US Politics

"Frustrated at California's woes, voters are sharply pessimistic about whether the next governor will be able to move the state in the right direction, and most believe California is in the midst of a long-term decline, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll shows. Against that grim backdrop, next year's political contests loom as potentially volatile, but Democrats start out holding the upper hand, the poll found. President Obama retains his popularity in a state that gave him a landslide victory one year ago, with 60% approving of his tenure as president. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican struggling in the last year of his term, won the support of only a third of voters." - Derrick from Bookmarklet

:( - Anna Lynn M.

"The danger of this war on terror, it turns out, is that it not only collapses when it hits the ground in Muslim countries - as the sheer impossibility of using force to control Islamism in Iraq and Afghanistan reveals itself - but that its religious nature can divide the West as well, rendering a minority suspect and further undermining the chances of a multi-faith democracy successfully fighting a religious war without succumbing to more primal identities. Every which way, Osama wins." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

Sullivan's problem is that he fails to contextualize, always beginning his perspective from within the core of the press release. This is why he attracts a readership fond of phrases like "multi-culti" and "cocktail party progressives". They have already accepted the marginalization memes too. - Cole Jolley

"The states that have been most skeptical of President Barack Obama's agenda for health care reform also have some of the highest levels of uninsured people in the nation. A new study by Gallup shows that large swaths of populations in the South and West -- anywhere from one-in-five to one-in-four individuals -- are currently lacking health insurance coverage. These same regions also have the largest percentage of populations who believe widely perpetuated mistruths about the Obama agenda, including allegations that the president will set up "death panels" and wants a complete government takeover of the health care system. According to Gallup, of the 25 states with the greatest percentage of the uninsured, all but three are based in the South or the Midwest." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Its the south where creationism is also mainsteam NasCar Country is seriously not like america - WarLord

"It isn’t really Lieberman’s “conscience” that is driving him to oppose the public option — more likely it’s his ego (since he told reporters that he likes feeling “relevant“). After all, Lieberman opposed the Senate Finance Committee bill even though it didn’t have a public option, and in 1994, his “conscience” told him that the filibuster was “unfair” and shouldn’t be used to block major legislation. He has also asserted that the public option would raise premiums and increase the debt, even though the Congressional Budget Office has disputed those claims. Furthermore, 60 percent of his constituents support a public option, but Lieberman has dismissed them as just being “confused.”" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

He's a Jackass. - Bren, Photophobe from iPhone

"For 92% of the medically bankrupt, high medical bills directly contributed to their bankruptcy. Many families with continuous coverage found themselves under-insured, responsible for thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. Others had private coverage but lost it when they became too sick to work. Nationally, a quarter of firms cancel coverage immediately when an employee suffers a disabling illness; another quarter do so within a year. Income loss due to illness also was common, but nearly always coupled with high medical bills." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

On Friday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops met with leaders in the House of Representatives in their bid to eliminate women's access to abortion care under health care reform. And it WORKED. Opponents of legal abortion and health care for women are emboldened by Saturday night's vote and ready to bring their ban on abortion to the Senate floor. - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

I'm sure there will be some technicality by which they (both sides) will "excuse it" -- *rolls eyes* -- but to answer your question, I believe it is a violation of church & state, yes. - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

"Bart Stupak, who is apparently a congressman from some horrible depressing dying part of Michigan, does not seem to understand that abortion is a legal medical procedure in the rest of America that isn’t horrible, depressing and dying. So he would like to eliminate the part of the public option that would cover this procedure for poor women, and if his plan also makes it tougher for not-poor women to get this legal medical procedure, well, that gives him a boner too. Since the Democratic leadership won’t stand up to him (because they are the Democratic leadership, after all) please go make a donation to Planned Parenthood in Bart Stupak’s name here. Also. Please have Planned Parenthood send a thank you card to Bart Stupak: Congressman Bart Stupak 2268 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515" - Helen Sventitsky from Bookmarklet

http://friendfeed.com/us-poli... - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

