Republicans in Congress will not support health care reform, even if the public option is dropped. According to Kyl, there is no conceivable set of circumstances under which the GOP will vote for any health care reform package the Democrats come up with: … [Read more...] about Jon Kyl Comes Right Out and Says It
Sometimes Satire Is More True Than What’s Reported In The “News”
From The Onion: Congress Deadlocked Over How To Not Provide Health Care WASHINGTON—After months of committee meetings and hundreds of hours of heated debate, the United States Congress remained deadlocked this week over the best possible way to deny Americans health care. "Both parties understand that the current system is broken," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told … [Read more...] about Sometimes Satire Is More True Than What’s Reported In The “News”
The Incomprehensibility Of Donald Rumsfeld
Last week, Christopher Caldwell reviewed Bradley Graham's new book about Donald Rumsfeld. As soon as I have time to digest 800 pages of Graham's prose, I'll let you know what I think of the book. For now, I'll just say that Caldwell picks up on one of the central challenges of studying Rumsfeld. Washington now dismisses Rumsfeld as a tragically stubborn ideologue. Yet when … [Read more...] about The Incomprehensibility Of Donald Rumsfeld
Twitter Will Vanquish Every Tyrant
Jon Last sharply questions the Twitter-euphoria generated by recent events in Tehran. In spite of rose-tinted predictions that historians would celebrate Twitter's liberation of Iran and the beginning of a new era of global politics, the streets are now quiet in Tehran, the result of traditional head-bashing. Jon argues that this overestimation of Twitter's political … [Read more...] about Twitter Will Vanquish Every Tyrant
Suderman On Health Care And Our ‘Messy’ Politics
Regarding the current, highly charged and confusing health care debate (e.g., is a public option off the table or not?), Peter Suderman -- serving as one of several interim bloggers at The Daily Dish while Andrew is on sabbatical -- writes: Democratic politics is a messy business. It's disorganized and frantic and unpredictable and frustrating. Politics is a matter of … [Read more...] about Suderman On Health Care And Our ‘Messy’ Politics
I Had A Dream
I had a dream. It took place in the White House. At the dining table was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sipping a glass of California sherry and nibbling on one of those dainty sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid stared at his plate of fried zucchini and glass of iced tea. Vice President Joe Biden was telling stories of his youth in Scranton while … [Read more...] about I Had A Dream
Chicken Obama
Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Chicken Obama
The Housing Price Myth
It has been widely stated that housing prices are at all-time lows and getting worse. The reality is that this is not true. Absolutely, compared to the artificially inflated prices of 2005 - 2007 created by the irrational interest rate behavior of the Federal Reserve, housing prices have dropped precipitously. This has of course hurt those who invested at the time, but … [Read more...] about The Housing Price Myth
Those Wild and Wacky Birthers
For all the angst, name calling, and expletive hurling that has accompanied the debate over health care reform, it's nice to know that Americans of diverse political stripes can still be united by something, in this case: Their unbridled derision of the "Birthers." PoliSnark offers the latest. … [Read more...] about Those Wild and Wacky Birthers
Cash For Clunkers Benefits Few, Stimulates Truck Sales
First, the math. Have you seen any article that puts in context how many consumers are the beneficiaries of the Cash For Clunkers program? I haven't. And I know that most of us feel our eyes glaze over when we think about billions. You may be surprised to learn that all the ink (digital and otherwise) and air time (TV-delivered and otherwise) has masked an important … [Read more...] about Cash For Clunkers Benefits Few, Stimulates Truck Sales
Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
Two British academics, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, set out to find why health within a population gets progressively worse the further down the social scale you go. What they found instead is stunning in its implications: almost every modern social and environmental problem -- ill-health, lack of community life, violence, drugs, obesity, teen pregnancy, mental illness, … [Read more...] about Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
Robert Novak, Former CNN Crossfire Host and Conservative Columnist Dies At 78
Conservative columnist and former CNN "Crossfire" creator and host Robert Novak who had the nickname "The Prince of Darkness," has died of cancer at age 78. Novak's columns were sometimes controversial, but one fact could not be denied: he was an old-school journalism guy who did his homework and had sources and didn't just do columns just containing his own opinions. His … [Read more...] about Robert Novak, Former CNN Crossfire Host and Conservative Columnist Dies At 78
Anthony Weiner Tears off the Mask
On this morning's edition of Morning Joe on MSNBC, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) showed up to talk about his version of health care reform which he will be pushing for a vote on in September. He also expressed regret about President Obama's lack of enthusiasm for insisting on a public plan and his general unwillingness to go "far enough" in restructuring health care in this … [Read more...] about Anthony Weiner Tears off the Mask
Animated Family Guy Campaigning To Win Emmy
Family Guy, former Hanna Barbera animator Seth MacFarlane's not-just-for-kiddies, cutting-edge humor cartoon that virtually rose from a cartoon drawn in his kitchen to television dead meat to DVD sales bonanza to a $1 billion franchise and now one of the TV's biggest comedy hits, is now campaigning hard to win the Best Comedy Award at the Emmys. Here's the cartoon's highly … [Read more...] about Animated Family Guy Campaigning To Win Emmy
I Don’t Understand Why You Don’t Understand
This morning, co-blogger Joe Windish points to a paper that says Americans are resisting health care reform because we're racist; it's a legacy from slavery. Our bottom line is that Americans redistribute less than Europeans for three reasons: because the majority of Americans believe that redistribution favors racial minorities, because Americans believe that they live in … [Read more...] about I Don’t Understand Why You Don’t Understand
A Legacy of Slavery Hinders Healthcare Reform
Alex Blaze says that America is still paying for the sin of slavery and quotes Nathan Glazer from this paper to explain why working class whites are really worried about a big government takeover of healthcare: AGS [Alesina, Glazear and Sacerdote] report, using the World Values Survey, that "opinions and beliefs about the poor differ sharply between the United States and … [Read more...] about A Legacy of Slavery Hinders Healthcare Reform
The Tinker Damned
One of the books I read this summer was Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford. I don' line up for every philosophical treatise that comes down the pike, but this one really peaked my interest. It deals with our evolving relationship with "things" and how we view them, as well as the denigrating view taken of youths who choose to go into "the trades" rather than … [Read more...] about The Tinker Damned
Health Care Reform, The Real Miracle: We Are Still Here
WE ARE THE ATOMIC CHILDREN AND WE ARE STILL DANCING It began before we went to school... we asked for live ponies, but received inflatable whales made of polypropylene instead. But it was okay. We waited and waited for April so we could dance can-can tournaments in the rain. We wore eerie iridescent swim suits glowing like uranium. Our swimsuits were always too … [Read more...] about Health Care Reform, The Real Miracle: We Are Still Here
The Petulance of the Beijing Regime
The repressive regime in Beijing doesn't want Australians to learn more about their despotism. [This will be crossposted at my personal blog.] … [Read more...] about The Petulance of the Beijing Regime
One Option Is To Go On Offense (Guest Voice)
One Option Is To Go On Offense by Eugene Robinson Washington Post Columnist WASHINGTON -- It's true that politics is the art of the possible, but it's also true that great leaders expand the scope of possibility. Barack Obama took office pledging to be a transformational president. The fate of a government-run public health insurance option will be an early … [Read more...] about One Option Is To Go On Offense (Guest Voice)