Monday, August 31, 2009
Meet The New Boss
Whatever the merits of cutting federal raises a bit, doing so by saying we're still in a post-9/11 emergency situation is a dick thing to do.
The Most Important News Of The Day
Is, of course, Disney buying Marvel. I have no idea what they're planning, but personally I think some high quality animated superhero films would be good. Live Action superhero films are interesting experiments which occasionally succeed, but a lot of things don't translate all that well to the different medium (such as brightly colored spandex).
We'll Leave When Conservatives Say We Can
Over email, Drudgico tells me that in his next column George Will will say it's time to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan. I don't especially care what George Will thinks about anything, but given the way things work hopefully it'll provide some space to make that just a little bit more possible.
Is He Capable Of Learning?
I've never quite figured out the point of getting Mike Enzi to support a shitty bill. If instead they'd put their weight behind a good bill about which, whatever the precise details, could be summed up as "You want health care? We'll give you all the fucking health care you want." Support something which could be popular with, you know, people, instead of insurance company executives and really horrible Republican senators.
So hopefully this farce is over...
So hopefully this farce is over...
Getting Better
For a long time Philadelphia was absurdly bad about promoting its recycling program, which wasn't just not green but also extremely costly, as recycling is not only cheaper for them than landfill but can, at times, even be profitable. So it's good that the city is getting a bit more serious about it.
The Trouble With Bill
I never really understood the love for Bill Bradley in some quarters. It seemed to me that he regularly practiced this kind of wankery.
Something Only Dirty Fucking Bloggers Know
As Josh suggests, a robust public plan will be cheaper, a fact that eludes just about everyone but geeks like us. The media will not generally communicate that fact, but will instead lavish praise on supposed fiscal conservatives who will oppose the cheaper plan on the grounds that it's too expensive.
Nice trick.
Nice trick.
Perpetuating Inequality
Aside from the spectacle gross insider circle-jerk that the Village is, their love of giving a little bit of help to the people who need it least by giving them plum jobs perpetuates racial inequality. The kids of the rich and powerful and well-connected are generally white, and no amount of affirmative action can possibly beat the kind they bestow on each other.
The Absurdity of Howard Kurtz
Krugman has long been an Obama critic, and if Howie doesn't know that it's because he generally doesn't bother to read him.
DUI
Whatever the appropriate level of penalties, drunk driving laws basically make drinking outside of the home illegal for people who drive. I'm not saying those laws are wrong - drinking and driving is dangerous! - but that's the largely unacknowledged fact. Bars in the middle of big parking lots and otherwise mostly inaccessible by other means are places where lots of people are going to prepare to inevitably break the law.
Good For The Judge
I'm not sure if sloppy paperwork/lawyering will ultimately protect any of these homes, but it's good that a judge recognizes that a big financial institution should actually have to prove their claims of ownership before they start booting people out of their homes.
Shrinkage
I certainly won't be happy until there are moves to shrink the too big to fail institutions, instead of moves which result in them expanding.
Not that policymakers are especially concerned with how happy I am.
Not that policymakers are especially concerned with how happy I am.
Kept Us Safe
One of the more annoying conservative talking points, one which the Villagers have swallowed whole and regularly spit out, is that "since 9/11 Bush and Dick kept us safe." The obvious flaw in this type of statement is that there's a big mulligan in there. But aside from that, they, you know, didn't. As Steve says:
Cheney thinks it was a sterling success when it came to national security and counter-terrorism. Perhaps there's something to this. After all, except for the catastrophic events of 9/11, and the anthrax attacks against Americans, and terrorist attacks against U.S. allies, and the terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Bush's inability to capture those responsible for 9/11, and waging an unnecessary war that inspired more terrorists, and the success terrorists had in exploiting Bush's international unpopularity, the Bush/Cheney record on counter-terrorism was awesome.
Montreal
Sad to have to miss the Wednesday Laughing LiberallyPlanned Parenthood event at the Tank in NYC.
But nice to visit a new city.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Freedom Communications
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Not cheering on the death of newspapers, cheering on the death of newspapers owned by glibertarian assholes.
Freedom Communications, owner of The Orange County Register and 30 other daily newspapers, is expected to file for bankruptcy this week under a plan that will hand its publications to its lenders, people briefed on the matter said on Sunday.
A filing by Freedom, which could be made as soon as Tuesday, would be the latest by a newspaper publisher, as the industry struggles to cope with declining advertising revenue and heavy debt loads.
Not cheering on the death of newspapers, cheering on the death of newspapers owned by glibertarian assholes.
Deep Thought
I'm very glad Roderick Spode's plan for every son to inherit his father's career has been embraced by the Village.
Perhaps The Worst Example?
Because parking should be free all the time everywhere.
Yes, they're charging you rent to use a piece of their property for a little while, presumably because lots of nonresidents were showing up on game day and preventing residents from parking at the station.
I don't have an opinion on what the "right" policy here, but this is the bad lead off example in an article about the otherwise mostly real issue of governments nickel and diming people. But, parking, unlike birth certificates, are a limited resource that on crowded game days might need some kind of rationing mechanism.
NEW YORK — Kelsey Graham and his wife were on their way to Lincoln Center in Manhattan when they decided that a la carte government had gone too far.
For years, the Grahams had driven from their home in Nyack, N.Y., availed themselves of the free weekend parking at the Tarrytown train station, then taken the train into Manhattan. But this spring, the village of Tarrytown began charging nonresidents $8 to park on Yankee Stadium game days — a fee that startled, and infuriated, the Grahams.
"It's ridiculous — we're supposed to keep track of when the Yankees are playing?" said Kelsey Graham. "Every time you turn around, the government is charging you for something. It's just another way to nickle-and-dime people."
Yes, they're charging you rent to use a piece of their property for a little while, presumably because lots of nonresidents were showing up on game day and preventing residents from parking at the station.
I don't have an opinion on what the "right" policy here, but this is the bad lead off example in an article about the otherwise mostly real issue of governments nickel and diming people. But, parking, unlike birth certificates, are a limited resource that on crowded game days might need some kind of rationing mechanism.
President McCain Is Always On My Teevee
Occasionally I wish the journalists involved would try to explain their booking decisions.
Deep Thought
It's 2009 in America, and on our elite political talk shows the proper use of torture is being discussed.
Lovely Day In My Urban Hellhole
Well-deserved after all that rain. Brunch, farmer's market, Reading Terminal Market, as soon as I get up the nerve to brave the horrors of Killadelphia.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has President John McCain, Barney Frank, Feinstein, and Attorney General Hatch.
Meet the Press has Kerry, White House Chief of Staff Bob Shrum, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Dodd, and Maria Shriver.
This Week has Defense Secretary Liz Cheney, Hatch, Kerry, George Will, Gwen Ifill, Sam Donaldson.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has Kerry, White House Chief of Staff Bob Shrum, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Dodd, and Maria Shriver.
This Week has Defense Secretary Liz Cheney, Hatch, Kerry, George Will, Gwen Ifill, Sam Donaldson.
