Ray LaHood: Why Republicans should support health care reform

By GottaLaff

Look who's going to be the next one to get attacked by his own party.

None other than Ray LaHood, former Republican congressman from Illinois, secretary of transportation in the Obama administration:

If I were still a member of Congress, I would proudly vote for the bill that President Barack Obama is championing and I would urge my colleagues to do the same, not because I don't believe in fiscal discipline, but because I do.

We do not need to look that far down the road to see the pain that failure to pass health care reform will cause. Americans of every background, class, race and political persuasion are suffering.

What?!

How?

Why?

When?

Why I....

Traitor!

The bill that will be voted on will reduce the deficit by about $1 trillion over the next two decades, and will reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system. It will slow the rate of growth in health care costs and put America back on the path toward fiscal sustainability.

Wackydoodle!

The bill will give families and small business owners greater control over their own health care.

Terrorist!

While the ultimate vote on health care may not be bipartisan, the ultimate bill certainly is.

Socialist!

I also feel compelled to remind my former colleagues that contrary to what many people have been saying, the bill explicitly prevents federal dollars from being used to fund abortion.

Double-dealing, two-timing turncoat!

Go ahead, Michele Bachmann, I dare you.

H/t: VNDNBRG

Video Flashback- Lieberman pledged support for public option, health insurance reform in 2006 campaign

I viscerally hate this man, ever since the "get up and go to another hospital" incident. More blatant lies here. Video via Jed.

Drug industry OKs $80 billion Medicare deal

Sounds good doesn't it? But Max Baucus is behind it. What did he have to promise the health care industry to get this compromise?

WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical industry agreed Saturday to spend $80 billion over the next decade improving drug benefits for seniors on Medicare and defraying the cost of President Barack Obama's health care legislation, capping secretive negotiations involving key lawmakers and the White House.

(snip)

Baucus, a Montana Democrat, has been negotiating with numerous industry groups for weeks as he tries to draft legislation that meets Obama's goal of vastly expanding health coverage, has bipartisan support and does not add to the deficit.

Republicans stiff Big 3, despite donations

By GottaLaff

Republicans have a habit of accepting big, fat donations and then screwing the donors. Why, here's an example now!

Since 1990, the auto industry has cut $100 million in checks to the GOP, compared with $34 million to Democrats. But the Big Three is snubbed on bailout.

By standing in the way of an auto industry bailout, GOP senators appear to have bitten the hand that fed them.

Over the last decade, General Motors has given $1.50 to Republican candidates for every $1 it has given to Democrats. That same pattern has been followed by Chrysler and Ford, which year after year have favored the right side of the aisle, sometimes by more than a 3-to-1 ratio in dollar terms.

Since 1990, the auto industry as a whole – including suppliers, dealers and manufacturers – has cut $100 million in checks to Republicans, compared with just $34 million to Democrats.

On Thursday night, the carmakers discovered just how little loyalty that investment strategy had bought them.

More here.

The joke was on the Big 3, and it was a real Corker.

Big Day for Joe Lieberman tomorrow

By GottaLaff

What future? He has a future?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is scheduled to meet with Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) on Thursday to discuss his future in the Senate Democratic Conference, according to a Democratic Senate source.

Dump him. Now. Feed him to the Republicans.

Willard Romney: Obama is not a socialist

By GottaLaff

What a rogue!

While John McCain's campaign has tried to tie its Democratic rival to socialism, one of the Arizona Republican's top surrogates said Barack Obama is not a socialist. [...]

“You know, I don’t think Barack Obama’s a socialist..."

Of course, he went on to disagree with Obama's positions, but oops! I guess this makes him a maverick, a diva, or a whack job.

The Lieberman Weathervane

By GottaLaff

Liebervane? Weatherman? No, no, Joe Lieberman isn't part of that Weatherman terrorist group (...or is he?). Weathervane. As in vain. As in Lieberman. But that's not important now. What is important is how the wind blows is how Joe blows... wait. No. Now you've got me all confused:

Lieberman, a self-proclaimed "independent Democrat" who was chosen by McCain to make the case against Obama at the Republican National Convention in early September, said his comments have been within bounds.

