Republican lawmakers are "completely lost"

By GottaLaff

The GOP is the party that claims Democrats are dead wrong about everything, that Dems are destroying our country, shredding the Constitution, killing grandma, and running American into the ground.

This is the party that inappropriately and awkwardly shouts "You lie!" and "Hell no!"

This is also the party that cannot answer a simple question about health care reform.

Jay Bookman:

AJC editors and columnists just finished a pretty wide-ranging 80-minute interview with Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and I took the opportunity to ask a question that had been nagging at me for a while. [...]

[H]ow are the Republicans going to cover pre-existing conditions?

“The premiums are going up either way,” he [McConnell] said.

OK, I responded, a little stunned. That doesn’t explain how the Republicans intend to cover pre-existing conditions.

“The premiums are going up either way,” he repeated.

That was that. We moved on, and I still don’t have my answer.

Good response, Mitch McNoLips!

Except for the part where he didn't respond.

At all.

Steve Benen has a thing or two to say about these things or two:

If those with pre-existing conditions will be protected, the mandate is necessary to keep costs from spiraling and to prevent the "free rider" problem. [...]

After over a year of debate about health care policy, two leading Senate Republicans, including the Senate Minority Leader, can't speak intelligently about the basics. Bookman didn't throw a curve ball at them [...]

They want protections for those with pre-existing conditions, and want to eliminate the mandate, but asked how that could work, these experienced senators have no idea how to even begin answering the question. [...]

[I]f anyone dares to scratch the surface, even a little, they're completely lost.

It's all about the talking points, drumming non-answers into the uninformed electorate's heads, ignoring facts, smearing, belittling Democratic victories, lying about Democratic policy, ignoring the truth, and being utterly unable to justify their own arguments.

Jay Bookman cornered them, Steve Benen nailed them, and it's time we expose them for what they are... and aren't.

This story needs to get out, and be repeated and repeated.

H/t: Rachel Maddow via Twitter, who will hopefully cover this tonight on her show.

Obama Press Conference Answers Three Grade-Levels Higher Than Bush's First

Nice to see the evidence, but I think most of us already knew this. You can see the charts here.

So, I just finished comparing the transcript of President Obama's first presidential press conference this evening with the very first one that former President George W. Bush conducted back on February 22, 2001.

I copied each full transcript into separate Word documents. After doing that, I deleted the introductions by both men (since those are largely or fully scripted) and then deleted all reporter questions from the transcripts. What you have left are simply the answers that each president offered, off-the-cuff and unscripted, to all questions.

Then I ran Word's readability tool.

Guess what?

Bush's answers were spoken at 7th grade level. Obama's at a 10th grade level.

PhotObama-- The Education President (elect): Q and A with elementary schoolers

By GottaLaff

How cute is this?

Via.

After the press conference at Dodge Academy, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden went upstairs for a 15 minute meeting with a group of 1st-4th graders--about a dozen.

After a few minutes of chit chat in which he asked the kids what they were studying--(when one child said "decimals," Mr. Obama replied "Decimals! Wow, Joe doesn't even know his decimals!")

He then took questions:

He may even have made news. One child ask him about Iraq and he said he plans to have troops home in a year and a half.

Other questions:

What are you gonna do as president?

A: Make sure all kids get a good education

In 2009 are you going to the White House?

A: After replying yes, Mr. Obama volunteered that he's getting a dog for Malia and Sasha, and added: "I want to make sure my daughters take care of this dog, and if they do their business, and you've got some poop, you don't just leave it there."

Will you go to other countries?

A: Mr. Obama said yes, adding that he even expects to meet some kings and queens.

He also told the kids he's thinking about longer school days, which did not seem to go over well.

He took some photos with the kids...

See, media? If you ask questions that he's allowed to answer, you'll get what you need.

Obama's Change.gov: 5 questions asked, 5 questions answered

By GottaLaff

Via Obama's team at Change.gov:
Below are some of the top questions, and the answers that our transition team members have put together as part of the Open for Questions feature:

Q: "Will you lift the ban on Stem Cell research in your first 100 days in office?" James_M, Nashville, TN

A: President-elect Obama is a strong supporter of Federal funding for responsible stem cell research and he has pledged to reverse President Bush's restrictions.

Q: "What will you do to establish transparency and safeguards against waste with the rest of the Wall Street bailout money?" Diane, New Jersey

A: President-elect Barack Obama does not believe an economic crisis is an excuse for wasteful and unnecessary spending. As our economic team works with congressional leadership to put together a plan, we will put in place reforms to ensure that your money in invested well. We will also bring Americans back into government by amending executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public. In addition all appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rulemaking agencies will be required to conduct the significant business of the agency in public so that every citizen can see in person or watch on the Internet these debates.
Q: "What will you do to promote science and mathematics education to Elementary and Middle School students?" JasonWyatt, Raleigh, NC

A: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will put children first by investing in early childhood education, making sure our schools are adequately funded and led by high-quality teachers, and reforming No Child Left Behind. They will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. They will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.

Q: "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" S. Man, Denton

A: President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

Q: "What will you do as President to restore the Constitutional protections that have been subverted by the Bush Administration and how will you ensure that our system of checks and balances is renewed?" Kari, Seattle

A: President-elect Obama is deeply committed to restoring the rule of law and respecting constitutional checks and balances.That is why he has pledged to review Bush Administration executive orders. President-elect Obama will also end the abuse of signing statements, and put an end to the politicization that has taken place within the Department of Justice and return that agency to its historic and apolitical mission of fair and impartial administration of justice.

Whether or not we agree with his answers, it's miraculous to get answers from our soon-to-be government officials after an 8-year drought. Go to the website to contribute to the discussion.