It's been called an election without substance --- all smoke and mirrors. Actually, we think this election was pretty clear on the big issues. The exit polling questions/answers told us where the country stands on women's rights, immigration reform, war, a balanced approach to deficit reduction, the basic civil right to vote, and at the same time the exit polls demonstrated huge passion amon ...
TWEET: Michael Linden@MichaelSLinden "John King says the country is a center right country - on the same night Obama is reelected and Dems win seats in both chambers." I saw this tweet last night, and it reminded me that common wisdom DOES have it that America is a center right country, and that IS why we started this blog two years ago during the healthcare debate. We named our blog "Cent ...
Daniel McCarthy at The American Conservative magazine wrote an interesting article this week that goes a long way in ringing the alarm bell for today's GOP. He asks the question, "Is the GOP Still a National Party?" And, pretty much answers, "No." His take is that the GOP has become a regional party, beholden to their right-wing base and less and less able to run a national campaign that appe ...
Check out Maddow Blog this morning for a great message. We reformatted parts of it here. THIS IS A PRESIDENT WHO PASSED: • A health-care reform breakthrough 100 years in the making • He also imposed the most sweeping Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression • Obama also rescued the economy from collapse • Rescued the American auto industry • Ended the war in Iraq ...
I think we all know bullies when we see them ... and, the only way to deal with bullies is to NOT give in to their demands! It's pretty clear to me that the GOP has held our country hostage for three years --- hostage to their demands that they get their own way on everything. And it's clear that they announced, with their actions, that they will not help govern unless they can be in charge ...
You know the idea that private enterprise will do a MORE efficient job of running Social Security and Medicare? Well, if you really-really like the idea of putting your Social Security money in the hands of the Big Banks (witness the older Americans who have lost their retirement money on Wall Street); and you really-really like the idea of having your Medicare just handed over to the Big In ...
So, can we talk about gun safety, now? We keep hearing that it isn’t the right time to talk about gun legislation in the middle of a gun tragedy. But, then, of course … the news moves on and the short attention span of the American people leads our nation to just keep kicking the can down the road. So, I propose that we start to talk about gun safety legislation NOW, following two back-to-back ...
The time to get serious about rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure is NOW! It's not just that bridges are falling down, roads are in disrepair, and updates for our railway systems are needed ... it's also that our water pipes delivering fresh water to our homes are disintegrating, and our electrical grid --- it's a disaster! With changes in the climate definitely upon us, upgrading our ...
The formal name for Obamacare is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In order to form an opinion on this new healthcare law, it's important to take a look at just what Obamacare DOES and DOES NOT do. Basically, the PPACA made new health care rules, with the purpose of making health care more available and affordable for everyone. Despite the noises that critics of the PPACA are mak ...
Heard this explanation of the health care mandate yesterday and thought I’d share it. Consider the Gas Tax. Because we need decent roads to drive our cars on, we are all asked to pay a tax on the gas we consume, which is then used to maintain our national road system. The mandate to purchase health care insurance, and to pay a penalty to the IRS if you don’t, can be looked at in the same way. ...