Following his hair’s breadth election the night before,
President-elect John F. Kennedy arrives at the Hyannis Armory
and delivers his victory remarks on November 9, 1960.
** STATE OF THE UNION TONIGHT. President George W. Bush gives his final State of the Union address tonight at 6 PM, Pacific time, on all major nets.
** GALLUP POLL: MCCAIN AND CLINTON LEAD IN CALIFORNIA. In a new Gallup Poll of next week’s California presidential primary — taken before Barack Obama’s landslide win in South Carolina and endorsement by the Kennedys — John McCain leads on the Republican side and Hillary Clinton leads on the Democratic side. Here are the numbers.
Republicans: John McCain 35%, Mitt Romney 27%, Mike Huckabee 12%, Rudy Giuliani 11%.
Democrats: Hillary Clinton 47%, Barack Obama 35%, John Edwards 10%.
** HILLARY TALKS HOUSING, SETS UP “RAPID RESPONDERS.” Rather than talk about the intervention of the Kennedys on behalf of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton today talked about President Bush’s final State of the Union address,saying: “Tonight President Bush will claim that the state of our union is strong. But as the latest housing data shows, the true state of the union is one of economic anxiety. The latest housing data shows that 2007 marked the first time in recent history where America has experienced a sustained annual drop in median existing home prices. In fact, according to some economists, America hasn’t experienced a sustained annual decline in housing prices of this magnitude since the Great Depression.”
Her campaign also responded to the Obama campaign’s establishment yesterday of a truth squad to counter inaccurate attacks with a group of rapid responders in February 5th states. In California, the Clintons’ rapid responders are state Controller John Chiang, NAACP chief Alice Huffman, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, and former Congresswoman Lynn Schenk, who was former Governor Gray Davis’s chief of staff.
** TOMORROW — GAME DAY: FLORIDA. Tomorrow, it’s “Game Day: Florida.” I’ll be anchoring PJ Media network’s Florida Republican primary coverage throughout the day on Tuesday, weaving together reports and information from correspondents and contacts inside and outside Nevada and South Carolina. The anchor coverage will be linked to and mirrored here on NWN. This will be a continuation of the “Game Day: Iowa,” “Game Day: New Hampshire,” “Game Day: Michigan And Vegas,” “Game Day: Nevada And South Carolina,” and “Game Day: South Carolina” packages
** PERATA KILLS ARNOLDCARE. California Senate leader Don Perata has just delivered the coup de grace to the ailing universal health care plan pushed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. It’s not a surprise. Here are excerpts from his letter to the governor.
I introduced SB 48 in December 2006, later yielding to the Speaker’s bill in recognition of our mutual commitment to “get something done.” A lot of progress ensued. Many interests became engaged. Regrettably, however, I cannot support ABX1-1 or its companion initiative.
This bill – which is before the Senate, and the initiative, which is not – would create the third-largest program in state government, surpassed only by K-12 education and Medi-Cal. Under any circumstances, but especially in light of the state’s $14.5 billion budget shortfall, we have the fiduciary responsibility to approve a health care coverage plan that is both self financing and fiscally sound and a moral responsibility to protect from harm those who already have health care coverage.
That’s why I asked the Legislative Analyst’s Office for its independent analysis. Its report, released last Tuesday, has identified significant General Fund risks. The Health Care Reform (HCR) plan proposed would grow faster than the revenues chosen to pay for it. If the underlying assumptions are wrong, even by small margins, the potential shortfall could devastate a state budget already teetering on insolvency.
Many other fundamental fiscal concerns were highlighted during the Senate Health Committee’s in-depth hearing on the proposal. …
- The HCR Plan Is Structurally Under Funded. …
- The State’s Fiscal Crisis Could Exacerbate the Structural Shortfall. …
The LAO report notes that the structure of the HCR proposal may allow employers to “game” the minimum spending requirement by making their employees eligible for purchasing pool coverage. …
- The “Trigger On” Mechanism Offers Inadequate General Fund Protection. …
- The “Trigger Off” Mechanism Provides Limited Options to the Legislature. …
- Employers Could Shift Workers into Financially Unstable Plan. …
Some have suggested that the Senate should pass ABX1-1 and let the voters decide. But in view of these aforementioned unanswered fiscal questions, such action would not be appropriate. First, such action would belie serious fiscal and program reservations. Second, the unusual legislation-initiative you have proposed effectively means that health care reform will be decided by whichever clever television advertising is most convincing. Finally, once pursued, there is little chance of repairing the financing mechanism. Either way, it is a poor way to make complex, far-reaching public policy such as health care for all our residents. …
Not exactly a surprise.
