libertyaintfree says:

Go back as far as 2002 and 2003 and you will see the conservative movements disatisfaction with Republicans. They called Bush more democrat than republican and failed to support republicans with re-elections for acting more like democrats and not stopping spending and controlling the growth if government.

Right. I didn't see that at all! Did anyone else? Anywone else who isn't a conservative in denial, that is? I saw conservatives marching in lockstep towards the cliff. I saw conservatives 100% behind their man, conservatives who helped re-elect him in 2004, conservatives who supported all manner of un-American obsenities like torture and spying without warrants. Not to mention looting the treasury. Now that conservatives have failed so miserably they are blaming it on Republicans who aren't "real" conservatives, who are "more Democrat than Republicans", not the actual bankrupt conservative movement which is the real culprit. 'Cause when was the last time the Democrats lied us to war, trashed our economy, sent the national debt spiraling out of control, and curtailed our civil liberties? I'm not a fan of Democrats, especially since they meekly let Republicans get away with all this. But these Republicans were acting like, well, typical greedy, heartless Republicans. You don't have to take my word for it. Look at the House voting record during the time period you mention and you will find virtually no dissent from the Republican caucus.

You trashed our country. Have the decency to go away and let Democrats try to fix it. And don't bitch about the cost. You didn't bitch when your man was squandering $ trillions in Iraq and in stupid tax cuts to his friends. I'll tell you what ain't free: letting Republicans run our country.

...See ya sweets, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

What a guy. I think that's all I need to know about who's side hell take in the great health care swindle.

Mencimer wrote:

If Tom or Linda Daschle had secretly taken a free pair of Superbowl tickets from Northwest Airlines and then pushed the airline bailout plan, that would be a big story. But the fact that Tom Daschle takes thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Northwest and his wife's firm collects $200,000 a year to lobby for them is no problem at all.

From the AP today:

The Senate's top Republican is taking a wait-and-see approach on Tom Daschle's nomination to be health secretary.

Sen. Mitch McConnell says he was surprised by the disclosure that Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, failed to pay his taxes on time.

McConnell, R-Ky., is refusing to say whether he thinks Daschle's nomination is in trouble. The Senate's minority leader notes that the Senate Finance Committee is meeting Monday to discuss the nomination.

Which underscores all the points made in this post: that it's OK to be a whore, so long as it's by the rules. Getting caught not paying your taxes (as opposed to simply 'not paying your taxes') does violate the rules. But McConnell, even though the opposition leader, won't turn on a fellow whore. Post-partisan harmony lives, at least when it come to defending one of their own.

Sigh.

Sadly, your position isn't even arguable.

Only if you live in an alternate reality where our entire history is ignored.

Get real. Capitalism has been good to those with capital. Everyone else has suffered to some extent or another. Read Dickens, and/or Jack London. Read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States to find what capitalism has done to those (most of us) without much capital. Not to mention what it did to millions of Native Americans wiped out by capitalist fueled greed, and of millions of black slaves forced to suffer so that some (a very few) might profit. Or to the women who worked at textile mills from 5 AM to 7 PM with a half-hour break for lunch.

The period between the 30's and the 70's was the golden age of the middle class (if not the poor and oppressed). Not coincidentally this is the period the government instituted Keynesian policies in response to the Great Depression. The rest has been, as IaintBacchus said, not a terribly nice time for 85% of us.

I too was bothered by Gen. Petraeus flipping the coin. It trivializes a national tragedy (national for both the US and Iraq). In fact I was hoping that The Boss would sing "Born In The U.S.A." at halftime, for balance. In vain I knew at the time, but there is always hope...

Sadly for them, we never got a chance to find out, because the situation in 1933, when Roosevelt took office, demanded government action.

But wait! All is not lost! During the Great Depression the various European nations all handled the problem differently. We can learn the answer from them! Mark Mazower in Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century explains that the countries that suffered the least were those whose governments dealt with the issue proactively and aggressively. Sweden comes to mind. Those whose people suffered the most? The ones who's governments followed the WSJ's prescription. (The ones who stuck to the Gold Standard did especially badly.)

While his wife's work as a paid lobbyist might not have been fair game for confirmation scrutiny...

What his wife does as a lobbyist is 100% relevant to his confirmation. And it should be scrutinized. This is not about his or her rights. This man was nominated for a public office and the public's rights come first. Obama should find someone who doesn't have such obvious conflicts of interest. Surely in this great nation of 300 million people we can find someone who pays their taxes and is not in bed with the industry they are to oversee?