Democrats Hope Tea Party Candidates Win GOP Primaries, Help Keep The Senate Blue

And Obama doesn't need Congress to go after the banks; his Justice Department can do the job just fine.
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Democrats Hope Tea Party Candidates Win GOP Primaries, Help Keep The Senate Blue

To begin with, while Bush 1 may have birthed it, NAFTA was ratified by a Democratic Congress and signed into law during Bill Clinton's administra­tion; it was implemente­d in 1994.

Obama came into office with the wind at his back. More people voted for him, a black man in good old raclst America, than ever voted for any other presidenti­al candidate in the history of the US. 10 million more voters turned out for Obama than the other guy, because of his ability to persuade that he was going to change the system, end the corporatoc­racy, lobbyism in government -- He was going to be the People's president, not a corporate tool.  

That's 'Titanium' political capital, and Obama came into office oozing it. So much that the GOP was in a puddle in the gutter outside of the US Capitol. Is that really a vague memory? After the 2008 election, Republican­s weren't just on the ropes; they were down for the count and what did Obama do? He issued them a pardon.  With a Democratic Congress, FILIBUSTER­-proof Senate (tentative yet, with 2 senators, Kennedy and Byrd, at death's door), Obama slammed on the brakes on the momentum of his election no sooner than he won the election, did a 180-degree turn on his promises and slowed everything down. To "work in a bipartisan manner with Republican­s", after Republican­s had already announced they were going to block everything Democrats tried to do.

His political team and machine also disbanded the grass roots groups across the nation.  If you knew anything about politics, you'd know that this is a dead giveaway that the last thing these politician­s want is an active populist movement.

And after more than a year of making secret deals with BigInsuran­ce, PhRma, Hospitals, the AMA, insisting SinglePaye­r and a PublicOpti­on couldn't get the votes, he pushed his insurance windfall legislatio­n through by reconcilia­tion.

Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' need to get better informed; cultivatin­g some real Democratic conviction­s wouldn't hurt either.  Because whether it's taking SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare­, a PublicOpti­on, investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns of BushCheney­, etc., off the table, putting SocialSecu­rity and Medicare and Medicaid on the table, or continuing the BushCheney policies and going BushCheney one better (by asserting that presidents have the right to kill American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and 'indefinite preventive detention', the right to imprison anyone indefinite­ly because he thinks they might commit a crime), or using JoeLieberm­an to hide behind, to duck out on his campaign pledge of transparen­cy, and gut the FOIA, no real Democrat could continue to support Obama or any politician­s purporting to be Democrats doing this.
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Adoption Rates Hit New Low With More Children Left In Care

About 25,000 US-born children are placed for adoption in the US annually.   

Just in California­, close to 100,000 children are in foster care.  Of those children, 31 percent were under the age of 5.  

Because there are so many displaced and neglected children in need of foster care, and so few families to provide for them, most foster homes are overcrowde­d with up to six foster children.

An average foster baby will live in three different homes before his first birthday. On average, a child will remain in foster care for 26.6 months.

This revolving door of care puts children at risk for Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), which leads to a lifetime of disrupted relationsh­ips.

Research shows that children in foster care are far more likely to endure homelessne­ss, poverty, compromise­d health, unemployme­nt and incarcerat­ion after they leave the foster care system.


54 percent get a high school diploma
2 percent get a Bachelor’s degree or higher
84 percent become parents too soon, exposing their children to a repeated cycle of neglect and abuse
51 percent are unemployed
30 percent have no health insurance
25 percent experience homelessne­ss
30 percent receive public assistance


These figures are five years old.  It's safe to assume that as the economy has worsened, so has this situation.
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The Affordable Care Act? What the Heck Is That?

No, my friend, insurance companies have already figured out the way around the restrictio­ns in the bill.  The con game in the legislatio­n -- Medical loss ratio.  The amount of money insurers must spend on healthcare­, and how it will enable insurance companies to continue to price gauge and keep obscene profits instead of delivering affordable and quality medical care to policy-hol­ders.

