In Tucson Wednesday night, it sounded like a campaign rally. A memorial service is no place for the cheers and applause. But the noise was perfect. Not because the president's words were powerful, though they were, but because the scene matched this moment of noisy distractions. The solemnity of the event was interrupted in the same way the period after the shooting has been interrupted by the political debate.
The president's job was to move past both—to get a message out and through the noise so the country could hear. If it can be done, he did it.
The president memorialized the dead and celebrated the heroes. He could have stopped there. He could have decided not to tarnish their memory with politics. He made another decision, using just enough politics and the power of his office to build a memorial to their lives by calling the rest of us to live up to their example. That they are deserving of our good example. That was the message. He used that expression when talking about our children but it was his request of the country. "What, beyond prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward? How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?"
Throughout his presidency a doubt about Barack Obama has lingered, one that first surfaced during his campaign for the White House that began nearly four years ago. The fear was that – for all his oratorical brilliance – Obama somehow lacked empathy, that he was a slightly chilly, aloof figure, that he struggled to connect emotionally.
We'll hear much less of that talk now.
For the address he gave at last night's memorial service for the victims of the Arizona shootings was elegiac, heartfelt and deeply moving. It both rose to the moment and transcended it: after days of noise and rancour, he carved out a moment of calm.
Much of the speech was dedicated to its core function: to commemorate the dead and comfort those in mourning. He spoke in detail about those who had been slain, describing them one by one – the elderly couple who had lived life as if it were a "50-year honeymoon", the husband who shielded his wife from the bullets, dying so that she might live. Most affecting, he spoke of Christina Taylor Green, the nine-year-old girl born on 11 September 2001 – the president, doubtless thinking of his own daughters, seeming to brim with emotion, at one point emitting a noise somewhere between a sigh and a suppressed sob.
"If there are rain puddles in heaven Christina is jumping over them today" - President Obama
In all this, he spoke less like a politician than a pastor or priest comforting a grieving community. The focus on those who had saved lives was an attempt to offer hope amid the sadness:
"Heroism is here," he said, an echo of his own famous declaration that "We are the ones we have been waiting for." He reminded his flock of what really mattered: it was "not wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have loved".
This is part of the US presidential job description that sets the office apart: more than mere head of government, an American president is required to be almost a spiritual leader to his nation. Obama ascended to that role in Tucson yesterday, with no less aplomb than Bill Clinton summoned in Oklahoma City in 1995.
For all that, such a moment will – inevitably – have political reverberations. This was no ordinary memorial service – that much was clear from the cheers and ovations that greeted frequent chunks of the stadium speech (and that might have grated on some ears). What, besides proving Obama's ability to empathise, will be the political impact?
Crude though it is to say so, it will have boosted the president's standing enormously. After the partisan bickering that followed Saturday's killings, Obama stepped forward to be what analyst Nate Silver called "the adult in the room". This was meant to be the Republicans' week, as they took control of the House of Representatives and its legislative agenda.
Instead they look small – as well as defensive, fending off accusations that it was the violent rhetoric of the right that fuelled the current toxic political environment. None smaller than the de facto leader of today's Republican party, Sarah Palin, who preceded the Tucson address with an aggressive, self-regarding and petty-minded videotaped message that claimed she had been the victim of a "blood libel". The contrast between the two performances could not have been sharper.
Obama looks the bigger person, calling for a discourse that heals not wounds. That puts him in the place all presidents covet: above the fray, beyond mere Democrat or Republican. Ronald Reagan got there, but few others manage it. The challenge will be to maintain that position into the re-election year of 2012.
But such thoughts are for later. What will be remembered today are moments like those when he told his audience that Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time – moments when only the most cold-hearted would not have felt a tear. What we saw from Obama in Tucson will be a defining, even cherished moment in his presidency.
New legislation is afoot to deal with an individuals ability to fire a large number of rounds with oversized clips. The Sponsor is Representative Carolyn McCarthy D-NY. In the Tucson shooting Loughner was tackled after firing 31 bullets as he stopped to put in a new clip. If magazine clips were limited to ten rounds, as McCarthy proposes, Loughner would have been shut down earlier and the damage lessened. McCarthy's husband was killed and her son grievously wounded in a 1993 gun rampage on the Long Island Railroad, so she has more than a passing interest in the subject.
