Reason Morning Links: Surge in Support for Healthcare Reform, New Drug War Map in Mexico, Sarah Palin Gets a TV Show

Radley Balko | 3.24.2010 8:37 AM

Polls show Obamacare victory premium: Public support for health care reform grows after bill is passed.
Ann Coulter speech at University of Ottawa is cancelled after protests and alleged threats.
Discovery Channel will air Alaska-themed show starring Sarah Palin.
Mexico, U.S. officials revise drug war strategy.
Facebook linked to syphilis!

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More Americans 15 years ago

Public support for health care reform grows
1. Madame DeFarge 15 years ago
  
  And Leon's getting larger.
John 15 years ago

"In the new USA TODAY survey and one taken a month ago, the biggest shift toward support of the bill was among low-income Americans, minorities and those under 40."

They all think they are going to get free health care now. When they find out they don't, those numbers should fall back. And also, the poor and the under 40 generally don't vote, especially in an off year election.
1. micsolana 15 years ago
  
  I'm still wondering how the mandate will play out...
2. zoltan 15 years ago
  
  Probably because these are the most poorly-educated
John 15 years ago

http://hotair.com/archives/201.....offenders/

This is funny. Why does Hairy Reed support medical help for child molesters to get their grove on?
1. Atanarjuat 15 years ago
  
  get their grove on
  
  Nice!
2. Rich 15 years ago
  
  Thanks, John, for more info on a delightful "three ring circus sideshow".
  
  FTL: If, as the left has convinced itself, ObamaCare is pure win for them politically ... what's the aversion to another House vote? In fact, why not ping-pong the bill back and forth between the chambers for another month, loading it up with ever more crowd-pleasing amendments?
3. Kolohe 15 years ago
  
  It's this type of horse hooey that gets us all the 'for the childrenz' legislation, but whatever.
  Go Team Red!
  1. John 15 years ago
    
    No, it is the kind of subversive things that points out hypocrisy and helps tear down the whole system.
    1. Kolohe 15 years ago
      
      Like I mentioned on the last thread
      South Dakota vs Dole
      Gonzales vs Raich
      
      Two cases, two different Republican Adminstrations on one side, federalism and the commerce clause on the other.
      
      The Republican administrations won both.
      
      *Now* they're 'helping tear down the whole system?'
      
      Well if they would had principles when it mattered, they wouldn't have to do 'subversive' (and frankly stupid) things.
      1. John 15 years ago
        
        That is right. And if Hoover hadn't been such a horrible President, FDR would have never been elected. So, I guess Hoover is responsible for FDR. The Republicans are responsible for everything the Democrats do. God forbid we hold a Democrat responsible for anything.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        I blame the Republicans a ton for the assist, but there's not doubt that the Democrats--the ones we're dealing with now--are out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct.
        
        Col Willard 15 years ago
        
        But out there with these natives, it must be a temptation to . . . be God.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Because there's a conflict in every human heart between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. The good does not always triumph. Sometimes the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.
        
        John 15 years ago
        
        Very true. There is such a things as the greater of two evils. I just hope we can terminate their command before its too late.
        
        $ 15 years ago
        
        Even better.
        
        Mo 15 years ago
        
        Without South Dakota vs Dole and Gonzales vs Raich, the individual mandate wouldn't have the precedent to be constitutional. Scalia and Stevens were on the wrong side both times and O'Connor was on the correct side.
        
        John Thacker 15 years ago
        
        Justice O'Connor's experience as a state official made her better on federalism.
        
        John Thacker 15 years ago
        
        the individual mandate wouldn't have the precedent to be constitutional.
        
        Wickard v. Filburn, no? I think you mean that if those two had gone the other way, not if they didn't exist at all.
4. CaptainSmartass 15 years ago
  
  Yes, because we want the government to start banning medical treatments for political purposes. If the purpose behind this is to showcase that the Feds now have that power, then kudos to the GOP. But something tells me this is just save-the-children nonsense and the people behind it are sincere in their reasoning.
  1. Steve 15 years ago
    
    And you are really ok with offenders getting viagra?
    1. Steve 15 years ago
      
      Provided they are 'real' offenders, not 18.1 with a 17.9 year old, peeing on the side of the road, etc.
      1. Madame DeFarge 15 years ago
        
        Tell em to get a job and buy their own.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Bonjour, scum.
the sheep's vote 15 years ago

Public support for health care reform grows after bill is passed.

