When you take in as much media as our staff does, you tend to see trends that the average American who might read one newspaper, or only looks at a small handful of news websites, would likely miss. One of those trends has been the growing sounds of desperation coming from the Republican Party as their extremist, tea-tinged wing continues to drag the rest of their party to the edge of oblivion.
The worried cries of Republicans were evident Wednesday, after the special election in Florida. As many legitimate ethical journalists forecasted they would, Republicans read too much into the results and hyped a minor win - a "win" that cost Republicans the lion's share of $12.7 million to retain for eight short months a U.S. House seat that the GOP had held comfortably for over 40 years. The stink of fear, rank as it was, didn't seem to stop a flood of hypocrisy from Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner, who - even as he spun the Florida race like a top in a tornado - told Democrats they shouldn't be spinning the race.
As journalists like Brian Beutler, Steve Benen, and E.J. Dionne plainly noted Wednesday, Republicans' foolish attempts to peddle snake oil about the Florida election didn't stand up to the historical facts of special elections.
Another topic that also hasn't been standing up to facts is the right-wing's futilely screamed claims that Obamacare still isn't working, and that Americans don't want something so liberal.
In fact, as Greg Sargent pointed out Tuesday - using CNN's latest poll on the Affordable Care Act - a majority of Americans actually favor Obamacare or think it isn't "liberal" enough.
While the enrollment numbers for the exchanges may not reach the ambitious goals originally set by the Obama administration, as Jonathan Cohn noted earlier this week, the numbers of enrolled Americans are about what experts had predicted all along. So far, thanks to Obamacare, more than 4.2 million Americans have enrolled in private health insurance they can afford, with another 4.4 million enrolling in Medicaid.
That's more than 8.5 million Americans who now have affordable health insurance, who didn't have health insurance just a few months ago, who now won't be simply stumbling into emergency rooms, expecting taxpayers to foot their bill.
That kind of success is exactly the medicine that President Obama and some Democrats prescribed for America's previously exploding health insurance and health care cost problem - and it appears to be working.
It should have been no surprise then, that President Obama's attempt to get even more young people to sign up for health insurance this week, with the humorous and satirical interview video made with actor Zach Galifianakis, made those on the right cry out in anger and frustration.
According to White House spokeswoman Tara McGuinness, the web video directly led to a 40% increase in visits to Healthcare.gov, and was the single biggest event or action to drive web traffic to the health insurance website since it began less than six months ago.
As with the race in Florida, Republicans may be able to scream their empty policy prescriptions on health insurance louder, and they may be able to scream them in more places, thanks to the conservative-dominated media. However, Democrats and those on the left need to stick to the facts, which are in their favor - and unlike Alex Sink in Florida, don't be shy about promoting the fact that progressives and liberals currently have the right medicine for what ails America, while Republicans have nothing but the snake oil of anger, hatred, and selfishness.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Long-Range Forecast: Stormy
It's always a nice feeling to find yourself in good company. Our cartoonist and Editor-In-Chief Paul Fell did just that this week, when his work was featured in NPR's 'Double Take' Cartoon feature, as were cartoons from our friends Gustavo Rodriguez and Gary McCoy.
It's also a good feeling to be proven correct. Judging from the pieces written by Greg Sargent, Sean Trende, Jonathan Bernstein, and Ed Kilgore about the Florida special election yesterday, we'd say our work is in good company in both prose and pictures.
The news, however, doesn't care much about what we did yesterday.
From the explosive revelations about the CIA spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee exposed by Sen. Diane Feinstein yesterday, to the pathetic attack on campaign financing that passed the Senate on Tuesday, to the generally positive news about Obamacare signups, new stories just keep on coming.
One story that you may have missed though, involves the weather - and it may make a big difference in your mood for some time to come.
Right now, the bear that's been the season of Winter is bigfooting all over the start of Spring throughout the Ohio Valley, on the way to our DC office, and up the coast to New England. Spring is indeed coming - and if meteorologists and climate scientists are correct this year, it's going to bring El Niño with it.
While we won't know if a true El Niño pattern has developed in the Pacific for another couple of months, after a winter that's included amazingly high temps in Alaska, desperate drought in California, and repetitive waves of snow and cold for most of the nation East of the Rockies, most of North America is likely ready for an El Niño year.
What that means in real terms is simple - wetter conditions in California, fewer hurricanes for Florida, Gulf Coast, and East Coast states, and generally more stable weather for much of the rest of North America.
Of course, we may not be able to get final confirmation that an El Niño weather pattern is in effect as soon as we'd like. Why not? Austerity and poor governing.