Thanks! - Helen Sventitsky

"In countless ways, our foreign policy has long and directly violated George Washington's 1796 warning that "nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded"; that "the nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave"; and that "a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." The typical justification for violating those warnings is that our interests are served by maintaining and steadfastly supporting permanent alliances of this sort." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Muslim anger towards Israel will inevitably translate into Muslim anger towards the U.S. for as long as we continue to flood Israel with aid and cover." This is superficially true, but if you expect Muslim anger to *abate* if the US stopped giving Israel aid and cover, you're delusional. Muslim anger toward the US and Israel is merely a convenient tool to keep the 'arab street' from focusing on the deficiencies of their own despotic and kleptocratic leadership. - Michael R. Bernstein

"As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well. [...] I worry that again that speculation could cause things that we don’t want to see happen." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Reader C.G. emails over night: "Hooray! The House passed reform! Remind me: what's in it?" I suspect that's not an uncommon question this morning. It's tough to summarize the entire policy, but the House bill does what reform has set out to do all year -- if you have insurance, you'll have better, more stable coverage with consumer protections. If you don't have insurance, you'll get subsidies to help you purchase coverage from an exchange. The House is expensive, but it's fully paid for, and would lower the federal budget deficit over the next couple of decades. It includes a public option for eligible consumers, an individual mandate, and an employer mandate. It would cover about 96% of the population, and does not raise taxes on the middle class." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"'But reading the Iranian press, you get the sense that for Iran's ruling elite, engagement with America remains a bridge too far. "America is still the Great Satan. Negotiations are meaningless," thundered the hard-line weekly Ya-Lesarat.' That, of course, is exactly what American neocons have long been screaming about negotiations with Iran -- that they're crazed, untrustworthy Persian Hitlers who shouldn't be negotiated with and that Obama is being "naive" or worse by trying. It's so striking how identical is the mentality of America's "hard-line" right-wing extremists and those in Iran." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"This is perhaps a moment to reflect on the fact that the murder of innocent people is not really made better or worse by deep inquiry into the precise nature of the crime. It’s not as if had Hasan left a note saying “despite my name I don’t practice Islam and am acting out of wholly non-religious motives” that his victims would somehow be less dead. Alternatively, suppose this had been part of a “plot”—they wouldn’t be any more dead. But the terrorism fears around this subject should also remind us that the fear of a “save haven” in Afghanistan continues to be an underscrutinized concept. Suppose there had been a terrorist plot here? What role would a safe haven have played in it? The key assets Hasan had, from the point of view of committing acts of violence against Americans, were access to weapons and a physical location inside the United States of America." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Lawmakers in the House voted 220 to 215 on Saturday night to approve a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system. Only one Republican voted for the bill, and 39 Democrats opposed it, including 24 members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. An overwhelming majority of the Democratic lawmakers who opposed the bill — 31 of the 39 — represent districts that were won by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, in the 2008 presidential election, and a third of them were freshmen. Nearly all of the fourteen freshmen Democrats who voted “no” represent districts that were previously Republican and are considered vulnerable in 2010. Geographically, 22 lawmakers from southern states formed the largest opposition bloc. Below are details on the Democrats that opposed the health care legislation in the House." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

how do you delineate international boundaries when they are disputed by multiple countries? - lifeproof from Bookmarklet

"With this lesson in mind, pro-choice Democrats need to understand this: Contraception coverage is next. Make no mistake. Now they have a precedent of banning insurance companies from covering abortion, but this will not, of course, stop women from fucking. So contraception is next. And if you doubt me, remember what happened when the Democrats tried to include contraception access expansion in the stimulus bill. There was a full-blown sex panic, the fear that those Other Women would be fucking. They will try to harness that energy, and this precedent, all to force your insurance company to stop covering your pill, your IUD, and possibly any gynecological care associated with them. That Pap smear that you get before your prescription is refilled? Under anti-choice reasoning, prepare to hear that described as “abortion”." - Summer from Bookmarklet

