This also happened

Lost in all the hysteria about Barack Obama traveling back in time to help Benedict Arnold surrender West Point to the limeys and alternately murder all four of Thomas Jefferson's grandparents while they were children (that's why Texas had to erase him from history), was the fact that something else happened. Student Loans were reformed. And, in a break from tradition, was done so in a non-corrupt manner that didn't result in tons of shady giveaways to corporate interests, and could actually be classified as *whispers* liberal. Shh, don't tell anyone.

Now on any other week this would be hailed as some sort of massive progressive achievement. But this week also included the systematic dismantling of Abe Lincoln's log cabin or something, so it got lost in the shuffle. What happened?

Ending one of the fiercest lobbying fights in Washington, Congress voted Thursday to force commercial banks out of the federal student loan market, cutting off billions of dollars in profits in a sweeping restructuring of financial-aid programs and redirecting most of the money to new education initiatives.
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The Congressional Budget Office said the direct-lending approach would save taxpayers about $61 billion over 10 years. Roughly $40 billion of the savings will be redirected to higher education. Education programs will get an additional $10 billion from the health care package.

The bill includes some landmark changes, like automatic increases, tied to inflation, in the maximum Pell grant award.
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The legislation will make it easier to pay back student loans, by reducing the share of income that a graduate must devote to loan payments and by accelerating loan forgiveness

Wait, they ended the bank racket that allowed them to make risk free government backed loans, expanded access to college for lower income students, made serious investments in higher education, and making it easier to pay off those loans? I'm not sure I feel comfortable with this unless I'm assured there's some sort of crooked deal with banks and financial giants that we haven't heard about. This just isn't how the American government is supposed to do business! This is an outrage! Now Sean is going to have to stop stripping to pay off his loans!

Listen, I'd like to be able to explain to you just what all of this means. But unless I have Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, or the Congressional GOP telling me specifically how this is going to rough up my mother in a dark alley, cause tiny Joesph Stalins to burst out of my ribcage, pour sugar in my father's gas tank, and date rape Betsy Ross I'm not sure how to grasp what I'm sure was an unprecedented assault on freedom.

Let's just assume they dug up the corpse of liberty that they had previously killed and buried during health reform and had sex with it while MSNBC filmed it. Deal? Deal. Now let's go cut the breaks on the car of some Congressmen who voted for it.

America is a fickle bitch

Before health reform was passed: 45% Favor, 48% Oppose Obama Healthcare Plan

The second health care reform is passed: Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to Congress' passage of a healthcare reform bill last weekend, with 49% calling it "a good thing."

CBS showed that health care got a 5 point bump overnight, and the numbers for Barry, the Democrats, and the Generic Republican vs. Democrat ballot have all seen rises for the liberal socialists. Amazing how America seems to like people who win and do what they say more than they like weakness. We're front running bitches like that.

That health care bill

You know that health care bill? Yeah, you know, the one that is seemingly never going to get passed. The one that is simultaneously a strong people first approach to dealing with health care problems, a total corporate sellout to insurance and pharmaceutical interests, a progressive back-stab of epic proportions, an average timidly incremental bill that does little to seriously move this country's health care system forward, and also an unending dark veil of socialist misery that will enslave our children as it grinds up our elderly into a paste we will be forced to spread onto our sandwiches of government bread and cheese?

Yeah, well according to Kaiser Health News it's also almost completely indistinguishable from Senator John Chafee's (R-RI) GOP counter-proposal to Bill Clinton's failed 1993 health reform effort. One that, at the time, was considered an unacceptable right wing proposal and deal breaker by 1993 Democrats and is now considered the best plan ever by current Democrats; was considered the serious principled conservative solution to health care problems by 193 Republicans and is now considered a grandma liquidating Bolshevik plot by today's GOP.

Funny how that worked out. That is if you happen to find not getting decent health care reform passed in 1993 and 2010 funny.

The full Kaiser chart is after the jump.

Major Provisions	Senate Bill 2009	Sen. Chafee (R) Bill 1993	Rep. Boehner (R) Bill 2009
Require Individuals To Purchase Health Insurance (Includes Religious and/or Hardship Exemption)	Yes	Yes	No (individuals without coverage would be taxed)
Requires Employers To Offer Health Insurance To Employees	Yes (above 50 employees, must help pay for insurance costs to workers receiving tax credits for insurance)	Yes (but no requirement to contribute to premium cost)	No
Standard Benefits Package	Yes	Yes	No
Bans Denying Medical Coverage For Pre-existing Conditions	Yes	Yes	No (establishes high risk pools)
Establish State-based Exchanges/Purchasing Groups	Yes	Yes	No
Offers Subsidies For Low-Income People To Buy Insurance	Yes	Yes	No
Long Term Care Insurance	Yes (sets up a voluntary insurance plan)	Yes (sets standards for insurance)	No
Makes Efforts To Create More Efficient Health Care System	Yes	Yes	Yes
Medicaid Expansion	Yes	No	No
Reduces Growth In Medicare Spending	Yes	Yes	No
Medical Malpractice Reform	No	Yes	Yes
Controls High Cost Health Plans	Yes (taxes on plans over $8,500 for single coverage to $23,000 for family plan)	Yes (caps tax exemption for employer-sponsored plans)	No
Prohibits Insurance Company From Cancelling Coverage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Prohibits Insurers From Setting Lifetime Spending Caps	Yes	No	Yes
Equalize Tax Treatment For Insurance Of Self-Employed	No	Yes	No
Extends Coverage To Dependents	Yes (up to age 26)	No	Yes (up to age 25)
Cost	$871 billion over 10 years	No CBO estimate	$8 billion over 10 years
Impact On Deficit	Reduces by $132 billion over 10 years	No CBO estimate	Reduces by $68 billion over 10 years
Percentage Of Americans Covered	94% by 2019	92-94% by 2005	82% by 2019

