Douchebags

Health Care Repeal to Cost $230 Billion; Ben Chandler now pondering repeal of Wall Street Reform, too

January 7, 2011

Ben Chandler and his fellow Republicans are in an awful position today.

The Republicans took control of Congress promising to repeal the Health Care law — or “the job-killing health care law” as it is officially known — and reduce the deficit.

But… the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing the Health Care Law will cost $230 Billion.

What say you, Great Orange Speaker of the House John Boner?

“I do not believe that repealing the job-killing health care law will increase the deficit. C.B.O. is entitled to their opinion.”

CBO’s numbers are all socialistic… in fact, they’re down right arabic and cannot be trusted.

Having voted to kill the bill twice and done everything he could to water down and ruin the bill that did eventually become law (and has already killed twenties of billions of jobs), Kentucky’s 6th District Republican Congressman, Ben Chandler, now faces a decision — to Repeal the Law or not?

Of the fifty or so pro-Insurance, anti-Reform Democrats who voted against the bill last year, only 13 remain. And they are one confused bunch of “leaders”…

Only two Democrats have committed to voting for repeal, Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma and Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas. Four — Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, John Barrow of Georgia, Ben Chandler of Kentucky and Tim Holden of Pennsylvania — remain uncommitted. McIntyre, however, has said in the past that he favors repeal.

“I voted against it three times, so I don’t know why I would vote not to repeal it,” Ross told POLITICO. “It’s consistent with what I’ve done. It seems pretty simple to me.”

Seems pretty simple to all of us, really, but still… there is no word from Ben Chandler.

To be fair to Ben, he may just be very busy weighing his vote on another upcoming bill — the Repeal of the Wall Street Reform Law… which, as you’ll recall, Ben Chandler also voted against.

A group of Republican lawmakers demanded the repeal of the financial regulatory law coauthored by Representative Barney Frank of Newton yesterday, saying the measure is hurting the economy and should be jettisoned along with the health care law.

The law is a costly burden to business and a power grab by the government, said Representative Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican and Tea Party leader who introduced the repeal measure with four cosponsors. “[It] grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries,’’ said Bachmann, calling provisions that allow the Treasury to seize and liquidate failing institutions “a frightening abuse of power.’’

If Ben Chandler were a man of conviction, if he really stood for anything, then we’d already know which way he’d be voting. He’d be voting to Repeal the Health Care Bill and to Repeal Wall Street Reform… because he was right to vote against them to begin with and it’s just right to side with John Boner and Michelle Bachmann again now when they still so desperately need his support.

Ben Chandler (R-KY) Voting to Repeal Health Care Bill?, part II

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January 7, 2011

By David M. F. Schankula

And so we wait!

It’s been two days since we first wondered how Sixth District Republican Congressman Ben Chandler might vote on the upcoming attempt to repeal last year’s Health Care Bill and while some of his colleagues made their positions known, Ben continues to playfully toy with our ~~lives~~ warm and fuzzy buttons.

After voting against the Health Care Reform Act not once but twice, it seems obvious that Chandler, as a man of deep political conviction, would be a lock to now join his fellow Republicans in voting to repeal the new law.

But all is not what it seems with Ben Chandler.

For instance, just last month after barely winning re-election, Ben Chandler bravely stood up against that devil woman Nancy Pelosi and cast his lot with fellow conservative Heath Shuler… yet, just yesterday when given a second chance, Ben Chandler voted for the Devil Woman instead of his fellow conservative.

Is Ben Chandler’s political ideology crumbling? Is he now a supporter of prolonging people’s lives? Is he no longer in favor of bankrupting his constituents? Does he really now believe insurance companies should be required to provide routine mammograms and colonoscopies at no extra charge? Does he really no longer think people with pre-existing conditions should just be left to die?

Let’s hope not. If we can’t believe in Ben Chandler, who can we believe in?

As for his fellow Repeal fence-sitters, well, some are leaning toward supporting a repeal and others (which may well be the group Ben ultimately falls into) are busy shitting all over the bill while refusing to stick to their guns… like PA Rep. Jason Altmire:

“[T]here’s 13 Democrats remaining that voted against the healthcare bill, myself included. I’ve talked to a lot of them — I think we all have the same concerns. We think, by and large, it was a bad bill,” Altmire said on Fox News. “It did more harm than good. But to repeal it all, including the few provisions that were beneficial, just doesn’t make any sense.”

Ah, yes. More harm than good… but it doesn’t make any sense to repeal it. That’s some sound reasoning. So if Altmire accidentally chopped off his arm doing yard work, even though it did more harm than good, if given the chance he wouldn’t turn back the clock to restore his arm.

But that’s Altmire. We’re waiting on Chandler, a much sharper political mind. So while we wait for him to weigh the pleas of his constituents and the plaintive wails of Republican lobbyists, let’s join Jake in pondering the horrible damning despicable harm this horrendous bill has done.