I've been saying this would happen for the past few weeks. A lot of people I know think the Democrats are going to get crushed in November. Maybe. Who knows. I just have a feeling that we'll be on to the next crisis by then, people will forget how much they disliked this bill at the time, and as a result won't punish the Dems (subject to general economic conditions worsening) as harshly as most people think.

And rather than sockpuppet the hell out of myself, here's a bit of self promotion: the seven unintended consequences of the health care reform bill.
1. John 15 years ago
  
  The economy is really horrid. And this is just going to make it worse. The Democrats have one thing going for them, they have bitched and moaned about this for so long that I think most people just want the issue to go away. That is part of their strategy. Talk about something for so long that after they get their way they can say "can't be talk about something else now?".
  
  The Republicans can't just run on this bill. They have to run on the porkulus, TARP, the corruption, the economy, and the healthcare bill along with whatever other crazy shit the Democrats try this summer. The Democrats have served up a true shit buffet. And people hate Congress more than ever right now. So, it needs to be a broad based push, not just repeal the bill.
  1. hurly buehrle 15 years ago
    
    They have to run on the porkulus, TARP, the corruption, the economy, and the healthcare bill along with whatever other crazy shit the Democrats try this summer.
    
    Um, the Republicans have a serious credibility problem with running on TARP or corruption.
    1. John 15 years ago
      
      The majority of Republicans in the House and Senate voted against TARP. And all of the Republicans who were involved in the corruption scandals in the mid 00s are no longer in office. And frankly when you think about what the Democrats are doing right now, selling votes for healthcare in return for federal appointments, those scandals are kind of laughable.
      1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        John's right on this one--Bush would have trouble doing that, but it was the Democratic Congress than passed it, with major opposition from the Republicans.
        
        John Thacker 15 years ago
        
        Except for the astonishing number of people who don't know that the Democrats held Congress from 2006-2008.
Rich 15 years ago

The plan would also provide support for Mexican programs intended to strengthen communities where socioeconomic hardships force many young people into crime.

Another foray into "nation building".

Mrs. Clinton ... acknowledged that it was Mexicans who bore the brunt of drug-related violence, which was driven in large part by American demand.

Next, she will acknowledge that it is Chinese who bear the brunt of manufacturing-related pollution, which is driven in large part by American demand. Lather, rinse, repeat.
1. sage 15 years ago
  
  Ha ha, yeah I was foolish enough to click that link too.
  
  So now the betting really has to begin. Which will cause the empire to crumble the fastest: Health care for all without paying for it, two wars without paying for them, fighting skirmishes on our border without paying for it, or "strengthening law enforcement" in Mexico without paying for it?
  1. Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago
    
    Don't forget Cap n' Trade or whatever climate bill they'll tackle next. Immigration too.
    
    We have a whole plethora of historical blunders lined up to get in on the gangrape.
    1. sage 15 years ago
      
      Yeah, we should start a running ranking list. Sort of like the rapture index, but real.
      1. sage 15 years ago
        
        Holy shit, I swear I didn't see this earlier:
        
        Health Care Law Signals US Empire Decline?
    2. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
      
      Is that a cereal?
SugarFree 15 years ago

Syphilis? Who cares? I mean herpes is merely a skin condition.
1. Warty 15 years ago
  
  I put the O/U on Professor Foxy's dress size at 24. Any takers?
  1. Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago
    
    3-1 odds you're right. By calling herself Professor Foxy, she's either overcompensating and your guess is close to being correct, or she's genuinely hot and egotistical (not that this is bad) enough to say it.
    
    Oh and this...
    
    "I'm a 22-year-old woman with a slightly checkered sexual past..."
    
    Can you say, "Gangbang"?
    1. Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago
      
      "I especially don't have the time or emotional energy to seek out a queer-positive, anti-racist, non-judgmental therapist..."
      
