Political Bloviation

Private equity : The New Yorker.
Maybe not. Hedge fund managers get a massive tax break worth billions because of a tax loophole that allows them to pay only 15% on the great majority of their income. I know I pay a helluva lot higher rate, but then again I’m not a downtrodden hedge fund manager. [...]

The New Yorker points out that despite bitching and moaning to the contrary the Senate Health Care bill is bipartisan:
…the Democrats’ bill more closely resembles Richard Nixon’s health-care proposal—the one that Ted Kennedy went to his grave regretting he hadn’t embraced—than it does Bill Clinton’s, to say nothing of Harry Truman’s. Nor are all its [...]

I find it extremely unlikely that the Democrats in Congress would rediscover the contents of their metaphorical nutsacks and actually do something.
Sen. Michael Bennet’s effort to revive the public option in the reconciliation process is gaining steam, with almost 20 senators signing on to the idea. Among them are Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer, who [...]

Dennis G. at Balloon Juice $3.47 billion spent. Did you get a pony?:
The Center for Responsive Politics has taken a look at lobbying expenses for 2009 and found that we have a new record. $3.47 billion was spent by 13,741 registered lobbyists to lobby the Congress in 2009. In 2008 $3.27 billion was spent. And [...]

Kevin Drum takes on the notion that there are Republican votes to be had for a more conservative approach to HCR:
This fantasy that there are Republican votes for a more moderate bill really needs to end. There are no Republican votes for healthcare reform, no matter how moderate or conservative it is. They’re opposed to [...]

Here’s a recap of how Republican ramrodded the medicare Part D expansion six years ago:
Flashback: ‘The Night The Clocks & Scoreboard Stood Still’ | Fired Up! Missouri. (h/t Ezra Klein)
Note that it was, and still is, completely unfunded and added 100% to the deficit.  Furthermore its ten year costs are about a $1 trillion vs [...]

Well what do you know, self-interest trumps the ignorant rantings of a right-wing loony. I guess all the conspiracy theories melted in the face of the prospect of losing her seat:
For those of you missed it, this is one of our articles today that I really got a kick out of. Why has Michele Bachmann [...]

After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Senate Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
via Health Bill Passes Key Test in the Senate With 60 Votes – NYTimes.com.
Something is better [...]

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: The Public Option Fight May Not Have Been Winnable.
Nate believe the blue dog type conservative democrats staked out their ground during the summer and stuck to it. The votes were never really there to get a public option. Leiberman gave it a swift kick in the nuts on the way out [...]

Most support public option for health insurance, poll finds – washingtonpost.com.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health-care plan to compete with private insurers has rebounded from its summertime lows and wins clear majority support from the public.
A clear majority of 57% supports a public option, despite a massive disinformation [...]

Since the GOP as announced their opposition negotiation and any health reform at all, the Obama administration may abandon trying to get any GOP support. I was wondering how long it would take them to realize the GOP has zero interest in good policy. Their only concern is how best to hamstring the President’s policy [...]

Barney Frank pushes back against an idiot with a Hitler sign at his town hall meeting:
Frank: When you ask me that question I’m going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. On what planet do you spend most of your time?
[....]
You want me to answer the question? Yes. As [...]

Ezra opines about what might happen to the conference report, if the House and Senate versions don’t line up, and they most certainly will not:
The Senate is trickier. But the conference report can’t be amended. It can’t be changed, or held up in committee. It can be filibustered, and it can be voted against. Those [...]

Grassley drew strong rebukes from Democrats after he seemed to suggest at one town hall that conservatives were justified in worrying that a provision in the House version of the legislation that pays for end-of-life consultations would lead to the federal government playing a role in deciding when to “pull the plug on Grandma.” Grassley [...]

In recent months, I had gotten bored with Olbermann. During the election he was often hyperbolic and sort of annoying. But this special comment was spot on. Listen to the whole thing, he hits the Republicans and Blue Dog sell outs with both barrels:

I might actually go back to watching him again…

Rachel Maddow on GOP Thugishness at Town Halls: This is Called Hooliganism | Video Cafe.
The footage in the link is from the Rachel Maddow show (I can’t directly embed it, phooey). She shows footage from meetings in various Congressional districts where organized groups are intentionally disrupting the event with the purpose of intimidating the  Congressional [...]

Talk about a waste of money. This is from the party of fiscal responsibility. You know, the same people who spent a budget surplus and created structural deficits while fighting a multi-front war of choice. The same people who say that we can’t afford health care reform that would cost a fraction of the tax [...]

Lawmakers Warned About Health Costs
CBO Chief Says Democrats’ Proposals Lack Necessary Controls on Spending
via Budget Analyst Assails Cost of Congress’s Health-Care Proposals – washingtonpost.com.
Look, the current situation in US health care simply isn’t sustainable. Obama campaigned against repealing the exemption on employer health benefits. It’s a huge subsidy to the fraying patchwork of employer based [...]

Feinstein Says Law May Have Been Broken – NYTimes.com.
Feinstein thinks that oversight laws have been broken. The real question is will Lord Darth Cheney be held accountable for intentionally flouting the law? He seems very adept at avoiding accountability, ignoring Congress and being protected by GOP caucus on the Hill.

via The Take: Pelosi’s Comments Raise Interrogation Debate to New Level – washingtonpost.com.
She seems to be having a problem coming to terms with conflicting statements she made about when she knew about torture as a Bush era policy:
Pelosi’s performance in the Capitol was either a calculated escalation of a long-running feud with the Bush administration [...]