Not to quibble, but though we may own the fixed cameras in the two chambers, the President doesn’t dictate what CSPAN covers and I believe they’re married to covering the Congressional floor, whenever it’s in session.

Back during the campaign, I interpreted what Candidate Obama said about health care and his comments about “bringing CSPAN” into the negotiations to mean that he was going to leave the nuts and bolts up to Congress. As to whether or not Congress would have hearings or a formal, public presentation was to be left up to them.

But again, the President doesn’t have control over CSPAN and other than deciding what may be open to cameras and how they’re used within the building, neither does Congress.

Sorry geezer but, John Amato at Crooks and Liars has you squarely pegged:

“John McCain is one of the biggest sore losers in all of American politics. The media for some insane reason gives him unlimited face time on my TV to bash President Obama who soundly defeated him and the conservative movement in 2008. When will the Villagers go after conservatives for being ideologically against this president and their efforts to block every piece of legislation is all for political gain. America is on the receiving end of their very destructive games. John McCain is a bold-face-liar for blaming Obama for the lack of that stupid word called bipartisanship.”

This is also how we Liberals view him and the rest of the clowns in his party. Just go away and take your ass whuppin like a man! While the left and many others in this country try to fight for improvements to this awful bill, we don’t want to hear from any of you. That’s why we saw to it that you idiots were voted out of office!

It is my hope that Mr. -0bama shall live a thousand years so that he may fully endure the wrath of the American people whom he sold out with his lies and destructive policies, only then to possibly understand the failure that he is as a leader. Mr. -0bama has told even more lies than Bill Clinton, and that is perhaps his only notable feat.

pyrope – And your singular notable feat is that you managed to come off as a total teabagging nut job, Congrats, dumb ass.

The fact the public (like commenters) takes the less powerful narritive by insulting and blaming each other (like they’re going to convince people) INSTEAD of the more powerful narrative by insulting and blaming politicians (both parties), media and others that hurt and impact their families more than any non-elected person commenting:

Go ahead, insult me. I have turned in my allegiance card to any one party or politician. Just observing how the political process is handled and the media that let’s them get away with it, has motivated me more than ever that I should call THEM out. Something I am happy to do to protect my family now seeing how bad DC and the media is getting.

NEVER let a politician tell YOU that they will be held accountable or have transparency. It’s BS! YOU, the public tell THE politician that they will be held accountable or else. Committment my ass, How’s that held up by poiticians over the last 50 years? How’s that working out for you? And if a politican met a committment, it was at the expense of something else to get it (Like Sen. BEN Nelson, and for awhile, I was naive enough to think he had to be going through grueling stress to make a decision)

Hey commenters, something we have in common is we’re both getting screwed by DC and the media. The only way it turns around is for you to accept it and quit doing the bidding for them. Do the bidding against them until they start behaving on our best interests. And no, before anyone wants to claim I’m a tea bag person, never been to one. I’m a father who’s now getting very concerned about his kids future (mine too).

I invite you to throw away your allegiance card as well. For the time being, it’s very liberating.

Magister says:
December 20, 2009 at 6:18 pm

Obama said on multiple occasions that he’d bring CSPAN in to hear the debates. Either that means he (a) doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and thought he’d have authority he doesn’t… (b) was lying, and trying to trick people into believing he’d be “transparent,”… or (c) changed his mind when he realized things wouldn’t go as smoothly as he wanted.

Either way, it was misleading and wrong.

roxsteady says:
December 20, 2009 at 6:39 pm

So what you’re saying is you want all the Republicans to stop talking, have no opinion, get no time in the media, and to just accept everything the Democrats want to do. Were you of that mindset in 2000 and 2004? Was it wrong for Jack Murtha to speak out against Iraq… shouldn’t he have just taken the Democrats “whuppin like a man” and kept his mouth shut?

“we don’t want to hear from any of you.”

Yeah, free speech is a b*tch, isn’t it?
_______

But for the sake of being consistent… let me once again ask… what is the relevance of this story to the media? Yeah, it happened on television… but so what? Is this is a political discussion group, or a media-focused information and debate site?