** THE KENNEDYS ENDORSE OBAMA. Full text of Senator Ted Kennedy’s speech this afternoon at the American University, Washington, D.C. Thank you, Caroline. Thank you for that wonderful introduction and for your courage and bold vision, for your insight and understanding, and for the power and reach of your words. Like you, we too “want a president who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again.” Thank you, Caroline. Your mother and father would be so proud today.
Thank you, Patrick, for your leadership in Congress and for being here to celebrate and support a leader who truly has the power to inspire and make America good again, “from sea to shining sea.” Thank you, American University.
I feel change in the air.
Every time I’ve been asked over the past year who I would support in the Democratic Primary, my answer has always been the same: I’ll support the candidate who inspires me, who inspires all of us, who can lift our vision and summon our hopes and renew our belief that our country’s best days are still to come.
I’ve found that candidate. And it looks to me like you have too.
But first, let me say how much I respect the strength, the work and dedication of two other Democrats still in the race, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. They are my friends; they have been my colleagues in the Senate. John Edwards has been a powerful advocate for economic and social justice. And Hillary Clinton has been in the forefront on issues ranging from health care to the rights of women around the world. Whoever is our nominee will have my enthusiastic support.
Let there be no doubt: We are all committed to seeing a Democratic President in 2008. But I believe there is one candidate who has extraordinary gifts of leadership and character, matched to the extraordinary demands of this moment in history. He understands what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “fierce urgency of now.”
He will be a president who refuses to be trapped in the patterns of the past. He is a leader who sees the world clearly without being cynical. He is a fighter who cares passionately about the causes he believes in, without demonizing those who hold a different view. He is tough-minded, but he also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to “the better angels of our nature.”
I am proud to stand here today and offer my help, my voice, my energy and my commitment to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States.
Like most of the nation, I was moved four years ago as he told us a profound truth—that we are not, we must not be, just red states and blue states, but one United States. And since that time I have marveled at his grit and his grace as he traveled this country and inspired record turnouts of people of all ages, of all races, of all genders, of all parties and faiths to get “fired up” and “ready to go.”
I’ve seen him connect with people from every walk of life and with Senators on both sides of the aisle. With every person he meets, every crowd he inspires, and everyone he touches, he generates new hope that our greatest days as a nation are still ahead, and this generation of Americans, like others before us, can unite to meet our own rendezvous with destiny.
We know the true record of Barack Obama. There is the courage he showed when so many others were silent or simply went along. From the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq.
And let no one deny that truth.
There is the great intelligence of someone who could have had a glittering career in corporate law, but chose instead to serve his community and then enter public life.
There is the tireless skill of a Senator who was there in the early mornings to help us hammer out a needed compromise on immigration reform— who always saw a way to protect both national security and the dignity of people who do not have a vote. For them, he was a voice for justice.
And there is the clear effectiveness of Barack Obama in fashioning legislation to put high quality teachers in our classrooms—and in pushing and prodding the Senate to pass the most far-reaching ethics reform in its history.
Now, with Barack Obama, there is a new national leader who has given America a different kind of campaign—a campaign not just about himself, but about all of us. A campaign about the country we will become, if we can rise above the old politics that parses us into separate groups and puts us at odds with one another.
I remember another such time, in the 1960s, when I came to the Senate at the age of 30. We had a new president who inspired the nation, especially the young, to seek a new frontier. Those inspired young people marched, sat in at lunch counters, protested the war in Vietnam and served honorably in that war even when they opposed it. They realized that when they asked what they could do for their country, they could change the world.
It was the young who led the first Earth Day and issued a clarion call to protect the environment; the young who enlisted in the cause of civil rights and equality for women; the young who joined the Peace Corps and showed the world the hopeful face of America.
At the fifth anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps, I asked one of those young Americans why they had volunteered. And I will never forget the answer: “It was the first time someone asked me to do something for my country.”
This is another such time.
I sense the same kind of yearning today, the same kind of hunger to move on and move America forward. I see it not just in young people, but in all our people. And in Barack Obama, I see not just the audacity, but the possibility of hope for the America that is yet to be.
