Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) constituents want to see her break party ranks on health care.

Does Susan Collins have a different set of constituents?

According to Americablog, the site Newsmax? that put out the column about a military takeover of the government has the GOP as a sponsor!

A new compromise? Haven't all of the good ideas been compromised to death?

I'll make a compromise with the senators who are selling out their constituents for a bribe from the insurers. I won't call you a Criminal Republican if you don't act like one. Yes, Max Baucus and the rest of the fake Democrats who are doing their best to keep Walmart and UnitedHealth fat and happy, I am talking about you, too.

Question:

What if an unforseen "natural" event in the US caused 10s of thousands of injuries? Would the folks who had health insurance be the only ones who received life-saving care?

What if a virulent virus ran rampant through school-age children, causing 75% fatalities?

How would we get a handle on either scenario without a national medical data-base?

Without a public option, it would be impossible to mitigate either scenario.

We all applaud the "e"-ification of medical records, but forget that the un-insured aren't necessarily "in" such a data-base.

To those who think a public option is tantamount to socialism, get a life.

Click the link and take a look at Frank's mug. Are we sure he's "part of humanity?" He looks like he could have been a character in Men In Black.

Criminal Republican has a honest ring to it. Feel free to use it when applicable.

Isn't it horrible, the Finance Committee voted against having the public option with Baucus saying "because it couldn't get 60 votes" - ! It shouldn't have to get 60 votes. We have allowed filibusters to tyrannize our legislative process. And we must pound on the blue dogs. The whole scheme is rubbish without a public option. Notice that psycho Grassley saying, "the government is a predator." He should be removed. People who hate government shouldn't be running it. His motivation is deceptive anyway, he means "predatory against the predators" - the private interests that his ilk want to run amok.

Carper's so called "compromise" is just another way to kill the public option. Ezra is becoming infected by the "Washington Post virus".

This is great fun - word cloud visualizations and comparisons of all previous inaugural addresses:
http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/visual/inaugurals/

This whole Olympic meltdown by the GOP is another manufactured outrage. Bush supported the US getting the Olympics, too.

From the Whitehouse.gov site:

President Bush Meets with Chicago 2016 Bid Committee and United States Olympic Committee Members

Union League Club of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
11:35 A.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank the members of the 2016 Chicago bid to get the Olympics. Listen, Mr. Mayor, you and your committee have put together a great plan. It's a plan that will make America proud.

They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we're fortunate enough to be selected, but really it's coming to America, and I can't think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago.

President George W. Bush and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley hold up a T-shirt touting Chicago 2016, during a meeting Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, with with members of the Chicago 2016 Bid Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Said the President, "This country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics." This is a well thought out venue. There will be -- the athletes will be taken care of. People who will be coming from around the world will find this good city has got fantastic accommodations, great restaurants. It will be safe.

And so I -- this country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics.

Thank you all.

END 11:36 A.M. CST

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080107-3.html

(sorry, I always screw up an Href)

MsJoanne, get a template for HTML to reuse (I can't show here, because it would become one!)
If he can get it nailed down, it will of course be known as the O-lympics (and for Oprah as well.)

I suppose that Boner forgot that GWB spent more time on vacation than any other President in US history, despite two wars + a major recession.

Then again, getting GWB out of the loop was probably a good thing for the country.

-Z

Reminds me of 'Just Say No'.

The point that should be emphasized is that all addiction is harmful, not just the addiction du jour.

Don't complain about gambling, or drugs or alcohol independently, complain about addiction itself, universally.

Neil, I usually go to something like ThinkProgress and use their buttons. I didn't have it up and was too lazy to go there and log in.

I should copy it into a file, though, and use it as a template. Actually, I think I will do just that! Good suggestion and reminder!!

WANTED: ATTORNEY

I asked Ed Schultz this last year and he said it was a good question and was going to look into it but I never heard a response (I was traveling)...so...a question to all the attorneys out there:

Why can someone not bring a lawsuit against Fox for being an unreported contributor to the RNC, RSCC, RCCC and, specifically as an example, the McCain/Palin campaigns (as well as other campaigns)?

Here is the specific example: Last year, Fox covered, in full and at no charge, a McCain town hall event. It was uninterrupted and covered from start to finish. No coverage like that was covered for any Dem. Actually, little truth was ever covered about any Dem but that's another story.

Why is this not considered a campaign contribution? That coverage would have cost millions to purchase, yet it was gifted. The same thing happens day after day and for a variety of Republican's who are currently in office.

This has nothing to do with the Fairness Doctrine (which, I am against, and will be happy to go into details as to why on an open thread, but it is far from a be all end all, I assure you. It was used against us more effectively than it was ever used for us. Anyway...)

With the case currently in the SCOTUS, which will be overturned and will be the death knell of US society as we know it, the corporations will be able to select at will who they want to be elected (by allowing anyone with deep pockets to make political films and show them prior to elections), but this could be a way of stopping, at least, the most visible form of undocumented political contributions, and that is Fox News, which is an arm of the Republican party and is in all basic cable homes at no additional charge (versus other news operations including CSPAN). (And my apologies for THAT run-on sentence!)

So, any attorney takers out there who cares to interject their thoughts?

