Health Care Pseudo-Reform
Should we (Liberals and Progressives) worry even more than before about the health care legislation? Sure Tom Daschle knows how to navigate the Senate but the noises he has been making about the type of legislation have been unpleasant.
Oval Office Visit Hints at Daschle’s Role
As Obama’s health-care agenda teeters in Congress, the White House listed the private meeting on the president’s public schedule, sending a signal that Obama is still consulting Daschle on his top domestic policy priority. An assiduous student of health policy and an adept creature of the Senate, Daschle was Obama’s first pick to oversee his reforms, but a firestorm over Daschle’s failure to pay about $146,000 in taxes on time prompted the South Dakota Democrat in February to withdraw his nomination to be secretary of health and human services.
The unbearable senselessness of the health care “bipartisan” committee.
New Splits Emerge in Health-Plan Talks
Republicans are pressing to reduce the size of tax credits for families with incomes that are below three times the poverty rate. They would also like to trim back insurance coverage mandates in hopes of lowering premiums that would have to be subsidized.
But the three Democrats believe savings can be found without going to the heart of the bill. “There are not going to be significant changes to coverage,” said one Democratic aide familiar with the talks. “We’re finding other ways to bring down the cost.”
Why aren’t more people up in arms about this? Why was the Senate HC bill taken out of the committees where such bills are usually handled? Why did the Democrats relinquished the majority they won at the polls. This is not a 50/50 Senate. Who made that decision?
Why the Gang of Six is Deciding Health Care for Three Hundred Million of Us
We have a Democratic president in the White House. Democrats control sixty votes in the Senate, enough to overcome a filibuster. It is possible to pass health care legislation through the Senate with 51 votes (that’s what George W. Bush did with his tax cut plan). Democrats control the House.
[..]
It’s not even as if the gang represents America. The three Dems on the gang are from Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota — states that together account for just over 1 percent of Americans. The three Republicans are from Maine, Wyoming, and Iowa, which together account for 1.6 percent of the American population.
So, I repeat: Why has it come down to these six? Who anointed them? Apparently, the White House. At least that’s what I’m repeatedly being told by sources both on the Hill and in the Administration.
Being a resident of MA, I have always thought our health care model was not as bad as some people make it out to be. The model, with its successes and failures offers a good basis on how the national health care system could be fixed. (Masslib, what say you?)
The Massachusetts model
How does the state’s health plan work?
In an effort to achieve universal coverage, Massachusetts essentially requires every resident to obtain health insurance—either through their employer, a private plan, or, for low-income residents, a subsidized state program.
Has it succeeded?
In one important respect, unquestionably. Massachusetts now enjoys the lowest percentage of uninsured in the nation—2.6 percent, compared with 15 percent nationwide. More than 400,000 residents have health insurance for the first time, either because their companies began offering coverage or subsidies made the premiums affordable.
So it was a slam-dunk?
Hardly. The program has proved a lot more expensive than was anticipated.
What can be learned from Massachusetts?
The Massachusetts experiment shows just how difficult fixing the health-care system may be, for both political and logistical reasons.
Economy Watch
Another one bites the dust…
Guaranty Bank Shut; 10th Largest Failure Ever
Guaranty Bank, a big Texas lender that succumbed to losses on loans to homebuilders and mortgage-tied securities, was shut down by regulators Friday and most of its operations sold to a major Spanish bank.
It was the second-largest U.S. bank failure this year and the 10th-largest in U.S. history, expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $3 billion. The transaction approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. marked the first time a foreign bank bought a failed U.S. bank.
Is the global economy really out of its tailspin? At least things are starting to look up.
World Economy Emerging From Worst Recession Since World War II
The global economy may be coming out of the worst recession since World War II as record-low interest rates and trillions of dollars in fiscal stimulus spur demand.
Sales of existing U.S. homes jumped in July to the highest level since August 2007, and German service industries expanded this month for the first time in almost a year, reports yesterday showed. The Japanese economy grew for the first time in five quarters, according to a report earlier this week.
Economy Is ‘Leveling Out,’ Bernanke Says
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke rendered his most positive assessment of the economy yet in a speech Friday and gave credit in part to his own institution’s handling of the worst economic crisis in decades.
The world economy has stopped shrinking. That’s the end of the good news
Damien Hoffman takes an axe to Nouriel Roubini
Is Nouriel Roubini a False Prophet?
Wall Street has a laundry list of such charlatans. They tend to capture the spotlight during the heat of emotional peaks in the markets because emotion and reason tend to maintain an inverse relationship. During times of crisis we need something, sometimes anything, to reduce our pain and restore order to an uncomfortable new chaos.
During the height of the most recent economic crisis, the media offered the center-stage spotlight to NYU Economics Professor Nouriel Roubini to comfort us with his soma. At the peak of the crash, Roubini was as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola and cellphones. He was the go-to guy because his PR team branded him as “The Prophet of Doom.” A perfect fit when you need someone to call at an overwhelmingly bullish place like Wall Street.
Around The Nation
What are you going to believe? The truth or the bunch of lying thugs that unfortunately ruled this country for 8 years?
George W. Bush vets dismiss Tom Ridge claims
Top officials from the George W. Bush White House are disputing claims in former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge’s coming book that they pressured him to adjust the terror threat level for political gain.
“We went over backwards repeatedly and with great discipline to make sure politics did not influence any national security and homeland security decisions,” former White House chief of staff Andy Card told POLITICO. “The clear instructions were to make sure politics never influenced anything.”
Come on Andy Card! You can dispute what Tom Ridge is saying, but don’t insult us.
Convicted US soldier apologises for My Lai massacre
The only US Army officer convicted over the 1968 massacre of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai made an extraordinary public apology while speaking to a small group near the military base where he went on trial.
