Morning all. Not enough coffee in the whole of the world to make this day dawn cheery. Our A/C broke yesterday — right in the middle of a heat wave. Ugh.

But this Daily Show clip? Priceless.

Morning Christy, sorry to hear about your AC. We’re having the same heat here. Coupled with another bout of insomnia and the health care debacle and I’m about miserable as it gets.

That Grassley quote was just so bluntly revealing, I had to laugh. Otherwise, I’d just get a worse headache.

Do yourself a favor and watch the Daily Show clip. It captures the absurdity perfectly. It’s laugh out loud funny.

A Kurt Vonnegut character in one of his novels:

“The American flag should be a green field with a dollar sign on it and the legend underneath:

“I”ve got mine; screw you, Jack!”

If we don’t have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and real food to eat health care reform won’t matter.

Morning one and all. Christy, there is a new fan that one can install in their home for $250-$700 that eliminates the need for AC. I think it might be called a “fulll house fan.” Not quite sure how it works but it is far more energy efficient. Proper design of buildings can also minimize the need of AC, something that architects are rediscovering.

Hmmmm…will take a peek at that. Thanks. Our house is over 100 years old, and the design itself is very open and solid. It retains the cool from the evening really well…except that last night, the “cool” was somewhere around 70 degrees at its low.

It’s already over 75 this morning and climbing rapidly with humidity. I’ll see what the repair folks say when they can get here — either today or tomorrow. In the meantime, it will be all about devising ways to stay cool and sitting in front of fans.

Amazing how many issues need tackling these days, isn’t it? Seriously, I don’t know how anyone can possibly keep up…

Here’s a link. It’s actually called a “Whole House Fan.”

http://www.tamtech.com/?gclid=…..DAodfzmKlg

We’ve been looking at all sorts of nifty update things for the house to make it more environmentally sound. With a house this old, we’re having to do it one little bit at a time. But it’s amazing what a huge difference a small change can make.

Feels like we’re merely running in place.

It does feel like that way too much of the time, doesn’t it? Part of that is the utter slow-down in the Senate. Plus, it’s August, when nothing really gets done in terms of legislation. But it’s more than that — and the angry mood isn’t helping in terms of politics these days, is it? Ugh.

Health care reform appears dead in it’s tracks .
The house progressives won’t vote for a plan that doesn’t have a public option , and the Senate won’t vote for one that does.
Rock and a hard place !

There’s always a way. The question is, how to find this one. Wish I had an answer…

I didn’t know the insurance companies needed bailing out ,the economy must be much worse than I thought.

Ah Christy I feel for you. Our one room AC went on the fratz the other day so no cool rooms here for us or the cats. Yesterday was mouth surgery day so I am at home, hot as heck, taking narcotics, drinking “food” and feeling bloody miserable. The Daily Show clip made me feel a lot better, thanks!

Democracy Now this morning was all about health care, very interesting and it should be “Must watch TV” for all that think single payer is the route to ruin.

By the way…..the mouth surgery has taken our vacation money so I am not a happy camper.

Congress will not be able to pass anything. It is a failed institution.

Plus, it’s August, when nothing really gets done in terms of legislation.

Seems like it has been August for quite a few months already.

If the progressives do not cave, they’ll be blamed for killing health care. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Good morning, Christy.

Lots of unsweetened iced tea will make the day better. With the increased temperature and humidity in the house, special vigilance against dehydration is needed.

Imagine my surprise to find a wonderful editorial in my local paper this morning with a gold mine of information about Florida’s previous attempt at health co-ops:

Florida established its Community Health Care Purchasing Alliances in 1993, when nearly 3 million Floridians were without insurance. The alliances were intended to work, through brokers, with health care providers to obtain coverage for employees of small businesses that were otherwise unable to afford it.

At one point, the state’s regional CHPA’s had nearly 100,000 people enrolled. But the co-ops were never able to achieve critical mass or realize significant savings, and they eventually ceased to exist.

A 1996 state analysis said the CHPAs were poorly designed, dependent on state funding to survive and unable to effectively compete for affordable health insurance for its members. Perversely, CHPAs were barred by law from negotiating for lower prices.

You can bet that if Kent Conrad gets his way, the new co-ops will be just as poorly designed as the previous Florida ones…

So sorry to hear you are in the same no A/C boat — especially after surgery. Gentle hugs, and hopes for a cooler day.

Yeah, that Daily Show clip made me laugh out loud — a lot. *g*

Where are all these Obama supporters now? We got the man elected, now we’ve got to help him acheive his goals.
I hear a lot about the anti reform crowd ,but not so much from progressives. We have to find a way to get the publics attention and get our veiws out there or reform will end up being another give away ,this time to the insurance industry.