McCain says, “There’s been a change: it’s more partisan. It’s more bitterly divide than it’s been.”

“I have never been asked to engage in a any serious negotiation on any issue, nor has any other Republican,” McCain said. “Now, they’ve brought single republicans down to try to pick off one or two republicans so you can call it ‘bipartisan,’” but “serious across the table negotiations” have been absent, he said.”

And how did it get that way? Because the Republicans were never serious about being ‘bipartisan’ and used the Democrats’ efforts to be bipartisan against them, spreading the lies of ‘death panels’ and ‘pulling the plug on grandma.’ DeMented talking about making Obama’s Waterloo the defeat of the health care effort. Telling lies about end of life counseling both in the bill and in a VA pamphlet. Serious across the table negotiations because the republicanfuckwads were never serious to begin with, they played politics with the issue from day one.

Republicans = a National Disaster.

Bill Adkins says:
December 20, 2009 at 8:30 pm

…spreading the lies of ‘death panels’ and ‘pulling the plug on grandma.’

Many healthcare “experts” agree that some form of rationing will need to take place for “universal” care, or the current American system to stay in business. Tom Daschel said it in his book:

Liberal experts, Mr. Daschle included, believe that America needs to ration new technology and drugs. In his book, Mr. Daschle complains about overuse of new technology and praises the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), a rationing system that controls government costs. NICE’s denial of care is legendary — from the arthritis drug Abatacept to the lung cancer drug Tarceva. These drugs are effective. It’s just that the bureaucrats don’t consider them cost effective.

And even Obama has talked about having a “panel of experts” to help make these decisions.

So “death panels” are very potentially real… the left simply objects to talking about it, because they know the American people won’t go for it.

In other words… you simply don’t like what the Republicans are talking about, or that they’re objecting… so you want them to keep quiet. They deserve no opinion and no input, because they’re not agreeing with what the Democratic leaders want… and they’re talking about things better left unsaid.

As I’ve said before… free speech is a b*tch isn’t it.

Exactly! Just look at how the Republicans ran us into the ground and try and remember that Obama has been in office just over a year. Did any of you teabaggers really expect him to clean up this shit in one year? Isn’t it really that you’re just bitter because your party got it’s ass kicked historically? You know damn well none of the inbreds and undereducated idiots at those tea parties voted for Democrats. Our people are better educated on balance and would never vote for that party. It’s hostile to women as noted by their 3 female Senators and they don’t have any blacks. Olbermann is right. Those tea party protest look more like white power rallies! When you ask them how they like their government run Medicare and tax cuts, they stare in stunned silence. Apparently you can teach stupid. No wonder they keep loosing! It’s in their old, white male only DNA!

@ImNotBlue: I think it’s more a matter of the “projections” that both sides cast onto the Obama canvas…

After he went on his “health care listening tour” to the first primary states, Candidate Obama set forth a list of goals that he wanted reform to achieve and made some suggestions toward the route, but he always said that the details would be left up to Congress.

The whole “open process” harp was to contrast himself with Sen. Clinton’s record and the reliance on Congress not only left him an out, but because Hillary’s effort had failed because she hadn’t included Congress, it was the way he figured it would be achieved.

Every Congressional committee, sub-committee and super-committee has held the proper number of Republicans. There may not have been many Republicans around when they were trying to get a vote count, but the opposition party did help craft the legislation and they made no visible efforts to get cameras into the (equally-divided) “Gang of Six’s” proceedings.

free speech is not the issue – it’s the lying. You’re entitled to your own opinion, not your own set of facts. Republicans and republoteabaggerists are expert liars.

The panel of experts is actually a best practices body. You know what that mean? It means when a kid comes in screaming with symptoms that appear to be colic, you start by eliminating whether it is and not order up chest x rays and brain scans and MRI’s. You don’t order all of these unecessary tests. You start from A and work your way to Z. You don’t order up A-Z. As for rationing, it’s being done now by insurance compainies but, for different reasons. It’s called a profit! They don’t make money by paying claims. They make their profits by denying them.
Those of you with no party affiliation are not required to respond!

