Slog
News & ArtsSunday, September 13, 2009
Politics / News Teabaggers Endorse Public Option
Posted by Dan Savage on Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 11:17 AM
A final dispatch from Slog's man in Washington D.C.:
"After my trip to the Holocaust Museum yesterday (where I got a lot more sickened by the Obama/Hitler comparisons)," writes BrinkleyBoy, "I happened to get on the Metro to VA which was packed wall-to-wall with Teabaggers coming back from the rally and I had a few thoughts. 1. The DC Metro is awesome and can handle really insane volumes of people. 2. Why are Tea Baggers riding such a massively 'socialist' form of transportation? Isn't a 'public option' for transportation as dangerous and un-American as a public option for health care? 3. I learned that whenever you blame Obama for something, it's hi- larious. The lights went out briefly on the train and someone said, "Where's Obama now?" followed by laughs all around. Hahaha, I can't believe there's no conservative version of The Daily Show."
1
I thought they loved America, where's their hummer? No private jets? Worst conservative movement ever. "Let's take the loser cruiser, government subsidized transportation, to protest the government subsidizing things!". One step forward, 2 steps back.
3
Well, these folks are proving what I've always suspected about mass transit and their attitudes towards it: they'd use it, if it was all white.
It's a bit of chicken egg, the building the interstates, desegregation, the continual improvement & reliability of cars, but what I've seen in the history books is that white folks didn't used to mind riding in buses, right up until, hmmm....
It's a bit of chicken egg, the building the interstates, desegregation, the continual improvement & reliability of cars, but what I've seen in the history books is that white folks didn't used to mind riding in buses, right up until, hmmm....
4
@3:
And let's not forget trains - white folk loved trains so long as the only black people on them were the ones serving them in the dining car.
And let's not forget trains - white folk loved trains so long as the only black people on them were the ones serving them in the dining car.
5
hey freaking idiots:
white people ride trains with black people and Latino people all over DC and NYC and Chicago and many other places.
Try to deal with the real world; your fantasy in which you are the liberal superstar pointing out others' racism even where it doesn't exist is sooooo Seattle. But it's a fantasy just like a tea baggers' fantasies.
white people ride trains with black people and Latino people all over DC and NYC and Chicago and many other places.
Try to deal with the real world; your fantasy in which you are the liberal superstar pointing out others' racism even where it doesn't exist is sooooo Seattle. But it's a fantasy just like a tea baggers' fantasies.
6
They're not against public health insurance, they're just against democrats.
The guy they voted for lost the election and they're going to piss and moan and bitch about it for at least a few years.
Obama could uncover the holy grail and they'd still find something to bitch about.
The guy they voted for lost the election and they're going to piss and moan and bitch about it for at least a few years.
Obama could uncover the holy grail and they'd still find something to bitch about.
7
It is hilarious to hear smug smarmy wimpy white-guilt liberals from SUPER-WHITE SEATTLE lecturing anyone about racism.
9
Yes, if you give government enough money they can make buses work. Remember that all of us in the US, not just the people who live and work in the District, pay for mass transit in DC.
And I am sure that, given enough money, government can make health care that works for everyone. The problem is "given enough money". Where do you think that will come from?
And I am sure that, given enough money, government can make health care that works for everyone. The problem is "given enough money". Where do you think that will come from?
10
Well maybe if we stopped pouring money down that same rathole called "national defense" that we've been been stoking since 1947, we could have nice things.
But would mean the terrorists won....
But would mean the terrorists won....
11
@9: Do you think that the disappearance of major urban transit networks -- such as the DC Metro -- would be a net economic gain or loss for the economies of those major cities? For the nation as a whole?
Yes, public transportation is subsidized through significant amounts of tax dollars. Just like public schools. Would the people who don't directly use these things be better off without them? Do you see no merit in the argument that a public option will increase the viability of small businesses and startups?
This has always been the bottom line argument for public services: private industry doesn't find something profitable enough to do it right, so the government has to step in before the world goes to crap. You can call it "socialism" if you like, but I call it economic viability.
Seriously, can you imagine if everyone who works in Manhattan took their own car?
Yes, public transportation is subsidized through significant amounts of tax dollars. Just like public schools. Would the people who don't directly use these things be better off without them? Do you see no merit in the argument that a public option will increase the viability of small businesses and startups?
