After all the nay saying and doom and gloom that people tried to have us believe that if a moratorium was put in place that the companies would just get up and leave and never come back…
The remarks by Newman and Williams and the assessment of industry representatives, indicate that, despite concerns that the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by the Obama administration would cost rig workers their jobs and send rigs en masse to distant shores in search of work, so far that is not the case.
So it seems, the moratorium has not caused most of the companies drilling in deep water to leave and that in the short term during the moratorium, those companies are working to improve the quality of their disaster prevention techniques (exactly what the moratorium was supposed to do). We have the BP money that was set aside to pay those who lost work on those rigs and to also potentially help those whose jobs including supporting those rigs as well.
Seems as if all the chicken little politicians, like David Vitter and Bobby Jindal, have absolutely no idea what they are talking about when it comes to their criticism of President Obama and his successful moratorium plan.
There was a lot of campaigning going on by members of the left who wanted to make sure that Fox News did not get the seat previously held by Helen Thomas. They wanted NPR to get the seat.
They partially succeeded because the AP moved to that seat from their previous front row position. However, Fox News then got the old AP seat that is in the front row.
Now, some liberals may wonder what is going on with this and why the White House would reward Fox News for their biased “journalism”. I have no problem with Fox getting the seat and here is why. By putting them closer and perhaps giving them more of an opportunity to ask questions because they are in the front row, the White House is giving Fox News just enough rope to hang themselves.
At a rally promoting healthcare reform, Obama said that with the reform legislation that employers could see a 3000% reduction in premiums enabling them to give you a raise.
Well, the conservatives have flooded the internet with all sorts of comments about this gaffe, really believing that Obama meant to say 3000%.
It is obvious that he meant dollars.If you think he really meant percent, you are an idiot and an example of what is wrong in politics.
So let me get this straight. The Mayor of Las Vegas WANTS people to blow their college savings in Las Vegas? Yeah, there is a real winner right there.
Vegas does a really good marketing job selling itself as a place to go to have a lot of fun and spend a lot of money. Because of that, it is likely going to be one of the first cities people think of when they think of a vacation spot. The fact that Obama has used Vegas multiple times only goes to show that the Las Vegas marketing plan worked.
So let me get this straight. The circuit that is seen by most conservatives as being the most liberal in the US judicial system today ruled that a sentence against a convicted terrorist was too lenient AND the guy who conservatives claimed wouldn’t talk because he was able to lawyer up (instead of getting water-boarded) actually talked.
Do the conservatives who support this ruling realize:
A) Non-profits can now make unlimited contributions as well. People can now contribute to non-profit organizations and get a tax deduction for their political activity.
B) For profit corporations can also make political expenditures tax free, since their commercial advertising will come out of their gross revenue.
C) People who control corporations will get the benefits of free speech without the responsibility of free speech, since any slanderous ad will cause a lawsuit against the corporation and not the person directing those ads.
D) Since the limitations on campaign contributions did not get applied to corporations, the corporations now have more free speech rights than citizens (who are restricted on how much they can contribute to support any particular federal candidate).
Finally, the ruling didn’t specify if the free speech rights apply to US based corporations or all corporations,. However, let’s just assume that the supposed free speech rights only apply to US based corporations. Citgo is a US based corporation (incorporated in Texas). Citgo is owned by Venezuela (i.e. Hugo Chavez). The Supreme Court has just given Hugo Chavez carte blanche to spend unlimited funds to try and influence our elections.
Good job conservatives! Way to fight for the rights of Hugo Chavez and give him more of a say in US politics than US citizens have.
Tonight America saw a leader, someone who didn’t just run to what his party wants in the face of political defeats. We saw a president who doubled down on the bipartisanship he called for when he ran for President.
In the start of the debate (and towards the middle) he did make a point of reminding everyone that the horrible economy we are currently facing was inherited by Obama and not created by him and that any short term deficits created by the recovery act was needed to make sure to plug the hole in this economy.
The mention of the recovery act reminded me of my drive to MD recently. I drove through MS and AL, conservative states with GOP governors that publicly opposed the stimulus bill. Of course this did not stop them from accepting funds to improve the infrastructure (like highways) and erecting signs taking credit for spending the “recovery money”.
Obama also called out the GOP members who scoffed at the idea that the spending freeze wouldn’t take place until next year, reminding them how their jobs work and the spending bill that they pass will take effect in 2011.
But criticizing the GOP was not the focus of the address. Obama focused on truly calling for bipartisan solutions on how to fix the problems we face.
On healthare, he stood firm on the need to pass reform, but called on others to propose alternatives if they had them.
On energy, not only did he push for his clean energy bill, but he welcomed drilling offshore for oil and gas, manufacturing safer nuclear power plants, and developing clean coal technology.
Of course, the GOP stood for all the things they want in energy legislation, but sat down for what they didn’t want. I guarantee you that if Obama puts up a clean energy bill that includes drilling for oil and gas, developing clean coal, and building safer nuclear power plants, that the GOP will STILL vote against it. Why? Because they just do not want to pass anything that Obama can claim a political victory on… even if he comes halfway and gives them what they want when it comes to policy.
Obama could pass healthcare legislation that includes tort reform and all the other things they want and the GOP would still vote against it.
So while Obama is making the call for bipartisanship, I am not sure there is any GOP Senator with the integrity to answer that call and do what is right for America. And if they do not answer that call, perhaps it is time to drop the carrot and use the stick.
