Hoffmania!

Suggestions Are Comin' In...

First of all, thanks for all the input and email. I really thought most of you would have given up on this mess long ago, but I was wrong.

I'm glad it's not just me getting burned out by politics. They seem to be doing okay without my meddling. I was getting weary of being lumped in with a medium that never seems to be satisfied (look up Dennis Kucinich and Jane Hamsher if you want to see what I mean).

Aaargh, Bonnie and Netto like when we talk about gadgetry, gizmos and my experiments into tech land. I do loves me my gadgets - and ways of hacking them to make 'em "better." My last project was successfully taking a Dell Mini and making it a pure dual-boot of Snow Leopard and Windows 7 (Dell's platform doesn't allow Boot Camp). I'm wondering how I can screw with an iPad, but on someone else's dime.

That's a dandy thought. Some others...

@Cobbnek - No, I don't think writing about the Catholic church is in my line of expertise, nor will it endear me to anyone, but thanks.

@Vermin - Glad you like my cartoon posts. I never tire of that.

@carolt - Really? Cars? My dad was a car dealer, so you'll understand why I have a germ-like aversion to that very topic.

@Nameless Cynic - Keep on keeping on! Check his website, folks...especially the post about Chuck Norris.

Hidflect writes: "This is the standard effect before the rise of the third candidate. Party A(a) and Party A(b) both have slowly twisted themselves into a Gordian knot of mutual action and loathing. Start looking around for the guy/gal whose going to become that shot out of the blue." Interesting thought, but who will that candidate be who we can really believe in and who doesn't turn out to be a closet flaming screwball on crack? (see Ron Paul, Ross Perot)

Keep 'em coming. In the meantime, the Bloggregator alone is definitely worth keeping the domain in operation, so we're not going to pull the plug by any stretch of the imagination.

This Tiny Megaphone

Any suggestions? I find I just flatline when I start writing anything political these days. It's all clatter and din. Does anyone have any ideas for this little piece of real estate? Hit me.

AWK-warrrrrd!

McCain is hosting a dinner with Palin, thereby making the Arizona wingnut voters' heads explode.

Thanks, Tim...

Judge: ACORN Funding Must Be Unblocked

Let's see how much play this gets in the MSM...a court hands a huge defeat to wingnut talk shows and the GOP.

A federal judge who found it unconstitutional that Congress tried to cut funding to the activist group ACORN has rejected a government request to change her mind and has ordered government agencies to make it clear the funding isn't blocked.

In a written ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon made permanent her conclusion last year that the cutoff of funding was unconstitutional. She ordered all federal agencies to put the word out about it.

The Brooklyn judge said ACORN was punished by Congress without the enactment of administrative processes to decide if money had been handled inappropriately. She said the harm to ACORN's reputation continues because the government never rescinded its advice to withhold funding after it was distributed to "hundreds, if not thousands, of recipients."

Last year, a series of videos filmed at ACORN offices around the country sparked a national scandal and helped drive the organization to near ruin. In one video, ACORN employees were shown apparently advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend to lie about her profession and launder her earnings; Brooklyn prosecutors said they did not commit a crime.

In asking the judge to reconsider her December ruling, the government cited a Dec. 7 report written by Scott Harshbarger, former attorney general for Massachusetts. It said the report "reinforces Congress' purpose in preventing fraud, waste and abuse" by describing ACORN's long-standing management problems.

The report concluded that ACORN leadership at every level was thin, the government noted.

The judge, however, wrote that it was "unmistakable that Congress determined ACORN's guilt before defunding it." She said Congress is entitled to investigate ACORN but cannot "rely on the negative results of a congressional or executive report as a rationale to impose a broad, punitive funding ban on a specific, named organization."

Rush Limbaugh Will Move to Costa Rica If U.S. Health Care Reform Passes

Good for him!!! Here's what he'll get for health care: government-run universal everything...which is considered among the best in the world.

Do they have Google at the EIB Network?

The Costa Rican healthcare system is rated very highly on an international level, and the country’s citizens enjoy the health and life expectancy equal to that of more developed nations. These accolades come courtesy of strong, universal health insurance and excellent public and private hospitals.

