Our health insurance benefit is being canceled next year and we will be paid the amount of the current contribution minus the fine for not offering the coverage. They just can not keep paying the increases each year. It was either that or more layoffs!
And you know what else happens? The amount you’re paid to cover health care is considered taxable income. So, the employer’s off the hook for a relatively small amount (the fine) and the employees have to fend for themselves. Yeah, that’s hope and change, all right.
We hope it changes in November wvagt. I assume you are in West Virginia. Are you happy the EPA is shutting down coal up there? Is Joe Manchin hiding out up there? I haven’t seen him threatening to bolt the Democratic Party and Obama is just killing the economy from what I hear.
Let’s just say that Obama isn’t counting on WV’s electoral votes this year, even though WV has a heavy Dem majority of voters. Manchin is keeping a low (read – invisible) profile, doesn’t want to be connected with Obama in any way. He’s up for election again and has a pretty good Rep challenger, but it’s hard to unseat an incumbent Dem in WV.
Didn’t the prisoner who ran in the Democratic Primary get nearly 40% of the vote in WV against Obama? The voters should hold Manchin accountable if he is going to stay in the Degenerate Party. I know he isn’t going to the convention, but he needs to stand up for the citizens when this administration is trying to destroy the economy there. The EPA now stands for the Employment Prevention Agency.
August 29, 2012 at 11:58 am
Say What? says:
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Prisoner???
August 29, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Agent says:
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Yes, Say What. A prisoner in the Texas prison system registered to run in the Democratic primary in West Virginia. The voters were so upset with Obama, they gave the prisoner almost 40% of the vote. I don’t think Obama is very popular there and will probably skip that state in his bus tour.
August 29, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Say What? says:
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Oh. I thought you were talking about John Edwards!
August 29, 2012 at 1:22 pm
FFA says:
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Give him enough rope.
August 28, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Agent says:
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Sarah, from what I have seen with my customers who have Group Health, if they keep them, they will alter their plans for higher deductibles, fewer benefits because it is an affordability issue. If nothing is done to repeal this monster, I think a 5.3% increase is on the lower end and it is likely to be much higher. If they drop their plans, that will throw employees to the exchanges to fend for themselves. It is not a happy prospect for employees who see all their living expenses going up and their income falling.
For all those that have been selling GH, why are you up in arms over a 5.4% increase? Considering the double digit increases over the last several years in the open market, my clients would be overjoyed with 5.3%.
So Caldude, what clients do you expect to have in 2013 to present their increase to? From what I have read, California businesses are fleeing the state in record numbers due to taxation and regulation from the State. The business environment cannot be wonderful out there.
I see…so it wasn’t Obama?! Um….I am so confused. See, I read all these rants and it appears that health insurance premiums will go up, will become unaffordable, grandma is going to die, yada, yada, yada…all due to the ACA (aka Romneycare…er..Obamacare). Yet, GH rates have been steadily increasing over the last 10 years. Riddle me that Batman…
Sure the rates have been going up for years because politicians on both sides of the aisle did nothing to fix it like Tort Reform, creating a competitive environment by allowing insurance to be sold across state lines etc. What we got was a 2,700 page monstrocity passed in the middle of the night without reading it and full of corruption and this is supposed to fix the problem of rate increases??????
Everyone who wanted to had plenty of time to read it, they chose not to. Also, it was being debated for a year. Oh, and it has 160 Republican amendments in it. See the July 15, 2009 line in the following article taken from Fox News:
Still drinking that Koolaid Planet? 160 Amendments by Republican to Obamacare that not one of them in the House or Senate voted for? This was hardly a bi-partisan bill. In fact, none of the Republican ideas put forth in the famous Blair House meeting were used since the President just brushed them aside and pompously announced that he won and they lost and get in the back of the bus.
September 6, 2012 at 2:57 pm
FFA says:
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Cal Dude & Cap Planet & Sarah hahahaha (wher ever you are), you can sugar coat Obama all you want. One simple fact that can not be argued away – He came out of the most corrupt county in the most corrupt state and cut his teeth under Stroger and Blago- two of the most corrupt people that ever held office. Not the best role models to be running the country. Wonder why Romney has not pulled that card out yet.
On another note, just got done with my Ethics Training. I resent being told by Ill policiticans that I need Ethics Training.
Illinois is all the connection I need. I would have loved to hear what he had to say in the Blago Trial. Rahm too.
August 30, 2012 at 8:54 am
Captain Planet says:
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Finally, an increase under double digits. My increases have been about double this over the past nearly decade if not worse. I’ll gladly take a small 5% increase. Sign me up!
Oh no, Agent. I don’t drink that crap. It has high fructose corn syrup. I see you are still believing the Fox News hype. Don’t you ever listen to Public Enemy? “Don’t believe the hype!” – Flavor Flav
You shouldn’t pay so much attention to MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC and all the left wing sites. Everybody knows how this came down and you swallowed the left wing version hook, line & sinker. Can you prove that just one Republican voted for Obamacare in either the House or Senate? It is pretty hard to do if they were vehemently opposed to it. Even some of the Democrats voted against it and Nancy had to pole vault over the wall and bribe, threaten, cajole to get it done. Don’t give me any of that leftist crap Planet.
Since you are so fond of citing your sources, I am still waiting for you to prove there was even one Republican vote for this bill despite your allegation that Republicans put 160 Amendments on it it. Perhaps you have a brain malfunction if you think Republicans had any input on this dastardly legislation. This was a railroad job from the get go with Pelosi & Reid leading the charge. I also remember that a number of Blue Dog Democrats bit the bullet and voted for it and were promptly defeated in the mid terms. Nancy gave them a swell going away party.
August 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Libby says:
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Agent, you are a broken record. You need some new material. Your “2700 page monstrosity passed in the middle of the night so no-one could read it” mantra is getting old. Come on! Where’s your creativity?
Allright Libby. Let’s just call it the worst piece of Progressive legislation ever passed by Congress and against the will of the majority of Americans. Once we get the right people in office, it is not for long, trust me.
Captain brings up a good question, though. Were you for the health care bill when it was supported by the GOP?
August 30, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Captain Planet says:
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Agent, I did name one – Joseph Cao – R from Louisiana. I’m surprised his picture isn’t on the bullseye on your dartboard. Also, were you for this healthcare bill before you were against it like the rest of the GOP? Heritage Foundation wrote this bill back in the 90’s. Remember, Bob Dole presented it to us. Then, a Democrat wants to put it into play and whooooaa, the GOP can’t be having any of that.
Those elections were anti-imcumbent by the way. Unless, you want to listen to only Hannity in which case, you’ve been Hannitized and all hope is lost. Why didn’t he want to interview Stephanie Miller live? Or, better yet, why did he bolt on the local kid here in Des Moines, Chris Bradshaw. He literally no-showed 98.3 WOW FM after he promised to be on Bradshaw’s show. Something’s telling me Hannity’s minions discovered Sean couldn’t debate Chris and it was better to hit the high road. Wimp!
Captain, I am sorry but your arguments fly in the face of logic and reason and provide no accountability to the fiscal problems that we are facing as a country. You always do one of the other of the only options available to liberals when arguing. 1. When confronted with logic, reason and facts, always revert to an emotional outburst of ridicule or #2. Justify bad behavior or logic by pointing to worse behavior or logic. That’s the only way a liberal can argue. There is no way to argue with a liberal, its like beating your head against a wall. Done with that!
Fiscal problems? Ok, let’s start with the 2 wars put on a credit card. Or, better yet, Reagan who turned us from a creditor to a debtor nation. We can have the conversation from there. I enjoy the ping pong without demonizing you as a “conservative”. You seem to categorize all “liberals” like Fox News or Rush does. Pro tip, we aren’t all the same.
Yeah, I’ll call out ol’ Ronnie boy and Dubya, and I’ll even point to where I think President Obama is wrong. No one is always right.
You know what, I am so sick and tired of this hateful back and forth.
I work on group plans, mostly small employer groups. They would LOVE renewal increases of around 5%, that would be awesome compared to what trend has been the last few years (8-13%).
And no, employers wont just be able to offer astronomical high deductible plans down the road because part of the ACA includes regulations that ALL plans have maximum cost sharing limits and minimum actuarial values. And if an employer decides not to offer a plan, they may send employees out to the exchanges (where if that employee earns under <400% of the FPL they can get a reduced premium via a subsidy, so that's kinda cool, right) but could offer an HRA to reimburse a portion of premium costs, which would then NOT be taxable to the employee, so that's not terrible either.
Yes, the ACA is very complicated. But No, you wont see a mass exodus of employers drop benefits as a result. And it contains many parts which will enhance the benefits that are available on group and individual plans, and help all individuals get a plan, including those who are declined due to health underwriting right now.
DS, What would stop an employer to just cancel their healthcare benefits and just pay the $700 fine per person and send them all to the exchanges to purchase their own plan?
Competition for good employees maybe? You know, the whole benefits package thing a company uses to intice good workers. I don’t know anyone whose company is dropping their coverage. Not to say there won’t be some out there who do, but I don’t know of any.
Hi Always, Are you talking about the bogus 8.3% rate the Labor Dept puts out or the real one which is pushing 20% when you take into account all that have given up or working part time? Planet lives in his own little bubble and believes his President who says the private sector is doing “just fine”. Everyone with any brains knows this economy is hurting and employers are not hiring or have any plans to do so until the government changes hands.
Planet, companies are not having to compete with other employers for good employees and entice employees with benefits because there is not much hiring going on right now. As a matter of fact, companies are looking to trim payroll and other expenses because of fear of the government, taxes, EPA. College graduates cannot find work in this environment and they are not looking for the big benefit packages. They just want to work period and it just isn’t there. My partner has a son who graduated and is looking for work in the Dallas Metroplex, has a Marketing Degree and a lot of want to and 3 months into the process cannot even get an interview. This scenario will not change until we get a friendlier business environment and companies are not getting penalized all the time.
“And if an employer decides not to offer a plan, they may send employees out to the exchanges (where if that employee earns under <400% of the FPL they can get a reduced premium via a subsidy, so that's kinda cool, right) but could offer an HRA to reimburse a portion of premium costs, which would then NOT be taxable to the employee, so that's not terrible either."
If the Employer lets the employees go to the Exchange, they may be eligible for a premium subsidy. The Employer could fund an HRA as part of a defined contribution plan – say to Employees "I will fund $X/mo toward your benefits and you can buy the plan that meets your needs." Also not a horrible alternative.
And as Captain Planet says, benefits packages are still an incentive to retain employees.
You just used method #2 of my above liberal arguments. “Justify bad behavior by pointing to worse behavior!” Its either that or an emotional outburst of factless ridicule. (Name calling) You guys just have no argument to facts,logic and reason. Please try to come up with something different.
Sarah, Planet is so goofy he thinks the Republicans put 160 amendments into Obamacare. He and Libby are the worst of the progressive bloggers on this site. They have no arguments so they just make it up to suit their agenda. It is kind of like their leaders who will be demonizing Republicans as extremists this week and blaming Bush for their woes nearly 4 years later. I am glad I have several movies to watch. It should be a rousing start with the two hours of Muslim prayers.
No, not justifying anything. Just stating where our current problems took root. And, we are now trying to deal with those issues. Here’s something different, trickle-down failed. Let’s discuss a new model. It can still be a capitalist society, as that’s how I want it to stay. But, trickle down is a complete failure and even Reagan’s economist says so. Let’s discuss some new ideas. The policies of the last 30 years aren’t working and are destroying the middle and lower classes.
Planet, quit with the blaming of Reagan. It is almost as bad as you blaming Bush as your leaders have been doing for the past 4 years. Reagan created millions of jobs in his tenure and revenue to the government increased tremendously. Unfortunately, Congress couldn’t bring themselves to stop spending more money than they took in and progressive Keynsian spending policy for several decades have resulted in the hole we are in now. You are right about one thing. The spending policies have not worked and now we have “Trickle up Poverty” going on with the middle class. We can still have a Capitalist Society, but first we have to change out the government starting at the top and in the Senate.
Captain, you are repeating crap fed to you from political elites without even questioning what they are saying. Trickle down is the only way money can flow. Poor people do not hire, Poor people can not invest, Poor people can not improve the economy without a wealthy person giving them a job or buying something from them. You liberals may not like it, but it is the real world we have to work with. Its just the laws of physics. Please discuss a new model in which poor people become middle class without government giving hand outs or the wealthy stimulating the economy, because this whole class warfare only hurts the poor, and is a made up pile of crap. January 3rd 2007 was the day that Bwarney Fwank and Countrywide Chris Dudd took over the oversight of banks and financial systems and we got Nancy in the House and Harry in the Senate. 2 years before the financial collapse due to the housing industry and mortgaged back securities epic fail in september of 2008, almost 2 years of democratic oversight of the banking industry. Bush requested Fannie and Freddie to rain in their risky backing of liar loans and the practices of backing loans without any collateral at all. Bwarney and Chris pushed back with the Congressional Black Caucus. THEY ARE TO BLAME NOT BUSH! JP morgan did not fail because of poor economic growth, unemployment at 8.3% or the national debt at 16 Trillion. No that would be Obama’s failure and the banking collapse was not Bushes either it was the Democrats who where in charge of oversight. ALL FACTS! Argue with that without reverting to the only 2 ways liberals argue mentioned above.
If the rich are the “job creators” and they are doing better than they EVER have, why aren’t they creating jobs? Because there is a demand crisis in this country. We need to increase the velocity of money in the economy. The real job creators are people like you and me. And, those that are less fortunate. Let me explain and I’ll make it simple. I go to a restaurant and spend $10. That $10 goes into a waitress’ pocket and she goes and spends it on groceries. Enough waitresses go to that grocery store and the store needs more items for the shelves. Because they have more items to stock, the grocery store needs to hire more employees. The grocery store is buying more bread and that drives up production at the local mill. The mill needs to operate longer in order to keep up with the grocery store’s needs. It hires more employees. And so on and so on.
Did you know that the lower class spends about 100% of what it earns? You want to increase the velocity of money in this country? Find a way to give them just a little bit more. Hmm, maybe tax cuts for the lower and middle class and a small tax increase on the wealthiest Americans. The money has been trickling up for the past 30+ years and isn’t coming back down. Instead, it’s staying up top. Bring the tax rates back to where they were under Clinton, let’s have a talk about deficit amongst both parties, and there you have a plan to restore America. The wealthy aren’t creating jobs because there isn’t a demand for their widgets. Get money in the hands of those who want the widgets and then they’ll have a reason to hire people. Obama has a plan to cut the deficit $4T over the span of the next 10 years. And, some Republicans even voted FOR it. Let’s get it done!
Spoken like a true believer in Progressive Keynsian spending philosophy. Perhaps that is why we have a $16 Trillion debt and a stagnant economy with rampant unemployment. Keynes economic theories about priming the pump and “investments” by government have been thoroughly debunked by most leading economists. I encourage you to read anything by Milton Friedman for enlightenment on why Keynes theories don’t work in a Capitalist system. It is too bad you didn’t take Econ 101 or you might understand what makes this economy tick.