Any attempt to rein in the gun culture even a limitation on clip size will be fought by the National Rifle Association. The FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US. The average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models. It is often estimated that about 1 in 4 people own any firearms and on average firearms owners own 4 guns each. "The average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models." We will track the progress of the "Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act." (H.R.308)
ACV Democratic News
Hannity to Interview Sarah Palin
Its blood simple, Sarah has wounded herself with her self centered claim to be a victim of the Tucson shooting and nobody conducts a supportive cover up of the facts interview that is as friendly to the right wing tea party types as Sean Hannity. Sean is a conservative groupie who has reportedly broken down in tears on numerous occasions, the last being Tom DeLay's sentencing to 3 years hard time and 10 years probation. Sean and Sarah work together at Fox so there is little doubt that the interview will be hard hitting and in depth.
At ACVDN we were able to lay hands on some of the questions Sean will pose to Sarah. It is our understanding that these questions were furnished to Sarah in advance of the interview also. We'll share a few with you. If Sarah and her team had finished the answers we would share them with you too but they are woking and re-working the answers to be sure they get them right and present Palin in the most favorable light. Sean is working hand in hand on this effort and if anything goes wrong he can step in a catch Sarah before she falls. So bravely, Sarah is working without a net but not without a Hannity. A Hannity is a lot like a net.
1. What flavor of popcorn do you and your lovely family enjoy the most? And as a follow up is that microwave or air popped corn?
2. After a hard day of shooting wolves and carabou do you ever wonder how you can give so much to and for America? Why don't the liberals appreciate all that you do?
3. You attended 6 different colleges, graduated with a diploma in magnetic exercise theory, was Mayor of a large Alaskan town of almost 300 people, runner-up in the Miss Wassila pagent and served almost half a term as Governor of Alaska. All this in addition to playing high school basketball. What more is required to be President? Does Obama know anything about magnet exercise theory?
4. You posted a survey map of the United States that high lighted congressional districts where you supported a candidate and asked people to reload their votes by taking up their arms which everybody knows means exercise your second amendment right to vote. The liberals have tried to mis-construe your very clear language and blame you for things you didn't do. Weren't you keeping an eye on Russia, which everyone knows can be seen from your front window, when the tragedy in Tucson took place? And to follow up, Why is a loyal and dedicated American such as you so vilified by the left when you are completely innocent?
5. Knowing how much you oppose healthy children and all the efforts of First Lady Obama to have Americas children eat
healthy, Do you have a favorite recipe to share with the country? And to follow up will any brand of lard work when frying up your recipe? Is there anything cuter than a 175 pound 6 year old first grader?
Watching Sean Hannity do an interview is an event that is hard for SNL to parody. How do you parody a fool so lame? Don't forget for a minute that Fox and its regular viewers receive this circus as reality.
Sarah Palin is scheduled to sit for her first extended interview since the Tucson shooting rampage on Monday night, on the Fox News Channel.
New legislation is afoot to deal with an individuals ability to fire a large number of rounds with oversized clips. The Sponsor is Representative Carolyn McCarthy D-NY. In the Tucson shooting Loughner was tackled after firing 31 bullets as he stopped to put in a new clip. If magazine clips were limited to ten rounds, as McCarthy proposes, Loughner would have been shut down earlier and the damage lessened. McCarthy's husband was killed and her son grievously wounded in a 1993 gun rampage on the Long Island Railroad, so she has more than a passing interest in the subject.
Any attempt to rein in the gun culture even a limitation on clip size will be fought by the National Rifle Association. The FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US. The average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models. It is often estimated that about 1 in 4 people own any firearms and on average firearms owners own 4 guns each. "The average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models." We will track the progress of the "Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act." (H.R.308)
ACV Democratic News
Hannity to Interview Sarah Palin
Its blood simple, Sarah has wounded herself with her self centered claim to be a victim of the Tucson shooting and nobody conducts a supportive cover up of the facts interview that is as friendly to the right wing tea party types as Sean Hannity. Sean is a conservative groupie who has reportedly broken down in tears on numerous occasions, the last being Tom DeLay's sentencing to 3 years hard time and 10 years probation. Sean and Sarah work together at Fox so there is little doubt that the interview will be hard hitting and in depth.
