2010 – Page 140 – Politics Plus

GOP Hide Behind Bunning to Sow More Havoc

Posted by TomCat at 12:52 am Politics

Mar 022010

On the 27th of last month, I proclaimed Jim Bunning a GOP sweetheart. The GOP continues to use him to sow havoc in the most despicable way!

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) is already infamous for blocking a temporary extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits for out of work Americans. But included in that package is legislation to prevent a mandatory pay cut for doctors–and by standing in its way, he’s triggered a 21 percent fee reduction to doctors seeing Medicare patients starting today.

Republicans say they support a temporary measure to avoid the cuts, but they have been unable [unwilling] to rein in Bunning, and, as such, the Senate has failed to act on a House bill that staves them off.

The American Medical Association warned of this last week: "A Medicare meltdown now seems certain, as the U.S. Senate has left early for the weekend, abandoning seniors, military families and baby boomers," reads an AMA statement from Friday. "The Senate failed to repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 21 percent payment cut to physicians who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients. On Monday, the 21 percent cut goes into effect, forcing many physicians to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they see in order to keep their practice doors open."

On a conference call with reporters this afternoon Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) put it this way: "By his actions, Bunning has prevented people from receiving Unemployment, health care access, transportation projects from going forward, and Doctors who provide Medicare services from getting paid."

Today, for the seventh time, Bunning objected to a request for unanimous consent to temporarily extend benefits. In addition to cutting doctor’s fees, his exploitation of the Senate’s filibuster rules has cost thousands of out-of-work Americans their benefits and has even put thousands of federal employees out of work.

Democrats hope to resolve the issues in a longer-term way by passing jobs bill (which includes benefits extensions and a so-called "doc-fix" for Medicare reimbursement rates) next week. In the mean time they’re bracing for Bunning and the GOP to take as many steps as possible to delay legislative progress… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <TPM>

Lawrence O’Donnell and Chris Hayes discussed the ripple effects.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The GOP strategy here is to create public dissatisfaction in the hope that they can blame Democrats for their perfidy. Rachel Maddow covers who this hurts and ties it in with GOP obstruction.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Personally I think that Bunning is getting tired of his roll as target to cover for the GOP leaders orchestrating this outrage. He’s clearly getting quite testy!

Since last week, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) has been obstructing legislation to extend unemployment benefits, telling Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) “tough sh*t” when Merkley pleaded with Bunning to drop the hold on the Senate floor. Bunning blocked the measure because of “a dispute over how [the bill] should be funded,” leaving 400,000 Americans in limbo after the benefits expired at midnight on Sunday. Today, an “angry” Bunning refused to answer questions about his hold, running away from an ABC reporter and taking refuge in a senator’s only elevator. Shouting “Excuse me!,” Bunning would not say whether he was concerned about people losing their benefits…

…Off camera, when ABC producer Z. Byron Wolf tried to engage Bunning, he said, “I’m not talking to anybody” and gave Wolf the middle finger…

Inserted from <Think Progress>

In a Politics Plus exclusive, Bunning was photographed in the act of giving the finger, as seen above. 😉

Health Care Update – 3/2/2010

Posted by TomCat at 12:50 am Politics

Mar 022010

Pressure to pass the public option through reconciliation continues to build in the Senate.

The list of Democratic Senators who have pledged their support for the public option through reconciliation now stands at 30, including a majority of the Democratic caucus. It also now includes the senate’s #2 Democrat, Dick Durbin.

Whether they mean it or not, Democratic Senators are approaching the point where they must deliver. It’s not clear what the tipping point will be (40? 45? 50?), but with more than half the Senate Democratic caucus on the record supporting the public option through reconciliation, that tipping point is drawing nearer. Thanks to the unflagging efforts of the public option’s supporters, Democratic Senators are running out of places to hide…

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

In four videos, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Keith Olbermann have the subject well covered.

In the first, Rackel Maddow and Tim Kaine discussed the GOP’s desperate distortions of reconciliation.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In the second, Lawrence O’Donnell and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz discuss the rush to reconciliation.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In the third, Rachel Maddow reviews the sinister forces against reform.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In the fourth, Keith Olbermann follows up on his father, life panels and GOP tea buggery.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If you didn’t see these last night, please take the time to watch them. Do you feel as disgusted by the GOP as I do?

Bill Halter for Senate!

Posted by TomCat at 12:49 am Politics

Mar 022010

Could this be the beginning of Dino Dumpster time? Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter will challenge Blanche Lincoln in the primary. 😀

A labor source confirmed to TPMDC tonight that the AFL-CIO voted to back new Senate candidate Lt. Gov Bill Halter over Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the May 18 Democratic primary in Arkansas. Three unions within the umbrella group have committed to a $3 million independent expenditure on Halter’s behalf.

In the day since he officially announced his intention to take on Lincoln in the primary, Halter has lined up the support from Democratic base groups, including progressive groups MoveOn.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Those two, among others, raised nearly $500,000 for Halter from progressives across the country in less than 24 hours.

