Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain Lays Odds He'll Suspend His Campaign Again

Maybe he shook hands with Ms. Ya'Bet'cha last week, and hasn't washed since, the ink from her hand causing some level of brain-swelling.

Or maybe, he's just hitting the Stupid Juice again (as he must have done, two-years ago, when he chose The Wasilla Whiz Kid as his running mate).



The Hill has a report today, that Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain "can draw a scenario" that President Obama is going to fall on his knees, beg the PartyofNoicans for forgiveness, and completely repeal, and rewrite, the Healthcare Reform bill to their liking.

"If the intensity level is as high as it is, I can draw you a scenario where the president would be forced to repeal or really replace it with the provisions [Republicans] wanted," McCain said in an interview with KFYI 550.

At the very least, Republicans could refuse to fund healthcare, the Arizona Republican added.

"You could basically repeal major provisions of it" by refusing to fund them, McCain said.

By the time the Midterms roll around, the only one's carping about the Healthcare Reform Bill will be the PartyofNoicans, and their army of Teabagger puppets.

And, besides, McCain will break his own pledge, of doing nothing for the rest of the year.

I don't know, if he starts dropping in the polls, I smell a "crises" brewing, and that means McCain may have to suspend his campaign, again.


Bonus Stumblin' Bumblin' McCain Riffs

The Bob Dole For The New Millennium

"The insinuation, that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, doesn't know how many houses he has, is outrageous!"

Everything He Learned?

One Love

Leave it to the PartyofNoicans.

Their obstructionism is so rooted in their DNA, they drink it, they eat it, the wash themselves in it, that they can't come halfway to meet the Democrats in a toothless, boiler-plate press release to call out, and damp down, the growing incidents of violence.

In part, due to their "Armageddon" rhetoric, over the recent Healthcare Reform war, bricks have been thrown through windows, members of Congress have been spat on, had racist and homophobic slurs hurled at them, even, received death threats, even having their families and children threatened.



So, how does 'Noicans' handle this?

GOP says "Hell No" to civility

Kind of in the "water is wet" category but it's useful to archive that the DNC asked the RNC to co-sign a joint statement condemning the death threats and violent acts being committed after the reform bill was passed and RNC chair Mike Steele effectively said Hell No.

[snip]

Steele's response was, “we don’t need to do anything on their schedule or on their timetable.” Or in other words, if Democrats are for it, we're against it.

Steve Benen has more;

What a surprise.

We are, after all, talking about an RNC that recently put together a fundraising presentation filled with donor insults, offensive caricatures, and an admission that the party will rely on little more than "fear" to win. In the wake of the health care breakthrough, the RNC is desperate to make right-wing activists as angry and agitated as possible -- which is why Michael Steele is describing the Affordable Care Act as "Armageddon" and demanding to see Speaker Pelosi on "the firing line."

I don't know ...

Perhaps everybody should take a step back, light up a big, fat spliff, and let Bob Marley take it from here;


Bob Marley - One Love




Bonus PartyofNoican Riffs

Frank Rich: The Rage Is Not About Health Care

David Jarman: Little difference between tea party and Grand Old Party ...Polling evidence indicates that tea partiers are just conservative Republicans by another name

Charles Blow: Whose Country Is It?

Heidi Przybyla: Tea Party Advocates Who Scorn Socialism Want a Government Job

The Next PartyofNoican War

Assforwards, For Mark Halperin

Quote of the Day

With the PartyofNoicans not knowing whether to piss, or wind their watches, and the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show in full-scale, DefCon 5 feces-throwing, over the new law-of-the-land Healthcare Reform, John Cole, over on Balloon Juice gets the crown for Quote of the Day.

John swings his Louisville Slugger with this post;

We’re Gonna Ram It, Ram It, Ram It Up Your…

The bill was passed with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, as required by law and Senate rules. It was then passed in the House by majority rule and in accordance with all House Rules.

It was done so by a Democratic majority elected sixteen months ago along with a Democratic President who campaigned daily on Health Care reform, and who received the most votes in the history of American elections and won by the widest margin in decades.

