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The Reign of Error (and how weak and pathetic are we)

The NY Times has a depressing article about the continued resurgence of conservative economic thought inside the beltway.  As Krugman, and no doubt others will point out, having been wrong about...

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Republican Congressmen "endorse" Public Option!

Via the indispensible Don McCanne, from the cat food commission report-out and discussion on CSPAN yesterday:Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL): We are hastening the day when the only option left will be a public...

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Derek Jeter with a poll (a diary I am embarrassed to write)

I really should not care (I don' really).  I really really should not be publicly doing a diary on this. The whole screwed up salary structure and misplaced priorities of it all is ridiculous.  Even to...

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Net Neutrality vs. Bandwidth: Mainstream Media Gets It Wrong

Repeating a false meme that has clearly has become a talking point for the seemingly moderate wing of opposition to real net neutrality, Bradford Plummer writing in The New Republic conflates the...

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No Labels: the latest centrist/third-way crock (updated)

The latest version of so-called moderate, centrist, Third Way to organize is calling itself "No Labels".  If you look at who makes it up, it is the usual Third Way (Jonathan Cowan) crowd with the...

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Repubs for & Dems against DREAM & DADT (& why Military service is important)

It is interesting, and possibly useful to parse the votes on both the DREAM Act and DADT cloture votes. Below is the listing of Democrats who voted against each, and the Republicans who voted for...

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Against War & U.S. Imperialism, & Pro-Gays in Military

Simply put: Open military service today... full equal rights including same-sex marriage tomorrow.I consider myself a lefty/progressive populist in good standing who is both anti-War and anti-American...

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Judges, Mandates, Health Reform & Single Payer (oh my)

As a single payer supporter, who also supports manyothercomplementaryreforms that we also need, let me offer some comments on where we are and where we are going:

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Obama: "It's hard to change the narrative after 30 years" (updatex4)

President Obama, you are no Ronald Reagan. And I mean that in a bad way.From the National Journal (h/t Irmaly) here is a report on Obama thinking around the tax cut deal with McConnell:He said it was...

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I Was a 9/11 Responder & What Is Important to Republicans

I am in the 9/11 World Trade Center health registry that you may have heard about; fortunately I am completely healthy.  Below are several true stories, followed by some more or less related current...

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Meet Wendell Potter: Health Insurance Whistle Blower

Wendell Potter is the former head of corporate communications for CIGNA. Since leaving in 2008 he has become the most prominent whistleblower of the private health insurance industry, speaking out...

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Which 28 Health Reforms in 2010-11 Do They Want to Kill?

While the Republicans in Congress call for repeal, below is the timeline of implementation from the official Administration healthcare.gov website which lists the health reform bill items that are...

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Your Favorite (& Least Favorite) Part of the Constitution?

The Republicans are going to read the Constitution today. Progressives should embrace this, insofar as the WHOLE consitution, good, bad, ugly and amended are read.What are your favorite, and least...

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Link Corporate Tax Rate to Employment & Income

Even as job growth remains mediocre, with new jobs lower than expected and with more people not even trying to find work and dropping out of the labor market, both Wall Street and Big Business have...

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Phony "Job Killing" talk is standard Corporate PR Playbook (Wendell Potter,...

The nonsensical false "Job Killing" meme that is part of the attack on the limited health reform we got, is nothing more than the predictable, prescripted, routine PR "playbook" that the nastiest...

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Wendell Potter pt 2: The Real Next Attack on Health Reform

Yesterday, I posted part of a talk given by health insurance company whistle blower Wendell Potter, explaining how the corporate PR playbook works.  Today's diary covers the second half of his talk...

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"Shocked, Shocked" Wall Street & AHIP Love Health Reform

This is one way to summarize of the health care reform we got: At the J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference in San Francisco this week, major health insurers outlined the major expansion opportunities...

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The 1930s origins of today's Republican Party

It is common, and true in part, to trace the origins of today's Republican Party to the early 1960s, the failure of the intitial Goldwater conservative movement,  and the linkage of traditional...

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Vermont Single Payer: What It Is and What You Can Do

Throughout 2009 and into early 2010, while the health reform we got nationally was being watered down by the corporate conservadems in the Senate, the Vermont legislature was moving forward. An...

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It is the Total Health Care Costs, Stupid

By happy happenstance, today's "quote of the day" from PNHP's always must read Don McCanne listserv and feed discussing the subtle Federal push for the high out-of-pocket cost Bronze Plans under PPACA,...

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Quick Reaction to Judge Vinson's Ruling Against PPACA

Reagan appointee U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson out of Florida has ruled against PPACA.  He ruled against the individual mandate on commerce clause grounds, but as I had predicted, he went further...

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Severability and Hypocrisy

There is an interesting bit of hypocrisy on all sides with regard to the arguments being made around Judge Vinson's ruling on the non-severability of the individual mandate from the rest of the...

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MoJo's Summary of Egypt Opposition Committee of 10

I just want to bring to the attention of the dKos community an interesting article on the Mother Jones blog by Jaeah Lee titled "Meet Egypt's Power Brokers".The title is somewhat misleading insofar as...

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Military & Labor: Why People's Revolutions Succeed?

Why and when do People's Revolutions succeed. I would argue, that -- for all very real differences between countries, cultures and history -- it really comes down to two factors:1. Will the military,...

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More about Community Health Centers

Having worked with Community Health Centers as a major part of my day job for the past 16 years, I would like to follow-up on Joan’s front page article Republican budget would end community health...

