$#@&!

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Thursday November 11, 2010 · 1:53 PM PST

2010/11/11 · 13:53

You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
— Abraham Lincoln

With some 90% of the American public united in saying that the economy is in terrible shape — and the Party of No having seen to it that as little as possible has been done to fix it (after their having trashed the economy in the first place) — it’s unfortunately not surprising that the party in power got their — our — asses kicked at the ballot box last week.

Now, governmental gridlock is perhaps the best we can hope for ... although there’s nothing written in stone to say that the United States of America — or even the economy of the whole, interconnected world for that matter — can stand the not-so-benign neglect that is gridlock for any significant length of time, particularly in this critical economic condition.

dougdrenkow

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Tuesday September 21, 2010 · 11:41 AM PDT

2010/09/21 · 11:41

Let me get this straight. The GOP, under Geo. W. Bush (Remember him? Trillions for the rich. Diddly squat for the rest of us), crashed and trashed the U.S. and world economy, threw millions of Americans out of their jobs — those jobs not already sent overseas — gambled away trillions of hard-earned life-savings, and sank millions of home mortgages underwater. Ever since then, in almost perfect lockstep, the Republicans in Congress have threatened, delayed, filibustered, and in every other way they could think of obstructed every single piece of legislation that offered help in any way, shape, or form to those millions thrown out of work, those millions more far-underemployed, teachers and nurses and firefighters and police facing layoffs by state and local governments in crisis, and all the rest of us everyday Americans wanting nothing more than to provide for our families and to make a worthwhile contribution to our nation but threatened with abject ruin at every turn.

dougdrenkow

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Saturday May 29, 2010 · 5:23 PM PDT

2010/05/29 · 17:23

Even though Pres. Obama has promised that oil company reps would no longer be — literally as well as figuratively — in bed with government regulators, it seems now as if another arm of the federal government has too "cosy" a relationship with BP ...

dougdrenkow

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Tuesday March 23, 2010 · 2:32 PM PDT

2010/03/23 · 14:32

From Teddy Roosevelt to Teddy Kennedy, some of the best and brightest American leaders have fought for the now-45,000 Americans who die each year because they have no health insurance, and the nearly one million who go bankrupt each year because of medical expenses, even though most of those Americans had health insurance when they first got sick.

But today, March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama has just signed into law the historic, sweeping reforms of our health care system — indeed, as the unmoved and unmovable Republican opposition stated, one-sixth of the entire American economy — after their passage by the U.S. House, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the U.S. Senate, under the likewise heroic leadership of Majority Leader Harry Reid.

dougdrenkow

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Friday February 26, 2010 · 4:17 PM PST

2010/02/26 · 16:17

In his dramatic, historic, seven-plus-hour summit yesterday with both Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate — televised for all the world to see — President Obama remained true to his reputation and convictions, and thus our cause: better, more affordable health care for more Americans.

dougdrenkow

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Tuesday February 09, 2010 · 4:05 PM PST

2010/02/09 · 16:05

Pres. Obama is catching a lot of flak right now from both the Left and the Right, as on his leadership for health care reform.

In particular, some who follow politics closely ask, Isn’t the president’s reaching out in a spirit of "bipartisanship" now — after a year of virtually lockstep obstruction on the part of the GOP in Congress — an exercise in futility?

Well, independent swing voters are, understandably and rightly, fed up with the lack of progress on legislation so desperately needed to move our nation forward, out of the mess that the previous administration left us in (a fact that most Democrats still recognize but most Republicans simply dismiss out of hand). So politically, calls for bipartisan cooperation should at least "play well in Peoria."

But that is a far cry from actually breaking the legislative logjams — particularly from the filibuster in the Senate — and solving our pressing problems.

And the president’s strong, unprecedented, one-on-many — truly gutsy — performance in recently debating the Republican House members may have actually made them less prone to accept his Super Bowl invitation to sit down with him and discuss, point by point, their plans for health care reform and ours.

dougdrenkow

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Thursday January 28, 2010 · 10:12 AM PST

2010/01/28 · 10:12

Particularly in the wake of Pres. Obama's "tell it like it is" State of the Union Address last night -- The people at home could clearly see who is fighting for them and who is fighting against their best interests -- I cannot encourage you enough to watch -- and share -- this great new video by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party: Echoing the words of the Republicans' own National Chairman Michael Steele about their party's prospects of recapturing Congress, "Not This Year" encapsulates in 90 seconds what went wrong in the eight years the Republicans were in charge, what we've done to turn things around this year, and what we've got left to do in the year and years ahead. As Pres. Obama reminded us last night, change isn't easy -- or unopposed -- but working together we can get things done. Yes, we can!

