The White House has just released "The President's Proposal" on health reform. It must be considered in context, and the context is this: The House and Senate have each passed a bill and they're deadlocked on the differences between them. The President is outlining what he considers a reasonable resolution of the two bills, with the expectation that it will be used to guide the remaining negotiations. more »
It's been a fascinating anthropological exercise to watch the health excise tax concept (the so-called "Cadillac tax") keep its popularity among Democratic and liberals, even as one study after another discredits the assumptions behind it. It's the Democratic equivalent of trickle-down economics - an idea that doesn't seem to die no matter how much it's contradicted by the facts. more »
Like an cat burglar, Goldman Sachs leaves its fingerprints in the most unusual places. The news of Goldman's role in the Greek financial crisis isn't just a black eye for Wall Street. It's also a diplomatic disaster for the United States, whose government has become so intertwined with Goldman that this incident could endanger our relationship with the European Union. more »
Never underestimate Sarah Palin. She did a better job articulating anti-banker sentiment at last week's Tea Party Convention than Obama's done. Its followers don't realize it, but the Tea Party movement is really a Trojan Horse filled with bankers and lobbyists. It's a brilliantly designed mechanism for channeling anti-bank rage to the banks' own benefit, with Palin et al. in the forefront.
The news is out: The Wall Street bankers we bailed out are giving themselves 2009 cash bonuses of a half million dollars on average -- not including stocks. more »
The Supreme Court says corporations are people, and corporate spending on political campaigns is the same as free speech. Here’s what Barack Obama said in Audacity of Hope, when he was halfway between a community organizer and president: more »
What a week. Call it the Shock Doctrine in reverse: The Massachusetts election and yesterday's Supreme Court ruling may force the Democrats to move to the left to ensure their political survival. They're now faced with a choice they clearly didn't want: forcefully reject the corporate agenda, or risk losing to opponents who can attract an unlimited flow of corporate dollars. more »
It hurts to lose a Senate seat but, hey - setbacks happen in politics. What's really discouraging is the sight of Democrats, from the White House on down, refusing to accept responsibility for their own part in this loss. That, more than the loss itself, is reason for grave concern about health reform - and the party's future. more »
The Washington Post has an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, pushing the wrong policies and making the wrong moves. That's four wrongs in once sentence, and four wrongs don't make a right - unless you're talking about "right"-wing bias. But here's the good news: They've given me an idea that'll make a million bucks.
People are saying that the so-called Cadillac tax "might fall flat" and "has real problems." And those are its defenders. I can't remember any new policy in recent history whose own advocates had so many complaints with its design. more »
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