Document the atrocities!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Read What You Want
I'm not sure that "read anything you want" is an especially effective approach to teaching literature, although a bit of that is probably ok to make sure they're reading something. But my memory is that when I was growing up a lot of the books seemed to be taught at the wrong time, with an emphasis on older very difficult to relate to books earlier in high school and then a bit of more contemporary things perhaps by the end. It isn't that the books were too hard, it's that they were often a bit too from another place.
Educators, chime in...
Educators, chime in...
Who Cares What You Think?
Does anyone even bother to read unsigned newspaper editorial board pieces anymore?
American Prudes
I do hope at some time in the near future we can point and laugh enough at these people so that they wake up and realize that their prudery is something they should talk to their therapist about. Obsession with female (of course) chastity is a deep psychological problem, not a stroll down some higher moral plane. Dude, you've got a fucking problem.
Katrina
Thinking back on all the hate and racism spewed by conservatives during that time is truly sickening. It did, at least, cause a few more on the press to realize that the Bush administration had no interest in doing anything right, though they were pretty slow to get a clue even during that unfolding catastrophe.
Casino Hell
I really just don't understand why they're incapable of coming with a design which embraces the urban waterfront location instead of going for suburban motel chic.
I doubt it will ever be built, but lots of time and money will be eaten up in the process.
I doubt it will ever be built, but lots of time and money will be eaten up in the process.
Dead of Night
Why libertarians want to snark about how liberals want a healthcare system that has better outcomes at less cost everywhere else than here, I don't know.
Anyhow, what John said.
Anyhow, what John said.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Praise the Lord and Pass the Waterboard
Over at Townhall, horrible little shit Gary Bauer offers the Christian Case for Torture.
No link. Off to have a drink and then throw up, not necessarily in that order.
MORE. Phila tries to cheer me, and you, up.
EVEN MORE. And if even that doesn't work, there's cat spanking.
For Christians, intent is integral to determining whether and when certain techniques, including water-boarding, are morally permissible.
No link. Off to have a drink and then throw up, not necessarily in that order.
MORE. Phila tries to cheer me, and you, up.
EVEN MORE. And if even that doesn't work, there's cat spanking.
Things Can Change Fast
Digby:
Obviously people make their choices for a variety of reasons, but I think some swing voters vote for Dems because they might do something for them and vote for Republicans because they know they won't do too much for someone else (especially the wrong kind of person, if you know what I mean). When Dems fail to deliver anything good, or means test the hell out of anything good, those voters quickly run back to the Republicans.
[T]hey can just sit on the sidelines lobbing tea bags until it becomes clear to the American people that no matter how bad the Republicans are, they can't possibly be as lame as the Democrats.
Obviously people make their choices for a variety of reasons, but I think some swing voters vote for Dems because they might do something for them and vote for Republicans because they know they won't do too much for someone else (especially the wrong kind of person, if you know what I mean). When Dems fail to deliver anything good, or means test the hell out of anything good, those voters quickly run back to the Republicans.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
There's no chance of this ending badly (eye roll).
Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Banks are increasing lending to buyers of high-yield company loans and mortgage bonds at what may be the fastest pace since the credit-market debacle began in 2007.
Credit Suisse Group AG and Scotia Capital, a unit of Canada’s third-largest bank, said they’re offering credit to investors who want to purchase loans. SunTrust Banks Inc., which left the business last year, is “reaching out to clients” to provide financing, said Michael McCoy, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based bank. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are doing the same for loans and mortgage-backed securities, said people familiar with the situation.
Ignorant People
Until the recent placement of LaRouchies and their fellow travelers at the center of our political discourse, it was never clear if "keep the gov't off my Medicare" type statements were apocryphal.
oh boy.
oh boy.
Hill Parking
Whenever I visit the Capitol area I am always completely astounded by the amount of surface parking there is around it. This isn't actually my normal CARS ARE TEH SUCK post, I just think it's really really ugly. I would've thought someone important at some point might have noticed that.
Afternoon Thread
Since it's finally not, as the weatherman might say, extremely fucking hot, I'm gonna go wander around my urban hellhole for a bit. I'll do my best to dodge the bullets.
Bloggers Suck And Matt Drudge Rules Their World
I've never really quite understood this obvious contradiction in the world of the Villagers. It's as if they bookmarked the CLINTON GOT A BLOWJOB site back in the 90s and didn't bother to realize that the internet was a bit bigger than that.
Horrible People
I'm no saint, but I admit there are days when I am somewhat overwhelmed by just how horrible many of the conservative leading lights are.
Obviously some nominal liberals are crap too.
Obviously some nominal liberals are crap too.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
An All-Star Salute To The Keyboard Commandos
I've been thinking about the wingnut freakout about 9/11 being a national service day. Aside from general reflexive opposition to anything Obama says and anger that their day of rage has been repurposed, what they're really angry about is that it isn't all about them. Because they were the bravest and most noble of citizens on that day and since, and they deserve some recognition!
The Recession's Over!!!
It's hard not to believe that the view from Washington is giving a somewhat distorted view of how things are around the country.
The Way It Actually Was
The Senate used to have a bunch of very conservative Democratic senators. Not just relatively conservative for a Democrat, but actual true blue tribal conservatives. Some of them are actually still in the Senate, but they call themselves Republicans now.
I'm Not The Democratic Party Or The Obama Administration
But I'm all for depriving Republicans of the public option they don't want! Or whatever.
The Republican party base is now basically indistinguishable from LaRouchies, and the party apparatus is responding accordingly.
The Republican party base is now basically indistinguishable from LaRouchies, and the party apparatus is responding accordingly.
I'm Gonna Hold That Bake Sale!!
Because what the country desperately needs are publications unwilling to hold government officials accountable for horrific acts.
Casino Hell
I've long believed the casinos (slot parlors, actually) would declare bankruptcy after they were built, not before, but either way.
(via Philebrity)
I don't really care about casinos, but I do care about really fucking stupid car-centric urban waterfront development.
(via Philebrity)
I don't really care about casinos, but I do care about really fucking stupid car-centric urban waterfront development.
Spitting In The Face Of The Keyboard Kommandos
Gary Sinise joins the treasonous plan to rape their memory of 9/11 day.
If Only Our Dear Friend Ted Had Been Around
Maybe we would have supported his life's mission, but since he's not and hasn't been... fuck it.
I don't understand what journalists think they're for, really.
I don't understand what journalists think they're for, really.
I Do My Best To Not Give Parenting Advice
Because I don't have kids and, well, I think parents have enough people telling them how they're supposed to raise their kids. But I admit to being fascinated by the fact that the degree of autonomy which was perfectly normal when I was a kid - it was the latchkey kid era even though I wasn't one - borders on child abuse these days.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
570K new lucky duckies dancing through green shoots. The "market" seems to think this is good news.
Politics Never Waits
And Politico never hesitates to type up the latest gusher coming down the puke funnel.
Get your blog on.
Well, now at least we know what they mean by "values".
(Oh, yeah, Glenn was on Democracy Now!)
Signed,
Not Atrios
(Oh, yeah, Glenn was on Democracy Now!)
