http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:51:06 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:51:06 [div class="excerpt"]The House Public Plan: Yes, It's Worth It
Jacob S. Hacker and Diane ArcherNovember 5, 2009

How short memories are in Washington. A few weeks ago, when it looked possible that Nancy Pelosi could marshal enough Democratic support to create a “robust” public insurance option wi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/293 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:42:13 [div class="excerpt"]and be a vehicle to insure the tens of millions who have no insurance.

Ezra Klein has written that Obama would need to get major concessions in order to drop the public option--including more money for subsidies and a much [i]stronger[/i] health insurance exchange--but that t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/292 Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:36:04 WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and is headquartered in Evan Bayh's home state, Indiana. His wife is on their board. WLP closed yesterday on the NYSE at $54.96 per share.

http://www.healthquote360.com/Health_Insurance_Companies/Top_25_Health... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/291 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:54:40 Food for thought. From Klein's post 'Be Excited!' responding to Michael Tomasky's piece on what Klein has come to call "the dull reality of change.'

[div class="excerpt"]I'd go a step further than Tomasky: The upside of health-care reform is not that it's a defeat for the reactionaries. Rather... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/290 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:09:06 (Good for the House! They are picking up co-sponsors every day. And, good for Russell Feingold, who signed on as a co-sponsor of Dick Durbin's bill on 7/9/09. Where are the rest of the progressive Senators?)

[div class="excerpt"]S.752

Title: A bill to reform the financing of Senate electi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/289 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:51:40 [div class="excerpt"]What Happened to the Moral Case for Health-Care Reform?

I spent Sunday reading T.R. Reid's "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care". It's very, very good. I'll probably base a couple of posts on it. For now, however, I want to point... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/288 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:05:35 (Interesting about the New Dems being of more concern than the Blue Dogs.)
[div class="excerpt"]Hope for Health Reform: Push Single Payer Now
by John Nichols

The corporate special interests and their willing accomplices within the ranks of the Democratic party are capitalizing on the confusion... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/287 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:57:46 Closing Paragraphs. Emphasis mine.
[div class="excerpt"]Published on Saturday, July 25, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

[i]Obama's Health Care Struggle -- Waterloo or Water Down?[/i]

by Bill Moyers & Michael Winship

According to the Associated Press, the drug industry's trade group PhRMA (the P... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/286 Sat, 25 Jul 2009 20:07:51 [div class="excerpt"]OBAMA: 'DON'T BET AGAINST' HEALTH REFORM

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090713/capt.7bd3e7fbfbdf42098e342d855774f2fe.obama_surgeon_general_whcd102.jpg
President Barack Obama reacts to a question about health care shouted out by a reporter as he leaves the Rose Garden after annou... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/284 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:59:32 [div class="excerpt"]THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009

"What Can I Do?"

Someone recently approached me at the cheese counter of a local supermarket, asking[i] "what can I do?"[/i] At first I thought the person was seeking advice about a choice of cheese. But I soon realized the question was larger than ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/283 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:41:00 [div class="excerpt"][i][b]The Healthcare War is Now Official[/i][/b]

Yesterday the American Medical Association came out against a public option for health care. And yesterday the President reaffirmed his support for it. [i][b]The next weeks will show what Obama is made of[/i][/b] -- whether he'... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/282 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:36:00 [div class="excerpt"]FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009

How Pharma and Insurance Intend to Kill the Public Option, And What Obama and the Rest of Us Must Do

I'ved poked around Washington today, talking with friends on the Hill who confirm the worst: Big Pharma and Big Insurance are gaining ground in their ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/278 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:04:30 http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090604/capt.af485aa0e059459b83caa433daa38317.aptopix_iran_xhs103.jpg
In this photo released by Islamic Republic of Iranian Broadcasting, the main pro-reform candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, attends a TV debate between him and Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/277 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:20:41 [div class="excerpt"]Dear ,

Can someone else vote away your rights?

Last November, California voters passed Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality in the state. Immediately, the proposition was challenged and the CA Supreme Court agreed to hear the... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/276 Sat, 30 May 2009 18:31:49 [div class="excerpt"]This is why Senators voted 33-60 against Bernie Sanders' credit card usury amendment--which would have capped interest rates at 15%. It is [i]not[/i] because 'people are just not very good to one another' as you lamented on a recent show.

http://politics.nytimes.com/congress... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/275 Wed, 27 May 2009 13:01:35 [div class="excerpt"]ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS

THESE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DOCUMENTS FROM THE RUMSFELED PENTAGON MIXED RELIGION AND WAR

In the days surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq, cover sheets--like the ones in this exclusive GQ.com slideshow--began adorning top-secret intelligence briefin... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/274 Sun, 17 May 2009 08:00:53 [i]Who does Congress work for? Apparently, not us.[/i]

[div class="excerpt"]Question: On the Motion (Motion to Waive CBA Sanders Amdt. No. 1062 )

Vote Number: 191 Vote Date: May 13, 2009, 04:24 PM

Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Motion Rejected

Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 10... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/273 Sat, 16 May 2009 10:32:32 [div class="excerpt"]A Liberal Democrat Returns to the Fold

posted by JOHN NICHOLS on 04/28/2009 @ 11:41am

Arlen Specter started his political life as a liberal Democrat.

And now the senior senator from Pennsylvania is returning to the fold.

Specter, who has served five terms in the Sena... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/272 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:20:34 [div class="excerpt"]Think your taxes are bad?

Every year, you grimace as you sign your return. Imagine what it's like in Belgium or Hungary, where taxes can take half your pay. Plus: the wackiest taxes on record.

By Debora Vrana

Believe it or not, Americans enjoy some of the lowest income ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/271 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:06:39 [div class="excerpt"]THE TYRANNY OF THE INCOME TAX

[i]Picture an upside-down pyramid with its narrow tip at the bottom and its base on top. The only way the pyramid can stand is by spinning fast enough or by having a wide enough tip so it won't fall down. The federal version of this spinning top ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/270 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:49:32 [div class="excerpt"]Bailed-Our Banks Face Prove Over Fee Hikes

David Enrich and Marshall Eckblad
April 13, 2009

Article from: The Wall Street Journal

THE US committee overseeing federal banking-bailout programmes is investigating the lending practices of institutions that received public... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/269 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:14:27 [div class="excerpt"]Send them a message! Sign the 'Fair Elections Now Act' Petition.

[i]I support the Fair Elections Now Act (S.752, H.R.1826), the bipartisan bill introduced in both chambers of Congress, that would allow congressional candidates to run for office using small donations and limi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/268 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:01:24 [div class="excerpt"][i][b]Fair Elections Now (Or a Donor Strike?)[/i][/b]

posted by KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL on 04/09/2009

At this perilous moment, as we face key battles on the economic crisis, climate change, healthcare, and a slew of other issues, it's important to recognize that these fight... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/267 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:43:47 [div class="excerpt"]A. Congress, thats who--in Phil Gramm's Commodity Futures Modernization Act, passed into law in 2000 and signed by President Clinton. Bush's SEC lit the match in 2004 by lifting the leverage requirements previously required of banks. Of course, the rush to 'deregulate' began ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/266 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:13:24 [div class="excerpt"][i][b]The Nationalization Option[/i][/b]

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, March 18, 2009; A13

[i][b]You might think that having anted up $173 billion of our own money, we taxpayers would have some leverage at AIG, now that we own 80 percent of the shares.[/i][/b] You might ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/flpoljunkie/265 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:24:17