What counts in our leadership is not the length of years in Washington, but the reach of our vision, the strength of our beliefs, and that rare quality of mind and spirit that can call forth the best in our country and our people.
With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. With Barack Obama, we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay. With Barack Obama, we will close the door on the old economics that has written off the poor and left the middle class poorer and less secure. He offers a strategy for prosperity—so that America will once again lead the world in better standards of life.
With Barack Obama, we will break the old gridlock and finally make health care what it should be in America—a fundamental right for all, not just an expensive privilege for the few. We will make the United States the great leader and not the great roadblock in the fateful fight against global warming.
And with Barack Obama, we will end a war in Iraq that he has always stood against, that has cost us the lives of thousands of our sons and daughters, and that America never should have fought.
I have seen him in the Senate. He will keep us strong and defend the nation against real threats of terrorism and proliferation. So let us reject the counsels of doubt and calculation.
Let us remember that when Franklin Roosevelt envisioned Social Security, he didn’t decide—no, it was too ambitious, too big a dream, too hard. When John Kennedy thought of going to the moon, he didn’t say no, it was too far, maybe we couldn’t get there and shouldn’t even try.
I am convinced we can reach our goals only if we are “not petty when our cause is so great”– only if we find a way past the stale ideas and stalemate of our times – only if we replace the politics of fear with the politics of hope – and only if we have the courage to choose change.
Barack Obama is the one person running for President who can bring us that change. Barack Obama is the one person running for President who can be that change.
I love this country. I believe in the bright light of hope and possibility. I always have, even in the darkest hours. I know what America can achieve. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it—and with Barack Obama, we can do it again.
I know that he’s ready to be President on day one. And when he raises his hand on Inauguration Day, at that very moment, we will lift the spirits of our nation and begin to restore America’s standing in the world.
There was another time, when another young candidate was running for President and challenging America to cross a New Frontier. He faced public criticism from the preceding Democratic President, who was widely respected in the party. Harry Truman said we needed “someone with greater experience”—and added: “May I urge you to be patient.” And John Kennedy replied: “The world is changing. The old ways will not do…It is time for a new generation of leadership.”
So it is with Barack Obama. He has lit a spark of hope amid the fierce urgency of now. I believe that a wave of change is moving across America. If we do not turn aside, if we dare to set our course for the shores of hope, we together will go beyond the divisions of the past and find our place to build the America of the future.
My friends, I ask you to join in this historic journey — to have the courage to choose change. It is time again for a new generation of leadership. It is time now for Barack Obama.
** A BRIEF COMMENT. With regard to the Kennedy message in endorsing Barack Obama today. You can see in Ted Kennedy’s remarks an implicit, well, actually, explicit rebuke to the attacks leveled on Obama by Bill and Hillary Clinton. It is clear that now the former president will have someone else to tangle with when he decides again to attack the first black candidate for president with a real chance at gaining the office. (With all due respect to the formidable Jesse Jackson.)
Sources close to the Kennedy family, in this case, very close, tell me that the principals in the family were and are quite perturbed by the Clintons’ tactics in recent weeks. They intend to put a stop to it. If the tactics do not stop, they intend to make the Clintons pay.
Also of interest is Ted Kennedy’s references to his assassinated brothers, President John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy. Kennedy watchers know that this is not done lightly, if at all. Usually, in fact, not at all. Yet with regard to this young, arriviste, half-black, half-white freshman senator from Illinois, it is done quite freely. This is remarkable.
** BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR SCHWARZENEGGER? The inside word, for what that is worth, is that Governor Arnold Schwarznegger’s quest for a universal health care program for California is likely to die today in the state Senate. Which, if I may be so bold, would likely be a blessing in disguise for the former action superstar. Having a humongous tax, er, fee program hanging out there until November — when voters would have to approve it — would make for a difficult year in what is already a difficult year, given the state’s chronic budget woes with the latest downturn in the business cycle. Not having to defend a Rube Goldberg-style social engineering program all year is not exactly a negative in this context. But what do I know?
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel.
You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND U.S. ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Crude oil has again dropped below $90 per barrel, on renewed fears of a US and global economic slowdown.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
Read 
| Comments (0) |
I love the video of JFK accepting his victory. It is so cool and casual.
I love the video of JFK accepting his victory. It is so cool and casual.