The bill was crafted quite openly, after a year and a half of public debate, and the exact Senate bill that was passed in the House yesterday has been available for people to read and discuss for three entire months. This was the slowest, most open, most thoroughly discussed piece of legislation in my lifetime.

Anyone who says this was “rammed down” anyone’s throats simply does not know what they are talking about.

Way to swing the bat there, John ...

Kudos, also, to GottaLaff, over on The Political Carnival, for, similarly, telling the PartyofNoicans to STFU.

(H/T to Michael Stickings, at The Reaction)

Hey Boss, I Won't Be In Today, I've Got PHCFS

If we had a pile of money, we'd throw this out as a contest, the first verifiable usage of an excuse not to go to work, due to having "Post-Health-Care-Fatigue Syndrome."

David Corn has catapulted PHCFS into the lexicon today with this post;

Will Post-Health-Care-Fatigue Syndrome Thwart GOP Plans?

There is a palpable sense in Washington that this battle over health care reform has nearly broken the town. Legislators and their staff aides, the president and his people, reporters and pundits, political strategists and advocates -- they've all been consumed by this fight for nearly a year and they're experiencing Post-Health-Care-Fatigue Syndrome (PHCFS). After all, this long-running drama followed months of political and policy intensity: the economic collapse, the subsequent bailouts, the start of the Obama administration. Moreover, that stretch came after a titanic and tiring presidential campaign, with competitive primaries and multiple candidates on each side, that lasted for almost two years. Obama and his crew have basically been going non-stop for three years, and on some days at the White House, it really does show.

Go read the post.

We're almost going to be gridlocked, or prone, exhausted, to get anything meaningful done for the rest of the year.

And Corn pegs the PartyofNoicans the bigger loser of PHCFS.

Top Ten Cloves: If The Teabaggers Were Present At Other Historic Moments

News Item: Health care protesters say the Tea Party has only just begun

10. Likely would have protested, and possibly interfered, with Titanic crew lowering the lifeboats

9. As first immigrants arrive at Ellis Island, Teabaggers talking about "sending them home with a bullet in their head"

8. Would have heckled and laughed at the Lindberghs, for losing their child

7. Easily dismiss the Cocoanut Grove Fire as a "bunch of liberals" and probably "frustrated taxpayers"

6. Teabaggers would call for hanging, since he had the wrong crowd with him, President Jimmy Carter, for giving away Panama Canal

5. Port Chicago Disaster would have them going apeshit, charging the Democrats with being soft of security

4. Blame for the "Storm of the Century" would have been heaped onto President Bill Clinton

3. Would have found a way to blame deaths in 1980 Heatwave, and 1995 Chicago Heatwave on ACORN

2. If standing on Dallas's grassy knoll, in 1963, would have erupted with cheers, and celebration

1. Seeing President Roosevelt in wheelchair, they would have taunted him, throwing money at him


Bonus Teabagger Riffs

Pareene: Zombie Founders Weep As Obama Signs Socialist Health Care Grandma-Death Bill

Bob Herbert: An Absence of Class

mcjoan: Republicans Now the Party of Un-governing

Think Progress: Tea Party sign threatens gun violence if health care passes

BruinKid: Rep. Louise Slaughter's (D-NY) CHILDREN get death threat

Lance Mannion: The Constitution as Holy Writ

Teabaggers Can't Count, Either

Following up on last night's post, where we referenced the great Teabagger protest yesterday, vociferously, and proudly, standing, showing off their prodigious ignorance, spewing their trademark hate, spewing their trademark hate, we have, yet another, instance where a small gathering gets blown up to gigantic proportions.



Over on one of the vilest, feces-throwing, Flying Monkey perches of the Right Wing Freak Show, Gateway Pundit screams the headline "100,000 RALLY IN WASHINGTON AGAINST OBAMACARE";

The rally was called just two days ago and over 100,000 made it to Washington to protest the democrat’s unconstitutional take over of the health care industry. FOX News reported:

[snip]

Thousands of Tea Partiers descended upon the Capitol in an effort to derail the march toward “Obamacare” by pressuring undecided lawmakers to vote “no” Sunday.

Hold the phone!

