Why Bunning Matters...

Jim Bunning (R-KY) is FREAKING rich. He is a multi-millionaire. He made millions in baseball, as a shady politician, and through a corrupt “Charity” he runs where he is the biggest recipient of the funds it receives. And he takes care of his multi-millionaire buddies. He never met a tax cut for the superwealthy, big oil, and big polluters that he didn’t like. Reecently, the SOB voted NO on restoring the pre-2001 tax rate for people earning over $1 million a year, adding hundreds of billions to our stretched deficit... helping those who need it the least.

Funny. No crowing about how we should be paying for that...



But 1.1 million people aren’t rich. So he literally said the words, “Tough shit”, right on the House floor when it was brought to his attention that his lone obstruction will cause those people to lose their unemployment benefits. Not to mention the health insurance COBRA, highway funding, medicare doctor paments, and flood insurance that are a part of the bill. (Side note, Department of Transportation will have to basically shut down and its employees furloughed).

So here's the deal. A family of four may get 227 bucks a week to survive. Real necessities...like food, rent, and medicine. Jim says tough.

Reid even promised Bunning he'd bring up his amendment for a vote. Not good enough. Bunning said he “knew it would not get the amount of votes necessary to pay for it.”

But that wasn’t the worst of it. The fact that people will soon quite literally be thrown out on the streets, or not be able to pay for groceries, or not get the measly crumbs enough to get by just to survive for another week....this was all met with the Bunning whining.

He actually had the gall to complain about missing the “Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9, and it was the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina this year."

Un. FUCKING..believable.

If there ever was a "Come to Jesus" moment for America on what the GOP thinks about regular Americans, this is it. They are fighting tooth and nail AGAINST millions of Americans from getting health care, have fought tooth and nail FOR deficit sucking tax giveaways to the richest of the rich, and now are sitting by the sidelines or even tacitly encouraging this.
The tea partiers and conservatives regard Bunning as a hero.

Redstate is angry that more Senators aren’t joining Bunning.

Conservative talk radio is hailing him a hero. And the right-wing blogs give the standard fare:

its about time someone stood up to these reckless fools, i barley make enough to pay my bills but i still choose to work instead. Mr. Bunning thank you, your a good man.

Get off your ASS and find a Job!! There are Jobs out there, so find one...I tried of paying for these dead beats! The economy is no where near as bad as the media makes it out to be. I own my own IT consulting business and I'm so busy I had to hire 6 new people!!

Good job!!!! Get back to work. Pay for your own health insurance. Quite crying you leeches.

make all the illegals who have took all the jobs pay taxes and raise taxes on all imports, problem solved

These are the thoughts of those who support the GOP agenda, and the thoughts of those conservatives in Congress right now..who can’t just come out and say it. But that is why they are silent about this. They agree with Bunning, they just don’t want to come out and say it. But actions speak louder than words. Bottom line: the deficit only matters when it concerns helping regular Americans. Not their wealthy brethren.

Democrats in Washington. I implore you...START SCREAMING ABOUT THIS! Fan out to the talk shows you love to visit and demand answers from the GOP. Invite Bunning and that idiot Bob Corker why they think the suffering are just a bunch of lazy bums. EVERY single time they pretend to speak for Americans and say they don’t want health care... remind them that according to them they didn’t want unemployment help either. MAKE them stand up for this!

This is true conservatism on display. It’s out there for every single American to see in all of it’s aristocratic ugliness. And if the Democrats can’t or won’t even make an issue out of this...if they are unable and unwilling to stop allowing the GOP to claim they are the party speaking for “ordinary” Americans AFTER THIS...then what hope do we have to claim the high ground on ANY issue facing us today? How do we expect to win elections in 2010?

Furthermore, IF we can’t use this to argue that the GOP is hell-bent on obstruction, that the government is broken and we need to break this ridiculous cycle to move our agenda forward, then we never will.

That is why Bunning matters.

Embrace Life

No Health Care Reform? Blame Malia and her dumb flute!

Of all the reasons HCR failed, I found this one from the New York Times to be the dumbest...