Ben Chandler (R-KY) Voting to Repeal Health Care Bill?

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January 5, 2011

By David M. F. Schankula

Who’s who? Who knows!

Eric Cantor and his House Republican allies have unveiled the text of their bill to undo the new health reform law — it’s even got a catchy title:

To repeal the job-killing health care law and health care related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

The House votes on the TRJKHCLHCRPHCER Act next week — January 12th, 2011.

While most Democrats around the nation are busying themselves with calls for Republicans voting for repeal of the bill to forego their own (and thus, also their family’s) government provided health care, the people of Kentucky’s 6th District have a different question.

Will Ben Chandler vote to repeal ObamaCare?

Seeing’s how he already voted to kill the bill on two separate occasions, proving himself to be among the nation’s leading anti-woman legislators and a proponent of corporate profit at the expense of human life, an advocate of people dying from pre-existing conditions rather than receiving care… the answer seems somewhat obvious.

Still, what’s the fun of politics if not to ask silly questions?

So, will Ben Chandler vote to repeal the health care bill?

Of the 33 Democrats who joined Ben in voting against reforming health care, only 12 remain after the mid-term election.

Two of them have already stated that they want to repeal parts of the law but not the whole thing, while a third says he’ll probably side with the Republicans.

Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) told The Hill they are open to repealing parts of the law and finding fixes, but that both are opposed to voting in favor of a wholesale repeal.

Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) told Fox News that he’s “inclined to support the repeal.”

The only other Democrat to publicly back repeal… lost his race for re-election back in the fall.

What will Congressman Chandler do? Currently, he’s not saying… because Ben Chandler never says anything that might be construed as taking a position.

Hopefully, though, he’ll vote for a full repeal: He needs to shore up his base ahead of the 2012 elections.

This vote is the real test of where he stands on the issue — simply voting against the bill twice and working actively to weaken it and placate Big Insurance and make the bill as bad as it could possibly be… that’s just not enough.

Kill the bill, Ben. Kill the bill.

Dear Ben Chandler: Every Vote Counts

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November 2, 2010

By David M. F. Schankula

Dear Ben Chandler,

It’s election day. You’ve bumbled your way this far in life and in this election thanks to a strong name and a terrible political strategy. The NRCC put your race in play early and you and your team didn’t figure it out until it was much, much too late.

Today, your race is sotight the entire nation is watching it. If Andy Barr wins it’s a clear sign of the course of the evening… a Republican landslide.

Starting at 7PM tonight, the eyes of the nation will be on your race. I think you’re probably going to win (thanks not to you but to strong turnout for Jack Conway and the two Democrats in the Mayoral Race here in Fayette County).

But you might lose, Ben. Your race might come down to a few hundred votes.

I hope it does not come to that but if it does — and as you go through the day — I hope you’ll keep in mind just how you got here.

Back in March you told the Herald-Leader you didn’t care about a “liberal backlash.” You didn’t need liberal and progressive supporters. You thought you’d win easily, in a landslide all your own (screw the Party, right? Screw the people? You were sure of another giant election night victory for yourself).

Today, those same Liberal and Progressive voters who you abandoned must now step into a voting booth and ponder whether to abandon you.

You are lucky, Ben. Not just to be born a Chandler and so handed a political dynasty. Not just to be born wealthy and guaranteed health insurance and an easy life.

No, Ben Chandler, you are lucky because you are surrounded by good Democrats. You are surrounded by fighting men and women who believe in the principles of this party and, unlike you, are willing to stand up for them. From Bob Layton and Jennifer Miller to David O’Neill and Debra Hensley, from John Malloy to Brereton Jones. You let them down, yet still they fight for you.

There are plenty of good Democrats who can excuse your inactions, who have tried to explain your heart. They have tried to say that a vote for you is a vote for John Boner… but it’s not true… yours will not be the magical 39th seat the Republicans need. If you lose, it’s just another seat in a massive sea of loss. That’s what you are.

They have reminded us THAT EVERY VOTE COUNTS.

And here, Ben, they are very correct.

Your vote AGAINST Health Care Reform counted. Your vote against extending coverage to recent college graduates counted and your vote against requiring Big Insurance corporations to provide mammograms and colonoscopies without screwing people over… that counted.

Your vote FOR the biggest setback to the Women’s Movement of the last four decades counted. Seriously, Ben. You voted to ban coverage of most abortions from all private insurance plans? What the fuck is wrong with you?

That counted. And you weren’t there for Kentucky’s women. You weren’t there for Kentucky men. You weren’t there for the Democratic Party. And you have the nerve to demand our vote now?

I’m sorry, Ben, but you can look it up in the Congressional Record. Your vote for the Stupak Amendment counted.