According to Brian Sullivan at Bloomberg.com, the National Weather Service is set to start repairing 70 massive weather buoys scatted throughout the Pacific Ocean this month, that specifically track El Niño and La Niña weather patterns. That system right now, though, is only operating at about 40 percent effectiveness.
That lack of effective investment in our weather forecasting infrastructure may not mean much to you right now - but it means millions of dollars to farmers, commodities investors, and emergency management officials. If the forecasts are wrong, due to poor information, that may mean high prices for you later this year, from the grocery store to the gas pump.
All of that may mean that while most of America may enjoy the weather this spring, that joy might get stomped on later in the year - in large part, due to unwise, austerity-based government spending restrictions, put in place by Republicans in Congress.
If the quality of the weather forecasts turn parts of the economy dark and stormy later this year, don't say we didn't warn you. Investing responsibly in our government - through paying tax money, giving our attention to real news, and getting out and voting - may seem expensive at times.
Austerity and ignorance of reality is actually far more expensive.
It's also a good feeling to be proven correct. Judging from the pieces written by Greg Sargent, Sean Trende, Jonathan Bernstein, and Ed Kilgore about the Florida special election yesterday, we'd say our work is in good company in both prose and pictures.
The news, however, doesn't care much about what we did yesterday.
From the explosive revelations about the CIA spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee exposed by Sen. Diane Feinstein yesterday, to the pathetic attack on campaign financing that passed the Senate on Tuesday, to the generally positive news about Obamacare signups, new stories just keep on coming.
One story that you may have missed though, involves the weather - and it may make a big difference in your mood for some time to come.
Right now, the bear that's been the season of Winter is bigfooting all over the start of Spring throughout the Ohio Valley, on the way to our DC office, and up the coast to New England. Spring is indeed coming - and if meteorologists and climate scientists are correct this year, it's going to bring El Niño with it.
While we won't know if a true El Niño pattern has developed in the Pacific for another couple of months, after a winter that's included amazingly high temps in Alaska, desperate drought in California, and repetitive waves of snow and cold for most of the nation East of the Rockies, most of North America is likely ready for an El Niño year.
What that means in real terms is simple - wetter conditions in California, fewer hurricanes for Florida, Gulf Coast, and East Coast states, and generally more stable weather for much of the rest of North America.
Of course, we may not be able to get final confirmation that an El Niño weather pattern is in effect as soon as we'd like. Why not? Austerity and poor governing.
According to Brian Sullivan at Bloomberg.com, the National Weather Service is set to start repairing 70 massive weather buoys scatted throughout the Pacific Ocean this month, that specifically track El Niño and La Niña weather patterns. That system right now, though, is only operating at about 40 percent effectiveness.
That lack of effective investment in our weather forecasting infrastructure may not mean much to you right now - but it means millions of dollars to farmers, commodities investors, and emergency management officials. If the forecasts are wrong, due to poor information, that may mean high prices for you later this year, from the grocery store to the gas pump.
All of that may mean that while most of America may enjoy the weather this spring, that joy might get stomped on later in the year - in large part, due to unwise, austerity-based government spending restrictions, put in place by Republicans in Congress.
If the quality of the weather forecasts turn parts of the economy dark and stormy later this year, don't say we didn't warn you. Investing responsibly in our government - through paying tax money, giving our attention to real news, and getting out and voting - may seem expensive at times.
Austerity and ignorance of reality is actually far more expensive.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Having A Leg To Stand On
As we noted last Wednesday, the election season is upon us. Today, Tuesday, nowhere will that be more apparent than in the special election for U.S. House being held in Florida's 13th district, in the area around Sarasota.
While many in the media have already been saying things like 'this election will offer clues for 2014', as most of the honest political media has already admitted, no matter who wins, the special election won't really be a bellwether for either party for the rest of 2014. Most of the national media is insiting this race will simply be a test of the party's strategies surrounding Obamacare. That said, it's almost guaranteed that no matter who wins the race, that candidate's party will ignore the facts, and claim the victory in Florida is a sign of things to come the rest of the year.
The facts so far as we have them don't say much.
Even though Sink is taking a slight lead into today, and she has a solid lead in early voting, she's made it clear throughout her campaign she's a moderate on many issues. In a district that's traditionally voted for a moderate Republican, her position is hardly a surprise. Her counterpart, Republican David Jolly - a former DC lobbyist with a troubling history - has been making a desperate attempt to appear moderate as the election has drawn to a close, even going to so far as to alienate the National Republican Party who have made it clear they don't approve of Jolly's sudden moderation.
