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The Moderate Voice

An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right


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In Which Sarah Palin Is Called Out Again

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Sarah Palin, the former half-term Alaska Governor, vice presidential candidate, presidential wannabe, conservative heart throb and coiner of the term "death panels," has never been good at irony. Come to think of it, in the six years since she burst on the national scene, she has repeatedly proven herself to be good at nothing except deception and obfuscation, as well as a … [Read more...] about In Which Sarah Palin Is Called Out Again

Medicaid Expansion Leading To Increased Care For Poor And Increased Revenue For Hospitals

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After Medicaid was expanded in Oregon prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act there was an increase in Emergency Room visits from people using their new coverage. This was not surprising and the challenge was to get those with the new coverage both established with primary care physicians and to get the Medicaid patients in the habit of seeing a primary care physician … [Read more...] about Medicaid Expansion Leading To Increased Care For Poor And Increased Revenue For Hospitals

The Imprinting of Elliot Rodger and Us

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When the news first hit that 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six students in Santa Barbara, it didn't foreshadow the horrific details yet to come. Six promising young lives knifed and shot dead. Families instantly plunged into grief. Rodger's film industry parents getting his 137-page biographical manifesto and seeing his threatening YouTube videos racing from Los Angeles … [Read more...] about The Imprinting of Elliot Rodger and Us

Did Karl Rove’s Riff on Hillary Clinton’s “Traumatic Brain Injury” Backfire?

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Is onetime Republican political maven Karl Rove too transparent for his or his party's own good? As I noted here, Rove was back to his old tricks recently in masterfully conducting the new and old media orchestras when he made charge he could later deny he made that thrust the (non) issue onto news cycles, on talk radio and -- naturally -- on ideological blogs. The (non) issue … [Read more...] about Did Karl Rove’s Riff on Hillary Clinton’s “Traumatic Brain Injury” Backfire?

Senate Leaders Kill Patent Reform, Once again Thwarting Democracy to Protect Special Interests (Guest Voice)

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Senate Leaders Kill Patent Reform, Once again Thwarting Democracy to Protect Special Interests by Hans Bader Hundreds of moderate and conservative bills have passed the House of Representatives, often overwhelmingly, only to die in the Senate without even being voted on there. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) doesn’t want these bills to pass, because they contain … [Read more...] about Senate Leaders Kill Patent Reform, Once again Thwarting Democracy to Protect Special Interests (Guest Voice)

(Updates) President Obama’s Statement on Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal

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Update: Supporting statements by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and by Secretary of State John Kerry following the president’s remarks. Original Post: Please find below the full transcript of the President's statement on the U.S. withdrawal of troops from, and how many will be left for what missions in, Afghanistan. More updates, including the inevitable GOP … [Read more...] about (Updates) President Obama’s Statement on Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal

Google Doodle Memorial Day Controversy

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I am not as freaked out as others about the lack of a Memorial Day Google Doodle but I do think the critics have a reasonable point. Yes Memorial Day is primarily a holiday in the United States but Google has done doodles for a variety of nation specific doodles and honoring those who have died in service of their country seems a thing most people can get behind. But … [Read more...] about Google Doodle Memorial Day Controversy

The Boom And Bust Of Shale Oil

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The fossil fuel industry has been pulling your leg - shale oil is not a panacea. The shale oil boom will become a bust in North Dakota and Texas in less than a decade.  And now it appears that the great California shale oil boom is a bust before it even got started. The great imaginary California oil boom: Over before it started, California has been abuzz for the past … [Read more...] about The Boom And Bust Of Shale Oil

The European Union

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Is the European Union (EU) unraveling?   I lived in Germany for over 3 years and visited several European countries including Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, England  and Italy.  I got to know the people and they were  often very nationalistic and often very prejudiced.  After WWII there was a shortage of labor they instituted a guest worker program.  I lived in Munich, a … [Read more...] about The European Union

The Demons of Democracy

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Here they are again, the demons of democracy making a reappearance and questing for power. For a while, it had seemed as if they were under control, poking their heads out now and then, but hidden for the most part and believed suppressed by the mainstream politicians and the media. Well, they ain’t suppressed and they’ve come back to upset the apple cart and haunt those who … [Read more...] about The Demons of Democracy

The times when race matters

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WASHINGTON -- When Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., remarked last week that some of the opposition to President Obama's Affordable Care Act is "maybe he's of the wrong color," he was just saying out loud what many people believe. And no, he wasn't calling Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a "racist." Believing that some of the Republican and tea party opposition to Obama has to … [Read more...] about The times when race matters

The Case for Reparations

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Ta-Nehisi Coates makes the case for reparations to African-Americans much as Germany paid the Jews of Israel in The Atlantic. Perhaps no number can fully capture the multi-century plunder of black people in America. Perhaps the number is so large that it can’t be imagined, let alone calculated and dispensed. But I believe that wrestling publicly with these questions matters … [Read more...] about The Case for Reparations

Perspective On The VA Scandal: Face It, We’re Indifferent To Our Well Being

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Now that the dust is beginning to settle around the Veterans Administration hospitals scheduling scandal, it is time to put an unwelcome perspective on things. I say unwelcome because this scandal is merely the tip of an immense iceberg -- a profoundly dysfunctional American health care system that thrives on indifference, a reality that virtually no one wants to acknowledge, … [Read more...] about Perspective On The VA Scandal: Face It, We’re Indifferent To Our Well Being