Rep. Perriello from the Charlottesville  area voted for the Health Care Reform bill.  Today officials and the FBI are looking in to how the propane gas line at his brother’s house got cut.  Political opponents had posted his brother’s address on a website, thinking the address was the congressman’s.   According to msnbc.com:

From NBC’s Pete Williams
Virginia officials, aided by the FBI, are looking into how a residential propane feeder line was cut at the home of the brother of a Virginia congressman.

Investigators have reached no conclusions about how or why it happened. But the line was cut after the home’s address was posted on a blog and a Facebook page, both maintained by members of a local Tea Party group who thought it was the home of Rep. Tom Perriello, a Virginia Democrat who voted in favor of the health-care bill.

One said, “This is Rep. Thomas Stuart Price Perriello’s home address,” and added, “I ain’t holding back anymore!!” The other urged readers to “drop by” the home and “express their thanks” for the vote. 

The cut in the gas line, which runs from a propane tank to a gas grill on a screened-in porch, was discovered Tuesday, the day after the address was posted. When they realized that it was incorrect, the operators of the blog and Faceboook page took the address off.

The chairman of the Lynchburg, VA, Tea Party, Mark Lloyd, told NBC News, “I learned what happened after the fact. We made an official statement on our Web site,” saying that that his group “did not request, sanction, or endorse” posting the address, which appeared on a different Web site.

Tea Party member Nigel Coleman, who wrote one of the Internet posts, told the Charlottesville Daily Progress that he was shocked when he heard about the incident.

Rep. Steny Hoyer reports that threats have been made to around ten Congressmen and women who voted yes to HCR legislation.  Shepherd Smith reports that he is waiting for an update from Capitol Police. 

Please note that the material for this post comes from both MSNBC and from Fox News.   Unfortunately incendiary rhetoric meant to gather the troops sometimes sends some of them off the deep end.  All of us, regardless of party affiliation or ideology must be mindful of our audience and what we say.  Civil debate becomes increasingly more important.  Shepherd Smith gave one of his fierce admonitions about settling political unhappiness and discontent at the ballot box.  I feel certain there will be footage of his remarks.  I will post them.  One bad apple can give many black eyes. 

It goes without saying that any  remarks like that would be removed from this blog.  However, no one here would post like that either.  The blogosphere does have the responsibility to maintain civil discussion.

Daily  Progress Story

165 Thoughts to “Tom Perriello’s Brother had Gas Line Cut”

  1. Emma

    And so there is no possible excuse for opposing HCR because Bubba has a sick child? We all have struggles. You have no idea how much.

    [oppose a bill all you want. Cruel remarks were made to Bubba. There are people who really like the idea of the health care bill. They are entitled to respect instead of being bowled over by the louder opposition.]

  2. Red Dawn

    @Not Me, Bubba

    “I didn’t even have a honeymoon…vacation???? Are you kidding me??? yeah, we have a mortgage too, in addition to restorative speech and OT therapies my son needs (hundreds a month), as well as utilities and incidentals, car payments, etc. Sing me a song and cry me a river.”

    I was being sympathetic to your FAMILY NEEDS and I haven’t had a honeymoon either and my father has BONE CANCER and have been thru the red tape about him exceding the allowance to changing presciptions, etc…. I know the F@&^&BIG DEAL that Joe Biden was talking about.

    My father, as a cancer patient even knows that the way all of this is headed WRONG!!
    AND BY THE WAY, there is NO CURE for him, MY FATHER, MY BELOVED FAMILY MEMBER!!

    DON’T JUDGE ME!!!! I WASN’T JUDGING YOU…Just don’t tell me I’m going to hell and wishing some threefold bullshit because of your situation. I KNOW my FAMILYS BUDGET and what we can afford or not. When I say I CANNOT AFFORD ANY other bill ( even $25.00) and be threatened that WE will be fined?

    FINED is the LAST THING I WORRY ABOUT! Get off of you cry me a RIVER SHIT!

    ]Bubba wasn’t talking to you, RD. Everyone has special circumstances. Some people love the idea of the health care bill and other people hate it. So much fear mongering has gone on on both sides about it, it is hard to tell what is good or bad about it. Bubba has a child she is responsible for who has a life-threatening condition that will need medical attention costing probably millions of dollars. It all has her in a financial and medical half nelson. I think we need to listen to her. You didn’t do it but she was being blown off. No mother wants to hear that. Hopefully HCR will help your father also. ]

  3. marinm

    As Emma alluded to we all have our healthcare struggles. Elena is correct. I have no children. Not by choice – we’ve been trying for years but it’s not in the cards for us at least naturally. So, to have a biological child we have looked into IVF and other fertility treatments. After 3 unsuccessful tries at one doctor we’ve transferred to another practice. They have a program where for $25,000 + cost of drugs and other incidentals we can have upto 7 attempts.

