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Blanche Lincoln fires the opening shots of her primary battle with Bill Halter with a rather incoherent, rambling press release about his supposed wavering on the public option.
“Who does he think he’s fooling?” asked Lincoln’s campaign manager Steve Patterson. “Bill is going to find he can’t have it both ways. Either he is with the majority of Arkansans and opposed to the public option, like Senator Lincoln, or he is with the national liberal establishment that is angry with her right now.“
Actually, the polls show that the majority of Arkansans favors a public option — including, wait for it — 81% of Arkansas Democrats. So Patterson is just lying there.
But then the press release goes on to criticize Halter’s support for the Medicare buy-in, noting that it’s “Not exactly the robust public option his supporters from the blogosphere are calling for and using to raise campaigns funds.”
Huh? As Max Brantley smartly points out,
Lincoln seems to be critical of Halter on health for 1) being for a “public option,” which she opposes in any form, and 2) not being for a suitably robust public option, as some liberal supporters prefer.
Strong start there, Blanche.
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Buh-bye, Blanche, you corporation-blowing whoo-wuhr.
Though I’m a cynical single-payer supporter, I was rather impressed by Halter’s support of a government-administered insurance plan like Medicare.
In fact, I think even a 55+ Medicare Buy-In (even with the limitations of Medicare in terms of coverage) would be a vast improvement over the ‘public option’ included in the House bill, HR 3962, which was limited to the unemployed, self-employed, and those whose employers offered no coverage.
A Medicare Buy-In would get us closer to single-payer faster than anything seriously debated in Congress over the last year.
can we please get a picture of Blanche that doesnt make her look like Betty Crocker??
how about this one?
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ozPz5dec9fJ/Senate+Finance+Committee+Resumes+Mark+Up+Health/TeaankA8atY/Blanche+Lincoln
Blanche, you are a worthless lyi8ng corporate pig. Why don’t you do Democrats and the citizens of America a big favor and join the Party of the Used Tyrants, the GOP in common English.
I want Halter to answer a direct question.
Would you vote for either of the current HC bills if you were a sitting senator today?
She’s in one of the poorest states in the union, and this woman can’t support what’s right. What a moral cretin.
A little panic in the air?? !
Here we go…
The first impression of Halter seems positive and his advocacy for a medicare buy in for all only adds not detracts to his position on HCR.
This is an eminently sane position to take before any electorate, Arkansas or otherwise, and he should not waver from it. It should not be lost on him that his funds derive in large measure from the left and outside the state because the action of any given Senator are not limited to their state but affect people across the country.
We on the left are supporting him not for his good looks but to advance the issues that we want accomplished.
Agreed. It seems like a fairly obvious question that any intelligent person would ask, so it’s a pretty safe bet that it will not occur to any mainstream “journalists.”
If this gets any worse for Blanche, she might be persuaded to not run again so that she can spend more time with her lobbyists.
The question is good. What about the answers? What would happen amongst his supporters if he says, “No?” “Yes?”
She’s running scared and she knows it. Halter’s already almost matched her entire money chest in only a week’s time. I’m looking forward to having more progressive Dems in the House and Senate. Hell, with the numbers as they are the Dems might actually pick-up a couple more seats, though that means we might get a few other ‘moderate’, a.k.a corporatist, Dems to replace Lincoln.
If Halter says he’d vote “yes” I’d be disappointed, if he says he’d vote against the current House and Senate plans I’d suspect he’s lying.
Despite my vow not to vote for lessers I’d make an exception and vote for a yellow dog over Blanche. Not up to me, though.
Howie Klein captures her essence quite nicely here
Good Afternoon Blue Texan and Firedogs
Blanche Lincoln (D?) Wal-Mart can’t be gone soon enough for me and I don’t even live in Arkansas.
Lincoln, Lincoln, I’ve been thinkin, what the hell have you been drinkin?
this woman stood on the floor of the US Senate crowing about filibustering Healthcare while Arkansawyers with Stage 2 and Stage 3 cancers waited for free medical treatment
Citizen cb2:
Hey Citizen, thanx for the link. Whaddya think Obama’s gunna propose this PM?
Right! Who is the young senator pushing to outlaw senators from becoming lobbyists for life? Wouldn’t that be great?
Good catch!!
It was more of the same. No concrete plan, just a kick in the pants to dems in congress.
Sounds good but most likely the law can’t tell a person where they can work. What we need to do is make “lobbyist” the worst word in Washington. Like something stuck to the bottom of your shoe.
Is there really a bigger hypocrite than Blanche Lincoln??
