I Hate to Brag...

Leave it to the Dems to absolutely refuse to take advantage of the opportunity to brag about doing good.  We should by now be hearing in our sleep about the insurance industry being stopped in its tracks from allowing our citizens to die in the name of the not-so-almightly dollar.  No more pre-existing condition exceptions, no more lifetime caps, family policies including young adults up to age 26.  Wow.  Yippee.

But leave it to the Dems to modestly underplay the whole health care reform thing.  The liberals feel guilty because they didn't do enough; the blue dog democrats (the make-believe dems) are afraid their constituents (the ones that already have good health care) will be angry at them for spending their hard-earned tax dollars to fund the have-nots, the corporate democrats -- you know who you are -- don't want to flaunt the bill in front of their buddies in the insurance industry.

The saddest thing of all is that our senators and representatives take their lead mostly from the president, and Obama was never as convinced as we thought he was that we need to disengage from the insurance industry.

So yes, Harry Reid is a weinie, but if Barack Obama had stood strong for health care, Reid would have been tougher (I can't believe I used the words "Reid" and "tough" in the same sentence.).

But let's give credit to Nancy Pelosi, fearless and fighting for us to the bitter end.

And when I hear her speak, I think, that's what the voters are looking for.  We want someone who believes strongly enough in what's right for us that they will fight for it, whether it is during an election season or not, whether the polls support her or not, whether it looks like her opposition is stronger than she is.

Because we are looking for someone who will stand on their principles.

Despite themselves, the Democrats passed real health care reform.  Now we need to hear that they really believe in it. 

Just Say No...Over and Over and Over

We all thought they were crazy when, after the pounding they got in the 2008 elections, the Republicans just shouted the same thing, but louder.  Repeating the dreaded "Obama--Pelosi--Reid" trilogy over and over and over again.  Accusing the Democrats of being left-wing radicals, and the more we moved right in the spirit of compromise, the more they accused us of being left-wing radicals.  Of refusing to listen to them.  Of refusing to compromise.

And, after two years of listening to the repeated lies and inconsistencies over and over and over, I see the voters hypnotically nodding their heads, right along with the discordant song Boehner and Demint are singing.

And what have the Republicans -- in one voice, over and over and over -- been telling us we want?  We want more conservative policies, meaning "cut taxes", which is about as deep as today's conservatives get.  We want the government to stop taking money away from businesses, because that's why we don't have jobs.

What's funny is that I don't even hear Democrats yelling back that it won't work because it didn't work before.  The more the republicans yell at the voters about us, the more defensive we get.

Remember when we first won in 2008, and we laughed in 2009 when the republicans accused us of not doing what they wanted?

What's also funny is that, even though the republicans have been saying in so many words that the changes they will make when they are elected is to return to the smaller Bush's fiscal policies, the polls are showing that the voters believe they will do things differently than they did the last time they were in charge of the country.

So we're in for a long election season, and I'm afraid a long two more years.  Of course, when they get elected, as long as they tell us we're happy to have them in charge, maybe it won't be so bad.  Unfortunately though, I believe they will continue to tell us it's the fault of Obama -- Pelosi --- and Reid, as we sink into the depths of our corporate-controlled despair.