Sen. Ben Nelson (d) of Nebraska Blocks important nomination.

[FlickerFade]

And this is intended for you too 772...

Both of you appear to belong to a Republican Party that does nothing to advance the people of this country. The agenda of your Repubs in Congress is to kill time by Obstructing and Lieing their way to the mid-term elections. They use fear and hate because they've got....NOTHING. Nothing at all to give to the people. No ideas that make sense for the People. No ideas that are rooted in facts. No ideas that hold any logic. It's the same tired old line from them - "We need less spending and more tax cuts." Yeah, and where was their less spending with an un-needed war in Iraq or all their Cheney/Halliburton no-bid contracts? Where was the money to pay for their unfunded massive tax cuts under Bush for the wealthy and all the corporations including Exxon? They are only interested in winning the next election. So they get their cronies on Fox News to spew forth their tirades of lies and distortions. They are bought off by the Corporations. Why do you think every single Repub. in both sides of Congress (save one lone progressive) voted against Health Care Reform? If that isn't an out and out conspiracy then I don't know what is. And this comes even AFTER the President included many items that you Repubs. wanted or thought of. Oh, but because it is President Obama's agenda item, you all just fold your arms like little brats, make up more lies (Death Panels anyone?) and continue to grind government to a halt. Then you point at Dems and say nothing gets done. Wake up and stop acting like a bunch of little 5 yr. olds. You LOST the election and you LOST it bigtime. Why? Because the People don't believe in your right wing ideology. So now you go back to your usual Carl Rove playbook of spreading more lies and hate in an attempt to get your numbers back up. You cater to the racists, to the bigots, to the ill-informed, to the non-compassionate.

Just a few things the People want:
1. A level playing field.
2. To be treated with respect.
3. To have their needs met before those of Corporations.
4. Health Reform that includes:
a. Lower premiums
b. Better care and options
c. No more caps
d. No denial for pre-existing conditions
e. No taking away health care if a person loses his/her job
f. A real Public Option to keep Insurance companies in check
5. A healthy environment with clean air and clean water
6. The right to unionize if they want to and not be intimidated in the process

Can you honestly argue against any of the above items?

President Obama took the fight right into your own backyard last week. It was him against 141 of yours. And yours got schooled big time. He debunked all of your myths and lies with hard *verifiable* facts. So now, when he invites your Repub. elected officials to a bi-partisan summit to further get the facts on the table, you guys all of a sudden don't want to go and instead come up with B.S. excuses in a further attempt to waste time. Well guess what? The tide is turning. The President has the Repubs by the ball$. They know it and now they are afraid of him.

You, Scott Brown, so-called "Independent" Joe Lieberman, and the rest of the Republican Obstructionists have a nice rest of the term. Everyday the People see more and more into your souls. Your tactics are about to explode in your faces.

Yes, Nancy Pelosi, menopause sucks........... you and 20% of the country feel this way. No one here can change that. We can kick your a@$ out of the speakership though.

 

[MINIME]

You agree with such a divisive statement?!

Pilot unions are nothing like most unions and until you lefties get your heads out of your collective a##es, you'll keep turning off good pilot union members.

Get your leftist politics out of OUR union.

You are correct, that is a divisive statement and I should've known better. For that I apologize.

I do stand by the rest of my comments however. I see this while flying, jumpseating, having a cold one, etc..

While my politics may seem leftist to you, yours seem way too far to the right for me. How you like them apples? Lets agree to disagree. My beef with all this is merely that we as pilots don't always understand how elected officials impact our careers. We focus on other issues and very little on our own.

Just to let you know, I've been a lifelong conservative until now. Not that it matters. Fortunately or unfortunately, I've come to understand who is at least somewhat on our side (labor).

 

[bigtexpilot]

And this is intended for you too 772...

