Disqus - Latest Comments for elrod

Re: Same Sex Marriage Rights Defeated In Maine

elrod — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:08:29 -0000

It wouldn't pain me a bit if we decided to start taxing churches the way we tax other interest groups. It isn't like they stay out of politics or anything.

Re: New York 23rd

elrod — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:59:17 -0000

keelaay,
NY-23 is a deeply Republican district, but not a deeply conservative district. It voted for Obama. It's a bastion of old-school Yankee Republicanism. Dede Scozzfava would have represented the values of NY-23 just perfectly. But the national conservative movement couldn't take it, so they kneecapped one of their own and gave the Dems a vote for the public option.

Re: Owens Wins

elrod — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:56:26 -0000

See my post above yours. I think this is a victory for moderates.

Re: New York 23rd

elrod — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:24:22 -0000

Owens has almost certainly pulled it out. A near 4,000 vote lead for Owens with 76% in.

In a night when Republicans won Governors races, the one race riven with national implications and attention - particularly from Fox News - has gone surprisingly to the Democrat.

The real consequence? Civil war in the GOP.

Re: Political Cannibalism

T_Steel — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:20:10 -0000

"Does the Tea Party movement represent anything more than slogans?"

I share that concern even though I support the Tea Party Movement in spirit. Ross Perot, like him or not, did present policy solutions as an Independent. And your right Elrod, there is a sizable amount of wide-eyed paranoia involved in the movement as well. The key to a strong and viable third party is concrete solutions, charismatic candidates (charisma matters whether you like it or not), the ability to include rather than exclude, and or course money (yuck but oh well). I know long time Democrats and Republicans across all colors who are completely turned off on the Big 2. And a strong third party needs to be able to bring all those folks together. And right now, the current Tea Party Movement hasn't done that much. BUT I like the energy. And I think the more energized voters get in terms of looking at a third party as not crazy, then we will be on the path. But it will be up to that third party to not look crazy.

Re: Democrats Notice They’re Spending Us Into Oblivion

VeratheGun — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:43:34 -0000

Off the top of my head, here are a few more things we could do to reduce spending and pad the budget a little:

1.) Means test Social Security. Warren Buffet and the elderly very rich don't need it.
2.) Tax everyone's earnings fully for SS. The arbitrary $106,000 or whatever it is, makes no sense. (and the antitaxers can bite it--I would guarantee that my husband and I would pay much more tax--but we would gladly, if it helped get the country back on track)
3.) Encourage hospice and comfort care at end of life, rather than expensive tests and procedures that may lengthen life slightly, but add incredible costs to he rest of us.
4.) Get the hell out of Dodge--Afghanistan and Iraq.

That would be a start.

Re: Did Kos Con The Right ?

elrod — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:20:23 -0000

I doubt it. He backed Dede because she is more liberal than Owens. Period. Northern New York still has the vestige of a liberal Republican Party.

Re: Political Cannibalism

elrod — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:17:56 -0000

JeffDavis,
My apologies to you - I certainly don't mean to insult everybody in the Tea Party movement. But I do think its aims are ephemeral for the most part. The two party system, for good or for ill, is going to stay with us as long as we have a winner-takes-all Constitution. And while I recognize the frustration of the Tea Party movement - the concern over deficits is one I share - I just don't see the arch-libertarian response as any more sensible than, say, a move toward genuine socialism (which I also don't support). In other words, I hear lots of unrealistic calls from the far left and far right that accurately diagnose the problem but don't really offer workable solutions.

Take the Fed, for example. No doubt about it, the Federal Reserve should be audited. But the notion that abolishing it (a key demand among many in the Tea Party movement) would bring more financial stability is silly. Our economy was already too global and complicated in 1907 to handle the existing specie-based system. By now, calls for abolishing the Fed are about as sensible as disbanding the US army.

What turns me off about the Tea Party movement, frankly, is the paranoia. And, for the record, I despise the paranoia on the left as well - the extreme anti-neocon/Bush conspiracies were as outrageous as are the anti-Obama ones. I watched the town hall protests on C-SPAN and couldn't get past that wild-eyed look of paranoia from so many of the protesters. When offered evidence that their fears were unfounded, they just doubled down and screamed "Liar," without offering any evidence that they were being lied to.

