Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleLetter to the Editor:
We must help Obama triumph over lobbyists
Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.
Regarding Greg Grant’s Friday letter to the editor in the Las Vegas Sun, headlined “Democrats failing to keep promises”:
The United States is not a dictatorship or a monarchy. Our forefathers put in place a system of government that adheres to certain principles for passing laws, and everyone must follow those rules.
Democrats may technically have the 60 votes necessary to pass legislation unimpeded in the Senate, but there are a few Republicans masquerading as “Blue Dog” Democrats obstructing progress. President Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress cannot wave a magic wand and change the status quo. These things take time, and the president has been in office only nine months.
The reason we don’t have health care reform is that the Republican Party and lobbyists for the health care industry are spending enormous amounts of money and energy to see to it that the president and his agenda fail. Wake up, America, these greedy people do not have your best interest at heart; they just don’t want their profit margins to shrink.
Those of you with health coverage are going to see an increase in your premiums in the near future, and you will regret not pressuring the Party of No (also known as Republicans) to cooperate. When you are unable to cover your share of the cost of your pitiful coverage and join the 47 million Americans now struggling without any coverage at all, you will have only yourselves to blame.
We need to support our president. Imagine what could be accomplished with a little bipartisanship.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Photos: Olivia Culpo, 20, of Rhode Island is crowned 2012 Miss USA at Planet Hollywood
- US Navy hopes stealth ship answers a rising China
- Photos: Derek Hough celebrates 27th birthday at Tabu Ultra Lounge
- Learning about Electric Daisy Carnival fans will help Las Vegas court them
- On the horizon: A quick look at projects poised to shape downtown
Everything Under the Sun
Blogs
The Kats Report
Joe Pesci remembers his own honeymoon in Vegas -- meeting the Rat Pack
Las Vegas Philharmonic says search for new music director to begin 'immediately' (1 Comment)
With Shenandoah project stalled, Wayne Newton hits back legally (7 Comments)
Where does a Playmate play when she turns 21? Vegas! (3 Comments)
Ice Ice Billy
The road to six-toed cats and Mayor Bubba
The Kats Report
David Itkin tells L.V. Philharmonic officials he's on his way out (14 Comments)
Diamond Dave sells it well as Van Halen pours out the power at MGM Grand (2 Comments)
- Locally owned and independent since 1950; Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, best news website in the nation & DuPont Award for broadcast journalism
"Democrats may technically have the 60 votes necessary to pass legislation unimpeded in the Senate, but there are a few Republicans masquerading as "Blue Dog" Democrats obstructing progress."
As an illiterate unwashed white trash tea-bagger I realize that I have no right to question the spin that the Democrats are putting out.
On 10-14 the lowball Baucus Health Insurance Reform bill was passed. This bill is the "BAIT" in the Democrats "bait and switch" medical operation.
The lowball bill fails at many levels-
it does not cover 29 million people,
it does not include tort reform,
it does not allow plans to cross state lines,
it does not reduce the cost of healthcare providers
-- it only attempts to squeeze the cost of the program administrators by replacing private workers with public government workers.
It is an ill conceived notion that government health program administrators backed by unlimited borrowing of the Federal government will control the cost of health providers (Doctors, hospitals, drugs, and nurses) any better than private insurers that must subsisted on premiums.
The government while already controlling 50% of the healthcare cost seemly is still is impotent and wants to control all of it.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius huddled with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats on 10-15 -- no Republicans not even Senator Snow were invited.
So now Senators Harry Reid and Chris Dodd will create the final "SWITCH" bill which will in addition to putting the government 100% in charge will provide a means to further their social agenda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
This includes installing a "Payment Advisory Commission" (which is both a wage and price control board and a rationing board), promoting unions healthcare workers, paying off underfunded Union benefit funds, ensuring families making less than four times the poverty level vote Democratic to maintain their benefits, continuing to allow trial lawyers to siphon off valuable resources, prevent innovation, accelerates cost shifting to private premium payers, and most disheartening it is not deficit neutral after the payouts kick in after 2014.
The "SWITCH" bill will be done in secret and the Democrats will continue to spin that the unwashed white trash tea-baggers have no right to view the bill because they are illiterates with "phony claims" and are unable to understand what is good for them.
Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are tone deaf. They do not respond to our phone calls, e-mails, townhalls, or rallies. They refuse to listen to us because we are lairs to them, but mostly because we do not believe them or trust them.
