I hate to give Brian Rooney more attention than he deserves because the only thing that would be worse than Tim Walberg regaining his seat in MI-07 would be if Brian Rooney were to succeed in defeating Mark Schauer. But his latest “press release” screams to be addressed. It is a nauseating example of exploiting one’s children, in this case […]

Anyone who has read my blog in the past year knows I’m one of those who is out front with in support of the president and his administration. This blog entry doesn’t change that. But I am going to acknowledge this: when it comes to messaging, the president has left it to Congressional Democrats and they don’t know what the […]

Looks like the anti-HCR Teabagger-types have realized that they just can’t seem to get those millions and millions of people to show up at their protests (remember how well their “Die In” went?) Now comes the “Virtual March”. Yes, kids, no need to actually GO to Washington, D.C. Why stand in the cold for your principles when you can do […]

In his Op-Ed in the Detroit News today, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Coathanger) turns on the charm offensive. And it’s nauseating. Oh, he starts out reasonable enough: I adamantly oppose the sweetheart deals provided to certain states in this bill. This reform should be about providing access to affordable health care for all Americans. Where you live should have nothing to […]

My former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers stopped by the offices of the Livingston Press & Argus yesterday to throw some poop on health care reform. Not only did he throw poop, he told several bald-faced lies including this one: He said a government-appointed panel’s conclusion that women need fewer mammograms at certain ages would be incorporated in the bills. Rogers, […]

I’m frankly puzzled by the meme that the debacle that is the Congressional debate on health insurance reform is President Obama’s fault. Let’s review: Not one single Republican has supported it with votes (outside of Snowe allowing a vote to go forward which she subsequently voted “NO!” on.) The major evisceratory surgeries on the legislation have been primarily to appease […]

Look, we KNOW this bill isn’t perfect, people! We KNOW that. We know. We know. We know. We know. It’s not perfect. Got it. In fact, for us proponents of a single-payer system, it sucks. Did I mention we know that? But we have to get a bill passed. We clearly need to fight tooth and nail to the bitter […]

I’m on so many goddam email lists. Some how I managed to stay on MI-08 Representative Mike Roger’s list. He’s often viewed as a “moderate” Republican but he’s anything but. This morning, his latest email graced my inbox and in it, he takes measure of H.R. 3962, the House bill to reform health care insurance in this country. No, I […]

Fifty votes to pass a bill out of the Senate. That’s what we need. We don’t need fifty-one. We don’t need sixty. We need fifty. Vice president Biden would cast the tie-breaking vote and the bill moves on. We have sixty Senators that are in the Democratic caucus but we can lose ten of them and still pass a bill. […]

This week Democrats in both houses of Congress started down the road of stripping exemption from antitrust laws from the health insurance industry. This has them all adither. From the Associated Press: Responding to the day’s developments, the industry said the legislation was based on a misperception of existing law. “We believe that health insurers have not been engaging in […]

316,296 calls to members of Congress in one day. THAT’S the power of Organizing for America. Time to Deliver phone call drive to members of Congress proved the power of OFA and how it will be a major force to contend with in future legislative debates and elections. The goal was 100,000 calls and commits to call in support of […]