PushBack Politics - Live Political Blog
Mitt Romney’s brother thinking of Senate race
Could a Romney be running for the U.S. Senate?
Scott Romney, older brother of the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, is reportedly thinking about running for the Senate seat in Michigan of retiring Democrat Carl Levin. CBS News reports Romney, who ran for state attorney general in 1998 and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention last year, is “interested and seriously looking at” the 2014 race.
Levin upended the Michigan political scene when he announced Thursday that he would not run for a seventh term next year. Both parties have vowed to go after the seat, which Levin has held since 1979.
The Romneys, of course, have long ties to Michigan politics. Family patriarch George Romney was governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969 and matriarch Lenore Romney ran unsuccessful in 1970 for the Senate.
Source: USA Today
Former U.S. Senator Scott Brown Joins Nixon Peabody LLP
Boston, MA. Former U.S. Senator Scott Brown has joined international law firm Nixon Peabody LLP as counsel in the firm’s Boston office. Given his background in public service at both the national and state levels, Brown will focus his practice on business and governmental affairs as they relate to the financial services industry as well as on commercial real estate matters.
“Nixon Peabody has a national presence and a strong reputation. The culture is one of collaboration among its lawyers and with clients,” said Brown. “During my time in politics, I never hesitated to reach across the aisle to work with members of any political party to secure a preferable outcome. My approach is consistent with the way Nixon Peabody does business and I believe we can be successful together.”
Source: Nixon, Peabody website
President Obama Gridiron Club Dinner Speech 2013 – TRANSCRIPT
President Obama Gridiron Club Dinner Speech 2013 – TRANSCRIPT
As provided by the White House.
—
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT THE GRIDIRON DINNER
Washington Renaissance Hotel
Washington, DC
10:03 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Before I begin, I know some of you have noticed that I’m dressed a little differently from the other gentlemen. Because of sequester, they cut my tails. (Laughter.) My joke writers have been placed on furlough. (Laughter.) I know a lot of you reported that no one will feel any immediate impact because of the sequester. Well, you’re about to find out how wrong you are. (Laughter.)
Of course, there’s one thing in Washington that didn’t get cut — the length of this dinner. (Laughter.) Yet more proof that the sequester makes no sense. (Laughter.)
As you know, I last attended the Gridiron dinner two years ago. Back then, I addressed a number of topics — a dysfunctional Congress, a looming budget crisis, complaints that I don’t spend enough time with the press. It’s funny, it seems like it was just yesterday. (Laughter.)
We noticed that some folks couldn’t make it this evening. It’s been noted that Bob Woodward sends his regrets, which Gene Sperling predicted. (Laughter.) I have to admit this whole brouhaha had me a little surprised. Who knew Gene could be so intimidating? (Laughter.) Or let me phrase it differently — who knew anybody named Gene could be this intimidating? (Laughter.)
Now I know that some folks think we responded to Woodward too aggressively. But hey, when has — can anybody tell me when an administration has ever regretted picking a fight with Bob Woodward? (Laughter.) What’s the worst that could happen? (Laughter and applause.)
But don’t worry. We’re all friends again in the spirit of that wonderful song. As you may have heard, Bob invited Gene over to his place. And Bob says he actually thinks that I should make it too. And I might take him up on the offer. I mean, nothing says “not a threat” like showing up at somebody’s house with guys with machine guns. (Laughter.)
Now, since I don’t often speak to a room full of journalists — (laughter) — I thought I should address a few concerns tonight. Some of you have said that I’m ignoring the Washington press corps — that we’re too controlling. You know what, you were right. I was wrong and I want to apologize in a video you can watch exclusively at whitehouse.gov. (Laughter.)
While we’re on this subject, I want to acknowledge Ed Henry, who is here — who is the fearless leader of the Washington press corps now. (Applause.) And at Ed’s request, tonight I will take one question from the press. Jay, do we have a question? (Laughter.) Surprisingly, it’s a question from Ed Henry. (Laughter.) “Mr. President, will you be taking any questions tonight?” (Laughter.) I’m happy to answer that. No, Ed, I will not. (Laughter.)
I also want to recognize David Corn. He’s here from Mother Jones magazine. He brought his iPhone. So Bobby Jindal, if you thought your remarks were off the record, ask Mitt Romney about that. (Applause.)
