American Politics 20 - Halloween Edition

[Annelise]

From the previous thread regarding Grayson.. apparently he did apologize for the whore remark. As I said before, I am not a fan of the name calling but his brandishing whore didn't trouble me as a woman.. it seems gender neutral w/regard to K street, I suspect the gender of the accused was incidental. I agree it's generally ill-advised to call a woman a whore in politics, though.

I am uncertain how meaningful it is, but the financial reform bill is advancing, possibly with a vote in the House by the end of the week: http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNew...me=businessNews

Boehner fields a question on the NY 23:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) appeared on the Neil Cavuto show, and was asked for his take on the NY-23 special election, which has seen a split in Republican ranks between supporters of moderate GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava, against Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

"Well, there's no question that New York-23 is a bit of a mess," Boehner admitted bluntly.

He attributed Scozzafava's nomination to the local GOP county chairmen -- as if to say it wasn't in his hands -- and then defended her conservative credentials on such issues as signing a no-tax pledge, opposing cap-and-trade, and opposing the Democrats on health care.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10...t-of-a-mess.php

I watched the clip thinking it was just the write up, but he actually presents opposition to Democrats on cap and trade and health care as a credential. Way to market yourself as the party of no and no ideas there, John. I read another article that some republicans in the House were getting fed up with leadership on this.

[Moshe Goldberg Rubinshteyn]

In local news, Schwarzenegger drops the F bomb on California legislative. This one made me lol.

[Watcher]

From the last thread:

I don't remember him [Obama] campaigning on national health care either. The US is pretty conservative still, in order to get elected to get progressive ideas passed, you need to lie about your intentions, except perhaps in the most liberal of states for the Senate and some seats in the House, since the districts are less homogenized.

Then you weren't paying attention to his platform. Obama made it clear he wanted to overhaul the U.S. Healthcare system including a public option.

From his election website http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/

Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.

Also a video during a debate when Obama asserted his belief that healthcare is a right

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/07/o...d_n_132831.html

It's one of the reasons I campaigned for him.

[Watcher]

Lieberman is willing to support a filibuster against the public option stating the ballooning federal deficit. However he has no problem calling for a huge increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan despite the 1 trillion dollars it will add to the federal budget over the next 10 years the strategy calls for.

Obey warns that the price tag on military costs would be “astronomicalâ€â€”in the range of $1 trillion –if the U.S. pursues the counterinsurgency option and that the time commitment would be about ten years.

Cost of the troop increase

[TrackerNeil]

Lieberman is willing to support a filibuster against the public option stating the ballooning federal deficit. However he has no problem calling for a huge increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan despite the 1 trillion dollars it will add to the federal budget over the next 10 years the strategy calls for.

I can't shake the suspicion that Lieberman has no real intention of going through with his threat; if he did, he wouldn't give himself away so early in the process. I think he's raising a fuss to gain leverage for something he wants, either in this bill or another. I have a hard time believing that a guy who has so often hedged his bets is now willing to essentially throw away his legislative agenda opposing something the majority of the American people (and, I suspect, Connecticut voters) agree is best. Maybe I've misread Lieberman here, but I don't think so.

[dalThor]

Why it looks as though ol' Sarah's goin' all rogue again:

While other potential 2012 presidential contenders largely stayed quiet on the divisive congressional race that has exposed fault lines in the party, Palin delivered a slap in the face to Republican Party leadership in Washington when she offered a full-throated endorsement of third-party conservative Doug Hoffman over the GOP's anointed candidate, Dede Scozzafava.

Palin's surprise backing -- not even Hoffman's press secretary knew it was coming until it popped up on his Google reader -- left some political observers scratching their heads, wondering why Sen. John McCain's running mate would risk alienating her party's establishment for a long-shot candidate in a race with little national visibility.

CNN

In related news, maybe Americans are actually getting a bit smarter:

CNN Poll: 7 in 10 say Palin not qualified to be President.

Those numbers (29%) are similar to what Dan Quayle got in 1993, when only 23 percent thought he was ready for the White House."

[Shryke]

I can't shake the suspicion that Lieberman has no real intention of going through with his threat; if he did, he wouldn't give himself away so early in the process. I think he's raising a fuss to gain leverage for something he wants, either in this bill or another. I have a hard time believing that a guy who has so often hedged his bets is now willing to essentially throw away his legislative agenda opposing something the majority of the American people (and, I suspect, Connecticut voters) agree is best. Maybe I've misread Lieberman here, but I don't think so.

That seems to be the general opinion. Droopy Dog is a power-mongering whore and is just doing this to try and throw his weight around.

If he fucks this up, he'll lose pretty much everything since it would be a MAJOR kick in the teeth to the entire Democratic Party.

