Certainly health care will effect the elections but not to the extent that some folks may think it will. And like I said, the tea party right winger folks are clearly energized for 2010. They're all voting and they'll be active with campaigning and donations... while I'm somewhat hopeful that they'll waste their efforts on some 3rd party candidates or by getting unelectable Hoffman type far right loonies nominated in the GOP primaries.. and/or that their extremism is off putting to moderates and actually backfires... at this point I think it's more likely that their energy will be a positive for the Republicans. I think this is the case whether health care reform goes forward or not. If health care form is passed then they'll get even more angry (irrationally angry of course, but... angry regardless.) If the Republicans and conservative Democrats manage to "kill the bill" then they may feel emboldened by that to push forward with their cause. On the other hand, the Democrats really really need health care reform to pass because I feel like if it does not it will greatly deflate the energy for the Democratic party on the left. Progressives need to see some actual results for all of their work. If the Dems can't get it done with the White House and 60% majorities in the Senate & House then what's the freakin' point of working to get Democrats elected? Health care reform is make or break for the Democratic party and the absolutely moronic "conservative Democrats" need to realize that, soon. Because they are going to really hurt themselves in the process of whoring for the insurance companies and trying to pander for right wing votes. It should be noted that even in Arkansas the public option is very popular with the voters. Blanche Lincoln needs to get her head checked. It is not good politics to pander to the right wing on this issue by doing so she will greatly depress Democratic support. Does she actually expect any Democratic support if she filibusters her own party? WTF? How could she even suggest such a thing. It's so dumb it hurts. Any Dem that filibusters their own party should be kicked out of the caucus immediately and beaten in a primary.That's just not OK. Vote against the bill if you wish, but by filibustering your own party you should lose party membership immediately. That's unacceptable and completely undemocratic. America voted for a 60% Democratic majority, that's what we should get.
Health care will pass. Period. It will probably not look anything like the 2k pages right now, and will be mostly a spending bill catering to special interests of various sorts, but at this point, whatever changes need to be made to get it passed will be made. It is just a question of when. The two trillion dollars in new taxes it will require will unquestionably be a campaign issue in 2010, but if enough time is allowed to pass, the voters wits can be dulled somewhat to the issue.
Nah, just one interest group - the Health Insurance Conglomerates. In fact, it already is by mandating insurance without regulating rates. Even Mia has pointed out in other threads that some regulation of the Insurance Industry is a necessary part of health care system reform. You'd think Congress could see this. (Actually, I have no doubt they do see it, but $$$$$$$$$$$$$ talks louder than Truth)
Of course they see it. The choose to rather take the money they receive from that industry to keep them in power. They choose rather to take from us our liberty and our money to keep themselves in power. Its about power and control, not helping those that need it most. While I would agree that some regulation is necessary in our society, I still believe that individuals and small business should be left alone so they can innovate, produce, and regenerate our economy. Slapping all of us with a TAX that is of NO benefit to us is counter productive and will only ad to the ever expanding in your face government we have under Pelosi's leadership.
This is from http://www.FiveThirtyEight.com (excellent site) I think that's a pretty good indication of what I'm talking about and how passing health care reform is so important for the Democratic party.
Of course its important for the democratic party. Its just the first step in a larger agenda that seeks to control every aspect of every American's lives. Its about power and dependence.
Perhaps the main difference between the Right and Left is who has control - Big Business (supported by Madison Avenue) or Big Govt. But, given that Big Business has largely bought out Big Govt., it all leads to the same place in the end.
There's a lot of truth to that. I think that people could change that though if they became involved enough in the political process. I think what allows corporations and the government to be so in bed together is that too many people aren't paying attention to what's going on. In other words: If people punished politicians for getting in bed with corporations, we would be much better off.
That would take an educated population, and given the wide variance in "truth" from the major sources of information, getting yourself "educated" proves to be a VERY difficult task. Speaking of spurious sources of information, here is one that is much more informative than the one you posted. It averages the various polls together to lessen the effects of biased polls and pollsters. You'll find the Republicans and Democrats are already at a statistical dead heat on the generic congressional ballot. You will also find your trusted Gallup poll puts the Republicans 5 points up on the same poll. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/generic_congressional_vote-901.html
So he claims, though curiously, he responds to my posts. I actually like almost everything Zibblu puts to print because I feel his posts have an effect on people which I desire.