Archive for March, 2010
Shep Smith Is Tired of the Overheated Rhetoric Too
…and apparently took RNC Chair Steele to task on this during his show today:
The Large Hadron Collider ran through a bunch of tests last week (and will shut down for some maintenance) and the predicted end of the world did not happen. HCR was passed in the House yesterday and the world still spins [...]
22Mar2010 | cassandra_m | 8 comments | Continued
Mike Castle’s HCR Response — The Unbelievable Lameness of Faux Moderation
As xstryker noted last night, Mike Castle definitely voted no for HCR and its reconciliation bill. Castle’s office put out a press statement on last night’s historic vote, that should be read in it’s entirety to fully comprehend how badly he is managing to maintain any moderate cred while marching lockstep with his party. But let’s take a look at a few things here:
22Mar2010 | cassandra_m | 22 comments | Continued
Monday Open Thread
Welcome comrades, to your new Socialist Utopia. All citizens are required to report to the nearest Death Panel for processing. It’s open thread time!
The major work of health care reform legislation is over, but there is still the reconciliation package to pass in the Senate:
The House approved the Senate bill last night, warts and [...]
Where Do Republicans Go From Here?
Republicans rolled the dice when it came to killing Health Care Reform. And they lost. My question is where they go from here? Coincidentally, David Frum asked the same question:
No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to [...]
What Determined How Democrats Voted?
Nate Silver does an excellent breakdown of the statistics behind how each House Democrat voted on health care reform. The basic conclusion is that conservative Democrats from districts that had <40% of the vote go to Obama were the no votes. The amount of insurance company money a member received or the number [...]
22Mar2010 | Unstable Isotope | 22 comments | Continued
A Historic Moment
The Senate health insurance reform bill just passed the House by a vote of 219-212.
No matter how you feel about the bill, you must recognize the historic moment. Republicans all voted no. 34 Democrats also voted no.
Speaker Pelosi will be remembered by history as one of the most powerful and effective speakers, ever. [...]
Forget March Madness
Who cares about college basketball (actually, since my bracket got busted when Villanova lost, I don’t care anymore). The real college championship right now is the NCAA Hockey Tournament. My alma mater, the DU Pioneers, the #1 ranked team in the nation, open up play on Friday in Albany against RIT. Go DU!!!!
http://www.uscho.com/
Today’s HCR Vote Program
So today is the day, and today is when we get to know whether Nancy Pelosi and President Obama have been able to pull this one out (Intrade futures on this effort have been going up since early this month — you can buy at this writing at 92.1). You can use this as a live blogging thread (if you are glued to CSPAN and not out in this glorious weather).
21Mar2010 | cassandra_m | 37 comments | Continued
Who Speaks For Me On This Issue?
Exhibit one on why we need to have more representation for women in government: abortion restrictions in the health care reform bill. A group of “pro-life” (which means life begins at conception and ends at birth) Democrats were willing to deny 32 million already existing people health insurance because the bill fails to outlaw [...]
21Mar2010 | Unstable Isotope | 14 comments | Continued
This has Gotten Out-of-Hand
It’s bad enough that we had to endure a Summer and Fall of “Crazy Eileens” disrupting meetings with their anti-health care reform rhetoric and their crazy birther BS, on Congressmen calling the POTUS a liar while on the floor of the House, of self-styled commentators on FAUX news calling progressives a cancer on socitey, but now [...]
20Mar2010 | MJ | 32 comments | Continued
Deem and Pass Is Out
After spending a week getting themselves all riled up about “Demon Pass”, it seems the procedural maneuver has been ruled out:
House leaders have decided to take a separate vote on the Senate health-care bill, rejecting an earlier, much-criticized strategy that would have permitted them to “deem” the unpopular measure passed without an explicit vote.
Rep. Chris [...]
Weekend Open Thread
Welcome to the first day of Spring! It certainly feels like spring out there. I’ve been puttering around in my yard this afternoon. This is a big weekend – tomorrow the House votes on the health care reform bill. It’s still down to the wire but the House Democrats are seeming increasingly [...]