Oooooh, what a morning….I’m sorry. All this health care certainly sets up grumpiness, let alone what’s going on with you. Best wishes. I hope you can find some of those favorite things to help you feel better. Maybe a movie….

Yep – For the GOP, the whole deal from Jan. 22, 2009 on was “don’t let anything happen…full stop”. They don’t care about the economy and the fact that people don’t have jobs and don’t have money and are losing their homes, etc. etc. etc. They don’t care about the fact that millions of people in this country can’t get healthcare because they can’t pay for it or their insurance pays for so little that they’d end up in bankruptcy. They don’t care. They don’t care. They don’t care.
What they DO care about is 2010 and 2012 – THAT they care about and they are doing everything they can to make sure that nothing happens between now and when the campaigns start so that they can say, “See, the Democrats can’t get anything done.”
We are at a complete, constipated standstill because the only thing that matters to the GOP is that the Democrats MUST lose.
When was the last time any of these folks thought about the best interests of the other 80% of the people in this country? People who are NOT right wing or GOP?

The absolute worst part is that I am not allowed to eat chocolate.

I think a chocolate restriction may violate the Geneva Conventions. *g*

BTW Thanks for your kind thoughts…. the cats, by the way, are very pleased that I am at home all day.

The poeple who are Right wing and GOP are Americans too and have a right to have their views considered.

Ready to move this discussion with morons like Grassley a little farther to the left. For too long we’ve moved to the right whenever they try to shake us down like this, and it’s gotten us no where.

Perhaps it’s time to adopt their technique of moving the Overton window even farther in our own direction rather than let them push us over the edge.

Let’s seize the opportunity.

(BTW, nice to see you at NN09, Christy! sorry about the A/C, also vote for the whole house fan. Had one in my last house and installed one in my newer home when we built -four years ago. With framing and installation for a 2000 sq ft-plus home, ran about $1K, can eliminate about 1/2 of A/C usage by running from sunset-sunrise depending on humidity.)

Not to worry, I have it on *cough* competent legal authority that those are “quaint” and may be disregarded, if one so chooses. So eat up, nomomolos!

But they don’t have the right to drown out everyone else.

Yes they do but by the same token we must be allowed to consider their motives.

Spurred on by FDL I went to a health care event hosted by Senator Tom Harkin.
I haven’t been involved in street politics in a long time. The last time I was tye dyed, bell bottomed and earth shoed. This time I was silk tied, blue suited and wing tipped. But, I was ready to rrrrrrrrrrrrumble.

When I got there about a dozen self identified tea baggers were waving signs and screaming. I recognized several of them. Not surprisingly, they were the usual suspects.
It seems every community has there dim and demented denizens.

I talked to several of them. After confirming my suspicion that as with most things they were clueless and confused, I left.

If this is the quality of the opposition showing up across the country, I think we are going to be OK as long as we don’t stampede or turn on one another.

Since it is an article of faith with Republicans and Libertarians that government is best when closest to the people, I wonder if we could reach a compromise with them if we agree place Death Panel responsibilities in the hands of neighborhood associations.

Heat index at 100 degrees today and I’m working outside today , the vehicle I’m driving has no A/C !
Will need 2 gallons of drinking water today

Do your best to stay cool today ,those with and those without working A/C !
I’ll do my best not to think about politics today ,so my head doesn’t overheat and explode ! LOL

What I find really sad, is the fact that Democrats, Progressives, and liberals are sooooo slooooowwwww to pick up on what’s actually happening.

The weepublicans have zero inteniton of doing anything that will affect the status quo . . . they want the US to fail at every attempt, be it healthcare reform, or education reform, or jobs creation — in the manufacturing sector or wherever — driving society in America over the edge, until we look more like Mexico than Canada.

When conditions resemble post-WWI Germany, with the economy in free-fall and people begin starving and are hopelessly destitute, then America will be ripe for fascist takeover by the corporate aristocracy.

If anyone doubts this assertion, just look at the weepublican Party’s track record over the last 4 decades — everything they’ve done proves where their true loyalties lie: with Big Biz interests on WS. Is it supposed to be a secret?

The weepublicans are demanding one-party rule — theirs’.

How was the event itself? What did Harkin have to say? Thanks mucho for going — it’s really useful to get perspective from folks all over to see how things are without having to hear about it through a media filter.

Rush Limblow was asking about you ,something about needing some pain killers?

