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   Memo: The way forward on health care reform in 2010.
 A dark legacy of the Vietnam War is creating a whole new set of problems.
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November 12, 2009
THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * Nidal Hasan was charged today with 13 counts of premeditated murder. * Fed targets overdraft fees: "The Federal Reserve on Thursday released a new rule to prohibit banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection programs, which charge fees when consumers spend more than they have." * Defense Secretary Robert Gates targets leaks coming out of the Pentagon. * Would "work-sharing" programs help improve the job market? * ACORN sues the federal government. * The results in New York's 23rd probably won't be overturned. * CNN's John King will replace Lou Dobbs in the 7 p.m. (eastern) slot. * Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ponders new funding options for health care reform, including raising the Medicare tax for those making more than $250,000. * Rep. Steve Buyer (R) of Indiana should probably hire a good lawyer right about now. * Who's going to defend child labor? Other than assorted business groups and their lobbyists, that is. * Glass-Steagall was repealed 10 years ago today. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) got it right then, and has a few thoughts about what to do now. * Even for the RNC, this new flip-flop talk is just stupid. * If a school is going to have multiple chaplains to accommodate a spiritually diverse student body, it's only natural for there to be questions about the lack of a humanist chaplain. * Paul Krugman: "So the whole idea of Fox Business is problematic. It's Fox, which means that it's basically an arm of the GOP; but that's a terrible match for business coverage, because the economy just refuses to punish liberals and reward conservatives the way it's supposed to." * The sample in that Gallup poll yesterday was a little skewed with regards to party I.D. * Did Michele Bachmann and Steve King violate House rules by using their official sites for grassroots organizing? Probably. * Joe Klein thinks Jamie Kirchick is a "dishonest [expletive]" and a "[expletiving] propagandist." That's not unreasonable. * Remember, you, too, can learn to speak Tea Bag. (thanks to D.L. for the tip) * And finally, The Onion reflects on the big media story of the day: "Acting on anonymous tips from within the Hispanic-American community, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on Wednesday deported Luis Miguel Salvador Aguila Dominguez, who has been living illegally in the United States under the name Lou Dobbs for 48 years." Anything to add? Consider this an open thread. —Steve Benen 5:30 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (21)Comments
This is worth a link: The latest from the 'TRUST US, NOT YOUR LYIN' EYES' department: When Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, the authors of 'Superfreakonomics', were on the Charlie Rose Show last night: * Levitt claimed that their critics misunderstood what they wrote (THEY DIDN'T). * Dubner claimed that "Paul Krugman thought he caught us in a mistake" (HE DID). * Dubner claimed that "Paul Krugman ... is wrong" (NO, HE ISN'T). * Dubner went on to claim that "the efforts to stop Global Warming have the characteristics of a religion". 'Nuff said. A modest feel good story: Paid for by EU nations to obtain emission allowances. Posted by: MatthewRMarler on November 12, 2009 at 6:41 PM | PERMALINK* Who's going to defend child labor? Other than assorted business groups and their lobbyists, that is. -- Steve Benen Well, I'm happy to see that *someone* (and it's not *you*, Benen) is looking out for my interests. Why should I have to pay extortionate prices for my lapel flag pin and my Support Our Troops car magnet? It's not as if those puny brown rats were good for anything, and there's way too many of them already, anyway. And they ought to be honored to work on such symbols of freedoms. Posted by: exlibra on November 12, 2009 at 6:49 PM | PERMALINKYet another example of the Death of Science in America was revealed on Dr. Nancy today (MSNBC- noon) Apparently a large number of parents are refusing to get their children immunized- for such things as measles and polio. The Snake Handlers rejoice. . . Posted by: DAY on November 12, 2009 at 7:16 PM | PERMALINKDoes anyone else find it aggravatingly unhelpful that the linked article does not name any of the business groups that are in favor of child labor? Nor does the article it sources, and I gave up when THAT article sourced one behind a registration wall. Did anyone catch what Maddow said? I can't watch videos on my work computer (Crappy P2...) Posted by: Rian Mueller on November 12, 2009 at 7:28 PM | PERMALINKAnother case of "quod licet Iovi, not licet bovi" or "good for me but not for