    It’s actually a great deal if you have the cash for it. We’ve been saving up for this program for a year now as we don’t qualify for the low income plan and must pay full price. You would think that $104K (MH asked) goes far but after taxes and other required expenditures there’s not much left over to save at the end of the month. But, we trudge on. We have not asked for a handout from any of our parents or friends. We’ve not asked for money from anyone here or from anyone else. We have a medical condition that we understand costs money and are doing our best to collect it to hand over to a doctor so that we may have a chance – something that for others come as simply as Oops to others.

    We’re not mad though. We are not mad when people point out we are childless or that we are selfish for wanting a biological child instead of adopting. We simply accept it. We have to. We just have to keep moving forward.

    But, what does make me mad is that we’re doing it right. We’re saving money. We’re not asking for handouts. We’re not asking for or want the govt to come in and ‘help’ us. We just want to be left in peace to live our lives the way we want to and to make the medical choices we want without the government peeking into our IRS returns, sending IRS bounty hunters after us, or eventually putting me on some government mandated wellness program for my own good.

    HCR may not be something I can stop but I should also not be put forced into a position where I must get coverage so that someone who has greater need is offset by my better health. That is a decision for me, my doctor and the healthcare provider I choose.

    If all that means that ice runs through my veins because I’m cold and heartless. I accept that. I accept all the very nasty things that have been said about or towards me. I guess this is my version of walking the two block guantlet at the Capitol.

    For any person on here in my position.. Paying for your healthcare needs without asking for help or a handout. I understand. Just, keep moving forward.

  4. Happy Harry

    Emma :
    Funny how you’re quick to jump on anyone criticizing HCR, but you have no problem with some of the ignorant anti-Catholic spew that the two of them have merrily and unapologetically tossed around. But I’m sure that’s what you were going for with those particular threads.
    And the expectation of civility has apparently become a one-way street.

    Emma – you took the words out of my mouth.

    I find it very ironic that this blog (well, the anti blog) cast Ducaster as an anti-Catholic when there have been some pretty bad anti-Catholic statements made here. To a person on this blog who is Catholic. I’d like to see Starry apologize for those statements that she made in a previous thread, but I doubt that will happen.

    Red Dawn :
    I was being sympathetic to your FAMILY NEEDS and I haven’t had a honeymoon either and my father has BONE CANCER and have been thru the red tape about him exceding the allowance to changing presciptions, etc…. I know the F@&^&BIG DEAL that Joe Biden was talking about.
    My father, as a cancer patient even knows that the way all of this is headed WRONG!!
    AND BY THE WAY, there is NO CURE for him, MY FATHER, MY BELOVED FAMILY MEMBER!!
    DON’T JUDGE ME!!!! I WASN’T JUDGING YOU…Just don’t tell me I’m going to hell and wishing some threefold bullshit because of your situation. I KNOW my FAMILYS BUDGET and what we can afford or not. When I say I CANNOT AFFORD ANY other bill ( even $25.00) and be threatened that WE will be fined?
    FINED is the LAST THING I WORRY ABOUT! Get off of you cry me a RIVER SHIT!

    RD, I feel for you. My spouse has MS – we pay $500 a month for shots for treatments for him (that’s WITH insurance). We just finished paying off my daughter’s ear surgery for her hearing that cost us $1000 (again, INPATIENT surgery with insurance) and now are struggling to pay her ER bill when she got an ear infection the week after the surgery. And then my spouses back got injured and we have ANOTHER ER bill (with insurance). Along with daycare/diapers/car payments/mortgage. And since we’re in the lovely middle class, we just got slammed with our taxes and owe the IRS money that we don’t have.

    I get PISSED when I see people come on here and joke about how they hope that it will pay for their lipo or thigh reduction. It’s all one big joke. It’s not a joke to me. We live paycheck to paycheck and it chaps my ass to see people joking about how they are going to use HCR to get a thigh reduction done.

  5. Happy Harry

    Not Me, Bubba :
    A car’s insurance is only required required for liability to protect another party if the car is operated improperly. It is optional to own a car but the insurance is not required to protect you–you may have some responsibility to the lienholder of the car, but the law is only to protect a victim of your mistake.”
    Okay, try and get your registration then without insurance…

    Actually, you can – you can pay the state $500 in lieu of insurance. Check on the back of your registration card next time it comes.