In a debate two weeks ago, you explained the collapse of America’s financial system thusly: “I believe we had some greedy bankers on Wall Street. Seems to me the Wall Street bankers were at least a little involved in it.”

Apparently you’d forgotten that you VOTED AGAINST reforming Wall Street to keep those idiots from just doing it again. That vote counted.

So, yes, Ben Chandler: Every Vote Counts.

I hope you win tonight… not for your sake, but because unlike you, I hold out a hope for this country and a belief it can be better, that it can be better, and that it’s worth standing up to make it better. I hope you win and that you listen to those good Democrats who surround you, the ones you’ve been ignoring this past year and a half.

But you might lose. You might lose by only a few votes. I hope you don’t, Ben, but every vote counts and I’m headed out to the voting booth now to cast mine.

Good luck, Ben, and I hope you realize you can be better, you can be true, you can be a fighter. You were born with great gifts. Stop wasting them.

David Adams & Teabagger friends: she got the curbstomping she deserved

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October 27, 2010

By Joe Sonka

From the Facebook status of the former campaign manager of Rand Paul who got his ass fired by Mitch McConnell and crew this summer, David Adams:

David Adams is glad the moveon.org folks realize they can’t beat us but disappointed they now seem to be intent on trying to bite us instead. Vampirenomics was already an appropriate label for Obama, Conway, Yarmuth, Beshear and Chandler and their policies, but they really should rein in their wild out-of-state supporters.

Ah, so Moveon should “rein in” their “wild” supporters, who are trying to “bite” Rand Paul. And Rand Paul’s county coordinator and proud endorser and big contributor who stomps on the head of a defenseless woman?

*crickets*

As one of his friends commented to him:

This ignorant STUNT, courtesy of George SorryAss and moveon.org will do NOTHING but boost Ran Paul’s lead. It was TOTALLY planned and while she did not get to Paul, she got EXACTLY WHAT SHE DESERVED….a troublemaker and an instigator needs to be put in her/his place and that is the end of it…plain & simple. If she were not here to cause a raucous, none of this would have happened. AND, you can bet the FARM, that if it had been someone trying to “get next to” Conman, EVERYONE would have been hauled off to jail…..typical double standard once again….typical.

Well David, you can only hope that one day in the future you can rile up Phil Moffett’s WMLP supporters into a rage sufficient enough to get them to stomp on the head of a defenseless liberal woman, too. She’ll probably have it coming, as well.

Ben Chandler (R-KY) vs. Himself

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September 20, 2010

By David M. F. Schankula

“This is not a good year to be Ben Chandler.”

Ouch.

The Herald-Leader on Sunday profiled the 6th District Congressional Republican Primary race between Ben Chandler and Andaaay Barr, with the excellent John Cheves giving each candidate a nice long look.

Both are worth reading in full, of course, so here are just some highlights… starting with Cheves on Chandler:

This is not a good year to be Ben Chandler.

“Ben has a tough case to make,” said state Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, a longtime friend.

Some stimulus funding circled back possibly to benefit Chandler.

The Beshear administration said the Transportation Cabinet was so overwhelmed with $421 million in stimulus money that it established a politically appointed $80,000-a-year job in the cabinet’s Office of Budget and Fiscal Management to handle the extra load. Beshear hired Chandler’s wife Jennifer. Chandler said he had nothing to do with the hire. Previously, his wife worked for $75,000 a year at Beshear’s Department for Local Government.

There’s much more, of course, from the coal companies that don’t appreciate Chandler’s pathetic attempts to slurry their favor to all those angry progressives and liberals whose vote Ben Chandler neither wants nor needs. Poor Ben Chandler can’t make everybody happy and he’s done even pretending to try.

As for Andy Barr… Cheves tells the other story:

So far this year, just showing up has been a large part of Andy Barr’s success.

For example, the Fraternal Order of Police, Bluegrass Lodge No. 4, announced this month it’s endorsing Barr for Congress in the Nov. 2 election. Barr, a Republican, satisfied the police by pledging to protect their retirement benefits and collective bargaining rights, said lodge president Mike Sweeney.

Also, his opponent — U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles — was absent.

“Mr. Chandler did not return our phone calls, did not respond to our questionnaire and did not come in for an interview,” Sweeney said, standing with Barr at a news conference. “Andy did all three.”

Polls show Chandler facing his first serious contest since going to Washington in 2004. Two insider publications, the Cook Political Report and CQ Politics, rate the race as “Leans Democratic” rather than “Solid Democratic” or “Likely Democratic,” which is Chandler’s usual territory.

Earlier this summer, the National Republican Congressional Committee branded Barr one of its promising “Young Gun” candidates that could help the GOP retake the House. The NRCC plans to spend at least $362,000 on television commercials for Barr, nearly half as much as his own campaign plans to spend.

