Rep. David Obey's Health Care Story.

Republicans continue to BS the public about universal health care, claiming such a plan would ration care. That supposes care isn’t already dramatically rationed when people decide they can’t afford to see a doctor, or get a checkup for preventive care or are denied coverage from an insurance company rationing how much they pay out. The system is all about rationing. And from this failed system, with an endless list of personal tragedies, people have had to endure poverty, suffering and unnecessary deaths. Take from Wisconsin’s own Congressman, David Obey. The Journal Sentinel had this:

David Obey remembers visiting his younger sister in the hospital years ago. She told him she wanted to die by Friday. His sister, who was battling cancer, and her husband had been laid off from their factory jobs, and their insurance was set to run out that day. The thought of leaving her husband and children with a pile of medical bills terrified her. "She died on Friday," Obey said.

Obey's interest in health care reform didn't begin in his sister's hospital room. When he was a boy, Obey watched his father come home after an emergency appendectomy with both arms paralyzed, which left him unable to work. His father gradually regained use of his arms. "That experience showed me you're just one accident or one disease away from economic catastrophe in this country," said Obey, who calls the fact that 50 million Americans don't have health insurance a "moral outrage."

And there are some, like our friends the Republicans, who are worried health care reform will hurt insurance company profits. Now that’s getting your priorities in order.

Health Care Reform: It will Fix the Economy, Cost Less and Save Money. Yet Republicans Hate it?

Let's start with the premise that health insurance companies will be priced out of existence. Good or bad idea? NY Times:

In reasserting his support last week for a new government health plan for the uninsured, President Obama stoked the fears of private insurers that they would not be able to compete with a Medicare-like option and might gradually be priced out of existence. The very point of a federal public plan … would be to take advantage of an enormous risk pool and efficiencies of scale “to make the health care market more competitive and keep insurance companies honest.”

In the free market, buying power matters and keeps prices down. It’s a model Wal Mart has done well with. But that’s a domain left for big business, right? Consumers don’t get the same special privileges as big business, so they can use their own government to purchase health care for themselves. Instead, we should be afraid of reform and saying goodbye to high premiums:

The conservative Heritage Foundation, calls it “a nuclear minefield on the road to universal coverage.”

Wow, with words like “nuclear” and “minefield” in the same sentence, how could you not fear getting low cost universal medical care for your family?

The Obama administration … pointing to the three dozen states that offer their employees a choice between government-backed insurance options and a menu of commercial policies. But health policy experts are deeply divided about whether the state employee plans bear any meaningful resemblance to the public plan options … most are administered by major commercial insurers that are given broad authority to negotiate payment rates with doctors and hospitals. Inaddition, the state plans typically have not used their purchasing clout to control costs, link pay to medical performance or drive other quality improvements. A 2002 study by two policy research groups concluded that state employee plans have been no more effective at controlling costs than private insurers.

Here’s where ideology overrules everything. That highly touted fiscal conservatism we’ve heard so much about doesn’t stand a chance against the fears of “European socialism.” In fact, you would think the first line of the following paragraph would convince even the greediest scrooge in America that a public option makes perfect sense.

But critics argue that with low administrative costs and no need to produce profits, a public plan will start with an unfair pricing advantage.

Yes, and that is the point, isn’t it. That’s why a public plan is such a good idea. But that would also mean lowering the prices paid for services that are now unaffordable to almost everyone, even some insurance carriers. But…

They say that if a public plan is allowed to pay doctors and hospitals at levels comparable to Medicare’s, which are substantially below commercial insurance rates, it could set premiums so low it would quickly consume the market. The Lewin Group projected that a plan paying Medicare rates would prompt 119 million of the 172 million people who are privately insured to switch policies (whilealso providing coverage to 28 million of the 46 million uninsured) … only 12 million people with private coverage would migrate to a public plan if Congress provided protections for insurers, along principles suggested by Senator Charles E. Schumer … (like) promoting a public plan (that would) be subject to the same regulations as private plans and that it pay providers at higher levels than Medicare. (Similar to a plan by) Len Nichols, the director of health policy at the New America Foundation and the co-author of a proposal to level the field through governance and pricing regulations.

Which leaves most of us screaming as we hear and read stuff like this:

The question, at a time of deep concern over health costs, is whether that proposal would compromise away the full potential of a public plan to suppress provider payments and control the growth of premiums.

No kidding.

News Max: the Onion on Steriods.

I nearly did a "spit take" on my afternoon beer when I caught this recent News Max TV ad.



After touting such News Max contributors as right wing zanies Ben Stein, Dick Morris, Bill O'Reilly, Dr. Laura, Mike Reagan and David Limbaugh, the Fox News anchor for hire said "News Max gives you the other side of the story without the media spin."