The reason why employers like me are not hiring or expanding is government and taxation, over regulation, Obamacare, Dodd-Frank among other things. Employers see a very unfriendly government which wants to control every aspect of their business and wants to take their profits away. They are not going to expand or hire unless the government changes hands. I am sure you probably believe your famous ex Speaker of the House who proudly proclaimed that unemployment checks are a stimulus to the economy. Planet, real jobs are what stimulate the economy, creates more taxpayers instead of leaches using entitlements. What happened to Obama’s promise to cut the deficit in half? He only added $5.3 Trillion in a little more than 3 years and we are running $1.6 Trillion deficit each year. Hello! Is anyone home? If Obamacare is not repealed, the annual deficit will be $2 Trillion per year. Time to change everything out and put adults in charge and cut up the credit cards.
September 7, 2012 at 11:05 am
Sarah says:
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There is a glaring problem with your analogy, you left out the employer. The $10. goes to the restaurant owner and then he goes to the store and buys the food, pays the health insurance, salary of the waitress, and if any left it will be taxed and if he makes enough of a profit he will hire another employee so he can increase the number of $10 bills coming in. The lower class has always and always will spend 110% of what they spend and ask you to spend the remaining 10%. How can you give tax cuts to the lower and middle class when they do not pay any federal income taxes now. 50% of all US citizens filing a tax return pay NO TAXES AT ALL! The presidents plan cuts all spending in year 8, 9 and 10 of his plan of which he will be long gone and we will never see the savings in spending. WE NEED A BALANCED BUDGET NOW!
September 6, 2012 at 3:05 pm
FFA says:
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Funny – all arguing for Obumer Care has failed to mention Tort Reform. I have not read every post, but I have only seen the folks against the bill mention it.
When Obama used the word “Change” What did you think he meant?
When Obama used the word “Hope” what did you think he meant?
Did you get what you thought?
IF NOT WHY WOULD YOU VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN?
Where do you think Obama is going to move the Country Forward too?
OFF A CLIFF?
Sarah, people like Planet think he has done a great job. Libby thinks he has been noble and honest???? By the way, the catchword “Forward” has been used for a hundred years by Marxist and Socialists in many countries. They are just regurgitating it for this campaign. There is no doubt where they want to take this country and it is not a pretty picture.
Great job? No! Good job, yes. His shooting percentage is good enough I’d keep feeding him the ball. He’s not quite on fire, but he’s getting about 18 points a game, a handful of assists, and 6 or 7 boards. I’d certainly sign him to a 4 year contract worth $1.6 mil.
Your numbers are a little bit off Planet. It is actually $1.6 Trillion over and above what he takes in each year in taxes. This guy makes Jimmy Carter look good by comparison. He should have plenty of time to practice his basketball moves in about 60 days. If it is a bit cold in Chicago, he could relocate to Hawaii and play in the sun and get his golf rounds in as well.
Agent, President Obama makes $400,000 a year. His contract would then be $1.6 mil.
September 5, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Always Amazed says:
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His salary for being president, and a sad one at that, is $400,000 a year. The rest of his income from book sales which puts that amount in the what ? the milliions ? billions? You do the math Planet.
September 5, 2012 at 11:56 am
Sarah says:
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Huh???? What????? We have had enough of Basketball. How about a leader. You want analogies, how about this one – He is throwing bricks at the economy.
instead of him getting 1.6 million we got 16 Trillion!
HOPE WE CHANGE GOING FORWARD!
September 5, 2012 at 3:14 pm
Agent says:
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Planet, as long as you want to talk in sports lingo, if this man was a professional athlete and he was not performing up to the contract, the team would waive him and send him out on the street. Many of these big time athletes sign big contracts and then their performance drops way off because there is no incentive to do better. An athlete that signs for a non-guaranteed amount with incentives usually keeps doing better and better each year because they are hungrier. Obama will have to be satisfied with his retirement package in 60 days.
September 5, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Agent says:
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In a generation, we have gone from Rope a Dope with Ali to Hope a Dope with Obama. America, please wake up and retire this guy to Chicago. Sorry FFA, I know you live there and don’t really want him. Perhaps he will keep going all the way to Hawaii.
September 4, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Captain Planet says:
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Change, like creating 4.5 million jobs (including 1 for my wife), bringing the unemployment rate from 10% to closer to 8% again, creating pay equality for women, allowing gays to openly serve in the military, healthcare reform, bringing down Bin Laden, moving towards energy independence (like the recent new fuel standards just passed last week) – those types of changes. I was hoping get rid of Guantanamo, but you can’t win them all. I am also “hoping” for more of these types of “changes” in the next term. We need to keep the ball rolling and in spite of Mitch McConnell’s goal of blocking The President at all stops, President Obama has accomplished quite a bit. “Forward” meaning, away from the policies of the past that put us in the economical grips we currently are in. Yes, he has earned my vote and then some. Which is why, this time, I actually donated. If I can free up some time, I will also volunteer. Obama/Biden 2012!
Planet, since you are obviously from another Planet, you tend to ignore what most of us with a brain have seen. $5 Trillion in new debt, unemployment above 8% for 42 months with almost no job creation in 2012 at all, ruling by executive fiat, not allowing energy development, but instead trying to make fuel out of switchgrass and wasting our money on failed green companies. I could go further, but I don’t write books like you do on this blog. Let’s just say this President and his corrupt administration is the worst in American History and should be sent packing in November. Enjoy your convention of radical speakers.
Sarah, Have you seen the new bumper sticker for Obama? It says – Lean Forward – We aren’t done yet. Very appropriate for the Degenerate Party which is now officially the Godless Party since God is not mentioned anywhere in their platform, not even once.
September 4, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Captain Planet says:
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Oh, and I will enjoy the DNC. I enjoyed the RNC of empty chairs, empty policy details, and implied F bombs. Classy.
Planet, You wouldn’t know classy if you saw it. I’m sure you will enjoy the triumverate of Nancy Pelosi, do nothing Harry Reid and Debbbie Wasserman Shultz who don’t have an original thought between them except to say it is Bush’s fault. They are an unmitigated disaster. Classy is Nikki Hailey, Susanna Martinez, Mary Fallin, Artur Davis, Mia Love and of course Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney who actually have ideas on how to fix this country. All your guy promises is more of the same failed policy, more ruling by executive fiat and more Progressive Socialism. In the service, we had a saying that someone who is about to finish the enlistment was getting “short”. Your guy is a short timer for sure.
September 5, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Captain Planet says:
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Sarah, I thought you conservatives were against that sort of thing. Naughty-naughty!
September 5, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Agent says:
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So Planet, the Democrats had to cancel the stadium since they only had 20,000 people and the stadium holds 74,000. What does that tell you about the success and popularity of this President today? He had 80,000 fill up the stadium in Denver 4 years ago. They probably couldn’t pay for the stadium anyway since they are short on convention funds. They cited concerns on the weather, but we know the real reason why this was done. Obama would be echoing into a one third filled stadium and they just couldn’t have that on national TV.
September 6, 2012 at 3:10 pm
FFA says:
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They are both full of crap – Except Ryan. His wife is cute!!!!
Definition of Policiticans – Liars. All of them. Full of crap. Any Business man can run this ship better then the dumerthencraps.
September 11, 2012 at 5:28 pm
CalDude says:
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Has no place in a political platform.
September 5, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Always Amazed says:
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Geeze Agent, he still believes in the 4.5 million job creation. Not so. You really need to start using fact check planet. CNN has been most informative on all the over exaggerations.
I agree that Ryan’s wife is cute. Ann Romney is still a very pretty lady even after her health issues and 43 years of marriage. Have you noticed how the Democrats trot out numerous ugly women? Elizabeth Warren with her granny hair, Pelosi with her Botox face that is about to fall off, Moochelle with her enormous caboose following her around. Debbbie Wasserman Schultz, the witch with the frazzled hair and ugly mug. Give me Nikki Hailey, Mia Love, Mary Fallin. They all have class and are very easy on the eyes. They are also very smart and have turned their states around.
September 5, 2012 at 11:38 am
Sarah says:
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Unemployment at 8.3% on Obama’s inauguration date 7.7
Foodstamps given up 87% from inauguration date.
National Debt 10.5 Trillion on Obama’s inauguration date to 16 Trillion now.
Annual Budget Deficit (Wait a minute Obama’s budget was voted down 99/0 not even one democrat voted for it.) Deficit 1.6 Trillion a year.
By the way if he was creating jobs, why does the unemployment rate keep going higher and higher and more and more people are on wellfare.
Family incomes $55K on Obama’s inaugaration date. Now 51K and dropping.
Why would you want to vote for this hot air bag of words and no action?
Oh, I get it, hotair.com. Sarah, if you are going to start the clock on the inauguration date, acting as if the previous administration’s actions don’t have a lingering effect on the economy, well, then, there is no arguing with you. Your notes are misguided and you are misappropriating to the current administration. Just think how much worse it would have been if we continued down Bush’s path. Yes, call me a Bush-blamer, but he seriously mucked things up and got out just in the nick of time. Everyone knew, no matter who became President, it would be no easy task. Obama has done a helluva job reversing the mess, although he has much more to do. Right-wing opposition to everything he tries doesn’t help any. Then again, with Mitch at the controls, what is one going to do? Can’t spell McConnell without “con”. Yep, I’ve used that joke twice now.
When the first President Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992, the jobless rate was 7.4% on Election Day; when President Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980, unemployment was 7.5%, but a sideshow compared with 30-year mortgage rates of 14.2% and 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran for more than a year. In 1984, however, President Reagan survived a challenge from Walter Mondale and won a second term despite a jobless rate of 7.2%.
So Republicans are busy asking voters, as Reagan did in 1980, whether they’re better off than they were four years ago.
But four years from when?
In August 2008, financial disaster hadn’t yet struck. The unemployment rate was 6.1%. Yet by the time voters went to the polls in November, the White House and the Federal Reserve were scrambling desperately to avoid a depression. They succeeded — barely. But the great recession was on. By Inauguration Day, the unemployment rate was soaring, ultimately reaching 10% the following October.
Clock starts in October when Obama’s policies started to take hold.
Dream on Planet! We have a countdown going for about 60 more days of this administration and then the rebuilding of America can begin. You conveniently forgot that Democrats controlled Congress in 2007 and the first two years of Obama. They and the RINO’s are responsible for what happened. This is not all Bush’s fault as your leaders keep harping on. His biggest mistakes which were many was signing onto all that Pelosi/Reid big spending legislation that got this country so debt ridden. Obama compounded those mistakes and spent another $5.3 Trillion which did almost no good. Instead of concentrating on the economy, he spent a year and a half trying to ram the ill fated Obamacare down our throat. It would have been a tough ask even in a good economy, but he had no clue about the economy so he put it on the back burner and now he is going to pay the political price and we just have to let him go as Clint Eastwood put it very well.
September 4, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Captain Planet says:
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I know what isn’t classy – this quote by Hunter S. Thompson. But, it’s hilarious:
“I had a soft spot in my heart for Ronald Reagan, if only because he was a sportswriter in his youth, and also because his wife gave the best head in Hollywood.”
Also, where were these so called ideas during the RNC? Instead, we got Harry Callahan cussing at an empty chair and Paul Ryan giving one of the most lie-filled speeches in the history of politics. I get that he’s a politician and all, but he was so slimy I thought he just said “I don’t know” on “You Can’t Do That on Television”.
Not to mention Boehner was drunk again. No wonder the dude cries all the time. I knew people like that in college. Give them a few drinks and it’s all water works from there.
I mean, seriously. Boehner puts the “pub” in Republican. Paul Ryan puts the “con” in conservative. And, before you go there, no, can’t say “rat” in Democrat because I beat you to the punch. That’s a block. I had my guard up. Oh, and don’t try the “I can” in Repulican, either. OK, just having a little fun at the end of the day after a long one back from the holiday weekend. Go Hawks!
You’re a funny guy. Perhaps you can take your act on the road all the way to Canada. I am sure you can find a few drunks that will laugh at your jokes. You have even less class than some of your leaders who are certifiably brain dead. Botox face Pelosi hasn’t uttered a coherent sentence in several years. I think the chemicals she has absorbed with all those injections just causes her to involuntarily wave her hands. If Boehner has a drinking problem, so does she since she used to stock her government issued plane to the gills with liquor for herself and family in their cross country jaunts at our expense. Boehner looks like a choir boy when compared to her.
Agent, can’t you take a joke? Man alive. And don’t tell me about what is classy and what isn’t when you’re writing things like, “Botox face Pelosi”. Lighten up. I was just having some word fun. No big deal if Boehner wants to have some drinks. I just think he should do it when the camera isn’t on him. And, I think I’ve said this before, but I wouldn’t go to Canada. If I were forced to, I’d go south somewhere. It’s warmer down there. But I love my country, so I’m here to stay. Me and some of my friends have some polls to occupy soon.
Can’t you take a joke Planet about your exalted leaders? Everybody knows Pelosi is the queen of Botox. It obviously impairs her brain or she would not have said they had to pass it so we could see what was in it. She would also not have said she would pole vault over the fence to get it done. Perhaps she shouldn’t appear in public unless someone ties her hands down since it looks like involuntary spasms due to degeneration of brain cells.
Me and everyone I personally know is better off now than 4 years ago. And with the healthcare and social reforms, we’re even better-better off. I love this country!
September 6, 2012 at 9:07 am
Captain Planet says:
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FIRED UP after that Clinton speech and I don’t even like Bill. I am going to do what Michelle asked, find my 5 votes and find 5 more. I think all I need to do is highlight some of the transcript from the speeches at the DNC and look out! You guys can continue your hate machine of Obama. Distort the truth all you want. Rush, Sean, and Glenn do every day. I know because I listen to them. This course of the Republican party doesn’t have much life left. Look what is happening to the demographic in Texas already. That state is turning purple.
Sorry Planet, but the Cowboys/Giants game was much better than watching the Degenerate Party put on their show. I saw a few clips during timeouts and the serial liar, impeached but not removed womanizer was really enjoying the limelight. So much in fact that he ran overtime into the late local news. It was also comical to see them screw up the language in the platform about saying Jerusalem was the capitol of Israel. They put it back in despite the “No’s” being much louder than the “Yea”s”. That must be another example of the Chicago way. Unlike you, they highlighted how bad they are. By the way, I live in Texas and we expect the state to be at least 60-40 in favor of Romney. Texas is a very conservative state and will remain so. Trotting out a Hispanic mayor from San Antonio will not change anything.
I don’t disagree with you the state will vote red this year. I’m saying it’s turning purple, though. In 20 years or less, I think you’ll find you live in a very different political environment than you do now. 60/40 – WOW! I can’t believe it’s that close now. Good luck in November, Agent. Again, I predict Romney wins. The Kochs and the rest of the party sure is trying to put their money where their mouths are. Whereas, Obama and his team is doing it the grassroots way. I am personally going to talk to my neighbors about the differences between the candidates and just have a conversation with them. Our country might as well be Roman ruins should Romney and Ryan win. Unlike Jack and Kate in LOST, we can’t go back.
Actually Planet, it could be 75-25 in favor of Romney in Texas, but I was being Conservative as I tend to be. We will not allow illegals to vote in this state. I, too predict Romney wins and possibly by a landslide since the American People have awakened to see how bad Obama and his minions actually are and will reject Socialism and ruling by executive fiat that has been done the past few years. It is interesting that you mention Roman ruins. Nero fiddled while Rome burned and that is what your leaders have been doing for 4 years. Romney/Ryan have plans to restore America and your leaders have more of the same failed tax and spend, regulate to death philosophy and the country will look very much like Venezuela than America if we don’t change it out and get back on track.