I think Uncle Teddy may perceive that perhaps THIS is one of his most important speeches since those painful eulogies of long ago. The “urgency of now,” indeed.
I think Uncle Teddy may perceive that perhaps THIS is one of his most important speeches since those painful eulogies of long ago. The “urgency of now,” indeed.
What an awesome speech.
Wow. No lol.
Wow. No lol.
I have walked this planet for several decades now. I remember the Kennedy election and the electric years of his administration. However, my political soul began to beat with Bobby Kennedy and his greatness remains in my heart forty years later. It’s been a long time since anyone has inspried me as he did. Until now, only one politican has come close. But, it appears that other is here…one who can inspire and lead. Lead and bring hope as the Kennedy’s brought to my generation. Ted Kennedy endorsed that man today.
I shall now go for a stroll and think about the past and the future.
Oh, yes, my ballot was cast yesterday…and it was cast for the Senator from my home state…Barack Obama!
I have walked this planet for several decades now. I remember the Kennedy election and the electric years of his administration. However, my political soul began to beat with Bobby Kennedy and his greatness remains in my heart forty years later. It’s been a long time since anyone has inspried me as he did. Until now, only one politican has come close. But, it appears that other is here…one who can inspire and lead. Lead and bring hope as the Kennedy’s brought to my generation. Ted Kennedy endorsed that man today.
I shall now go for a stroll and think about the past and the future.
Oh, yes, my ballot was cast yesterday…and it was cast for the Senator from my home state…Barack Obama!
I love this!
Sources close to the Kennedy family, in this case, very close, tell me that the principals in the family were and are quite perturbed by the Clintons’ tactics in recent weeks. They intend to put a stop to it. If the tactics do not stop, they intend to make the Clintons pay.
What Solon said. Well spake, my friend. Something deep is stirring.
What Solon said. Well spake, my friend. Something deep is stirring.
We’ll see.
It’s a dirty job …
>marcus waldron :
I love this!
Sources close to the Kennedy family, in this case, very close, tell me that the principals in the family were and are quite perturbed by the Clintons’ tactics in recent weeks. They intend to put a stop to it. If the tactics do not stop, they intend to make the Clintons pay.
Jan 28, 2008 12:08 PM
A terrific sentiment. Meanwhile, don’t fall in the river.
>Sacramento Solon :
I have walked this planet for several decades now. I remember the Kennedy election and the electric years of his administration. However, my political soul began to beat with Bobby Kennedy and his greatness remains in my heart forty years later. It’s been a long time since anyone has inspried me as he did. Until now, only one politican has come close. But, it appears that other is here…one who can inspire and lead. Lead and bring hope as the Kennedy’s brought to my generation. Ted Kennedy endorsed that man today.
I shall now go for a stroll and think about the past and the future.
Oh, yes, my ballot was cast yesterday…and it was cast for the Senator from my home state…Barack Obama!
Jan 28, 2008 11:55 AM
Indeed.
>Ann :
Wow. No lol.
Jan 28, 2008 11:53 AM
Indeed.
>Ann :
Wow. No lol.
Jan 28, 2008 11:53 AM
It’s not too shabby.
>Capitol Boy :
What an awesome speech.
Jan 28, 2008 11:43 AM
I think he sensed the Democratic Party devolving into something appalling.
>Wilbur :
I think Uncle Teddy may perceive that perhaps THIS is one of his most important speeches since those painful eulogies of long ago. The “urgency of now,” indeed.
Jan 28, 2008 11:39 AM
It’s great, little seen footage. People loved it when I ran it for Thanksgiving — which coincided with November 22nd — and it seemed appropriate today.
>Jonas Blane :
I love the video of JFK accepting his victory. It is so cool and casual.
Jan 28, 2008 11:32 AM
What, no health care deal? I’m almost as shocked as I was with water and redistricting…
How is everyone here voting on the ballot measures?
I’m leaning towards a straight “No” down-the-line. I figure the compacts have a good chance of getting hijacked in the budget crisis and securitized like the tobacco settlements. That means we would only get half (one time, up-front) of the $9 billion, which already seems pretty paltry for such a massive increase in gaming.
What, no health care deal? I’m almost as shocked as I was with water and redistricting…
How is everyone here voting on the ballot measures?
I’m leaning towards a straight “No” down-the-line. I figure the compacts have a good chance of getting hijacked in the budget crisis and securitized like the tobacco settlements. That means we would only get half (one time, up-front) of the $9 billion, which already seems pretty paltry for such a massive increase in gaming.