You have to love the convoluted meaning and through the looking glass pizazz.

Fighting Back Against School Food Allergy Policies! Aren't these People Happy About Anything?

Only Fox News would try to create a panic over school allergies that have been with us for decades. Claudia Cowen calls the piece "School allergies BACKLASH."

It can be a frightening topic if you look terrified on camera.

The Republican Assassination Agenda: Conneticut Politicians and Anyone Else in the Way.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann says it all about this conservative nut job. Why is it always right wingers?

Republican Strategist Pushes Rush's Request MSNBC Stop Talking about Him. Bad Case of DIttoheadedness.

MSNBC's Tamron Hall appeared fed up with Republican strategist Alex Conant, who wouldn't answer a question about a recent statement from Boss Limbaugh. Instead, Conant repeated the challenged Rush leveled at MSNBC about not mentioning his name for a whole week. Apparently, Rush is a small fish that doesn't require media coverage that someone who has millions of listeners and has hijacked the GOP should get.

He also wouldn't comment on whether Rush is "irrelevant." Conant would have us believe that MSNBC disobeyed the GOP's authority figure and head of all conservative ditto heads.

Fox News & Lindsey Graham Nail Sotomayor for Advocating Public Financing of Campaigns, When after all, Money Talks.

If the Republicans fail to make their manufactured "racist" accusation against Sonia Sotomayor stick, they are now working on nailing her for her diabolical support of "campaign finance reform."

We know that campaign money has never been an influencing factor from lobbyists and the K-Street crowd, so public financing of campaigns is just another socialist plot against our independent upstanding lawmakers ability to give everyone a voice on a level playing field.

Oh, and Fox News' Shannon Bream questions why a bi-partisan questionnaire didn't include the subject of judicial activism, which is "a hot button issue for" Sotomayor's. Really?

Republicans Don't Like it When Democrats Cut Spending. Steals Their Thunder?

It seems taxpayers are doling out a whole lot of money trying to get kids to their private schools, when Wisconsin could save half of that expense by using common “belt tightening” sense. But believe it or not, the “fiscally conservative” (they spent like drunken sailors) Republican Party doesn’t want save money on their own pet projects. For example:

If parents drive two kids to the same private school, Republicans want you and me to continue to pay these families as if they were driving each of those kids separately, instead of treating it as one trip for one child. It could save between $400 and $500. If you thought this was an easy one to figure out, you would be wrong.

What you’re about to read is the most convoluted reason why this is a bad idea. If you can make any sense out of the following commentary, please let me know. From the Wisconsin Radio Network:

John Huebscher, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, says it will be tougher on the families, especially those who have to go to work yet must make two round trips to take their kids to school. Huebscher says it will cause a heavier financial burden for families and discourage them from attending non public schools … especially as gas prices are again on the rise.

Again, the kids are going to the same school, at the same time. Two round trips? My head is hurting. But there’s even more “down the rabbit hole” logic.

For Huebsher, getting paid double for one trip to one school is “fair because the districts receive aid from the state for the cost of transporting each of the children and should pass it on.”

You mean to say, if the money is there, spend it. That would never pass muster for a staunch fiscal conservative…or would it?

Assembly Republican Robin Vos says he'll try to amend the measure once the budget reaches his house next week.

This is the third example in the last two weeks where Republicans are objecting to or want to repeal spending cuts by the Democrats during these tough economic times. Guess they can’t make those tough economic decisions they talked so much about making.

In summary: They didn’t want to save money for the Postal service, they didn’t want to save money at the DOJ and now they don’t want to save money on school transportation. I wonder what programs they would target…?

David Brooks on Judges: "People without emotions cannot make Sensible Decisions."

Are conservative Justices better than liberal Justices? Are empathetic liberal leaning Justices "activist judges?" Can't the same be said for Justices that believe the Constitution should be read in a minimalist "constructionist" kind of way? Of course. But the debate often times skips over these simple truths for the sake of sport. Conservative columnist David Brooks restates the obvious...

The American legal system is based on a useful falsehood. It’s based on the falsehood that this is a nation of laws, not men; that in rendering decisions, disembodied, objective judges are able to put aside emotion and unruly passion and issue opinions on the basis of pure reason.
Most people know this is untrue. In reality, decisions are made by imperfect minds in ambiguous circumstances.

It is incoherent to say that a judge should base an opinion on reason and not emotion because emotions are an inherent part of decision-making. Emotions are the processes we use to assign value to different possibilities. Emotions move us toward things and ideas that produce pleasure and away from things and ideas that produce pain. People without emotions cannot make sensible decisions because they don’t know how much anything is worth. People without social emotions like empathy are not objective decision-makers. They are sociopaths who sometimes end up on death row.