Man, it’s like I’m reading transcripts from Sean Hannity. Thanks for the same talking points, Agent. I think I’ll just turn on Rush/Sean/Bill/Glen next time I want to hear these lies. It’s truly sad you want to double down on Bush’s policies. I can only pray there is a sensible electoral college that doesn’t suffer from the same short term memory loss. But, then again, I think America gets fooled 1 more time by the likes of Romney/Ryan and never again! Which, wouldn’t be a bad thing as long as they don’t totally muff it all up in 4 years. Big IF.
I don’t get my talking points from Hannity, Planet. I go back a lot further than Fox News for my conservative views. I do admire Sean for keeping Progressives he has on his show in line. He certainly does a much better job than O’Reilly. I have to switch channels when I see Juan Williams, the mouthpiece of Obama on Fox and Alan Colmbs who is a certifiable idiot. Since your guy has proven to be a disaster, it is time to give Romney/Ryan a chance to straighten out the country. Who knows, you may actually benefit if the country is returned to fiscal responsibility and the economy recovers. You won’t if we keep the present administration in power.
September 7, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Agent says:
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The ratings are in now. 21 million households tuned in to the Cowboys/Giants game and 7 million to the DNC extravaganza. That tells me the Demoncrats do not have a compelling message to the folks. The rapture is lost and people are tired of watching a bunch of radicals on the stage running this country in the ground. The folks are tuning them out and it drives them crazy. They also had to cancel the football stadium because it would be 2/3 empty. Hmm! Sounds like they are in big trouble.
Wonder how much Fantasy Foorball had to do with that. I watched the game – every play only because the Giants D was on the field and because the Cowboy Kicker was going against me. If not for that smart penalty, my D would have given me the Pick 6 + wards totaling 9 points on that one play. And to think, I benched the Bears D for that…..
Actually FFA, the Cowboys have always drawn huge audiences whether it be a game like this or Sunday or Monday night football. Couple that with playing the defending Super Bowl champions in a media center like NY and it was bound to draw big. Also, people are wery of all this political gamesmanship, lies, distortions and the Democrats lead the pack on that. They just need to go away and let the adults take over and solve some problems instead of adding to them.
Giants are my D this year. Opening night for the NFL. Add that on to the people that are just tired of all the Political posturing adds up to smart marketing. Only station in town that was not showing the DNC or some rerun that been seen 100 times over. Very smart marketing.
September 7, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Agent says:
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Actually, I was surprised that NBC did the game since they are the biggest promoters of Obama. I guess they couldn’t turn down all that advertising money they were making on the game. Their viewership is on the decline overall so they needed to replenish the coffers.
September 6, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Captain Planet says:
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We’ll see how long the southern strategy can work. Fox News’ responsibility? Make white males angry. Fox News’ candidates Romney’s/Ryan’s responsibilities? Make sure you gain a strong majority of those angry white males’ support. Time will tell if a fistful of dollars and a campaign full of lies can attract enough angry white male votes to get the job done. I know where you stand, Agent. You are, of course, the target market down in Texas. You should know all about the southern strategy. The Grand Ol’ Party has not exactly kept that a secret.
Agent, my family and my friends have all done well under the current administration. Better than the previous. But most importantly, others I don’t know have as well. It’s not fixed, that’s for certain. But, it’s better. No one was going to completely right the ship in 4 years. That’s a ridiculous goal. Given the social reforms, many in this country are way better off than they were. We’ve ended a war and taken care of a couple dictators, too. You might say the world is better off. Well, you won’t. Have have Obama Hate Syndrome. OHS well.
Planet, you just rattled off the Democratic talking points which I guess you memorize from all those speakers. You say no one could right the ship in 4 years. Reagan did it in 3 years from the Carter disaster and had the country rolling, adding jobs, created the IRA’s & 401k’s during that era which encouraged savings. You may not have been alive during Carter, but he was bad news and the economy was very close to what it has been the last 3 years with interest rates through the roof, stagflation, energy crisis and unemployment. There is the same kind of malaise going on right now after 4 years of Progressive policy. We don’t need any more social reforms in this country. We need jobs and economic recovery and your guy has no clue or he would taken steps to encourage business and stop stifling growth. By the way, I don’t hate Obama, but I sure hate what he and his minions have done to bring this country almost to ruin. When a President cannot do the job he was hired to do by the people, it is time to let him go.
Planet, I am glad you have done well and your family and friends have done well. I don’t wish you ill, but you have your rose colored glasses on if you think this country is doing well under this administration. The signs are all over the place. The reason we are still in the huge mess is because of all the mess made by Progressives from both sides of the aisle. They got us into it and they have no clue how to get us out because their solutions are so flawed. Progressive Keynsian spending policy only guarantees more debt and no recovery. As I stated before, it is time for the adults to take charge. FDR extended the Great Depression by 5 years with the same approach that Obama has taken. The only thing that got us out of it was WW11. That was a tough thing to go through to get us out of the Depression.
The only thing rosey are my palms after that speech last night. Okay, I need to qualify that with I’m totally joking. Hey, it’s Friday! Have a good weekend, all.
Livin in fantasy land or preparing for your wife to leave because you will be broke if this crook gets back in? Did you hear his BS about being friendly to Small Business?
Agent, this world needs Chubby Chasers to Barak and my wife. I am well fed.
September 6, 2012 at 3:14 pm
FFA says:
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Oh, I see, your Jesse Jackson turning this into a race thing. I knew you were a policitican.
Race? No, I just think people hate this President. Not because of his skin color. But, because Mitch McConnell, the Koch’s, and Fox News said to. I’m so old, I remember the right saying to sit down, shut up, and support the President during times of war.
I hate him because he is anti small business. I was much better off in 08 before he took office. He passes this Health Care bill without addressing the #1 problem in Health Care – hell, the entire industry – hell, all of America for that matter – TORT REFORM. Nothing. Zip. Zilch Zero. Not a word. Not to mention he is an Illinois Politician. How is his stooge in Chicago working out? Lets see – 50% increase in the murder rate this year alone. Top cop goes on tv saying in regards to the Colo Theater shooting – “Thats a typical day in Chicago”. Good Job Obama Stooge Rahm. Facing the first Teacher Strike in over 20 years. Obummer did a great job teaching him. Not to mention the jack ass in Spring Field driving business after business out of the state not to mention the flood of Doctors leaving because there is no such thing as TORT REFORM. Alwasy seems to circle back around to that topic for me. Anytime any of you yahoos want to make an argument for Of’nbama Care, stop and ask your self this – “Would tort reform be good. Would Tort FReform help slow down the massive increases we are seeing?” If the answer is yes, then you can not think this is anything but govt intrusion into private business. Isnt that against our economic model? So, argue away after asking that simple question. If you keep arguing in favor of it, then I will assume you are a paid blogger and just doing your job in which case I ask, where are you working come late November? The other scenario I can imagine is that you are a lawyer so your opinion just dont count in my book. Your a large part of the problem.
I was going to ask you FFA how Dead Fish is doing as mayor of Chicago, but the news has been keeping me up on it. We are losing more people to murder in Chicago than we are losing in Afghanistan. I understand he just lets the street gangs roam up there because cracking down with SWAT would be profiling. It sounds pretty close to anarchy, at least in parts of Chicago. Now, he takes time to smirk at the convention while the teachers union is going on strike. Sounds like he is doing about the same job as the mayor in Detroit has been doing. Guess what party they belong to. Don’t pay any attention to Planet who seems to be a paid blogger of the Demoncrats. He should be committed.
September 7, 2012 at 8:59 am
Captain Planet says:
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Cool, let’s get Romney in there, attack Iran, and everything will be great! We just need another war. Can we pay for this one first? Or, just use our awesome credit rate right now, mess up the country, and leave it for the next Democrat to deal with and act like it’s his fault?
Interestingly enough, I was talking to a small business owner last night. He owns a restaurant in Denver. He actually said, and I quote, “If Romney wins, this country is more messed up than I thought, and it’s time for me to take the money I’ve earned thus far and move to a different country. Maybe Canada, eh?”
I was thing if the Dumerthencraps get in again, I would move to Mexico, learn broken and then sneak back across the border. Then I get free Health Care and can work tax free. It would be legal to stick my hand in your pocket just because I am entitled.
Yes agent, Chicago is a mess. When the top cop can minnimilize an incident like in Colorado to just an average day in Chicago, something is wrong. Even Cap Plan can see that. He just will not comment.
Not a fan of Raum, myself. He just seems flat. What’s going on in Chicago is tragic. Reminds me of the old gangster days during the Prohibition Era. Yes, get Raum out of there and put someone in there who can clean up the streets of Chicago. I love that city! FFA, how about some Gino’s East? As long as it isn’t some radical Republican like Paul Ryan, I don’t even care if there is an R next to that person’s name. You may find this hard to believe, but I have voted Republican many times. It’s just, this isn’t the Republican Party it used to be. It doesn’t even resemble what is used to be.
I’ve voted Democrat too. Best man for the job is how I vote. I have Ginos right up the road from me. Good stuff. Tried to go see the air show in Chicago a few weeks back. Looked for parking for 1.5 hours. Could not find anywhere. Not a big fan of th traffic much less not knowing where not to go. Our Gov is a joke too. Was booed loudly at the Ill State Fair.
Oh, and Reagan righted the ship right into the iceberg we currently rest on, Agent. Though, I do like his position on immigration and his feelings that a bus driver shouldn’t be taxed as much as a Romneyian. He had those issues right.
So Planet, you have graduated from beating up on Bush and went clear back two Presidents ago and now blaming Reagan for our current misery. You should be committed to an asylum for an extended stay if you think Reagan got us into the mess created by Progressives in both parties in the past 10 years. Reagan has been gone for 32 years now. By the way, he left office with a strong economy, jobs created and the other countries in the world actually respected the President and this country. Don’t go beating up on the greatest President of the 20th Century. You may set a record for dislikes in this forum for your ugly comment.
Reagan is history. Clinton is history. Busch JR & Sr are history. Invade Iran or let them build a nuke? Easy decision in my mind. I would like to be alive instead of vaporized. Keep the nut job extremist busy over there before they can hit American Soil.
Neithe choices are desirable. Another lessor of two evils to choose from.
Rahm appears to be letting the taches walk out. First Teachers Strike in 20+ years happening. Also, more murders last night along with some kid bringing a gun to a HS football game. Called the game in thirs quater because of one jack ass. Rahm is an Obama stooge.
I saw some interviews with the Teacher Union up there. This seems to be about their “benefits” just like Wisconsin. My guess is they don’t want any cost sharing and just want everything handed to them on a silver platter. The problem is that the system is broke. Unions are the cause of a lot of economic woes in this country and it is time to scale them way back just like Walker did. Enough is enough.
Well, they did walk. Rahm is blaming the teachers union saying there are two points that need to be hammered out that are not financial with one of them being state law. He is saying that he wants the principles to have hiring authority – not CPS and not CTU. He is also saying that he wants student test scores to be a bigger part on the teacher evaluation as required by Il State Law. He came on TV last night seemingly flustered that the union walked away from the table calling this a voluntary strike. They could have gone to work today and hammer out the Admin Issue with out classroom interuption. Have not heard a word from CTU. Got one side but not the other. No matter who you “blame” its the kids that suffer as well as the parents of the students. Had things lined up ready to go for first day of school – now – not. Change all the planning. Just a mess.
September 7, 2012 at 11:00 am
Captain Planet says:
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The real Ronald Reagan:
1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980′s did little help to them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to choose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendancy.
One of the worst ever! And, I’ve blamed him before and I’ll keep blaming him and Bush. They are responsible for our country’s demise.
Thats the past. How is the future looking? All you bloggers keep bringing up history. 4 more years of this ass and you will be supporting me to. I have 7 people I support. So, how you feel about providing for 8 more? Reagan Smagean. 4 more years of Middle Class Elimination and Job Destruction. Cant wait till I start sticking my hand in your pocket.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured… but not everyone must prove they are a citizen.”
Now add this, “Many of those who are unable, or refuse, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance because they are citizens.”
Think about it when you vote in November !
Planet, Progressive Democrats are the biggest whiners and blamers in the business. They think they are the smartest people in the room and just look at what they have done in just a few short years. We can’t leave them to their own devices anymore and expect our country to survive. As Ronny said at the end of his 8 year term, government is not the solution, it is the problem. He was absolutely correct.
Cant wait for the election for all this to be over. Didnt even Obama say he was sick of the political ads? I wonder how many people that read the IJ have yet to make up their minds.
FFA, I think the undecided on this blog is virtually 0. In fact, I can’t believe anyone is still fence riding unless they are the ones with their nose stuck in their laptop or iphone downloading apps and dont’ know what is going on around them. The networks are loving the political season since millions are spent on the ads. I wonder why Leno’s salary was cut in half and 20 of his staff were let go. Perhaps NBC’s ratings have something to do with it. They telecasted the Cowboy/Giants game to get some needed revenue in and outdrew the DNC 3 to 1.
I know I should be done with this as I (nor you or anyone else) is going to change their mind no matter who says what. Nor will anyone change my mind. But yet, I still engage the argument.
I still true to one of my very first statements regarding OBama Care and no one on either side of the fence can or will dispute this simple fact – with out Tort Reform, its just change for the sake of change. The underlying issue is not addressed, the problem is not solved. I liken it to a water streak on the wall. Do you just paint over it and hope the problem is fixxed or do you climb on the roof and fix the leak before you paint?
My last break, I saw a guy outside just staring. I engaged conversation and he told me that a business with 25+ that he works for just informed all the employees no more health insurance. Way to go Barak!
FFA, There was an AP story in the newspaper this morning that confirmed that Health Insurance for a family costs $2,400 more per year than in 2009 when Obama took office and now is pushing a total of $16,000 per year. So much for the affordability that he promised when he said he would bring costs down. As you stated before, nothing was done on Tort Reform in this bill or to create a competitive environment with companies allowed to sell across state lines. All we got was a Progressive Dream which is attempting to control every aspect of our lives and will “tax” us further if we don’t choose to buy it.
As a side note, since you are from Chicago, how about those teachers up there? Aren’t they just great out there walking the picket line? They average making $75,000 per year and don’t want any accountablity for their proficiency. The report I saw was that they aren’t doing a very good job teaching the students and kids rank low in math and reading. Dead Fish has no clue how to handle them. If Obama is retired in November and goes back to Chicago, I promise his girls will be in private school.
How much did healthcare go up under Bush’s administration? As far as I can tell, it has been steadily increasing for many, many years. Hardly Obama’s fault.
September 12, 2012 at 10:12 am
Agent says:
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Libby, Obama promised to “fix” the affordability issue when he passed Obamacare. There was no doubt premiums had been going up for years prior to Bush and including Bush because we had no Tort Reform and not a competitive environment for Health Insurance. He also didn’t want to hear any alternative solutions from anyone other than his minions to fix this problem. I do blame him for breaking his promise and his legislation did not help at all and many think premiums will continue to rise as carriers have to cover all PreX’s and students to age 26.
September 12, 2012 at 10:15 am
Libby says:
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I believe he is putting some controls on costs in his bill. The proof will be in the pudding. We’ll have 4 more years to argue about it! Obama/Biden 2012!
Once again Libby, no Tort Reform = a band aide on a severed limb. And Libby, Busch is done and over with. Problems in Health Care span my life time – 49 years + 11 months. Controlls? Where are they? What are they? Please do tell.
