Republican Version of “Family Values”
It seems that the party of, “family values” has spent a lot of time over the years on their knees, and I’m not talking about praying. The latest Republican sexcapade comes to us courtesy of California state senator Roy Ashburn. Senator Ashburn, a fierce opponent of gay rights, was caught driving drunk after leaving a gay nightclub with an unidentified male passenger. Senator Ashburn is married with four children and is just another example of the rampant hypocrisy found within the Republican Party. It is ironic that the majority of people who think that homosexuals shouldn’t have equal rights are closeted gay conservatives. In fact, whenever there is a candidate running for office, if he or she is running on a platform of, “family values,” there is an excellent chance of that candidate being gay.
The big problem with these politicians is not the fact that they are gay. The problem is that these hypocrites vote down every single piece of gay rights legislation that comes across their desk. I blame this problem squarely on the Republican Party. These politicians feel that if they come out, their political career is over, and they are absolutely correct. There is so much hatred and bigotry in the Republican Party, predominantly found in the religious wing, which seems to be taking over the party. It is ironic that Christian Conservatives who are told by Jesus to, “love thy neighbor” and not to judge others, treat an entire group of people with such hatred.
I want to take this opportunity to look at some of my favorite Republican sex scandals over the years. Here they are in no particular order.
Mark Foley
Mark Foley was one of the foremost opponents of child pornography in the Senate. Mr. Foley was caught sending sexually explicit emails to teenage boys for over ten years. A famous quote from one of his emails, “get a ruler and measure it for me.”
Larry Craig, AKA The Toe Tapper
Senator Craig has voted against every piece of gay legislation to ever come across his desk. Mr. Craig was caught soliciting gay sex from and undercover police officer in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. A famous quote from Mr. Craig, “I am not gay, I never have been gay.”
Ted Haggard
I know, he is not a politician, but his story is too funny not to mention. Mr. Haggard was the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals. He was a preacher for one of the largest mega churches in the country, and even participated in weekly meetings to offer spiritual advice to former president George W. Bush. Mr. Haggard was caught having gay sex with a male prostitute while snorting crystal meth in a cheap hotel room. Mr. Haggard once told his congregation that homosexuals will surely burn in a lake of fire come judgment day.
Bob Allen
Bob Allen was a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Mr. Allen supported a bill that would ban gays from adopting children. Mr. Allen was caught offering an undercover police officer $20 to blow him in a public restroom. Famous quote, “I certainly wasn’t there to have sex with anybody and certainly wasn’t there to exchange money for it.”
There are so many of these stories, way too many to list here in one post. Keep these hypocrites in mind the next time you hear a candidate on the right proclaiming that, “family values” are important to them. The more they talk about, “family values,” the better the chances are that they are secretly tapping their toe, looking for some hot gay love at your local public restroom.
The Know Nothings
Up until now, I have refrained from blogging about climate change and evolution. Perhaps it’s because I was under the impression that most people in this country believe in evolution and man made global warming. I was surprised to find a recent study by the Pew Research Center, which found that only 36% of the American population accepted the idea that there was “solid evidence” that the Earth was warming because of human activity. There have also been a series of articles in the New York Times recently about a movement of Conservatives (the overwhelming majority of them Christian) in the United States looking to link the issues of climate change and evolution together and present them both as shoddy science in order to influence school curriculums. This group of fundamentalist morons like to brand people with any kind of intelligence as “educational elites” like this is some sort of negative connotation. When did education become a bad thing?
It seems that lately, people who don’t share the same Intelligence Quotient as Sarah Palin and George W. Bush are somehow “elitist” and not real Americans. Is being stupid now considered some sort of compliment? Or is it that people of, let’s call it below average intelligence, are so ashamed of their stupidity and lack of brain power that they have to criticize everyone who enjoys reading books that don’t have lots of pictures as some sort of a villain to the average working American. The fact that these mentally handicapped conservative no nothings are idiots, is just as much of a fact as global warming and evolution.
The article from Thursday’s New York Times, Darwin Foes Add Warming to Target List, talks about these no nothings on the right, “arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taut in public schools.” Really!? So we should teach a theory, such as creationism that has absolutely zero scientific evidence alongside a real scientific theory that has mountains of evidence and has been tested and re-tested for validity ever since Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. Scientists really should get rid of the word theory all together. In science, the word theory does not have the same meaning as it does in layman’s terms. Merriam Webster’s definition of scientific theory is, “a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle offered to explain observable facts.” This is very different from the layman’s definition of theory, which is, “an assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.” Show me any evidence or facts to back up creationism, and I will consider it a scientific theory, as of now, there are none. We’ve all heard the argument that because we as humans, are so complex, that we must have been created by some sort of intelligent designer. Well, if we are so complex as to need a designer, wouldn’t the designer have to be tremendously more complex than us, also requiring the designer to need a creator as well. That is as far as I will go with the argument for evolution, for a more scientific and complex discussion of evolution, I would suggest you read Richard Dawkins The Greatest Show on Earth, The Evidence For Evolution.