IT is no secret that President Obama desperately wants Congress to pass legislation to overhaul health care. But last month, when Mr. Obama convened Congressional Democratic leaders at the White House for a marathon negotiating session, another priority intervened.

His 11-year-old daughter, Malia, had a band recital.

Thus did the president of the United States ditch his own health care talks — temporarily, at least — to slip off to Sidwell Friends School for a few hours to listen to Malia play the flute.

WHO is outraged by this? The so-called right-wing Family Values crowd:

“People elect you not to be a good family man, they elect you to fix their problems, and that’s the cold-hearted reality of it,” said John Feehery, a Republican political strategist. “And all those folks on the Hill, they’ve left all their families at home; they don’t have the luxury of skipping back home in the middle of the meeting to catch their daughter’s recital"

ARE YOU F&^*ING KIDDING ME!?!?

Yeah! That's why we don't have Health Care Reform! F&^%ing Flute Recitals!!

It had NOTHING to do with every single Republican obstructing reform! Or initiating a fillibuster on EVERY SINGLE PIECE of legislation for the first time in history for the sole reason of grinding this country to a halt because they want Obama to fail!

Newflash, FEEhery...Family Values means more than just hating gay people.

It means, God-forbid, spending time with your family. There is no reason the most powerful person in the world can't take an hour to see his daughter's flute recital...if you were really that damn concerned, you would tell you GOP brethren to negotiate in good faith and MAYBE we would have solutions to these massive REPUBLICAN-caused problems!!

I've heard all kinds of stupid from the GOP, but blaming their obstruction and their problems on Malia takes stupid to a whole new level.

Spare Me The Lecture on YOUR Deficit

Quote of the week goes to Senator Sanders (I-VT):

"Let me begin by saying something to my friend Senator Gregg, through the chairman, through the chairman. I really don't like being lectured on deficits when you (Sen. Gregg) and many members of your party (Republicans) helped cause the situation we are in right now. "

"People voted, Senator Gregg, I believe you are one of them, for a war in Iraq, which some people will think will cost two or three trillion dollars, but you forgot to pay for that war. You and other people voted for tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%, costs $600 billion dollars, forgot to pay for that. You voted for a prescription drug medicare bill which will cost $400 billion dollars but doesn't negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry, forgot to ask how that was going to be paid for, you voted for the bailout and I believe you want to repeal the inheritance tax, which will cost a trillion dollars over a ten year period, benefiting the top 3/10this of 1%. I voted against all of those things, so please, please, spare the lectures on deficit reduction."

Well Said!!

Crist Is Going To Pull a Joe Lieberman

Fresh from Rasmussen:

Charlie Crist (R) 37 (43)
Marco Rubio (R) 49 (43)

OUCH!

My liberal friends outside the state are telling me that Crist may want to consider running as a Democrat. I can tell you that he would not be accepted as a Democrat by Florida voters and would lose the Dem primary as well.

Here's what I do know...Charlie's whole purpose in life is to run for higher office. It's all he knows and all he does. (It certainly isn't governing or doing the job he currently holds). So Charlie is going to do exactly what Joe Lieberman did back in 2006.

He is going to try to make a go of it in his party primary.

He is going to lose.

He is going to declare that his fate will not be determined by a few party zealots and run as an independent.

Between Rubio and Meek, he may pull it off. He would be the Republican Joe Lieberman.

He has been God-awful in every post he's had, but in the Senate, where you don't actually have to govern or manage anything...just vote on bills, he might be tolerable as an independent. It would be interesting to see him for once in his life NOT pandering to whatever party is ahead in the polls.

