Democrat Congressman uses "irresponsible political rhetoric" in healthcare debate

[BJJ-Blue]

"Rep. Steve Cohen is apparently defending his remarks in which he compared Republican attacks on the health care overhaul to Nazi propaganda advanced by Joseph Goebbels.

Cohen accused Republicans of spreading false propaganda about the health care law and tried to compare their tactics to those used by the Nazis in the lead-up to the Holocaust. "They don't like the truth so they summarily dismiss it," Cohen said. "They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like (Nazi propagandist Joseph) Goebbels."

But after an outcry from Jewish groups, Cohen appears to claim he was taken out of context. A comment under Cohen's name showed up Wednesday evening on the website of The National Jewish Democratic Council, which issued a statement saying "invoking the Holocaust to make a political point is never acceptable."

The Cohen comment took issue with the complaint. "I hope that the entire speech will be viewed, not just the clip taken out of context," the comment said. "On the House floor last night, I was addressing the danger of letting lies stand. While I did refer to Goebbels' campaign of lies, I never compared the Republicans to Nazis. Rather, I warned against the real danger in letting lies (stand)."

But Cohen's comments nevertheless defied calls by President Obama and others to tone down the political rhetoric after the Jan. 8 mass shooting that left six dead and 13 wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. Giffords, who was shot in the head, is now in serious condition and is expected to be transferred to a rehab center on Friday.

Cohen made several Nazi references on the floor, though did he not devote all his remarks to the comparison.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned Cohen's remarks.

"No matter how strong one's objections to any policy or to the tactics of political opponents, invoking the Holocaust and the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people is offensive and has no place in a civil political discourse," ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement.

"Using the Holocaust as an analogy to express frustration or comparing false information to the anti-Semitic blood libel or to Goebbels' genocidal propaganda is inappropriate and serves only to trivialize the dangers of anti-Semitism and the unique tragedy in human history that saw the murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others," he said.

"We respect Representative Cohen's right to engage in vigorous debate about health care policy," he added. "We hope he will reconsider his offensive statement and we urge all members of Congress to reject such odious comparisons.""

Complete article, including video:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/19/democratic-congressman-compares-gop-health-care-attacks-nazi-lies/

Now lets see which liberals who were slamming Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, etc condemn this "irresponsible political rhetoric".

[sanjuro_ronin]

There is a reason most politicians are lawyers, they like to talk, even when they have nothing to say of any value.

[David Jamieson]

lol. Is that it? Is that all the republicans can come up to defend themselves for wasting time in congress on a repeal that will NEVER make it past the senate?

pfftt goombahs. Who is the handler these days? (R) seems to be clutching at straws.

Freakin idiots, I think it was republicans who painted Obama to be Hitler wasn't it?

Hypocrites to the last. All of them. Your system is broken, it's functioning poorly at best.

[Drake]

You have to wonder, between Palin's "blood libel" comment and now Cohen's nazi comment, who is the worst between the two parties.

[David Jamieson]

You have to wonder, between Palin's "blood libel" comment and now Cohen's nazi comment, who is the worst between the two parties.

Palin is worse because she has an army of stupid ass viewers who hang on every numbskull word she pukes out of her formerly pretty head. :p

[MasterKiller]

What a moron. No wonder nothing ever gets accomplished.

[MasterKiller]

It's still a far cry from Glen Beck telling people to shoot politicians in the head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQcvbw6ExTQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[BJJ-Blue]

What a moron.

Unlike David, you know wrong is wrong, not wrong done by an (R) is worse than wrong done by a (D).

[pateticorecords]

Cohen is as eloquent as Sarah... lol... Cohen is a moron, too. I do agree that the proganda is no different than is was back in the 20s-50s, scare the American people into voting for you if not they are communist, socialist, un-patriotic, a terrorist, and the list goes on:eek:

[BJJ-Blue]

I do agree that the proganda is no different than is was back in the 20s-50s, scare the American people into voting for you if not they are communist, socialist, un-patriotic, a terrorist, and the list goes on:eek:

Reagan never said any of that when he campaigned for office. No matter what you think of the man, he ran on small Government and the greatness of the American people.

"And let us all renew our commitment. Renew our pledge to day by day, person by person, make our country and the world a better place to live. Then when the nations of the world turn to us and say, “America, you are the model of freedom and prosperity.” We can turn to them and say, “you ain’t seen nothing, yet!”"

"My fellow citizens – those of you here in this hall and those of you at home – I want you to know that I have always had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and intelligence and for your decency. I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for others."

"May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism."

"And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill."

I don't see any scare tactics, name-calling, or propoganda in those quotes. Do you?

[MasterKiller]

I don't see any scare tactics, name-calling, or propoganda in those quotes. Do you?

The tone and tenor back then were much different than in this Karl Rove era.

[pateticorecords]

Reagan never said any of that when he campaigned for office. No matter what you think of the man, he ran on small Government and the greatness of the American people.

"And let us all renew our commitment. Renew our pledge to day by day, person by person, make our country and the world a better place to live. Then when the nations of the world turn to us and say, “America, you are the model of freedom and prosperity.” We can turn to them and say, “you ain’t seen nothing, yet!”"

"My fellow citizens – those of you here in this hall and those of you at home – I want you to know that I have always had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and intelligence and for your decency. I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for others."

"May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism."

"And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill."

I don't see any scare tactics, name-calling, or propoganda in those quotes. Do you?

I never mentioned Reagan- was he a president between the 204-50s? I must be missing something...

Is Reagan the only president that Republicans are proud of?
Hmm, let's not forget that the policies enacted by Reagan's administration also were a catalyst to the economic disaster we faced;)

[Syn7]

You have to wonder, between Palin's "blood libel" comment and now Cohen's nazi comment, who is the worst between the two parties.

palin is more than a re-offender, shes a constant offender... how many times has she erased a twitter or facebook comment now??? cohen may have gone too far in his rhettoric but its not the same... you would have to dig to find more dumb sh1t from cohen, i can think of palin fukcups off the top of my head... i dont know very much about cohen, but then he doesnt have a tits'n'ass either... and if palin was a warpig of a beastwoman she wouldnt even be where she is now... i dont mean that in a sexist way like woman cant be what shes trying to be, im just saying that palin isnt what she thinks she is... she just isnt smart enough... i dont think she could run with the ball very far before she starts tripping and fumbling...

[Syn7]

Reagan never said any of that when he campaigned for office. No matter what you think of the man, he ran on small Government and the greatness of the American people.


whatever, he took advantage of the changing tide, just like obama did... he played on current emotions to create a favorable image... its not like its an uncommon thing... you can trash most politicians if you look close enough... they have all said one thing and done another at one point or another...

[SanHeChuan]

"invoking the Holocaust to make a political point is never acceptable."

WORD

Both sides could and should do without it, but especially those Republican arsewholes!

[David Jamieson]

Unlike David, you know wrong is wrong, not wrong done by an (R) is worse than wrong done by a (D).

fail troll is fail :p

[BJJ-Blue]

The tone and tenor back then were much different than in this Karl Rove era.

True. But blaming Rove entirely is wrong. Carville and Emanuel are as dirty and nasty as they come.


Is Reagan the only president that Republicans are proud of?
Hmm, let's not forget that the policies enacted by Reagan's administration also were a catalyst to the economic disaster we faced;)

No, but he was the best one in my lifetime, and maybe ever.

Please list those policies and how they were a catalyst for the economic disaster. MK tried this with the 'blame Bush' line, but he failed.


whatever, he took advantage of the changing tide, just like obama did... he played on current emotions to create a favorable image... its not like its an uncommon thing... you can trash most politicians if you look close enough... they have all said one thing and done another at one point or another...