Barr impressed Republicans in Washington by crushing five opponents in the GOP primary and raising $811,612 by June 30, said NRCC spokesman Andy Sere.

Jeez.

With all that money piled-up against him, it sure would be nice if poor Ben Chandler had good, dedicated folks out in front swatting down the bullshit and fighting on his behalf. Instead, he just has disillusioned support from half-hearted compromisers and a fleet of sad little campaign staff who are all working against their own better judgment.

Oh… also, Chandler’s too chicken-shit to put his fully-formed political ideology of short-sighted appeasement up against Barr in any substantive debate. Chandler’s refused all invitations save one, on KET, in October… so mark your calendar because that will be about the only time Chandler deigns to answer questions.

And before we leave this sparkling contest of great Republican minds, the Herald-Leader’s most recent “Bluegrass Politics Debate” — in which one campaign asks the other campaign meandering questions and the other offers a quick answer and the first then gets to rebut — gave us this particular gem:

Chandler’s question for Barr: Does your opposition to directed appropriations include opposing funds for Blue Grass Army Depot and the Kentucky National Guard? If so, why do you keep pushing a position that hurts national security institutions in Kentucky?

Barr’s answer: For two questions in a row you have fabricated positions for me out of thin air, just like your TV commercials that the Herald-Leader has judged to be mostly false. I do not oppose funding of national security priorities and, again, I support appropriations for worthy programs that we can afford. However, I oppose the earmark process you have abused to appropriate funds that will end up in the pockets of your campaign donors.

Chandler’s rebuttal: Recently, you’ve peddled two positions: to “ban” and now “reform” earmarks. Just because you’re now addressing a wider audience, doesn’t mean you should change your positions. Kentuckians deserve to know where you stand.

And Ben Chandler would know… because… well, he’s been lying to Kentucky voters for years.

"Join us now or work for us later!"

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September 17, 2010

By Joe Sonka

Looky at the UK College Republicans on campus yesterday:

Can anyone decipher this sign besides the obvious “spoiled rich brats” interpretation?

Please help out in the comments.

Ben Chandler (R-KY) vs. The Middle Class

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September 17, 2010

By David M. F. Schankula

We get asked a lot, “Why are guys always so mean to poor Ben Chandler?”

It’s a fine question, I suppose.

But here’s a better one: Why is Ben Chandler hellbent on screwing over the regular, working people of Kentucky?

And why is there any one left who can even defend his actions?

Today Ben Chandler crawled out of the woodwork to pronounce himself a supporter of the George W. Bush Tax Cuts.
At a time when the country faces record budget deficits, Ben Chandler wants to cut taxes.

First, let’s give credit where it’s due — Ben Chandler wants to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the middle class. That’s good. That’s what he’s supposed to do.

Unfortunately, as the Herald-Leader reports, Ben Chandler doesn’t want to stop there.

Says Republican Congressman Ben Chandler:

“I am inclined to support all the tax cuts, at least temporarily, until the economy gets back on its feet.”

Ben Chandler is now publicly joining forces with Mitch McConnell and Congressional Republicans to cram down our throats a massive, massive tax cut for the ridiculously wealthy.

The CBO has put a price tag on this McConnell/Chandler plan… making life a little bit easier for the top 5% of Americans is going to cost the rest of us $3.9 trillion dollars over the next decade.

That’s $3.9 Trillion dollars that could have been spent on roads and infrastructure, on education and health care.

That’s $3.9 Trillion dollars Ben Chandler would rather see in the pockets of this nation’s poor put-upon rich people than put to use helping this broken country.

Now, I suppose you could defend Ben Chandler’s reasoning. You could try to tell us that Ben Chandler’s decision to support tax cuts for the comfortable is actually good for the economy. There are plenty of people who argue that.

Unfortunately, those people are called Republicans.

So, please, my fellow Democrats… defend Ben Chandler. Give it all you’ve got.

Come November, we’ve got an interesting choice to make here in the Bluegrass.

If you want a Congressman who opposes health care reform and wants to defend insurance companies…
If you want a Congressman who opposes Wall Street reform and wants to defend Big Banks and the fools who wrecked the country…
If you want a Congressman who works actively to limit a woman’s right to choose…
If you want a Congressman who works actively to weaken this nation’s Clean Air rules…

If you want that Congressman, you can vote for Ben Chandler or you can vote for Andy Barr.

Either way you are voting to support Mitch McConnell’s agenda.

And if, perchance, you don’t want that Congressman, if you want someone who will stand up for real people not just the rich ones, well, Ben Chandler doesn’t want to hear about it and his sad defenders will just assure and promise you that his record is no indication of his true intentions, as though somehow voting for Andy Barr or not voting in the race at all would be a true tragedy.

And that, friends, is just sad.