At ACVDN we were able to lay hands on some of the questions Sean will pose to Sarah. It is our understanding that these questions were furnished to Sarah in advance of the interview also. We'll share a few with you. If Sarah and her team had finished the answers we would share them with you too but they are woking and re-working the answers to be sure they get them right and present Palin in the most favorable light. Sean is working hand in hand on this effort and if anything goes wrong he can step in a catch Sarah before she falls. So bravely, Sarah is working without a net but not without a Hannity. A Hannity is a lot like a net.
1. What flavor of popcorn do you and your lovely family enjoy the most? And as a follow up is that microwave or air popped corn?
2. After a hard day of shooting wolves and carabou do you ever wonder how you can give so much to and for America? Why don't the liberals appreciate all that you do?
3. You attended 6 different colleges, graduated with a diploma in magnetic exercise theory, was Mayor of a large Alaskan town of almost 300 people, runner-up in the Miss Wassila pagent and served almost half a term as Governor of Alaska. All this in addition to playing high school basketball. What more is required to be President? Does Obama know anything about magnet exercise theory?
4. You posted a survey map of the United States that high lighted congressional districts where you supported a candidate and asked people to reload their votes by taking up their arms which everybody knows means exercise your second amendment right to vote. The liberals have tried to mis-construe your very clear language and blame you for things you didn't do. Weren't you keeping an eye on Russia, which everyone knows can be seen from your front window, when the tragedy in Tucson took place? And to follow up, Why is a loyal and dedicated American such as you so vilified by the left when you are completely innocent?
5. Knowing how much you oppose healthy children and all the efforts of First Lady Obama to have Americas children eat
healthy, Do you have a favorite recipe to share with the country? And to follow up will any brand of lard work when frying up your recipe? Is there anything cuter than a 175 pound 6 year old first grader?
Watching Sean Hannity do an interview is an event that is hard for SNL to parody. How do you parody a fool so lame? Don't forget for a minute that Fox and its regular viewers receive this circus as reality.
Sarah Palin is scheduled to sit for her first extended interview since the Tucson shooting rampage on Monday night, on the Fox News Channel.
An executive at Fox News Channel said that Ms. Palin would appear on the program of the conservative host Sean Hannity,
and that the interview was scheduled to run through several commercial breaks. Rehersals for the live interview are going on as we write this and by showtime it should be butter smooth. Palin who sometimes lip syncs interviews is scheduled to do this one live.
The announcement came on Thursday, another day when Ms. Palin was figuring prominently in the discussion surrounding the Tucson shooting rampage, for her video statement about the shootings that she released Wednesday morning to stinging reviews from liberals and even some Republicans. Sean and Todd both thought she aced it in that interview.
Ms. Palin is a paid Fox contributor, but she has been laying low on the network in the wake of the shooting. Her agreement to sit for an interview comes as even some Republicans have urged her to appear to put herself out there for questions amid the criticism she is facing.
Hannity started his radio career in 1989 at the radio station of University of California, Santa Barbara. His show was canceled after the school accused him of discrimination against gays and lesbians, but this decision was reversed amid pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Fast Facts on Hannity:
Born December 30, 1961 in New York City
Hosts Fox News Channel weekend program Hannity's America
Religion: Roman Catholic
Runs dating website "Hannidate," introducing conservative singles
Received honorary degree from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University
For a small Gift You can receive an Honorary Degree also.
Hannity heads a charity for wounded vets and scholorships for kids who have lost a parent to war. Many don't think he is on the up and up with the money, and the figures don't prove them wrong so lets look at the facts.
In Hannity's defense the charity has gotten better every year with the contribution percentages. It would have been hard to go downhill from their rocky start in 2006 when they contributed 3% to charity; in 2007 they more than doubled that to 7%; and then in 2008 they made another improvement to contribut 12%.
The standard for most reputable charities is 75%. Really serious charity efforts like The United Way foreward 93% plus to the charities they support. So Hannity is headed in the right direction on what looks conservatively like a long journey.
This data comes directly from the tax returns filed by the charity. On a future show Sean might explain where the money goes since the war vets and their children aren't seeing it. Sarah could interview him and return the favor with tough questions designed to shore up the charity. Then the charity could contribute a little money to Sarah's presidental fund, at least match what Fox contributes.
Hannity does the same things he rails against on his show everyday when it comes to the goverment. He and his family are taking private planes, and luxery accomodations at the expense of the charity.