It's over, now we can go back to not having health care

Well the seven hour bipartisan health care summit is over. What did it accomplish? Well, it did make millions of Americans say to themselves "Isn't there a bronze medal women's hockey game that I could be watching instead of this?" Yes, America, yes there was. Finland 3 Sweden 2.

But other than that, nothing happened. It was essentially seven hours of people demanding the right to give a prepared speech. Those speeches had two themes. The Republican's speeches usually include an egregious lie about health care, a "sky is falling" cry that Democrats must not subject the country to the tyranny of majority rule in the Senate, and a paean to start over. The Democrat's speeches usually involved some veiled shot at GOP obstructionism, some forced praise of this bill as a shining blinding light of goodness, and the promise that if Republicans fucked with them 30 or 40 more times, that they'd totally go and pass this bill by themselves.

Almost every one of our elected betters also regaled the country with some horror story of the grievous personal injury or illness of Mr. or Mrs. Regular American with he point being that we should either do something to help them or in the GOP's case, theoretically do something, but not what Democrats propose. All in all it was a massive waste of time and a test of this county's ability to withstand nonstop political bullshit.

But at the end of all this nonsense the Democrats had one abiding message: they're totally finally going to do something, probably.

President Obama challenged Republicans to do some "soul searching" on whether they will support the Democratic health care plan, using the final moments of his health care summit to ask them to put up or shut up. If they don't want to cooperate, the two parties can battle it out at the polls this November, the president said.

Obama's statement and Democratic reactions after the summit were the clearest signal yet that the majority party is charging ahead and abandoning attempts at bipartisanship.
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"We are going to move forward, the ball is in everybody's court," Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters after the summit.
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"Time is of the essence ... it's time we did something and we're going to do it," Reid said.

Really? You don't want to give the Republicans a thousandth chance to come on board in the name of bipartisanship? You're finally convinced that you'll have to do this alone? You're going to considering doing the minor clean-up work it would take to finalize the massive bills you already passed? It's about fucking time.

Summitry

The all important health reform summit is ongoing RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE. This is the meeting to end all meetings, the meeting to solve all health care problems, and what America hopes will be a somewhat interesting diversion until Olympic coverage starts up again for the day.

I am actually making a large assumption that this health care summit is actually going to get out of preliminary opening speeches. After all, I have no idea if the White House was able to obey all the GOP's demands for this summit. You know, all important stuff like the use of a podium, table shape, seating and camera arrangements, and namecard design. Sure sure, we all want to come together to find a plan to fix this giant health care mess, but I'll be damned if anyone from the Republican Party is going to do it at a round table! So if the GOP is happy with the seating arrangements and Obama agrees to their other all-important demands, like the wearing of green socks and a non-threatening cornflower blue tie, blue binders to hold talking points, Harry Reid has to alternately lift his right and left feet with every word he says, and Jay Rockefeller has to be escorted to and from the proceedings in a wheelbarrow pushed by Dick Durbin, then we can finally get down to the business of fixing health care. Until the lunch break. By God the Democrats better hope they don't fuck up the lunch order or the GOP will walk away just like that.

Over the course of the six hour summit.... six hours? What the fuck? This seems less a serious effort to reform our health system than and attempt to test America's endurance for cheap political theatre. Man John Boehner is really going to have to come up with a whole hell of a lot of ways to say "While we agree with the need to reform the system, we disagree with everyone of your proposals and commit to supporting none of them", while Obama is really going to have to rephrase the sentence "Wonderful proposal you have there... was it written completely by a insurance executive? I'll have my people look over it and pretend we didn't reject it over the past few years we were working on this because that idea didn't help anyone, cut costs, or improve our health system." Ought to be an entertaining six hours.

So what is the point of this whole summit? Who knows. Republicans have already committed to opposing everything Democrats want, so I'm not sure a six hour talk is going to make them start understanding logic or caring about the health problems of people in this country. Plus, they already made the demand that unless Democrats scrap the entire plan and start over, they won't be helping in the slightest. Democrats will in no way listen to Republican ideas to scale back the entire focus of the bill and ignore things like full coverage, rate jacks, and pre-existing conditions.