Hey Future ... in the future, if you want someone to respond to you, try being a little respectful. Courtesy may be a new concept to a self confessed teabagger, but how can you expect to be taken seriously when you throw tantrums?
As usual "bipartisanship" to a Democrat means caving into everyone of their demands.
Iris sounds like just one more social parasite who wants to suck off of the taxpayers. The only healthcare she deserves is whatever she can afford to pay for. Obama is not our president, Obama may be her president, but he is certainly not mine.
The claim is Democrats will do this health care bill in secret without any Republicans. There were ten Republicans members of the Finance Committe and to the best of my memory none offered any suggestions beyond maintaining the status quo. Why, then, would any Republican wish to be part of combining the two bills?
hey iris...
excellent letter...
you know...
we might as well be a dictorship...
we might as well be a monarchy...
because until we have campaign finance reform...
big money will be able to buy influence in washington...
so we essentially have a dictatorship or a monarchy...
we sure as heck don't have a democracy by and for the people...
just look at the wall street bailout...
goldman sachs was about to get destroyed by the credit default swaps it had purchased from aig which was bankrupt...
and low and behold in rode ex goldman sachs ceo hank paulson on his white horse and bailed them out in full...
and oh by the way...
goldman just had a record quarter...
goldman is about to dish out record bonuses...
it is disgusting....
it has to stop...
bottom line...
those with money influence the system...
and the taxpayer gets stuck holding the bag...
same holds true with health care...
the greedy pig insurance companies are destroying this country...
they are about to bankrupt the country...
62% of all personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills...
and yet they are still able to buy influence in washington...
it is sad...
truly sad...
and the damn blue dog democrats and the stupid pathetic lying reopublicans need to wake up and smell the coffee...
you see...
if we don't fix it now...
we will just have to revisit this issue in the very near future...
because the cost of health care is destroying this once great country...
period...
end of story!!!
"Our forefathers put in place a system of government that adheres to certain principles for passing laws, and everyone must follow those rules."
Ms. Johnson -- your ignorance is showing.
Try reading the First Amendment before you wave that particular flag again. There's a part in it prohibiting the federal government from passing laws that restrict petitioning government.
If you really want to be a productive citizen try first actually reading the Constitution, then pay attention to what government does, then be vocal about it, especially to your elected reps in Congress. Like comparing their recent law about "allowing" us to carry guns in national parks to the Second Amendment.
TePee... Man you just got to start viewing FOX NEWS and get the real news. If you had been listening to FOX NEWS, you would know the answer to your question.
Hey Future: You are 100% right this government just wants to take over peoples lives at any cost' Most people are just to stupid to realize that they are better off free then just being safe in life. Hey StanG: Nothing to say today: Looks like Future knock you back on your heels and you foiled up like a weak #ss liberal' But what else could we expect from you pal. Hey KillerB: Except when i am at work im carrying a concealed handgun on me all the time' Why" Because the Second Amendment and my Nevada Carry Permit says i can. Hey LarryVegas: FOX NEWS IS NUMBER 1 Because they employ more liberals then all the other networks employ conservatives combined. Doing that gives FOX much more creditability which is why there still number 1 and MSNBC is dead last in the ratings.
Question: Imagine what could be accomplished with a little bipartisanship?
Answer: Socialism?
"Hey KillerB: Except when i am at work im carrying a concealed handgun on me all the time' Why" Because the Second Amendment and my Nevada Carry Permit says i can."
powerplay -- what does that have to do with anything here? And don't forget the Nevada Declaration of Rights, the most important part of what you left out.
Iris: GREAT LETTER.
The majority has spoken,we want health care
reform. President Obama,Harry Reid and Nancy
Pelosi are doing just that.
Health care reform will pass with a public
option.
This plan is not for rich Republicans.
If you like your plan you can keep it.
Don't block other Americans free choice.
I am not a rich republican, I barely make it into middle class, and I do not want government controlling healthcare in any way, shape or form. Dems seem to think we repubs are greedy and selfish. I am not against healthcare, I am against bigger government. If the left would pay a little more attention (which shouldn't be hard, after all you are all on ritalin), that is what the bigger fight is about.
MikeGino hit it on the nail. Bipartisanship = socialism! Our forefathers would be turning in their respective graves right now.
Also, just listen to immigrants from countries such as Venezuela, China, Korea, this is how it all started in those countries in which they have fought so hard to escape. If the left is so culturally sensitive, how come it is only the right that is listening to these peoples stories and paralleling them to what is happening currently in the US???
Hey teamster...