They quote Faux News, which only cites "thousands of Tea Partiers".

And, this is the same Faux News that has, consistently and aggressively, promoted the Teabaggers, even going the extra mile of displaying false footage to inflate the size of a Teabagger-Mommy Moose get-down.

I believe it is generally accepted that "thousands" is no way near "100,000", or Faux News would have presented it as "tens-of-thousands", or perhaps "scores-of-thousands".

Here's a view of the "100,000 RALLY IN WASHINGTON AGAINST OBAMACARE";



Even Queen of the Flying Monkeys, Michelle Stalkin' Malkin, rather surprisingly, stayed away from any exploding head counts.

Ignorant Dolts, the bunch of'em ...

Oh, Peggy ... One Line Does Not A Column Make

Perhaps, amid the clutter of empty wine bottles, our favorite #1 Ronald Reagan Groupie is at it again.

She was all full of herself yesterday, proud as a peacock, because she got to bash President Obama, and the Democrats, over Healthcare Reform.



And all because she came up with, what she thinks, is a really witty line;

Demon Pass.

See, if the move to pass the legislation, it is said, to get the votes in the House, Nancy Pelosi will employ a procedure known as "Deem-and-Pass", being they will "deem" the already-passed Senate bill, and then vote on the changes to the bill.

So, Our Girl Peggy thinks she's being cute.

Demon Pass.

You can read her column ('Now for the Slaughter'), in which half of it is the transcript of the President's interview on the Faux New Network the other night, as it full of all the PartyofNoican talking points, how this is going to cause the country to implode, and people will be left to run around with their heads on fire.

Excuse me, but it is embarrassing—really, embarrassing to our country—that the president of the United States has again put off a state visit to Australia and Indonesia because he's having trouble passing a piece of domestic legislation he's been promising for a year will be passed next week. What an air of chaos this signals to the world. And to do this to Australia of all countries, a nation that has always had America's back and been America's friend.

How bush league, how undisciplined, how kid's stuff.

[snip]

And so it ends, with a health-care vote expected this weekend. I wonder at what point the administration will realize it wasn't worth it—worth the discord, worth the diminution in popularity and prestige, worth the deepening of the great divide. What has been lost is so vivid, what has been gained so amorphous, blurry and likely illusory. Memo to future presidents: Never stake your entire survival on the painful passing of a bad bill. Never take the country down the road to Demon Pass.

For a better view, one based in reality, read Paul Krugman, as he explained yesterday, using real, actual facts, why we need Healthcare Reform.

And, as per the rapid developments of the day, today, which included the Teabaggers showing their intellect, calling to Congressmen with racial and perjorative insults, the Democrats don't have to go with the "Deem-and-Pass" move, so Little Miss Peggy doesn't have a peg to hang her column on.

You think and old pro like the #1 Ronald Reagan Groupie would know when to pull her punches.

Isn't that what Ronny would have done, there, Little Miss Peggy?

Our Condolences, To The Olbermann Family

Tough weekend, in the Death Business.

We just discovered that Theodore Olbermann, father of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, passed away today, after an extended illness, following what had been successful colon surgery.

My father died, in the city of his birth, New York, at 3:50 EST this afternoon

He was my inspiration, and will always remain so. His bravery these last six months cannot be measured. He is as much my hero now, as he was when I was five years old.

Early in The Garlic's history, we often featured Olbermann's rants, his "Special Comments", unique at that time, as he sought to bring to the attention of the American Public the lies, crimes and misdemeanors, of the Court Appointed President.

More recently, he used his pulpit, to shake his fist at the spineless Congress, and the Right Wing Freak Show, using his father's situation, to highlight the need for comprehensive healthcare reform;

Drew Grant: Keith Olbermann Discusses Father, “Life Panels”

Ron Chusid: An American Cry For Help

Our condolences, to the Olbermann Family

Breaking News: Costa Rican Legislature Convenes Emergency Session To Ban Limbaugh

Country United In Not Wanting Right Wing Hatemonger; OAS Sends Out Advisory Calling for Similar Action

Even though it may not occur for five-years, Costa Rica is not taking any chances, its' legislature convening in an emergency session today, voting unanimously to ban controversial radio clown Rush Limbaugh from entering the country, or, otherwise establishing "any type of domestic residency," as he has stated he may do.