Not just the liberals that Hannity attacks everyday are putting out this news. Even embarrised conservatives are starting to ask some questions. The fear is even a Fox viewer will wise up one day and see whats happening. That sounds far fetched but it could happen. It sounds like Hannity needs to sit down and do some work on his budget for his charity and its expenses.
ACV Democratic News
Satire and Parody
In todays world it is important to recognize satire and parody when you encounter it. The following is offered to help you draw distinctions.
DEA Agents Destroy 20 Acre Pot Farm
DEA Agents mistakenly destroyed an entire 20-acre pot farm in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area on Thursday. Believing the pot farm was being operated by a Mexican drug cartel, the DEA agents had the entire area bulldozed and set the pot ablaze only to find out minutes later that the pot farm was actually owned and operated by the United States government. The street worth of the mature pot plants was estimated to be anywhere from $1 to $2 million dollars.Leaked memos from the GOP caucus indicate the entire Congressional delegation in the Congress of the United States is planning to sit on Whoopee Cushions during President Obama's speech. The old party gag hasn't been seen much since the 1950's, but has gained popularity since the advent of the Tea Party.
This pot farm and several more like it are part of a new government program to grow medical marijuana for purposes of taking control of the medical marijuana business in several states that have now legalized the weed for consumption. The DEA official responsible for ordering the destruction of the pot farm has been put on administrative leave without pay until it can be determined his motive for taking the action that he did.
A spokesperson for the DEA official made this statement "a certain level of confusion is now being felt by DEA officials whose jobs have changed dramatically with the passing of legal medical marijuana laws in several states. As such, those DEA officials who, prior to the passing of these laws, would automatically just assume a field of pot growing on federal lands was there illegally and set about the task of destroying the plants. It is not so cut and dried anymore," he said unjokingly.
Meanwhile, pot being grown illegally by Mexican drug cartels in the nation's state parks continues to be the number one drug problem in America.
Ok, do you get the idea? Now Check this one out.
Prince Elected as New RNC Chairman
Prince Rebus, who hails from Wisconsin, beat out three other contenders and Steele during seven rounds of ballots. Steele
conceded defeat after the fourth ballot clearly indicated that there wasn't a chance in hell of him being re-elected.
While another contender, Maria Cino, had the backing of House Majority Speaker, John Boehner, it was former Mississippi
Governor Haley Barbour who backed the Prince and eventually saw his candidate sail to the top of the leadership charts.
"I've known the Prince since he was only a symbol," claims Barbour, "and I can tell you that if anyone can bring this
party together, it is Prince Rebus," and then Barbour asked his fellow Republicans to put their hands together while he sang a parody of "Party Like it's 1999" using the date 1981 instead, referring to the illustrious date when Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States.
Third times a charm.
State of Union Address
In what one veteran Washington observer has noted, "This is probably the most disrespectful thing that has ever been done at a State of the Union Address!"
If first reports are correct, Speaker of the House, John Boehner will start by sitting on his cushion just before Obama starts his speech. "This will blow his mind," said a Tea Party spokesman. "Speaker Boehner will be the First Responder, so to speak, followed by Congressman Joe Wilson, who, after all, started the idea."
A Democratic member of the House stated, "This is beyond the pale and the most disgusting thing I have seen in the halls of Congress, but what would you expect from a group of people that thinks a stand- up comic is someone who farts in a crowded elevator!"
Not all members of the caucus are participating, however. Senator John McCain told a journalist, "I don't need it." Several Senators that sit in close proximity to McCain, agreed.
In related news, a Tea Party spokesperson announced that the group would be selling the Whoopee Cushions on the internet. "Join us," he said, "and make a joyous noise unto the LORD, while exercising your first amendment rights!"
The cushions come in a variety of colors with discounts to church (Christian) and civic groups and will be available at: teapartyflatulence.web
So, who knows, flip a coin. Learn to recognize satire and parody and Fox News becomes funnier than SNL (except the Fox News folks don't know they are making jokes).
ACV Democratic News
RUSH-BO
Rush says he is being picked on, "I would never connect my image to guns and anyone who says I would is lying".
In the wake of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting at an event hosted by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has been emphatic in his assertion that he and other right-wing political figures in no way contributed to the mindset of suspected gunman Jared Loughner. But an unfortunate billboard advertising Limbaugh's show has given his critics some ammunition of their own. KNST Radio is located in Tucson, Arizona and so is this billboard.