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% are for and 54% are opposed to the Senate Finance Committee's version of health care reform, proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That's down two points from a week ago and down four from the week before.
And as the teamster says: "The majority has spoken."
We must help Obama find gainful civilian employment.
Mike, you mean like a hot dog stand?
Thank you, Ms. Johnson, may I call you Iris? for your good letter. I agree with your words,and even if I didn't agree, I still find it a good read. I hope to hear from you again; you can see that some of these people spend all day, everyday, critisizing. It's a Vegas thing, or maybe it's a Fresno thing, that some Vegas people adopted. Why all the crappy comments? Is this the Romper room for dysfunctional adults? Personally, they sound like they are stupid people calling stupid people stupid, and it's funny, not a day goes by, when these people are after each other. So have a good day, everybody, especially the mean ones who have nothing better to do. Off to the track, gonna trick my pony.
Wait a minute graypearl. How dare you imply I'm from Fresno! You might be from Fresno but, I'm a native of Vegas. You must be a Kookafornia
greypearl -- it's called free speech. Deal with it or expect to be disrespected.
Don't look at me... I'm not from Fresno either. I was born in San Pedro.
Hey, I remember greypearl... He thinks that I am a joke and that if I had any brains I would be dangerous and I am the dumbest of the dumb.
He even called me a sadsack, a weakling and a phony. And to beat all else, the pearl says that "...and this is a dumb town."
Today the pearl says that we are stupid people calling stupid people stupid. Now pearl, that's a stupid comment...
Other then that, I thinks he likes me...
A democracy (REPUBLIC) cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years.
These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty,from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.
Alexander Tyler, 1787
As a Service Disabled Viet Nam Vet (Unlike John Kerry! Our metro-sexual man!) I am amazed the we are having this discourse! Our nation debt is $1.4 Trillion going to $2.4 Trillion. Where in the HELL are we going to get the money? I guess this Dems want to make us China's Labor camps!
FACT: 22 MILLION OF THE UN-INSURED ARE ILLEGAL ALIENS. Lets have Mexico pay there health care!
Since the 1960s the Teacher Unions and Dem have lowered the EDU Standards 4 time! Instead of raising the level of poor schools they lower the levels of good schools! Now we have an uneducated mass who can't balance a check book!
Unless you have lived and work in the Middle East or in Eastern Europe, you don't have the IQ required to respond!
burritobandit: I think he would make a crackerjack paleta vendor. He could hide the illict stuff in the icebox.
I nominate graypearl as " Monday's dumb person of the day"
I guess you believe Obama when he made the claim that he would veto ANY bill that added to the deficit? Wonder where the 900 billion for the Baucus bill is going to come from? Taxpayers or Obama's printing press? If he is honest (which he isn't) then we have no worries about these craptastic health care bills and the attempted takeover by the government.
Hey Larry:
The majority put Obama into the White House.
Rasmussen and Fox polls are meaningless. THE
MAJORITY HAS SPOKEN.
The Republicans will remain out of power for
at least 16 years. Bush took care of that.
Why would Americans vote for the party who is trying to block health care reform?
"The reason we don't have health care reform is that the Republican Party and lobbyists for the health care industry are spending enormous amounts of money and energy to see to it that the president and his agenda fail. Wake up, America, these greedy people do not have your best interest at heart; they just don't want their profit margins to shrink."
You moron, we don't have health care reform because we don't want it. America wasn't meant to be under the control of you lunatic liberals and most of America will never succumb to your welfare mindsets.
Even if Obama does get this passed come 2010 and 2012 America will have a taste of your pathetic lifestyles and will be retracted.
If you don't have healthcare then get off your lazy bunger and do something about it and quit expecting the ones that choose to provide a better life for their family to work and support to take care of your lazy pathetic choices. Most of America doesn't care about your choice and we're sick and tired of you people sucking off our hard work. This is America and even your leaders that you mindless trolls support have no intentions of giving you any part of what they work for, they're just a greedy and the rest of America. The only difference is that they want to tax us to pay for their sick policies so they don't have to take care of you lazy sick people. When your evil lying leaders give up their wealth and support your lazy bungers then just maybe America can take them seriously, until then you midless trolls can follow stupid all day, stupid is as stupid does.
its2hot says;
"You moron, we don't have health care reform because we don't want it."
Just who is this "WE"? Please define who your "WE" is.
It's certainly not ME. Or the majority of American citizens.
You call the people who want reform lazy, pathetic, mindless trolls, sick, evil, bungers, stupid stupid and, well, stupid.