Sadly, there seem to be even more Blue Dogs in the Senate who may not want to try to remove this horrid amendment. Those 16 named Dems need to be be targeted. - Anika

The fight is NOT over on this. It still has to go to the Senate yet...and we (everyone who supports EQUAL healthcare coverage for women) needs to fight that provision...because it will impact everyone otherwise. - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

"The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed its version of a landmark health insurance reform bill Saturday night, 220-215, and opponents of the measure have received an average of 15 percent more from health industry and health insurance interests over the past 20 years, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis has found. All but one of the 177-member caucus of the Republican Party opposed the bill, as did 39 members of the Democratic Party. The Center for Responsive Politics found that these members of Congress received an average of $502,650 from health industry and health insurance companies and employees since 1989. The lone Republican vote in favor of the measure came from Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.), who beat embattled Democrat incumbent William Jefferson in a special election last year. In August of this year, Jefferson was convicted on corruption charges. Cao is viewed as one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents, representing a district carried by President Barack Obama during the 2008 election." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"My motto: Fuck Hope." - Maxamad (Amazigh)

"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that Obama administration concerned that Americans angry over Fort Hood shooting may retaliate against country's Muslim population" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

The hard neoconservative right has been promoting a clear message for years now: all Muslims should either be deported from Greater Israel, the United States and Europe, or outright exterminated. Their language has been at least as inflammatory as the inciting Nazi rhetoric which preceded the Holocaust. See Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs for one of many examples of this systematic and relentless hate campaign. - Sean McBride

"US National Security Adviser James Jones expressed decided skepticism toward McChrystal’s agenda. “Generals always ask for more troops,” Jones said, “Take it from me.” With regard to Afghanistan Jones said, “You can keep on putting troops in, and you could have 200,000 troops there and the country will swallow them up as it has done in the past.” This bodes well for the decision process that is taking place in the White House. It suggests that Obama may not let the Pentagon steamroll him the way it steamrolled Lyndon Johnson over Vietnam. The Shazhad story sounds crazy, but it’s crazy enough to make sense. If one assumes that the White House has changed its mind vis-à-vis Afghanistan—that Obama has come to his senses and realizes the Afghanistan conflict is not a “war of necessity”—then it would take a dollop of skullduggery to skulk out of it. The Jones interview with Der Spiegel is unlikely to be a chance media encounter. Jones has kept his cards close to his chest throughout his... more... - daviza from Bookmarklet

Posting mainly for this group... "Here is the list of 26 Democrats who voted "Aye" on Stupak but "Nay" on the final bill: Altmire, Barrow, Boccieri, Boren, Bright, Chandler, Childers, Davis (AL), Davis (TN), Gordon (TN), Griffith, Holden, Marshall, Matheson, McIntyre, Melancon, Peterson, Ross, Shuler, Skelton, Tanner, Taylor, Teague" - John (a.k.a. dendroica) from Bookmarklet

"Washington is ready, says Shahzad, to see Pakistan’s President Zardari “sidelined.” That would be a radical departure from the AfPak strategy the White House outlined in March, a major stated objective of which was “Assisting efforts to enhance civilian control and stable constitutional government in Pakistan.” Then again, it sounds like that strategy has been thrown under the Hummer too. The fascinating aspect of Shahzad’s narrative is that it sounds crazy as a coot and yet it makes perfect sense. The course McChrystal proposes pursuing in AfPak is perfectly stupid. We’re poised to send tens of thousands more young military persons there to protect Afghans from people they’re related to in order to make the related people go away though they have nowhere else to go. We’re going to do that for the sake of disrupting a terror network that no longer exists in Afghanistan, and we’re willing to invest many years and many young American lives and much American treasure toward this goal.... more... - daviza from Bookmarklet