In short, Republicans appear willing to shoot their own candidate in the foot, and politically take his legs out from under him if he won't march to the beat of the extremist drum. Frankly, that may be both the craziest and most honest thing the GOP has done in quite some time.
In contrast, Alex Sink's absence from one of the largest events in Florida on Monday shows that Democrats also still know how to shoot themselves in the feet with those who may be on the fence about supporting them.
The event on Monday was the massive march in Florida's state capitol of Tallahassee to call for changes to Florida's disastrous 'Stand Your Ground" law. That law has, in a manner of speaking, blown the legs of Florida's gun rights supporters completely off. In multiple different cases, the law has been twisted, both against those who were shot - like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis - as well as those who held the guns, like Marissa Alexander and Michael Giles.
While there are still many calling for the law to be scrapped completely, many more seem willing to accept the idea that the law won't likely be overturned. Many of those marchers say the law should be fixed, changed, and made more just, if it can't be eliminated altogether.
That idea of fixing what you can, making progress where you can, finding common ground and moving forward is an idea Alex Sink has supported in other areas of governing previously. However, she was nowhere near the protest Monday. She didn't even issue a press release stating her support for the efforts of those marching for a just and positive change.
We know for those of our readers in Florida this doesn't exactly leave you with a great decision to make today: It's a choice between a fraudulent and craven Republican in Jolly who's obviously pandering for whatever votes he can scrape together, and in Alex Sink a Democrat who has chosen to be low-profile, instead of courageous enough to boldly come out in favor of changing an unjust law.
That, in a nutshell, may be the most likely part of the Florida race that's duplicated elsewhere this year - desperate pandering from Republicans, with muted stands on every issue from Democrats.
If those dynamics are what's copied in other elections later this year, both major parties may just be shooting themselves in the feet come this fall.
While many in the media have already been saying things like 'this election will offer clues for 2014', as most of the honest political media has already admitted, no matter who wins, the special election won't really be a bellwether for either party for the rest of 2014. Most of the national media is insiting this race will simply be a test of the party's strategies surrounding Obamacare. That said, it's almost guaranteed that no matter who wins the race, that candidate's party will ignore the facts, and claim the victory in Florida is a sign of things to come the rest of the year.
The facts so far as we have them don't say much.
Even though Sink is taking a slight lead into today, and she has a solid lead in early voting, she's made it clear throughout her campaign she's a moderate on many issues. In a district that's traditionally voted for a moderate Republican, her position is hardly a surprise. Her counterpart, Republican David Jolly - a former DC lobbyist with a troubling history - has been making a desperate attempt to appear moderate as the election has drawn to a close, even going to so far as to alienate the National Republican Party who have made it clear they don't approve of Jolly's sudden moderation.
In short, Republicans appear willing to shoot their own candidate in the foot, and politically take his legs out from under him if he won't march to the beat of the extremist drum. Frankly, that may be both the craziest and most honest thing the GOP has done in quite some time.
In contrast, Alex Sink's absence from one of the largest events in Florida on Monday shows that Democrats also still know how to shoot themselves in the feet with those who may be on the fence about supporting them.
The event on Monday was the massive march in Florida's state capitol of Tallahassee to call for changes to Florida's disastrous 'Stand Your Ground" law. That law has, in a manner of speaking, blown the legs of Florida's gun rights supporters completely off. In multiple different cases, the law has been twisted, both against those who were shot - like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis - as well as those who held the guns, like Marissa Alexander and Michael Giles.
While there are still many calling for the law to be scrapped completely, many more seem willing to accept the idea that the law won't likely be overturned. Many of those marchers say the law should be fixed, changed, and made more just, if it can't be eliminated altogether.
That idea of fixing what you can, making progress where you can, finding common ground and moving forward is an idea Alex Sink has supported in other areas of governing previously. However, she was nowhere near the protest Monday. She didn't even issue a press release stating her support for the efforts of those marching for a just and positive change.
We know for those of our readers in Florida this doesn't exactly leave you with a great decision to make today: It's a choice between a fraudulent and craven Republican in Jolly who's obviously pandering for whatever votes he can scrape together, and in Alex Sink a Democrat who has chosen to be low-profile, instead of courageous enough to boldly come out in favor of changing an unjust law.
That, in a nutshell, may be the most likely part of the Florida race that's duplicated elsewhere this year - desperate pandering from Republicans, with muted stands on every issue from Democrats.
If those dynamics are what's copied in other elections later this year, both major parties may just be shooting themselves in the feet come this fall.
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