The Modern Progressive

Enough With Chuck

AY — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:21:23 +0000

President Obama, forget about Chuck Grassley. As much as the White House and your administration may want and believe in a bipartisan bill on health care reform, Chuck Grassley does not. His idea of bipartisan is the majority, or the party the country elected in November, taking a hit and giving his side of the aisle all they desire, including death of the public option. And contrary to what he and other right-wingers might think, the town hall howlers aren’t representative of the entire country. I don’t know how long it will take the current administration to realize Senator Grassley’s real priorities. From bragging about killing reform to spreading completely untrue talking points to insulting the President he so willing to work with, Chuck Grassley has done it all. Here a few examples:

-On June 7, he posted two oddly brash and vicious tweets to his Twitter page, as follows:

Pres. Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us “time to deliver ” on health care. We still on schedul/even work inWKEND.

Pres. Obama while u sightseeing in Paris u said ‘time to delivr on health care’ When you are a “hammer” u think everything is a NAIL. I’m no NAIL.

- On June 24 on MSNBC, Grassley said,

We need to make sure there is no public option.

He couldn’t have been any clearer of his intentions with that statement.

- Maybe most notably on August 12, a day after President Obama said Chuck Grassley is “sincerly trying to figure out…a health care bill that works.”, he ranted to his Iowan consituents at an open meeting, “In the house bill, there is counseling for end of life. You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of your life, you should have done that 20 years before. Should not have a government plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma.” Also around that day, Max Baucus (D-MT), Senator and Chairman of the Finance Committee, stated that he “couldn’t ask for a btter partner” for “meaningful health care reform”, referring to his colleague and the ranking member of the Finance Committee, Senator Grassley. On the same day, the crew over at ThinkProgress asked him what he thought of a poll earlier this year that was conducted in Iowa that found 56% of the state’s population wants serious health care reform. His response: “That poll is old,” and even more shocking,

I base my decisions not on polls but on town meetings and mail.

I find it odd that he has over 56% of the Iowa population with all of them opposing health care. That wasn’t that last of him on August 12, though. The ThinkProgress crew also reported that while speaking to a constituent, Grassley said he had decided to pass on his edition of Glenn Beck’s “Common Sense.” At the end of the day he gave the book, with his prized signature, to the folks at ThinkProgress, telling them “it’s something you have to read a couple of times.” I agree, you would have to read it at least twice to convince yourself that people like this exist in the world.

- Finally, yesterday he appeared on MSNBC again. This time he was interviewed by Dylan Ratigan. “I’m not worried about legacy, I’m worried about good policy,” Senator Grassley explained. He elaborated on his plan later on stating:

I don’t want government takeover of health care, I don’t want bureaucrats getting between doctors and patients. I want affordability and accessibility for health care. I want to change the perverse incentives that are in our present way of paying health care providers, so that we move from reimbursement based on quantity to reimbursement based on quality, to pay for performance. And I want something that’s going to zero in, in a coordinated way, to the the chronic diseases that eat up 75 percent of our health care dollars.

However, later in the interview he wasn’t as focused on good policy. When MSNBC’s Chuck Todd asked Grassley if he is “willing to be one of just three or four Senate Republicans that support an eventual deal if you get what you want out of the Senate Finance Committee and it’s an agreed upon deal with the Gang of Six,” Grassley’s response was absurd.

Certainly not. And I told the president that a week ago Thursday and I told Max Baucus that over a period of three or four months, so I’m not telling you anything new. In fact, let me build on what you said and why I say that I wouldn’t be. I’m negotiating for Republicans and if I can’t negotiate something that gets more than four Republicans, I’m not a very good representative of my party. And secondly, we’re talking about health care, that’s life or death for every American and we’re talking about one sixth of the economy. And that ought to be done, as Senator Baucus said, in a consensus sort of way where it passes with an overwhelming vote in the United States Senate.

