Political Heat

Earlier this week, the social networking site Facebook removed a question from a popular polling application that allows users to create their own polls due to an inflammatory question. The poll asked whether President Barack Obama should be assassinated or not . Facebook took down the polling app, and the Secret Service is currently looking into the matter. It's a sad state our country currently finds herself in, when a person openly contemplates and asks his/her peers whether we should support the assassination of our nation's leader. Such sentiment may be reasonable under other circumstances -- say, if the president had assumed an authoritative rule over the entire nation. His actions thus far hardly constitute any calls for revolution , much less his death. Despite what some on the right will tell you (the most extreme elements already assume Obama is a socialist dictator), the president has done little to warrant such outrage, such fear, such distaste and open hatred. Crit...

Rep. Tammy Baldwin has been taking some heat as of late for her contentious vote against a bill that passed Congress this week that strips federal funding from the embattled non-profit ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). The group, seen as a "liberal menace" by most on the right, is conducting an investigation into its own misdeeds after some of its offices were caught giving advice to undercover citizen-journalists posing as a prostitute and her pimp. ACORN also received strong criticism during last year's presidential election. The group had been paying independent contractors to help with voter registration drives. Some offices paid these contractors on a quota -- thus they began filling out fake registration applications , hoping to get paid for work they hadn't actually done. Though they were caught by the organization itself, many on the far right were infuriated with what happened, and touted it as voter fraud being perpetrated by th...

Through the tumultuous summer of health care lies (i.e. death panels and the like), it now seems important -- dire even -- to spread around some truths about health care reform in this country. With that in mind, here is a list of facts that should drive even the staunchest of conservatives to back reform to the system. To simply accept the status quo as acceptable, after reading the following, would seem heartless. Currently, the U.S. spends over $2 trillion dollars on health care per year , amounting to over 16 percent of our gross domestic product (more than any other country). This is double what the president is proposing for health care reform, and certainly some cuts to the current system could result in savings for the American taxpayer, even with the public option as part of the overall package. For what we pay, however, we get very little in return: the U.S. ranks 37th in the world in terms of health care, and 44th in infant mortality rates . It's unacceptable that the w...

Yesterday, President Barack Obama went on an unprecedented five Sunday talk shows in an attempt to shore up support for his health care plan. He appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and Spanish-speaking Univision. Missing from that list? FOX News. The president apparently snubbed the conservative-leaning network, opting for media sources that were less biased against him. Many will undoubtedly look down upon this , and see it as the president refusing to work with people who oppose his ideas -- an odd charge to make seeing as he has many Republican allies within his administration. There is a simple explanation for why the president chose not to go on FOX: the news station rarely, if ever, gives him positive (or even objectionable) media attention, often distorting his views and perpetuating myths about his proposed reforms. This is a network that regularly gives a voice to a movement that considers the president a non-citizen , that has compared the Obama administration to Hitler's Naz...

This week, former President Jimmy Carter drew heat for comments he made regarding the present day conservative movement. Carter made the accusation that some of the protests being held nationwide against current President Barack Obama were based out of racism: "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter said. The White House has pushed aside such assertions, publicly stating that the president doesn't believe that racism is playing a significant role in the rallies and demonstrations against the administration's key policies. It's clear, though, that some on the extreme end of the conservative movement today are racist. When protesters hold up signs of Obama as an African witch doctor , or purchase/sing/broadcast on their radio stations the song "Barack the Magic N____," it's more than his policies that peopl...

The House of Representatives today passed a resolution of disapproval for the actions of Rep. Joe Wilson, Republican from South Carolina. Many GOP representatives condemned the resolution, saying it was a waste of time and a political "game" being played by Democrats. In all seriousness, the resolution was desperately needed. The nation is currently embroiled in a heated debate centered upon the role of government in people's lives. Conservative critics have pushed their supporters to take to the streets, to demonstrate in so-called TEA Parties, and to disrupt town hall meetings of Democratic members of Congress. This resolution is not critical of the position Joe Wilson took (even if it's factually inaccurate), nor on his right to free speech. What it IS critical of is the lack of decorum that is engrossing the conservative movement and the Republican Party. It is not acceptable to call the president a liar in the middle of a joint session of Congress. If that sort o...

