Earmarks -- those endearing Congressional plums that brought us "The Bridge To No Where" -- sort of slipped under the radar of the recent news cycles out of Washington this past week. Democratic House members have pledged to not submit earmarks for for-profit projects. Republicans have one-upped that by pledging a ban on all earmarks for a year. Earmarks are the fast … [Read more...] about A Year After $213 Million In Earmarks, He’s Against Them
Is It Right To Force Everyone To Have Health Insurance?
Republicans in Congress, Tea Party protesters, and the governors of some conservative states, all think it's unfair, unjust, and maybe unconstitutional to force everyone to have health insurance, and buy it themselves if they don't already have it from somewhere else. This strikes me as kind of odd, since virtually everyone who doesn't have health insurance in this country … [Read more...] about Is It Right To Force Everyone To Have Health Insurance?
Irish And Italians Hog All The Glory
One of the drawbacks of being a WASP is we get no ethnic holidays. It's akin to being an atheist who in good conscious cannot celebrate Christmas. I was reminded today is St. Patrick's Day when I clicked for a search. Google sprang up green. In grade school, I quickly learned not to wear green on March 17 because it was my only come-on for the girls to pinch me. I … [Read more...] about Irish And Italians Hog All The Glory
Happy St. Patricks Day !
GREEN
After President Kennedy was killed in 1963, Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, "To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart." Growing up in the Bronx of the 1930s, almost everyone I knew was Jewish. In our apartment building, there was one Irish family whose men sat on the front steps in summer, drinking beer and joking. As the evening went on, … [Read more...] about GREEN
Labor to Dems: Vote Yes on Obama’s Health Care Bill or We’ll Go Independent!
SEIU prez Andrew Stern is threatening to "go independent" on local races to oppose Dems who oppose Prez Obama's healthcare reform bill. Thanks to New York's fusion voting, which has empowered third parties like the New York Independence Party, Conservative Party and Working Families Party, he could actually make good on that. Meanwhile, former Dem La Plata County Colorado … [Read more...] about Labor to Dems: Vote Yes on Obama’s Health Care Bill or We’ll Go Independent!
Time To Spill The Beans On Health Reform Triggers
I hate what if stories as much as lawyers deal with hypotheticals, but here goes. I'll keep it short and sweet. If in whatever tricky procedure the House passes health reform legislation, the White House immediately must marshal its special interest supporters on a massive ad campaign to educate the public. It must explain what provisions of the landmark legislation goes … [Read more...] about Time To Spill The Beans On Health Reform Triggers
California Court of Appeals Upholds Proposition 14 Language (More Good News for Independent Voters)
California Court of Appeals says no to Proposition 14 opponents, which is (more) good news for independent voters. From CAIVN: "The Court rejected the CSEA language, preserved the lower court’s language, and ordered the restoration of the Legislative Analyst’s prediction of cost savings associated with the measure." And open primaries gaining support in Pennsylvania and … [Read more...] about California Court of Appeals Upholds Proposition 14 Language (More Good News for Independent Voters)
Health care reform and the homeless
As Congress gears up for a big vote on health care reform, it's worth considering how vagrants' health problems could affect municipal budgets. … [Read more...] about Health care reform and the homeless
Lady GaGa Lezploitation Women-In-Prison Vamp
Picking up where Paparazzi left off, Lady GaGa's new Telephone video featuring Beyoncé was released late last week. The official explicit version will pass 20 million views today. It opens in a women's prison as lady Gaga is led to her cell by a pair of butch prison guards. Thus begins her reappropriation of the women-in-prison "lezploitation" genre: The genre's two high … [Read more...] about Lady GaGa Lezploitation Women-In-Prison Vamp
David Brooks, drama queen?
You wouldn't expect it from such a moderate guy, but consider this, from Meet The Press: MR. [TOM] BROKAW: Let's begin with you, if we can, David. There are lots of declarations that are being made in Washington this week, either apocalyptic, that this is the end of the Obama presidency, or it's the deliverance of the Obama presidency. Are they both exaggerated? MR. … [Read more...] about David Brooks, drama queen?