The Best Statement on What Dems Need To Do NOW About Healthcare

From my favorite national blog, election projection website electoral-vote.com:

The Democrats are clearly in for bad news in November unless something changes and speeches aren't going to be enough. In particular, if after spending a year trying to get a health-insurance reform bill through Congress, the whole project dies now because the Democrats have only 59 seats in the Senate--a luxury the Republicans haven't had since 1923--many voters will conclude that the Democrats spend all their time bickering with each other and are incapable of governing. Everyone in Washington knows very well what the Democrats have to do, namely, get the House and Senate to stop squabbling with each other over abortion and the Medicaid limit and come to a compromise bill that 50 Democratic senators and 218 Democratic representatives support. Then the House has to pass the Senate bill intact followed by both chambers passing the compromise bill polishing the rough edges, in the Senate via reconciliation, even if that means firing the Senate parliamentarian, Alan Frumin, and replacing him with a Democrat. Some Democrats believe they will be better off in November with no bill than with this bill, but if that were true, minority leader Mitch McConnell would long ago have given Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) permission to vote for cloture in order to pass the bill and thus saddle the Democrats with an awful bill they would have to defend in the midterms. But McConnell knows that some aspects of the bill (like forcing insurance companies to accept uninsured sick children) will kick in the day the bill is signed and are wildly popular, thus giving the Democrats something to campaign on.

59-41 means mandate for GOP?

Remember 2000? With the slimmest majority and contested election, the GOP rammed through legislation using budget reconciliation. Tax cuts were given to the superwealthy while the Democrats stood feckless. The GOP wasn't punished in 2004, in fact, they gained seats.

Then when they wanted to ram through extremist, unqualified, right-wing psycho judges in 2005, they smacked down the Democrats who tried to pull the fillibuster by threatening to go "nuclear". They said they would rewrite the rules to allow 51.

Son of a bitch if the press didn't swallow thier storyline that they just wanted an "up or down" vote and Dems were being "obstructionist". Why couldn't we get it through our thick heads that elections have consequences?!

As always, we capitulated on the worst judges if they promised to play nice.

Well, here we are in 2010. Even with losing MA, we still have the LARGEST MAJORITY any party has enjoyed since 1923!!

And we are the ones who are capitulating!!

I had to listen to Barack Obama give a speech not to long ago, and say off the cuff that "as you know, it takes 60 votes in the Senate to get anything passed".

WTF?!? Why the hell aren't we screaming about straight "up or down" votes?! Unlike in 2005, when we only fillibustered extreme judges, the GOP is fillibustering EVERYTHING!! Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, and David "Diaper Boy" Vitter fillibuster EVERY SINGLE BILL, even ones that pass 90-10.

Why isn't our spineless leadership raising cane about this??! Why can't we go "nuclear"? What are they gonna do that they haven't done already?

Why don't we use reconciliation to get things through?!? WHY are still playing nice?

We tried bi-partisanship. Baucus wasted months desperately trying to get ONE GOPer to support our obviously broken health-care system. We capitulated on every major point in the Senate Bill thanks to spineless Reid. And what did we get? NOT one GOPer voted for the Senate Bill. One GOPer voted for the House Bill.

So Gibbs is saying we need more bi-partisanship?? WTF??

Pelosi is saying she doesn't have the votes so she isn't going to try to pass the Senate Bill and use reconciliation to fix it...so she's okay with starting over?? WTF??

Obama is STILL refusing to get involved in "the legislative process"?? Says he'll just pass a few token items after ALL OF THIS MESS we went through last year?? WTF??

WTF??
WTF??
WTF??

The largest majority in nearly a century and we are helpless.

THAT is why we lost..and why we will keep losing. Because the base, me, is wondering what the hell is the point to all of this. AFter busting tail in 2008, we can't get one piece of signature legislation because of ONE reasoon...POOR LEADER SHIP!!

I give up. I am no longer a Democrat...

Don't call me until you get your act together.

Hillarious! Conan O'Brian's $1.5 MILLION dollar comedy sketch

NBC is regretting their contractual obligation to foot the bill for Conan's comedy segments. Now that Conan is feeling "vindictive", he just introduced a new "character" to the show (with appropriate theme music):

Hillarious!

Now I Can Say It: I Am Glad Coakley Lost

I almost wrote this earlier today, but I decided I just couldn't attack a Democrat in a crucial election, not with everyone here trying so hard.

But it's over, so I can say it. I'm glad it happened.


I am not a bad Democrat. Far from it.

But this had to happen. Not just because Scott Brown campaigned his ass off while Coakley just assumed it was enough to be Democrat and coast, it had to happen because NOW finally, maybe, we can stop playing the "WE NEED 60 TO GET ANYTHING DONE".

