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Reid gives GOP direct warning on healthcare
By Alexander Bolton - 09/22/09 11:06 AM ET
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) gave Republicans his most direct warning to date that he is prepared to use a procedural maneuver to pass healthcare reform with a simple majority.

Reid told Republicans that he would prefer to pass healthcare reform under regular order but warned that he would not hesitate to use budget reconciliation if the legislation stalled in committee. The Senate Finance Committee began marking up a sprawling healthcare reform bill on Tuesday morning.

“If we can’t work this out to do something within the committee structure, then we’ll be forced to do reconciliation,” said Reid, who said the tactic would be used as a “last resort.”

Reid then spelled out how healthcare would pass under budget reconciliation proceedings, giving his colleagues a clear picture of what they face if they fail to reach bipartisan agreement.

“On reconciliation, under the order, there’s only 20 hours of debate,” Reid explained. “There would be a free amendment process, which would take some time.

“We’ve done reconciliation on many, many different issues in recent years,” he said. “We’ve done it on a number of healthcare issues.”

Reid also reiterated his threat to cancel the weeklong Columbus Day recess scheduled to begin on Oct. 10, depending on the progress of healthcare reform.

“A lot depends on whether we’ll be able to keep that a whole week [of recess] when we get to the healthcare legislation. It is obvious [that if] we’re in the middle of healthcare, we can’t take a recess for a week.”

Reid also laid out the Senate schedule for the rest of the month. Lawmakers will take up an extension of highway funding authorization as well as a postal reform bill.

Reid hopes to finish the fiscal 2010 Interior appropriations bill this week and then move to the Defense appropriations bill “at the earliest possible date.”

He said Congress would also have to pass a continuing resolution funding government when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 “because we won’t be able to complete all of the appropriations bills prior to the end of the month.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/59763-reid...

Have we seen her birth certificate? (We already know what a loo is.)

"Keep fucking that chicken" (to which Nick replied "OK I'll do that")

Like pornography, that picture of Dobbs and Taitz might make me turn gay!

Is Dobbs really greasing her up for the ole cornholio?

Only if they want to coverup. Blind to facts and evidence. Hey Iraqis, don't trust our courts, take it to yours.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/092209.html

Gary Busey

That the buzz around the 2004 Republican convention was that they wanted an amendment to the constitution so that party 'bright star' Arnold Swartzenegger could one day be president.

So they were for a real immigrant being president before they were against a perceived immigrant being one.

What a surprise. An anti-Michael Moore site uses conservative and financial commentators attacks against his new movie to "justify" his "declining" appeal. On a related note, some clips from the flick. It also plays early in L.A. and NY this weekend. Global warming continues to fry Cali.

Diane Fuckyoustein's e-mailed robot responses to my requests about the health care bill:
Response 1:

...Between 2000 and 2007, combined profits for 10 of the country's largest publically traded insurance companies rose 428 percent. I believe that a way to control those costs is by instituting a public option, a nonprofit cooperative model, or a regulatory authority to achieve limit cost increases. However, many Americans are happy with the coverage they have now, and I am concerned that a move to a single payer healthcare system would change the whole system. I believe that health reform should build on our employer-based system and the millions of Americans who are satisfied with their health coverage should be able to keep their benefits. Please know that I am working hard to make healthcare affordable for all Americans, and that I will keep your comments in mind as I continue to review healthcare reform proposals in the Senate...

Response 2:

...On September 16, 2009, the Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) released his Chairman's Mark of the Committee's healthcare reform proposal. This proposal includes a provision that would create a Health Insurance Exchange through which individuals and small businesses could purchase health insurance. In order to assist those not able to afford health insurance, some individuals and families would receive subsidies to help pay for the health insurance.

The Chairman's Mark would not preempt state laws that ban private insurance coverage of abortion or require it. Abortion cannot be mandated as a required service. However, it could be covered with non-federal funds. Federal funds continue to be prohibited from being used to pay for abortions unless the pregnancy is due to rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger. The Secretary will ensure that in each Exchange, one plan does not cover abortion, and one plan does cover abortion. Plans cannot discriminate against any provider or facility because of their willingness or unwillingness to provide, pay for, or refer for abortion.

I support preventative reproductive care because I believe that services such as family planning are very valuable. While the compromise on these issues in the Chairman's Mark may not be perfect, I am pleased that women will continue to have access to private health insurance coverage for all their reproductive health needs. Please know that I will keep your comments in mind as I continue to review health care reform legislation in the 111th Congress.

