Last Tuesday Chuck Ross held a townhall with four conservative colleagues from the 13th, 14th, and 15th districts for the purpose of describing a package of ten healthcare bills they promised to introduce in the legislature this session, oh, and to hear from the public. Our representatives endorsed this package of so-called solutions being offered by Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale. They spoke radical ideas, for instance Bruce Chandler said that government healthcare ought to be limited to disease control and emergency rescue. Ericksen proposed legislation requiring the state to refuse to participate in whatever federal healthcare reform eventually passes. Taylor asserted his view that government ought not do things individuals should do themselves. Another one of Ericksen’s proposals would give individuals tax credits for insurance and require employers to report insurance as income to individual employees. Wouldn’t that be a transformative approach? Can you see the rush of employers dropping their insurance packages?
Because Yakima has become so dominated by a single political party, a drift toward an ideological extreme has occurred. The townhall exemplified this as the panel expressed a single extremely conservative point of view while those in the audience presented diverse and in many cases very pragmatic viewpoints. I have a one-point solution: send more reasoned and practical people to the legislature.
Isn’t it interesting that politicians make such outlandish claims like “refusing to participate” in reform while taking other perks from the gubmint.
Or like Hastings and his personal socialized health care plan. Mainstream cons all over the country have no experience with it, claim to be very afraid of it, and have no problem paying for Hastings to get it.
Hatings is not cool, old ideas, thinks he will always be in office, he needs some shake up like Orange County got when “B-1″ Bob Dornan was shown the door.
Drew…Nice to see you and your toady both have your new copies of the “Little Woodchuck’s Socialist Democratic Manifesto” on the coffee table for quick reference. Barack al-Obama must be very proud of you both.
Neal, here is a new word for you – corporatism. It really is a word. Corporatism refers to an economic system in which big business writes government policy for company gain and then pretty much buys the votes. Your “al” usage is Arabic, in case you don’t know. What’s that got to do with Mr. Obama?
neal prefers an “ownership” society, the one the the Bushler enabled. And it’s been very sucessful- with corporatism, neal is the one who is owned. He likes being owned by his health insurance company, the oil conglomerates, and the right-wing media.
More from the “Little Woodchuck’s Socialist Democratic Manifesto”
This message was approved by Barack al-Obama.
Eleanor- seriously you’re not expecting the cons to actually offer anything, except to continue with the status quo, to continue to protect the insurance companies? 50 million Americans without insurance, and an estimated 220 million that pay higher premiums each year so the carriers can say “no” more often. The rest of the world is watching to see if we really believe in these “christian values” of taking care of our fellow man. They just can’t fathom the idea that profits are more important than basic health. But republicans sure believe in it.
Neal is full of old ideas like Hastings and proud of it. When the truth is lacking, try repeating phrases. Worked for Hitler.
Eleanor…Corporatism isn’t a new word…dates back to ancient Greece. And your definition sucks too. It includes ANY large group (labor unions, et al) that bind together to affect policy. (there’s that “al” word again that upsets you so)
I think you’re right in drawing attention to it. If somebody is buying votes, it only makes sense to do business with the party in power. Why would you spend money on the minority party???
I look forward to your exhaustive investigation into this reprehensible Democrat practice.
Buying votes?? Sounds a lot like your old pals at ACORN…Even a nutbag like Barney Frank says they need to go away.
It’s fun watching you guys struggle for validation in here with those who agree with you. Obviously you’re incapable of taking on a real adversary.
Or does one of you have the balls yet to bet?
She said it was a new word for you.
In today’s American economy, the top 1% of income earners have more combined wealth than 95% of the people from the bottom up, totaling more than 16 trillion dollars. That’s a powerful economic hammer in D.C., as people like Delay, Abramhoff, and Hastings know very well. Max Baucus, who has taken several million dollars to date from the pharmaceutical, insurance, and “health care” industries, also knows it well, which is why he’s trying real hard to keep the public option out of the discussion, because his donors want more of neal’s money. We’re getting to the point that voting is just a formality, because big corporate donations are wielding a lot more power in politics. McConnell, Cantor, Boehner, and Kyl are all part of that shame as well.
Quiz question: which had more economic influence in politics- ACORN, or ENRON?
She assumes facts not in evidence.Maybe she meant it was new to her…
and if you’re looking for influence…try the NEA or the AFL-CIO, AARP, et al. Everybody has an ox to gore, and a lobbyist to aid them. As I said, must be going on a whole lot more with the majority party. Look into that for me, will you, Drew?
And if you’re having trouble keeping up with current events, then ENRON is a viable argument…As would Joseph Kennedy be.
It is interesting to note Enron was voted “the most innovative company in America” 5 years in a row during the Clinton Administration. They got caught the first year GWB was in the office. Nice of you to point out where all the money went, Drew.
That top 1% also paid 40% of the federal income taxes collected. There’s a flip side to being wealthy.
That means they pay a far larger percentage of Barack Hussein al-Obama’s salary than the rest of us, too.
Now, dammitt, I need Ron to tell us how he’s stupidly going to waste more of the taxpayer money appealing the court decision on Ensey.