  6. Wolverine

    Perhaps we will be able to pick up this debate again — maybe while we are standing in line waiting to see a doctor and holding No. 476 from the “Take-A-Number-and-Wait-Until- Called” holder. You people do realize, don’t you, that we are already woefully short of doctors, that many, many doctors are so loaded down with patients now that face time with your care provider is “hustle in and hustle out.” And it is not going to get any better any time soon. In fact, we may be seeing the beginning of the end of private practice. It seems that hospitals are already buying up private practices so they can cover the out-patient responsibilities thrust upon them. Some opine that our future medical care may come in hospital clinics where we get a different doc every visit and move through the system like cattle in a feed lot. Doctors are now worried about government interference in both their patient care and their compensation levels. And that is before the stampede which will result from the recently signed health care bill. And just watch the level of applications to medical schools drop because there must be an easier way to make a living.

    Not Me, Bubba, has described some very real problems with which I fully empathize. I want the kind of health care reform which will help her to lessen her problems to the max. She sounds like the kind of dedicated, caring person who merits the best we can do for her. But, quite frankly, I am looking at this health care reform bill as a very strange concoction of things whch were not really thought out very well as to consequences, with far too much time spent on legislative horse trading than on the real crux issues of workability. I’m just afraid that we might wind up in a case of unintended medical self-strangulation. You know what they have always said about something put together by a committee.

    And, by the way, I would certainly like to ask that “committee” a question: Why is it that guys like me might have to pay taxes on our insurance policies but that the guys in the unions, many who make more than I did at my earning peak, have to pay nothing. I don’t recall getting a voice or a vote on that particular swap. I guess I should have kept up my U.A.W. membership from years ago. An interesting concept of fairness here. But, then, someone up there keeps talking about the transfer of wealth. I always felt that might apply to the rich guys, not to one of the poorer guys in the wealthiest county in the country.

    Look. I want to help Not Me, Bubba as much as I can; but can’t we go back and think some more about how to do this without tearing the body politic apart?

  7. Harry, I know who that remark is directed at and I also know that isn’t going to happen with health care. re lipo suction.

    Additionally, we are not going to go over past history on this blog over what happened on Anti as part of ancient history regarding Mr. Duecaster. He is off minding his own business and we are going to do the same. Any further remarks about Mr. D will be taken down by Elena or me. Stop waving the bloody shirt

  8. Finally, I get to talk to my friend Wolverine. Housekeeping chores….

    I think that is a real concern about taking a number. But it is a concern now. I have thought about this issue and people should not be taking a number because they can’t afford it.

    I also keep going back to where has everyone been the past 8 years. This country has been facing a health care crisis for a long time, longer than 8 years even. Rates go higher, do pays get higher, and services get fewer. Medical costs get higher. More and more people walk on their bills because they don’t qualify for medicaid and they can’t afford insurance. Those of us with policies ultimately bear the cost both as taxpayers and as insurance policy holders.

    I don’t have answers but I am sure that people like Bubba don’t want to give it back. I am sure she would rather wait in line and know that her husband can change jobs if he needs to.

    I am not defending this plan. I actually fear the plan. But I also don’t think it is all bad.

    I am admonishing both parties for letting things go so long. I am also insisting that people look at the other guy’s point of view on this blog. I don’t mean from a political point of view but as a human being. That is why I always enjoy talking with you, Wolverine. We often disagree but we never fail to find some common ground.

    I don’t understand the union stuff with the health care. Please enlighten me.

  9. Red Dawn

    “I also keep going back to where has everyone been the past 8 years. This country has been facing a health care crisis for a long time, longer than 8 years even. Rates go higher, do pays get higher, and services get fewer. Medical costs get higher. More and more people walk on their bills because they don’t qualify for medicaid and they can’t afford insurance. Those of us with policies ultimately bear the cost both as taxpayers and as insurance policy holders. ”

    I can’t help but think the same about the housing boom and its aftermath….and it iS FAR BEYOND FIXED. We have short sales and people still walking away due to falling equity and not quailfying for a bailout ( which is NOT handed out like it seems)
    If they can’t fix that….how can promote/vote this (HRC Bill)

    We still have people that choose to stay in thier homes, do the right thing, pay and pay ( even upside down due to the neighborhood stats, that bring the value down ) I.E., me and get told to that I should go to hell and have threefold the trouble because I question this.

    I think people in the middle are being ignored. The people who don’t make enough, but enough to be forced to pay and be fined if not.
    Has anyone thought about ( for a minute ) that the new powers of the IRS is something similar to the Gestapo (sp) ? lol

  10. kelly3406

    I would like to gently remind NMB that conservatives are with her in the care of her children. But having been in the military, I have friends who have spilled their blood and given their lives to defend the Constitution. It is therefore a very serious matter to me when the federal government institutes legislation that appears to violate the Constitution.

