest, "too big to fail" institutions, where the government backs you up no matter how much risk you take.

-David

Perhaps it could have if it wasn't made clear in the previous Administration that angry mobs work better against a President's administration than calm, cool and rational discussions..

HawkOwl
Instituting a "service fee" on their engorged & entitled profits would recognize this as the ultimate PAY BACK, BABY, PAY BACK TIME! to "us
folks" out there.

The problem with anything like this is that "fees" charged by the Administration to institutions like this are simply charged to the consumer in the former of higher fees.

Do you honestly believe that the banks and companies are just going to pay the Administration's "fees" out of the goodness of their hearts? Of course not. They are going to pass on their costs to you and me and every other American.

Michale....

That's precisely what President Obama called it in his weekly address...a 'fee'...and, you're right - it sounded very good.

We'll see if it resonates and if the folks start to appreciate all that this president and his economic team have been trying to accomplish on their behalf.

It seems that the taxpayers have become convinced that that Geithner and Bernanke are doing everything they possibly can to assist their dear friends on Wall Street and that they don't care a whit about what's happening on Main Street. And, it appears that nothing is capable of changing that perception...nothing, that is, short of replacing them both with someone, anyone who will tell them what they want to hear.

I've never seen anything quite like it - at this point, the so-called populist wave is beginning to have a life of its own and who knows where it will crash or if it will even bear right back down on the very groundswell of anger that produced it!

Imagine if all that populist anger could have been better controlled and focused on supporting the president and his economic team in their effort to pass a muscular set of regulatory reforms. Oh, well ... maybe the Democrats will be spurred on by your first two talking points and the game will begin to change, so to speak. We can hope ...

Is the Obama Administration going to tax that profit at 50%? :D

Now, don't get me wrong, Obama's done some excellent work this week, as evidenced by reaching a compromise the unions can support

If CrapCare is so good, why does the Obama Administration have to give exemption after exemption after exemption to get people to get behind it??

Massachusetts (sigh)

You sure that's not "Massachusettes"?? :D

MA is going to be a REAL fun place next week. I am really shocked that Obama is actually going to make a personal appearance. Didn't he learn his lesson from New Jersey, Virginia and Copenhagen x2 ??

what Harry Reid had to say was in no way racist, but rather an honest statement about politics and race in America.

Agreed. Just as, when Rush Limbaugh made HIS "racist" comment about Donovan McNabb, it wasn't really a racist comment 'but rather an honest statement about {sportscasting} and race in America'.

Right?? :D

Boy, I know things are bad when Michale is moved to pathos and pity.

Yea, but a good night's sleep cured me of that.. Maybe that's all Democrats need.. :D

Just because the subject has to do with race doesn't make every statement a racist statement.

I completely, unequivocally and 1000% agree with you here.

A point I will be reminding ya'all of the next time Democrats go hysterically ballistic over a "racist" comment made by the GOP... :D

it should not take a carton of tea bags to guess where the remaining 30% went, yet neither congress nor the president seem to understand.

I don't get that either. Anyone who has more than two brain cells to rub together know two things about CrapCare.

1. It's not even close to being reform that the American people have demanded.

2. In ever increasing numbers, the American people don't WANT CrapCare...

(These two points are similar (hell identical) to your two points, NY. Apologies for the redundancy.)

But my point is, there is only one explanation that fits these facts.

Democrats don't CARE about reforming Health Care. All they want, all they desperately NEED, is a "win"... Period. And they will try and force it thru, regardless of how bad the legislation actually is.

In short, they are being Democrats first and Americans second.

A fact that I am sure the GOP will remind the American people at the polls in November.

Michale.....

ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/11/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6084856.shtml

From your moniker, I would expect you'd have some more personal knowledge of the situation.

But I have to say, on a personal note, "Blowdryovitch"... that was hilarious!

:-)

nypoet22 -

Yeah, I know. I wish the pollsters would ask a followup question to the standard: "are you for or against the healthcare reform bill as it stands currently?" -- namely: "are you against it because it goes too far, or not far enough?"

I think the breakdown of that polling question would have been instructive, to say the least.

-CW

it should not take a carton of tea bags to guess where the remaining 30% went, yet neither congress nor the president seem to understand. i share your optimism that improvements can be made, but every lobbyist-written "compromise" in this package has bled public support. it's a direct causal relationship. as much as it pains me to agree with michale on this point, there are two unpleasant realities we must face:

1. the healthcare legislation has turned to crap.
2. the public knows it.

"Just when you think you've seen the last of him, PPffllllltttttt!!! He's right back there again.

Rod Blagojevich, The Herpes Sore of Illinois Politics."

Boy, I know things are bad when Michale is moved to pathos and pity.

Sigh. Next week's gonna be an interesting one...

-CW

Kudos to Bill Clinton - I hope that we begin to see a concerted effort to help Haiti and not just lots of talk with no real assistance.

Re the talking points - I see, yet again, that the Dems have utterly failed to shape their message and get it out to the public.

...Stan

But this is just too much, even for me..

I can't find it in me to kick and poke at such a wounded animal as this donkey lying before me...

Michale.....