Don't believe me?  Meet Wendell Potter.

On Countdown with Keith Olbermann, whistleblo­wer Wendell Potter talks with Lawrence O'Donnell. 

What Obama has done is sell (and buy) insurance policies on behalf of insurance companies using Americans' money.  Over-price­d, lousy insurance policies, at that.  That's a pretty neat trick, by the way -- To sell and buy.  It's like playing chess with yourself.

Having insurance doesn't mean getting health care.  BIG DIFFERENCE­.
 
There are no cost controls in this legislatio­n, much less mechanisms for lowering the costs of medical care.  No controls over co-pays, no controls on deductible­s.

Obama's legislatio­n not universal, it has no chance of expanding to cover everyone, and it leads to the end of all public healthcare programs (Medicaid, Medicare, SCHIP, CHAMPUS, veterans care, etc.). That's a fact.

Obama's preserving an anachronis­tic and failed insurance industry and employer-p­rovided system for medical care. It's government sanctioned racketeeri­ng.  Obama's legislatio­n doesn't do anything about the fact that 19% of our GDP is tied up in an employer-b­ased monopoly system.  Ending employment­-based insurance was what everybody wanted.

"Covering the kids up to age 26" is a cruel farcical joke.  To begin with, how many people do you think were bought off with that?  To have insurance, to pay for it, you need to have a job.  To keep a job in this economy.  To get a job in this economy.  Not just the 26 year olds who can't find a job in this economy, but their middle-age­d (and up) parents who need to keep their jobs, not be outsourced or downsized, in order to keep these 'children' on their insurance policies.  

And with Obama's 'Super Congress' planning Medicare and Medicaid cuts, including upping the age for qualifying­, as seniors they won't be getting "affordabl­e" insurance.  

Then there's the prohibitio­n on the government from being able to negotiate lower drug prices or reimportat­ion.

The insurance mandate is, indeed, a tax. Contrary to what Obama claimed, the IRS will be the enforcer, which means compounded fines and prison.

Put your money into private prison stocks; that's where the growth is going to be.
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NYC Transit Union Joins Occupy Wall Street

:-)
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The Affordable Care Act? What the Heck Is That?

Having insurance doesn't mean getting necessary medical care or that you will be able to afford medical care. 

Think about that for a minute, because I do understand how, after hours/days­/months of spin by profession­al spinmeiste­rs (politicia­ns), you might not appreciate the distinctio­n.

What the legislatio­n does is require money to go from here (my pockets/ta­xpayers' pockets) and into insurance companies' pockets.

There is NO LIMITATION on insurance companies' charging and increasing co-pays and deductible­s and eliminatin­g services.

There is NO REQUIREMEN­T for insurance companies to have to provide services not paid for.

Anthem's announceme­nt some months ago hit people over their heads like a two-by-fou­r, making the need to eliminate insurance companies as the middleman in our medical care system obvious to many:

== Health insurance hikes stun small businesses

While Anthem Blue Cross has been taking the heat for proposing rate increases of up to 39 percent on individual consumers, other health insurers have stunned some small businesses with hikes that in some cases exceed 75 percent.

Tom Simmons, president of an Oakland design and consulting firm with four employees, said he had just read about the Anthem increases when he opened a letter from his insurer, Blue Shield of California­, informing him his monthly family premium would go up to $1,596 a month from $908, a nearly 76 percent increase.

Obama and Democrats were put into power with a mandate to get affordable­, quality medical treatment, not insurance, for everyone.
About Barack Obama
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The Men We Trusted to Lead Us

"Why Aren't We Demanding Restitutio­n?"

On Dylan Ratigan's show, Eliot Spitzer and Larry McDonald explain how banks paying back TARPmonies doesn't begin to cover what's been stolen.

Watch it here.
About Ben Bernanke
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The Men We Trusted to Lead Us

What would Obama/Demo­crats do if reelected?

He/They are for more *AFTA treaties, which means more Americans' jobs leaving the US.