[DanteGabriel]

If he fucks this up, he'll lose pretty much everything since it would be a MAJOR kick in the teeth to the entire Democratic Party.

I keep hearing this about Lieberman but it never seems to come to pass, however badly he behaves. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Lieberman cast out and humiliated and irrelevant, but we are almost certainly underestimating the Democratic Party's tolerance for whores.

[Moshe Goldberg Rubinshteyn]

I can't shake the suspicion that Lieberman has no real intention of going through with his threat; if he did, he wouldn't give himself away so early in the process. I think he's raising a fuss to gain leverage for something he wants, either in this bill or another. I have a hard time believing that a guy who has so often hedged his bets is now willing to essentially throw away his legislative agenda opposing something the majority of the American people (and, I suspect, Connecticut voters) agree is best. Maybe I've misread Lieberman here, but I don't think so.

Nate Silver calls Lieberman crazy in the way of Middle Eastern dictators. I'm going to do a full Grayson and call him an attention whore.

[Ser Hot Pie]

Nate Silver calls Lieberman crazy in the way of Middle Eastern dictators. I'm going to do a full Grayson and call him an attention whore.

And you're perfectly right to do so. He knows two things right now: A) he's never going to be re-elected in Connecticut, that ship has sailed, and B) everytime he sticks it to the Dems, he gets his droopy mug plastered all over the Tee Vee machine. That's really what he's all about anymore. "Look at ME, look at ME. I'm EVER so important!"

[Shryke]

I keep hearing this about Lieberman but it never seems to come to pass, however badly he behaves. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Lieberman cast out and humiliated and irrelevant, but we are almost certainly underestimating the Democratic Party's tolerance for whores.

That's because he never pulls the trigger when it matters.

Liebermann is a power whore and just LOVES to throw his weight around and pretend like he's a big man. But when it comes down to the important shit, he folds to stay in the game.

He'll probably do the same this time.

[tzanth]

Liebermann is a power whore and just LOVES to throw his weight around and pretend like he's a big man. But when it comes down to the important shit, he folds to stay in the game.

He'll probably do the same this time.

I hope so, but on the other hand many of the nations largest insurance companies are based in Connecticut. He may be getting some strong incentives from them to vote against the reform.

[TrackerNeil]

I keep hearing this about Lieberman but it never seems to come to pass, however badly he behaves. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Lieberman cast out and humiliated and irrelevant, but we are almost certainly underestimating the Democratic Party's tolerance for whores.

This is the way I see it. Joe Lieberman snarls and snaps but generally does not bite the Democratic hand that's fed him, and if he continues in that manner he's welcome in the Democratic fold as far as I am concerned. If, however, he takes the step of trying to sabotage a major party initiative, he should be stripped of his chairmanship and his legislative priorities put on the shelf marked, "Stuff the Democratic leadership will never ever advance in the Senate."

[Swordfish]

In local news, Schwarzenegger drops the F bomb on California legislative. This one made me lol.

my god some people are dumb(the people making the assertion, not the poster posting the link).

this might be an all time low in the art of trying to create a story out of thin air.

[Peter Irving]

swordfish what you just said was hilarious and hypocritical.

[Peter Irving]

I disliked him in 2000 but then that was because he was on the same bandwagon as jack thompson.

[Swordfish]

swordfish what you just said was hilarious and hypocritical.

Thanks for your contribution.

Random incomprehensible ad hominem attacks are always entertaining.

:lol:

[Peter Irving]

well its true you and commodore were the ones who totally bitched about that fake story on Obama.

[Watcher]

Why it looks as though ol' Sarah's goin' all rogue again:

While other potential 2012 presidential contenders largely stayed quiet on the divisive congressional race that has exposed fault lines in the party, Palin delivered a slap in the face to Republican Party leadership in Washington when she offered a full-throated endorsement of third-party conservative Doug Hoffman over the GOP's anointed candidate, Dede Scozzafava.

Palin's surprise backing -- not even Hoffman's press secretary knew it was coming until it popped up on his Google reader -- left some political observers scratching their heads, wondering why Sen. John McCain's running mate would risk alienating her party's establishment for a long-shot candidate in a race with little national visibility.

According to at least one poll the ultra-conservate Hoffman is leading in the 23rd district by 5 points. The poll was released by the ultra conservative group The Club for Growth, so I'm not sure how accurate it is. But most polls is showing the Republican candidate trailing the other two badly and is running out of money. The Club for Growth has contributed over $500,000 to Hoffman's campaign so it does so have a stake in showing he's ahead in the polls.

[Peter Irving]

club for growths got to have someone to be there golden boy considering the last one used state dollars to see his mistress in Argentina.