Our kids are on strike. His stooge is over his head. He needs help not only with schools, but with the murder rate – not just crime – murder rate. This is his home town. Our kids need his intervention. Break the union. Make Rahm cave. Do something. Send Walker in from WI. Doing nothing is proof in my eyes there is no loyalty to your home town or your stooge. Is the what we can expect from you when your done being pres? No Loyalty at all to the good ole USA? Politics in front of kids education. Way to show the world your own personal greed is more important then the children themselves.
Time for him to step in and break the union. They have out lived their usefullness. See McCormick Place. $3000 to set up a 10 X 10 booth for upcoming expo.
Once again, FFA, tort reform is done at the state level, not the federal level. Obama can not force tort reform any more than he can march into Illinois and “bust up” the union. Look to your state lawmakers for help there. If they’re not doing the job, get to the polls and vote them out. That’s the American way.
Ah yes, Libby – key word “controls” – this is the fear of those who believe in our founding principles, and that progressivism/socialism is entirely incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. While many dwell on the SIZE of government, the issue is really one of government’s CONTROL over the private lives of its citizens. Seems like we are devolving from the “Rule of Law” to the “Law of Rules” (I made that phrase up, but please feel free to use it). This can only be accomplished when the constitutional restraints on government are relaxed or removed, and the enumerated powers placed on government expanded or ignored. Very Un-American, IMHO.
But, as the article points out, wealthy individuals will find ways to circumvent the rules.
So, to my extremist left-wing friends: I’m beginning to see the light. I’m starting to come to the conclusion, albeit reluctantly and with some small measure of sadness, that the average left-wingnut actually NEEDS to be controlled and supervised, and can’t handle the freedom to succeed or fail on their own. No, I’m not talking about “safety nets” provided by taxpayers to their fellow citizens in times of genuine need, when all someone is asking for is food, clothing & shelter. Socialism is not required to accomplish this. “Social programs” are funded through the same taxing powers granted by the Constitution and funded by the approval of our elected officials, and do not require additional controls over the taxpayer. Only controls over the program itself are needed. Socialism is a different animal, and by its very design inherently requires government control over all.
I ALMOST hope President Obama wins re-election, so that the socialism envisioned moves forward and reveals all its failings. Unfortunately for the extremist left-wing crowd, they will soon learn that it’s not just the wealthy that skirt rules – ALL enterprising and entrepreneurial minded people will find ways to fly under the radar, yes “The Man” to death, and PRETEND to obey, comply & submit while they create black markets, engage in bartering/swapping, and in fact (unfortunately) creates more opportunities for criminal activity, which ultimately leads to socialism’s demise…again…until some power-hungry dimwit resurrects it from the dustbin of history and foists it on the populace all over again. Oh well, hope you like being babysat…oh, I meant supervised….oh, I meant governed…
Well, gotta go BO, I’ve got things to do – good luck looking after the kids!
When he made Health Insurance Federal and took the power away from the state, he took the problems too. Cant have a part, got to take the whole.
As far as the schools go, I was just stating what our media outlets are saying. Obama needs to step in. The rest was my opinion. He is not willing to step in because of political reasons. Politics in fron of kids. Shame Shame Shame!!!
Hey, Agent. Getta load of this from “Hot Air” a conservative source:
In terms of the raw numbers, it appears that Team Obama gets to chalk one up in the win column, and for once we don’t need to parse sample rates, D/R/I figures or any of that. The big party for the Democrats drew more viewers over the three day run, with the final night drawing 35.7 million viewers across all networks.(That’s down 2.7 million from the Hope and Change Express party in 2008.) In the other corner, the Republicans had a somewhat smaller draw across their big week, with the finale pulling in 30.3 million viewers. Strangely, that figure was actually down 8 million from John McCain’s final night in 2008 in a year when all indicators showed the lion’s share of “excitement index” to be on the President’s side. Don’t ask me to explain that one, because I can’t.
So much for your propaganda about nobody watching the DNC and being unable to fill up a stadium. Looks like it’s gonna be Obama/Biden in 2012!!
He instituted blanket health care reform. He can strip that power away from the states too. Cost limitations?? Doctors cant be all they can be because he says so? Because he dont include Tort Reform?
I quotes Med Mal on an OBGYN right out of med school 6 years ago. $75K before she even saw a patient.
I did not say he is the source of all evil. Things been broke for a long long time. He just has done nothing to fix things and then he makes them worse with the ACA.
His “blanket” health care reform is done individually by state. He is a very powerful man, but he can not strip away state’s rights. That the foundation on which we built this country. Doctors and hospitals certainly can be all they can be, but they can’t charge anything they want. Just as your insurance carrier puts things on a fee schedule, so will the state exchanges. Everyone is getting upset over the wrong issues. Instead of ranting and raving, why not take a look at the plan and come up with specific ways to improve it. Blanket statements about “tort reform” mean nothing. Get specific and get on the phone to your state lawmakers. They have the power, not Obama.
His blanket Health Care reform took that away from the states. His argument was – right or wrong – that people are jumping state lines for health care. So the notion of instate health care is gone. Perfect Example – friend of mine in WI went to Mayo in Minn to have his brain tumor shrunk. I do agree that health care has become more national then state by state. We have commercials advertising a hospital in NY here in Chicago. Want a specific about Tort Reform? You sue me and lose, you pay all my expenses, you pay to restore my reputation and then you pay me every nickle out of your pocket that you wanted from me. Specific enough? Said that before and I will say it again. And, he did strip away states right with the ACA. A federal Health Care bill – how is that not stripping away states rights? So, he did address one of the very minor issues for cost controll – Limiting what a Doc can make. Market forces should dictate pricing. We are (were) a Market Driven Economy. Remeber Comm College – the Law of Supply and Demand? Not very American in my book – telling someone what they can and or cant make.
September 12, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Libby says:
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It’s done all the time by PPO’s and HMO’s and State workers comp coverage. They are all fee-structured. Who’s been jumping up and down about that? No-one except the docs. So they just order more tests, schedule more follow up visits, etc. My doctor will not even prescribe a simple anti-biotic for a urinary infection without scheduling an appointment. What do you think he is going to see?? Nothing! Tort reform will not reform greed.
September 12, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Agent says:
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Libby, when you pass this $2.6 Trillion boondoggle which will be 1/6th of the economy and you don’t address Tort Reform on a national basis or create a competitive environment, then you haven’t addressed the drivers of price increases. Carriers are no dummies. They see what is on the horizen and what they will have to cover if this bill stands so they will continue to raise premiums. This Administration has had no trouble imposing its will on the states in the past 4 years. They don’t do their jobs and when the states try to do it like Arizona, they get sued for violating federal law. Nobamacare needs to go along with this President and his minions.
You forgot to mention his stooge in Chicago. Rahm seems genuinly interested in the schoold and getting kids back in the class room. He is over his head. He needs help. As far as Obama is concerned, politics are more important then the very schoold which his kids would be attending if he were still a Chicago Resident. His pal needs help.
You guys elected him. Don’t blame me. What, exactly, do you expect Obama to do about striking teachers? Your anger is misplaced. Do something constructive with it instead of ranting on a national blog about your teacher’s strike. It’s hardly worth the President’s time.
September 12, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Agent says:
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There is a good way to deal with unions. Back in the day, Air Traffic Controllers were giving grief and threatening to strike or calling in sick. Reagan said -“You better go back to work now or you won’t have jobs”. They didn’t, so he fired them all. We haven’t heard a peep out of them for 30 years. These school teachers are all making more money than the average private sector job and they are striking. Give them an ultimatum and if they don’t go back, there are plenty of teachers out there looking for work to replace these idiots.
September 12, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Libby says:
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The teachers union is not part of the FFA and Obama has no authority to fire them all.
September 12, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Libby says:
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I meant FAA.
September 12, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Libby says:
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Agent, I see you have been busy down-thumbing all of my posts… How many thumbs up do you give yourself each day??
Libby, your doctor is practicing Defensive Medicine. Same used to be for me and a cold. Call – give symptoms and then go get a script.
Now, out of fear he may miss the 1 in a mill, I have to go see him. Greed? I think not. Lawsuite avoidance? Yes indeed. Tort reform Necessary?
It’s greed, plain and simple. If he calls in a script for me, he doesn’t get paid. If he drags me out of work (because of course he won’t stay open past 5:00 for me) and into the office, he gets to charge me for an office visit. What am going to do? Get another doctor? Hardly. You can’t get in in a timely manner as they’re too busy cramming patients in the door for routine B.S. so they can bill the insurance company. Greed. Plain. And Simple.
If its not a uniary infection, he gets sued. Its defensive medicine.
I notice you have not commented on my specifics of tort reform? What do you think about that idea?
I think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, except for federal court, each state will have to adopt the same reform. Trial lawyers are not going to like it one bit. And they have powerful lobbies. Instead of union busting, we should be concentrating on busting the lobbies. They’re all corrupt.
Why not multi task and take out the unions as well as the lobbyists? It should be a felony for a lobbyist to have contact with an elected official, grease their palms with gifts, trips, make big campaign donations in order to get something passed favorable to their clients. The same thing is true for unions. They have had swinging door access to this President and lawmakers for some time. It is way past time for this nonsense to stop and for corrupt lawmakers to be retired.
September 12, 2012 at 1:07 pm
FFA says:
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BTW, it was WGN News – typically a Pro OBama New station – calling for OBama to intervene.
Its becoming a national issue. They were showing teachers from as far away a New Mexico on the picket line. This morning, WGN was saying all eye around the country are on this. They were the ones asking when OBama was going to step in. Asking the buring question is this the begining of the end of unions? Trib busted union 20 years ago. Sun Times did it last year. Scott Walker did it in WI last year. No, obama wont. If the Union Breaks, then he is viewed as anti union. Of course, many of the people I know in unions are not voting for him – especially the electrical union not to mention the carpenters union. Its the Non Union shops working in my town. Many more unions workers sweating their house then non union people. Most of the union members that I know dont respond to these polls. So, their voice is not being heard.
There were good reasons for unions back in the day when employers were mistreating employees, but I think their value is minimal these days. My ex-husband belongs to a union, but being from the West I am anti-union. They seem to drive costs up and I don’t see their value anymore. But union-busting is not my style either. If the unions can’t compete, they will destroy themselves. Like Agent said, there are plenty of teachers out there that would love to have a job, union or no union.
See, I didn’t downthumb your post this time Libby. You are right that the unions days are just about over. In this modern society, employee laws prevent employers from taking advantage of employees and we just don’t need these fat union contracts laced with benefits to the gills making all our products way too expensive. One of the big reasons why companies go offshore to do business is avoiding all the costs associated with unions. It is another reason why government costs so much with the public sector unions involved with their benefit packages. Why does it cost $90,000 to build a Volt when it sells for $40,000? You got it, unions! If they get their way, they will organize healthcare workers and then where will healthcare costs go then? The percentages of increase will explode each year.
September 12, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Libby says:
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I can’t believe we actually agreed on something, Agent! Let’s see if we can keep this trend going…
September 12, 2012 at 2:27 pm
FFA says:
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Man. Been arguing with you on this issue and all of a sudden we find common ground on two points. Whats next – Obama and Romney hugging? Strange days indeed. HMMMM. Maybe you and I should run on the independant ticket as Pres & VP. Settle the CHicago Strike?
You could push for Govt Intrusion in Private Business. I could stand up against it. Then we could meet in the middle.
Compromise – what a great idea!
Well Libby, I see you are getting along fine with FFA now. Now that you have dumped your ex/union spouse, perhaps you can hook up with FFA since he seems a decent guy. I am not sure your politics would jibe with his though. One date might be enough for irreconcilable differences. As long as you don’t get too Progressive for me, I will try to cut you some slack unlike Bob who keeps hammering away until you call him a little man and to shut up.
I’m not progressive. I’m liberal. I see a difference. I don’t believe the rich should pay more taxes than I do, just that they shouldn’t be allowed so many loopholes and opportunities to shelter their money. I understand 15% of $1M is more than 15% of $100,000, but they should pay 15% of their total income, just like I do. That’s all. And I didn’t like Bush, but I did vote for Reagan. I’m for womens rights, gay rights, and equality among the races. That makes me liberal, not progressive.
Libby, we do agree that the tax code should be scrapped and a fair or flat tax installed which will eliminate the thousands of loopholes the ultra rich get. However, it is patently unfair to accuse the better off Americans of not paying their fair share when the top 10% pay 70% of the income tax and the bottom 50% pay no federal income tax. Eveyone should have skin in the game and a fair or flat tax will actually bring in more income and companies will not be forced to shelter their money by taking their business offshore. If we reformed the tax structure and then cut wasteful government spending at the same time, we could get our economy back and balance the budget. $1.6 Trillion deficits each year will not cut it and is totally unsustainable. I am sure you noticed that Ben Bernanke has decided to print up $80Billion new money each month now in hopes of stimulating job growth. All this will do is spur inflation since the value of the dollar will continue to decline and everything we buy will cost more. What an idiot! Gas prices will sail right through $4, food and other necessities will skyrocket. I hope Romney fires this dude the first day in office. Keynsian Economics is a disaster.
What town do you live in? $4.00 for gas – thats cheap.
September 14, 2012 at 10:34 am
Libby says:
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I know. I paid $4.25 this morning.
September 14, 2012 at 10:41 am
FFA says:
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Well Libby, we cant be too far apart. I paid $4.19 the other night. My Sis in Law live further west and they were at $4.05 three days ago. I drive into the city and just watch it go up and up and up.
uhhhhhmmmmm. Hmmmmm. My wife may have an issue with that. Unless she wants to experiment in which case I would say Hummanamomanah. Hey MO!!!!
Or maybe Romney gets in and sees no problem with the Morman way????? Either way ….ummmmm. ahhhh. Hey Mo!
Just so it is not Hilary. We have seen her act before and it is not a pretty picture. I nominate Nikki Hailey or Mary Fallin or Susanna Martinez over Hilary any day. Dr. Monica Crowley has more brains than any woman in public life. She is also very easy on the eyes.
Some would say so, but I didn’t. I was talking about me always wanting to be President.
September 12, 2012 at 3:19 pm
FFA says:
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Rock – Paper – Scissors? Flip a coin? whom ever has the least amount of hair on their head? How about if the Bears win tomorrow night, me. If the Pack wins, you?
There will be no comprimise no on Football!!! My house is a Bears house! Cant wait for Mr Urlacher to vist Mr Rodgers in the back field! Although Greg Jennings is one of my wide outs.
I like Lovie a lot as a coach. By the way, he is from the sprawling metropolis of Big Sandy, Tx which has a population of about 3,000. He made it all the way to the big time. Isn’t the USA great? By hard work, education and dedication, he managed to make it in the real world.
I like the guy too. However, I get grief over that statement in Chicago. Even the Chicago media is not very friendly. They were calling for him to be fired after we lost to the Pack a few yrs back in the Championship game. Hes got to have more service time then Ditka had by now. He has won more playoff games. He has the players backs. He took care of Tice. Got Angelo out of the front office. They bring in what Cutler needs and maybe a legit back up QB. Give him some protection on the lefy side, we are complete. And yet, Lovie gets bashed.
Two type A’s probably would not work out in the long haul although it might make for some great make up sex in the short term.