President Óscar Arias quickly signaled his endorsement of the vote, citing "the protection of our citizens from this drug-addict hatemonger is our utmost concern."

The country's Judiciary branch, the Supreme Court, in an unusual, and non-scheduled session, also voted unanimously, that the bill passed by the legislature is valid, and completely legal and, in strongly worded language, stated it would "not entertain any challenges" to the ruling.

Limbaugh, on his radio program yesterday, continuing to bash the pending healthcare reform package in Congress, vowed, if the bill passes, he will leave the country.

Think Progress has the details;

CALLER: If the health care bill passes, where would you go for health care yourself? And the second part of that is, what would happen to the doctors, do they have to participate in the federal program, or could they opt out of it? [...]

LIMBAUGH: My guess in even in Canada and even in the UK, doctors have opted out. And once they’ve opted, they can’t see anybody Medicare, Medicaid, or what will become the exchanges. They have to have a clientele of private patients that will pay them a retainer and it’ll be a very small practice. I don’t know if that’s been outlawed in the Senate bill. I don’t know. I’ll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica/

In a developing related matter, the Organization of American States (OAS) issued an rare advisory to its' member nations, urging them to adopt, and pass, similar legislation as Costa Rica.

In the advisory, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza stated it should be "our goal to keep this racist, cheeseburger-that-sweats, wind bag out of our hemisphere."

In a flash survey conducted by The Garlic, over 89% of Limbaugh's Dittoheads contacted believed that "Costa Rica" was a "new, discount department store for Illegal Aliens" and over 65% wanted to know of the closest one in their area.


Bonus Limbaugh Riffs

NFL Singing Rush's Tune?

Jesus, It Sounded Like A Violation of the Rico Act!

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overhead While The Nobel Peace Prize Committee Reviewed Rush Limbaugh's Nomination

Reconciliation, For Dummies

That be you, President Obama, and the entire Democrat Caucus!

You guys have been acting like old ladies, standing on a chair, because a mouse came into the room, all because some bozo PartyofNoican won an election nobody thought he would (and, in fairness, he campaigned, and took victory, without mentioning he was a PartyofNoican), and, suddenly, the sky is falling.



This is what we wrote last week;

However, as to the bigger picture, unless something remarkably uncanny happened, and all kinds of state and federal laws were, suddenly, abrogated, and changed, today, newly-elected Teabagger Senator Scott Brown only won one Senatorial seat, not 18-20, and, unless something else has changed, Brown will come to a dead stop, after he runs-like-the-wind, to get to DC, and join the rest of the PartyofNoicans, in doing nothing

[snip]

What the Dems need to do is, along with growing a few pairs, start governing, start using their majority in Congress, to govern, much as the PartyofNoicans did (when they were known as "Republicans"), during the The Bush Grindhouse years, where they, without a majority, handed The Commander Guy everything he wanted.

Since you seem to be having trouble growing a pair, Paul N. Van de Water and James R. Horney have handed you some, and laid it all out for you today;

Using Reconciliation Process to Enact Health Reform Would Be Fully Consistent With Past Practice

Conclusion

Because rising health care costs represent the single largest cause of the federal government’s long-term budget problems, fundamental health care reform must be part of any budget solution.[15] The foregoing examples indicate that using the budget reconciliation process to enact health reform in 2010 would be consistent with the ways in which Congress has used reconciliation in the past. Many major policy changes, including welfare reform, large tax cuts, and new health programs, have been included in past reconciliation bills. Moreover, if health reform is pursued through the reconciliation process this year, the resulting legislation — unlike the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 — will need to be designed so it does not add to the deficit. Any legislation also is likely to include provisions, such as an independent Medicare Commission and demonstration projects to identify ways to deliver health care more efficiently, that could lead to further reforms that slow the growth of health-care costs and contribute to longer-term deficit reduction.