Citizen Eureka Springs:
That’s a great question but I don’t think corporate journalists will ask it as long as a majority in Arkansas support a strong public option…if they thought Halter would answer in support of the Senate bill or denounce the public option they might, however. I really don’t give a shit if Halter turns out ta be less progressive than I and I really don’t care where he comes down on this bill since he ain’t gunna have a vote on it. His entire campaign is an insurgency and about empowerin’ the Democratic Party base in Arkansas…anything beyond that is gravy. Let’s let the folks in Arkansas have their say before we go checkin Halter’s teeth and his political gene pool.
The people that can read will let everyone else know. People are naming farm implements after blanched by now. They likely have orifices and insertion diagrams in their mental imagery.
Citizen Flamethrower –
am only following broad outlines these days – in the prev post, David Dayens says it looks like POTUS is to propose incremental side car approach if Repubs show no sign of cooperating
thank you Norske ! the ‘pragmatists’ are already tsk-tsking Halter all over FB – looks like I’m in for some more de friending – yeah, I’m really broken up about it
I am an Arkansan.
Though it’s been a while since it’s been asked as far as I know… polling here for a PO does better than either of the current bills.
Of course I will vote for Halter, but I need to know more, much more, before i jump in and ask my friends and neighbors to do so.
The IconoclastLincoln Sees “Dirty Dozen” as Badge of Honor. The League of Conservation Voters this week named Senator Blanche Lincoln (R-Waffler) on their 2010 list of …
jonah-m-tebbetts.blogspot.com/ – Cached – Similar
The Iconoclast: …. Lincoln Sees “Dirty Dozen” as Badge of Honor …
jonah-m-tebbetts.blogspot.com/…/walton-u-hall-of-rich-white-guys.html – Cached – Similar
Show more results from jonah-m-tebbetts.blogspot.com
Since when does mercury pollution conrtibute to health…or health care?Check out Blanche’s position on EPA.
Is there a doctor in the Lincoln bedroom?
Behind Every Great Senator Is a . . .Senate Spouse – Capital …May 15, 2008 … ; Arkansas’s Blanche Lincoln’s husband, Steve, is a leading infertility doctor in Fairfax. …
http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/…/7637.html – Cached – Similar
OT bad news:
Massa Has Cancer, Won’t Run for Re-Election
Mary Landrieu?
So in theory, would it be possible for the doctor to sterilize the senator so her genes can’t be passed on? Merging cutting-edge medicine with cutting-edge politics. Do you suppose her senate cadillac plan would cover such a procedure?
Yeah, two peas from the same pod, those two.
Citizen Eureka Springs:
Why would you not ask friends and neighbors to support populist insurgency in the Democratic Party in Arkansas…especially if it’s aimed right at those Tyson chickens the Clintonistas? It’s been years since I been in the state but the last time when I was in the military at Fort Leonard Wood and spent some time with a few native sons I got the impression that the mass of working class folks resembled the old southern populists represented in Huey Long and were united as Democrats at that time by the racism of the Dixiecrats who eventually went reluctantly to the Republicrats. Is my take on Arkansas wrong there Citizen ES?
That picture of Blanche Lincoln & Max Baucus is hilarious! From the look on his face, you would think she’s giving him a big goose!!
even the sierra club prefers horse manure to blanche lincoln.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/sierra-club-enters-the-primary-fray-in-arkansas.php
when it comes to hypocrisy, she’s right up there with karl rove, the cheney spawn and lieberweasel.
David Dayen has a fresh cross-post available: NY-29: Eric Massa Leaving Congress After One Term, Possibly Due To Recurrence Of Cancer
If she knows she’s likely to lose her seat in November, whey wouldn’t she go out trying to do the right thing for her constituents?
Might tend to alienate her future benefactors, perhaps?
Sounds like a whore to me.
With what certainty do you assert he is a populist? he certainly gave no indication of that in any interview in print or on tele that I have seen this week.
I don’t even know if he is pro choice, much less his thoughts on war, war crimes, environment and energy, patriot act, economics and so on… not even from a basic platform list…. much less if he is sincere.
I have knocked on thousands of doors for nearly thirty years here (including as a candidate myself)… I need to know much more before I could possibly consider doing it for Halter.
Why should I have to ask these questions (in a defensive manner) in a place like this? I am just flabbergasted.
We keep passing like ships at night.
HEAD EXPLODING. Why is it that blue dogs and republicans can be hypocrites and lie, lie, lie without it affecting their mental state? Oh yes, personality disorders and sociopathy.
Citizen Eureka Springs:
In this case, “populist” is defined by those folks to whom the candidate is appealing and the issues the candidate recognizes are important to those constituents. Since Halter is appealing to Lincoln’s UNpopularity he is appealing to those with whom she is unpopular…don’t play those silly games. Again I ask why wouldn’tcha ask your friends to support a run against the Clinton-Tyson-Walton machine in the primary??!!!
