Archive for category Campaigns
Sarah Palin and Family Used to Get Their Health Care in Canada?
Posted by Lance Haley in 2012 Election, Campaigns, Conservatives, Healthcare Reform, Politics, Sarah Palin, Tea Party on March 10th, 2010
I would hope the irony of this little factoid is NOT lost on the Conservatives who support Sarah Palin and oppose President Obama’s Health Care Reform.
Can you spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y?
Michael Smerconish Leaves Republican Party After 30 Years of Unwavering Allegiance
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, Budget & Deficit, Campaigns, Centrists, Conservatives, Logic & Reasoning, Media & Communication, Middle Class, Moderates, Politics, United States on February 27th, 2010
WOW!
If you do not know who Michael Smerconish is, you are not alone.
Smerconish is well known in political circles as a Conservative columnist and radio talk show host in Philadelphia, PA. He frequently makes guest appearances on some of the cable news shows, and his insight into Pennsylvania politics was of great interest during the 2008 Presidential primaries, as well as the general election. There is no other media personality in Pennsylvania that has a better finger on the pulse of that state’s politics. Although I was skeptical of his politics when I first saw him in 2008, he won me over as time went on, and I took great interest in what he had to say regarding the political landscape of a state that was very diverse in it’s political leanings.
That is why his announced “resignation” from the Republican Party this past week is very shocking, and should not be lightly dismissed by party leaders, nor Conservative pundits. Particularly the manner in which his decision was made – while standing in line at the drivers license bureau, when prompted by a bureaucrat as to whether he would like to declare an affiliation with either political party.
Such a seemingly spontaneous act was obviously not a decision that was either taken lightly, or consciously contemplated. After all, he had publicly and openly sworn allegiance to the Republican party and it’s principles for the last 30 years. And in the course of 30 seconds, while standing in line at the drivers license bureau, all of that changed. If you want to understand why, read his statement.
That is why it is so consequential. His leaving is evidence of a quiet tsunami of voters who are likely not even aware of their subconscious preparations to abandon their parties, and demand a return to political and economic sanity in a country that has apparently gone quite mad. They feel alienated and abandoned – by both of the parties and the political system.
Most importantly for both parties is this: My politics and Mr. Smerconish’s diverge on a number of issues, none of which are relevant to the subject at hand. Nonetheless, we now both consider ourselves independent voters. What I divine from his public statement of why he is abandoning his party is that he is a man of reason and logic. A person who can clearly see that things are not always so clear cut. A man who is certain of the uncertainty of the future of this country. A citizen who refuses to participate in a process that will bring about the destruction of this great nation. But most importantly, an American who is willing to put his country ahead of his own personal political beliefs, without sacrificing the principles that underlie those beliefs.
That Michael Smerconish and I can find agreement on what the most important issue is that the majority of voters believe this country must immediately address speaks volumes.
Quite simply . . . STOP THE MADNESS!
Why the Sudden Republican Bipartisanship on One Healthcare Reform Issue? Hypocrisy Maybe?
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Campaigns, Economics, House of Representatives on February 26th, 2010
DECIDE TO BE HEALTHY . . . BUT AT WHAT COST?
On Wednesday the House Republicans finally joined the Democrats in a rare accomplishment of voting together on a bill that would repeal a sixty-five (65) year old law allowing insurance companies to have virtual monopolies (oligopolies) over health care insurance. Known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act of (1945), the former anti-trust legislation was designed to give states the power to determine which insurance companies could operate in their states, and investigate collusion by those companies to fix prices and prevent competition.
The reasoning behind repealing the former law was that proponents of the bill believe it allowed a few companies in each state to work in concert to control health insurance, given that the health insurance industry is now dominated by a handful of major players due to consolidation through mergers. Those that opposed the bill – including insurance industry companies and their industry associations – claim that the regulatory agencies in the various states that have oversight of insurance companies already limit the amount of premium increases the companies can charge customers. Of course “limit” is a relative term – particularly when the recent health insurance premiums increases demanded by insurance companies in the various states are projected to rise at alarming rates.
The problem with that argument – that state insurance commissions can adequately regulate the insurance industry – is that there is overwhelming evidence that state insurance regulatory commissions are a revolving door for insurance industry insiders. Want to guess who’s side they are on? It’s like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop.