So instead we'll get six hours of our elected betters coming up with circular ways of saying "Fuck you" and "No, fuck you." Which is entertaining, I guess. But that pretty much describes the entire pathetic state of our government: they can only come together to give money away to large corporations or engage in large scale theatrical bullshit that will have no effect on policy or legislation. And we wonder why our country is in dire straights. Ah well, hopefully someone says something embarrassing, passes out, or cold cocks Eric Cantor. At least then this diversion will have been useful.

One more health care jerk around

The President today finally announced his health care plan. Why? Who the fuck knows. Sadly the plan wasn't "the House passes the Senate bill, the Senate passes the conference committee fixes through reconciliation." No, this is what the White House is calling the "opening bid for the health meeting". You know the one: where Democrats play school marm scold telling Republicans that they really, really need to help out on a health care bill for the good of the country and the Republicans tell the Democrats to cram it with walnuts, ugly. Except on TV this time, while they're all in the same room. You know, productive shit.

What is his "bill"? Well, it's not so much a bill as it is 11 pages of fixes to the Senate and House bills largely built on the framework of the Senate bill. The only new thing, I think, is a proposal federal oversight on the amount of money insurance companies can jack people for in rate hikes. It's all part of the plan.

"This package is designed to help us [use reconciliation] if the Republican party decides to filibuster health care reform," said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. "That was certainly a factor that went in to how we put this proposal together."

Pfeiffer said the White House views this as "the opening bid," for the bipartisan health care summit scheduled for this Thursday. The hope--a long shot--is that one or more Republicans can agree to support this proposal, allowing Dems to pass it via more standard legislative channels. But if that fails, reconciliation can be used as a backstop.

"The president expects, and thinks the American people deserve, an up or down vote on health care reform," Pfeiffer said.

I don't want to claim to be able to read minds or see the future (not over the internet without you being able to see my professional tarot setup and crystal ball), but I don't think the Republicans are going to sign on. I think they're going to filibuster. You know, like they do on everything. I think you're going to have to get the House to pass the Senate bill, and have the Senate pass these fixes, some other fixes, that "no seriously, we'll do a public option through reconciliation" thing that I know is just going to be a big, fuck-off joke, or kidnap the family members of the GOP leadership and force them to conduct themselves as responsible leaders.

You might know this as stuff that people have been screaming at you to do since you all decided you had a 41-59 minority. So why do we have to go through this pathetic theater to come to an obvious conclusion everyone saw coming over a year ago? Why couldn't this have happened a month ago? Ah yes, there was that jobs bill to get to that still hasn't been passed and your frantic search for spines. Oh well.

So, the Democrats have a plan of action. The country just has to wait until the meaningless summit where nothing will be accomplished happens. But they have a plan and Harry Reid is promising reconciliation action within 60 days. It's time to get your minuscule hopes for timidly moderate reforms up. I'll see you again when 10 Democrats decide that they aren't able to support the drastic, unprecedented action of using reconciliation and vote to kill the bill. You all know that's where this is going, right?

Health care: run away!

It should be of little surprise, really. It was expected. I don't know why I thought that this time might be different. Health care reform is effectively dead for a while, which might just mean it is effectively dead. Why? Because Democrats have decided to assume their familiar position, one of grabbed ankles, pants around ankles, and a look that says "don't harm the plumbing too much back there." The Senate feels the health care issue, namely putting through reconciliation measures they were already going to vote for, to be too extreme a measure. Why? Because they can apparently see a future where not passing health care reform was a great idea.

So instead, because they can't do more than one thing at a time and literally every Senator is going to be working on this new priority, they've decided to pivot from health care to anything that anyone will throw at them in order to plausibly provide them with an excuse to get them away from health care. That thing is jobs, which they've decided is kind of important now after a year of not doing anything about it.

The White House on Thursday signaled the outlines of its strategy for breaking the partisan logjam holding up President Obama’s agenda, saying Democrats would move quickly to underline their commitment to fixing the broken economy and to build an election-year case against Republicans if they do not cooperate.

With Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul stalled on Capitol Hill, Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said in an interview that Democrats would try to act first on job creation, reducing the deficit and imposing tighter regulation on banks before returning to the health measure, the president’s top priority from last year.

Yes yes, sure sure, good good. I'm sure the Republicans will hop on board to help you with an important priority. If there's one thing we've learned about the GOP it's that they certainly aren't interested in yanking the country down on itself if there's a slight chance it'll benefit them politically. Gee I wonder how the first attempt at this this year, where you tried to pass a measure the GOP supported, namely pay-as-you-go rules for the budget? What, they opposed in en masse? Including several GOP Senators who explicitly expressed support for the measure? Shocking.

I wonder what there contribution to the jobs debate will be. How does the New York Times phrase it? "[I]nstant Republican resistance to the jobs plan", a jobs plan which hasn't even been articulated. I'm sure this will go well.

So good job, Democrats. I'm sure that running shrieking from health care to the issue of jobs, because two things at once is hard, is going to work out for you. Hell, I foresee a future where both health care reform and an actual, working jobs bill are passed with enough time to be enacted before the election. The election being your only real concern at this point. This, like all your plans and legislative strategies, will totally work. Why shouldn't people trust you? You're the Democrats! Things things always go well for you and, by extension, the American people.

