I agree. Again, I think this is a stupid tactic on the Republicans part, and it’s likely to come back and bite them squarely on the ass. And they will deserve everything they get.
-XT
Lindsey Graham? He’s a pretty hard-core Republican, but he was part of the Gang of 14 that stopped the Republicans from using the “nuclear option”, and he also voted to confirm Sotomayor. He seems to rise above the fray when needed.
I also agree with **BG **about Frum and Brooks (is that a country band?), but they aren’t “leaders” in the GOP.
I think the Republicans could have had meaningful tort reform and the interstate competition aspects worked in, in exchange for the removal of the antitrust exemptions that the insurance companies enjoy. These things would have reduced the cost of insurance to the bulk of American consumers.
However, the Democrats don’t just want cost control, they want coverage for people who don’t currently have insurance. That was a non-negotiable point in this from the beginning. And Republicans are steadfastly against “handouts”. And rather than accept that bitter pill and move on to try to improve the rest of the bill, they instead opted to stamp their feet and stick their fingers in their ears.
I posit that there is no way to cover 95%+ of Americans and still remain compatible with the principles to which Republicans pay lip service.
Speaking of which, one of the health care maniacs fired a bullet into the office of … Eric Cantor. That’s right: he opposed this thing bitterly the whole way, and someone fired a warning shot into his office because he couldn’t stop it.
While relatively sane, Lindsy Graham doesn’t seem to control many votes beyond his own, So I don’t think he can be called much of a GOP leader.
Whoa, steady! I heard about the gunshot, did not hear that the shooter’s motivation was to punish Cantor for not stopping HCR. Advise?
What is it with the “rammed down their throats” meme? I see it used over and over again.
Rammed as in 14 months of work on it?
Rammed as in setting up a committee of three democrats and three republicans to hammer out a health care reform bill (inexplicably because the Dems were in the majority and handed that away to even it up)?
Rammed as in adding in stuff republicans wanted only to have them vote no regardless?
Rammed as in Obama (inexplicably) be conciliatory and trying to work with Reps despite Reps siding with tea baggers who thought Obama was a Socialist/Fascist/Kenyan Manchurian Candidate who wanted death panels?
:rolleyes:
It’s the new way to remind people that Clinton got a blowjob.
Ron Paul continues to be a somewhat rational voice for conservatives. I think his time as passed and he’s losing his mind the longer he goes but for the most part he has stood on the side of principled debate as a means to further his beliefs. The polling at CPAC was in favor of him for a presidential candidate.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer fellow :dubious:
From bricks in Dems’ windows one day to bullets in Pubs offices the next, the GOP will come to find that this catering to the lunatic fringe will have more consequences than they bargained for. Even back in the Bush years you could see it. When Terry Schiavo’s situation was being debated, I remember clearly that one crazed conservative nut threatened that if the majority GOP Congress didn’t stop them from pulling the plug, there will be “reprocussions”.
As far as I’m concerned, if there are bullets flying from the whackjobs, then let the GOP take it. I reserve no sympathy for those who have used “Muslims” and “Socialist” as a catchphrase to hatred.
They haven’t said it happened because of the health care vote. I’d be shocked if it was anything else.
‘The American people don’t want this’ is pretty much the last line of defense in trying to stop a piece of legislation that is going to pass Congress. Sometimes it’s a reference to poll numbers, other times it’s an empty threat referring to Congress’ fear of the voters. In either case it doesn’t have much to do with the bill we’ve been hearing about since the Cambrian age.
“Ideally we’d like a single payer system with health care for everybody, but we know it’s not going to happen. How would you like to handle these things that you agree are issues?”
“Fuck you.”
“Okay, what if we drop any kind of government funded plan, but make health insurance mandatory and eliminate pre-existing conditions and stop insurers from kicking people off their plans when they get sick? And we’ll accept that millions of people will still not have coverage even though the whole point of this was to get coverage to the most people.”
“Fuck you.”
“Alright, we’ll work in some tort reform, since that’s always been a concern of yours even though it doesn’t have much to do with rising health care costs…”
“Fuck you. … Hey, why won’t you negotiate with us?”
And I see that he’s blaming the Democrats for the violence, saying that they are fanning the flames.
Perhaps not so much as advertised…
From Talking Points Memo, without which no citizen can hope to be fully informed, the police report…
This is somewhat rational? I think it’s batshit crazy.
“If these policies are not reversed, the future is grim. A third-world style “North American Union” is not out of the question and it would be a fascist elite’s dream come true.”
And yes, he was saying similarly loony things in 2008.
I don’t want anyone to be shot or shot at, but I agree you could see this coming from far away. The seeds for this were sown during the 2008 campaign, if not earlier. I was surprised by all of this crap at first, but it was predictable that it was going to escalate from there.
Paul Ryan from WI made a name for himself during the healthcare debate challenging Obama on substance. I don’t know if he is the voice of the opposition…the Pubs usually go looking for Governors for leadership.
Yeah, that sounds like it’s probably nothing.
I keep hearing that the rifght wing nuts control the party, and yet… who does the GOP keep nominating for President?
Was John McCain the choice of the far right? Hell, no!
Was George W, Bush their choice in 2000? Nope. They settled for him because there was nobody else out there. Their sole reward was John Ashcroft as the A.G.
The rest of the Bush Cabinet consisted of mainstream, moderate, Ripon Society Republicans like Colin Powell.
Was Bob Dole a right wing favorite? Nope. Neither was Poppy Bush.
The reality is, the far right DOESN’T control the GOP. It never has. At primary season, the Republicans tend to say, “Who came in second last time? Well, I guess it’s his TURN to run this time.” That’s why Mitt Romney is the current leader, and will PROBABLY REMAIN the leader.
The moderates control the GOP. The issues that matter most to the far right have always been an afterthought, at best, to the party.
And that’s a big reason he lost. The far right couldn’t settle on a candidate (they were split between Romney and Huckabee) and he managed to come back and win the nomination. Once there, needed to tack right to regain the support of the far right, and he couldn’t compete for the swing voters who used to like him. Of course the far right was considerably more enthusiastic about his choice of vice president. But the questions is what’s going on right now, not what happened two years ago or 20. And right now the moderates aren’t in control.
More evidence:
Frum was just fired from the conservative thinktank American Enterprise Institute today. Probably because of this.
Or perhaps I should’ve put “resigned” (coughcough) in quotes…