Category: Republicans

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.

McLaughlin & Associates Publishes Lamest Poll Ever?

March 10, 2010 by Blue Virginia

You'd think that a consulting firm, no matter how much it needs the clients (and their $$$), wouldn't want to completely trash its reputation over one poll for one client in one race. Yet, if there's any justice in the world, that's exactly what conboy89 [at] gmail [dot] com&bms.tk=qcWVj30Rc33Me26Ab17Ig20qcW">McLaughlin & Associates may have done with its Keith Fimian poll.

I'm not so much concerned with the top-line number, which has Keith Fimian ahead of Gerry Connolly 40%-35%, although that's not particularly plausible. What really blows my mind is that McLaughlin & Associates thinks we're all stupid enough to believe that Virginia's 11th CD is far more conservative than the country as a whole. To quote McLaughlin & Associates, "On the generic ballot for U.S. Congress, the Republican candidate has a 19 point advantage over the Democrat candidate (52% to 33%)." Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Charlie Crist’s Identity Theft Problem

March 10, 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.

DNC: Republicans Don't Understand The Problem On Health Insurance Rates

March 9, 2010 by Blue Virginia

Effective, populist framing by the DNC.