      :closes eyes, looks down, rubs forehead:
  2. SugarFree 15 years ago
    
    They used to have a picture of her. I was only a shoulders up, but she didn't look enormous. Kind of cute for a hyper-feminist lesbian sex advice columnist on Feministing, actually.
    1. Warty 15 years ago
      
      Was the picture taken from the Myspace angle? Fat chicks know all the tricks to hide chins.
    2. Solanum 15 years ago
      
      Professor "Foxy"
      
      She's not half bad, assuming you're into thunder thighs and gunts.
      1. Warty 15 years ago
        
        I WIN TEH PRISE
        
        Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago
        
        You hit that one out of the park.
      2. SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        Yikes. That other shot I saw was definitely affected by The Angles.
      3. Solanum 15 years ago
        
        Behold, the horror which is the Feministing house band, "BoySkout"
        
        Warty 15 years ago
        
        Most of them could clean up OK. The one on the right, for sure. What is it about feminism that makes chicks want to be ugly, anyway?
        
        SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        I think you have it backwards.
        
        SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        Which ones would clean up OK? The one with the nose or the one with the nose or one with the nose or one with the nose?
        
        Warty 15 years ago
        
        Perhaps I spoke too quickly. The one on the right could clean up all right. The rest are best used as mulch.
        
        SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        Jump one picture back from the BoySkout. Hint: There's not a woman in that picture.
        
        Warty 15 years ago
        
        Ugh. Burn it down and salt the earth.
        
        SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        Demotivational
        
        Warty 15 years ago
        
        WOMEN *blank* WHILE CORPORATE CEOs PLAY
        
        Fill in the blank.
        
        Steve Smith 15 years ago
        
        STEVE SUDDENLY ALL A FLUTTER. JOURNEY TO FIND MATE FINALLY OVER.
        
        SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber
2. Tiger Woods 15 years ago
  
  (Golf clap.)
3. Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago
  
  I read just last week that according to th CDC 48% of black women between the ages of 14 and 49 have herpes. That means that statistically speaking every other black woman you know has the desease. How does that high of an incidence even come about?
  
  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62846Q20100309
  1. zoltan 15 years ago
    
    Duh, unprotected sex, rape, or passed by childbirth.
Ben Franklin 15 years ago

When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.
Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago

Is it just me, or do the Morning Links become more and more depressing as time goes on?
1. Rich 15 years ago
  
  Kyle, Kyle, ... more *recessing*.
  1. John 15 years ago
    
    Recession, oppression, depression it's all the same man.
    1. Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago
      
      Pretty much.
      
      Time for some positivity!
      
      Hope you all have a nice day and I hope something good happens for you.
      1. Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago
        
        Piss off.
2. Almanian 15 years ago
  
  Agreed. I blame Bush.
hcr bill 15 years ago

omfg I'm so hungover right now
1. hcr kermit 15 years ago
  
  Me, too.
2. Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago
  
  You know what we're not hearing? What Bill Clinton thinks about HCR's passage. The One did what he couldn't.
Seward 15 years ago

And support for the war in Iraq grew right after the authorization passed.
Rhayader 15 years ago

FTA about Mexico:

"We are looking at everything that can work," Mrs. Clinton said.

Right. Except for the one thing that could actually work.
1. Nancy Reagan 15 years ago
  
  You mean they continue to ignore "Just Say No"?
  1. Tim 15 years ago
    
    "Just Say No" is old school, now it's "Just Don't Do It", yeah, that will work.
John 15 years ago

"Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) told HuffPo today that Republicans won't run on an across-the-board repeal of new health-care laws.

"There is non-controversial stuff here like the preexisting conditions exclusion and those sorts of things," the Texas Republican said. "Now we are not interested in repealing that. And that is frankly a distraction."

What the GOP will work to repeal, Cornyn explained, are provisions that result in "tax increases on middle class families," language that forced "an increase in the premium costs for people who have insurance now" and the "cuts to Medicare" included in the legislation."

I figured this. Do you have to be retarded to be a Senator? You can't keep the pre-existing condition exclusion and get rid of the mandate. He might as well be saying we love Obamacare we just don't want anyone to have to pay for it. What an idiot. I guess we can hope he is just lying. He is a politician after all.
1. Michael Ejercito 15 years ago
  
  "There is non-controversial stuff here like the preexisting conditions exclusion and those sorts of things," the Texas Republican said. "Now we are not interested in repealing that. And that is frankly a distraction."
  