So, in summary, Chuck Grassley, before you label yourself and becomed labeled as someone committed to bipartisanship, your statements should be analyzed. You obviously aren’t willing to even attempt to negotiate a public option, something I doubt you fully understand based on your “pull the plug on Grandma statement.” You will only listen to Iowans, or maybe just Americans, who don’t come to town hall meetings to defeat a public option. President Obama, please move on past Chuck Grassley and survey your true options: Mike Enzi (R-WY), Susan Collins (R-ME), James Inhofe (R-GA) and remove Senator Baucus and consider your options in that field. Or even better, forget the Republicans and work with the Democrats and the American people on passing true health care reform.

Good luck, Chuck.

Gallup Reports 30 Blue States, 4 Red

AY — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:48:09 +0000

Gallup recently published a study on August 3 that was conducted from January to June concerning the “State of the States”, or political views of the states. The study finds that 30 states are solidly Democratic while 8 lean to the left. 8 are reported competitive between both parties, and a mere 4 states poll solidly red and a nonexistent 1 leans Republican. (Note: The study includes the District of Columbia.) A similar study occurred in 2008 and had nearly the same results but claimed 2 additional states competitive, those two states now lean Democratic. That essentially means a net loss of two possible states for Republican. Key states such as Indiana, Virginia, and Florida now either are leaning or solidly blue. The Republicans gained only one state, Alabama. Of the confirmed solid or leading red states, Republicans have a slight one point advantage in Mississippi and a relatively small six point lead in Alabama. The state that is most solidly conservative is Utah while the most liberal is Massachusetts. (D.C. is actually the most Democratic but is not one of 50 states.) A visual aide, also published by Gallup, is attached.

Stephen Hawking Engages in Health Care Debate

AY — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:20:36 +0000

In the latest right-wing talking point on health care reform, an Investor’s Business Daily editorial printed on July 31 claims that under the new government health plan Stephen Hawking would not be allowed to live because of end-of-life counseling, or as Sarah Palin puts it “death panels.” In their own words: “People such as Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physically handicaps, is essentially worthless.” Hawking thinks otherwise, however. The acclaimed theoretical physicist, who suffers from a neurological disease similar to ALS, has lived in England for the most part of his 67-year life. He himself told the Guardian, “I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS. I have recieved a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I could not have survived.” The section of the blatantly wrong IBD article has been removed and replaced by an explanation. Also noteworthy, Hawking recently was nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Foundation

AY — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:53 +0000

Mission

This blog will serve one purpose. It will not serve as site a to advance liberal politics at all costs. No, rather, it is intended to provide a factual view from the left. In presenting information factually, I hope that in some way the posts to come will influence its readers in a positive way. By positive, I don’t necessarily mean attempting to alter someone’s personal political views. While I’m not trying to avoid that aspect, I would be more than happy if my work was instead inspiration for you, the reader, to engage in politics, whether it be an argument with family or friends or involvement in local, state, or national governments. So, to simply clarify, my goals are simultaneously attempting to fairly advance liberal politics and engage readers in political action.

Content

Getting to content, most importantly, the main, or home, page will serve as the main source of blog posts. Once room isn’t available for posts, they will move to the archives page and be replaced by new posts. Other than posts and archived posts, there will be many sections. One will be the “Politicians” page. Found on this page will be the politicians, government officials, or public figures we most vehemently support. On the “Hacks” page, readers will find cold hard facts and general intelligence that will be used to disprove the far-fetched, outright lies that are consistently cranked out by the talking heads of the far right. Other planned, but not completely decided pages will be “Videos”, “The Social Meter”, “Polls”, and “History”.

You, the Readers.

In a last word, the driving reason behind this blog will to be informing and entertaining you, the readers. To put it simply, there wouldn’t be free speech or any form of press without an interested audience. I believe that should be the purpose for every journalist, commentator, and writer: to inform the people. So, finally, I hope that this site will be prosperous and available for long to come. Please, enjoy.

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