This segment from Morning Meeting is an absolute must watch. Betsy McCaughey can only bring herself to tout bogus points on health care reform and try to avoid actual answers, which gets Dylan Ratigan going. I really thought someone would walk off set during this.
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Are Americans dying too soon? The answer is yes. When it comes to "preventable deaths" -- an array of illnesses and injuries that should not kill at an early age -- the United States trails other industrialized nations and has been falling further behind over the past decade.
And here is what really gets me:
During last week's marathon health-care debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) bemoaned the findings.
"All of these countries have much lower costs than we do," he said, pointing to a giant blue chart showing the United States in last place. "And they have higher quality outcomes than ours."
And what else do all of these countries have Kent? Oh yeah – government run health care. I haven’t seen Kent change his position on that.
So why is it that these other countries can provide health care that results in longer life expectancy while spending less money per capita, and yet somehow it isn’t good enough for us? I am starting to agree with Republicans when they say “hit the reset button” on health care. Of course if we do that then Democrats need to just move forward with 100% universal coverage and tell the Republicans they are shit out of luck on any input into the legislation. They have been playing games for too long while countless Americans are suffering and/or dying.
Reading through the blog posts about the new FTC regulations on bloggers there is a definite split on it. The left seems to welcome the decision while the right is upset over it. For example, here is a post by tea bagger Dana Loesch:
Because Uncle Sam think the public is too stupid to make decisions alone or to recognize endorsements verses common reviews. So if a company sends you a dollar-store toy, you will be scrutinized by the government, regardless whether you were asked to post a review or not. The FTC was very clear in their repeated use of “case by case basis” in their report.
(emphasis added)
Now apparently Dana can’t even read what she quotes because she is referring to this, which appears right below the above paragraph:
Decisions about violations will be made on a case-by-case basis, but if someone receives cash or an in-kind payment to review a product, it’s considered an endorsement.
(emphasis added)
This made my head spin, and to add insult to injury Dana starts her post off with a quote from another article:
The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.
(emphasis added)
Today Joe Scarborough blasted the GOP for their rooting against America in the 2016 bid, saying that they have “gone off the deep end”. I'm sure the GOP will be firing back at Scarborough any minute now.
The Democrats are starting to seize on the Republican’s cheering against America:
Many Democrats saw the outbursts following the IOC decision – the merry Tweets, videos of cheering conservatives and chest-thumping by party leaders like Newt Gingrich — as part of larger pattern that includes the flirtation of right-wing Texans like Gov. Rick Perry with secession and the caustic tone of right-wing talk radio, embodied by Rush Limbaugh’s “I want him to fail” comment about Obama in January.
“Some of these people are starting to put politics first and country second,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, taking particular issue with Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
“The American people are starting to wonder if they are rooting against America,” he added.
If Chicago would have won the bid then we would have seen work stat this week for preparations. Not only would venues be built for the Olympics, but hotels would be upgraded. The economic boom that comes with hosting the Olympics would not have been limited to Chicago, but would have spread out to neighboring states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and even as far as Ohio. All of these states are in hard times and could have used a little good news for their future, but the Republicans didn’t want that.
I’m sure some will complain about this new rule for bloggers, but I really think it can help the blogosphere overall:
The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.
It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers.
There has been a lot of “blogs” popup that appear to be nonstop commercials for certain products. Hopefully this will help keep blogs what they are supposed to be – independent opinions.
It looks like there is some bigger troubles brewing inside the Republican ranks:
GOP leaders, in a private meeting last month, delivered a blunt and at times heated message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele: quit meddling in policy.
The plea was made during what was supposed to be a routine discussion about polling matters and other priorities in House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office. But the session devolved into a heated discussion about the roles of congressional leadership and Steele, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting.
The congressional leaders were particularly miffed that Steele had in late August unveiled a seniors’ “health care bill of rights” without consulting with them. The statement of health care principles, outlined in a Washington Post op-ed, began with a robust defense of Medicare that puzzled some in a party not known for its attachment to entitlements.
This just highlights the problem the RNC has had – no clear leadership. On one hand some want to jump up and act like the savior, while on the other hand - who would want to be seen piloting the sinking ship? Sure the media wants you to think that the Democratic party is the sinking ship right now, and while their numbers are going down, so are the Republican numbers. When was the last time that the opposition party had approval ratings so low?
The party of no has now said no to America overall. When has it been acceptable to cheer against our country so much? Check out Drudge’s top headline right now:
Being chosen to host the Olympics is considered a high honor for any nation, which is why so much work goes into to trying to secure the bid. People in Rio are thrilled right now, yet we have some of the loudest voices in our public discussion showing joy in our loss.
Perhaps its time for a new GOP motto:
Republicans! Rallying against America since it had the nerve to elect a black President.
The sounds about right.
The Olympic committee voted down Chicago in the first round. This could have been a nice economic boom for the midwest, including areas like Detroit if it would have gone through. It’s sad that so many on the right worked so hard to make this not happen.
This is really amazing and really stupid:
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has announced that he is heading down to Honduras to encourage those who helped fund and supported the coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to resist American pressure to return Zelaya to office.
The US Department of State has begun to revoke the visas of wealthy supporters of the military coup.
In other words, Jim DeMint is acting on behalf of, in cahoots with, and against the foreign policy of the United States of America in encouraging post-coup Honduran government officials defy the United States. He is encouraging a political leadership which has no legitimacy and which not recognized by other democracies in the region -- while the ousted President makes cell phone UN General Assembly statements from a couch-bed in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
John Kerry and the Obama administration has grounded DeMint’s trip, but he appears poised to fight it.
This has me thinking back to when Speaker Pelosi traveled to Syria. She wasn’t there as opposition to U.S. foreign policy, but rather to help reinforce it, yet the right was screaming and demanding she be prosecuted for it. Here’s a reminder from the WSJ in 2007:
