Summary: Featuring guest Neal Darby, Jr., Senior Partnership Specialist Team Leader with the U.S. Census Bureau.

Don’t Confuse Your Census with Your 1040, Part 1 The Liberadio(!) “To Do” list is long this week and includes marijuana jokes, coveting the Seattle Center Monorail (and flume ride), and a historic march. Plus, love him or hate him, you know Barney Frank would never try to bite the head off a baby bunny – or would he? And we are disgusted with Sarah Palin’s unchallenged and unrelenting display of disrespect for the highest office in the land and chagrined – again – at what Tennessee Republicans and, therefore, Tennessee Democrats have decided is going to be the issue to talk about in this campaign. Then, we begin the breakdown of what’s going on with voter roll purges in Benton County. [28.14MB Click on the arrow below to listen or download mp3]Download audio file (liberadio20100412part1.mp3)

Don’t Confuse Your Census with Your 1040, Part 2 We talk to Neal Darby, Jr., Senior Partnership Specialist Team Leader with the U.S. Census Bureau and he answers all our questions about the 10 questions. Then, we continue our discussion about the controversial Benton County voter roll purges – who was affected, why, and why can’t we locate the laws that the election administrator said were followed during the purge process? [19.82MB Click on the arrow below to listen or download mp3]
Download audio file (liberadio20100412part2.mp3)

Just where was Senator Mae Beavers in 1993?

Watch this if only to see Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who conceived the idea of the individual health insurance mandate, tap dance for Andrea Mitchell (at 4:06).

And let us not forget that the health insurance reform is not universal health care nor does it include a public option, it is an expansion of the private health insurance system we have now. Combine this with the mandate thing and Republican opposition seems even more absurd.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

UPDATE: More video of the “breathtaking cynicism” coming from Republicans in Washington:

Sen. Hatch (R-UT) says he once supported an individual mandate without knowing he did — simply as a tactic to stop the Clinton plan.

Did Sen. Beavers really say to the “crowd” that this bill would allow them to choose to keep their private health insurance? Can’t they do that now?

I will try to remember more of what was said but mostly all I heard was “blah blah blah.”

We at Liberadio(!) hope the TNGOP continues to follow the leadership of Lt. Governor Ramsey and Sen. Mae Beavers. Please, oh please, oh please. Because while you’re doing that we’ve be over here explaining that affordable health care coverage for your kids without having to worry about pre-existing conditions is right around the corner.

This poor guy was confused. He thought they said “Pirate Party”.

UPDATE: More from Woods – Under Siege at the Legislature: Tea Partiers Howl Over Health Care Reform

UPDATE II: Another eye witness account – this picture and a quote:

I just took this picture this morning with my phone. It was about 10:45 AM and the guy at the podium was speaking to “everyone”- at one point he said, “And it won’t stop with healthcare…next we’ll get immigration, cap and trade, education!”

More conversation and some questions today surrounding the comments made by House Caucus Chair Mike Turner yesterday:

We’ve got a lot of bills on states’ rights here, state sovereignty and all that,” he added. “We went through that fight once before. All of a sudden, we have a black man elected president and everybody wants to start acting like something’s wrong with our country. I didn’t agree with a lot of things George Bush did, but I wasn’t ready to secede from the union.

Chris Devaney, Chair of the TNGOP, is shocked. SHOCKED! I tell you.

If I were Turner, I’d take it all one step further. The rash of states’ rights and state sovereignty bills introduced in Tennessee by Republicans isn’t because we “have a black man elected president.” It’s because some people don’t like a black man telling them what to do. Can’t you just feel them bristle?

Recent events illustrate that Devaney’s shock is disingenuous. Because yes, Tennessee’s Republican delegation may not necessarily be the people who are riled up by Barack Obama’s leadership role, but they most definitely are pandering to the people who are:

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a ‘ni–er.’ And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a “faggot,” as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president’s speech, shrugged off the incident.

Manipulation in politics is nothing new but it can be dangerous when exploiting fear – one of the most unstable of all human emotions – is at its core.

UPDATE: Kleinheider has an interesting list compiled by Democratic House Leader Gary Odom.

UPDATE II: Aunt B is proud of her Democrats today. She has all the deets on 1) The press conference that was called to express the TNGOP’s “shock and outrage that anyone would dare suggest that some people have issues with Obama being black” and that Rep. Jason Mumpower rather hastily ended when “he was asked about the tea party protesters who heckled and spit at Democratic House members, including various civil rights icons, over the weekend in Washington….” and 2) the united font of swagger that has returned to House Dems.

You may know Tony as the executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, the state’s premier nonprofit consumer health care advocacy group. Or you may know him as the de facto leader of the health care justice movement in Tennessee. Or just maybe you know him as Governor Bredesen’s TennCare archnemesis.

Whichever it is, you know he understands health care and during today’s interview he answered many, many questions including:

• What will the federal health care reform bill that just passed Congress mean for Tennesseans?
• How will it affect TennCare? CoverTN? Access TN?
• What are the best bits about the bill?
• Now that his work is done, will he be going to Disneyworld?
• Or better yet, will he be retiring and going to Disneyworld a lot?
• What are some of the best resources for Tennesseans with questions about how health care reform?
• How will the state pay for health insurance reform?
• Why does Sen. Mae Beavers insist on re-fighting the Civil War?

Listen below or download the mp3.

Download audio file (liberadio20100322tonygarr.mp3)

Listen, I’m certainly against the Hyde Amendment, and would like to see it repealed. But the Democrats were not going to use this healthcare bill to repeal it. Nor should they have–this should have remained a bill about healthcare and not become a platform for an abortion fight. To say that this is a horrible anti-choice bill simply because of a meaningless executive order reiterating what has been U.S. policy (if not settled law) since 1976 is misleading at best and outright intellectually dishonest at worst. Stupak was NOT given his way on this issue, but was given a way to back down and still save face. And I’ll take that over the alternative of the bill failing any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

From Aunt B., “In Which I Agree with GoldnI”:

And now we’re at a point where things are bad, really bad, worse than we have seen in most of our lifetimes. And even if the economy in general turns around today, it’s going to be a long time before things pick up for most of us, if, indeed, they ever do. I’m not trying to be depressing. That’s just the truth of the matter.

But that’s what I hear people agonizing about–what will I do for work? What if I lose my job? Where will we live? What will happen to my kids? And sometimes the terror is so deep they can’t even talk about it.

And what is our state legislature doing? The truth is, there’s not much they can do. But holy cow, if they’re not pulling out all the same old tricks, waving the red meat in front of the base, putting up legislation that hits all the right talking points for all the same old distractions.

Only to find that few of their constituents’ hearts are really in it.

You can almost sense the confusion.

From Steve Ross (Speak to Power), “Morning Coffee – Not the Wedding Singer Edition”:

Gail Kerr says something I’ve been saying for years. Enjoy being ignored, just as I and many others have!

UPDATE: The haters may be blowing up his phone so please contact Congressman Gordon one more time to say “Thanks.”

UPDATE on all Democrats: Huffpo

UPDATE II: The Daily News Journal has the deets:

“The health care bill being considered by Congress now accomplishes three things: one, it reduces health care costs for families and small businesses; two, it improves access to affordable care, regardless of pre-existing conditions; three, it lowers our budget deficit. That’s why I am supporting it.”

Call Congress now.