Category: Democrats

GOP: Racked by Scandal

March 12, 2010 by Blue Virginia

Florida’s own Blue Cross to bear: A rigged health care system

March 12, 2010 by Kenneth

Throughout this prolonged national debate about what to do with our dysfunctional health care system, we here in Florida have heard precious little from or about the state’s dominant private health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF), which covers nearly one out of three insured Floridians.

As this titanic battle appears to be heading towards a congressional climax, it’s all too easy to be swayed by both sides into seeing the Democratic reform effort led by President Obama in overly simplistic terms – good or bad, right or wrong, black or white.

But the painful, confusing realities of how America’s private health insurance system is structured, and who stands to benefit the most from different kinds of changes to that structure – those realities may be more easily understood by looking at what’s happening in the “gray zone”, where the Business of health care and the Politics of health care overlap and blur together, where black and white, right and wrong and good and bad can get very hard to tell apart.

Charlie Crist’s Identity Theft Problem

March 9, 2010 by Kenneth

Coincidentally enough, Florida is the state with both the highest rate of identity theft, and with a governor suffering through the most prolonged identity crisis in recent political history.

Charlie Crist’s “Man In The Mirror” confusion was in full view during the 2010 State of the State speech, when he launched his third 180-degree turn since becoming governor in 2006 – this time trying desperately to swing back towards what was a winning identity for him back then.

That Crist was posing as a Republican centrist eager to appeal to moderates of all affiliations. He was going to help protect the environment, help Floridians with housing and health care, things that sounded downright…Democratic. But he didn’t help with any of that, focusing instead on building his campaign war chest and appeasing the entrenched special interests that dominate Florida’s economic and political landscapes.

Then came the economic meltdown, the real estate crash, and Crist’s inability to provide leadership on either front. Unless, that is, you call tax cuts leadership. Then came the decision, campaign coffers already stacked high, to abandon the sinking ship of state and run for the U.S. Senate – prompting a challenge from the hardcore Right Wing of his party, in the form of one Marco Rubio, former Florida House Speaker.

On Assigning Blame, Or, "So, You Think I'm Retarded?"

March 1, 2010 by Uppity Wisconsin

LANGUAGE WARNING: Today’s story is uncharacteristically blunt, and from this moment forward we will be using lots of inappropriate language in making our points.

Gentle Reader, you have been officially...warned.

With that in mind, if you take offense when confronted with language strong enough to knock a fuckin’ buzzard off a shitwagon, please stop reading now.

It is by now fairly well known that Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s White House Chief of Staff, had a bit of a blow-up with liberals who were ready to start running ads against “blue dog” Democrats who were working very hard to shut down the health care reform effort.

Now we’re not gonna get in the middle of that argument today; instead, since we’re finally getting a chance to talk, I figured me and Rahm could get a few other things out of the way that have been on everyone’s mind for the past year or so.