Thus, it makes sense that Republicans went along with the repeal of the previous legislation given that recent spate of news regarding substantial increases in health care premiums. Republican leaders said that this was a just a political-motivated ploy by the Democrats in a memo circulated to their members just before the vote took place. The exact language from the memo was ”[for] political calculations, rather than substantive reasons.” So why did they then turn right around and vote for it if it was a “politically-motivated ploy”? Will Senate Republicans do the same thing?
Republicans cannot have it both ways. Maybe their vote is politically-motivated to ensure that they are re-elected in the November 2010 mid-term elections (yes, the one coming up this Fall)?
What a bunch of hypocrites!
Why Good Non-partisan Politicians Like Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Dennis Moore (D-KS) Throw in the Towel
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Campaigns, Conservatives, How and Why We Get Screwed, Uncategorized on February 16th, 2010
These two men are the “poster children” for what’s really wrong with Congress and American Politics
You only need to look at their recently announced retirements – Bayh’s came yesterday and Moore’s was back in November 2009 - in order to divine that something is seriously amiss.
They are NOT Liberal Democrats. These are both very mainstream Centrists, at times even leaning a bit to the Conservative side. Moreover, it is highly unlikely either one of them would have lost their seats in the next election cycle. They were both very popular – especially with independents and Republican moderates – and they both have huge campaign war chests.
So why quit?
Evan Bayh’s stated reasons given at the press conference for his retirement announcement yesterday speaks volumes:
“There is too much partisanship and not enough progress — too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving,” he said yesterday. “Even at a time of enormous challenge, the peoples’ business is not being done.”
And although Dennis Moore has not stated the same sentiments publicly – and I have known Dennis for a number of years – I have a very strong visceral instinct that such is the case. If so, we are witnessing the disappearance of the political Centrists/Moderates, and an even greater polarization of the political spectrum.
Moreover, the inexplicable hatred of President Obama by the Right Wing - and blanket criticism of everything he does (or does not do) – defies logic and reason. Because of this insane hatred and the incendiary punditry, we are now treading down a very dangerous pathway; it does not bode well for the future of our country, or the security of this nation.
Are you listening America?
Corporate American is a Non-sensical Legal Fantasy
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Business and Money, Campaign Finance Reform, Campaigns, Capitalism, Financial Terrorists, How and Why We Get Screwed, Legal & Justice, Politics, Show Them the $$$, Wall Street, Wealth Disparity & the Ultra Rich on February 15th, 2010
![Corporate American [Tom Tomorrow]](http://screwedus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Corporate-American-Tom-Tomorrow.bmp "Corporate American [Tom Tomorrow]")
THE RISE OF THE CORPORATE-AMERICAN [from TOM TOMORROW'S "MODERN WORLD" - published at Salon.com]
Here are the clones your U.S. Supreme Court truly elevated to the status of human beings in order to finally ensure that justice prevails – in other words, that Freedom of Speech and the political system can be bought and owned by the highest bidders.
Now how soon do the other four seats on the court go up for sale? Our corporations deserve to speak with one voice, and they now have the right ($$$) to make sure it’s the only voice heard!
Enjoy your democracy while it lasts, America.
Thank Goodness Obama Healthcare Reform is Dead? Caveat Emptor . . .
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Bailouts, Banking, Budget, Budget & Deficit, Budget Deficit, Business and Money, Campaigns, Capitalism, Conservatives, Economics, Financial Crisis, Financial Terrorists, Government, Healthcare Reform, How and Why We Get Screwed, Medicare, Sarah Palin, Show Them the $$$, Wall Street, Wealth Disparity & the Ultra Rich, economy, financial industry on February 12th, 2010
This is the face of the future for Republican Health Care and Social Security Reform – memorize it!
Now remember all of those terrifying Town Hall meetings in the Summer of 2009, where all you heard about on a daily basis were “Death Panels” and Medicare cuts, and Big Brother’s government bureaucrats making decisions about both the quality and quantity of health care you were going to receive?
You have nothing to worry about. Obama’s Health Care Reform is likely all but dead, and many of you will try to vote the Republicans back into power in this Fall’s mid-term elections so that they can protect you from Obama’s scary Socialist Big Government. Hip, Hip, Hooray (or is that Horror?) for their brand of Capitalism and individual freedom.
Except for one thing. The Republicans do not intend to protect you from anything (remember, that’s the point of shrinking government support). Including going broke in your retirement years from either rising health care costs, or diminishing retirement income. Think I am kidding? This is not hyperbole!