Does the Tea Party movement represent anything more than slogans? Is it just a plan by ex-GOPers like Dick Armey to get back in power again and do exactly what they did when ruled Congress from 1995 to 2007? How serious are the Tea Partiers about cutting military spending?

I'm still trying to figure out how the goals of the movement are translatable to real policy solutions.

Re: Political Cannibalism

JeffersonDavis — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:03:39 -0000

I guess that means that the DNC practiced "Stalinism" first?
LOL

And, brother Elrod.... Don't be so quick to prejudge the Tea Party crowd. I'm one of them. I know you didn't mean "all" of them (I'm not the type that parses words like that); but I'd like to think that I don't fit the mold you described.

Most of the folks I met at the tea parties were regular "joes", who do not have a masters degree in economics or political science. They do, however, recognize a raw deal when they see one. They all had one thing in common - a dislike for Bush and Obama.

The solution? A disolution of parties in general. The two party system and the lack of Constitutional rule are the root of all tea party mindsets (IMHO). These people (and myself) feel totally unrepresented by any party. The election of a President that does not come from "the system" in DC would satisfy most of them, even if he/she failed miserably. It would "shut them up" for a while.

Re: Democrats Notice They’re Spending Us Into Oblivion

elrod — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:46:33 -0000

Actually, the real problem is long-term deficits, not short-term spending this year. I support the stimulus package because I believe our economy needs it, and we will be better off in the long run for it. But there are other big ticket, long term items that will hurt us if we don't get it under control: Social Security, Medicare and Defense are the three biggest.

1) On Medicare, we are planning major cuts (particularly to Medicare Advantage) and if the larger health care bill bends the total cost curve then it will help. Still, health care is going to continue to eat up an alarming slice of the American budget as we live longer, eat unhealthy food, and use fancy technology.

2) On Social Security the answer is pretty easy if a commission gives the political cover to do it: Raise the retirement age to 67, and raise the cap from roughly 90k to 130k. That will take care of a HUGE chunk of our deficit and our long term debt.

3) On defense, continue cutting wasteful weapons systems and move away from neocon imperial fantasies.

Eventually we will need to raise income taxes, though probably not by a lot. We've seen over the last few decades that marginal increases and decreases in income tax rates have virtually no effect on the national economy - but a large effect on the government's balance sheet.

Make the bold choices on long-term spending and revenue and we will be alright.

Re: Political Cannibalism

elrod — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:38:04 -0000

Actually, Tyrone, a similar movement happened in the Democratic Party just a couple years ago. Remember Howard Dean? Remember Kos's "Crashing the Gate"? Conservatives aren't mirroring "Stalinists" in purging moderates from the party. They're mirroring progressives, who kicked out the DLCers and the Lieberdems from the Democratic Party - all the while running comfortably Blue Dogish candidates in conservative districts (where anti-Bush revulsion pushed them over the top).

Don't get me wrong - I think the tea party crowd is utterly devoid of political sense, common sense, policy sense or any historical sense. In a word, I think they are idiots. But I don't think their push to run right-wing conservatives in primaries - or as third parties - is a bad idea. In fact, if they really do think big government is a disaster then they SHOULD be purging the GOP, considering that when the Republicans held total power they expanded the government. At least it makes the tea partiers consistent.

The bigger problem the tea partiers run into is that their agenda is based on a fictional reading of the economy and the populace. People are indeed "fed up." And they don't like the bailouts, or the deficits. But other than doctrinaire Hayek or Rand or Mises ideas - which no more than a tiny fraction of Americans subscribe to - what exactly do the tea partiers propose as a solution?

Re: California High School Student, 15 Years Old, Gang-Raped for Two Hours While a Crowd Watched

elrod — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:35:50 -0000

There's a very high-profile gang rape-murder trial going on right here in Knoxville. Sadly, the Ku Klux Klan decided to make it a racial incident and held a "vigil" - the victims were white and the five assailants were black - when there was absolutely no evidence of racial intent. In fact, they were all high on crack cocaine and on a general crime spree.

