I apologize for this abridged news post.
Some of you know that I’ve been dealing with family health issues and while they aren’t totally resolved (everyone is well on the road to recovery) I CAN’T put off getting back to doing my share…. And I miss you all to much to put off participating until things get back to normal. DO things get back to normal? Who knows.
Senator Ted Kennedy
Robert Scheer: Remembering the Real Deal
I would put Kennedy alongside my other hero, George McGovern, as the most trusted standard-bearer of the Democratic Party’s too-often-sabotaged liberalism. I just could never imagine either of them ever selling us out. Indeed, I haven’t felt quite so sad about the passing of a political leader since the day when people started bawling all over the Bronx with the news that FDR had died. In a political world dominated by bipartisan cynicism, there are few touchstones of integrity for the common folk, and Kennedy was one of them.
Byrd wants health bill renamed for Kennedy
“In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American,” Byrd said.
Politico forwards spin that GOP would support health reform if Kennedy had been active in Senate
In an obituary for Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Politico repeated the Republican claim that Kennedy’s absence from the health care debate prevented lawmakers from reaching a bipartisan compromise, reporting that “Republicans complained that without Kennedy, Democrats were less willing to make the concessions needed for true compromise.” Several progressive commentators have identified this talking point as GOP spin intended to disguise Republicans’ obstructionism, with Salon.com’s Joan Walsh, for example, stating that “absolutely no evidence supports that point of view,” and washingtonpost.com blogger Ezra Klein noting that Kennedy’s committee has already reported out a bill.
Health Care
Poll: 86 percent say insurance, public or private, should be available to all
Among the 1,000 Democrats, Republicans and independents surveyed on Aug. 12 and 13, 79 percent say they believe a federal government health insurance option should be available for people to buy.
Yet about one-fourth of those polled believe the “public option” is a national health care system, similar to the one in Great Britain.
“These two words have become radioactive, they have been swift-boated,” said William Mann, senior vice president of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. “There is a real misunderstanding.”
Franken Faces Friendly Fire From Liberals Who Want Public Option
Franken declined to discuss whether he would consider voting for a health care bill that did not include a public option.
“I’m not going to negotiate against myself,” he said.
Kucinich Calls on Insurers to Testify Before Panel
Kucinich, a vocal House liberal, asked the insurance executives to prepare testimony to “discuss the methods and protocols by which your health insurance company determines coverage for prescribed medical treatments, the administrative cost associated with this activity, and your company’s awareness of the response by doctors to these activities.”
“I further request that the testimony put into context anecdotes of claims denials, deferrals, and policy rescissions by insurers,” Kucinich wrote. “Your testimony should also discuss the adequacy and availability of data on, and government oversight of, the extent and impact of these actions.”
National News
Cheney’s Jihad–Why “enhanced interrogation techniques” don’t enhance U.S. interests, by Peter Bergen
Of the terrorists, alleged and otherwise, cited by the CIA inspector general as being fingered by KSM during his coercive interrogations, only Ohio truck driver Iyman Faris was an actual al Qaeda foot soldier living in the United States who had serious intention to wreak havoc. However, he was not much of a competent terrorist: In 2002 he researched the feasibility of bringing down the Brooklyn Bridge by using a blowtorch, an enterprise akin to demolishing the Empire State Building with a firecracker.
If that was the most threatening plot the United States could discover by waterboarding the most senior al Qaeda member in U.S. custody, it was thin stuff indeed.. .. ..
Who is Obama playing ball with? by Amy Goodman
It looked like it was business as usual for President Barack Obama on the first day of his Martha’s Vineyard vacation, as he spent five hours golfing with Robert Wolf, president of UBS Investment Bank and chairman and CEO of UBS Group Americas. Wolf, an early financial backer of Obama’s presidential campaign, raised $250,000 for him back in 2006, and in February was appointed by the president to the White House’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Economic recovery for whom?
Interestingly, Wolf’s appointment came in the same month that UBS agreed to pay the U.S. $780 million to settle civil and criminal charges related to helping people in the U.S. avoid taxes. Not to worry. UBS, an ailing bank with a pre-existing condition, had great insurance coverage. It was actually receiving $2.5 billion in a backdoor bailout from bailed-out insurance giant AIG. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said, “It looks like we’re simply laundering this money through AIG.” UBS, this bank that shelters wealthy tax dodgers, was actually being bailed out by hardworking U.S. taxpayers.
The Secret Government, by Christopher Hayes
An effective investigation into the breadth of the CIA’s interrogation programs must be bipartisan, similar to the work of the Church Committee in the 1970’s
Adjustable Mortgages Loom as Threat to Housing Recovery
On his annual salary of $100,000 as a television camera operator, he could afford the $2,200 initial mortgage payments. And he planned to sell the home before the mortgage reset.
Now Mr. Clavon is part of what many economists say is a looming threat to a housing recovery: more than a half-million option ARMs scheduled to reset in the next four years, at rates many homeowners cannot afford. His mortgage payments have risen to $2,700 a month because of a clause he did not notice on his contract, and are scheduled to rise above $4,000 in two years.
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The curmudgeon with whom I share office space looked at me quizzically and asked, “Would you call someone who gave you a coffee a coffer?” I pondered for a moment and replied, “No, Ian. I would call the person who gave the coffee a coffeeor and me a coffeeee.“
The Confluence 