Day: August 10, 2009

White House Offers Reality Check

Trish

As the Quote du Jour and Jon’s post about Palin exploiting her children to distort Democratic health care reform point out, there is a lot of misinformation making the rounds on the topic. Enter the White House, which has launched a new site to set things straight. Health Insurance Reform Reality Check dispels such rumors as the death panel euthanasia horror, the end of veteran’s benefits, and my favorite, the idea that relieving small employers from the burden of insuring their employees will put them out of business.

Anticipating the reading level of people who fall for such bunk to begin with, most of the information is provided in video format. Check it out.

Mel’s Last Vote Leaves Us Wondering

Trish
What cha thinkin’ Mel?

At first blush, it’s not surprising that a dyed-in-the-wool Republican like Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.) would vote against extending the popular and successful “Cash for Clunkers” program.

Mel’s final act as senator was to do just that, keeping up a record that began with a dirty campaign that narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger, Betty Castor, by playing the terrorist card. From there, it was downhill all the way: a $99,000 fine for campaign finance violations, poor Cuba policy from America’s first Cuban-born senator, a vote to make Terri Schiavo continue forced feeding and ventilation, the exposure of a memo from the Martinez office that explained how Republicans could exploit the Schiavo tragedy, and short-changing Florida by juggling his senate duties with his dual role as chair of the Republican party for the 2007-2008 election cycle (another job he quit early).

Is Martinez leaving politics or just leaving Washington?

So while Mel’s last vote did little to redeem his legacy, it does make you wonder. Why is he still bothering to play politics? Is Martinez leaving politics or just leaving Washington? After all, he was said to have his eye on the Florida governorship back when Jeb and W’s people recruited him to run for the Senate. His abrupt departure from Washington would give him plenty of time to enter the governor’s race. His only primary challenger so far would be state Attorney General Bill McCollum. That’s the same Bill McCollum that Martinez defeated in the primary for the U.S. Senate seat he is now abandoning. If Martinez beat McCollum once, there’s no reason he can’t do it again.

Martinez’s resignation statement didn’t exactly say Mel was leaving politics.

My priorities have always been my faith, my family and my country and at this stage in my life, and after nearly twelve years of public service in Florida and Washington, it’s time I return to Florida and my family…I look forward to continuing to be an active and constructive voice on issues vital to Florida and our nation, and being an active member of Florida’s Republican Party.

Just how active Martinez will be remains to be seen. For Florida’s sake, let’s hope he just plans to do what a lot of retirees do and volunteer as a poll worker.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

— Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, writing on her Facebook page Friday to promulgate the latest disinformation on the health-care debate.

Truly Evil: Palin Exploits Down Syndrome Son in Health-Care Reform Debate

Jon Ponder

From the moment she signed on as the Republican vice-presidential nominee last year, Sarah Palin has made a habit of using her children as political props but then denouncing the media for reporting on it when she thrusts her kids into the spotlight.

Palin’s exploitation of her children took a nasty turn on Friday when she lied on her Facebook page about a provision in the reform proposals that would pay for consultations on end-of-life options:

“And who will suffer the most when they ration care?” Palin asks. “The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.”

If any part of what she wrote were true, it would be evil. But what is truly evil is a politician who is so corrupt and degenerate that she would use her handicapped child as a prop to illustrate a lie.