Here they are, the Infamous Five (really GOPers in sheep's clothing):
Sen. Max
Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.):
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.):
Sen. Kent Clueless Conrad (D-N.D.):
and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.):
As HuffPo reports, there were predictable eruptions of idiocy during SFC's deliberations:
Republican senators argued that the public option would bankrupt the country and lead to a single-payer system.* "Government is not a competitor. Government is a predator," said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
Yet the GOP also defended Medicare, which Democrats took pains to point out was a government-run plan.
Sen. Rockefeller is not daunted by today's defeat. As he told HuffPo, "The public option is on the march," a view echoed by Robert Reich in his recent blog post.So let's do our civic duty and deluge our representatives' offices, again, with e-mails, phone calls and faxes, to make sure that PO stays alive and we won't have to resort to a single prayer option for our health care needs.
*And it's a bad thing...?
Cross-posted at The Middle of Nowhere.
Cheers to Sen Harper.
ReplyDeleteThank you Elizabeth for posting this. We all need to fire off those emails, make those phone calls and let our elected representatives know we are holding them responsible!
ReplyDeleteThe Mad As Hell Docs will be in DC tomorrow holding a rally. They have been care-a-vanning across the country, largely ignored by the national media. Check them out at https://madashelldoctorstour.com/
Shame on them all.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before & I repeat - EVERYONE in Washington & their families should be forced to live without their cushy healthcare plans until they fix this the BEST & FAIREST way possible for EVERYONE.
Shame on them all - the democrats especially. How dare they.
Rarely does a cephalopod utter a profane word. A deed would have to be so egregious, as Woody Allen once quipped, it would turn even Mother Theresa into a murderer. Today was one of those days.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a letter of protest to Senator Bill Nelson earlier this evening. It was not pretty. It was certainly not publishable. The waters of the Swash Zone are dangerous, I told him, too dangerous for a turncoat democrat who puts the insurance lobby before people.
So if you find an FBI boat cruising our waters, you’ll know why. Lets just say … I am really, really pissed!
By the way, Elizabeth, may Octopus have your permission to twist their faces off?
ReplyDeleteThis is one committee. By the time this process works through all thirteen dimensions, we're only going to need fifty senators.
ReplyDeleteOn days like this, I find myself thinking that the Democratic Party hasn’t even come close to shaking the uncertainty and weakness that have beset them since 1980. When they win, many of them in Congress act like they should wake up and apologize rather than forging ahead with their agenda.
ReplyDeleteThis is so much the case that the Republicans are able to spew the same old nonsense about “choice” that they used decades ago. They don’t even need to change their rhetoric. I mean, what’s the point of having nearly infinite “choices” when you’re confronted with a serious, urgent medical problem? What you need in that situation is reliable access to a competent physician and appropriate medical technology somewhere near where you live. And of course it’s foolish to suppose that, say, Medicare patients have no control over which doctors provide their care. The whole “choice” argument is an absurd fabrication, yet the Republicans evidently feel emboldened to keep deploying it.
Still, I was glad to see at least Senator Rockefeller and several others sticking up for a more robust bill. They, at least, know what they’re about. And in the end, I think Matt is probably right that Democrats will end up getting around the 60-vote cloture stranglehold by procedural means. We will probably get some kind of reforms this time, and they may be much more than negligible. So on the whole I remain optimistic and will keep sending those letters to my congresspeople.
Bloggingdino: "... keep sending those letters ..."
ReplyDeleteYou might reconsider sending the kinds of letters I sent tonight. "Ink the aquarium" doesn't even come close to what I sent tonight. Yup, that bad!
Is there anyone here who can post bail for me?
By the way, Elizabeth, may Octopus have your permission to twist their faces off?
ReplyDeleteOh, absolutely, Octo. Twist, poke, pinch, prod, unleash any imaginable (and not) torment upon these... individuals. Call in a brigade of electric eels to shock them back to reality which most of us inhabit. Doubt that it'll help, though. It's a different universe altogether.
But as fiery as your outrage must have been, I don't think your letter to Sen. Nelson was worse than The Onion's take on Max Baucus (and that was in 2001!)
How dare they! is exactly my sentiment, Squid. Five TV-anchor-type politicos from some piddly states (no offense to anyone inhabiting those who is not a politician) making life-and-death decisions for all of us. Actually, the life part is for the insurance mafia, and death for the rest of us. They are the real death panel, to think of it.
P.S. Octo, how high is your bail? We could start a collection, yanno.
Octo,
ReplyDeleteI don't think they would understand my angry letters -- a pre-syllabic, pre-historic roar could be interpreted any number of ways.
Elizabeth: "Oh, absolutely, Octo. Twist, poke, pinch, prod, unleash any imaginable (and not) torment upon these... individuals."
ReplyDeleteYou said I could do it, so I did. Three out of five ... how's that?
That's very impressive, Octo. I had no idea octopi had such powers! But why stop at three?
ReplyDeleteAnd, Dino, for a creature that expresses itself in pre-syllabic, pre-historic roar, you are doing very well here (LOL).
Five completely mediocre Democratic Senators (but wait, there are more) working hard for their core constituents to ensure the incumbents re-election enabling them to continue to do nothing at all save continue to serve their big money interests in business and defense.
ReplyDeleteOf course actually accomplishing something for the common good in congress requires courage and commitment.
Both are in extremely short supply these days. Still, these clowns are the worst of the worst. I expect this sort of thing from the GOP. They can't help themselves.
But this sort of nonsense from alleged 'Democrats' really is a bit much.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteWhy thanks -- I assure you and all that it can take HOURS for my walnut-brain to work up even the simplest expression. Even a "you" or an "it" takes all the RAM an allosaurid central computer has for quite some time....
Bloggingdino is being modest again. I see we need to work on that Id.
ReplyDeleteWell, Elizabeth, the deed is done. This came to me in a dream:
Senators Baucus, Nelson, Lincoln, Conrad, and Carper ALL went to a dentist at the same time for some high speed drilling. Suddenly, the dentist looks at his watch and says: "Oh, my! I forgot! They're shutting off the electricity at 3:00 PM. What time is it?"
Suddenly, buzz, zirrp, sputter, sputter. The lights go out and the drill stops ... leaving our hapless senators with twisted faces. See, I'm innocent!
Bloggingdino is being modest again. I see we need to work on that Id.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I know, right? Cuz when he says, "Even a "you" or an "it" takes all the RAM an allosaurid central computer has for quite some time...," then one cannot begin to imagine how exhausting and painful it must be to write such eloquent comments every day. Poor dinos, so maladjusted to these technologically advanced times.
This came to me in a dream
A dream, you say? Hm... Well, OK, if that's your story and you stick with it.
BTW, I had no idea octopi are such twisting creatures. I'm learning a lot. :)