I have to say, I thought Bobby was incredibly funny this evening. (Applause.) I thought he was terrific. Amy Klobuchar was sparkling and fantastic and fabulous. (Applause.) I am worried about Al Franken though. (Laughter.) How do you start off being one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live and end up being the second-funniest Senator in Minnesota? (Laughter and applause.) How the mighty have fallen. (Laughter.)
Now I’m sure that you’ve noticed that there’s somebody very special in my life who is missing tonight, somebody who has always got my back, stands with me no matter what and gives me hope no matter how dark things seem. So tonight, I want to publicly thank my rock, my foundation — thank you, Nate Silver. (Laughter.)
Of course as I begin my second term, our country is still facing enormous challenges. We have a lot of work to do — that, Marco Rubio, is how you take a sip of water. (Laughter and applause.)
As I was saying, we face major challenges. March in particular is going to be full of tough decisions. But I want to assure you, I have my top advisors working around the clock. After all, my March Madness bracket isn’t going to fill itself out. (Laughter.) And don’t worry — there is an entire team in the situation room as we speak, planning my next golf outing, right now at this moment. (Laughter.)
But those aren’t the only issues on my mind. As you are aware — as has been noted this evening — we’ve had to make some very tough, huge budget cuts apparently with no regard to long-term consequences, which means I know how you feel in journalism. (Laughter.) I’ve been trying to explain this situation to the American people, but clearly I am not perfect. After a very public mix-up last week, my communications team has provided me with an easy way to distinguish between Star Trek and Star Wars. (Laughter.) Spock is what Maureen Dowd calls me. Darth Vader is what John Boehner calls me. (Laughter.)
Of course, maintaining credibility in this cynical atmosphere is harder than ever — incredibly challenging. My administration recently put out a photo of me skeet shooting and even that wasn’t enough for some people. Next week, we’re releasing a photo of me clinging to religion. (Laughter and applause.)
I’m also doing what I can to smooth things over with Republicans in Congress. In fact, these days John McCain and I are spending so much time together that he told me we were becoming friends. I said, “John, stop. Chuck Hagel warned me how this ends up.” (Laughter.)
It took a while, but I’m glad that the Senate finally confirmed my Secretary of Defense. And I have to say, I don’t know what happened to Chuck in those hearings. I know he worked hard, he studied his brief. And I even lent him my presidential debate team to work with him. (Laughter.) It’s confusing what happened. (Laughter.)
But all these changes to my team are tough to handle, I’ve got to admit. After nine years, I finally said goodbye to my chief speechwriter, Jon Favreau. I watched him grow up. He’s almost like a son to me, he’s been with me so long. And I said to him when he first informed me of his decision, I said, “Favs, you can’t leave.” And he answered with three simple words — “yes, I can.” (Laughter.) Fortunately, he did not take the prompter on his way out. (Laughter.) That would have been a problem. (Laughter.)
With all these new faces, it’s hard to keep track of who is in, who is out. And I know it’s difficult for you guys as reporters. But I can offer you an easy way of remembering the new team. If Ted Cruz calls somebody a communist, then you know they’re in my cabinet. (Laughter.)
Jack Lew is getting started on his new role as Treasury Secretary. Jack is so low key, he makes Tim Geithner look like Tom Cruise. (Laughter.) Don’t worry, everybody, Jack signed off on that joke or a five year old drew a slinky. (Laughter.) I don’t know which. (Applause.)
Another big change has been at the State Department. Everybody has noticed that obviously. And let’s face it — Hillary is a tough act to follow. But John Kerry is doing great so far. He is doing everything he can to ensure continuity. Frankly, though, I think it’s time for him to stop showing up at work in pantsuits. (Laughter.) It’s a disturbing image. (Laughter.) It really is. (Laughter.) I don’t know where he buys them. He is a tall guy. (Laughter.)
And even though I’m just beginning my second term, I know that some folks are looking ahead to bigger things. Look, it’s no secret that my Vice President is still ambitious. But let’s face it, his age is an issue. Just the other day, I had to take Joe aside and say, “Joe, you are way too young to be the pope.” (Laughter.) “You can’t do it. You got to mature a little bit.” (Laughter.)
Now, I do want to end on a serious note. I know that there are people who get frustrated with the way journalism is practiced these days. And sometimes those people are me. (Laughter.) But the truth is our country needs you and our democracy needs you.