  Yeah, because we know that auto, life, fire, and disability insurance is never denied due to pre-existing conditions. Only health insurance is denied due to pre-existing conditions, right ?
2. Jeff 15 years ago
  
  Indeed. I almost put my head through the monitor when I read that yesterday.
3. T 15 years ago
  
  Damn. I guess I have to lump Cornyn in with Hutchison in the "functionally retarded" basket now. So I have two retard senators instead of just one.
  1. $ 15 years ago
    
    I have used this simple thought experiment to get people to think this thing through:
    
    "What if banks had to give out money, regardless of pre-existing credit scores?"
    1. Happy Time Flavors 15 years ago
      
      It's called the Community Reinvestment Act, amirite?
SugarFree 15 years ago

io9 goes full retard.

io9: Because wouldn't you want the biggest tampon and sanitary pad review website to be run by men?
1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
  
  For the love of God.
  
  Is this a product of our educational system? Have we become so collectively stupid that we can't see that magical pronouncements from the government virtually never come true? Not even close?
  
  If we stay on track with this, which I still doubt (for various reasons), we will destroy the quality of healthcare in this country. At best, people in the upper tiers of society (measured by money or whether one is a government employee) will have alternatives, but the entire infrastructure of advanced care is threatened by this.
  
  I have friends from Europe--not libertarians--who have referred to medical services in the U.S. as Star Trek-like. Granted, they're talking about the more advanced stuff (not your typical doctor visit), but the awe in their voices is quite revealing.
  
  It's not like everything will stop on a dime, but we're force-feeding the Golden Goose without worrying about the consequences. Majorly fucking with everything is a bad idea, because repairing the damage later is far harder than making corrections today.
  
  Our system is expensive and bureaucratic right now, but it works for around 290 million of us. Why risk screwing that up by massive changes?
  1. BakedPenguin 15 years ago
    
    I mentioned this previously, but there were two European mid "00's" movies that I saw where one of the characters was afflicted with terminal cancer.
    
    In both movies, the suggestion was made that they go the US "because they can cure anything there".
    
    Yeah, yeah, anecdotes, etc. But we are recognized as the innovation leaders. They should have called this fucker the "healthcare innovation assassination bill".
    1. Kyle Jordan Prime 15 years ago
      
      "healthcare innovation assassination bill"
      
      I like this. Nicely done, BP.
    2. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
      
      Our system has been subsidizing a lot of the free-ride, technology-wise, for quite some time. I think we could see horrific consequences if we really nationalize healthcare. While I'm hopeful that we'll correct most of this misstep, there's no knowing for sure.
      
      One reason the Democrats are taking the huge risk they are with this bill is that they likely see this as the final piece to getting a permanent majority supported by entitlements. I think they're wrong, as this may well break the system, which--as I mentioned above--works for the vast majority of us.
      1. John 15 years ago
        
        I hope they are wrong. Phase II is to tax us to death in order to avoid bankruptcy. Every day it looks worse.
    3. robc 15 years ago
      
      My personal favorite piece of equipment is the device that takes the picture of your retina so they dont have to fucking dilate your eyes. I hate having my eyes dilated. Fucking sucks.
      
      Anyway, my insurance wont pay for the machine but I pay out of pocket to get that service instead - plus, the eye doc has records of my past retina exams instead of having to rely on hand written notes, he can call up a series of pictures to see if my retina has changed. Considering the history of eye disease in my family, this is the awesome thing about that machine. However, I prefer the non-dilated eye part. 🙂
      
      So, has that machine made it to Europe yet?
      1. SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        I end up using both. They photograph my retinas and then I get dilated. Stupid diabetes.
        
        robc 15 years ago
        
        Your pancreas suck.
  2. Michael Ejercito 15 years ago
    
    I have friends from Europe--not libertarians--who have referred to medical services in the U.S. as Star Trek-like. Granted, they're talking about the more advanced stuff (not your typical doctor visit), but the awe in their voices is quite revealing.
    
    Maybe that is why health care is so costly.
    
    If we defined any procedure that did not exist during or before 1960 as elective, health care would be much cheaper.
    1. robc 15 years ago
      
      In a free market, you might be about to find an insurance company that would offer that plan. Would suck if you got cancer though. "Here, try the leaches"
      1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        That's my feeling, too. It's the current lack of a free market in health insurance and medical services that is the real problem. In other words, the government is solving the problem of too much government intervention with more government intervention.
        
        robc 15 years ago
        
        Its why I like HSAs so much. Creating a system that encourages HSAs would have led to free market in health care, at least in preventative and basic care.
        