I’m not really this passive in person
Our health insurance benefit is being canceled next year and we will be paid the amount of the current contribution minus the fine for not offering the coverage. They just can not keep paying the increases each year. It was either that or more layoffs!
And you know what else happens? The amount you’re paid to cover health care is considered taxable income. So, the employer’s off the hook for a relatively small amount (the fine) and the employees have to fend for themselves. Yeah, that’s hope and change, all right.
We hope it changes in November wvagt. I assume you are in West Virginia. Are you happy the EPA is shutting down coal up there? Is Joe Manchin hiding out up there? I haven’t seen him threatening to bolt the Democratic Party and Obama is just killing the economy from what I hear.
Let’s just say that Obama isn’t counting on WV’s electoral votes this year, even though WV has a heavy Dem majority of voters. Manchin is keeping a low (read – invisible) profile, doesn’t want to be connected with Obama in any way. He’s up for election again and has a pretty good Rep challenger, but it’s hard to unseat an incumbent Dem in WV.
Didn’t the prisoner who ran in the Democratic Primary get nearly 40% of the vote in WV against Obama? The voters should hold Manchin accountable if he is going to stay in the Degenerate Party. I know he isn’t going to the convention, but he needs to stand up for the citizens when this administration is trying to destroy the economy there. The EPA now stands for the Employment Prevention Agency.
Prisoner???
Yes, Say What. A prisoner in the Texas prison system registered to run in the Democratic primary in West Virginia. The voters were so upset with Obama, they gave the prisoner almost 40% of the vote. I don’t think Obama is very popular there and will probably skip that state in his bus tour.
Oh. I thought you were talking about John Edwards!
Give him enough rope.
Sarah, from what I have seen with my customers who have Group Health, if they keep them, they will alter their plans for higher deductibles, fewer benefits because it is an affordability issue. If nothing is done to repeal this monster, I think a 5.3% increase is on the lower end and it is likely to be much higher. If they drop their plans, that will throw employees to the exchanges to fend for themselves. It is not a happy prospect for employees who see all their living expenses going up and their income falling.
Sure hope you live in a state that has started to set up an exchange!
Oh boy, another Obama Blogger. What are you going to do for work after the election?
I’m not an Obama blogger.
For all those that have been selling GH, why are you up in arms over a 5.4% increase? Considering the double digit increases over the last several years in the open market, my clients would be overjoyed with 5.3%.
So Caldude, what clients do you expect to have in 2013 to present their increase to? From what I have read, California businesses are fleeing the state in record numbers due to taxation and regulation from the State. The business environment cannot be wonderful out there.
I see…so it wasn’t Obama?! Um….I am so confused. See, I read all these rants and it appears that health insurance premiums will go up, will become unaffordable, grandma is going to die, yada, yada, yada…all due to the ACA (aka Romneycare…er..Obamacare). Yet, GH rates have been steadily increasing over the last 10 years. Riddle me that Batman…
Sure the rates have been going up for years because politicians on both sides of the aisle did nothing to fix it like Tort Reform, creating a competitive environment by allowing insurance to be sold across state lines etc. What we got was a 2,700 page monstrocity passed in the middle of the night without reading it and full of corruption and this is supposed to fix the problem of rate increases??????
Everyone who wanted to had plenty of time to read it, they chose not to. Also, it was being debated for a year. Oh, and it has 160 Republican amendments in it. See the July 15, 2009 line in the following article taken from Fox News:
http://www.kptm.com/story/18903954/scotus-upholds-obamacare
Still drinking that Koolaid Planet? 160 Amendments by Republican to Obamacare that not one of them in the House or Senate voted for? This was hardly a bi-partisan bill. In fact, none of the Republican ideas put forth in the famous Blair House meeting were used since the President just brushed them aside and pompously announced that he won and they lost and get in the back of the bus.
Cal Dude & Cap Planet & Sarah hahahaha (wher ever you are), you can sugar coat Obama all you want. One simple fact that can not be argued away – He came out of the most corrupt county in the most corrupt state and cut his teeth under Stroger and Blago- two of the most corrupt people that ever held office. Not the best role models to be running the country. Wonder why Romney has not pulled that card out yet.
On another note, just got done with my Ethics Training. I resent being told by Ill policiticans that I need Ethics Training.
Maybe because there is no legitimate connection.
Illinois is all the connection I need. I would have loved to hear what he had to say in the Blago Trial. Rahm too.
Finally, an increase under double digits. My increases have been about double this over the past nearly decade if not worse. I’ll gladly take a small 5% increase. Sign me up!
Oh no, Agent. I don’t drink that crap. It has high fructose corn syrup. I see you are still believing the Fox News hype. Don’t you ever listen to Public Enemy? “Don’t believe the hype!” – Flavor Flav
You shouldn’t pay so much attention to MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC and all the left wing sites. Everybody knows how this came down and you swallowed the left wing version hook, line & sinker. Can you prove that just one Republican voted for Obamacare in either the House or Senate? It is pretty hard to do if they were vehemently opposed to it. Even some of the Democrats voted against it and Nancy had to pole vault over the wall and bribe, threaten, cajole to get it done. Don’t give me any of that leftist crap Planet.
Joseph Cao
And I don’t pay attention to “left wing” sites. I cited Fox News earlier. I think you would agree that is not “left wing”.
Since you are so fond of citing your sources, I am still waiting for you to prove there was even one Republican vote for this bill despite your allegation that Republicans put 160 Amendments on it it. Perhaps you have a brain malfunction if you think Republicans had any input on this dastardly legislation. This was a railroad job from the get go with Pelosi & Reid leading the charge. I also remember that a number of Blue Dog Democrats bit the bullet and voted for it and were promptly defeated in the mid terms. Nancy gave them a swell going away party.
Agent, you are a broken record. You need some new material. Your “2700 page monstrosity passed in the middle of the night so no-one could read it” mantra is getting old. Come on! Where’s your creativity?
Allright Libby. Let’s just call it the worst piece of Progressive legislation ever passed by Congress and against the will of the majority of Americans. Once we get the right people in office, it is not for long, trust me.
Captain brings up a good question, though. Were you for the health care bill when it was supported by the GOP?
Agent, I did name one – Joseph Cao – R from Louisiana. I’m surprised his picture isn’t on the bullseye on your dartboard. Also, were you for this healthcare bill before you were against it like the rest of the GOP? Heritage Foundation wrote this bill back in the 90’s. Remember, Bob Dole presented it to us. Then, a Democrat wants to put it into play and whooooaa, the GOP can’t be having any of that.
Those elections were anti-imcumbent by the way. Unless, you want to listen to only Hannity in which case, you’ve been Hannitized and all hope is lost. Why didn’t he want to interview Stephanie Miller live? Or, better yet, why did he bolt on the local kid here in Des Moines, Chris Bradshaw. He literally no-showed 98.3 WOW FM after he promised to be on Bradshaw’s show. Something’s telling me Hannity’s minions discovered Sean couldn’t debate Chris and it was better to hit the high road. Wimp!
Captain, I am sorry but your arguments fly in the face of logic and reason and provide no accountability to the fiscal problems that we are facing as a country. You always do one of the other of the only options available to liberals when arguing. 1. When confronted with logic, reason and facts, always revert to an emotional outburst of ridicule or #2. Justify bad behavior or logic by pointing to worse behavior or logic. That’s the only way a liberal can argue. There is no way to argue with a liberal, its like beating your head against a wall. Done with that!
Fiscal problems? Ok, let’s start with the 2 wars put on a credit card. Or, better yet, Reagan who turned us from a creditor to a debtor nation. We can have the conversation from there. I enjoy the ping pong without demonizing you as a “conservative”. You seem to categorize all “liberals” like Fox News or Rush does. Pro tip, we aren’t all the same.
Yeah, I’ll call out ol’ Ronnie boy and Dubya, and I’ll even point to where I think President Obama is wrong. No one is always right.
You know what, I am so sick and tired of this hateful back and forth.
I work on group plans, mostly small employer groups. They would LOVE renewal increases of around 5%, that would be awesome compared to what trend has been the last few years (8-13%).
And no, employers wont just be able to offer astronomical high deductible plans down the road because part of the ACA includes regulations that ALL plans have maximum cost sharing limits and minimum actuarial values. And if an employer decides not to offer a plan, they may send employees out to the exchanges (where if that employee earns under <400% of the FPL they can get a reduced premium via a subsidy, so that's kinda cool, right) but could offer an HRA to reimburse a portion of premium costs, which would then NOT be taxable to the employee, so that's not terrible either.
Yes, the ACA is very complicated. But No, you wont see a mass exodus of employers drop benefits as a result. And it contains many parts which will enhance the benefits that are available on group and individual plans, and help all individuals get a plan, including those who are declined due to health underwriting right now.
Remains to be seen.
DS, What would stop an employer to just cancel their healthcare benefits and just pay the $700 fine per person and send them all to the exchanges to purchase their own plan?
NOTHING!
Competition for good employees maybe? You know, the whole benefits package thing a company uses to intice good workers. I don’t know anyone whose company is dropping their coverage. Not to say there won’t be some out there who do, but I don’t know of any.
Have you seen the unemployment rate lately?
Hi Always, Are you talking about the bogus 8.3% rate the Labor Dept puts out or the real one which is pushing 20% when you take into account all that have given up or working part time? Planet lives in his own little bubble and believes his President who says the private sector is doing “just fine”. Everyone with any brains knows this economy is hurting and employers are not hiring or have any plans to do so until the government changes hands.
Hi Agent,
The realistic percentage you mentioned: 20%.
Planet, companies are not having to compete with other employers for good employees and entice employees with benefits because there is not much hiring going on right now. As a matter of fact, companies are looking to trim payroll and other expenses because of fear of the government, taxes, EPA. College graduates cannot find work in this environment and they are not looking for the big benefit packages. They just want to work period and it just isn’t there. My partner has a son who graduated and is looking for work in the Dallas Metroplex, has a Marketing Degree and a lot of want to and 3 months into the process cannot even get an interview. This scenario will not change until we get a friendlier business environment and companies are not getting penalized all the time.
Good point – Who is hiring?
See my post
“And if an employer decides not to offer a plan, they may send employees out to the exchanges (where if that employee earns under <400% of the FPL they can get a reduced premium via a subsidy, so that's kinda cool, right) but could offer an HRA to reimburse a portion of premium costs, which would then NOT be taxable to the employee, so that's not terrible either."
If the Employer lets the employees go to the Exchange, they may be eligible for a premium subsidy. The Employer could fund an HRA as part of a defined contribution plan – say to Employees "I will fund $X/mo toward your benefits and you can buy the plan that meets your needs." Also not a horrible alternative.
And as Captain Planet says, benefits packages are still an incentive to retain employees.
Planet,
You just used method #2 of my above liberal arguments. “Justify bad behavior by pointing to worse behavior!” Its either that or an emotional outburst of factless ridicule. (Name calling) You guys just have no argument to facts,logic and reason. Please try to come up with something different.
Sarah, Planet is so goofy he thinks the Republicans put 160 amendments into Obamacare. He and Libby are the worst of the progressive bloggers on this site. They have no arguments so they just make it up to suit their agenda. It is kind of like their leaders who will be demonizing Republicans as extremists this week and blaming Bush for their woes nearly 4 years later. I am glad I have several movies to watch. It should be a rousing start with the two hours of Muslim prayers.
Agent, the 160 came from a Fox News article. I didn’t just make it up. You may not agree, and that’s okay. But, you can’t have your own set of facts.
No, not justifying anything. Just stating where our current problems took root. And, we are now trying to deal with those issues. Here’s something different, trickle-down failed. Let’s discuss a new model. It can still be a capitalist society, as that’s how I want it to stay. But, trickle down is a complete failure and even Reagan’s economist says so. Let’s discuss some new ideas. The policies of the last 30 years aren’t working and are destroying the middle and lower classes.
Planet, quit with the blaming of Reagan. It is almost as bad as you blaming Bush as your leaders have been doing for the past 4 years. Reagan created millions of jobs in his tenure and revenue to the government increased tremendously. Unfortunately, Congress couldn’t bring themselves to stop spending more money than they took in and progressive Keynsian spending policy for several decades have resulted in the hole we are in now. You are right about one thing. The spending policies have not worked and now we have “Trickle up Poverty” going on with the middle class. We can still have a Capitalist Society, but first we have to change out the government starting at the top and in the Senate.
Captain, you are repeating crap fed to you from political elites without even questioning what they are saying. Trickle down is the only way money can flow. Poor people do not hire, Poor people can not invest, Poor people can not improve the economy without a wealthy person giving them a job or buying something from them. You liberals may not like it, but it is the real world we have to work with. Its just the laws of physics. Please discuss a new model in which poor people become middle class without government giving hand outs or the wealthy stimulating the economy, because this whole class warfare only hurts the poor, and is a made up pile of crap. January 3rd 2007 was the day that Bwarney Fwank and Countrywide Chris Dudd took over the oversight of banks and financial systems and we got Nancy in the House and Harry in the Senate. 2 years before the financial collapse due to the housing industry and mortgaged back securities epic fail in september of 2008, almost 2 years of democratic oversight of the banking industry. Bush requested Fannie and Freddie to rain in their risky backing of liar loans and the practices of backing loans without any collateral at all. Bwarney and Chris pushed back with the Congressional Black Caucus. THEY ARE TO BLAME NOT BUSH! JP morgan did not fail because of poor economic growth, unemployment at 8.3% or the national debt at 16 Trillion. No that would be Obama’s failure and the banking collapse was not Bushes either it was the Democrats who where in charge of oversight. ALL FACTS! Argue with that without reverting to the only 2 ways liberals argue mentioned above.
If the rich are the “job creators” and they are doing better than they EVER have, why aren’t they creating jobs? Because there is a demand crisis in this country. We need to increase the velocity of money in the economy. The real job creators are people like you and me. And, those that are less fortunate. Let me explain and I’ll make it simple. I go to a restaurant and spend $10. That $10 goes into a waitress’ pocket and she goes and spends it on groceries. Enough waitresses go to that grocery store and the store needs more items for the shelves. Because they have more items to stock, the grocery store needs to hire more employees. The grocery store is buying more bread and that drives up production at the local mill. The mill needs to operate longer in order to keep up with the grocery store’s needs. It hires more employees. And so on and so on.
Did you know that the lower class spends about 100% of what it earns? You want to increase the velocity of money in this country? Find a way to give them just a little bit more. Hmm, maybe tax cuts for the lower and middle class and a small tax increase on the wealthiest Americans. The money has been trickling up for the past 30+ years and isn’t coming back down. Instead, it’s staying up top. Bring the tax rates back to where they were under Clinton, let’s have a talk about deficit amongst both parties, and there you have a plan to restore America. The wealthy aren’t creating jobs because there isn’t a demand for their widgets. Get money in the hands of those who want the widgets and then they’ll have a reason to hire people. Obama has a plan to cut the deficit $4T over the span of the next 10 years. And, some Republicans even voted FOR it. Let’s get it done!
Obama/Biden 2012!
Spoken like a true believer in Progressive Keynsian spending philosophy. Perhaps that is why we have a $16 Trillion debt and a stagnant economy with rampant unemployment. Keynes economic theories about priming the pump and “investments” by government have been thoroughly debunked by most leading economists. I encourage you to read anything by Milton Friedman for enlightenment on why Keynes theories don’t work in a Capitalist system. It is too bad you didn’t take Econ 101 or you might understand what makes this economy tick.