Signed,
Not Atrios
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
You Say That Like There's A Conflict
As a longtime believer in the grand Iranian conspiracy theory of the Iraq war, I find the implied contradiction here to be rather funny.
BAGHDAD — One of the towering figures of post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a Shiite who had longstanding ties with Iran but was also a supporter of the American invasion, died on Wednesday.
In Lieu Of Flowers, Please Give To SUPERTRAIN Advocacy Groups
Seriously, politicize my death as well when the time comes. The Republicans are going to try to throw a Wellstone hissy fit over Kennedy's death, and all of the bobbleheads and Villagers will declare that it's unseemly to talk about what a dead person cared about at their funeral.
Time to put on the hipwaders. It's going to get messy.
Time to put on the hipwaders. It's going to get messy.
Uninsured?
I get how you can accidentally drive an unregistered car - if by unregistered we just mean accidentally letting the registration expire - but uninsured?
The Way We Are
I think an undertold story in this country, overshadowed generally by WWII and Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, is how we went from being a nation of immigrants, to being a nation of not immigrants, and then back to being a nation of immigrants again.
Obviously our immigration policy - both legal and how we deal with undocumented residents - is far from perfect, but at least we let people in.
Obviously our immigration policy - both legal and how we deal with undocumented residents - is far from perfect, but at least we let people in.
The North Always Seemed To Be Pretty Far Away
London to Edinburgh in 2 hr. 9 mins, now that's a SUPERTRAIN!
Should I Hold A Bake Sale?
I think the weirdest occasional reporter idea is that bloggers are supposed to do their part to save print journalism. I have no idea how exactly I'm supposed to do that.
Standing Proud
Other people will give better tributes, but I'll just say that I considered it a privilege to see what I assume was Kennedy's last major public speech, at the DNC last year. Had a side view of the podium, so could see the stool they had placed there for him to sit on, which he never used.
Disaster
The people who will be forced to buy insurance will be, to a great degree, those young people who voted Obama into office. Forcing them to buy shitty insurance from insurance company skimmers may just succeed in stemming that generational democratic tide.
Landlords Being Dicks
Overall the broader retail environment in the city seems to be doing ok, but along one stretch - the high rent area - landlords decided they were entitled to massive rent increases and were pushing out previous tenants, even buying them out. Now they're sitting on a bunch of vacant storefronts and risk destroying their little high end corridor.
Heckuva job!
Heckuva job!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Europe Does Too Suck!!!
While many readers seem to think that I think anyone who likes the suburbs is somehow deluded, and that what they really want is to live in an urban hellhole, that isn't actually the case. Some people really love their burbs! Good for them.
Likewise, some people actually do like Europe and not because they're deluded about what it is like. Sure anyone who does a quick week somewhere doesn't really have a detailed understanding of a place, but that's different than thinking they're clueless.
Likewise, some people actually do like Europe and not because they're deluded about what it is like. Sure anyone who does a quick week somewhere doesn't really have a detailed understanding of a place, but that's different than thinking they're clueless.
Limbaugh
Bringing on the crazy...
Nobody could have predicted that a charismatic black president would make Limbaugh fear for his penis...
Nobody could have predicted that a charismatic black president would make Limbaugh fear for his penis...
Give The Money To Cali
I'm quite happy to fund the SUPERSUPERTRAIN project. It is, as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), the one on the shelf voter approved true HSR project. In much of the rest of the country there are money-to-upgrade-existing-corridors projects so that trains can reliably go 100MPH. And frankly, that's actually fine. If you can get average speeds (not top) up close to 100MPH that's a pretty fast train. So fund the big project in Cali and fund the smaller projects elsewhere.
That's A Feature Not A Bug
McCain's on my teevee talking about how horrible it would be if there's a public option, because most Americans would be attracted away from private insurance.
Our discourse is so stupid.
Our discourse is so stupid.
In Case You're Wondering Why
Let me put on my insane left wing kook hat for a minute, at the risk of revealing myself to be a very unserious person indeed, and ask and answer the question I haven't seen anyone address. Why did Cheney and pals preside over a monstrous but ultimately pointless for the purpose of obtaining useful intelligence torture program? Because they got off on it.
It Was Their Day
It doesn't really matter what Obama says about 9/11. He could declare it "kill a Muslim day" and they'd think it was insufficiently rage-filled. 9/11 has been the holiday for online conservatives. It was the day that gave them meaning. And they don't think it's theirs anymore, and they're mad.
Morning Thread
Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the release of this classic flick.
--Molly Ivors
--Molly Ivors
Monday, August 24, 2009
People Disagree About Stuff
I don't why that bothers some people so much. No one's preventing religious people from worshipping and believing the way they want, and likewise it's still legal if not always polite for atheists to think they're idiots. Compared to sports rivalries these arguments are actually usually fairly civil.
50 Little Hoovers
Vo Dilun is one of the littlest ones, but shutting down the state isn't going to help things.
CBO
Dean Baker tells what the important part of the new CBO deficit projection is. Not the deficit.
The policy point is that if we believe these projections to be true, we need another giant stimulus. Policymakers, however, will be frightened by the deficit like David Broder will tell them to be and won't do anything.
The real story in the new CBO projections should be the more dire economic outlook. CBO now expects the unemployment rate to be near 10 percent through most of 2010. Its new projections will show that the unemployment rate will only return to more normal levels in 2013 or even 2014, more than six years after the collapse of the housing bubble threw the economy into recession.
The implication of the new CBO projections is that millions more people will be needlessly suffering because of the economic mismanagement of the Greenspan-Bernanke-Bush crew. CBO views 4.5 percent unemployment as being the sustainable rate of unemployment. If the unemployment rate is 10 percent, more than 8 million people are needlessly out of work, with another 5 million or so being forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment. These people will be struggling to pay their health care bills, cover their mortgage or rent payments, and meet other necessary expenses for themselves and their families.
The rational response to the news that the economy will be far worse than had previously been projected should be a demand for more stimulus. After all, why should millions of people lose their jobs, their homes, and their health just because the people who managed the country's economic policy over the last decade were incompetent?
The policy point is that if we believe these projections to be true, we need another giant stimulus. Policymakers, however, will be frightened by the deficit like David Broder will tell them to be and won't do anything.
Maybe I'll Save The Kiddie Work Camp Suggestion For Later
I found the variety of responses to the school bus post rather interesting. I guess what I got most of all was that there is quite a bit of variation in what different people think is the necessary degree of adult supervision/independent activity of children. Some of this is probably poorly defined terms - some people may be talking about imaginary 6-year-olds and some 11-year-olds - but people seem to have greatly differing opinions about it nonetheless. Interesting!!
Car Free
I read things like this and scratch my head. The vast majority of people who don't own a car aren't car free because they're making some kind of statement, they don't own one because cars cost a lot of money. It was a total financial decision for me; it was dumb to pay that much money for something that would sit unused for weeks at a time. For what insurance and parking and basic maintenance costs, you can buy a lot of subway tokens, cab rides, and car share/rentals. I imagine if a decent carsharing program didn't exist in Philadelphia I'd probably eventually get a car, but as long as one does I'm quite happy to not fork over a bunch of money for car insurance every month.
