“ObamaCare”

State Run Health Exchanges Working Better Than Federal Health Site: Republican Run States Are Helping To Damage ObamaCare By Refusal To Cooperate

Ronald 7 Comments

It is an interesting development that those states which have decided to cooperate on ObamaCare by working on promoting the plan through state websites are having success in people being able to access information, and knowing their state governments are trying to help them succeed in their quest for health insurance.

Meanwhile, however, the vast majority of states, mostly run by Republican Governors, have put barriers in the way of cooperation, forcing the federal government to take care of millions of insurance seekers without any desire of the state governments involved to promote health care for their citizens who do not have it.

This is unconscionable, and demonstrates how the GOP is working to undermine any chance of success by their refusal to cooperate for the betterment of their less fortunate populations, much of it poor people, single mothers and children, minorities, and low paid workers of all races.

If the ObamaCare program fails, it will NOT be because of the glitches involved, but the immoral and unethical refusal of Republicans to care about their own populations that they govern, and it may just succeed in many states, as politics, and refusal to allow a success of the signature program of Barack Obama, is the priority over human lives and health, sad to say!

The Kansas Nebraska Act (1854) Compared To ObamaCare? George Will And Michael Barone Lose ALL Credibility!

Ronald 3 Comments

Conservative columnists are starting to lose their sanity, and two of those are George Will and Michael Barone.

Will has always been seen as an “intelligent” conservative, who used to be on ABC News, but is now on Fox News Channel, which may explain his loss of intellect recently!, Michael Barone has published, on an even year basis for the past 42 years, the great research work, THE ALMANAC OF AMERICAN POLITICS, of which this author owns all 22 volumes proudly. But Barone, also on Fox News Channel often, is also writing ridiculously lately on many issues.

Both of these gentlemen, who should know better, are comparing ObamaCare to the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, calling ObamaCare the biggest disaster since that infamous law which allowed the expansion of slavery into the territories. The Kansas Nebraska Act destroyed the Whig Party, created the Republican Party, and helped to provoke civil war in Kansas, which eventually led to the Civil War.

How could anyone, supposedly intelligent, compare a law which promoted expansion of slavery to one providing basic health care to tens of millions of Americans who have not had access to health care which has caused the death of millions over decades unnecessarily?

It is obscene that anyone could make such comparisons, but this is the silly, reckless season of total demagoguery.

And this includes the esteemed African American surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Carson, who is now seeking political ambitions, and has the gall to compare ObamaCare to slavery! How can he expect to be taken seriously, and in so doing, he is condemning millions of poor people, white and minority, to the continuation of inferior health care access, or none at all!

These three gentlemen need to realize they lose all creditability when they state ridiculous, asinine statements such as the above, and need to apologize, but will they? The answer is NO, as they all benefit economically by their demagogic statements! What a disgrace!

The One Virtue Of The Government Shutdown: John Boehner And Mitch McConnell Will NOT Support Another Such Shutdown!

Ronald 5 Comments

The one virtue that comes out of the federal government shutdown, which cost the Gross Domestic Product $1.5 billion a day, a total of $24 billion for 16 days, is that it has convinced GOP leaders that the tactic will not work,

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that he will NOT allow another government shutdown, as he is well aware how it has hurt the Republican brand, with nothing gained by the action. He will face a Tea Party opponent in the Kentucky Senate primary, including the opposition of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Ted Cruz, but this should make a good case for opposition to those Tea Party lunatics who have no concern about the effect on the American economy of what they supported.

Speaker John Boehner has not stated quite the same sentiments, but it is clear that he will not support such a looney concept the next time, as he ended up backing away at the brink of the crisis.

Yes, McConnell and Boehner are both to be condemned for their handling of the situation, but at the end, both were ultimately responsible when push came to shove, and they and the Establishment Republicans have learned a hard lesson,

With the help of Wall Street, the Tea Party lunatics will face challenges in the primaries from mainstream Republican conservatives, and hopefully, some will lose their seats either to these establishment types, or the seats will swing over to the Democrats, with the chance of a Democratic takeover growing, and the likelihood of a Republican takeover of the US Senate a less likely scenario, as a result of the government shutdown and debt ceiling debacle.

As Barack Obama declared, it is time for serious action on immigration, tax reform, and the farm bill, instead of wasting time on what is ultimately a lost cause, the destruction of ObamaCare by repeal, which is NOT going to happen.

Anyone who seriously thinks the Tea Party Movement will triumph in 2014 and elect Ted Cruz President in 2016, with a Republican House and Senate, is certainly using hallucinatory drugs, and needs to be hospitalized for mental observation!

Harpers Ferry Anniversary 1859 And America On The Economic Brink 2013: A Lot In Common!

