…we do know that the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big. The Obama plan has a broad family resemblance to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts plan. It builds on ideas developed at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s that formed the basis for Republican counter-proposals to Clintoncare in 1993-1994. – David Frum
There’s no arguing with what V.P. Joe Biden said today. “This is a big f— deal.” It’s why we love you, Joe.
I’m sure Teddy appreciated this. I sure did.
USA Today is reporting that Americans think it was better to pass health care than not. Translation: even a bad bill is better than nothing. It’s why Republicans were always stupid not to join in. From USA Today:
Americans by 9 percentage points have a favorable view of the health care overhaul that President Obama signed into law Tuesday, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, a notable turnaround from surveys before the vote that showed a plurality against it.
By 49%-40% those surveyed say it was “a good thing” rather than a bad one that Congress passed the bill. Half describe their reaction in positive terms, as “enthusiastic” or “pleased,” while about four in 10 describe it in negative ways, as “disappointed” or “angry.”
So how Mitt Romney reconciles the fact that Pres. Obama just signed into law a national version of Romneycare I don’t know and obviously neither does he. That’s why his op-ed for NRO yesterday was just plain weird.
[...] His health-care bill is unhealthy for America. It raises taxes, slashes the more private side of Medicare, installs price controls, and puts a new federal bureaucracy in charge of health care. It will create a new entitlement even as the ones we already have are bankrupt. For these reasons and more, the act should be repealed. That campaign begins today.
The DNC smelled hypocrisy and pounced.
“We’re sure that it must be difficult to endure all the comparisons of the similarities between your signature health care plan and the bill passed last night when you are trying to appear to be the angriest of the angry far right wing in the Republican Party, but it doesn’t cover up the blatant hypocrisy of lashing out against policy that you thought well enough of to campaign for and sign into law,” said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan.
In an e-mail to reporters, Sevugan provided a point by point comparison of “ObamaCare” and “RomneyCare” to highlight the similarities between the two plans, points Romney will likely have to explain in a Republican primary is he decides to seek the White House again in 2012.
Still…
So for the Democrats, it was RomneyCare or nothing. Thus the task for Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama was to hold the Democratic right to RomneyCare while not losing the Democratic left. As long as they could say to the left, “Look, this is what we can pass: It’s a lot better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick (and a poke in the eye with a sharp stick is a lot better than our current health-care financing system),” they had a chance of holding the left, especially if they could sweeten it with progressive tax and subsidy policies. But if they pointed out the intellectual origins of the plan—oh, and by the way, the guts of the plan came out of the conservative über-think tank, the Heritage Foundation, and it was what Mitt Romney thought was good policy back in 2004—then the left-wing Democrats’ heads would have exploded and their votes would have vanished. – Brad DeLong
So, we’ve got history made today, no matter how bad the bill, with Romney bucking the public trend even though he implemented similar health care legislation in Massachusetts. Mr. Romney obviously having no intention of listening to David Frum. But you can bet his opponents for 2012 have dancing negative ads already playing in their heads.
We’ll have to see if the popularity boost health care is getting starts to help Democrats in the Midwest for November, with the latest PPP polling positively dismal.
But while Romneycare ties Mitt up in knots, it paves the way for Huckabee, Pawlenty and others, including that woman the left loves to hate, Sarah Palin, who had this to say about health care just yesterday: “It was supposed to help more people get coverage, but there will still be 23 million uninsured people by 2019.” Sarah want’s universal health care? Who knew!
Evidently Sarah hasn’t looked at the tax side of Obamacare/Romneycare. That’s the place any good conservative would start.
TM NOTE: Link to graphic coinciding to the Joe Biden quote via Twitter.
I’m being “snarky” when I say this–Obama finally got his bi-partisanship, only no one knows it.
heh-heh… JA, make sure you click on the Biden quote; you’ll *love* the graphic.
HA HA HA! That is a great graphic.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Joe Biden is so funny !! Mitt Ronmey should have kept his mouth shut. This bill is somewhat of what he passed in Massachusetts. I am sure the former gov and vice presidental candadate Sarah Palin and former Arkansas gov Mike Huckabee and others will take Mitt Ronmeys quote and run with it in 2012 primary. I sure hope that Sarah Palin takes a more moderate approach to things. Her husband is independent and she did work with independent and democrats in Alaska so maybe she will go rogue and take the middle ground. I am a liberal democrat who will be switching to independent but the health care bill was a historic moment and I like somethings about it and others I don’t. We will see where all this leads.