        The RIGHT reform, which the GOP had roughly 12 years to pass (95-07) would have removed the tax credit from businesses, given 100% tax credit to individual health care, at least within some insured progem - IE, regular plans would be paid pre-tax, as would HSAs, deductibles and copays and uncovered stuff would be post tax - which encourages HSA style plans.
        
        Combine that with ability to buy across state lines and that would have been winning reform. The GOP would be the champions of health care (yeah, yeah, people would still complain, and there would still be uninsured, but prices would have been held in check).
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        The GOP set up us the bomb.
        
        robc 15 years ago
        
        You have no chance to survive make your time.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        For great justice.
        
        John Thacker 15 years ago
        
        Creating a system that encourages HSAs would have led to free market in health care, at least in preventative and basic care.
        
        The GOP did pass several laws to encourage (and create) HSAs. They were like pulling teeth, because the Democrats really, really hate HSA style plans.
        
        The biggest expansions of HSAs were only obtainable by putting the provisions in the Medicare Part D law.
        
        You're complaining that the Republicans didn't do what they didn't have the votes for. You can complain that they didn't push enough or loudly enough for them, though. It's like a leftist complaining that the recent bill doesn't enact single payer, only the Republicans never had so large a majority.
  3. Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago
    
    "It's not like everything will stop on a dime, but we're force-feeding the Golden Goose"
    
    You don't like faux gras?
    1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
      
      Sure, but the question is, who will be eating it and what comes after the goose is, well, cooked?
      1. SugarFree 15 years ago
        
        In Soviet America, goose cooks you.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        America is so full of stupid.
    2. Byron 15 years ago
      
      You don't like faux gras?
      
      I prefer the real stuff.
ed 15 years ago

SFUO president Seamus Wolfe said earlier in the day that he thought the provost's letter to Coulter was "reasonable."

Apparently SFUO means "Shut the fuck up, OK?"
Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago

Shocking Audio: Rep. Dingell Says ObamaCare Will Eventually 'Control the People'.

http://www.breitbart.tv/shocki.....the-people
Warty 15 years ago

Today's song
P Brooks 15 years ago

"I especially don't have the time or emotional energy to seek out a queer-positive, anti-racist, non-judgmental therapist...

Who does, Honey?

Who does?
1. John 15 years ago
  
  there are so many funny parts to that statement it is hard to know where to begin.
Russ R. 15 years ago

"Ann Coulter speech at University of Ottawa is cancelled after protests and alleged threats."

It's episodes like this that make me not want to admit to being Canadian.

We may not have freedom of speech, but at least we still rule at hockey.
1. John 15 years ago
  
  At least the US has an authoritarian country for a rival in Hockey. Been 20 years since the USSR died.
2. Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago
  
  That the women's team celebrated victory with cigars and champaigne on the ice was truly priceless.
3. Rhayader 15 years ago
  
  Don't worry, Trailer Park Boys more than makes up for it.
  1. Dagny T. 15 years ago
    
    Good call. For once my dad recommended a winner.
    
    "Smokes, let's go."
    1. Warty 15 years ago
      
      I identify with Bubbles. Kitties!
    2. Rhayader 15 years ago
      
      "Knock, knock."
      
      "Who's there Ricky?"
      
      "Two fucking idiots who don't know when to come around and buy dope. Now get the fuck out of here."
4. Mike Laursen 15 years ago
  
  Oooh, Canadian threats. How scary.
  1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
    
    It's not like our Canadians and Russians haven't beaten their Canadians and Russians in hockey on many occasions.
R C Dean 15 years ago

So now our best-case scenario is that the Repubs take the House, and somehow pass into law some kind of partial repeal that leaves the pre-existing condition exclusion intact but takes out the mandatory coverage,

Thus guaranteeing the destruction of the health insurance industry and the subsequent triumphant adoption of single-payer all the faster?

And don't think for a minute that the Reps aren't stupid enough to fall short in November. They've got a genuine populist revolt going their way now, but they need to broaden the message from "Repeal (some of) it" to a fiscal responsibility/government accountability message.