Both of you appear to belong to a Republican Party that does nothing to advance the people of this country. The agenda of your Repubs in Congress is to kill time by Obstructing and Lieing their way to the mid-term elections. They use fear and hate because they've got....NOTHING. Nothing at all to give to the people. No ideas that make sense for the People. No ideas that are rooted in facts. No ideas that hold any logic. It's the same tired old line from them - "We need less spending and more tax cuts." Yeah, and where was their less spending with an un-needed war in Iraq or all their Cheney/Halliburton no-bid contracts? Where was the money to pay for their unfunded massive tax cuts under Bush for the wealthy and all the corporations including Exxon? They are only interested in winning the next election. So they get their cronies on Fox News to spew forth their tirades of lies and distortions. They are bought off by the Corporations. Why do you think every single Repub. in both sides of Congress (save one lone progressive) voted against Health Care Reform? If that isn't an out and out conspiracy then I don't know what is. And this comes even AFTER the President included many items that you Repubs. wanted or thought of. Oh, but because it is President Obama's agenda item, you all just fold your arms like little brats, make up more lies (Death Panels anyone?) and continue to grind government to a halt. Then you point at Dems and say nothing gets done. Wake up and stop acting like a bunch of little 5 yr. olds. You LOST the election and you LOST it bigtime. Why? Because the People don't believe in your right wing ideology. So now you go back to your usual Carl Rove playbook of spreading more lies and hate in an attempt to get your numbers back up. You cater to the racists, to the bigots, to the ill-informed, to the non-compassionate.

Just a few things the People want:
1. A level playing field.
2. To be treated with respect.
3. To have their needs met before those of Corporations.
4. Health Reform that includes:
a. Lower premiums
b. Better care and options
c. No more caps
d. No denial for pre-existing conditions
e. No taking away health care if a person loses his/her job
f. A real Public Option to keep Insurance companies in check
5. A healthy environment with clean air and clean water
6. The right to unionize if they want to and not be intimidated in the process

Can you honestly argue against any of the above items?

President Obama took the fight right into your own backyard last week. It was him against 141 of yours. And yours got schooled big time. He debunked all of your myths and lies with hard *verifiable* facts. So now, when he invites your Repub. elected officials to a bi-partisan summit to further get the facts on the table, you guys all of a sudden don't want to go and instead come up with B.S. excuses in a further attempt to waste time. Well guess what? The tide is turning. The President has the Repubs by the ball$. They know it and now they are afraid of him.

You, Scott Brown, so-called "Independent" Joe Lieberman, and the rest of the Republican Obstructionists have a nice rest of the term. Everyday the People see more and more into your souls. Your tactics are about to explode in your faces.

I think all americans would love to have all those things in your list. I don't what a bunch of other Sh!tt shoved down my throat with it. I think the american public deserves to know exactly what they are signing off on. I think the Healthcare Reform Bill is just the tip of the iceberg and I think the reason why it won't go is because the american public finally realized why it was trying to be pushed through so quickly.

 

[DonVerita]

Flicker...you can say what you will about Pelosi, but she IS the speaker of the house. Do you not like her because she is a female? Because she is a liberal? Or because she is from SFO? If she loses her seat in the next election, then someone else from the House Majority will take her place...no big deal. By the way, there is nothing wrong with being a liberal. I'd rather stand next to one of them any day of the week rather than some right wing neo-con nut job. Most liberals that you may meet in your life are good people who care more about helping others, righting injustices, and protecting the environment so as to live in a better world, as opposed to the neo-cons who espouse hate, divisiveness, religious exclusivity, and all non-factual incendiary nonsense spewed forth by the likes of Fox News.

772...thanks for the invite. Yes, I'd be happy to get a beer with you in Omaha if I ever get there. You see, the "Best Management Team in the Industry" (that's what they call themselves everytime they give themselves another bonus) only services that city with RJ's instead of Mainline, but maybe that will change in the future; just one more strike item added to the list. For the record, yes, of course I know Lieberman finally voted for Health Care Reform. But...that was only after Nelson watered it down and then Lieberman watered it down further with all of his nasal whineing. I think the People finally got fed up with the Senate version of the bill being vastly different from the much better House version of the bill and they revolted against this and all the deal making that went on in the Senate, especially amongst the likes of Nelson and Lieberman. Thank you for finally admitting that Republicans hold the record on filibusters. That was the point I was making way back in the first post.