This has always been the bottom line argument for public services: private industry doesn't find something profitable enough to do it right, so the government has to step in before the world goes to crap. You can call it "socialism" if you like, but I call it economic viability.
Seriously, can you imagine if everyone who works in Manhattan took their own car?
12
3
4
You Seattle pussies really are poorly equipped to comment on the real world.
Just because you piss yourself every time a black gets on the bus doesn't mean everyone does.
4
You Seattle pussies really are poorly equipped to comment on the real world.
Just because you piss yourself every time a black gets on the bus doesn't mean everyone does.
13
"but what I've seen in the history books is that white folks didn't used to mind riding in buses, right up until, hmmm...."
I'm sure that has absolutely nothing to do with the facts that blacks make up only 12% of the entire USA (which makes adult black males about 3% or less) but they somehow commit over 52% of all murders and over 34% of all rapes nationally.
I'm sure that has absolutely nothing to do with the facts that blacks make up only 12% of the entire USA (which makes adult black males about 3% or less) but they somehow commit over 52% of all murders and over 34% of all rapes nationally.
14
I'm saying that using a bus system as a metaphor for 1/6 of the economy is pretty strained. Remember -- the government runs the roads also, so it's not like road design and maintenance is a model of efficiency. Anyone seeing the glory of the Seattle freeway system cannot help but notice that.
And the government school systems are also not a great selling point for government efficiency either.
Me -- I would like to go in the other direction on health care. Separate it from employment (my employer does not buy auto insurance for me, after all) so I can see cost and benefits and customer service up front. Remove as many government restrictions (like prescription requirements) as possible and reform drug patents so that people who want can get lower-cost care options than the full-freight or nothing approach we have now.
Government-run health care will only enhance startups and small business if you believe the money to pour into that will come from the magic money fairy. Instead of from either taxes or printing money or borrowing.
And the government school systems are also not a great selling point for government efficiency either.
Me -- I would like to go in the other direction on health care. Separate it from employment (my employer does not buy auto insurance for me, after all) so I can see cost and benefits and customer service up front. Remove as many government restrictions (like prescription requirements) as possible and reform drug patents so that people who want can get lower-cost care options than the full-freight or nothing approach we have now.
Government-run health care will only enhance startups and small business if you believe the money to pour into that will come from the magic money fairy. Instead of from either taxes or printing money or borrowing.
15
At first I wondered why there were so many people posting here without having an account, but them I remembered that Slog requires people to have the ability to detect humour and sarcasm.
16
Oh, and sure the people living and working in DC are better off since the rest of us were taxed to buy them buses and a very expensive subway. I'm not sure what conclusion I should draw from that.
17
@14: And I'm saying that everything the government runs is something that people want, but is not profitable for private enterprise to do well. Thus, "efficiency" has a fundamentally different kind of measure here than the one you are using (value produced per dollar spent).
The private industry approach to running a school system is essentially to bar the slow and poor from receiving any education at all. And that is not good for society as a whole, including the wealthy brainiac portion of society that no doubt winds up subsidizing public education.
In other words, you can say that public schools and public transportation aren't efficient, but to what are you comparing them? And what measure of efficiency are you using?
It's like saying "food stamp programs are terribly inefficient. If people want food stamps, let the market provide that service." It's a ridiculous statement on the face of it, because there is no incentive for private capital to give away free food, no matter how needy the recipients. Rather, the incentive exists for society as a whole to provide this service, so that short-term misfortune does not lead to starvation, that otherwise innocent people don't resort to stealing bread, and that we as a society can continue to hold our heads up high. So, any comparison of the efficiency of real state-run food stamp programs to hypothetical private food stamp programs is absurd.
When you attempt to smear public services as "inefficient" in comparison to private alternatives that don't exist, you are making an unfalsifiable assertion which in turn refers back to the premise that the profit motive is always a better incentive the provision of services than need among the clients of that service. It's circular reasoning.
More...
The private industry approach to running a school system is essentially to bar the slow and poor from receiving any education at all. And that is not good for society as a whole, including the wealthy brainiac portion of society that no doubt winds up subsidizing public education.
In other words, you can say that public schools and public transportation aren't efficient, but to what are you comparing them? And what measure of efficiency are you using?