Back in the old days (early 70's) on the "Point-Counter" of '60-Minutes', Nicholas von Hoffman called disgraced President Richard Nixon a "dead mouse on America's kitchen floor ... And it was time for Congress to come in and sweep it up ..."

This is your moment, this is what you are there for.

So, climb down off your chairs, grab a broom, sweep away those pesky, minority PartyofNoican mice, and get to work passing legitimate, benefiting-the-citizens-not-the-corporations, Healthcare Reform (and, with a Public Option, or Single-Payer, thank you, very much).

Another Sloganeer President

Hope You Can Believe In ...

Change You Can Believe In ...

Considering how the Healthcare Reform initiative has been going, we're, pretty much, down to hoping (and I mean serious, "Please-God-I'll-Never-Do-That-Again" hope) that things will change



Rather then dig in their heels, fight for a comprehensive Healthcare Reform Bill, that includes a real Public Option, and/or a universal Medicare component, the Democrats rallied last night, to go out an "sell it", being, selling their complete collapse in caving in to Senator Losersman, and the other PartyofNoican Wannabees (Nelson, Byah, et all).

Senator Tom Harkin was on the Rachel Maddow show, talking real estate, offering, we're not getting a mansion, but rather a nice, modest house that we can build additions on.

Perhaps, but extremely difficult, considering the landlord (e.g. The Health Insurance Industry Complex) is going to be bleeding us dry, aided by the provision in the Senate Bill that will be forcing us to buy Health Insurance Industry Complex premiums

Howard Dean, who knows a thing-or-two about Healthcare, is calling for the Senate Bill to be killed.

Others, say, no, the bill is still a good bill (Nate Silver and Ezra Klein)

Greg Sargent has a good post on how this argument is shaping up, the battle lines being drawn for whatever is left to fight over.



There is a growing voice emerging, that our Hero President is not much more that all hat, and no cattle.

And, a nice big Corporate Hat he be wearing, at that.

Look over the past few months, the absolutely ridiculousness, in the Healthcare Debate.

Death Panels and Socialism dominated the conversation, the headlines, the cable news talking heads.

Where were the Democrats, the leadership, the White House?

Holding the White House, a majority in Congress, and, with polls show a majority of Americans wanting real, solid Healthcare Reform, how is it we are at the point of where we are it?

John Aravosis, at AmericaBlog, has a great perspective on where the answer may lie;

The GOP had at most 55 Senators during Bush's presidency

And look at what George Bush was able to accomplish in the Congress with fewer Senators than the Democrats have today:

- John Ashcroft nomination
- Iraq war resolution
- Repeated Iraq funding resolutions
- 2001 & 2003 tax cuts
- Patriot Act
- Alito
- John Roberts
- Medicare Part D

[snip]

It's not about the votes, people. It's about leadership. The current occupant of the White House doesn't like to fight, and the leadership in Congress has never been as good at their jobs, at marshaling their own party, as the Republicans were when they were in the majority. The President is supposed to rally the country, effectively putting pressure on opposition members of Congress to sit down and shut up. And the congressional leadership is supposed to rally its members to hold the line, and get the 51 votes necessary for passing legislation in a climate where the minority is too afraid to use the filibuster. When you have a President who is constitutionally, or intellectually, unable to stand for anything, and a congressional leadership that, rather than disciplining its own members and forging ahead with its own agenda, cedes legislative authority to a president who refuses to lead, you have a recipe for exactly what happened last night. Weakness, chaos, and failure.

And, this, from Taylor Marsh;

Pres. Obama doesn't care. It's a win or bust for him, with the health care train now careening towards an end of the year crash.

First Obama let the August recess come and go without a bill. Getting bested by Sarah Palin's "death panels" squeal came next. The finale of getting beat by Joe Lieberman having operatic overtones, given Joe's recent history with progressives in Connecticut. Mr. Obama doesn't care about the deatails as long as he can say he beat seven presidents who failed that came before him. He's betting history won't remember the minutia; it will simply be written that it was Barack Obama who got it done.