thee". Apparently, RNC's employers have a health plan which covers abortions... What is it y'all say? IOKIYAR? More "privatization" horror stories Yesterday's NYT's story about Blackwater bribing Iraqi officials to overlook their murders was probably the ultimate moral condemnation of the privatization of the US military. Having murders committed in the name of America is bad enough. Having a company try to bribe acquiescence for those committed murders? Wow. But today's privatization story may have topped that. “The idea that an oil company was participating in the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution leaves me speechless,” said Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, a principal drafter of the law that governed Iraq after the United States ceded control to an Iraqi government on June 28, 2004. In effect, he said, the company “has a representative in the room, drafting.”Posted by: koreyel on November 12, 2009 at 8:00 PM | PERMALINK hverberne, @19:54, Apparently, if he's tried by the military -- which is likely, since he was a soldier himself -- his chances of survival are greater than if he's tried in civil courts. So, it all depends on who's gonna try him. An interesting article by Daphne Eviatar, yesterday: Why should I have to pay extortionate prices for my lapel flag pin and my Support Our Troops car magnet? Don't forget your Jesus dashboard bobblehead, your praying hands candle and your "This is America, Speak English" t-shirt. Posted by: shortstop on November 12, 2009 at 8:04 PM | PERMALINK"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ponders new funding options for health care reform, including raising the Medicare tax for those making more than $250,000." That's a good start. Posted by: Joe Friday on November 12, 2009 at 8:09 PM | PERMALINKRian, the original article does not mention any groups by name; it's full of unnamed sources. Btw, the bill in question does not ban import of goods made with child labor in general, but instead bans goods made with "forced or indentured" child labor. Posted by: Disputo on November 12, 2009 at 8:09 PM | PERMALINKScrew Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, their publisher, and the publisher's owner too. Posted by: anomaly on November 12, 2009 at 8:17 PM | PERMALINKRe: Sen. Dorgan But let's make the most of this. Send him flowers or balloons or something. This link is to his site's list of offices. Pick any. The press will definitely pick up on it, and maybe, if there is a God, so will a few other Democratic Senators. I'm serious. http://dorgan.senate.gov/contact/ Posted by: stevenz on November 12, 2009 at 9:06 PM | PERMALINKSarah Palin would do well to talk to a good lawyer herself (note: not Van Flea) about her new "foundation" to avoid getting in the hot water that Buyer looks like he's in for. Because it looks like the same kind of money-laundering charity. She's actually probably home free for this administration from federal action for political reasons, but it won't last forever. Posted by: Charlotte on November 12, 2009 at 9:48 PM | PERMALINKOf the TPM "family", the Muckraker is my favourite; they're the most likely to come up with real doozies, which brighten up my days (and evenings) no end. Take, for example, the hot and roiling dark brew at TPP (first, drink your T. Then, P an'P): OT: Steve: "Joe Klein thinks ..." oh, who cares? Posted by: Donald from Hawaii on November 12, 2009 at 10:26 PM | PERMALINKThe funny thing is, Klein may actually be wrong about this Kirchick guy: Klein later told us Kirchick "has distorted the stuff I've been writing. He says I accuse Jewish neoconservatives of being traitors, which is a word I've never used. I've said, at times they put the interests of Israel above the interests of the U.S." If Klein thinks Kirchick is "distorting" him when he substitutes "traitor" for "[Americans who] put the interests of Israel above the interest of the U.S.," then Klein is splitting hairs. The one thing means the other thing. The irony being that Klein isn't wrong. The neocons are just exactly what both of them say they are. (Actually, that's a bit harsh. They have Israel's best interests at heart even less than they do the United States'.) Posted by: Matt on November 12, 2009 at 11:12 PM | PERMALINKSounds like Dobbs got out at the right time. This definitely would have brought on a stroke: "Juarez business leaders petition U.N. for help with drug traffickers" http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/12/mexico.juarez.un/ I know it doesn't have a snowball's chance, but just think of the wingnuts' reaction to UN peacekeepers on the US border. "AHH!! It's the next step to Obama's One World Government!!" Posted by: 2Manchu on November 13, 2009 at 12:07 AM | PERMALINKCNN's John King will replace Lou Dobbs in the 7 p.m. (eastern) slot. Oh, great! From Tweedle Dee to Tweedle Dumb. Post a comment
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