Lear...yes, spending does have to be reigned in. You say in the "next decade or two". I counter that it needs to be reigned in much sooner than that. Spending for the Stimulus was needed. Frankly, I believe it should have been more, but it is what it is. The short term spending that the President is doing now is not because he wants to...it is because he has to. This was the ONLY way to get the economy moving again. Kind of like taking that nasty tasting medicine. It sucks going down but in the end it saves you. The Republicans could offer no better alternative, so the President went with the best option he had. I think the People are sick and tired of hearing Republicans cast stones yet offer up no viable alternatives. What they do offer up is not grounded in fact and completely illogical. When run through the CBO, they say the same thing as well. This was brought to light a number of times when the President met with them last week. Kind of ironic how all the major news stations carried that event Live in its entirety, however when it became crystal clear that the President was clearly winning every challenge thrown at him by the 141 Republicans, Fox News decided to break away and stop broadcasting the event.

I believe that as the economy rebounds, the Bush tax cuts for the rich and the corporations begin to expire, and jobs are created (this is why the President is advocating a major Jobs bill; which guess what, is being obstructed by Republicans just for the sake of trying to derail anything and everything this President does), you will see the money in the Treasury start to come back and the next step of the President's plan will be to start reducing the debt. We can only do that with solid well-paying (hopefully UNION) jobs with a large part of them rooted in the manufacturing sector, sound fiscal and tax policy, and an energy policy that shifts to a green economy via the use (85% or more) of zero emission clean alternative energy.

It took 8 years to get us into this mess. It will take at least 4, and probably more, to get us out. We are 1 year into it. So far, I'd say we're doing pretty good despite all of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner's partisan obstructionism. Just imagine how quickly the country could advance if the Republicans looked at the President as a fellow American trying to do good for the People rather than a political opponent of a different skin color.

 

[Max Powers]

Yes, Nancy Pelosi, menopause sucks........... you and 20% of the country feel this way. No one here can change that. We can kick your a@$ out of the speakership though.

More bills have passed under her tenure than any other speaker in history. Like it or not she is a leader that gets her done.

 

[Dizel8]

Here is how I see it, when the Republicans are in power, the Democrats do everything they can to stop any progress, so that they can say to the American people: "Look, the Republicans accomplished nothing, vote for a democrat", of course, when the Democrats are in power, it is exactly the same thing, in reverse.

Either side could come up with the great proposal, eg. guaranteeing ever lasting world peace, however, you can rest assured, the other side would oppose it. The only place they seem not to dare, is when it comes to funding for our men and women in harms way, since that would almost amount to political suicide, as it should be.

As long as the people in DC only care about themselves and getting re-elected, things will never change. Worst part is, under these circumstances, it allows a few elected officials to dictate terms: "You want my vote, I get this earmark in return!"

It's pathetic, it really is. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you should expect better from your elected officials!

 

[dragontamer]

I am soooooo tired of hearing Obama blame the current mess on something he just "inherited" one year ago.

Has everyone forgotten that he was a senator before? We are in the 4th year of a democratically held congress (the folks that spend the money)--Obama supported the majority during this time. Am I disappointed in Bush's lack of spending restraint? Yes, but for the party that has been in power in the Congress to continually blame him solely is hypochritical.

 

[Bigoober]

Hmmm...let's see about that.

1. Health Care Reform passed the House, with a public option intact. Try to talk your way out of that one Sparky.

2. Lieberman is an Independent, but claims to caucus with the Democrats, even while he was on the campaign trail for McCain, so I think it's safe to say he's not in that camp. So there goes your super-majority.

3. The Senate had a watered down but still doable version of Health Care Reform that had enough votes to pass, even after Lieberman's suckup to Big Insurance in his home state of CT, where...guess what - The Hartford Insurance Co. is based.

4. Harry Reid could have brought this to a floor vote even before Brown was sworn in, but wisely chose not to because it would have looked like a strong arm move.

So, you were saying...