And, with the "selling" of what a great deal it is, comes the fabrications;

President Obama Tells Bald-Faced Lie About Health Care Reform Cost Control

This statement is 100% false–and Obama knows that. This bill does not contain anywhere near most ideas for controlling health care costs. This bill does not even contain most of the cost-reducing ideas that were part of Obama’s health care plan during last year’s presidential campaign.

What makes his lie so unbelievable is that Obama’s administration is right now fighting against one of the biggest cost control ideas that the president previously claimed to support. His administration is working to kill Dorgan’s drug re-importation amendment.

I guess, that's not an addition to the house that we want to put on just yet.

That is, if we intended to build the house in the first place.

Along with the Aravosis post, another Must-Read, is Glenn Greenwald today.

He hits on the "leadership" thing, well, actually, he clubs it, with a Ruthian swing;

White House as helpless victim on health care

As was painfully predictable all along, the final bill will not have any form of public option, nor will it include the wildly popular expansion of Medicare coverage. Obama supporters are eager to depict the White House as nothing more than a helpless victim in all of this -- the President so deeply wanted a more progressive bill but was sadly thwarted in his noble efforts by those inhumane, corrupt Congressional "centrists." Right. The evidence was overwhelming from the start that the White House was not only indifferent, but opposed, to the provisions most important to progressives. The administration is getting the bill which they, more or less, wanted from the start -- the one that is a huge boon to the health insurance and pharmaceutical industry. And kudos to Russ Feingold for saying so:

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), among the most vocal supporters of the public option, said it would be unfair to blame Lieberman for its apparent demise. Feingold said that responsibility ultimately rests with President Barack Obama and he could have insisted on a higher standard for the legislation.

"This bill appears to be legislation that the president wanted in the first place, so I don’t think focusing it on Lieberman really hits the truth," said Feingold. "I think they could have been higher. I certainly think a stronger bill would have been better in every respect."

Let's repeat that: "This bill appears to be legislation that the president wanted in the first place." Indeed it does. There are rational, practical reasons why that might be so. If you're interested in preserving and expanding political power, then, all other things being equal, it's better to have the pharmaceutical and health insurance industry on your side than opposed to you. Or perhaps they calculated from the start that this was the best bill they could get. The wisdom of that rationale can be debated, but depicting Obama as the impotent progressive victim here of recalcitrant, corrupt centrists is really too much to bear.

You want a "dream house"?

You'll have to settle for renting the DVD of 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'.

Don't worry though, President Hope-and-Change can put some fire in his butt, when he wants to;

Guest Post: $38 Billion Tax Break Granted to Citigroup to Help Improve the TARP Results

The Citigroup folks should be able to afford those mandated Healtcare premiums, without much difficulty.

Just win baby, just win ...


Bonus Riffs

Will Bunch - Attytood: The lethal cynicism of Joe Lieberman

Jane Hamsher: Sign Letter to Susan B. Komen Foundation: Donations Shouldn’t Go To Hadassah Lieberman

Steve Benen: LIFE AND DEATH...

John Cole: So What Exactly Does the HCR Bill Do?

Greg Sargent: Congressional Dems Start Pinning Blame For Health Care Fiasco On Obama

Rachel Slajda: The White House v. Howard Dean

Jed Lewison: Sanders not voting for bill unless it improves

David Dayen: With Public Option Removed, Public, Labor Groups Sour On Bill

And In This Corner ...

Rather then have an endless "Bonus Riffs" to the above post, we separated these off.

It isn't exactly Ali-Frazier, or, even Alexis Arguello-Aaron Pryor, but there be some bloggers putting up their dukes.

In the preliminary;

Nate Silver: 20 Questions for Bill Killers

Jon Walker: Answering Nate Silver’s 20 Questions On Killing The Senate Bill

For the main event ... And, let's get ready to rumble!

Kos: Strip the mandate, and put GOP on the spot

Ezra Klein: The importance of the individual mandate

More rounds to come, no doubt ...

Newt's New Contract - Buying An Ignorant Dolt Title!

You think they would learn.

Even when we are away from the desk, buried up to our eyeballs with the situation on the Homefront, they can't, no matter how hard they try, sneak past the Ignorant Dolt detector.

It's on, 24/7/365 and no one (deserving), escapes it, as it starts chirping way, like a Geiger Counter at Los Alamos, the second one of them pops up.