With half a brain, you can make fiscal accountability a "But think of the childrenz" issue. And government accountability can be a neat reversal of the usual class envy stuff - look at all these awesome bennies that Our Masters give themselves at your expense.

Right now, I put the odds of the Reps taking the House in November at just north of 40%.
1. John 15 years ago
  
  They will retake it in spite of themselves. At the very least they will take enough that the Dems will have small majorities and not be able to get much done.
  
  In January, the Bush tax cuts go away. And the real teeth of Obama care in the form of community ratings and the real increases in private health insurance are going to hit. They designed it that way so that people won't realize how bad it is before November. In some ways I think the Democrats want to lose the House in November so they can blame the apocalypse in January on the Republicans or at least make it a "bi partisan issue". A majority with no ability to act but all the responsibility is not a good scenario either for them.
  
  I honestly don't see how this works out well for anyone. Even if the Republicans take the House and Senate and the the Democrats lose in historic fashion, no one will want to allow pre-existing condition exclusions because they are popular. The fact that that makes private health insurance impossible, will be lost.
  
  There was an AP article today that said the bill really didn't outlaw the pre-existing condition exclusion. That the language has a lot of weasel room.
  
  "Under the new law, insurance companies still would be able to refuse new coverage to children because of a pre-existing medical problem, said Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the main congressional panels that wrote the bill Obama signed into law Tuesday.
  
  However, if a child is accepted for coverage, or is already covered, the insurer cannot exclude payment for treating a particular illness, as sometimes happens now. For example, if a child has asthma, the insurance company cannot write a policy that excludes that condition from coverage. The new safeguard will be in place later this year."
  
  Ending the pre-existing condition exclusion is the end of the health insurance business model. Maybe the insurance companies are suicidal and signed up for it anyway. But I have a hard time believing they were.
  1. Michael Ejercito 15 years ago
    
    Even if the Republicans take the House and Senate and the the Democrats lose in historic fashion, no one will want to allow pre-existing condition exclusions because they are popular. The fact that that makes private health insurance impossible, will be lost.
    
    Are pre-existing condition exclusions permitted in auto, life, fire, and disability insurance?
2. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
  
  If the GOP were worth anything, it would go into rebellion mode--fighting to restore America's sacred liberty and beloved free markets, blah, blah, blah--without compromise. Our system is so geared to the parties not going into full obstructionism that the GOP could basically force Obama into doing pretty much anything. The Democrats caved tremendously after 1994 on a variety of issues, and I think this situation is far more dire.
  
  Fight hard to get back partial or full control of Congress, then make it clear that our government will come to a standstill if the president doesn't agree to sign several "undo" bills.
  1. John 15 years ago
    
    At this point we have huge deficits. Why not shut the government down for a few months. Further, shutting the government down and cutting off all those SEIU paychecks hurts the Democrats a lot worse than the Republicans.
    
    The Republicans had Clinton in 95. They were going to do something about medicare and medicaide. They were actually going to cut the size of government. And they let the media bully them into backing down right when the polls were turning their way. The Democrats have laid down the gauntlet. They will stop at nothing to turn this country into a socialists state. The Republicans have nothing to lose by standing up and going all out to stop it. It is not like the Democrats can be compromised with anymore. Those days are gone.
  2. John Thacker 15 years ago
    
    Our system is so geared to the parties not going into full obstructionism that the GOP could basically force Obama into doing pretty much anything.
    
    Our system is also based on the majorities in both houses obeying the rules and letting the minority have their amendments. "Full obstructionism" before the election would just lead to the House and Senate adopting new rules to limit the minority's power, whilst everyone blamed those evil Republicans.
    
    Fight hard to get back partial or full control of Congress, then make it clear that our government will come to a standstill if the president doesn't agree to sign several "undo" bills.
    
    Oh yes, shutting down government worked so well for Gingrich in '95. It made him so unpopular that most libertarians give Clinton most of the credit and Gingrich none for what he forced Clinton into.
    
    Shutting down government and the repercussions from that killed the Republicans' fervor and directly lead towards the Hastert and Bush and Lott regime. The way that the polls reacted to the government shutdown convinced the GOP that the voters liked the talk of cutting spending but not the reality.
3. Marc 15 years ago
  
  they need to broaden the message from "Repeal (some of) it" to a fiscal responsibility/government accountability message
  
  Which is why I said I wasn't going to vote straight R just to get the Ds out. Aside from this one HCR vote, they aren't even doing a good job at pretending to favor limited government.
P Brooks 15 years ago

Right now, I put the odds of the Reps taking the House in November at just north of 40%.

