My first message is to implore my Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, to hold fast to the moral and political high ground and emphatically and repeatedly reject anything other than the Senate's clean CR for government funding.
The Republican Power Base is cracking wide open, so now is not the time to temporize or compromise just to avoid a conflict. Embrace this confrontation now and you can win a strategic battle that will elevate the lives of all Americans and (bonus!) decimate the power of the radical House Republicans.
The Dallas Morning News (I say again, the Dallas Morning News) said in its lead editorial on Sunday, September 29th. "Give health exchanges a chance to work"
Read the whole editorial right here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/...
Obviously it is not a whole-hearted embrace of Obamacare, but it directly and impartially addresses the benefits to be obtained by both individual Texans and the State as a whole.
The conclusion is worthy of a block quote:
Critics of Obamacare would be wise to stop throwing wrenches into the gears of the developing system and instead allow the exchanges a chance to work. For example, Gov. Rick Perry has urged more rules for the federally funded navigators assigned to help people evaluate the insurance plans. Given that 2 million Texans will be eligible for insurance through the exchanges, far better for Perry not to undermine implementation. After all, getting the uninsured to pay for their own coverage -as opposed to having taxpayers foot the bill - would be a great thing for all of us.
Most reasonable people would agree that the economics of healthcare must change. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the blueprint for that transformation, so lets give it a chance.
Perhaps even more amazing is what see when I visit Pete Sessions' (R, TX-32: Chairman of the House Rules Committee) webpage at:
http://www.petesessions.com/
Unbelievably, the lead item which is presented in its entirety, is an opinion piece from US News and World Report, entitled "Conservatives Eat Their Own for Profit" that includes a direct attack on Jim DeMint and The Heritage Foundation.
http://www.usnews.com/...
It is written by Brian Walsh, who serves as communications guru for Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), in response to attacks on Sessions from DeMint, wherein DeMint calls Sessions a "Texas RINO (Republican in Name Only). Sessions' crime? (and this is taken directly from Pete Sessions own website)
As chairman of the House Rules Committee, Sessions does not appear willing to help march Republicans off a political cliff and risk the House majority by shutting down the government – cutting off checks to military families and seniors and putting at great risk the recent spending cuts achieved through sequestration – over a fantastical fight to "defund" Obamacare.
The GOP is shattering in the face of negative feedback arising from defunding the government. As fractured as they are now, think how much stress they'll be under from Wall Street and the High Net Worth individuals (aka "the "Haves" and the "Have Mores" {hat tip to George W. Bush} that comprise their base) if they actually try to cause a default by the US Government through refusal to raise the debt ceiling.
THROW THEM AN ANCHOR, NOT A LIFELINE. DO NOT COMPRIMISE OR NEGOTIATE WITH GOP TERRORISTS.
A quick history: The Dallas Morning News was founded by Col. A.H. Belo, CSA, who was wounded while fighting with his fellow North Carolinians at both Gettysburg and Cold Harbor. After the Civil War he moved to Texas to make his fortune and was the founder and financier of the Dallas Morning News in 1885. Belo's envoy, George Bannerman Dealey (immortalized upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza), was the organizer and first Publisher, and later owner of the Dallas Morning News (and the greater publishing and media conglomerate known as the A.H. Belo Corporation, which was built on the power of the Dallas Morning News).
For generations, the Dallas Morning News has been the opinion shaper and house organ for the white, conservative, oligarchy, that privileged group that now dominates the Texas Republican Party. It is the hometown newspaper for both Jeb Hensarling (R, TX-5: Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee) and Pete Sessions (R, TX-32: Chairman of the House Rules Committee) , as well as George W. Bush and former House Majority Leader (and Tea Party founder) Dick Armey.
11:44 AM PT: I thank everyone who added value to this diary and/or helped promote it to the "Rec List". Now let me encourage everyone to use this very convenient DailyKos tool to contact your Senators and Members of Congress:
http://campaigns.dailykos.com/...