Quote of the day

House Speaker.... for about 10 more months, Nancy Pelosi

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just told reporters that she does not believe she has enough votes in the House to pass the Senate health care reform bill as-is—at least not yet.

“I don’t see the votes for it at this time,” Pelosi said. “The members have been very clear in our caucus about the fact that they didn’t like it before it had the Nebraska provision and some of the other provisions that are unpalatable to them.”

“In every meeting that we have had, there would be nothing to give me any thought that that bill could pass right now the way that it is,” she said. “There isn’t a market right now for proceeding with the full bill unless some big changes are made.”

Well that sure was a nice health care reform effort that was made, but it's time to give up. I mean there is that new 41-59 Republican majority to think about.

I just want to say thanks to Democrats for wasting the last year, failing to understand what the fuck they're reaping, damning themselves to severe losses in November, placing political gamesmanship over making advances in the US health care system, not learning a goddamn thing from any of the previous failed health care efforts, and for convincing Americans in one year that they don't want you anywhere near the reins of power. That last one was impressive, it took Republicans eight years of failed wars, terrorist attacks, corruption, civil liberties violations, torture, spying on citizens, Constitutional violations, and economic failure to decide that they were unfit to run things.

Way to fuck up as always Democrats. For extra comic effect, do you think you all could attempt to organize a one car funeral? I'd just like to see what happens.

We missed you, Glenn

Glenn Beck is back from his medical hiatus. He was either getting his appendix removed or he had the logic and decency centers of his brain completely removed, I forget which. But he's back and he's making up for all those lost weeks he wasn't on the air spewing crazy. Yeah, it's about health care, but with a rape twist.

"America has spoken clearly, consistently; 'We don't want this.' For the first time in history we don't think it's the government's place to give it to us."
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"We are -and excuse this analogy, but I feel like it's true- We're the young girl saying, 'No no! Help me!' and the government is Roman Polanski. In the end I think we're all going to be cowering in France."

Well done, sir. I'll ignore the basic lie about Americans not wanting health care, I know every poll disputes it, but it's the kind of bog standard Glenn Beck lie we're all used to. But to compare the quest to make health care more affordable and more accessible to drugging and raping a child? Despite your own dalliances in that field in, say, 1990? That's some quality crazy. I'm certain we've entered the Golden Age of Glenn Beck.

Though I do want to dispute the analogy. Sure, I'll agree that health care reform is almost indistinguishable from rape or the rape of a child. But comparing Democrats to Roman Polanski? Polanski was respected, criticially acclaimed, and viewed as competent; adjectives that cannot be applied to the 2009 Democratic party. And cowering in France? Sure, that's what Polanski did, but no matter how hard the Democrats rape America, it's not something we'll be doing. No, France actually has universal, government run health care. Most people would probably prefer to cower in France, at least if they were sick.

Irregardless, welcome back Glenny my boy. Look forward to hearing how climate change legislation is like Andrea Yates killing her five kids or the Zodiac murders.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 11.04

Italian court finds CIA agents guilty of kidnapping terrorism suspect
Well that makes one country that's actually serious about prosecuting torture, rendition, and kidnapping in the name of America's war on terror. Surprisingly it's Italy, who can't even convict its openly corrupt prime minister. That's a bit of a shocker. But Italy has tried and convicted 23 Americans in absentia for the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" that resulted in an Italian citizen being kidnapped and tortured. Sadly none of the convicted are named Bush, or Gonzales, or Cheney. Italian courts are also considering putting out international arrest warrants to capture the men. Someone want to roll up a copy of this news and hit the President and the Attorney General over the head with it?

Democrats’ healthcare bill would pay for ‘prayer’ treatment
Ahh Democrats, you could fuck up a one car funeral. Sure, you can't get a good health care bill passed and something simple like a woman have rights over her own body is going to prove to be a challenge, but you can make sure that the bill lets charlatans get money from the government by making "prayer treatments" actual medical expenses. Didn't you get the memo: prayer is basically most people's health care system of choice right now, and it's not because they want it that way. Do you think, maybe, we could just take that money and spend it on, I don't know, something that will actually improve the health of people or drive down medical costs? Or, we could just flush the money down the toilet in deference to the alligator god, who will in turn reward us with a healthy harvest. Doesn't that sound good?

Russia Leads Nuclear Space Race After U.S. Drops Out
Russia is seeking to take the lead in awesome when it has a $600 million nuclear spaceship flying into obit by 2012. Meanwhile the US is still dicking around with rocket fuel. This should allow the Russians to make their rockets twice as efficient and allow them to do longer and more elaborate deep space exploration and missions. We, on the other hand, will fart around in low orbit while Richard Branson and his Virgin: Galactic space tourists get within "flipping the bird" distance at us. The article also has an interesting history of nukes and space, if you wish to sigh at the path not traveled.