That’s quite a few times in a row you’ve lost, Ron…you need a new manager.
Who’s al-Obama?
Enron was the second largest contributor to the GOP,and the Bush campaign in 2000, second only to ExxonMobil. It explains a lot about why Bush fought so hard to get power industry deregulation, and why, when the public kept asking his administration if they were going to do something about the price gouging by the oil companies, Bush said that we’ll just have to “get used to these high gas prices”.
So you’re saying that the other 95% are paying 60% of the tax burden? If they were making the same salary, of course that would not be fair. But since CEO pay in America has risen at 5 times the rate of their workers in just the last twenty years, then no, the wealthy are not paying their fair share. CEO pay and bonuses continues to skyrocket, even during periods of recession and economic downturn. In fact, since the Reagan years, if the wages of the middle-class had kept up with the pay raises of CEOs, the minimum wage would now be $23.50 today. In fact, the wages of hourly workers in America has steadily gone down, $2,000 annually since 2003.. In that time, CEO pay rose by billions.
Is that thanks to a “free market”, or a government that deregulated those industries to specifically allow this to happen?
Further, when they talk about tax breaks for working families, you realize that you won’t be let into that group, right? Reagan said the wealthy needed and deserved the tax breaks more than the middle-class. But he also said not to worry, because the benefits would “trickle down” to the lower income levels, and it never, ever has. Reagan knew this would be the result. Cons today know it won’t happen this way. They know that, when you teabaggers protest for tax breaks, you are really fighting for that 1% at the top to get their tax relief, and that you’ll get nothing. Teabaggers are the tool of the wealthy republicans in America, and at one point, you’ll figure out how you did all that work for nothing.
So neal, what percentage of Obama’s salary is paid for by the wealthy 1%?
I see your math skills suck too..
If they pay 40% of all federal income taxes, that would mean they pay 40% of all federal bills. If indeed the Guvmint is going to start paying their bills.
I see the “Little Woodchuck Socialist Democrat Manifesto” has many chapters…nice of you to share them, Drew.
And high gas prices?? see what happened when the Dems took power under Pelosi..what a farce.
neal, what percentage of Obama’s salary is paid for by the top 1% of American income earners? You said it, so we would like to know.
My second paragraph answered your question.
This message approved by Barack Hussein al-Obama.
Any point to inferring Obama is a Muslim, Neal?
Do you think before you font, Seagal?
The prefix al- is a language issue, not a religious one. Some scholars think it originated from Hebrew, which could make him Jewish…
Neil,
THAT IS PRESIDENT OBAMA to you. The sooner you and every one of your other pals figure this out, the sooner the United States can become a world leader again. The world is watching us and when you make STUPID comments about important issues, your just being a Republican that CAN NOT do his own thinking but just copies and pastes Glen Beck’s talking points. It is sure nice that you Republicans honor your NEW nominees for president (Sarah, I can see Russia from my front door Palin)and vice-president(Mrs. ex-USA pageant winner that can not answer a simple question–COME ON it was a trick question). These two ladies both quite that jobs early to speak to the rest of the Republican sheep, just to tell them how to think. This is going to be the best 2012 election campaign EVER…
It’s always entertaining to see neal back-pedaling away from one of his comments. Seems to be a pattern with these cons.
It’s much more fun to cut and paste YOUR talking points, Randall.
“These two ladies both quite that jobs early to speak to the rest of the Republican sheep, just to tell them how to think. This is going to be the best 2012 election campaign EVER…”
What the hell was THAT?
Randall…Maybe you should type earlier in the evening, before the bottle of MD 2020.
This message was approved by PRESIDENT Barack Hussein al-O’Bama.
Neal,
I am sure glad you read all my post word for word. But most educated person could have figured out it should have been their not that and not had to waste their time typing a response NEAL TO THE RESCUE. I sure wish I had all your free time, but I work for a living, run two online business, and help out the Democratic party. You probable just live off the government, sit on your ass all day, and hide behind your computer?
Neal, I got you a little present that you can even afford–IT’S FREE http://tinyurl.com/justforNEAL
NEAL PLEASE PROOF READ THIS MESSAGE FOR ME ASAP!
This message was approved by two year old acting Neal A’Idiot or put an Irish spin on it O’Neal A’Idiot…
neal, a semi-pro proof reader, and very amateur back-pedaler.
neal made 9 comments, and only two made even a remote reference to the blog’s topic (I’m being very generous here- neal couldn’t make it through the first quarter of civics class with responses like his). Modern con tactics like neal’s are an everyday thing now, and they are being taught by Drudge, FNC, Bill Kristol, et al, because they do not want the topic to stay on something they cannot defend, like the immoral practice of denying health care to Americans based solely on economic status. Any republican today that says he likes the current plan of pay a lot more/get even less, is either disingenuous, or in complete disconnection with the world around him. That’s why it’s important to keep them focused on the uncomfortable topics like this. neal likes to put the “al” reference in his comments, not because he thinks it’s funny, but because he doesn’t want you continuing to talk about the ugly truths about American profit-based “sick care”. If he really believed the “al” thing was a “language issue” in the beginning, he wouldn’t have posted it, because it has absolutely no connection to the topic of the health care crisis in America that his party and the social elites want to ignore. neal likes to pretend he’s a proof reader- OK, maybe his grammar is a little better than others, but who would want to spend every day of their life around a person like that? He is not really bothered by your use of the English language as much as he is the facts you bring to light for others to read.