In an age when all it takes to attract attention is a Twitter handle and some followers, it’s easier than ever to get it wrong. But it’s more important than ever to get it right. And I am grateful for all the journalists who do one of the toughest jobs there is with integrity and insight and dedication — and a sense of purpose — that goes beyond a business model or a news cycle.
This year alone, reporters have exposed corruption here at home and around the world. They’ve risked everything to bring us stories from places like Syria and Kenya, stories that need to be told. And they’ve helped people understand the ways in which we’re all connected — how something that happens or doesn’t happen halfway around the world or here in Washington can have consequences for American families.
These are extraordinary times. The stakes are high and the tensions can sometimes be high as well. But while we’ll always have disagreements, I believe that we share the belief that a free press — a press that questions us, that holds us accountable, that sometimes gets under our skin — is absolutely an essential part of our democracy.
So I want to thank everybody for not just a wonderful evening — and, Chuck, I want to thank you for your outstanding presidency — but I also just want to thank you for the work that you do each and every day. And in the words of one of my favorite Star Trek characters — Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise — “May the force be with you.” (Laughter and applause.)
END
10:19 P.M. EST
President Obama to speak to Organizing for Action Wednesday
President Barack Obama will speak to a Wednesday night dinner for donors and grass-roots supporters at the “founders’ summit ”of Organizing for Action, the nonprofit successor organization to his campaign, officials said.
The summit, to be held Wednesday and Thursday at a Washington hotel, is aimed at keeping supporters motivated ahead of tough congressional fights on gun legislation and immigration reform and to take their temperature about the future of the organization.
Speakers will include David Plouffe, former White House senior adviser, and manager of Obama’s 2008 campaign; Jim Messina, manager of the 2012 campaign and OFA’s national chairman; Jon Carson, OFA’s executive director; Dan Wagner, the campaign’s chief analytics officer; Lisa Jackson, Obama’s former EPA administrator; Sara El-Amine, OFA’s national organizing director; Lindsay Siler, OFA’s issues director; and others.
Advisers said topics will include the sequence of issues the president will pursue, the greater challenge of recruiting volunteers compared to a campaign and tactics that have been successful in mobilizing supporters since the election.
“The summit is a series of meetings with volunteers, neighborhood team leaders, former campaign staff and donors who will shape the direction of Organizing for Action,” an OFA official said.
“The summit will help to chart out the issue campaigns that OFA will be engaging in throughout 2013, how our structure as an organization will look, and provide a forum to brainstorm new ideas about how we can maximize grass-roots organizing. The summit will involve both large events where all attendees will participate and breakout sessions to think through the strategy for each issue campaign.”
Portions of the summit will be open to reporters each day. Some sessions will be closed because they “are meant to be discussion-inducing, to brainstorm new ideas and have smaller group conversations about policies and issues,” the official said.
Each session will have about 100 attendees, and that number may grow on Thursday. The event begins at 11 a.m. Wednesday and continues into Thursday afternoon.
Attendees include a longtime Obama volunteer leader from Texas who last month organized a news conference at the Dallas office of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) for OFA’s gun-violence prevention day of action. Speakers include the parents of a local teenage girl killed by gun violence.
Politico
Jeb Bush: ‘History will be kind to my brother’
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says that the public will view his older brother, former president George W. Bush, more favorably as time passes.
“In (my father’s) four years as president a lot of amazing accomplishments took place,” said Jeb Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush, during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “So my guess is that history will be kind to my brother, the further out you get from this and the more people compare his tenure to what’s going on now.”
The 43rd president has largely stayed out of the spotlight since leaving office. After presiding over broad public discontent over the Iraq War and a flailing economy, George W. Bush left the White House with poor approval ratings and was notably unpopular even within his own party.
Jeb Bush said he hasn’t yet spoken to their famous parents about the idea of his own 2016 run.
“I don’t want to begin the process to think about it until it’s the proper time to do so,” he said.
Jeb Bush was interviewed on NBC as a part of a media blitz to promote his new book, ‘Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution.”
He has come under fire this week for failing to include a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants in his proposed immigration plan, a turnaround from his previous embrace of that proposal.
He acknowledged Sunday that he could still back a plan that includes a path to citizenship but said that his book was intended to offer a reform plan that conservatives strongly opposed to “amnesty” could still support.
“If they can find a way to get to a path to citizenship over the long haul, then I would support that,” he said of ongoing bipartisan negotiators on the reform effort. “But this book was written to try to get people that were against reform to be for it. And it is a place where I think a lot of conservatives should feel comfortable, that there’s a way to do this and not violate their principles.”
