DNC Chair Tim Kaine Congratulates Me For Helping Pass Health Care Reform
Just got an upbeat personal email from my former governor and now DNC head Tim Kaine praising my efforts to pass Obamacare. It read in part:
Ronald --
I just met with the President, where I was proud to fill him in on all the great work that you're doing to pass health reform.
We spoke about the calls you've made, the letters you've written, and the terrific events you've organized on the ground.
And he asked me to pass along a message to you: All of your hard work is paying off. The conversations he's been having with members of Congress in these days are far more productive because you've spoken up back home.
The President is optimistic -- and thinks we're going to have a vote and pass reform very, very soon. But he also made it clear that he's not letting up for a moment, and urged that all of us do the same…
I'm grateful for all you've done. And today, the President reminded me that he is as well.
Thank you,
Governor Tim Kaine
My reply just went out:
Thanks Tim. But I must assure you and the president that I've done absolutely nothing to help pass the Democratic leadership's health care reform horror. But I will take your advice and write my congressman (Tom Perriello) to let him know how I'd like him to vote on the reform proposals. That would be "No." Thanks for reminding me.
Regards,
Ronald
If any H&R readers would like to let their congresscritters know how they feel about health care reform, they can go here to contact them.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Traitor!
Wow, Ron, you're lucky!
All I ever get from my former governor is upbeat personal *snail*.
I got a survey from Senator Bill Nelson once. I would've responded, but none of the options correlated in any way with what I thought he should do on any given issue.
none of the options correlated in any way with what I thought he should do on any given issue
But they were probably associated with meth and crack.
And death by automobile.
I actually got called by a pollster a few months back, asking questions about NY state politics. When I was asked whether I thought Andrew Cuomo should run for Governor or run for reelection as Attorney General, I responded that I think he should retire!
The poor pollster politely informed me this wasn't one of the choices. I felt bad for her by the end, because it wasn't her fault that the questions didn't have any scope for responses by somebody with my political views.
My representative is a locked in "yes" vote for the health care deform bill, and every other bad idea out there.
So an email would just needlessly kill innocent electrons.
My representative has actually voted correctly on the bailout, healthcare, etc. He keeps voting right, I might vote for him.
Same here, except that, consistent with my beliefs that every single one of the motherfuckers now in Congress should find a new line of work, I will be voting against him in November. We generally have libertarians on the ballot in West Texas.
Ronald, he probably just forwarded your name and email address to Homeland Security.
Expect a visit later this evening, you hatemonger.
the calls you've made, the letters you've written, and the terrific events you've organized on the ground.
You BASTARD!
You're dead to me, Bailey.
the calls you've made, the letters you've written, and the terrific events you've organized on the ground.
Put them all together, they spell MOTHERF*****!
Lies! All lies!
I knew that an H&R contributor who occasionally failed to alt-text his pictures had to be evil, and I've been proven correct.
Guys,
Ronald just said he didn't do a damn thing for them. He didn't betray anyone.
Jeeze, chill out. The whole thing is over; I'm glad that it is over, one way or another. Now, let's get on to something more important. Like sitting down and coming up with our own proposals-and keep both the Democrats and Republicans out.
Tristan--Please invest in a sarcasm and/or humor detector. KTHNXBAI.
For the record, I was kidding. For years, I used to get surveys from the DNC. The fact that I've never been a Democrat and rarely vote Democrat notwithstanding.
Rarely?
If you find a big 'X' chalked on your front door tonight, I just want to say now that I know nothing about it.
Well, I might've voted for one for dogcatcher or something. In local races, I find that the political affiliation is less important than what I know about the candidate. I've been in Tampa long enough to know some elected officials. Or people who know them all too well.
I've mentioned this before, but I'm registered--like a gun--as a Republican in Florida. I figured early on that I should be with one of the two parties so that I could vote in the primaries.
Oh, I forgot another odd list I got on: For years I got stuff from the National Hispanic Republican Assembly (or something like that). I'm not Hispanic. That association, which I didn't have, got me an invitation to the 1984 inauguration.
For the record, I was kidding.
Traitor!
Oops.
I'll probably write to my congressvermin, for all the good it will do.
According to the ACU, all of my reps rate a big, fat ZERO.
According the the National Journal, my Senators rank #1 and #8 for most liberal.
Conservative, liberal-who cares?
Usually, not me, since there is little difference under normal circumstances. But for now, it actually matters. Correlation is high.
Please JW, it matters to you because you are a conservative, not a libertarian. Even Mr. Magoo could see that buddy.
:::Gives MNG a quizzical look and backs slowly away:::
In my experience, it's a moot point, since you don't actually seem to allow for the real existence of libertarians in the first place.
To save us some time, I'll quote my perception of your basic position, and you can then point out where it is inaccurate.
I believe the line of reasoning goes something like: nobody is really a libertarian; they only think they are until the worst happens and they find it necessary to sell out in order to save their own hides at the taxpayer's expense; ergo, there is no such thing as a real libertarian. Delusional people who believe they are libertarians must be saved from themselves by preemptively forcing them into participation in government-mandated programs. And not just for their benefit -- they are sure to become a drag on the system when they finally do wake up, and must therefore be forcibly enrolled beforehand.
