Thursday Night Video – Stacy Lihn’s Story

Looking back at the week, one of my favorite convention moments has been Stacy Lihn’s video and speech, given on Tuesday night. As frustrating as it was to watch Team Obama chase after non-existent Republican votes during the health care struggle, this is a pretty powerful argument for the good that they managed to salvage and enact into law. And a pretty stark reminder of who the true “family values” party is.

Politics and the Supreme Court

There’s been considerable speculation as to why Chief Justice John Roberts voted to uphold Obamacare as constitutional. Some on the right have blamed his epilepsy medication, which is only slightly less absurd than the idea that David Axelrod was planning on having Roberts offed. Really, if President Obama wanted one justice off the Supreme Court, wouldn’t it be the Giant Gas Bag of Righteous Rightwingness, Antonin Scalia? And if Roberts was dumbed down by his epilepsy medication, why didn’t the prescription work its magic when it came to him unnecessarily and without precedent limiting the commerce clause of the Constitution?

John Roberts - Caricature

John Roberts – Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

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Tuesday Night Charts & Graphs – The Health Care Mandate as a (relatively small) Tax Increase

The idea that the health care mandate is the biggest tax increase in the history of the United States is a duplicitous charge that is wrong on so many levels. Let’s start with the factual level, and let’s look at it visually. The good folk at Talking Points Memo put together a graph that demonstrates how the health care mandate compares to the tax increases passed by Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Yeah, of course you knew the conservatives were lying, but it’s still productive to see it all laid out in bright blue bars.

Monday Night Video – Second City on the Victims of Obamacare

I found the ending a little weak, but overall a strong representation of the objections to Obamacare.

Sunday Night Video – An Obama Ad on Obamacare

For me, this ad is another reminder that Democrats do better when they stand up for core issues such as providing health care to our communities. I sure do hope that the tide of corporate money doesn’t drown out all other voices this year.

The Colbert Report on Rep. Steve King and Obamacare

On Monday, Stephen Colbert noted that the Republican primary contest is coming to a close.

COLBERT: After a bruising Republican primary season, the foreplay is over, and like all Republican foreplay, it was expensive, vindictive, and ended with something pretty predictable.

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Obama Plays Offense

President Obama’s recent warning about the conservative Supreme Court potentially overturning Obamacare was the right thing to say, and long overdue.

Ultimately I’m confident the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress.

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The Argument for Health Care

The Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments regarding the constitutionality of Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. A newly released survey of legal experts says they’re doubtful that the individual mandate will be overturned. Remember, the individual mandate was originally a Republican idea, and these experts include a few dozen former Supreme Court clerks, which in turn includes a significant number from the conservative side of the spectrum.

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