Costa Rica’s public health insurance system, commonly known as the Caja, is available country-wide to all citizens and legal residents. There are ten major public hospitals – four in San Jose, including the Children’s Hospital – affiliated with the Caja. For non-emergencies and everyday medical care, small clinics, known as EBAIS (pronounced ay-vy-ice), are located in almost every community.

The cost to affiliate with CCSS is approximately 10 to 11.5% of your income; alternatively, residents may become members via ARCR, which provides a streamlined and simple joining process. Please note that for those under age 55, Caja payments include a mandatory pension payment, which will be disbursed beginning at age 65.

As of 2009, private insurance is available through INS, the government-owned insurance monopoly. Most plans cover dental work, optometry, and cosmetic surgery in the case of an accident, and neither pre-existing conditions nor annual check-ups are included. Prescription drugs, certain medical exams, sick visits and hospitalization are covered at 70% cost, and surgeon and aesthetician costs are covered at full cost. Currently, private medical insurance costs about $50-$100/month per person, depending on age, gender and other factors.

In addition to INS insurance, expats may also purchase international health care insurance from abroad, which will cover most private hospital costs. Be aware that these plans often cost more than their INS equivalents.

"I AM ANGRY" - Guest Post by John Cory

[John Cory is a frequent contributor to Hoffmania and many other well-read sites. You can read his other work at john-cory.com]

I am angry.

I’m tired of pundits and know-nothing media gasbags. I’m tired of snarky “inside politics” programming. I am sick of the bigotry and hatred of “birthers” and faux patriotic cranks and their GOP puppet masters. And I’m really pissed at the Democratic Party that confuses having a plate of limp noodles with having a spine.

I’m going to vomit if I hear the word “bipartisanship” one more time.

It was “bipartisanship” that gave us this activist conservative Supreme Court. A Supreme Court that says money is free speech and corporations are persons except when real people try to hold them accountable for their greed and poisonous ways.

“Bipartisanship” gave us the Patriot Act and FISA and illegal wiretaps and two wars and “free speech zones” and “no fly” lists. God bless bipartisan America.

I get nauseated every time the Senate explains how it takes a super majority to do anything for the American people. Tell you what Senate Bozos, if it takes 60 votes to pass legislation than it should take 60% of the popular vote to get you elected.

When some Tea Party crank says, “I want my country back,” I respond, “No madam, you want your country backward.”

When a deficit-mongering politician says, “How do we pay for this?” Why not ask, “What did you Republicans do with the surplus we Democrats left you?”

When a compassionate conservative says, “Healthcare reform is socialism,” why not answer, “No, sir it is the moral and American way to care for people.”

Yes, I can hear it now: “You are naïve and simplistic. These are complicated matters and require sophisticated solutions. Democrats are a big tent and strive for balance. But Republicans block our path at every turn. We are thinking and considering new ways to work in harmony with everyone.”

Bite me.

The only thing you get with “harmony” is a Barbershop Quartet.

Democrats stop being Republican Lite. Stop whining about that mean GOP and their nasty messaging. Grow a pair, get a message, get a bumper sticker and hang it out there. Get some strong vivid talking points.

G-O-P = Greed Over People.

Greed Kills – jobs, people and the economy.

Terrorism is Viagra for Republicans: The more fear – the more excited they get.

When a soldier dies for America, who dares ask if they were gay or straight?

Don’t act so shocked, Democratic Party. Have you looked around lately?

You’re losing the young vote that showed up to elect Obama. You’re losing those old enough to remember real Democrats. Why? Because you don’t talk to them anymore than you talk to me. You talk at me. You talk around me. You talk down to me. You talk about me. You don’t talk with me. And you don’t inspire and you don’t champion and without that you are nothing more than an arbitrator of compromise and abdication.

You are facing a bully. Deal with it!

Republicans want the country backwards. They champion superstition over science because it entrenches ignorance and bigotry and captures the easily frightened.

Republicans treat the Constitution the way they treat the Bible, with selective interpretation and selective application to others while exempting themselves from judgment and accountability.

Republicans preach the gospel of fear because fear is darkness and darkness covers their theft of civil liberties and Constitutional principles.

For thirty years the Republican Party has claimed the mantel of law and order but now quake in dread of the American judicial system when putting terrorists on trial. How criminal is that?

Torture is illegal. Period. John Wayne and Jack Bauer were not our Founding Fathers – only in the make-believe world of Republican drugstore-patriots.