We should keep one thing crystal clear, even if you believe that evolution and climate change are myths, some elaborate hoax perpetuated by “educational elites,” or smart people as I like to call them, you have to acknowledge the fact that arguments against climate change and for creationism are not scientific theories. No reputable or mainstream scientists have developed any sort of scientific theories in favor of these issues, do you know why? Because there is no scientific evidence to support either of these claims, the Bible is not scientific evidence. State Representative Tim Moore, a Republican who said, “Our kids are being presented theories as though they are facts. And with global warming especially, there has become a politically correct viewpoint among educational elites that is very different from sound science.” Look at the lack of logic in Mr. Moore’s argument. Because, as Representative Moore states, there is not enough evidence for evolution and climate change to be presented as fact, let’s teach an alternative theory that has absolutely no evidence, as this theory somehow holds equal merit to a real scientific theory backed up by evidence.
Climate change deniers and creationists like to say that there is a real scientific debate in the science community with regards to global warming and evolution. Here is the problem, there is no debate among scientists when it comes to these issues. You would be hard pressed to find even one percent of mainstream scientists who don’t believe in global warming or evolution. Do these know nothings on the right think that they are somehow smarter than all the doctors of science? Evolutionary biologists and climate change scientists spend decades carefully piecing together evidence to support their “theories.” Why is it that the know nothings have no problem believing in a book that was written thousands of years ago by people they never met. A book that has proven itself to be wrong on an infinite number of claims, is somehow dead on accurate when it comes to complex issues like how human beings came into existence, or how air pollutants are destroying the ozone layer. Yet these same people, when presented with tangible evidence, simply deny the facts and continue to believe in this stupid work of fiction. The New York Times article goes on to say, “This group already feels like scientists are attacking their faith and calling them idiots.” I’m sorry, but if the shoe fits, then wear it.
To the people who believe in creationism and dismiss climate change as “junk science,” I implore you, read a book, take an environmental or biology course, do some research and you will understand that you are being fooled. Evolution and global warming are just as factual as gravity. The Bible says that the Earth is flat and is at the center of the universe, but you don’t see the know nothings running around calling astronomy junk science. Years from now, your children are going to look at you and wonder how you could have been so astoundingly stupid.
The Socialist Bogeyman – Canadian Health Care Myths
The health care debate rages on in America, and with that debate comes all the rumors about the scary bogeyman known as universal health care. Branded as liberal, socialist, commie, tree huggers, our neighbors to the north are the usual punching bag. We’ve all heard the rumors; you have to wait forever to see a doctor in Canada, doctors are hurt financially by universal care, you don’t get to choose your own doctor, government bureaucrats decide who gets what care (that old pulling the plug on grandma argument), Canadians are paying out of pocket to come to the U.S. for medical care, there aren’t enough doctors in Canada, and taxes are so much higher in Canada because of national health care. Let’s take a look at these myths and see if they are really true.
You have to wait forever to see a doctor in Canada
When it comes to urgent or primary care, this is completely false, however, there can be reasonable wait times for specialists care and elective surgery. According to Health Canada, a federal department that monitors waiting times and patient satisfaction, reports that the median wait time to see a special physician is about four weeks, although almost 90% of Canadians polled said that they wait for less than three months. The median time for diagnostic services, such as an MRI, is two weeks with about 87% waiting for less than three months. Median time for surgery is four weeks, with about 82% waiting less than three months. So, are wait times longer in Canada than in the United States, yes, but they are nowhere near as bad as the right wing pundits would have you believe. It should also be noted that even with the wait times, Canada scores better than the United States when it comes to life expectancy, infant mortality rates, and according to the World Health Organization, Canadians are, overall, statistically healthier than Americans and show lower rates of cancer and many other diseases. It should also be noted that Canada’s health care costs much less than health care in the United States. Per capita expenditure on health care is almost half that of the Unites States, and health care costs as a percentage of GDP is much less as well.
