Michael Ryan's Lies of the Day

Re: "We never would have deemed this possible," from the March 19th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

In this editorial Michael Ryan tells two blazing, obvious lies.

1. He wrote that the deem and pass procedure democrats will probably use to pass the bill is "quite without precedent in the United States of America."

According to Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post, deem and pass was first used in 1933. Republicans used it in 1948 as soon as they regained power in congress. Republicans used it 36 times between 2005 and 2006. Democrats used it 49 times between 2007 and 2008. Obviously, it's not unprecedented. It is an act of political cowardice. Congressmen are avoiding attack ads that criticize them for voting for such and such unpopular bills.

2. Mr. Ryan also wrote that this is an "unprecedented power grab by the federal government."

Article 1 section 8 clearly allows for most of what's in the health care reform bill. It states "The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, excises; to pay debt, and provide for the common defence and general welfare, but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the U.S."

I think this allows for everything except some of the special deals like the Cornhusker exemption. That would clearly be ruled unconstitutional by a court, but this is a moot point because reconciliation will eliminate it anyway.

Mr. Ryan writes that people are going to protest in the streets over this. I doubt many Americans are going to protest in outrage over Congressional procedure. Mr. Ryan claims that voters will take this outrage to the voting polls. I also doubt that many Americans are going to base their vote on the health care reform debate. Much more important will be how the economy is doing. If the economy improves, democrats may not lose as much as Mr. Ryan hopes. In any case the state of the economy and jobs will be much more important to voters.

Mr. Ryan claims the health care reform will lessen choice. This is the opposite of what will happen for the uninsured, most of whom will finally have a choice.

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Re: "Barrow must stay true blue," from the same edition of the Augusta Chronicle.

I see this as the plutocrat, fascist Billy Morris, using his newspapers to put pressure on John Barrow to vote against reform that will help poor people.

This seems unnecessary to me...John Barrow has made it clear that he will vote against it. John Barrow is a democrat in name only. In my opinion he's the equivalent of a whacko right wing republican, aka a sorry sack of shit.

I live in his district, and I could care less who wins his seat. There's absolutely no difference between him and any republican who runs. I always write in a vote for Magnus Robot Fighter.

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Re: "Will Blue Dogs hunt for President Obama?" by Doyle McManus from this same editorial page.

I found this part interesting. A conservative democrat congressman from Pennsylvania was speaking to Tea Party jerks. He said, "Shouldn't the government help low income people afford basic health insurance?" They shouted a resounding, "No!"

This clearly illustrates what kind of people Tea Party creeps are. They are heartless pieces of trash who think that when poor people get sick they should drop dead.