Tag: brad krantz

The Tea Party & The Circus

I firmly believe those who hold extreme views on any topic are less educated about the issue than those in the middle. Such people do not choose to arm themselves with facts but with feelings. Even so, the stunning ignorance of the Tea Party members interviewed in this short piece is nothing short of embarrassing. Person after person admits they don’t know what is and what isn’t in the bill. All they know is what Fox News and Glenn Beck has told them and that’s good enough for them.

If I didn’t have family members of my own that felt this exact same way, I’d think the entire Tea Party movement was a joke. Unfortunately it’s not, it’s deadly serious. The rise in selfishness in the modern conservative movement in recent years has really taken me by surprise. The “I’ve got mine, you’re on your own.” attitude that pervades Republican and right-wing circles is both frightening and counter-culture to the very Christian ideals so many on the right profess to hold.

Some of the Tea Party members in this video don’t believe there are millions of uninsured citizens in our country. To them the emergency room heals all wounds, treats all diseases (even cancer, heart disease and mental illness) and doesn’t raise the cost of health care for the rest of us year after year. This week I listened to caller after caller on the Brad & Britt show phone in to say that they either didn’t care about those who were uninsured or who didn’t believe the rising cost of health care was worse than doing nothing.

The health care bill that is about to be passed in the U.S. Congress isn’t the best legislation that could have been written, not by a long shot. It is a highly imperfect attempt to fix the growing problem of spiraling health care costs that also helps to protect consumers from being dropped for pre-existing conditions (among other things). It is by no means the final solution, but rather simply a step in the right direction. However, if Tea Party members had their way, we wouldn’t even be having the discussion in the first place.

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Signs of Recovery

Five & 1/2 weeks. That’s how long Barack Obama has been President of the United States. The new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is just starting to ramp up but apparently for some, 5.5 weeks should be more than enough time to completely fix the broken U.S. economy. How do I know that Obama’s strategy that was literally signed into law last week isn’t working? Because the media told me so.

It started with local radio talk show host Brad Krantz who ripped on the President during Tuesday morning’s Brad and Britt show. His open letter to the President derided him for the “timing” of his policies and his inability to fly to Wall Street and personally shake some sense into the traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Next up was the Wall St. Journal who apparently feels that a crisis 8 years in the making can be completely turned around in under 40 days. Then, let’s not forget Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity who are popping out of the media woodwork to predict the utter ruin of Obama and the nation, much to the glee of the ditto-heads from coast to coast.

All the while, the President goes about the business of getting our nation back on the right track and doing it with the support of the majority of the American people. Obama campaigned on this promise to cut taxes for 95% of Americans and last week he made that promise a reality. An overwhelming majority of the country told John McCain to go home and that we really didn’t want more tax cuts for the rich. Now the media, led by people like Limbaugh, and sadly even my man Krantz, seems ready to jump ship even as the first jobs are being created by Obama’s stimulus program. Here’s a hint to nay-sayers: there are a shit-load more jobs about to be created, just watch.

You media mavens said you wanted a President that shot straight with the public. But you were lying. Turns out you just wanted another President like Bush that blew rose-colored smoke up your collective asses. For 8 years Bush lied and obfuscated and you whined and shouted “If only!” at the top of your lungs. But when push came to shove and Obama laid it all out for you like adults, you decide to bail on him. He’s been in office less than a single financial quarter! What you really want is a President that caters to the whims of Wall Street instead of investing in our future with green energy or cheaper health care for all of us. Shame on you!

Well guess what, we don’t want another President like Bush. We elected the man and polls say we’re not ready to give up on him just yet. Not after just 5 & 1/2 weeks, Brad. Not after 35 days, Wall Street. Help is coming, and the signs will be literally everywhere soon enough so do us all a favor, stop taking cues from Jim Cramer, un-wad your panties, take a chill pill and relax. You owe Obama, and the rest of us at least that much.