What a noble sentiment. And what a spectacularly, blatantly false one. One would have to believe King knows full well it is false, but then again he is a conservative Republican, and conservative Republicans are at this point synonymous with manufactured realities in which tax cuts cause unicorns to fart rainbows of money across the land and decent public education is the gateway to Stalinism. So it is equally possible that King is being honest, at least within the narrow confines of his own head, and he honestly believes that no Americans are out there who do not have basic health care.
But I know some of the very people who King claims do not exist, and I expect you do too. One of my own close relatives suffers from an untreated hernia — simple enough to fix, but untreated because he is uninsured. He has an option, of course. His “option” is to wait for it to get bad enough to cause an intestinal strangulation — a likelihood, at this point — at which point he will be rushed to the emergency room, hopefully operated on, and then receive a bill for some outrageous figure that he will not be able to pay. But he will only receive this treatment if it reaches the point where he will die without it — merely being incapacitated is insufficient to receive health care.
You know, if there’s anyone who shouldn’t bring up the issue of mental stability, it’s Michele Bachmann.
I know everyone deserves representation in Congress, but can’t the deranged whack job demographic go back to looking to Texas and Georgia for their standardbearers?
I’ve heard the assorted wingnut speak longingly about this type of thing, but to actually propose it in Congress?
U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, a Republican candidate for governor of Georgia, has proposed changing the long-standing federal policy that automatically grants citizenship to any baby born on U.S. soil, a move opposed by immigrant rights advocates.
Supporters of Deal’s proposal say “birthright citizenship” encourages illegal immigration and makes enforcement of immigration laws more difficult. Opponents say the proposed law wouldn’t solve the illegal immigration problem and goes against this country’s traditions of welcoming immigrants.
Automatic citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
I’ve mentioned this before, but for the price of your morning cup of coffee, you can contribute to helping Norm Coleman go away, giving Minnesota the full representation in the US Senate it so desperately needs and deserves.
“As far as Rush, Rush has got ideas. He’s got following. He believes in the conservative principles that many of us believe in –- of lower taxes, of making sure that we turn back towards a focus on entrepreneurialism in this country, to promoting innovation and not stamping that out by over-reacting, if you will, which this town often does, to crisis.”
John at Americablog raises a couple of good points. First off, saying that the Democrats are wrong to prioritize the economy probably isn’t “on message” for what the American public wants to hear these days. Second, after all the whining about Rush Limbaugh not being the leader of the national GOP, it looks more than a little foolish for the number two guy in the House to keep referring to “Rush, Rush.”
But there’s something else here that merits some attention. The Republicans speak of turning back toward a focus on entrepreneurialism in the country.
Perhaps a primer is in order on what “entrepreneur” means because it ties in to what has happened with the economy, the banking and Wall Street crashes, etc.
To be an entrepreneur typically means to employ some creative force and initiate, but even more so it means to manage and organize and most of all TO ASSUME RISK.
You understand the difference between entrepreneurship and what has been taking place in our large corporations and especially in banking, insurance and finance? Patrons of privilege play with other people’s money as if it were a parlor game, assuming no risk to themselves of the consequences. Stock goes up? You get a salary and bonus. Stock goes down? You get salary and a bonus. You make indefensible business decisions? You get a salary and a bonus. You drive a sector into bankruptcy and crisis? You get a bonus.
These are the people the GOP has been protecting, and these activities are about as far from the entrepreneurial backbone of the economy as you can be. Privatizing the profits and socializing the losses is not sustainable as government policy, and should never be attempted to begin with.
Obama needs to stick to his guns and the reconcilliation process is a wonderful tool wherever applicable, but it’s just as important to control the debate. The Democrats can not afford to let the GOP redefine such essential terms and the principles they represent to cloud the history and distract people from what has really occurred.
Today, Dr. Howard Dean is drawing a line in the sand. A public health insurance option is the only way to guarantee health care for all Americans. And to show that we mean business, we all need to tell Congress we won’t settle for less.
I signed Howard Dean’s petition, and if 250,000 of us sign, he will personally deliver it to Congress. Can you join me at the link below?