Flu fears help Clorox sales
Well at least this pandemic is making someone money, you know, other than the vaccine companies and the conspiratorial conglomerate of Nancy Pelosi/Barack Obama/the Bilderburg Group/the Secret Society of Jewish Bankers/the Yankees/Freemasons who created the disease for their own socialist political ends. Yes, bleach sales are driving a stock spike for Clorox as worried and paranoid parents buy it by the pallet to marinate their pork in it, make their kids drink it, and obsessively and compulsively wash their countertops with it in order to protect themselves from Porcine AIDS. It won't work, they'll all be dead while the last remnants of us fight it out in Boulder and Vegas, but it's nice that Clorox, as well as the makers of Glaad bags and Brita filters have profited in this time of irrational flu panic.

A Material Based on Sharkskin Stops Bacterial Breakouts
How badass are sharks? Even their skin pattern kicks the living fuck out of weak ass bacteria. That's right, using a sharkskin pattern on a protective film cuts the rate of disease and bacteria spreading because those rotten little microbes can't attach themselves to the sharkskin pattern. How slick is sharkskin? Scientifically speaking: slicker than greased goose shit. A man with a PhD said that, honest.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 10.29

The High Drama Behind Reid's Public Option Decision
TPM gives the lowdown on how the White House and Harry Reid in the decision to put a public option in the Senate bill. Long story short: the WH told Reid they'd back him and it was his decision, Reid said he was "motherfuckin' goi' with the motherfuckin' public option", the WH asked if he was sure he had the votes, Reid said he did, the WH asked if he was sure he was sure he had the votes. Reid repeated yes, then strutted out of the Oval Office jauntily whereupon he was kneed in the groin by Joe Lieberman. President Obama is reported to have then preceded to give the definitive "fail facepalm" as a little piece of him died inside.

Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby
How might you ask does signing a $680 billion dollar defense spending bill that increases spending from the previous yea constitute a win? Uhhh....because military/defense lobbyists and M-16 humpers in Congress only got most of what they wanted instead of all of what they wanted. I'll throw the parade. Remember that we'll easily fork over $680 billion a year plus God knows what else for our two ongoing wars and give little thought to it. But try to spend $900 billion over a decade plus in an attempt to give people health care? Whoa buddy, you're out of your fucking mind.

Climate Change Caused Radical North Sea Shift
It seems that because of the effects of climate change on the North Sea, the ecological makeup of the area has changed, radically altering the food chain and sea based businesses. Which is fine if you think the jellyfish market is going to replace the cod market, but bad otherwise for tose who believe massive rapid ecological changes are a bad thing. Someone want to wrap this study around a brick and throw it through Jim Inhofe's front window? Does anyone know the number of a good discount masonry supplier?

Inside Astronaut Boot Camp
Popular Science takes a look at the preparations and people who are looking to be the first people in 40 years to go out further than the space station, out towards our enemy the moon. Because that's America's new space ambition: to re-do stuff that NASA already did decades ago. Marvel as the astronauts learn to drive moon buggies and laugh as a drunk Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stumble onto the test course to heap withering abuse on what they've dubbed "Team Bitch". The only thing standing in these new astronaut's way, besides an inebriated Buzz Aldrin waving a golf club and muttering about "punks copying his shit"? That whole funding thing. Whoops, don't have that yet.

Health Care Budgeting 101: Congress’ Fiscal Scolds Earn an “F-”
FDL looks at how Blue Dog Democrats, all in the name of "fiscal accountability", have decided (and succeeded in getting) that the cost of the original House bill was too high, so in order to cut it down.....they weakened and gutted provisions that would have cut the deficit, saved money, and reduced health care costs. As always, they want to save money in the short term at the expense of costing us gobs more in the future. So just remember, anytime you hear some Blue Dog idiot droning on about "fiscal responsibility" or the deficit or some such shit, what they're really saying is that they're an idiot who doesn't understand basic economics and that they need to have their head held under water until the twitching stops.

The new disappointment

With the health care debate largely over and only the scope and size of the public option left to get to get blindingly angry about, the choice of whether to allow people access to it was successfully fobbed off onto states (states rights, bitches! eat it Lincoln!), and the spectacle of largely conservative, right wing states enacting a hilarious process of screwing their own citizens on health care with the tacit tea bagging approval of those citizens, Congress now moves on to a new debate for us all to get immensely worked up over inevitably leading to anger and disillusionment in government as intelligent plans based on science and research are diluted and made terrible by the dumbest and most politically craven members of the Democratic Senate caucus: the environmental debate! The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee starts public hearings on climate change bills! Whooo!

With a clearer picture on health care, the Obama administration and Congress today are pivoting toward climate change legislation.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee began hearings this hour on Chairman Barbara Boxer's bill, with President Obama's Green Cabinet expected to testify.
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With just over a month before climate change negotiations begin in Copenhagen, environmental advocacy groups have been pressuring the White House and Congress to take action so world leaders have a framework to build upon.

Administration officials have stressed for weeks they are comfortable with negotiators using the House-passed bill as a starting point, but the activists closest to the issue say that's not enough.

Sorry activists, hope you like getting less than what's in the House bill you think is inadequate. Hell, I hope you like getting less than what's in the Kerry/Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733) that the hearings are going to be about. Because the lesson around here, and we try to impart it on a daily basis, is that the Senate is a stupid place and legislation only goes there to be made worse. The climate bill has been ordered to pass through the land of wind and ghosts and we can only hope that it emerges from the other side in a manner that doesn't worsen climate change, only fails to inadequately and effectively address it and fails to help set up the American economy to grow and expand into green technologies.