Lincoln still enjoys the support of at least one prominent national progressive though. The White House says President Obama backs Lincoln as he would any Democratic incumbent.

The backing of the AFL-CIO is an important one for any Democrat. For Halter, it signals that the unions are prepared to put their money where their mouth has been for almost a year now when it comes to Lincoln. When Lincoln came out against the "card check" provision in the Employee Free Choice Act, unions balked and threatened to fight her. Now it seems Halter has given them their chance.

Halter now adds the AFL-CIO’s significant support to efforts on his behalf from grassroots progressive groups, which have publicly claimed some of the credit for Halter’s decision to run today. Ben Tribbett, executive director of the progressive PAC Accountability Now and an organizer of the online campaign to draft Halter into the race, promised today that his group’s efforts to help Halter will continue…

Inserted from <TPM>

I understand Obama’s policy to back incumbent Democrats. Were to support Halter at this point, he would have zero chance of influencing her vote on key issues. He can hold his continues support over her head. So lets not view his pragmatism as betrayal. If Halter wins the primary, he’ll jump right in.

I continue to see overcoming right wing insanity as a two-step process. The first priority must be ridding our nation’s infestation of GOP alligators. The second is draining the Democratic swamp. We may get some drainage ahead of schedule.

Bold Progressives has a fundraising drive, asking $5.00 donations for Halter. Here’s their video:

I choose not to pump readers for money. If you think it’s worth it, click here.

Open Thread – 3/2/2010

Posted by TomCat at 12:48 am Open Thread, Personal

Mar 022010

Yesterday I managed to keep up with comments, but after returning home from my errands, I felt so tired that I needed to lie down and take a nap, so i didn’t get any visiting in. Today, I have an appointment, so the rest of my day depends on how long that takes.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

It took me 3:33. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

When Goldman Sachs shareholders demanded that the company investigate recent compensation awards, recoup excessive compensation and reform pay practices, the board refused. Now why do Republicans say that companies are best regulated only by their shareholders?

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Pat Bagley – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

What’s up this week?

For Technorati

Posted by TomCat at 4:23 pm Uncategorized

Mar 012010

BR7RPBSKA8BS

Please ignore this, folks. It’s for validation.

Monthly Report – 3/1/2010

Posted by TomCat at 4:38 am Blog News, Monthly Report

Mar 012010

Politics Plus returned to the Internet on September 5, 2009 as a brand new blog. Our first six months show an excellent increase in activity after a great start.. As of Midnight we have had 39,836 visitors. Last month, we had 6,224 visitors, down 2,186 from January, a decrease of 26.0%. We also have had of 48,139 page views. Last month we had 7,570 page views, down 2,564 from January, a decrease of 23.3%. This averages to 222/270 visits/views per day, down 49/57 from January. I’m a bit disappointed. In addition to being a shorter month, the decrease in traffic is largely because of me. My month was so busy that I lacked the time to reply to comments and return visits. I always did, but not in a timely manner. I’ll do better. Here’s a graph of February visits and views.

Here’s a graph of visits and views since we reopened. at the old site.

Here’s a graph of how long people are staying while they’re here. It covers only the last five hundred visitors.

And here is our most recent ClustrMap, last updated 2/20, showing our readers from all over the world:

Our new Clustrmap starts from scratch.

Our 34,000th through 39,000th visitors, respectively, were Jolly Roger, Ivan, Tom Harper, Bee, Teeluck and Sky Girl. You’ll find a special section in our sidebar honoring them and linking to their blogs.

Our Technorati authority is zero. We’re brand new. After six months they never did update us at blogger. Maybe they will here. To verify that we exist Technorati needs a verification code in a blog post, so here it is.

BR7RPBSKA8BS

I expect a huge hit in the stats department in March, because we moved. We were a solid blog. Now were just another new blog. Google hasn’t even crawled us yet, so our articles don’t show up in search engines. This is all OK. Just as we built the second reincarnation of Politics Plus, so we shall build the third.

So please keep linking the articles you like here to your blogs, facebook pages, stumble upon pages, etc. When you see material you like here, the operative commandment is: “Thou shalt steal!!” Please do link back though. Hat-tips are much appreciated.

I use the terms “we” and “our” while referring to Politics Plus. Since this is a one-person blog. I assure you, I’m not doing so in the royal sense. The we in Politics Plus includes all of you. Without your presence and comments, this blog would be pointless. Newcomers repeatedly praise the quality of the comments here. Whatever success this blog does and will enjoy is because of you, so please congratulate yourself.

Texas Has an Authentic Christian!

Posted by TomCat at 4:37 am Religion

Mar 012010

I’m in shock over this article by Bob Ray Sanders from Fort Worth.

Last Friday morning I turned on the car radio and quickly checked a few stations — National Public Radio, a sports program and the most listened-to local conservative talk show.

I was about to click back to NPR when I was captivated by a caller to the conservative station. In that instant between dial flipping, I heard the caller "correct" WBAP host Mark Davis, who apparently had offended the listener by implying or saying outright that Buddhism was older than Christianity.