I’m frankly suprised that only 49% approve of it. That’s really a low number considering all the back slapping and high fiving the congress has been giving each other over this issue.
I’m wondering if Palin supporters will continue to support her, now that she’s telling people to “reload” and literally using rifle ‘crosshair’ symbols to indicate where the Dems are that voted for the bill.
I’ve said it before. I’m a strong feminist – but that doesn’t mean I want Paris Hilton and Pam Anderson running this country.
Those are kind of strange words to use, aren’t they? Do you think she is aware of how that comes off?
Unfortunately, lynnette – I think she’s right there with O’Reilly’s “baby killer” attacks on a man doing legal abortions.
I believe O’Reilly actually *grinned* (behind the scenes) when that doctor was murdered (“look how *powerful* I am!”). And I think Palin would be thrilled if she instigated a political shooting. That is precisely how SICK I think this woman is.
You (and Taylor) have the right to disagree – but when violence occurs (and it is VERY close) – her reactions will prove me correct.
I hope nothing like that happens. (although like you point out it already has with doctors who perform abortions) I don’t know why it comes to this. Did you see the little boy who stood next to Obama when he signed the bill today? My heart breaks for the loss of his mother but I was so happy to see him standing next to the president – brought tears to my eyes.
Another demonstration of the sickness in this country, Lynnette. Did you hear what Limbaugh said about that little boy? Shameful.
Meanwhile, you’ve got a tea-bagger giving out the home address of one Dem who voted for it – actually encouraging people to go to his home and harass him. Except he got the wrong address and was sending people to the man’s brother’s house.
But even when informed, he refuses to take the address down.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34843.html
And then let’s talk about Pastor Wiley Drake of Orange County – who actually encourages his congregation to PRAY for President Obama to DROP DEAD (he’s since expanded this to include all 219 Dems who voted for the health bill).
I can only hope these are the last gasps of narrow-minded rightwing thinking. Anyone with half a brain would be ashamed. This should truly be the “I see Stupid People” test – and if it continues – with rightwing politicians not coming out against it – Obama will surely be re-elected.
Last point, then I should get back to work – If you can stay up, do not miss ‘Nightline’ this evening (especially you, Secular).
“Does God have A Future?” – an extremely interesting debate involving Michael Shermer and Deepak Chopra.
Harris Pole of the Rightwing:
24% BELIEVE Obama may be the ANTI-CHRIST!
One in four.
I shit you not.
pmichael, even if I could still stay up that late I wouldn’t waste my time watching Deepockets Chokeyerchicken under ANY circumstances. Toatal waste of time.
As for that 24%, strange that almost EXACTLY the same % of Americans thought Bushco was doing a GREAT job idnit?
The repugnantklan is comprised of that 24 to 26% of the population that are shit house rat crazy. The racists, the conspiracy nuts(although we both know a couple of them frequent HERE now don’t we)the homophobes, the xenophobes and the TRULLY wacked out superstitionist cult crowd, otherwise known as the religious right.
I’m somewhat in agreement about Chopra, Sec, but that’s actually the point. From what I’ve read – Michael Shermer kicks his ass.
This health care bill appears a BIG HULKING VERSION of Medicare Part D.
It funnels people’s cash to the health insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies.
Even the so called prescription drug coverage GAP will take a BIG FUCKING decade to close which gives BIG PHARMA a decade to reap profits and raise drug prices for ten years. Retired abd disabled people will not really get help from this. BIG FUCKING DEAL. This year people will get a $250 rebate on their prescription drugs. Oh right they get $250 but probably have to have shelled out 2 or 3 thousand dollars. Then they get a 50 percent discount. BIG FUCKING DEAL, 50 percent off a 100 percent jacked up price appears insignificant as it takes retired and disabled people back to square one.
Go here http://www.democratz.org
I respect your efforts, democratz –
But wouldn’t it be a good idea to wait for these so-called ‘fixes’ ?
secularhumanizinevoluter says:
23 March 2010 at 9:01 pm
LOL
I don’t agree with Sarah Palin’s views but people where I live at like her because of her life story. I come from a rural state and they will like Sarah Palin proberly no matter what she does. I am on the fence about her. I don’t like her views but I like her strength and the way she lost the election and made her way back to national politics. I don’t like when some on the left calls her stupid or un-educated because I just think its rude and that will draw more people to her. People who have been called names because they don’t have a good education will take comments about Sarah Palin being stupid as something against them. You can’t become governor or a vice-presidental candidate and be un-educated. I know people are going to say they can say the same about former President Bush.
fairminded – great comments …
But you neglected the liar element. I could give you a pretty long list, but for simply an example, there’s the one the entire MSM cut her slack on. When she was confronted with the outrageousness of the huge fee she charged the Tea-Party convention, she answered flatly that she intended to donate that money right back to them.