Seniors forced to skip retirement to survive the recession. Myanmar still likes to murder monks. The GOP considers it a form of censorship that Obama's demanding that insurers stop threatening old people with rescinding coverage. In "no shit" news, a lot of people's lives were impacted by the recession. The House votes to extend unemployment benefits. People are protesting over a university in Wyoming naming a center after Cheney, for some reason...

IT BE PIG NIGHT ON THE SHIP OF FOOLS!!!!!

arrggghhhh!!!!

...After all, this is America and she's got total insanity on her side. These days, that seems to be a winning combination in what used to be considered a "developed" nation.

PEAK OIL UPDATE: The Era of Xtreme Energy, Life After the Age of Oil: By Michael T. Klare - http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175117
How stupid are these 'drill here, drill now' con-servative idiots??? One/first of all: it takes on average at least a decade to get solid returns from drilling in any one area (and there is no guarantee of viability), Two: these are multinational corporations...what guarantee or magic beans are you buying that they won't sell it to China & India that have a higer demand anyway?
Three: Peak Oil is here, the easily accessible oil is already had...just because they 'found new deposits' doesn't mean it will be cheap to get out and guess what idiots...that means the costs will go up for you anyway...
An economy dependent on this old dirty, polluting/killing, finite energy source is doomed for extinction... This country has to get a lot smarter in a hurry....or risk national economic death by stupidity.... What is this fetish the con-servatives have with pollution?????

Debunking con-servative Extinctionist/Denier/'skeptic' stupidity: China Will Cap Emissions Intensity: Your Move, U.S. - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/china...
China is leading, if we want to have an economy in 20 years, we better get our 'stuff' together....

Obama: "Unease is no excuse for inaction" - http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-22-obama...
President Obama tells the U.N. that the U.S. is getting serious about climate change, but steers clear of specifics. Believe it or not, it was his first real climate speech, Jonathan Hiskes points out.

Clinton, Obama, and Rudd Talk Climate Action, Global "Spirit of Partnership" - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/clint...

UN Climate Summit: Flickers of Hope, but the Building is Still Burning - http://www.desmogblog.com/un-climate-summit

PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) Quits U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Nike Fed Up Too - http://www.desmogblog.com/pge-quits-us-chambe...
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) announced today that the utility giant is dumping its membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, citing the business group’s "extreme position on climate change."
Announcing the pull-out in a company blog titled "Irreconcilable Differences," PG&E says that its Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Darbee told the Chamber in a letter today that:
"We find it dismaying that the Chamber neglects the indisputable fact that a decisive majority of experts have said the data on global warming are compelling and point to a threat that cannot be ignored. In our opinion, an intellectually honest argument over the best policy response to the challenges of climate change is one thing; disingenuous attempts to diminish or distort the reality of these challenges are quite another."
As Daily Kos contributor David Brodwin observes: “This crucial announcement from PG&E is the beginning of a massive reframing, away from jobs vs. polar bears, and focusing on the growing divide within the business community: innovative and forward-looking companies that "get it" vs. old line extraction companies that cling to the past.”

IBM Proves Smart Grid Reduces Energy Use By At Least 15%, Reveals Key to Success - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/ibm-p...

OCT 2nd, do yourself a favor, go see this film: Capitalism: A love Story - http://nytimes.com/2009/09/23/movies/23capita...
'Moving Beyond Words' "... a brilliant moment of cinema ..." – Manohla Dargis, New York Times

'Classic' - http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-...
"... it is heartening to have a filmmaker take on a subject this all-encompassing and almost taboo." – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

If that's how you want it a-holes: GOP senators declare war on Net neutrality - http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/gop-senators...
On Monday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a speech in which he outlined the FCC's plan to enforce Net neutrality, a position President Barack Obama held during his campaign for president. In recent years, concern has grown that some Internet service providers are slowing down "access to high speed Internet for things like Internet-based voice calls, video streaming, and legal file sharing (that carriers might wish to block or at least charge extra for)," writes Ian Paul at PCWorld magazine.
While Net neutrality is supported by Internet-reliant companies such as Google and Microsoft, it is opposed by major Internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. Those three have come out against Genachowski's plan, ChannelWeb reports.
For all that con-servative/republican magic bean BS about 'freedom' they sure as hell want big telecom companies to have it and their 'voters' not too..... Seriously, if you think the GOP gives one flaming crap about 'individual' freedom...you don't need a lobotomy, you already have a self-inflicted one....
Just so you mindless, hopeless, worthless POS con-servatives understand this....this is all about extortion, end of discussion. If you're supporting this, you're an idiot without parallel. A true jackass without comparison. In other words a typical 'modern day' con-servative.

