GOP to Swift Boat Health Care Reform

Good Morning Bloggers! I need to point out a new GOP scumbag who is leading the charge against health care for all Americans. His name is Rick Scott, and he recently founded a group called Conservatives for Patients' Rights. Like all GOP organizations, the name has nothing to do with the mission.

Let's just say he's one more greedy asshole that has decided to go to war against the best interest of millions of Americans - not unlike the GOP when you think about it. All kidding aside, the man is human excrement in the way he seeks to destroy an initiative being developed by multiple concerned groups to solve a very important national crisis.

Opposition is one thing, but propaganda is completely different, and that's what they intend to create. It's true, Scott and his GOP operatives intend to "swift boat" health care reform. They are supposedly receiving millions in donations from those who currently profit from America's broken health care system. It's disgusting!

The Washington Post reports that he is working with CRC Public Relations, which is the illustrious group that masterminded the "swift boat" attacks against 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry. They also created the "Harry and Louise" propaganda ads that helped torpedo health-care reform during the Clinton administration.

Scott is a multimillionaire investor and former hospital executive, who has made millions profiting from an industry that can no longer afford to pay him. Unfortunately, greedy bastards like Scott do not go quietly into the night. They fight tooth and nail to hold on to their dirty money, seeking to pig out at the trough for as long as possible. People's lives be damned!

Most industry analysts will tell you that people like Scott - who make millions/billions from health care - profit at the expense of both patients and actual health care.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the "it's just business" attitude that so many Americans cling to. We need to call out people like Scott and brand them for maintaining a cold and uncaring health care system. Their quest for profits leads to millions of unnecessary deaths - only the disingenuous and coldest of hearts would deny it.

Scott is the only notable so far spending as much as $5 million of his own money and - according to The Washington Post - as much as $15 million in donations to create a resistance to any government-run program. You know, the kind of program designed to help those Americans who can't afford private health insurance, or who have pre-existing conditions. The ones the GOP wants to ignore, allow to suffer, or even allow to die.

This charming group of heartless Republicans need to be isolated and attacked for their deceitful opposition to a reasonable, industry-wide solution. The latest GOP "swift boat" initiative needs to be isolated and mocked before it can burrow it's way into the brains of America's uninformed electorate. In other words, I hope somebody does something to "swift boat" them before they do too much damage.

Let's face it people, greedy bastards like Scott want to profit from your losses. In almost every instance, they seek to maintain broken systems that earn them billions in profits, at the expense of a better system that would give most Americans a better quality of life.

The GOP is trying to kill something that most Americans want, in addition to most businesses. America's health care costs - resulting mainly from private company profits - are out-of-control. We need President Obama and the Democrats to succeed. I will be writing more about this over the months ahead, but for now I think it's important to simply point out who the scoundrels are who seek to deny us something that we need very badly - it could mean life and death.

Monday's Political Rant - Michael

PS - If you wish to view their propaganda, or just complain to them the way I did, feel free to visit their website. Please consider the source before you believe their spin.

PSS - There are some excellent comments where I posted this on my brother blog Papamoka Straight Talk. They're very interesting, so I recommend you check them out.

Bush Snubs Obamas for John Howard

Hello Bloggers - Despite far right rantings to the contrary, the truth is that Blair House should be available for the incoming first family ANYTIME during the entire period of transition.

The Obama family asked to move in early January so their kids could settle into a routine and go to school, but the Bush Administration declined the request. They also refused to offer any other diplomatic residence as an alternative, suggesting a hotel. That, of course, angered many Obama supporters like myself. Feel free to scroll down and read my December 31st rant entitled Bush Ignores Protocol to the Very End.

Well, the Washington Post discovered WHO will be staying at Blair House, thus kicking President-elect Barack Obama and his family to the curb. They will be at the less than secure Hay-Adams Hotel. It's one of Bush's best war buddies, John Howard, the former Australian prime minister and leading member of President Bush's coalition of the willing in Iraq.

Slapping the face of the American electorate, Howard and his entourage will be bunking at Blair House despite the Obama's wishes that week. Other Freedom Medal winners, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, declined Blair House. My guess is they knew it would be controversial during a time of transition. They decided to be more diplomatic.

There are other DAYTIME events scheduled at Blair House - all hosted by Laura Bush. The events are considered minor, intimate diplomatic affairs, and could easily be held across the street at the White House. Unfortunately, Laura declined to move them. She is WRONG!

There are no other overnight visits up until January 15th when the Obama family is finally being allowed to move in, so it does beg the question WHY the Bushes are forcing the new first family into an unsecured hotel. I guess we'll never know.

The right wing will claim the Obamas want the residence too early. BS! The timing is up to the NEW first family. The Bushes should respect it. The minor events at the house should be moved, especially John Howard's stay.

The Bushes are being disrespectful to the Obamas, tradition, protocol, and the AMERICAN PEOPLE. They should have made an effort to accommodate them at Blair House. It's that simple.

Wednesday's Political Rant #1 - Michael

Political Rant: Bush is Stealing Trillions and Congress is Doing Nothing

Good Morning Bloggers - I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Bush Administration is pulling off one of the greatest heists in history disguised as a financial crisis bailout.

The Washington Post this morning is reporting that in the "six weeks since lawmakers approved the Treasury's massive bailout of financial firms, the government has poured money into the country's largest banks, recruited smaller banks into the program and repeatedly widened its scope to cover yet other types of businesses, from insurers to consumer lenders."