Supreme Court justices, like all of us, are emotional intuitionists. They begin their decision-making processes with certain models in their heads. These are models of how the world works and should work, which have been idiosyncratically ingrained by genes, culture, education, parents and events. These models shape the way judges perceive the world.

The emotions serve as guidance signals, like from a GPS, as you feel your way toward a solution.

Then the answer comes to you. You can go out and find precedents and principles to buttress it. But the way you get there was not a cool, rational process. It was complex, unconscious and emotional.

Right-leaning thinkers from Edmund Burke to Friedrich Hayek understood that emotion is prone to overshadow reason. They understood that emotion can be a wise guide in some circumstances and a dangerous deceiver in others. It’s not whether judges rely on emotion and empathy, it’s how they educate their sentiments within the discipline of manners and morals, tradition and practice.

Republicans Attend "Making Conservatism Credible Again." Are they kidding?

What can you do when everything you ever believed turned out to wrong? How hard is it to come to the realization that all of your theories about economics and free trade led up to the disaster we’re living with today? Even more difficult, how do you repackage what you know has failed into something that deserves another try? Read in wonder just how that strategy is being constructed by the ‘up and comers” in the new Republican Party. Can you say Paul Ryan, corporate America’s next Ronald Reagan (not a compliment).

Journal Sentinel-Speaking at a forum on the state of conservatism, GOP Rep. Paul Ryan called for a ceasefire of sorts between two of the movement's key factions, traditionalists and libertarians. Ryan said, "Why anyone would think a minority could grow into a majority by splitting itself in half is a political and mathematical mystery to me," he said.

Hey Rep. Ryan, try doing the same math on your private health care plan. Surprise, is doesn’t work out! You have to love the name of this “back to roots” gathering.

Ryan was one of two Midwestern conservatives featured at the gathering "Making Conservatism Credible Again," hosted by the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.

“Making conservatism credible again” is a good indicator that maybe the party’s past ideas WEREN’T CREDIBLE.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said conservatives need to be activist … but friendlier in tone. He skeptically noted President Barack Obama's much-discussed desire for "empathy" … (suggesting that) empathy is a quality that the right needs to display. "The ability to put oneself in the place, and to feel deeply about, the concerns and the hopes and the dreams and the fears of other people," said Daniels.

There’s that word again, “FEAR.” Isn’t it interesting that Republicans need to at least “display” empathy, even if they don’t quite know what it means. In driving home the idea of fear, they couldn't overlook the topic of fearing Obama:

Like other gatherings of its kind, it featured a mix of horror about the Obama agenda (spending, deficits, government ownership of car companies); faith that conservative principles remain popular with the public; confidence that Democrats are overreaching; anxiety about how long it will take to come back politically; and gallows humor about the plight of the GOP. …Ryan lamented what he described as the threat (FEAR) to Western civilization posed by the erosion of market freedoms, and Daniels decried the "shock-and-awe (FEAR) statism of the last few months."

You might remember Gov. Mitch Daniels, he was the director of the Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush. He predicted that the Bush tax cuts would not effect the Clinton budget surplus, surpluses he insisted were as far as the eyes could see. Now he's the Governor of Indiana, where he leased out the states toll way, taking one time money for decades of lost profits and escalating tolls. Daniels knows how to play the FEAR card:

Daniels said conservatives need to be single-minded about addressing their political arguments to young voters, who voted overwhelmingly for Obama in the last election. He cited as one example the "terrifying deficits" in the Democratic budget and "the threat that poses to every young person in this country." Daniels said conservatives and Republicans would have to show political patience because of the GOP's loss of credibility while in power. "We're going to have to spend some time in the penalty box," he said.

It’s too bad Daniels didn’t spend some time in the penalty box before he became governor so soon after wiping out the Clinton budget surpluses, and eventually crashing the world economy.

Ryan has picked a great partner in the party’s restructuring.

Health Insurance Not Really Insurance Against Bankruptcy: "Like an Umbrella that Melts in the Rain"

Here is the latest health care research that should scare everyone to death. It's bad news for those who HAVE insurance. That's right, having insurance is no insurance at all against being bankrupt due to a medical problem.

Reuters: Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, U.S. researchers reported in a report they said demonstrates that healthcare reform is on the wrong track.

More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

"Expanding private insurance and calling it health reform will fail to prevent financial catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of Americans every year," Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen said in a statement. "Nationally, a quarter of firms cancel coverage immediately when an employee suffers a disabling illness; another quarter do so within a year," the report reads. "We need to rethink health reform," Public Citizen’s Dr. Steffie Woolhandler said. "Covering the uninsured isn't enough.

"Unless you're Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy," said Harvard's Dr. David Himmelstein, an advocate for a single-payer health insurance program for the United States. "For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection," he added.

"Only single-payer national health insurance can make universal, comprehensive
coverage affordable by saving the hundreds of billions we now waste on insurance
overhead and bureaucracy."

"Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; "Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations." The researchers, funded by the Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation, said the share of bankruptcies that could be blamed on medical problems rose by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007.

It's bad news for the Republicans who want to EXPAND access to INSURANCE company coverage, since their coverage is no safety net. The curtain has been pull away, but do you think they care:

Rep. Roy Blunt , R-Mo., the head of a Health Care Solutions Working Group appointed by Minority Leader John A. Boehner , insist choice is part of the equation, he said. “If you don’t like your insurance company, you really should be able to choose another one,” he said.

Ryan as a supporter in the House — have proposed legislation that would create state health insurance exchanges and provide tax credits to families for insurance
purchases.

After a decade in which the image of managed-care companies has been marred by stories about denied coverage and hassles for patients, health insurers have a 40 percent favorability rating with the public, according to a 2008 USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health poll.

That number was lower than the ratings for banks, airlines and drug companies, and about half the approval rating of doctors. Insurers say that, among other things, they’re ready to offer insurance in the individual markets to everyone, without regard to who is sick, stop charging people who are ill higher rates and cut health care costs.

The “Patients’ Choice Act” (PCA), The PCA will enhance patient and family ability to afford health care insurance and incentivize healthier lifestyles. As the name suggests, patients will have freedom of choice for health care insurance. Finally, the PCA would fulfill our social responsibility to those in need while increasing the competitive ability of American business. This is the right prescription for health care reform.

It would be nice to see the Republicans take this new information and adjust their positions on the health insurance industry. It should be clear that insurance companies has perfected and gamed the system so that they can make a their profit at the expense of the publics financial health. And same goes for conservative Democrats who are ready to throw in the reform towel.

Corporate Welfare, Spelled Out. Where are the Tax incentives for My Family to Move to a new City?

In the following article, Where are Wisconsin business incentives? By Jim Leute in the Janesville Gazette, we get a much clearer picture of what happens when we supposedly “get government out of the way of business.” Guess what, it’s just the opposite folks. Without big gifts or handouts from the government, incentives we’ll never be offered as individual citizens, they’re just not interested. And that’s what some dishonestly call small government, free enterprise and capitalism. Can you say epiphany?

When a company looks for a site for a new facility, the discussion often starts with geography, moves to labor costs and ends with state incentives. In 2005, Janesville lost in the battle to land a $100 million Lowe’s distribution center and its 500 jobs (to Rockford.) And Illinois officials brought a $26.1 million incentive package to the table. Janesville was able to muster only $15.6 million from state and local sources. Wisconsin communities routinely find themselves on the short end of recruitment battles with neighboring states that are more freewheeling with incentive dollars and tax abatement programs.

Last month, Thomas Industries unveiled plans to move 280 manufacturing jobs from its Sheboygan plant to Louisiana. The move triggered finger pointing at the state Capitol, where some lawmakers said the state didn’t do enough to keep the jobs. Others countered that the move was based on cheaper labor costs in Louisiana. Wisconsin reportedly offered $2.55 million to move about 80 Louisiana jobs to Sheboygan. Instead, the company took a $9 million deal to move 280 Sheboygan jobs to Louisiana.

Ron Pollina of the Chicago-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate said “The competition is primarily global, but in the United States, it’s the states that are real aggressive on taxes,” he said. “Most states aren’t prepared; they just don’t get it.” Away from the Capitol, Wisconsin’s economic development professionals routinely argue that the state’s biennial commitment of about $15 million in cash incentives is woefully inadequate.

Tax credits tied to job creation are particularly antiquated, they argue, because businesses are generally reducing head counts by consolidation and an increased use of technology. Janesville officials have lobbied state lawmakers for designation as a “Development Opportunity Zone” to boost the street value of tax credits by tying them to capital investment, as well as job creation.

The business-interest group WMC lambasted recent proposals for $2.9 billion in tax increases. WMC said Wisconsin has one of the worst business climates in the country.

I understand the competitive nature of the state bidding process. It may also be necessary to put together the largest corporate welfare incentives we can muster. But this process has nothing to do with getting government out of the way. It’s just the opposite. Without government give-a-ways, like the services and educational opportunities that we pay for in the form of taxes, these tax freeloaders wouldn’t be interested in adding to the quality of life of our communities. We’ve let these entities off the hook, the genie out of the bottle so to speak, and we can’t take it back.

So now what?

Gov. Wannabe Scott Walker Takes Credit for Restored Program He Vetoed! No Shame?

We know that Scott Walker continues to depend on the County Board to override his vetoes, just so he can claim in his campaign ads for governor that he personally hasn’t spent one dime of taxpayer money. He just lets someone else do it. Not a bad scam if you can get away with it. But it looks like the word is getting out on this conservative ideologues political con. Hold onto your seats, this one is a doozy.