    I would like to find a way to make healthcare accessible to your family without infringing on our personal freedoms. There are ways to do that, but Obama chose to ram this down our throats. The strong words directed at you are a result of backlash to his approach.

  11. Starryflights

    As this latest event illustrates, these Tea Party people are terrorists, just like Osama Bin Laden. They have declared jihadi war upon our constitutional way of government.

  12. Red Dawn

    Starry,
    Your constitution is the same as mine and I will defend it. CALL ME A TERROSIT!:)

  13. Red Dawn

    Terrorist ( lol. it sounded like a zit when I misspelled it. oh well,if you can laugh at your self first 🙂

  14. Starryflights

    I, too, will defend our constitution. There was nothing unconstitutional about the health care bill. If it’s unconstitutional, then so is social security, medicare, income taxes, draft registration, school children immunization..

  15. Wolverine

    Moon, the reference is to the so-called “Cadillac health plans.” In the orginal Baucus bill there was a plan to levy a 35-40 % excise tax against health plans whose annual premiums reached above specified dollar amounts for individuals and families. The tax applied to premium amounts over those levels. The intention was to tax the real big boys who had gold-plated plans provided by their companies in an effort to bring down costs by bringing down unnecessary medical visits and procedures.

    Somewhere along the line, it was found that the plan would actually reach far down into the middle class. Senator Rockefeller of West Virginia was one who lead the opposition after it was discovered that the tax would apply to people like firefighters, coal miners, and even older employees of small businesses, It would especially hurt those who had health plans in high cost of living areas where premiums were markedly higher. The revised estimate was that the excise tax would hit 1 out of 10 people rather than just the wealthiest who were the original target.

    Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO got ahold of it after finding that it would hit most union members hard because they had, in effect, “Cadillac ” plans garnered through labor negotiations for benefits. He threatened to withdraw labor support for the Baucus bill unless union employees under collective bargaining contracts got a break. Baucus and Obama caved. The “Cadillac” plan excise tax would only come into play for these union members, as well as state and municipal employees, in 2018, an almost five year grace period. (I don’t doubt that when 2018 comes, we may see another magical extension.) They also got the premiums for dental and visual care not counted in the premium totals. Everybody else gets to start paying through the nose in 2013.

    Just another one of those cute “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” back room deals which the pushers of this bill chose not to play up too much lest other middle class guys like me complained about unequal treatment. I guess I am now on a par with the guys at Lehman Brothers and other high muckety-muck firms who draw salaries for one week which probably exceed my annual pension. I cannot stand much more of this “transparency” and “fair play.” I can hardly wait to see how they hit me under cap-and-trade. I guess I’ll have to go out and purchase a blue blazer and yachting cap so I at least look like I belong among the high rollers.

  16. Starryflights

    And if you do believe the HC bill was unconstitutional, there are ways to challenge it involving the Courts. This is how civilized nations operate. We are a civilized nation. If you want to behave like an uncivilized animal, go live somewhere else.

  17. Wolverine

    Gee, Starryflights, I see you read and understood my previous post about constitutionality. Good for you.

  18. Starryflights

    I spent a year in Iraq. I have seen up close and personal what happens when people choose to resolve differences through guns, bullets, bombs and physical violence rather than through the rule of law. It’s ugly and nobody is safe. I don’t want our country to become like that.

  19. Gainesville Resident

    Moon-howler :
    I talked to a lot of people today who are very happy over it.

    Really? I’m amazed there are that many people out there who would be happy over something like this, or even that would own up to being happy about it.

  20. Gainesville Resident

    Gainesville Resident :

    Moon-howler :
    I talked to a lot of people today who are very happy over it.

    Really? I’m amazed there are that many people out there who would be happy over something like this, or even that would own up to being happy about it.

    Nevermind, I misinterpreted what MH said – she clarified further down she was talking about HCR. I thought somehow she was talking about the violence mentioned at the top of this thread. My mistake! So forget what I said in the post above! That’s what I get for commenting on posts as I read them and not waiting until I see the clarification.

  21. Gainesville Resident

    Rez :
    So, you know, Wolfie, the Federal employee paid more in retirement out of their own paycheck than someone on social security. They were also not permitted to get social security.

    That’s true enough Rez. My father is a federal gov’t retiree so I know how the system works. Although, I think at some point, new Federal gov’t employees in the FERS system (Federal Employee Retirement System) maybe started to pay into social security. My father is under the older CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) and never ever paid into social security. You are correct though – his payroll withholding was much higher than social security wittholding.

