President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
50%
50%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
70%↑
30%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
October 01, 2009 04:50 PM UTC
37 Comments
You tell someone the truth and odds are good they will detest you for it.
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL): “Last week Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America’s seniors: drop dead.” [7/21/09]
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA): A public health care option is “gonna kill people.” [7/10/09]
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC): The Republican plan would “make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government.” [7/28/09]
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX): “One in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine! … I would hate to think that among five women, one of ’em is gonna die because we go to socialized care.” [7/15/09]
Rep. Steve King (R-IA): “They’re going to save money by rationing care, getting you in a long line. Places like Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe. People die when they’re in line.” [7/15/09]
Thanks for this. In response to the original post, I don’t think ‘middle America’ takes the time to analyze the truth meter of statements like these. They hear the buzz words and continue on with their lives. That is why Republicans use them. I would bet anything each of these statements came straight from Frank Luntz himself.
It’s time we Democrats start fighting back in the PR battle. It has been our biggest shortcoming for decades. Let’s give them a little taste of their own medicine!
A title card to Spike Lee’s movie satire about the Confederacy says, “Tell the truth, but tell it funny; otherwise, they will kill you.”
The Republicans talk of fantasy death panel provisions in a public plan that don’t exist while fighting tooth and nail for the real death panels that do exist; the private insurers’ death panels for profit. These real live fully functional, remorseless death panels focus like a laser on ways to condemn people with serious illnesses (like extremely aggressive breast cancer) to death by finding some omission (like failing to mention acne treatment) in their records. Of course the search for things like acne is never to be conducted while the customer is healthy, profitable and paying premiums.
The sole standard for the life and death decisions of the existing death panels is profit. And Rs strongly support the principle that our (post-birth) lives should be treated as commodities with no intrinsic value in the private for profit market. Unfair, un-American and Commie to force insurers to save unprofitable lives.
No effort, on the other hand, should be spared in preserving the lives of fertilized eggs. For some reason we do have intrinsic value apart from the profit motive only between fertilization and birth. After that we are worthless if we can’t help private insurers increase their profit level by over 400% even during periods in which wage increase don’t break out of the mid 20% range.
And if we lose our jobs or get a very expensive illness, we are directed to the government programs they supposedly abhor and for which we aren’t eligible until destitute or to private charities that don’t have enough to do what with the severe recession and all those newly poor children. That’s what’s not funny.
The current system doesn’t work for at least 25 million people. The Reublicans don’t want to change it.
13 years ago welfare reform for the Adult Medical Division meant we kicked people off Medicaid due to the SSDI being a few dollars over the limit of combined SSDI and SSI. If they had never worked they would have had full coverage under just SSI. The problem was they participated in our society.
Things haven’t improved
Those figures you are throwing out there are bogus and inflated at best and you know it.
A very small percentage of people have no insurance, many because they don’t want it, many because their priorites make it so they would rather buy that new car instead and hope nothing happens, some that are for whatever reason just in between coverages, and a small percentage just can’t afford it. So don’t throw out figures that are just plain blown up to make your point.
And secondly, saying the Republicans don’t want to change anything is also a lie. They want to make changes but not to a socialistic single payer system such as where the Dems are trying to force down our throats.
How about your party offering up some real changes that won’t put all of the private insurance companies out of work along with millions of their employees, not to mention all the doctors that will stop practicing because of the low wages and government rules, instead of pushing for something that most Americans do not want?
(And the part about doctors walking is not made up. There are polls out there stating many will consider leaving the profession if ObamaSocialistCare goes through.)
without backing it up in any way or suggesting a number you think is correct. Instead you just point at everything in any other direction and try to say how small it is.
I think you’re trying to compensate for something via misdirection and projection.
Gag-co apparently is unaware that the leading cause of bankruptcy is catastrophic medical events and most of those bankruptcies are suffered by the insured. But on the bright side, once you lose everything and become destitute you can qualify for one of those spiffy government programs, like medicaid. Of course you can’t contribute anything to the economy at that point and we tax payers foot the whole bill from that point on so maybe there’s a teensy downside.
I’m taking care of my old folks, theoretically saving the taxpayer boodles of monies for not putting them in nursing homes. I can’t get a FT job that might have benefits because of that. We can’t afford any kind of HC policy, I’m age 63. My car is 20 years old, I don’t do drugs, or party. I’ve not had health coverage for five years.
So, why shouldn’t I get some kind of care? Right now my options are aspirin, prayer, and the E.R.
In the meantime, 1 year, 7 months, and two weeks to get onto that terrible socialized system called Medicare. The one where my parents use any doctor they want, and with their MediGap from Aflack, everything is covered. Everyone gets paid, paid promptly.
Is there something wrong with that?
Why do you hate me? And I know many, many other people in the same straits, Gecko. It is not rare.