"Where is this coming from?" I wondered.

The agitated caller continued to insist — as the host attempted to interrupt — there was absolutely no religion older than Christianity.

By now, I’m shaking my head and saying to myself, "Surely he doesn’t believe this."

To his credit, Davis delicately tried to explain that Buddhism dates to between the 6th and 4th century B.C., as in before Christ, so obviously it was a religion that preceded Christianity.

As I turned into my downtown garage, the last words I heard were from the caller who passionately explained that the Creator was a "Christian God" from the very beginning of the world and, thus, Christianity has been in existence since creation. Therefore, absolutely no other religion is older.

"Wow," I thought as I headed into my office, still puzzled about what in heaven could have brought on such an intense discussion.

Turning on the computer and the television almost simultaneously, I realized that disgraced golfer Tiger Woods had mentioned his Buddhist faith during his long-awaited apology for marital transgressions.

I admit that I thought: "Poor Tiger. It was bad enough that he admitted to being an adulterer, but the one sin many people would never forgive him for was believing in any religion besides Christianity."

I often wonder what makes religious people, especially Christians, so arrogant and, frankly, so bigoted.

Being Christian, I understand the teachings of the Bible and I’ve come to know that even within the faith, depending on one’s denomination, there are still those ready to proclaim your place in hell.

That’s just the way it is with some folks: If you don’t believe what I believe, Christian or not, hell is definitely reserved for you.

What is difficult to accept are those who find it impossible to respect other people’s beliefs. One does not have to agree with the religious teachings of others in order to respect them or their faith.

Besides, as I’ve said many times before, most of the world’s great religions teach that you serve God by serving humanity. Certainly many of the principles of Buddhism — seeking wisdom, respecting others and leading a moral life — are found in many different faiths, whether that religion is based on a belief in a Godhead or not.

But too often we become like feuding children, bragging about whose God is the biggest, boldest, oldest; whose religious teachings are divine; whose faith will get them to heaven.

Surely God can’t be pleased with that kind of childish bickering.

It would be less troubling if the radio caller were alone in his thoughts or was among a very few who felt that way. The truth is there are many, many more who express the same view and, in their zeal to extol their own religion, debase the beliefs of others.

We live in a nation that incorporated freedom of religion as a founding principle. People in this country have the right to believe in anything or nothing.

If human beings have a set of values, regardless where they come from, that instructs them in the decent treatment of others, then we ought to applaud that without trying to find fault in their religion…

Inserted from <McClatchy DC>

The unique mixture of ignorance and arrogance exhibited by the religious right, exemplified by the caller, never ceases to amaze me. Once I visited a Church in which the Pastor said that a black skin the ‘mark of Cain’. In the fellowship that followed, I confronted the man (politely) and asked him from which of Adam’s sons Noah was descended. He correctly said Seth. I asked him if anyone other than Noah and his family survived the flood. (Personally, I think the flood story is myth, but I wanted to base my point on what he believed.) He said no. I asked him how black people could bear the mark of Cain, when all Cain’s descendents perished in the flood. His face became quite red. He sputtered that he would discuss it later, but needed to attend to a pressing matter. A few minutes later a deacon called me aside and asked me to leave and not return,

Like this author, I am a Christian who believes in honoring the faith of others. I hold the opinion that God honors authentic faith regardless of the religion, from Atheism to Zoroastrianism, from which it proceeds, What God does not honor is the intolerance and hypocrisy.of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the ancient equivalent of the American Taliban.

US Extreme Court Favors Polluters

Posted by TomCat at 4:36 am Politics

Mar 012010

Here’s one of the reasons we must keep Republicans out of the White House.

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.

As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising.

Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.

The Clean Water Act was intended to end dangerous water pollution by regulating every major polluter. But today, regulators may be unable to prosecute as many as half of the nation’s largest known polluters because officials lack jurisdiction or because proving jurisdiction would be overwhelmingly difficult or time consuming, according to midlevel officials.

“We are, in essence, shutting down our Clean Water programs in some states,” said Douglas F. Mundrick, an E.P.A. lawyer in Atlanta. “This is a huge step backward. When companies figure out the cops can’t operate, they start remembering how much cheaper it is to just dump stuff in a nearby creek.”

“This is a huge deal,” James M. Tierney, the New York State assistant commissioner for water resources, said of the new constraints. “There are whole watersheds that feed into New York’s drinking water supply that are, as of now, unprotected.”

The court rulings causing these problems focused on language in the Clean Water Act that limited it to “the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters” of the United States. For decades, “navigable waters” was broadly interpreted by regulators to include many large wetlands and streams that connected to major rivers.

But the two decisions suggested that waterways that are entirely within one state, creeks that sometimes go dry, and lakes unconnected to larger water systems may not be “navigable waters” and are therefore not covered by the act — even though pollution from such waterways can make its way into sources of drinking water… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

This is easy enough for Congress to fix, but the GOP is screaming that Big Government will try to regulate rain if ‘navigable’ is removed from the law.

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