It's like saying "food stamp programs are terribly inefficient. If people want food stamps, let the market provide that service." It's a ridiculous statement on the face of it, because there is no incentive for private capital to give away free food, no matter how needy the recipients. Rather, the incentive exists for society as a whole to provide this service, so that short-term misfortune does not lead to starvation, that otherwise innocent people don't resort to stealing bread, and that we as a society can continue to hold our heads up high. So, any comparison of the efficiency of real state-run food stamp programs to hypothetical private food stamp programs is absurd.
When you attempt to smear public services as "inefficient" in comparison to private alternatives that don't exist, you are making an unfalsifiable assertion which in turn refers back to the premise that the profit motive is always a better incentive the provision of services than need among the clients of that service. It's circular reasoning.
18
@16: Again, let's stick to NYC, as the MTA isn't paid for by federal taxes. Lots of people in the NYC region don't use the transit system, but their tax dollars still pay for it. You realize they do benefit from the fact that other people use public transportation, right? This is very basic stuff. Our large cities (which are enormous economic engines for the whole country would shut down without public transportation.
19
I've been in DC during the teabag or cornhole rally or whatever they're calling it, and started engaging and ridiculing the teabaggers, both because I strongly believe that you've got to loudly call out public idiocy when you see it so it doesn't spread, and also so any sane person on the train would know I was not a teabagger myself. My opening volley was, "So locking people up without charges and torturing them, that was fine with you? Iraq, that was cool with you guys?" (Trying to point out, like Dan has, that healthcare is a weird straw to finally break the camel's back when Bush systematically removed a lot of civil liberties over the past 8 years.) They get pretty defensive when you bring up Iraq, or anything George W. did in general, and that started things going. Pretty much my lines of argument were: "I believe people who are seriously ill deserve to be treated," and "If you have coverage, and private insurers don't want to pay for your medical care, they'll find an excuse not to, and if you have a preexisting condition, they won't cover you at all." They came back with a number of arguments:
(1) People should just get a job.
(2) If people lose their job, they should just get another job.
(3) If they can't get a job, (a) "it's called savings" or (b) they should just get private insurance
(4) People who need it are already getting free treatment.
(5) Government-run healthcare would be as bad as the post office.
(6) Government-run healthcare would drive private insurers out of business.
(7) They don't want to have to pay for other people's medical care.
At one point, I said, "People are dying!" and someone shouted back, "They would die anyway!" to general agreement. It was like fighting a hydra of stupidity...for every argument you cut down, two stupider arguments would replace it. I actually did manage to silence them for a couple of seconds when a woman said she didn't want to pay extra taxes for someone else's medical care, and I told her that was un-American, and that I believed in the American values of selflessness and helping your neighbor.
Two observations from the experience:
(1) I would be right out there protesting with them if they were protesting, for example, our continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan; Obama's continuation of a lot of the Bush administration's policies on secrecy; the bailouts; or Obama's plans to set up some system of preventive detention so we can continue to lock people up without charges. But no, what really infuriates them, what is leading them to call Obama a fascist and a tyrant, is his desire to use our tax money to help people instead of using it to kill people, like the last administration did. I can only think that this is because: (a) there is a lot more corporate money behind the effort to keep private insurers wealthy by keeping competition to a minimum than there is behind protecting due process and keeping the government transparent; and (b) these overwhelmingly white, middle-aged people are more comfortable killing brown people than helping them out. It seems like the image of the African-American "welfare queen" is alive and well. (Of course, the irony is that a public option would help everyone, not just the most disadvantaged among us, because the insurance industry is so fucked up.)
(2) I've never seen more button-down American flag t-shirts in my life. Where does one buy these things? In addition, every third teabagger had a mini-American flag sticking out of his or her backpack. However, I can't think of anything less American than not wanting to pay any taxes, which are the lifeblood of government. And if there was no government, there'd be no democracy. And if there was no democracy, I don't think the America that remained would be anything the Founders would recognize. These people are basically libertarians who don't want America to EXIST, so I find the fact that they're wrapping themselves in the flag to be extremely hypocritical.
More...
(1) People should just get a job.
(2) If people lose their job, they should just get another job.
(3) If they can't get a job, (a) "it's called savings" or (b) they should just get private insurance
(4) People who need it are already getting free treatment.
(5) Government-run healthcare would be as bad as the post office.
(6) Government-run healthcare would drive private insurers out of business.
(7) They don't want to have to pay for other people's medical care.