DADT needs to be repealed. Now. It is unconscionable, immoral, and disgusting.

Empathy, compassion and equality are not pejoratives. They are American values proven again and again throughout our history.

Republicans believe that bake-sales and cookies for chemotherapy best determine the value of life and healthcare because life is a pre-existing condition and the “free market” should not have to take on such a high risk – after all, no one gets out alive, so why should the corporation be left holding the bag? Unless of course the price is right.

Republicans believe that government should keep its hands off healthcare but should put its hands inside a woman’s body.

Republicans believe in small government – small enough to hold the “right” people and small enough to be owned and operated by the “right” people. And who are the “right” people? Them. Not you.

Democratic Party, DNC, DLCC, DSCC or whatever your acronym – I have only one question for you: Really?

You can’t win against these guys? You can’t get your message out against these guys? You can’t give America leadership against these guys?

Really?

The Busy Season

I guess I have to admit to the fact that those of us who are blessed with still having jobs must now work four times as much to keep them.

That's one reason why my posting has once again ground to a halt. Maybe the other reason is that I just don't want to jinx health care reform via reconciliation by jumping up and down here too much. Besides, it makes the change fall out of my pockets.

Yeah, there's no public option...yet. But there is regulation. We just had nine years of no regulation. This fairy tale known as the "free market" has all but destroyed our democracy.

Corporations are still planting themselves offshore to avoid paying taxes (even though they still got huge tax cuts under Bush). And even if they're forced to pay taxes, the lack of regulation will allow them to raise prices on us. It's a lousy truth, and libertarians get their undershorts soaked when you talk about it, but regulations are necessary. Sorry, kids. Go cry somewhere else. They had their shot at deregulation and it's killing all of us.

"Fair Market" sucks, plain and simple. The cracking down of insurance costs, the ending of pre-existing conditions clauses, the end of randomly revoking insurance - these are all LONG overdue.

We can get to a public option eventually. Right now, the other obscenities the "free market" has allowed have to be dealt with. To use a phrase which the GOP loves to use, let's ram this thing through already.

Good and hard. Right up the obstructionists' filibusters. It's about damned time.

Trent Franks - Oh. My. God.

A mental fallen rock zone. That's the only way to describe this guy. We've talked about him before...here and here.

This now beats them both.

FRANKS: In this country, we had slavery for God knows how long.  And now we look back on it and we say "How brave were they? What was the matter with them?  You know, I can't believe, you know, four million slaves.  This is incredible."  And we're right, we're right. We should look back on that with criticism.  It is a crushing mark on America's soul.  And yet today, half of all black children are aborted.  Half of all black children are aborted.  Far more of the African American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by the policies of slavery.  And I think, What does it take to get us to wake up?

Abortion. BAD. Slavery. Not as bad.

And where did he get this "half of ALL black children are being aborted" crap? Does Meatface here have the proof?

There really is no other way to interpret all this since he's obsessed with abortion and other bullshit that he'll never have to worry about, being a dumb white guy.

The Health Care Summit

Watch it live here.

Last Night's One-Two Punch

If you missed it last night, MSNBC gave its viewers a double stunner from Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. First, Olbermann revealed his father might be finally losing his battle with the infections from his myriad illnesses - and acknowledged families go through the same pain every day with no safety net. It provided the springboard for this Special Comment.

Rachel then immediately took the GOP's argument against reconciliation (and their false accusations of Democrats invoking "the nuclear option") and threw it right back into their front yard. Brilliantly.

TDS: How Credit Card Companies Have Screwed Us

We've written about it. Now here it is as presented by Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Make it Rain - Bank of America
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

It's On! White House Goes All In on Health Care

Oh, baby. Greg Sargent:

The game of chicken commenceth — right now.

In the course of unveiling Obama’s new health reform proposal on a conference call with reporters this morning, White House advisers made it clearer than ever before: If the GOP filibusters health reform, Dems will move forward on their own and pass it via reconciliation.

The assertion, which is likely to spark an angry response from GOP leaders, ups the stakes in advance of the summit by essentially daring Republicans to try to block reform.

“The President expects and believes the American people deserve an up or down vote on health reform,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on the call.