You don't win 49 of 50 States based on image and emotions. You do it based on a track record of success.


Both sides could and should do without it, but especially those Republican arsewholes!

The Democrats have been calling the GOP Nazis constantly for at least the last 20 years. Every time they try to cut an entitlement program, for example, the liberals break out the 'call them Nazis' playbook.

[pateticorecords]

David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's OMB director

"the extraordinary growth of our public debt. In 1970 it was just 40 percent of gross domestic product, or about $425 billion. When it reaches $18 trillion, it will be 40 times greater than in 1970. This debt explosion has resulted not from big spending by the Democrats, but instead the Republican Party's embrace, about three decades ago, of the insidious doctrine that deficits don't matter if they result from tax cuts.
In 1981, traditional Republicans supported tax cuts, matched by spending cuts, to offset the way inflation was pushing many taxpayers into higher brackets and to spur investment. The Reagan administration's hastily prepared fiscal blueprint, however, was no match for the primordial forces -- the welfare state and the warfare state -- that drive the federal spending machine.

Soon, the neocons were pushing the military budget skyward. And the Republicans on Capitol Hill who were supposed to cut spending exempted from the knife most of the domestic budget -- entitlements, farm subsidies, education, water projects. But in the end it was a new cadre of ideological tax-cutters who killed the Republicans' fiscal religion."

Here is another economist article on the subject:
http://www.politicalbull.net/economic_collapse_and_reaganomics.html

lengthy but broken down
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96jul/depress/depress.htm


http://investmentwatchblog.com/what-could-cause-an-economic-collapse-in-2011/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/U.S._Trade_Deficit_Dollars_and_percentage_GDP.png/350px-U.S._Trade_Deficit_Dollars_and_percentage_GDP.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/U.S._Home_Ownership_and_Subprime_Origination_Share .png/350px-U.S._Home_Ownership_and_Subprime_Origination_Share .png


DeregulationFurther information: Government policies and the subprime mortgage crisis
Critics such as economist Paul Krugman and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have argued that the regulatory framework did not keep pace with financial innovation, such as the increasing importance of the shadow banking system, derivatives and off-balance sheet financing. In other cases, laws were changed or enforcement weakened in parts of the financial system. Key examples include:

Jimmy Carter's Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA) phased out a number of restrictions on banks' financial practices, broadened their lending powers, and raised the deposit insurance limit from $40,000 to $100,000 (raising the problem of moral hazard).[64] Banks rushed into real estate lending, speculative lending, and other ventures just as the economy soured.[citation needed]
In October 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed into Law the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, which provided for adjustable-rate mortgage loans, began the process of banking deregulation,[citation needed] and contributed to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s/early 1990s.[65]
In November 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into Law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. This repeal has been criticized for reducing the separation between commercial banks (which traditionally had a conservative culture) and investment banks (which had a more risk-taking culture).[66][67]
In 2004, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relaxed the net capital rule, which enabled investment banks to substantially increase the level of debt they were taking on, fueling the growth in mortgage-backed securities supporting subprime mortgages. The SEC has conceded that self-regulation of investment banks contributed to the crisis.[68][69]
Financial institutions in the shadow banking system are not subject to the same regulation as depository banks, allowing them to assume additional debt obligations relative to their financial cushion or capital base.[70] This was the case despite the Long-Term Capital Management debacle in 1998, where a highly-leveraged shadow institution failed with systemic implications.
Regulators and accounting standard-setters allowed depository banks such as Citigroup to move significant amounts of assets and liabilities off-balance sheet into complex legal entities called structured investment vehicles, masking the weakness of the capital base of the firm or degree of leverage or risk taken. One news agency estimated that the top four U.S. banks will have to return between $500 billion and $1 trillion to their balance sheets during 2009.[71] This increased uncertainty during the crisis regarding the financial position of the major banks.[72] Off-balance sheet entities were also used by Enron as part of the scandal that brought down that company in 2001.[73]
As early as 1997, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan fought to keep the derivatives market unregulated.[74] With the advice of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets,[75] the U.S. Congress and President allowed the self-regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market when they enacted the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Derivatives such as credit default swaps (CDS) can be used to hedge or speculate against particular credit risks. The volume of CDS outstanding increased 100-fold from 1998 to 2008, with estimates of the debt covered by CDS contracts, as of November 2008, ranging from US$33 to $47 trillion. Total over-the-counter (OTC) derivative notional value rose to $683 trillion by June 2008.[76] Warren Buffett famously referred to derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction" in early 2003.[77][78]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Leverage_Ratios.png/450px-Leverage_Ratios.png