Guess what, we no longer have that excuse.

I remember arguing with people on this very site that we had to capitulate and capitulate and capitulate because we needed 60 votes--otherwise we would get nothing.

I had to suffer and watch everything we worked so hard for last November, including our signature legislation, get held hostage AND REWRITTEN by the likes of Lieberman and Nelson.

I had to watch that coward REID say that he wouldn't do anything without 60 votes, and take Reconciliation off the table.

He wouldn't even THREATEN to alter the ridiculous fillibuster to 55 votes, which would have at least turned the tables a bit during the debate.

Now we have Coburn, DeMint, and the Diaper-Boy Vitter fillibustering EVERYTHING in the Senate, even votes that get 95-5 in the end.

And we Dems see our spineless leadership taking it again and again.

This is not just a wake-up call, this is slamming the alarm clock against the wall.

Here's an idea Rahm and Reid...go give the people what they want and foget the minority! Remember the public option, that had overwhelming support? Maybe throwing it overboard wasn't such a good idea...nor is forcing people to buy insurance and NOT allowing competition!

And you wonder why we lost?

Democrats did NOT just bust their ass and spend their precious time and money November 08 so we could capitulate to the minority party on everything. It was embarrassing. And if Coakley had won, we would have gotten the same treatment on everything: financial reform, climate change, gay civil rights, etc.

We have NO reason to capitulate anymore.

We have NO reason to suck up to Lieberman.

It's Reconciliation or change the rules. Or nothing gets done.

The Dem leadership is going to have to finally learn how to get tough and lead...There is simply NO other alternative.

Tim Tebow, Jim Dobson Can GO F*** Themselves

Really Tebow?

An anti-abortion rights diatribe for a right-wing hate group on Superbowl Sunday? It kills me that the ones who preach the loudest about this issue are the ones who never consider adopting or even contributing to help the thousands of orphans in this state.

Adopt, offer to help, or shut the f*#* up!

Stick to football, dumbass.

PS: CBS should be sued. The Boston Globe cited a letter from CBS to the UCC:

In the letter from the CBS official to the United Church of Christ, the network said it refuses advertising that "touches on and/or takes a position on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance."

Soooo, abortion isn't a controversial issue? A Church that doesn't turn people away is?

Once again, f*^*cked up.

Reid Should Step Down

He frankly should have stepped down a long time ago. He is a weak, pathetic leader. I have said repeatedly that I would prefer to have a 55 or 57 Dem Senate with a strong leader like Schumer or Feingold than a 60 majority with a weakling like Reid at the helm. The health care bill will be better than nothing, (which is all the GOP has to offer), but we gave up way more than we should have. It is inexusable to drop the public option AND keep the anti-trust exemption that allows competition (that was kept for Ben Nelson of Nebraska).

PS--That idiot GOPer Snowe could have stepped up, gotten the goodies for Maine that went to Nebraska, AND succeeded in killing the anti-trust exemption--but got nothing instead.

But by Reid stating up front that he would not even consider Reconciliation (requiring a simple majority) or changing the fillibuster rules, he allowed ALL 60 members of the caucus to be extortionists since they knew he needed EVERY SINGLE one.

He could have also made it clear that any Dem that fillibusters with the GOP would lose their chairmanship, their offices, and other perks. But that was never threatened either.

Essentially, his whole strategy was to be nice and beg every member--ask for anything and he would cave with no penalty. OF COURSE Lieberman was going to shred this--why wouldn't he? And the reform bill became a band-aid. Yes, there is some good things, like no pre-existing condition denial and help for millions who have no insurance: but real reform it is not. The insurance companies still have monopolies--and until that changes, don't call it reform.


Nancy corralled her people and got the majority needed-Reid surrendered before the battle, and the teeth of this legislation has been pulled.

I blame Reid. I knew he was weak when that idiot supported a GOP amendment attacking MoveOn.org three years ago to appease them (why?). Even though Rush Limbaugh attacked our soldiers as "phony" soon afterwards-no amendment there.