  22. Pat.Herve

    To those against healthcare reform – I am glad that you and your dependents have been healthy, and wish you the best. Unfortunately, your health is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get – as an adult, if you develop MS, get a stroke, have a heart attack, you will have a pre-existing condition, and although you have paid into a plan all your life (and never claimed), you may find yourself in a situation where you cannot afford an insurance plan. You may also find yourself against a lifetime cap.

    You will then have to make the tough decisions of having to spend your entire savings (read – retirement/living expenses for your spouse who is healthy) in order to try and save your life. Good Luck.

    Or as others have pointed out, the inability to change plans due to a sick child. How does a child with Downs syndrome get coverage? How does a child with cystic fibrosis get coverage? Why can’t I get affordable coverage for my healthy child?

    The pool needs to include the healthy to offset the costs of the sick – and one never knows when they become part of the sick crowd. To those who say owning a car is a choice, try it for a week.

    Our elected leaders do not want to confront change. Change is hard, even if it is good. We keep waiting to change until it is too late – the cost of doing nothing far outweighs the cost of the HCR bill. We have other needs that need to be addressed. Funny how there was little talk about the deficit spending for the prescription drug option a few years ago, even though that was an unfunded mandate from Congress, the same people who voted for that are against HCR, because of the costs – well, they all speak from both sides of their mouth when they want to.

  23. Gainesville Resident

    Moon-howler :
    @Rez

    So, you know, Wolfie, the Federal employee paid more in retirement out of their own paycheck than someone on social security. They were also not permitted to get social security.

    I know that Rez. I just think it was bad business. I know you all are better off for it though. I don’t begrudge individuals. It angers me at the way things were.
    I also know that those getting retirement from the feds are not allowed to get a non fed spouse’s social security if that spouse is dead. Not fair.

    I don’t know that my father gets more money in retirement from CSRS than if he would have from social security – it’s really hard to tell.

    But of course, as much as social security has this problem of running out of money – you’ve taken a huge amount of people out of the social security pool – in terms of them contributing to it.

    But, I do think maybe newer fed employees now contribute to social security – under the FERS program – unless I’m mistaken. It is just older employees like my father and others who were hired before 1990 or so, that were covered under CSRS. I know FERS came into being before my father retired, and he retired in 1993 – so that’s why I’m pegging FERS as starting in 1990 roughly.

  24. Gainesville Resident

    Rez :
    NotMeBubba said–
    “And FYI, if you own a home you are required by law to have it insured…same with a car”
    So for my last post I will just point out that NotMeBubba is a bit wrong. You have insurance on your home because it is a requirement to get the mortgage by the mortgage company, not law. The mortgage company wants to make sure its investment is covered. It is optional since you don’t have to enter into the mortgage.
    A car’s insurance is only required required for liability to protect another party if the car is operated improperly. It is optional to own a car but the insurance is not required to protect you–you may have some responsibility to the lienholder of the car, but the law is only to protect a victim of your mistake.
    I suppose then it is optional to live if you want to use that same train of thought but that is the constitutional question–that the government can make you buy something just because you live.
    You don’t even have to pay social security taxes–if you work for the government or some other equivalent retirement system. I never paid social security taxes while I worked for the Federal government.
    So while I empathize with your legitimate fears about you child, try to see through your opinion that people are trying to do bad things to you and your family. The same things that you like in the Health Care could have been done without taking over healthcare.
    Now the last thing, I doubt you would hear any person say that they did not want preexisting conditions covered. The issue isn’t over that issue, or the issue of dropping insurance if you become sick. Everyone agrees with it. The issue is more fundamental about freedoms.
    Gee I am so glad I happened to get on today to see this conversation.
    I will now bid you all adieu and wish you well. I will look in from time to time but this is really my last post. I could not let NotMeBubba’s inaccurate post to stand without challenge.

    That was a really interesting post you made and you made a lot of good points about other insurance being in effect optional, as if you don’t want that insurance you can choose to not own a home (rent) or maybe not own a car (take public transportation).

    Anyway, sorry to see you leave the blog – as I always thought your posts were very well written and well thought out.

  25. Pat.Herve

    Kelly – healthcare accessible to your family without infringing on our personal freedoms – please explain to me how to do that? I really would like to see another option that to mandate coverage, but I do not know of another way (while being fair to the insurance companies).

  26. Gainesville Resident

    Happy Harry :

    Not Me, Bubba :
    A car’s insurance is only required required for liability to protect another party if the car is operated improperly. It is optional to own a car but the insurance is not required to protect you–you may have some responsibility to the lienholder of the car, but the law is only to protect a victim of your mistake.”
    Okay, try and get your registration then without insurance…

    Actually, you can – you can pay the state $500 in lieu of insurance. Check on the back of your registration card next time it comes.

