Eyes on the prize, fellas.
There’s a lot of noise out there regarding “conservative violence” and “tea party terrorism”, both of which have been propagated in the punditocracy and those political enemies who know that if they shift the debate to make their foes look crazy and out of control, they will have successfully papered over their own deeds.
This cannot be allowed to happen. James Clyburn’s assistant said he thought he heard a racist remark, and suddenly everyone is a racist? People threaten violence (a daily occurrence in DC, sadly) and suddenly the conservatives are violent? When was that, exactly? I recall liberal violence for decades going back, but not conservatives or tea party types.
Of course, the posterboy is McVeigh, but he was a kook, and hardly representative of any mainstream when he’s still pointed back to as the “Well, you remember…” guy. The guy who flew into the IRS building wrote ended his manifesto with a pro-communist statement, which hardly jives with, you know, the entire tea party gig. You get what I mean, anyway.
Do not let the debate shift, guys. The goal is to remove this bill from the soul of our country, and enact some actual reform, rather than install the insurance companies and their government overseers as our masters. Liberals wanted single-payer, but then dropped their morals just to get something passed. Bart Stupak took a gallant stand against weak anti-abortion language, but then backed it in turn for a hollow executive order that won’t stand as law unless specifically upheld by Congress. This Congress failed its people by failing to stand up for what they believed in in favor of what they could get enough votes to force on us.
Coburn already went soft on us, but Boehner and DeMint and Cantor and Paul Ryan have it correct. You repeal this bill, and you don’t accept for an instant that the REAL debate is whether some crazies will be crazy. That answer is and always has been yes, and it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with this issue. The GOP has an enormous winning issue here, and its time they step up to the fucking plate for once in their lives. No more pansy-asses. Fight for your principles, and don’t apologize.
Chris said,
March 25, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Has anyone spat on a congressman before, Red? Whether you like it or not, the Tea Party supporters in DC last weekend were far out of line. GOP leadership, of course, doesn’t help, with Boehner’s “armageddon” comment ruffling feathers on an already edgy Conservative populace.
You might like to think that so much talk of angry Conservatives is just a red herring, but unfortunately, this is a consequence of the Tea Party getting on the GOP bus as it flew off a cliff. Instead of offering solutions, the party offered to stand in the way. Instead of keeping a civil tone, the party fed the Tea Party exactly what it wanted: more unabridged anger. They turned the debate into a screaming match in almost all cases, and guess what – they lost because of it.
Now that all is said and done, we’re to believe that talk of their anger being out of line is just a red herring somehow taking everyone’s eyes off the ball? The ball has crossed the goal line – reform passed. The anger of the Right was there all along. If it was ever a red herring, you all made it so. The water muddying and fear mongering was your doing, not ours.
If you’d like an example of a real red herring, check out your own post: not a single mention of a bill that will decrease the deficit. Not a single mention of the increased consumer protections. Not a single mention of the 200+ Republican amendments that made it into the bill. No, it’s business as usual here on Sword and Sextant: the Dems are evil, no matter what they do, and if they try and say I’m mad, they’re lying. Oh, and Climate Change isn’t happening.
The Dems our proud of the bill, and rightly so: it will be helping you and every other American, starting a mere 90 days from now. If you really want to get to issues, try talking about the content of the bill. That’s the one thing no one on the Right thought to do.
regulusred said,
March 25, 2010 at 3:47 pm
“They turned the debate into a screaming match in almost all cases, and guess what – they lost because of it.”
Come on, now. We lost because the Dems had more votes, and not for any other reason.
“If you’d like an example of a real red herring, check out your own post: not a single mention of a bill that will decrease the deficit.”
If you’re comfortable forgetting double-counting Medicare cuts, so be it. Its estimated, as well, that starting the agencies required to implement this plan is around $110B.
Furthermore, you are actually telling me that a bill that balances 6 years of benefits against 10 years of taxes will somehow be a deficit reducer when the next ten years is 10 vs. 10?
I know you like the bill because you think the government should be in charge. I can live with that. I have a much harder time listening to you bend reason to tell mistruths.
regulusred said,
March 25, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Oh yeah, the Doctor Fix will cost $200B, as well.
Chris said,
March 25, 2010 at 4:12 pm
There’s no double counting of Medicare cuts. It just hasn’t happened. Are we to believe that the CBO is nothing in the face of Red, Blogger Extraordinaire?
Your $110B figure to start up the agencies is correct. Fortunately, it’s a one-time cost. Nothing comes for free… learned that from the Iraq War.
Oh, by the way, from Politico:
“This came after Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D-Va.) brother’s gas lines were cut, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) received death threats and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) received a message saying snipers were being deployed to kill children of those who voted for health care overhaul.”
“James Clyburn’s assistant said he thought he heard a racist remark, and suddenly everyone is a racist? People threaten violence (a daily occurrence in DC, sadly) and suddenly the conservatives are violent? When was that, exactly?”
See above.
regulusred said,
March 25, 2010 at 4:41 pm
“There’s no double counting of Medicare cuts. It just hasn’t happened. Are we to believe that the CBO is nothing in the face of Red, Blogger Extraordinaire?”
Yes, as the CBO has to analyze what it is given by the House and Senate. Garbage in, garbage out. Read the bill, as I did. It’s in there. Debt from the HCR bill is shifted away to Medicare to be counted at a later date.
Chris said,
March 25, 2010 at 4:49 pm
You’re assuming that Medicare costs continue to increase at their current rate. Costs will come down – a statement the CBO agrees with. Thus, the costs shifted away from the Medicare trust to the General Fund will be offset; the General Fund will see additional cost, but the Medicare fund will come down by more than the increase on the General.
No double counting. Fuzzy numbers, at worst. If the bill does what it’s supposed to do, however, the increases you’re assuming will not exist. Your worst case scenario is more like an alternate universe scenario.
I have indeed read the bill, but I’d like to commend you on being the only Conservative I know of to have done so – leadership included.