# Glad to see the Republicans are still running Congress **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 16, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648 "2009-08-16T19:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/281 "2009-08-19T18:35:17Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > And you guys are the ones accusing the other side of using scare tactics. Ah, yes, and who exactly would be being scared with deliberate disinformation in such an instance? Where is the falsehood in pointing out that X million dollars will pay for coverage of X number of people? I said straight out it would be unfair, you betcha! Ain’t the same thing as death panels, and you know it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/282 "2009-08-19T18:35:19Z")
I thought it was Henry “Nostils” Waxman… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/283 "2009-08-19T18:42:39Z")
Don’t be silly, whoever heard of nostril wax? Outside of the gay community, I mean… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/284 "2009-08-19T19:27:11Z")
I know some people who could use it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/285 "2009-08-19T19:28:44Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I thought it was Henry “Nostils” Waxman… You do not know what Waxman looks like. The glasses, the nose and the nostrils are attached. He takes them all off when he removes his glasses. He actually looks like Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/286 "2009-08-19T20:02:30Z")
Except “blacker”. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/287 "2009-08-19T21:24:49Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > It’s also reasonable to argue that people support “free health care” as a general principle but are uncomfortable with making significant trade-offs to get it, and various other associated details. So as long as it was a nice slogan, that sounded pain free, it got a lot of support. But once people looked closer at the details, including both the accompanying details of the various plans, as well as the long term ramifications of the programs themselves, it looked a whole lot less attractive. Well, it doesn’t help when a lot of those pesky “details” that people look at to base their decision on [aren’t remotely true](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32464936/ns/politics-white_house/). > [@](#): > > One of the reasons why it has become tougher is due to misperceptions about the president’s plans for reform. > > Majorities in the poll believe the plans would give health insurance coverage to illegal immigrants; would lead to a government takeover of the health system; and would use taxpayer dollars to pay for women to have abortions — all claims that nonpartisan fact-checkers say are untrue about the legislation that has emerged so far from Congress. > > Forty-five percent think the reform proposals would allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing medical care for the elderly. > > That also is untrue: The provision in the House legislation that critics have seized on — raising the specter of “death panels” or euthanasia — would simply allow Medicare to pay doctors for end-of-life counseling, if the patient wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/288 "2009-08-19T21:40:16Z")
The thing is, what most people are primarily fearful of is that this plan is a foot-in-the-door for government health care that will ultimately result in the beliefs you are claiming as untrue because they aren’t in the bill “so far.” Even if they never make it into the current bill, there is a very good possibility that they will come into being in the future. There is already pressure for coverage for illegal aliens, and in Vancouver, cutbacks in thousands of necessary surgeries (neurological, ophthalmological, and vascular) are being considered due to lack of funding. [Cite](http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=1878506&sponsor) So the fact is that the things these people are fearful of have a basis in fact, and anyone with even the vaguest sense of how government has grown and progressed over the last eighty years or so knows how government programs easily morph into things that were never intended originally. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/289 "2009-08-19T21:42:40Z")
Yep, you just wait till the government gets its hands on your Medicare… ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/290 "2009-08-19T22:11:07Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The thing is, what most people are primarily fearful of is that this plan is a foot-in-the-door for government health care that will ultimately result in the beliefs you are claiming as untrue because they aren’t in the bill “so far.” [Slippery Slope Fallacy](http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/slippery-slope.html). Question: What items, _currently_ in the bill, do you disagree with? Do you agree with _anything_ in it? What about the ban on excluding people with pre-existing conditions? Prohibiting cancellation of coverage unless there is clear evidence of fraud? I’m assuming you’re against the Public Option. What about Co-Ops instead? I’m curious if you oppose Medicare. If you were elected to Congress, would you vote to get rid of it? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/291 "2009-08-19T22:30:12Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The thing is, what most people are primarily fearful of is that this plan is a foot-in-the-door for government health care that will ultimately result in the beliefs you are claiming as untrue because they aren’t in the bill “so far.” You know, this isn’t going to be another Katrina or Iraq when it’s done. The adults are firmly back in charge, and look to be moving towards a permanent majority. It’s much harder for the government to screw things up when its members are individually _competent_. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/292 "2009-08-19T22:48:56Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > You know, this isn’t going to be another Katrina or Iraq when it’s done. The adults are firmly back in charge, and look to be moving towards a permanent majority. It’s much harder for the government to screw things up when its members are individually _competent_. When you put people in charge of government who firmly believe that government doesn’t work, lo and behold, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/293 "2009-08-19T22:57:10Z")
AMAZING! Isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/294 "2009-08-19T23:01:58Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > We have the 37th rated health care in the world. Are you happy with that? Watching these threads as a spectator, I have to say this is a question that I don’t see answered frequently enough by U.S. opponents of health care reform. The U.S. health care delivery system isn’t providing health care and health insurance efficiently…the metric in which the free market supposedly excels. It isn’t providing health care and insurance comprehensively, either. The U.S. is a world leader in medical research and shiny toys, yes, but this has more to do with the quality and sheer scale of the U.S. university system (and the government grants that go into that go curiously unmentioned). So by what standard is the U.S. health care delivery system actually admirable? Sheer ideological purity? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/295 "2009-08-20T00:28:53Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > You know, this isn’t going to be another Katrina or Iraq when it’s done. The adults are firmly back in charge, and look to be moving towards a permanent majority. It’s much harder for the government to screw things up when its members are individually _competent_. Looks like Liberal is letting you have his sloppy seconds. BUT no Obama worship on this here SDMB, no siree . . . ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/296 "2009-08-20T00:32:48Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Looks like Liberal is letting you have his sloppy seconds. > > BUT no Obama worship on this here SDMB, no siree . . . You’re making the mistake (no huge surprise) of defining “Obama Worship” as “refusal to believe that Obama is completely incompetent at everything he’s ever done in life”. You know, like W. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/297 "2009-08-20T00:38:57Z")
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. I’ve seen **Carol Stream** quoted in tones of admiration. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to get seriously fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/298 "2009-08-20T00:39:47Z")
I am actually feeling a little relieved when I read the news lately, no matter which way the momentum is going on health care. I am not at all surprised that a Democratic lock on the Presidency and both houses can’t get things done. And even though both sides are playing their petty little games with the debate, and greed is rampant everywhere you turn… at least these days we get to actually debate real life, grown up policy issues for a little while. That’s where the D majority shines through, for me. Turn the clock back a couple years, and all this fury was about batshit insanity like “should we drown suspects?” or “who should we invade?” or “should the president use the justice dept to further his political party?” or “who should we discriminate against?” or “should the govt spy on citizens en masse?” (in fairness, Obama is still on the wrong side of the last two IMO) If the Rs were still pushing the agenda, who fucking KNOWS what we’d be debating by now? Isn’t it refreshing to be able to focus on a REAL domestic issue that we’ve ignored for so long, instead of some cooked up nonsense? Even if the Rs win, at least it’s about something \*normal \*this time. We made it out of the rabbit hole to bizarro world. Too bad the Ds came out with their shoelaces tied together. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/299 "2009-08-20T01:09:03Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. I could happily vote for Waxman/Feingold come 2012: > [@](#): > > He’s asking for the following by September 4: > > ``` > * A table listing the total compensation for every employee making more than $500,000 a year > * A table listing board member compensation > * A table listing off-site conferences and retreats > * A table listing the company's total revenue and net income > > ``` > > And the following by September 14: > > ``` > * Communication with the board on compensation packages > * Tables listing premium revenue, claims payments, and sales expenses > > ``` [here](http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/08/19/oh-yes-the-henry-waxman-we-know-and-love/) That last bit about **Carol Stream**? That’s just too improbable. no one will ever believe it happened. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648/300 "2009-08-20T01:21:14Z")
Thanks, **Squink** – I knew I hadn’t imagined it; the drugs hadn’t kicked in yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-the-republicans-are-still-running-congress/506648.md?page=16)