It matters not that people support cap-and-trade measures by a 60% to 37% measure and that the numbers are even higher for people under the age of 50. They felt the same way about a robust public option and we all saw the bruised, battered, and dismembered body that is still trying to drag itself out of the US Senate's shame basement. No, the future of America is clearly coal, so coal state Democrats (and God there are more of them than the ones who opposed a strong public option) will make sure that climate change legislation reflects the wishes of the coal industry that will fuel our economy into the 22nd century. Get ready, we've found the next Country Polarizing Thing To Hate that everyone on both sides can get angry about: climate change legislation! Get your teabags and haikus about Mother Earth ready.

Your morning cryptic quote about health care

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, giving a master class on how not to inspire confidence on health care

A reporter tried to pin Reid down by asking whether negotiations were moving towards, or against, the inclusion of the public plan.

“The negotiations are leaning about a public option,” Reid said.

Asked for clarification by puzzled reporters, Reid added: “We’re leaning towards talking about a public option.”

....Good? I guess that's a positive.....or a negative.....or....what? Leaning towards talking about a public option? A debate over over whether to have a debate?

Sen. Tom Harkin is saying there's 52 solid votes for a public option in the Senate. But because everything is filibustered now that means to add a public option into the bill on the floor, the public option has to have 60 votes for it or against it to get it in or out. Which it doesn't in either case. So in other words: the public option has to be in there before it gets to the floor or else it isn't ever going to get in. So...I guess it's good that they're at least working up the guts to have a talk about possibly considering a debate about the run up to having an opinion about possibly putting a public option in. Maybe.

I guess that's as positive a statement as you can get about Democratic leadership these days: they at least haven't ruled out the best option for actual reform and coverage that vast majorities of the American people, their own party, and their own elected members support. Let's lean towards talking about not hitting them with sticks.

Pollings

Next time a Senator tries to tell the public that there just isn't support for a public option, they can only pass a week kneed version, or that American's don't want one, I hope someone there has the good decency to spit in their eye. The only people who are opposed to the public option are in the Senate.

On the issue that has been a flash point in the national debate, 57 percent of all Americans now favor a public insurance option, while 40 percent are opposed. Support has risen since mid-August, when a bare majority, 52 percent, said they favored it. (In a June Post-ABC poll, support had been at 62 percent.)

If run by the states and available only to those who lack affordable private options, support for a public plan jumps to 76 percent. Under those circumstances, even a majority of Republicans, 56 percent, would be supportive, about double their level of support without such a limitation.

Furthermore 56% favor making it mandatory for all Americans to buy insurance with the number jumping to 71% if government provides subsidies for lower income folks. Of note is the fact that the poll also asked specifically if people would prefer a public option bill with no Republican support or a bipartisan bill with no public option. The public option beat bipartisanship 51% to 37%. Americans prefer a good bill to the Senate wanking itself off. I think I just heard Max Baucus die a little inside.

With news like this, Nancy Pelosi attempting to shame the Senate into a public option bill using CBO numbers as a bludgeon, 52 Democratic Senators thinking that maybe the five holdouts ought to get the fuck onboard, and rumors of competence from Harry Reid, is it too much to get my hopes up? Probably yes, as on the other hand Reid is Reid, Obama lost his balls somewhere during his acceptance speech, and Senate negotiations involve one actual human who is unequivocally for the public option and knows how to breathe through his nostrils. As is always the case with the Senate: lower your expectations. Lower them to the point where Max Baucus coming to burn down your house is a pleasant surprise. It's the only way to keep sane.

Sounds like he gets it

Rep. Anthony "I drink Betsy McCaughey's milkshake...I DRINK IT UP!" Weiner (D-NY) pointing out the obvious: that if the insurance company itself is making the claim that even the tepid incremental reform being offered is going to cause massive premium spikes (as opposed to the massive premium spikes that have happened over the past few decades for shits and giggles) then doesn't that pretty much make a public option the obvious solution? At not just "obvious to regular people obvious", so obvious that even Democratic leadership has to notice it.

Sure the insurance companies are talking absolute shit, but doesn't it provide "moderates" with the precious political cover they need to do anything for the benefit of the American people? Am I just getting my hopes up unnecessarily? I thought so. I'll go sit down.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 10.08

Approval of U.S. Congress Falls to 21%, Driven by Democrats
Approval of Congress has fallen from 39% to 21%. I know what you're saying: "There was a point in time where 39% of the people liked Congress?" Yes, it was the mythical era known as "March." The drop in popularity is fueled by one thing: Democrats. Both the spinelessness and ineffectiveness of the elected kind and the general disgust of the voting kind who put them there. I'm sure this will all be improved by a few more months dicking around on health care before making minor incremental changes.