The reason why employers like me are not hiring or expanding is government and taxation, over regulation, Obamacare, Dodd-Frank among other things. Employers see a very unfriendly government which wants to control every aspect of their business and wants to take their profits away. They are not going to expand or hire unless the government changes hands. I am sure you probably believe your famous ex Speaker of the House who proudly proclaimed that unemployment checks are a stimulus to the economy. Planet, real jobs are what stimulate the economy, creates more taxpayers instead of leaches using entitlements. What happened to Obama’s promise to cut the deficit in half? He only added $5.3 Trillion in a little more than 3 years and we are running $1.6 Trillion deficit each year. Hello! Is anyone home? If Obamacare is not repealed, the annual deficit will be $2 Trillion per year. Time to change everything out and put adults in charge and cut up the credit cards.
There is a glaring problem with your analogy, you left out the employer. The $10. goes to the restaurant owner and then he goes to the store and buys the food, pays the health insurance, salary of the waitress, and if any left it will be taxed and if he makes enough of a profit he will hire another employee so he can increase the number of $10 bills coming in. The lower class has always and always will spend 110% of what they spend and ask you to spend the remaining 10%. How can you give tax cuts to the lower and middle class when they do not pay any federal income taxes now. 50% of all US citizens filing a tax return pay NO TAXES AT ALL! The presidents plan cuts all spending in year 8, 9 and 10 of his plan of which he will be long gone and we will never see the savings in spending. WE NEED A BALANCED BUDGET NOW!
Funny – all arguing for Obumer Care has failed to mention Tort Reform. I have not read every post, but I have only seen the folks against the bill mention it.
Planet,
When Obama used the word “Change” What did you think he meant?
When Obama used the word “Hope” what did you think he meant?
Did you get what you thought?
IF NOT WHY WOULD YOU VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN?
Where do you think Obama is going to move the Country Forward too?
OFF A CLIFF?
Sarah, people like Planet think he has done a great job. Libby thinks he has been noble and honest???? By the way, the catchword “Forward” has been used for a hundred years by Marxist and Socialists in many countries. They are just regurgitating it for this campaign. There is no doubt where they want to take this country and it is not a pretty picture.
Great job? No! Good job, yes. His shooting percentage is good enough I’d keep feeding him the ball. He’s not quite on fire, but he’s getting about 18 points a game, a handful of assists, and 6 or 7 boards. I’d certainly sign him to a 4 year contract worth $1.6 mil.
Your numbers are a little bit off Planet. It is actually $1.6 Trillion over and above what he takes in each year in taxes. This guy makes Jimmy Carter look good by comparison. He should have plenty of time to practice his basketball moves in about 60 days. If it is a bit cold in Chicago, he could relocate to Hawaii and play in the sun and get his golf rounds in as well.
Agent, President Obama makes $400,000 a year. His contract would then be $1.6 mil.
His salary for being president, and a sad one at that, is $400,000 a year. The rest of his income from book sales which puts that amount in the what ? the milliions ? billions? You do the math Planet.
Huh???? What????? We have had enough of Basketball. How about a leader. You want analogies, how about this one – He is throwing bricks at the economy.
instead of him getting 1.6 million we got 16 Trillion!
HOPE WE CHANGE GOING FORWARD!
Planet, as long as you want to talk in sports lingo, if this man was a professional athlete and he was not performing up to the contract, the team would waive him and send him out on the street. Many of these big time athletes sign big contracts and then their performance drops way off because there is no incentive to do better. An athlete that signs for a non-guaranteed amount with incentives usually keeps doing better and better each year because they are hungrier. Obama will have to be satisfied with his retirement package in 60 days.
In a generation, we have gone from Rope a Dope with Ali to Hope a Dope with Obama. America, please wake up and retire this guy to Chicago. Sorry FFA, I know you live there and don’t really want him. Perhaps he will keep going all the way to Hawaii.
Change, like creating 4.5 million jobs (including 1 for my wife), bringing the unemployment rate from 10% to closer to 8% again, creating pay equality for women, allowing gays to openly serve in the military, healthcare reform, bringing down Bin Laden, moving towards energy independence (like the recent new fuel standards just passed last week) – those types of changes. I was hoping get rid of Guantanamo, but you can’t win them all. I am also “hoping” for more of these types of “changes” in the next term. We need to keep the ball rolling and in spite of Mitch McConnell’s goal of blocking The President at all stops, President Obama has accomplished quite a bit. “Forward” meaning, away from the policies of the past that put us in the economical grips we currently are in. Yes, he has earned my vote and then some. Which is why, this time, I actually donated. If I can free up some time, I will also volunteer. Obama/Biden 2012!
Planet, since you are obviously from another Planet, you tend to ignore what most of us with a brain have seen. $5 Trillion in new debt, unemployment above 8% for 42 months with almost no job creation in 2012 at all, ruling by executive fiat, not allowing energy development, but instead trying to make fuel out of switchgrass and wasting our money on failed green companies. I could go further, but I don’t write books like you do on this blog. Let’s just say this President and his corrupt administration is the worst in American History and should be sent packing in November. Enjoy your convention of radical speakers.
I think they should use “Four-ward”.
“For you, for me, for us, four more! Four-ward on in 2012!”
How about BEND FORWARD!
Sarah, Have you seen the new bumper sticker for Obama? It says – Lean Forward – We aren’t done yet. Very appropriate for the Degenerate Party which is now officially the Godless Party since God is not mentioned anywhere in their platform, not even once.
Oh, and I will enjoy the DNC. I enjoyed the RNC of empty chairs, empty policy details, and implied F bombs. Classy.
Planet, You wouldn’t know classy if you saw it. I’m sure you will enjoy the triumverate of Nancy Pelosi, do nothing Harry Reid and Debbbie Wasserman Shultz who don’t have an original thought between them except to say it is Bush’s fault. They are an unmitigated disaster. Classy is Nikki Hailey, Susanna Martinez, Mary Fallin, Artur Davis, Mia Love and of course Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney who actually have ideas on how to fix this country. All your guy promises is more of the same failed policy, more ruling by executive fiat and more Progressive Socialism. In the service, we had a saying that someone who is about to finish the enlistment was getting “short”. Your guy is a short timer for sure.
Sarah, I thought you conservatives were against that sort of thing. Naughty-naughty!
So Planet, the Democrats had to cancel the stadium since they only had 20,000 people and the stadium holds 74,000. What does that tell you about the success and popularity of this President today? He had 80,000 fill up the stadium in Denver 4 years ago. They probably couldn’t pay for the stadium anyway since they are short on convention funds. They cited concerns on the weather, but we know the real reason why this was done. Obama would be echoing into a one third filled stadium and they just couldn’t have that on national TV.
They are both full of crap – Except Ryan. His wife is cute!!!!
Definition of Policiticans – Liars. All of them. Full of crap. Any Business man can run this ship better then the dumerthencraps.
Has no place in a political platform.
Geeze Agent, he still believes in the 4.5 million job creation. Not so. You really need to start using fact check planet. CNN has been most informative on all the over exaggerations.
Planet I’ll even make it easy for you: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/politics/fact-check-obama-jobs/index.html
Read it and weep.
“While that is indeed a gain of 4.5 million”
I agree that Ryan’s wife is cute. Ann Romney is still a very pretty lady even after her health issues and 43 years of marriage. Have you noticed how the Democrats trot out numerous ugly women? Elizabeth Warren with her granny hair, Pelosi with her Botox face that is about to fall off, Moochelle with her enormous caboose following her around. Debbbie Wasserman Schultz, the witch with the frazzled hair and ugly mug. Give me Nikki Hailey, Mia Love, Mary Fallin. They all have class and are very easy on the eyes. They are also very smart and have turned their states around.
Unemployment at 8.3% on Obama’s inauguration date 7.7
Foodstamps given up 87% from inauguration date.
National Debt 10.5 Trillion on Obama’s inauguration date to 16 Trillion now.
Annual Budget Deficit (Wait a minute Obama’s budget was voted down 99/0 not even one democrat voted for it.) Deficit 1.6 Trillion a year.
By the way if he was creating jobs, why does the unemployment rate keep going higher and higher and more and more people are on wellfare.
Family incomes $55K on Obama’s inaugaration date. Now 51K and dropping.
Why would you want to vote for this hot air bag of words and no action?
Oh, I get it, hotair.com. Sarah, if you are going to start the clock on the inauguration date, acting as if the previous administration’s actions don’t have a lingering effect on the economy, well, then, there is no arguing with you. Your notes are misguided and you are misappropriating to the current administration. Just think how much worse it would have been if we continued down Bush’s path. Yes, call me a Bush-blamer, but he seriously mucked things up and got out just in the nick of time. Everyone knew, no matter who became President, it would be no easy task. Obama has done a helluva job reversing the mess, although he has much more to do. Right-wing opposition to everything he tries doesn’t help any. Then again, with Mitch at the controls, what is one going to do? Can’t spell McConnell without “con”. Yep, I’ve used that joke twice now.
When the first President Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992, the jobless rate was 7.4% on Election Day; when President Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980, unemployment was 7.5%, but a sideshow compared with 30-year mortgage rates of 14.2% and 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran for more than a year. In 1984, however, President Reagan survived a challenge from Walter Mondale and won a second term despite a jobless rate of 7.2%.
So Republicans are busy asking voters, as Reagan did in 1980, whether they’re better off than they were four years ago.
But four years from when?
In August 2008, financial disaster hadn’t yet struck. The unemployment rate was 6.1%. Yet by the time voters went to the polls in November, the White House and the Federal Reserve were scrambling desperately to avoid a depression. They succeeded — barely. But the great recession was on. By Inauguration Day, the unemployment rate was soaring, ultimately reaching 10% the following October.
Clock starts in October when Obama’s policies started to take hold.
Dream on Planet! We have a countdown going for about 60 more days of this administration and then the rebuilding of America can begin. You conveniently forgot that Democrats controlled Congress in 2007 and the first two years of Obama. They and the RINO’s are responsible for what happened. This is not all Bush’s fault as your leaders keep harping on. His biggest mistakes which were many was signing onto all that Pelosi/Reid big spending legislation that got this country so debt ridden. Obama compounded those mistakes and spent another $5.3 Trillion which did almost no good. Instead of concentrating on the economy, he spent a year and a half trying to ram the ill fated Obamacare down our throat. It would have been a tough ask even in a good economy, but he had no clue about the economy so he put it on the back burner and now he is going to pay the political price and we just have to let him go as Clint Eastwood put it very well.
I know what isn’t classy – this quote by Hunter S. Thompson. But, it’s hilarious:
“I had a soft spot in my heart for Ronald Reagan, if only because he was a sportswriter in his youth, and also because his wife gave the best head in Hollywood.”
Also, where were these so called ideas during the RNC? Instead, we got Harry Callahan cussing at an empty chair and Paul Ryan giving one of the most lie-filled speeches in the history of politics. I get that he’s a politician and all, but he was so slimy I thought he just said “I don’t know” on “You Can’t Do That on Television”.
Not to mention Boehner was drunk again. No wonder the dude cries all the time. I knew people like that in college. Give them a few drinks and it’s all water works from there.
I mean, seriously. Boehner puts the “pub” in Republican. Paul Ryan puts the “con” in conservative. And, before you go there, no, can’t say “rat” in Democrat because I beat you to the punch. That’s a block. I had my guard up. Oh, and don’t try the “I can” in Repulican, either. OK, just having a little fun at the end of the day after a long one back from the holiday weekend. Go Hawks!
You’re a funny guy. Perhaps you can take your act on the road all the way to Canada. I am sure you can find a few drunks that will laugh at your jokes. You have even less class than some of your leaders who are certifiably brain dead. Botox face Pelosi hasn’t uttered a coherent sentence in several years. I think the chemicals she has absorbed with all those injections just causes her to involuntarily wave her hands. If Boehner has a drinking problem, so does she since she used to stock her government issued plane to the gills with liquor for herself and family in their cross country jaunts at our expense. Boehner looks like a choir boy when compared to her.
Agent, can’t you take a joke? Man alive. And don’t tell me about what is classy and what isn’t when you’re writing things like, “Botox face Pelosi”. Lighten up. I was just having some word fun. No big deal if Boehner wants to have some drinks. I just think he should do it when the camera isn’t on him. And, I think I’ve said this before, but I wouldn’t go to Canada. If I were forced to, I’d go south somewhere. It’s warmer down there. But I love my country, so I’m here to stay. Me and some of my friends have some polls to occupy soon.
Can’t you take a joke Planet about your exalted leaders? Everybody knows Pelosi is the queen of Botox. It obviously impairs her brain or she would not have said they had to pass it so we could see what was in it. She would also not have said she would pole vault over the fence to get it done. Perhaps she shouldn’t appear in public unless someone ties her hands down since it looks like involuntary spasms due to degeneration of brain cells.
Me and everyone I personally know is better off now than 4 years ago. And with the healthcare and social reforms, we’re even better-better off. I love this country!
FIRED UP after that Clinton speech and I don’t even like Bill. I am going to do what Michelle asked, find my 5 votes and find 5 more. I think all I need to do is highlight some of the transcript from the speeches at the DNC and look out! You guys can continue your hate machine of Obama. Distort the truth all you want. Rush, Sean, and Glenn do every day. I know because I listen to them. This course of the Republican party doesn’t have much life left. Look what is happening to the demographic in Texas already. That state is turning purple.
Sorry Planet, but the Cowboys/Giants game was much better than watching the Degenerate Party put on their show. I saw a few clips during timeouts and the serial liar, impeached but not removed womanizer was really enjoying the limelight. So much in fact that he ran overtime into the late local news. It was also comical to see them screw up the language in the platform about saying Jerusalem was the capitol of Israel. They put it back in despite the “No’s” being much louder than the “Yea”s”. That must be another example of the Chicago way. Unlike you, they highlighted how bad they are. By the way, I live in Texas and we expect the state to be at least 60-40 in favor of Romney. Texas is a very conservative state and will remain so. Trotting out a Hispanic mayor from San Antonio will not change anything.
I don’t disagree with you the state will vote red this year. I’m saying it’s turning purple, though. In 20 years or less, I think you’ll find you live in a very different political environment than you do now. 60/40 – WOW! I can’t believe it’s that close now. Good luck in November, Agent. Again, I predict Romney wins. The Kochs and the rest of the party sure is trying to put their money where their mouths are. Whereas, Obama and his team is doing it the grassroots way. I am personally going to talk to my neighbors about the differences between the candidates and just have a conversation with them. Our country might as well be Roman ruins should Romney and Ryan win. Unlike Jack and Kate in LOST, we can’t go back.
Actually Planet, it could be 75-25 in favor of Romney in Texas, but I was being Conservative as I tend to be. We will not allow illegals to vote in this state. I, too predict Romney wins and possibly by a landslide since the American People have awakened to see how bad Obama and his minions actually are and will reject Socialism and ruling by executive fiat that has been done the past few years. It is interesting that you mention Roman ruins. Nero fiddled while Rome burned and that is what your leaders have been doing for 4 years. Romney/Ryan have plans to restore America and your leaders have more of the same failed tax and spend, regulate to death philosophy and the country will look very much like Venezuela than America if we don’t change it out and get back on track.