Palin wins!!!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e8c_1261348516

PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year: ‘Death panels’
By Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 5:15 p.m.

A winner in our “Lie of the Year” contest!
Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.

“Death panels.”

Seniors and the disabled “will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his burea More..ucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care.”
Sarah Palin, Friday, August 7th, 2009.

The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn’t made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.

Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, “Death panels? Really?”

The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural “Lie of the Year.”

PolitiFact readers overwhelmingly supported the decision. Nearly 5,000 voted in a national poll to name the biggest lie, and 61 percent chose “death panels” from a field of eight finalists.

Mr. Adkins is correct! I saw that same headline on media matters today. And politifact is a non partisan group!

As for Palin, she should take her dumb ass to another school and maybe they could teach her how to get rid of her regional accent which makes her sould even more stupid. Tell her it’s pronounced ideals just like it’s spelled. Not idills. Idills? Is that a pickel? Oh, and it’s nuclear not nukeular. Those idiots who say they like her because she’s just like them must be equally stupid and unable to annunciate! Stop mangling our english language. She sounds like every other uneducated hayseed in that party.

Jimmah was the first to introduce the term “nucullear”…so take that and stuff it.

John McCain is right– Obama campaigned on “treansparencY’and we have gotten anything but that.

Death panels are alive in the new “heathcare bill”…..Obama and his accolades in the media and the dem party are liars just like he is.

Nelson sold out — there are NO democrats who will stand by their oath…I’m holding out for Jim Webb, but that hope is fading fast. Not a single dem with an ounce of integrity lives in the Senate. they are all corrupt. Ben sold his soul, and now supports the killing of babies paid for with federal funds. He is a whore.bigger one than Mary, but a whore none-the-less.

McCain is a wahsed up sore loser and Nelson is a duplicitous piece of shit! Go over to CSPAN right now and watch every Republican senator crying like the useless, powerless, bitches that they are. Your leaders can’t do a damn thing about the legislation that our leadrers are trying to pass. The Republican party is now the Whig Party! As for killing babies, that’s what your concerned about? There isn’t a damn thing you or your impotent, Republican leaders can do about that either! You people are pathetic. You don’t give a damn about unborn babies. You’re just afraid you’re going to end up paying for it. Well don’t worry about that. We already have existing laws on the books for that. It’s called the Hyde Amendment. Go read it! And if you’re a man, worry about your own twig and berries. They’re callled condoms! You can only control what you do. Start between your own legs! Oh, and McCain and the rest of the Republicans who voted against the bill for the military – I guess they’re a bunch of soldier killing, bastards for voting that way. Right?

A party of inbreds, hayseeds and morons! No wonder they keep getting their asses kicked! See you on CSPAN!

roxsteady says:
December 20, 2009 at 8:57 pm

Yup… everyone who doesn’t agree with you must be stupid, and racist, and big poopy pants jerk faces. Feel better now?

Your ego continues to grow, and as more and more people become less enamored with your side of the aisle, you become more and more frantic to attack anyone and everyone who doesn’t fall in line. I hope you use this strategy in 2010… the “if you’re not like us, you’re an idiot.” I’m sure the 50% of America that doesn’t follow in lockstep behind you will be real receptive to your fact-less, insulting, hateful rhetoric. Too bad current polls show the opposite.

Magister says:
December 20, 2009 at 8:58 pm

I just don’t see it that way. If Obama wanted to make the point that Congress would spend more time working on it, unlike Clinton… he could have said that, or at least something similar to that. Instead, he said it would be on CSPAN… which it wasn’t… that’s a pretty hard thing to spin, if you ask me.

