Some days, Republicans believe in a quaint notion called "state's rights." For instance, Texas Republicans believe in the primacy of state's rights regarding the death penalty, even if it invovles executing the mentally retarded. Other days, not so much - like with California and medical marijuana, approved by California voters in 1996.
George W. Bush used to be the prime example of a Republican that believed in state's rights (except when he didn't). As Texas Governor, Dubya relished Texas' sovereignty and eagerly affirmed each and every death penalty he could. As President, Dubya's administration frequently ignored California's sovereignty by frequently raiding medical marijuana distributors.
Then yesterday, along comes Michele Bachmann, giving the guy she "enjoys a great relationship" with, a run for his money on ignoring state's rights. Here's what Michele Bachmann said yesterday, at her Lake Elmo "Forum":
"We could do this: there's a law right now at the federal level that says that states can, in effect, draw boundaries around their state and insurance companies don't have to compete with other companies outside of their state. This drives, this jacks the cost of healthcare way higher than what it would need to be. If we took a big eraser, and erased those lines, of each state's boundaries, and allowed people to buy health care anywhere in the United States...in other words, if we, if we allowed more competition among insurance companies, rather than less competition, we would see more insurance products, cheaper prices, and people could buy what they want." - Rep. Michele Bachmann, Lake Elmo, MN, August 27th, 2009
"If we took a big eraser, and erased those lines, of each state's boundaries..."
O
M
G.
What other issues does Michele Bachmann feel states shouldn't control; other issues to pull out a "big eraser" and obliterate state borders?
And that's before examining her claim of being consumer friendly.....
Let's take what Bachmann said, replace "insurance" with "credit cards", and see how it reads...although not an exact analogy, you'll get the picture of how Bachmann's "insurance" plan just might work out - for "insurance" guys like Billion Dollar Bill McGuire!
"We could do this: there's a law right now at the federal level that says that states can, in effect, draw boundaries around their state and credit card companies don't have to compete with other companies outside of their state. This drives, this jacks the cost of credit cards way higher than what it would need to be. If we took a big eraser, and erased those lines, of each state's boundaries, and allowed people to get credit cards anywhere in the United States...in other words, if we, if we allowed more competition among credit card companies, rather than less competition, we would see more credit card products, cheaper prices, and people could buy what they want."
Yeah, "right."
Barry Goldwater has got to be spinning in his grave, over what Boy Blunder and Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive have done and said. And Michele Bachmann has once again proven that GOP does indeed stand for GreedOverPrinciples.
That's a question that should be asked, if - IF - Kline and Paulsen actually schedule, and Bachmann actually follows through, with Town Hall Meetings.
The question should also be asked of GOP State Chair Tony Sutton, and GOP State Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb.
There's a powder keg out there, with a short fuse. And today's GOP leadership is sending out sparks. If one of those sparks catches, well......you can be sure, the GOP will blame it on anybody and everybody but themselves.
Here's Rachel Maddow:
And speaking of the "MOB" - I noted this:
Moving The MOB
August 13th, 2009 by Mitch Berg
Well, the verdict (throwing out all the votest for "crashing Drinking Liberally") was pretty decisive. People want the MOB Summer Party moved to September 12.
That bloggers wrote about Michael Brodkorb's blatant hypocrisy with regards to Colin Peterson's decision to no longer hold Town Hall meetings is no surprise; MudSlingerMike's pals at his old radio gig tagged him as being in charge of "special ops." What is surprising is one member of the traditional media picking up on it. Monday's St. Cloud Times Editorial noted:
Really, though, the worst out of all this is the state Republican Party's attempt to turn his (Rep. Peterson's) comment into a campaign issue. It plans to run advertisements about it across the district this week.
"Really, Collin, 25 percent of your constituents are so out of touch they believe the U.S. government caused 9/11?" the commercial says. "So you won't hold town meetings? They're not out of touch. You are."
Then what about Peterson's neighbor, the GOP's own 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann?
Except for one tightly controlled forum at which she barely spoke, we don't recall any town meetings she's held in this area since elected.(St. Cloud Times)
This causes the question - why would one of this state's shrewdest (cynical?) political opportunists, the ol' MudSlingerMike himself, take such a chance at being called out for hypocrisy? Well, not by the RightWingLeaning PiPress, and certainly not by the RightWingOwned Avista Capital Partner's Strib - no, ol' MudSlingerMike and the GOP knows how to shove them around - remember the film of Seifert dissing the Strib at the GOP Convention? But still, why would he do that?
Perhaps what's happening at Town Hall Meetings elsewhere might be an indication of why MudSlingerMike is disappointed. Rachel Maddow has the report; let's look!
Disinformation, and organized anarchy - which Rachel called "hooliganism" at Democratic Party Representatives' Town Halls, and MudSlingerMike of the State GOP going after DFL Rep. Colin Peterson.....hmmmm....hmmm....
Hey! Is it possible that MudSlingerMike weighed the odds of bein' called out by the Strib and/or PiPress (somewhere between "slim" and "none") and figured it was worth the chance to try and shame Peterson into holding meetings, in order to practice the same disinformation and organized anarchy GOPers are getting to ply elsewhere?