The text of the ad read "Rush Limbaugh Straight Shooter," and was accompanied by pictures of stray bullet holes. The billboard was taken down on Monday, two days after the shooting rampage. Sarah Palin removed her bullseye map with crosshairs slightly quicker than Rush removed his straight shooter billboard.
ACV Democratic News
STEELE WAVES GOOD-BY
Welcome Aboard Reince Priebus (Ryns Pree'-bus). You are well suited to run the GOP.
The national Republican Party, coming off huge election victories but facing a $22 million debt and an internal war over identity, ousted chairman Michael Steele Friday and chose Wisconsin party chief Reince Priebus to lead in the run-up to the 2012 presidential race.
The embattled Steele dropped his re-election bid halfway through an afternoon of balloting when it became clear he could not win another two-year term after a first marked by verbal missteps and financial woes.
"We have to get on track. And together we can defeat Barack Obama in 2012," Priebus, the chairman of the Wisconsin GOP, said in a brief victory speech, pleading for unity within the fractured 168-member Republican National Committee. "We all recognize that there's a steep hill here ahead of us, and the only way that we'll be able to move forward is if we're all together."
The new chairman's name is pronounced Ryns Pree'-bus.
ACV Democratic News
STEELE WAVES GOOD-BY
Welcome Aboard Reince Priebus (Ryns Pree'-bus). You are well suited to run the GOP.
The national Republican Party, coming off huge election victories but facing a $22 million debt and an internal war over identity, ousted chairman Michael Steele Friday and chose Wisconsin party chief Reince Priebus to lead in the run-up to the 2012 presidential race.
The embattled Steele dropped his re-election bid halfway through an afternoon of balloting when it became clear he could not win another two-year term after a first marked by verbal missteps and financial woes.
"We have to get on track. And together we can defeat Barack Obama in 2012," Priebus, the chairman of the Wisconsin GOP, said in a brief victory speech, pleading for unity within the fractured 168-member Republican National Committee. "We all recognize that there's a steep hill here ahead of us, and the only way that we'll be able to move forward is if we're all together."
The new chairman's name is pronounced Ryns Pree'-bus.
A former top lieutenant to Steele, Priebus promised to hire top-notch staff or at least more loyal people than Steele employeed, restructure the organization and put it on solid financial footing so the next GOP presidential nominee will be prepared to take on Obama. Later, he rejected suggestions the national party organization's power might have waned, given the proliferation of outside groups that have assumed campaign functions the party historically has performed.
"It's very relevant," he said.
For the next two years, Priebus will try to prove that.
Most urgently, the new chairman must retire an RNC debt of about $22 million owed to vendors, adult themed clubs and banks, as well as lure back demoralized donors who have been so frustrated with Steele's management that they sent their dollars elsewhere or didn't open their wallets at all last year. The party had only about $1 million cash on hand at year's end. Erasing the debt owed to banks will be only a small problem owing to the close relationship the GOP enjoys with bankers.
He'll also serve as the party top spokesman promoting its agenda, countering Democrats, raising money to help Republicans and improving a get-out-the-vote effort that critics say languished under Steele. Critics say the whole effort fell apart under Steele and vow that old and white is pretty much right for their future direction. It must have fallen apart, just look at how terrible the election went for the GOP.
Additionally, Priebus will have to figure out how to navigate a GOP civil war in which conservatives and tea party disciples are trying to pull the Republican Party further to the right, to the chagrin of moderates and some longtime establishment leaders.
Virtually unknown nationally, the Wisconsin GOP chairman has a high profile in his home state where he is well known to hundreds of voters.
He's an attorney with the law firm Michael Best and Friedrich, where he is a partner specializing in corporate litigation, according to the firm's website. State and federal campaign finance records show the Wisconsin Republican Party has paid the firm at least $89,572 in legal fees during Priebus' tenure as state GOP chairman so there is a solid relationship between local Wisconsin GOP money and the law firms accounts receivable.
Priebus' has criticized Obama's multibillion-dollar economic stimulus package as a costly failure but Michael Best and Friedrich has helped clients try to win stimulus funds. Firm spokesman David Krutz said Friday that "Priebus has had no role on the stimulus team. Priebus had nothing to do with us receiving $89,572 in legal fees from the Wisconsin GOP while he was the chairman of the Wisconsin GOP and working here with us though not on the stimulus team." The Wisconsin GOP employs a secret method of deciding who to pay money to, they keep it a secret from the Chairman. Priebus was concerned with how Steele handled business?