Franken Wins Bipartisan Support For Legislation Reining In KBR’s Treatment Of Rape
Sen. Al Franken (psst, he used to be a comedian) has a vision for America. One that states that people who get raped, sexually assaulted, abused, or discriminated against while working for a government contractor overseas should be able to, I don't know, go to court over it. And he decided to write this law just because there were a few times where that didn't happen. Seems pretty cut and dried, right? No, apparently this was too controversial for 30 Senators who voted against prosecuting rape. And people wonder why I have no hope for any issue being voted on in the Senate. They can't even come to a consensus on rape being bad.

Pakistan's Military Rejects US Aid Bill
I don't understand. Why would Pakistan, struggling from internal strife and in desperate need of some money, consider turning down billions in American aid? Oh, because it's tied to clauses stating that we actually get to monitor whether or not they're fulfilling their end of our anti-terrorism "partnership." Makes sense. It's much easier to have success when you don't actually have to prove it in any way. I'm so glad we send them billions.

Left claims 218 in sight
It's time for me to irrationally get your hopes up. The House is approaching a majority for a health care bill that is really, really leftist and includes a "robust" public option. It's even more leftist than other leftist House bills. So everyone get excited about actual progressive change of the health care system. Just don't think about the part where it has to be reconciled with a Senate version and then pass the Senate. Still, robust public option! Hey! I can still see you thinking about the Senate. Don't. Delude yourself into thinking this will be the final bill.

Chamber To Apple: You Don’t Understand Our ’21st Century Approach To Climate Change’
In an effort to explain why Nike and Apple have recently taken public stands against the Chamber of Commerce's stance on climate change and have left the organization, the CoC has instead claimed the the two companies just don't want to be involved in a 21st Century approach to climate change. Which is to say, they don't want to deny that it exists. I don't know who to trust here: one of the most progressive corporations on earth that is committed to believing science...or the group that called for a Scopes monkey trial on climate change and thinks the best way to improve the environment is to not do anything and ignore the eggheads. Choices, choices.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 09.17

Democrats now comprise majority of ‘most corrupt in Congress’ list
Ahh, the perks of power. Not only does taking over government let you do things likes dick over citizens in your own specific way, but, as CREW shows, it opens up all kinds of new avenues for money grubbing. Of course the list is headlined by Rep John Murtha, a man who is essentially the entire Johnstown, PA economy. But our old friend Mitch McConnell is on there for awarding contracts to defense contractors convicted of bribing Saudi ambassadors. Sadly only 12 of the 15 are currently under investigation. Maybe next year, they can get all 15.

At Last! First Real Evidence for a Rocky Exoplanet
Well, if we ever finally finish destroying this planet, we can always have a hope of relocating to Corot-7b, the charmingly named first earth-like planet ever discovered outside our galaxy. Of course it's temperatures reach 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, but that ought to be considerably cooler than we're used to after we really get the hang of this 'pumping C02 into the atmosphere' thing.

The Self-Storage Self
NYT Magazine takes a look at the US self-storage system (motto: "It's not just for storing hobo corpses and hooker cadavers anymore!") and how the fact that there's enough storage space in this country to give each America seven square feet of their own has contributed to our debt and consumption culture. Also our drifter and prostitute murdering culture.

New Jersey Poll: Birthers, Truthers, And The Anti-Christ -- Oh, My!
Sweet, sweet New Jersey. I'm sorry. We forgot that you were chock full of insane people. I'm sorry, it won't happen again. My favorite statistic? That while 18% of NJ conservatives definitively know Obama is the anti-Christ, 17% are only leaning that way and could be swayed by competing evidence disproving Barry is the son of a Kenya-by-way-of-Indonesia Beelzebub.

Director’s Commentary: Brett Ratner’s Music Video Classics
I know, I know. Who wants to read about Brett Ratner talking about music videos he directed. Trust me, it's worth it if only for the story about the Wu-Tang Clan during the filming of the Triumph video. It's a story of a million dollars, clothes looting, white devils, KFC treasures, and the hallucinations and murder demanding voices inside the head of Ghostface Killa. There's also a nice story about Redman calling Ratner's mom a hoe and then forcing the director to cast her as a woman buying drugs in a video.

Health care pollings

There's a new NBC News Poll out on the health care debate. The conclusions? That if you lie to Americans loudly and for a long enough time, they will start to believe what you say no matter how wrong it is.

So to be clear: 45 percent think that Joe Biden is waiting in the bushes to murder grandma with a machete, 55 percent think them Mexicans is gonna steal our health care, 54 percent think the government is going to run the health care that those Mexicans steal, and 50 percent think that this plan will result in the resurrected Jesus getting aborted. In fact, none of these are true, although funding abortions, not rejecting anyone who comes in for care, and a single payer or government run system would largely be good ideas. Other bad news? Obama is creeping towards 50 percent disapproval on his health care performance, but Republicans are already over 60% disapproval, even though the public largely believes 3 out of their 4 biggest lies. Well done, Republicans. You deployed your arguments like true kamikazes, killing yourselves in the process.