As for the filibusters, go back into the record and check for yourself the number of filibusters that have been used by the Republicans in 2009.
Note to yourself: You don't need to have 41 Repubs to do a filibuster. 40 +1 so-called Independent from CT will work just fine, or maybe 1 Dem whose name appears in the title of this thread.

Strike three! Don't need to talk myself out of anything as your original point was that filibusters ruined Obama's agenda. My point was that Democrats did enough on their own.

A filibuster didn't ruin this bill. Democrats couldn't get enough of their own to come to an agreement. House wanted public option, Senate didn't. Moderate Democrats didn't want abortion add-on, liberal Democrats did. A couple of Republicans voted to even allow Reid's bill onto the Senate floor.

All of this from someone that recognizes that both parties are having problems putting the country first (which was your second strike- can't call myself Republican).

 

[FlickerFade]

You are correct, that is a divisive statement and I should've known better. For that I apologize.

I do stand by the rest of my comments however. I see this while flying, jumpseating, having a cold one, etc..

While my politics may seem leftist to you, yours seem way too far to the right for me. How you like them apples? Lets agree to disagree. My beef with all this is merely that we as pilots don't always understand how elected officials impact our careers. We focus on other issues and very little on our own.

Just to let you know, I've been a lifelong conservative until now. Not that it matters. Fortunately or unfortunately, I've come to understand who is at least somewhat on our side (labor).

Thanks for being contrite.

My point is that we are a UNION. A group of individuals aligned for a common cause. Like our country, I'm sure that 20% of us (at least) are pretty far left wing. And our leadership tends to be left of center. Problem is that there are a lot of fmr. military, conservatives, and republicans....... who don't see the LABOR component of their vote as the most important one.

A lot of us see "labor" as the state employee unions who are bankrupting our states (mine being California)........... see, their "companies" (states) are bankrupt (they never earn a profit either) and they are immune from the pay cuts we suffer from in the private sector (as good business dictates when they lose so much money). Public employee union members outnumber private ones.

And we who earn $100K+ are in the upper tax brackets that no democrat wants to reduce! A vote for a democrat is a vote for less take home pay for me! And it goes against my principals in may other areas.

So, we are a union. We are not a left-wing union (as composed by the views of our membership). OUR union needs to acknowledge that.

 

[Full of LUV]

What????

Most liberals that you may meet in your life are good people who care more about helping others, righting injustices, and protecting the environment so as to live in a better world, as opposed to the neo-cons who espouse hate, divisiveness, religious exclusivity, and all non-factual incendiary nonsense spewed forth by the likes of Fox News.
Just imagine how quickly the country could advance if the Republicans looked at the President as a fellow American trying to do good for the People rather than a political opponent of a different skin color.

YGTBSM!
First, why if you disagree with the president, is it about his color? This is a problem if we elect a minority president and all dissent is halted due to the perception that it's about his minority status.
Most conservatives would say that Obama is the smartest minority they have ever seen in politics. That, quite frankly is what is so scarey about him, if the libs had elected Jesse Jackson to president, most of the conservatives would have just waited for him to implode.
His politics is allowing him to move the country towards socialism in a rapid pace. That's what the tea party was about initially, the idea that we would socialize 1/3 of our economy overnight (well to be honest, he is so smart that none of the health care legislation, ie medicare cuts, was due to take place in earnest until he had completed his reelection).
BTW: Most conservatives want the same things, clean enviornment, good jobs, safe places to live.... but you claim they spew hate (because they don't agree with gay marriage) or because they don't believe in unfettered, undocummented immigration, or that we need actual ERA legislation (even though women make up more than 50% of the workforce now).
It's the libs who claim that unless you tolerate every aborration of social norms or condone the most outrageous of behavior, you are hateful.
BTW, Republicans passed the Civil Rights Bills giving equal rights to minorities in this country, despite Democratic roadblocks.
Ironic, the Republican party actually passed the legislation that allowed a minority child born who knows where, in a failed marriage, raised in Hawaii by his grandma to become president.
YOUR WELCOME!