DLS,
These kinds of incidents don't generally happen in bad neighborhoods in America - not to mention not-bad neighborhoods. The Africa example is apt - but that's amidst an atrocious guerrilla war. It happened in Bosnia and in countless other wars before that (I've heard horrid tales of Sudeten German women gang-raped by Czech and Soviet soldiers while being expelled from Czechoslovakia after WWII).

Re: Reid Makes It Official: It’s the Opt-Out Public Option

kathykattenburg — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:46:54 -0000

Lieberman won't vote for it. Too much insurance money weighing down his campaign coffers.

Re: Reid Makes It Official: It’s the Opt-Out Public Option

elrod — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:15:44 -0000

Baucus is solidly behind this bill. And it seems Conrad is in too. Nelson, Landrieu, Lincoln and Lieberman are the question marks.

Re: Democrats Increasing Optimistic About Public Option In Health Care Reform

elrod — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:33:05 -0000

United numbers have suffered because private businesses have cut health benefits as a cost-cutting measure. I never found the notion that insurers were raking in the dough these days to be very persuasive. But I'm not sure how relevant it is.

Re: Health Care Reform Passes Senate Panel With One GOP Vote

elrod — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:22:50 -0000

jchem,
There is a very real chance that Collins and Voinovich will support the bill on the floor. Snowe was the only moderate Republican on the Finance Committee, which is why she was at the center of everything.

And if there are 63 votes then it's hard for anybody to say this was "rammed through."

Re: Much Ado Over Almost Nothing

elrod — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:14:37 -0000

This farther along than we have been in 97 years of seeking universal health coverage.

Re: Health Reform Snowe Job

elrod — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:12:55 -0000

94% is pretty close to universal. Consider that according to the CBO at least a third of the remaining uncovered people will be illegal immigrants. That would mean roughly 96-97% of American legal residents would have health insurance. I don't know how you could get higher than that unless the mandate was very stringent.

Re: Grassley Seemingly Predicts Snowe No Vote On Health Care Reform

elrod — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:43:35 -0000

Looks like he's wrong. Snowe is voting Aye.

Re: Revenge of the Girthers

roro80 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:07:42 -0000

Ah yes, let's do go back to the social norms of the 19th century. Or, you know, not.

Re: Revenge of the Girthers

elrod — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:28:57 -0000

Jeebus - if folks around here read the political insults hurled around in the 19th century they'd quake with embarrassment. Yes, weightiness was a legit topic for mockery.

Re: Double Standard on Congressman Grayson ?

elrod — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:08:27 -0000

I'm not saying it's OK, Austin. I'm just saying it's more akin to GOP overheated rhetoric on health care than it is to Joe Wilson's outburst. I suspect that Republicans figured that out too, which is why they yanked their censure resolution.

I agree with CStanley. Both sides should cut out this nonsense.

Re: Double Standard on Congressman Grayson ?

AustinRoth — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:09:27 -0000

Elrod -

I thought that using 'they did it too' wasn't a valid defense? That is what has been thrown in my face so many times I cannot count

Oh, the hypocrisy!

Re: Newsmax Calls for a Military Coup in U.S.

CStanley — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:38:22 -0000

Very well said, elrod.

Re: Double Standard on Congressman Grayson ?

elrod — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:01:44 -0000

That's because what Alan Grayson said is standard boilerplate rhetoric from Republicans. How many Republicans have said that the Democratic plans will literally kill people? Wasn't that the whole point of the death panel debate that even Senator Grassley thought was sensible? What Grayson said was not like shouting down the President. It was just standard over-the-top fearmongering on health care, which makes it unremarkable.

Here are some examples of Republicans making similar gestures about health care recently:

Take Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), who said in July: "Last week, Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America's seniors: drop dead."

Or Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), a doctor, who reviewed the public health insurance option in July and diagnosed that it is "gonna kill people."

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), not one to pull punches, suggested on the House floor that Congress "make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government."

July was a busy time for House floor death sentences. Also that month, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), noted: "One in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine...I would hate to think that among five women, one of 'em is gonna die because we go to socialized care."

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) had a similar assessment. "They're going to save money by rationing care, getting you in a long line. Places like Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe. People die when they're in line," he said on the House floor in July.