Disqus - Latest Comments for Yoyogibear

Re: Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Yoyogibear — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:17:32 -0000

I really think that leading liberal blogs should start a call-in campaign, maybe in coordination with other groups that are pushing for Universal Health Care (with a public option at the very least, if not outright single payer).

I feel like the blogosphere is dropping the ball on this when we should be hammering Congress, especially the Dems, for attempting to coddle the health care industry.

The US gov't has willingly sacrificed segments of the American economy to achieve policy objects in the past (NAFTA, US Manufacturing, for example). I don't know why the healthcare industry is treated like such a sacred cow.

Re: Health insurers, hospitals already backing away from commitment to cutting costs

Yoyogibear — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:01:57 -0000

What a surprise.

Who could have imaged that the very people who make more money by letting people die would lie to us?

I'm shocked.

I hope everyone is calling thier reps (and the lame-ass Dems who stand in the way of genuine reform) constantly. If you have never called, you're not trying hard enough.

Re: Monday Morning Open Thread

Yoyogibear — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:55:24 -0000

The entire debate is ridiculous from the get-go. If Scarborough will let me waterboard him (and I don't know why he wouldn't - he seems to think it's harmless), I could make him tell me Osama bin Laden is hiding in his basement.

That should also be obvious to anyone with two firing brain cells, which I think Scarborough has since he manages to put words together in a semi-conherent fashion.

Re: Monday Morning Open Thread

Yoyogibear — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:26:13 -0000

The more I read aout the health care 'breakthru' the more skeptical I become.

It's worth remembering that the health insurance industry will literally let it's patience die just to book a bigger profit.

Big Pharma will happily charge Americans more than they charge other countries for the same medication, simply because they can.

It's the height of naivete to believe these industries will not continue to put their profits first; it's in their DNA. They're supposed to maximize profits, that's what corporations do.

Where's a good populist leader when you need one? I think we're about to get screwed. I'm calling Congress today and I hope everyone else does to push back.

Re: Health care industry locates $2 trillion in savings

Yoyogibear — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:58:59 -0000

I can't believe people are actually talking about the prospect of not having a public plan as being an option.

The entire point of health care reform is to provide AT LEAST a public option (if not full-on single payer) because that's the easiest way to drive down the insane costs of the American system, thru very large volume purchasing, etc.

I think this story stinks. How quickly we're being pulled to the right, all to defend industries (big pharma, insurance) when we have happily sacrificed other industries in the past to other policy goals (manufacturing and NAFTA being an obvious example).

Why are big Pharma and the insurance industries being treated like sacred cows?

Finally, can I be unbanned already? My comments never appear and i think it's because I must have offended the moderator before.

Re: BBC Panorama: Allen Standord was a DEA informant

Yoyogibear — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:39:21 -0000

Reason #1001 that the 'drug war' should be scrapped completely. It literally corrupts everything it touches.

Re: Do you haggle?

Yoyogibear — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:46:44 -0000

I have started doing it recently, as well. And it seems to work quite well. Even at malls in the US, you can ask them if there are any discounts, for example, and often times they'll give you one (or give you a coupon for one).

Re: Roubini: "Cramer is a buffoon"

Yoyogibear — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:56:17 -0000

CNBC is pretty ridiculous.

Have you ever watched FOX Business news though? If you can believe it, they're even worse. Thank God nobody watches their rubbish.

Re: Apparently you have Rick Warren scared. He's lying again.

Yoyogibear — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:51:37 -0000

I guess Larry King didn't play the quote/video back to him, thereby doing something journal-isty for a change? King is so useless. Why anyone would bother wasting their time watching non-news being made on Larry King is beyond me. He's the opposite of a hard-nosed interviewer, whatever you'd call that.

And Warren is just a more successful-than-average religious entrepreneur.

As Triumph the Insult Comic Dog might say, 'I poop on both of them.'

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:04:45 -0000

So John,

Are you ever going to address your critics in the comments? The responses appear to overwhelmingly disagree with you.

Maybe you don't see that Americans in general think this is a stupid policy because you live in the DC bubble?

I hope you'll respond to your many critics.