I especially liked this summation by Alec Loftus, DPW Communications Director.

Republican gubernatorial wannabe Scott Walker continued his penchant for hypocrisy Friday when he held a press conference in Milwaukee to tout the very same summer jobs program he tried to kill in his recent budget.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Walker vetoed $100,000 of funding for the program in his 2009 budget, before the County Board overrode his veto, saving the 350 jobs. On Friday, Walker held an outdoor ceremony at Washington Park to take credit for the 350 summer jobs that are being created in the county parks.

Passing the buck, the County Executive, in his veto message, said, “This is a school function and should be entirely funded by MPS. Supervisor Johnny Thomas responded, “Of course, the total cost to taxpayers would likely be about the same, whether levied by Milwaukee County or by MPS.”

But you won’t believe this:

However, the deadline to apply for the jobs had passed two weeks prior to Walker’s ceremony, meaning that the sole purpose of the event was to get Walker’s face on TV to boost his flailing campaign for governor.

Walker not only misled the public about his support for this program, but he gave thousands of job seekers false hope that there were still positions available this summer. After being inundated with calls, the county was forced to remove the summer job application information from its Web site.

Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said, “Scott Walker is so desperate for media coverage that he’ll say or do anything to get exposure, even if it means misleading the public and taking credit for the same program he tried to kill.”

Supervisor Thomas added, “Now, with the program a reality, it seems the County Executive has run to the front of the parade.”

I hate to sound fearful, but I’m really hoping the citizens of Wisconsin are paying attention this time.

WMC Hates Wisconsin so Much, they Would Rather be in Alabama. Labors Cheap There, That’s for Sure.

Bashing Wisconsin has been perfected and elevated to new heights by the states biggest business lobby Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce. And then they wonder why we can't attract new industry here. Wispolitics.com reports:

James Buchen says some Wisconsinites used to respond to efforts to cut taxes and government spending by saying dismissively, “You don’t want us to be more like Alabama, do you?” These days, being more like Alabama might not be such a bad thing, he says.
“In Alabama, people are moving in, jobs are being created, personal income is rising, and in Wisconsin, just the opposite is happening in all of those cases,” Buchen said in a new WisPolitics interview.

Here are some facts I collected in 2003 about the great state of Alabama:

Alabama voted for fewer social services, less education, and a shoddier legal system --- to become, that is, more like a third-world nation. But low as taxes are, the state will never be better at being an underdeveloped country than actual underdeveloped countries are … if Alabama heads into next year without additional revenues, students may have to learn without textbooks, prisoners may be released early, and people may start dying of preventable diseases … High Hopes, a program that offers after-school tutoring to students who fail the high school graduation exam, is being slashed … The health department is losing investigators who track tuberculosis, and sharply reducing restaurant inspections … (It’s) Nearly impossible for basic services, including courts, prisons and police, to operate. We should think hard about whether we want the whole nation to look like Alabama does this year or, worse, next year.

It is 48th in the nation in state and local revenue as a percentage of personal income Alabama's income tax kicks in for families of four earning just $4,600. Its property taxes are the lowest in the nation.

Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it Mr. Buchen? Even though a few years have passed, I’m still sure it’s a great state for businesses. But the schools...I'm not so sure. Of course, Buchen continued to bash the business climate in Wisconsin at the worst possible time; during a recession.

WMC also plans to go after the liability expansions, “It’s the kind of thing that’s going to send the wrong signals, tend to drive business out of our state and drive investors out of our state rather than attract them here,” Buchen said.

Trashing Wisconsin in the press is nothing new for Republicans and the states biggest business lobby. Their jaw dropping double team has everyone scratching their heads:

…liberal groups and Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration have accused WMC of bad mouthing the state and hurting its image around the country rather than doing anything constructive.

But for free market, deregulation conservatives, whining is fun.

But Buchen insists those perceptions would continue even if WMC were to remain quiet and said the group has been forced to amplify its complaints lately because of a state budget that he says is “one of the worst packages of public policies from a business standpoint” to come out in the past two decades.

I think they heard that “amplified complaint” clear around the world. Way to go WMC.

Hypocrite Alert: Van Hollen rips DOJ Budget cuts, doesn’t like government belt Tightening in his department. Wants others to Feel the Pain.

In an earlier blog, I passed along a story about Wisconsin's Congressional Representatives Jim Sessenbrenner and Paul Ryan, who came to the rescue of rural residents who complained their mail came later in the day because the Post Office centralized their distribution centers to save taxpayer money and a $2 billion budget shortfall. It appeared you can't save money at the expense of Republican voters. And hell, what were the Democrats thinking? Now the state attorney general is blaming Democrats for targeting his department. No, really, J.B. Van Hollen is blaming Democrats.

