(Sen.) Burris continues to be thorn ("will only vote for a bill with a strong public option")

[sabra]

Source: MSNBC

From WMAQ's Mary Ann Ahern (of NBC's Chicago affiliate)
Sen. Roland Burris, who is needed by the Obama administration for those 60 votes to pass the healthcare bill, said, "I will only vote for a bill with a strong public option."

Burris delivered his remarks at Stroger Hospital in Chicago.

"In order to achieve real reform" there must be lowered cost, Burris added.

Read more: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/11/02/21167...

[WatchWhatISay]

1. And this from the most liberal major channel out there

They are trying to push the Andrea Mitchell/ Joe Scarborough/ David Gregory points of view and ignore their bread and butter audience.

[No Elephants]

5. MSNBC is NOT a liberal network. It hired Keith Olberman after

Bush's approval ratings took a nose dive, then it added Madddow, then Shultz, as the tide turned more and more. They did not become liberal, they simply tried to chase ratings.

Before that its line up was Imus in the Morning, some nondescript news shows, Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough (sans Mika) Chris Matthews (who apparently can swing both ways, as his employer dictate) and the Dennis Miller as a rabidly Con faux talk show host. Plus Pat Buchanan serving as the resident pundit on just about every show.

And no matter which liberals they employ in their quest for ratings, they are always run by right leaning NBC News.

[Prophet 451]

20. MSNBC is the MOST liberal network

The poster above you said that MSNBC was the most liberal network. Which they are. In the sense that they have two outspokenly liberal hosts (three if you count Schultz) as opposed to other networks zero liberal hosts.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

36. NBC IS THE MOST HONEST FEED

[pundaint]

83. Faint praise indeed!

[PatrynXX]

40. In response to Fox, MSNBC is the most liberal network on the air.

Certainly not the most liberal source though. The more Right wing Fox Gossip Channel is, the more left wing MSNBC seems. Hence if some dipshit on Fox says the Radical left, they really mean left. Because they are Radical right.

[Prophet 451]

42. Sure

Which is largely what I meant: In comparison with the extreme-right Fox and teh centre-right other networks, MSNBC is the most liberal.

[idrahaje]

68. Miss the old days...

ones that simply went for the ratings. No matter the ratings, Fox will always be right.
The old ones they'd go after both sides. Which would have anyone on the left thinking it's right wing media and those on the right.... saying and screaming it's left wing media. Most of the MSM seems to be Right wing now. Local news, and normal network news and CNN.

All the balanced stuff is online. And more of it is from unpaid media. Us.

[No Elephants]

75. Sorry no. MSNBC is a conservative network that hired three liberal hosts

in an attempt to improve its abysmal ratings. If the poster had said MSNBC hired the most liberal hosts, that would have been a correct statement. It is not correct to say it's a liberal network. Hiring a liberal because the liberal is good for business does not make a conservative boss a liberal.

Why is the distinction important? When a con watches Fox, the con can relax. A con watching Fox does not have to be alert for political bias and slanting in the overall programming, use of pundits, editorial policies, etc. The more subtle things. Even if FOX hired one, then two, then three liberal hosts, a con could still relax.

The same is not so when a liberal watches a conservative network that hires 3 liberals, one at a time, and only after Bush's approval ratings tanked.

BTW, of course I count Ed Shultz. I think he's the most effective of the three in appealing to the average Joe. Maddow and Olberman are great at entertaining and pointing things out to the choir. Ed might actually convert some sinners.

[Prophet 451]

79. Having 3 liberal hosts...

...makes them more liberal than the other networks who have zero.

[LynneSin]

22. And guess what - they are still the most liberal network out there

Seriously.

When they hired Keith Olberman makes no difference. The point is - there is a network where I could watch Keith Olberman and now Rachel Maddow too.

[truedelphi]

27. Even people like Olbermann turn to people like Howard Fineman

Fineman was the author of one of the more notorious Newsweak hit pieces, published just days before the Kerry/Bush Stolen Election.

Kerry could do nothing right. Bush could do little werong.

I cannot imagine how many votes that cost Kerry -after all, if an election is stolen, there is no reputable way to know. Maybe the voters were informed enough that Kerry kept the votes - but the article gave the Bush campaign a cover to hide behind.