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On this day in 1859, 154 years ago, radical abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the military arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (today in West Virginia), killing about 60 people in an an attempt to begin a racial war to end slavery.

While Brown had a great purpose in mind, to end slavery, his tactics were reprehensible, but started the movement toward civil war and the breakup of the Union.

Today, 154 years later, America faces an economic brink, as those who wish to change the course of our economic system, including the destruction of ObamaCare, are about to put us into an economic collapse that will reverberate throughout America and the world at large, and could also incite bloodshed and conflict that might never stop, as citizens turn against each other, and right wing elements plot to overthrow the government, and force President Obama out of office!

We are in a time more dangerous than any since September 11, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and it is self induced by anarchists on the right who refuse to accept the results of legislation passed legally by both houses of Congress, approved by the Supreme Court, and reaffirmed by the Presidential Election Of 2012.

It is time for responsible, sane heads in government to push back, and refuse to allow reckless, irresponsible, ignorant lunatics to hijack our government, and its good name in terms of economic responsibility. This is a day to pray for strong leadership in Congress and the White House! It is time for the Republican Party to take back control from its Tea Party lunatics!

The Growing Threat Of Violence and Bloodshed In America, Due To Incitement By Tea Party Movement!

Ronald 2 Comments

America is now living through a very tumultuous, confrontational time, and the Tea Party Movement is responsible for much of this turmoil!

Their vehemence against ObamaCare; their desire to destroy the safety net that has developed under the New Deal and Great Society; their rhetoric which promotes hate and fear; their campaign to promote hysteria that America is becoming a left wing dictatorship under President Obama; their willingness to destroy the two party system and undermine Republican Party stability in the name of eliminating RINOS (Republicans In Name Only); their lack of concern about the damage to the world economy caused by the possibility of a debt ceiling being breached; and their ignoring of the suffering many Americans are experiencing with the government shutdown ending its second week, is an alarm bell in the night, warning of tragedy ahead!

For extremists of the right, the elimination of President Obama from office is their goal, and all decent Americans must worry about his personal safety and security, as the number of death threats are so numerous, that it has set a record for any President of the United States, probably unsurpassed except by Abraham Lincoln! And we know the end result of the 10,000 or more death threats against our 16th President!

This is a time to pray, to remain calm, and to hope that our Secret Service and other government agencies are equipped to protect our 44th President, and allow him to contribute to the betterment of the nation, and have a dignified retirement life after January 20, 2017!

The Republican Party Assault On The Institution Of The American Presidency: Battle For The Past And The Future!

Ronald 7 Comments

The Republican Party brought about the evils of the Imperial Presidency under Richard Nixon.

The Republican Party expanded the American Presidency further under Ronald Reagan after weakening the office with their conservative attacks on Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in the White House.

Under Reagan, and the two Bush Presidencies, they expanded their power and influence over the Courts, particularly the Supreme Court, but also lower federal courts.

In the process, however, they forgot the middle class; alienated women; attacked the environment; undermined education; utilized racism and hate against African Americans and Hispanics and Latinos, and even Asian Americans; showed less concern than ever before for children, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor (often including these precise groups); leagued themselves with hate mongers on talk radio, and allied with powerful elite wealthy people to promote right wing propaganda that influenced many who were hurt by their policies and views, but did not realize it. And they set out to destroy Bill Clinton first , and now Barack Obama, including the boldness to attack a federal program (ObamaCare) that was backed by a majority in Congress, the Supreme Court majority, and the second term victory of Barack Obama!

The decision was to bring down the government by promoting economic chaos and anarchy, doing whatever had to be done!

And today, the Republican Party has 70 percent of the American people alienated by their tactics, aims, and practices, and sees the only way to survive is to assault the American Presidency, an office they have not won in the popular vote for five of the past six national elections, and have little hope of winning anytime soon in future Presidential elections!

So their goal is to continue to win state legislatures and congressional districts through gerrymandering, and weaken the Presidency, and stalemate the US Senate, which they also have little hope of winning in the future, with their agenda exposed for all to see through coverage provided by major national newspapers and liberal and progressive media that keep us informed as to the truth of what is going on!

The ultimate goal of the modern Republican Party is to wipe out, eliminate, destroy the great advancements under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, even Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama!

This is a war for the future and the past of the American Presidency, and we cannot allow the systematic destruction of that office which has made for so much good in America in the past century!

The Arguments Against States Rights

Ronald 1 Comment

Conservatives and Republicans LOVE to promote states rights, and for good reason!

It allows many states to deny their citizens the same rights and privileges and benefits that other states provide!

Historically, it allowed states to have slaves, when others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to promote segregation of the races, when others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to promote capital punishment, when others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to show no concern for the poor, while others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to exploit labor through “right to work” laws, while others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to exploit the environment for industrial benefit, while others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to victimize women and children, while others did not.