Finally, Obama called for the repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell” because as he said earlier, what is right isn’t always what is popular. Why people who want to risk their lives to defend our country should be forbidden to do so because of who they have relationships with is beyond me. Of course, Obama has been slow on pushing equal rights for our GLBT citizens so I will believe this call for increased equality when I see action on it.
The GOP response was, of course, full of crap. Health insurance can already be sold across state lines. What the GOP proposes is to allow insurance companies to circumvent state laws by basing themselves in a home state with easy regulations and having the customers who purchase those policies in other states fall under the jurisdiction of the state the insurance company is based in. That just makes no sense.
What I didn’t hear from the GOP is proposals that show they will come halfway.
And it is obvious the Governor of VA has not read his constitution in a while. The fifth amendment applies to all people, whatever the crime, and not just citizens. If we start picking and choosing who gets due process, the terrorists win.
A final thing to point out is that we had a minor Joe Wilson moment tonight. It was not as loud or disruptive as Senator Wilson was last year but I do not recall seeing what I saw tonight in past addresses.
When criticizing the ruling by the Supreme Court giving corporations the ability to spend unlimited funds supporting or opposing any political candidate, Activist Alito visibly shook his head and said that it was “not true”. I do not recall ever seeing any member of the SCOTUS do anything but sit there. They never stand, they never clap, and they never respond to anything that is said. They just sit there like 9 little statues. That is, until tonight. I guess his ruling wasn’t activist enough and he needed the American public to see his activism.
As a child I loved the show V. So you can imagine that I would be excited for the new re-imagining that has aired on ABC. I was thinking that if the effort is half as good as the new Battlestar Galactica was, that I would be very happy. I was not disappointed.
But during my enjoyment of the show I had heard from fellow liberals that this show was really an attack against the Obama administration. Now, I can understand why liberals would feel a little jumpy over potential attacks against our president. I mean, he is an accused Arab, Muslim, terrorist, Kenyan, Indonesian, or Marxist… depending on which conservative panic attack you are listening to.
So did the writers really use this show as a vehicle to attack Obama? According to Scott Peters, the answer is no. So why do people think that the show really is attacking Obama?
First of all the leader of the alien race promises universal healthcare in one of the episodes, and we all know that the aliens are nefarious creatures using universal healthcare to gain our trust. So it only follows that others seeking universal health coverage must be bad as well. But if this was what the writers intended, it would be a very sloppy way to attack the President. Sure, some people who promise universal care are overall bad people (Fidel Castro for one). But other people (like Teddy Roosevelt) have pushed for universal health coverage as well. By suggesting that the mere inclusion of universal healthcare makes this an attack would imply that they are also attacking Teddy Roosevelt. The visitors in the original series also provided people with better medical technology to treat illness. So to me, by providing new and improved methods to deliver healthcare, the writers are only staying true to the original show.
The last show of the fall added a new wrinkle to their universal health coverage: long lines. One of the arguments made against Obama’s healthcare plan is that in countries like Canada or England, you have long waiting periods to get care. Of course, Obama is not pushing for a system like Canada or England but that doesn’t stop the conservatives from making their attacks. However, there is one major flaw with the argument that the long lines on V simulate the suggested long lines that come with expanding coverage universally. On the TV show, everyone is seeking treatment at new centers. Under the Obama plan, no new centers with super advanced alien healing processes are going to be created that will cause everyone, even those with existing healthcare, to run to new health clinics. People will still remain with their current doctors so there will be no mad rush for new healthcare.
The last show of the fall also had a batch of tainted flu vaccines, meant to kill humans. People are suggesting that this is also an attack against Obama because of the swine flu and the rush to get out a new vaccine to cover it. But take the time to think about it. Do you really think that the show was written after the swine flu epidemic started? It obviously was not. This show has been in the works for a while. There is no way they could have known about a rush to get new vaccines to people to cover the swine flu or that people would be questioning if we should use them.
Maybe the show is attacking Obama because the ships kind of look like the letter “O” and that Obama has white and black parents, just like the new lizard baby will have parents of different backgrounds as well. And that is my point. You can probably take any drama on TV and shoehorn it into being some sort of attack on someone. That doesn’t make the attack true. I could say that the show is really attacking Sarah Palin because the leader of the aliens is an attractive brunette who can see Russia from her mothership.
V is a really well done show. If the writers really wanted to attack Obama, they would have done so in a much better way than what is being claimed.
Now, what do you think the conservative spin on this will be?
My guess will be something along the lines of “Barack Obama won the award because his strategy is one of ‘appeasement’ of our enemies. Instead of protecting us from international terrorism, he is seeking to be ‘popular’ worldwide.”
Of course, I don’t believe that for a second. But that is my guess on what they will say. What is yours?
OK there are many but I will focus on one in particular… rationing.
The Conservatives who are fighting Barack Obama and the Democratic Party on healthcare reform are making the argument that if the Democrats get their way that it will lead to “rationing” because there would be no way that we could pay for all the care.
Really? The people who constantly complain that all Democrats want to do is spend their way out of their problems are now saying that when faced with the problem of how to deal with an increased demand on health services that the Demcorats would ration care instead of spending more money to cover the costs? Really?
Do you now see why we do not take you guys seriously? You cannot even keep your arguments consistent.
