An Internet hub for moderates, centrists, and independents, with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, and right

« The Strangest Paragraph in the History of Journalism

Islam is “Not a Religion”; It’s a “Political System” »

From “No” to “Boo!”

Posted by ROBERT STEIN in Health, Politics.
Nov 10th, 2009 | Comments

In the battle over health care, the Republican Right, after months of saying no to every Obama initiative from stimulus to bailouts, has gone on the offensive to slice and dice Americans into warring factions–young-old, men-women, rich-poor, anywhere fear and hatred can be stirred up.

Sarah Palin, bless her feisty heart, started it all with “death panels,” but naysayers are now working the other side of the age divide. After warning the young that ObamaCare will kill their Granny, they are now goading them with worries that Granny will impoverish them by raising premiums at their expense.

In the House bill, they have driven a wedge into well-settled policy over abortion that would expand restrictions on what the President yesterday called “the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions” but, in his diplomatic way, said he wanted to make sure “we’re not restricting women’s insurance choices.”

On a broader front, the Wall Street Journal uncovers, on the basis of a New Yorker writer’s blog post, the sinister purpose of it all–”to further redistribute income by putting health care further under government control, and in the process making the middle class more dependent on government.”

Read the rest of this entry.

  • PWT
    Perhaps, the bill would have a better chance of passing if the democrats were able to allay some of the fears of the electorate that the republicans have been showcasing. In my view, that they don't, means that they can't. They've already lost the argument and will likely start referring to opponents of reform as fascists. The only unanswered question is whether it will die in committee or on the senate floor.
  • JSpencer
    Well shoot, if we take fear and demonization away from the GOP what will they have left? Those seem to be the only arrows in their quiver anymore.
  • Leonidas
    In the battle over health care, the Republican Right, after months of saying no to every Obama initiative from stimulus to bailouts, has gone on the offensive to slice and dice Americans into warring factions–young-old, men-women, rich-poor, anywhere fear and hatred can be stirred up.


    Yet 25% of democrats in the house voted against it. Opposition was bipartisan you know.

    Of course the democrats by not addressing items that both parties could agree on first and getting that legislation out of the way has gone on the offensive to slice and dice Americans into warring factions–young-old, men-women, rich-poor, Blue dog - progressive, Prolife democrats-Pro choice democrats, etc., anywhere fear and hatred can be stirred up.
  • merkin
    Why is this a surprise. They started the culture war to gain votes using fear to divide the voting population into armed camps. It was inevitable that they would in time become captive to the propaganda, believing it is true.

    They did this because they needed people to vote against their own economic best interest, adopting economic policies designed to distribute all of the nation's annual real income gain to the wealthy. Then they decry any attempt at changing this as ”redistribution of income".
  • jchem
    You mean to tell us it's all the Repubs fault for this bill not passing yet? Gee, and here I thought they were irrelevant these days given the crazies who run the party. I've said this on several threads, but I'll say it again. Every single Repub in both chambers can vote against this bill. If the Dems can't get the votes out of their own party, then they're really not serious about passing the bill. The Dem problem seems to be that they forgot how to govern.
  • DLS
    The losers are getting desperate as well as frustrated with the Dems' self-created failure this year due to their legislative and political overreaching -- is it any wonder they would blame anyone and everything else they could imagine or invent rather than face reality, and possibly admit defeat, failure, or error?
  • JSpencer
    I guess I missed all the great work the GOP did to address the need for healthcare reform when they were in power. Must have happened when I blinked. Oh wait, that was Richard Nixon! Gee, time sure does fly...
  • casualobserver
    The left has to divert attention to the past everyday since they have proven themselves totally inept at accomplishing anything in the here and now.
  • TheMagicalSkyFather
    Let me explain this in the simplest terms possible. Regardless of the party in power doing something for the minority at the top of the pyramid scheme is easy. So easy in fact that it is often done without many people noticing. Doing something for the majority that in no way benefits the minority at the top is near impossible but rarely happens. You can mock the left all you but what is the last thing the right did to actually help the middle class in this country, not the poor just the middle? Personally I have to go back to Eisenhower with building the highway infrastructure but thats because in my opinion Reagan helped the poor and upper class by beginning the melting of the middle class.
  • JSpencer
    CO, this is totally connected to the present, just the latest chapter in the same long book, one you don't care to read... perhaps understandably.
blog comments powered by Disqus
© 2005-2009 The Moderate Voice | Site design by Elegant Themes | Site customization, hosting, and security by Enxit Group, LLC