Man, it’s like I’m reading transcripts from Sean Hannity. Thanks for the same talking points, Agent. I think I’ll just turn on Rush/Sean/Bill/Glen next time I want to hear these lies. It’s truly sad you want to double down on Bush’s policies. I can only pray there is a sensible electoral college that doesn’t suffer from the same short term memory loss. But, then again, I think America gets fooled 1 more time by the likes of Romney/Ryan and never again! Which, wouldn’t be a bad thing as long as they don’t totally muff it all up in 4 years. Big IF.
I don’t get my talking points from Hannity, Planet. I go back a lot further than Fox News for my conservative views. I do admire Sean for keeping Progressives he has on his show in line. He certainly does a much better job than O’Reilly. I have to switch channels when I see Juan Williams, the mouthpiece of Obama on Fox and Alan Colmbs who is a certifiable idiot. Since your guy has proven to be a disaster, it is time to give Romney/Ryan a chance to straighten out the country. Who knows, you may actually benefit if the country is returned to fiscal responsibility and the economy recovers. You won’t if we keep the present administration in power.
The ratings are in now. 21 million households tuned in to the Cowboys/Giants game and 7 million to the DNC extravaganza. That tells me the Demoncrats do not have a compelling message to the folks. The rapture is lost and people are tired of watching a bunch of radicals on the stage running this country in the ground. The folks are tuning them out and it drives them crazy. They also had to cancel the football stadium because it would be 2/3 empty. Hmm! Sounds like they are in big trouble.
Wonder how much Fantasy Foorball had to do with that. I watched the game – every play only because the Giants D was on the field and because the Cowboy Kicker was going against me. If not for that smart penalty, my D would have given me the Pick 6 + wards totaling 9 points on that one play. And to think, I benched the Bears D for that…..
Actually FFA, the Cowboys have always drawn huge audiences whether it be a game like this or Sunday or Monday night football. Couple that with playing the defending Super Bowl champions in a media center like NY and it was bound to draw big. Also, people are wery of all this political gamesmanship, lies, distortions and the Democrats lead the pack on that. They just need to go away and let the adults take over and solve some problems instead of adding to them.
Giants are my D this year. Opening night for the NFL. Add that on to the people that are just tired of all the Political posturing adds up to smart marketing. Only station in town that was not showing the DNC or some rerun that been seen 100 times over. Very smart marketing.
Actually, I was surprised that NBC did the game since they are the biggest promoters of Obama. I guess they couldn’t turn down all that advertising money they were making on the game. Their viewership is on the decline overall so they needed to replenish the coffers.
We’ll see how long the southern strategy can work. Fox News’ responsibility? Make white males angry. Fox News’ candidates Romney’s/Ryan’s responsibilities? Make sure you gain a strong majority of those angry white males’ support. Time will tell if a fistful of dollars and a campaign full of lies can attract enough angry white male votes to get the job done. I know where you stand, Agent. You are, of course, the target market down in Texas. You should know all about the southern strategy. The Grand Ol’ Party has not exactly kept that a secret.
Agent, my family and my friends have all done well under the current administration. Better than the previous. But most importantly, others I don’t know have as well. It’s not fixed, that’s for certain. But, it’s better. No one was going to completely right the ship in 4 years. That’s a ridiculous goal. Given the social reforms, many in this country are way better off than they were. We’ve ended a war and taken care of a couple dictators, too. You might say the world is better off. Well, you won’t. Have have Obama Hate Syndrome. OHS well.
All of your long winded posts and you not a paid blogger? Are you a politician?
Planet, you just rattled off the Democratic talking points which I guess you memorize from all those speakers. You say no one could right the ship in 4 years. Reagan did it in 3 years from the Carter disaster and had the country rolling, adding jobs, created the IRA’s & 401k’s during that era which encouraged savings. You may not have been alive during Carter, but he was bad news and the economy was very close to what it has been the last 3 years with interest rates through the roof, stagflation, energy crisis and unemployment. There is the same kind of malaise going on right now after 4 years of Progressive policy. We don’t need any more social reforms in this country. We need jobs and economic recovery and your guy has no clue or he would taken steps to encourage business and stop stifling growth. By the way, I don’t hate Obama, but I sure hate what he and his minions have done to bring this country almost to ruin. When a President cannot do the job he was hired to do by the people, it is time to let him go.
Planet, I am glad you have done well and your family and friends have done well. I don’t wish you ill, but you have your rose colored glasses on if you think this country is doing well under this administration. The signs are all over the place. The reason we are still in the huge mess is because of all the mess made by Progressives from both sides of the aisle. They got us into it and they have no clue how to get us out because their solutions are so flawed. Progressive Keynsian spending policy only guarantees more debt and no recovery. As I stated before, it is time for the adults to take charge. FDR extended the Great Depression by 5 years with the same approach that Obama has taken. The only thing that got us out of it was WW11. That was a tough thing to go through to get us out of the Depression.
The only thing rosey are my palms after that speech last night. Okay, I need to qualify that with I’m totally joking. Hey, it’s Friday! Have a good weekend, all.
Livin in fantasy land or preparing for your wife to leave because you will be broke if this crook gets back in? Did you hear his BS about being friendly to Small Business?
Agent, this world needs Chubby Chasers to Barak and my wife. I am well fed.
Oh, I see, your Jesse Jackson turning this into a race thing. I knew you were a policitican.
Race? No, I just think people hate this President. Not because of his skin color. But, because Mitch McConnell, the Koch’s, and Fox News said to. I’m so old, I remember the right saying to sit down, shut up, and support the President during times of war.
I hate him because he is anti small business. I was much better off in 08 before he took office. He passes this Health Care bill without addressing the #1 problem in Health Care – hell, the entire industry – hell, all of America for that matter – TORT REFORM. Nothing. Zip. Zilch Zero. Not a word. Not to mention he is an Illinois Politician. How is his stooge in Chicago working out? Lets see – 50% increase in the murder rate this year alone. Top cop goes on tv saying in regards to the Colo Theater shooting – “Thats a typical day in Chicago”. Good Job Obama Stooge Rahm. Facing the first Teacher Strike in over 20 years. Obummer did a great job teaching him. Not to mention the jack ass in Spring Field driving business after business out of the state not to mention the flood of Doctors leaving because there is no such thing as TORT REFORM. Alwasy seems to circle back around to that topic for me. Anytime any of you yahoos want to make an argument for Of’nbama Care, stop and ask your self this – “Would tort reform be good. Would Tort FReform help slow down the massive increases we are seeing?” If the answer is yes, then you can not think this is anything but govt intrusion into private business. Isnt that against our economic model? So, argue away after asking that simple question. If you keep arguing in favor of it, then I will assume you are a paid blogger and just doing your job in which case I ask, where are you working come late November? The other scenario I can imagine is that you are a lawyer so your opinion just dont count in my book. Your a large part of the problem.
I was going to ask you FFA how Dead Fish is doing as mayor of Chicago, but the news has been keeping me up on it. We are losing more people to murder in Chicago than we are losing in Afghanistan. I understand he just lets the street gangs roam up there because cracking down with SWAT would be profiling. It sounds pretty close to anarchy, at least in parts of Chicago. Now, he takes time to smirk at the convention while the teachers union is going on strike. Sounds like he is doing about the same job as the mayor in Detroit has been doing. Guess what party they belong to. Don’t pay any attention to Planet who seems to be a paid blogger of the Demoncrats. He should be committed.
Cool, let’s get Romney in there, attack Iran, and everything will be great! We just need another war. Can we pay for this one first? Or, just use our awesome credit rate right now, mess up the country, and leave it for the next Democrat to deal with and act like it’s his fault?
Interestingly enough, I was talking to a small business owner last night. He owns a restaurant in Denver. He actually said, and I quote, “If Romney wins, this country is more messed up than I thought, and it’s time for me to take the money I’ve earned thus far and move to a different country. Maybe Canada, eh?”
I told him he was nuts. No matter what, USA!
I was thing if the Dumerthencraps get in again, I would move to Mexico, learn broken and then sneak back across the border. Then I get free Health Care and can work tax free. It would be legal to stick my hand in your pocket just because I am entitled.
Yes agent, Chicago is a mess. When the top cop can minnimilize an incident like in Colorado to just an average day in Chicago, something is wrong. Even Cap Plan can see that. He just will not comment.
Not a fan of Raum, myself. He just seems flat. What’s going on in Chicago is tragic. Reminds me of the old gangster days during the Prohibition Era. Yes, get Raum out of there and put someone in there who can clean up the streets of Chicago. I love that city! FFA, how about some Gino’s East? As long as it isn’t some radical Republican like Paul Ryan, I don’t even care if there is an R next to that person’s name. You may find this hard to believe, but I have voted Republican many times. It’s just, this isn’t the Republican Party it used to be. It doesn’t even resemble what is used to be.
I’ve voted Democrat too. Best man for the job is how I vote. I have Ginos right up the road from me. Good stuff. Tried to go see the air show in Chicago a few weeks back. Looked for parking for 1.5 hours. Could not find anywhere. Not a big fan of th traffic much less not knowing where not to go. Our Gov is a joke too. Was booed loudly at the Ill State Fair.
Oh, and Reagan righted the ship right into the iceberg we currently rest on, Agent. Though, I do like his position on immigration and his feelings that a bus driver shouldn’t be taxed as much as a Romneyian. He had those issues right.
So Planet, you have graduated from beating up on Bush and went clear back two Presidents ago and now blaming Reagan for our current misery. You should be committed to an asylum for an extended stay if you think Reagan got us into the mess created by Progressives in both parties in the past 10 years. Reagan has been gone for 32 years now. By the way, he left office with a strong economy, jobs created and the other countries in the world actually respected the President and this country. Don’t go beating up on the greatest President of the 20th Century. You may set a record for dislikes in this forum for your ugly comment.
Reagan is history. Clinton is history. Busch JR & Sr are history. Invade Iran or let them build a nuke? Easy decision in my mind. I would like to be alive instead of vaporized. Keep the nut job extremist busy over there before they can hit American Soil.
Neithe choices are desirable. Another lessor of two evils to choose from.
Rahm appears to be letting the taches walk out. First Teachers Strike in 20+ years happening. Also, more murders last night along with some kid bringing a gun to a HS football game. Called the game in thirs quater because of one jack ass. Rahm is an Obama stooge.
I saw some interviews with the Teacher Union up there. This seems to be about their “benefits” just like Wisconsin. My guess is they don’t want any cost sharing and just want everything handed to them on a silver platter. The problem is that the system is broke. Unions are the cause of a lot of economic woes in this country and it is time to scale them way back just like Walker did. Enough is enough.
Well, they did walk. Rahm is blaming the teachers union saying there are two points that need to be hammered out that are not financial with one of them being state law. He is saying that he wants the principles to have hiring authority – not CPS and not CTU. He is also saying that he wants student test scores to be a bigger part on the teacher evaluation as required by Il State Law. He came on TV last night seemingly flustered that the union walked away from the table calling this a voluntary strike. They could have gone to work today and hammer out the Admin Issue with out classroom interuption. Have not heard a word from CTU. Got one side but not the other. No matter who you “blame” its the kids that suffer as well as the parents of the students. Had things lined up ready to go for first day of school – now – not. Change all the planning. Just a mess.
The real Ronald Reagan:
1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980′s did little help to them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to choose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendancy.
One of the worst ever! And, I’ve blamed him before and I’ll keep blaming him and Bush. They are responsible for our country’s demise.
Thats the past. How is the future looking? All you bloggers keep bringing up history. 4 more years of this ass and you will be supporting me to. I have 7 people I support. So, how you feel about providing for 8 more? Reagan Smagean. 4 more years of Middle Class Elimination and Job Destruction. Cant wait till I start sticking my hand in your pocket.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured… but not everyone must prove they are a citizen.”
Now add this, “Many of those who are unable, or refuse, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance because they are citizens.”
Think about it when you vote in November !
Planet, Progressive Democrats are the biggest whiners and blamers in the business. They think they are the smartest people in the room and just look at what they have done in just a few short years. We can’t leave them to their own devices anymore and expect our country to survive. As Ronny said at the end of his 8 year term, government is not the solution, it is the problem. He was absolutely correct.
Cant wait for the election for all this to be over. Didnt even Obama say he was sick of the political ads? I wonder how many people that read the IJ have yet to make up their minds.
FFA, I think the undecided on this blog is virtually 0. In fact, I can’t believe anyone is still fence riding unless they are the ones with their nose stuck in their laptop or iphone downloading apps and dont’ know what is going on around them. The networks are loving the political season since millions are spent on the ads. I wonder why Leno’s salary was cut in half and 20 of his staff were let go. Perhaps NBC’s ratings have something to do with it. They telecasted the Cowboy/Giants game to get some needed revenue in and outdrew the DNC 3 to 1.
I know I should be done with this as I (nor you or anyone else) is going to change their mind no matter who says what. Nor will anyone change my mind. But yet, I still engage the argument.
I still true to one of my very first statements regarding OBama Care and no one on either side of the fence can or will dispute this simple fact – with out Tort Reform, its just change for the sake of change. The underlying issue is not addressed, the problem is not solved. I liken it to a water streak on the wall. Do you just paint over it and hope the problem is fixxed or do you climb on the roof and fix the leak before you paint?
My last break, I saw a guy outside just staring. I engaged conversation and he told me that a business with 25+ that he works for just informed all the employees no more health insurance. Way to go Barak!
FFA, There was an AP story in the newspaper this morning that confirmed that Health Insurance for a family costs $2,400 more per year than in 2009 when Obama took office and now is pushing a total of $16,000 per year. So much for the affordability that he promised when he said he would bring costs down. As you stated before, nothing was done on Tort Reform in this bill or to create a competitive environment with companies allowed to sell across state lines. All we got was a Progressive Dream which is attempting to control every aspect of our lives and will “tax” us further if we don’t choose to buy it.
As a side note, since you are from Chicago, how about those teachers up there? Aren’t they just great out there walking the picket line? They average making $75,000 per year and don’t want any accountablity for their proficiency. The report I saw was that they aren’t doing a very good job teaching the students and kids rank low in math and reading. Dead Fish has no clue how to handle them. If Obama is retired in November and goes back to Chicago, I promise his girls will be in private school.
How much did healthcare go up under Bush’s administration? As far as I can tell, it has been steadily increasing for many, many years. Hardly Obama’s fault.
Libby, Obama promised to “fix” the affordability issue when he passed Obamacare. There was no doubt premiums had been going up for years prior to Bush and including Bush because we had no Tort Reform and not a competitive environment for Health Insurance. He also didn’t want to hear any alternative solutions from anyone other than his minions to fix this problem. I do blame him for breaking his promise and his legislation did not help at all and many think premiums will continue to rise as carriers have to cover all PreX’s and students to age 26.
I believe he is putting some controls on costs in his bill. The proof will be in the pudding. We’ll have 4 more years to argue about it! Obama/Biden 2012!
Once again Libby, no Tort Reform = a band aide on a severed limb. And Libby, Busch is done and over with. Problems in Health Care span my life time – 49 years + 11 months. Controlls? Where are they? What are they? Please do tell.
Our kids are on strike. His stooge is over his head. He needs help not only with schools, but with the murder rate – not just crime – murder rate. This is his home town. Our kids need his intervention. Break the union. Make Rahm cave. Do something. Send Walker in from WI. Doing nothing is proof in my eyes there is no loyalty to your home town or your stooge. Is the what we can expect from you when your done being pres? No Loyalty at all to the good ole USA? Politics in front of kids education. Way to show the world your own personal greed is more important then the children themselves.
