Hypocrites all

It was interesting to me yesterday that Obama got on TV and acted all outraged over the NRA victory on gun control (expanded background checks on gun purchases went down to defeat in the Senate). But face it - he, like all of the Senators that voted no on the gun control issue, are owned by big business interests. I would have been far more interested in what the POTUS had to say if he had thrown a few bankers in jail after the banking scandals of the past few years. His sponsors are just different than the Republican sponsors. Douche-bag.

Regarding the President's budget proposal, including cuts to Medicare and Social Security...

From Daily Kos

We can't win here, so lets do the GOP's work for them.

So says a "longtime Obama aide," according to Politico:

    "We're not going to have the White House forever, folks. If he doesn't do this, Paul Ryan is going to do it for us in a few years," said a longtime Obama aide, referring to the 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate who proposed a sweeping overhaul of Medicare that would replace some benefits with vouchers.

Seems this person forgot Paul Ryan was on a ballot last year. Verdict rendered.

You know what? Fine. If we lose the White House and both houses of Congress, then by all means, Paul Ryan should go ahead and get his druthers. If the American people vote for the Ryan budget, then by God they should have it. That's the way the political system works in a democracy. You run on a platform, you win, you get to implement your platform. If the American people don't like it, they only have themselves to blame for voting for it. They asked for George W. Bush's party, platform and leadership and boy did they get what they asked for.

Do you think Paul Ryan would ever come out and say "Fellow Republicans, we had better go ahead and raise the minimum wage because if we don't, Bernie Sanders is going to come along and do it in a few years?" Ridiculous.

If Democrats run on something and win, then they should implement what they ran on. What Democrats should not do is run on a platform, win, then turn around and implement the policies of the side that lost. That doesn't make any sense. It makes a mockery of the political process. It treats Democratic voters like a bunch of rubes. If Republicans want to cut Social Security, let them run on it and win. We don't need to do their work for them.

No, we won't have the White House forever. That is why we should do what we stand for. What we get elected for. If the people want Republican government, then they should vote for it and get what they deserve.

It's for sale

And it's not just the Presidency - it's all of the government.

Crooked Senators

I guess I'm officially on a rant today, after that last post and this one.

No matter what you think of the Senates new health-care-reform bill, it didn't come without a lot of bribery. Most Senators got paid huge sums of money (paid into their campaign funds, of course, so as not to look like actual bribes) to get rid of the public option and any substantive reform that didn't benefit the insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies. But there was more than that.

Gawker summarized some of the bribes needed to get the votes. I'll post just the first two - click on the link to read the rest.

If Your Senator Didn't Get Paid for Supporting Healthcare Reform, You're a Sucker

Nebraska gets permanent federal aid for its increased Medicaid costs under the bill, valued at $100 million over the next decade. Every other state gets three years of increased aid.

The residents of Libby, Mont., will get special access to Medicare to cover the effects of asbestos contamination from a vermiculite mine that operated there until 1990, thanks to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). The EPA has already devoted $6 million to the town's 2,600 residents.

How Washington D.C. Works

From Acerbic Politics

Republican Jesus

Jesus expounds on the issues of the day - this time he pontificates on bribery in the U.S. Congress.