The DOJ saw its budget increase by 17 percent since 2007. The proposed cuts, described in the same terms Republicans use on Democrats, isn't a tax cut but less spending. Like Rep. Mark Pocan, co-chair of the Legislatures budget committee said, the cuts represent the "shared sacrifice" and "everyone seems to understand that except the Attorney General."-Wis. State Journal

Wispolitics.com: Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen calls proposed cuts to the Department of Justice budget "unprecedented" and writes in an e-mail that the agency was treated inequitably and in a partisan manner by the Dem-run Joint Finance Committee.

Van Hollen wrote the cuts amount to a $13.5 million reduction over the biennium and represent about 10 percent of the agency's budget.

Because conservatives worry that someone else is getting something they're not, Van Hollen pulled the victim card:

That includes a new 5 percent cut affecting most state agency operations that, Van Hollen wrote, was not imposed on departments like Corrections, Military Affairs, DAs, Public Defenders, and Children and Families. Van Hollen wrote in the e-mail. "We never imagined that the Justice Department would be treated so inequitably and in such a seemingly partisan manner."

"Seemingly?" Either Van Hollen is not quite sure or he's just making it up. The underlying "fear," the emotion that guides all conservative thought, is that someone is getting something the DOJ isn't. Maybe the state is trying to bail itself out of a $6 billion deficit, created by a Republican administration that not only tanked 47 state economies, but the entire global economy.

It's so unfair that Republicans have to feel the pain of Democratic budget cuts too.

You’re Fired! Party Chief’s Criticism of Limbaugh Doesn’t “Represent Views of Most Members.”

GOP members, supporters of domestic terrorism, weren’t happy with dissent within the party, so they fired their party chief in Marathon County in northern Wisconsin. And not a moderate voice could be heard...

Wausau Daily Harold: The Republican Party of Marathon County has stripped its spokesman of his title less than three months after he wrote a column critical of conservative talk radio star . Kevin Stevenson said he believes his March guest column in the Wausau Daily Herald criticizing Limbaugh turned local party members against him.

"They felt I was too moderate in what I was speaking and printing," he said. Stevenson, who characterizes himself as a "John McCain-type of Republican," said a local Republican meeting on Thursday "got hostile and it got personal," he said.

When Stevenson criticized Limbaugh for saying he wanted President Barack Obama to fail, other local Republicans wrote to the newspaper, arguing that conservatives ought to want Obama's policies to fail.

(Stevenson) said. "(Party members) know that I don't agree with Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh is hurting us more than helping us."

Kevin Hermening, the local treasurer and a past president, said … Stevenson's columns … did not always represent the views of most members. "If the leadership had wanted a more moderate position, we would have let him (continue)," Hermening said.

Party Chairman Joe Wachtel said, "I don't think the Republican Party and the conservative movement is going to be served by being Democrat-lite."

So what does that say about the direction of the Republican Party? Stevenson responded with this additional statement:

The most imminent danger facing the Republican Party comes from within. A growing party embraces its differences and uses the strengths of its differences in a positive manner. Differences should not be feared … Purging people who have differences from its ranks will ensure that it remains a minority party well into the future.

Or maybe not…here’s a comment from a reader:

Carl54401 wrote:
What seems to be grossly overlooked here by many is that the concept of "Rush Limbaugh as the defacto head of the GOP" was first promoted by the Democrat propagandists, not by Limbaugh.

So rather than debunk a simple lie, Stevenson and other RINOs gave a piece of Dem propaganda more credibility by gladly distancing themselves from Limbaugh. But that's what RINOs do, they screw their friends while trying to make friends with the political opposition. It's maddening, but that is what happens.

They are better off without someone who is unprincipled, incompetent as a strategist and apparently gets "confused" about something as fundamental as where he resides in order to grab limelight in the WDH as a "spokesman." Good riddance.

I would say the party has problems.

Right Wing Extremist Groups and the Tiller Assassination-Homeland Security Tried to Warn Us.

How do you reason with a political party like the Republicans, god knows I’ve tried, when their two main character traits are denial and projection? For example, the article “The Tiller Assassination & The Much Maligned Government Report on Right Wing Extremists,” by Steven Waldman, editor in chief of Beliefnet.com and author of Founding Faith, show how the ideological right is unwilling allow itself a little self introspection. Waldman reminds us of their last bit of denial and phony outrage.

The murder of abortion provider George Tiller should force a re-assessment of the Department of Homeland Security's maligned report on "right wing extremism." I was thoroughly dumbfounded at the conservative reaction to that report in April. If you read the report, it was quite clearly aimed a serious, violent, insane extremists.