"Israeli television news personality Yair Lapid offers a rather remarkable idea for dealing with the international media when they say things the Israeli government doesn’t like: “sue them.” Of course, in the United States, going this extra mile may not be worth the effort. Just last night, I was chatting with a journalist friend who works for a major news outlet. She acknowledged that the right-wing media advocacy group, CAMERA, had been so successful in harassing the outlet every time they covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that no one wants to touch the story. (Another favorite CAMERA tactic is jamming up public radio station lines during member drives to make 1 penny bids. Who thinks of this stuff?)" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

Thanks Majento! :) This isn't over yet, though...we've a ways to go before it is final. And there are some provisions in there that have a lot of people upset...but I'll take those provisions to have *something* that can cover everyone. Still, this is a step in the correct direction, finally, after almost a century. *fingers-crossed* - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

DENVER – The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana. - Maxamad (Amazigh) from Bookmarklet

road trip? - .LAG liked that

"When a firm's trading performance challenges not only all preconceptions of realistic trading, but also of statistical distributions, one can merely stand back and watch in awe. Attached is a graphic of what a rigged, backstopped and manipulated market is all about. The chart demonstrates Goldman's YTD trading track record: out of 194 trading days in 2009, the firm has made over $100 million on 116 occasions! This alone accounts for $11.6 billion in revenue (and is likely much more as Goldman could have easily had a $1 billion trading day in the rightmost bracket as it is open ended). Assuming midline averages for any given bucket and multiplying by the amount of days that the firm traded within these, Goldman Sachs has made $15 billion courtesy of the skewed and very highly improbable (but not impossible, thank you taxpayers and Ben Bernanke) chart." - Maxamad (Amazigh) from Bookmarklet

pitlord: as opposed to other elected officials? - Mike Chelen

Is it Christianist now? - Eivind

XD - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

To you precious little neocon trolls who like to sit under the bridges here (and you know who you are), it tolls for thee... bwahahahaaa... - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

"This morning, the House began consideration of the rule for debate of the House health care bill. As the Democratic Women’s Caucus took to the microphone on the House floor to offer their arguments for how the bill would benefit women, House Republicans — led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — repeatedly talked over, screamed, and shouted objections. “I object, I object, I object, I object, I object,” Price interjected as Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) tried to hold the floor. In an effort to delay and derail the proceedings, the Republicans continually talked over the Democratic women for half an hour. They sought to prevent the debate by calling for unnecessary “parliamentary inquiries” and requests for “expanding the debate” by an hour. After being repeatedly interrupted by Republican shouts, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) observed: Do I not have the right to be able to continue my sentence without objections that are trying to censor my remarks here on the floor that I have a right to make as a member of this House?" - Anika from Bookmarklet

Stay classy, GOP. - Anika

This is a direction I predicted a few months ago. >.< I think the best comment I saw in there (and I will have to remember it) was, "Everytime a repug opens its mouth a bell rings in hell." ~~LOL! - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

"Aha. I see that some commenters insist that I was unfair or, some insist, intellectually dishonest in my post on the fact that advanced economies actually grew faster in the era before modern finance took hold. There have been assertions that it was all about rebuilding from the war, or that the picture looks very different if you look at per capita real GDP, with some flat assertions that if you look at the numbers right growth has been better since 1980s. Um, no." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

But only if you look at the numbers "right" -- sounds like stats & probabilities in action...*snorts with laughter* - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

"This morning, the House began consideration of the rule for debate of the House health care bill. As the Democratic Women’s Caucus took to the microphone on the House floor to offer their arguments for how the bill would benefit women, House Republicans — led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — repeatedly talked over, screamed, and shouted objections. “I object, I object, I object, I object, I object,” Price interjected as Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) tried to hold the floor. In an effort to delay and derail the proceedings, the Republicans continually talked over the Democratic women for half an hour. They sought to prevent the debate by calling for unnecessary “parliamentary inquiries” and requests for “expanding the debate” by an hour." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

geez, come on this is important. Put aside you own idiocy and think of the country. To everyone reading this... please contact your congressman/woman and tell them to get things done on this... http://www.congress.org/ - Harold