Lots of good stuff today.
Am I wrong or is that Siragua-Kenny Albert-Daryl Johnston comobo pretty good?
Archives for 2009
Sarah Wins an Award
A fitting award for Bill Kristol’s protege:
Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.
“Death panels.”
The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn’t made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.
Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, “Death panels? Really?”
The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural “Lie of the Year.”
Congratulations, wingnuts. Your anointed leader is so dishonest, independent fact-checkers are forced to make up new awards to explore the full depth of her deceit. I’m impressed.
Steelers Open Thread
Went to the grocery store, and with the combination of the rush to stock up on supplies and the absence of deliveries made the shelves so bare it looked like a early 80’s East German market or some post-apocalyptic video game. No zombies got me, though.
As a side note, this is the first winter I have had a car that had seat warmers, and maybe I am getting old, but I’m giving that concept a definite THUMBS UP. Another thing- exactly how bad of a driver do you have to be to get stuck in the snow in a Subaru wagon? Things are just tanks.
At any rate, go Steelers.
Jacob Hacker weighs in
The guy who thought up the public option has come out in favor of voting for the Senate bill, though he criticizes the lack of a public option quite harshly.
Let’s hope this doesn’t scare Lieberman off from voting for it.
Snowdog and NFL Open Thread
Steelers don’t start to lose until 4:15 today, so here is a pic to tide you over:
I’ll be back later.
The Very Definition of Fiscal Conservatism
Col. Mustard and others are burning up memeorandum about Ben Nelson’s medicaid bribe, calling it disgusting and any number of names, and you know what?
They’re largely right about Nelson’s disgraceful buyout, but missing the bigger picture.
Nelson is a self-professed conservative Democrat and a fiscal conservative. He repeatedly tells us how concerned he is about cost of any and all bills, he repeatedly intones gravely about the budget and out of control spending. Who could forget this quote from during the stimulus debate:
After receiving a nearly $900 billion bill passed by the House of Representatives, Senator Nelson led a bipartisan group of Senators in “trimming the fat, frying the bacon, and milking all the sacred cows” to cut out $108 billion in unnecessary spending and refocus the package on job creation and economic revitalization. Nelson’s efforts enabled a $787 billion package to pass, delivering $1.1 billion in investment in Nebraska, and hundreds of millions in tax relief for Nebraska’s families and businesses.
In fact, Ben Nelson doesn’t want you to forget it, because it is featured on his Senate website.
But that is while the cameras are running. When they are off, he has never found a tax cut he didn’t like and a spending bill that aided Nebraska that he could say no to. Not only did he not just love the Bush 2001 tax cuts, he loved them so much he supported the reconciliation process for them. In 2003, he was one of the 50 he voted for the second round of tax cuts.
So, yes, the Medicaid bribe for Ben Nelson is a disgrace and shameful in so many ways. It is truly outrageous and a scathing indictment of our current system and the ridiculous hoops that have to be jumped through to get anything done in the Senate. Someone truly concerned with budgetary matters and the health and security of the nation would have said- “If fully funding this program is that valuable to Nebraska, it probably has some value across the other 49 states, and I should work to secure that funding and find a way to pay for it with budget cuts elsewhere or a new funding mechanism.”
But he didn’t, did he? He extorted what he could for his state, didn’t care how that money was paid for, and went before the cameras to wax eloquent about abortion.
*** Update ***
Because that is just how the “fiscal conservatives” in both parties roll.
The Very Definition of Fiscal ConservatismPost + Comments (49)
Bart Stupak- Right Wing Hero
He isn’t just buddies with the C-Street Family and the Senate Republican leadership, he’s got new friends popping up all over. Here, the Weekly Standard begs him to kill the bill in the House:
Are there enough votes in the House to pass a health care bill very close to the one the Senate is preparing to pass? Bart Stupak says the Senate bill’s abortion language is “unacceptable” and has pledged to lead a group of pro-life Democrats to vote against final passage if the issue isn’t resolved. How many votes can Stupak bring with him?
Nice friends you got there, Bart.