He is weak, weak, weak. He should have stepped down years ago for the good of the party. So why the hell would I defend him now when he makes a RACIST comment?

Of course he should leave. Of course it's hypocritical for him to stay on after both Democrats and republicans demanded Trentt Lott to step down for praising segregationist Strom Thurmond.

PS--I don't give a damn if Obama and Jesse forgave him--who the hell appointed them spokespeople for an entire race? I get sick to my stomach when I hear that Reid called "black leaders" to ask forgiveness. Could you imagine if someone claimed to call "white leaders" to represent me? "Well, Ethan Hawke said it was okay...so we're good."

Now Democrats could make a bold statement and show real leadership if they removed him from his post. Hell, he's going to lose anyway. Reid trails ALL of his GOP opponents, and that was before this latest fiasco.

But Reid is not going too step down. We will have to wait until he loses the upcoming election for us to get the Senate leader we deserve.

Crist Admits Senate Campaign Distracts Him

File this under Obvious:

Crist acknowledged "it's certainly possible" that his intense focus on raising millions of dollars as a Senate candidate diverted attention from his duties as chief executive of the nation's fourth-most populous state.

Crist is MIA on every major to minor issue facing this state, because his current position like all of his others are seen only as stepping stones to higher office and nothing more. For most of last year and this year, we will be treated to campaign Charlie as he desperately tries to ward off Marc Rubio instead of making the tough choices he was elected to make.

So more “tax cuts for corporations” and other conservative bullet points while our State sinks deeper into the abyss. (Note to Charlie—our corporate taxes are already among the lowest in the nation. That’s not the problem…but you know that right?) Unfortunately, we will have to wait until November before we have a leader for Florida. I hope its Sink but frankly anybody, including a trained monkey, would be more focused on the state of our State than Charlie is.

Counter on Facebook: Americans Against Teabags

I can't stand the hypocricy.

Where were the Tea Party Conservatives when george W. completely erased the budget surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton?

He first went on a drunken spending spree in healthcare (Medicare Part D), which was funded ENTIRELY by deficit spending and cost over a trillion dollars. Of course, the new healthcare working its way through is deficit neutral, AND costs less.

Then there is the giant welfare state W. had in Iraq. We left money in giant pallets that disappeared. We spent hundreds of billions building roads, bridges, schools, etc. But now that Obama wants to spend a fraction of that amount to build our OWN crumbling infrastructure, the teabags are screaming socialism. Nice.

The tax giveaways to Big Oil, Bill Polluters, and the super wealthy? All fine and dandy in GOP land. Helping people save thier jobs, homes, and retirement? That calls for massive protests in DC baby. (And the Metro better be up and running for that protest--not that we support public transportation).

PS--the bailouts you teabaggers hate? Started by W. And he demanded NO transparency as to what was to be done with the money. Thankfully, by then even the cowards in Congress had enough rolling over and put in a very little oversight--(sadly, that was as much standing up as we saw during the dark years).

I invite you to join the group. I think it's good to let people know there is an opposition to something that is really so stupid and silly.

Americans Against Teabags

Conservatives!! Stop the Lies & Hypocrisy on Health Care Reform!

This started as a comment to a GOPer but I decided to make it a post. First off, STOP LYING!

YOU WILL NOT GO TO JAIL if you don't have health insurance!

My God, how desperate are you?

There will be no death panels, no pulling the plug on grandma, and rest assured that there is nothing in this bill that will destroy the all powerful insurance companies--trust me, you conservatives have ensured that their interests are well protected.

And to the GOPers who say that they don't believe in government interference or higher deficit spending...let me school you.

The Medicare Part D Plan, which gave subsidies to drug companies for seniors, (but won't allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors--genius), is the largest government interference in decades...orchestrated entirely by REPUBLICANS!!

It cost $1.2 TRILLION, not the $848 billion cost of the Senate bill.. and unlike the Senate bill working it's way through, the Medicare Part D Bush bill was funded ENTIRELY THROUGH DEFICIT SPENDING!!

The House and Senate HCR bill are both deficit-neutral--a requirement from Obama. The nonpartisan CBO actually says they both SAVE money. Unlike the Bush bill, where not only was it thrown onto the deficit... Bush officials threatened to fire Medicare's chief actuary if he shared honest cost estimates with Congress!