I often wish that Olbermann would shit can Fineman.

[depakid]

Relatively speaking- that's how it's ended up

though it says more about the appalling state of the American corporate media and the culture of lies that it's created than it does about MSNBC.

[GoCubsGo]

45. Countdown premiered in March 31, 2003

Shitboy's approval ratings were in the 70s: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2009/jan/16...

Keith's "Special Comments" started around the time of the nose-dive, but his show was on air long before that. Just saying...

[pennylane100]

2. wow, did harry see that coming.

[bjobotts]

38. Don't worry. The only group the WH strong-arms are liberal progresives. so they'll whip into line

[bjobotts]

39. But since Rurris isn't seeking re-election or going for employment with Ins. comp.???

He may be the only progressive left standing on this issue

[No Elephants]

3. Burris has the freedom to do this because, supposedly, he will not run for election.

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing, and that's all that Bobby left me, yeah
But feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues
Hey feeling good was good enough for me, hmm-mm
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee.

La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
Lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo
Lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo
Lo lo lo lo lo lo Bobby McGee
Lo lo lo lo lo lo Bobby McGee

Lord I called him my lover, I called him my man
I said called him my lover just the best I can and c'mon
And and a Bobby oh, and a Bobby McGee yeah
Lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo
Hey hey hey Bobby McGee, lord.

La da la la la, la da la la la la la
Hey hey hey Bobby McGee yeah





"Me And Bobby McGee"

(As recorded by Janis Joplin)
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
FRED FOSTER

(c) Copyright 1969 by Combine Music Corp.

[Bette Noir]

10. Yes, there's power in lame duckitude.

[vssmith]

31. We need 59 more lame ducks then

[pundaint]

84. Keep Sanders and Franken, give the newbe from MA a chance: 96 more

[No Elephants]

74. I don't know about power, but there is freedom to follow your conscience, rather than

following the money (straight to K Street).

[BumRushDaShow]

12. OMG

Now I will be singing that song for the rest of the day! And just the way that Janice did it too.

[IsItJustMe]

17. You got that right. He has nothing to loose and vote the way he really feels about the situation.

I wish they all voted like that. But of course we know, they don't. That corporate money is just to damn important for them come next election, and to greese their pockets.

[ooglymoogly]

25. The beat of the windshield wiper is a powerful thing. nt

[SemiCharmedQuark]

61. Burris intended to run for reelection and only withdrew when his funding was low.

People here on DU had a good laugh about that.

He still wants to be reelected though, and if he can capture the wind in his sails, I have no doubt he'll revive his campaign.

[earcandle]

64. My Mom loved this song! Thanks for the memory.

GO Burris!

[whathehell]

77. Yeah..We get it.......But the important thing at the moment is

that he DOES it!.

[SandWalker1984]

4. We can only hope Sen Burris sticks to his promise

The so called health care reform bill as proposed by Pelosi is sadly lacking in reform and is loaded with insurance corporation giveaways.

Without a robust public option open to more than 2% of the population, this bill will do nothing to reduce insurance costs.

Without competition, the insurance corporations will be in the driver's seat. Mandates for us to buy their insurance, no matter how bad the coverage or how high the costs/deductibles, etc. No caps on rate increases, no board to regulate excess profits, nothing to stop them from ever increasing profits. Some subsidies to help some people buy private insurance coverage -- but how long will that last before Congress reduces the subsidies, claiming the costs are too high?

Would you accept legislation forcing you to buy a GM car? How about a home? So why are so many here on this board willing to accept MANDATES to buy PRIVATE insurance without any kind of checks and balances?

I've called Senator Burris's office to ask him to stand strong on his convictions and a robust public option.

[joeycola]

11. and I hope he gets other Dem Senators to follow him.

[John Q. Citizen]

15. The PO needs to be structured so that people will want to enroll. As of now it will cost more for

less coverage.

Thank you Senator Burris! You are a good man.

[saracat]

81. He is a good man. Thank god he still has a vote.

[chadmak09]

52. +1

Right on man.
Burris is a light of hope right now.
We have to make sure this bill does not get passed.
If so, we are in serious trouble.

[subterranean]

67. There will be standards for coverage, deductibles and cost sharing.

The mandate will not force you to buy insurance "no matter how bad the coverage." Bare-bones plans will not qualify. That said, there's nothing in the bill that will prevent insurance companies from denying claims or delaying payments for arbitrary reasons.