Laundering Lies
The thing is that press doesn't simply tolerate lies, they grant additional authority to the lie and the liar. Hosts and reporters who fail to correct lies implicitly bless them, adding their credibility to it.
Yellow Buses
I recognize that short term this is a problem which isn't easily solved, but longer term we really should rethink the amount of tax dollars we spend busing kids to and from school. It's yet another way that sprawl development is subsidized. We spend a hell of a lot of money on a single purpose mass transit system.
Again I recognize that short term just cutting bus service is going to be a big problem for people, depending on the age of their children and proximity and path to school, but longer term we should recognize that this is a pretty dumb system.
Again I recognize that short term just cutting bus service is going to be a big problem for people, depending on the age of their children and proximity and path to school, but longer term we should recognize that this is a pretty dumb system.
The Last Honest Man In Washington
Someone wanting to understand how the Villagers think and function could probably learn a lot by studying how they collectively reacted to the primary challenge to Joe Lieberman. The amount of fawning adulation this buffoon of a man received during that time was comical.
People Have To Like This Thing
Aside from pleasing the industry players and interest groups and sucky bloggers like me, voters have to like this fucking health care plan. By voters I don't mean nutty Larouchers and Teabaggers and conervatives who would never vote for a Democrat anyway. They'll claim not to like whatever it is. If it sounds and is sucky, Republicans will run against it and retake Congress. And they'll deserve to.
Actually He Told Us One More Thing
Robert Samuelson informs us, in every column, that he is a profoundly stupid man.
Good morning.
Last night I dreamed I lived in a land where I did not have to buy crummy insurance from fraudulent insurance companies, and yet I had full healthcare coverage. And lo, I awoke under cloudy skies, and it was so.
Oh, but this is England....
Wishing you the same,
Not Atrios
Oh, but this is England....
Wishing you the same,
Not Atrios
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Kinda Sucks To Be The Foreigner
Nothing earth shattering, but I enjoyed this article about Phillies pitcher Chan Ho Park.
Hope someone's told him about all the Korean restaurants up around 5500 N. 5th.
Hope someone's told him about all the Korean restaurants up around 5500 N. 5th.
Nuclear Option
Juan Williams calls it whatever Republicans tell him to call it.
By the end of this anything less than 186 votes in the Senate will be called the "nuclear option."
By the end of this anything less than 186 votes in the Senate will be called the "nuclear option."
Sunday Bobbleheads
Meet The Press has Hatch, Schumer, Mike Mullen, and ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.
This Week has President John McCain.
Face the Nation has Grassley, Conrad, and Dean.
Document the atrocities!
This Week has President John McCain.
Face the Nation has Grassley, Conrad, and Dean.
Document the atrocities!
Explication
Krugman joins the chorus explaining to Ambinder that the reason people viewed his traffic light scare system as lying, histrionic politics, was because Bush had a longstanding history of engaging in lying, histrionic politics.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Late Night
Everything you ever wanted to know about fearmongering healthcare lunatic Betsy McCaughey but were laughing too hard to ask.
Texas Education
I guess what bugs me most of all isn't that they're trying ram through a conservative-only version of history, it's that they're all obviously really fucking stupid.
What's The Big Deal?
Threatened execution isn't torture because it doesn't actually destroy any organs.
Blogger Ethics
I still laugh at a reporter's suggestion, during the height of the blogger ethics craze, that op-ed contributors and similar were vetted for their potential financial conflicts of interest.
Froomkin
Dan summarizes the state of play on health care reform.
What is most extraordinary, and extraordinarily irksome, is that we seem to be on a path toward an individual mandate, with no cost controls and massive insurance company subsidies. The various "reform" measures are pretty close to toothless in the absence of competitition. Even provisions like "no rescission" still require the person who has just been denied coverage to appeal the decision.
I just don't remember hearing Obama promise that during the campaign.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Journalism
I get the live teevee is difficult and even the best most well-informed host can't always succeed in correcting a full of shit guest, but that's entirely different from making the argument that it isn't even her job.
In a perfect world the host of the NewsHour would see that her job is to make sure, as much as possible, viewers have accurate information. In an imperfect world I get that it isn't always going to happen that way, though with clearly false statements as opposed to subtler ones you would hope that it would be a priority.
To address the actual factual issue: Yes, it isn't entirely simple to withdraw from Medicare A even though you can, but more to the point almost no one would consider doing so because for most people it is absolutely free and being enrolled doesn't stop you from having supplemental insurance.
I sent a couple of those viewer e-mails to Winslow seeking a response. Those e-mails, some of which are printed below, focused especially on two things that Armey said: "If you're over 65 years old in America today, you have no choice but to be in Medicare. Even if you want out of Medicare, you have to forfeit your Social Security to get out of it . . . That's pretty heavy-handed, and people fear that."
Those who wrote said Armey was not speaking the truth, and frankly I thought it sounded strange as well and so I sent them along to Winslow seeking a response. Because The NewsHour presents a full hour of news five nights a week it, naturally, provokes a lot of commentary from viewers. In my experience, Winslow has always been a solid responder — candid and tough-minded. But this time she sent only a terse note, along with a link to the transcript that readers can check:
"Here's the transcript of last night's discussion. Seems to me the guests were asked to rebut one another. Judy was the moderator, not the judge. Check out http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec09/health_08-13.html."
Woodruff did, indeed, turn to her other guest and ask, "What about this charge?" But Kirsch responded in a way that didn't answer those specific assertions raised by Armey and the discussion moved on to other points. So Armey's points about Medicare and Social Security benefits were left hanging out there, viewers wrote to challenge them and The NewsHour wasn't going to clear the air. Armey made much the same charge on NBC's Meet the Press program last Sunday and it also went largely unchallenged.
In a perfect world the host of the NewsHour would see that her job is to make sure, as much as possible, viewers have accurate information. In an imperfect world I get that it isn't always going to happen that way, though with clearly false statements as opposed to subtler ones you would hope that it would be a priority.
To address the actual factual issue: Yes, it isn't entirely simple to withdraw from Medicare A even though you can, but more to the point almost no one would consider doing so because for most people it is absolutely free and being enrolled doesn't stop you from having supplemental insurance.
Bad Out There
There is and will continue to be regional variation in the severity of the recession, and while I'm much more pessimistic than some about the existence of a national recovery, it's hard to see how big chunks of California turn around anytime soon.
Train Nerdery
Since I needed to be in Camden yesterday evening anyway, I took the opportunity to take a little roundtrip ride on the 5 year old River Line, a Diesel-Electric light rail system that travels from Camden to Trenton. I remember it being a pretty derided project, with fairly low ridership projections that many thought were too optimistic. Population density isn't that high anywhere along the route, including at the endpoints of Camden and Trenton, so pessimism about the project was probably warranted. But it's actually become quite popular, basically at capacity ridership during the week (9000/day). It's kind of a throwback, in a way, winding it's way through a series of smaller towns and cities, the kind of route where there mostly just aren't trains anymore. Given the route and density, I'm surprised at the ridership figures. It was packed when I was on it.