Of course, YOU aren't smart enough to realize that you have been HAD by ultra-wealthy folks that prefer the status quo that is so ruinous to this country's MAJORITY of hard working, struggling masses. Why do you and other neo-con nuts insist on making this a class-warfare issue?
Why would you, personally, be opposed to reigning in out-of-control health care costs?
That makes NO SENSE, unless you are one of those ultra-wealthy folks raking in the big-bucks at the expense of hard-working, suffering American citizens.
p.s...
Learn how to communicate without using the word "stupid" & other inane forms of smarmy putdowns in every sentence. It makes you sound less than intelligent and negates your points straight off.
Iris, first of all, Obama loves lobbyists, so much so, he installed a couple of them in his Cabinet. Second, Obama has had plenty of "secret" meetings with pharmacy CEO's and Insurance CEO's, he makes empty promises to get the votes.
America, come on, the snake oil salesman has no interest in running the country, he is only concerned with campaigning. He just eats it up, well, between smokes.
Any fool like Hamster (I mean teamster) who thinks Obama is actually in it for the "little guy" also believes in Santa Claus (sorry for ruining that for you mschaffer, mred and atdleft)
The downstream polls are as flawed as the downstream media. This nonsense is designed to keep Odumba afloat. I sure wish the paparazzi would get a photo of him sneaking a smoke.
Hey teamster... Have you noticed that the great majority of cars out there with "Obama & Biden" bumper stickers are foreign made? Very seldom do you see an Obama bumper sticker on a U.S. brand of automobile. Your jeep is probably an exception...
getalife:
It will take Obama 8 years to clean up the
Bush mess.
President Obama is for the little guy, that's
why union members back him. Without us union
members there would be no middle class.
You have no clue.
LarryVegas:
So you think it's a good idea to sell out
America?
Teamster...
You missed it. It went by you like a rocket ship.
My statement was that it appears that more die hard Obama supporters drive more foreign manufactured cars then U.S. made automobiles...
Not me... No foreign made cars or motorcycles in my garage and driveway... Just all good ole U.S. union made iron for me...
And when I shop, I look at where the item was made before I buy. Sometimes it's pretty tough to find those U.S. made items, but at least I try...
Now to answer your question... I am sorry to inform you that I believe that the Obama administration is in the process of selling out America...
Larry:
Americans who buy foreign cars sold themselves out. They then complain about lack of jobs in
America.
I know you like polls,so here's one for you.
Today's CNN poll shows only 20% of Americans
call themselves Republicans. Their numbers are
dropping like a rock. Are you one of thoes X-
Republicans?
If Odumbo's for the little guy, it must be in the mental midget category.
Teamster:
Just because you asked...
I was raised in a family who voted straight party line Democrat all the time.
When I turned 21, I registered as a Democrat and voted for Democrats most of the time.
When I was around 30, I began to think more about politics and started voting for who I thought was best regardless of what party.
In 2002 we moved to Washington State and I registered as a Republican because of Al Gore and some radicals in the Democratic Party.
In 2006, we moved to Las Vegas and I registered as an Independent.
That's it, so now you know...
Forget about health care, I want my job back!!
Hamster, get off the kool-aid and look around, Obama is in a "secret meeting" on health care. I remember when VP Cheney had a "secret meeting" with energy producers and the left went ballistic, I am not talking missle shield, I am talking chernobyl.
Obama could care less about you dude, the sooner you accept that the easier your life will be.
getabrain:
Get off your Republican kool-aid.
We're talking about Americans who
don't have health care. Obama is
doing what he promised. He's
helping the little guy and giving
you a choice.
Larry:
Thanks for your answer.
Obama is all about Obama!He is a one termer who is bent on doing as much damage as possible,Laughing all the way!
In my opinion, Obama is a latent terrorist and is really doing a job on our country. The man and his wife are really, really scary. I was born in a country built on freedom and capitalism, not "take away from those who work for it and give it to the lazy". I have given money to politicians I believed in in the past whether Rep or Dem. I will be giving every penny I can to seeing that Obama doesn't get a second term to finish his plans of destroying our country.
Hamster, how is destroying a Health Care system going to help anyone? Especially the little guy?
Today is Wednesday and I will bet you my annual salary that Obama is on the campaign trail again tomorrow instead of governing. When will the Libs/Union Synchophants get it? This "man" is not your Savior.
He can't even function without a teleprompter in his bedroom.(Bill Maher, Real Time, October 2009)