News Roundup for 9/23/09

GOP healthcare plan

-Headline of the day-
"Cantor's support for healthcare options."

Turns out that the #2 Republican in the House of Representatives is totally for options in healthcare. At least, such options as already exist. At a forum this week, Eric Cantor heard from a constituent who brought up her friend's situation. The friend had been doing great, until she lost her job and, with it, her insurance. Now uninsured, she found out that she had stomach tumors and needed immediate surgery -- without health coverage, this sort of presents a problem.

Cantor was quick with a response; her friend should check out "existing government programs" and, if those didn't work, she ought to give "charitable organizations" a shot. "No one in this country, given who we are, should be sitting without an option to be addressed."

OK, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. I think it's English -- it looks like it anyway -- but it sounds like a collection market-tested words all jammed together with no concern for whether the final product works or not. As a result, it's pretty gibberish-ish.

"That's worded rather awkwardly," writes an overly-generous Steve Benen, "but it's a sentiment I can agree with. Americans who need care should have 'options.' There should be 'government programs' to provide coverage to those who don't have it."

Yeah, but there's not. And there isn't because guys like Cantor keep shooting the whole idea down as "socialism." If government protects you against crime, that's policing; if it protects you from invaders or terrorists, that's defense; if it protects you from fire, that's a fire department; if it protects you from illness, that's pure Godless Communism.

Better dead than red, right? Get a job, slacker. Until then, check your local homeless shelter or something. (Political Animal, with video)


-Mark Sanford hates to break it to ya...-
...but he's pretty sure he's not going to be president. After having a big international affair with Evita Peron, lying to cover it up, disappearing for days on end, and misusing state funds to do it all, he's pretty sure that ship has sailed.

"I think if anything is off the table, it's that I'm not running for president," he says. "It's 100 percent believable now."

Yeah, I kind of think so...

Still, his brush with reality was pretty short-lived, as he told the Greenville News that "he has no plans to resign, will fight any attempt at impeachment and believes he may have the best chance next year at pushing for government restructuring."

Yeah, good luck with that. (Political Wire)


-Bonus HotD-
"Lawmakers regrouping to seek bipartisan healthcare deal."

Oh for fuck's sake... Turns out that GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson (NE), Claire McCaskill (MO), Mary Landrieu (LA), and Ron Wyden (OR) think that healthcare reform absolutely has to be bipartisan. Why? Who knows?

Newsflash; voters don't care whether a bill is bipartisan or not. They just want it to work. And, in case Nelson, McCaskill, Landrieu, and Wyden (Lieberman doesn't count) haven't been paying attention, let me clue them in; Republicans aren't interested in healthcare reform. They're interested in stopping healthcare reform. Ask Max Baucus, I think he's finally figured that out. At least Chuck Grassley's not in this new group.

But fuck me, how many slow-learners do the Democrats have? (The Hill)