When they know they’re on their way out, they’re typically thinking about their next gig — not their constituents. Meaning they screw their constituents.
Stinkin Lincoln should just give it up, and like Hadassah Lieberan & Evan Byah’s wife, go directly to Big Ins and get her big old fat paycheck directly. Yeah, yeah: I know BigIns wants Ms. Stinkin to stay right where she is, so she can do their bidding more directly and rape & plunder from the senate floor.
But seriously? This one’s in the BigIns payola.
Buh-bye, Stinkin-Lincoln. Hope the door hits ya hard on the butt on the way out. Will be great to see the last of you!
I get what you’re saying, BT, but just have to add: what makes you think she’s ever thought about her constituents? From where I sit, I think Ms. Stinkin-Lincoln only ever thought about herself and all the buckets of cash she got from the corporations to do their bidding.
Blanche Lincoln is going with the old, people in Arkansas are Morons and don’t read.
Blanche Lincoln is using a little mis-direction,wink, wink, “Halter is not for the robust Public Option” the idea is she thinks the people of Arkansas are dumb and will believe she is for the Public Option.
Blanche Lincoln must have listen to Rahm a phony Democrat and thought the real Democrats would not dare kick her out of the Party of FDR.
Bye, Bye, Blanche
Lincoln is a real piece of work.
Could be. A lot of pols start off with good intentions, then get a whiff of the real dollars you can make shilling for ConAgra.
I already answered… because of all the issues and more which I have no clue on which he stands.
No wonder you supported Obama for so long… issues don’t seem to matter… but the projected flavor, be it false hope or populism in some etherial definition does.
And I thought that hope sucker-punch taught you a lesson.
jeez, this is like saying “my friends don’t like you! and and, your friends don’t like you either!!”
I wonder if the current scenario is simply, vote the bums out. even if the replacement could be “bad”, the message for the BLs of the Senate should be “you’re fired“.
If voters do not “fire” BL, then they continue to think they can get away with just about anything.
After my Obama vote, I can only hold on to the fact that we “fired” the worst of the GOP. I know it has only slowed the handbasket to hell, but the alternative was just too awful to contemplate. cold comfort, I know.
Yes, and as I said earlier today. Voting for Halter in order to toss Blanche out is a no brainer. But actively supporting Halter knowing as little as we do…. is just strange to me.
The system is broken, we need to support people who say that and mean it… while expressing plans far different (on so many issues) than our current lot are as to what to do about it. No more playing footsie with the centrists… the Chicago school economics, phrma and big insurance etc.
There is no middle ground right now.
NSA domestic spy scandal links to Jackson Stephens Systematics …-
FDL Action » Yes, I Dared Blanche Lincoln to Filibuster on MSNBC…Oct 27, 2009 … NSA domestic spy scandal links to Jackson Stephens Systematics …7 posts … Jump to Stephens Group #1 contributor to Sen. Blanche Lincoln: …fdlaction.firedoglake.com/…/yes-i-dared-blanche-lincoln-to-filibuster-on-msnbc/ – Cached
You can have and enforce conflict of interest rules.
Monsanto Buys ‘Terminator’ Seeds CompanyAug 27, 2006 … Monsanto Buys ‘Terminator’ Seeds Company. by F. William Engdahl …. In response to the concerns over Jackson Stephens’ involvement in BCCI, …
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3082 – Cached – Similar
NOTE: Monsanto bought the patent for the Terminator seeds from DPL, owned by the Stephens family.
Jackson Stephens is the investment firm that bankrolled Tysons and Walmart many years ago.
Both Stephen’s and Monsanto have been huge contributors to Lincoln.ANY wonder she was made head of the Agricultural committee not long ago?
Oh, and the Stephens Group is also owner of many TV and radio stations,also.
For me the massive immediate support by the left for Halter is significant in itself becuase it shows the left the power it has while also showing that to anyone smart enough to take notice in Congress and the WH.
Further this support from the left makes it clear to Halter that just as the left giveth the left can taketh away.
He should know that among the left there is little tolerance for deception, inaction and bullshit. He should know that he is sent to Congress to carry out the explicit aims of the left, the people that put him him there. Not coincidently that happens to be the position most of the country favors.
That is why the Obama HCR effort must be defeated. Obama is an agent for the continuing transfer of public wealth to the private sector which is the antithesis of what the left along with the rest of the country needs. There needs to be some defining boundary which Obama and Democrats and whoever else can see and decide where they want to fall. The inclusion of a public plan in HCR to challenge the private insurance profiteers is just that sort of boundary.