Use Reconciliation vs. 'President Lieberman'

dougdrenkow

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Tuesday December 15, 2009 · 7:18 AM PST

2009/12/15 · 07:18

If Geo. W. Bush had not been handed the presidency by the Right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme court back in 2000, Al Gore would have become president; and Joe Lieberman, vice president. Reading articles such as this in the New York Times -- telling us of how smug and happy Sen. Lieberman is as "point man" and spoiler, dictating terms of legislation -- I cannot help but feel that Mr. Lieberman is playing out a fantasy of his envisioning himself as by now being "President Lieberman."

dougdrenkow

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Wednesday December 02, 2009 · 12:30 PM PST

2009/12/02 · 12:30

After eight years of mismanagement of the Afghan War under Pres. Bush — as if the incompetence and corruption of the government in Kabul, let alone the medieval madness of the Taliban and the murderous plots of Al Qaeda, weren't difficulties enough — there are no good options left in Afghanistan, only less bad ones. Whether you agree with him or not, it is obvious from listening to Pres. Obama's speech last night that while he was "dithering" (as if former Vice Pres. Cheney had any credibility left to voice criticism) Pres. Obama has done his best to balance the military and political realities, both here and abroad, to arrive at his strategy. His earnest, sober reasoning — in stark contrast to the "shoot from the hip" leadership of Bush — should be respected, even if one disagrees with his ultimate decision: what I agree is the least bad option.

dougdrenkow

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Friday November 06, 2009 · 11:16 AM PST

2009/11/06 · 11:16

Given the mixed results in this off-off-year election -- Republicans win governorships in traditionally Democratic New Jersey as well as in traditionally Republican Virginia; Democrats win House seats in a traditionally Republican New York district as well as in a traditionally Democratic California district -- there is more spin being spun by pundits on the Left and the Right than by Kobe Bryant goin' to the hoop. So what's the real deal?

dougdrenkow

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Tuesday October 27, 2009 · 5:10 PM PDT

2009/10/27 · 17:10

Imagine if you will a nightmarish situation in which you or a loved one get ill; and even though you are covered by an employer-based health insurance plan, a treatment that will prevent a lifetime disability or even save your life is withheld by the plan, because they call the treatment "experimental" or "medically unnecessary" -- even though your doctors say otherwise!

Now compound the terror that scenario dredges up, from within your most deep-seated instincts of self-preservation, with the prospect of your not being able to sue the health plan for making such a devastating decision. In other words, there would be no downside to the plan for their denial of even life-saving care (other than the public relations mess stirred up by all-too-infrequent articles like this); in fact, there would, of course, be a great financial incentive to simply deny your care, your life be damned.

dougdrenkow

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Monday October 19, 2009 · 3:17 PM PDT

2009/10/19 · 15:17

Click Here to View Health Care Reform: A Matter of Life and Death

Organizing for America is sponsoring a "Health Reform Video Challenge": "Create the best 30 second video you can that makes the case for passing health insurance reform in 2009. This is a complex and often personal issue, and there's way more angles to cover than anyone can squeeze into 30 seconds." The top 20 submissions (The deadline was at midnight, last night) will be voted on by the public and a panel of experts -- including celebrities, political experts, and OFA volunteers -- with the winning ad aired on national television (There is no money at stake in this "contest").

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$#@&!

Vote for Job Creation Not GOP Extortion!

See No Oil. Hear No Oil. Speak No Oil.

Make history? Yes, we can. And did. Again.

The President Calls the GOP Bluff.

Closing the Deal on Health Reform, With or Without the GOP

"Not This Year" -- L.A. Co. Dems' Great New Video!

Use Reconciliation vs. 'President Lieberman'

The Least Bad Option in Afghanistan

Election Lesson: It's right -- not Right -- to be Democrats.

The Insurance Companies' "License to Kill": ERISA

My "Health Reform Video Challenge" Submission