Size Does Matter for Fox News and Conservatives
By John Amato Friday Nov 20, 2009 10:00am
The new talking point by Fox News and conservatives who are attacking health care reform is to complain about the size of the bill. Last night on Greta Van Susteren's show, for instance, Sen. Orrin Hatch tried to tell us that the very size of the bill ensured that it would be a bad thing. Of course, most appropriations bills are bigger than this thing, and Hatch has not only voted for but sponsored his share of those. Maybe he'd find it acceptable if it were printed on golden tablets or something.
How desperate are they? Very f*&king desperate. The Democrats made a smart move by comparing it to Sarah Palin's book:
There are a lot of analogies floating around about how the Senate health care bill compares in size to other notable writings. Republicans have been hyping them all day.
Here's a new one from the Democratic arsenal: Sarah Palin's book, which runs 413 pages.
"This bill if you put in regular type style is about the same size as Sarah Palin's book," said Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska). "So it is not that big. There is a lot of show and tell and razzmatazz."
Which would be a better read?
"Depends if you want substance or not," he said.
Looks like the Palin line is a Democratic talking point. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told a gaggle of reporters the same thing Wednesday night.
Conservatives were running around trying to wrap the entire bill around DC or something during the House debate.
Fox News jumped in with their usual conservative spin.
Today, Fox News' Live Desk continued the House Republican caucus and Politico's silly obsession with the length and size of the House health care reform bill. During a span of less than 45 minutes, co-host Trace Gallagher repeatedly told viewers the health care reform bill is so long, it makes the Russian novel War and Peace "look like a short story."
This is the time of the day where Rupert Murdoch says Fox News is in its actual "news cycle." If that's true, then why are they actively attacking the length of health care bill? Why does the page count matter to a news organization? Would they rather have a three-page bill handed over to them the way Paulsen did when he asked for $700 billion for Bush?
And Sen. Tom Coburn won't read the health care bill on the floor Saturday.
Republican Senator Tom Coburn is backing off his threat to require that the Senate read the 2,074-page health care bill because some GOP colleagues aren't supporting the effort.
The Oklahoma lawmaker said there's uncertainty about whether reading the bill during Thanksgiving week would be productive. He also said that if the Republicans do decide to tie up the Senate for the dozens of hours it would take, six GOP colleagues have committed to pitching in on reading duty.
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... I don't know if I can handle this." Ted Haggard, before the cure.
Creepy Mormon! I hope that one of his wives leaveas him! For a woman!
I usta be a Mormon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnYFCKqNiXg
So on Beckerheads show he said that the bill was too huge, that the constitution was smaller. Almost word for word what Hatch said.
Used to be that Rove in the WH wrote the talking points for Beck et al. Now it's Rove at Fox that writes the talking points for these asshats. And the GOP still repeats them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhhjLeHy558
... in one afternoon?!?!?!
Clearly, the man is brilliant. An intellectual giant. A force to be reckoned with.
*gag*
At 30 seconds page per minute, that's more than 16 continuous hours of reading. Even Evelyn Wood couldn't read that in one afternoon.
It's obvious. Conservatives can't read.
Either that, or they used Cliff's Notes all through college. If they went.
Coburn hints you may have been on the right track:
"He also said that if the Republicans do decide to tie up the Senate for the dozens of hours it would take, six GOP colleagues have committed to pitching in on reading duty."
Hope they are taking their prescriptions for "old guy pee problems."
Think anybody will pick up that book about The Family to read aloud during Coburn's filibuster?
... a shot of a Democratic senator reading 'War & Peace' or something in the midst of the GOP fillibuster.
of outfitting them.
what a friggin great idea
way beyond the attention span of the general public anyway why bother reading it?
general population and people will go . . Yay! We did it! We won!!
the GOP should take a couple days off from nailing themselves to the cross and go ahead and give the thing a read. something about it being their job and all...
Maybe it's NOT BIG ENOUGH . .
Photographs of children who had died for lack of health care must be added!!
Republicans love babies more than democrats, right? Or do they just love the UNborn, which is it . .
Hey THE BIBLE is pretty big, don't they all read that book?
'Cause that's the part Christ Jesus said.
/snark
Talk backwards He?
Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.
.
.
.
Sorry I am.
.
I think they don't even read those parts. Jesus talks about turning the other cheek, being kind to others, helping the widows and the orphans.
Off the subject of this thread, I have found the most hilarious take on the health care debate from "Christians" at least I hope they're not. www.youtube.com/user/theraptureright
Those guys were a joke, right??
good to see Mr. Hatch telling his employers (the American taxpayer) that he can't perform his job in an adequate manner.
I'd assume that since he belongs to the party of "personal responsibility" he'll be presenting his letter of resignation first thing in the morning, right?
took the original bill back, and all they can read on the floor is ten talking points. Then let him theologically wrestle with Hatch.
and using garbled text. I supposed 10 tons of incoherent golden nonsense is just what Hatch needs to pass this thing.
he only has to claim he had the gold tablets in his office
once upon a time.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Panels.
Would they read it then?