This weekend, we need to FedEx the Ignorant Dolt Crown and Sceptre to the former Speaker of the House, the man that put out a Contract On America, Newt Gingrich.



Gingrich’s New Contract With America: ‘Our Commitment Should Be Simple…We’re Repealing’ Health Care

Gingrich reiterated his call for all Republicans to commit to repealing any form of a health care bill that Democrats might pass before the 2010 elections:

GINGRICH: If the left manages to drive through a bill which is opposed by 65 percent of the country on health care, our commitment should be simple — when we get a majority, we’re repealing the whole thing. (applause)

And I want every Democrat who is about to sacrifice their seat for socialized medicine to understand: after you lose your seat, you’re going to lose the socialized medicine too.

I mean, with the job the Democrats are doing at gutting any meaningful Healthcare Reform, it be Newt's workin' up a sweat over nothin', just throwing some chum in the water, for the Flying Monkeys and Teabaggers.

As to "when we get a majority" thing, I wouldn't be holding your breath there, Newt (Heaven Forbid, you pass out, and have to undergo some of that "Socialist" medical treatment, something Bob Cesca was wondering).

And, help us out there, will ya, Newt?

When you go parading on the Faux News programs, wear the Ignorant Dolt Crown, give us a plug.

Our Newest Ignorant Dolt - Aetna CEO Ron Williams

Boy, they must think that, just because we've been distracted, away from the desk, that they can sneak through, with some terribly profound, incredibly awesome Ignorant Doltness, and we wouldn't notice.

With the entire country lit up in a conflagration over Healthcare Reform, the reams and truckloads of examples on how the Enormo Healthcare companies are ripping us off, throwing out our policies, denying coverage, up pops Aetna CEO Ron Williams.



Aetna Forcing 600,000-Plus To Lose Coverage In Effort To Raise Profits

In a third-quarter earnings conference call in late October, officials at Aetna announced that in an effort to improve on a less-than-anticipated profit margin in 2009, they would be raising prices on their consumers in 2010. The insurance giant predicted that the company would subsequently lose between 300,000 and 350,000 members next year from its national account as well as another 300,000 from smaller group accounts.

"The pricing we put in place for 2009 turned out to not really be what we needed to achieve the results and margins that we had historically been delivering," said chairman and CEO Ron Williams. "We view 2010 as a repositioning year, a year that does not fully reflect the earnings potential of our business. Our pricing actions should have a noticeable effect beginning in the first quarter of 2010, with additional financial impact realized during the remaining three quarters of the year."

Say What?

Did Williams really think that would go unnoticed?

Oh man ... We gotta get some signs printed ... Just hand them pre-printed directions ...

Ignorant Dolt Hall, right down here, Mr. Williams! ... Just pick any empty seat ...

Jim Moss, over on Firedoglake took note of Williams' shoe-store-in-mouth act;

Very impressive, Aetna! Not once in that quote did your CEO make reference to sick people, or people who might die from lack of coverage, or people who will go bankrupt trying to afford higher premiums. In fact, Mr. Williams didn’t let the concept of people and their pesky needs interfere at all with his important considerations of "business," "pricing," "results," "margins," "earnings potential," or "financial impact." No danger here of health insurance becoming something more than profit-seeking.

That there is still a debate, still an argument is beyond astounding.

The CEO of one of the largest Healthcare Insurers publically states that sick people are not on the agenda, just "results and margins."

If we called for Mister Wizard to help us, he probably wouldn't hear it, being busy vomiting, sick to his stomach

John Avarosis, on AmericaBlog has the right idea;

At the very least, the health care reform legislation should be amended so that it goes into effect immediately, rather than in four years - that way this kind of abuse can be stopped now.

We can only hope, Aetna CEO Ron Williams, that in 2010, you don't lose your mojo, and continue showing off your gigantic Ignorant Doltness, that you have "historically been delivering."

Barry Crimmins On Max Baucus, and Healthcare

Barry Crimmins has a tremendous riff up on Max Baucus "(Influence redistributionist - Mt)" that you need to check out.