Trust
I disagree with Glenn a bit here. I don't think when talking about politicians "trust" isn't about about faith in someone's honesty, it's about the degree of faith you have that they'll roughly do the right thing. There are of course a lot of things which are quite difficult or even impossible to know, so ultimately one has to have a bit of faith in the idea that someone has decent judgment. I also think that if we had a better press which spent more time trying to reveal information and explain policy to people instead of focusing on character, trust, etc... the importance of trust would be diminished, but it wouldn't go away.
Seamless Shift
And then, as the war started, suddenly it wasn't really about WMD at all but about spreading peeance and freeance. The media ran with the new narrative right away. Some seemed to be shocked and horrified that war might actually hurt people.
But soon stories of pictures of kids with their arms blown off were no longer a cable news staple...
PHILLIPS: Doctor -- what has he been saying to you, Doctor? Is he asking anything of you? Is he thanking you? Is he wanting to know about family? Tell us what this little boy has been saying to you.
AL-NAJADA: Actually, today he was in good condition after the operation and started speaking with a journalist and answering all their questions. The thing which he was -- they asking about -- the journalists, especially the broadcasting, what the message he wants to reflect from the war. He said, first of all, thank you for the attention they're giving to him, but he hopes nobody from thechildren in the war they will suffer like what he suffer.
PHILLIPS: Does he understand why...
AL-NAJADA: Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Doctor, does he understand why this war took place? Has he talked about Operation Iraqi Freedom and the meaning? Does he understand it?
AL-NAJADA: Actually, we don't discuss this issue with him because he is -- the burn cases, and the type of injury, he's in very bad psychological trauma. We would like to pass this stage and then we can discuss this issue. But we discussed this issue with his uncle, and the message we get from his family, they said they are living far away from the American troops -- from the military of Saddam of Fedayeen by five kilometers, and they don't know how they hit them by the missiles.
But soon stories of pictures of kids with their arms blown off were no longer a cable news staple...
When We Were Young And Crazy
I don't want to dwell in nostalgiaville, but every now and then events occur which remind me just how fucking weird this country was between... roughly, 9/11/01 and 10/05. The obvious thing, of course, was Iraq, though it wasn't just that. (Some) liberal bloggers were crazy and clueless and naive and, most of all, "unserious," for recognizing the rather obvious point that aside from the dreaded balsa wood drones of mass destruction, there was literally no evidence that Hussein had a WMD program even by the rather low bar they'd set for what WMD were. More than that, it was quite obvious that lots of lies were being told to create the impression that Saddam could KILL US ALL AT ANY MOMENT, which was completely absurd, and that's without even getting into the whole Hussein-Osama BFF pact we were supposed to believe.
People lied to take us into war. The media, by and large, believed or ignored those lies. Thousands of US troops have died along with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. And just about everyone still has their jobs. Except maybe Ashleigh Banfield.
Heckuva job everyone!
People lied to take us into war. The media, by and large, believed or ignored those lies. Thousands of US troops have died along with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. And just about everyone still has their jobs. Except maybe Ashleigh Banfield.
Heckuva job everyone!
Huzzah!
President John McCain will be on my teevee on Sunday. I look forward to hearing his deep insights on basically everything.
We Briefly Interrupt Our Regular Programming
Of covering the plight of the not quite rich enough in order to do a special feature on the plight of the super rich.
Morning thread
Have you called your Congressman to demand single-payer healthcare, yet?
House
And it wouldn't hurt to call your Senators, either.
And for that matter, tell the media.
And no, I don't mean "public plan" - no one even knows what that means. I mean make them feel like "public plan" is as far to the right as they can even think of skating, and they might not even get away with that.
If that fails, we'll just have to start demanding something like this.
Signed,
Not Atrios
House
And it wouldn't hurt to call your Senators, either.
And for that matter, tell the media.
And no, I don't mean "public plan" - no one even knows what that means. I mean make them feel like "public plan" is as far to the right as they can even think of skating, and they might not even get away with that.
If that fails, we'll just have to start demanding something like this.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Bruce Toll Planning To Buy Inquirer From Bruce Toll
Not quite, but he's part of the existing company. Don't have much detail yet, but I'm betting the reorganization plan is to wipe out all the debt and... profit!
I Guess Things Change
Jonathan Alter has been all over the teevee recently talking about those crazy lefties who want a public plan. Just now he was on MSNBC saying that "the left" was off-kilter and ignoring the "moral core" of health care reform.
In June, someone wrote this:
That someone, of course, was Jonathan Alter. (ht dday)
In June, someone wrote this:
That takes us back to a public option, which would force insurers to redraw their business models and accept lower profits. The House bill will include it, but the Senate's almost certainly won't. Instead, moderates there are pushing health-care "cooperatives." Nobody has a clue what that means. Would the co-ops be like utilities? Farm cooperatives? Starting fresh with a quasi-public/quasi-private organization might bring some much-needed creativity to health-care financing. But without a federal charter and some seed money to help them enroll millions, co-ops will get swamped by the private-insurance lobby, which has become expert at marginalizing state-run experiments.
Click here to find out more!
When it comes time to hammer out the final plan in the House-Senate conference committee, Obama and Rahm Emanuel will likely make the House accept a reduction in the deductibility of employer-based plans and make the Senate accept some kind of public option or co-op with teeth. Anything less means the president didn't get the sucker.
That someone, of course, was Jonathan Alter. (ht dday)
13.2%
Percent of mortgages which are delinquent or in foreclosure. And actual foreclosures are expected to peak at the end of 2010.
I know nobody listens to me, but, perhaps someone could remind members of Congress that quite a lot of people are going to be in a rather foul mood come November 2010...
I know nobody listens to me, but, perhaps someone could remind members of Congress that quite a lot of people are going to be in a rather foul mood come November 2010...
Our Dumb Discourse
Bartiromo knows America is awesome because it's America and it is.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Crazy Days Of Yore
Sometimes it's a bit hard to remember just how nutty the world was in those post-9/11 days. Suggesting that Bush was using the terror alert for political purposes would have made you a crazy person, the mere suggestion of it would've put you outside the bounds of acceptable discourse.
Changing Development Codes
While I do love my supertrains, even I think they're probably not worth building unless land use regulations are significantly changed around stations and corridors. While we all know that Houston has no zoning, they do have fairly typical land use regulations regarding setbacks and parking and whatnot, so good that they're taking steps to change those where appropriate.
Not Exactly Surprising
But if you think that using the threat of terrorism for political purposes would be more interesting to the Villagers than Michelle Obama's shorts, you're probably wrong.
And just so it's clear: using the threat of terrorism to try to achieve political goals is, you know, what terrorists do.
And just so it's clear: using the threat of terrorism to try to achieve political goals is, you know, what terrorists do.
Walkability Good
I don't think the results of this study are surprising and I also don't think they demonstrate that much. Neighborhoods with high walkscores have high density and variety of neighborhood amenities, so one would expect that to show up in property values.
