Terri Schiavo

Ah, nostalgia. Nothing conjures up 2005 better than “Terri Schiavo.” And those two magic words have just transported you back five years.

I wouldn’t have thought the Far Right would want to bring back the Terri Schiavo fiasco, since that was their most embarrassing public relations defeat in recent history. But this is exactly what Marco Rubio is doing.

Florida’s favorite Rightwing Shitburst — and governor wannabe — has been attacking Charlie Crist for not worshipping fetuses devoutly enough. And in a new press release, his campaign dredged up Terri Schiavo:

“Crist also received criticism on the Terri Schiavo debate about where he really stood on a Congressional bill that would have let Terri’s parents take their lawsuit to save her life to federal courts.”

More than any other incident, the Terri Schiavo Show™ put the national spotlight on the Far Right’s chronic severe schizophrenia. Government should be small enough that we can drown it in a bathtub. AND it needs to be big enough to insert itself into millions of Americans’ agonizing personal tragedies.

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Everything you always wanted to know about Reconciliation: Is it a magic wand that will instantly pass every bill the Democrats want? Will it turn Republicans into a horde of screaming foaming maniacs (how could we tell?) who will bring the Senate to a grinding halt?

This article answers a few questions and misconceptions about the Reconciliation process.

Yes, Republicans can offer jillions of amendments to try and paralyze the proceedings. But the total debate time allowed is twenty hours. After 20 hours, “all amendments must be disposed of in a so-called ‘vote-arama.’ So all of those amendments (or motions to waive the amendments) must be voted on in rapid succession.”

Yes, it’ll be a long tedious excruciating process. And that’s all the more reason to get started Yesterday.

Diagnosis for U.S. Senate: Severe Constipation

The House of Representatives has passed two hundred and ninety bills (that's 290!!!) which are now stalled in the Senate. Is this what “Majority Rule” is supposed to mean???

How’s this “bipartisanship” working out for us???

Some of the blocked legislation includes bills for:

Health care reform;

Climate change;

Food safety;

Job security for wounded veterans;

Vision care for children;

Improving absentee ballot voting;

Improving cyber-security;

and the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Had enough yet?

A constipated person doesn’t function very well. Sometimes a laxative is necessary. Exceptionally severe cases (such as this one) might call for a super powerful explosive laxative. The Infamous Forty-One Republican senators — and a few “moderate” Democrats — are the decaying putrifying fecal matter that’s causing this dangerous blockage. The Body Politic is infected, infested, swollen; and needs to be unclogged. Now.

We need to do whatever it takes — reconciliation, executive orders — to get that shit out of the way ASAP.

If this severe problem doesn’t get taken care of NOW, the United States of America could end up having a Mr. Creosote episode. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Obama: “If You Want Something Done Right, Do It Yourself!”

After a year of paralysis, President Obama has finally realized that the hired help just isn’t working out. Senate Republicans have been sitting there all year with their arms crossed and their lower lips thrust out, stamping their feet and screaming “NO” in unison. And the Democrats have spent a year doing their hilarious imitation of a deer caught in the headlights. Except it isn’t funny any more.

When you have a dumb cashier who can’t figure out how to operate the cash register, the store owner eventually has to come over and work the cash register himself. And this is what Obama is finally doing.

He’s putting together his own health care reform legislation. It’ll be a comprehensive bill, designed to bridge the differences between the bills in the House and Senate. And this bill is being written in a way that it can be attached to a budget bill and avoid a filibuster. Just 51 votes — not 60 — is all it’ll take to pass it. Reconciliation! Yay!

Now — Can we find fifty-one Senate Democrats with the spines and cojones to vote Yes? Whatever amount of armtwisting and blackmailing is required: Do It!!

The president’s proposed bill is expected to be posted online this Monday.