I don’t even know you. But I do know this…..Medicare is paid for on the backs of the taxpayers. It covers a small percentage of people and is great….for what it is intended to do. But can you not imagine what will happen to this country if EVERYONE is on the dole? Right now the ONLY reason Medicare is working is because it is being paid for out of the pockets of all the rest of us. It is not cost neutral. Quite the opposite. Obama says this new plan will be cost neutral. He is flat out lying and you all know it. It will be physically impossible to cover every single person in this country without everyone also paying tremendous premiums. Has anyone ever said what the premiums will be? Can anyone guarantee that this system will be cost neutral? Guarantee it?
The answer is no because it is frickin impossible. It will end up just like Medicare, being subsidized by the taxpayers. With more and more people asking themselves “why not jump on the dole too?”
I think if the Dems were serious about fixing health care, and not creating a single payer socialist system like they pretend to not be doing, they would work on what we have now. You know there is an overwhelming majority of Americans that have perfectly good insurance at reasonable prices now. Why not fix the system so that the rest can afford coverage, maybe expand Medicare for those in need, without shoving a crap deal down all of our necks.
If that is true, then how do all the other industrial democracies manage what we apparently cannot (or will not)?
When are you going to post some actual data that supports your assertions?
No one hates you (well, I can’t speak for EVERYONE), but you would certainly draw less criticism if you bothered to post sources for the bullshit that you assert.
If you don’t like the term “bullshit” than do something about it by posting sources for assertions such as:
Actual numbers and sources, if you actually have them, would give your arguments much more credibility.
All of that assumes, of course, that you want to be credible. If you simply want to be equated with a bag lady who yells at passing traffic, please disregard this advice and continue doing what you do.
ruserious?
Actual data hardly ever feels as good as hot button emotional raving.
I have posted numbers and facts here in the past couple days only to have them dismissed or ignored. (Apparently only polls that are twisted to show a slight lead in favor of the plan counts.)
I wrote about how Rasmussen polls show that a majority of people do not want ObamaCare only to be told their polls only count during election times. Otherwise they mean nothing.
I wrote about how the Feds estimated what the cost that Medicare will be in the first 25 years, only to miss it by 9 times over, and to then be told that shit happens. (These are the same morons that want to be in charge of the health care for the entire country and say it “will be cost neutral”. Yeah right.”)
I was told by someone here that “nobody wants single payer government controlled health care” and I replied that his highness Obama himself told millions of people that that is his primary goal, back when he was selling himself for office. My reply was ignored.
No it wasn’t, Gecko, it was refuted.
I get it: 2+2 =4, but 2+a zillion = some number to big for my calculator, so a public option modeled on medicare could never work.
How about this- medicare is supported by tax payers.
Medicare2 is supported by premium payers. If the premiums are too hig- no one buys it and it dies and rightly so, because it’s useless. If the premiums are too low, the program will adjust them higher. When the premiums are set correctly, they will pay for the care delivered. See- in the private sector that ‘s what we call “insurance”.
Of course, there will be differences. But there will not be profits. And no bonuses.
Now don’t go crazy- profits are a good thing. A great thing. But for a free market solution to exist, and be appropriate and efficient way of distributing goods or services, there must be the opportunity for competition. And complete- or near complete- information incorporated into price and purchasing decisions.
In the case of health insurance- we have almost none of that.
And so healthcare captures 17% of GDP and is rising. You say- good for them, if the industry can capture 18% (or more) fine. I say- at some level (percentage of GDP) it destabilizes our country and makes us less competitive in the global economy.
And while I have no big aversion to health care providers making whatever they can charge (there are issues of public good and public subsidies) I do have an aversion to brokers making unreasonable profits. It implies consumer abuse, as in lack of information or choice. Oh- brokers sell goods and service or financial instruments that they do no own- like insurance companies that stand between us and our doctors.
….I just used hate as a big of hyperbole.
So there’s something inherently wrong when taxpayers pay for a social good? But it’s OK when your employer and you pay for the same services at close to twice the price that all other civilized nations pay? That’s so illogical.
But you never addressed my concern. As someone who has work reasonably hard most of my life, paid most of my taxes and always VERY willingly paid the Medicare portion, why am I left w/o decent options at this time?
The fact is every other country delivers better health care to every person in said countries at half the price. I’m calling their care better as determined by outcomes.
As one who had to bring your father home and your wife not work to take care of him, all because the insurance company said, “No more money, honey,” (IIRC) I would think your position would be 180 degrees opposite.
But I’ll give you creds for being consistent!
One for each of your parents and one for you.
then pay all of your expenses out of pocket, like real ‘mericans.
Or- don’t get sick. I mean- how hard is it to choose health? Just make better choices and be more personally responsible.
his faux indignation resolution, he may want to add a few Republican names to his list who have “breach(ed) decorum and degraded the integrity and proceedings of the house”:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
Grayson was making a joke. Republicans generally tried to get their idiotic followers to believe that death panel stuff.
Wilson violated a specific rule of House Decorum.