At one point, I said, "People are dying!" and someone shouted back, "They would die anyway!" to general agreement. It was like fighting a hydra of stupidity...for every argument you cut down, two stupider arguments would replace it. I actually did manage to silence them for a couple of seconds when a woman said she didn't want to pay extra taxes for someone else's medical care, and I told her that was un-American, and that I believed in the American values of selflessness and helping your neighbor.
Two observations from the experience:
(1) I would be right out there protesting with them if they were protesting, for example, our continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan; Obama's continuation of a lot of the Bush administration's policies on secrecy; the bailouts; or Obama's plans to set up some system of preventive detention so we can continue to lock people up without charges. But no, what really infuriates them, what is leading them to call Obama a fascist and a tyrant, is his desire to use our tax money to help people instead of using it to kill people, like the last administration did. I can only think that this is because: (a) there is a lot more corporate money behind the effort to keep private insurers wealthy by keeping competition to a minimum than there is behind protecting due process and keeping the government transparent; and (b) these overwhelmingly white, middle-aged people are more comfortable killing brown people than helping them out. It seems like the image of the African-American "welfare queen" is alive and well. (Of course, the irony is that a public option would help everyone, not just the most disadvantaged among us, because the insurance industry is so fucked up.)
(2) I've never seen more button-down American flag t-shirts in my life. Where does one buy these things? In addition, every third teabagger had a mini-American flag sticking out of his or her backpack. However, I can't think of anything less American than not wanting to pay any taxes, which are the lifeblood of government. And if there was no government, there'd be no democracy. And if there was no democracy, I don't think the America that remained would be anything the Founders would recognize. These people are basically libertarians who don't want America to EXIST, so I find the fact that they're wrapping themselves in the flag to be extremely hypocritical.
20
@13
And break that down by socioeconomic background and it'll even out. Go back to burning your crosses to appease Glenn Beck or something.
And break that down by socioeconomic background and it'll even out. Go back to burning your crosses to appease Glenn Beck or something.
21
Oh yeah, I forgot most black men were murderers and rapists.
/sarcasm
Sure, my "white guilt" arrogance might be soooo Seattle... but your racism is soooo 1927. Fucktard.
Great thing about being an arrogant Seattleite: getting to call an racist posting on the Stranger a "fucktard." Oh, it feels sooo good. Yeah, you can stick that "liberal elitism" in your pipe and smoke it.
/sarcasm
Sure, my "white guilt" arrogance might be soooo Seattle... but your racism is soooo 1927. Fucktard.
Great thing about being an arrogant Seattleite: getting to call an racist posting on the Stranger a "fucktard." Oh, it feels sooo good. Yeah, you can stick that "liberal elitism" in your pipe and smoke it.
22
In my experience, the ones who are the most bitter about "Seattle Liberals" are the ones who can't afford to live here.
But that's just my experience....
But that's just my experience....
23
The logic for using public transport is pretty simple really. If you don't have a choice about your tax money being spent on something, you may as well use that thing you helped pay for. You could make the same comments about driving to the protests because public money is used for roads.
This debate on health care and health insurance is incredibly frustrating to watch for the shrillness I'm seeing on both sides.
Dan, you disappoint me. The "public option" is for health *insurance* not health care. That distinction is essential. The bizarre and complex health insurance system has a huge responsibility for why health *care* costs are ridiculously high in the US.
Obama's reassurances that creating a public option for health *insurance* will not add to the deficit or drive up taxes just don't make sense to me. Maybe no additional deficite would make more sense if the public option was coupled with a serious overhaul on the regulations that restrict competition in the health insurance market, but I have seen no such proposals. Instead, I see no overhall, more complexity with a(nother) government plan and discussion of making health insurance compulsory for everyone. I'm not anti-public option because I am a racist, classist, elitist or any other -ist. I'm against it because I think it's a bad solution to the wrong problem.
This debate on health care and health insurance is incredibly frustrating to watch for the shrillness I'm seeing on both sides.
Dan, you disappoint me. The "public option" is for health *insurance* not health care. That distinction is essential. The bizarre and complex health insurance system has a huge responsibility for why health *care* costs are ridiculously high in the US.
Obama's reassurances that creating a public option for health *insurance* will not add to the deficit or drive up taxes just don't make sense to me. Maybe no additional deficite would make more sense if the public option was coupled with a serious overhaul on the regulations that restrict competition in the health insurance market, but I have seen no such proposals. Instead, I see no overhall, more complexity with a(nother) government plan and discussion of making health insurance compulsory for everyone. I'm not anti-public option because I am a racist, classist, elitist or any other -ist. I'm against it because I think it's a bad solution to the wrong problem.