    That’s true – although I think then you aren’t supposed to drive the car. Maybe I’m wrong about that. The $500 isn’t a replacement for insurance, it is some kind of penalty payment for not having insurance. I believe you must keep the car parked on your private property if you do that.

  27. Gainesville Resident

    Wolverine :
    Perhaps we will be able to pick up this debate again — maybe while we are standing in line waiting to see a doctor and holding No. 476 from the “Take-A-Number-and-Wait-Until- Called” holder. You people do realize, don’t you, that we are already woefully short of doctors, that many, many doctors are so loaded down with patients now that face time with your care provider is “hustle in and hustle out.” And it is not going to get any better any time soon. In fact, we may be seeing the beginning of the end of private practice. It seems that hospitals are already buying up private practices so they can cover the out-patient responsibilities thrust upon them. Some opine that our future medical care may come in hospital clinics where we get a different doc every visit and move through the system like cattle in a feed lot. Doctors are now worried about government interference in both their patient care and their compensation levels. And that is before the stampede which will result from the recently signed health care bill. And just watch the level of applications to medical schools drop because there must be an easier way to make a living.

    This is really important what Wolverine said. I’ve seen many analysts say that healthcare reform will lead to a huge shortage of doctors.

    I also have read exactly what Wolverine said in his last sentence – less people will opt to go to medical school to become doctors as they hear from current doctors how bad things become under HCR, and see doctors retire early or leave the medical profession. It will become a reinforcing feedback cycle and things will just spiral downhill.

    That is one of the more scary things (and unintended consequences) of what may happen under HCR.

    I sure hope it doesn’t come to pass – but I’ve read too many well thought out analyses of this – by people who don’t seem to be partisan, that I have a feeling they are right on the money and this is what will happen.

  28. Gainesville Resident

    Red Dawn :
    I can’t help but think the same about the housing boom and its aftermath….and it iS FAR BEYOND FIXED. We have short sales and people still walking away due to falling equity and not quailfying for a bailout ( which is NOT handed out like it seems)
    If they can’t fix that….how can promote/vote this (HRC Bill)

    There seems to be real problems with that widely publicized mortgage modification program. I’ve read that many people apply, few are approved, and there is some huge backlog. Meanwhile many people who that program was intended for, continue to lose their houses. It makes you wonder where all the money is going that was approved for that program. Doesn’t seem to be going to the people it was designed to help.

  29. Gainesville Resident

    Starryflights :
    As this latest event illustrates, these Tea Party people are terrorists, just like Osama Bin Laden. They have declared jihadi war upon our constitutional way of government.

    Here we go again….

  30. Gainesville Resident

    Red Dawn :
    Starry,
    Your constitution is the same as mine and I will defend it. CALL ME A TERRORIST!:)

    I agree with you, Red Dawn.

  31. Gainesville Resident

    Starryflights :
    I spent a year in Iraq. I have seen up close and personal what happens when people choose to resolve differences through guns, bullets, bombs and physical violence rather than through the rule of law. It’s ugly and nobody is safe. I don’t want our country to become like that.

    So you’ve been to Iraq, have seen what it’s like there, yet you call the Tea Party folks terrorists. Very interesting, and very nutty….

  32. @marinm
    “In the mean time, I’m fattening myself up to get my government issued lapband and tummy tuck.”

    LOLOLOL!

    I’ve already got the lap band, and my insurance paid for it. The tummy tuck I can go for, though. MDIPA won’t cover that or my thigh reduction.

  33. The people who did this ARE terrorists, and those who started the ball rolling are just as bad. They don’t even seem remorseful. “Collateral damage”? And people wonder why the TEA party people have a bad name.

    Cindy, thanks for the article.

  34. Starryflights

    No, I don’t call all the Tea Party folks terrorists, only those that spit and hurl racial epithets at elected officials, as well as those who leave threatening messages, throw bricks and cut gas lines.

  35. Incidentally, many of us here live paycheck to paycheck, including our family. My insurance didn’t cover much of my daughter’s hospitalization and we are stuck with the bill. I have two daughters with disabilities, and I have some myself. It’s a struggle. Our co-pays alone could topple us.

    I think the part about regulating pre-existing conditions is good. It’s the other aspects I can’t go for–unfunded mandates and forcing people to get insurance when they can’t afford it. Many middle class people can’t afford the premiums even if their employers pay for some of it. There is no recourse for these people. They aren’t poor enough on paper to get any publicly funded benefits.