The Republicans have been mostly shut out of the talks (except when someone like Olympia Snowe’s vote is needed)… and to a degree, I can understand that. The Republicans are in the minority, so the Democrats don’t feel they need them… “More effort than it’s worth,” or so goes the logic. But perhaps Obama’s claims of “bi-partisanship” are similar to his claims about CSPAN… he doesn’t really have the authority to make Congress more bi-partisan, nor does he have the power to tell someone like Harry Reid to “listen to the Republicans.” It’s kind of an empty promise… and since he’s not in charge of the healthcare debate, he can promise whatever he wants, but it doesn’t mean Congress is going to follow him on it.

Bill Adkins says:
December 20, 2009 at 8:58 pm

If only you had some facts to back that up… but you don’t. Perhaps that doesn’t make you a liar… just a political fiction writer. I’m sure there’s a difference…

roxsteady says:
December 20, 2009 at 9:03 pm

Ah… insurance companies may (or may not) deny coverage… but under current laws, a hospital must administer treatment even if the patient can’t pay. Under NEW laws, and government rationing… the hospital wouldn’t be allowed or required to perform treatments that the government deemed “too frivolous.”

IMO, the government can barely be trusted to make sure the bridges and roads are functioning… and you want them deciding what medical treatments I can get, and when they’ve “done enough”? No thank you.

Bill Adkins says:
December 20, 2009 at 9:05 pm

You recognize that the facts… and the internal healthcare systems which the left LOVES to talk about, already have these panels… right? But anyway, did you read the article? I did. Didn’t see where they proved that it was a “lie,” rather they stated it was a lie, and then just moved on.

In actuality, the only way to call it a “lie,” is to redefine what Palin was talking about. From the article:

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Oregon Democrat who promoted the provision that allowed Medicare to pay for doctor appointments about end-of-life counseling…

Ah, but we’re not talking about that are we? We’re talking about “allowing” for some treatment, while denying others. And that’s a fact, so say the experts, we might have to get used to.

roxsteady says:
December 20, 2009 at 9:32 pm

There’s not a “bottom of the barrel” for you, is there? You’ll say anything, no matter how insulting, nasty, or meaningless… if you think it’s going to attack someone you disagree with politically.

So many of you people, out there on the left, and this is the best you guys can come up with. It’s amazing how angry you are… and that you’re able to maintain that level of anger, no matter how foolish you look.

roxsteady says:
December 20, 2009 at 10:17 pm

You really are one classy individual. I hope you’re proud.

Keep shaking your fist at the clouds, Senator McPain!

Obama and his friends may have smug smiles after this bill gets passed, but 2010 is going to be a year of misery for them. Underemployed people who will now get taxed to death on things they can’t even benefit from (stimulus, ‘health care’) will represent an angry mob. And then there are the unemployed, who represent an even angrier one. I’ll enjoy watching 2010 unfold!

I’m laughing! You guys/girls remind me of mice that the scientist just placed you into your maze. Run mice run! Or placed you on the treadmill/wheels. Mouse believes they’re making headway or gaining ground. Run mice, run!

Or how about this one – You know the teacher in Charlie Brown, wah, wah, wah…

I’m going to check another post to see if you made any headway or still saying…I mean running in the same place.

I’m wondering how long the victim schtick will work for Republicans when their only strategy is to say no and stick their tongues out.

Obama has governed to the right of where he campaigned, oh clueless ones. See HCR, rendition, illegally spying on Americans, Wall Street bailout, etc.

Of course, since there were zero Republican votes for Clinton’s 1993 Budget Act that laid the groundwork for nineties prosperity, with Gore casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate; and all the Republicans predicted another Great Depression and widespread malaise that never happened and they never paid a price for being so wrong, I guess we can expect continued Republican obstinancy and obstruction with no repercussions as usual.

Go ahead, McCain, say what you will. Republicans never have to answer for being wrong or mean.

I think Obama’s strategy, though influenced by precedent and politics, and the overall corrupton of our decadent Sparta-like militarism, is overall both moral and wise. I know that puts me in the minority here, but sometimes there’s a needle that needs threading, and I think that is what Obama’s trying to do. I only wish he would tell the truth about the reasons he’s doing it, instead of the “fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them at home”.
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