[natrat]

6. and now it is clear why rham, obama and crew were so against him

[John Q. Citizen]

16. Yep, Burris isn't a corporate stooge, apparently.

[truedelphi]

28. The one certain thing about the "HCR" bill is that

We The People will be paying ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY SIX BILLION in penalties if we cannot afford the mandates.

So we frigging better get a STRONG PUBLIC OPTION.

[harkadog]

32. Judging from the posts most of DU was against him also

[SemiCharmedQuark]

60. Isn't it odd how people forget that?

DU was calling him every name under the sun. They even teased him for his family mausoleum. But now...he's a hero!

Burris DOES want to run again, which is why he is doing this now. He is trying to stand out from the crowd. And it is working.

[no limit]

7. Let's just hope nobody offers to buy his vote otherwise, a vote is a fucking valuable thing

[No Elephants]

8. LOL. I'm sure Burris has had some offers. I think he came out insisting on the strong

public option right after Jay Rockefeller.

Rockefeller doesn't need campaign contributions; Burris doesn't need a campaign. Maybe we should make them all one-termers.

[no limit]

9. Hey, now there is an idea.

Making it illegal to lobby after that one term would be the icing on the cake.

[whathehell]

78. Yeah..I think it's called "term limits"

[Fearless]

13. GOOD!

[Alhena]

14. Does he mean he will fillibuster? If not, then his vote is meaningless

they don't need his vote to get to 50, only to 60.

[t0dd]

18. What a lame title. This man is a hero for vowing to do this. nt

[ej510]

19. Thank God for Roland Burris!

[GreenTea]

24. I ABSOLUTELY AGEED!!

[LaPera]

43. I'm with you & Burris all the way - He is a standing up for what is right...

[Oerdin]

21. I'd rather torpedo the whole thing.

Then settle for anything less then a strong medicare like public option. 70% of Americans want it but a few sell outs and obstructionists are blocking it so push for what the American people want and let the voters deal with the obstructionists.

[backscatter712]

23. GOOD!!! Bout time we got some pressure from our side!

Say what you will about the his appointment and Blago's clusterfucking of it, but Burris has been voting correctly since he took office.

This is the kind of thing that gets other Senators on board, and will force Lieberman to cave.

[ChicagoSuz219]

26. I wish people would stop drawing lines in the sand!! We need this bill to go through!! nt

[Divine Discontent]

34. he's fighting for the most progressive bill he can. I commend him for it.

Yes, we need reform, but we have the majority, and we should be able to get some good reform from it. Otherwise it ties people down to paying for health care that is just a few percentage points what they'd pay now. That's not lowering costs. There's so much complexity to this matter, but in its briefest description, I appreciate his 'beef' with this.

[ChicagoSuz219]

37. I appreciate the sentiments just don't want the bill to tank...

Doesn't matter how good the bill is if it doesn't go through!

[closeupready]

56. At the same time, if they pass a take-out menu called "Health Care Reform", then we get nothing and

there goes our chance to meaningfully reform health care. It will be at least another 20 years until they take it up again, if then. Obama needs to hit the pavement, sell something with a strong public option. If it fails, it's on him, totally. This was hallmark of his campaign.

[ChicagoSuz219]

62. I know you believe that...

& it's just not true. There are many, many good things in this bill apart from the public option - which, I too, am totally in favor of, & hope we get. However, I'm not willing to throw out the baby with the bathwater. We can always add to/revise the bill once it's done. The #1 priority now is to get it passed.

[earcandle]

66. you must already have insurance to say that.

[ChicagoSuz219]

71. Yeah... after 5 years of no insurance, I do...

...however my daughter, with her pre-existing condition, doesn't -- as well as 47 million other people. I've been there so I know how scary it is to have nothing. At the very least, the uninsured would have some insurance on January 1st if the bill goes through. The alternative is nothing & then nothing more for the foreseeable future. I'm still waiting for Hillarycare & Teddycare... this is the closest we've ever been to real healthcare reform & I want to see it passed with the best possible bill we can get...

...this 'all or nothing' pissing contest is not working for me.