Oh, no way. I was once legal counsel for a homeowners association and no one nitpicks better than folks who live in those groups. We’d have death panel applications for neighbors whose grass was half an inch too long. *G*

We gave them eight years in the White House and a majority in Congress for longer; they gave their opinion in 1994 and each year after.

Now we’re bankrupt in more ways than one.

The people en masse agreed in November 2008 to listen to a different set of options.

Sen. Olympia Snowe was quoted as saying “I feel privileged to participate.” Privileged… that’s a good word for senators, and particularly these six senators. When do uninsured people like me enjoy that “privilege”?

I was thinking that it would be good for the members of Congress to have to work, en masse, at one of those RAM clinics. Meet some of the folks who have been laid off, no longer have health care, and have an infected tooth or some other health issue which needs treatment but they haven’t been able to afford to get it any other way.

But it would require showing up to help out with some compassion and not just scorn — a “there but for the grace of God” kind of attitude. And I’m not certain that is possible for some of them, sad to say.

It seems, from this story, that death panels are OK if it is white folks deciding on death for black folks.

US judge ‘ignored death row plea
A prominent judge in Texas has gone on trial accused of refusing to let lawyers for a convicted murderer on death row lodge a last-minute appeal.

Yeah, I know. Thankfully, I’ve never participated in one, but worked with a lady who was the honcho in her neighborhood. I would have preferred one of the commisars in Dr. Zhivago.

A friend passed me this plea from a friend-of-a-friend on healthcare reform. I put it in a diary as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMIO2T233c

He wants to do something about protesting for reform on September 8.

OH No Not that….I think that means you then get a double portion, when it’s OK!

If the Obama White House can’t push back now, finally and forcefully, I will lose all heart in them and they will lose my support. Obama and the Democrats already capitulated by taking single payer off the table in the very beginning. I never suffered any illusions about Obama being a liberal, of course he isn’t but I did think that he was a man of his word at least. The Republicans are and have always been right about one thing: Americans don’t like a wimp. Well folks, I hate to be the one to point this out but Obama looks weaker daily. I smell Rahm Emanuel in this centrist, compromising B.S. but to Emauel, “compromise” means to be so afraid of Republicans that we give them exactly what they want. Nate Silver is right. We are going to lose seats and maybe even control of congress if the president allows this to fail. Period.

The isssue that capital punishment is a deterrent needs to be turned on its head. Capital punishment promotes aggravated crime because it broadcasts the message that lives are cheap and can be easily dispensed with. Reinforcing the value of each individual life, even that of an accused murder, is a far more powerful deterrent.

Or does this make too much sense?

Grassley really wants to ask “Is it the Republics’ fault that vast majority of people were not smart enough to be born wealthy?”

Then we’ll have a hobbled president and gun toting tea-baggers thumping their chests .

-G

No one tops Harry Reid when it comes to being afraid of Republics. No one.

I think that’s right. I also dimly remember living under those conditions in the not-too-distant past.

But, but, but….TX does it so well and was such a sport for W.Shrub. The judge in question is our Chief of theTX Supreme Court….There was alot of coverage in Statesman.com. Part of the tragedy was that the case was coming up just as the US Supremes were deciding about how the death “cocktail” is being used….The legal community has been pretty outspoken.

Jane has a new post up…

Good Morning Christy and Pups.

The repugs & bluedawgs in re humanity, relative import to our species of any tendrils of substantive knowledge, simple logic???

Teh searing STUPID burns something fierce! What planet do they intend to flit over to when they have sacked and trashed this one? The depth of their ignorance and the dizzying height of their egos is utterly, literally breath-taking for this relatively normal human.

If only we could wake up from this nightmare of plain old fashioned human greed and prideful ignoramuses pretending to rule while wielding all the wisdom of a bunch of rats trapped in the bottom of a barrel. The self-serving, blind faith in future salvation of some unknown sort should ring hollow to a bunch of those idiots. What the hecque are they sipping behind the walls and moats of those fake castles they seem to believe they have crafted?!

There IS no revolving fireplace beyond which hides a nifty little escape down the secret stairs. But there seems no way to reason with these raving lunatics. Are Grassley and his ilk REAL? Has anyone felt for a pulse recently? When you look in his ear, can you see the Tower of London? Anything? Anything at all?!

*throws up hands in despair and disgust*

Okay if I hold yer hands to git through this part, Pups? Thanks.

Isn’t TX is a crime-free paradise because of prompt and regular executions?

I’ve got bad news for you: We already have a hobbled president but the teabaggers didn’t do it and neither did I. That came from within. He hobbles himself and makes himself look weak. He praises Baucus who publically eviscerates his health care plan. He priases Grassley no matter how wingnutty he gets. cHuckabee goes to Israel and publically undermines US foreign policy, despite holding exctly no official capacity or elected office and we hear silence. I didn’t make this president look weak.