The hypocrisy is sickening. They don't give a damn about government interference or deficit spending. They also didn't give a damn about seniors...they did this to get their votes. But the GOP doesn't care if there is a health care crisis. The uninsured probably won't vote GOP...so screw them!

The GOP does not want a bill that will save lives because they don't want anything perceived as a Democratic victory. They will stop at nothing, even delaying funding for our troops, in order to kill this because their own sad politics are more important to them than their constituents.

Ask them, what is their answer to health care insurance premiums RISING 10% every single year? Answer: Screw 'em...as long as we can say we screwed Obama.

Your GOP at work.

How to Negotiate Like a Democrat

When someone like Harry Reid is a major Dem "leader", you know we are in trouble:




I remember being told in 2004 by Senate Dems that they were utterly helpless to stop the GOP jugernaut of 55 Senators when they steamrolled us with god-awful legislation, like the bankruptcy bill written by the credit-card companies.

Dems kept offering amendments to that bill:
--give soldiers a break from bankruptcy serving overseas. DENIED.
--give people a break who are bankrupt because they had no medical insurance and had high hospital bills. DENIED!

The bill passed just the way Bush and the GOP wanted it. They negotiated--by saying my way or the highway. And as expected, our guys caved.

GET US IN OFFICE! The Dems cried. Things would be different!

So we did. We put into office a Dem prez, a supermajority in the House, and a "fillibuster-proof" Senate. NEVER will we have this majority again--but it apparently isn't enough to get any of our signature legislation passed.

It didn't have to be this way...

Reid could have broken the healthcare reform bill in two.

Reid could have at least threatened Reconciliation.

Reid could have at least threatened nuking the fillibuster to 55 votes. (67 to amend rules, but 51 to start fresh).

What did we have to fear? Retaliation? Really? Would the mean GOP "slow down" the Senate? What would that look like? Put the jobs creation bill up...let them try to stop it...just what the F*&K are you so damn afraid of?

Give 'em Hell Harry, my ass!

Paula Dockery Is Our Joke

I watched her speech announcing her campaign. It's pretty tough to mount a campaign when the only thing you are known for is being hell-ben on killing a popular project like SunRail. But you know her campaign is in trouble when she spent her whole speech railing against unethical political practices--only to thank our local corrupt gadfly Doug Guetzloe for getting her into the race.

Thankfully, SunRail passed. Her opposition to SunRail, this time, was that it didn't go where people wanted, like "DisneyWord" or the "airport". Yeah. Because THAT is where Central Floridians want to go. Let's face facts: she attacks SunRail because Jeb Bush overturned the amendment that approved the high-speed rail project and instead supported SunRail, and that cost her husband millions.

Not much of a campaign slogan, but what else has the Florida GOP got going on these days.

Seminole Democrat Endorses Paul Partyka Over Suzanne Kosmas FL-24

If Paul Partyka was in Congress instead of Suzanne Kosmas, we would have had one more critical vote for health care reform.

The bill that passed the House was not perfect...nor could it be. There are things that I hated about it, such as the Stupak amendment. However, as a Democrat, I never would have allowed opponents to kill the bill and defeat not only our best, but our only chance at reform. If that had happened, healthcare reform would have died. Again. And this time, it would have been permanent. With a Democratic supermajority in the House and Senate, and a Democratic president in the White House, if we couldn't get reform passed now...we never would have.

But had Suzanne Kosmas gotten her way, the very same person who rode into office on the coattails of Barack Obama campaigning on healthcare reform, the bill would have been defeated.

That means millions more would be denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Millions more would be without any type of health insurance for their families because of job loss or rescission. And millions more would die.

I asked Paul Partyka what he would have done. He told me that he believes in Heathcare Reform and would have voted to move the bill to the Senate "to continue the process and not slow it down". On the other hand, the Democrats that worked hard to elect Kosmas watched in amazement at her betrayal of our signature issue by joining Republicans in voting to defeat reform.