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:55:05 -0000

Sure... in the meanwhile, how many more people will be ensnared in this stupid, costly war? How many more Mexican people will die in drug cartel violence?

Stop being timid. The American people are ready for this conversation. 9 out of 10 'pro'-marijuana ballot initiatives passed last year, including one in 'red' Arkansas.

It's way past time we deal with this issue like adults, which Obama, ironcially, failed to do. Instead he acted like Beavis about it, as did John, who unleashed a torrent of ignorance.

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:49:23 -0000

Maybe I'm wrong, but you seem to be imbuing Obama with some long-term plan on this issue. I'm more inclined to give Hillary credit for acknowledging that American drug demand drives the violence in Mexico.

Obama treated this like it was a joke without even bothering to explain his position (presumably because he knows it's nonsense).

I'll believe he has a master plan when he steps out of the way and acknowledges the logic of repeal.

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:40:04 -0000

Great comment. I wonder if John reads these? You know how Krugman said a couple of weeks ago that the Republicans were the party of Beavis and Butthead because they laugh at everything they don't understand (or would prefer not to understand)?

As John has shown us with this post, he can be one of them. I was surprised to see his level of ignorance. He acted like he'd never heard of full legalization before. Hello, John? On March 5, there was a cover story on the Economist magazine cover calling for the legalization of ALL drugs.

Supporters of this issue span the political spectrum and, given the violence and militarization in Mexico that are a direct result of drug prohibition (marijuana provides 60% of the ever-more-powerful cartels' profit), the topic is only going to come up more and more.

It's time to talk about it like adults.

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:35:16 -0000

So you're A-OK with continued spending, incarcerations, and Constitutional violations? And you would rather cram money into the pockets of violent drug cartels thru US inaction on this issue?

By your own admission, you agree it should be legalized, but because of optics, you'd just as soon maintain the status quo.

Great American you are.

Hey... Gay Marriage is too controversial. Let's wait 10 more years before addressing it. Same for gays in the military. and closing Gitmo, etc.

I don't know about you, but I get pretty upset when our 'leaders' in Washington consistently make the wrong choices that fly in the face of evidence. And yet, here are people like yourself doing it.

Whatever happened to 'we are the change that we've been seeking'? I guess we get the leaders we deserve.

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:30:12 -0000

No there wont'. People will always find a way to put off a serious discussion until there is pressure from below.

In case you haven't noticed, our 'leaders' in Washington are not leaders at all. Ever watch the Iraq war funding votes? Everyone (at least most Democrats) know the money is wasted and the war is counterproductive. But they keep funding it because they are afraid of being called 'weak' or 'un-serious'.

The only difference with this issue is that we can actually save - and make - money off of legalization.

Too bad we don't have any leaders with balls. Too bad John Aravosis has decided to give this issue the Beavis and Butthead treatment, just like Obama did.

Re: Obama and marijuana

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:24:36 -0000

Well, John, there were also dozens of nearly identical questions about outsourcing jobs, loss of manufacturing jobs, student loans, etc.

I'm not saying that legalization (yes, full legalization, not just medical marijuana) will save the economy, but it's patently obvious to anyone that we waste BILLIONS of dollars every year fighting a failed war against marijuana, a substance that could easily be taxed & regulated and actually help fill gov't coffers if we just treated it like alcohol.

We could also deal a severe blow to Mexican drug cartels (60%+ of their income comes from marijuana).

Instead of failing to provide any justification whatsoever for his statement that he was against legalization, Obama brushed it off giving it the Beavis and Butthead treatment that Krugman just recently accused the Republicans of exercising.

I'm sure the 6,000 Mexicans who have died in drug cartel fighting in the past 18 months wouldn't have been amused. Especially since, as Hillary Clinton said yesterday, the instability in Mexico is a direct result of American demand for drugs (and the prohibition of them, which makes prices artificially high and means that any business disputes would by nature have to be solved outside of the criminal justice system because their product is illegal).

But hey, it's all a big joke, right? I mean, the President has admitted smoking (and using cocaine no less) and got away with it, but he's happy to keep penalizing those who get caught.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

He could have just said that he thinks it's an issue that states should deal with. Don't you think?

