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So here it is, almost halfway through this President's first term, and it's starting to become abundantly clear that there is no way Obama is going to pursue the same agenda that he ran on in 2008.
In fact, as the President announces a deal that even he agrees the majority of the American people do not support, and he prepares the Nation for the news that we're going to have to borrow money for the very tax cuts he said we couldn't afford a few weeks ago, it's starting to look like Obama isn't even going to pursue the same agenda he campaigned for in October.
Now it is true that a lot of the problem here is the President's-but it's also fair to say that we Progressives have failed to force the President, and certain reluctant Members of Congress, to govern in a way that promotes that agenda.
That's a real problem, and it needs a real solution; before we get done today I'll offer a suggestion that could be not only highly effective, and a lot of fun besides, but a great chance to release your artistic muse as well.
The one he grew up in, not the one he helped create:
John Boehner grew up in an America ruled by FDR's Democratic majority. I grew up in an America ruled by Ronald Reagan's Republican majority. The America he grew up is already "snuffed out." I doubt he will ever realize that it was people like him who did the snuffing.
That's the end of this scathing, sad, and all too accurate diary. I really wish I knew what John Boehner thinks the America he grew up in was like.
Schadenfreude is not part of my DNA, unless we're playing Pictionary, but what happens next for the Republicans? Once all the hot air is out of the balloon, somebody has to pay...who's first?
I'm guessing Boehner is first, with that little daschund Cantor eager to fill those size fours.
I can't remember a time when political fortunes turned so quickly...
Tonight I headed out to join other health care advocates in "welcoming" curiously tanned U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner to a NH GOP fundraiser in downtown Concord.
Papa Sununu, in hopes of picking up seats that New Hampshire voters have firmly signaled should NOT be under Republican control, thought bringing in one of the henchmen trying to kill real health care reform would somehow be a shot in the arm for his party.
It won't work, of course. The party elite might like the message he's peddling, but conservatives are ultimately going to lose the battle over health care reform for one simple reason: they just don't get it.
Of course, we still have our work to do. But what I'm saying is - they sure are making it easier these days. Republican leaders are projecting absolute cluelessness about why people want health care reform, and need it now, a point made excellently in this op-ed.
Case in point: take this line from tonight by former Ron Paul staffer and Free Stater Andy Demers, who was bothered by the large pro-health care crowds rallying outside as he entered the fundraiser - "Ah, come on. On a Friday night, really?!"
Well, yes, Andy - really.
Because when you don't have health care coverage or your family budget is drained by high health care costs - those are things that continue to worry you over the weekend. Even on a Friday night.
So, yes - we came out to remind people like Boehner that when he's busy applying fake tanning lotion (or whatever it is), other people are fighting for their lives. It's not fun, and it's not what we want to be doing on a Friday night, but it's the fight we will continue until the Republican Party finally understands that families want and need health care reform, now.
"KellyCare" Will Empower Insurance Giants and Leave 53 Million Uninsured Americans in the Dust
CONCORD - Tonight, House Republican Leader John Boehner, one of Kelly Ayotte's DC establishment friends, will be attending an NHGOP fundraiser in Concord. Both Ayotte and Boehner support a risky healthcare plan that would eliminate protections for New Hampshire families and empower big insurance companies.
"KellyCare" - Ayotte's plan to take control over healthcare away from Granite Staters and put it squarely in the hands of insurance giants - was manufactured by Boehner and the Republican establishment in Washington. By eliminating essential state-level protections that require insurance companies to remain accountable to the consumers they serve, "KellyCare" lets insurance bureaucracies decide what they will or will not cover. Without these crucial safeguards, insurance companies are free to cover only the most profitable services for themselves, leaving women, children and those with pre-existing medical conditions particularly at risk.
"Kelly is calling in her establishment friends to do the dirty work she keeps avoiding - defending and discussing her disastrous plan," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "New Hampshire has created rock-solid consumer protections to ensure that no insurance bureaucracy can choose not to cover something just to protect its own profit. To do away with these would not only threaten the ability of Granite Staters to keep their families healthy, but would allow insurance bureaucrats to deny New Hampshire its right to decide how to care for its residents. 'KellyCare' lets insurance companies call the shots - and leaves New Hampshire families in the dust."
Earlier this month, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that "KellyCare" would leave 53 million Americans without healthcare. When pushed about this massive shortfall, Boehner said: "What we do is try to make the current system work better...We do not attempt to cover 46 million more Americans" [Roll Call, 11/2/09, CNN, 11/1/09; CBO Analysis, 11/4/09].
The New York Times said that the Ayotte-Boehner plan would "do almost nothing to reduce the scandalously high number of Americans who have no insurance...and isn't health care reform." (New York Times 11/6/09)
As the White House girds for battle over the president's health care plan, the GOP is dutifully trotting out the same bromides they have tossed around since the Truman Administration. Bureaucrats in DC will tell you which teeth you can brush, Michael Moore will choose your doctor, and unemployed Bulgarian apparatchiks will move en masse to the US to manage our economy. Harry's government doctor will remove the wrong kidney during surgery and Louise will repeatedly be urged to have abortions. I suppose they figure, 'hey, this nonsense has always worked before. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
But broke their rhetoric is, right along with our health care system. I couldn't help but think of just how broken both the GOP's creaky scare-tactics and the US's health care system was when I was treated to some remarks from the Republicans leader in the House, John Boehner.
A new Pew Research poll on voter attitudes towards GOP leadership in Congress found something a little startling... even the ever-compliant Republican base is growing tired of them. Only 43% of Republicans approve of their own leaders, down from 55% a month or so ago. Among all voters, GOP congressional leaders are in truly Bushian territory with only 28% approving of their behavior. This is the lowest score they have ever had, and it includes 19% of Democrats, whose "approval" must be, ahem, strategically motivated. At this rate, the GOP is in danger of losing its second party status to the Greens or the Libertarians.
I can barely restrain my glee as the Republican Party nationwide heads deeper into its long-coming and well deserved downward spiral. We Dems have to keep organizing and fighting on, but this quote from House Minority Leader John A. Boehner is just too good to keep to the pages of Politico.com:
House Minority Leader John A. Boehner challenged Republicans to get off their "dead asses" and start raising money for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
If that weren't enough, over in New York, a Democrat won a State Senate seat held by Republicans for over a hundred years. Sound familiar? Now the Senate Majority Leader is sweating, even though they haven't lost their majority yet. The New York State Senate has had a Republican majority for forty years, and now only enjoys it by one seat!