Optimist.
1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
  
  I actually think it's almost a gimmee. The media is going on like the bill is some popular success, but it's no such thing. People aren't comfortable with much of it and will likely freak out entirely at the next power grab. The Democrats either have deluded themselves into thinking they have a mandate or that they'll get enough people on the dole to have an unbeatable majority, so I can see them going for another grab before November. I think they've grossly miscalculated and don't understand why they're in office in the first place. It ain't a mandate of any kind.
  
  Of course, the GOP's worse enemy is the GOP. If it would take on the anti-government reform role and stick to it, it could do some serious damage to this socialist state the Democrats seem hellbent on imposing on us. Probably won't do that in fear of losing its power.
  1. R C Dean 15 years ago
    
    People aren't comfortable with much of it and will likely freak out entirely at the next power grab.
    
    I see cap and trade and a national ID card are both cued up right now. I'm somewhat skeptical that either will go forward this year, what with the campaign season and all, but these Dems have shown an unprecedented willingness to tell the public to go fuck itself, so who knows?
    1. Mr. Chartreuse 15 years ago
      
      Given the resistance to Real ID, I agree it wouldn't be in their best interest to try it. However, they are trying to make it a bipartisan "immigration reform" issue with the Graham/Schumer shit-sandwich in the Senate.
      
      Also, since both civil and economic liberties would be impacted by the national ID, I would love to see an ACLU & IJ team-up against it.
    2. zoltan 15 years ago
      
      I keep seeing immigration reform on CNN at the gym. Ugh, I wish I could just read Reason threads instead of watch that horrible channel.
  2. Farting a Rainbow 15 years ago
    
    Of course, the GOP's worse enemy is the GOP Michael Steele
    
    FIFY
Keith Olbermann 15 years ago

Eight days ago, a 16-year old kid picked up a courtesy phone at a store in Washington Township, New Jersey, and announced over the public address system, quote "Attention, WalMart customers: All black people leave the store now," unquote....Two days ago, a Tea Party protester shouted the "N" word at Congressman John Lewis of Georgia....And another shouted anti-gay slurs at Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts. This is not to dismiss what the 16-year old did in New Jersey. But it would seem that what was shouted at the Congressmen merits at least as much investigation and hopefully as much prosecution. After all, it did occur inside the halls of Congress, a place at least as crowded as, and as sanctified as a WalMart.
Mike M. 15 years ago

Portugal (one of those European countries leftist morons like Chad loves so much) has their credit rating downgraded by Fitch to AA-.
food 15 years ago

Re: Facebook linked to syphilis: This is actually progress. Someone can just write an app to let other people know you just tested positive, and we can have leaderboards for most-infected! With interactive Google-maps.
1. Mr. Chartreuse 15 years ago
  
  John Smith found some chancres to share with their friends!
  
  John Smith was laying the pipe on a couple of skanks last week, and they were so happy they gave him syphilis in return!
Mike Laursen 15 years ago

Discovery Channel will air Alaska-themed show starring Sarah Palin.

I've had disparaging things to say about her as a politician, but I must say she's a great choice to be the Huell Howser of Alaska.
1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
  
  I heard she was going to back up Kari Byron on Mythbusters.
  1. Mike Laursen 15 years ago
    
    She does know how to shoot a gun and they do shoot a lot of guns on Mythbusters. Other than that she's completely unqualified -- the Mythbusters crew all have big brains, with the possible exception of Cory.
    1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
      
      He's the weak link, for sure.
      
      Palin is familiar with the firearm, and she may have some good mechanical know-how. I wouldn't write her off just because she sounds foolish on politics. I bet she could operate some tools, blow shit up, and wear tight clothing.
      
      Come to think of it, what are Kari's politics?
      1. Mike Laursen 15 years ago
        
        I can't find any instance of her uttering a word publicly on the subject of politics. Which is a refreshing change for a celebrity.
      2. Byron 15 years ago
        
        I like Kari, but she claims to be vegetarian, which is typically a liberal indicator. I don't care for either of those things much.

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