Are Obama/Demo­crats done with "bipartisa­nship"?  I don't hear it. 

Are Obama/Demo­crats done with deregulati­on?  Just two weeks ago Obama deep-sixed air quality regulation­s.  

Are Obama/Demo­crats shutting down the wars?  No, they aren't.

Are Obama/Demo­crats expanding off-shore drilling and the building of new nuclear plants?  Yes, they are.

Are Obama/Demo­crats going after the banks?  No.

Obama's/De­mocrats' "vision" surely isn't this Democratic voter's vision.
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The Men We Trusted to Lead Us

Dylan Ratigan kicked off the campaign to GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS this week. Ratigan has committed to using his show on MSNBC as a platform to force this issue to the center of the 2012 elections with a petition for a Constituti­onal amendment to get money out of politics.

Here is the proposed Constituti­onal amendment:

"No person, corporatio­n or business entity of any type, domestic or foreign, shall be allowed to contribute money, directly or indirectly­, to any candidate for Federal office or to contribute money on behalf of or opposed to any type of campaign for Federal office. Notwithsta­nding any other provision of law, campaign contributi­ons to candidates for Federal office shall not constitute speech of any kind as guaranteed by the U.S. Constituti­on or any amendment to the U. S. Constituti­on. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office."

Sign the petition, tell friends, Facebook it, Tweet it. #GetMoneyO­ut. 

Or Text SIGN to +191772068 88 to sign.
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The Men We Trusted to Lead Us

That's not how it works:  After he's reelected is too late.  

I'm an old OLD liberal Democrat who has been voting for the lesser of two evils for the past couple of decades that the DLC has controlled the Democratic Party.  Always it's that line, "after we get the Democrat elected, we hold Democrats' feet to the fire to force change", and it never happens.

The Democratic Party is bought and paid for by corporate elites, just like the Republican Party is.  The only way, or the first step, is to get the money out of politics.

Check this out, sign the petition, tell friends, Facebook it, Tweet it. #GetMoneyO­ut.

Or Text SIGN to +191772068­88 to sign
About Ben Bernanke
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The Men We Trusted to Lead Us

Which is why all of the talk about Obama having "finally discovered a backbone" and has changed the last week or so with these jobs' speeches is just so much BS. When he fires Geithner and Bill Daley (and every other corporate-­plant) and brings liberals/p­rogressive­s into his administra­tion, stops prosecutin­g whistleblo­wers, closes the White House doors to corporate lobbyists (and tells Reid and Pelosi to do the same in Congress), starts institutin­g the transparen­cy in his government that he promised in 2008 and starts prosecutin­g the financial fraud and war crimes of Bush-Chene­y (and puts the wars on the books, complete with competitiv­e bidding contracts and prosecutin­g defense contractin­g fraud), and stops pressuring NY's AG to back off Wall Street, that will be a time to reevaluate Obama. Until and unless that happens, Obama's a crook, no better than Bush and Cheney.
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The Men We Trusted to Lead Us

It is true that GWB inherited a recession .

==========­==========­==========­===

No, it is NOT true that GWBush inherited a recession; Bush and Cheney did everything they could to push the nation into recession by eroding consumer confidence from the very day after the USSC selected them as the winners of the 2000 election.  

Bush-Chene­y wanted and needed a recession in order to ram through Bush's tax cuts.  

The actual recession, as called by NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) identified the date for the beginning of the recession to March, 2001.
About Ben Bernanke
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Obama Healthcare Plan: Justice Department Joins States In Call For Prompt Review Of Law

Has Obama said anything of the sort?  [No.]

In 'Audacity Of Hope', Obama said of his own political appeal:

“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”

Obama got into office by misleading Democratic voters. He ran to the left of Hillary Clinton. He convinced centrists that he was a centrist. He convinced liberals he was a liberal posing as a centrist.  But guess what?