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Voter Disenfranchisement & 14th Amendment

Once again, as always, Republicans are fighting hard to disenfranchise legitimate voters. Once again, as always, their sole purpose is to reduce the number of voters who are more likely to vote...

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The Shock Doctrine of Ryan's Medicare & Medicaid "Reform"

From PNHP, Dr. Margaret Flowers has an important, wonky, yet highly readable analysis analysis of much that is wrong with the Republican Ryan plan to privatize Medicare and flatline Medicaid; and of...

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In honor of May Day: the Robber Barons of World are United

cross posted at my blog Rooted CosmopolitanToday, May 1st, is the internationally recognized day to celebrate labor and working people.  But was deemed too socialist (and too European) by American...

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I want to see his Long Form Death Certificate

cross posted to my Rooted Cosmopolitan blogSo, anybody else out there want to see Osama's Long Form Death Certificate? Just sayin'  :)Meanwhile there is no reason to believe Al Qaeda will not continue...

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Bunkum: Republicans claim to want to repeal Individual Mandate

HuffPo's Sam Stein has a new report today, that Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is acknowledging the House leadership is giving up repealing health...

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Which Jerusalem do you mean?

Cross-posted to my RootedCosmopolitan blog.This diary is meant to help clarify one of the more confusing points around the Israeli-Arab conflict.  Both sides claim Jerusalem as their capital.  And the...

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They Still Lie: 1967 Borders with Agreed Upon Land Swaps

1967 borders WITH LAND SWAPS, is NOT the same as 1967 borders.If I say a house is green with blue trim, that is not the same as saying a house is all green.Even after the President of United States...

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Cuomo's quid pro quo with Republican Donors for Same Sex Marriage

New York State's passing legislation legalizing same sex marriage is a wonderful thing. Recognizing all our citizens as having equal rights, equal protection, is a wonderful thing.However it is also...

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American Right: Jeffersonian means to Hamiltonian ends

A recent interview reminds us of Herbert Crowly's now classic definition of American Liberalism from 1909:“The use of Hamiltonian means to achieve Jeffersonian ends.” As Franklin Foer notes,From the...

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Why is the Donors Capital Fund funding Islamophobia?

In their new report Fear Inc.: The Roots Of the Islamophobia Network In America ThinkProgress has done the hard work to bring into the light who is behind the phony Islamophobia campaign.  All credit...

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I was a 9-11 "Second" Responder

For this tenth anniversary, I am blogging (for the last time) about my personal experience on that day.  First, some caveats:I agree with many others that there are at least 10 more important things...

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Ruling against Individual Mandate and Guarantee Issue

In what could be a telling ruling today, a conservative Bush appointed Republican federal judge ruled against the PPACA (aka: the health care reform we got).  What makes this potentially telling, and...

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Occupy the Democratic Party

Hopefully the Occupy Wall Street and all affiliated 99% vs. 1% activist and street movements will continue to grow.  Having been active in lefty-progressive economic populist (and admittedly also the...

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Video: Single Payer (& me) at OccupyWallStreet today

A small contingent -- including several medical students, a senior officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, senior deans from two different medical schools, why even a few private practice docs,...

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Doctors for the 99%

Members from a variety of progressive health care groups have been supporting and show up at the NYC Occupy Wall Street movement.There is a health care for all working group active with the NYC general...

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Video & Pics: My 8 yr-old joins Health Care For All at Occupy Wall Street today

Social justice, economic equity, universal access to high quality and affordable health care and education are what I consider to be family values.My family and I just got back from being part of the...

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A list of Demands & Policies so simple even mainstream press can understand

This is my quickie list of what the problems are and the proposed solutions.  In no particular order and nothing new here, except an attempt to keep each item to a single sentence and a single line (or...

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Occupy Healthcare: March Against Insurance Companies NYC Wed Oct 26

Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 26, join us at the March Against the For-Profit Health Insurance Industry” action taking place this Wednesday October 26 that is being organized by the Health Care for the...

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Video of Healthcare for 99%/OWS March in NYC

Below is video from last night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann show that featured clips from the march in New York City organized by Healthcare for 99% working group at OWS, PNHP, Healthcare-Now and...

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Inspirational Video: Paul Krugman - As close to an indispensible man as we have

The indispensible economic think tank, the Economic Policy Institute celebrates its 25th year with an inspiring video on Paul Krugman:Caveat: As wonderful and mostly correct as Krugman has been lately,...

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Shutting Out The Media Is What A Police State Does (Continuous Update Mode)

Hugely updated, scroll down below, with links and quotes of media supressionHeadline: Police prevent CBS News chopper from taking off. Headline: Police barricades keep credentialed press out of sight...

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Nurses & Doctors are there giving care (and marching on Nov 17)... Where Are...

Where are you while we change the conversation and agenda in America?Last Sunday we had more than 99 doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers from our umbrella working group "Healthcare for the...

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"I'll Be There"... Where are You?

Where are you while we change the conversation and agenda in America?Today the broad coaltion of the Healthcare for the 99% OWS Wiorking Groups will be out protesting all day as part the worldwide...

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Healthcare for the 99% at OWS November 17 Day Of Action

Just some feel good video from the Healcare for the 99% contiengent particpating in the November 17 Day of Action last night in Foley Square New York City: (yeah, that's me, 51 year-old pediatrician...

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Russian Police Assault Female Fox News Reporter (Action diary)

Oops, I meant to say, New York Police assaulted female "Russia Today" producer/reporter Lucy Kafanov; striking her with a club while she was filming and reporting during the November 17 Day of...

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