Deem and pass: Should I get a life?
Kevin Drum, on deem and pass:If you have a life, you don't care about the subject of this post and have never heard of it. Damn it. I heard about "deem and pass" and I even sort of care about it. And I'm annoyed with Kevin for letting people know I don't have a life. (Well, I have a wife, but that's neither here nor there.) Anyhow, here's Kevin's bottom line: Like it or … [Read more...] about Deem and pass: Should I get a life?
Obama, Person to Person
Personalizing an issue is an old ploy, but Barack Obama has reminded so many of us why we put him in the White House. Rallying support for health care, the President pressed the case of Natoma Canfield, a 50-year-old Ohio cancer patient. He had used her letter to him at a meeting with health insurers, and now he was telling a crowd: "She’s self-employed, she’s trying to … [Read more...] about Obama, Person to Person
Israel ‘Drains the Viagra’ from America’s Credibility: Dar al-Hayat, Saudi Arabia
How badly has American credibility been damaged by Israeli treatment of Vice President Biden during his visit to the country? According to this article by columnist Elias Harfoush of Saudi Arabia's Dar al-Hayat, seeing Washington get pushed around this way is making it hard for Arabs to resist Iranian threats - and support harsher sanctions over its nuclear program. Harfoush … [Read more...] about Israel ‘Drains the Viagra’ from America’s Credibility: Dar al-Hayat, Saudi Arabia
Health Reform In Trouble ??
According to the latest whip count on The Hill, opponents of the current health care reform bill are just one vote short of victory. The maximum number of Democratic defections that would still allow the bill to pass is 37, and the current No camp has 37 votes in it. Firedoglake, a liberal leaning blog, also has some analysis that does not seem promising, though again the … [Read more...] about Health Reform In Trouble ??
The GOP’s Last Chance To Spread Fear and Distort Truth on Health Care Reform
Republicans in Congress have just a few more days to kill health care reform, and boy are they putting that time to good use. Tea Party activists who came to D.C. on Tuesday to demonstrate at the Capitol were greeted by Rep. Steve King of Iowa, and Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas: … [Read more...] about The GOP’s Last Chance To Spread Fear and Distort Truth on Health Care Reform
A Bit Of An Obama Ooops
President Obama recently told the compelling story of a woman facing the loss of her home because of health care costs. Certainly there are many problems with out health care system, but it looks like this isn't one. … [Read more...] about A Bit Of An Obama Ooops
Dems don’t have acceptable CBO score yet
Nancy Pelosi and House leadership have yet to release the language of the bill they plan to vote on this week that will reshape one-sixth of the American economy. Part of the delay is the lack of a CBO score that would demonstrate acceptable cost savings, both through the original bill itself and the reconciliation fixes being cooked up behind closed doors, out of the sight of … [Read more...] about Dems don’t have acceptable CBO score yet
John Bellinger: ‘Bush and Obama Terrorism Policies Very Similar’
It is my impression that, for whatever reasons, politicians and government officials (including ex-politicians---if one could ever find one of those--- and ex-government officials) are more open and candid when giving interviews to foreign correspondents. A couple of weeks ago, I commented on “one of the most interesting and candid interviews that a foreign newspaper has … [Read more...] about John Bellinger: ‘Bush and Obama Terrorism Policies Very Similar’
Why The FCC Broadband Plan Underwhelms
Media reports of the FCC broadband plan (pdf) that was sent to Congress today were fawning. Almost all contain this quote from FCC Chair Julius Genacowski, which describes the plan to connect 100 million U.S. households (~85 percent) to 100 Mbps high speed broadband by 2020 as a 21st-century roadmap to spur economic growth and investment, create jobs, educate our children, … [Read more...] about Why The FCC Broadband Plan Underwhelms