Pfeiffer said no decision had been made how to proceed, pending the outcome of the summit. But he added that Obama’s proposal is designed to have “maximum flexibility to ensure that we can get an up or down vote if the opposition decides to take the extraordinary step of filibustering health reform.”

Translation: If the GOP doesn’t cooperate with us in any meaningful sense, we’re moving forward on our own.

Schwarzenegger

Remember when the GOP was tripping all over itself just to smell this guy's after shave? Not any more, I betcha.

Appearing on ABC's This Week, the moderate Republican frequent GOP scourge pointed to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in particular for arguing this past week that the stimulus bill hadn't produced a single "net" job gain.

"I find it interesting that you have a lot of the Republicans running around, and pushing back on the stimulus money and saying, 'This doesn't create any new job,'" said Schwarzenegger. "And then they go out and do the photo ops, posing with the big check and they say: 'Isn't this great, look at the kind of money I've provided for the state and this is money to create jobs, and this has created 10,000 new jobs, this has created 20,000 news jobs, and all those kinds of things.' It doesn't match up."

It's hypocrisy, said host Terry Moran. "Exactly," Schwarzenegger replied.

"I don't want to beat up on my Republican colleagues but I think it is kind of politics rather than thinking about one thing, and this is: 'How do we support the president? How do we support him and everything we can in order to go and stimulate the economy back and think about the people and not the politics?'

"Anyone that says this hasn't created a job, they should talk to the 150,000 people getting jobs in California," he added, "from the private sector and also from the public sector."

Romney, it should be noted, has already been slapped on the wrist once for the stimulus-related statement he made during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. The Associated Press fact-checked the speech and found his "assertions lacked context at best and at worst were flat-out wrong."

Checking Sarah Palin's Win-Loss Record...

...annnnd she's now 0 for Everything. Ree-jected by conservatives. Lost to an anti-war libertarian. Ooookay...

In a surprising result, Texas Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul (R) won the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, capturing 31% of the vote. Three-time CPAC straw poll winner Mitt Romney (in '06, '07, and '08) finished second with 22%, followed by Sarah Palin with 7%, and Tim Pawlenty with 6%

Palin Gets PWNed by Family Guy Actress

"My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes."

That's actress Andrea Fay Friedman responding to failed governor Sarah Palin's teeth-gnashing lashing out at a Down syndrome character Friedman played in Family Guy. Friedman has Down syndrome.

Krugman: Reconciliation Now

He cites California's downward spiral vis a vis Anthem Blue Cross who will raise their rates as much as 39%. He calls for reconciliation and (gasp!) regulation. Look, kids...no regulation got us in this hellhole. Something has to happen.

What would work? By all means, let’s ban discrimination on the basis of medical history — but we also have to keep healthy people in the risk pool, which means requiring that people purchase insurance. This, in turn, requires substantial aid to lower-income Americans so that they can afford coverage.

And if you put all of that together, you end up with something very much like the health reform bills that have already passed both the House and the Senate.

What about claims that these bills would force Americans into the clutches of greedy insurance companies? Well, the main answer is stronger regulation; but it would also be a very good idea, politically as well as substantively, for the Senate to use reconciliation to put the public option back into its bill.

But the main point is this: California’s death spiral is a reminder that our health care system is unraveling, and that inaction isn’t an option. Congress and the president need to make reform happen — now.

Whitey Made His Statement, Now He Has Still Got to Live With His Non-Career

Stephen Baldwin (the Baldwin-INO) at CPAC today:

"I'm gonna be real straight with you," Baldwin told ABC's Jonathan Karl. "I am not happy about the way things are. I pray for President Obama every single day. But tell you what. Homey made this bed, now he has got to lay in it."

This is Where the Internet Comes In Mighty Handy

Today, you're not going to get any news from cable networks. Just Tiger's apology. Gotta get your news from the web all day.

Cheney's a Jackass

Plain and simple. The man is a soulless, retched, vomitous pig. Hell's too good for this douchebag who made a surprise appearance at CPAC.

"I think 2010 will be a phenomenal year for the conservative cause and I think Barack Obama is a one-term president," Cheney said to a standing ovation.

I take back the "pig" comment. Pigs are more respectful than this bastard, who I think is a two-term clusterfuck. Breathtakingly idiotic.

Joe Biden couldn't say it. We did.

Waaaaahhhhh

John Boehner revealed at CPAC today that his feelings got hurt at a White House meeting when that mean old Barack Obama scolded him.

