If you're like me, busy working ten hours a day or so, the claims and counterclaims in the current "discussion" over health care reform may lead you a bit confused, with little opportunity to check the veracity of the claims. Here are two overviews of the health care reform issue and the arguments advanced by its advocates and opponents. One from The New York Times and … [Read more...] about Two Helpful Primers on the Health Care Reform Debate
More From Bruce Bartlett
Literally as I was posting the excerpt from Bruce Bartlett on The GOP’s Misplaced Rage, Steve Benen quoted Bartlett from an email conversation: I believe that political parties should do penance for their mistakes and just losing power is not enough. Part of that involves understanding why those mistakes were made and how to prevent them from happening again. Republicans, … [Read more...] about More From Bruce Bartlett
So, Uh, The Banking System Is Still Insolvent
AKA Why There Will Be Another Banking Panic And Market Disaster Remember how all the banks made a big show of paying off TARP money to demonstrate how they had recovered? Well that was pretty much a lie and they are all extremely under capitalized. It should be noted that the entire rationale for letting the banks mark to model instead of market was that the market was not … [Read more...] about So, Uh, The Banking System Is Still Insolvent
What John Mackey of Whole Foods Actually Wrote vs What the WSJ Ran: See For Yourself
When I first read the WSJ opinion piece by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, something seemed a little odd. So, I also went to his blog and glanced at the article he had submitted to the WSJ. It seemed, just to an editor's squinty eye, that what Mackey wrote was originally about 200 words longer than the WSJ piece. Mr. Mackey is known for quoting stats, people, and studies... and … [Read more...] about What John Mackey of Whole Foods Actually Wrote vs What the WSJ Ran: See For Yourself
Two Mexican Midget Wrestlers Killed by Fake Prostitutes
Reality is stranger than fiction: The world of Mexican midget wrestling is in mourning after two of its most famous stars were apparently poisoned by fake prostitutes. Brothers in armlocks Alberto and Alejandro Pérez Jiménez were found dead in a hotel room after being drugged and robbed. The women who spiked the twins' drinks are thought to be members of an organised … [Read more...] about Two Mexican Midget Wrestlers Killed by Fake Prostitutes
Thank Sean Hannity For Getting One Thing Right
Sean Hannity, one of the conservative commentators on Fox News I usually find repugnant, deserves credit for calling national attention to a tragic scenario that is playing out in California's fertile San Joaquin Valley. The nation's largest bread and fruit basket is experiencing a third year of drought made worse by severe cutbacks in imported water because of federal … [Read more...] about Thank Sean Hannity For Getting One Thing Right
Conservative Group Misuses UK Critics of NHS to Attack Health Care Reform in U.S.
One small backfire in the right-wing project to kill health care reform (emphasis is mine): … [Read more...] about Conservative Group Misuses UK Critics of NHS to Attack Health Care Reform in U.S.
“Honey, We Shrunk the President”
After months of a bigger-than-life presidency, Barack Obama is being cut down to size--by the enormity of an economic crisis, by orchestrated fear of Change as a reality rather than an idea and by exhaustion of the hope and idealism he stirred up during two years of campaigning. But behind the falling poll numbers and raucous town halls, something else may be going on. … [Read more...] about “Honey, We Shrunk the President”
Religion vs. Flag?
I am a Catholic, and I didn't know. I didn't know that the Catholic Church bars the draping of coffins with the American flag during funeral ceremonies in the church---even if the coffin contains the remains of a fallen military hero. I imagine that this "policy" applies to all national flags, because in an article in the Times Union of Albany, N. Y., quoting Ken … [Read more...] about Religion vs. Flag?
Bruce Bartlett on The GOP’s Misplaced Rage
What do we think of Bruce Bartlett? The iconic supply-side domestic policy adviser to President Reagan and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at Treasury under President George H.W. Bush, he began his career working for Ron Paul. He went on to become an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush. In The Daily Beast this week he says the Obama-hating town-hall … [Read more...] about Bruce Bartlett on The GOP’s Misplaced Rage
The Gorilla Dust of Health Care (Guest Voice)
Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of TMV or its many writers. The Gorilla Dust of Health Care by Michael Winship When I was 15, my father was in a near-fatal car collision with a semi-trailer truck. At Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, he lay in a coma for two months. As the medical bills mounted and the insurance was … [Read more...] about The Gorilla Dust of Health Care (Guest Voice)
Un-American? Protests are as American as Apple Pie (Guest Voice)
Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of TMV or its many writers. Un-American? Protests are as American as Apple Pie by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown Un-American, disruptive, distorters of truth, manufactured outrage, Astroturf, hired guns, and Nazis are all terms used by President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and their liberal allies to disparage those who … [Read more...] about Un-American? Protests are as American as Apple Pie (Guest Voice)
Judge Says Gay Claims Not Defamatory
That in the libel case by Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's former lawyer, against Rita Crosby. Crosby claimed in a book that Stern is gay. The judge ruled that the gay sex claims could not be libelous because homosexuality is no longer viewed as contemptible: Stern claimed the book, which was published six months after Smith's death, contained 19 libelous statements, … [Read more...] about Judge Says Gay Claims Not Defamatory
Summer Fantasy Poll Question: Movies You’d Like to See Made
Thinking of all the books you've ever read, common stories passed down from generation to generation, the lives of real people who you find interesting, radio shows or more, what movie would you like to see made which has never been produced? Or, to widen the field a bit, we could include movies which actually were made, but were done poorly or before the technology was … [Read more...] about Summer Fantasy Poll Question: Movies You’d Like to See Made
Right-Wing Craziness Has Always Been*
The difference now, writes Rick Perlstein in a Washington Post op-ed, is that the media has "normalized" the looniness -- mainstreamed it, as it were (I have bolded the punchline): … [Read more...] about Right-Wing Craziness Has Always Been*
For the College Students
The fall semester begins soon, and many new college students will be away from home for the first time as adults. It seems likely that a small portion TMV readers are college students, and many other readers know at least one college student. Please feel free to forward this to any college students or young adults you know. Hey guys. I know this is a pretty cool time in your … [Read more...] about For the College Students
Lighting the Debate
Jeff Parker, Florida Today This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Lighting the Debate
Squeaky, Michael, Gary and Me
How much of a debt do we owe to those who have paid their debt to society? In the 1962 classic, Birdman of Alcatraz, Burt Lancaster plays the role of Robert Stroud, a double murderer who learns to care for tender young birds while in the lonely hole of solitary confinement. The killer goes on to become one or our foremost authorities on ornithological matters, winning over … [Read more...] about Squeaky, Michael, Gary and Me
Healthcare Debate Threatens Obama
Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. . All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Healthcare Debate Threatens Obama
Quote of the Day: Are Barack Obama and the Democrats Incompetent?
Our Quote of the Day comes from Glenn Reynolds, who quotes from a Robert Reich column where the former Clinton administration Labor Secretary criticizes Obama and the Democrats for not having an actual healthcare plan in place which then left an opening for health care protesters. Reynolds writes: Remember how Bush was supposed to be the idiot who went into Iraq without … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Are Barack Obama and the Democrats Incompetent?