Category: Barack Obama

Health care is a human right. In my own definition of the progressive movement, I count that as a basic progressive principle.

For various reasons, from my own personal perspective, it is simply unacceptable to settle for anything less than true universal health care. Some of those various reasons are my experiences with health care in the United States, as well as those of my friends and family, some of whom have serious or chronic conditions.

In tonight’s EENR for Progress, we look at why we need universal health care, proposals for universal health care, and what progressives can do to achieve it.

One of the least reported issues in the continuing war and occupation of Iraq is that of plans for permanent military bases and a long term occupation of Iraq by the US Military. John McCain has made the statement that the US should stay in Iraq for the next 100 years.

As per CNN last month, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, a crowd member asked McCain about a Bush statement that troops could stay in Iraq for 50 years. “Maybe 100,” McCain replied.

Let’s look at the responses from Hillary and Obama.

The two following quotes are from the CNN link noted above in the introduction.

“He said recently he could see having troops in Iraq for 100 years,” Clinton said at an Arlington, Virginia, rally last week in a line she’s repeated on the campaign trail. “Well, I want them home within 60 days of my becoming president of the United States.”

Obama took a similar tack.

“Sen. McCain said the other day that we might be mired for 100 years in Iraq — which is reason enough not to give him four years in the White House,” Obama has said on several occasions.

and the come-back from McCain…

Generational scholars Strauss and Howe dedicated their lives to analyzing the four dominant generations of the twentieth century: the GIs, the Silent, the Boomers and the X-ers.  Then, near the end of their collaborations they published Millennials Rising. The thesis of their whole canon of work is that each generation fulfills overall needs or niches from prior ones, and creates problems that future generations must solve.

The concept behind the Millennial Generation is that a national or global crisis will arise unlike anything since the GI’s Depression and WWII, and the millenials will rise to meet it. Or else society itself will falter.  (Can you take a guess at how this thesis is already playing out?)

I never thought this would happen, not in our time. Not only is Obama starting to pull away in Texas (Even Now), he is slowly becoming a folk hero. Mythos is very important in Texas, it is what we use to counteract the reality of our insane and chaotic ways. But every once in awhile, Texas will drag itself out of the gutter, dust itself off, and do something great.

Long know as “that bastard ass-backwards redneck fucktard state”, the long lumber giant of Texas progressism and populism is finally awakening. While usually the Lone Star goes for some white hooded off the land hick populist, it appears as if the Big Tex is finally shooting straight again like we did with men like Sam Rayburn.

It appears as if the darkness of East Pine woods is in regression, and the glory of the Hill Country is on the wax. It appears as if the spirit of the Lone Star Republic, who has sent such citizens as Barbara Jordon, Ann Richards and to a lesser extent LBJ, has gone hog wild in the hearts of Texans, turning away from the pity and embracing the hope.

It’s been a long time coming.

As the go to political friend, I have been getting emails from people I had long ago written off as closet nazis, raza nationicalists and jusst your basic garden variety Texas idiot, all telling me about this man, who has done captured their heart and mind.

If Texas is Hillary’s last stand, it will not be the Alamo. It will be the Battle of Gonzales. And when the fighting is done, Obama will lead us to Jacinto, where we will steal McCain’s leg and send him stumbling all the way back to Arizona.

Sometimes, a hero does come dressed in black. Let’s ride cowboy. Let’s ride.

Because of my frank criticism people sometimes question my love of country, but make no mistake, I do love this country.

Aside from a hideous past and a hideous present, what do we have to be ashamed of?  I do love my country.

I love her for her promise.  I love her for what she was meant to be.

I love that we as a people are finally ready for change.  I’m glad that we are making history and that once again we are inspired by a leader with poetry in his soul.  Some have said that words are cheap, and while that can be true, they can also mean everything.

I have talked about people and their levels of belief in forming their worldviews, or lack thereof by referencing this link.  You may disagree with the entire concepts here but sit back and embrace the idea of the levels.

http://www.proliberty.com/obse…

As a real life example some people are content with WWF wrestling mania or the Entertainment channel while others listen to classical music, sipping chardonnay at dinner.  While we might loath Bush and the last eight years of neo-cons the impending far left shift with Obama is my Apocalyse horse ride!

David Sirota has a very interesting article in the February edition of In These Times. It is also available for viewing online.

While I don’t agree with everything he says in it I think it is a good point to bring up and a fascinating article. In it he talks about why “Empowering Capitol Hill progressives is just as important as presidental campaign platforms.”

It is a good start to the broader discussion of what the end results of each canidate would be. A discussion that should not only include congress and platforms but also electoral coattails and working style among other things. But those will have to later. In this essay I will just be focusing on the arguments Sirota makes.  

My apologies to Kevin Sullivan.