Keep up the good work, randall (and seagal, eleanor, ron, mainstreeter, and everybody else on the side of the truth). Whenever the cons want to stray from the topic (like not showing up for townhall meetings, Hastings), we must be doing something right.
well, Randall…I hope your online business looks more professional than your appearance in here. I suppose you can get away with it if all your pushing is “The Little Woodchuck’s Socialist Democratic Manifesto”. Your customers aren’t very literate either.
This message is approved by Barack Who’s Sane? al-Obama.
Randall, the count for neal is now 10. 2 for 10 is a poor average neal.
BTW Randall, that was a great site. We should all order some. Other good sites are cafepress.com, and stampandshout.com.
Credo is a great company, with real ethics and standards. If you’re feeling a little remorseful that your carrier gave money to political campaigns, or bent over backwards to give the Bushler white house access to our phone records without due process, (Verizon and AT&T come to mind), then Credo is worth looking into. And they will buy your contract, which gives us another reason to switch carriers.
Thanks for sharing that with us.
Drew, I guess you MUST be a great fan of Goldman Sachs then…
Why neal? Is Goldman Sachs pushing for Single Payer Health Care now? Or are you desperately trying once again to get us off the topic of health care reform?
Goldman Sachs was the single biggest private contributor to your God.
This message was approved by Barack Hussein sweet home al-Obama
This has what to do with health care reform, neal? Were you ever going to get around to that, or or you going to try and steer around it?
Drew, when you can guarantee your plan will give me the same or better health care for less money, I’ll be all for it. You’ve ducked that before, so duck it again.
neal- no, I didn’t duck it before; you just didn’t want to change from what you have, period. To continue on the same path, of 50 million uninsured, and another 200+ million that are paying rates that are climbing 4 or 5 times the rate of inflation, while the insurance lobby is spending some of their millions to protect their “system”, is akin to someone peeing on your leg and telling you it’s raining. You use the term guarantee as a shield to keep the debate stalled, while your fellow Americans continue to go into bankruptcy over medical charges. But I can guarantee you this- the citizens of France, England, Japan, Canada, Australia, and every other industrialized nation on this planet get better health care coverage and treatment than Americans do, including you. Some of those countries exercise something similar to the public option (England does), while others are more geared towards a single-payer system like Canada. But everyone has coverage for both the common ailments and conditions, and everyone gets timely treatment, and they pay substantially less than we do. If you want to show us one case in England of a woman who didn’t get her cancer treatment in time, or someone in Alberta who was misdiagnosed for his gallstones- for each one of those, we’ll sadly show you how the private “profits-over-people” system that only the U.S. now employs leaves millions without treatment because they deem some proven medication or procedure too expensive. If we had a better plan, and took care of our people better, why aren’t Canadians pouring across the border to deliver babies and treat AMIs? The plain truth is, patients are going in the other direction, with people falsely claiming Canadian citizenship to get lifesaving treatment up north (this is not actually necessary- foreigners in Canada can pay for the services they receive, at about 50% less than the costs of those same services here in the US, a clear benefit of a non-profit, single-payer system). Every quarter, a few hundred women make trans-Atlantic flights to deliver their babies in the UK and France- even after the costs of travel and housing, they pay thousands less for obstetrical services there compared to the US.
The insurance carriers, pharmaceutical companies, and the hospital corporations are all wetting their collective pants right now, because their free ride is about to come to an end. Through Rick Scott and Fox News, they need you to come save them neal. In return, they will continue to pick your pockets while telling you “it’s the American Way”. When you can go to one of the above listed countries and take a close look at the health care provisions, and the satisfaction rate of the citizens as a whole as I have, then you can come back and try and tell everyone we have it so much better.
To paraphrase a bumper sticker I saw this week-
“The Health Care Industry Loves People like neal; the Citizens of England, France, Canada and Japan think he’s an idiot”
Perhaps I misunderstand the relationship between Neal and Drew (whoever you two are). Drew, I have to compliment you on your long message about health care…it seemed a very careful examination. I was with you all the way until the bumper sticker, but it got a little messy with that rising from emotion or personal vitriol rather than from logic, or issue. However, I may be speaking out of turn. Please see sentence numero uno.
Whoopeedo- You’re right, and my apologies; I did not stay focused on the issue. I am passionate about the issue of health care in the U.S., now that we’ve sunk so low as to lie about it in the media, all to protect a system that denies care to people because of their economic status. For a country that claims to believe in freedom and democracy for everyone, we’re pretty hypocritical in the eyes of other nations when it comes to things like our health care.
Beings this is post is suppose to be about health care you really need to http://tinyurl.com/WATCHTHISandYOUDECIDE
It is worth your time…
Yes, Randall, the truth is most definitely there.
So again, Drew. You can’t guarantee what I ask for. But you certainly take a long time to say it.