Apparently that never happened.
Then there’s the fact her own father flatly described what a racist she is. And on and on and on.
BTW, fairminded.
Be careful about giving her ‘credit’ for being the VP candidate. That event will go down in history as the biggest “Losing Team Hail Mary in the history of American politics. That will become even more apparent when history recognizes McCain was the candidate the Republicans ‘threw to the wolves’ (knowing from the beginning it was a losing cause)
pmichael- I just have to give her credit on somethings. I brought up her VP candidate status because she was the first republican woman to be put on her partys ticket. She was also the second VP candidate to be put on a national party ticket as well as being the first woman governor for the state of Alaska. Geraldine Ferraro who wasthe first female VP candidate said in a quote “Everytime a woman runs, women win”. I was always impressed by the way Geraldine Ferraro stuck up for Sarah Palin when some in the media was calling her sexist names. I watched Geraldine Ferraro on Fox,I no I watch everything, LOL !!! Anyway she was saying how it reminded her of when she first ran for VP. I sort of like Sarah Palin and will stick up for her on somethings and somethings I won’t. The same can go for President Obama and others. I always liked when Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Geraldine Ferraro even though they disagree on issues,they stick up for eachother when one of them is attacked.
on the nose, fairminded. (“stick up for eachother “)
It is exactly the same in women’s sports (generally). There is a respect for the other team that many times disappears with the men. But this is easily answered if you go back to our ‘roots’. It was the men who faced each other in violent conflict.
It’s why I understand my Mom liking Sarah.
But today, Sarah went ‘over the line’. Shooting wolves from helicopters is bad enough. Encouraging someone to use weapons on a politician you disagree with is quite another.
I hope Sarah Palin’s words were took out of context. I remember then Senater Hillary Clinton said during the primary in 2008 when she brought up the RFK assassination in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She said “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until end of the primary somewhere in the middle of June right, We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California, I don’t understand”. I know she didn’t mean what she said but some in the left took it the wrong way. I hope Sarah Palin didn’t mean what she said or her words were took out of context. I didn’t hear or see what she said but if she did mean it or something I would be in shock. I don’t want violence on anyone and both sides need to calm down. Alot of people in the republican party are saying quite abit of out there things lately. This could get nasty, but I hope not. I am a independent that wants both parties to work together and neither party to ever gain a majority where they don’t need eachother for votes.
fairminded,
I think I understand your feelings – but if a long (and very lucky) life has given me anything, it has given me the perspective to recognize our American ‘society’ is constantly stretching itself to new *extremes*. It’s a bit like the entertainment industry, wherein it becomes increasingly difficult to be “unique”. (3D is now helping a lot in that area LOL)
“Politics” is like a giant pendulum – and while the election of a Black man swung that in one direction much further than it had ever been swung before – that fact also pushed the opposite direction to equal limits.
Thus the re-emergence of marches that are so obviously ‘white supremists’.
Let’s not forget when the French refused to partner with us in the attack on Iraq – some people were so stupid (and ready to jump on a ‘bandwagon’) that they actually set fire to innocent businesses simply because they were named the “French Laundry” (fact).
I hope I’m wrong – but I’ve a feeling this is about to get much worse than we could have imagined.
And Cable News will think they’re in heaven.
Okay – I gotta go, as Nightline is about to come on – but when you check in later, TM …
This is why I have been coming here for so many years.
Intelligent chat.
Thank you pmichael for the conversation. As a independent were going to agree on somethings and somethings were not but its nice that people can actually have a intelligent chat about things. Now only if the government and others could learn to do the samething.
You too, Fairminded –
but a small ‘gift’ I hope you get a couple of smiles from :
Had to log back in,
http://www.lbfitness.com/Babble.html
Don’t be too hard on Kayden
pmichael, how’d Sheremer do?
I love Biden! we need to see and hear more Biden!
I know, he’s refreshingly irreverent at just the right moment.