Those inspired young people . . . protested the war in Vietnam and served honorably in that war even when they opposed it. — Was this a disparaging reference to Bill Clinton?
I think the Caroline and Ted endorsements were the big deal of the day and I will be interested in seeing the play that they get in the media – coming on the eve of the SOTU. Be interesting to say the play on page one.
Talk about frission! “The Torch is passed” indeed and notice how Obama ended his remarks – “that fire can truly light the world.” Now where did did we hear that before?
I think the Caroline and Ted endorsements were the big deal of the day and I will be interested in seeing the play that they get in the media – coming on the eve of the SOTU. Be interesting to say the play on page one.
Talk about frission! “The Torch is passed” indeed and notice how Obama ended his remarks – “that fire can truly light the world.” Now where did did we hear that before?
So it looks like the “monstrously cynical” politicians have finally closed the Potemkin health care show. AB1x was a pretty façade for a vacant, manipulative strategy to demonstrate concern for healthcare, but come up short at delivery time. Lots of motion, but no progress.
Instead of having the bill die in its first Senate committee, they should arranged for AB 1x to have gotten lost between the two houses, just like their Potemkin redistricting bill two years ago. Such an amusing death would have at least demonstrated a self-deprecating sense of humor.
So it looks like the “monstrously cynical” politicians have finally closed the Potemkin health care show. AB1x was a pretty façade for a vacant, manipulative strategy to demonstrate concern for healthcare, but come up short at delivery time. Lots of motion, but no progress.
Instead of having the bill die in its first Senate committee, they should arranged for AB 1x to have gotten lost between the two houses, just like their Potemkin redistricting bill two years ago. Such an amusing death would have at least demonstrated a self-deprecating sense of humor.
The health care issue has looked a lot like the Hunger Project.
The health care reform is being killed by both the left and the right. That’s post-partisanship!
You’re quite right that EMK does not lightly use his brothers’ names. It means too much. This time it’s worth it.
Since his own campaign in 1980, the only person he has endorsed who didn’t go on to win the nomination was Tsongas in 92. Otherwise, he’s the gold standard.
What affect does the Kennedy(s) endorsement have on the “at large” delegates?
What affect does the Kennedy(s) endorsement have on the “at large” delegates?
thanks for the text.
his skill at “threading the needle” is worth studying.
LOLOL
(Perata’s sense of humor seems strained these days. don’t know why.)
“Instead of having the bill die in its first Senate committee, they should arranged for AB 1x to have gotten lost between the two houses, just like their Potemkin redistricting bill two years ago. Such an amusing death would have at least demonstrated a self-deprecating sense of humor.”
How sick that the failure to pass health care reform will be a blessing in disguise for Arnold. If he had any sense, he’d have signed SB 840 when it passed in 2006 and we’d be on the way to single-payer – the only viable system. Kuehl’s bill would save money by cutting out the price gougers like Cigna and Blue Cross from the system.
But Schwarzenegger and his family are covered so for him it’s no big deal that millions are denied care, even if they have insurance. Now he and Fab-o want to garnish our wages if we refuse to buy into their sham health insurance scheme.
Meanwhile, taxpayers are underwriting Arnold’s ‘security’ to the tune of $38 million annually – providing him with CHP escorts for his short drives to and from his hotel suite with his fleet of gas guzzling, greenhouse gas spewing SUVs. Hypocrisy is alive and well in a smoky tent in Excremento.
How sick that the failure to pass health care reform will be a blessing in disguise for Arnold. If he had any sense, he’d have signed SB 840 when it passed in 2006 and we’d be on the way to single-payer – the only viable system. Kuehl’s bill would save money by cutting out the price gougers like Cigna and Blue Cross from the system.
But Schwarzenegger and his family are covered so for him it’s no big deal that millions are denied care, even if they have insurance. Now he and Fab-o want to garnish our wages if we refuse to buy into their sham health insurance scheme.
Meanwhile, taxpayers are underwriting Arnold’s ‘security’ to the tune of $38 million annually – providing him with CHP escorts for his short drives to and from his hotel suite with his fleet of gas guzzling, greenhouse gas spewing SUVs. Hypocrisy is alive and well in a smoky tent in Excremento.