"When I go out, I say, 'I have a lot of respect for Sen. Obama. He's bright. He's eloquent.'"

My hunch is, Lieberman sees the direction of the political winds, and hopes to convince Democrats that while he's been a McCain sycophant, he's always been "respectful" towards Obama.

Lieberman, in other words, has to hope Democrats haven't been paying any attention at all. The party is supposed to forget, for example, when Lieberman argued that Obama doesn't put "country first."

And the time Lieberman said it was a "good question" to ask whether Obama is a "Marxist."

And the time Lieberman ironically accused the Obama campaign of "sleazy tactics."

And the time Lieberman, at the Republican National Convention, falsely accused Obama of trying to undermine the troops

"Respectful"? Nice try, Joe.

Steve Benen nailed it.

By the way, what's at the top of a weathervane again? A chicken. (Okay, it's a male "chicken", but so is Joe, so shhh.)

Lieberman: Polls are so bad he doesn’t believe them

Bet you're sorry now jerkwad.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), one of GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s top supporters, said Friday that the Arizona senator’s poll numbers are “so extreme that I don’t believe them.”

Most national and battleground polls are showing that McCain is far behind in his quest to reach 270 electoral votes on Election Day.

(snip)

“I think the key is, as they get closer to voting, who do they think is really ready to be president,” Lieberman stated. “And by any review of record and experience and leadership and bipartisanship, it's John McCain.”

Lieberman added that, to him, it “doesn't make sense” that voters flocked toward Obama when a crisis hit the U.S. economy.

A Lieberman Political Party That Opposes Lieberman

By GottaLaff

The video is of Lieberman speaking to the RNC:

Even casual observers know that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut has invested significant time and political capital in electing John McCain president.

So, it only follows that the Connecticut for Lieberman Party would be squarely for McCain, right?

Wrong.

It's not even for Lieberman.

Not any more.

Confused?

Welcome to the world of third-party politics.

Led by John Mertens, a Trinity College engineering professor with a passion for independent politics and a disdain for Joe Lieberman, a few dozen voters have resurrected the senator's old ballot line.

After losing the Democratic primary in 2006, Lieberman ran for re-election as a petitioning candidate. To get his own ballot line, Lieberman took the initial steps to create a new party, Connecticut for Lieberman.

But he abandoned the name and the embryonic party as soon as he won. [...]

Ballot access is everything in third-party politics. [...]

Mertens contacted Orman and proposed using Connecticut for Lieberman as a real political party. Orman agreed, on the condition that Mertens become chairman and take over the effort.

As the marketers would say, Mertens has "re-purposed" the old brand into an anti-Lieberman vehicle that is running a half-dozen candidates for state legislature this year and has endorsed Barack Obama for president. [...]

On its website, the party describes itself: "The CFL is an independent, anti-war, anti-corruption, pro-fiscal responsibility, pro-democracy party, that stands for individual liberties and real problem-solving in government."

Mertens said that the party looks forward to endorsing a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010, when Christopher Dodd is up for re-election.

If Lieberman were to run again in 2012, the senator could look forward to being opposed by a nominee of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party. A spokesman said that Lieberman has no comment on the new direction of his old brand. [...]

"This is not a prank," Mertens said. "It is a takeover. This party has real value."

Even if it was for Joe Lieberman before it was against him.

The old switcheroo.

Droopy Lieberman whines, er, speaks

By GottaLaff

First it's Fredhorn Leghorn, now it's Droopy. Doesn't all that whining hurt his Shar Pei* ears?

"George Washington in his farewell dress?" Did he really just say that?

And why does he continue to call himself a Democrat?

