Deficit & Debt: The Republican Legacy
Deficit & Debt: The Republican LegacyConservatives waved the flag and told us how responsible and patriotic they were as they trashed America under the three most recent Republican presidencies. Now they want everyone to forgive and forget - vote for them in 2010 and 2012 - hey they promise to get it right this time.
U.S. Budget History
Jan'01: Bush Becomes President
$850 billion SURPLUS
Nov'04: Bush Re-Elected
$415 billion DEFICIT
Jan'09: Obama Becomes Pres.
$1.2 trillion DEFICIT
Republican Debt Legacy
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Started: $1.6 trillion debt
Finished: $3.0 trillion debt
George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
Started: $3.0 trillion debt
Finished: $4.3 trillion debt
George W. Bush (2001-2009)
Started: $5.8 trillion debt
Finished: $10.8 trillion debt
As Bush Jr. turned an $850 billion budget surplus into a $1.2 trillion dollar deficit, he became responsible, alone, for about 42% of the current national debt.
The right-wing conservative media has as much integrity as right-wing politicians. None. AP fact-checks Andrew Breitbart; Breitbart loses
Report: Breitbart used 'wrong video' to claim Dem lawmakers lied about racial slursBrietbart showed a video of some of those Democrats leaving. Andrew has already been caught manipulating video for James O'Keefe's malicious slander of ACORN. Conservatives seem to define "values" different from normal people.
For weeks, an argument has been raging between liberal and conservative commentators over whether or not Tea Party protesters yelled racist and homophobic slurs at Democratic lawmakers on the day the House passed the health care overhaul.
During a March 20 anti-health reform Tea Party protest at Capitol Hill, numerous Democratic lawmakers said they had been the targets of abusive language.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), an openly gay member of the House, said he had been called a "fa**ot." Three black members of Congress -- Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) and civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) -- said they had been called "ni**er," and that the epithet had been hurled at them some 15 times as they arrived at the House of Representatives for a meeting.
Stung by such potent linking of the Tea Party movement to racism and homophobia, conservative pundits began to fire back. At the head of the pack was Matt Drudge ally Andrew Breitbart, who asserted that the incidents never happened and offered $10,000 for video footage proving otherwise. He has since increased his offer to $100,000.
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"It’s time for the allegedly pristine character of Rep. John Lewis to put up or shut up," Breitbart wrote. "Therefore, I am offering $10,000 of my own money to provide hard evidence that the N-word was hurled at him not 15 times, as his colleague reported, but just once."
To back up his claim, Breitbart posted a short video clip of Reps. Lewis and Cleaver, among others, walking through the protest with no racial slurs audible on the video.
But an article from the Associated Press says the video Breitbart trumpeted was not shot at the time the black lawmakers say they were targeted with the N-word; rather, the video was shot an hour later, as the group emerged from a congressional meeting. They had alleged that they were targeted as they were walking into the meeting.
Asked by AP about the inconsistency, Breitbart responded, "I'm not saying the video was conclusive proof."
On Sunday, the Washington Post's ombudsman asserted that there was at least some truth to the allegations of abusive behavior at the protest.
Responding to criticism of the paper's coverage by conservative activists, ombudsman Andrew Alexander went through a list of allegations of slurs, and found merit in many of them:
Many readers have told me there is no evidence to support The Post's report that Frank was subjected to anti-gay slurs. They're wrong. An ABC News video recorded the incident inside a House office building. When ABC aired its video, the epithets were bleeped. A review of the unaltered footage, made by ABC at my request, clearly captures a protester shouting, "Barney, you faggot." Case closed.
Arizona Doctor Plans To Close His Office Because Of ‘Stress’ Caused By ‘Obamacare’
Last month a Republican urologist in Florida posted a sign on his office door telling his patients that if they voted for President Obama, they should “seek urologic care elsewhere.” Despite later admitting that he knew little about the new law, the sign added: “Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years.”These right-wing conservative doctors that are refusing to treat people or closing down might well be doing everyone a favor. Who wants to go to a doctor that is as stupid and petty as these guys.
The Daily Caller reports that another doctor has pulled a similar stunt. Arizona dermatologist Joseph Scherzer put a sign outside his office warning his patients that he will be closing his doors because of the new law. “If you voted for Obamacare, be aware these doors will close before it goes into effect,” the sign reads. Scherzer — a self-described conservative — claims that the “stress” the law will supposedly impose will cause him to close up shop:
“I’m absolutely serious [about stopping practicing] and it’s not just because I’ll be nearing 65,” Scherzer said. “The stress is what would push me out the door.” [...]
Scherzer said the bill’s emphasis on punitive measures for physicians not following government-prescribed treatment methods under Medicare would increase his anxiety level to the point he would no longer be able to practice medicine.
“Doctors have actually committed suicide over these things,” Scherzer said. But it’s unclear what punitive measures Scherzer is referring to. One possibility is comparative effectiveness research (CER) into which treatments work most effectively. Indeed, conservatives have been using this provision in their attacks on health care reform to claim it would ration care, impose standards and prevent certain kinds of treatment. But as the Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky noted, “CER is a recommendation, not a mandate.”
Or perhaps Scherzer is referring to basic Medicare billing fraud. But presumably he had to provide proper documentation for Medicare services provided before the President signed the bill into law. The new law simply strengthens these accountability measures to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
Like the Florida urologist, Scherzer may not be aware of what’s actually in the law. In fact, if he stays in business, Scherzer has the opportunity to perhaps reduce his anxiety level with added benefits such as an “increase in Medicaid payment rates.” Moreover, the American Medical Association has an extensive list of benefits for physicians that will come from the Affordable Care Act, including bonus payments and geographic payment differentials.