Steele had argued that he should be re-elected because of the GOP's record of coast-to-coast victories but owing to the small amount of cash on hand didn't fight too hard. In the end Republican pitched him like a used dixie cup and never looked back.
The first black chairman of the Republican Party, Steele was elected to a two-year term in January 2008 just as Obama — the country's first black president — was taking office. Obama has an excellent chance of serving 8 years as president but Steele is history after facing frequent complaints about questionable spending, anemic fundraising, staff shake-ups and cringe-inducing comments. Steele said his "hip-hop snizzzle was beyong the old white GOP, I was able to wear my hat backwards but the goobers never could."
Longtime establishment old Republicans and GOP elders in Washington argued that he damaged the party's image and its long-term fiscal health.
Steele lashed out at critics, telling them to "get a life." Steele also drew fire for collecting payments for his speeches. Other big names in the party would never dream of charging for a speech. In the entire history of the GOP Steele is the only person to ever receive cash for doing a speaking engagement.
Demands for him to resign came last year after the disclosure that RNC money was spent on a $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club, and when he said that the 9-year-old conflict in Afghanistan was a mistaken "war of Obama's choosing." It began under Bush, but it was two days before republicans realized Steele was wrong. Insiders think someone told them that Bush had started the war because republicans weren't paying attention at that point either. Also in Steele's defense prices in California are quite high. Only Reince knows what a night in a Wisconsin sex-themed night club costs but judging from his attack on Steele its probably a lot less than $2,000. So committee members prepare to hold your meetings in Wisconsin at least for the next two years.
So Once Again
Welcome Aboard Reince Priebus. You are well suited to run the GOP.
ACV Democratic News
GOP Propaganda Ploy Kill Health Care
As Congress debates whether or not to repeal last year's health care reform law, one key point of contention is: Will Obamacare really kill jobs?
The Republicans say that it will, and they've put a number to the claim: 1.6 million jobs lost. They've sponsored a bill they call the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, which is likely to come up for a vote early next week.
The bill will probably pass the House, where the Republicans have a majority, but will likely fail in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Even if it passed the Senate, though, President Obama would certainly veto the proposal.
Republicans know its not going anywhere but it gives them a chance to put on a good show for the tea party and other strange groups that make up the GOP. It also waste time and nothing else can be addressed while this is going on.
Republicans profited greatly last election from doing nothing the prior two years and its their plan to dance with the one who brought them.
The Republicans have based their claim that the law will kill 1.6 million jobs on an August 2010 report by the Congressional Budget Office, which said the Affordable Care Act would reduce the amount of labor in the economy by about 0.5%, because more people would choose to retire earlier, thanks to the reduced cost of health insurance.
But as an analysis by FactCheck.org points out, having people leave the job market because it has become financially possible for them to retire is entirely different from killing jobs. The FactCheck report says, in part: "The House Republican leadership. . . badly misrepresents what the Congressional Budget Office has said about the law. In fact, CBO is among those saying the effect 'will probably be small.'"
John Boehner is now speaker of the House because he and his party focused on demonizing everything Obama did and winning the public argument over both the health care plan and the stimulus.
By contrast, the health care debate that was to have taken place this week would have put Boehner and the Republicans on the defensive. On Saturday, Republican leaders postponed all legislative action this week following the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona and the deaths of so many at her town meeting.
Already, that impending vote had forced the GOP to fudge its pledge to respect the minority's rights, since the leadership ruled out any amendments to its bill. The inconsistency led Boehner to produce one of the lamest sound bites of his career. "Well, listen, I promised a more open process," he said. "I didn't promise that every single bill was going to be an open bill."
In other words, he was for an open process before he was against it, and it depends on what the meaning of the word "open" is. Not a good start.
Moreover, the GOP highlighted the extent to which this legislation is all about politics by giving it the jarringly unpoetic name, "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act." This is less a bill than a piece of propaganda.
But the biggest problem is the signal this vote sends about how the Republicans plan to use their new power. Rather than leading off with positive action showing what the party stands for, they start by tearing something down before they have anything to put in its place. Do they really want us to believe that theirs will be a reactive majority — unless you prefer the word reactionary?
And how much of what they do will be defined by the imperative of throwing bones to the tea party movement, which sees health care repeal as a holy cause?