Yet mainstream conservatives took great offense, accusing the Obama administration of chillingly targeting the free-speech of conscientious anti-abortion citizens, veterans and conservatives writ large.. Conservatives should have said, "Here! Here! We applaud the efforts to clamp down on terrorism, crime and extremists." After all, most conservatives have nothing to do with, and deplore, violent extremists. Instead, by saying the report was an attack on conservatism in general, the conservatives -- not the government -- blurred the lines between the violent extremes and the conservative mainstream.

Now, it turns out that the man in custody on suspicion of assassinating Tiller, Scott Roeder, had been arrested back in 1996 on criminal use of explosives and had connections to an extremist anti-government militia group, the Freemen. On April 17, 1996, Associated Press reported:

"Roeder was stopped because his car didn't have a legitimate license plate. Instead, it had a tag indicating the driver was a "sovereign" citizen and immune from Kansas law. The same type of tag is sometimes used by Freemen, whose members in Montana are in the fourth week of a standoff with federal agents.

In other words, we'll have to wait on the details on both cases but at first glance Roeder seems exactly the sort of person that the DHS warned about. The report suggested that the bad economy and the election of a black president could stimulate more anger and activity from "violent anti-government groups."

As a liberal, I understand the need to hold the line on taxes and pressure lawmakers to limit the amount of government spending, but it’s not exactly a spring board to overthrow the country. But according to this Kansas City Star article, George Tiller’s killer followed that insane path:

"Roeder’s family life began unraveling more than a decade ago when he got involved with anti-government groups, and then became “very religious in an Old Testament, eye-for-an-eye way,” his former wife, Lindsey Roeder, told The Associated Press. “The anti-tax stuff came first, and then it grew and grew. He became very anti-abortion,” said Lindsey … who “strongly disagrees with his beliefs.”“That’s all he cared about is anti-abortion. The church is this. God is this.’ Yadda yadda.”

Lindsey .. said he moved out of their home after he became involved with the Freemen movement, an anti-government group that discouraged the paying of taxes. The Roeders have one son, now 22. “When he moved out in 1994, I thought he was over the edge with that stuff,” his ex-wife said. “He started falling apart. I had to protect myself and my son.”

It started with the “anti-tax stuff…and then it grew and grew.” The danger comes from right wing absolutists in denial, and those who are willing to project their own crazy notions onto others. And right now, they’re all part of a new militia group called Republican Party.

The Car Culture is Dead

I’ve been watching a way of life vanish before my eyes. The public’s disinterest in saving our American made cars took me by surprise. It’s crazy.

They may not have been good for the environment, but they were a part of an American car culture, an era many were willing give up in a puff of exhaust. Sure the auto companies were poorly managed and didn’t keep up with the foreign imports, but to coldly turn our backs on a love affair that meant so much to so many? The following excerpt pretty much says it all;

The Chevy Salesman, Proud and Stressed Out by Pauls Toutonghi, who teaches English at Lewis and Clark College, and the author of “Red Weather.”

My dad was a car salesman. He was good at it, too. The strain of making quotas gave my dad chronic chest pains. So he quit.

But I do know that he never relinquished his belief in the importance of the car in American society — never relinquished his faith that a good, solid Chevy truck could be the answer to almost any of life’s problems. In his mind, the United Stateswas all about a few simple things: Freedom of movement, financial mobility, and a fascination with progress and newness.

Throw in a nicely equipped Silverado or Impala? What could be better? When I graduated from college, he gave me a Chevrolet Blazer, jet black like the one he himself had driven for over ten years.

“With this car,” he told me, “you can do anything.” Still the salesman — through and through.

After reading this I reminded instantly of all the old Chevy’s I’ve owned and fixed up. Oddly for me, I never was a gear head, I was a part of the American car culture. It was my ticket to freedom and sign of my independence. Sure it was my dad’s, but he never got to use it.

I believed in the ads lyrics, “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet.” Shiny new cars rolling pothole free in an endless stream of Chevrolet, Ford, Rambler, Chrysler and Volkswagen television ads.

Was it just a Madison Avenue sales pitch? Not a chance. How could it be when you find yourself singing along to countless car songs blaring from your dashboard radio by The Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. There was even Rat Finks suped up cars and t-shirts.

I must be really out of it now. No one seems to remember or care about protecting America’s car cultural history, or even creating a new generation of car owners comfortably discovering America in their high mileage hybrids.

Maybe we’ve found freedom someplace else. Like in a set of ear buds or cell phones.

Gates Foundation Conclusion on Education: "More Effective Teachers." Not Vouchers?

While the voucher advocates keep driving the idea home that parents “feel good” about private schools, devoid of contradictory stats about their perceived advantages, a simple truth slipped through about a real solution.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent billions of dollars exploring the idea that smaller high schools might result in higher graduation rates and better test scores. Instead, it found the key to better education is not necessarily smaller schools but more effective teachers.