As I stood on the mountain, I shuddered. Off in the distance, I could see the Golden Pyramid. I was transfixed. I could here the Pyramid calling to me, willing me to come forth a climb its many steps.

On health care reform, the choice between the Democratic and Republican candidates is crystal clear.  The two leading Democratic candidates tell the American people the truth about the American health care system – it is too expensive, leaves out 50 million people, and burdens employers.  One can argue that the Clinton and Obama plans do not go far enough toward creating universal single-payer coverage that citizens of other developed countries take for granted, but at least the Democrats are talking about steps toward solution.  By contrast, McCain and the Republicans offer nothing but tired rhetoric and more tax breaks for people that do not need them.  If you cannot afford health insurance, then putting aside money into a medical savings account is a cynical, if not blatantly cruel “solution” to the problem.  

This recent editorial in USA Today highlights the uphill battle we face as the media seek to muddy the waters and muddle the public.

The editorial notes that health care costs per person in the United States are double the per-capita rates in other countries, including Canada and the members of the European Union.  It grudgingly admits that many Americans lack health insurance and therefore access to quality care.  However, the rest is nothing but disinformation.

Over three weeks ago in a posting on DailyKos and other political blogs I launched the Obamathon. A drive to help Barack Obama win on February 5th. Twenty-two states voted that day so it is hard to firmly say who won and who lost but when this campaign started over a year ago I never would have dreamed that we would do so well. Since then eight states have voted and every single one has handed Obama a victory. Now we are hearing that Obama will win Wisconsin, we will see how that plays out. Later tonight the polls will close in Hawai’i and we will see how Obama does there.

But no matter what the final results of those states are one thing is clear. We must March 4th Together for Barack Obama. What does this mean? It means on March 4th four states will vote. Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio and Texas. It means whatever happens tonight and until then we must keep it going, we must March 4th. And we must do it together. That’s why I’m relaunching the Obamathon as the March 4th Together for Obama fundraising drive.

The UK continues to pay for timorous Tony Blair’s white-livered decision to debase his nation as George II’s quivering lapdog.

One debt will be collected by Lofti Raissi, a British resident who last week won the right to seek monetary damages from the UK, as compensation for his groundless arrest and incarceration, on American orders, during the disgraceful Anglo-American overreaction to the attacks of September 11.

Three senior British judges held that the British government impermissibly used “unsubstantiated allegations” in a US extradition warrant “as a device to circumvent the rule of English law.”

Raissi, wholly innocent, was held in maximum-security confinement for six months, where he was twice stabbed by other inmates, while his name was foamingly bruited about in the shrieking British tabloids as a slavering 9/11 arch-fiend.

The court concluded that, to poodle up to the Americans, British police and prosecutors abused the legal process, filed false allegations, and concealed evidence, and thus Raissi may seek up to 2 million pounds in damages.

“I always say Britain is a civilised country with beautiful people,” Raissi said. “I really cherish the customs, the way of life here. But after 9/11, things changed.”

Raissi’s ordeal, below the divide.

Big Ten Democrat, whom I greatly like and respect, says Barack Obama should opt out of public financing, and that he should do it now, while it is still early. Strategically, Big Tent is absolutely right. As he says, should Obama opt out now, while his opponent is Hillary Clinton, the corporate media won’t question it. Should he win the nomination, and only opt out once his opponent is John McCain, the corporate media will eviscerate him. The free pass they give him against Hillary Clinton, whom they have always despised, and cherish the thought of defeating, if not destroying, will not transfer to a runoff against St. Maverick; and it won’t matter that the Saint is utterly and completely full of shit. But I strongly disagree with the fundamental premise of Big Tent’s argument:

Unlike most good government types, I believe that until there is full public financing of political campaigns, the Democratic Party should NEVER give away an advantage when it has one.

If John McCain accepts public financing for his general election campaign, and the Democratic nominee does not, the Democratic Party will lose the moral high ground, and much credibility, on campaign finance reform. That McCain is a liar and a hypocrite won’t matter. What will matter is that the Democratic nominee will be opting out, while the Republican nominee won’t be. Many are saying we should not cede the financial lead, now that the internet and a cratering Republican Party have handed it to us, but accepting that argument would only prove that campaign finance reform was always about the politics of being financially behind, rather than about the principle of creating a politics of people. Big Tent’s ideal of full public financing will never come to be because campaign finance reform will be, effectively, dead.

As I’ve previously pointed out, John Edwards had less than half as much campaign money as did Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; and the rest of the candidates had much much less. Similarly, it’s no coincidence that Obama’s emergence as the clear Democratic frontrunner came as he vastly outspent Clinton, after Super Tuesday; and as they court the increasingly important Superdelegates, he has given more than three times as much money as has Clinton to those Superdelegates who are elected officials. Forget debates, speeches, policy statements, and stands on the issues, the Democratic nomination is being determined by nothing other than money.