Boehner and his colleagues could have been more deliberate and serious by first holding hearings to highlight what they see as the flaws in Obama's approach and to begin the work of writing a bill of their own. They could have questioned the assumptions behind the health law in a systematic way.
The Congressional Budget Office issued a painstaking study finding that the repeal bill would add $230 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. Boehner dismissed it: "CBO is entitled to their opinion."
The CBO was not expressing an "opinion", they were stating a fact. And even though the GOP did issue a report challenging CBO, its attitude toward neutral accounting was captured by the report's title: "Obamacare: A Budget-Busting Job-Killing Law." Republicans are like little children playing word games but this ignorant simplicity plays well with their core audience.
In the meantime, Democrats have never been as united behind the health care law as they are now. Most of them, even some of the 13 Democrats remaining in the House who voted against the bill last year, see this debate as an opportunity to point out all the popular provisions the Republicans would scrap.
Consider, for example, that voting for repeal is a vote for a tax increase because it would involve eliminating a slew of tax credits, including $40 billion over a decade to help small businesses buy coverage. Couldn't Republicans at least keep those nice business-friendly tax credits?
Then there is the presumption that by repealing the law in its entirety, the House is speaking for "the people." Wrong.
Even a Fox News poll, taken last month, found that only 27 percent of Americans wanted to repeal the health law entirely, while 32 percent wanted to repeal parts of it. On the other side, 16 percent wanted to keep it as is, and 15 percent wanted to expand it.
This poll and many others do show that supporters of the law have a lot of work to do. But House Republicans will be helping them to do it.
Maybe someday, their bill, to pick up the rather violent rhetoric of its title, will be seen as the Republican Majority-Killing Repeal Act of 2011.
ACV Democratic News
ACV Democratic News
Trent Humphries and Sarah Palin
The most disgusting, horrible and pathetic fetishization of victimhood that I've ever seen comes to us care of Trent
Humphries, the founder of the Tucson Tea Party and Sarah Palin, a nobody with an over active love of self.
A nine-year-old girl and a federal judge are among 6 who lie in the morgue. A member of Congress faces a lifetime of
struggle to recover from a bullet in the brain and about 14 other wounded people are coping with their injuries. A city
is bracing itself for a string of funerals as it tries to fathom the carnage.
But Trent Humphries says there is another innocent victim left by Jared Lee Loughner's killing of six people and wounding of 14 others in his assassination attempt against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. It is his Tea Party movement and, more particularly, his family. The killings, he says, are evolving into a conspiracy to destroy his organisation and silence his and Sarah's criticisms of the government.
That's right, poor Trent and Sarah and their Tea Party are just like the the family that gets to bury a nine-year-old
girl this week. They see the parallel perfectly and you would too, if you were dangerously drunk or remarkably dumb.
You know what? When I heard the news out of Tucson on Saturday, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if it turned out that a Tea Partier had snapped. You know why? Because these people parade around in tri-corner hats, "Don't Tread on Me" flags and signs declaring that "It Is Time To Refresh The Tree Of Liberty" signs. Oh, and from time to time Tea Partiers show up at their retarded rallies with machine guns.
Sarah's mouth never rests as she calls others names and uses military and gun terms in connection with anyone she opposes. Sarah's dim witted rantings accuse the government of plotting against the people of our country and trying to end grandmas life with death panels.
Any sane person knows at a glance that Sarah is a dim witted garden slug. The right wing of the republican party and the tea party are unaware of any of Sarah's defects and they enable her hate to spread.
For Trent Humphries to equate himself and his group of historically and economically illiterate band of fantasists with a nine-year-old girl, a federal judge and a member of Congress that were murdered and or shot is beyond the pale. That's offensive in ways that I have trouble articulating.
Trent and Sarah are heros to some. Please tell me you are not that dumb.
ACVDN thanks
girlontheright.com for houghts and ideas and urges you to give her a visit at
http://girlontheright.com/
Girl on the right is a conservative. She sends the following message to Trent and we send it to Sarah also.
To Trent and Sarah
Shut up. Oh my God, in the name of all that’s holy, shut the Hell up. You are not a victim. Your stupid tea party isn’t a victim. You were NOT in that parking lot when Loughner opened fire and started murdering innocent people, so please don’t try to place your absurd politics in the spotlight of grief. It’s despicable that anyone would even think like you.
ACV Democratic News