[saracat]

82. You really "trust" any of these folks to do that? Seriously?

[Laelth]

55. No we don't.

Without the Kucinich Amendment, this bill is worse than doing nothing.



-Laelth

[chadmak09]

57. why??

So Everyone gets mandated to buy insurance that doesn't help them and over 90% wont be eligible for the "public (lol) option"
This bill is a joke and was probably designed by the insurance companies.
They benefit more than the american people do.

[dflprincess]

58. This is not the bill we need

we need a bill that actually allows access to care. Not one that reenforces the status quo with high out of pockets and premiums.

[placton]

29. how can he oppose Obama?

just have a beer, tho, and dont worry about it

[ooglymoogly]

30. KR...I have stood with this man from the beginning of his rocky road

to the Senate. I have watched O and the DLC barely hide their anger at his appointment, throwing everything in his path and holding him off and out of office as long as possible. I hope he stands behind what he is now standing up for, a very strong public option and just maybe he might get re-elected...a grass roots will grow from this as surely as folks are looking for strong progressives to represent them and they are in very short supply.

[jacksonian]

35. yes indeed

proud of my Senator. Let's get some real reform.

[Fire1]

33. Say what you will about Roland Burris but he's Aces in my book!

Stick to your guns Roland and thank you!

[Vidar]

41. Who knew that Burris would be the one to stand up & say: "The emperor

isn't wearing any clothes"?

[fascisthunter]

44. Good! (nt)

[HughMoran]

46. We found a use for this guy

I have no idea how he's lasted this long, but I'm glad he's sticking to his guns.

[madrchsod]

47. i support him 100%

[jasonbarrett]

48. It takes no genius to see that

When someone who is for REAL health care reform is labeled a "thorn," the obstructionists have won.

What it DOES take genius to see is anything that was gained by this phony battle over health care reform.

Except insurance company profits, of course. And campaign contributions. No genius required to see that.



Cleaning Service

[clixtox]

86. Great first DU post! Welcome aboard and please keep posting... N/T

[Kermitt Gribble]

49. A thorn??

To whom, the insurance industry and our corporate congress?

[sharesunited]

50. Vanity and ambition step aside. Here comes principle?

[chadmak09]

51. I hope burris hold his ground and blocks this bill

MSNBC is WAY out of line calling him a thorn because he wants real reform instead of giving the insurance compaies thier "golden Mandate".

[idrahaje]

69. He's always been in for a surprise.

I had low hopes for him, but the way he arrived that day to look for his office... somehow I knew he wasn't going to be taking things for granted. Bad way of getting in, but then again the worst end up elected...

[closeupready]

53. Good for you, Burris! You go - truth to power.

n/t

[Laelth]

54. +1 n/t

-Laelth

[Unvanguard]

59. Will he filibuster, though? That's what counts. n/t

[rpannier]

63. I opposed him and the way he lied/misrepresented certain facts about his assoc with Blago

I stand by my position

That having been said, I do wholeheartedly support what he is doing.

Sometimes even the most disappointing things can turn out to be huge positives

[earcandle]

65. Thanks Senator Burris!

[maglatinavi]

70. Burris

He is a Senator, period. About his stance, I whole heartedly support him... but, I must say, are you telling me that after working under the hot summer sun in Texas rallying and demonstrating for a strong public option all we get a is a wishy washy projected bill? I must say, Nancy you are a traitor... I hope that a strong public option is included in any bill ... Why, oh why are we being deceived???

Kick the mfs out of office ... I think I am never going to vote again.

[Ganja Ninja]

72. We could only hope they were all as big a thorns.

I prefer a Democrat that sticks to his guns than one who calculates and recalculates every move and how it will affect his image.

[GinaMaria]

73. That's not a thorn in my book

He's doing the right thing and needs to hear about it. Just sent a thank you note!

[Krashkopf]

76. Thank you Sen. Burris!

By taking this principled stand, you have EARNED the title "Senator."

[global1]

80. You All Understand That Whatever Happens It's A Win-Win For The Insurance......

companies. If the bill tanks - they win. If the bill passes - they will also win (mandates) (weak public option with no teeth).

The insurance companies are playing both ends against the middle and we'll (the American public) be left holding the bag.

[classysassy]

85. Give um heck Roland

le3t them know you are one of the very few not owned by the insurance crooks.