I was treasurer of our homeowner’s association for 4 years, and as a board member got to hear a lot of stuff. The best one was a resident who called our president because the removal of a tree next door was causing birds to poop on her deck. I’m not quite sure what the association or the president was supposed to DO about the bird poop on her deck?!?!

yes… sigh….

fwiw, epu’d, but agree, with heavy heart.

the Lake is an oasis. we have to keep going… no matter what.

I’m not crazy about the current situation on this issue, but disappointment over insufficient health care reform beats the heck out of our circumstances, on every count, during the reign of George Bush, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, et. al. To me, a return of that situation is to be avoided at all costs.

The execution of Karla Tucker was what originally set me against Bush. She was a friend of mine who got bad advice from a jailhouse lawyer that she should act like a psycho when at trial and we all saw the result. Did she kill Jerry Dean? Yes. My first reaction when I found out someone had killed him? That the world was a better place without that thieving, abusive, bigoted prick. Did Karla deserve to die? That’s a matter of opinion, as I said, she was guilty. Did she deserve to be mocked by the Governor? Anybody who believes that was appropriate should move to China where I understand public humiliation is considered appropriate.

I never suffered any illusions about Obama being a liberal, of course he isn’t but I did think that he was a man of his word at least.

It was clear that Obama is not a man of his word when he flipflopped on FISA. Since then, he’s added a string of broken promises.

Huckster in Israel

About 100 protesters heckled former US Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee on Monday as he attended a function to support Jewish settlements in mainly Arab east Jerusalem.

And I agree but I’m sick of always having to choose the “lesser of two evils”, and if “always voting in every election” me is going to have a hard time getting motivated to go out and vote next cycle, how likely do you think it will be for all of those first time voters who came out for Obama last round to get out to vote again? I’m speaking the truth and you know it. I’m not advocating action or inaction, I’m just saying what is likely to happen if this keeps up. Don’t try to change my opinion, I’m perfectly capable of analyzing things for myself.

Which just goes to show that Israelis have more guts apparently than Obama or the Dems. The repugs tried to censure Pelosi for going to Syria with three Republicans! cHuckabee actually goes to Israel for the express purpose of undermining Obama and all we hear from the Democrats are crickets. What’s wrong with that picture?

I understand, but I can’t think of a situation in life where I’ve gotten precisely what I wanted. Occasionally, I’ve lived to be thankful of that fact. My own ideals were probably the mythical FDR, who I knew only in history books, and the mythical JFK, who turned out to be less (as a person) than what had hoped. I’ve voted Democratic in every election since 1964, was always disappointed in some things, but still would choose them over the alternatives. Without a doubt, however, the George W. Bush crowd was the most destructive I’ve seen, and I’m afraid we’ve got an electorate that doesn’t know much better.

bilybugs writes:

Health care reform appears dead in it’s tracks .
The house progressives won’t vote for a plan that doesn’t have a public option , and the Senate won’t vote for one that does.
Rock and a hard place !

According to Governor Howard Dean, there is real hope.

Dean, appearing on Joe & Mika’s generally right-wing shame of a show yesterday morning, stunned them with his confident prediction: the House would pass a good public option bill, the Senate Finance committee and the Senate would pass a bad one without a public option which would survive Republican efforts to filibuster. In the conference committee process, the public option would be retained. Thereafter, the Senate would pass the bill containing the public option because only 51 votes would be needed and no Democratic senator would have the guts to go down in history as a Democrat who killed health care reform.

Dean’s point seemed to be that it doesn’t matter what kind of no public option bill comes out of the Senate Finance committee, as the public option will be saved in the conference report bill, not subject to cloture.

I’m still holding my breath and writing threatening letters to the DCCC, the DSCC, the DNC and Obama to demand Medicare for All, but after hearing Dean I do have a smidgen of hope.

The Whole House Fan is not an air conditioner.

When do I run the whole house fan?
The whole house fans are meant to be run when the outside air temperature is cooler than the inside air temperature by at least 5° or at times when you want to have a rapid air change for a short period of time.

Sorry, billybugs, the above at # 67 should refer to “billybugs” using two “Ls”‘ .

I have the feeling that nothing we do or say will really make a difference but I will keep trying. Obama’s determined to bargain his way into oblivion, the health industry is cutting deals left and right to get what they want and the Democrats are acting like road kill. I’m feed up with the whole lot of them.

March on Washington for healthcare reform on Sept. 13th. Pass it along. The people united cannot be defeated.