President Obama has just finished his news conference, intended to explain his health care reform plan and to gather support for an early passage. While I am sure the O’Reillys and the Limbaughs will judge the conference to be a miserable failure, I believe that the president did a good job in generally outlining the need for, the objectives of, the intended results and the cost of the plan. However, he fell...

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...

Government Gone Mad by Joel S. Hirschhorn Perhaps most Americans deserve the federal government they have. A government that, contrary to the lofty rhetoric of Barack Obama, is pure politics as usual. A government that is as corrupted by moneyed interests as ever. A government that is as dysfunctional and inefficient as ever. A government that should have prevented the current recession but did not and...

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...

I had the sad experience today of moderating an online chat during an interview with Nick Gillespie of Reason TV and yet another screed on how awful it is if people should actually ask their government to “Buy American.” (Featured earlier today on Hot Air.) Nick’s primary modus operandi was the usual distraction of saying that some products (gasp!) have a lot of foreign made parts in them,...

I’m guessing the good folks at CNBC are more than slightly concerned that the recent agreement between California’s governor and legislative leaders could kill interest in their special tonight, the production of which probably cost them dearly and has likely been in the works for weeks, if not months. I’m guessing this concern is prevelant at the network because we received an email from...

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...

Earlier this morning President Obama came out to speak on health care reform so I thought it a proper topic for a posting today. I think it goes without saying that everyone agrees the current system is a mess and needs changes. We are spending billions, if not trillions, of dollars on health care and yet we still have millions of Americans without coverage and millions more with coverage that doesn’t...

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...

Pointing to the question posed by Time Friday, Can Marijuana Help Rescue California’s Economy?, Gregor Macdonald says try it: By some estimates marijuana crop production in California accounts for roughly 14 billion in gross sales. That would make marijuana the states largest single cash crop. One has to believe that current growers would happily trade the costs and risks of concealment for the visibility...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

This would’ve been much bigger news if not for the Sotomayor hearings — Kevin Drum notices that moderate Senate Democrats have excised the card-check provision from the Employee Free Choice Act. From the NYT: A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers. The so-called card-check provision — which senators...

A recent poll shows that support for President Obama’s economic programs is weakening. While 56% still say they think his policies will help the economy that is a big drop from the 72% he had in an earlier poll. He has also seen his ‘tax and spend’ label grow by 11% and six in ten surveyed do not support additional stimulus spending. While clearly 56% is still a solid support level for Obama...

Although it is very difficult to remain unemotional when the health and welfare of our most precious individuals—children—are involved, I’ll give it a try. The New York Times has a heart-rending article this morning. It’s about how some states have been reluctant to repair the safety net, improve health insurance, for their most vulnerable ones, and how other states, 13 of them, “despite...

There is some speculation why the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, now visiting India for five days, is not visiting neighbouring US-ally Pakistan as her predecessors have always done. On the other hand, Hillary declared that Pakistan houses a ‘syndicate of terrorism’. The Indian Express reports that Hillary stated that “her country is watching the actions being taken by Islamabad against the...

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

US defense secretary Robert M. Gates has stated an obvious fact: The troops in Afghanistan “are tired…and the American people are pretty tired.” So, what next (or new)? In an ominous use of the word “unwinnable”, once used by the legendary media person the late Walter Cronkite to turn public opinion against the Vietnam war, defense secretary Gates (photo above) says that “after...

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on Saturday was more than a symbolic gesture. She interacted with the staff of the Taj, and the adjoining Trident-Oberoi hotel, who survived last year’s 26/11 terrorist attack. Taj’s general manager, who lost his wife and two children in the attack, introduced the staff, and then arranged breakfast for the visiting dignitary....

As President Obama’s personal popularity sinks to the 50-yard line, his landmark climate change and healthcare bills in deep doo doo, the stimulus bill tied up in bureaucratic knots and his continual flummoxing over Bush Administration torture and secret CIA operations, one thing remains certain. The public has an insatiable thirst for the guy. It ranges from the fanatical extreme right fringe which went...

Patrick Edaburn pointed out last night that the Washington Post (not exactly a bastion of Right wing conservatism) reported on recent CBO findings which indicate that the proposed House health reform plan will actually drive costs up, rather than producing the savings we’ve been promised. The numbers don’t seem to be the issue here, since they appear to be clear to everyone except the plan’s...

Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

A report from the non partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) indicates that the proposed health care plan will not curb costs and could end up increasing costs. In a bemusing reaction many Democrats have attacked the report and tried to label CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf as a partisan hack of some kind. Considering that 1) the CBO has long been recognized as non partisan, 2) these same Democrats loved...

In his recent visit to Africa, US President Barack Obama said “all the right things about Africa—and left a few ticklish ones unsaid,” says The Economist. “The tone may shift a bit but the policy will be similar to George Bush’s.” While the former UN chief Kofi Annan maintains that the tragedy is “that when millions of Africans believed their countries and continent were finally...

To Love My Country has posted an analysis about White House salaries, based on a previously released list that came from the White House (talk about excellent primary source blogging). First, the idea behind the post, as explained by the blogger: The commentary here is intended to provoke thought about why men dominate the higher positions– where’s the disconnect? Is it women not majoring in Poli Sci at...