Thoughtful Article for the Left Leaning...

It's a hard time to be on the Left.

A moderate democratic socialist, such as myself is called a fascist, commie and worse - nothing could be more hurtful to someone leaning towards social responsibility and the desire for a better future for everyone's children.

The historical and political ignorance shown by such statements is cause alone for despair.

There are no winners (just whinners and counter-whinners) in this latest crisis. Nothing will change, no one (except the obsencely rich - and truly WTF are they winning for their children??)

So, for those who think people are basically good,I give you:

Reasons to Lose Sleep over the Shutdown and Obamacare
by Scott McLarty

www.commondreams.org...

Sure, the government shutdown and Republican demands regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are reprehensible, but let's not delude ourselves about the ACA itself.

It's needlessly complex. It preserves medical treatment as a commodity rather than a right: low-cost policies will provide low-quality insurance. It imposes a direct public subsidy to feed the insurance industry, which helped write the legislation. It isn't universal.

Obamacare is a Republican idea. It's based on the individual mandate, an idea introduced by the conservative pro-business Heritage Foundation, promoted by Republican leaders, and enacted in Massachusetts by Gov. Romney. Republicans only began to detest it circa 2009 when President Obama and Democrats made it part of Obamacare.

By sacrificing universal health care, the new law accommodated Republican disregard for the poor in the 26 states that have rejected Medicaid expansion. The ACA isn't a victory for the millions, maybe tens of millions of Americans for whom insurance and medical costs will remain beyond reach or require a hefty percentage of their income. Or for those who will still face financial ruin over a medical emergency. (For a more detailed critique, see Scott Tucker's interview with Dr. Don McCanne of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Let's imagine another scenario. A bloc of Democratic Congress members is willing to shut down government rather than vote yea on a budget with funding for another war like the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Good or bad?

What if several Congress members had risked a shutdown in 2009 over the declaration that Medicare For All was "off the table" and that pro-single-payer physicians and consumer advocates would be banned from the health-care reform panels?

I'm truly tired, so tired of "the lesser evil".

Happy Sunday, y'all....

Sure, the government shutdown and Republican demands regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are reprehensible, but let's not delude ourselves about the ACA itself.

Thanks for sharing this 'unbiased' article with us. I don't care for the progressive agenda being shoved down our throat from Republicans or Democrats. Doesn't matter who wins we lose.

reply to post by FyreByrd


When a moderate GOP'er is called a communist you know the country's in trouble.

The only thing I would suggest is either get really, really politically active or play by the Tea Party rules and start dominating discussions within the Democratic party. Go to meetings, participate in the primaries, write your papers editor, call your local media outlets.

I'm serious, the Tea Party has written it up for us and everything: Defunding Obamacare
Toolkit for Activists

We leftists have similiar places like moveon.org and PCCC, but we don't have the astro-turf funding that the Tea Party has.

reply to post by links234


How did that itsy bitsy Tea Party get so damn powerful lately ?

All we've been hearing is how washed up they are.

I thought they were declared all but dead not to long ago ?

Hmmm.

Big resurgence I guess.

How many TEA-hadists are there anyway ?

xuenchen
How did that itsy bitsy Tea Party get so damn powerful lately ?

Well...for one they had billionaire funding for Super PAC's after the Citizens United case. That funding allowed them to hire major PR firms. FreedomWorks is probably the biggest facilitator of the Tea Party movement. They pay the AM radio talking heads to advertise for them.

They used the already existing fanbase of the AM radio world to expand their conservative agenda. Now, mind you, this all happened after Obama was elected. I'm not exactly sure what about Obama they disliked so much but it really, really riled that conservative base up.

Those PR firms I mentioned earlier were also hired alongside political firms to suggest actions to be taken to win in 2010. Remember the summer townhalls filled with yelling conservatives all repeating the same talking points? It went further to being very, very active in the primaries in 2010 and 2012.

All of it funded and planned by two organizations: FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots. It was a superb display of central planning.

links234

xuenchen
How did that itsy bitsy Tea Party get so damn powerful lately ?

Well...for one they had billionaire funding for Super PAC's after the Citizens United case. That funding allowed them to hire major PR firms. FreedomWorks is probably the biggest facilitator of the Tea Party movement. They pay the AM radio talking heads to advertise for them.

They used the already existing fanbase of the AM radio world to expand their conservative agenda. Now, mind you, this all happened after Obama was elected. I'm not exactly sure what about Obama they disliked so much but it really, really riled that conservative base up.

Those PR firms I mentioned earlier were also hired alongside political firms to suggest actions to be taken to win in 2010. Remember the summer townhalls filled with yelling conservatives all repeating the same talking points? It went further to being very, very active in the primaries in 2010 and 2012.

All of it funded and planned by two organizations: FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots. It was a superb display of central planning.

You obviously don't know anything about the Tea Party.

I'm a Tea Party person and can tell you that there is no central organization. What our little group does in my State has no effect on groups in the next state over. There are no candidates we all get together and decide to push for, there is no newsletter sent around monthly....the only thing that ties Tea Party people together is fiscal conservatism, beyond that the issues are all over the board.

Maybe you can contact those super-pac groups and tell them to send us some money also because we haven't seen any of it.

reply to post by links234


Tea Party billionaire funding ?

Super-PACs ?

Hmmm.

Got any facts and figures ?

Maybe some comparisons to other parties too ?

reply to post by FyreByrd


Thread is not about the Tea Party. Not everything is about the Tea Party.

xuenchen
reply to post by links234

 

Tea Party billionaire funding ?

Super-PACs ?

Hmmm.

Got any facts and figures ?

Maybe some comparisons to other parties too ?

I think maybe the fact that TEA = Taxed Enough Already

TEA would imply that these people work for a living and make money without leaching off the government. This would enable them to be able to donate money in effort to keep their money.

So it boils down to a successful party that works vs entitled leaches.

I dont know why but when it comes to government I cant say what I really want to say. I don't know if its because I have better manners or because its just bad enough that I don't think it needs to be said.

I can say this. Folks probably need to go raise the debt limit when the treasury says it needs to be raised. I will leave it at that.