Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

…but when it comes to the health care bill she is one of the few people on the left looking at the political consequences with open eyes:

The DCCC was very good at getting not-so-savvy poll analysts to try and discredit the SurveyUSA polling. (Those same pollsters, ironically, didn’t see anything weird in the Research 2000 polls they were quoting authoritatively at the time, which many now find suspect — though Jerome Armstrong spotted it). Somehow Democratic members of Congress engaged in magical thinking and believed Rahm’s BS about the popularity of the health care bill increasing if it passed.

Rather than focus on jobs creation in a country with climbing unemployment rates, Obama spent the better part of a year focused on passing a health care bill that looks like it will play no small part in the Democratic Party’s upcoming electoral woes.

Well, we warned you.

I’ll go one step farther. The Election of Scott Brown was the real breaking of the dam and the thing that made the Brown Election was the chance to stop the Healthcare bill. Forgetting everything else, the morale factor that the Election of Brown had for the tea parties and the GOP can’t be overestimated. Without the Brown victory you don’t have Miller in Alaska you don’t have the GOP establishment defeats in Utah & NC.

Brown’s election Made the Tea Party and the election climate that we have this fall, and the Healthcare Bill made Brown.

Democrats did this to themselves, Hamsher & Co tried to warn them.

I should point out that legal insurrection dissents:

I’m not buying that spin. It is true that Hamsher had some of the most devastating critiques of Obamacare. But when I wrote my Open Letter in January 2010 to Hamsher asking her to join us in defeating Obamacare, there was no response, either directly or indirectly, in words or in action. Instead, Hamsher and others were focused on improving (e.g. public option) not defeating the legislation, an ultimately futiile quest which required a level of subservience to the Democratic leadership in the hope they would come through for you. They didn’t.

Fair point.

memeorandum thread here

Guy spoke at yesterday’s tea party even concerning running a campaign and how you needed more than just people to hold signs. I asked him the following question:

As a rule the things you learn the most from in life are your mistakes.

Stacy and Michelle have put up excellent posts in support of Christine O’Donnell but rather than try to match their rhetoric lets bottom line it:

A vote for Christine O’Donnell is a vote for Joe Miller

A vote for Mike Castle is a vote for Lisa Murkowski and the NRCC

Any questions?

Saw a tweet today from Reesdansie that said: America Held hostage day 588. I think that is unfair.

Held hostage implies that it was against our will, we did this to ourselves.

However with Manny on the brain it led me to this SI article from a few years ago of really bad free agent signings:

1. Hampton, $121 million, Rockies (and Braves). The deals for him and Denny Neagle ($55 million, five years) set the Rockies back five years. On the other hand, the complicated trade to send him away and get the Rockies on the path to the World Series was a stroke of genius. The Braves, who got him from the Marlins in November 2002, two days after Colorado dumped him, are known for wise pitching decisions, but this has to be their worst.

2. Carl Pavano, $40 million, four (long) years, Yankees. Never really looked interested. Changed agents more times than he actually pitched.

3. Albert Belle, $65 million, five years, Orioles. Brought surly mood, diminished power and bad hip to Peter Angelos’ brand of bad baseball

His list has 13 names on it with contracts worth a combined $925 million.

That is really the way we have to look at it. Barack Obama is a free agent who came with a lot of hype and the country got carried away with it, we thought we were getting the next Jackie Robinson, instead we got Pumpsie Green.

Bottom line Barack Obama is the most expensive free agent signing in history and he still has two years left on his contract!