Obams hits the nail on the head. I think NY-23 showed everyone that the Republican wingnuts do not make alliances of any kind, so awareness of that fact should push Dems toward solidarity with each other. Well, in theory anyway.

I can NOT believe Joe Barton TX is up there right now apologizing to his wife because he's missing a weekend trip to Vegas!!!!!! OMFG

It should be a compelling message: up or down, the attack machine will churn.

And at this late date, they really should not need Barack Obama to point that out to them.

"I just came from the Hill where I talked to the Members of Congress and I reminded them that opportunities like this come around maybe once in a generation." -- Barak Obama

So what Congress should do is fritter that opportunity away by tinkering around the edges and adding to the complexity of the Rube Goldberg machine that is the United States health care system.

But what is paramount is that Congress undermine competition and provide legal loopholes that will allow the insurance corporations to continue business as usual. Above all we must ensure that the insurance corporations will make enormous profits off of the millions of Americans who will be required to buy inadequate policies and off of the billions of taxpayer dollars that will subsidize those policies.

I can NOT believe Joe Barton TX is up there right now apologizing to his wife because he's missing a weekend trip to Vegas!!!!!! OMFG

If I were the DNC chairman, I'd instruct a commercial be made pronto of his comments and run it against a background of pictures of people who've died because of lack of insurance or dropped coverage. Then tally the annual deaths associated in big bold red font over top of that son-of-a-bitches head.

Why in God's name is this site supporting this bill? Have you no shame whatsoever?

It was so nice of Obama to show up. We're just ecstatically grateful over here.

Why in God's name is this site supporting this bill? Have you no shame whatsoever?

I agree. We should vote it down, and move on to the single-payer plan funded by a new top income tax bracket of 55% that just passed committees in the House and Senate, and sits next on the agenda.

Wait a minute...

It's way better than it used to be, but it's amazing that there are still Democrats who have not learned this lesson, and believe that by avoiding all controversial actions, or by saying things just the right way, they can make it so that Republicans can't attack them. If I had my way, they'd have this reminder at the top of their schedules every day:

If you support legislation they disagree with, they will attack you over it.

If you oppose or abstain from legislation they disagree with, they will lie and attack you over it.

The only way you can avoid this is by changing parties and agreeing with them on absolutely everything.

There is no statement you can make that they cannot dishonestly take out of context to make you look bad. The only way to avoid that is by being afraid to say anything, which is exactly what they want.

If you are comfortable with any of these "solutions," you have no one to blame but yourself when your own party's voters throw you out.

Obama would have greater credibility about resisting Republican attack dogs if he were not seeking "bipartisanship" so much.

Also, the last I heard, the Democrats could just as easily attack Republicans as the Republicans attack them.

And no - the Democrats are not weak. They may be corrupt; they may be insincere; and it is no longer possible to sustain the facade of a middle class by pushing two income families and 401(k)'s.

But they are doing what they jolly well want to.

I can hardly wait for this thing to pass. And then when the ultra-leftists complain about the next reform, we can remind them that by the end, they were urging exactly the same thing as the GOP congressional caucus -- that the Health Care Reform Bill be defeated, so that Congress could start over and "do this thing right".

A dairy on DailyKos shows the results of a poll taken in Virginia. The poll shows that dems who vote against the public option will not be supported in 2010, so the president was right when he stated that the republicans will attack them no matter how they vote. Instead of being afraid of the republicans, they should be afraid of the dems who will not vote for them in 2010 if health care reform doesn't pass. I've already decided not to support my representative if he doesn't vote to pass hcr.

"I've already decided not to support my representative if he doesn't vote to pass HCR". majii @ 4:49 PM.
Hope you've passed that information to his office.

Rumor has it, the pumped up lawmakers could be heard chanting from the hall. -- Steve Benen

To an untrained/uninformed ear, bleating does, sometimes, sound like chanting.