And now, it allows states to deny basic health care expansion under Medicaid and ObamaCare, while others do not.

And the states that regularly have been denying their citizens equal treatment under the law are mostly in the South, but also in the Great Plains and some Mountain states.

In other words, the most backward and regressive states, almost all Republican states in 2013, are showing lack of concern for the health and welfare of their citizens.

So states rights is a good thing? Not when one looks at the facts!

Speaker John Boehner Putting Himself Ahead Of National Interest, And Will Go Down In History As Worst Speaker In Last Century!

Ronald 8 Comments

It is time to face facts!

Speaker of the House John Boehner will go down in history as the worst Speaker in the last century, if not ever, as he refuses to do what is the right thing to do–pass a continuing resolution, with support of reasonable Republicans and opposition Democrats, to reopen the government, and stop trying to destroy ObamaCare, a law that has been held constitutional by the Supreme Court!

Boehner has allowed the 40 or so Tea Party Republicans to hold him, and the nation, hostage, and the effect will be to undermine the government and the economy long term!

Boehner so wants to remain Speaker, that he is willing to destroy the nation’s stability and security to do so, and his lack of patriotism, to do what must be done, whether it affects him in a negative fashion or not, shows how self centered, uncaring, and ill equipped he is to be two heartbeats away from the Presidency under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947!

Effectively, Boehner is promoting anarchism, a loss of faith in the purposes of government on the part of the American people, and undermining all hopes for an economic recovery, and his name in history will be seen as a dark moment of lack of courage and principle, in favor of personal ambition and ego and greed!

Ironically, he will be deposed for sure by the Tea Party Movement, which is using him for their own aggrandizement, and he does not see it coming, which demonstrates how stupid a man he really is!

Boehner will be portrayed in history as on a list of true villains, who undermined the nation they were sworn to serve!

Criminal That 800,000 Federal Workers Are Not Being Paid, While Congress Is Paid During Shutdown!

Ronald 7 Comments

The Republican Party loves to attack the federal work force, showing no respect for their services, and always ready to cut the workforce, as if those who work for the numerous government agencies are insignificant,. In actuality, the American people have no clue, and lack appreciation of, the sacrifices of the federal government workers. Without their services, we would all suffer, as they do essential work in more ways than anyone understands!

Part of the lack of respect for federal workers that Republicans have is the decision to shut down the government over ObamaCare, a law in effect for three and a half years, and upheld by the Supreme Court.

So Congress collects its inflated salaries, while federal workers are told to go without, when they have bills like the rest of us, and are now being punished without any certainty as to when they will be paid again, and whether or not, they will be paid for the forced furlough from work, forced on them by Republican intransigence!

Not only should the shutdown end NOW, but there MUST be a guarantee that all federal workers will be paid full back pay, and the Republicans in Congress should have to donate their own salaries in a mandatory manner, to give each federal worker a bonus payment for the suffering he or she has had to bear because of the outrageous decision to shut down the government by Speaker John Boehner!

The Battle For The Dignity And Respect For The Office Of The American Presidency!

Ronald 18 Comments

President Barack Obama has made it clear that he is NOT going to cave in to the Republican hostage takers on the subject of ObamaCare, and all power to him!

ObamaCare is Obama’s signature accomplishment, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and every other President who has had a major domestic accomplishment would react the same way Obama is reacting—no bargaining on something already in the law and approved by the Supreme Court!

But Obama has also made it clear that the office of the Presidency deserves dignity and respect, and he will not bargain away the power of that office to a group of radical anarchists known as the Tea Party Movement!

This is not just for the Obama legacy that Obama is fighting, but also for the future of the office, as the Congress, or a radical part of it, cannot be permitted to undermine the powers and prerogatives of that office, whether we have a Republican or Democratic President in the near and far future!

Only the President is voted on by the entire population, and only he, or a future she, truly represents the nation at large!

Congress must know its place in the constitutional system, and if they are, or a faction of them are, ready to allow the full faith and credit of the American government to be breached by a failure of Congress to raise the debt limit in the next two weeks, then the President, and really any President, in the future must take executive action!

The 14th Amendment allows the President to intervene and guarantee payment of all debts, and the raising of the debt limit, and if Congress does not do it, then the President, by executive order, can and MUST do do, and let the chips fall where they may, which might, very well, include a movement by the Republican Party in the House of Representatives to impeach the President!

Obama may provoke such reckless actions by what he does, but there would never be a conviction in the US Senate, even if the GOP won a majority and controlled the chamber.

So it would be another example of what the Republicans did to Bill Clinton, which may have besmirched his historical record and his future obituary, but also greatly harmed the GOP brand.

It is time for Barack Obama to throw down the gauntlet, and say to the GOP, “Bring It On!”