"We have to tolerate the inequality."

In other words, "Let them eat cake."

So far 51 Senators have stated they support the public option, but Harry Reid doesn't know if he has the votes?!! It may be time for a Majority Leader who knows how to count.

the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid to deeply slash the compensation to their highest paid executives

Out of curiosity, does anyone know why the administration chose to act on this now, as opposed to say in February?

good to see that at least nine members of THE PARTY OF NO can keep the faith.

(snark over)(for now)

It looks like Steve Benen and Zeitgeist should agree on a draw in their "nuttiest Representative in the House" competition, now that their individual candidates seem to have formed a Mutual Adoration Society:
http://washingtonindependent.com/64659/bachmann-steve-king-in-2012

Vis Poland. Poland's population had been very much against the US bases for quite a long while. But its -- then -- government (Prime Minister) was for it, being right wing and in thrall to Bush. But then two things happened. One was the war in Georgia, which scared the population into withdrawing its opposition to the bases (if they attacked Georgia, we could be next). The second was the booting of the previous Prime Minister (twin brother of the President) and replacing him with someone a bit saner, who began to repair the relationships with Russia and moderating the threat to Poland. So, currently, Poles are back to "we really don't want the bases, unless you pay us through the nose". Which, obviously, Obama is not interested in doing :)

Ezra's chart pretty much defines the economic benefits from a public option.

Ezra: There's good reason to think that if health-care costs can be tamed, wages will rise.

This is the clown who doesn't understand that health-care costs CANNOT be tamed with private for-profit insurance companies in charge.

We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all.

Message to the grasshopper class in the corporate suite:

Sorry dudes, but your contract actually states that you are, in fact, ants.

You are hired hands that have been granted significant authority (spending power, strategy setting, policy setting) to keep your business in the black or take it from the red to the black. Your mission is a support mission: you don't actually create anything of tangible value. You don't write code, you don't manage projects, you don't clean toilets, you don't build cars, you don't develop marketing campaigns, you don't maintain networks, you don't develop recruiting programs, you don't balance books, you don't deliver any product or service to your company's customers.

What do you do?

Supposedly, you develop a RATIONAL plan for maintaining, differentiating or increasing demand for your company's services, and/or plans for increasing the efficiency of operations. You SUPPORT these plans by making tough, fact based decisions on the allocation of scarce resources (talent, IP, investment dollars, etc.)

If you fail, their should be feedback and consequences for failure. You certainly don't get results by shouting "everybody work harder and think positive" and hobnobbing with other grasshoppers at various business development events where you spend shareholder money on green's fees and single malt scotch.

In other words, you support the value creating employees by navigating and managing scarce resources - a task any SMALL BUSINESS OWNER understands at a very visceral level because their feedback system involves quite a bit of personal financial pain if they make bad decisions. The corporate C-level caste, on the other hand, is insulated from their own idiocy, short sightedness, sub-optimization and dumb luck. There's always a scapegoat and there's always the excuse that "this is an extremely tough job."

Get real.

You have no right to expect special perks or status. Status confers no value to your enterprise. It's pure entitlement. You are spoiled and not very self aware.

Given that the U.S. taxpayer is probably a shareholder in the enterprise - you actually SHOULD be accountable to each and every citizen for business results.

I'm damned sick of the slipper licking, ass sniffing enablers of the "ruling class" in our society. Let's not kid ourselves about who adds value and how. There is really no such thing as "heroic" management for a large corporation. It's simply not possible given the complexity of the enterprise. All mythology about C-level superstars is pure attribution bias facilitated by a deep need to worship individuals and attach success to human symbols.

F*ck that sh*t.

Every laborer is an entrepreneur.We deliver the value.

Time for the ants to realize who they really are.

"Lord" Brian Griffiths is no mere

Goldman Sachs International adviser

He's The Goddamn vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs International

For all the far-right fussing, Poland seems pretty satisfied with U.S. missile defense plans.

Gotta luv how all you pseudo-progs are so in luv with Obama's ABMs after all that hate toward GWB's ABMs. You suckers can get sweat-talked into buying anything.

Yeah baby!

Benen: I haven't seen a detailed vote count, but according to Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the robust public option is up to 210 votes in the House. It'll need eight more to pass.

There is an update in Steve's linked page.
It contains a link to Howard Dean's parallel whip count: A very detailed 220!

Please pass the public option, Big Dumb Fake Progs with Whom I Am Obsessed. I haven't had my meds for 18 months. Pretty sure I got away with it, but soon someone may begin to notice.

You, pseudo-progs may be satisfied with Obama's pseudo abs but, for me, only Dubya's real ones, hardened by brush-cutting, will ever do. I've seen them at the last sweat-lodge meeting, so I know what I'm sweet-talking about.

"Will lower health-care costs mean higher wages?"

With due respect to Ezra Klein, I'll believe it when I see it. Folks whose jobs were in jeopardy of being outsourced may stay employed, and companies may be somewhat more inclined to hire new workers, but other than that, I don't any incentive or pressure to increase wages in most sectors.

Has anyone checked out the Senior Citizens League? No Directors other than the Chair and Treasurer are listed. No information on their budget or source of funds. They are careful to say that they have 1.2M "supporters/members" not "members". Sure looks like a sham organization to me set up to bring in industry funds to support a nice lifestyle of the Chair and the Treasurer, both named O'Connell.

Hah, Steve. You neglected to observe that the Obama campaign cash machine, G. Sachs, had no CEO pay limits slapped on it, even though everybody knows it was the ultimate beneficiary of the AIG bailout.

And, MCC, the only reason O'Baloney is doing it now is the embarassment factor has risen too high.

That said, this is probably yet another sign that any fiscal regulation reform bill will be near-toothless.

Steve: ¨Responding to the growing furor over the paychecks of executives at companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailouts..¨

Steve you introduce this as ´good move´.
But please rethink:

- why is the WH only responding to growing furor; shouldn´t they have insisted on bonuses and salaries BEFORE they handed out billions and billions of future taxpayers dollars?

- when government sachs and some others wanted to repay TARP (easy to do when you have been given free AIG money), while others were still too weak, many commentators said: please Treasury, do not accept repay of TARP, as it will allow those companies to hire away the ´smartest´ traders from TARP companies.

- please note that government sachs and others can pay record bonuses as they have made record profits with huge taxpayer aid (free money for them; record interest rate spreads; record sale of treasuries, necessary to pay for the bail-outs, introduced into the market by these primary dealers, who thus profit twice, etc. etc.)