GOP Antics

[davidbcoe]

Two months ago, I thought that the GOP was poised to make huge gains in this year's elections.  But with Republican House members shouting about how the health reform bill is a "baby killer", with Tea Party activists using racial epithets against John Lewis and other African American Democrats and calling Barney Frank "a faggot", and now with this,

Comments

[mythusmage]

David, if the media focused on the bad boys of the Democratic Party what would your impression of Democrats be? All movements attract dweebs and jerks, and all movements can be made to consist mostly of dweebs and jerks by how they are studied. I remember when D&D players were presented as dorky Satan worshippers with body odor and obsessive habits Being a D&D player at the time I can assure you no one I knew even knew any Satan worshipper, or even why you'd want to.

I learned about media duplicity back in the 80s, and nothing I've seen since then has changed my mind.

We tend to remember the disruptions and the bozos, the quiet and the reasonable tend to get over looked.

[davidbcoe]

What you say about the media looking for the worst in people is probably true. But who do you look at for the GOP to use as an example of "quiet and reasonable"? Certainly not Sarah Palin, who was the first to popularize the "Death Panel" nonsense. Certainly not Michelle Bachman, or Steven King (R-Iowa), Certainly not Limbaugh, or Beck, or any of the other clowns at Fox News. Do we look at Boehner or McConnell? They've been repeating lies about the health care package, too: "It's socialized medicine, it's being passed using fraudulent legislative strategies (which, by the way, we've used again and again, but never mind that). We need to start from scratch because we've been left out of the process. We can do this piecemeal." They never mention that in fact they've been brought into negotiations on this bill again and again from the beginning, but never offered any positive suggestions. They opposed it from day one, not because they disliked the policy, but because they disliked the politics. They know that passage of this

[mythusmage]

David,

How much do you think it would cost if your car insurance paid for oil changes and tire rotation?

[davidbcoe]

I find it funny that opponents of health care reform use the car insurance analogy selectively to make points. How many states in the US REQUIRE people to have car insurance in order to drive? And how many of those states are the same ones talking about challenging the health insurance mandate? (My state is one of them, sadly.) Are our cars more sacred than our health? Than our children's health

[mythusmage]

David

[davidbcoe]

Yes, preventative care works. Of course people get sick anyway. But over the long term catastrophic illnesses are caught earlier or prevented altogether when people have access to routine check-ups and screenings. That saves them money and the system money. The "pay cash" approach you outline doesn't work for those who are unemployed or even for the working poor. And universal coverage can't be the problem because it does not exist in this country; it never has