Pre-existing outrage ... Coffers over Coughers

The propaganda and fiscal arm-twisting campaign is meant to keep our allegedly exceptional nation from joining the rest of the world in acknowledging that single-payer health care is the only answer for those who prefer civilization. Unfortunately, due to the river of green that's flowed under Washington's table, single-payer is all but off it. There are still some peeps about a "vibrant public option" but what we really need is to kill the private one before it kills any more of us.

[snip]

Baucus's plan would make the purchase of health insurance mandatory for all Americans. Concerned that a program designed to force each citizen to purchase their oft useless product might not make it out of committee, the racketeers put on their villain garb to verbally body-slam the Big Sky Bagman's plan. Mind you, these hated criminals know better than to appear in public, except when they want to exploit America's inability to fathom reverse psychology. The insurance peddlers scripted remarks cautioned us that Max's bill could result in higher premium prices. There's little doubt that this increased-cost warning will soon be looked upon as prescient. But getting credit for its ability to foretell its own price-fixing is a paltry co-pay compared to the billions of extra bucks Baucus' mandatory insurance plan will steam-shovel the sticky hands people's way.

Read the entire piece over on Barry Crimmins' website

Maybe Starbucks Can Sponsor The AMA's Operation Coffee Cup II

After all, they want to "do business with people with like-minded values,", which brought them to sponsor the Morning Joke Show, so it seems that there would be the vibe for them to get behind the AMA, to trot out Operation Coffee Cup II, and rail against the evils of "socialized medicine" once again.

You see, the AMA did that, back in the early 1960's, using a "well known actor", Ronald Reagan;

The operation received support from Ronald Reagan, who in 1961 produced the LP record Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine for the AMA, outlining arguments against what he called "socialized medicine". This record would be played at the coffee meetings.

(You can go HERE, to listen to The Gipper pitch against "socialized medicine".)



As Gomer Pyle would be apt to say, "Surprise, Surprise!"

The American Medical Association is at it again;

Doctors’ Group Opposes Public Insurance Plan

As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.

[snip]

While committed to the goal of affordable health insurance for all, the association had said in a general statement of principles that health services should be “provided through private markets, as they are currently.” It is now reacting, for the first time, to specific legislative proposals being drafted by Congress.

[snip]

But in comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs. The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70 percent of Americans.”

If private insurers are pushed out of the market, the group said, “the corresponding surge in public plan participation would likely lead to an explosion of costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers.”

But Wait! ... That was this morning.

This afternoon, the AMA is singing a different tune

AMA Walks Back From Its Opposition To All Public Options

The American Medical Association is walking back from its strong opposition to the public option ...

[snip]

But now, the AMA has issued a statement saying that it is willing to accept a public plan that looks like the private option:

Today’s New York Times story creates a false impression about the AMA’s position on a public plan option in health care reform legislation. The AMA opposes any public plan that forces physicians to participate, expands the fiscally-challenged Medicare program or pays Medicare rates, but the AMA is willing to consider other variations of the public plan that are currently under discussion in Congress. This includes a federally chartered co-op health plan or a level playing field option for all plans. The AMA is working to achieve meaningful health reform this year and is ready to stand behind legislation that includes coverage options that work for patients and physicians.”

No doubt, there's a whole lot more dancing to be done to this tune.

In the meantime, the AMA is probably casting about, for the new "well known actor", to record Operation Coffee Cup II.

Hmmm ... Wilford Brimley has been doing some medical commercials ...

Or, better yet, let Morning Joke and Ms. Mika Joke do it!

That way, they can plug Starbucks at the same time ...


Bonus Healthcare - Socialist or Private - Riffs

Joe Sudbay (DC): Dear AMA, You're saps and a big part of the health care problem for not standing up to the insurance companies who run your lives

Kevin Drum: The AMA Takes a Shocking Stand

Sam Stein: American Medical Association Trying To Torpedo Health Care Reform Again

Bob Cesca: The Health Insurance Mafia Deserves a Good Screwing

Jurassicpork: Here There be Windmills... Maybe

Matthew Yglesias: AMA Opposing Public Option