Incredibly, the Post is reporting that the lets-destroy-America-at-any-cost Bush administration has committed $290 billion of the $700 billion rescue package while paying little to no attention to the money's initial purpose - helping increase credit for small business and average Americans. According to most economists who wrote about Secretary Paulson's news conference yesterday, they are spending the money in ways that will NOT HELP middle-class Americans.

There are reports that Congress is getting very angry about it too. Even the House GOP is angry. That should scare some of you Republican readers. GOP House Leader Boehner is calling for immediate disclosure. I wonder if the Bush Administration is going to comply. I doubt it seriously. They're too busy investing in their family and friends to make sure their personal investments don't go too far south.

There is a Congressional Report required of Paulson, which shockingly hasn't showed up and the deadline has passed. "It's a mess," said Eric M. Thorson, the Treasury Department's inspector general, who has been working to oversee the bailout program until the newly created position of special inspector general is filled. "I don't think anyone understands right now how we're going to do proper oversight of this thing."

There are estimates that the Bush Administration has given away or loaned as much as $5 TRILLION of our money so far. If it's true, and the money hasn't gone towards reviving the economy to help most Americans, then we really are looking at one of the greatest financial heists and political debacles in our history, perhaps in world history.

There is also news - reported on few news programs except for my favorite The Rachel Maddow Show - that the Treasury Department eliminated a VERY IMPORTANT tax rule a few weeks ago WITHOUT CONSULTING CONGRESS. It could turn out to be illegal, but the rule prevented companies from investing in bad assets to avoid paying income tax. It was considered tax fraud.

Once released from the rule, companies made "stand-by" investments eliminating billions in federal tax debt overnight. The Bush Administration is allowing large companies to STEAL BILLIONS owed to the people of the United States. As I keep saying, this is one of the most corrupt and immoral administrations in American history.

I seriously CHALLENGE any of you Republicans reading this to defend their actions. Don't try and claim that taxes are wrong. That argument won't fly here. For most Americans, these actions look like fraud and theft.

In my personal opinion, the Bush crime syndicate orchestrated this whole financial crisis at the end of their last term to do exactly what they're doing. This HEIST has been planned all along. THEY ARE CRIMINALS! You Republicans should be angry too, because they seriously hurt your party - not to mention your wallets.

I do want to rave more than rant now that the election is over, but this is just too important to ignore. We need to stop theses thieves from robbing us blind. CONGRESS NEEDS TO DO MORE! I hope Barack Obama can do something to repair the incredible damage done.

Thursday's ANGRY Political RANT #1 - Michael

Political Rant: We Need to Demand Justice Over Proof George Bush Approved Torture

Good Morning Bloggers - I would like to discuss torture. You know, the thing we've always been against, even to the point of promoting and signing international treaties to prevent it. The kind of thing that George Washington refused to do because he said that it would harm the "morality of the nation." You know, TORTURE!

To this day it still shocks me how some of my more rough-and-tumble Republican friends think I'm crazy to worry about it. They say it's no big deal. They don't have any problem with the idea that George Bush is breaking domestic and international laws. They say he's doing it to protect the country.

Really? I say he's probably getting his rocks off. I'm horrified by the idea that we've been torturing our prisoners for years now. We've broken our laws, and even more important, we've trashed our "word" and honor as a nation by ignoring our international agreements. We need to feel worse about it. We should be more ashamed of our leaders. They should have been on trial by now, or at least impeached. Thank you so much Nancy Pelosi - what a tool. We need to get more angry.

So, little by little over time, the proof has been leaking out, and a big piece of it just hit the fan this morning. The Washington Post is reporting today that the Bush administration "issued a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004 that explicitly endorsed the agency's use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaeda suspects." Intelligence officials supposedly required the documents for "CYA" purposes, just in case the details of the program became public. Well, it's now public, and I'm angry! You should be too.

"The classified memos, which have not been previously disclosed, were requested by then-CIA Director George J. Tenet more than a year after the start of the secret interrogations, according to four administration and intelligence officials familiar with the documents. Although Justice Department lawyers, beginning in 2002, had signed off on the agency's interrogation methods, senior CIA officials were troubled that White House policymakers had never endorsed the program in writing.

The memos were the first -- and, for years, the only -- tangible expressions of the administration's consent for the CIA's use of harsh measures to extract information from captured al-Qaeda leaders, the sources said. As early as the spring of 2002, several White House officials, including then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Cheney, were given individual briefings by Tenet and his deputies, the officials said. Rice, in a statement to congressional investigators last month, confirmed the briefings and acknowledged that the CIA director had pressed the White House for "policy approval."" To read the whole story, click here.

So, there we have it. The White House authorized torture. Of course, McCain, who originally opposed torture, now says that waterboarding isn't necessarily torture. I see, so what is it? Enhanced interrogation is just another way of describing torture. Prisoners should never be subjected to painful and inhumane treatment. We must always find other ways to get information. The "24" style mentality of treating the enemy as though they're not human is repulsive to me.

There are so many arguments against torture I don't have time to describe them here, but overall we're better off without it. I'm angry, and I hope you are too. We need to vote for Obama in 20 days to make sure this never happens again. Once he's elected, we can start cleaning up the mess made by Bush and his cruel henchmen. Not in my name! Never again!

Wednesday's Political Rant #1 - Michael