But it's a good moment to spell out a few things for the millionth time, because some people generally fail to understand. People like me have no desire to convert the world into Manhattan or take your cars away or force you all to live in skyscrapers in urban hellholes. We think that there's a shortage of good walkable neighborhoods in this country, and evidence of this shortage is the fact that such neighborhoods tend to be quite expensive. Obviously there are plenty of urban neighborhoods which for a variety of reasons are not pricey and are not "good," so simple density is not enough. We also think the shortage of such neighborhoods exists in large part because of policies ranging from transportation to zoning to land use, and not simply a matter of the market giving the people what they want. Obvious policies are things like emphasis on roadbuilding rather than mass transit. Less obvious - but extremely important - policies include things like mandatory setbacks and parking requirements. As I've written before, no developer could get approval to build my block as it is in my neighborhood today. That is, it would be illegal to rebuild my urban hellhole in its current configuration. And this is in the city!
But it's a good moment to spell out a few things for the millionth time, because some people generally fail to understand. People like me have no desire to convert the world into Manhattan or take your cars away or force you all to live in skyscrapers in urban hellholes. We think that there's a shortage of good walkable neighborhoods in this country, and evidence of this shortage is the fact that such neighborhoods tend to be quite expensive. Obviously there are plenty of urban neighborhoods which for a variety of reasons are not pricey and are not "good," so simple density is not enough. We also think the shortage of such neighborhoods exists in large part because of policies ranging from transportation to zoning to land use, and not simply a matter of the market giving the people what they want. Obvious policies are things like emphasis on roadbuilding rather than mass transit. Less obvious - but extremely important - policies include things like mandatory setbacks and parking requirements. As I've written before, no developer could get approval to build my block as it is in my neighborhood today. That is, it would be illegal to rebuild my urban hellhole in its current configuration. And this is in the city!
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
CNBC.com tells me that there were 576K new lucky duckies.
Things really aren't getting better...
...bloomberg:
Things really aren't getting better...
...bloomberg:
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, climbed to 570,000 last week from 565,750.
HAMP
If the economy fails to turn around, and by implication the Obama presidency is a major failure, I know I'll put the blame on his failure to actively support changing bankruptcy law to allow modifications of mortgage terms by bankruptcy judges. Things really can't improve until the foreclosure crisis is over, and his programs aren't working.
G'mornin'.
Well, I don't miss him either.
Anyway, here's Taibbi talking to Maddow. Um, you're all gonna call your Congresscritters and tell them you want, oh, single-payer, or Medicare for All, or socialized medicine or....
Single-payer is the only fiscally responsible option. Why settle for less?
Signed,
Not Atrios
Anyway, here's Taibbi talking to Maddow. Um, you're all gonna call your Congresscritters and tell them you want, oh, single-payer, or Medicare for All, or socialized medicine or....
Single-payer is the only fiscally responsible option. Why settle for less?
Signed,
Not Atrios
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Mandate
I have mixed feelings about mandate-as-policy, but as politics it's going to be horrible. I find it weird that no one seems to get this.
-67%
I don't think it's pointed out enough that aside from all of the losses, our financial sector demonstrated that it is incapable of allocating capital efficiently. All of those loans which went to overbuild commercial real estate could have been loaned to more productive activities over the last several years.
And Then They Might Go Out And Get A Bank Account!
I've long been puzzled by the strange fixation of conservatives on which goods and services people who aren't living here with appropriate permission should be able to procure. Lou Dobbs spent years obsessing about the idea that some of them might even have bank accounts! Plenty of people have international bank accounts in places they aren't allowed to live/work, and I have no idea why this should be of particular concern for Dobbs.
Still it's a bit better than thinking that hospitals should be in the business of checking your papers (aside from your insurance card of course! VERY IMPORTANT!) and then letting you die if (you're brown and) you can't prove you're here legally.
Still it's a bit better than thinking that hospitals should be in the business of checking your papers (aside from your insurance card of course! VERY IMPORTANT!) and then letting you die if (you're brown and) you can't prove you're here legally.
Meanwhile
And on and on...
And both wars are almost completely gone from our public consciousness, aside from the fact that they must continue forever.
KABUL—The U.S. military said Wednesday six American troops were killed in Afghanistan, as militants killed six election workers amid growing fears on the eve of the presidential election that insurgents would mar the vote.
And both wars are almost completely gone from our public consciousness, aside from the fact that they must continue forever.
Rewarding Good Behavior
Most members of Congress really don't quite understand this blog stuff, aside from a vague idea that there's a new potential pain in the ass out there to deal with. When their staffers can show them things like this, they're more likely to get that we're actually allies.
So consider contributing a bit to members who have signed the public option pledge.
So consider contributing a bit to members who have signed the public option pledge.
What Are They For Again?
John Cole:
This is correct. More than that, most of "health insurance" isn't really insurance at all, except for a bit of catastrophic insurance which they try to avoid paying out.
There really is no reason for them to exist.
Hell, I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what value the insurance companies add at all. Seems like all they do is skim money off the top, add layers of paperwork, and then screw people when they get a serious illness.
This is correct. More than that, most of "health insurance" isn't really insurance at all, except for a bit of catastrophic insurance which they try to avoid paying out.
There really is no reason for them to exist.
Lame
I certainly get that there are reasonable arguments to have about the effectiveness of corporate boycotts. Generally I think a whirlwind PR shitstorm is more effective than, "please don't shop there." That is, destroying the brand is better than guilting people into not doing something they want to do, and the desire to defend the brand can cause quick behavior changes. But the lamest argument against boycotts is that they just hurt the poor employees.
Holding Firm
I don't know if the progressives will hold, but it's certainly in their - and hopefully our - interests for them to do so. Villagers respect power, but they're also very very slow to recognize when it shifts. As I wrote yesterday, for quite some time "House progressives will block any bill without public option" has been a much more plausible story than "Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley write a health care bill that Republicans will support." It's only now that the Villagers are waking up to this fact, and as they do they'll slowly start calling Anthony Weiner instead of Kent Conrad. And if the progressives do hold firm, they'll be calling them about the next legislative battle, too.
Meanwhile
Over there.
We tried to stop them.
BAGHDAD — At least 75 people were killed in a series of truck bombings and other attacks on Wednesday that rocked areas around official buildings in central Baghdad, wounding 300 people, the Interior Ministry said.
We tried to stop them.
Whole Foods
I'm not going to make a big deal out of it, and won't promise I'll never return, but my shopping there will be greatly reduced. Plenty of other options around.
Painfully Obviously True
Hey, it appears Rahm found a nut.
I wonder if we'll ever know what these people were really thinking. The "Republicans don't want to pass anything" point was painfully obviously true months ago. So what was the point of all of this crap?
I wonder if we'll ever know what these people were really thinking. The "Republicans don't want to pass anything" point was painfully obviously true months ago. So what was the point of all of this crap?
More Stupid Than You Can Possibly Imagine
Via my cob-logger va, we have... this, from Erick, the Son of Erick. This is a real quote.
Remember the good old days, when we only had to contemplate Ann Althouse-class goofy gibberish?
"You can’t win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”
— Obi Wan Kenobi
It appears that the left’s urgent boycott of Glenn Beck’s advertisers in an effort to destroy Beck is like Darth Vader strking down Kenobi. It’s making Beck more powerful. He is Kenobi.