I recently published a blog post on how many Wisconsin doctors supported the idea of the public option in the health care debate. 65 percent of doctors in the state thought that a national insurance plan was a good idea. But how would that number fare nationally? It turns out, you'd see similar numbers. According to a national survey of doctors , nearly 63 percent of primary care physicians supported a system of health care with both public and private insurance available -- similar to the plan President Obama and Democrats in Congress are proposing. That number stays constant across the nation, too: in every region of the nation, support for a dual system of both public and private plans available to the people had support of doctors, ranging from a high of 69.7 percent in the Northeast, to a low of 58.9 percent in the South. Again, we see support for a public option plan from doctors. But the people of America, too, want to see such a plan! An ABC News/Washington Post poll shows...

I visited friends this weekend in Milwaukee, and on our way home to Madison, I noticed a billboard. I couldn't make out the words, but I saw the image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I smiled a bit, because the words of Dr. King always have a way of motivating me to become a better person. When we reached the sign, my jaw dropped; it read: "Martin Luther King, Jr. Was A REPUBLICAN!" I was incensed. The sign is being advertised by the National Black Republicans Association, who assert that "MLK was a minister and a Republican who embraced our traditional values." The NBRA is hoping that, by pointing out the political allegiances of the former Baptist Minister, they can bring more African Americans to the Republican Party. In the 2008 presidential election, Obama garnered more than nine-in-ten African American voters. " Obama is no MLK ," says the NBRA. "Obama is a far left-wing radical Democrat who does not share our values." Now, it isn't ...

Rep. Joe Wilson's voice rang throughout the chamber. " You lie !" said the Republican from South Carolina, disregarding the decorum normally afforded to a president before a joint session of Congress. This sort of behavior, unfortunately, is now typical of the right wing in this country. In the same speech, several conservative lawmakers held up pamphlets of their own health bill (that would give a $5,000 credit to families to pay for premiums, while the average cost of premiums for a family of four is $13,000 ); House Minority Whip Eric Cantor was also seen texting on his blackberry several times while the president spoke. That's just the tame stuff. Conservatives across the country have engaged in shouting matches in Democratic politicians' town hall meetings. One conservative pastor says that he wants Obama to die . One school that refused to let students hear Obama's speech on the importance of education and self-determination now plans to bus those same...

A lot of politicians against health care reform often state that a national health insurance would get between you and your doctor. But for some reason, Wisconsin doctors support such a plan. A majority of Wisconsin doctors (54 percent) support a national health insurance plan, similar to the proposed public option. Even more (55 percent) "support incremental reform toward universal coverage." The number was even higher for primary care physicians, of which 65 percent support a nationally-run insurance program. Only 37 percent of doctors overall were opposed to a national insurance plan, with only one-fourth disapproving of eventual universal coverage. Specialists were the largest group to oppose reform, with 46.3 percent in opposition. However, a similar number of specialists (46.2 percent) supported reform as well. So what does this mean? Do Wisconsin doctors, as Republicans would like you to think, want someone to get between you and...themselves? More likely, Wisconsin d...

Bravo Mr President

Feel like playing the lottery today? If you health insurance and live in California, you already are. One out of every five persons in the Golden State who buy insurance from the top five providers there -- who pay for the care and believe it covers them completely -- will have their insurance provider deny them their health care needs, based off of pre-existing conditions or the expense of the procedure involved. People covered by PacifiCare, one of the largest providers in that state, had a worse fate: nearly 40 percent of all persons under their plans were denied coverage. The data was collected over a period of seven years, from 2002 to the present. This study shows that death panels are indeed real: they've been here for years, and exist solely in the private sector. You have a better chance at being denied coverage by your provider than you do of winning any real jackpot lottery. There is another choice: you could support health care reform, with a public option included tha...