Hairy Pothole and the Shovel Ready Stimuli?
"The Oklahoma lawmaker said there's uncertainty about whether reading the bill during Thanksgiving week would be productive."
Yes and being "productive" and getting things done is job one for Republicans don't you know.
and in between lots of deaconly pay offs to take care of.
It's a BIG bill...and it's lots of WORDS! Ohhhh...it's scary....and the Dems are coming right at us with it...and...oh...what are they going to dooo with that big bill...oh...oh...no...don't...don't....stop...ohh...don't...stop...oh oh oh...don't stop don't stop...
... Rich Lowry working on his next column about Sarah Palin.
I just can't wait for them to start lying about how taxes are going to be raised on corporations and LLC's.
When that happens, check out page 2041 of the bill.
Line 11.
It's a real knee-slapper.
By the way...check this out if you feel like it....
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0...
F***ing morons. Yes you might have to read it's your f***ing job. Unbelievable. I guess they would prefer a superman comicbook.
They don't want ANYONE to read this.
Especially the people that voted them into office.
And you can bet your last dime THE INSURANCE COMPANIES SURE AS HELL DON'T WANT ANYBODY KNOWING ABOUT THIS.
... wasting an opportunity. Right now, a lot of workers are doing one thing: making their healthcare elections for 2010. They know what choices were offered, they have pamphlets/information on what is provided and covered, and how much it costs. They know what hoops they have to jump through to change dependents, etc.
Put the bill in context!
"You know the choices you're making right now. The GOP doesn't want you to have any other choices, even though you know you're getting less for your healthcare dollar than before."
Don't they have aides and interns to read it and summarize it for them? Or are they only used for sexual purposes?
"Got to hard part"
"Finger all the pages!!"
In the Senate they employ the staff to use their wives.
Because there are two kinds of interns. Well, three if you're Joe Scarborough.
"He's a Democrat, but he's at least-- I think-- honest".
Bipartisanship? Really?
i haven't seen nor heard what it will cost us to do nothing. what's it going to cost if we do nothing as i assume the RIGHT really wants. the COST to provide health care insurance per-employee for corporations is said to TRIPLE in cost by 2019. the republican solution is the status quo.....people that don't have health care insurance go to the ER...they can't/won't PAY their medical bills so that COST is SHIFTED to the PAYing pool/TAX payers....the HIDDEN TAX scam. to me CHINA gets it. they are implementing UNIVERSAL HEALTH care to stimulate "consumerism". NO social programs the citizens will continue to save at 50% of their income. there has to be a solution to this issue/crisis. i guess i'm pissed because as usual the political power grab is getting in the way of REAL problem solving.
Corporate executives complain it's too expensive to provide healthcare for their employees.
Who sets the prices? OTHER CORPORATIONS.
But, of course, if you advocate reform, and prices drop, why, then you can afford better plans for your employees, instead of treating them like scum. That won't do, so clearly, healthcare reform is all about socialism and the government taking over.
because they are the biggest opponents of universal healthcare, even in a system that lets them entirely off the hook for any of its expenses. They fight tooth and nail to make sure that meaningful healthcare reform never happens, because the current system establishes a very Darwinian rationing system wherein corporate America is the Gate Keeper (cue chorus of angels) to the Promised Land.
With a constant background of 50-or-so-million uninsured and another equal amount under-insured, they have a powerful and always available reminder staring all of their employees in the face:
"There goes you, but for our grace. Step out of line and you'll join their number."
It's the perfect tool for keeping employees fearful, compliant and obedient. Fear of losing benefits is a force multiplier for control over the lives of their employees. If there were universal healthcare, there would be far less reason for employees to hang around in jobs they hate working for people they despised.
Corporate America can complain all it wants. Their complaints are complete bullshit. They choose control over competitiveness in the global market, and even over improved profitability. If they wanted universal healthcare that didn't cost them a single farthing, it would happen overnight. And it would cost them next to nothing in bribe money for congresscrooks.
Corporate America needs to STFU.
Size does matter to Fox propaganda and conservatives, (Regressives).
Gee, how big was the PATRIOT Act? It must have been *much* smaller than this legislation, since it was such a "good thing".
It would be pretty easy to put together some other prime examples of bills the GOP *loved* that are huge, and some they rail against that are quite small.
After releasing their sweeping health care bill in the Senate Wednesday, Democrats are on the attack with a video montage "calling out" GOP leader Mitch McConnell for what they describe as his dishonest effort to obfuscate and kill the legislation.
"The Republican Party is going to have to answer to voters for opposing health insurance reform... all for the sake of politics," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan, in a statement to RAW STORY.
The clip, titled "Mitch McConnell: Lying On Health Reform," and website carrying it feature various sources refuting McConnell's assertions that the Democratic plan will cut Medicare, drive private insurers out of business, force government bureaucrats between doctors and patients, and lead to a single-payer insurance system.
It rebuffs his claim that a public option "may cost you your life," and includes footage of physician and former Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist saying "what the Obama administration is doing is not socialized medicine." It also slams McConnell for having "cited discredited 'experts'" -- including a GOP strategist whose assertions have been taken apart by FactCheck.org.
http://rawstory.com/2009/11/democrats-blast-m...
has 2 minute video
... big bills for the military-industrial war machine, do they?