He says he's in a unique position to share something because he's a Democrat. He's sharing that "Democrats are trying to convince people that John McCain is someone else. Don't be fooled! Beware of the scary Democrats! God only made one John McCain and he is his own man!"

Were you fooled? I wasn't. I knew very well, long before the Democrats told me, that he was a partisan, right-wing, hypocritical, hostile, angry, lying, lobbyist-loving war monger.

Droopy Joe says J Sid is not partisan. Droopy Joe is whining in a very shrill way. Shrill + whining. Ba-a-ad combo.

Newsflash! Sarah Palin is a reformer!. Droopy Joe says so. McCain/Palin is the real ticket for change, not Obama. They're so mavericky! If the Republican party is so rabid about change, why haven't they done anything changey for the past 12 years?

Oh, and the surge is working.

Stop whining! Oh, please, please, stop whining.

*Apologies to Shar Peis everywhere.

Excerpts of Lieberman's speech

By GottaLaff

You may want to grab a bottle of anything alcoholic, or perhaps reach for the Prozac... or if you're in the loop, just dial up Cindy Lou McCain for, well, just about anything:

"And that brings me directly to why I am here tonight. What, after all, is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this? The answer is simple. I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than party. I'm here tonight because John McCain is the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward. I'm here because John McCain's whole life testifies to a great truth: being a Democrat or a Republican is important. But it is not more important than being an American."[...]

"John understands that it shouldn't take a natural disaster like Hurricane Gustav to get us to take off our partisan blinders and work together to get things done. It shouldn't take a natural disaster to teach us that the American people don't care much if you have an 'R' or a 'D' after your name. What they care about is: are we solving the problems they are up against every day?" [...]

"What you can expect from John McCain as President is precisely what he has done this week: which is to put country first. That is the code by which he has lived his entire life, and that is the code he will carry with him into the White House. I have personally seen John over and over again bring people together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face." [...]

"Especially at a time of war, we need a president we can count on to fight for what's right for our country - not only when it is easy, but when it is hard. When others were silent, John McCain had the judgment to sound the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq. When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge and because of that, today, our troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor!"

I'm nauseous. Nothing can numb me enough for this.

Joseph Isadore Lieberman flips, wishes he'd supported Alito

By GottaLaff

Republican McJoe is at it again. I had no respect for him prior to this, but now he's not only in the Respect minus column, he's firmly in the Gag Me with a WTF column:

On ABC’s This Week today, former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson called Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “the best of the pro-choice candidates,” but added that it would be “a major problem” that Lieberman had voted against Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination.

Conservative columnist George Will then broke in, saying that Lieberman’s office told him this week Lieberman now believes “he was wrong” to have voted against Alito and that “now he likes Alito” [...]

In January 2006, when Lieberman voted against confirming Alito, he issued a statement saying that he was “left with just too many doubts” about Alito’s “judicial philosophy.” As an example of why he was voting against him, Lieberman pointed to Alito’s record on “equal opportunity and fair treatment“:

For example, in civil rights cases, Judge Alito has repeatedly established a very high bar, an unusually high bar, for entrance to our Courts for people who believed they’ve been denied equal opportunity and fair treatment based on race or gender.

In light of his stated reasons for opposing Alito, it is confusing as to why Lieberman now believes he “was wrong,” considering how Alito has voted since joining the court. For instance, Alito wrote the majority opinion in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Co., which “made it harder for many workers to sue their employers for discrimination in pay.”

I could go on with the usual anti-Lieberman diatribe, but you know it by heart already. Suffice it to say, I'm looking for my old dart set and an exceptionally annoying photo of Isadore.

Lieberman On Questioning Obama's Commitment To Israel: "Why Wouldn't I Do That?"

I'm sputtering. What a frackin' tool.

When asked about concerns he is creating the impression that Obama would not be a friend to Israel, Lieberman responded: “It’s my way of thinking that if I’ve concluded, as I have, that John McCain is best for our country, then why wouldn’t I do that?”

Via TPM.