Ignore what follows at your own peril . . .
At the 2009 CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) - this is the Superbowl of Conservative power-brokers, with Glenn Beck as their 2010 Keynote Speaker - Republican Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) proposed that Medicare be completely dismantled, and replaced by a system of vouchers for seniors to purchase health insurance in the private sector.
Make no mistake about it: this will be the platform for the Republicans’ answer on how to reform health care once they are back in power. Do you doubt that? Well, Fox News reported that Ryan has been annointed as “the leader of future of the conservative movement.” That’s code for Republican Presidential nominee. He is their visionary, and here is his vision for American retirees’ Medicare and social security safety nets.
According to The Economist magazine, and an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Ryan’s “daring plan” will stimulate both the health insurance industry, as well as the health care industry, while slowing the growth of government health care spending; which is great if you are a Republican rising star like Ryan, who receives almost 40% of his political campaign contributions from health-related industries and their beneficiaries.
What’s not so great for retirees is that the CBO analysis shows why this is so great for the government and those industries: the dollar value of those vouchers you are going to get under Ryan’s plan will not rise as quickly as the projected costs of health care. Which means retirees will have higher out-of-pocket expenses as time goes on. And you can be certain that if those costs are going up, your private health insurance will also be going up at an equally rising rate – after all, they have to make a profit. That’s Capitalism. Right?
Another great thing about this plan – but not so great for retirees – is that the cost to the government will continue to grow more slowly because, as the CBO projections show, people will use less health care when they have to increasingly pay more and more out of their own pockets. Remember last summer when Sarah Palin and the Teabaggers scared you about the government rationing health care? Now you can do it to yourself!
In essence, Ryan’s Republican plan would make the government go broke more slowly than American retirees will, while temporarily keeping this growing health care crisis at bay another decade or two, and increase the profits of health-related industries along the way, forcing you to resort to receiving less and less health care as you grow older.
Don’t believe me? Do the math. It’s really that simple.
And Remember: Under the Republican Healthcare Reform Plan you will NOT even have Medicare supplemental insurance to fall back on. You wanted government out of your life . . . you got it!
So be happy you are not going to get Health Care Reform from Obama. I don’t mean to alarm you – especially after the Republicans scared you sufficiently enough to ensure health care reform would not get passed. After all, now they are free to begin selling you their notion of a “free market” alternative. Caveat emptor (”buyer beware”).
And recall the proverbial admonishment: “Be careful what you wish for . . . you just might get it.”
Happy retirement, America. 
P.S. Ryan’s “free market plan” also calls for Social Security to be completely dismantled, and privatized. Surely the impact of that policy is not lost on anyone after the global financial markets collapsed for the second time in a decade – losing almost 40% of their value in both downturns, with average investment returns for the past ten (10) years of about 1%. What if your social security safety net was invested there? Hint: it’s not a “free market” proposal - the government will limit your choices on how you can invest your social security retirement. Are you really so naive as to think Wall Street won’t have their greedy fingers in that enormous financial pie? They own Washington, D.C.!
Wizards of Moronic Destruction (WMD) in Louisiana Watergate Have Assured Senator Landrieu’s Re-election
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Campaigns, Conservatives, Crime & Punishment, Glenn Beck, How and Why We Get Screwed, Legal & Justice, National Security, Politics, crime on February 11th, 2010
Well if you are too young to remember the Watergate scandal, it almost tore America apart at the seams. In fact, our country has never been as close to a Constitutional crisis as it was back in 1974, when President Richard Nixon was serving his second term in office. With impeachment proceedings looming, Nixon was forced to resign as President of the United States for his participation in the Whitehouse’s cover-up of a burglary of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) offices in the Watergate office building in Washington, D. C. by Republican operatives at the direction of staff members of the Nixon Administration.
This is certainly not to insinuate that anything as remotely sinister as the Watergate scandal crimes against the country took place down in Louisiana near the end of January. However, there are some very strange similarities that cannot be overlooked in respect to the Watergate burglars and the perpetrators of this political criminal escapade in Louisiana.