24
@23: The assertion you are questioning was made because the White House has abandoned the idea of a subsidized public option. Although there will obviously be startup costs, the idea is that the public option will be a not-for-profit corporation that provides reliable, opt-in insurance for those who want it. The more people sign up, the lower the premiums, and the more leverage it has to force private insurers to provide the terms that people want.
So, basically, the public option as currently envisioned would fail quickly and completely unless it were preferable to existing insurance plans. And not because of the premiums, since those will likely start off being about the same.
Really, I would support a public option subsidized for those making under a certain amount of money per year, but I could see where that would generate heavy opposition. The form in which the public option is currently being considered, on the other hand, is just a stupid thing to oppose.
So, basically, the public option as currently envisioned would fail quickly and completely unless it were preferable to existing insurance plans. And not because of the premiums, since those will likely start off being about the same.
Really, I would support a public option subsidized for those making under a certain amount of money per year, but I could see where that would generate heavy opposition. The form in which the public option is currently being considered, on the other hand, is just a stupid thing to oppose.
25
21, 22 - the buhrathaz in the CD and South Seattle sure would love for you to come hang out after midnight with them and tell them how "down" and "non-racist" you are.
26
19, I'm a little bit in love with you. Thank you for trying to make them see the idiocy of their "reasoning" and for posting that summary.
We have health-care rationing *now,* and it sucks. I should know: This is the 3rd time in my adult life that I've been without health insurance, and I'm up to my nostrils in medical debt. I'm highly educated (and white!, all you think-the-worst-of-colored-folk readers) but I have the misfortune to have a chronic health problem. Debt began in my 20s, when my insurer paid for only a portion of my care. Debt continued annually, when I was permitted to deduct only a portion (rather than all) of my med expenses on my taxes (flex plans are pretty recent, and they're not ideal -- who among us can calculate to the penny how much we're going to need? Plus, some employers underlimit the amt you can contribute. Plus, it's debilitating to have to shell out $5000 annually for med expenses, even w/o its being taxed -- no one with a modest salary can do that *and* save money.).
I'm a damn good citizen. I obey laws, do volunteer work, and let strangers with fewer items go before me at the supermarket. I've been working PT since I was 16 and FT since I was 22 (I'm 47 now) -- I don't deserve to be cast aside by this society. Of course, in my belief system, nobody does -- we all have value -- but if the teabaggers are intent on portraying the disenfranchised as a bunch of lazy, "Jerry Springer Show"-esque nogoodniks, then people who are on the fence should know the truth. Shit happens randomly to lots of people (ONE IN SIX are uninsured, America! ONE IN SIX!), and we (society) should be there for the shat upon mostly because doing so is moral (tho that notion doesn't seem to play well with the Christian-y teabaggers) and also because making everyone a productive part of the system benefits everyone else.
More...
We have health-care rationing *now,* and it sucks. I should know: This is the 3rd time in my adult life that I've been without health insurance, and I'm up to my nostrils in medical debt. I'm highly educated (and white!, all you think-the-worst-of-colored-folk readers) but I have the misfortune to have a chronic health problem. Debt began in my 20s, when my insurer paid for only a portion of my care. Debt continued annually, when I was permitted to deduct only a portion (rather than all) of my med expenses on my taxes (flex plans are pretty recent, and they're not ideal -- who among us can calculate to the penny how much we're going to need? Plus, some employers underlimit the amt you can contribute. Plus, it's debilitating to have to shell out $5000 annually for med expenses, even w/o its being taxed -- no one with a modest salary can do that *and* save money.).
I'm a damn good citizen. I obey laws, do volunteer work, and let strangers with fewer items go before me at the supermarket. I've been working PT since I was 16 and FT since I was 22 (I'm 47 now) -- I don't deserve to be cast aside by this society. Of course, in my belief system, nobody does -- we all have value -- but if the teabaggers are intent on portraying the disenfranchised as a bunch of lazy, "Jerry Springer Show"-esque nogoodniks, then people who are on the fence should know the truth. Shit happens randomly to lots of people (ONE IN SIX are uninsured, America! ONE IN SIX!), and we (society) should be there for the shat upon mostly because doing so is moral (tho that notion doesn't seem to play well with the Christian-y teabaggers) and also because making everyone a productive part of the system benefits everyone else.