NBC News
Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick Convicted Of Range Of Corruption Charges
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted Monday of a range of corruption charges after prosecutors said he presided over a breathtaking profit machine by rigging contracts and demanding bribes.
Kilpatrick was found guilty of racketeering, extortion, bribery and other charges. The racketeering count alone carries up to 20 years in prison.
Jurors delivered the verdict after deliberating 14 days.
Kilpatrick, 42, was charged with 30 federal crimes. The verdict was still being delivered in federal court in Detroit.
Prosecutors said that Kilpatrick, a Democrat, steered $83 million in city contracts to Ferguson in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks. They also told jurors that the ex-mayor raided his own nonprofit for personal expenses.
Source: NBC NEWS
Ashley Judd to take on McConnell
Ashley Judd, the 44-year-old actress and social activist, has told key advisers and political figures that she is planning to announce her candidacy for U.S. Senate here this spring.
Judd told one close ally that she plans to announce her run for the Democratic nomination for the 2014 race “around Derby” – meaning in early May when the Kentucky Derby brings national attention to Louisville and the Bluegrass State.
WooHoo, Goddamit. Ashley Judd to take on the Turtle!
The woman is smart (like Phi Beta Kappa & Harvard Masters in Public Administration smart), passionate and committed to liberal causes. I think she can resonate with the Kentucky electorate as one of their own who actually cares about them. She actually understands poor people (of which Kentucky has more than its share), and can communicate with them. She has a track record of on-the-ground humanitarian work in Africa. If the Kentucky Democratic Machine has the guts to nominate her, I don’t think the Turtle will know what hit him.
I mean, Jesus fer Chrissake, who would YOU vote for, just based on superficial appearances?
This person
or this one?
Oops–Wrong pic. Here:
Oh, yeah. She’s already in a dead heat with him.
Another Vietnam? Morning Joe Takes On Afghanistan War: ‘Taliban Is Stronger’ And Our Influence Is Not
Morning Joe began the week on a serious note, taking a look at the war in Afghanistan in light of President Hamid Karzai‘s remarks that the United States is colluding with the Taliban. The general consensus around the table seemed to be in favor of leaving the country, with some panelists drawing allusions to the Vietnam War.
Everyone knows the U.S. wants to get out of Afghanistan, Michael Steele asserted, questioning what Karzai’s motivations would be to make such assertions — given that President Obama has set a timetable for withdrawal.
For background, some of Karzai’s remarks:
“On the one hand, the Taliban are talking with the Americans, but on the other hand, they carry out a bombing in Kabul,” Mr. Karzai said, referring to a bomb that exploded Saturday in front of the Defense Ministry.
“Yesterday’s bombings in Kabul and Khost didn’t aim to show Taliban’s strength — indeed, they served America. By those bombings they served the 2014 negative slogan,” he said. “These bombings aimed to prolong the presence of the American forces in Afghanistan.”
He “knows we really are leaving and wants to have someone to blame if the country tanks as we go,” Jane Harman posited. But given the how many lives have been lost and how many resources we’ve poured into the country, she said, Karzai should be thanking us.
“That is the frustrating and really the sad part of a lot of this is when you think about the men and women who died in the United States, in Afghanistan,” Willie Geist chimed in, “is that our ability to shape that country perhaps is not what we thought it was going to be.”
It’s amazing that we went into it after Vietnam and the history behind that effort, Mark Halperin argued, adding that we’ll leave the country “at best” in an unstable situation. That sentiment struck a chord with Mike Barnicle. “Afghanistan, has proven over and over and over again, as Hamid Karzai has proven over again this past weekend, it is not worthy of our treasure, whether our blood treasure, our sons and daughters, or our money,” he asserted. “It’s time to come home. It’s not our country.”
Harman wasn’t 100 percent on board, not willing to say the effort was in vain, remarking that we all know why we took on Afghanistan.
“I think Afghanistan is more like Vietnam. I think we had to be there,” she said. “Our country is stronger because you know that you serve at the command of our president, and hopefully next time we will assess better what a tribal society looks like and the way to fight a war there.”
Indeed, the question of the unfavorable comparison to Vietnam arose when we went into the country, Geist and Steele noted.
