If There Were A God...

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Here's a reminder if you forgot about Bush's Screw-Ups.

A Progressive's Take on the Election

6th year elections are often difficult for US Presidents statistically, so this is not really anything new. After 6 years, a lot of controversy typically builds up, both real and fake, that is all played over and over on the news and re-discussed by pundits.

But more specifically, people got tired of Washington gridlock and decided to shuffle the deck in order to try something different. Voters may not know or care whose fault the gridlock is; they'll just pull the slot machine lever if the fruits they see grow annoying enough. Neither party is popular in general polls.

Also, the domestic spying revelations by Snowden and others has frustrated the left as much as the right, if not more. The GOP's base was all frothed up and motivated by anti-Obama propaganda from Fox News, Rush L., and friends, and thus showed up at the polls. However, there is no counter-balancing motivation on the left, in part because of the mentioned snooping. While the left may prefer ACA over what we had before, they are not giddy over it.

Community Stabilizer

My Birthday and Xmas Wish

If only they were smart enough to pull it off.

Only 20% want Bush-Care back, CNN Poll

According to a CNN poll, the vast majority of Americans want the ACA (Obama-Care) adjusted to various degrees or replaced with some other form of federal health insurance. Only about 20% want to go back to the way things were before the ACA.

The VA Scandal & Private Sector versus Government

The recent VA scandal has conservatives singing their usual song about how government is slow and evil and the private sector is efficient and angelic. If only life were that simple.

Remember, the VA issue is about not making mandated appointment time deadlines and then cooking the books to hide the slippage. The private sector will also happily take shortcuts or cheats if they think they can get away with it or are willing to accept the risk of getting caught.

I'd argue that there is even more incentive to cheat in the private sector because of the pressure to make a profit. It's great when the profit motive makes companies more efficient, but that same motivation engine also can encourage cheating. That powerful profit motive is a double-edged sword.

The real solution is better auditing, surveys, and inspections REGARDLESS of whether the patients are treated in public or private hospitals. However, increased over-site requires more funds, and thus more tax money. I know conservatives will balk at that suggestion, but they don't have a realistic alternative: if you want the private sector to follow certain rules, somebody has to check and verify they actually are following through also. It's because humans run hospitals, not because the hospitals are public or private sector.

Mad Cows Worried About Catching Mad-Bundy Disease

"I hope I don't catch Mad-Bundy disease also.
It's not covered under Obamoocare."

Proof Rand Paul is a Marxist

Proof Rand Paul is a Marxist

6 Benghazi Facts

1. The State Department didn't want Al Qaeda mentioned in the press release to avoid tipping their murder investigation hand. Others on the review panel appeared to agree with that assessment. Some argue that the suggestion was politically motivated based on related emails on possible negative Congressional responses, but we cannot "X-ray" the minds of the recommendation writers to really know. Motivation guessing is pure speculation at this point.

2. The CIA signed off on the talking points, which were eventually paraphrased by Susan Rice.

3. There was no "stand down" order from the Predisent or Hillary. The commander in charge of rescue operations judged there to be insufficient info to send a landing party to a specific location, and the current position needed defending as well. Former Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, a Republican who was originally nominated to head the Pentagon by former President George W. Bush, stated "Frankly, had I been in the job at the time, I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were," Gates said during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" program. "We don't have a ready force standing by in the Middle East, and so getting somebody there in a timely way would have been very difficult, if not impossible...[some have] sort of a cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces..."

4. The actual nature of the perpetrators is still not known. Some of them appear to have ties to Al Qaeda, but that does necessarily not mean ALL of them were Al Qaeda. The "Innocence of Muslims" video may have enlarged the attack party, similar to how it sparked protests in other cities at the same time. Until all are caught and interrogated, we won't know. Discussions on whether some or all were "terrorists" or not, or whether they were motivated by the video, can only be speculative at this point.

5. "Terrorism" is a vague and misused word.

6. There were 13 deadly diplomat attacks under Bush's watch.