Daily Archives: September 30, 2009
Is Olympia Snowe thinking about her future?
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Jay and Al… Two of my Favorite Senators vs. Greedy Insurers
Listening to Jay Rockefeller (who is one of my 2 Senators here in WV) on Keith Olbermann a few minutes ago, he talked about an Amendment he is going to propose at the Finance Committee markup, probably tonite (they are working late). He said it was adapted from an Amendment that Al Franken had proposed at his own committee ( Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee) when they put their Health Care proposal together.
Al and Jay have tightened it… it helps stand up to the Insurance Companies walking away with 90% of the funds that the new bill will create, funds which, in their greed, has caused the Insurers and their lobbyists to keep Baucus away from the Public Option and has made any number of Senators their puppets.
Good for Al and Jay… let’s see if Baucus lets this Amendment get in (you know the Repiglicans, led by Chuck the Schmuck Grassley, will vote against it.)
Florida Representative Alan Grayson gets my thumbs…both up.
It was all the complaints coming from Repiglicans (who are the masters of attack speeches and evil media blitzes) that drew me to this video on You Tube. Florida Democrat Grayson summed up the Repiglican Health Plan to a “T”:
Broadway in 1977
Here’s a kick. Would you like to hear radio interviews of Broadway stars, writers and producers that were taped in 1977?
I originally went to this site because it had an interview with Meryl Streep who was starring in HAPPY END, the Brecht Weill Musical. It was one of the first dates I took my wife of 30 years on in NY (took her Mother, too). Listening now it brought back memories… and it was a great show, too.
You can hear Hermione Gingold, John Kander, Jack Gilford and more. Go to “This Is Broadway” which is adding interviews every day.
Quote of the Day
“The harder I struggled to understand Baucus’ nonsensical self-defense, only one meaning seemed possible: Baucus didn’t vote against the public option despite the fact that it would “hold insurance companies’ feet to the fire,” but because it would. His insurance industry contributors got their money’s worth today, but the people of Montana did not.”
- Joan Walsh in Salon
Garrison Keillor in Salon this morning….
…has a great piece which solves the deficit by cutting the Republicans out of Health Care payments (they don’t seem to support Health care anyway.) Funny, thoughtful… here’s a clip:
When an entire major party has excused itself from meaningful debate and a thoughtful U.S. senator like Orrin Hatch no longer finds it important to make sense and an up-and-comer like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty attacks the president for giving a speech telling schoolchildren to work hard in school and get good grades, one starts to wonder if the country wouldn’t be better off without them and if Republicans should be cut out of the healthcare system entirely and simply provided with aspirin and hand sanitizer. Thirty-two percent of the population identifies with the GOP, and if we cut off healthcare to them, we could probably pay off the deficit in short order.
It’s time to dump the dead-end issues that have wasted too much time already. Old men shouldn’t be allowed to doze off at the switch and muck up the works for the young who will have to repair the damage. Get over yourselves. Your replacements have arrived, and you should think about them now and then. Enough with the shrieking. Pass healthcare reform.
Read the whole post at http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2009/09/30/the_shallows/index.html?source=newsletter.