Grayson’s comment came during “One-Minute Speeches” and did not violate the rules in that it did not disparage or characterize any particular House member. Hyperbole is fairly common during “One-Minute Speeches” as evidenced by rennes’ citations above.
By the way, the Republican members who were typing away on their Blackberries during Obama’s speech also violated House rules:
Grayson has raised on ActBlue alone over $90,000 from 2776 contributors.
So now the way to raise funds is to be a dick on the house floor. This is sure to improve our political conversation.
I’m still trying to figure out which part was a lie…
🙂
Republicans don’t care one way or the other 😉
about death panels, all the tacit acceptance and/or encouragement of accusations that Obama is some kind of communist, Nazi baby killer who wants to appease the terrorists and endanger America, the Rs have the nerve to demand and apology for this?
Incidentally, I also think Bill Clinton being the messenger on the right wing conspiracy is equally nervy. Yes, there was a relentless conspiracy against him but after years of effort they couldn’t make anything stick until until he handed them the Lewinsky affair on a silver platter. Without his idiotic reckless behavior while he knew perfectly well how badly these people wanted to get something on him, the impeachment never would have happened and Gore would have sailed to victory as the successor to all that peace and prosperity.
Neither Bill nor HRC has ever had the decency to admit Bill’s fair share of the blame and the horrific damage his tawdry behavior with a young intern (he couldn’t at least pick a discreet adult with a clue to mess around with?) did in the form of the GW presidency and all that followed.
So put a sock in it Rs and leave the complaints about conspiracy to someone with a little credibility, Bill.
should offer a resolution condemning Newsmax columnist and fascist John L. Perry for calling for a military coup. I’d be curious to see how the Republicans handle it.
His aide is blogger Matt Stoller, also kind of a goof. Reliable for stunts that everyone is grateful don’t backfire. Usually.
No crazier than a death panel, but that is a race to the bottom methinks.
The Republicans use lies and misconceptions, and up until very recently, were able to gain significant political power for nearly three decades based mostly on that tactic. During the four years of their super majority, they became drunk with power, and that’s how we got where we are today.
If the argument you’re making is compelling, then there should be no need to make up lies, or resort to the cries of “they did it first” and “they don’t play fair, why should we?”
I remember these same arguments being made last year during the presidential campaign. People wanted to use the GOP’s own medicine after all of the stupidity and bullshit that was coming from the Tea Party Anti-Tax Advocacy CoalitionsTM (politically correct for all you sensitive Republicans out there.) Well, guess what happened? Obama won. He won because he stayed on message, made it a campaign about the issues, and stayed largely positive. There were lots of attacks on McCain from the DNC and other Democrats outside the campaign, but nearly all of them were based on legitimate gripes–even if the attacks were not totally devoid of snark, and sometimes got mean.
Every time people tried to use stupid made up BS to hurt the opposition, it failed miserably–as was the case with the horrible rumor that Sarah Palin was really the mother of her grand-daughter, or that she was a dues-paying member of the ACP.
Grayson is lucky because this is fairly innocuous, but a lot of people are advocating for what I think you have correctly described as a race to the bottom. We can win without that race taking place, we just have to stay focused. This kind of political argument is a lot like junk food; it tastes good, and it makes you feel really good, but it destroys our body politic. It’s the balanced diet of logical argument based on facts that keeps our democracy fit and healthy.
About time somebody……ANYBODY PLEASE….hit these sissies where they play.
We’ve been listening to and condoning babbling sycophants like wilson, wolf from NC, cantor, Blackburn, boehner, coburn, grassle, coffman ad nauseum, since I can’t remember when.
Now Rep. Grayson actually lines out the red plan and these sallies want an apology? You gotta be kidding me. The entire red contingent in both houses are the very living and breathing definition of cowardly bullies that can insult ’till the cows come home, but can’t take a lick of their own medicine. The insurance industry has them tethered so tight it’s cutting off blood flow, and these frauds are so cowardly they can’t even admit proven fact. (Don’t get me started on those cowards from the good side that caved on the finance public option markup)
Anyway, good on Rep. Grayson. I’ll be contributing to his reelection in 2012.
Now it’s time to start following his example. They lie, the good guys hit back, make ’em cry like the sissies they are.
I agree with the gist of your post, except when you include Coffman in the list of babblers. Maybe except for a stray remark here or there, he’s sounded remarkably sane about health care. There’s no way he belongs in that group you list (but you forgot Michele Bachmann!).
Compared to people like Michele Bachman et al, Congressman Coffman has conducted himself very well in the health care debate. His statements have been sane and certainly within the definition of reasonable debate. He has not taken the either the low road or performed like a screeching right-wing fanatic. He should be commended and respected for the way he has conducted himself.
behaving well wouldn’t be enough for the Rs until he personally denounced and rejected every offensive statement made by any Dem, lefty or progressive individual or group. But I get your point. He’s just wrong, not insane. These days that is a big improvement over most on the right.