Good Old Neon

Yeah, it's a little known yet important fact that the American leeches were not only much more beneficial than the half-assed European variety, but also more cost effective - which is the real reason our great great great great great great grandparents emigrated to these United States.

Translation – USA #1 – everyone else, #10 or 11. But seriously, Europe is a hell hole? Anyways, in other news, Paul Krugman is none too impressed with Obama’s spending freeze proposal (which, as Speed Racer has pointed out, we haven’t even seen the details yet). January 26, 2010, 9:01 am Obama Liquidates Himself A spending freeze? That’s the brilliant response of the Obama team to their first serious political setback? It’s appalling on every level. It’s bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Oba

Wow – I want to thank you for posting an article from an unbiased source, the archconservative National Review. Edit: And, like yourself – I do have several friends living in the UK, one of which married a Brit she met in the states. She has a condition that requires expensive treatment and medication – they had a choice, he could have moved to the states, or she could move to the UK and take advantage of their coverage – they chose to move to the UK, and couldn’t be happier – with the exception of Haggis. I can do that too – from The New Republic: What We Can Learn From the Europeans

Read my lips - no!

Really? Private supplemental insurance is available in both Canada and the UK, and only a small percentage of citizens have enrolled – why? Because the vast majority rate the care they receive from the public plans as excellent, more than adequate, and in no way sucky. These people you know, are they real, or are they sort of like those figures you quoted, you know, the ones you’re not willing or able to back up?

No, but I’d be willing to bet he was willing to give the previous administration 8 years.

Really, have you just awoken from an 8(+) year slumber, or are you so intellectually dishonest, that you’re simply willing to ignore 8 years of Republican malfeasance and mismanagement? I don’t know, I find institutionalized torture and manufacturing a war maybe slightly more divisive actions than attempting to push through a health care bill, but maybe that’s just me being crazy. Edit: Obama’s "divisiveness" has less to do with his actions and/or his policies, and more to do with an opposition party that has become so extreme, so bent on acheiving purity, that they would eat their own. The

From the Daily Dish: If The Republicans Finally Did Destroy Obama, their future would look a little something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFDmcDW9uwc

The vocal “wisdom” coming from the people sounds suspiciously similar to the sort of “wisdom” that dribbles from Glenn Beck’s frothy lips, which, in fact, isn’t wisdom at all – it’s warmed over right wing hysteria delivered by a political hack who has watched Network a few too many times. People have a right to be angry, but as is often the case in tough times, that anger is largely misdirected. In principle, I was strongly opposed to the bailouts, but without them, the economy might have looked much, much worse – and you just know the same people who are attacking Obama for doing something

Thank you, and really helped me to understand the level of your discourse.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion

Personally, I think it has more to do with the absurd level of ignorance out there – as most of the objections I’ve heard with respect to “Obamacare” are about as nuanced and sophisticated as an episode of The Hill. When the name “Glenn” and “Beck” are used repeatedly, in the same sentence and in that order, by voters, you just sort of know where they're coming from, intellectually. But seriously, it’s the economy, and that has more to do with 8 + years of mismanagement, than these so programs you’re referring to – which, if you were to ask the voting public – “Could you name two programs su

Again, if we had a system similar to Canada’s, in wouldn’t be free – because again, a portion of my taxes would go towards that care. And rather than throw down ten grand on health insurance, more of my paycheck could go towards updating our ancient appliances and much desired renovations and stuff – i.e. – purchases and services that might actually help stimulate the economy. Plus, you’re ignoring the fact that a major illness can bankrupt an entire family in no time – resulting in foreclosures and all the other sorts of problems that have been making headlines for the past year or more.

The government is not some giant breasted alien that just sort of dropped out of the sky from whose teat we suckle, it’s made up of folks like us. The government would administer the plan, WE, the taxpayers, would fund it through the collection of taxes. Now, you can say the private sector is more efficient, and to an extent I agree, but then we had that little financial meltdown that nearly led to another great depression, so, as I’ve said in the past, you’ll have to excuse me if I’m a bit skeptical with respect to the private sectors ability to perform as of late. I’m increasingly sick of

Just wait until the Tea Baggers get word of this decision, you just know that they’re going to go ape-shit nuclear when they come to realize the implications…but probably not. All the Take America Back® types will undoubtedly rejoice at this decision, with zero sense of irony. Jesus Christ, if money is the equivalent of free speech, and some of us have way fucking more than others, doesn’t that sort of make some of us freer than others? So much for democracy… "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - Orwell

Sweet, it’s nice to know that Brown is a card carrying member of the reality based community. (/sarcasm)

I like the guy, and since so many threads featuring celebrities as headers have to do with death, this one gave me a mini-heart attack.

They’ve vilified themselves, what with their lockstep support of the evil shit perpetrated by Bush, their defense of torture, the glee with which they are celebrating the loss of healthcare for millions of Americans – they don’t need any help from me.

Wow - if that's what you took away from that post, then I've done a really poor job of communicating effectively.

Well, this is the party that brought us a manufactured war and institutionalized torture, among a hundred other things, so, in that respect, they’ve earned sinister.

Until fairly recently, no – if you recall, I was the guy who believed there was no substantive difference between the parties, however, recent events have helped shaped my opinion to the contrary. I was also one of the few posters who regularly punched holes in Obama’s over-inflated balloon, aggressively. With that said, the GOP, with help from their talking head cable surrogates, have gone mad, and though the democrats have their issues, many of them large enough that, barring something really special, I will never consider myself a member of their party, they retain a smidgen of integrity. T

Actually, it’s Bob in accountings opinion, I’m just acting as a cipher.

But the Republicans are no longer interested in accurately diagnosing and/or fixing problems, they’re in the misinformation business, and their use of “communism” is purely cynical. It’s no coincidence that the public came to associate healthcare reform with communism, nor is the bill nearly as messy and poorly thought out as we’ve been led to believe. The negativity surrounding this bill was deliberately and cynically manufactured. Unfortunately, the White House has done a poor job selling it, whereas the GOP has been tremendously successful at spreading misinformation. I don’t buy for a seco

True - perhaps "publically subsidized capitalism" would be more accurate?

Andrew Sullivan has summed up my feelings perfectly: Cohn writes a letter to nervous and frustrated House Democrats. I want to look away. Those of us who want Obama to succeed in tackling this country's deepest problems are bummed enough. But healthcare reform was never my reason for supporting him. I was much more invested in getting past the cynicism and laziness of the red-blue divide, restoring the rule of law and the constitutional balance, ending the unwinnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stopping torture, and so on. But for those progressives who have fought for wider access to hea