“What is the strategy here? What do you want this to look like when you leave?” Steele asked. “The people on the ground there still apparently do not appreciate the loss of life and treasure that the United States has committed, committed to the folks who wanted us there to help them get beyond terrorism and Taliban and all of that. And the Taliban is stronger and we are less in terms of our influence and our ability to actually fix what we went in to fix.”
Take a look, via MSNBC:
No Drama Obama Should Keep Earning That Nickname
Despite the frenzied panic from anti-austerity activists (like me) who have hard data to prove austerity in a weak economy is a recovery-killer, to the cartoonish school-marm fretting from corporate shills extraordinaire–like Kudlow & Company on CNBC –Corporate Narks Bullshitting [dumbass] Consumers—there’s just no need for President Obama to negotiate a truce in the current budget war.
Rather than insisting that Republicans must “pay” for Democratic spending cuts by agreeing to higher taxes, the president can simply do nothing or, at most, propose a much more amenable deal to both sides and everyone could quit tuning in to all the fake news on the faux ”news” newscasts/magazines/online political gossip rags/and cable fluff-piece/propaganda channels currently being produced by entertainment companies as a method of ginning up more advertising dollars.
If Republicans eased the sequester and demanded no new spending cuts, the Democrats could promise not to try and raise any new taxes. This simple solution could be sold to their respective constituents by both parties as a win. Yay for my team, as it were. More importantly, it might just prompt the hand-wringing “News” pundits on the entertainment networks posing as “news-people” to shut up and find some way to convince their entertainment overlords to let them do some actual news reporting.
Why It Will Never Happen
It will never happen of course; it just makes too much sense. But Republicans would have satisfied their pledge to stop higher taxes, while Democrats would have stymied the efforts by Republicans to gut government.
Problem solved, right?
Oh hell no.
This ceasefire would do nothing to quell the frustrated public, half of whom have bought-in the the idea that spending is a runaway train[even though spending has been DRASTICALLY REDUCED under President Obama already] to reduce deficits or government debts. But doing nothing on deficits could be the perfect policy for the U.S.; at least at this particular point in time.
As I’ve said for years on this web site, economic cycles simply do not conveniently fit into political cycles; and with each election, we try to meddle in policies that most Congesspeople–not to mention most Americans–simply do not understand. Of course, just as the political pendulum, which has finally begun to swing in the direction where the rest of the modern world is waking up to the reality that austerity does not work during recoveries , (see Eurozone, UK, etc.), the GOP finds a way to display its ineptitude in dealing with anything fiscally substantive by letting the across-the-board austerity cuts to go into effect.
There are, after all, convincing economic arguments for poo-pooing the Republican “deficit obsession.”[Except for self-proclaimed economic idiot savant Joe Scarborough of course.]
1.There is absolutely no market pressure on the U.S. government to reduce borrowing. To the contrary, investors are so desperate to lend to the U.S. Treasury that endless amounts are being raised in the bond market at the lowest interest rates ever offered. Ever. While these low rates are partly due to Federal Reserve monetary policies, private investors have nevertheless been swarming all over U.S. bonds. Since nobody is forcing American individual savers or foreign sovereign wealth funds to lend money to the U.S. government these lenders apparently still believe that U.S. Treasury bonds are a good investment.
2.Yes, the stock market has largely said “meh” to the long-term unemployment problem and simply borrowed free money from the banks to invest in modest return investments that are producing profits without demand. In this respect, it is, at best, a fake recovery…at worst, another house of cards that will eventually fall without economic growth and the demand that comes with it. Why anyone who took Econ 101 has forgotten that demand is the gasoline for prosperity, not lower taxes, I cannot for the life of me understand.
3.The U.S. economy’s modest recovery since 2009 has already gone a long way to solve the deficit “crisis,” assuming there ever was one. The federal deficit has been cut in half–from 11.1 percent of GDP in 2009 to 5.3 percent this year. Let me say that again in case you sped-read past that or fell asleep two paragraphs up. The federal deficit has been cut in half–from 11.1 percent of GDP in 2009 to 5.3 percent this year. It will halve again, to just 2.4 percent by 2015, without any further fiscal action, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If this week’s spending sequester were completely undone, the CBO deficit projections for 2015 and 2016 would still be around 3 percent of GDP, well within a comfortable range – and that projection assumes very weak economic growth. I’m talking weakness like 1.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2014. If growth accelerates, which seems increasingly likely, the deficit will shrink much faster without any need for further fiscal policy changes. Neither tax hikes nor additional spending cuts would be necessary. Thus the claim that U.S. fiscal solvency requires that the sequester be replaced, either by other spending cuts, or by tax hikes, is simply and unequivocally false.