Isn't that about it?
"No atheists in a fox hole" kinda thing, eh?
Something like that. More specifically, MNG won't condescend to allow an explicit waiver for the individual mandate. The reasoning, of course, is not the honest line: that the math of the system depends on milking people like monetary cattle -- it's that so-called libertarians would opt-out initially, then sidle right on up to the government teat when the chips are down. Nevermind that they would have signed what amounts to an 'if I can't take care of myself, I explicitly wish you to leave me dying on the side of the road' agreement.
Well, it will be nice to see it actually happen. I have a feeling it will be so watered down by the time it does that nothing will ever happen!
Jess
http://www.online-anonymity.us.tc
Had no idea anon was a big government liberal.
Prepare to feast your eyes on the grand-prize winner for most complete bullshit statement uttered so far by Obama during the health care debate.
Premiums Will Decrease 3000% So You Should Get A Raise When Healthcare Is Passed.
Three thousand percent? Well, my premiums are roughly, just to make it easy, $300/month. Unless my late afternoon math is wrong, that means I'm just paying $10/month for a family of six? AWESOME! Is there nothing Obama can't do?
I assume this means we're enslaving doctors and conquering most of the rest of the planet to fund this?
Not only is the 3000% thing just complete crazy town, but I love how he thinks that automatically businesses will pass this cost savings on to their employees in higher wages. WE'RE ALL GETTING RAISES EQUAL TO THE 3000% REDUCTION IN OUR PREMIUMS!!! HOORAY!!!
And yet the whole crowd of lapdogs just cheers him on without even thinking about it.
Pretty soon he's going to make an argument that the government will PAY YOU TO HAVE INSURANCE.
Heh. I bet if we could hack his teleprompter system, we could get him to say just about anything.
"And...not only will sun shine brighter with the passage of this bill...not only will the air smell fresher, but Gorbachev Sings Tractors: Turnip! Buttocks!"
I'd be Reagan's little dumpling.
"...Tractors: Turnip! Buttocks!"
Are you suggesting we could give him Turrets tics? Fun.
Wow. Just wow. Even Crazy Eddie and Krusty the Clown never promised 3000% lower prices.
This is your president, America. Enjoy the next three years.
Maybe he meant $3000 per capita, and just fucked up the delivery? I mean, sometimes people fuck up lines in their speeches.
At least that would fall under "political bullshit" as opposed to "WTF, are you high again?"
That is defensible, but his claim that employers will start handing out raises is not.
Well, if your premiums are $300 a month, then a 3,000% reduction would be a reduction of $9,000 a month.
I think Obama just promised us an $8,700/month raise. I may just change my mind on ObamaCare!
Well, Tim Kaine got it right.
If any H&R readers would like to let their congresscritters know how they feel about health care reform, they can go here to contact them.
Thanks, Ron. I followed the link, entered my zip code, and got this: You are in Florida's 19th district and are represented by The Honorable Vacancy - FL19 That's right. I have no representative. Don't blame me--I voted for Vacancy!
So did I; lots of times.
I hate how they always put 'The Honorable' before my name. 'Mr.' would be just fine - I'm just not that pretentious.
Can you just go to Congress then and say you'll fill the seat until the election?
OMG. The possibilities are endless!
Ronald --
I just met with the Pastor, where I was proud to fill him in on all the great work that you're doing on behalf of the Creation Museum.
We spoke about the calls you've made, the letters you've written, and the terrific events you've organized on the ground.
And he asked me to pass along a message to you: All of your hard work is paying off. The conversations he's been having with members of Congress in these days are far more productive because you've spoken up back home.
The Pastor is optimistic -- and thinks we're going to have a vote and pass reform very, very soon. But he also made it clear that he's not letting up for a moment, and urged that all of us do the same...
I'm grateful for all you've done. And today, the Pastor reminded me that he is as well.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jim Bob McSchnuck
+15
Haha, who knew Kaine had a sense of humor? I think he got the best of it this round.
My former wife had a store called "Wigs n' Things". One day she was excited, she got a letter from President Reagan Then she saw it started "Dear Mrs. Wigs n' Things".
Well, the poor guy had Alzheimer's.
Read it as WINGS n' Things. Leaving disappointed and hungry.
Would you mind if I called you Wiggy, Mrs. Wiggs?
"You killed Natoma."
"You Bastard."
Why when I go to send Jim Moran an email re: Obamacare do I get the message: "The requested page could not be found."
Is he avoiding me?!?!?!
Mr. Bailey: Just got off the phone with DNC Headquarters -- they did NOT sanction this e-mail from the governor. Two sources confirmed, altho off-record. Governor could not have met w/Pres. Obama because schedule too tight, and no, the president did not have any personal comments for me either. So glad someone else found this e-mail as inane as I did.
But with what did Obama threaten Dennis Kucinich in order to get him to agree to vote for this bill?
I got a letter from the DNC/ Tim Kaine, with an enclosed survey.
When they asked me to rank the Democratic Party priorities, I found that I didn't like any of them, so I wrote a list of my own.
Naturally, number 1 was "Restore the Constitution."
I doubt they'll like number 2 any better: "Move left. Far left. Keep going at least until you catch up with Richard Nixon."