[BJJ-Blue]

The Reagan tax cuts did not cause the deficits. Actually without them the deficits would have been worse. The Treasury took in MORE revenue under Reagan than Carter, despite the massive tax rate cuts. It was the spending that caused the deficits. And it was not only military spending, btw. And the military spending accomplished Reagan's stated goal, to force the USSR into an arms race that would bankrupt them. Unlike the War on Poverty which has been being waged for 50 some years now and is nowhere near accomplishing the stated goals the liberals made when they enacted those policies.

In short, Reagan's military spending was a success, while liberal social spending has only worsened the problem it was intended to solve.

[MasterKiller]

Unlike the War on Poverty which has been being waged for 50 some years now and is nowhere near accomplishing the stated goals the liberals made when they enacted those policies. Sounds an awful lot like the War on Drugs....

[BJJ-Blue]

Soon, the neocons were pushing the military budget skyward. And the Republicans on Capitol Hill who were supposed to cut spending exempted from the knife most of the domestic budget -- entitlements, farm subsidies, education, water projects.

The "neocons" did not control Congress for most of Reagans time in office. The Democrats controlled the House for all 8 years, and the Senate for 2. The Constitution provides that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." As a result, the Senate cannot initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate cannot originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds.


In October 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed into Law the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, which provided for adjustable-rate mortgage loans, began the process of banking deregulation,[citation needed] and contributed to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s/early 1990s.[65]

You do realize the part about Reagan deregulating says "citation needed", right?

And you made no mention of the Community Reinvestment Act, which was a contributing factor, nor did you mention Bush and the Republicans in Congress attempts to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the early 2000s and being blocked by Democrats who actually played the race card in Congress during hearings about regulation.

And you also made no mention of any of GW Bush's policies, and yet we've been told by liberals from President Obama on down that Bush caused the mess.

[BJJ-Blue]

Sounds an awful lot like the War on Drugs....

True. And both parties have not done anything to end it on the Federal level. The only Presidential candidate in the 2008 race who advocated legalizing drugs was a Republican, Ron Paul.

[Drake]

The defense budget skyrocketed in the early 80s due to tensions with the USSR, and a strong degree of mistrust between us and them, among many, many other things. What is up with everyone looking for single points of failure here? That may exist at the most rudmimentary level of problems, but REAL problems, BIG problems, are multi-layered, complex things with no true right answer and no optimal solution. You won't figure it out over a beer and movie.

That's why our leaders get paid the big bucks.

[BJJ-Blue]

What is up with everyone looking for single points of failure here?

I posted a point of success.

[Drake]

I posted a point of success.

No such thing. Again... simplistic thinking. Applying your problem solving methodology for, say, fixing a clogged drain, to, say, complex intergovernment, global economic impacts.

Don't take this the wrong way, but unless you have an MBA, you probably aren't smart enough to wrap your head around it.

[pateticorecords]

No such thing. Again... simplistic thinking. Applying your problem solving methodology for, say, fixing a clogged drain, to, say, complex intergovernment, global economic impacts.

Don't take this the wrong way, but unless you have an MBA, you probably aren't smart enough to wrap your head around it.

hey, Bush had an MBA too:D