Wonderful post, Mark. A very useful history.

Posted at September 5, 2007 6:38 PM in response to My Life Among the Neo-Cons

"The other legitimate concern to me is disruption. Health care is one-sixth of our economy. That is a lot of dollars and a lot of jobs to move around – and a lot of insurance arrangements to change. No matter how bad the system seems now, such a massive transformation is bound to cause some difficulty.

"Remember, you have an entire infrastructure dedicated to dealing with our private insurance system – from the armies of benefit consultants that companies employ to the minions of billing specialists that work for doctors and hospitals."

Right. So you pass the Edwards plan, which lets folks gradually transfer into a Medicare-type "floor" system of their own accord, letting private insurance as folks' primary insurance slowly wither on the vine.

Voila!

Next problem?

Posted at April 13, 2007 8:55 AM in response to And now, I will pretend to oppose single-payer...

Thanks for having my back, Kevin.

I was trying to make the exact same narrow point in Matthew's comment section, and was being met with uncomprehending stares and slack jaws.

Posted at February 15, 2007 4:07 PM in response to Beat that Drum

"I think Kerry kept cash on hand in case there was a recount, like Florida 2000, in which Gore had no cash and had to fundraise."

Both Gore and Bush had zero problems fundraising for the '00 recount. And there is significant legal thought that the money wouldn't have been transferable to any '04 recount anyway.

In reality, Kerry heisted those Democratic donations to fund future personal endeavors of his own.

Kerry's decision was sleazy to the max. Totally unacceptable. It should not be forgotten.

Posted at October 19, 2006 3:49 PM in response to Should the 2008-ers Lend a Hand?

"Petey -- I see your Kerry bashing comments throughout this entire thread. I suppose this has nothing to do with the fact that Edwards' fundraising is largely dwarfed by Kerry's"

Edwards' '06 fundraising is dwarfed by Kerry, Bayh, and Hillary because Edwards has not been fundraising for his personal accounts in '06, unlike the other 3 candidates I named.

This was done specifically to avoid soaking up money needed for the '06 races. Instead of building up CoH for the '08 race, Edwards has been directly fundraising for Congressional candidates, without the money going into Edwards' coffers.

And believe you me, that "old tired compaint" of Kerry stealing the '04 Presidential donations to fund his future enterprises will always be a fresh bloody shirt to wave. Kerry's behavior was morally and politically indefensible. As the story continues to be told, Kerry will rightly take a hit among partisan Democrats. You can try to spin it, but it is unspinable.

Posted at October 19, 2006 3:44 PM in response to Should the 2008-ers Lend a Hand?

"He has the money"

He has the money because he heisted $15m that folks contributed to the '04 Presidential race thinking it would be spent to defeat George Bush.

Posted at October 18, 2006 5:25 AM in response to Hard Work

"If it's true that 10 or 20 grand would help win a seat, than it's really inexusable for Hillary or Bayh or anyone else to sit on an 08 war chest while seats slip by in 06."

Hillary, Bayh, and Kerry will all exit the '06 elections with more than $10m lying unspent in their bank accounts.

Inexcusable? You bet.

"Hopefully, primary voters will remember this a couple years from now."

Maybe, maybe not. Note all the unchallenged Kerry spam on this thread trying to make excuses for his hoarding.

Posted at October 18, 2006 2:52 AM in response to Should the 2008-ers Lend a Hand?

"The man is working his tail off to put Dems into office this cycle"

Then why are Kerry and Hillary both holding more than $10m in cash for their own '08 races rather than using that money to help the Party in '06?

Posted at October 18, 2006 2:46 AM in response to Should the 2008-ers Lend a Hand?

"Now that we have the facts, can we move this along now?"

Sure, if you can explain why Kerry is maintaining such a large kitty of Cash on Hand for his own '08 race rather than using it for the Party in '06.

And sure, if you can explain why Kerry heisted $15m from the '04 Presidential campaign rather than using it to beat George Bush.

Posted at October 18, 2006 2:42 AM in response to Should the 2008-ers Lend a Hand?

"That's true of at least Clark and Kerry as well, I believe."

Not Kerry. Kerry is sitting on $13m, as you note elsewhere in this thread.

This is the money that he heisted from the '04 campaign. He's holding onto that money for the '08 campaign rather than contributing it for '06.

Compare Kerry's CoH to Edwards' CoH.

Posted at October 18, 2006 2:39 AM in response to Should the 2008-ers Lend a Hand?