Republicans Wasting Money Denigrates our Nation's Democracy

Americans are in a crisis of Democracy right now. There's a political party inside of the Republicans who want to upend our government as we know it, says Ed Shultz of The Ed Show on MSNBC.

Americans have lots of freedoms, but there are no options about how Democracy works.

Democracy means the majority decides issues. Democracy also allows those who don't agree with the outcome of a democratic vote to return and try again.  Meanwhile, the majority rules. There's no ambiguity about this simple basis of Democracy. Majority rules.

In a Democracy, one legislative house of one branch of government is not a majority, by any measure. In other words, House Speaker Boehner leads a minority.

Therefore, those who are in the minority must obey the law.

That's how Democracy is supposed to work.

Instead, right now. in the democratic USA, a minority in the Republican party, a right wing fringe called the Tea Party (not even a registered political party), insists on closing government because they happen to disapprove of the duly voted and ratified health care reform law, called Obamacare.  

Unfortunately, Republicans who are intent on closing down government because of their obsession with health care reform, would rather waste tax payer time, money and our nation's credibility as a Democracy rather than keep our government operational.  They're obsessed with one legal law. 

Suppose Democrats insist on shutting down government because many of us don't happen to like the freedoms provided in Second Amendment guns rights?  Well....
we sure won't go there.....

This tragically looming government shutdown is outrageous and, in my opinion, an illegal act incited by right wing extremists. Their intransigent position is actually breaking the law and, therefore, it's sedition.  

All Republicans complicit in this government shut down, for the sake of crazy ideology, should be punished by the laws forbidding sedition, and incitement of discontent or rebellion against government. This continued behavior will eventually be labeled as treason and the Republican Party will be punished for leading this irresponsible and unpatriotic insanity. 

In past centuries, minority fringe groups of people who engaged in subversive activities wound up in a bad way.

In a Democracy, sedition is punished by striping away the citizenship of those who are guilty. 

Of course, even a potential curtailment of right wing extremism would cost tax payer money but, in so doing, it might be an investment. Removing the citizenship of seditious Tea Party extremists could save Democracy from the anarchy.  

And the morale of this blog is this:  It's called sedition when elected lawmakers in Congress support initiatives that will shut down government and break the law.

Republicans Can't Keep Railing Against Obamacare- They Need to Provide an Alternative

It's wonderful to see Ed Shultz back on TV weeknights, at 5 PM on MSNBC.  His "take no prisoners" progressive broadcast style sure knows how to get liberals emotionally fired up, on the left side of important issues.  

"The Ed Show" is back, just in time to educate Americans about the reason Republicans are obsessed with opposing Health Care Reform, aka, the Affordable Care Act, commonly called "Obamacare". 

"Republicans...spent their summer running around the country at town halls lying about Obamacare," said Shultz, "(but), I'm not going to let them off the hook."

Shultz says the reason Republicans, like Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Congresswoman Michele Bachman are obsessed about eliminating Obamacare, even supporting 40 separate votes in the Congress to repeal the law, is because they're afraid to run a campaign, in 2016, against the success of this important health care reform.  Therefore, they're determined to try to destroy the law, rather than risk seeing it successfully implemented, beginning in October 2013.  

Ahhhhh, now I get it!  Republicans aren't opposed to Obamacare because they hold a fundamentally philosophical disagreement against everybody having health care coverage. Rather, they're opposed to Obamacare because it might be successful!  Maybe, Obamacare will really provide millions of Americans with access to healthcare insurance coverage and Republicans don't want to deal with campaigning in a year when the health care reform law will be touted as successful.

Are we shocked-shocked(!)? Indeed, Republicans don't really care about people having access to health care insurance, at all.  Instead, they want to claim a hallow power victory, by infecting their right wing followers with a zeal to defeat health care reform.  

Thank you Ed Shultz for de-mystifying the Republican anti-Obamacare obsession.

