by: Robert Reich
Not long ago I was debating someone on television. I thought the discussion was going well until the commercial break when a producer said into my earpiece “be angrier.”
“Why should I be angrier?” I asked him, irritated that he hadn’t appreciated the thoughtfulness of debate.
“That’s how we get channel surfers to stop and [...]

by Charley James
Six months ago, in a long-forgotten article, I quoted a Cleveland physician complaining that health care reform will cut his income so sharply he will be forced to curb his lush standard of living.
… a physician acquaintance in Ohio who is a highly regarded specialist with a seven figure income … complains to [...]

by Charley James
Dear Mr. President:
According to a senior White House staff member who attended Wednesday’s lunch with the Senate Democratic caucus, you told progressives to “back off” attacking Blue Dogs and ConservaDems for their opposition to meaningful health care reform including the desperately needed public option.
Say what?
No, Mr. President, I will not back off – [...]

by Charley James
Pres. Lyndon Johnson had many tragic flaws but one thing he knew how to do is get his legislation passed. Members of Congress called it getting “the Johnson treatment” which ranged from flattery, promises of federal money for a pet project back in the district or even rides on Air Force One to [...]

by Robert Reich
Without a public option, the other parties that comprise America’s non-system of health care — private insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and medical suppliers — have little or no incentive to supply high-quality care at a lower cost than they do now.
Which is precisely why the public option has become such a lightening [...]

… and How Hard the White House Pushes for Them
by Robert Reich
In an interesting piece in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, Matt Bai suggests that the White House has learned the main lesson of Bill Clinton’s failed attempt at universal health care, which is not to deliver a finished product to Congress but instead give [...]

Not aftershocks from the temblor in Italy. Congress and the Administration have turned a blind eye to some $4.7 trillion dollars in credit default swap derivatives, dangerous side bets placed by greedy speculator on the likelihood of loan repayments across the global economy. They sit under the financial surface like magma building in pressure as [...]

 
By Denis Campbell
“When elephants fight, ants get killed.” Well we’re the ants and the elephants in Congress, Westminster and the Welsh Assembly need to be reminded they work for us. No matter which side of the aisle or Atlantic you look, politicians committing mass murder-suicide. The sheer madness of one party continually overtly destroying another’s [...]

by Charley James
One of Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s “sayings” immortalized in his Little Red Book deals with stealth in politics and war. “Make a noise in the east,” the Great Helmsman wrote, “and strike in the west.”
On Monday afternoon, we realised that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson must be channelling Chairman Mao. While everyone on the [...]

by Denis Campbell
Remember when Democrats worried about Ralph Nader’s presence on the ballot hurting Obama like he did to John Kerry and Al Gore? Now he and Libertarian Bob Barr are the nearly invisible third party candidates. Or are they? Third parties rarely get much support, but in tight elections, the 3% - 19% (the [...]