28
Maybe the Seattle City Council can sponsor a Tea Baggers rally downtown so that they can inflate the LINK Light Rail ridership numbers some more...
29
25, both the CD and the southend are far too pricey for you. Stick to Kent or Lynnwood or Burien. You'll be much happier there, and there's still plenty of trailer parks left.
30
@19:
And you know what's REALLY ironic? If you were to look at the tags on most of those shirts, or track the distribution of those little flags back to their sources, I'd be willing to bet good money that most of them came from China.
And you know what's REALLY ironic? If you were to look at the tags on most of those shirts, or track the distribution of those little flags back to their sources, I'd be willing to bet good money that most of them came from China.
31
"Yes, public transportation is subsidized through significant amounts of tax dollars. Just like public roads and highways."
Here, fixed that for you. Both quotes do apply, this one more directly. Remember over 2/3rd's of the funds for road building and maintenance come from general tax money, not gas taxes.
Here, fixed that for you. Both quotes do apply, this one more directly. Remember over 2/3rd's of the funds for road building and maintenance come from general tax money, not gas taxes.
32
things not to do:
1) lecture dan savage about politics. if its not about his penis, he just doesn't understand.
2) explain to your average seattleite why his insights into racism are not really relevant and actually kind of annoying. whatever his views, he cannot see the absurdity in it.
3) tell anybody that reganism failed, not because it was too free, but because it was too socialist. for all of our education in seattle, we really don't know what words mean. and we have no historical context.
1) lecture dan savage about politics. if its not about his penis, he just doesn't understand.
2) explain to your average seattleite why his insights into racism are not really relevant and actually kind of annoying. whatever his views, he cannot see the absurdity in it.
3) tell anybody that reganism failed, not because it was too free, but because it was too socialist. for all of our education in seattle, we really don't know what words mean. and we have no historical context.
33
Um, the DC Metro is subsidized by the government in much the same way that roads are subsidized by the government elsewhere. The big difference is that I pay a not-insignificant portion of the operational, maintenance, and other costs through both local tax dollars and fares. It's kind of like every road being a toll road. Before you complain about how small DC is, consider that the system serves the entire metropolitan area, and, if you looked at people served/mile, I guarantee you it would be a "more efficient" investment that 99% of highways in the U.S. (I tried to analyze this, but couldn't find a breakdown of federal highway tax dollars by state to get a dollars/mile estimate for different areas). And many, many people get the benefits of the DC Metro at some point, as DC is a major tourist destination and, let me tell you, they somehow manage to get their incapable-of-reading-a-map-that-looks-like-it-was-designed-by-Crayola asses into the subway EXACTLY at rush hour every day.
35
The Soviets were entirely successful at implimenting all the Obama reforms. Everyone was taken care of. There was no need of health care reform, they already had it. There was no need of Cap'n Trade, they had already de-energized business.
And although there were, throughout the history of Soviet Communism, men and women who loved and advocated freedom, they had to rely on government systems if they were to survive. The government controlled everything, food, clothing, housing, jobs; everything. So is the case in Washington D.C. transportation. It is a city run by socialists for socialists and the crime capital of the West.
When there is no alternative to government systems, even though they never work well or consistently, it is not hypocrisy to use them.
But What the Obmanistas actually need to do to fully succeed is to quit tolerating this evil dissent. 1. Wipe out private gun ownership. 2. Make sure that elections cannot be openly monitored. 3. Establish a "fairness" commission that could censor broadcast speech. And, of course, begin to round up those evil "right wingers" who continually utter obscenities like "Constitution" when talking about legislation.
Just those simple things and the path to government-financed everything will be cleared.
And although there were, throughout the history of Soviet Communism, men and women who loved and advocated freedom, they had to rely on government systems if they were to survive. The government controlled everything, food, clothing, housing, jobs; everything. So is the case in Washington D.C. transportation. It is a city run by socialists for socialists and the crime capital of the West.
When there is no alternative to government systems, even though they never work well or consistently, it is not hypocrisy to use them.
But What the Obmanistas actually need to do to fully succeed is to quit tolerating this evil dissent. 1. Wipe out private gun ownership. 2. Make sure that elections cannot be openly monitored. 3. Establish a "fairness" commission that could censor broadcast speech. And, of course, begin to round up those evil "right wingers" who continually utter obscenities like "Constitution" when talking about legislation.
Just those simple things and the path to government-financed everything will be cleared.
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