Or big bills guaranteeing corporate welfare.
Or big tax cuts for the super-wealthy.
Again channeling Mike Malloy: God, I hate these people.
BiD
Does Tom Coburn NEED to have the bill read to him? Because he can't READ the bill for himself?
/snark
SInce it's so important for the republicans to have the bill read on the floor I have three words for you guys....
MICRO MACHINES GUY
I'm sure he's not busy...get him and some of his speed talking buddies together and they'll have that thing read in a couple hours.
Who cares what these assholes do as long as they don't pass this legislation? Nobody knows what's in it except the lobbyists who wrote it. The only things Reid knows is what he's added to try and garner support.
If they pass this crap we are really screwed. We'll be wistfully looking back at pre-reform times, commiserating about how good things were then ...
HR 676 - REAL REFORM
I do not have cable so I had to rely on a source I can trust, that being ABC news with Charles Gibson. I was a bit disapointed. Yes, Charlie told me how many pages were in the bill and that it would take 48 hours to read it. He did not say whether the 48 hours could be shortened by taking an Evelyn Wood speed reading course. He also left out some other important information. I wanted to know how much the bill weighed and if they used a nice font. What I really want to know is does it taste good.
If there is a pocket veto how big must the pocket be to hold it?
How long was the Patriot Act?
Which Republicans expected everyone to vote on UNREAD?
The patriot act was 132 pages long.
http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/nytim...
My neighbor the Republican thinks the health care bill is an infathomable, unknowable thing because it is a thousand pages long.
Ask him if he's ever ready the Bible.
...if the size of the bill makes it objectionable, they should all have no problem getting behind HR-676. It's only a few pages long. Simple. Concise. To the point. Same for Bernie sanders' bill. No need to take 1500+ pages giving away the country to the insurance and pharma industries whilst making sure that everybody else gets screwed. No need to spend page after page crafting the illusion that this is actually going to help anybody.
what I was just going to say. I guess Republicans are trying to tell us they support HR 676 now.
The patriot act was 132 pages long.
http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/nytim...
why dont you READ THE GODDAMN WHOLE THING!!! Do your effing homework, what you've been elected and paid to do, and be productive in health care reform. Great role model you are to kids. "Oh this homework assignments too hard...I'm not gonna do it unless the teacher shortens the 20 page essay to a 1 page essay."
btw, hate to even bite a little bit into their turd-logic of an argument, but if you actually look at the House bill it's like effing size 32 font so really it's more like around 600pgs (according to a friend of mine who pasted it on word).
How long do these ass hats think it takes me
to read the contract documents of a 10 million dollar
school in thier town. I don't make a senators pay to do it either.
"Were to stupid. It makes our widdle heads hurt"
Your FIRED!
Unfortunately most Americans view reading as
some form of punishment and identify with this pathetic malize while clinging to thier high school
identity. Morons! "Oo it's sooooo big. No one should have to read that much."
It's pretty easy to sell that to a bunch of children.
Try getting up and pouring concrete every day for a couple of years douche bags!
Sorry the real protest is not the size it has NO pictures.
Remember before these MORONS lied us into a WAR they were given picture of weapons presentations, they were shown PICTURES of the terrain and people, so yes they are complaining because they have to READ.
Remember this is the party that wants to DUMMY down America. If they had their way all they would have to say (they do to their constituents it's no good, so no challenge), yup they are sorely disappointed they have nO Pictures.
Aah they have to read, wonder how many people they are going to hire to do that.
War & Peace, its about Russia. The bill wouldn't be 2000 pages if it wasn't in a size 20 font, double-spaced, one-sided. Kinda like my old term papers used to be.
bill? Oh, that's what I thought: NOTHING. As far as he's concerned, the insurance industry does a fine job, just like bush thought brownie was doing a heckuvajob in New Orleans after Katrina, and that it's ok that 46 million americans don't have health care, because, really, they do have health care because they can get so fucking sick that they have no choice but to go to an emergency room when their sickness is much more severe and have the taxpayers foot the bill for treating them only superficially and enough to get them over the extremely acute crisis. Where is the compassion in that? That, to Orrin Hatch, is preferable to making any kind of change in the health care system that we have. The Orrin Hatch method might be called the ostrich-with-it's-head-in-the sand method. And it's the preferred method of all the republicans who think that big government is the source of all our evils and all our problems. Well, I've got news for OH the rest of his republican friends: Most Americans would be happy to see their government helping them, taking care of them, and not shirking that responsibility.
This was like watching an SNL skit. What I loved was when he picks it up, drops it on the table and then has the balls to say "This bill will wreck the country".
Orin, were you planning on taking the bill up in a helicopter and dropping it to see if would wreck the buildings,bridges and pavement just by the sheer weight to prove your point?
What a mealy-mouthed asshole. This is desperation when they gotta call in Greta Van Sustern to stage Hatch's fucking temper tantrum.
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