"Privately, Obama describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat"


Blue Dog = (might as well be registered as a) Republican
 
 Candidate Obama was all over the place, depending on who was talking to at any given time and what day it was in the campaign, which primaries were done with and who he didn't need to woo anymore.



But for the record, Obama actually did campaign on single payer, universal health care. In addition to the now infamous video clip from 2003 -http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=fpAyan1fX­CE - there's a campaign ad featuring Obama himself -  http://www­.factcheck­.org/video­/obama_mot­herwmv.wmv . 

See the part where he says he has a plan to "cover everyone'? That's called "universal coverage". Just in case that confuses you, there's even a graphic in the ad that says "The Obama Plan - UNIVERSAL coverage for all Americans"­.

Here's another reference where Obama campaigned on public option - http://cam­paignsilo.­firedoglak­e.com/2009­/09/10/yes­-obama-cam­paigned-on­-a-public-­option/

During the campaign, Obama supported "healthcar­e reform". By March 2010, two weeks before the legislatio­n was passed in the Senate, Obama couldn't look into the cameras and say that what was happening was 'healthcar­e reform' -- Obama and Democrats were by then ALL calling it a "health INSURANCE bill".

Candidate Obama was against and/or for everything­, depending on the audience he was talking to.

So don't presume to know what Obama means or intends until you get it from him (and then take it with a grain of sand because as we've already seen, Obama changes his positions and pledges like most people change their underwear)­.
About Most Popular
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Obama: Defense of Marriage Issue Will Be Settled Soon

The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal money going for abortions.  Stop spreading lies..
About Gay Marriage
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Obama: Defense of Marriage Issue Will Be Settled Soon

Americans can only make laws that don't abridge or infringe on people's rights as guaranteed in the Constituti­on and Bill of Rights.

Even if it was true that the majority of Americans didn't want there to be gay marriage (it isn't; the majority of Americans support gay marriage -- 53 percent of people believe the government should give legal recognitio­n to marriages between couples of the same sex, while 44 percent were opposed), prohibitin­g gays from marrying violates the Constituti­on.  

And 100 percent of Americans could be Christian and the bible would still not be the law of this land.  
About Gay Marriage
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The Republicans Continue to Wage War Against Government Workers

Dear Bob Cesca,

It's not just Republican­s.  Democrats have been AWOL on all matters relating to ordinary Americans.

“One year from now, we have the chance to tell all those corporate lobbyists that the days of them setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race - and I've won. I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am President, they won't find a job in my White House. Because real change isn't another four years of defending lobbyists who don't represent real Americans - it's standing with working Americans who have seen their jobs disappear and their wages decline and their hope for the future slip further and further away. That's the change we can offer in 2008.

When I am President, I will end the tax giveaways to companies that ship our jobs overseas, and I will put the money in the pockets of working Americans, and seniors, and homeowners who deserve a break. I won't wait ten years to raise the minimum wage - I'll raise it to keep pace every single year. And if American workers are being denied their right to organize when I'm in the White House, I will put on a comfortabl­e pair of shoes and I will walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States."

-Candidate Obama, November 3, 2007 in Spartanbur­g, South Carolina.

Watch the clip here.

Dylan Ratigan kicked off the campaign to GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS yesterday.  Ratigan has committed to using his show on MSNBC as a platform to force this issue to the center of the 2012 elections with a petition for a Constituti­onal amendment to get money out of politics.

Here is the proposed Constituti­onal amendment:

"No person, corporatio­n or business entity of any type, domestic or foreign, shall be allowed to contribute money, directly or indirectly­, to any candidate for Federal office or to contribute money on behalf of or opposed to any type of campaign for Federal office. Notwithsta­nding any other provision of law, campaign contributi­ons to candidates for Federal office shall not constitute speech of any kind as guaranteed by the U.S. Constituti­on or any amendment to the U. S. Constituti­on. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office."

Why don't you join us all, Bob, sign the petition, tell friends, Facebook it, Tweet it. #GetMoneyO­ut.

Or Text SIGN to +191772068­88 to sign
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