republican

"But there has always been a political problem with this agenda. Voters may say that they oppose big government, but the programs that actually dominate federal spending — Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — are very popular. So how can the public be persuaded to accept large spending cuts?

Here are the 10 planks that define a republican - disagree with more than 2 and you're not a republican, according to the GOP:

These are the kinds of things that make me really cynical towards the Republican party - I know they are very smart people, and I know they've studied debate and argument technique, so I know they realize the logical fallacies they are engaging in and are doing so purposefully.  This has been on display with Palin's death panel critiques, and is shown again in Dick Armey's comments about requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions.  I'm sure he knows that a small percent of people with liver problems acquired those problems through lifestyle choices, and I'm sure he knows that not everyone with diabetes got that disease from "eating like a pig."  By couching his argument as a personal responsibility argument in this way, though, he is hoping to appeal to his voters' senses of fairness and responsibilty.  When I see things like this, it's hard for me to believe anything other than that he has other interests to serve by allowing companies to exclude based on pre-existing conditions, and that he is attempting to manipulate the voters.

"Now [the government] comes along and says, 'Irrespective of the fact they've gone 20, 30, 40 years of their adult life without ever having bought insurance prior to getting a liver inflammation due to their excessive drinking habits or diabetes because they eat like a pig, you must now insure them,'" Armey said.

"At what point do we allow the government to order people that you must sell your product to this person or that person, irrespective of any good judgment?" he added. "We saw what happened in housing when they ordered banks to make loans to people who weren't qualified. Are we now going to have the same destructive influences in health care because we're going to order doctors to provide services and so forth?"

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/09/armey-says-health-care-r...

The antics of the republicans trying to block the health care bill - I understand the frustration at not getting your way, but really?  The sad thing is that I think there are a lot of good ideas from the right, I just wish they would try to participate and be constructive instead of trying to shut down the conversation for the sake of attempting a political embarassment for Obama.  I think their voices would have been much louder in the debate if they hadn't pre-announced that they would vote against even bills that they agreed with.

"Last Thursday there was a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to protest pending health care legislation, featuring the kinds of things we’ve grown accustomed to, including large signs showing piles of bodies at Dachau with the caption “National Socialist Healthcare.” It was grotesque — and it was also ominous. For what we may be seeing is America starting to be Californiafied.

Is the story that republicans were blocking, or that one republican showed up?

Republicans boycotted a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on a major bill to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Only one of the seven Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee -- Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio -- showed up for the panel's opening session. He left the meeting after delivering an opening statement.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/03/climate.change/index.html

Surprise, surprise!  The GOP is pro-free-market, except when it isn't:

"Six Republican senators have introduced an amendment that would block the Federal Communications Commission from implementing its recently announced Net neutrality policy."