Doctors are hurt financially by universal healthcare
This one is both true and false. Doctors in Canada report making less money than doctors in the United States, but their overhead is also much lower, and they also report better working conditions. Doctors in Canada do not have to spend day and night on the phone with insurance carriers, working to get them to do right by their patients. Doctors also don’t have to worry about getting x amount of dollars from one insurance company, but only getting y amount for the same procedure through Medicare or Medicaid patients. Doctors in Canada generally get the same compensation regardless of the patient’s insurance coverage (or lack thereof). Another thing to keep in mind, is that medical students in the United States graduate with about $140,000 in debt, Health Canada reports that Canadian doctors debt is about half that.
You don’t get to choose your own doctor in Canada
This myth was pulled directly out of the ass of Fox News. I searched the internet far and wide for any small iota of proof to support this claim, I couldn’t. Canadians get to pick their own doctor. In fact, it is Americans that don’t always get to choose their doctor. In the United States, if your doctor is not in your insurance carrier’s network, you’re out of luck. Canadians get to go to any doctor they want, regardless of their level of income.
Government bureaucrats decide who gets what care
Physicians are the only ones in Canada who get to decide what care their patients receive. The Canadian government has absolutely no say in who gets care, no matter how annoying your old crotchety grandmother is. Do you want to know where bureaucrats get between you and your doctor? In the United States of America! HMO’s, PPO’s, and other private insurers are run by bureaucrats who get to decide what kind of care you receive. Insurance companies in the United States have entire departments whose sole purpose in life is to find a way to deny you coverage! If that is not, “pulling the plug on grandma” then I don’t know what is.
Canadians are paying out of pocket to come to the U.S. for medical care
This issue has been front and center in the news lately. Danny Williams, the premier of Newfoundland, flew to Florida in February for heart surgery. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Williams could have received the procedure in Canada, but he chose to see Dr. Joseph at the Mount Sinai Center in Miami because Dr. Joseph has more experience with this specific procedure than any other doctor available. If Dr. Joseph lived in another country, Mr. Williams probably would have gone there. If you are rich, why not pay to have the best doctor available to perform the procedure? This goes for rich people in the United States as well. Wealthy Canadians are free to pay out of pocket for services in the United States, that doesn’t mean that those services are subpar or not available in Canada.
There is one interesting thing that I learned recently about health care in Canada. If a Canadian citizen goes to the United States to get services deemed medically necessary, and not available at home, the government of that patient’s province will fully fund his or her care in the U.S.
There aren’t enough doctors in Canada
Statistically this is not accurate. The World Health Organization says that there are enough physicians in Canada. In Canada, just like in the United States, most doctors practice in highly populated areas. So if you live in the boon docks you may have a problem, that’s not Canada’s fault, move to a real city.
Taxes are so much higher in Canada because of nationalized health care
This one is partially true. Canada’s taxes, depending on which province you live in, are slightly higher than in the United States (unless of course you live in New York or California, in which case your taxes are probably higher). But at least Canadians can say they get more for their tax dollars, such as better tax credits, twelve months maternity leave, better unemployment benefits, much cheaper higher education, efficient public transportation… The overall average after tax income is virtually the same in Canada as it is in the United States (this surprised me as well).
Don't believe the talking heads on television when they tell you that America has the best health care system. Don't believe Michael Moore, don't believe this blog either, do the research for yourself.
Michael Moore on TYT
Michael Moore was interviewed by Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks yesterday. In their interview, Mr. Moore and Mr. Uygur discussed a number of issues, including problems with our Capitalist form of government, why we should expect more severe depressions/recessions in the near future, and how Mr. Moore has admiration for the Republican Party. You heard me right. Michael Moore admires and maybe even has a little respect for the Republican Party.
On Capitalism, Michael Moore refers to our current system as a, “Three-Card Monte game” and says that, “it’s rigged against the working person.” Mr. Moore is referring to the fact that we have a system of government in place that bows to the will of the bankers and Wall Street rather than the will of the people. Mr. Moore makes the point that until we remove the money from politics, we will never get real change we can believe in. Mr. Moore says that, “we should start a movement where people will be running for Congress and for the Senate and signing a pledge that states that they will not accept, in their first run, you know, for election, more than $25 or $50 per person. And then after that, when they get in there, their number one priority is to remove the funding of our elections from individuals who have the most money and have it be federally funded like it is in most democracies.” Mr. Moore is absolutely correct. Campaign finance reform should be the number one issue for Progressives, Conservatives, Republicans, and Democrats, and anyone who really wants to see our government represent the will of the people, instead of the will of a wealthy few. Everyone from the left and the right acknowledges the fact that politicians vote based on who is paying them. As long as elections are funded by Wall Street, lobbyists, wealthy individuals, and corporations, no matter who is in office, be it a Republican or Democrat, majority will never rule.
