Mike Lester, The Rome News-Tribune This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

Although right-wing pundits are rejoicing at today’s decision by a federal judge in Virginia that the requirement to purchase insurance in the new health care reform law violates the Constitution (and Logan Penza has the legal analysis on this), Ezra Klein observes that the ruling may be good news for supporters of health care reform as well:

The ruling by Judge Henry E. Hudson that parts of Obamacare are unconstitutional has set off a wave of euphoria among opponents of the law who believe that the decision will make it impossible to implement the bulk of reforms contained in the bill. At issue was the coercive requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance. It appears to me that the judge zeroed in on what the individual mandate truly...

A U.S. District Court judge in Virginia has ruled a provision of the health care reform law is unconstitutional. It is the provision that mandates all Americans have a minimum level of coverage, or pay a fine if they do not. The Los Angeles Times reports Judge Henry Hudson said the mandate exceeds federal authority. This challenge, among many in the federal court system, was brought by Virginia Attorney General...

Dear All: Dr E here, in behalf of the following message from our coblogger, Jerry Remmer, who as you know is fighting a battle but whose humor and intense interest in the news is running strong. Dear Dr. E., I am too weak to file posts but hope to do so starting this weekend. This is no admonition nor criticism, but I was shocked NO ONE on TMV filed a story on Obama’s press conference. I think he was...

These parents are criminally negligent, according to Kate O’Beirne — a National Review editor who made these remarks at a Republican strategy session last week — because they don’t know how to give their children a bowl of cereal and a banana:

One would think that we could all agree, regardless of religious belief or political affiliation, how crushingly sad it is to read that Elizabeth Edwards’ doctor has advised her that her cancer has spread, that she has only a short time to live, and that further medical treatment would not be productive. One would think that the only feelings and responses that come to mind would be compassion for her...

Republicans have not been at all bipartisan on tax cuts (or anything else, for that matter), but, writes Ezra Klein, Democrats come in for their share of blame, too:

While our profit driven medical industrial complex results in many not getting enough health care do even more get too much care?  My uncle died a few months ago.  He had cancer and since he was on medicare he received all of the treatment money could buy.  It included chemo-therapy and radiation and the last two years of his life were hell on earth.  He lost half of his original body weight and when he...

With Newsweek placing Sarah Palin at an estimated annual earnings of $14 million (topping all women and coming in at #6 overall) on its list of the 50 highest-earning political figures of 2010, it’s time for everyone to sit back and let her narcissism work for us. Enough with the “we must ignore her.” She’s not going away folks, not until she becomes so uncomfortable with the negative...

This holiday season is looking more than a bit Dickensian:

Here in the USA, it is Thanksgiving, a once a year gathering of the clans day, that some say was created when “separatists” who were oppressed in England, sailed across the ocean during storm season in the midst of winter 1620 and landed accidentally farther south on the East coast of North America instead of farther to the north where the Jamestown colony was already established. But, the time...

Hi there, Dr. E. here, Some strongly question further erosion of our rights to privacy without the input or vote of the people by referendum. Many, regardless of political affiliation, libertarian, independent, Democrats, Republicans are enraged, especially those with children who are traveling this holiday. Here is a piece by New York City resident who travels much and minces no words. Disclosure: He is a...

Who is Paula? I don’t know. But Barbara Bush told Larry King that it was Paula who put the fetus in the jar, and Larry, apparently — unless Politico cut it out of this video — was not curious enough to ask:

The TSA has been given new electronic and procedural tools to search for possible bombs and weapons carried by airline passengers before they board any planes at U.S. airports. If a person objects to a highly-revealing body scan (TSA employees can see every roll of fat now) then the person will have to submit to a complete body search by hand (which could be devastating for those who are particularly ticklish)....

I have had the privilege of writing at The Moderate Voice for about two-and-a-half years. Looking back at what I have written, a few things become apparent. First, it is incredible how much can happen in such a relatively short period of time. Second, it is interesting how some things never change or take an awful long time to do so. Third, it is humbling—perhaps embarrassing—to see how many subjects...

“I am a good American and I want safety for all passengers as much as the next person. … But if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war.”

Opponents of health care reform are very attached to the concept of unintended consequences — they talk about it all the time. But opponents of health care reform also tend to be supporters of raising the legal retirement age from 65 to 67, or even 70 — and here unintended consequences are never mentioned. But of course that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be any:

Which is more important, if you are a Republican in Congress: working to solve the nation’s problems, or working to make sure Barack Obama is a one-term president? Perhaps more to the point, how do we think most Americans — including the Americans who voted for Republican candidates in the election just passed — would define “working to solve the nation’s problems”? Would...

You’ve heard it a zillion times.

Kevin Drum debunks one of the sillier memes the right has been pushing to explain why the economic crisis shows so few signs of improvement:

The video is specifically targeted at bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered teenagers, and in addition to pointing out the suicide statistics for LGBT youth as a result of bullying and all the other forms of persecution and discrimination against people on the basis of sexuality, it takes on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. More specifically, one of the dozen or so different celebrities who...

Every time I hear someone say our nation is going to hell in a hand basket, I think of my two grandchildren. There is a major disconnect in hearing a national discourse towards Armageddon and seeing children develop through the eyes of a grandparent. In my eyes, Lauryn, 10, and Adam, 8, will not be burdened by a national debt passed onto their shoulders by the hapless decisions of their elders and others before...

With Republicans in firm control of the House, Democratic influence diminished in the Senate, and interest being expressed from the White House, a political opportunity may exist for proponents of expanding nuclear power in the United States. In 2003 MIT published an interdisciplinary report on the future of nuclear power. You can read the report summary and link to the full report here. The report was the...

A report [pdf] out today from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity looks at fast food marketing targeting kids. Among the findings, of 12 fast food restaurant chains offering more than 3,000 kids meal combinations only 12 meet the nutritional guidelines for preschool-aged kids. CNN: “The worst meal was at Dairy Queen,” said Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives at...