Nevertheless,  I'm cautious about whether or not Obamacare will be as successful as Ed Shultz would like us to believe.  Ideally, at the outset, Obamacare had the potential to be enormously successful- until the US Supreme Court supported states having the right to "opt-out" of the Medicaid expansion. This optional exclusion to the law has effectively blocked coverage for millions of Americans who, otherwise, are unable to afford the insurance coverage provided through "exchanges", as authorized by Obamacare.  

Some states, like Maine, for example, have already (unfortunately) opted out of the Medicaid expansion.  As a result, on January, 2014, an astounding 70,000 Maine people will have no health care coverage because Governor Paul LePage vetoed the bi-partisan law, passed by the state legislature, that would have expanded Medicaid coverage, under Obamacare.  So, those people left uncovered on January 2014, will certainly not see Obamacare as being successful.

Yet, the success of Obamacare is already experienced by certain elements of the law already in effect:

1. Illegal to discriminate against beneficiaries who have pre-existing conditions - like diabetes or cancer.

2.  Eliminating caps on coverage for care.

3.  Allowing children to remain on their parents health insurance plans until they are 26 years old.

4.  Providing insurance coverage for dependent children without regard for pre-existing conditions.

5.  Providing wellness care coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.

A repeal of Obamacare will eliminate the partial list of benefits as described above.

To sustain any appearance of credibility regarding health care reform, the Republicans obsessed with eliminating Obamacare must find a suitable replacement for the law. Rather than run around the nation, wasting tax payer money to destroy health care reform aka Obamacare, they should be selling Americans an alternative plan.  But, the truth is, they simply don't have one.

Therefore, although I don't necessarily share the enthusiasm Ed Shultz professes in support of Obamacare. I fully realize how our nation simply can't go backwards on health care reform. President Obama successfully put health care coverage at the forefront of domestic public policy and Americans must rise to the challenge of fixing what might be wrong with the law, while saving its assets.

If obsessed Republicans want to continue railing against Obamacare, they must provide Americans with a viable alternative or forever hold their piece.

Meanwhile, those who intellectually realize how important health care reform is to our nation's well being must stand together in support of the Affordable Care Act until the last obsessed Republican is finally voted out of office.

Remember, Obamacare will cover mental health care; and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is coded in the Psychiatric Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), making condition reimbursable by health care insurance.  

Scott Prouty Describes Why He Made Public the Romney 47 Percent Video

Governor Mitt Romney certainly has a legacy of his own making in the video clip made by Scott Prouty, when his blatant disclosure cemented the fate of the 2012 election, turning the tide for President Obama's re-election. 

All the 2012 presidential election antics, the mega millions spent on dueling campaign ads and the hyped candidate debates, boiled down to the candid video tape recorded by Scott Prouty, a videographer, who captured Romney's marginalizing 47 percent comments.  Romney told his audience that he didn't expect to win the votes of 47 percent of Americans because they were people who, he said, had a sense of entitlement. In fact, the video revealed Romney's core beliefs, whereby Americans saw for themselves how "vulture capitalism" drove the candidate's values. 

Prouty, a Midwest native, took his Canon camera to the fundraiser, thinking Romney might pose for photos with the event staff. Instead, he captured Romney speaking about "the 47 percent who are not with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing."

Now, Prouty is going public with how he was able to tape the remarks and why he's going public with the behind the scenes story.  Prouty tells Ed Shultz that he is going public with his story after seeing Romney blame the media for his loss to President Obama.  

When Prouty released the video, he was every bit as brave and ethical as the revelation of the Watergate information, disclosing the corruption of the President Nixon administration.  Unfortunately, Prouty didn't have the Woodward and Bernstein Washington Post behind him, when he released the video. Nonetheless, Prouty certainly deserves a Profile in Courage award.

Perhaps Prouty can use his courage to pursue ethics in journalism or for noble causes, whereby his sense of fair play can be applied to improve our human condition.  His actions were certainly a God send to the Obama campaign. He disclosed himself to be a rare human being who boldly exposed the hypocrisy of the Romney candidacy at a critical point in the campaign.  

Prouty's bold honesty prevented the nation from the experience of a right wing Romney presidency.  Moreover, Prouty's video is now Romney's unflattering legacy.