First, in both cases at least one of the men had a relatively cozy relationship to a U.S. intelligence agency. E. Howard Hunt was a former C.I.A. officer, and one of the Whitehouse operatives who planned and helped execute the break-in of the offices of the DNC. In the present case, it was reported today that Stanley Dai was the assistant director of the Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence program at Trinity Washington University, a small Catholic college in Washington D.C., – a program completely funded by the National Intelligence Agency. Moreover, Dai was listed as the principle contact for a symposium that featured officials of the National Intelligence Council, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the C.I.A.
Second, in both cases one of the participants has a “relationship” to a federal law enforcement agency. In Watergate, it was the still-infamous G. Gordon Liddy, a former F.B.I. agent who assisted Hunt in the planning and execution of the burglary. In the Louisiana case, one of the participants is Robert Flanagan, the son of Shreveport-based acting U.S. Attorney Bill Flanagan.
Third, it should come as no irony that in each of these cases the actors were low-level political hacks obviously trying to infiltrate offices of Democratic party members and engage in politically-motivated espionage in order to win an election. It should not be lost on anyone that for these petty criminals, democracy is far too dangerous to be left in the hands of the your political opponents.
Finally, the participation in the Louisiana case by one of the principles in the political “sting operation” to discredit ACORN - a molehill that looks bigger than a mountain to Glenn Beck’s deranged mind – should give a whole new meaning to political karma.
To James O’Keefe: a word of advice - acting like a big pimp when you are just a little political whore will eventually catch up with you.
Running the U.S.A. With Crib Notes and Giving the Country a Hand Job
Posted by Lance Haley in 2012 Election, Campaigns, Conservatives, Politics, Sarah Palin, Tea Party on February 10th, 2010
. . . and Teabaggers and Conservatives are worried about how Obama is running this country?
When Whitehouse Press Secretary Robert Gibbs used crib notes scribbled on his palm in a tongue-in-cheek imitation of Sarah Palin’s speech to the Teabag Party Convention this past weekend, it was a mockery of Palin that ranks up there with some of Tina Fey’s material -
Here is a close-up of Palin’s hand at the Teabagger Convention.
Please, Please, Please Republicans! Run her in 2012. Pleasssssssssssseeeee?
Eulogy for Senator John McCain
Posted by Lance Haley in Campaigns, Conservatives, Politics, Sarah Palin on February 9th, 2010
Over a decade ago, I stood in a long line of people holding a book under my arm, waiting to shake the hand of the man that I thought would be the next president of the United States of America. That book was called Faith of My Fathers, and the man was John McCain.
I had never before gone to a book signing for a politician. For me, it was enough that I read their books, and I was not so naive to believe that many of them really had our best interests at heart. But John McCain was different. Or so I thought.
As McCain prepares to fight for his political life in an Arizona primary, stooping so low as to resort to having Sarah Palin campaign with him, I can only reflect on the man that he once was – the consummate American Maverick.
Yes, he had been involved in the Keating Five. It was early in his political career, and he seemed transformed by the experience. An epiphany of sorts, if you will. That political corruption was only one campaign contribution away. That taking large sums of money from one man, or one industry, made you beholden to their interests, no matter how unlawful, immoral or unethical those interests might be. That often the agenda of the rich and powerful was anathema to the interests of your constituents – the very people at whose behest you serve. That these very powerful interests had the effect of diluting democracy through buying influence over your better judgment. Therefore, by avoiding the inclination to take these large sums of campaign contributions, a politician could vote his conscience, and ensure that the best interests of his constituents was always at the forefront of every decision he/she makes.
That was what made John McCain so different from other politicians. He did not stick his finger up in the air to see which way the political winds were blowing. Back then, no one could label him as a Conservative or Liberal – though many tried. His brand of politics defied labeling. He did not care that his fellow Republicans were pounding the podiums, railing like preachers against some horrible “liberal” agenda, while powerful corporations quietly stuffed their campaign coffers full of cash. He did not countenance the Democrats pleas to alleviate the toil and suffering of the American farmer, while they all lived in opulence and rode in limousines to the Capitol building every day – all paid for by powerful corporate agricultural interests.
He was the consummate warrior. A former POW, who understood what it was like to have no hope. Who could relate to the man who was downtrodden and beaten by those who held power over him. Who survived the the torture and suffering, and came back from the living dead to come face to face with his enemy, and walk through the ruins of the Hanoi Hilton – the building where they tried for years upon years to break his body and spirit.