Remember the good old days, when we only had to contemplate Ann Althouse-class goofy gibberish?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Problem
I think Bowers is spot on with this post, and it's astounding that so many people fail to realize it. When health care reform fails, or 'wins' with a crappy bill, we'll know who is to blame.
What The Hell's A Co-Op?
Kudos to the NYT for actually trying to address this question. Given all the talk about them, few seem to have bothered to try to figure out or explain what they are. Not even their biggest supporter seems to have any clue.
Gun Nuttery
I've had relatively limited personal experience with gun nuts, but all the ones I knew had a basic self-defense fantasy in which they would thwart a would-be attacker with a bullet. In short, they wanted to kill someone.
As Amanda says at the link, not all people who like guns are gun nuts.
As Amanda says at the link, not all people who like guns are gun nuts.
Blogger Ethics
Glennzilla stomps on Lanny Davis.
One thing which has sorta shocked me as I've gotten to know DC culture is just how much paid advocates are considered to be respectable parts of the fabric who are enabled and promoted by our media instead of, you know, shills. It's weird.
One thing which has sorta shocked me as I've gotten to know DC culture is just how much paid advocates are considered to be respectable parts of the fabric who are enabled and promoted by our media instead of, you know, shills. It's weird.
Nobody Could Have Predicted
For those of us who are moderately sentient, it's been clear all along that the Republican strategy was to block health care reform at any cost. Their extra strategy is to do their best to make the bill as shitty as possible so that it's unpopular. Whether the Dems who are getting played get it and are just playing along or whether they're really stupid I do not know...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Votes
This business of keeping a good health care bill off the floor of the Senate is driven by the fact that a good bill with a robust public option would both clear a filibuster and would pass resoundingly. Reporters need to start asking Conrad, Nelson, Voinovich, Martinez, Collins and Snowe how they would vote on a bill with a robust public option.
-20
Yes, it's the blue dogs who have the most to lose and the rest of us who have the most to gain. Would be more than happy to lose Rahm's Kids in Congress, and hope we do.
HCR
I don't know if the progressive House Dems will hold firm, but it's certainly a more plausible story than "Max Baucus creates compromise bill that Republicans will vote for." Yet it's the latter story which gets all the attention. Dem pundits should understand that there's pretty good chance that absent good public option, there will be no health care bill.
Laundering Lies
It's one thing if Dick Armey, or some other repulsive hack, goes out and gives a speech which contains a bunch of lies. It's another thing for a major news outlet - print or teevee - to give its stamp of authority on those lies. I'm sure he'll be back.
I've said a bunch of times that elite journalists oddly cling to authority rather than expertise as the reason they need to have very well-paid existences. But then they don't bother to use that authority to actually inform their audiences. Instead they use it to bolster the claims of conservative liars.
I've said a bunch of times that elite journalists oddly cling to authority rather than expertise as the reason they need to have very well-paid existences. But then they don't bother to use that authority to actually inform their audiences. Instead they use it to bolster the claims of conservative liars.
SUPERTRAINS To The Stadium
I've never looked into the history of the Meadowlands, but driving by it I was always fascinated in a horrified kind of way. Here you have a stadium complex built smack dab in the middle of one of the denser mass transit networks - not just NYC, but northern NJ as well - and it had absolutely no link to the rail system whatsoever. I assume it was built at the peak of the what the fuck were they thinking era. That's finally changed.
Credible Threats
Aside from the importance of the public option itself, I think it's important for the progressive caucus in the House to demonstrate, finally, that they will at times exercise their power and block legislation in order to extract a few demands. It doesn't look like we're going to get much good legislation otherwise, and if they can't get concessions on health care what can they get them on?
As for holding your nose and hoping it gets better later... things don't seem to work that way.
As for holding your nose and hoping it gets better later... things don't seem to work that way.
The Other Side
P O'Neill (whose blog you should read) has a post up about some of the spillover of the nutty US "health care debate" on the discourse in other lands. I'd quibble that the Canadian system comes in for more goofy bashing in the US than the NHS, though. Also, I'd say that while P is right to wonder about the wisdom of US wingnuts cluelessly alienating what would seem to be their "natural allies," i.e., their halfwit ideological counterparts in allied countries abroad, the question of why they'd risk this answers itself -- US conservatives are know-nothing insane. You'd think that, as P says, this would mean that "With enemies like these, maybe Barack Obama doesn't need friends," and fair enough, except that, of course, for reasons nobody can rationally explain, there exists an American legislative body known as the "US Senate."
Obama was not in '08, nor is now, my messiah, but, like, when it comes to health care, or any other domestic policy initiative, how do you solve a problem like Max Baucus?
If we don't get a good health care bill, yes, Obama deserves garbage-pelting. But let's be clear: we have a legislative system that is undemocratic, dysfunctional, and flat-out ridiculous. The only thing it will actually DO as far as spending goes is authorize stupid wars.
Obama was not in '08, nor is now, my messiah, but, like, when it comes to health care, or any other domestic policy initiative, how do you solve a problem like Max Baucus?
If we don't get a good health care bill, yes, Obama deserves garbage-pelting. But let's be clear: we have a legislative system that is undemocratic, dysfunctional, and flat-out ridiculous. The only thing it will actually DO as far as spending goes is authorize stupid wars.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Medicare is Tyranny
And other revelations you may have missed on the Sunday talk shows - my Translations of Meet the Press and Chris Matthews.
Evening Thread
by Molly Ivors
Still hot & heady in the northeast, but I understand the thunderstorms are coming....
Still hot & heady in the northeast, but I understand the thunderstorms are coming....
Why?
Previously I asked why Bruce Bartlett thought things have become they way he perceives them to be. He sent a response to Steve and me, which Steve has up here.
On the road so I don't have time to think much about it and add my two cents, but there's his answer!
On the road so I don't have time to think much about it and add my two cents, but there's his answer!
Dropping
I think this AP way overstates the case here - being open to something else is not the same as being ready to drop the public option - but the noises emanating from the administration aren't awesome.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Gibbs and distinguished elder statesmen Lee Hamilton and Chuck Hagel
Meet the Press goes full crazy with Dick Armey, Tom Coburn, Chamber of Commerce EVP Bruce Josten, Tom Daschle, Charlie Rangel, and Bill Ritter.
This Week has Sebelius, Hatch, and Senate Majority Leader Arlen Specter.
Document the atrocities!
Document the atrocities.
Meet the Press goes full crazy with Dick Armey, Tom Coburn, Chamber of Commerce EVP Bruce Josten, Tom Daschle, Charlie Rangel, and Bill Ritter.
This Week has Sebelius, Hatch, and Senate Majority Leader Arlen Specter.
Document the atrocities!
Document the atrocities.
Did you know...
...that aside from Norway and Luxembourg, the country that spends the most tax money on healthcare per capita is the United States?
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thread
Just came back from here. Why I came back, I dunno. Tomorrow, maybe, I'll check out what the wingnuts are up to.
Maybe.
But Why?
