I don't give a fuck, part II (specifically for the partisans around here)

[WilliamPitt]

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WilliamPitt/391

Posted in reply to someone seeking "radical change" from an '08 candidate.

Laughable. Sadly laughable.

Ergo, I seek tangible progress...and keeping my love out of a wheelchair.

Anything else is a pipe-dream. If you don't know this about your "chosen candidate," you need to figure it out.

Part I here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2629749&mesg_id=2629749

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Thank you, Will.

I agree with that 100 percent.

[helderheid]

2. rec 1

[bryant69]

3. Radical change does seem unlikely and

The trouble is that there are good and moral arguments on both sides. I understand that picking a Clinton or an Obama over a more liberal candidate is probably going to continue the same sort of sell outs and frustrations we've seen with the current Democratic congress. And that's intolerable.

on the other hand losing the election, giving the white house to a Republican to be named later is at least as bad, and probably worse (in my assessment). Also intolerable.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[aikoaiko]

4. i forget, did you endorse a candidate already?

[WilliamPitt]

Nope. Not going to, either.

Care to prove me wrong? There's the search function.

[aikoaiko]

6. geesh, I was just asking.

Did you already explain why you're not endorsing?

[WilliamPitt]

7. See OP link above.

[aikoaiko]

13. ok, so you don't care who wins because no radical changes can be expected from anyone

Gotchya.

[MissB]

5. Older. Wiser.

And all that.

Happy Birthday to your girlfriend, Will.

[Green Mountain Dem]

8. I hope you and your girl ....

will benefit from a kinder Congress in 2009, and you are right, they will reverse all the bad shit (Patriot Act, FISA, Medicare Part D, telecoms immunity issues etc) and certainly pass stem cell funding for research!

I hope this will happen in plenty of time to help cure your girl friend from that dreaded disease. It won't be in time for my sister as she passed on Christmas Day, but she made it to 73 so for that I am thankful.

Now I find out that our youngest daughter (28) has diabetes, and I am fully aware that she could be cured with stem cell intervention, so I am with you and understand your anger!

Hang in there my friend.

[Tyler Durden]

9. I don't expect MIRACLES....

But a little EQUAL TREATMENT UNDER THE LAW would be nice.

I seem to remember something about a "constitution"....

[OzarkDem]

10. If you're looking for health care reform, Edwards plan is best

Provides a choice between private insurance or public (Medicare, SCHIP, etc.) with a guarantee that everyone will be enrolled, regardless of income. Not a difficult choice for low and middle income folks, since government insurance will be much less expensive. Help is provided to those who can't afford it through tax credits and subsidies.

Hillary's plan is second best, providing much of the same as Edwards, but without the choice, so it doesn't force private insurance companies to compete with government funded plans as Edwards does.

Obama's plan is short on details and full of holes. He talks of creating a new public health insurance program that people can buy into, but its not based on Medicare. It also does not set public and private insurance plans in competition with each other. It also focuses most of its effort on employers, meaning coverage is linked to employment - also not a good thing. There are also no details on who can participate in the "public" insurance program - no doubt his donors in the insurance business will help write those regulations.

Some of Obama's provisions for regulating private insurers is also troublesome. While its good he requires them to cover all regardless of preexisting conditions, he also requires them to provide a "minimum" level of coverage, which could be a set up for a two tiered health care system or "insurance-lite". Also, the regulations for private insurance don't appear to be mandatory, so its possible some may opt out.

One final note: in any health care reform plan that doesn't cover everyone or leaves coverage voluntary (and Obama's doesn't) people with chronic high health care costs, like your girlfriend or like the cancer patients I advocate for, will be the last ones to get coverage. No one wants them, they're too expensive and it will be a big fight to get coverage from either public or private.

[catnhatnh]

11. There's a difference between a partisan (which I am)....

and an asshole partisan (which I don't believe myself to be-and you can search that). I have stated whom I support but have not posted bullshit attacks on other candidates though I may have stated that they are not my hope. I think that is fair.

[Rex]

12. I will vote for a zombified artichoke over a republican any day of the week.

Just to be clear on where I stand.

[blondeatlast]

14. A Dem president WILL initiate increased stem-cell funding, it's that simple. ans it touches many

of us where we live. that's why I've been fighting to increase it for over ten years.

We're in a desert and there's actual water, not a mirage ahead. Just keep moving and be strong.

[Political Heretic]

15. Oh hey look! It's part two of Will's standard self-absorbed condescending lecture series

"Radical change" does not have anything to do with some notion of immediate total change in one stroke. Of course no president is going to walk into Washington and overhaul the entire structure by divine fiat.

Radical change means vision. And it means ideological conviction. Radical change and practical idealism are not opposed to each other. Radical change is about vision, and about ideological conviction, married to a practical plan to work toward those change goals. It is that sort of vision and practical idealism that can deeply effect the Democratic Party. As President, a man of deep vision for radical change and a the practical idealism to strategically take the incremental and progressive steps to get us there can help the Democratic Party evolve in the right direction, and help steer the country toward the change it needs.

Try not to act like a single-issue voter republican, please. You're not the only person who's hurting or whose loved ones are hurting.