20Mar2010 | Unstable Isotope | 5 comments | Continued
Castle On The Attack
Mike Castle’s attack machine appears to be stirring. Yesterday I saw this message on Twitter:
Dozens of NCC employees to be laid off in July as a result of Coons’ budget. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/yazxuxg http://fb.me/sUhrYIPW
I couldn’t get the first link to work, but the second link leads to the same message on his Facebook page.
It’s [...]
Christine O’Donnell’s Legal Woes
Poster anon brings our attention to this article in the News Journal about Christine O’Donnell. The article details O’Donnell’s various legal and money issues.
But while she was courting voters, she amassed thousands of dollars in campaign debt, was confronted by the IRS about unpaid income taxes and sold her Wilmington home to a campaign [...]
Millionaire Michele Rollins Takes Bonus from Wilmington Trust TARP Funds
Michele Rollins was elected to the Wilmington Trust Board of Directors in 2007. During the market collapse in 2008, Wilmington Trust, like many other financial institutions, received a $330 million bailout from TARP. Unlike many other financial institutions, Wilmington Trust has as of yet failed to pay that money back. Instead, [...]
19Mar2010 | Delaware Dem | 45 comments | Continued
Barack-etology 2010
…or President Barack Obama explains his NCAA Bracket picks for you:
19Mar2010 | cassandra_m | Comments Off | Continued
Friday Open Thread
w00t for Friday! How are your NCAA picks doing? I’ll bet none of you picked Murray State. You should know that teams connected to me do well. Pick Murray State (my parents’ alma mater), Kentucky (my home state), Wisconsin (my alma mater) and you’ll do well. I’ve won exactly 0 of [...]
19Mar2010 | Unstable Isotope | 24 comments | Continued
Teabaggers Fail Tax Quiz
Jot down your own answers before clicking the link.
1. How much does the federal government collect in taxes as a % of GDP?
2. How much does the typical family making $50,000 per year pay in federal taxes?
3. Are taxes higher, lower or the same since Barack Obama was inaugurated?
The Bill
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi and the House Dems got the CBO score on healthcare reform back and posted the bill online for 72 hours for review. The Healthcare and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 is posted here [PDF]. Speaker Pelosi’s website has some good links to summaries, the CBO scoring and other info on the bill
19Mar2010 | liberalgeek | 5 comments | Continued
Joe Biden, Comedian
Joe Biden spoke at the Radio and Television Correspondents dinner on Wednesday and got in some pretty good lines.
Here are my personal favorites, courtesy of Unofficial Roast Master and VP Joe Biden
On Liz Cheney: Liz Cheney is questioning whether Tom Brady is a real patriot! What the hell, it was worth a [...]
Deep Gubernatorial Thought
Last night at a townhall meeting, Governor Markell offered the following thought when defending some of his more unpopular stands (slavery apology, NRA-written gun law):
You don’t elect someone for their proposals, you elect them for their judgment.
How do you feel about this statement?
Thursday’s Evening Read: TMZ Edition
A few weeks ago, the internet was a twitter with GQ’s interview with John Edwards’ girlfriend in Hello, America, My Name is Rielle Hunter.
New York Times’ columnist Gail Collins looks at Sex Scandals to Learn By.
If you thought Tiger Woods’ scandal was something, take a read about England’s John Terry, Last Taboo in English Football: [...]
R. I. P. Fess Parker
I’ll never forget that, for my first Halloween, I was dressed as Davy Crockett. That was thanks to Fess Parker’s unforgettable portrayal of the coonskin-capped hero.
Parker did not overstay his welcome in Hollywood, became involved in Republican politics as a close friend of Ronald Reagan’s, and became an excellent winemaker as well.
He passed away today [...]
A Letter from Marjorie Margolies
There’s an interesting letter in today’s Washington Post. The letter is from Marjorie Margolies, and it’s addressed, “Dear Wavering House Democrats”. The missive is aimed at the handful of House Dems who may be sitting around, trying to decide whether or not they should vote to pass the health care reform bill. For some (although I [...]
18Mar2010 | Scott P | 13 comments | ContinuedSocial Media
