Since the Republicans have managed to stand tall on their intransigence that up to 2 million unemployed Americans should lose their meager benefits, perhaps it is time to start introducing them to some of the unemployed. We have heard the Dickensian pronouncements on the Senate floor that the unemployed are lazy, that the benefits they receive are keeping them from looking for work, that it is more important in a financial crisis to cut spending (and thus cut the over all recovery off at the knees) than it is to help our fellow Americans who, through no fault of their own, are now paying the price for financial deregulation.

As long as this debate is kept in abstract terms it is easy for those Republicans who have a conscience (all three of them) to talk about how we should be burdening our children and grandchildren with debt. It is time to use the very effective method of hearings to bring the real face of the long term unemployed right into the face of the heartless and petty Republican majority.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

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One of the things that Campaign Managers dread is that that moment when their candidate opens his or her mouth and says something that will divert the entire arc of the campaign. We are witnessing such a moment with Sue Lowden in Nevada. By now you have seen the video of her insisting that she did not misspeak when she said that patients should barter with their doctors instead of just paying or providing their insurance.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

This insane proposition has been dissected and derided all over the Web and some on cable news shows. One point I haven’t seen is that while Ms. Lowden is right that farmers and ranchers used to trade live-stock for care, the level of care they were trading for was far less sophisticated than it is today. When you could bring a chicken to a doctor, there were no antibiotics, no MRI, anesthetic was Ether for the Flying Spaghetti Monsters sake!

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Immigration reform is an important issue. Changing systems that are not producing the desired result is one of the reasons to have a Congress in the first place. The current system of immigration controls is a complete failure and needs to be addressed. The good news here is that it is will be taken up this summer, if we can believe what Majority Leader Reid has said.

There are several bills in House which really do cover the waterfront in terms of immigration. In general they are looking to do several things, shore up the enforcement of our boarder, specifically in the South; change the number of visas available to family members of documented immigrants; and provide a method to bring the estimated 12 million undocumented workers who are currently in the United States out of the shadows.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

This last one is going where most of the heat in this debate is going to be. Just like with HCR we are going to hear a lot of outright lies about what giving these people a path to citizenship is going to mean. Which is why it is a good idea to talk about some actual facts before this debate really gets going.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists that the public option is dead, but progressive organizations are mounting an aggressive campaign to resurrect it as Democratic lawmakers gear up to pass a final health care bill this week via a budgetary process known as reconciliation.

Democracy for America, Credo Action, and the Progressive Campaign Change Committee (PCCC) raised $75,000 for a 60-second spot that will air on MSNBC, CNN and a local station in Pelosi's home district of San Francisco. The ad challenges assertions she made last week that the public option does not have enough support from Democratic lawmakers in the Senate to be included as one of the amendments in the reconciliation bill.

On the Web site whipcongress.com, the groups, in supporting calculations that the measure has enough votes to pass the Senate, list the names of Democratic senators who have either signed a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid supporting the public option, or have made statements saying they would back it or would "likely" cast an "aye" vote if it were introduced as part of the final package of legislative fixes.

According to the letter sent to Reid, which 41 Democratic senators have signed thus far, an "overwhelming majority of Americans support a public option.

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Last night the President did one of the things that he does better than almost anyone else, he gave a great speech. Taking the tone of confidence without arrogance, being willing to face the Republicans and put them in box by either applauding him or failing to applaud their own proposals, even by chiding them for their recalcitrance and stance of know nothingism. While it remains to be seen if he will push for the follow through which his speech called for it is interesting that the end of his speech was a political trope that should be dear to every politician.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

The Dogs Father taught one primary lesson to the hound as a pup – sometimes you get beat, but you only ever lose when you quit. This has lead to a life time of being beaten, but it also has lead to a set of victories personal, professional and public. This is the lesson the American people get, whether they had a father who harped on it or not. We intuitively understand that having a dumb faith in ourselves, an inability to see that the mountain is unassailable and that we would be better off if we just packed it in that is central to our experience.

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Crossposted from Docudharma
Tired of being Chained to a Party that let's you down time after time?

Tired of being chained to a Party that bald faced lies to you?

Tired of getting Pissed On by the Democrats and having them and the "supporters" tell you it is fresh spring rain?

Tired of the same old sh*t sandwich served up by Harry Reid for lunch everyday?

Tired of being chained to a party that tells YOU what to do....when is is so painfully obvious that that Party doesn't have a F*cking Clue what it is doing?

Tired of contributing time and money to a Party so that they will FIGHT for your cause....only to have that Party throw each and every one of your causes under the bus and then shrug, say "we don't have the votes" for the zillionth time...and then ask you for MORE money and MORE time....so they can throw you under their well funded bus even harder?

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So now the House of Representatives has passed a bill. It has some problems, starting with the odious Stupak Amendment. Still there is a lot of reason for mild happiness. We are closer to comprehensive health insurance reform than we have been in the Dog’s life time. All the details aside, this is a very good thing, as it means we are significantly more likely to achieve real reform than we have been before.

Originally posted at Square State.

The next hurdle is, of course, the United States Senate. We have already seen Sen. Lieberman lining up to prove that A) he is not a Democrat anymore and B) that he is the biggest obstructionist asshole in the history of obstructionist assholes. Not only is he putting himself in the way of reform, he is making it easier for other lily-livered Democratic Senators to do the same.

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The Congressional Budget Office has completed their "public option" number crunching...

AP this afternoon via MSNBC, updated 12:15 p.m. PT, Sat., Oct . 31, 2009

WASHINGTON - What's all the fuss about? After all the noise over Democrats' push for a government insurance plan to compete with private carriers, coverage numbers are finally in: Two percent.

That's the estimated share of Americans younger than 65 who'd sign up for the public option plan under the health care bill that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is steering toward House approval.

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Q: "So, what are we supposed to do when our own leadership is somewhat apathetic to what we voted for them for?