HEALTH CARE REFORM UPDATE: IF "FAILURE" IS NOT AN OPTION, THEN...:
NY Senator Chuck Schumer today:
"Failure is not an option on health care, a leading Democratic senator said Monday, even as Republicans turned up the heat on moderates who hold the fate of the legislation in their hands.
"We're not going to not pass a bill," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. With or without Republican support, Democrats will get it done, Schumer said, because a health care system that leaves nearly 50 million uninsured and spends more than any other is clearly broken."
But Schumer's not stupid. He knows how difficult it's going to be to broker a compromise between conservative and liberal Democrats.
So this tells you the following: failure is not an option, because Democrats will pass SOMETHING--anything--and call it "health care reform", even if it's relatively small potatoes.
And by the way, the longer this health care debate goes on, the more it seems to wear on President Obama's popularity. A new Gallup poll came out today--the president is down to only a 49% approval rating. Again, the more the public learns about Mr. Obama and his policies, the less they seem to like. Republicans and conservatives need to keep the attacks coming!
SPEAKING OF CORRUPTION DEPT:
Remember how Democrats savaged Republicans in 2006 and in the years to come for supposed GOP failures on the "ethics" front? But now, there are a lot of Democrats in trouble, with one of the most prominent being Charles Rangel of New York, and conservatives need to pound away on him--and others on the left in 2010:
"Mr. Rangel has been under investigation by the House ethics committee since last year, when The New York Times reported that he rented four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem for thousands of dollars per month below market value, despite a rule forbidding members to accept gifts worth more than $50. The ethics committee inquiry — also looking into whether he improperly used his office to raise money for an academic center named for him — later expanded to include unreported taxable income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic.
Last month, the ethics committee expanded its inquiry yet again after he amended his financial disclosure statements to account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets that he failed to initially report."
NFL DIARY:
Once again, the Indianapolis Colts find a way to win--despite turnovers, penalties, etc the Colts make two big defensive stands in the 4th quarter and beat Baltimore, 17-15. You have to win these "grinder" kind of games. The Colts are.
Meanwhile, as for the Detroit Lions, you can't get too excited about their 38-37 win over Cleveland yesterday. Yes, it was surprisingly exciting and close, and hey, a win's a win. But the Lions remain 2-8 on the season. But what one CAN get excited about is the toughness and leadership shown by rookie Matthew Stafford on the final play of the game, being injured and on the bench but somehow eluding team doctors and throwing the winning TD pass on that play (and then wincing in pain afterwards). Maybe that's why the kid was the #1 pick...and deserved to be.
NBA DIARY:
Not good news these days for the Detroit Pistons--they've now lost 5 in a row, including yesterday's loss to Phoenix, 117-91. Goes to show what happens in the NBA when you have a young team in transition, you lose some tough games (the Pistons lost their previous game in Utah in overtime), and you have to play 4 games in 6 nights on the road.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL DIARY:
Meanwhile the Michigan State Spartans finally showed some real flash, blasting Valparaiso, 90-60. The Spartans have been ranked in the top 5 this year early, but so far haven't shown that kind of power. Yesterday was the first time they did; one notes they ran, using a fast-break offense. Let's see if Mr. Izzo continues that all season...