President Barack Obama released his prepared remarks he will deliver to schoolchildren nationwide tomorrow . Commentators had previously warned that the president was planning to indoctrinate the children into socialists, an idea so bizarre it was, frankly, laughable. But just LOOK at these quotes from his prepared remarks! "...we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. "And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. "Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourse...

What has socialism ever done for us? The question is one that will surely generate a lot of response. Many will look at it and say, "Nonsense! Socialism is a terrible evil that needs to be done away with!" Most of the time, people who feel that way are referring to the fear of socialism in a Soviet sense: they are reminded of the Cold War and how America defeated the socialist threat around the world through the strength of capitalism. But Soviet-styled socialism and the reforms that Democrats are pushing for -- often confused for socialism -- are hardly the same. The definition of what is "socialist" is different for many people. Dictionary.com provides us with a decent definition: ...a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. It is my opinion -- as well as the opinion of many Americans -- that such a system cannot...

With all of the irrational behavior that's been exhibited by the conservative movement lately, you'd think it was the start of the apocalypse. People are concerned with a president they feel is vying for unprecedented power in the federal government. But the fears that people are worrying about are really not that worrisome at all. The "death panel" provision in the health care bill never existed in the first place; Obama does indeed have a birth certificate, available online for anyone to examine; any tax increases that people are literally screaming over are planned to be placed upon the super rich, the top 2 percent of the wealthiest of Americans; and planned speeches aimed towards schoolchildren are meant to address the importance of individual responsibility and a sound education, not actual policy or indoctrination of any kind. That's just a handful of the craziness that's been discussed about the presidency of Barack Obama since he took office earlier t...

If the opportunity came for your children to meet an important figure in American history -- say, the president of the United States -- would you deny your child that experience ? It seems that several parents are doing just that. The president plans to speak to the nation's children next week, via the internet and C-SPAN, on " the importance of education and staying in school ." Republican critics, including Texan Gov. Rick Perry, see the address to students as more political. "I think it’s disturbing when you get this message, that you will have your kids, in a forum where the president of the United States is, obviously he’s got a message there," he said. He added, however, that he was "certainly not going to advise anybody not to send their kids to school that day." Other conservatives commentators have suggested, however, that Obama is planning to indoctrinate your children in this planned address. The hype is astonishing -- other presidents have...

Even Bob Dole agrees : Barack Obama needs to be the leader on health care reform for the Democrats. From the start, Obama has left it to Democratic leadership in Congress to push the health care bill through. He's had a "hands-off" approach to the whole process, advocating bits and pieces of things he'd like to see in the bill but leaving most of it up to Democrats in Congress to figure things out. That sort of approach isn't working. By leaving the health care debate up to Congress to hash out, Obama leaves the plan vulnerable to attacks without a central figure responsible for its defense -- nor does he give it a leader to advocate for it on its behalf. A disorganized plan by the Democrats (with some supporting a public option while others waver on it) cannot defeat a strong oppositional force led by Republicans and the conservative movement in general. Such an oppositional force is able to, through a repetitive smear-and-fear campaign, defeat an unorganized and...

The conservative movement in this country continues to use scare tactics to win the debate on health care reform. With arguments like the infamous "death panels" coming to kill your grandparents, or how the bill will supposedly allow illegal immigrants to have health care coverage -- with neither claim carrying any weight of truth whatsoever -- it's worth asking: Do conservatives even remember how to argue using facts anymore? Take the fiscal argument. Even on an issue that seems to be legitimately worth debating, the conservatives can't come up with a reasonable argument against health care reform. They like to point out the price tag that would come along with the health care package, H.R. 3200, that will likely pass in the house. The cost of implementing that bill, they remind us, will be over $1 trillion! That's nothing to laugh about -- it's a serious amount of cash, worth debating over. Except there are several things conservatives like to omit from that...