MsJoanne: we might also ask for some retired judges to chime in. Are there any precedents for this kind of action? It seems obvious to us non-lawyers that this is blatently unbalanced and unfair, but that does not seem to be the purpose of legal proceedings. They are to make sure that the letter of the law is adhered to, but not the spirit. Re: Scalia on the Death Penalty; as long as the legal proceedings were compliant with judicial mandates, who cares if the person in question is innocent? Let him swing.

Anyway, love to hear the postions and legal precedents for this issue.

Regarding the "outrage" over Obama's Olympic trip, as I pointed out at my blog, I don't see how this isn't a big loser for them.

First off, who (besides Obama haters) is going to feel outraged that Obama's trying to bring us the Olympics? Last I checked, it was generally considered a point of pride to have the Olympics. Secondly, their emphasis on how crucial Obama is in Washington only reinforces the idea that Obama is a powerful man and that the government can't function without him. And thirdly, they're just bringing more attention to an official visit that would only happen if Obama was popular internationally and had influence.

In other words, their attacks on Obama not only make them look petty, but they make Obama look powerful. Perhaps some day these morons will learn that some attacks are counter-productive, but I hope they never do. Obama couldn't rig the publicity they're giving him.

.
The Act Blue donation page for Congressman Grayson
.

The number of homes lost to foreclosures rose about 17 percent in the second quarter of this year despite the launch of an extensive government program aimed at helping borrowers save their home, according to government data released Wednesday.

Epic fail. I wonder where all our tax dollars went.

"Dems reminded Boehner he took a two-week trip abroad just last month."

But we won't see that on teevee..

First off, who (besides Obama haters) is going to feel outraged that Obama's trying to bring us the Olympics?

"Us"? Speak for yourself, whiteboy. Most of Chicago does not want Obama to bring *us* the Olympics.

Now, if the rest of you "us" want to underwrite all the cost overruns that *we* are going to be on the hook for, then *we-all* can talk.

In any case, it's going to be a huge mess for Obama down the road. I'm sure Rahm extracted guarantees from Daley to keep all the contracts above board, but Chicago is Chicago, and Daley is Daley, and corruption is certainly already the theme of the Chicago Olympics business plan. Expect some serious scandals to start popping right around the Dem convention in 2012, and expect Obama to (not wholly incorrectly) get saddled with a large part of the blame.

Maddow and Olbermann are upset that Grayson called 45,000 people dying each year for lack of healthcare a "holocaust."

You see, you have to be careful using any word that might reference the suffering of 6 million Jewish people.

However, if you want to call the the area in New York were terrorists destroyed the WTC, killing 3,000 people, "ground zero" that's okay. Fuck the Japs and the 66,000 who died at the original ground zero.

Boehner said Obama should focus his attention on "the problems we have here at home." Dems reminded Boehner he took a two-week trip abroad just last month.
===========================

But no true Scotsman would expect Boehner to focus on the problems we have here. He's a Republican.

Chicagoans may not want the Olympics any more than we want the roads torn up every spring/summer/fall, but there is a lot to be gained by having them: jobs, jobs, more jobs and a boost to the economy that the whole area needs.

Will it be a colossal clusterfuck while it takes place? You betcha, just like Atlanta was (although, I think we have a bit better starting infrastructure than Atlanta had) but when those jobs start rolling in, there will be lots of folks who appreciate it.

As to Daley, the man runs the city well. He gets things done. And for the betterment of all who live here.

That is terrible news, I hope they can get rescue to them quickly.

My goodness gracious me! Is Grayson an ex-Repub? Because, when asked for an apology, he doubled down instead and even added some new flourishes, in the best Republican brass-balled style.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/30/grayson-apology/

from,

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930121512.htm

In a first-of its-kind study, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. The study estimated that people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun.

Hey Disputo, why don't you and the rest of your Chicagoan know-nothings do a little research about the cities that have hosted the Olympics?

You sound just like Glenn Beck, boastfully ignorant, because for each of the American cities that have hosted the Olympics it's been an economic bonanza.

Speaking as another Illinoisan who could use the jobs it would provide.

Olbermann correctly pointed out that Rs are once again hypocrites since preznit bush just last year sat on his rear for four whole days just to watch the action in Bejing (while two wars raged and the economy was melting down). And the Rs are also crying about how we need jobs now, not 7 years from now. Duh, stuff needs to start being built now.

Can't say I'd want an Olympics where I live, but whatever.

Another hidden factor in a city hosting the Olympics is an increase in the cost of living. Rents go up. The price of almost everything needed for day to day life goes up and stays up, ask someone from Atlanta.
And NPR reports that Montreal has just paid off the debt incurred by hosting the Olympics in '76.

Can we all just laugh at everything the Republican "leadership" says about Obama, and move on?

Exlibra, I don't think Grayson is an ex-Rethug - but I sure am proud of him for showing backbone! If only the rest were so valliant ... And please, Maddow and Olbermann, don't pick on ours so much.

Boehner can two weeks off since he does not do ANYTHING.

Speaking as another Illinoisan who could use the jobs it would provide.

Well, sure you're only on the hook for a quarter billion, so wtf do you care?

Do *my* research, you sniveling shit? Check out the previous thread for several links to get your idiot self up to speed on what this insanity will cost Chicago, not that you care, obviously. And not that it'll matter at this point.

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