G-20: Globalization Goes Bankrupt: by Chris Hedges - http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090921_...

Profiles in 'compassionate con-servatism'/GOP WWJD Update: Rep. Steve King: The ‘best vote’ I ever cast in Congress was opposing Katrina relief. - http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/22/king-katr...
In a new interview with The Hill, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) reveals his proudest moment as a lawmaker: THE HILL: What vote would you like to redo? KING: I don’t really go back and re-live that sort of thing. Some of the big votes that I’ve thought about, some of the jury’s still out.
And at this point, maybe I’d answer that question another way, probably the singular vote that stands out that went against the grain, and it turns out to be the best vote that I cast, was my “no” vote to the $51.5 billion to [Hurricane] Katrina. That probably was my best vote. But as far as doing something different again, I don’t know.
Wow....obviously his voters are missing functioning brains, or their 'moral compass' has been smashed and buried under six feet of greed & racial superiority complexes

'Great moments' in Republican/con-servative Hypocrisy: David Sirota on The Beck Bank Bailout: Glenn Beck Championed the Wall Street Bailout He Now Criticizes - http://www.openleft.com/diary/15196/glenn-bec...
I wonder when con-servatives are going to get that everything is 'on the record' these days.... I guess that's what happens when you're stuck in an alternate dimension where its still the 1950s...

The government is investigating a major insurance company for allegedly trying to scare seniors with a mailer warning they could lose important benefits under health care legislation in Congress.
- http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/A...

Boston Globe: No More Troops to Afghanistan. BuzzFlash Agrees, Like Totally. Obama's Vietnam Moment of Choice. - http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_o...

Debunking con-servative stupidity: New demand prompts GM to boost shifts -- The company says it is boosting production at 3 plants, adding 2,400 jobs, because of new dealer demand. - http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investin...
"'Cash for Clunkers' didn't work", 'The government can't run anything'".....reality, it really sucks when it proves you wrong, eh con-servatives? As for the 'late/no payment' BS...its called good faith backed by leglislation oh and a treasury....

Obama Agrees With FCC on Net Neutrality - http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/09/09/21/...
Praise him when he's right, but tell him when he's wrong.... Just another reason progressives are superior to 'never question' Reaganite con-servatives....

Its about jobs & its about being a viable player in the 21st century: Climate-Change Agreement May Create 10 Million Jobs, former UK PM Tony Blair Says - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206011...

Brent Budowsky: Public option or bust - http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/brent-b...

Biden on 2010: If GOP Succeeds, It's 'The End of the Road for What Barack and I Are Trying to Do' - http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/...
Well Joe....there's no time like the present to flex your muscles...and get stuff done....

Father of filmmaker behind ACORN videos has backlog of controversial remarks - http://mediamatters.org/research/200909210002...

Greg Palast: Time to Change Bernanke's Medication? Secret White House letter to G-20 - http://www.opednews.com/articles/TIME-TO-CHAN...

Lou Dobbs Plays the Victim, as Movement Demanding CNN Dump Him Grows - http://www.alternet.org/story/142780/dobbs_pl...
He's a much better fit over at Cluster Fox Noise....they love them some hypocrites & liars...

Al Gore praises China and Japan for climate leadership - http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-22-al-go...

Wind Turbine Makers Lobby U.S. for Green Energy Mandates - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/wind-...

Political Irony: Must see - http://politicalirony.com/2009/09/22/help-hea...
http://politicalirony.com/2009/09/22/the-gop-...
http://politicalirony.com/2009/09/22/acorn-co...

Better n' dion any day, week, year or century:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7LGdbC9l1E&fe...

HILARIOUS!.....and and oh so appropriate! LOLOLOLOL!!!

Elton John's "Little Jeenie" not withstanding..

I love the idea of Dobbs and Taitz together on "Dancing with the Stars."

But really...We all know that Lou's hands would be a little higher.Got to love that Oily Teats.

Oily Taint!

Thank you, thank you. Try the veal.