I'd be curious to hear what someone like Bartlett thinks about why the situation is as he describes. He says he's baffled, so obviously he doesn't think he knows, but like me I assume he at least has some half-baked theories.
The Trouble With The NHS
Not every English person loves the NHS, but the basic complaint about it isn't that it exists, it's that the government doesn't spend enough on it. And, relative to other countries, Brits don't spend much money on health care.
Fun fact the media never tells you: as a % of GDP, the US has greater public expenditures on health care than the UK does. Not total expenditures, we know that. Public expenditures. More big government health care in the US than the UK.
She told The Times: 'The NHS let me down and I just wanted to make the point that people should not rely solely on it.
'But what I said has been skewed out of proportion... My point was not that the NHS shouldn't exist or that it was a bad thing. I think that our health service is not perfect but to get better it needs more public money, not less. I didn't realise it was having such a political impact.'
Fun fact the media never tells you: as a % of GDP, the US has greater public expenditures on health care than the UK does. Not total expenditures, we know that. Public expenditures. More big government health care in the US than the UK.
Health Care Reform
Reading the tea leaves here at commie central, it seems that your view on health care going forward should depend on whether or not you believe the progressive caucus in the House will really block a bill without a decent public option.
Crazy Is A Pre-Existing Condition
Rick Perlstein on the fringe right through the decades.
Punchline:
Punchline:
ad_icon
It used to be different. You never heard the late Walter Cronkite taking time on the evening news to "debunk" claims that a proposed mental health clinic in Alaska is actually a dumping ground for right-wing critics of the president's program, or giving the people who made those claims time to explain themselves on the air. The media didn't adjudicate the ever-present underbrush of American paranoia as a set of "conservative claims" to weigh, horse-race-style, against liberal claims. Back then, a more confident media unequivocally labeled the civic outrage represented by such discourse as "extremist" -- out of bounds.
The tree of crazy is an ever-present aspect of America's flora. Only now, it's being watered by misguided he-said-she-said reporting and taking over the forest. Latest word is that the enlightened and mild provision in the draft legislation to help elderly people who want living wills -- the one hysterics turned into the "death panel" canard -- is losing favor, according to the Wall Street Journal, because of "complaints over the provision."
Good thing our leaders weren't so cowardly in 1964, or we would never have passed a civil rights bill -- because of complaints over the provisions in it that would enslave whites.
Friday, August 14, 2009
EATED
Community Bank of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ gets EATED.
Community Bank of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV gets EATED.
Community Bank of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV gets EATED.
EATED
Colonial Bank, Montgomery AL gets EATED.
Special netroots nation edition Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, Pittsburgh, PA gets EATED.
Special netroots nation edition Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, Pittsburgh, PA gets EATED.
Starting Early
It sounds like Bank Failure Friday might be starting early.
And this is what it might mean...
And this is what it might mean...
The Southern regional bank, based in Montgomery, Ala., is the largest remaining player in warehouse lending, which provides short-term financing to independent mortgage bankers. At one time, these mortgage bankers originated half of all U.S. home loans using these funds.
Today, the warehouse lending market is decimated. In 2007 it was worth an estimated $200 billion; now there is just $25 billion available -- 25% of which belongs to Colonial. If Colonial fails, those funds become even more scarce.
Captured
In many ways massive inequality is a symptom of an unjust system rather than something to be considered about in and of itself. Still, as we've seen recently it's rather obvious a wealthy class has managed to capture the apparatus of government for its own financial benefit.
Repetition
As Matt suggests, it isn't enough for journalists - individually or as a group - to report on something once and then let it go. The reason the cable nets have such an exaggerated impact on our political discourse, aside from the fact that they're on all day in every congressional office, is that they repeat certain things over and over again.
Half A Loaf
I appreciate the "an ok bill is better than no bill" arguments, but things have changed since 2004. Health costs have continued to go up at absurd rates. Dems have 60 senators, a big majority in the House, and we just elected a popular president whose central campaign issue was... health care reform. There can be incremental improvements later, possibly, but they can also make it worse. Given the way things work in that stupid town, we get one big bite at the apple. An "ok" bill lets the insurance company skimmers keep stealing their share for doing nothing useful other than denying people care. Maybe it means they get to do this a bit less aggressively than they do now, and maybe it means some more people get somewhat better health care, but it also leaves the skimmers in place.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Yes it's Friday, but I forgot yesterday. Tend to get a bit confused about what day it is when I'm traveling. 558K new lucky duckies!
Netroots Nation Blogging
The debatish thing with Sestak and Specter is about to start. Could be interesting.
Can watch it stream here I think.
I think it'll be on the CSPAN too.
Can watch it stream here I think.
I think it'll be on the CSPAN too.
Shorter Michael Gerson
Nancy Pelosi said some protesters were wore swastikas, but if I pretend that she actually called them all Nazis, I get to write a sanctimonious column and collect my paycheck from Fred Hiatt.
No link, you can find it.
No link, you can find it.
Krugman is right, but it would sure help if there were actually a good plan to defend.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Consequences Of Lying About Policy
The press won't call them on it, their fellow senators won't call them it...
Getting Scarier
SoCal:
MD:
Dangerous and also super classy.
WESTWOOD -- A man accused of making threats against the White House led officers on a wild freeway chase that ended in a standoff outside the Federal Building.
MD:
The Secret Service is investigating a man who authorities said held a sign reading "Death to Obama" outside a town hall meeting on health-care reform in western Maryland.
The sign also read, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids," referring to the first name of President Barack Obama's wife, said Washington County Sheriff's Capt. Peter Lazich.
Dangerous and also super classy.
Lies
One weird thing about our press is that lies about personal stuff, and things which are likely just inadvertent slips, can cause Great Outrage among the assembled Villagers, while sustained and repeated lies about policy are just laundered and retransmitted.
SUPERBUS
A Commie Fest attendee tells me that John Fund rode the public Port Authority bus from the airport to downtown. $2.60, not a bad deal.
Record
I really don't like being the permanent pessimist, but I really don't get how this economy turns around until the foreclosure crisis ends. It isn't ending.
Capitalized
Only if we pretend.
Check out the footnotes to Regions Financial Corp.’s latest quarterly report, and you’ll see a remarkable disclosure. There, in an easy-to-read chart, the company divulged that the loans on its books as of June 30 were worth $22.8 billion less than what its balance sheet said. The Birmingham, Alabama-based bank’s shareholder equity, by comparison, was just $18.7 billion.
So, if it weren’t for the inflated loan values, Regions’ equity would be less than zero. Meanwhile, the government continues to classify Regions as “well capitalized.”
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Puke Funnel
I know this point has been made a million times, but it really is amazing how the lunatic right completely controls our political discourse.
They don't even need Matt Drudge, America's Assignment Editor, anymore. Some whacko with a sign and bullhorn is all it takes.
They don't even need Matt Drudge, America's Assignment Editor, anymore. Some whacko with a sign and bullhorn is all it takes.
The Revolution can only be televised
Looks like the Orange Pekoe Putschers are looking for a little coverage worthy of the Mao-Tse Tung Hour.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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