The foundation's new CEO, Jeff Raikes said the responsibility for social innovation often falls on nonprofit organizations, because the private sector doesn't see the profit margin in it and most citizens don't want the government speculating with their tax dollars. He said half of the more than 1 million students who drop out of school in the United States each year are from just 100 school districts.

The common sense conclusions; "The private sector doesn't see the profit margin" in innovation, and Republicans have convinced citizens not to speculate with various forms of innovation with tax dollars. It's a no win situation, isn't it.

Also strange are the voucher advocates who are perfectly fine with whatever standard the private school choose, all the while complaining about the supposed “substandard” teachers in our public systems that must meet much higher levels of training.

Republican Assassination Agenda Continues: Doctors Targets of Terrorist acts.

I’m not advocating limiting anyone's free speech rights. But certain kinds of speech have resulted in people getting killed. We’re talking about groups that specifically insinuate, in their righteous opinion, someone is killing babies. It doesn’t take a genius to conclude the most effective way of stopping the “killings” would be the elimination of the doctors responsible.

It’s odd too that the press has bought into the wide eyed innocence of groups that just shrug their shoulders when something bad happens. Who honestly believes these anti-abortion groups sadly disapprove of murders that promotes their cause of getting rid of abortion doctors.

It’s domestic terrorism.

Isn’t it time we add these groups to the nation terrorist watch list? Isn’t the phrase “killing babies” code word for “kill the abortion doctors?” Of course. These groups have now been directly or indirectly identified as the backers of domestic terrorism. Their game plan has become more obvious and brazen, while their public statements have been noticably insincere. Thankfully, the new online press has started to write about the obvious:

Domestic Terrorism Strikes in the Assassination of Dr. George Tiller, by Michelle Kraus at the Huffington Post.

It is an act of domestic terrorism at its worst. Gunned down at his peaceful place of worship in Wichita, Kansas, Dr. Tiller was targeted as he served as an usher in church and his wife sang in the choir. Eight years of the provocation of the religious right have come home at a great cost to this country. Stirred up and fueled by the hysterical voices of those like Rush Limbaugh, fear and paranoia continue to reign as evidenced in this assassination.

Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism, By Shannyn Moore at the Huffington Post.

… it's time to start calling it what it is. When Jim D. Adkisson walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church with 76 rounds and a shot-gun, he killed 2 people and was charged with murder. His motive was "he hated the liberal movement" and was upset with "liberals in general as well as gays." He should have been charged with terrorism.Today George Tiller, a Wichita doctor, was killed INSIDE the lobby of his Wichita church. Reformation Lutheran Church became a crime scene; fundamentalist terrorism.

No Mercy, by Mary Mapes of the Huffington Post.

I felt just sick today when I saw the bulletin about the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Sicker still when I saw the "sympathy" letter issued by officials at Operation Rescue, the virulent anti-abortion organization that dogged this poor man for the past two decades. The statement said, "We pray for Mr. Tiller's family."

Operation Rescue forged an unholy alliance of sexually repressed super Christians, men who hate women and women who hate themselves and turned them into a supercharged army of bullies for Jesus. Tiller's clients often included couples who had been hoping to become parents but had their hearts broken late in pregnancy when they received horrifying medical news about their much-wanted babies. These people got no mercy from Operation Rescue. They were hounded and harassed, shoved and shouted at on the most heart-breaking day of their lives.

And now, finally, after all the heavy breathing about heaven and God, evil and innocence, Operation Rescue by all appearances has goaded someone into killing George Tiller. This is terrorism. And if we believe this is terrorism, we need to act like it's terrorism.

No Mercy, by Cristina Page, author of How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America wrote:

During the Clinton era, between 1994-2000 there were 6 abortion providers and clinic staff murdered, and 17 attempted murders of abortion providers. There were 12 bombings or arsons during the Clinton years. During the Bush administration, not only were there no murders, there were no attempted murders. There was one clinic bombing during the Bush years.

One can only conclude that like terrorist sleeper cells, these extremists have now been set in motion. Indeed the evidence is already there. The chatter, the threats, the hate-filled rhetoric are abundant. In the last year of the Bush administration there were 396 harassing calls to abortion clinics. In just the first four months of the Obama administration that number has jumped to 1401.

And so the execution of Tiller, 67, is not only tragic but ominous. Eleanor Bader, co-author of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism, in an article in March for RHRealityCheck.org about clinics bracing for an uptick in violence after the election of Obama wrote, "immediately after Obama's election, Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee, called him a "hardcore pro-abortion president." The American Life League dubbed him "one of the most radical pro-abortion politicians ever," and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life warned that Obama will "force Americans to pay for the killing of innocents." Americans United for Life, the Family Research Council and Operation Save America quickly joined the chorus."

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