Mr. Moore goes on to talk about future financial icebergs that we are heading straight for. On the state of our economy, Mr. Moore says, “It’s not going to get fixed. There’s going to be another crash. The commercial real estate bubble hasn’t burst yet, that’s going to burst. The credit debt is so huge right now it’ll never be repaid. That’s a house of cards ready to fall. So the crash of ‘08’s going to look like coming attractions, and we’re in for a much, much worse time.” Do I think that Mr. Moore is correct in his observations and predictions? As Mr. Moore says, “I’m only the guy who said that there weren’t going to be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that we were being lied to, and I’m the guy who 20 years ago made his first film saying that General Motors was a piece of crap company that was going to slide down the hill and bring us all down with it.” For all the people on the right who yell and scream that Michael Moore is some crazy progressive liberal who is so far to the left, I ask you, is anything that he is saying wrong? Conservatives love to point to Michael Moore as the crazy one, would the country be so bad if our politicians listened to Michael Moore?
The final point that Mr. Moore makes in his interview with Mr. Uygur, is that the Democrats have no spine, and that he admires the Republicans. “You know, I tell you, I tell you, these Democrats are disgusting wimps and wusses and weasels, you know? Get some spine. This is why I actually admire the Republicans. They at least stand for something. They at least have the courage of their convictions. They get elected to office, they come into town, and they go, get out of my way! There’s a new sheriff in town. This is the way we’re doing things. Get out of here! And they do it, you know? I mean, what they do is crazy, but dammit, they are good at it. We should take a page out of their book.” Michael Moore makes a great point. Look at all the crazy legislation that Bush got passed with bipartisan support. It’s not because his policies were better, it’s because he went in there, pushed people around, and had the balls to stand up for what he believed in. Say what you will about Bush being an idiot, but he and Dick Cheney were great at getting their agenda passed. Perhaps one day the Democrats will elect someone with the strength and courage to bring the American people real change.
Health Care and Hypocrisy
As I was driving in my car today, I flipped on Todd Schnitt to hear what the Republican talking points for the day were. For those who don’t know who Mr. Schnitt is, he is sort of a Rush Limbaugh mini me, just as annoying but not quite as crazy. Mr. Schnitt’s program, The Schnitt Show, can be heard in the afternoon here in South Florida on a Fox News affiliate radio station. Mr. Schnitt was repeating a talking point that has been echoing throughout the Republican ranks lately. The point being that the Democrats cannot compare the proposed health care bill that will be put through reconciliation to previous bills that the Republicans have passed through the same process, and that the health care bill being proposed is “nowhere near the degree and size of the bills that Republicans have passed.” Mr. Schnitt went on to say that the health care bill (referred to as Obamacare) is “life altering” and will “change the fundamentals of the country.”
Mr. Schnitt is not the only one on the right pushing this talking point. Reconciliation, Sen. John Kyle (R-AZ) is quoted as saying, “was never designed for a large comprehensive piece of legislation such as health care.” Sen. Orinn Hatch (R-UT) said, “The use of expedited reconciliation process to push through more dramatic changes to a health care bill of such size, scope and magnitude is unprecedented.” What Mr. Schnitt and other Republican blow-hards fail to mention is that virtually all health reform bills that have been passed over the last 30 years were passed through the reconciliation process.
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, also known as COBRA, was passed through reconciliation during the Reagan years. COBRA was a much larger bill with numerous provisions, such as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which required hospitals that accept Medicaid and Medicare to at least screen patients, regardless of whether or not they could afford to pay. In 1980, also during the Reagan era, the health care bill that allowed children living at less than half of the poverty level to receive a Medicaid card, passed through reconciliation. The Children’s Health Insurance program, known as CHIP, was also passed through the “controversial” process known as reconciliation. Sara Rosenbaum, who chairs the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University said, “Literally, we’ve changed everything about insurance coverage for children and families, and we've changed access to health care all across the United States all as a result of reconciliation.” Let’s also not forget that the Bush tax cuts, which according to the Congressional Budget Office increased the budget deficits by $60 billion in 2003 and $340 billion by 2008, were also passed through reconciliation.
The point here is, since reconciliation has come into existence, there have been numerous bills and provisions both large and small that have been passed through reconciliation by both Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans are once again showing us that their hypocrisy knows no bounds. So when Todd Schnitt, Orinn Hatch, John Kyle, and every other Republican hypocrite tells us that bills of this magnitude have never been passed through reconciliation or that reconciliation has only ever been used for budget legislation, you can tell them to go to hell.
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