Obamacare Anecdote Failure

In their Obamacare opposition, Republicans are now reduced to anecdotes based on misleading or false reporting, and in so doing, they are deceiving themselves. Because millions of Americans have now signed up for health care coverage under Obamacare, that means Republicans are left with their loose evidence and their bad intentions. And in many cases the evidence Republicans present is bad because it has been tainted by their own rhetoric, repeated ad nauseam on Fox News. It’s a self-fulfilling feedback loop. Tell people Obamacare is bad, and the people who listen to you will offer you the “evidence,” even though they never gave the process a good-faith effort.

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Yes, Liberals Are Judgmental Too

I would like to remind fellow liberals that we too are judgmental creatures. We are all human, so we cannot escape our biases. Yeah I know, sometimes we like to think we are the clear thinkers, and that we are above bias, but think about it, doesn’t that sound just a bit self-righteous? And isn’t that the kind of pious thinking we rail against when it comes to conservative thought? My hope is that most liberals realize this, and I think that might be one of the differences between liberals and conservatives, and yes, that sounds self-righteous too, with just a touch of condescension added in for good measure.

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Is Government Inherently Corrupt?

Conservatives believe government is inherently corrupt. They believe government cannot be trusted to do anything really important except for national security, oh yeah, and regulate women’s bodies. Oh, and also stifle access to the voting booth. And I guess on those two issues, conservatives actually are right, government is corrupt. Well, more specifically, certain people in government do corrupt things, like play master of the uterus.

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Boilerplate Republican: It Will Kill Jobs

Republicans say no to many things, like a minimum wage increase, or increased taxes, or sensible regulations to safeguard the public (I’m talking to you West Virginia), on the premise that it will hurt businesses, therefore resulting in job losses. But they need not prove these claims, its good enough for Republicans to simply posit them as truths. Of course this is all boilerplate stuff for Republicans. Good at coming up with “common sense” excuses for why we can’t do something or why something is bad, not so good with coming up with the evidence to support the claim.

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Taxing The Rich: A Liberal Argument For A Progressive Tax System To Grow The Economy

Conservatives will play the “class warfare” card if you dare mention a tax increase on the rich. And if you talk about income inequality, well, this means you are simply envious, and you are trying to “punish success.” But for this conservative “logic” to be rational, wouldn’t we have to consider the current progressive tax system to also be unfair? — Well, as it turns out, that is exactly what many conservatives say about progressive taxation, but it doesn’t mean their assessment is sound.

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Chris Christie Administration Says MSNBC Is A Partisan Network: True

New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie is in the middle of two scandals, the bridge lane closing, and use of Hurricane Sandy relief funds for tourism advertisements (where Christie himself was prominently featured while running for re-election). Yesterday MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki broke the news of a third scandal. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer says the Christie administration has withheld Sandy relief funds because she did not give her approval to a redevelopment plan in the city.

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