4.Government deficits will continue to support what is still a very frail economic recovery, for the standard Keynesian reasons explained in undergraduate courses of Economics 101. While some economists initially disputed the stimulative effects of fiscal policy after the financial crisis, the evidence of the past four years, has been thoroughly evaluated by myriad esteemed institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the results have been pretty convincing: The impact of fiscal policy on growth has turned out to be even stronger than pre-crisis theories and models implied.
5.Finally, there is the legitimate fiscal challenge that the U.S. does face in the distant long-run, due to the aging population and the swelling costs of healthcare. But the problem is not with Medicare. The problem is with exploding healthcare price gouging; which explains Paul Ryan and the GOPs obsession of destroying Medicare. Once privatized, there will be no way to provide healthcare for anyone is not wealthy—the GOP’s sweet spot. T
6.The challenge of maintaining Medicare solvency has nothing to do with tax and spending decisions made today. If healthcare costs continue to grow faster than the economy, they eventually become unsustainable, regardless of the starting level of deficits and debts. Even if we magically, totally eliminated today’s deficits it would only defer Medicare’s inevitable bankruptcy by a few years. To make Medicare financially sustainable with constantly rising healthcare costs, tax rates have to rise accordingly. The only alternative is structural reform to stop medical runaway inflation. Reducing U.S. drug prices and doctors’ incomes to levels comparable to the much lower levels in effect in other advanced economies appears inevitable as well, but only after people start dying in sufficient numbers to bring about substantive change in how we administer and bill for healthcare. Anyone who has ever been in the hospital and looked at the bill has seen the $5.00 charges for aspirin or the $6.50 for a band-aid.
A resolute fight to reduce medical costs is the actualnecessary stipulation to secure the U.S. government against national bankruptcy. But that campaign is not being mentioned—there is simply too much money [legalized bribery] from lobbyists greasing the palms of legislators to bring this obvious condition to the forefront of American thinking.
An astounding 52% of Republican House and Senate members who have left Congress since 1998 have become lobbyists!!
And it doesn’t help that television “news” organizations have become shills for entertainment rather than for the benefit of the public knowledge base. And it has nothing to do with the battles taking place in Washington about sequestration, tax loopholes and Treasury debt limits. Just advertising dollars. Conflict brings ratings, ratings bring ad dollars. WWE Smackdown Raw has nothing on television news.
Unfortunately, political chicanery makes any sort of serious debate on medical costs very unlikely before the end of the decade, when the demographic pressures (aging population) on Medicare [and everyone else for that matter]will become literally insupportable. Insurance companies will continue to get sweetheart deals, and two sets of books will continue to be maintained by healthcare insurers…one for tax returns and one showing the actual profitability of pharmaceutical and heealthcare companies.
Besides, any decisions made today are not binding on future congresses and it is perhaps more democratic to leave such decisions for voters in 2020, which is when the big decisions on how to balance higher taxes against less comprehensive medical coverage, lower incomes for pharmaceutical companies and doctors, or allow a lot of elderly Americans to die more quickly, will be at a true tipping point.
After all, if the GOP gets its way, by then their biggest problem will be how to dispose of the bodies of the massive number of dying elderly people and who’s going to pay for it? Meanwhile, finger-pointing battles will rage in Washington (and on teevee of course) over taxes and non-entitlement spending.
This will only distract attention from the real long-term issue of medical costs, while over-zealous, and ill-advised efforts to cut deficits will slow economic recovery, making these costs harder and harder to address without radical changes.
Until U.S. politicians are forced to tackle the genuine medical cost crisis, the best course of action for the President, given this group of legislators’ penchant for dealing with the phony, albeit telegenic, deficit crisis, is to do nothing at all. At least this largely incompetent group of camera-addicted, cowardly, hypocritical tapeworms in Congress won’t do any additional damage while laboring though their sweatshop-like 129 days of “work days” every year [for full lifetime pensions and healthcare no less].
The real question, given the way the GOP has systematically succeeded in stacking the deck in order to bankrupt the Postal Service or personal gain, what will they spend those 129 days doing, since mostly what they do now is re-name post offices and vote repeatedly to repeal Obamacare?
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