  36. @Starryflights
    Yes, it’s those people, Starry, who are terrorists. BUT these people, some of whom are Tea Party leaders, started the violence.

    This isn’t good for the movement and it speaks to the need for rational, balanced discussion.

  37. Gainesville Resident

    Starryflights :
    No, I don’t call all the Tea Party folks terrorists, only those that spit and hurl racial epithets at elected officials, as well as those who leave threatening messages, throw bricks and cut gas lines.

    You said “As this latest event illustrates, these Tea Party people are terrorists, just like Osama Bin Laden. They have declared jihadi war upon our constitutional way of government. ”

    Also, you haven’t even proved that Tea Party members did any of these things.

  38. Gainesville Resident

    And, I wouldn’t doubt the press is distorting this in some way to try and make it look like the Tea Party is behind a lot of this. I don’t believe much of what I read in the press these days.

  39. @Gainesville Resident
    GR, Cindy’s post shows how this latest incident (gas line cutting) started. From the article: “Danville and Lynchburg Tea Party activists mistakenly posted the address of Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother online Monday to invite others to “drop by” Perriello’s home in Charlottesville and “express their thanks” for his health care vote.”

    When the Tea Party members realized what happened, they referred to is as “collateral damage.”

    Encouraging ANYONE to come to ANYONE’S private residence and doing so with a barely disguised attempt to provoke already angry people is at the very least harassment and not so unlike behavior we have seen with groups such as the KKK.

  40. Gainesville Resident

    Posting As Pinko :
    @Gainesville Resident
    GR, Cindy’s post shows how this latest incident (gas line cutting) started. From the article: “Danville and Lynchburg Tea Party activists mistakenly posted the address of Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother online Monday to invite others to “drop by” Perriello’s home in Charlottesville and “express their thanks” for his health care vote.”
    When the Tea Party members realized what happened, they referred to is as “collateral damage.”
    Encouraging ANYONE to come to ANYONE’S private residence and doing so with a barely disguised attempt to provoke already angry people is at the very least harassment and not so unlike behavior we have seen with groups such as the KKK.

    You can choose to believe what you want. I’m not even sure I believe the quotes attributed to Tea Party members in the press.

    And of course he we go with comparisons to the KKK again……

  41. Gainesville Resident

    I meant to say “And of course here we go with comparisons to the KKK again….”

  42. Gainesville Resident :

    Moon-howler :
    I talked to a lot of people today who are very happy over it.

    Really? I’m amazed there are that many people out there who would be happy over something like this, or even that would own up to being happy about it.

    You went to work and talked to people who have your same health care policy which you say is great. Why would anyone there like the idea that something might change, even though they have been told it won’t. I grant you, that remains to be seen.

    The people I talked to are people whose employer does not provide health care. They are either uninsured or paying out the nose for a private policy. One is a hair stylist and 2 are bartenders. Another is a retired lawyer who was self employed.

    The other person I talked to was a serious diabetic. Another person I talked to on the phone has an iffy job situation and a husband with COPD who had bladder cancer 16 years ago. His job is also iffy.

    They certainly weren’t embarrassed to say that they were glad to see HDR legislation go through.

  43. Gainesville Resident

    Moon-howler :

    Gainesville Resident :

    Moon-howler :I talked to a lot of people today who are very happy over it.

    Really? I’m amazed there are that many people out there who would be happy over something like this, or even that would own up to being happy about it.

    You went to work and talked to people who have your same health care policy which you say is great. Why would anyone there like the idea that something might change, even though they have been told it won’t. I grant you, that remains to be seen.
    The people I talked to are people whose employer does not provide health care. They are either uninsured or paying out the nose for a private policy. One is a hair stylist and 2 are a bartender. Another is a retired lawyer who was self employed.
    The other person I talked to was a serious diabetic. Another person I talked to on the phone has an iffy job situation and a husband with COPD who had bladder cancer 16 years ago. His job is also iffy.
    They certainly weren’t embarrassed to say that they were glad to see HDR legislation go through.

    Actually, that post of mine was in error. I thought you were talking about what was the topic at the top of this thread – not HCR in general. So my post about my being “amazed…, etc. etc.” was not about HCR. It was a misunderstanding on my part – if you read further you’ll see I retracted what I said in that post you just replied to. Sorry for the confusion.

  44. Gainesville Resident

    I do think though we have a double standard here. In another thread (the Silver Lake park thread) you called out a conservative who made an unkind reference to liberals. At the same time, some conservatives are being labeled as terrorists, compared to KKK members, etc. and all I see is silence. Either this blog is going to disavow all remarks of this kind no matter who they are made to, or otherwise I just don’t think that is fair. Lately I’ve noticed some conservative posters have elected to leave because of this double standard. So it’s not just me who’s noticing it, and the blog is suffering for the fact those posters have opted to leave. I’m referring to Rez and others, such as Slowpoke, for example, who’s not been seen in some time.