We don't know, but we do know that you cannot spell "dirty politicking" without "GOP".
It seems the Strib disabled "reader comments" under Katie Kersten's bizarre screed today. Perhaps Strib misManagement knew - just KNEW - that Katie's ideologically-driven "blame the blacks" ravings would ignite a flame war that even the Strib couldn't stomach.
Kersten and her ilk hate everything that has to do with government; Kersten specifically has railed about "the nanny state." In Kersten's world and among those denizens, the only good government program is a cancelled/eliminated program. Keep that in mind, while you read how Kersten ends her diatribe:
It's tragic that a small group of black Americans commit such a high percentage of our nation's violent crime. But until this changes, we'll continue to have a steady stream of Henry Louis Gates-like incidents. (Strib.com)
Amazing, isn't it? Oppose every program that could possibly eliminate the problem and cause change (after all, government "is" the problem), but bemoan the lack of change.
Karl Rove would be proud of the fine job Kersten did today in demonstrating the basic principle underlying every single play in today's GreedOverPrinciples playbook:
"More hate - less tolerance."
So I'm not going to take the time to fisk the intolerant tripe Kersten serves up today; no one should - Kersten's insenstive divisiveness speaks for itself.
Instead, I'm recommending everyone should forward that pathetic piece of rightwing rubbish to everyone they know.
Kersten and her clan advocate holding people "responsible" - by forwarding Kersten's bile, you can hold both her AND her party responsible for the destructive divisiveness they preach.
mbrodkorb The bad press continues for Congressman Collin Peterson; http://tinyurl.com/m3n23w; #mngop #mn2010
So, I link on the tinyurl, and read this:
But Republicans on Tuesday saw the gaffe as an opportunity to make headway in Peterson's conservative Seventh Congressional District, which he has securely held for many years. In 2008, he won 72 percent of the vote.
Got that? Less than a year ago, DFLer Colin Peterson won 72% of the vote.
So, what does the intrepid Deputy Chair of the GreedOverPrinciples Party say about Colin Peterson?
"This has really I think energized activists in the area and is going to lend [itself] to a first-tier candidate coming forward to run against him next year," said Minnesota GOP deputy chair Michael Brodkorb, adding that there has been an "absolute explosion" of interest in the seat in the past 24 hours." (Strib)
Say, Brodkorb? An "absolute explosion" of interest in taking on a guy that just won with 72 percent of the vote??!?
Yeah, "right."
And a "first tier" candidate to boot? Not gonna happen - no "first tier" candidates remain in today's GreedOverPrinciples party. T-baggers and "birthers"? You got pawlenty. "First tier"? Not so much.
Oh, noticed this tweet, from MudSlingerMike, too:
RT @MinnPostRSS: Minnesota GOP ready to launch ad campaign against Peterson remarks: http://bit.ly/DByJR
Say, Mikey? Good luck with that "ad buy" you're tryin' to sell. When you say "five figure ad buy" that really means "$999.99 or less" - yes?
Although personally, I wish the GOPers would dump a coupla hundred thousand into the 7th, between now and the new year....
Apparently, the flat-earth tea-baggers, denizens in the GreedOverPrinciples party, are mighty unhappy with the direction our great country is heading. Notable electeds such as Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive call for her followers to be "armed and dangerous;" the Department of Homeland Security warns of right-wing extremists. And now, Texas Governor Rick Perry is threatening secession from the good ol' USofA.
And it's that secessionist talk, that inspired the following email sent to me by Mike Wilkinson, with the request that I post it. So without further ado, said e-mail is beyond the fold:
I got the e-mail from the Sergeant Major's Team last night: the Boehner-led GreedOverPrinciple's House Smear Machine* is targeting 30 Democratic Party Congressmen for having the audacity - AUDACITY! - to support President Obama's Stimulus Bill. And then today, there it was, in USA Today:
GOP radio ads to target House Dems who supported stimulus
The Republican House campaign committee will be on the radio in 30 districts next week challenging Democrats who voted for the initial House version of the economic stimulus package. Its argument: The Democrats supported "a trillion-dollar spending bill chock full of wasteful Washington spending instead of working across the aisle to create real jobs."
***
John Barrow (GA-12); Bruce Braley (IA-01); Chris Carney (PA-10); Travis Childers (MS-01); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03); Steve Driehaus (OH-01); Chet Edwards (TX-17); Bart Gordon (TN-06); Alan Grayson (FL-08); John Hall (NY-19); Steve Kagen (WI-08); Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15); Larry Kissell (NC-08); Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24); Dan Maffei (NY-25); Betsy Markey (CO-04); Eric Massa (NY-29); Jerry McNerney (CA-11); Charlie Melancon (LA-03); Dennis Moore (KS-03); Glenn Nye (VA-02); John Salazar (CO-03); Mark Schauer (MI-07); Kurt Schrader (OR-05); Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01); Ike Skelton (MO-04); Zack Space (OH-18); Harry Teague (NM-02); Dina Titus (NV-03) and Tim Walz (MN-01).
Why are they targeting Command Sergeant Major Walz? Because of what the Sergeant Major stands for. What that might be, you might ask? I'll let the Sergeant Major speak for himself (and I'll also give a h/t to Political Muse for the YouTube):
