The Obama administration’s $75 billion program to help homeowners escape foreclosure is a failure and should be scrapped. By unintentional consequences, the government itself under the FDIC sabotages the program. The irony of this is that a private non-profit company exists that has a proven track record helping homeowners renegotiate mortgages they can afford — for free. Bear with me as we go through...

And when he does, he never, ever comes back. Before I head out on my Christmas break to visit relatives partake in the usual holiday celebrations, there is one last Christmas present to bring to all of you. We found out earlier this month that President Obama was planning on taking some of the TARP funds which are either left over from the initial allotment or flowing back in from banks repaying the loans for...

Vice President Joe Biden led the Senate this morning while his colleagues voted from their seats in favor of Senate Bill 3590 (aka “Senate Health Care Bill” aka “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”). The vote was 60-39 along party lines, as expected. Republican Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who is retiring at the end of the 111th session of Congress, failed to show up or...

The Senate has passed its landmark health care reform bill along party lines — 60 Democrats for it and 39 Republicans against it — in a historic vote that means the House and Senate will now move to the pesky, some say politically explosive, task of trying to reconcile the two bills. But the net result: a win for Democrats and President Barack Obama in terms of getting a major piece of legislation...

The Senate’s vote on health care reform will now be at 7:00 am tomorrow morning. (See more here.) But the conference committee process that will begin after Congress takes a winter break will be contentious. A lot of attention, as many readers of The Moderate Voice know, has focused on how women fare under the House and Senate versions.  One outgrowth of that attention is the effort Not Under The Bus: The...

I’ve had it with my liberal or progressive or whatever we call ourselves whiners who feel double-crossed that President Obama reneged on a campaign promise they insist included a public option in the health reform legislation. My recollection is exactly the same as reported in today’s “First Read” posting by reporters for MSNBC which I will reprint in total after I offer my own take. What...

Why celebrity young men such as Prince William of England, or young leading politician Rahul Gandhi of India, decide to spend a night at a place where the “poorest of the poor” in society spend their entire lives? Publicity? However, such symbolic acts do catapult homelessness, poverty, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency, family breakdown, and other social issues into limelight in the celebrity-oriented...

It seems obvious to me why Fox invited Jane Hamsher on to be interviewed about her opposition to the Senate health care reform bill. It’s not clear to me that she does, though — or maybe she does and isn’t bothered by it. Whichever it is, I think Steve M. gets it exactly right. He quotes from Jane’s response to the Daily Kos diarist who attacked her (in a rude and inappropriate manner,...

He said in an interview with the Washington Post that he did not campaign on the public option:

Social and legal analysts from all political and economic persuasions are at a loss for satisfying and complete explanations of America’s dropping violent crime rates. A similar phenomenon is occurring simultaneously in many other advanced western nations – even with better healthcare systems than ours. May I suggest a few obvious explanations that we all may have over-looked? The U.S. and many advanced...

Here is an interesting item from Greg Sargent:

There have been a raft of point-counterpoint articles today flying back and forth between the Firedoglake crew and health care policy experts like Ezra Klein and Jonathan Cohn. Here they are, and you may want to read them in this order:

It’s a lowdown dirty allegation, but is it true? Have the large multinationals concluded that a little global warming wouldn’t be bad for their bottom lines? Furthermore, are their actions based on the belief that people in the developing world would be hurt the most? That is precisely what K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran charges in this hard-hitting attack on Western vested...

The difficulty of ending a filibuster because of the 60-vote rule, combined with the increasing abuse of the filibuster itself, has made the Senate a place where it is next to impossible to get anything done.

Jonathan Chait has written a superb piece for The New Republic on the emergence of what he calls “Republican nihilism.”

As Ben Bernanke, Time‘s Person of the Year, heads toward his second term as Chairman, there is no sign of relief for the most hapless victims of the bank bailouts–millions of retired Americans whose fixed incomes have plunged as a result of the Fed’s near-zero interest rates. In his cover interview, Bernanke explains that “convalescent” banks, which have been taking taxpayer nourishment...

WASHINGTON — For progressives, the question on the health care battle going forward is not whether they have a right to be angry but whether they can direct their fury toward constructive ends. The alternative is to pursue a temporarily satisfying and ultimately self-defeating politics of protest. Of course what has happened on the health care bill is enraging. It’s quite clear that substantial...

French disappointment over the Copenhagen Climate Talks is palpable today, judging by this pair of articles from the country. According to Liberation’s Laurent Joffrin, the talks put paid to the idea that real global governance was imminent: “One must make the bitter observation: when it came to rescuing the banking system, cooperation was determined and effective. Apparently, it’s much easier...

Happy Holidays from America’s Banks by Michael Winship Never mind Barack Obama’s Audacity of Hope. It’s the audacity of the banks that takes your breath away. Mean old Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life seems like Father Christmas by comparison. A recent report that Citigroup and Goldman Sachs may have received preferential treatment getting doses of the swine flu vaccine was enough...

In my previous post I noted that emergency unemployment was set to expire at the end of the year and was pessimistic that the Senate could follow the house in getting it passed. Apparently the Senate has passed it by cramming it into the defense spending bill, a practice that has always bothered me but in this instance there was really little choice. The extension is through February. It will be interesting...

I have never claimed to be the brightest light in the room, which makes me wonder why the major newspaper websites are claiming victory for a healthcare reform bill cobbled together by Senate Democrats. With Sen. Ben Nelson finally aboard, all that does is snuff a Republican filibuster. The floor vote is scheduled Christmas Eve. A lot can happen between now and Thursday evening. That’s plenty of time for...

STATEMENT OF SENATORS BOXER AND MURRAY ON THE ABORTION COMPROMISE Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today made the following statement on the abortion compromise language included in the manager’s package: “We said all along that we wanted to ensure there was a firewall between private and public funds—this compromise achieves that. We said we would not accept...

I don’t know what fumes the folks on the Hill are living off of but Senator Harry Reid has introduced the Manager’s Amendment (#3276) and word is that Senator Ben Nelson, a Democratic holdout, will support the overall health care reform bill. How they got Nelson: Mr. Reid’s amendment includes major restrictions on abortion that were intended to win support for the bill from Mr. Nelson. Under Mr....

The study reported: Scientists have proved for the first time that a cheap form of sugar used in thousands of food products and soft drinks can damage human metabolism and is fuelling the obesity crisis. The report debunked: Yikes. When you see the phrase “scientists have proved,” it’s nearly always an indication that the writer has no idea what he or she is talking about. And superlatives...

The Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2009 Raging Moderate, by Will Durst Okay. Here’s the deal: the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2009 are not to be confused with the Top Ten Legitimate News Stories of 2009. They are as different as night and day. Fire and frogs. Popeyes chicken and ballet fundraisers. High-rise condo balconies and balsa-wood furniture. Southern Baptist 4th of July church picnics and snow...