  45. GR’s conversation and mine is a good illustration of how wars are started. 🙄

    We were off in our posts. No, I don’t know anyone bragging about busting out windows or cutting gas lines. I agree, GR. THAT is nothing to be happy about for sure.

    And some days I only talk to people whose profession was similar to mine. I would probably not have talked to as many people in favor of HCR as I did yesterday. Different people in different life circumstances and different lines of work view it differently. Sorry, too many differents.

  46. GR, I haven’t gotten to the comments. I have had 3 phone calls and I had to send emergency coffee to Lafayette. I haven’t even seen what you are talking about.

  47. PWC Taxpayer

    The race card, the kkk thing, the terrorist thing – its all part of the play to stiffle discussion – not just dissent. It does not matter that the incident happened or not.

    What conservatives need to understand is that liberals view themselves as rightous – even at the expense of others. Charity is a public right to the point of dis-inviting the churches in the name of equal access. Their brains are closed to these issues – protected by their own sense of rightousness. Oh, how mean of you to ask what it costs or what the unintended consquences could be. Oh, how mean of you to suggest that smaller fixes (tort reform, Federal vs state regulation of insurance, the elimination of previous conditions, tax incentives versus public subsidies) all Republican ideas — when we can centralize what insurance you can buy, require purchase, review your and your Doctors decisions regarding care and can soak the rich and business all at the same time — and exempt the unions. I agree with GR, I see no willingness to learn or, frankly, to address the conservative alternatives presented. And yes, I do beleive that a deadbolted brain needs to be shaken – sometimes you need to break the window to get into a locked brain – er – car. As Cargo has tried again and again to explain – that is what is happening already — literally. I do blame the President – because he had an opportunity to take a more responsbile incremental approach, yet we hear about Republican obstruction and the violence and the KKK crap. Silver Lake was operated for 40 years as a private enterprise, but somehow had to be taken over by the County and now we cannot develop it to make it self sustaining (interesting choice of advocacy links there on that one too). Orthodox liberals over the age of 60 are going to get their come-uppance when the $500 Billion in NOW KNOWN cuts in Medicare – now that we can read the passed bill takes effect.

    I am for good government. I am for personal responsibility. I am for transparancy. I am for cost effectiveness and efficiency. I am for a competition of ideas in the taxpayer’s interest. I still cannot believe we had a debate yesterday over whether a majority of elected offiicals can represent the interests of the County to the State — or the Federal Government – with out some kind of special election. Geez folks get a grip – and you will hear about that one again when the roles are reversed.

    Now, Moon, I apologise for any offenses intended or otherwise taken.

  48. There is no double standard. The person I was addressing knows why I said what I did. He also knows what I said last week.

    There is a huge difference in talking about a story that is all over every news channel in America about violence and starting the liberal/conservative stuff over Silver Lake. Secondly, without going into personalities, Starry did not say that all Tea Party People are terrorists.

    KKK is not a trigger word here. We had a post about them 2 weeks ago. If someone calls me the Imperial Wizard, then I will deal with it.

    Here’s the deal. You have people subscribing to an idea (TPP) that has no national head. That is probably a very refreshing idea that appeals to many people. There will always be scum bags who try to latch on to movements. Every organization gets them, from Pro Choice groups, to Voter Registration groups, to Gay rights groups, to Tea Party movements. It is not an anomoly. It is up to those groups who get the scum bags to deal with it and it isn’t an easy thing to deal with. Sometimes your political allies are more trouble than your enemies…and far more time consuming.

    Unfortunately, the Tea Party is no exception to having people latch on who do not necessarily come across like our friends Wolverine or Cargo, who have always been courteous to everyone, especially those with whom they disagree. Wolverine in particular has pointed out counter-productive behavior. So has Cargosquid.

    People don’t stay here if they want to fight can carry one. If they want discussion, then they do.

    I am not the den mother. I do have an Old Bitch Hat though….[looking around]

  49. @Gainesville Resident
    “At the same time, some conservatives are being labeled as terrorists, compared to KKK members, ”

    GR, allow me to clarify. People who are threatening and violent because they hate are indeed operating like terrorists or the KKK. This is just my opinion. You can certainly disagree.

  50. Gainesville Resident

    Moon-howler :
    GR, I haven’t gotten to the comments. I have had 3 phone calls and I had to send emergency coffee to Lafayette. I haven’t even seen what you are talking about.

    OK, fair enough.

Comments are closed.