In another unsurprising part of the poll it turns out that the people who are most uninformed about these four things are......Fox News viewers, of whom all four of the above distortions in the 70% belief range. The numbers are in the 30's and low 40's for CNN/MSNBC viewers. Those are some overwhelming numbers for Fox News, I really hope the health care industry is cutting them a check or something because that is some valuable toadying and lying. Excuse me, I mean fairing and balancing. So kids, what did we learn today? We learned that the truth fights like a coma patient and that TV news is actively destroying this country in so many different ways. But don't worry, we have the Democratic party and they'll plow though all this nonsense to make sure they pass something good because it's the right thing.......we're fucked aren't we? Right. See you in the breadlines after all our medical related bankruptcies. That is, if we all survive the Swine Flu.

Maybe they should start talking about this more

After the last few days of the White House's continued statements that sure, they'd love a public option, but they'll jettison it in a second if push ever comes to shove, and the chief Republican negotiator in the Senate (a man dubbed both serious about health care reform and a great negotiating partner) alternating his time between claiming death panels are real and stating that he won't even commit to supporting a bill he agrees with, some Democrats have decided that maybe it's time they actually stood up and spoke out on something they believe. After no one stepped forward to do so, Nancy Pelosi was elbowed in the ribs and shoved in front of a microphone, but not before she could grab Russ Feingold and a Rockefeller and drag them out there with her.

In the Senate, where negotiations are now focused, John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.) said that a public option, as the plan has become known, is "a must." Sen. Russell Feingold (Wis.) said that "without a public option, I don't see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said that the plan will be included in whatever bill is voted on in the House. "There is strong support in the House for a public option," she said, though she did not demand that the administration express support for the idea.

One Democrat predicted that without the provision, the bill could lose as many as 100 votes in the chamber.

Oh poor, poor Feingold and Rockefeller. Don't you know that as a Senate Democrats who believes in a public option, you are effectively un-important to the debate? I mean it was decided by Max Baucus that instead of working with an actual Democratic majority, he would cede almost full negotiating power to Chuck Grassley and the most conservative members of the Finance Committee. Progressive Democrats aren't allowed to have a say.

But hey, thanks for at least speaking up on the issue. You will be ignored by everyone who matters, but thanks. But stop with the predictions of 100 defections if there's no public option, because we all know how this story ends. A weak, do little, co-op plan is pushed out of the Finance Committee and passed by the Senate, then all the House members who thought about standing on principle and voting against the thing are then guilted into voting for the thing on the basis of Paul Begala's "shit sandwich" principle: that the co-op plan is doing something for health care and doing something is better than nothing. Don't go trying to get our hopes up that for once the Democrats will be led by the larger Progressive caucus, instead of getting yanked around by the smaller Blue Dog caucus. Our health can't take it, and it doesn't look like effective health reform is on the horizon.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 08.04

Rewarding Bad Actors
Krugzilla on how we can't stop rewarding financial institutions who engage in actions that are demonstrably harmful to the economy and how even the inadequate measure being taken to slow these trends are being opposed. Not only are they profiting off the damage they cause, but then they also get to game the government for large sums of money. Doesn't the financial industry just warm your heart?

Transparent aluminium is 'new state of matter'
Finally, we're this much closer to cans of soda that we can see inside of. No longer will we have to wonder if a spider crawled inside, we will be able to know. Also, blah blah, nuclear fusion, blah blah, new state of matter, blah, planetary science breakthrough, blah. For those of you scoring at home this is yet another thing Star Trek geeks get to strut around and claim their show influenced. C'mon science, is it so fucking hard to create a lightsaber or a wookie?

23 arrested in drug raid at Church of Universal Love and Music
Who would have ever thought that an organization called the Church of Universal Love and Music would ever be busted for drugs? It's the "and Music" part, that's how you knew it's be a drug bust. If it was the "Church of Universal Love" you know it'd be a pedophile bust. Here's a tip for all you budding church creators out there: don't let your name tip off what criminal enterprise you're engaging in. Shouldn't you people have been out following Phish?

Orly Taitz Melts Down On MSNBC, Blames MSM "Brownshirts" (VIDEO)
Bear with me here, I'm about to blow your mind. Apparently the lead "Obama birther" Orly Taitz, doing a fresh round of media interviews because she's claiming to have found Obama's Kenyan birth certificate, is a deranged, unstable woman who doesn't understand basic US law, and doesn't respond well when challenged by facts.

Obama to Lunch with Senate Democrats. All of Them.
You see how badly the President wants health care passed? He's sitting down and spending time with Senate Democrats, on his birthday. Have you ever heard Arlen Specter slurp soup or watched Ben Nelson reach across Russ Feingold to double fist dinner rolls he then shoves into his gaping maw? It's a horrorshow. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to get health care moving. Even if that means pretending to tolerate 60 assholes while they sing "Happy Birthday" and bring out a cake the uncreative fuckers had shaped like the Presidential seal.

Clinton may return to U.S. with journalists Wednesday, South Korean report says
When you want something done, you send in the big dog. Months of negotiations for the release of two journalists with no results. Then you send over Bill, he meets with Kim Jong-Il, takes a ride down the waterslide, asks if Kim has grown since they last met, and boom: freed journalists. He's slick kids, he's slick.