Long time readers will recall that I was one of those annoying dogs yapping at the heels of Dick Cheney when he had all those secret meetings with oil industry executives while establishing U.S. energy policy. I differed from the Bush administration’s position that executive privilege shielded the content of those meetings, as well as the industry attendees. Yes, I’m sure the fact that I was opposed...

Kaiser Health News has an interesting article about the health care problems of some of the people who live in Mike Ross’s district. Ross is one of the Blue Dog Democrats who is threatening to deep-six Obama’s health care reform package unless changes are made (most notably eliminating or eviscerating the public option). Here are some excerpts:

The debate is heading for rock bottom. “If you like your plan,” Barack Obama promises for the umpteenth time in the Rose Garden yesterday, “you’ll be able to keep it. And each bill provides for a public option that will keep insurance companies honest, ensuring the competition necessary to make coverage affordable.” At tonight’s press conference, will someone please ask the...

One might wonder, did the exhibition for money, beatings, and slavery of creatures, lead to ‘hey good idea,’ let’s do the same to vulnerable humans? Human slaves of every race, the Scots and Irish tribes and the clans to the British, the underclass of peasant farmers under Rome, the Africans taken by their own kings, the Aztec and Mayans and Inkans, also enslaved by their own kings, modern...

I am shocked to discover this morning I am a victim of the on-going budget cuts in California’s MediCal system. It seems so simple on the surface but in reality is a life-threatening disaster. I am a diabetic low-income senior. My health is dependent on testing my blood glucose levels to determine the dosages of insulin I require to maintain a normal life. This is achieved by pricking blood from a finger...

Consistent with memes given voice in David Brooks’ column yesterday — ref. here and here — the WaPo’s Michael Gerson writes: It is difficult to imagine that an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress will do nothing on health reform. But as deadlines slip, and moderate arguments gain in momentum, the legislation is likely to disappoint liberal Democrats in several ways. William Galston of...

I’m trying very hard to give a good chicken butt who the Surgeon General is, though it may wind up being a futile battle. Yes, the SG is technically in charge of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and has some vaguely defined duties in the event of a health emergency, and they can put warning labels on your smoke and your booze. But they never really seem to do very much. Still the office exists,...

Playing Solomon, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) suggests flexibility on insurance coverage of abortions as one possible compromise to a heated meme in the reform debate. Elsewhere, Conor Friedersdorf suggests that rather than taxing the rich to be pay for health care reform, why not simply “un-support” them? (Note to Conor: Intriguing idea, but just in case no one else nitpicks it: I think those “vouchers...

Mike Keefe, The Denver Post This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Perhaps the tide about how we treat our returning soldiers is changing. Finally. After decades of high military denial. A new report has just been released contravening the VA’s stance on PTSD in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, saying it is much more prevalent than the military has admitted. You might recall much said about not awarding the Purple Heart to men and woman who are wounded...

Time’s Mark Halperin says You Betcha…NOT — and here he gives seven reasons why not.

As we approach what hopefully will be a reasonable and humane outcome to the ongoing health care reform debate, some have become very emotional (including this author), some fall back on cold hard facts, cold statistics. For those relying on cold, hard facts to either support their views or oppose others’ views on this issue, a brilliant article in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine is just loaded...

What is proving to be a huge problem for President Barack Obama? It’s turning out to be members of his own political party — not that that many (including many who write on this site) didn’t predict that this could happen. But it’s becoming increasingly clear with each passing day that Obama has to battle two sides of his own party (liberal and more conservative Democrats) as he is all...

Needless to say, I do not share Pete Abel‘s positive response to David Brooks’  “Liberal Suicide March” column today.  In fact, after reading the entire column — every self-important, fatuous word of it — I wish I had done like Barbara O’Brien and refrained:

Tens of thousands of California’s poor children, welfare recipients and elderly will lose some if not all healthcare benefits as a result of a budget deal to close a $26.3 billion deficit brokered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders. Prisoners will go free, property taxes collected by county governments will be snatched by the state and oil drilling will resume off the Santa Barbara...

John Amato, who was one of the liberal bloggers on the conference call with Pres. Obama, David Axelrod, and Nancy DeParle, put up an audio clip of the first 24 minutes — the entire portion with Obama answering bloggers’ questions. After that, he had to leave, but Axelrod and DeParle stayed on the line — that part is not included here.

News flash: Anyone who says the health care bills now in Congress are doomed to failure. Or those who proclaim health reform is on the horizon. I say bunk. I have read portions of the versions of the House and Senate bills until the words became blurred as if viewing the world through cataracts. Frankly, I gave up in despair. I came to the only sane conclusion possible: Wait until the House and Senate bills...

Six months of scrambling on all fronts–bank bailouts, economic stimulus, climate change–have brought the President lower approval ratings from a public suffering from crisis overload and left him needing a Hail Mary pass to score on his key issue. “With skepticism about the president’s health-care reform effort mounting on Capitol Hill–even within his own party,” the Washington...

Full disclosure: My other job gives me ample reason to interact with Blue Dog Congressman Mike Ross and his staff. Accordingly, I’m hardly an objective source. Still, I genuinely like this guy — which is something I can’t say about all elected officials and their staff, whether or not I have a reason (or obligation) to interact with them. So, why do I like Ross? Here’s one reason:...

The problem with polls (or maybe it’s the reporting of poll results) is that they ask (focus on) too many closed-loop questions. For instance: “Do you approve of the way the President is handling health care reform?” The answers to such questions lend themselves to neat and tidy conclusions — perfect blog fodder — such as Chris Cillizza’s suggestion today that the President...