I wrote to Kosmas and she emailed me back to tell me the bill doesn't do "enough" to rein in costs (so...best to do nothing??) and that her decision was based on conscience. Absolute Malarkey.

According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this is what the bill would do for Florida 24 residents:

• Improve employer-based coverage for 463,000 residents.
• Provide credits to help pay for coverage for up to 176,000 households.
• Improve Medicare for 122,000 beneficiaries, including closing the prescription drug donut hole for 11,700 seniors.
• Allow 21,000 small businesses to obtain affordable health care coverage and provide tax credits to help reduce health insurance costs for up to 19,800 small businesses.
• Provide coverage for 92,000 uninsured residents.
• Protect up to 1,400 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
• Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers by $12 million.

What does she present to say it costs too much? NOTHING. However, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the Democratic bill with a strong public option SAVES tons of money.

Again, we need a better Democrat. Not a Creigh Deeds Democrat.

We need Paul Partyka.

It isn't just that he is a real Democrat that will fight for healthcare reform. He has an amazing American success story involving a tough immigrant upbringing with a displaced family to achieving the American Dream through hard work and education. I knew Paul Partyka as mayor when I lived in Winter Springs. Winter Springs is a very conservative city in the most conservative county in Florida, yet Partyka served two terms here as mayor, and then served as an official with the Seminole Democrats. He is currently the president of the Oviedo-Winter Springs Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is also currently a managing partner at a commericial real estate firm.

More importantly, he is a Democrat with true Democratic principles. Most importantly, he is a Democrat who can win.

Suzanne Kosmas cannot. The Obama Democrats who worked tirelessly to put her in office will not be there for her in 2010. The independents will not vote for someone who doesn't stand for something. And the GOP she tried to appease with her vote? They will go for the real conservative in the race, thank you very much.

This is what primaries are for. I handily endorse Paul P. Partyka for Congressional District 24, and urge my fellow Democrats to do the same.

Crist and Sen. LeMieux Go After Corruption..Don't Need to Look Far..

Corruption is synonymous with Miami, yet finally Crist has called for a statewide grand jury to examine political corruption. Senator and Seat Warmer George Lemieux has chimed in and decried the "culture of corruption" in South Florida.

Maybe they should clean their own house first.

Miami Herald:

In the past decade, Rothstein -- a Broward lawyer who allegedly bilked investors over bogus legal settlements -- helped steer about $2 million in campaign contributions to political causes, committees and candidates, including Gov. Charlie Crist.

Scott Rothstein seemed to have an endless supply of money, and no one bothered to ask how he got it...including the new champions of anti-corruption.

LeMieux acknowledged he ``didn't understand how he [Rothstein] made all his money.''

The article explains that Scott Rothstein is more than a fundraiser, he is a close friend of both Crist and LeMieux. Rothstein attended LeMieux's swearing-in ceremony in September. He attended Crist's wedding reception--and Crist attended his. Ironically, Crist appointed Rothstein to a judicial nominating panel in Broward. (He was removed this week.)

But all is good when the corruption is benefiting you, I suppose:

``You don't look at someone who's generous and just criticize,'' said LeMieux, who also ran Crist's governor's campaign before taking the job with Crist.

Crist Rejects $444 million In Unemployment Help--Raises Taxes On Small Business

Thanks Charlie! Governor flip-flop, who is desperately trying to show conservatives he is one of them, joined with the Republican legislature and rejected $444 million from the stimulus for unemployment help. All because Charlie appeared with Obama and was given such a hard time about it by his right-wing buddies.

Oh, it gets better.

Because he and the GOP legislature rejected that needed money, the state announced that unemployment taxes on small businesses across the state are going up as much as 983%. You read that right...983%. That is how much small businesses are forced to pay since that idiot and his friends didn't take $444 million in stimulus dollars offered.

That is the largest tax increase in our State's history--coming from a "staunchly conservative" Legislature and State Executive, and at the worst possible time. High unemployment taxes on small business are the last thing our state needs when we are trying to encourage them to create jobs. What conservative principle is this again?

8 Million Children Have NO Health Care Insurance...

So what are the opponents of Health Care Reform offering to solve this crisis?