2010 February

Health Care – Obama’s Opening Bid

February 22, 2010 By mario piperni

Obama makes his move…

The White House has outlined a package of fixes to the Senate health care bill, which they hope can bring reform over the finish line, and they’re prepared to push the changes through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process if Republicans insist on filibustering.

“This package is designed to help us [use reconciliation] if the Republican party decides to filibuster health care reform,” said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. “That was certainly a factor that went in to how we put this proposal together.”

Pfeiffer said the White House views this as “the opening bid,” for the bipartisan health care summit scheduled for this Thursday. The hope–a long shot–is that one or more Republicans can agree to support this proposal, allowing Dems to pass it via more standard legislative channels. But if that fails, reconciliation can be used as a backstop.

“The president expects, and thinks the American people deserve, an up or down vote on health care reform,” Pfeiffer said.

The White House proposal does not include a public option which will upset progressives but it appears that Obama is willing to settle on a health care bill which is less than what he’d hoped for. He still has not given up on appeasing Republicans and giving bipartisanship another shot. It’ll fail as will the health care summit. There is NO health care proposal which Republicans will ever agree to no matter how far Dems bend over backwards.

Obama is trying to finesse an opposition which is unshakable in their determination to put a halt to government. Obama’s ploy, if indeed this is his plan, is the equivalent of trying to negotiate logically with a bull running rampant in a china shop. It’s futile and the best one can hope for in such a scenario is that the inevitable goring won’t lead to death.

If h/c reform is going happen it’ll be by reconciliation. At this point, there is no other way.

BTW, there is still no comprehensive Republican proposal for health care reform posted anywhere. Surprise.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Barack Obama, democrats, health care reform, political issues, politics, Republicans

How God Punishes Those Who Choose Abortion

February 22, 2010 By mario piperni

For too many, religious fanaticism turns them into babbling, moronic jackasses.

Western Prince William Del. Bob Marshall, R-13th, says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy.

He made that statement last Thursday at a press conference to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood.

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.

“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

Waiting with bated breath for Sarah Palin to denounce this fool. Actually, I’m not.

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Filed Under: Abortion, Religion, Republican Dicks Tagged With: Abortion, political issues, politics, Religion, Republican Dicks

Colin Powell on National Security

February 22, 2010 By mario piperni

Powell further destroys the credibility of cretinous Dick Cheney.

“The point is made, ‘We don’t waterboard anymore or use extreme interrogation techniques.’ Most of those extreme interrogation techniques and waterboarding were done away with in the Bush administration. They’ve been made officially done away with in this current administration.”

“The bottom line answer is the nation is still at risk. Terrorists are out there. They’re trying to get through. But to suggest that somehow we have become much less safer because of the actions of the administration, I don’t think that’s borne out by the facts.”

And…

“I think Guantanamo has cost us a lot over the years in terms of our standing in the world and the way in which despots have hidden behind what we have at Guantanamo to justify their own positions,” he said.

“I think we ought to remove this incentive that exists in the presence of Guantanamo to encourage people and to give radicals an opportunity to say, ‘You see? This is what America is all about. They’re all about torture and detention centers.’”

“Let’s get this population of 192 sorted out,” Powel said, adding that “I have no problem with them being tried here in the United States.”

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Filed Under: torture Tagged With: colin powell, Gitmo, political issues, politics, torture

Shut Up Dick, Shut Up Liz

February 22, 2010 By mario piperni

General David Petraeus yesterday…

“I have always been on the record, in fact, since 2003, with the concept of living our values. And I think that whenever we’ve perhaps taken expedient measures, they’ve turned around and bitten us in the backside. We decided early on, in the 101st airborne division, we just said, we decided to obey the Geneva Conventions…

“In the cases where that is not true [where torture takes place or international human rights groups aren't granted access to detention sites] we end up paying a price for it, ultimately,” he added. “Abu Ghraib and other situations like that are non biodegradable. They don’t go away. The enemy continues to beat you with them like a stick…. Beyond that, frankly, we have found that the use of interrogation methods in the army field manual that was given the force of law by Congress, that that works.“

And on Gitmo…

“I’ve been on the record on that for well over a year, saying it should be closed,” he said. “But it should be done in a responsible matter. So I’m not seized with the issue that it won’t be done by a certain date. In fact, I think it is prudent to insure that as we move forward with that, the remaining detainees are relocated and so forth… is really thought through and done in a very pragmatic and sensible manner.”

Alright, so who is more credible here? Petraeus or the tag team of Dick and Liz Cheney? They both view themselves as experts on interrogation techniques. Here’s Liz Cheney at CPAC…

I worry though when we capture these leaders that we no longer have the option of using any of the enhanced interrogation techniques because the president took those off the table. When you’ve got people in captivity we’d like our CIA officials in particular to have the capacity to do more than just ask the terrorists to please tell us what they want.

And what do you think would have happened if Petraeus was a speaker at CPAC and he voiced those same words? I’d guess a loud chorus of boos.

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Filed Under: torture Tagged With: petraeus

Cartoon of the Day

February 21, 2010 By mario piperni

Try arguing with this logic. It’s a great analogy.

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