Crossposted from the PeoplesView
I must admit last night's Republican Debate was quite entertaining but also enlightening if you were not well informed about the direction of where each and everyone of the candidates want to take this county. Simply put, they want to rape the country dry and make it like a third world country. You can just sum up the narrative of the debate, undoing anything President Obama has done and then some.
However, one thing stood out to me. That is the political mind displayed by Newt Gingrich to preemptively put the tone of the debate early on from getting nasty. These is what Newt said when Politico's John Harris asked him to weigh in on the "genuine philosophical difference" between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney over the individual health care mandate with the kind of scolding that was unnecessary but got many applause from the Republican candidates as well as debate participants (transcript below the video) :
I am frankly not interested in your efforts trying to get Republicans to fight with each other.....You would like to puff this up into some giant thing. The fact is every person up here understand that Obama Care is a disaster. It was a disaster procedurally. It was rammed through after they lost Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts. It was written badly. It was never reconciled. It can't be implemented. It is killing this economy. If this President has any concern for working Americans, he will walk in here Thursday night and asks us to repeal it. Because it is a monstrosity. Every person in here agrees with that. (Huge applause).
Since I have a little time left, let me just say, I for one and I hope all of my friends up here are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republican to fight each other to protect Barack Obama who deserves to be defeated and all of us are committed as a team whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating Barack Obama.
Here is my take. Everything Newt said is a lie about the ineffectiveness of ObamaCare which I will prove below. However, the man is a giant persuasive debater if you are low information voter who has never laid an eye on what has been going on in the political world which in fact was what he was catering that performance towards. It was effective and got him huge applause. Not only the man knows how to play politics but also he knows how to defuse what could have been a nasty debate we would have loved to see by stepping in to speak as if the Republican candidates are one coalition. The emphasis put is we are united against them (us Democrats).
I just wish that progressives would stand to support the only Democratic Candidate we have for the Presidency in the same way the Republicans stand together even though they are divided ideologically. I also wish knowing that we don't have a better candidate than President Obama at this time, many of the critics of President Obama tone down the over the top rhetoric that does nothing to build a coalition except divide the party because as one commenter stated, "there is far to much at stake for us as Party and a Nation, to be playing games with the Republicans and their hate for the American poor, elderly and children". We just can't afford to lose because if anything we have seen is any indication, we must fight hard, unite as one and ensure that the 113th congress is a Democratic Congress and the White House is occupied by President Obama for another term.
If we are interested in electing more and better Democrat, let's get out in our local communities and elect candidate that reflect our ideals. Support your primary candidate vigorously because believe me if your candidate wins the primary, they will win the 2012 election as we all unite to get out to vote as we did for President Obama in 2008. Let's stop showing defeat because we have so much to show and be prideful. I am proud and hopeful. I hope Democrat see beyond the short term to acknowledge that we live in a very complex time that require extra ordinary and calm leadership. We have that leader. Let's give him the tools to implement what I will guarantee is one million times better future for all Americans than what the Republicans have stored for America.
What we have in President Obama, is a valuable future indeed. Let us not destroy it! Let us protect it. Let us embrace it even if there are things we disagree with the President. It’s gonna make us all proud one day — I promise you. Let us be a United Democratic Party with all our differences and make sure we defeat the Republicans.
I know all the argument there is in how to criticize President Obama. I am hoping for a positive dialog that will help us win reelection and the 113th Congress without making this diary a focus of Obama's shortcoming and such.
As to that ObamaCare Newt the clueless foamed about as being ineffective last night at the debate, I wonder what he has to say when he cuts off over 30 million Americans from having access to Health Insurance through the repeal effort. Better yet, somebody please send this small list of benefits of the HCR bill until I expand it in its entirety soon:
1) Coverage can’t be denied to children with pre-existing conditions.
2) Adults up to age 26 can stay on their parents’ health plans.
3) Free preventive care.
4) Rescinding coverage is now illegal.
5) Eliminating lifetime limits on insurance coverage.
6) Restricting annual limits on insurance coverage.
7) More options to appeal coverage decisions.
8) $5 billion in immediate federal support to affordable Coverage for the Uninsured with Pre-existing Conditions.
9) $10 billion investment in Community Health Centers.
10) Create immediate access to re-insurance for employer health plans providing coverage for early retirees.
11) Made an $80 billion dealwith the pharmaceutical industry to contribute to cut prescription drug costs for the nation’s seniors reduce the size of the "donut hole" in the Medicare (Part D) Drug Benefit.
12) Provides a $250 rebate to 750,000 Medicare Beneficiaries who reach the Part D coverage gap in 2010. As of March 22, 2011, 3.8 million beneficiaries had received a $250 check to close the coverage gap, according to an HHS report.
13) Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 35% of employee premiums effective 2011 and a 50% tax credit effective 2013.
14) Creates a state option to provide Medicaid coverage to childless adults with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. By 2014, States are required to provide this coverage.
15) Provides a 10% Medicare bonus payment for primary care services and also a 10% Medicare bonus payment to general surgeons practicing in health professional shortage areas.
16) Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requires that insurance companies spend at least 80 to 85 percent of the proportion of the premium dollars on clinical services. As an example, WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross unit in California has reduced its proposed rate increase.