Time for him to step in and break the union. They have out lived their usefullness. See McCormick Place. $3000 to set up a 10 X 10 booth for upcoming expo.
Once again, FFA, tort reform is done at the state level, not the federal level. Obama can not force tort reform any more than he can march into Illinois and “bust up” the union. Look to your state lawmakers for help there. If they’re not doing the job, get to the polls and vote them out. That’s the American way.
Ah yes, Libby – key word “controls” – this is the fear of those who believe in our founding principles, and that progressivism/socialism is entirely incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. While many dwell on the SIZE of government, the issue is really one of government’s CONTROL over the private lives of its citizens. Seems like we are devolving from the “Rule of Law” to the “Law of Rules” (I made that phrase up, but please feel free to use it). This can only be accomplished when the constitutional restraints on government are relaxed or removed, and the enumerated powers placed on government expanded or ignored. Very Un-American, IMHO.
But, as the article points out, wealthy individuals will find ways to circumvent the rules.
So, to my extremist left-wing friends: I’m beginning to see the light. I’m starting to come to the conclusion, albeit reluctantly and with some small measure of sadness, that the average left-wingnut actually NEEDS to be controlled and supervised, and can’t handle the freedom to succeed or fail on their own. No, I’m not talking about “safety nets” provided by taxpayers to their fellow citizens in times of genuine need, when all someone is asking for is food, clothing & shelter. Socialism is not required to accomplish this. “Social programs” are funded through the same taxing powers granted by the Constitution and funded by the approval of our elected officials, and do not require additional controls over the taxpayer. Only controls over the program itself are needed. Socialism is a different animal, and by its very design inherently requires government control over all.
I ALMOST hope President Obama wins re-election, so that the socialism envisioned moves forward and reveals all its failings. Unfortunately for the extremist left-wing crowd, they will soon learn that it’s not just the wealthy that skirt rules – ALL enterprising and entrepreneurial minded people will find ways to fly under the radar, yes “The Man” to death, and PRETEND to obey, comply & submit while they create black markets, engage in bartering/swapping, and in fact (unfortunately) creates more opportunities for criminal activity, which ultimately leads to socialism’s demise…again…until some power-hungry dimwit resurrects it from the dustbin of history and foists it on the populace all over again. Oh well, hope you like being babysat…oh, I meant supervised….oh, I meant governed…
Well, gotta go BO, I’ve got things to do – good luck looking after the kids!
When he made Health Insurance Federal and took the power away from the state, he took the problems too. Cant have a part, got to take the whole.
As far as the schools go, I was just stating what our media outlets are saying. Obama needs to step in. The rest was my opinion. He is not willing to step in because of political reasons. Politics in fron of kids. Shame Shame Shame!!!
Hey, Agent. Getta load of this from “Hot Air” a conservative source:
In terms of the raw numbers, it appears that Team Obama gets to chalk one up in the win column, and for once we don’t need to parse sample rates, D/R/I figures or any of that. The big party for the Democrats drew more viewers over the three day run, with the final night drawing 35.7 million viewers across all networks.(That’s down 2.7 million from the Hope and Change Express party in 2008.) In the other corner, the Republicans had a somewhat smaller draw across their big week, with the finale pulling in 30.3 million viewers. Strangely, that figure was actually down 8 million from John McCain’s final night in 2008 in a year when all indicators showed the lion’s share of “excitement index” to be on the President’s side. Don’t ask me to explain that one, because I can’t.
So much for your propaganda about nobody watching the DNC and being unable to fill up a stadium. Looks like it’s gonna be Obama/Biden in 2012!!
He did address the costs, by putting cost limitations in the bill. He can’t institute blanket tort reform and he is not the source of all evil.
He instituted blanket health care reform. He can strip that power away from the states too. Cost limitations?? Doctors cant be all they can be because he says so? Because he dont include Tort Reform?
I quotes Med Mal on an OBGYN right out of med school 6 years ago. $75K before she even saw a patient.
I did not say he is the source of all evil. Things been broke for a long long time. He just has done nothing to fix things and then he makes them worse with the ACA.
His “blanket” health care reform is done individually by state. He is a very powerful man, but he can not strip away state’s rights. That the foundation on which we built this country. Doctors and hospitals certainly can be all they can be, but they can’t charge anything they want. Just as your insurance carrier puts things on a fee schedule, so will the state exchanges. Everyone is getting upset over the wrong issues. Instead of ranting and raving, why not take a look at the plan and come up with specific ways to improve it. Blanket statements about “tort reform” mean nothing. Get specific and get on the phone to your state lawmakers. They have the power, not Obama.
His blanket Health Care reform took that away from the states. His argument was – right or wrong – that people are jumping state lines for health care. So the notion of instate health care is gone. Perfect Example – friend of mine in WI went to Mayo in Minn to have his brain tumor shrunk. I do agree that health care has become more national then state by state. We have commercials advertising a hospital in NY here in Chicago. Want a specific about Tort Reform? You sue me and lose, you pay all my expenses, you pay to restore my reputation and then you pay me every nickle out of your pocket that you wanted from me. Specific enough? Said that before and I will say it again. And, he did strip away states right with the ACA. A federal Health Care bill – how is that not stripping away states rights? So, he did address one of the very minor issues for cost controll – Limiting what a Doc can make. Market forces should dictate pricing. We are (were) a Market Driven Economy. Remeber Comm College – the Law of Supply and Demand? Not very American in my book – telling someone what they can and or cant make.
It’s done all the time by PPO’s and HMO’s and State workers comp coverage. They are all fee-structured. Who’s been jumping up and down about that? No-one except the docs. So they just order more tests, schedule more follow up visits, etc. My doctor will not even prescribe a simple anti-biotic for a urinary infection without scheduling an appointment. What do you think he is going to see?? Nothing! Tort reform will not reform greed.
Libby, when you pass this $2.6 Trillion boondoggle which will be 1/6th of the economy and you don’t address Tort Reform on a national basis or create a competitive environment, then you haven’t addressed the drivers of price increases. Carriers are no dummies. They see what is on the horizen and what they will have to cover if this bill stands so they will continue to raise premiums. This Administration has had no trouble imposing its will on the states in the past 4 years. They don’t do their jobs and when the states try to do it like Arizona, they get sued for violating federal law. Nobamacare needs to go along with this President and his minions.
He does address the costs by instituting price caps on services. Also, with more people insured the price should go down. Simple economics, Professor.
You forgot to mention his stooge in Chicago. Rahm seems genuinly interested in the schoold and getting kids back in the class room. He is over his head. He needs help. As far as Obama is concerned, politics are more important then the very schoold which his kids would be attending if he were still a Chicago Resident. His pal needs help.
You guys elected him. Don’t blame me. What, exactly, do you expect Obama to do about striking teachers? Your anger is misplaced. Do something constructive with it instead of ranting on a national blog about your teacher’s strike. It’s hardly worth the President’s time.
There is a good way to deal with unions. Back in the day, Air Traffic Controllers were giving grief and threatening to strike or calling in sick. Reagan said -“You better go back to work now or you won’t have jobs”. They didn’t, so he fired them all. We haven’t heard a peep out of them for 30 years. These school teachers are all making more money than the average private sector job and they are striking. Give them an ultimatum and if they don’t go back, there are plenty of teachers out there looking for work to replace these idiots.
The teachers union is not part of the FFA and Obama has no authority to fire them all.
I meant FAA.
Agent, I see you have been busy down-thumbing all of my posts… How many thumbs up do you give yourself each day??
Libby, your doctor is practicing Defensive Medicine. Same used to be for me and a cold. Call – give symptoms and then go get a script.
Now, out of fear he may miss the 1 in a mill, I have to go see him. Greed? I think not. Lawsuite avoidance? Yes indeed. Tort reform Necessary?
It’s greed, plain and simple. If he calls in a script for me, he doesn’t get paid. If he drags me out of work (because of course he won’t stay open past 5:00 for me) and into the office, he gets to charge me for an office visit. What am going to do? Get another doctor? Hardly. You can’t get in in a timely manner as they’re too busy cramming patients in the door for routine B.S. so they can bill the insurance company. Greed. Plain. And Simple.
If its not a uniary infection, he gets sued. Its defensive medicine.
I notice you have not commented on my specifics of tort reform? What do you think about that idea?
I think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, except for federal court, each state will have to adopt the same reform. Trial lawyers are not going to like it one bit. And they have powerful lobbies. Instead of union busting, we should be concentrating on busting the lobbies. They’re all corrupt.
Why not multi task and take out the unions as well as the lobbyists? It should be a felony for a lobbyist to have contact with an elected official, grease their palms with gifts, trips, make big campaign donations in order to get something passed favorable to their clients. The same thing is true for unions. They have had swinging door access to this President and lawmakers for some time. It is way past time for this nonsense to stop and for corrupt lawmakers to be retired.
BTW, it was WGN News – typically a Pro OBama New station – calling for OBama to intervene.
Well, I doubt if he will. It’s unfortunate, but hardly a national crises.
Its becoming a national issue. They were showing teachers from as far away a New Mexico on the picket line. This morning, WGN was saying all eye around the country are on this. They were the ones asking when OBama was going to step in. Asking the buring question is this the begining of the end of unions? Trib busted union 20 years ago. Sun Times did it last year. Scott Walker did it in WI last year. No, obama wont. If the Union Breaks, then he is viewed as anti union. Of course, many of the people I know in unions are not voting for him – especially the electrical union not to mention the carpenters union. Its the Non Union shops working in my town. Many more unions workers sweating their house then non union people. Most of the union members that I know dont respond to these polls. So, their voice is not being heard.
There were good reasons for unions back in the day when employers were mistreating employees, but I think their value is minimal these days. My ex-husband belongs to a union, but being from the West I am anti-union. They seem to drive costs up and I don’t see their value anymore. But union-busting is not my style either. If the unions can’t compete, they will destroy themselves. Like Agent said, there are plenty of teachers out there that would love to have a job, union or no union.
See, I didn’t downthumb your post this time Libby. You are right that the unions days are just about over. In this modern society, employee laws prevent employers from taking advantage of employees and we just don’t need these fat union contracts laced with benefits to the gills making all our products way too expensive. One of the big reasons why companies go offshore to do business is avoiding all the costs associated with unions. It is another reason why government costs so much with the public sector unions involved with their benefit packages. Why does it cost $90,000 to build a Volt when it sells for $40,000? You got it, unions! If they get their way, they will organize healthcare workers and then where will healthcare costs go then? The percentages of increase will explode each year.
I can’t believe we actually agreed on something, Agent! Let’s see if we can keep this trend going…
Man. Been arguing with you on this issue and all of a sudden we find common ground on two points. Whats next – Obama and Romney hugging? Strange days indeed. HMMMM. Maybe you and I should run on the independant ticket as Pres & VP. Settle the CHicago Strike?
You could push for Govt Intrusion in Private Business. I could stand up against it. Then we could meet in the middle.
Compromise – what a great idea!
Well Libby, I see you are getting along fine with FFA now. Now that you have dumped your ex/union spouse, perhaps you can hook up with FFA since he seems a decent guy. I am not sure your politics would jibe with his though. One date might be enough for irreconcilable differences. As long as you don’t get too Progressive for me, I will try to cut you some slack unlike Bob who keeps hammering away until you call him a little man and to shut up.
We would have to get Romney in so I could take a second wife.
I’m not progressive. I’m liberal. I see a difference. I don’t believe the rich should pay more taxes than I do, just that they shouldn’t be allowed so many loopholes and opportunities to shelter their money. I understand 15% of $1M is more than 15% of $100,000, but they should pay 15% of their total income, just like I do. That’s all. And I didn’t like Bush, but I did vote for Reagan. I’m for womens rights, gay rights, and equality among the races. That makes me liberal, not progressive.
Libby, we do agree that the tax code should be scrapped and a fair or flat tax installed which will eliminate the thousands of loopholes the ultra rich get. However, it is patently unfair to accuse the better off Americans of not paying their fair share when the top 10% pay 70% of the income tax and the bottom 50% pay no federal income tax. Eveyone should have skin in the game and a fair or flat tax will actually bring in more income and companies will not be forced to shelter their money by taking their business offshore. If we reformed the tax structure and then cut wasteful government spending at the same time, we could get our economy back and balance the budget. $1.6 Trillion deficits each year will not cut it and is totally unsustainable. I am sure you noticed that Ben Bernanke has decided to print up $80Billion new money each month now in hopes of stimulating job growth. All this will do is spur inflation since the value of the dollar will continue to decline and everything we buy will cost more. What an idiot! Gas prices will sail right through $4, food and other necessities will skyrocket. I hope Romney fires this dude the first day in office. Keynsian Economics is a disaster.
What town do you live in? $4.00 for gas – thats cheap.
I know. I paid $4.25 this morning.
Well Libby, we cant be too far apart. I paid $4.19 the other night. My Sis in Law live further west and they were at $4.05 three days ago. I drive into the city and just watch it go up and up and up.
Sounds more like a marriage proposal to me!
uhhhhhmmmmm. Hmmmmm. My wife may have an issue with that. Unless she wants to experiment in which case I would say Hummanamomanah. Hey MO!!!!
Or maybe Romney gets in and sees no problem with the Morman way????? Either way ….ummmmm. ahhhh. Hey Mo!
By the way, which one of us is President and which is VP?
I think it’s time for a woman President. Just like in a marriage!
Just so it is not Hilary. We have seen her act before and it is not a pretty picture. I nominate Nikki Hailey or Mary Fallin or Susanna Martinez over Hilary any day. Dr. Monica Crowley has more brains than any woman in public life. She is also very easy on the eyes.
I was talking about me…
Your easy on the eyes?
Some would say so, but I didn’t. I was talking about me always wanting to be President.
Rock – Paper – Scissors? Flip a coin? whom ever has the least amount of hair on their head? How about if the Bears win tomorrow night, me. If the Pack wins, you?
Deal! I am Packers fan. See? We’re compromising already!
There will be no comprimise no on Football!!! My house is a Bears house! Cant wait for Mr Urlacher to vist Mr Rodgers in the back field! Although Greg Jennings is one of my wide outs.
Wow! I’m not sure I want to be married to you anymore. Da Bears! You do gotta love Ditka, though.
When will Lovie step out of Da Coaches shadow? Would a SB victory do it?
I like Lovie a lot as a coach. By the way, he is from the sprawling metropolis of Big Sandy, Tx which has a population of about 3,000. He made it all the way to the big time. Isn’t the USA great? By hard work, education and dedication, he managed to make it in the real world.
I like the guy too. However, I get grief over that statement in Chicago. Even the Chicago media is not very friendly. They were calling for him to be fired after we lost to the Pack a few yrs back in the Championship game. Hes got to have more service time then Ditka had by now. He has won more playoff games. He has the players backs. He took care of Tice. Got Angelo out of the front office. They bring in what Cutler needs and maybe a legit back up QB. Give him some protection on the lefy side, we are complete. And yet, Lovie gets bashed.
Two type A’s probably would not work out in the long haul although it might make for some great make up sex in the short term.
I’m not really this passive in person
I am heading to the Dells this week end. Need to pull the Boat then hit the sales. Kids and the parade. Cant beat it for over priced entertainment.
I don’t know. That’s one huge, legendary shadow!