Time and time again, he stood up in the Senate chambers, excoriating his fellow politicians – both Republicans and Democrats – for their duplicity and hypocrisy. He pushed hard for campaign finance reform. He wanted to eliminate the “soft money” that so deeply corrupts our political system. He was the penultimate maverick – no, not some Populist Teabagger “pretender” like Sarah Palin. When John McCain spoke, all of his fellow politicians shuddered. For they knew the things he was saying rang true. The system was broken, and they were all responsible.
That was then. This is now. As the Republicans have moved further and further to the right, McCain has followed. The Maverick is now just a hollow, old caricature of himself. Another washed-up politician, long in the tooth, and short on having the sense to know it’s time to bow out gracefully. Unfortunately, John McCain left all that grace at the alter of his egotistical aspirations for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2007. The price was his political independence – which was bought and paid for by the Far Right.
Paradoxically, he sold his soul to that devil, and now he cannot have it back.
The John McCain whose hand I shook that day in 1999 is dead. The book that contains an inscription from him to myself lies on a shelf, covered in dust - just like the man who authored it. We will miss you dearly, John. Your brand of politics was a breath of fresh air. Now all we have to breathe is the dark, politically-polluted gases that hang like a cloud of death over our nation’s capitol. And for that, John McCain, you too are now partially responsible.
I will shed no tears. I just shake my head in disgust, and walk away.
All Proposed U.S. Budget Deficit Reduction Plans Are “Nothing Burgers”
Posted by Lance Haley in Bailouts, Banking, Budget Deficit, Campaigns, Congress, Conservatives, Economics, Financial Crisis, Government, How and Why We Get Screwed, Politics, Senate, Show Them the $$$, Uncategorized, Wall Street, Wealth Disparity & the Ultra Rich, economy, financial industry on January 24th, 2010
“Nothing Burger“: Two pieces of bread slapped together with nothing in between. Usually eaten when you have nothing in the house except bread or are too lazy to spend 2 minutes making a decent sandwich.
- definition in the The Urban Dictionary
This is utter laughable.
Senator Gregg Judd (R-New Hampshire), the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, claims the Democrats are not serious about cutting the deficit. He first offered a plan co-sponsored by Democratic Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D – North Dakota), that would require Congress to establish a bi-partisan commission to study deficit reduction recommendations, and if a fixed number of its members could agree on specific budget cuts, Congress would then be compelled to vote on those measures before the 2010 mid-term elections this Fall.
President Obama and the Democrats endorsed a similar deficit-reduction plan, but without the requirement of a mandatory vote in the Senate on the issue. Senator Gregg then criticized the Democrats, calling their plan a “nothing burger“, insinuating that they were not serious about deficit reduction. And the Republicans are?
Senator Gregg, you need a little lesson in transparency.
First, there is serious doubt about whether you can even get the support of your own party on this issue – both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R – Kentucky) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (D – Ohio) stated they will not back the plan because the Republicans are philosophically opposed to tax increases. In other words, Republicans tacit acknowledge that deficit cutting would likely involve raising taxes, and they would rather let the country go bankrupt before they would make it pay its own way – now that is fiscal responsibility at its finest.
Second, that nasty little chart just below indicates that the real explosion in the government debt started in 1981 – after Ronald Reagan took office and the Neo-Conservative movement began. The largest deficit increases (as a percentage of the previous deficit) occurred from 2003 to 2006, not ironically when President Bush and the Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress. Moreover, that does not even account for the estimated $600 Billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that we borrowed from China through 2007, – projected to increase to $1.6 Trillion before Obama took office - and which was “kept off the books” by the Bush Administration, Enron style.
Ouch!
Third, no Washington politician is ever going to be serious about fiscal responsibility, regardless of which party they belong to – it just does not make political sense if you are an incumbent running for re-election. Besides, Senator Gregg, proposing mandatory deficit reduction is easy when you are being disingenuous about the political realities of the issue.
One final word on that lesson about transparency, Senator Gregg: While serving as the Senate Republican’s lead negotiator and author of the TARP program (Wall Street bailouts) in the Fall of 2008, you recommended that Bank of America receive $45 Billion from the TARP funds – at a time when you owned millions of dollars in Bank of America stock. After your Bank of America stock recovered rather nicely this past year, you are now proposing that the TARP fund be terminated so as to not create a “piggy bank” for politicians.
And you have the audacity to criticize the Democrats, Senator Gregg?