William Calley, who has long shied away from publicity and routinely turned down journalists’ requests for interviews about My Lai, broke his long silence after accepting a long-time friend’s invitation to speak at a meeting of a local community club.
Are we ever going to get to the bottom of this?
Report reveals CIA methods
As the Justice Department considers whether to investigate alleged harsh interrogation practices sanctioned by the Bush administration, sources say a soon-to-be-released report by the CIA’s inspector general reveals that agency interrogators conducted mock executions of terror suspects.
I hope Rupert Murdoch lands on his nose with this one.
Paid Content: The Days of the Internet Free Lunch Are Numbered
Media billionaire Rupert Murdoch wants to start charging online readers of his newspapers a fee. His decision has launched a fierce debate over the future of the culture of free content on the Internet. It has also posed a difficult question for publishers: How much are we worth to readers?
Op-ed Columns
The prosaic professor (h/t TC commenter laurie)
When Mr Obama came to office, most Washington insiders believed he would make up for his lack of governmental experience by continuing to be the best political salesman of his generation, as he had on the campaign trail. But as president, his ability to sell his most important policies – particularly on healthcare reform, the centrepiece of his domestic agenda – has proved much weaker than expected.
Instead of electrifying the country with the case for reforming America’s expensive and highly exclusionary healthcare system, he has too often appeared to be reacting to other people’s characterisation of his plans, however misleading those might be. As a result, Mr Obama is going through something of a nightmare August.
Hitler Is a Conversation Stopper
Midway through the month’s town hall meetings on health care, it seems the shark has jumped the shark — and even Hitler must be sick of himself.
The terrible tyrant can’t get a rest these days. For eight years, he was George W. Bush. Now he’s Barack H. Obama. We just can’t quit the monster with the fur lip.
Masters and Slaves of Deception
President Obama made a huge mistake in pursuing health care reform. He tried to be hands-off when he needed to be knee-deep.
Boy I hate to concede a point to Chuck Krauthammer
The Truth About Death Counseling
Let’s see if we can have a reasoned discussion about end-of-life counseling.
We might start by asking Sarah Palin to leave the room. I’ve got nothing against her. She’s a remarkable political talent. But there are no “death panels” in the Democratic health-care bills, and to say that there are is to debase the debate.
We also have to tell the defenders of the notorious Section 1233 of H.R. 3200 that it is not quite as benign as they pretend. To offer government reimbursement to any doctor who gives end-of-life counseling — whether or not the patient asked for it — is to create an incentive for such a chat
A Public Option That Works
TWO burning questions are at the center of America’s health care debate. First, should employers be required to pay for their employees’ health insurance? And second, should there be a “public option” that competes with private insurance?
Answers might be found in San Francisco
If Switzerland Can …
The deal struck between the United States and Switzerland last week to provide the names attached to 4,450 secret accounts held by Americans at the Swiss banking giant UBS is a blow for fairness. If Switzerland lives up to its commitment, it may well be a watershed: the beginning of the end of international tax cheating.
Around The World
This is just provocation, but that should be expected: We are dealing here with a certifiable nutball.
Ahmadinejad Nominee Is Wanted in ’94 Bombing
The man nominated to serve as Iran’s defense minister is wanted by Interpol in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires (…)
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nominated Ahmad Vahidi on Wednesday to serve as defense minister when he submitted his list of 21 nominees to Parliament. Mr. Vahidi was the head of the secret Quds Force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guards that carries out operations overseas.
He was one of five Iranian officials sought by Interpol on Argentine charges of “conceiving, planning, financing and executing” the 1994 attack, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds, said a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League condemning the nomination.
This is truly outrageous and the Scottish government ought to bury itself into a never ending shame.
US fury grows over release of Lockerbie bomber
The White House last night vented its fury over the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber when it described the triumphalist scenes greeting his homecoming at Tripoli airport as “outrageous and disgusting”.
Oh noes! Not again.
Karzai, Abdullah both claim victory in Afghan election
The top two candidates in Afghanistan’s presidential race both claimed to be on their way to victory after Thursday’s vote.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has received roughly 150 official allegations of election fraud and expects a significantly larger number to arrive in the coming days. With preliminary vote-count results days away, each camp is working to influence public perceptions and gather legal ammunition for appealing a possible loss.
If you french kissed a woman who had consumed cocaine, could be accused of taking drugs? Apparently this is what happened to a French world class tennis player who got subsequently banned.
Richard Gasquet’s cocaine-kiss claims supported by forensic tests
They met in a Miami restaurant — he a handsome tennis player, she a pretty waitress — and spent the evening smooching at a nightclub.
Little did they know that the kisses they exchanged would spark a controversy that has gripped France all summer amid lawsuits and wrangles before international doping tribunals
What Do You Know
Are you up to speed with what’s going on in the news? There’s a panoply of information source but how much do you really know? Test yourself and tell us how you did. Don’t cheat because I’m watching you.
The Smart Quiz
In the digital age, the flood of information can often be so overwhelming that even hardcore news junkies may be surprised by what they missed. If you master this extra-hard current events quiz, then you officially know your news.
One More Thing
Best newspaper correction ever.
For the record (via tvnewser)
TV listings: The Prime-Time TV grid in Thursday’s Calendar section mistakenly listed MTV’s “Jackass” show on the MSNBC cable schedule at 7 and 10 p.m. where instead MSNBC’s “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” should have been listed.
Have a terrific weekend!!!
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For your relaxation, Rico has whipped up a batch of his killer Appletinis, but of course the bar is open and your liquid refreshment wishes are granted for the price of a generous tip. Tonight’s live entertainment is Michael Buble’ accompanied by David Foster on the piano. Enjoy!
The Confluence 