Poor kid. Being called out by the grownup and taking it like a four year old.

Really, John. You really should get on your knees and be thankful he didn't kick you in what's left of your balls.

They talk tough when they're in their side of the playground, but turn to protoplasmic goo when they're in front of the teacher. Pussies.

Schumer's In

I was thinking this was going to be a longshot, and for all intents and purposes it might still be.

But the public option and reconciliation movement in the senate has just landed a big fish.

Senator Chuck Schumer has just signed the letter calling on Harry Reid to hold a reconciliation vote on the public option.

Schumer just fired off an email to supporters in which he announced that he’s added his name to the letter, which was initially spearheaded by Senator Michael Bennet and three other Senators. He wrote:

I just added my name to their effort to pass a public option through the reconciliation process, and I wanted you to be the first to know.

This is far from a done deal, but it’s an opportunity to break through the obstructionism Republicans have pushed for the past year.

That brings the total number of Senators calling for this vote to 17. But Schumer’s signature is arguably far more important than many of the others.

That’s because Schumer has now become the first member of the Dem Senate leadership to join this effort. As the former head of the DSCC he played a major role in engineering the Dem takeover of the Senate.

This has gained traction over the last couple of days, and it just might be in no small part caused by the permission the Dems are getting from both the media and public. Look, poll after poll shows at least 3/4 of the country wants the public option. This is a no-brainer.

As much as no-brainers are beyond Democrats' line of cognizance, they're finally catching on. The rest of you - fall in line. If your rep is on board, let them know they done good. Reward them with an email pat on the back.

Terrorism

Call it what you want. Disgruntled citizen. Angry anti-governmentalist. Stressed out taxpayer.

It's terrorism. Flying a plane into an office building where hundreds of Americans are working with the intention of committing suicide and taking out federal employees is terrorism.

It's not "Islamofascism." It wasn't done by a Muslim. It was a pissed-off white guy furious with the government.

But it's still terrorism.

If he survived, do you think for one nanosecond the right wing would demand he not be read his rights and be tried in a military tribunal as an enemy combatant?

Please.

UPDATE: He had two terror targets. The building and his home where, it turns out, his wife and daughter were in at the time he set it on fire.

There's Something Happening Here...

It looks like the media's waking up and deciding to start telling...the truth.

I KNOW. It's really bizarre, but look at the proof. Yesterday, USA Today called for the killing of the filibuster in this terse editorial which includes:

The filibuster is a Faustian bargain that undermines the will of voters. The promise of change that swept Barack Obama into the presidency and padded Democratic majorities in the House and Senate last year has been largely derailed by the Senate's Republican minority, which has kept a broad array of legislation from coming to a vote.

More than outrageous, this legislative tyranny holds hostage our democracy to the whims of a political party that was on the losing end of an election cycle. The voters who gave Democrats control of Congress and the White House in the recent elections expect results, not inaction. They expect Congress to bring bills to a vote, not allow a mean-spirited minority to filibuster them to death.

If Democrats won't use the majority voters gave them to end this bad practice, then they deserve to suffer their wrath in November's elections.

"Legislative tyranny holds hostage our democracy..." That's today's GOP. We knew it. Our friends knew it. Now the nation knows it (we hope). Here's a recap of yesterday's filibuster news from Rachel Maddow.

Today, we get an assessment on how successful last year's much-derided stimulus program was. Apparently, it could not have worked any better than it has - and (shocker!) it HAS WORKED.

Imagine if, one year ago, Congress had passed a stimulus bill that really worked.

Let’s say this bill had started spending money within a matter of weeks and had rapidly helped the economy. Let’s also imagine it was large enough to have had a huge impact on jobs — employing something like two million people who would otherwise be unemployed right now.

If that had happened, what would the economy look like today?

Well, it would look almost exactly as it does now. Because those nice descriptions of the stimulus that I just gave aren’t hypothetical. They are descriptions of the actual bill.

Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.

Word is getting out: The GOP has been spoon-feeding its constituents and the media enough bullshit that it's being thrown up back in their faces. See? Journalism is possible in these days of the Fox News business model.

Biden Cracks Down on Cheney

Bravo.

FoxNews.com Gets Anti-Freeped!

LOVE THIS.