best. universal. healthcare. explanation...EVAR.

WE FOUND OUR BACKBONE!!!

...like dorothy, who had the power to go home "all along", the democratic party's long-hidden spine has finally reappeared...thanks to the CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS!!!

via huffpost:
(emphasis added)

"We're the group that speaks to the righteousness of an issue, [but] inevitably the decisions about how that issue's going to be addressed are conducted somewhere else," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), describing the traditional fecklessness of progressives in Congress. "The fact that we have stuck to our guns about the public option has surprised people."

A majority of the 81 Congressional Progressive Caucus members of the House have vowed to oppose any health care bill that does not include a "robust public option." That threat has kept it alive. With 256 seats in the House and 218 needed to pass a bill, Democrats simply can't move health care reform on their own without progressive caucus support.

snip

"It's not a question of allow. It wouldn't have the votes," she said. When the White House went squishy last week on the public option ("not essential"/"one sliver"/"a piece"), Pelosi returned to the basic calculus. "There's no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option," she said.

snip

"Quite frankly, we got motivated because there were other caucuses in the Democratic caucus who seem to get disproportionate attention based on their numbers," said Ellison. The Blue Dogs only number 51. "And we're like, wait a minute, we've got 80-plus members. How can we be ignored?"

snip

"We've done our compromising and we're not compromising any more. We've got our shot. Let somebody else show some flexibility now," said Ellison.

snip

As the prospect of a bipartisan bill fades, progressives hope their hand will be increasingly strengthened as Obama realizes where his allies are. "The White House does not know how to use the progressive community. They see us as kind of money in the kitty already," said Ellison. "The White House should be saying to the Blue Dogs and to the right wing, 'I cannot give you what you want because I have a progressive community that we're accountable to.'"

john mccain - recipient of government subsidized/funded health care for 55 years

doesn't think everyday americans are entitled to the same level of affordable care he receives.



a$$hat.

i *heart* bernie sanders...

...tell it like it is, bernie, tell it like it is!!!

"As a result of the greed, irresponsibility and illegal behavior of Wall Street our country has experienced the worst economic decline since the Great Depression," said Sanders. "Mr. Bernanke was head of the Fed and the nation's chief economist as this crisis, driven by reckless speculation, developed. Tragically, like the rest of the Bush administration, he was asleep at the wheel during this period and did nothing to move our financial system onto safer grounds."

"As the middle class of this country continues to shrink, we need a chairman of the Federal Reserve who is more concerned about expanding the productive economy -- increasing decent-paying jobs for all Americans -- than continuing to fan the flames of Wall Street greed and outrageous compensation packages."

silly democrats...

...don't they realize that tax cuts and tax credits are only supposed to benefit the WEALTHY?!? sheesh.

New Splits in Health Care Plan Talks

Republicans are pressing to reduce the size of tax credits for families with incomes that are below three times the poverty rate. They would also like to trim back insurance coverage mandates in hopes of lowering premiums that would have to be subsidized.

it's time to a.) put the brakes on the inept clown car known as "the gang of six" and b.) stop watering down health care reform to appease those that will never vote for it in the first place.

poor widdle chuckie todd...

...his skin is so thin he's practically transparent. way to go scahill, take no prisoners!!!

thank you, mr. president.

yes, i'm one of his harshest critics. however, when i see him like THIS, he appeals to my inner core.

IOKIYAR...especially if you're also a talking faux spews bobble head.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fox News: The New Liberals
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

how close did the last regime come to destroying our democracy, part 1 too many plus 1

SRSLY, folks... the director of homeland security wasn't in NATIONAL security council meetings????? "pushed" to raise the security alert to influence an election?????

and people are critical of the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION? sheesh.

via US News and World Report:

Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

...and the RIGHT (and tea baggers and town hall protesters parrot their talking points) have the audacity to call the Obama administration "fascist" and compare our president to Hitler??? somebody get those people a DICTIONARY.

now, this is going to leave a mark...poor, deluded sean insHannity.

sean:

a.) you are obviously using "new math" because your numbers don't work
b.) we DON'T have the best system in the world
c.) you can't come back from an 80% increase in premiums and a 400% increase in insurance company profits

result? PWND!!1!!11!!!

don't trifle with barney frank:

poor, poor dear. she didn't know who she was triflin' with when she "engaged" barney frank.

where were they during the shrub regime?

these are the same men that buy sports cars because they're inadequate (ahem) in other areas.

if they're so enamored with guns, why don't they go down to the local recruiting office and join the service. THAT, my friends, takes courage and patriotism. showing up at a political event with a fire arm...just because you can...not so much.

it bears repeating: why weren't these people promoting their 2nd amendment rights by engaging in this activity under the shrub regime? silly me, that really is a rhetorical question with an obvious answer.

balls vs. no balls...as presented by jon stewart via the selling of war vs. selling health care reform

as awful as the shrub regime was, team obama needs to go to their playbook on "message management 101".

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Heal or No Heal - Medicine Brawl
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

thanks for depressing me, rachel:

rachel raised a good point yesterday: if health-related stocks SOAR on a day when the market is DOWN, "they" know something "we" don't.



PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

FINALLY! the "fierce advocate" has made a good decision...

with all the fubars...health care reform (oh, wait, we've massaged the message to health insurance reform), the financial welfare bail-out debacle, throwing the glbt community under the bus (and then running over us and then backing over us to see if we were ok and then running over us again to continue forward momentum), i was skeptical that sotomayor would turn out to be what she was "packaged" as.

Sotomayor made what appears to be her first public decision as a justice on Monday, voting unsuccessfully to delay the execution of an Ohio death row inmate.

She voted along with the court's liberal bloc – Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer – to stop the execution of Jason Getsy, whose execution is Tuesday.

for once, from this administration, we finaly get WYSIWIG (borrowing from the computer world: what you see is what you get).

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...take that, sean!

never in a million years did i think i would see even 1:45 of reality on FAUX SPEWS GNEWS!

poor focus on the family...

...profits down by $6Million so they're going to abandon their "xristian duty" to pray away teh gay.

Focus on the Family, James Dobson’s anti-LGBT empire and the largest organization in the religious right, announced earlier this week that it would be selling off its ex-gay therapy program called “Love Won Out.” The organization says it’s part of an effort to downsize in the wake of record profit losses of nearly $6 million. The news comes days after the nation’s largest psychological organization released a report condemning ex-gay therapies.

whatever it takes...just go away dobson! you give honest people of faith a really bad name.

popcorn, part II

OMFG! i *heart* lawrence o'donnel!!!



poor, poor pitiful teabaggeress. i expected her to eventually blurt out, "but, but, but BILL CLINTON!!!"

get the popcorn out...

...it's time for a little REAL hardball, courtesy of lawrence o'donnel:



video of "you just got PWND"!!! couldn't happen to a more useless congress critter.

it's time.

Gay & Lesbian Civil Rights... Now. from Jeffery Hammerberg on Vimeo.

if you can find or make excuses why glbt people shouldn't have full civil equality or should patiently wait even one more day for that equality, then you ARE exposing your bigotry.