Paul, maybe you can answer one question the SB 840 supporters refuse to address. Why should California taxpayers foot the bill for retirees who work their entire career in a lower tax state and then move to California to collect our health care benefits? While the official answer is a one year residency requirement, that is hardly a deterrent for folks paying more than $1000/month for coverage and prescriptions in another state.
We can have an interesting debate about national government vs. private health care models, but the California only version is simply absurd.
lol
Paul Burton :
How sick that the failure to pass health care reform will be a blessing in disguise for Arnold. If he had any sense, he’d have signed SB 840 when it passed in 2006 and we’d be on the way to single-payer – the only viable system. Kuehl’s bill would save money by cutting out the price gougers like Cigna and Blue Cross from the system.
The inevitability of Hillary Clinton and imminent health care legislation – what a waste of column-inches…
Sad to say Brasky, but our leader Bill is susceptible to self-aggrandizing, manipulative spin from the showman, the luxury traveler and the unindicted. But we still love him and his batting average is pretty good.
The silver lining here is that hopefully Bill will be more critical and skeptical of the “monstrously cynical politicians” spin jobs during the upcoming budget battle. But maybe not…
Sad to say Brasky, but our leader Bill is susceptible to self-aggrandizing, manipulative spin from the showman, the luxury traveler and the unindicted. But we still love him and his batting average is pretty good.
The silver lining here is that hopefully Bill will be more critical and skeptical of the “monstrously cynical politicians” spin jobs during the upcoming budget battle. But maybe not…
Apparently, I’ve been a bit too subtle these last few months in describing the universal health care plan as “a Rube Goldberg contraption.”
I think Bill has been very good at steering away from the falsehoods of both those storylines so popularized in the press – my criticism was with the nearly extinct print media of this state.
On to other things, apparently the NY NOW chapter is slamming Kennedy for endorsing Obama…
“a Rube Goldberg contraption” was a kind characterization…
I googled for the NY NOW website, and they not only slam Kennedy, but they call it gang banging! LOL.
“Think about the legacy we’ll leave behind when we support Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. Let’s put a stop to the psychological “gang banging” of women and girls. Let’s stand up and be counted by way of the hard-won votes we can now cast!”
LOL. LOL.
I googled for the NY NOW website, and they not only slam Kennedy, but they call it gang banging! LOL.
“Think about the legacy we’ll leave behind when we support Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. Let’s put a stop to the psychological “gang banging” of women and girls. Let’s stand up and be counted by way of the hard-won votes we can now cast!”
LOL. LOL.
My own personal storyline on this election is becoming the story of what was once the New Left, now starting to look like it’s the Old Left, resisting a renaissance and its own impending irrelvance and fighting against that change by clinging to and playing its shopworn identity politics of yore.
NOW, once a revolutionary force in American politics, is now an organ of the establishment, a regiment in the Palace Guard.
Also from NY NOW:
“He’s (Kennedy) joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). ”
From buring bras to burning bridges…
Apparently the only way NOW can get their agenda passed is by electing 51 women to the Senate. Good luck with that.
KK…
are you suggesting that CA only do the “right thing” if/when all other states would agree to do it too? — or that CA will be mobbed by retirees looking for better health care? — or that, as Ted Gaines (seriously) suggested in Committee, CA will be mobbed by hordes people from all over the world seeking better health care? (and they say Reeps have no sense of humor…)
really there is only one way to fix the health care system and that is to actually fundamentally change it. 840 does that, and is one of the most thoroughly thought-through bills to come before the Legislature in many years.
no system is totally fair all of the time, and yes, some people will take advantage of some things; they always do. i don’t know of a system which is foolproof that way. but the option (which is either no or very poor healthcare for millions of Californians) is immoral and unethical, not to mention extremely expensive already.
California is the 7th or 9th (someone in there) economy in the world. it is unacceptable for us to be apathetic because we’re afraid a few seniors will move to California to save some money on their healthcare as they age.
yes… it would be better if the rest of the country would catch up. but waiting for that to happen is like sitting in a dark room waiting for everyone to agree to flip the switch at the same time because you don’t want to share the cost of your electric bill.
or not passing AB32 because other states produce emissions too…
we can lead the way, then we push other states to pick up their slack.
sorry… i’ll step off of my soap box now. (don’t get up here much, tho.)
The health care bill seemed to fade from view right about the time the daily tracking data on Prop. 93 began to appear.