This is hardly a radical notion. The 3/5/09 Economist had a front page article calling for the legalization of ALL drugs and saying legalization was the least worse solution out there. After 40 years of failiure in the drug war, hundreds of thousands in prison, thousands dead, and an erosion of Constitutional freedoms, I agree.

Your argument is weak, also. But hey, you're in DC where all of the 'serious' people know not to discuss these types of issues.

Re: Bloomberg: Obama to blame for collapse of sun in 5 billion years

Yoyogibear — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:09:05 -0000

Just saw your reply.

If I may address your 2nd paragraph... Bush was in office for 8 months before 9/11. Why didn't he avenge the Cole bombing during that time? It seems to me that he had plenty of time to get after bin Laden after he became President and before 9/11.

Re: Orszag: There they go again

Yoyogibear — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:33:38 -0000

Call them 'Republican'ts.

When AIG went under, this already became an economic 9/11. Certainly the AIG collapse alone cost America more financially than 9/11.

Re: Bloomberg: Obama to blame for collapse of sun in 5 billion years

Yoyogibear — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 03:39:12 -0000

I think it's also worth pointing out for those who would blame this on Obama already that the market started really tanking in July (?) of '08. That means Bush had 6 months to right the ship and he failed miserably. It actually got worse and didn't even stabilize under Bush.

Re: One out of three working Americans uninsured

Yoyogibear — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:32:18 -0000

Japan also has a mandatory, standard Universal Health Care package and private supplemental insurance for those who would like additional coverage. It's a great system; I use it both as a user and business person. It's easy-to-use, transparent and affordable. Many (most?) hospitals & clinics are also private.

Re: The CPAC extremism continues with Joe the Plumber who thinks some elected officials should be shot

Yoyogibear — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:46:23 -0000

JTP is basically a dumb Glenn Beck, which is really saying something.

He just wings it out there. He likes blowing down strawmen and sounds like he'd be right at home in North Korea.

Would someone kindly TP his house massively while he's in DC? F*cking douchebag.

Re: Massive crowd of 11 people show up for Joe-the-Plumber book signing last night in DC

Yoyogibear — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:35:24 -0000

Yes, you should have gone! People in DC don't seem to realize what rich comic fodder surrounds them. If I was you, I'd be storming the CPAC conference, as well.

JTP is a PR creation that no one cares about - not even Republicans. In the article it sounds like most of the 11 people just stopped by out of curiosity, not because they had an overriding interest in his 'views' of the world.

What a low-IQ moron.

Re: MSNBC Looking To Add New 10pmET Show - mediabistro.com: TVNewser

Yoyogibear — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:56:21 -0000

I chose Sam Seder because he's smart & hilarious, but Cenk is also good.

Just think... if they actually put another liberal on air, their nighttime news programs will equal (!) the amount of time they give to the 2nd laziest teevee host on cable news, Joe Scarborough (Glenn beck is the laziest). MSNbC, with their 3 'liberal' news program hosts, will have a monopoly on actual liberal programs while other cable news outlets attempt to copy each other by continuing to focus on the 'conservative' side of the equation.

Glad to see that someone at MSNbC is trying to think outside of the box.

Re: China’s Olympic stadium sits empty

Yoyogibear — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:53:29 -0000

Why don't they design the stadiums so that the facilities can be used by the public after the Olympics? I would love to go for a jog on an Olympic track, for example. I'd happily pay a couple of bucks to swim in the Olympic-sized pool, etc., also.

That doesn't seem to complicated to me.... Olympics are vanity projects though. They don't want to make the facilities open to the riff-raff.

Re: Rick Santorum is upset that Obama and McCain will join forces

Yoyogibear — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:30:18 -0000

Obama should make McCain a point man in reducing defense 'pork barrel' spending. McCain campaigned on his opposition to pork and God knows the defense budget is larded with it. I'd be very interested in seeing McCain take his axe to the DoD budget.

Re Santorum: Who cares what he says anymore? What does he have against cheap, imported medicine, anyway? If anyone ever needed to know just what a corporate whore he was (and apparently still is), his opposition to importing cheap drugs from Canada ought to do the job.