Right is Wrong to Attack Obama’s Health Plan

By Matt Miller
from the Financial Times
Published: July 13, 2009

"The Republican charge that Barack Obama is seeking a “government takeover” of US healthcare is further proof that American political rhetoric has become detached from reality. In fact, once you take away the proposed public insurance option, which Mr Obama’s aides have signalled they will drop in final negotiations, the likely outcome is an affordable reform that embraces Mitt Romney’s blueprint from Massachusetts and funds it with John McCain’s best idea from the presidential campaign.

Only in America can you co-opt Republican thinking and have critics label you “socialist”. " Read the whole article here.

From Michael: I think everybody who is interested in the health care debate, especially Republicans, should read the entire article at the Financial Times. I must admit I don't agree with all its positions, especially the idea of dropping the public option, but overall it's very informative. The Times is a conservative business newspaper, and the writer Matt Miller is a former Clinton administration budget official and author of ‘The Tyranny of Dead Ideas." I recommend you read it.

Tuesday's News - Michael

WAKE UP! Glenn Beck is Media Scum!

Good Morning Readers! This Keith Olbermann discovered quote should help Glenn Beck fans understand that even he knows he's full of it! Sadly, his fans probably don't realize it, and take his word as gospel.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! He's a greedy, ratings-craving, political entertainer just like Limbaugh. They TALK CRAP for a living! Please, conservative media watchers and listeners, especially the ones who defend people like him on this blog, PAY MORE ATTENTION to the facts!

"If you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot," Glenn Beck

Political News: Anchorage Daily News and Financial Times Endorse Obama

Good Morning Bloggers - Alaska's largest-circulation paper, the Anchorage Daily News, is endorsing Senator Barack Obama while saying that state governor Palin is "too risky" to be one step away from the presidency. One of my favorite newspapers, The Financial Times, is also endorsing Barack. YES!!!!

The Daily News editorial says her nomination "captivated" Alaskans, but that must not "overwhelm all other judgment."

They called McCain the "wrong choice" and said that Obama has a "cool, steady hand." They added that "[John McCain] embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years", it says. By contrast, the Daily News suggests, Mr Obama "brings far more promise to the office."

The Financial Times editorial said that Obama "ran his [campaign] superbly; Mr McCain’s has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect." Despite criticizing my candidate throughout the article, they seemed to think of him as the lesser of two evils. Oh well, I'll still take it.

The overwhelming majority of major newspapers in this country are supporting Barack Obama. I think you Republicans out there should take notice and read a few of the editorials. You never know, you might learn something. I know you don't want to admit it, but you could be wrong blindly supporting your candidate without thinking through all the facts. Perhaps it's time to put logic over loyalty. I'm just saying.

Monday's Political News #1 - Michael

Political News: McCain Blames ACORN While Funding Political Troublemaker

Hello Bloggers - If you haven't seen it already, you simply must read McCain Employing GOP Operative Accused of Voter Registration Fraud now on the Huffington Post.

Incredibly, McCain's campaign directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states, while at the same time screaming of "fraud" and a "threat to democracy" because of ACORN.

Public documents reveal how a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC, and the the California Republican Party, made the payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of "registering voters."

Read the whole article here.

The ACORN story was always BS, but the corporate media still covers it. I guess we'll have to see if they cover this one too. I somehow doubt it. McCain has some cahones to go after ACORN while funding a group under investigation in multiple states. I guess it's typical Republican, Rovian hubris. The sad part is they're proud of it. I need a shower.

Monday's Political News #1 - Michael

Breaking News: Factcheck.org Debate Report

Hello Bloggers - As promised, here is the unedited Factcheck.org debate report. Enjoy!

Spin and hype were apparent, once again, at the third and final debate between McCain and Obama:

• McCain claimed the liberal group ACORN “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.” In fact, a Republican prosecutor said of the first and biggest ACORN fraud case: “[T]his scheme was not intended to permit illegal voting.” He said $8-an-hour workers turned in made-up voter registration forms rather than doing what ACORN paid them to do.


• McCain said “Joe the plumber” faced “much higher taxes” under Obama’s tax plan and would pay a fine under Obama’s health care plan if he failed to provide coverage for his workers. But Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher would pay higher taxes only if the business he says he wants to buy puts his income over $200,000 a year, and his small business would be exempt from Obama’s requirement to provide coverage for workers.


• Obama repeated a dubious claim that his health care plan will cut the average family’s premiums by $2,500 a year. Experts have found that figure to be overly optimistic.


• McCain claimed that Obama’s real “object” is a government-run, single-payer health insurance system like those in Canada or England. The McCain campaign points to a quote from five years ago, when Obama told a labor gathering that he was “a proponent of a single-payer health care program.” But Obama has since qualified his enthusiasm for Canadian-style health care, and his current proposal is nothing like that.


• Obama incorrectly claimed all of McCain’s ads had been “negative.” That was true for one recent week, but not over the entire campaign. And at times Obama has run a higher percentage of attack ads than McCain.


• McCain described Colombia as the "largest agricultural importer of our products." Actually, Canada imports the most U.S. farm products, and Colombia is far down the list.


• Obama strained to portray himself as willing to break ranks with fellow Democrats. His prime example was his vote for a bill that was supported by 18 Democrats and opposed by 26. Congressional Quarterly rates him as voting with his party 97 percent of the time since becoming a U.S. senator.

Political News: Anchorage Daily News Skewers Palin for Vindicating Self

Hello Bloggers - Yesterday's Anchorage Daily News featured an editorial skewering Palin for claiming that the "Troopergate" report just released somehow "vindicates" her as she claims.

Excerpt from: Palin vindicated?

"Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation. She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part." Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian."

Read the whole editorial here.

Personally, I consider her outrageous "spin" to be more Rovian crap spewed by the McCain campaign. We've put up with it over the Bush years and have grown used to it, kind of like the Moose crap you scrape from your boot walking around the outskirts of Anchorage. I look forward to the day when we don't have to deal with the crap anymore. I look forward to the day when we've all scraped our boots off for the last time, and the smelly, stinking, flee-bitten Rovian herd has moved way beyond our horizon.

Tuesday's Political News #1 and Rant #2 - Michael